An American In Germany

The Last Hurrah

2008-09-18T11:58:00.018+02:00

On September 18th, Gabi, Sandra and I headed off to Berlin for a long girls-only weekend. We took the train from Frankfurt, making sure we carried on some great red wine, bread, cheeses and fruit. There's nothing like just hanging with your friends and enjoying great wine! We arrived at our hotel around 8:30, with enough energy to head out to a local bar/restaurant (Drei) for dinner. We liked the place so much, that we had drinks there on Friday and Saturday night.

We spent our first full day walking around Berlin. We visited the Berlin Dom, Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, the government buildings, Reichstag, the Berlin Radio tower. I think I walked more on this trip than most any other since I've been in Germany!

Even though it's definitely fall weather here, and chilly at night, all the establishments had outdoor seating with heaters (affectionately called heating mushrooms), which made it quite cozy. Many places also provided blankets, seen here wrapped around Gabi and Sandra.

The food choices were quite broad, not like the smaller villages in Germany. We enjoyed chinese, seafood and italian while we were there. And there are coffee shops on every corner, with the most excellent coffee, which we also sampled often.

On Saturday, we went back into Berlin and did some shopping and visited some more historical sites.

On Sunday, we took the train to Potsdam, a beautiful neighboring city. There we took a trolley bus tour of Sans Souci (which has to be the largest castle in Germany, if not Europe), Schloss Cecilienhof (where talks were held to end WWII) and the Dutch Quarter. We ended our time in Berlin by touring the Olympic Stadium.

Unfortunately for us, some sad soul decided to end his life on the same train track we were on, which left us stuck at a railroad station for over an hour. Thanks to Frank, who drove an hour out of his way to come get us, we made it home by 2am in the morning. Kudos to Sandra and Gabi who had to work the next day!

October 3rd is a German holiday, Reunification Day, celebrating the reuniting of East Germany and West Germany. To celebrate in the Rheingau area, there is a Pure Nature Vineyard walk. You start at the bottom of the vineyard hill in a town called Hallgarten and you walk your way up to the top, stopping every few meters to have a glass of wine from a local vintner and eat various foods (brats, soups, pretzels, spundelkase, etc). The group included Edna, Lisa, Gabi & Peter & Johannes & Paulina, Sandra & Frank, Moni & Christian & Melina & Tim, Ali & Steven & Emily & Anna and Richard (who was family free and apparently quite loving it). Lisa's husband David and Edna's husband Chuck met us around 4pm. We started at noon and I think we got home around 5pm. It was gorgeous Fall day, made only better by the fact that I was officially separated as of 9:15am!! I leave for home in one week. Bittersweet, to say the least.

On Sunday, October 5th, Edna and Chuck hosted a going away party for me. The guests included Lisa, Gabi & Johannes & Paulina, Sandra & Frank, Carla & Norman and Deborah. Of course, there was plenty of great food and wine, along with some tears. A few pics...

This is probably my last post into this blog. It's been fun, so perhaps I'll start another one about the adventures of being single (again) and bearing down on 50!!

Love to all!!

Frau Pam

July & August 2008

2008-07-28T16:33:00.016+02:00

The boys arrived on July 6th....weary from the long plane ride but nonetheless excited to be back in Germany.

We spent the first week relaxing and catching up and getting ready for the big trip to Italy on July 12th. We had a cookout with friends on the 9th, and the boys got to meet some of the people I've become friends with over here. On another evening, we went to a local restaurant well-known for huge portions. Here's Jake getting ready to attack the largest cheeseburger I've ever seen.

We actually left for Italy early in the early morning....2am to be exact. Because of some serious traffic, it took about 4 hours longer than normal, so the trip lasted for 16 hours. Kudos to Peter for driving the entire way, with only 4-5 stops to stretch, eat and hit the bathroom! With seven riders (Peter, Gabi, Johannes, Paulina, me, Andrew and Jake), four being kids, it could've been a nightmare, but everyone was in great spirits, when they weren't sleeping. It also helped that the siblings were separated into two diffent rows!

As we arrived into Porto Santo Stefano (in Tuscany), the view made that long trip almost forgetful. It did take us a while to find our house, as it was tucked onto the side of a mountain, along a dirt road that barely was wide enough for one car. The few times we met a car going the other way, it was always an interesting feat to pass!

When we arrived at the house, the other guests were already there and had dinner cooking. Steffy and Michael Edinge (and Jean Luc, the dog) rounded out our group of nine. And thanks to Steffy, we ate very well!!

Although we had to drive to the beach, it was well worth it. Not too crowded, blue-green water, and perfect weather made for great trips. On the days when we didn't hit the beach, we frolicked in the pool at our house. It was a rough life!!

We only had one day of clouds/rain, and that was the first full day (Sunday, July 13th). We decided to take a ride to one of the beaches just to check it out. Here we are....white and happy!

Our days became routine...breakfast around 9am (local bread, meats, cheese, marmalade, yogurt, fruit, juice and coffee). Then we headed to the beach (or the pool). Lunch was on the fly. Happy hour at 5pm....campari and orange juice (my new favorite drink). Dinner around 7pm. After dinner the kids played in the pool or we played games (Phase 10, Dominos, Yahtzee). And, of course, there was a lot of empty chianti bottles.

We went into town on a few nights to have dinner. Pizza, as you can imagine, was on every corner, and it was all good. Here's some pics from one of our outings. This one reminds me of the Blues Brothers (Peter and Andrew)....

Some beach pics....(I promised....no bathing suit pics....except of children!):

We had two additional guest join us for a long weekend....Frank and Sandra. They came down on their motorcycles (I know I could NEVER last that long on a bike). They stayed from Thursday the 17th until Monday the 21st. While I didn't get many pics of them (but I did get video), here's Frank getting ready to leave. They drove about 400 kilometers and then took a sleeping train home to Frankfurt. The best thing Frank did while he was there was move happy hour to 3pm!

We took a few half day trips...one to Porto Ecole and one to Grosetto. Here are some pics from those drives.

One day, the boys decided to make a domino contraption. I've posted a video clip of the final result, which took many tries, but it finally worked!

{Video Coming Soon}

A nice pic of Jake and Paulina, after a fun day in the sun....

Because Johannes and Jake are almost the same size, we started calling them the "twins". Except that Johannes has curlier hair, you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference if you looked at them from the back.

One day at the beach, all the kids started making sand sculptures. Of course, on that day, not one of us had a camera so we begged the kids to do it again the next day. Here's the result of many hours of sculpting:

And finally, on our last night, the boys having fun in the pool at our house:

It was a great trip, and very relaxing. Thanks again to the Golla's and Edinge's for inviting us to join them. Thanks to Peter for doing all that driving. Thanks to Steffy and Gabi for doing most of the cooking. Thanks to Michael for taking Jake to play tennis, and giving him some pointers.

We hung low the first week back, going to the pool and chilling. On a few occasions, the boys went over to the Golla's and jammed with Johannes, who has drums in his basement.

On Saturday, the 3rd, there was a Family Day at Rhineblick Golf Course, which is an American course located not too far from where we live. The boys ended up shooting mulitple buckets of balls. Here's a shot of the great golfers:

On the 5th, we took a day trip to a small town about an hour south called Mildenberg. It was really quaint, with great shopping. We climbed up to the town castle, roamed around the streets and shopped, had lunch and ended our day with an ice cream. Even Schotzie seemed to enjoy her new surroundings.

On Friday the 8th we went to Kletterwald, which is a huge network of ropes and swings that you climb though...at very heights above ground. Johannes, Andrew and Jake hit the course with a lot of enthusiasm. Here are Jake and Andrew hanging out on one of the tree platforms:

On the 9th we went to Rudesheim with Frank, Sandra, Johannes and Paulina. We rode the cable car up to the Niederwald monument. We then hiked about 40 minutes to Assmannhausen, stopping at one point for a glass of wine (of course!) and the kids found some deer to feed. Then we caught another cable car down and boarded a ferry for a 20 minute Rhine cruise. When we got back, Frank and Sandra joined us for a delicious Italian dinner in Eltville (the next town over).

