Schöne Pfingsten!
Well, folks, here I am in Nürnberg on a beautiful Sunday morning, in the midst of looking for a place to live. It’s a holiday weekend here in Bayern: Pfingsten, a religious / secular holiday on “Whitsun,” or the Pentecost – 7 weeks after Easter. Basically, what this means for me is that it’s a three-day weekend since everything is closed on Monday, and everybody seems to go on vacation. Not good for the apartment-hunting! Imagine trying to look at apartments over Memorial Day weekend… The cool thing is that Pfingsten is a 2-week school holiday in Bayern, so this time next year Sheridan will have some time off and we can do something.
The first photo here is a picture out of the window of the Lodge I’m staying in while apartment-hunting. the clock tower chimes every 15 minutes during the day – fortunately not at night! It’s been pretty and clear, cool at night and sunny during the day. I’ve walked until my legs are sore, and am figuring out how to navigate the area. I’ve identified several places that would be good areas for us to live, and on Tuesday I have more appointments. I’m going to see if I can muster the courage to actually try calling people today and tomorrow about seeing apartments – I just got a German SIM card for my cell phone, but I’m a bit afraid of the German telephone system… every number is a different length, and I’m not sure about the navigation…
This second photo is of the St. Lorenz Kirche, in Nürnberger Altstadt. This weekend there was a huge Flohmarkt – flea market – all around the church. Wish it had been the weekend we moved here – we could have picked up some old furniture and stuff! The church is medieval, and really pretty. There are occasional organ concerts on the pipe organs inside. I met a new friend here, a lady from the IWG (International Women’s Group) of Herzogenaurach. We spent the afternoon talking in both German and English, and she gave me some apartment-hunting tips. She teaches in a Realschule here in Nürnberg, and also had some tips for Sheridan!
This evening I plan to go to the Roxy-Kino, the English-language movie theatre in Nürnberg, and see a film. To tell the truth, I’m a little nervous about finding an apartment in the time I have here this week, since I have to head back down to Munich Wednesday evening (my plane leaves early Thursday) – unless I can change the flight somehow. I don’t really want to stay any longer this time, since there’s so much to take care of when I get back, but I have to find a place to live NOW, and I feel like I’m running out of time. Hopefully Tuesday will go well and I’ll rent a decent place, and be done!
So until later, Tschuß!