I am really very sleepy now. I am just sharing some photos from our escapades yesterday in Nabburg, a municipality in Schawandorf, Bavaria in Germany. I guess "pictures speaks louder than words", so just watch out the pictures here. It was a great trip yesterday after seeing new places again in Germany. I will give you more updates tomorrow! Have a great evening!

Have you seen the biggest foot in the world? I really don't know the biggest foot in the world but I had seen one and even hugged it last January 5, 2008 in Trier, Germany. This is the huge foot located near Porta Nigra, a historical architecture in Trier, Germany. Actually these are two feet that you can find here. The other one is located near the train station in this city and the other pair is near Porta Nigra. It was raining as we visited Trier but it was an enjoyable trip!

You might wonder why my picture here is so big? I grabbed it from my friendster account. I guess there is no way to upload pictures now in blogger. I have to slowly bid goodbye now. I just want to take a look about mesothelioma before I totally sign-off! Have a great evening!

I was already informed by this around three weeks ago as I received the "Amtliche Wahlbenachrichtigung" or the so-called Official Entitlement to Vote for the European Parliament Election. I got quite excited because it is also my first time to vote in the European Election. This is also the third time that I will be voting since my German citizenship in December 2007. As far as I remember, the first voting that I casted was in February 2008 and the second was around September 2008. Of course I will go out and vote for this election because it is one way of exercising my freedom of suffrage and I am proud to exercise it. Lastly, the voting will take place on June 7, 2009. Good luck to all candidates who will represent Germany for the European Parliament!

I am quite scared now with the lighting and thunder outside. The weather is not friendly this early evening until now as I am writing this post. I can even see outside my window when the lights of the lighting strikes. Anyway I am sharing these pictures here taken during the auto show in Regensburg in the state of Bavaria in Germany last May 9,2009. It was the first time that I witnessed and saw old timer cars like the ones you see in the pictures here. It was quite interesting how these old cars were built during those times when the technology was still not so develop compared today.

There were also car shops that were open that time. In fact they are also selling automobiles during the show. I believed the reason why they made the show is to advertise cars and car parts and accessories. I know for sure that if you order car parts from VW, Audi, BMW, Mercedez Benz, Ferrari parts and other car parts and accessories are also available. It was a great day as we went there! Enjoy viewing the photos here!

I have been seeing programs in the German television last week in relation to the celebration of The Federal Republic of Germany. I also heard a lot of advertisements over the radio and read in our daily Tagblatt or newspaper about the 60th anniversary of the founding of the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Yesterday, May 23, 2009 was the 60th anniversary of such founding. I believed that being a new citizen of this country , I should be aware of all the issues that surrounds me especially the issues about German politics, culture and tradition, history, people, economy and many more. It is not only the issues about Germany that I need to know but around the world as a whole. Here are some news and information about this celebration.

"The year 2009 is a big one for Germany. This weekend marks 60 years since the postwar founding of German democracy. SPIEGEL ONLINE has collected a series of photos documenting Germany's rise out of the ashes of war, and some of the hurdles along the way.

Germany has no shortage of events to celebrate in 2009. This fall, it will be exactly two decades since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the landmark event which led to the reunification of Germany.

And on Saturday, the country will mark the 60th anniversary of the founding of the democratic Federal Republic of Germany. Indeed, the latter is just as astounding as the collapse of communist East Germany. After Germany was thoroughly devastated in World War II, an economic phoenix rose from the ashes.

The new constitution was signed on May 23, 1949 in Bonn, which would be West Germany's capital until it ceded to post-reunification Berlin in 1999. At the time, the country was in worse shape than it had ever been. World War II and the Holocaust had transformed Germany into a pariah among nations. What had once been the home of poets and thinkers, admired across the world, was now denounced as the refuge of inveterate warmongers, murderers and barbarians. Wherever they traveled, Germans were looked upon as criminals. Their country was divided among the war's victors, and it barely escaped being completely broken up and transformed into an agrarian state with no industry.

Please read the rest of the story here

I hope to give you more infos about Germany next time!

Oktoberfest is almost coming again! Four months from now and it is already starting. For this year's October festival, it will start on September 19 to October 4, 2009. For those who are interested to come, you can already start to book your hotels or the seats inside the beer tents. I know this year will be another great festival since it is one of the biggest and famous one in the world history! Please find below some facts and data about the festival. I already visited it one time last year! I truly had fun!

"The Oktoberfest is known as the Largest Volksfest (People's Fair) in the World.[5] In 1999 there were six and a half million visitors[6] to the 42 hectare Theresienwiese. 72% of the people are from Bavaria. 15% of visitors come from foreign countries like the surrounding EU-countries and other non-European countries including the United States, India, Japan, Brazil and Australia.

Besides the Oktoberfest, there are other public festivals that take place at the same location, in April/May: The Munich Frühlingsfest (Spring Festival) and Winter Tollwood in December with 650,000 visitors.

