Games secretly disguised....or "Discovering YOUR village"

All you moms out there can relate to this, I'm certain:  beautiful, sunshiny, warm day and the kids are draped over the couch like blankets, complaining to each other about "who" killed "what" on mine craft!  (Or some variation of that argument!)  So, clever mom and clever 15 year old create a game.  Not just any game, but one that is secretly disguised as "get the kids out of the house, no matter what, but must not involve the wasteful use of water in the street!"

(drum roll...) Village Photo Scavenger Hunt!

It's likely already been invented, but we've never played.  So here's what we did to not only get out of the house, but also get a better scope of the little details in our village.  We took pictures of the quaint little things you probably wouldn't really photograph, since they aren't a national monument or castle or something, BUT, photos that reminded us of the PLACE we live.  At the end of the day, the photo scavenger hunt becomes another documented memory for the family to recall when we've moved on to yet another base, another land, another village.

The object of the game is to find the places where the opposing team took their photos.

1.  Divide into teams --1 parent per team

2.  Choose a boundary for the game (we used our street all the way to the bus stop - about 4-6 blocks)

3.  Team 1 has 30 minutes to walk around outside and take 5 unique photos:   photos must have stationary objects--something that doesn't move, so the chickens across the street don't count.  Unless you ask them to please stand still for the next hour.  So far, these chickens don't listen to anyone.

4.  Team 2 takes their turn at getting their 5 photos.

5.  Trade cameras (or iPhones, ipads, etc) and start scavenging for the places the opposing team took their photos.  **You must take a new photo with one of your teammates in the picture to prove you actually found the photo spot.

6.  Winner is the team with the most photos correctly identified (best of 5)  Time limit is 45 minutes.

Enjoy the time well spent with your family and take the opportunity to really "see" where you live!  One variation:  go to a city/village you've never been to, mark the boundaries and see what you discover there. I'm thinking this would be fun in a big city square like the Grand Platz in Bruxelles or the Altstaat in  Innsbruck.

This one was actually easier to find than we thought --and both teams photographed it!

Our neighbors down the street have the only patch of purple tulips...
these are the front yards we walk past everyday to the bus stop.

I'm curious to find out if any readers try this...let me know!

Lonely tree from afar, pigeons in an old house, horses in a car garage

old wall, gardens from above and down the street

Happy Scavenging!

Tschuss!

Linda

A Cloudy Sunday Drive

A cloudy, dreary weekend with baseball games postponed due to rain.  Tired of playing yet another indoor nerf game. The desperate need to get the wiggles out resulted in a wonderful Sunday drive discovery:  Wildpark Potzberg!  

Our mission was to find a place open on Sunday to purchase a pretzel.  Instead, we found the Wildpark and apple cake (pretzels, sold out.)  The weather kept a lot of people away, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  Although it was a bit windy on the mountain top, we enjoyed the hike around the grounds and the opportunity to feed the very, very friendly beasts.

They have daily Falconry shows at the park and had lots of birds --some on stoops, some in cages, all were incredibly well fed, judging from the remains in their dishes!  

Animals you may encounter:  peacocks, bunnies, donkeys, ponies, moose, white deer, elk, bald eagles, falcons, hawks, horses, goats and more!

We enjoyed a delicious apfel kuchen in the café after spending more time with the goats
and the giant barrel on the playground.
Time spent out of the house: 2.5 hours.  Time spent finding something new:  priceless 

20-30 minute drive north from Ramstein AFB
Cost: €5 child; €7 adults, food for animals €1/box

Wildpark-Falknerei Potzberg
Inh. Harald Schauß
66887 Föckelberg
www.Wildpark.potzberg.de

Two Words for Venice (or Venice, the short story)

Venice for spring break.  Awesome choice since we escaped cold, dreary "spring" to  sunny, warm Italy! And, checked another country on our list (totally want to go back for more!)  We were only there for 2 days, so it was just a "taste" of Italy.... I asked the boys to give me 2 words to describe Venice.  

Zach:  "Bridges and boats".......
"and Water, lots of water!"  that was 3 Zach...we said 2 words!
Zach's best Venice joke as we crossed this canal for the 14th time:
"Look! it's a gondola stau!"  (pronounce Sht+oww = traffic jam) Zach loved the whole city--in and out of museums and checking out the architecture, prisons, weapon displays, paintings and globes.

Nate:  "Gelato and narrow streets"Nate is our culinary expert --he managed to find us the BEST restaurant and gelato places!  But, don't ask him about the pigeons...(couldn't stand them being everywhere and likely to land on or near you...which they didn't, but....)

The narrow streets were a bit tough to navigate as he didn't like that "lost" feeling....but getting lost we found our hotel, above.  And, we found a woodworker's shop: met a wonderful Italian man who shared his puzzle crafts with us and talked about life in Venice.   He had all 3 boys in the palm of his hand for 30 minutes.  Priceless.  and, his Gelato recommendation was the best! Here's what we took home in addition to memories:

Alex:  "Architecture... and Lions"The winged lion is the symbol of Venice's patron St. Mark --we found lions EVERYWHERE!  (way more fun to count than # of McDonald's restaurants in Europe)
Above left, 16th century trade/business building in Piazza San Marco
Right, gondola parking in front of the Rialto bridge 
Of all our children, Alex will appreciate the beauty of Europe the most, as he realizes these are things you just don't see everyday in "the States."  He was not impressed, however, with the kitschy miles of stores in the Rialto merchant district!  <sigh> he is not my shopping buddy

Last words: Venice = "Magic & Fashion"
A young Italian girl on the train said she hoped we would find Venice to be a magical place.  I'm not so sure, I would really describe it that way, but it did have a certain allure about it.  I had no idea Venice was such a high-end shopping mecca --Gucci, Prada, Versace, Channel, etc...the window displays were amazing..I was too scared to even look at the price tags! I certainly want to go back and see more of the city, take a gondola ride, visit Murano glass blowers, listen to more dueling orchestras.   