The famous Wiesbaden wine fest started on August 8th. A group of us went on Friday, August 15th. It was much bigger than last year. So much wine, so little time!

Sadly, my friends Becky and John returned to the US on August 23rd. For a sendoff, a small group of us went to a restarant in Mainz called Collesseo (Italian). Below is a pic of the group of us (minus Becky...she's taking the pic). The last picture is the three of us at the winefest last week.

And on a sad note, I've decided to return home myself. As much as I love the culture and lifestyle in Germany, there are more important things in life such as truth, beauty and freedom, and the most important, love. Yes, I borrowed my words from the movie Moulin Rouge, but it seemed appropriate. My friends know the real story...and the rest of you will just have to guess!

Thanks so much for keeping up with my overseas adventures. Hope to see you when I get back in October....

2008 - May thru June

2008-05-02T15:41:00.012+02:00

May 1st is a German Holiday...May Day. We were invited to go hiking (and eating and drinking) with our German friends/neighbors. We started out at 10am in the morning. I believe we finally got home around 8pm. I also believe there was more drinking than hiking!!

There are fields upon fields of this yellow flowering plant, which Sandra told us is used to make cooking oil as well as bio gas. The English name is Rape Seed. It smells like a stinky cheese but it sure looks beautiful.

We had to change our original plans because of a rain shower. We detoured to a small winestube to wait it out. Here's a picture of our "English Speaking" contingent....Edgar with 3 Brits. Andrew (next to Edgar) is married to a German woman, as is Steven (next to Andrew). Andrew's brother is on the far left...and I confess that I have forgotten his name. We enjoyed bantering about American politics and learning more about England. Note the ominous clouds in the background....we walked into the winestube just as it started to pour!

While the adults enjoyed their wine and had lively discussions, the kids played in nearby fields and of course, Schotzie played along. Here's a pic of the spoiled dog with Paulina, Anna and Tim.

Because we got a little turned around, we opted to take a bus into the next town. The bus we caught wasn't the right one so the bus driver dropped us off at a place where we could catch the right bus. We opted to walk into the town (Oestrich) and get ice cream for the kids and then catch the bus. We hung out in a large public area and enjoyed relaxing in the sun. Here's Christian and Moni enjoying their treat...

As luck would have it, we had more time to kill before we could catch the bus, so of course we went to another winestube (are you seeing the pattern here??). This one was really big, and crowded, but Peter and Gabi knew some people and a new table appeared. Each table had a number, and here's Peter displaying ours!

We eventually caught the bus but it was still not the right one (I'm sure our consumption of wine had nothing to do with this) so we had the driver drop us off at...yes, you guessed it...another winestube. At this point, Edgar had had enough, so he opted to walk home (it took him about 45 minutes). A few of the gang took the bus a bit further to where they had left a car and eventually a few nice souls came back to pick the rest of us up and we made it back to Erbach.

On the way out of the last winestube, I noticed a parked car with an Obama '08 sticker on it...and it appeared to belong to a German resident, not a transplanted American. You gotta love worldwide support!!

On May 3rd, we had an impromtu dinner at our house. Here's three ladies after a few glasses of wine (Edna, Pam, Gabi):

On May 7th, the WCSC (Wiesbaden Community Spouses Club) hosted a Spargel (white asparagus) picking trip. Edna and I decided that this would be fun. Having never picked asparagus (green OR white) before, we figured it couldn't be too hard. It's actually back breaking work and after an hour in the field, you can see here my meager reward. What's worse, I got more than most of the women, so there weren't going to be many spargel dinners that night!! Here's a pic of Edna and Alyce, before we were bent over for an hour!

Here's what the spargel looks like right before you cut it out of the ground:

Here's the result of all my work:

On May 9th-11th, Edgar took me on my birthday present trip...to Kuekenhof Holland to see the tulips and Brugges Belgium to check out the town. It was a great weekend. Here's a few pics of Kuekenhof Gardens (http://www.kuekenhof.nl/). These few pictures don't do the place justice. There were also greenhouses with orchids and lilies. Absolutely amazing.

We spent the night in a very cool town called Stompcik in a bed and breakfast at a working farm (Boerderij Akkerlust...www.hotelboerderij.nl). The room was very spacious, the host and hostess very friendly (and spoke English) and the breakfast was to die for. The next morning, we asked our hostess to recommend a place to buy cheese, and she sent us down the road a bit to another farm. We were very early, but the couple was very accomodating. Here she is cutting some of our cheese:

We then headed to Brugges, in Belgium. A very cool town with canals, lots of history and great shopping (think lace and chocolate).

This is a view of the town from the top of a bell tower:

That night, we spent the night in a castle! Even though it was built in the 1900's, it was still very cool to spend the night there. The owner was French, and again, we had a wonderful breakfast. Here are two views of the castle, one during the day, one in the evening.

On my birthday (May 13th), Edna and Chuck had us over for dinner, along with Becky and John and Mayda and her three boys (Ray was TDY). How nice to have such great friends!!

{Edgar heads to the US for ten days, but when he returns, we have a Memorial Day cookout and then we head south to Garmisch to camp with Edna and Chuck on the following weekend. Since I haven't camped since I was about 14 or so, it ought to be an interesting experience. Edna swears they do "cadillac camping"...and it's not roughing it at all. We'll see.}

Here's a group shot of some of the Memorial Day "picnic'rs" who took a stroll along the Mainz river after we ate:

Edna was right! It was a blast! They had all the necessities and the campground at Edelweiss was perfect...not to mention that the shower facility was spotless and the water was hot!! We did quite a bit of hiking and even managed to fit in some shopping in Garmisch. On Saturday evening, our friends Becky and John showed up, on their way back from a week in Italy. Even though it did pour that night, we were well protected under the tarp. We had a few bottles of wine, and sang along to the songs on my iPod.

On June 5th-8th, the same crew of four headed to Czech Republic (CZ). We spent two nights in Prague and one night in Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad). CZ uses the koruna, which seemed to be a little better than the Euro, and we picked up a few bargains. We also purchased quite a bit of beer, since CZ is a beer mecca!! Prague is a beautiful city, and the castle there is huge. The Charles Bridge was full of vendors, mostly artistans, peddling their wares. We did buy a watercolor of the city, to add to our European collection of city art. We visited the Jewish cemetary where they buried people in layers, as they had little space and too many people. That was sobering!

Carlsbad is a spa town. They even have a special cup to use to drink the water from the hot springs. The water is slightly salty, and warm. I couldn't acquire a taste for it. On the other hand, the local alcohol was pretty good, so we purchased a small bottle.

On Monday, the 9th, Becky took a few of us on a walking shopping tour of Wiesbaden. We found some great stores, shopped for a few hours, then had lunch. It was a nice day out with the "gals".

My sister, Laura and Jack are headed here this weekend, just in time for the Erdbeer (Strawberry) Fest in our town....then we head to Spain for a week. Can't wait!!

We survived our first Strawberry Fest....barely. The main drink is called a Boule, which is wine and water with whole strawberries. You can drink them fast, as they don't taste too strong, but if you drink too many, you definitely feel it when you stand up! And word to the wise....if you go on the bumper cars after a few of them, WATCH OUT (see picture below of Becky and Edna).

On the first evening of the fest, a group of us met at our house and walked down to the town. We enjoyed quite a few Boule's and some wurst. Later, I ended up walking around with Gabi and Peter and enjoying various kinds of music. It got to be a really young crowd but we still hung in there until about 1am.

