the Chunnel, Christmas and LEFT!

This Christmas would be different:  our first in Europe; our first in many, many years without Papa.  It was good therapy to plan a trip to the English countryside and experience "Christmas in Canterbury".  And, I wanted to find an amazing worship/music experience for Christmas Eve in my own language (resolution: learn more German this year!)   This was the first time in many years I wasn't the church musician during the holiday.  It was very strange to only be a participant.  Lovely, but strange.

Fortunately, I'm blessed with an adventurous husband who wanted to try driving in the UK.   (and blessed with 3 boys who knew Christmas wouldn't happen if they didn't come along for the ride!)   At first I thought we should take a train, but I'm really glad we drove --there was so much beautiful country to see in Kent!

Our vacation commenced with a morning drive thru pothole-ridden Belgium to the Chunnel entrance.  Failure on my part to read all the ticket info properly resulted in missing our train load-in by 10 minutes.  UGH!   We had to wait for the next one, 1.5 hours later.  Hanging out in the Chunnel oasis wasn't so awful: we bought ginormous Toblerone bars and Christmas wine (since I accidently drank our special wine a few weeks earlier.  Alone. oops! But it was SO tasty!)

No joke, toblerone bars the size of your head!  Perfect for the emergency chocolate stash….

Next, we followed the signs to load our car onto the train.  Our language expert, Alex, claims to have not retained any French, so we assumed this was the right way. 

"Le tunnel sous la Manche" (you have to read that with a grovelly French accent)

Once parked, we could get out of the car and walk around the sides of the train, just not between the cars.  The way they jostled around, I can see why the parking brake sign was illuminated!  Watching more cars and buses load onto other trains, soon there was nothing to see from the windows.  Zach was really hoping to glimpse some fish….no dear, we're not in a floating tube, although it would be pretty cool to be "in" an aquarium for 50km...

Closing the fire doors inside the train

 Finally, the doors opened, we were all still alive,  James, our GPS desperately searched for a signal and we cautiously followed the signs out.  As the murmuring of "left, left, left" echoed in the car, sighting a giant horse "sculpture"on the hillside did not interest the driver nor my fellow passengers iPad game junkies.

"Left" became easier after a few days, but those first harrowing hours in the rain were a bit, well, harrowing.  Especially for this writer, seated on the right.  Closest to the oncoming traffic.  On the narrowest roads ever.  Never doubted Mike once (well, ok, a couple times I did have to shout "LEFT! after a left turn --you try turning left and staying left!)  It was the oncoming traffic that I feared most.

Twitham Court Farmhouse was our resting place for the next few days.  Located in the countryside near Canterbury, it was a peaceful haven after driving the narrow, scenic roads.  Our hostess, Sally, was ready with maps, pub reservations and places to visit--all of which were wonderful recommendations.  Click here to read all about the pub adventure! 

Sally, and her beautiful family, were gracious hosts --the house was a cross between contemporary fresh decor and nostalgic history surrounded by gorgeous landscaping, free range chickens and walking paths.  

Sally's hens made the BEST breakfasts every morning and Sally's authentic English Breakfast Tea became a fast favorite of Nate & Zach! (We have yet to replicate that taste!)

Spending Christmas Eve & Christmas morning in someone else's house was a bit of a worry for the boys.  Would Santa really find us here?  Just in case, Zach wrote a letter to Santa and left some cookies & water on a try by the fireplace.  We didn't have any hot cocoa, but figured the old man might like a change of pace for at least 1 stop!  

Christmas morning, another delicious breakfast AND Sally left Christmas crackers for the boys--an English tradition we had never encountered, but will definitely incorporate into our celebrations as we remember this special time together!  

Not a huge amount of gifts were left for us, but each of the boys asked for a couple of reasonable things and Santa came thru with just that.  OH, but there was 1 gift that just wouldn't fit in the car to bring home, so Santa stopped by our house in Germany and left a BIG package….

Nate's new Xbox controller, Zach's minecraft legos, Alex's airsoft vest

Back home to Germany a week later….oh yeah!  Carera slot cars!

More Christmas in England stories to come!

Cheers!

