Nun sind unser zwey!

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Here we are in Deutschland (Germany), and as expected, being a parent-esque figure to a kid is hard. 😊

"Nun sind unser zwey" is the inscription on Nördlingen's Narrenspigel, the "Fool's Mirror", a carving on the side of the old town prison building. As you look at the image of the fool in the "mirror", he says: "now there are two of us"! Both the idea of two, and the idea of the fool, seem apt for my adventure bringing somene else's eight-year-old on a monthlong trip through Europe. 😊

This week we're staying in Nördlingen, a charming medieval town on the Romantische Straße (Romantic Road) in Bayern (Bavaria). Our hosts point out that the Stadtmauer (town wall) in Nördlingen is intact and can normally be walked all the way around, which they say makes it far superior to the more popular tourist destination of Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber, a town up the road.

Today was much chillier than we expected, so here on Day 1 we're already having to concede that Dad was right and Laura should have brought a jacket. We stopped in the department store Steingass to pick up a warmer layer and were amused to find that the cool-kids' clothing with text printed on it is all in English. At least the laundry tag inside is in German, so Laura can prove to her friends that it's really a German shirt.

After a quick stroll around the morning farmer's market, we visited three museums: the 7-story Stadtmauer (town wall) Museum inside the Löpsinger Tor (tower); the Rieskrater (Ries crater) Museum, with a short film and many displays about the meteorite crater inside which Nördlingen is situated; and the Stadt (town) Museum, with history and art as well as a special Fußball (football/soccer) exhibit in which our host's father is featured!

We stopped for delicious Spaghettieis (ice cream shaped like spaghetti) at an outdoor café, and later had a super natural organic delicious dinner at the Prinz und Bettler (Prince & Pauper) restaurant.

Laura is jet-lagged like crazy. I've confirmed that I really don't get much jet lag, which makes me feel simultaneously guilty 😊 and frustrated because I could be sleeping. Wish me luck!

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