Summer Bobsled!

Today we went with some friends to the small town of Pottenstein in a mountainous area called the Fränkische Schweiz, or Franconian Switzerland, about an hour north of where we live.  As you can see, it is a beautiful place.

One of the best things about Pottenstein is the sommerrodelbahn.  It is sort of like bobsledding in the summer time!  There are two tracks you can take to the bottom.  One is a cart on wheels inside a bobsled-like track.  The other is more like a roller coaster car which runs on rails.  The top speed is about 40 km/hour, and it is so much fun.  Here we are waiting in line.

Check out some of our footage from the bobsled-like track.

 Perhaps this can be one more way for us to entice you to come visit us!

Welt Meisterschaft

    Being in Germany for the World Cup (or as they call it, Welt Meisterschaft) is a pretty cool experience.  Last Sunday Germany played England in a heated match.  There is a strong sense of competition (read no love lost) between the Germans and the Brits when it comes to football, so we went downtown to take it all in.  This is what we found as we trekked back to John's office after the game.  As you may know Germany won.  Super Deutschland!

This first video was taken just a few minutes after the game concluded.

Cars were able to pass along the street with no problem in the beginning.

You can see how full the streets became after only a few minutes.  This picture also shows one of the useful things they do differently in Deutschland: the digital sign with the changing numbers tells you how many available spots are left in each of the three neighboring parking garages.  Awesome, right? 

Soon enough this was the center of a huge celebration.

 

German good ole boys?

 

In case you forgot the score....

Even the Polizei had their face painted...and didn't seem concerned about hundreds of people blocking the main road through town.

So much fun...

 

Be sure to grab your vuvuzela and tune in at 2:30 (EST) on Wednesday 07 July to cheer for Deutschland as they take on Spain.

Super Deutschland!  Super Deutschland!