Top floor of our apartment- lots of naked statues and breakable items. This is our third year and the kids haven't broken anything yet . . . (double click photos to increase in size)

Town square- on the left is the famous Hotel Elefant- a three hundred year old 5 star hotel where Goethe, Herder and later Liszt, Wagner and Schiller hung out. It is also known for Hitler having slept here and giving a famous speech from the balcony shown. The hotel was closed down after WWII, but not for long. On the left-hand-side behind the tree is our apartment which overlooks the town square from the 4th and 5th floors.

Austin and Maddie Sue eating pizza.

Austin carrying pizza- he snuck in those Crocs last minute, but apparently Crocs, to my dismay, are popular here too.

Our apartment is about 100 ft up the cobblestoned street on the right. This is a pedestrian and bike zone only.

Despite being awoken by cheers of joy which then sadness during the German soccer game last night, and then again for what seemed like never-ending bells calling people to church this morning, the kids and I fell back to sleep and slept until nearly eleven.

Our morning was spent unpacking and organizing, skyping with Jordan and Dylan, getting pizza from Austin's favorite Italian restaurant and eating in the park. Eating in the park is always kind of a dicey thing since Germans LOVE the sun and making sure they are evenly tanned is apparently of great significance. This combined with a town filled with students from two universities makes the park far more than a place for exercise and relaxation. Luckily today, although we were surrounded by students in avarious quantities of clothing, Austin proved himself too young to appreciate exposed breasts or students making out just 20 feet away.

This afternoon, my boss, her sister and the guest conductor teacher who accompanied us this year came over for Kaffee and Kuchen and then the kids and I headed back to the park and I led them in a variety of racing games in the hope of tiring them out. I'm not certain if they are particularly tired, but I am, so I guess either way I'll be able to sleep!

Our students have all arrived safely and are settled in their dorms. This year they are being housed in an original East German dorm that also is home to the University pre-school and one of the popular University sponsored bars. I'm curious about their reactions once they settle in and take a good look around.

As for me, I am watching German news (the economy is a huge issue here-more about that later) and drinking fruit tea which, according to my German friend, will cure me of any and all stress and exhaustion. Of course, the tea comes in only second to the healing I would experience were I to sit naked in a co-ed sauna. However, since the later is unlikely to happen any time soon, I think I'll sip my tea and head to bed.