Most of the members of this site know that I live in Canada, but I'm not Canadian. I'm actually a German citizen. I was born in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a very beautiful tourist town only a short distance from the town we lived in. My parents had to go to Rothenburg to have me because it had the closest hospital. The town I lived in still doesn't have a hospital to this day. There's no room.

From birth until shortly before the age of 4, I lived in Weikersheim, Germany.

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I miss my hometown more than I can say. A few of my family members still live in that town, the rest are spread out all over Germany. Some are even in Switzerland on my mom's side, not on my dad's. My dad's side are all in Canada, and they're the reason we moved.

What can I say about Weikersheim? I grew up a short distance from the castle.

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I played in the playground, and walked in the park right next to the castle grounds.

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I ran through the castle, and the grounds, playing hide and seek amongst the statues,

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throwing coins into the fountain,

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and loving every moment of it.

[continued -- see part 2]

WG, I love the pictures you found. That's Weikersheim at it's best. Seeing the fountain in the castle grounds makes me so homesick. Seeing the statues makes me laugh.

The moat (for lack of a better word), which is the land right beside the castle, where the boars are now kept, was a place where the soldier hid, or fought from, during the first world war. My father found a gun in that "moat" when he was a child. Very old. He had to replace the handle as it was made of wood and rotted. When my father died I gave it to my Uncle, even though it's likely worth a small fortune. My Uncle, the second born, was with my dad when he found the gun, and for many years there was a disagreement about who had actually found it, and who should actually keep it. So when my dad passed, I decided to end the debate.

My Uncle has promised me that when he passes, the gun will go to Jared and Sydney. :)

I had to break your blog essay into two sections because I found so many photos I wanted to use. :)