FYI:  more about St Mark's bones: "stolen" from his Muslim-occupied gravesite in Egypt in 828AD and built St Mark's Basilica in his honor.  Original church burned in 976, but current structure was begun in 1063 with an "East meets West" decor:  Roman arches, Byzantine mosaics (imagine paving a football field with contact lenses-according to Rick Steves), Muslim inspired onion shaped domes, and marble slab walls from all over the world.

Where have all the flowers gone? (Or, how to enjoy dirt)

I'm hearing strains of Pete Seeger as I write this post about our excursion to Keukenhof Gardens in Holland (which is technically The Netherlands).   It's been a long winter in Germany ~ even the Deutsch are tired of waiting for spring.  Usually by April 1st the tulips are in bloom, but this year the shoots are hanging out in warm dirt.  I totally don't blame them...

If you squint really hard, you can see all the beautif......

Perhaps the beauty in the cold, windy day was the lack of people at the Garden...
we pretty much had the place to ourselves!  

Welcome to Disney  Keukenhof where the queues are non extant,
the streudel is warm, and the flowers are in pots.

 It was a lovely garden with plenty to see/do inside and out.  We wandered thru much of the park checking out the sculptures and enjoying the outdoor living ideas.  They even had a small animal farm and a zipline on the playground, so a whole family could find something to enjoy!

Playground --yes the water was cold, no I didn't get wet!

EYE loved the sculptures!

Oh, the fun we all could've had back in Iowa if we'd only had
cool camper like this instead of the boring old tree house....

Actually, I wish I had a little sanctuary like this now...but the camper needs to be a little bigger...

Seeking respite from the crisp, sea air we checked out the tulip displays inside the Oranje Nassau pavilion.  Hundreds of flower show arrangements and rows of beautiful tulips in every color & variety.

Drawn to the art: paintings and stained glass work for sale..inspiration for Zach!

Lastly, one can't visit Holland and the tulip world without talking about shoes.
Not your average, run-of-the-mill wooden shoe, though.
Here they had everything from Giant to fairy sized, orange pumps to painted blue shoes! 
 

I would totally try the pumps if they weren't nailed to the bench!

Good thing God got the proportions right for us!

So, the rest is all flowers --lots of pictures, but I couldn't pick just one!
Enjoy!

Vaarwell,

Linda

"Fringed tulip"  Spiky seems more apt.

these were some sort of double bloom tulip
--hard to really capture the dimension in the photo!

frilly and perfect--reminds me of those dresses you just twirl around in!

One can always depend on crocus for a little early spring...

loved the pale blue color --so different!

Seriously GIANT amaryllis --this must have been 3 feet tall and blooms the size of  my hand!
From inside this shop one could purchase bulbs and ship them anywhere in the world.

another cool sculpture -I love the movement in this piece. 

German excursions with Jennifer

We gave Jennifer a taste of Germany near our village --introducing her to the tastes, smells, weather and sights was a lot of fun!

The bakery truck comes right to our door several times a week!  Full of tasty breads, pretzels and bakery sweets!  Wheat on wheels....

IDAR- OBERSTEIN
home of the Church in the Rocks, as well as many jewelry stores and precious stone mines...Our trip here was to meet a friend of Jennifer's, however, my dear GPS "Heather" (God bless her, grrr) just kept turning us in circles.  We ended up not meeting the friend as we drove around the city for 45 minutes in search of the "meeting place".  Finally, we stumbled upon a shop and had a wonderful German conversation with the sweetest grandma ever!  "Oma" gave us a wonderful lunch suggestion and in following her directions, we found the church!  Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go inside the church, but we did enjoy a feast for lunch.

Schloss Oberstein, home to 2 brothers in 14th century, who both fell in love unknowingly with the same girl. (obviously dysfunctional families existed back then too!)  When Wyrich returned home and learned of the engagement, he threw his brother over the cliff in a fit of rage.  Wyrich eventually built the church on the rock as penance for his sin.  He died there on the altar steps as the church was consecrated.

The church on the rock:

Lunch restaurant, Oma's favorite: I love the mix of English and German around here...Ger-lish"

Spießbraten --flame grilled pork steak with radish slaw and baked potato....
it's like being in Iowa everyday with this kind of meat!!! 

Cochem Castle

 Cochem castle, built around the year 1000, had many inhabitants including counts, lords and archbishops until it was blown up by the French in 1689.  Cochem castle laid in ruin for the next 200 years until Louis Ravené, a German businessman purchased it in 1868 and started the reconstruction for their summer home.  The castles' decor reflects the Renaissance & Baroque periods and much of the structure is open to the public.  The incredible detail in woodwork and the re-creation of the living space is pretty amazing!

Jennifer & me with a view of the Mosel River from atop the castle

Inside a dining area in the castle

Alex decided to journey with us today in the freezing-cold-windy-rainy-let's go see a castle day!  This is the main square in Cochem, still decorated for Easter.  Alex found comfort in a warm "apfel strudel mit eis" (actually we all loved it and the warm drink!)

Cochem castle had a falcon program and we managed to catch this guy on top of the crest outside the castle!  No little German village in the Mosel wine valley is complete without the customary wine shop and tasting room.  We found a little cellar with ice wine--another experience to share with Jennifer, but not nearly as tasty as the -20* ice wine at Maria's Italian place....I did find some pear liqueur to bring home but it's already gone.  Must've been a hole in the bottle or something....