After the Oktoberfest the next people fairs in size in Germany are the Cranger Kirmes in Herne(Wanne-Eickel) (the largest fair in Northrhine-Westphalia) with 4,7 million visitors, the Rheinkirmes in Düsseldorf (called Largest Fair on the Rhine) and the Freimarkt in Bremen (the oldest fair in Germany, held since 1035, and the biggest fair in Northern Germany) with about 4 million visitors per year each, followed by the Cannstatter Volksfest in Stuttgart with about 3 million visitors each year and the "Schützenfest Hannover", the world's largest marksmen's Fun Fair in Hanover with about 2 million visitors per year... wikipedia

I know that winter time is over! I was browsing my folder which picture I will post today and I landed to this one. I guess I have been talking a lot about Hohenfels in Germany. This is where you can find one of the US bases abroad. This base is where the NATO soldiers are trained and of course US soldiers too. If I am not mistaken, it is one of the biggest combat and maneuver training area of US Army outside of the United States. What else can I say, even Hohenfels is very cold during winter time, it is still a beautiful town! See this photo! I always love to go walking here!

Let me just share some information about health insurance in Germany. I have been living in this beautiful country for almost six years now. Being a citizen of this country which means that I am already a German citizen now, I already know a lot of things about Germany. Don't you know that before you travel to Germany or if you wish to stay longer in Germany, you need a health insurance for your stay. For example if I want to invite my sister from Asia to visit me here in Germany, she must also have a health insurance during her stay here. I also would like to let you know that medication, doctors and hospitals are very expensive in Germany. How about other insurances? I found out that my husband is paying a lot of personal insurances also like a term life insurance, car insurance, liability insurance, house insurance, accident insurance and other more.Before you travel to Germany, be ready for your health insurance especially if you are not from European Union countries.

Since we already started talking about the Chancellors of Germany, I would like to share here the present Bundeskanzlerin or Chancellor of Germany. I am quite interested about German Politics since the time that I already started to learn German language. It is also good to know the people who run the German government. I am also proud to be a citizen of this country which I learn to love since I slowly adapted its culture and tradition, its people and everything about it. No matter, I still did not forget where I came from. All I can say Germany is now my new home! Keep reading below abaout the present Chancellor of Germany.

"Angela Dorothea Merkel (German pronunciation: [ˈaŋɡela doʁoˈteːa ˈmɛɐ̯kəl]; born Angela Dorothea Kasner, 17 July 1954, in Hamburg, West Germany), is the current Chancellor of Germany. Merkel, elected to the German Parliament from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) since 9 April 2000, and Chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary party group from 2002 to 2005. She leads a Grand coalition with its sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), and with the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), formed after the 2005 federal election on 22 November 2005.

In 2007, Merkel was also President of the European Council and chair of the G8. She played a central role in the negotiation of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Berlin Declaration. In domestic policy, health care reform and problems concerning future energy development have thus far been the major issues of her tenure.

Merkel is the first female Chancellor of Germany. In 2006, Forbes Magazine named her the "most powerful woman in the world". In 2007 she became the second woman to chair the G8 after Margaret Thatcher.

Chancellor Merkel is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an International network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

In 2008 Merkel received the Charlemagne Prize "for her work to reform the European Union". The prize was presented by Nicolas Sarkozy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel

It's time to talk a bit about German political system and government. As we all know that each country has each own leaders and head of the government, so as Germany. Here are some information about Germany.

Chancellor of Germany

The Chancellor of Germany is the head of government of Germany. In German politics the chancellor (German: Kanzler) is equivalent to that of a Prime Minister in other countries. The direct German equivalent of Prime Minister, Ministerpräsident, is used exclusively for the heads of government of those German states (called Länder in German) who are not city-states (i.e. Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen).

The current Chancellor of Germany is Angela Merkel, who was elected in 2005. She is the first female Chancellor. In German she is thus known as Bundeskanzlerin. That word was never used officially before Angela Merkel, but it is a grammatically regular formation of a noun denoting a female.

The office of Chancellor has a long history, stemming back to the Holy Roman Empire. The title was at times used in several states of German-speaking Europe. The modern office of Chancellor was established with the North German Confederation, of which Otto von Bismarck became Chancellor (German, Bundeskanzler) in 1867. After the Unification of Germany in 1871, the office became known in German as Reichskanzler, although it continued to be referred to as Chancellor in English. With Germany's constitution of 1949, the title Bundeskanzler was revived in German.

During the various eras, the role of the Chancellor has varied. From 1871 to 1918, the Chancellor was only responsible to the Emperor. With the constitutional reform in 1918, the Parliament was granted the right to dismiss the Chancellor. According to the Weimar Constitution of 1919, the Chancellor was appointed by the President and responsible to Parliament. After the death of President Hindenburg, the Weimar Constitution was effectively set aside during the Nazi dictatorship. The 1949 constitution gave the Chancellor greater powers than during the Weimar Republic, while diminishing the role of the President. Germany is today often referred to as a "chancellor democracy", reflecting the de facto role of the Chancellor as the leader of the country.

