Family Blog

Our next destination is Salvador da Bahia - completely different than São Paulo. It is also a busy city but with colorful houses in the historic part. Many houses are renovated and the historic centre was declared in 1985 as World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

Most of the Brazilians here have African roots and you can see a lot of African arts here. And you here a lot of music if you walk thru the streets. At some places you can see also men practicing Capoeira, a unique mix of dance and martial art.

One of the topographic feature is the division in a upper and lower town which is connected by the Elevador Lacerda, since 1873. The trip from the upper to the lower town costs only a few cent and is the fast way to get down to the ferry.

São Paulo is a big city with many skyscrapers and cement. But there are some nice places you should visit. One of it is the Catedral da Sé which looks like a big gothic church but which was built in the last century (from 1913 till 1967).

The Edifício do Banespa is a scyscraper with a viewing platform on the 35th floor. There you have 5 minutes to enjoy the view over São Paulo. But before you can enter the platform you have to show your passport at the entrance of the building.

At Monday we left Germany at 36°C. On Thursday we arrived at 5 o'clock in the morning in São Paulo: cold and rainy. When we arrived Florianopolis our daughter told us, that it had snowed in Curitiba - the first snow since over 30 years.

Unfortunately the houses here in Brazil are not prepared for winter - no isolation and no heating, only air-condition.

Yesterday you could see the first reports of the protests in Brazil. One of the cause of the protests was the price rice of the public transportations. But the real cause of the protests is the dissatisfaction of the people with the politics - too much tax and too much corruption.

For more info you can read Carmen's article (in German) on aufschrieb.blogspot.de. She is studying in Florianópolis in the south of Brazil.

Last week our daughter started her flight to Florianopolis, Brazil where she will stay for one semester. Now she has arrived safely in Brazil. But she had to wait for more than 4 hours for her new home till somebody comes to let her in.

Welcome to Brazil

Yesterday Manuel and Andrew from Wisconsin came to visit us and to join the choir practice. In the afternoon we went to Esslingen to the Middle Age Christmas Market. It was very busy and you could here also French or Italian voices on the market.

It was a very nice atmosphere between the old buildings and you could the feeling that you are in the middle age when you go the market stalls. You could see market stalls with mouse roulette or other games, do archery or could buy something to drink or to eat. Even a little Ferries was on the market - manually driven and only for children.

For three days we visited Nuremberg. Nuremberg is an old city and the home of the Imperator in former days. One of the attraction is the old castle from the 12th century where you have a good view over the city. And you can see old weapons and armors in the castle museum.

But Nuremburg was also the main city of the Nazis, a dark chapter in the history of Germany. On the first day we visited the Documentation Centre at the former Nazi party rally grounds which got the UNESCO Prize for Human Rights Education 2000. One of the reasons for the rise of the Nazis was the use of propaganda - one thing you unfortunately can see also today in many countries.

The downtown of Nuremberg is very nice. Although most of the city was destroyed during tne 2nd World War you can find a lot of old buildings there. Nuremberg is also known for its gingerbread which you can buy all the year not only before christmas. And on sunny days you can sit in a beer garden where you can eat a bratwurst and drink some beer.

...we were in USA and picked up Philip from his year as au-pair. We visited New York and the Niagara Falls and had a very nice time at Whitefish Bay near Milwaukee. Also Lincoln and California was a great experience.

Back from the US our daughter left us and emigrated for 6 month to Australia as au-pair, where she met my sister. Now, one year later, all of our children are studying. Although they are all back from foreign countries only Philip lives at home - but not for long.

For three days we were on a trip in Hamburg. Hamburg is a very international city and the 2nd largest city in Germany. We stay at the Generator Hostel near the main station, one of the biggest hostel in Hamburg.

Hamburg is at the north of Germany where the weather is sometimes rainy. But we had luck with the weather and most of the sightseeings were near our hotel. If you buy a ticket for the public urban transportation you can also use the ferry. So you can see Hamburg also from the water to see the skyline and the big harbour.

We visited also the Miniatur Wunderland which is the largest model railway in the world. You can see there a lot of diffent countries (Switzerland, Scandinavia, USA, ...) and even a airport where airplanes are starting and landing. But most interesting are the (funny) details in many areas (like a rock concert or different accidents). So you can see e.g. a winter landscape with an open convertible and a snowman sitting behind the wheel.

Carmen has finished now her au pair at an Australian family and is now on a trip thru the outback. She visits Adelaide, the Ayers Rock (of course) and other places where my sister (who lives in Perth) said, she never was.

On Eastern, when she will come back, the next adventure waits for her - the begin of the study as teacher. She has one week time to recover and plan to move to her new home at Weingarten.

Today I did it - I deleted my profile on Facebook. I was in Facebook since 2007 and in the last 2 year I felt that I lost the control about my data in Facebook. In the beginning you had some kind of privacy but not now. So I decided to quit my virtual life in FB and to return real life.

This week Manuel has an interview in the "Badische Zeitung" about the transfer from a soccer player of the FC Freiburg. Here's the link to the article.

Long time it was quit on Manuel's blog. But now he started a new one "Comprehending the Word ...". It is more a political blog with some facts around the world.

2012 is once again a year when the world goes down. But until then there is still time for some good resolutions this year, as there would be:

• more sport (at least 2 hours per week),
• begin with app development for iPhone and iPad
• say goodbye to Facebook.

Especially the last point would be hard, because Facebook has its advantages. So I don't know if I really will quit it, but there are some points that bother me. Especially that you don't know what happens with your data and that FB takes no (or less) notice of your "privacy".

Happy New Year