Kalvarienberg

I needed to get out and get some exercise today. I've been working a lot, so I've been really productive. But I can feel the sausages starting to collect around my waist. So I decided to go up to the Kalvarienberg, which is the stations of the cross. Many towns have such things. In fact, there's even one...one? above the town that my father grew up in.
Basically, there are small chapels on the way up to the top of this large hill. Each chapel has a painting in it of each station of the cross. Then you get to the top of the hill and of course, there are the crucifixes.

The view from up there blew me away. Easily the most rewarding hike I've taken in awhile, as you can see for yourself:







Inside of the chapel at the top of the hill:

Probieren geht über Studieren...

Literally: "Try goes beyond study". It's a German proverb I learned today and it applies to so many things, I'm finding. OK, the shot above is actually from when we went to Ulm. It's not new. I've been too busy to explore lately.

I've been working a lot at both learning German and making money/finding a job. The hustle is on because I need to make rent by the first. My records have been doing really well on eBay.de. I think this may be a way for me to survive. And let me tell you, I was getting nervous there for awhile.
I've been selling a lot of records that I took out of my own collection. It feels great to get rid of so many excess records, and know that everything that's left is good. I know I keep saying that, but it's true! So it turned out to be a hidden blessing that I could never bring myself to go through them before.
What seemed like a daunting task because I didn't know how to approach it, ended up being a cleansing experience as my friend Jon said it would be. So the proverb applies.

Here are the rest of the photos from when I went to Munich.







A few shots of the Ulm Münster at night. You guys have seen it before, though:

Walled Medieval Towns + Update

I'm not going to lie: shit is tough over here. But I'm pressing on, like I always do. Thankfully, my good friend Joe was here for two weeks and he helped me over the rough part. Hopefully the roughest part. I won't bore you guys with the details, but let's just say that my plans to study and not work will only be half-fulfilled. It looks like I have to get a job. I guess I should look on the bright side. The Euro is so strong that will be living cheaper than I was back in Chicago, relatively speaking. Plus, it will help me with the language, meeting people and all that jazz. Although meeting people is becoming less of a problem.
I've been frequenting this local club/tavern every Friday for the past four weeks. It's so cheap to drink there, and the beers are so big that I only end up drinking two. Every week there are new people there, as well as a few regulars. The owner is really cool, too. It's not the same as hanging out with my friends back in Chicago, that's for sure. I miss everyone terribly. But it's nice to be meeting some new people and getting the flavor of the town. Apparently, there's a small section of Füssen that is referred to as *cough* "little Chicago". I won't even address that.

Last week, thanks to Joe, we took a mini-roadtrip up to Wertheim and back, stopping in several towns. Half of the places we went to were places I visited last summer. I figure, why not go with what you know so at least half of the trip will be a sure bet. And it was. Although, we couldn't climb to the top of Burg Wertheim to take in the view, because it was closed: that was a bummer.

We visited all three of the medieval walled towns in Germany, as well as Ulm. I still love that city. If I ever get bored of small town living, but don't want to move back to Chicago, I think I'll move there.

Right now I'm just trying to keep my head up and hustle to make some bread. I'm pretty good at getting by, but right now I have to be EXCELLENT. Pray for me, people! Bitte!

Here are some new photos!


Nördlingen





Dinkelsbühl












Rothenburg







Wertheim













I went to Munich with Joe to see him off at the airport, and since I was there I decided to look around again. Here are a few photos. I'll post more in a few days.