Laura and Jack arrived the next day. We had dinner at (a local restaurant in our town called)Weinhaus Schuster with Gabi, Peter, Sandra and Frank. It was a bit chilly out and by the time dinner was over, it had started to rain, so no Strawberry Fest for us!

The next day, Sunday, was also a fest day (are you seeing any type of pattern here???). We met up with a few friends and spent the afternoon walking the fest. We ended up back at our place, ordering pizza and playing dominos.

Monday was the last day of the fest. We stopped in for one drink, but basically laid low in preparation for our weeklong Spain trip. Jack took it upon himself to fix up our very unattractive pond, and actually did a most excellent job. We can now see the bottom of the pond and there are way more fish swiming in there than I thought possible. I can't imagine where they've been hiding for the past year....somewhere in the murky depths?

Spain was awesome. Our trip started by flying into Sevilla. It's quite a large city. While the cathedral is impressive and Europe's third largest church (particularly the gilded altar dipicting the life of Jesus Christ), our favorite destination was Alcazar, a 10th century palace built for the governors of the then Moorish state. It was rebuilt in the 14th century by Moorish workmen for the Christian King Pedro I.

We then headed to the west coast via Arcos, to Cadiz. In Arcos, we took in wonderful views from the cliffs of the old town. In Cadiz, we walked to the beach and then spent the evening people watching.

From there, we headed south to Algeciras, where we caught a ferry and spent the day in Morocco (Africa). We made the mistake (even against Rick Steves advice, to pay for a tour of the city. We won't make that mistake again. Our guide basically took us to pre-arranged tourist traps, where we were forced to sit and listen to a sales pitch. It did work....we purchased a silk rug. But we ended up with no time to shop in the bazaars, which is where all the deals were. The tour included a lunch that Laura said wasn't even authentic. The street sellers were extremely pushy, and would not take no for an answer. The Arabic word for no is lah, so we were constantly saying "la la la". We sounded silly, but it did the job. We would entertain a return trip, but this time we would fend for ourselves!

Back in Spain, we headed north to Ronda and spent two wonderful days there. This B&B and town ended up being the favorite for all of us. The town was quaint, with lots of scenery, a huge gorge, many bridges. We also visited the only original Spanish cave containing drawings from 20-30,000 years ago. We weren't allowed to take pictures, but trust me, it was really cool!

Then we headed to the East Coast to Alicante, followed by a final night in Valencia.

We ate tapas almost every night, although we were all disappointed about the calamari. It tastes better in the U.S.! We tasted a fair number of Spanish wines, our favorite being a Crianza Rioja. We also had a really awesome mojito one evening.

We found that English wasn't as common as some other countries, which sometimes proved difficult, as Jack was the only one of us with a little Spanish under his belt. One day we thought we ordered lunch, only to find out an hour later that the waitress thought we said forget it.

On Laura and Jack's last night in Germany, Laura prepared an awesome Thai Curry dish, which we enjoyed with our four neighbors. The dinner turned into a late evening of drinking various German wines. Gabi and Peter gave Laura and Jack five bottles to take home with them, which was very kind and much appreciated.

There's no more traveling until the boys get here in July, when we go to Italy for two weeks with the Gollas. In the meantime, this weekend we have a wine tasting/dinner and the airfield is open to the public for the first time in years, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Air Lift.

Here's our wine guide, known locally as Eric The Red (his hair was once Red) and so named by President JFK, because he couldn't pronounce Eric's last name. The final shot is the group shot after our first round of wine, a very tasty Burgundy Prosecco.

2008 - January thru April

2008-01-21T13:48:00.023+01:00

I couldn't resist....just had this picture emailed to me and I laughed so hard that I had to put it on my blog. This was from a German float during a Fasching parade. Sorry if you aren't a fan, but...

GO OBAMA!!

JANUARY

Our first trip of the year was to Fuerteventura, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of Spain (http://www.sunnyfuerteventura.com/). It was time to escape the dreariness of a German winter and head for sun and surf. It takes about 4 hours by plane to get there, and we flew the wonderful (tongue in cheek) Ryan Airlines, with a 1 cent fare. Ryan Air is pretty smart. They charge you low fares but your luggage weight is so restricted that you have to pay extra for a decent amount of luggage. Then, if it's over weight (over 33 pounds, which isn't much for a five day plus vacation), then it's more money. And, all the food and drink onboard is sold, and at pretty hefty prices. But, with all that said, it's an expensive way to travel if you can pack light! That meant I could only bring four pairs of shoes instead of eight!!

We arrived late in the afternoon on the first day and by the time we got checked in and had dinner, we opted to just chill. We stayed at an all-inclusive hotel, so all the meals, beer and wine were included. The hotel had a great pool and beach area too.

The next day, we headed off to explore the island, as it was slightly overcast. We headed to the west coast of the island to an area where a ship called The American Star crashed in 1994 (http://www.fuerteventura.com/American_Star/index.shtml). Unfortunately, all that is left is the hull, but it was still a great drive to reach the remains. On the way back, we ran across a camel riding park. We didn't take a camel ride, but By noon, the sun was out and we headed back to the hotel and I spent the afternoon listening to a book on tape at the pool while Edgar (aka Antsy Pants) took a long walk along the beach. Really, what he was doing was checking out the nudists, which were absolutely everywhere. Personally, I think the Europeans are way head of us Americans...you are raised in an environment that doesn't glorify or degrade nudity and I've got to believe you get a much healthier respect for the human body, and thereby become much more comfortable in your own skin.

The next day we headed to the southern most tip of the island. We spent most of an hour traveling on a very narrow bumpy dirt road, but the views were well worth it. Not to mention a lot of goats and one very friendly donkey. At the end of the island (almost the most southern point in Europe), there was a huge area where everyone had left their names or initials in rock, some with hearts or other borders. It was a cool sight to see hundreds of words covering a huge area of sand and rock. On the way back, we detoured to an area known for wonderful beaches. This was the most harrowing of all the treks, with most of the road being one car wide, no guard rails and going up and down fairly large mountains. Once again, the views made it worth it. Since is was also overcast on this morning, there was no one out on the beach at all. The afternoon was spent laying in the sun again, and taking a walk on the beach.

On our third day, we headed back to the west coast to an area known for its caves. It was a beautiful sunny day right from the get go so we also planned on spending some time on a very private beach near the caves. The caves were very cool and getting to them was very easy, as there was a path along the side of the rock. Once we took some pics, we were off to sunbathe. We opted to be as European as possible, so Edgar went commando. I got as far as topless, and that was enough for me! Sometimes my husband can be pretty imaginative, and he was at his best when he posed as the "Thinker". Who needs to go to Paris to see Rodin's sculpture when you have your very own?? (Sorry...I had to remove the picture, but trust me, he's in pretty damn good shape!)

FEBRUARY

It's Carnival Season in Germany (http://german.about.com/library/weekly/aa020501a.htm)! The Germans take to the streets at various fasching parades decked out in costume. Like halloween in the states, some costumes were just outrageously creative and some (like mine and Edgar's) consisted of an animal hat on our head. We took full advantage of the festivities too. On Saturday, Feb 2, we went to Rudesheim and met up with many people from Edgar's work and watched the Rudesheim Fasching parade. There were a great many floats, bands and performers. What's wild about this parade (and most of the smaller towns have similar parades), is that the people in the parade are carrying bottles of wine and if you stick your cup out as they pass by, they fill you up. Sometimes you got a good wine, sometimes you didn't. But suffice it to say that the crowd got rowdier as the parade went by. The other thing that they do is throw candy and small gifts. Of course the kids love this, and everytime it rained goodies, the kids in the crowd went nuts trying to collect as many as they could. I think the parade lasted well over an hour.

On Sunday, we went to the parade in our village of Erbach. Although smaller than Rudesheim, we enjoyed it even more, because we were with our friends and we just got crazy. Afterwards, the party continued in a local hall, where there was a band playing and lots of wine being consumed. I think I drank and danced a bit too much, and ended up in bed by 8:30pm!

