guten tag!

guten tag!

here's how cool bamberg is: GERMANS, as well as other europeans, visit here by the HOARDS. i'm talking tour buses here. they'll mostly go away as it gets colder, but the last few days have been beautiful.

the school nurse had me set up for appointments to see apartments the same day i landed! i wasn't very happy about that at first, but it was good to do something to stay awake to get over the jetlag. i saw some very cool apartments in buildings as old as 400 years! we were looking in the 'old town,' where all the restaurants, cafes, and cool shops are, as well as all the tourists. i'm not sure about all the noise and stairs and parking 4 blocks away.

then she showed me a house in the forest! only 5-10 minutes from the center of the town, and 15 minute drive to base, is this woodland area that people use for hiking. it's called broderwalde which means "brother forest." someone had a brief lapse of judgment in the 60's and allowed 3 houses to be built. they are in the same area, but from "my" house you can't see them. only woods. here's how amazing it is: the woman i am renting my temporary apartment from was born and raised in bamberg, and her family on both sides goes back to the 1600's. SHE WAS AMAZED when i took her out there! she said that would be the dream of any bamberger. i said it's also the dream of a st. petersburger!!! literally something to write home about.