last weekend was mellow, but we still managed to find something to marvel at. saturday was filled with walking... lots and lots of walking... and learning our new home. we started downtown, making our way there by taking a new route and savoring a favorite pasttime of ours- getting ourselves lost and then finding ourselves again. the sun was shining gloriously when we left the hotel, but then those pesky clouds rolled in, making the morning chilly, and i was of course in shorts and a t shirt. we went in and out of stores that we came across, looking to buy me a sweater, but after spending the first half of the morning doing that, i got tired of shopping (like i always do) and i sufficed to just cross my arms and ignore the chill. we walked behind downtown by st. michael's cathedral and then deeper into neighborhoods of charming houses, endless trees and vines and grasses, and more flower pots than i have ever seen in my life. standing high above the houses was the tower of a church that we havent explored yet, so we walked a wide circle around it trying to find a path that would lead us there... we didnt find one. so that church will wait for another day. by this time i was ready for lunch, but we werent having much luck finding our way out of the houses and back onto the main streets, and therefore to an eating establishment. we finally found our way back to the river... but it was the wrong side of the river. we walked along the river walk for a ways, which, by the way, was breathtakingly beautiful. with trees hanging into the river on our left, and thick trees growing up and over us on our right, it felt like we had wandered into a simpler time and we drank up the beauty and stillness like it was water. after walking along the river for a couple miles, we finally found a bridge that would take us back to the right side of it, which also dropped us right into the biggest park in bamberg. we didnt explore because by this time we were all starving, but it definitely looked like the kind of place where we could spend a lot of good family time. we wandered along, still looking for a place to fill our bellies, and still not having any luck. by the time we found our way back into downtown, it was almost dinner time. and we finally found a little chinese restaurant to eat at. by the end of the day, i imagine we had walked a good 8 miles. on sunday, we left the hotel with intentions to find a lake that jake had found on his gps. our path took us to the side of town that we hadnt explored yet, which was nice. it was peaceful and green and our map took us out of town and introduced us to 2 other villages before we ended up on a gravel road with wheat and barley fields all around us and rolling hills in the distance. we could see the top of the far-off hills had funny-shaped protrusions growing out of them and we wondered if they were cathedrals or castles, or just big rocks (although we havent seen rocks of that size here, so we figured they were probably something much more interesting). over the tree tops, we could see 4 spires and we both silently discarded the lake idea and let our curiousity reign free. the road that we were on spit us out at the front gate of the palace that we had stumbled on. what a romantic idea, to set out on a walk and stumble upon a random palace. it was beautiful. we were surprised at the grecian statues of gods conquering beasts since our experience of the architecture here was limited to the churches and cathedrals we have seen. we explored the grounds and took a million pictures and then made our way back to our hotel. we discovered that the autobahn that the palace sits on is a straight shot to our hotel. we had just taken the scenic route to get there. so that was our weekend. we still plan to take the train somewhere soon, but havent had a chance to get to the train station and buy tickets. who knows what next weekend's adventure will be, but the weekend after that we finally move into our home! and thank god because all this eating out is making me fat again. german food, with all it's sausage, cheese, bread, and beer is not the healthiest palate. i will be able to cook again! finally, a kitchen! a refrigerator to hold the baby's milk in! and for the first time in her life, kailey's own room! and no more hotel! at least for a while, until we make our way to london for jake's 4-day weekend, where we will go see the last harry potter movie, ride in a double-decker bus, and if jake cant find a way to stop me, practice my fake english accent :)