On Monday (a holiday here), we went to Mainz, which is one of the largest parades. The city was jam packed with people but the parade was awesome. No wine pouring at this one, but I think we had had enough by the third day of celebrating!

We went to Amsterdam for the long weekend (President's Day). What an awesome city. There is definitely something for everyone here....culture, history, sex, sex, sex. We drove into Amsterdam and once we parked the car at our hotel (excuse me....boatel...we stayed on a boat converted into a hotel), we walked and used the ferry to get around. The first thing that you notice is how many bikes there are. Everywhere you look there are bikers. And bike racks!

There are cars, certainly, but it's obvious that the most common mode of transportation here is the bike. It didn't matter that it was cold outside....just bundle up and get pedalling! The first thing we did was take the tour of the Anne Frank house. Once again, it amazes and saddens me to hear the atrocities against the Jewish people. To think that this little girl (and her family) was a prisoner in her own home for three years just makes me want to scream. I also didn't realize that only her father (Otto Frank) survived, and there was a picture of him a few years before he died standing in the room where he hid for all those years. One can only imagine the thoughts he had as he remembered. After that, it was pretty late in the day, so we strolled through the red light district and then had dinner in an excellent Indian restaurant. We then headed back out into the red light district and took a tour of the Sex Museum, which was pretty raunchy.

I couldn't help but look in the windows with the red lights and believe me, there was all types of women behind the glass. Old, young, fat, slim, attractive, ugly...you name it, you could find it in this town. We caught one guy coming out of his "session" with a big smile on his face. And then there's the coffee shops. Should just call them cannibis shops, as you only had to stand outside and smell the air to know what was going on inside. I opted not to go in one, as I didn't have any desire to smell like a pothead for the evening! There were tons of shops selling all kind of drug paraphernalia, pot seeds, pot plants, etc. Sometimes I just walked around shaking my head in amazement that this city even exists.

The next day, we went to the Van Gogh museum and took a tour of the canals on a riverboat. We thought about the Rijksmuseum and the Heineken tour but opted to do that next time. We definitely want to come back to this city when it's warm. Then we'll rent bikes and act like locals. After the canal tour, we walked through the part of town with the Flower Market. I wanted to buy everything I saw. I've never seen so many bulbs in my life! We found a cool little print shop and bought two framed prints to hang in our house.

On Monday, after breakfast, we headed out to an area about 20 minutes from Amsterdam, called Zaanse Schans. This is the area that had over 1000 industrial mills, powered by windmills. There are only a few left, and one was recently restored to it's original grandeur. We toured the museum that showed the areas history, and then walked a path past windmills and shops that sold cheese, pewter, wooden clogs, souvenirs, etc. It was a great way to end our trip to the Netherlands.

Edgar headed to the states for a business trip the last week in February, so I was off galavanting on my own. One afternoon I walked with Gabi and her kids to a local horse farm, where the kids mucked the stalls, cleaned the shoes and brushed the horses. Then they went for a ride. Peter came after work.

MARCH

March is just one of those months that you want to be over. It's not warm enough to enjoy being outside and the gray, cloudy, rainy, damp pall is enough to make you nuts.

We did go to the Easter market in Wiesbaden on the 9th with our friends Edna and Chuck. There was a great parade and lots of stands. I picked up an Easter table decoration and some fabric to make a few tablecloths.

I headed back to the states on the 19th. It's sunnier here, but still chilly. I brought my 10-year old neighbor, Johannes, with me to visit with Andrew and Jake and see some US sights. He played laser tag for the first time, toured around DC and experienced the Baltimore Aquarium. He also ate Maryland Crabs, which he proclaimed very good. In fact, he liked everything he ate, especially my Mother's chili. I know he had a good time, because he already wants to know when he can come back. I told him next time he's coming with his Mother, Gabi, because three boys to one Mom is not fair!!

Here's a picture of Jake and Johannes wearing matching Maryland sweatshirts:

APRIL

I got back to Germany on April 20th. It was a gorgeous day, but like very time I come home, I had to sleep for 4 hours in order to make it through the day. Edgar had a work function but no fear...the neighbors invited me to the Wineprobieren (wine tasting stand) in our village. We sat in the sun for a few hours and chatted. The jet lag hit me hard for some reason. Three days later I'm still not able to sleep normal hours!! Getting old sucks.

Edgar surprised me with a long weekend trip to Venice April 25th-27th....

The Holiday Months (2007)

2007-11-08T22:03:00.000+01:00

I have to start this blog edition with two very funny stories about Edgar. The first story:

While I was in the US, he did a lot of hiking. He even went to Austria to hike in the Alps! On one of his more local hikes, he stopped at the grocery store first and picked up some dates (the fruit, not another woman!). He put a few of the dates in a clear plastic bag and off he went. During the hike, he was munching on his dates. In the distance, he saw a group of hikers, who were walking towards him. As they got closer, he noticed that they were visibly taken back and grimacing in horror, all the time looking at Edgar and Schotzie. As they went past, he heard a few words in German, one of which was "Hundescheiße". He continued along the path and then it hit him what they were looking so perturbed about. The dates in the clear plastic bag looked like "dog shit" and when he reached in and ate one, you can imagine what the German's were thinking. Hundescheiße is dog shit in German. They thought Edgar was eating dog shit!! I wish I had been there to laugh with him when he figured it out!

The second funny Edgar story:

Also while I was gone, Edgar attended a birthday party for our friend and neighbor Gabi. At my suggestion, he went to the local florist in our village to pick up some kind of flower arrangement. When he got there, he noticed that they have these really pretty Fall table decorations with fresh evergreen clippings and dried flowers, in a nice basket. Very tasteful, he decides. He bought two, because he’d actually missed another neighbor’s birthday the week before (while in Bavaria hiking), he got two cards and he's all set – right! He shows up at the Birthday dinner with these and Gabi's husband says in German "who died". Not thinking anything of it at first, he then noticed the puzzled faces at the table (Gabi’s mother, other neighbors…). He still ignores it and continues to have a fun time at the party. When I got home, the neighbors confided to me that those decorations are SPECIFICALLY made to put on grave sites (ONLY). They didn’t want to tell Edgar because they didn't want to hurt his feelings. I, on the other hand, laughed hysterically when they told me and when I told Edgar, he agreed that it was pretty damn funny.
Edgar's getting quite the reputation in the neighborhood -- between eating dates (dog poop) and giving unusual birthday gifts.

After my stay in the US...and the summer-like weather there, it was a little shocking to come back to Germany and see the leaves mostly barren and the weather cold and dreary. But, I shouldn't have worried, the German's always find a way to party in ANY kind of weather.

This past weekend (11/9-11/11), we found plenty to keep us occupied. On Friday night, my friend Gabi had a jewelry party for a woman here in town that makes her own sterling silver and real gemstone jewelry. Although she sells it in various venues across Europe, she occasionally will do a home show for a friend. There were about 15 women there. I brought two friends of mine, Becky and Edna. The rest were Gabi's friends. I think everyone bought as least one piece. They are quite unique, which is why I had to have one of the necklaces!

On Saturday evening, the entire village (or what seemed like it) gathered at the local school and watched a short play about St. Martin. Who was St. Martin?

St Martin of Tours started out as a Roman soldier. He was baptized when he was grown up and became a monk. He was a very good and kind man, and eventually became the Bishop of Tours. As well as being kind, he was quiet and simple. He didn't want to become Bishop, but he didn't have much choice. There are many legends about his life. The most famous is when he cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. Another legend is about his trying to hide so as not to become Bishop. The story is that he hid in a stall in a barn, hoping to escape the people who were hunting for him. They had come to take him to be appointed Bishop. A flock of geese made a lot of noise and gave away his hiding place. The goose is the animal symbol of St Martin and a favorite food on Saint Martin's Day.

