Our first trip to the city center of Weinhiem

I am going to post little stories throughout the week and try to get us up to date on our current events. If I wrote it all out, it would be the never-ending blog entry! Before I start this blog, please excuse my typo at the end of my last blog (Finally! An Update!) I incorreclty used there instead of their. That is one of my biggest pets peeves so I am sorry if I sound silly for apologizing. :)

On our first Sunday, we decided to figure out the train schedule and ride to the city center of Weinhiem. We technically don't live in Weinhiem, but in a suburb of Weinheim. The train stop is about a 10 minute walk from our house. I will tell you this much, I am going to be a skinny minny when we move back! All this walking! And we live on what I would call a mountain but around here it is just a little hill. Sean and I think that it isn't too bad, it is just that we are so out of shape!
I had learned how to buy tickets the night before from one of Sean's coworkers, Madenna. She moved to Germany in October so she knows her way around pretty well. In just the week that we have been here, Madenna, her husband Drew, and their daughter Jennie, have become very good friends! In Germany they follow the honor system so there is no one on the train to make sure you have purchased a ticket. There is a machine that is located near the train doors where you must validate your ticket. There are undercover train "police" that get on the train at random stops and times to catch those who do not buy and validate their train ticket. Sean learned that the hard way when we came to Germany to find our house. He didn't not buy a ticket on purpose, he just didn't know how! The "police" just told him how to do it and didn't give him a fine. I think the fine is somewhere around 200 Euros which is about $250.00 I think after the exchange rate. That is steep compared to the 1.80 it costs to buy a ticket! Nathan loved the train! He just stared out the windows and tried to talk to everyone getting on and off the train. He has taken everything in stride and has adjusted so well. He is just a happy baby.
Once we got to our stop it was another 10-15 min walk to the city center. Again not bad if you are in shape and not pushing 20 pounds of dead weight! :) The city center of Weinhiem is beautiful. There is a very large park that has a couple of playgrounds, a pond, and some bird cages. Nathan loved the birds and tried to put his fingers in the cages. We don't know German very well but we think the sign said that these birds do bite so we put an end to that! He likes playing at the playground. He really enjoys going down the slides. He is walking pretty much on his own now so he just walked around the playground as if he knew what he was doing.
There are also many cafes that have outdoor seating. On the day we went the sun had just come out and it was getting pretty warm so we sat outside and had a cup of coffee and people watched. Just like home, the second warm weather hits, EVERYBODY goes outside. Nathan ate a cookie and flirted with all the women.

It was a very relaxing and fun day. It also made us think, you know what, we can do this. We can make this our home. We felt like we belonged riding the train, sitting to have coffee, walking and playing on the playground. It helped us transition into realizing we are here to stay for a while and not just here on vacation. Now that I look back on it, it was a great day!