Linda

2013 in review

We've just finished our first year in Germany, that is, the 5 of us all together in the same time zone.   The new year always begs me to stop and reflect not just to formulate new resolutions or revisit old ones, but also to really savor the memories. We've met some wonderful people, traveled to some interesting places, made some great new friends, kept old friends close thru the wonders of technology…the following is a recap of our adventures.

10
Mike was our first tour guide and excited to share his experiences with us.  He helped us find a taste of Christmas before the markets all closed in January with an adventure to Metz, France.  King's Cakes & Glühwein for Epiphany!

9 Tirol, Austria: thanks to new friends, our first trip took us to a beautiful country and a great weekend of skiing…. but even better, spending a day in Innsbruck and eating Kaiserscharrn!

8 Birthdays and long weekends made for a perfect opportunity to run up to Bruxelles, Belgium.  Why all the fuss about the peeing boy statue, we'll never know.  We enjoyed the arches, Atomium, waffles & chocolate!

7
In April, Jennifer came to visit and off we ventured to the Netherlands! There were no blooms in Keukenhof, just acres of dirt, so our imaginations filled in the blanks.  Haarlem was a delightful little gem --we wished to rent bikes and stay there longer!  Amsterdam was where surprise met our eyes --we found the Van Gogh exhibition when the Anne Frank line was too long.  

top of the spire, Köln Cathedral

6 April far from over, Spring Break travel took us for a quick 2 night trip to Venice, Italy.  We enjoyed watching the gondolas, walking thru the bridge of sighs, listening to dueling orchestras (but learned not to order food in the piazza!) and discovering the greatest gelato ever!

5  As soon as we could shake the dust from our school books, we were on a plane to Faro, Portugal.  The week split between 2 great places --Seville, Spain and the beach resort at Faro!  The bullfight ring tour beckons our return for a real fight, the cathedral in Seville -a monstrosity;  the Roman ruins in Carmona and a B&B stay in the countryside awesome; sailing trip along the coast of Portugal to see Columbus's view followed by swimming, picnicking and sandcastle building at the beach.  Hard to decide what we liked most!

Faro, Portugal

Carmona, Spain

 4  Next  Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest!  SO many wonderful things--staying with Edith in Vienna where the breakfast conversation was remarkable; the playground across the street, Vienna Woods, dinner with Leonard's family, Klimt museum, Schönbrunn Palace…..

Budapest was a magical city--Olympic pentathlete host, dinner and sightseeing with good friends, markets, the shoe sculpture, Parliament at night and did I mention amazing Hungarian food?!

Budapest!

 The tour continued with a mountain/lake retreat at Lake Wolfgangsee, Austria.  Home to Mozart, Sound of Music and just a stone's throw to Salzburg.  Favorites included the Salt mine tour, zug to the highest peak, another awesome playground, beautiful hikes and boating on the lake.  Actually enjoyed the country so much we never made it into Salzburg!

 3  The events from mid July thru most of September were not on the "original plan" --a last minute trip to Iowa for me to help dad move to assisted living.  While there, the mayor dedicated the bandstand to dad for his 60+ years of bringing music to the city.  It was a difficult, stressful time sprinkled with a few comical moments, Ragbrai, good old Iowa cookin', renewing friendships from long ago and most of all spending time with dad.  The 5 of us were together in Iowa for dad's funeral in September for this picture.  Who would've thought the USA would be on our list of countries visited this past year?!

Fairfield, Iowa Central Park "Ron Prill Bandstand"

2  I actually returned from Iowa for a few days in early September and together with friends, our family enjoyed the winefest and parade at Bern Kasel Kues!  

Mike has never enjoyed a parade.  Until now. 

1  In mid October I journeyed without the family to Poland for a little Polish Pottery therapy.  It was a wonderful experience with some new friends --great food and new dishes for our table!

                                                       

0  Zach discovered we didn't need to go far from home for excitement --walking the meadows and fields around our village we found miniature horses and even sheep using our main street to find greener pasture!

Finally, finished up the year celebrating the Christmas season with concerts:  Mike's band, Alex & Nate's band concerts, Zach's Nutcracker performances, Christmas Markets and a beautiful holiday in Canterbury area and London!

Big Ben & us 

Canterbury Cathedral Christmas Eve

Happy New Year!