In Germany, St Martin's Day is used to mark the beginning of the Carnival season. It is mainly celebrated by children. The children buy or make lanterns, and form a procession through the streets singing special lantern songs. Quite often at the end of the procession, they have a bonfire.
So, after the play at the school, we walked through the village with all the children singing lantern songs and carry their homemade lanterns, made safer by the fact that the local hardware store sells a stick with a bulb hanging on the end, that you insert into your paper lantern to make it glow. It was quite a sight. We walked to the village gathering spot and there was lit a huge bonfire and we drank Gluehwein (hot mulled wine, which was delicious) and the kids ran around and played and drank apple juice. The festivities lasted about two hours.

On Sunday, we decided to drive to Koln (Cologne), about a two hour drive. I don't think we were paying too much attention to the fact that it was 11/11, the beginning of Carnival season! Carnival actually starts on 11/11 at 11:11 pm - big parties and balls launch the Carneval season and private groups have parties throughout the season. The real festivities start February 15 this year and last until the 22nd - Ash Wednesday. Carnival is much older than Christianity and started as a ritual to drive out the winter blues and the ghosts of darkness. People had processions, wore horrifying face masks, and made a lot of noise to drive the ghosts of winter away. The Goddess of fertility (Freya) was honored and the beginning of spring celebrated. The modern image of a jester's ship is said to relate to the memory and worship of the Goddess Isis whose ship was towed through villages in the annual Carnival processions.

I can't even begin to describe the sight in Koln. The streets were full of crazy people, many were absolutely drunk, in crazy costumes and there was lots of music. On every corner was a group of people making music, with a lot of drums. Our pictures of the people just didn't turn out very well. Here's one shot....

The best pictures we took were of the Cologne Cathedral, shown here.

The Cologne Cathedral is one of the best-known architectural monuments in Germany, and Cologne's most famous landmark, described by UNESCO as an "exceptional work of human creative genius". Cologne Cathedral is one of the world's largest churches, being the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe. For four years, 1880-84, it was the tallest structure in the world, until the completion of the Washington Monument followed by the Eiffel Tower. It has the second-tallest church spires, only surpassed by the single spire of Ulm Cathedral, completed ten years later in 1890. Because of its enormous twin spires, it also presents the largest facade of any church in the world. The quire of Cologne Cathedral, measured between the piers, also holds the distinction of having the largest height to width ratio of any Medieval church, 3.6:1, exceeding even Beauvais Cathedral which has a slightly higher vault.

The boys arrived for their Thanksgiving visit on November 15th for ten days. We pretty much just relaxed and played games but we did make a trip to Felsenmeer, which is about an hour away. Felsenmeer (means sea of rocks) is an incredible amount of huge rocks and boulders that once served as building blocks for the Roman Empire. We went there with my neighbor Gabi and her two kids, Johannes and Paulina.

Edgar went to London for the week to meet his girls, so we had the run of the house. Nothing like getting to sleep in a big bed all by yourself, once in a while!! Of course, Schotzie had to horn in on some of my space, but she's nice and furry, so it's not so bad.

Andrew and Jake went to Johannes handball practice and the coach let them participate. They really liked handball, which is a cross between soccer and basketball. Very fast paced. We ended up going to a game later in the week, which was great to watch. Johannes' team won!

For Thanksgiving, I invited our friends Chuck and Edna (and their dog Scooter) (picture below)and my neighbors Gabi, Peter, Frank, Sandra, Johannes and Paulina. I brined my first turkey and it was the best turkey I've ever made. It wasn't that much extra work but the result was well worth it. I even managed to figure out how to fit a 20 lb. turkey into a small German oven! I will admit that the last ten minutes of trying to get everything out was like a scene out of some comedy show.
Over the weekend, we went to a local Christmas market at a winery in our village. Lots of goodies to purchase and free wine tasting (that's the part I liked the best). We ended up talking around a firepit, drinking wine while the kids stoked the fire and played tag. Later that night, we ended up, quite by accident, going to a party at a friend of Frank's. This friend, Thomas, is quite the character. He drives a souped up Ford Mustang, owns a chain of jeans stores (Frank manages one) and is restoring a home in Wiesbaden. The party was to celebrate the restoration, so the house was in the throes of construction. We got to the party by all climbing into Franks van (Frank, Sandra, Peter, Gabi, me, four kids and Schotzie). Here's a pic of the boys acting nutty.

So, we get to this party and there is someone singing upstairs. So we climb the stairs and to our surprise, there is a transvestite singing. I think the boys were quite taken back by the sight!! This picture is the singer with Thomas, the host.

On the way home, we picked up Edgar from the train station. Paulina has quite the thing for Andrew and wanted to sit on his lap. She ended up falling asleep but woke up while I was trying to get the picture. Here she is pretending...with a smile on her face!

The picture below has an interesting story behind it. Frank wanted one of those giant snowmen that blow fake snow inside. He could never figure out how to go about getting one because they aren't found in Germany (somehow that doesn't surprise me). We came up with a shipping solution and now it graces the entrance to his jeans store. Frank believes he is the only German with such a display!

We visited Boleslawiec, Poland for four days - 11/29-12/2. What a great trip!! The Poles win the prize for the most gracious, friendly people that we've met so far. While the scenary wasn't all that spectacular, the people more than made up for it! We went on our trip with our friends, Edna and Chuck. Schotzie rode along too.

The trip took about six hours from our house, so we didn't get there until late in the afternoon on the 29th. Our lodging, The Blue Beetroot, was phenomenal. It was originally a barn and was lovingly refurbished. Check it out at http://www.bluebeetroot.com/. The owners are transplanted Londoner's, Barbara and John. You felt like part of the family while you were there. Schotzie certainly did...she ate in their kitchen most every night! She also frolicked with the resident dogs...Sir Maximillian is shown here with Barbara. The first pic is the outside of the Blue Beetroot.We spent the entire day Friday in several pottery stores. We managed to purchase quite a bit, especially since the Polish currrency, the Zloty, is a decent value to the dollar. Seems like Poland is one of the few places in Europe where the dollar isn't being crushed!

After we tired of buying pottery, we decided to go visit an 11th century castle. Grodziec castle was about 30 minutes outside of town and was probably the highlight of our trip. The caretaker, Mr. Zennen, provided us with a flashlight and let us go off and explore. By the time we got there, it was almost dark, and once inside the castle, it got hairy. Little light, narrow paths and circular staircases made for an adventure. Not to mention one dog that doesn't like circular stairs and Edna on crutches. Once we finished exploring, we were brought into a huge room with the largest fireplace I've ever seen. Mr. Zennen sat us down with coffee, tea, bread and some privately-made wine that was excellent. We wanted to buy some but he said it wasn't possible. Then he brings out two tiaras, armor, swords and various other medievel accessories and has us all dress up. The queens are below, along with a video of Edgar and Chuck.

The next day, we headed out to the Dudek Pottery, which still uses the same methods to create their pottery as they did hundreds of years ago. We had a wonderful host here as well, who wouldn't let us leave without a few gifts. We didn't leave empty-handed, as we all had to have a few pieces of this authentic pottery.

From here we went to the Studio Borowski, where they are world renowned for creating some impressive pieces of artwork from glass. We took a tour of the factory with the daughter-in-law of the owner, and finished up our tour by (yep, you guessed it) making some purchases. Edgar got a wonderful piece of artwork, a chamelion with a big mouth that you could use as a vase or bowl. Here is a picture of the glass blowers working on part of a vase.

After we left the glass blowing factory, we made a couple of stops in more pottery stores, just to make sure we hadn't missed anything. Then we headed back to the Blue Beetroot, where we had dinner for the third night in a row. We liked it there so much we never ate anywhere else!

All in all, a wonderful trip. I'm sure we'll make it a point of visiting Poland again.

