Venturing Outside

Our apartment is mostly surrounded by rows of lightly colored rectangular pastel houses with red roofs. There are also some apartments. But everything is pretty much rectangular with a red roof. many of the buildings also have very small yards. Parking is generally crowded, and garages are tiny compared to the ones we see at home. The streets are narrow, and large vehicles are rare.

Here is our street.

We live just outside Augsburg, and there are fields scattered about nearby. This one is just around the corner and down the street. The road next to it is a major road going to Augsburg, and there is a paved walking/biking path along it as well. There is a also a dirt path running along the other side of the field that seems to be widely used for walking, biking, and horseback riding.

On the other side of the field and path is a densely forested area. There is also a large wood pile to the side of the path

Dirt path bordering the field and forested area

Field as viewed from the dirt path

There are a few dirt paths leading from the road back to the main dirt path. Some of them are currently too muddy to use. We took one the runs along the edge of a group of gardens.

These gardens are interesting; I haven't ever seen anything else quiet like them before. They are really like a series of small back yards without houses packed together in a gated area. They run back in a long strip with field on either side of them. Each yard has its own shed along with various trellises, garden beds, and trees.

This was easily the most brightly colored of the sheds

In front of the strip of yards is a parking area with a playground next to it. The playground also seems to have different equipment than what I am accustomed to seeing in the United States.

The weather here has been a great deal warmer than it is back at home. We were expecting it to be much cooler than it is. We have been told it hasn't even snowed here yet this year. However, it certainly has rained quite a bit. In fact, I think it has rained at least a little almost every day we have been here thus far.

It also feels so quiet here to me. I guess I am used to living by a fire station and hearing frequent sirens. Plus, lots of cars drive down our street at home, there are some dogs a couple houses down that are always loudly barking, and we frequently hear cows mooing, sheep bleating, and other animals. Here we seem to hear very little comparatively. Interestingly enough, even though we see lots of people with dogs, I don't think I have heard a single dog barking yet.