Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we set up the three in the afternoon

Then it was time for a Christmas selfie and for unwrapping the presents

And of course we had some great food

The Glühwein Express

On a spur of the moment decision we hopped on the Glühwein Express. It is an older tram that was restored by volunteers who traditional collect money by selling Glühwein in the Christmas season

Stefan in town

Uncle Stafan came for his traditional visit in December between Mia's birthday and Christmas. He could also admire Mia's new hair cut with much shorter hair

 

Later some friends of Mia came by and later went for bowling and a trip to the Christmas market

  

Seventeen years old

Mia's seventeenth birthday was on a school day - so she wanted to wait for the cake and unwarpping of her presents until the afternoon

A little bit of dancing: Dancing Queen only seventeen...

The birthday cake had been a chocolate cake -  from a French cake mix

 
Later we walked over to an Italian restaurant for dinner

Thanksgiving get together Girl Scouts

One of the girl scout parents hosted a get together for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately their place was a long steep walk from a tram stop in Weinheim but once Mia got there it was fun

 

Luca in Strasbourg

For his last full day in Heidelberg we took Luca to Strasbourg - about a ninety minute drive away. This way he could add France to the list of countries he had visited during his three months in Europe.

 Our first stop was a market in the city center

The cathedral - Strassburger Münster

The Petite France section of the old town

View from an old fortification  protecting the city from the side of the river

 

Luca in Speyer

For his first full day in Heidelberg Luca picked a trip to Speyer, which has an cathedral and a science and technology museum

The museum also offered some entertainment for the younger visitors

 

Luca never got to see the cathedral - there was a big fun fair next to the museum which they checked out instead

 

They checked out the fun house

 Almost like a day at the Arlington county fair

 

 Luca tried some shooting

A visit by Luca

At the end of his three months stay in Europe Luca came for short visit to Heidelberg. The only flight available from Sicily went to Frankfurt Hahn which is actually quite some ways from Frankfurt - and from Heidelberg

 But all went well and he arrived on time  

 

Triberg Waterfalls

On the last weekend of the summer break - when the weather felt more like fall - we made a trip to the Triberg waterfalls in the Black Forrest. We took the train

But not with this locomotive

 The town is very touristy and the first stop was a shop with cuckoo clocks

But then the waterfalls are very nice

Mia helped with a group photo