Christmas in Germany is wonderful. The Christmas Markets are in full swing, and every town and village, no matter how small, has one. Some are only one day, some are every day (like in Frankfurt, Koln and Rudesheim). I'm trying to go to as many as possible, and collect a gluewein (hot spiced wine...which is really tasty and keeps you warm as you stroll among the vendors outside) mug from each. So far, I've been to Erbach (our village), Eltville (the next village), Mainz, Wiesbaden, Frankfurt and Rudesheim. I hope to go to Nuremburg too. Here are a few pics from various markets. The first three are in Frankfurt:

From the Mainz Christmas market:

From the Rudesheim Christmas market:

This past weekend (12/8-12/9) was Edgar's work Christmas party. Without boring you with all the details, Edgar was elected to be Mrs. Claus. The party started at 7pm and at 4pm, he decided it was time to figure out what to wear! Watching the transformation was the most fun of all, but here he is in all his fake and real parts:

Later, he put on casual clothes. The theme of the party was a Hawaiian luau. I didn't go in theme but many others did. They gave out quite a few door prizes and I won one....an 8 GB IPOD Nano...exactly what I wanted for Christmas. I was so excited!! Some pics from the party....

Pam, Edna and Becky:

Dan and Edgar:

John, Chuck and Edgar:

On December 13th, we had the first gathering of the very informal spouses group. I guess we had about 12 or so people and we spent a few hours strolling through the Wiesbaden Christmas market. Hopefully, after the holidays, I will host a happy hour at my house and we'll get some more new faces!!

The next day, Sandra and I took a 2.5 hour train ride to Nurnburg, to that Christmas market. It was as large as Frankfurt's and the city was beautiful. They also have a huge shopping area. The trip down seemed kind of long, but on the way back, we shared cheese, bread and a very good bottle of French wine and we got home very fast! We were very happy by the time Edgar picked us up at the train station.

The funniest thing I saw (notwithstanding the accordian playing Santa with his elf dog) were numerous stands selling nut and fruit people. I didn't quite get the attraction, but here's a picture of one of the stands:

One last Christmas market....Edgar and I went to Colmar, France on December 22nd. While it was painfully cold outside, we enjoyed seeing the French version of a Christmas market and strolling through the wonderful town. Incredibly, we ran into our friends Edna and Chuck (and her son David and his girfriend Kristin) while we were there. How odd it is to see someone you know while you are away from your local surroundings! A bit of history, which I did not remember, is that the people of France gave the Statue to the people of the United States over one hundred years ago in recognition of the friendship established during the American Revolution. I guess that's why a miniature version stood at the entrance of town.

This was the first time I was away from home for Christmas. While I missed seeing my parents, sister and brother and other friends and relatives, it turned out to be a very nice Christmas. Gabi and Peter invited us to their house for Christmas Eve. It was also Paulina's birthday, so the day started with a gathering to celebrate her birthday. We got her some inline skating pads, which Paulina wanted before she used her new skates. Later that day, we gathered for dinner. And what a dinner it was. Gabi andher mother prepared a fondue feast....turkey, beef tenderloin and pork tenderloin, various dipping sauces, salads, bread. It was fantastic. The tradition in the Golla family is to open gifts on Christmas Eve and the floor around the tree was packed with gifts. One of the nicest surprises was a gift to Edgar and I from Frank and Sandra...an outdoor fire pit! Gabi and Peter gave us the most useful gift....a wine cooler bag, along with a bottle of wine! One of Paulina's gifts was the game of Twister, which provided some amusing photographs.

On Christmas Day, we spent a very quiet day opening our gifts to each other, calling back home and watching movies. Edgar requested risotto for our main meal, and I found a wonderful recipe that turned out fantastic. The boys arrived on the 27th, and as soon as we walked in the door, they opened their presents. The most frustrating part of that was that Jake's gift (an electric guitar) didn't make it here in time. In fact, it arrived the day after he left for home. He took it gracefully, but I could tell he was very disappointed. We enjoyed a very short five days together, before they headed back to the US.

On New Year's Eve, we celebrated with our German friends again, this time at the home of Moni and Christian. There were 20 or so adults and around 12 children. Frank had taken Andrew out a few days before to buy fireworks. It's the only night of the year where fireworks are allowed to be set off. Andrew was so excited, as he loves everything about fireworks. He wasn't disappointed. I have never seen so many fireworks go off at once in my life, not even on 4th of July. Because Moni and Christian live up on a hill, we were able to see firework displays for miles. Frank also purchased these very cool balloons (each family had at least one) that looked like miniature hot air balloons. They were powered by a small piece of paraffin looking stuff that you lit and waited until the balloon filled with hot air and then you released. While releasing, each of the families made a wish for the new year and sent "it off to heaven". Very cool.

I'll close this post of my German blog with all the best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2008 to all my friends and family...here and abroad!!

Pam

Friends and Family

2007-11-08T17:24:00.004+01:00

This blog is a pictorial of our friends and family back in the U.S. If you aren't on here yet, beware of the camera next time I'm in town!! Better yet, send me a recent picture so I can post it sooner!!

My Parents (Janice and Loy):

My sister and brother (Laura and Eric):

Edgar's Parents (Tony and Rosemary) and his brothers (Mark and Mike):

Our kids (L-R...Andrew, Rose, Connie and Jake)

My sister, Laura and her squeeze Jack:

My friend Donna:

My friend Michele:

My friend Gina:

My friend Carol and her son Jack:

My friend Kim and her daughter Kendall:

Kim's oldest daughter, Cori:

Kim's youngest daughter, Lexie:

Kim's daughter, Abigail and Carol's daughter, Hannah:

My friend Elizabeth:

My friends Annette, Kamal (and baby Aiden):

(L to R...friends Kim, Sandy, Jane and Sharon):

My friends Lauren and Janice:

Edgar's friends Mark (left) and Alan (right):

From my trip home in Spring of 2008:

My sister Laura, cousin Patty, me and my Mom:

My friends Jun and Erin and their new baby Alex:

My sister Laura and my friend Sandy:

My friend Sheila:

My friend Carrie:

My friend Judi:

My friend Barry and Judi's husband:

My friend Tom:

(L to R) Donna, John, Sandy, Doris, Gina, Sheila, Michael and Adele:

The Fall Months

2007-09-08T14:19:00.001+02:00

A small town in Germany (Bad Durkheim) throws a big party each September. Around a million people visit the Sausage Fair (Wurstmarkt). Essentially this is a wine festival of immense proportions, with sausage on the side. Bands, music, fairground rides, wine tastings, and firework spectaculars add to the fun and frolics. Held in a tented fairground over two long weekends, this is a hectic-paced party that keeps going through the night and into the early hours. We spent an afternoon there on September 8th, with our friends Edna and Chuck, but didn't take any pictures except for a beautiful garden we saw on the way to the fest.

The following Saturday (9/15) we went to a wine tasting sponsored by a co-worker of Edgar's. Everyone bought a bottle of red wine from a specific region of France and they were bagged to hide the labels and we tasted and rated. At the end, points were tallied and the winner of the favorite won a beautiful decanter. And the winner of the loser got a prize too...but I can't remember what it was! There were about 30 people there. Good food and drink!!

The next day (9/16), we did a picnic with our German neighbors. The weather was perfect...low 80's with a light breeze. We hiked about 4km (one way) with 12 or so adults, 10 kids and one dog (Schotzie, of course). The hike took us through numerous vineyards and portions were at a good uphill grade. I'm surprised the kids made it. We even had one in a hiking stroller!!

About 30 minutes in, we stopped for a rest (under the premise that the kids needed a rest). Out popped the wine bottles and we all had a glass (yes, a real glass...we hike in style here) and some snacks. Then off we continued to our final destination.