Einen guten Rusch ins Neujahr :)

Linda

Wiesbaden and St Martinstag

Last Monday was a holiday for the kids --Veteran's Day--which hardly feels like a holiday when you really think about all the sacrifices so many people have made for us to walk on this earth!  Nevertheless, a day free from school and an opportunity to get out and see the country without the massive crowds a weekend brings.  Joined by our dear friends, we journeyed up north to the beautiful city of Wiesbaden, just outside of Mainz and about a stones' throw to Frankfurt.

I fell in love with this old city a few weeks ago when I met a lovely woman selling a gorgeous piano (more on that later!)  She introduced me to her beautiful city and I've been back twice since!

Our original day plans had us (that is 2 moms, a baby and 5 kids) driving 2.5 hours out to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, an amazingly preserved medieval German village.  Weather changed our plans to shopping and exploring in Wiesbaden.  I was a bit worried about the words "shopping and boys" in the same sentence, but they were troopers!  We found several shops full of Advent calendars and toys, more shoe stores than imaginable, Starbucks (can you believe they don't serve Pumpkin Spice Lattes in Germany?!)  and the mother of all Lego stores with a whole room dedicated to just building!   We could've stayed there for hours.  We could've dropped 4 of the kids there and gone off shopping --they never would've noticed we left!

I was enjoying capturing a different angle today --just eyes on the world.  Can you tell who is whom?

Upon our return home, our village was celebrating St Martins Day --we arrived just in time to watch the children and their families parade down the street with beautiful homemade lanterns in hand.

Our neighbor, Connie, let Zach borrow her old lantern

The parade was led by a man on horse back dressed as St Martin.  The huge bonfire represents the light of holiness brought to the darkness. St Martin was

The most famous legend of St Martins' life is that he once cut his cloak in half to share with a beggar during a snowstorm, to save the beggar from dying of the cold. That night he dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak Martin had given away.

  German Kindergarten children sang a few songs about St Martin and everyone had brats & pretzels to eat and the first Glutwein of the season to drink!  It was my first opportunity to attend a village fest in my village, and nice to visit with some of our neighbors.  St Martin's Day marks the end of the harvest season and the time of year when geese are ready for slaughter.  Over the next couple of weeks in November we can find roast goose on the local menus --we are hoping to find one of those restaurants soon to enjoy a taste of German thanksgiving!

Until then....

Linda

Better than Speculoos!

For several weeks, Nate has complained about not having any more Speculoos: a gooey Nutella-like spread, but tastes like gingerbread cookies.  Not kidding.  Apparently he shared some with Rhea Mary (grandma) this summer and it mysteriously disappeared.  That’s probably the reason she recently had half her colon removed..all that sugary, gingerbready goodness was too much for her frail body!  

1. Grandma’s fine, and recovering well
2. 
   
3. Spekuloos is definitely delectable goodness but certainly won’t hospitalize anyone\
4. 
   
5. Cora is the French version of the German Globus which compares somewhat to Super Target, only better if you can even imagine that.  (I like Globus better, but they don’t have scads of cheap French wine.  I’m talking $3 cheap for real.good.stuff.) 

So, a free day from school, coinciding with another German holiday and we hit the road full of expectation.  Just the two of us and dreams of shelves full of jars (or in my case, bottles of cheap French wine.)  Our dreams came crashing down It turns out the French also observe All Saint’s Day.  Parking choices were plentiful as the Cora was... <CLOSED>  

Nate:  “I told you it would be.”  

Me:  “I had hoped it wouldn’t!”  

N: “Now what are we going to do--I’m starving.”  

Me:  “We’re only 45 minutes from home.”  

N: “Can’t we grab something to eat in the car somewhere?”  

Me:  surveying the area, um....nothing open nearby.....”ok, let’s ask James (our dear GPS)

...several restaurant choices load......."Ok why don’t you pick one and if it doesn’t work out, we go home.”  

N:  “These choices are all in French!”  

Me: <Well Duh!>   

N: “Ok, I recognize this word --petite--let’s try it.” 

