First Memorial day in years that I did not go to a cemetary.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/unknown.htm

Maybe I have already posted this somewhere on this blog, I like this story. While many of us know about the Tomb of the Unknown soldiers, perhaps you'd like to take the time to read this short history about the journey home. Plus you can read all sorts of good info at the www.eyewitnesstohistory.com site.

And this is Ann-Marie's "I'm having fun eating ice cream and swimming" face. Today we went to Kristall Palm Beach in Stein, near Nuremberg. We got lost on the way there and on the way home but had a nice time while there. There are several water slides, a big wave pool, bunches of hot tubs, several other smaller pools, a kiddie pool, a lazy river type pool. They also had a big platform that you can lay down and get a tan on, plus lots of saunas that I didn't acutally see. For the 3 of us for 4 hours it was 29 Euro. Free parking and the locker was no additional price. More pictures below. 

Yummy! Chocolate ice cream. 

Ann-Marie found a puppy on a water pail at the schwimbad. They had a really nice little children's section. 

Brandon sitting in a lounge chair at the schwimbad. 

Here Ann-Marie is showing her coloring book page that she made for Daddy. Below you can see that we were having some fun with the camera and she was showing me all the various ways she can make her face look. 

This is her 'really angry' face. 

Her sad face 

Here is her 'silly girl' face 

And her excited face! 

Here is her "I'm scared" face. 

This is her "I'm sleepy" face 

This one, Ann-Marie calls her "I'm teased" face 

This is Ann-Marie's 'something tastes strange' face 

Here is Ann-Marie's 'something smells bad' face 

Nuremberg today

Today Ann-Marie and I drove to Nuremberg, which took us about an hour and 15 minutes to get to the old town section of Nuremberg. I just followed the city signs and found a place to park and we started walking without really any clue what we might see or do today. It was very lovely and I look forward to going back. We walked around in the cobblestoned pedestrian zones, listened to the street musicians, had some Nuremberger style bratwurst on brotchen (as per request by Ann-Marie the bratwurst lover). We walked a quite stretch of a path around the walled in area of the city and had some Italian Eis (ice cream), another ummm, uh hem, request from Ann-Marie.

This photo is of one section of the town, ahead you see the Dom. There was a big youth festival going on, with a rock band. And the street musicians...these guys are serious over here. Not just in Nuremberg, either. You see them with anywhere from 1 to 8 members, maybe all in matching suits, playing stringed instruments or horns. Just playing their music while all these people walk by, some stopping to listen and some listening nearby at an outdoor cafe. It really makes it a nice environment for sight seeing. Below are some links to look at regarding the historical city of Nuremberg and below are also some photos that I took during our day in Nuremberg.

http://www.nuernberg.de/english/

http://worldfacts.us/Germany-Nuremberg.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%BCrnberg

We chanced upon a festival (imagine that!). This one had a big stage set up and a Christian rock band playing with lots of booths and things for kids to do. I am pretty sure the whole festival was for Catholic youth or something. I noticed in this booth the kids were stacking beer crates to see how high they could climb. The man with the orange t-shirt puts the beer crates on that 2 by 4 and hands it up to the kid who balances himself while he stacks it. Soon after this picture was taken a swift gust of wind came and blew it all down. 

Ann-Marie in Nuremberg. 

Clock tower. On the exact other side of this is the stairway and escalator down to the U-Bahn station and also where the fountain (pictured below) is located. 

Strange but beautiful water fountain downtown in the old town pedestrian area of Nuremberg. Yes, in this view there is a skeleton strangling another skeleton while riding a lizard creature. But this is a very large fountain and there is more to see! 

Ann-Marie wanted her picture near the goat part of the water fountain. 

More cool water fountain... the same one just a different side. 

For a significant period of time while walking Nuremberg, Ann-Marie insisted on walking around like this. It is hard to tell what she is doing from this picture but she was pointing both ways while her arms crossed. So that her right arm was pointing left and her left was pointing right. DON'T ask me why, I've no idea!!! 

We took a long walk around the walled-in 'old town' of Nuremberg. Here Ann-Marie is showing me the flower that she picked along the way. As we walked this strip of wall, periodically we saw park benches, skate parks and basketball courts.