The view was gorgeous, overlooking the vineyards and the Rhine river. We ate and drank for about 2 hours. The best part is that Gabby's husband Peter was coming late (he was with his son Johannes at a handball game) so he drove there with 2 more coolers filled with more wine and drinks for the kids. I have no idea how much we drank and ate, but it sure was relaxing. Edgar bought a football and it got tossed around, to the chagrin of Schotzie, who ran back and forth barking, between the tossers.

Edgar set the timer on his camera to get a group shot. It didn't turn out as well as we hoped, but here we are....

Later on that night we went to a local show with Gabby and Peter to see the German version of Stomp. It was MUCH better than the one I saw at home. Less intense noise and just really good use of ordinary objects to make noise. There was only a short dialogue, so we didn't get lost trying to understand!!

This weekend (9/21-9/23) is a big bazaar on the Army Air Field where vendors from numerous countries come and sell their wares. I've heard it's a great time and lots of cool things are available for purchase.

The bazaar was excellent. I came home with a case of wine, cheese, clothing, Polish Pottery and a few Christmas gifts. On Saturday we went hiking to Loreley, about 40 minutes from our house. Edgar saw a castle that he wanted to explore. We drove into the town and then hiked up a pretty good sized hill with a lot of stone steps. The view along the way was gorgeous. That's the Rhine in the background.

The hike only took about 15 minutes but when we got to the top, it turned out that the castle is privately owned and doesn't accept visitors. Bummer!!! So then we just strolled around the town till we found a spot to sit down and have a beer. We took this pic of the castle from the town.

On Sunday, we had a big cookout with over 50 people. The invitees were a diverse group...some German neighbors (who speak only German), some German neighbors (who speak English too), co-workers from Edgar's work, and some friends I've made since we moved here. Everyone contributed a dish to share. Our neighbors brought over a self-cooling keg of beer (we need those in the US!) and I made a huge batch of ribs and brats. The weather was absolutely gorgeous....low 80's and sunny. It was a great party!!

I'm off to the States for a bit, so it will probably be quiet on the blog front for a while. Hope to see as many of you as I can while I'm home!!

Tschuss!!

(That means "See You!")

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

While I was back in the US, Edgar participated in the annual grape harvest run by his office. This harvest will actually become bottles of branded wine that his office can sell....and it's pretty good too!!

He also went hiking in the Austrian Alps. Here are some shots of that trip:

A "Roman" Anniversary

2007-09-04T21:50:00.001+02:00

Back in the States, it's Labor Day weekend. It's also our third anniversary...on September 4th. Edgar took me to Rome for a long weekend. And when you travel with Edgar, it's a "labor" in itself...the man doesn't slow down one minute!

We flew on Ryan Air, which is like a cheap sister to Southwest or AirTran. There's no assigned seating, and you typically fly in and out of remote airports. You also don't fly at lovely hours either. But, the price is right, so off we flew on Ryan Air from Frankfurt (Hahn...about an hour from our house) to Rome-Ciampino (about 45 minutes from downtown Rome).

We arrived in Rome about 8am on Saturday, September 1st. We immediately headed for the USO office so we could hop on a few tours. Luckily, we got there just in time for the Vatican City tour, which just so happened to be right around the corner from the USO office. We waited in line for about 45 minutes (which, believe me, was not long, considering that the line snaked around many blocks, and we were towards the front).

The tour took us through the Vatican Museum, the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's. What an overwhelming experience...and we didn't even see it all!! Our tour guide was pretty good, but she had a heavy Italian accent, so sometimes you just couldn't figure out the word she was saying! But all in all, it was very cool to be at the Vatican, and know that perhaps the Pope was in his living quarters right down the hall!

One of the coolest things I saw at the Vatican was a hallway with numerous pieces of artwork that looked like paintings from afar but were actually tapestries. And on the ceiling, the artwork looked like it was 3D but was actually 1D and painted with a technique to look like it had depth. It's hard to put into words how amazing it looked.

After the Vatican, we headed on another tour of two famous Basilica's and one of the largest catacombs, where they used to bury the dead underground. The first church was the Santa Maria Maggiore. For more information about this church, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_di_Santa_Maria_Maggiore. Here's a picture of the inside:

The second church was the San Giovanni Laterano, which has the inscription outside that it is the most famous church in Rome, and in the world. For more information, see http://rome.arounder.com/san_giovanni_in_laterano/index.html. Here is a picture of the inside:

Opposite the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano (St. John Lateran), the Holy Stairs are reputed to be those walked up by Christ, preserved at this former Papal palace. The 28 marble stairs carefully preserved in this handsome building are traditionally the steps walked up by Christ on his way to trial before Pontius Pilate. St. Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, was a pioneering collector of relics, and the staircase is supposedly among her finds, brought to Rome in c.326 AD. Devout pilgrims still mount the steps on their knees, praying. The rate of progress is very slow and looks suitably punishing. Nowadays the stairs are protected by wood, although there are holes cut through above marks which are supposed to be Jesus's blood (you won't be able to see through these unless you do the kneeling).

The catacombs of Di Domitilla were astounding. Four levels deep, this is the oldest of the catacombs. You enter through a sunken 4th-century church. One of the neatest sights was a 2nd century fresco of the Last Supper. We didn't see any bones, but apparently there are some remaining...just not in the part we toured.

We ended the day with a dinner on one of the Piazza's and then strolled over to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. By the way, something I did not know about Rome until I went there....there are public water fountains scattered everywhere, so one bottle of water in the morning was refilled over and over, keeping us hydrated while we walked what seemed like 20 miles a day!

Our second day in Rome started with the Colliseum. What an amazing architectural feat!! With a little imagination, you could visualize 50,000 Romans cheering for the gladiators...or the lions!

Next to the colliseum was the Constantine Arch, which you can see in the background in the picture below. The Arch was erected to commemorate Constantine I's victory over Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312 AD.

Next we toured through The Forum. The Roman Forum (Forum Romanum) was the political and economical centre of Rome during the Republic. It emerged as such in the 7th century BCE and maintained this position well into the Imperial period, when it was reduced to a monumental area. It was mostly abandoned at the end of the 4th century.

After the Forum, we headed to Palatine, disputed to be one the earliest Roman settlements. For more info, see http://sights.seindal.dk/sight/242_Palatine_Hill.html

We then walked through a number of Piazza's, had dinner and did some light shopping.

Our third day in Rome was basically just a huge long walk, sometimes we saw a sight we had already seen. We went into a number of churches, and everyone was amazing. We did see the Pantheon, which is touted as the best preserved building of ancient Rome. We saw quite a few more fountains. Edgar also took the steps to the top of St. Peter's Dome and had someone take a picture of him standing there. This is a feat in itself, as Edgar is not a fan of heights. If you look hard, maybe you'll see the white knuckles?? Some pictures are below:

All in all, a wonderful trip...and an awesome anniversary present. One can only wonder what he will come up with for next year's anniversary!!

Daily Life

2007-08-29T12:29:00.001+02:00

I love it here in Germany. Life is certainly very different than in the US. For one, Germans know the value of downtime and relaxation. Every day between 1-3pm is quiet time. That means no loud noises such as lawn mowers! And on Sunday, no shops are open, only restaurants. Quiet time is all day. That means you relax...play a game, sit on your deck, read, go to a fest, enjoy some wine and beer, etc. No washing your car, mowing your lawn or trimming the bushes. In fact, if you do it anyway, you will probably get reprimanded by a local. One Sunday I was hand-trimming bushes and weeding, and my neighbor came over with a beer and said I needed to sit down and drink instead. I'm not kidding!

Speaking of beers, the beer is fantastic! I've tried many kinds...pils are my favorite but I'm really liking the dark (dunkel) beers too. I'm not a big fan of the weiss beer. It's looks cloudy and has a very distinctive taste. Edgar likes Radlers, which are a mix of beer and lemon soda. The most popular soda is called a Spetzi, which is a blend of coke and orange soda, or coke and lemon-lime soda. It's actually really good!

