Home Sweet Deutschland!

In August, we took a trip to Germany and spent 2 days (rental) house-hunting -- And unfortunately, we weren't on International House Hunters (wah wah). It was an exhausting 2 days - toting around an almost 3 month old who decidedly hated his rental-carseat. So, you can imagine how much fun we had driving from haus to haus ... Luckily we had Asher's Gigi (my mama!) there to help. We looked at modern city apartments, cute houses in cute towns & ultimately signed on the dotted line for a unit in a newly constructed condo-style building in Königstein im Taunus (stay tuned for pics of our place!!). Königstein is in the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Region of Germany and really boasts the best of both worlds between city & village. Our house is located in the hills, an easy 20 min. drive outside of Frankfurt (and at an ear-popping ~1000 ft (304,8 m) higher altitude) but has the feel and scenery of a picturesque German village.

Everyone that we've met has been so friendly. Many people speak English, but those that don't are kind and try really hard to help to understand & communicate with us. Asher and I walk around a lot during the day and I've been so surprised at how helpful people have been. They rush to hold doors open for me & the stroller, they smile & chat with the baby...A woman in a boutique even held & played with Asher while I shopped. I think this is the benefit of living in a smaller town and one of the aspects of Königstein that I've really loved so far.

Besides being a super cute town, Königstein also bears some historical relevance. The word Königstein means 'King Stone' and the ruins of the Königstein castle can be seen from various vantage points in town (including on our own drive home). It looks very cool & a bit creepy all lit up at night. . It was a functioning fortress, serving as the defense of the town up until 1796 when it was destroyed by the French during their Revolutionary Wars.