Here we go ~ round 5 of Alphabe- Thursday hosted by Jenny Matlock. If you have a moment please visit her website and check out her ‘terrific tangents’.
This week’s letter is ‘M‘
– From Mannheim to Morristown NJ –
And no, it is not a typo, I really mean ‘Mannheim’ with two ‘n’. Because I am talking about a move from Germany to the United States of America. From Mannheim to Morristown NJ. This is what I did together with my husband almost exactly one year ago. Family and friends – please forgive me, because this is all old news for you, but this is going to be the short version. You can find a slightly longer version here.
It all began in June 2003, it was the first time I set foot into Mannheim. Coincidentally it was also the first time I met my husband-to-be. In Mannheim. Two and a half years later, after a lot of weekend traveling between Switzerland, my then resident country of choice, and Germany, I actually moved to Mannheim.
The next five years I had time to explore the city and surrounding areas. It is actually an old city with a lot of history. Which I will not bore you with, you can look it up on wikipedia or here. Suffice to say that it is a lively town due to the heaps of young people studying in the old Mannheimer Schloss. How would you like to study in a castle? We had an apartment right in the city center with only two minutes walking distance to green parks, historic buildings, museums, cafes and bars and (window) shopping. It was a great place with a gorgeous view: Right over the rooftops of Mannheim!
But at the end of 2010 it was time for us to make the next move. This time to Morristown NJ (Morristown on wiki), or so we thought. I had not really known a lot about New Jersey and whenever one of my friends asked me where we were moving to, I said, ‘google Morristown NJ that is where you will find us from 2011 on’.
After a three months sabbatical on Bonaire we got to the US and moved into a temporary apartment… right in the middle of, exactly, Morristown NJ. On a much smaller scale it was the same ‘in-the-city-life’ we knew from Mannheim. Again, just a two minute walk to The Morristown Green and to window shopping, which was great for me while David was at work. What both of us loved are that there are quite a few cafes/bars/restaurant with outside eating available. A very welcome alternative to all the air-conditioned establishments, which are definitely necessary, however it is a nice change to spend a warm summer evening eating outside.
So, naturally when we were looking for a permanent house we were also looking in Morristown NJ. We liked it there. However the place we fell in love with and bought we found in Whippany. But that is another story. For another day. First here are some more impressions of Mannheim, the area around Mannheim and Morristown NJ.
