In February 2017, we flew our entire family from the USA leg of our tour to Nuremberg, Germany, to launch our product line, exhibit at a trade fair, and meet our distributors in person.
Germany is beautiful, sophisticated, and absolutely wonderful for the spirit. Our family totally thrived there, but man was it cold! Us Texans weren’t used this but that’s what we get for being in Central Europe in winter.
We exhibited at a huge trade fair and the European community completely embraced our brand. We noticed the sensibilities in Europe are a bit different than Australia and the USA, so we had to adapt our sales pitch and marketing strategy right there on the spot.
Our brand was even covered in the Nuremberg Zeitung, and we’ve included a photo of the newspaper clipping.
We stayed in Nuremberg for 2 weeks. We also hit Berlin, Heidelberg Castle, and Munich for the evening.
Wonderful Moment for Our 7 Year old
Azzy, our 7 year old, and a street performer in Nuremberg connected so deeply, that the guy promised they would see each other again. A week later we were walking in the city center, and we ran into this guy again and he told Azzy he was so happy to see him and made these huge bubbles for Azzy out of this little device he created. This man’s voice sounded exactly like Robin Williams, it was so sweet. Azzy told him he was leaving to go to another country and the guy told him to have a wonderful journey and hugged Azzy, he even said he loved him in this really kind accent. While Azzy and I were walking away, I told him he’d probably never see that man again, and further along that walk, Azzy looked really beaten up, and when I asked what was wrong, tears started falling down his face and he said that he “was just so sad he’d never see that man again because he was his real friend, and friends should stay in contact.” I told him that it’s possible that the last time you say goodbye to anyone, even people you see everyday, that it *could* be the last time but possibly not, and that we always need to enjoy the time we have with each other because you just never know. I told Azzy it was possible he’d see him again, but that it was most important to just never forget him, and to be happy with the fact we had a chance to meet him. If we never flew to Germany, he wouldn’t have known he existed. He cheered up and completely understood. It was such a powerful moment. It’s strange how people can instantly be so connected, they were separated by generations, language, and thousands of miles… We’re off to Prague tomorrow.
Note from Jessica on February 14th
What an incredible day! We went to a farmers market that has been there for 400 years. We walked up a beautiful steep cobblestone street to the castle here in Nuremberg. We climbed a tall tower that overlooked the whole city.
I’m so proud of Azzy for walking all that way, of Allie for climbing the tall tower even though she’s afraid of heights, of Mikey for being an amazing help with his brothers, and of Justin for getting our family to Germany so that we can have these incredible experiences.
To the right, you’ll see a picture of a street vendor our family connected with in this 400 year old marketplace. We were so proud of Azzy for trying new foods and for keeping a smile on his face while showing his gratitude.
Below, is a picture of the watch tower that our family had to scale. It was pretty intimidating with small children, but we all made it. So happy we made this trip. From what we understand, Nuremberg Castle is the strongest castle fortification in all of Central Europe.
Calling all Wine Enthusiasts
This is the world’s largest wine barrel. It hold 55,000 gallons of wine. While it’s currently empty it’s been filled and emptied 4 times.
It’s located in the wine cellar at Heidelberg Castle. We thought the first wine barrel was the big one then we turned the corner into the next room. ? This wine barrel was made from 32 oak trees.
The daily consumption of wine in the 1600s was 500 gallons per day. Prince Fredrick IV tried to passed a “moderation law” which would limit wine consumption to 7 glasses per person… per meal. Hahahaha
Gallery for our German Adventure
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Jessica took a shot of all of us loading up the Mud Train!
