Moving to Germany

We just returned from our Look-See trip to the Frankfurt area. We are definitely moving there at the end of June! We were super pleased with the selection of houses and we think the area will be great. There are lots of small to medium sized towns with great restaurants and shops. The variety much surpasses Zurich, but on the down side the area is more suburbia than quaint like Zurich. One town we really liked reminded me a lot of Plymouth. We had hoped to find a house there, but unfortunately all the houses we liked there didn't have a back yard and Aidan said "having a garden is really special to me". So we decided to pick a house a bit further from a village so the kids would have a yard. It wasn't that much of a compromise, however, because considering I had a list off 10 things that I wanted in a house, the only thing we didn't get was walking distance to shops and restaurants! 9 out of 10 ain't bad.

We are at least walking (albiet a little far and down/uphill) to a bus stop that would connect us to Frankfurt or Wiesbaden, a Thai restaurant, and a few small flower shops and markets. Everything else we could possibly need is within 10 minutes in some direction.

Besides a few cute towns, we found a great mall (yes, a REAL mall!), a fantastic indoor/outdoor pool/spa, take out restaurants, parks, and hiking trails. We are 10 minutes from one international school and 20 from the other. I still have to decide on schools. Hopefully, I can figure that out later this week. One decision at a time, please!

Anyways, here are some photos of our new house! This is the street view. We have a one car garage and carport, with a good sized back yard. The ground level is actually our basement. The window on the left will be our guest room. The other 2 bottom windows are actually a separate (tiny) apartment. Right now no one lives there, but if they do it's not a big deal as their entrance is totally separate from ours. The playroom and living room have access to the small terrace and have fantastic views of the rolling hills. The third floor is where our bedrooms are. There the windows are mainly skylights.

Here are 2 pics from the master bedroom

Through these skylights we also have a great view of the hills and forest.

This is a little area upstairs across from kids bedrooms. It screams "reading nook". We'll remove the fire extinguisher and add book shelves and beanbags to make a cozy corner.

It was an over cast day, but this is our street view. Up a level in our living room, you look above this tree line and out over the forest and hills. We are on a corner, and as you turn the corner it's a dead end. Very private and quiet (until we move in!)

We looked at so many houses in such a short time, I forgot to take many pictures. Once we move in I'll post lots more. It's more than double the size of our current apartment, so we are thrilled about that! We have 3 bedrooms, a play room, a study, a guest room, 3 12 baths, dining room, kitchen, laundry room, storage area, terrace and full yard. Everything is updated and newish. There is a great fireplace in the living room too.

As much as I HATE to leave Zurich, I think that Germany will be alright. It's a good transition place before moving home. I'm really looking forward to the house, but I'm sad to leave our friends. I'm sure we'll meet new people before long. Now, I just need to decide on where to put furniture and what school the kids will go to!