So, we drive the kilometer to the “Petite” place and it looks open.  The sign made us think perhaps they weren’t doing so well financially, but with cars in the lot, there must be something good there.  Peeking inside we are greeted by rows of wine for sale --can’t be all that bad, right?  The waitress/chef/owner shows us to a table and presents us with a menu.  Ummm....my French is somewhat really not that great. Looking for key words, I figure we can’t go too wrong and other folks seem to be really enjoying their food.  

Ordering in my seriously broken French-Gerlish (she understood some German and NO English) we decided to throw caution to the wind.  About 90 minutes later we had finished a fantastic meal, including what started to be 1 dessert, but somehow I guess I ordered 2.  Darn.  Too bad we had to choke that down.  

Nate is not a particularly voracious eater.  As a matter of fact, he is super picky, which is nice sometimes when I want another honest opinion about my cooking.  But this kid rarely eats more than half what he is served.  This time, this chicken, these french fries.....A.MAZE.ING.  I’d take a do-over on my meal, but the best part was time spent with our son.  He’s 13 and in that complicated place.  He’s often overshadowed by big and little brothers.  But this day, this adventure, we sat and conversed.  No iDevices!  We talked about little stuff.  We listened to the foreign conversations around us, the Irish music in the background (which just tickles us) and dreamed about some of the places we’d like to visit.  We marveled at the interesting decor and couldn’t stop talking about the food.  How can a french fry be both crunchy and fluffy at the same time?  Dreams of “if I were class president” (the election had just taken place the previous day) and remember that time when....

Dessert!

In the end, our Cora journey to find Speculoos was put off for a day (oh yes, we went back the very next day and bought several jars) but even better than Speculoos was our culinary delight and our priceless time together.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

Ready...reSet...Detox

This post is about Polish pottery my recent journey to reset detox my body.  Many of you know I've been on a bit of a roller coaster these past few months.  (ok, a scary, fast, take you upside-down roller coaster.  Note:  I don't do roller coasters. ever.)  I could feel it coming --the aches that never really went away, the bloated feelings, general feeling of “cloudiness” in my head.  Stress, poor nutrition choices, lack of consistent exercise all contributed to my need to get myself back in order.  There’s never really a good time to detoxify; unless you can stop your life and check into Betty Ford.  So, I gave it my best shot and for the past 21 days, I’ve been on a journey to cleanse the icky stuff from my body using food and supplements*.

I failed miserably, and yet accomplished so much! My failures weigh heavily on my heart because I wanted to be completely successful.  The premise of the detox was to slowly eliminate animal products, dairy, eggs, drinks of any sort that aren't just plain water and grains from my daily diet.  Increase my water intake until I felt like a camel and seriously focus on creating healthy and edible interesting meals out of <gulp> Vegetables!   I grew up with some pretty strong rules about food:  always clean your plate, every meal needs protein and grain;  vegetables are optional, fruit is something you pick in season from the tree/vine/bush out back and eat for dessert with your cake.

This was not going to be easy.  Let’s put it this way, “you can take the girl out of Iowa but you can’t take the Iowa out of the girl.”  I. Love. Meat.  (and bread.) 

Ok, so not totally typical
for my childhood, but pretty darn close!
Meat, potato, bread and green for color, certainly not for consuming!

I wanted to follow the program recipes exactly, however, finding certain ingredients (tempeh!) in Germany proved impossible.  And yes, I know I could order miso paste from Amazon, however I needed it for THAT meal, not in 2 weeks!!!  

I travelled while doing the reset and discovered when in Poland, eat as the Polish do.  I had some really wonderful meals and am glad I didn’t try to deprive myself of enjoying the new culture I was experiencing!  It wasn't easy --most menus are full of "vegetarian" dishes but are heavily infused with grains. 

Polish version of the Iowa meal:  meat mixed with grain, wrapped in cabbage with a little touch of edible green

Breakfast was  challenging when traveling since I was dairy free, too.  But otherwise, I learned to love eating 3 cups of fresh cut fruit every day!   Living without meat wasn't such a big deal either, and even living without bread didn't bother me so much --I just couldn't walk into the bakery!

BUT, Coffee?  Seriously?  Give that up???   I'd been decaffeinated for about 2 months, so caffeine wasn't an issue.  Except, I really love a good hot latte in the morning!  My love affair with a nice hot latte is like Imelda's love of shoes.  So, the coffee lattes stayed, although I only had 1 cup a day.  Sort of. (Depends on if you count a cup as a "Venti" or a "Tall")

Final lessons learned:   
1.  Eating more veggies was easy!  A giant salad with extra veggies (instead of meat & cheese) and a light dressing would more than fuel my body thru the day.  