Since we are smack dab in the middle of the Rhein Valley, the wine here is abundant and wonderful. I've acquired a taste for Reislings, which is a huge step for this Chardonnay girl. I also really like secco (or prosecco in Italian), which are white wines that are lightly carbonated. Not as bubbly as champagne and not ultra dry, they are perfect for a hot summer evening! Edgar is a sweet wine drinker and he's fallen in love with Auslese (too sweet for me) and ice wines (made after the first frost hits the grapes). From the guy who rarely drank in the US, he now makes it a habit to pick up wines during our travels. Who knew??

Shopping is done daily or every other day. Here is a picture of the small grocery store in Erbach. Next door is one of three bakeries. It's kind of ironic that a town as small as Erbach would have three bakeries, but then again, we probably have 10-15 vintners! Bread and wine...who can complain?

Walking is a daily activity. Whether it's to the Rewe for groceries, the bakery for fresh bread and rolls, or taking Schotzie for her constitutionals. My favorite route takes me past many gardens, the local soccer field, various vineyards and winestubes (vintners).

Recycling is big here. We have four separate trashcans in our kitchen. One for paper and cardboard, one for plastic, one for glass and one for all the other trash. And under the sink, a small container for food waste. Regular trash is only collected once every two weeks, which would definitely be a problem back home. But since so much trash is recycled, we actually don't have a problem with trash piling up. Glass is recycled based on color and every few streets have containers for collection. I guess this picture tells all. The Germans' love their wine!!

The streets are narrow in most towns. There are a lot of directional signs that regulate the flow of traffic when only one lane can pass at a time. On the street leading to our house, it's a fairly long hill. Custom is to let those driving up the hill go first. So when you are driving down, you are constantly pulling over between parked cars to let cars going uphill pass.

Speaking of driving....yep, we drive fast over here. On the slowest Autoban, the speed limit is 100 km, which is 60 mph. A typical two lane autoban will usually post a 120 km speed limit (72 mph). But when you see the sign with three diagonal slashes? Go as fast as you want. No kidding! Edgar has had the Porsche up to 125mph. Everyone else is going fast too, so you don't even realize you fast you are going!!

Tschuss!!

(Informal Goodbye in German)

Summer 2007

2007-08-22T17:27:00.001+02:00

Edgar and I moved to Germany on June 7th, 2007 for a three year tour. Leaving the U.S. was a huge move for me, Baltimore-Bred-Never-Left girl!! But as they say, you don't want to lie on your deathbed with a list of "I wish I's..."!!!

My Mom, sister and assorted friends (a special thanks to Sheila, Jack and Jane) gave Edgar and I a surprise going-away party on May 5th at a State Park near our home in Ellicott City. Check out the invites that looked JUST LIKE a real passport. Each guest turned them back in at the party with some heart-felt comments. What a great turnout of friends and family. I even managed to stay tear-free, in spite of my friend Cassie!

It seemed like months of preparation of what to take, what to store, what to sell, what to do with the house (it's rented, for now), what to do with our Dog, Schotzie (she's here with us), what to do with the cats (one is with my Mom and Dad, one is with my friend Sandy Peterson's daughter, Abbie), etc. But we finally boarded an evening flight from Dulles and headed to our new home outside of Frankfurt. Actually, our first home was a temporary apartment in Schierstein, a "suburb" of Wiesbaden.

We were very fortunate to rent from a nice German man who owned a 2-bedroom penthouse apartment overlooking the Rhine river. Here's the view from our bedroom:

Even though we knew our permanent housing was going to be wonderful, it sure was hard to leave the waterview! We stayed in the apartment for nearly a month. Unfortunately, there was a really good ice cream vendor on the path we took to walk Schotzie, and we had one nearly every night. The good thing is that servings aren't huge here, and a small scoop of ice cream was only 50 cent Euro!!

Edgar and I spent every free moment exploring around us. We took in castles (schloss), ruins (berg), restaurants, hiking paths, tourist traps. Here are a few scenary pics from some of our trips.

My sons, Andrew and Jake, came for their six week visit on June 25th. That's also the day we had our first guests...Barb Biebl and her husband, John, and their children, Risa and Alex. The boys came off the plane totally exhausted (who can sleep on planes anyway?), so after a three hour nap, they were up and ready to start exploring. We met Barb and her family and headed off to Rudesheim, which is a town about 30 minutes away from the apartment. Here we are having lunch.

On July 2nd, we moved into our permanent home in Erbach. Erbach is a very small town which has the distinction of having a strawberry (erdbeeren) fest every summer that draws people from miles around. Kind of ironic to be known for a strawberry fest when you are surrounded by vineyards everywhere you look!! Erbach is located in the Rheingau area of Germany, where the best Riesling wines are made [http://www.germanwine.de/english/d_reg/r_rhein.htm]. It's a terrible place to have to live...with all that wine that must be tasted!! The front of our house is shaded by trees and you can't really get a good picture, but here's a picture of the back of the house.

We have six bedrooms (and you thought I was kidding when I said to come visit) and 2.5 baths. The kitchen is a very good size and although the German fridge is way too small, the Army was kind enough to give us an extra one. How convenient...one fridge for wine and beer, the other for food!

We have awesome neighbors! Most of them speak very good English and we have already spent many evenings sharing a bottle of wine on someone's patio or deck. Here are a few pics of our neighbors at the wine fest in Wiesbaden. The first pic is of Gabby and Peter. They have two children, Johannes (10) and Paulina (6). Gabby and Peter live right next door. The second picture is of Sandra and Frank. They live behind Gabby and Peter.

For the next few weeks, the boys and I spent our days going to the Army base library (to check and send emails...our only method of communication at the time), checking out local attractions and taking walks and bike rides. On the weekends, when Edgar was home, we took day trips and explored castles and ruins.

On July 4th, we went to the Army Airfield and spent the afternoon checking out the activitites (bullrides, gravity spins, bungee jumping, paintball) and then watched some amazing fireworks at 10pm.

I let the boys choose where they would like to go for a 3 day trip and they chose Paris. So, off we went on July 17th. This trip was very intimidating for me, as I was the only adult, I was taking a four hour train trip from Wiesbaden to Paris (having never taken a train before) and had to find the hotel once I got to the city. We purchased a lot of metro tickets and rode the metro every day to get to where we wanted to go. And, as luck would have it, I found the hotel with no problem!!

Andrew has always been a brave guy, and decided to let a Paris hairstylist cut his hair. It turned out really great. A little short, but it grew out quickly and he had a very cool reminder of our trip to Paris. Jake wasn't quite so keen, so we got his cut on base by a barber after we got back!

Rose and Connie (Edgar's girls) arrived on July 21st. This was also the first day of a weeklong vacation through Southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland and France. By Car. With Kids. Yikes! We saw SO MUCH it was incredible. These few pictures can't even begin to tell the story. Unfortunately, that will be the first and last time we take a week long car tour...too hard on the big people!! Maybe next year a cruise through the Greek islands??

The boys and I headed off to the States for the week of August 4th-12th. The boys headed home to their Dad and I headed off to a Melaleuca conference in Atlanta. Check out how well we clean up!

Luckily, my sister Laura now lives in Atlanta with her very wonderful man Jack, so we spent some time together. The first pic below is what I saw when I got off the plane in Atlanta. The second picture is one of the Pandas at the Atlanta Zoo. I came back to Germany on the 13th.

On the weekend of August 18th, we headed out to Verdun, France and Luxembourg. Verdun is an area preserved from the effects of World War I. Edgar loves all things history, particularly when it has to do with war. I can't say I share the same enthusiasm, but going to Ft. Douaumont and touring a very famous underground fort was definitely worthwhile.

On the weekend of the 25th, we headed back to France to visit yet another fort (or two). I will bite my tongue because our third anniversary is coming up and Edgar surprised me with a long weekend in Rome!