Since 1867, 34 individuals have served as heads of government of Germany or its predecessor, the North German Confederation, most of them with the title Chancellor.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancellor_of_Germany

We had the chance to visit again Walhalla in Donaustauf in the state of Bavaria, Germany. This is already the third time I visited this place. The first one was in August 2006, second was in February 2008 and last Saturday May 9, 2009. I truly wonder the architecture of this great building. Imagine the huge posts that surrounds the building!...very amazing! I bought last year a small book about Walhalla. Since I can't find it now, I borrowed some information in Wikipedia for you to know more about Walhalla.

As you can see in one of the pictures here, there is a River that flows near Walhalla Temple. It is the Europe's second longest river named Danube River or Donau in German language. This is the first time I went on the very foot of the temple because the first and second time we went here, it is under renovation. The renovation is still going on until now but you can already go until the foot. I guess that's all for now..I still need to visit my other sites for some updates! have fun viewing the photos here.

About Walhalla Temple

The Walhalla Hall of Fame and Honor is a neo-classical hall of fame located on the Danube River 10 km east of Regensburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It was built between 1830 and 1842 by the architect Leo von Klenze.

It was the idea of 20-year-old Crown Prince Ludwig I of Bavaria in 1807, at a time when the German states were defeated and occupied by Napoleon. It was meant as a place for the commemoration of great figures and events in ethnic German history, at the time covering 1,800 years, beginning with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9 AD).

Whereas the Valhalla of Norse mythology was home to those gloriously slain in battle, Ludwig's Walhalla was intended not only for warriors but also for scientists, writers, clerics and specifically also for women.

Decades before the German Empire was founded in 1871, "German" was understood as "Germanic," since Gothic, Langobardic, Anglo-Saxon, Dutch and Swiss German figures were included, as well as persons who had gained fame mainly in other countries or for non-German governments.

By the time of King Ludwig I's coronation in 1825, 60 busts had already been completed. In 1826, he commissioned a temple above the Danube near Regensburg, modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. The northern frieze features personifications of German states; the southern a battle scene.[citation needed]

On the Walhalla's inauguration on October 18, 1842, there were 96 busts, plus 64 plaques for persons or events of which no portrait was available on which to model a sculpture. As being "of the German tongue" was the main selection criterion for the original 160 persons representing the 1,800 years, the King included persons from modern-day Sweden, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and the Baltic States.

As successor to the King, the government of Bavaria decides on additions. Proposals may be made by anyone, but only persons who have been dead at least 20 years are eligible. Only 31 busts have been added since, on an irregular basis, for a total of 191, twelve of them female. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walhalla_temple

If United States has the so-called "American Idol" or England has "Britain's Got Talent", Germany also got one! It is called "Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar". It means in English Germany's Search for Superstar". Last night was the final fight of the two gladiators in the field of singing. The two finalist are Sarah Kreuz and Daniel Schumacher. Both have very good voice but only one must be the winner. I did not watch the whole show because we came back from our escapades in Regensburg around 9Pm already. I also almost forgot to watch it but I was able to watch the last identical song that both had presented. Since the viewers of the show are the judges, it means that the more calls each contestant have, he will be the winner. I also called 5 times after the result went 50% for each. if I am not mistaken the new superstar got around 50.47% of the votes. I really find the voice of Sarah and Daniel very nice and unique but to the last minute, I also have to decide to whom I will be voting. I finally casted my vote and I believed I was right. Danie Schumacher is the New DSDS...they also say; Deutschland Sucht Daniel Schumacher. What an interesting evening that happened last night! here is the video I got my youtube...have fun viewing!

I almost fall asleep while watching a TV program a while ago. Before I fully go to sleep, let me share first this picture I took as we visited Nuremberg Christmas Market last December 2007. We went up to the castle to see the whole view of the city. The castle is very interesting. I wish to go back their anytime this month because I already have a better camera. I also love going around Nuremberg watching the different tourist spots their once in a while. Sometimes I also go shopping. I simply love going places. When I have all the chance and finances to do that, for sure I will. I have to bid goodnight for now but would like to take a look on a website on what is an Anoretix for. Have a great weekend to all! anyway, just click the picture to make it bigger.

I am not talking this time about my travel and escapades but I am talking now about some sort of German culture and about its people. In the place where we live here in Germany, most of our neighbor have gardens beside their houses. I am amazed how German people love nature and gardening. I admired how they love outdoors like walking in the forest or nature. One third of Germany is covered by forest and this is one thing I like here especially in the state of Bavaria.

I also noticed that most old people in our place spent their time in their garden. of course this is only during spring and summer time where they can cultivate their gardens. We even have a garden beside our house. The tulip flowers you see in the picture are from our garden. I hope to share more topics next time about German culture and tradition.

Today is the last day of the German American Volksfest or Festival in Hohenfels. It started last Wednesday, April 29, 2009 until today May 03, 2009. I believed it was a great festival and celebration to show the friendship and camaraderie between the German and American people here in Germany especially in Hohenfels. There also a lot of US Bases here in Germany that celebrate it every year. To name a few are Grafenwhoer, Ramstein, Kaiserslautern and a lot more. I believed this year's festival in Hohenfels is another success again after being visited by neighboring places and cities of Hohenfels. I am sharing some pictures taken during the festival.