2.  Drinking the water according to my body’s needs (take your weight, divide in half and drink that number in ounces each day) kept me in the bathroom frequently from snacking all afternoon.  

3.  Taking time to plan my meals was key to my successful days.  Planning how to get around eating out...crucial.  

In spite of my "cheating" I lost 6 pounds in 3 weeks.  But more than that, I gained awareness of my food and my choices!  Eating more vegetables helps me feel lighter and yet fuller, satisfied and energized.  I’ll eat meat again, and bread.  But, in better moderation than I did in the past.   

*Ultimate Reset, Beachbody.com

Car Bingo German style (Are we there yet?)

Remember those days long ago when license plate bingo and the sign board ABC games kept you busy in the car on those long road trips?  Living in Germany, those games aren't so easy.  The license plates here are all the same, save for the little (microscopic, really) "D" for Deutschland or "A" for Austria letters in the lower left corner.  Advertisement sign boards are pretty much nonexistent, too, which makes that game pretty much "boring-er".  (I must admit, I don't miss signboard litter!)

 So, I came up with a list of things to find to pass the time during your next journey thru the country:  

1. Count castles
2. Count steeples
3. Count McDonald's (they're nearly as plentiful as castles)
4. Count the number of times the autobahn crosses the Danube River.  (Or the number of times your kids tell you to "stop!" as you sing once again, da-da-da-da-da- blip- blip; blip-blip.)
5. Count the pig farms --guaranteed difficult level as I've only seen them once, in a truck, on their way to market.  Better luck counting those in Iowa.
6. Count stau's (autobahn traffic parking lots--those of you who live in LA or DC will totally understand.)
7. Don't count stau's: there's either traffic or you've got the road to yourself
8. Count the number of times the speed limit changes to 120kph with 3 lanes, after unlimited speed on 2 lanes of curvy...
9. Count the lazy boy chairs or mattresses on the highway....(oh wait, forgot we're not in (insert American) city where the load fell off "uncle Ed's" truck.)
10. Find the smallest car towing the biggest trailer load of "Klaus's" wood pile

Or, do what the boys do: turn your iPad brightness down all the way and pray your movie will outlast your battery before you have to start asking, "are we there yet?"

Next up.. German words that make us giggle.

Auf Weidersehen!
Linda

Spain & Portugal (a short story!)

Sometimes the best laid plans are the ones we don't create.  I thought we were headed to southern Spain for some relaxing-fun-in-the-sun time.  We not only got that, but also traded the stuffy, runny, sneezy allergy mecca of Germany for an allergy free vacation!

First, photos of our wonderful time with hostess, Elaine at Villa Los Paraisos in the countryside near Seville, Spain:

Villa Los Paraisos:  Swim fun, olive groves, shade for dinners and card games, the dog, Bobby loves the attention, Paella for dinner!

Next day:  Carmona Spain --a city with largely intact Roman (and even Carthaginian) and Moorish ruins --how cool to walk around here!

Nate's mission: find candy from each country we visit.  My mission:  find a Starbucks Cathedral and in Seville--the bull fighting museum.   Found it! 3rd largest Cathedral in Europe, Columbus' tomb; free wifi, and another cup for the collection (Ronnie!)

Bull Fight Museum:  Zach's takeaway "did you know one of the most famous toreadors in the world
was 9yrs old when he started,  died in the ring at age 25?" (Jose Ortega)  Impressive and sad.
2 boys are "caught" actually LOOKING at the artwork! (Above left)
This bullring is non-profit, all proceeds go to local charities!

Back to Portugal:   Hilton Vilamoura resort.  Part of our timeshare, the Hilton was nothing less than fantastic.   The beach was a mere 5 minute drive from the resort.  Forget the pools, though:  boys just want to dig!

The view from our balcony!  The pools were nice and never crowded when we were there!

Portugal Sail and BBQ: Catamaran, private beach, fish for lunch (ewww-heads!), kayaking, cliff- cave exploring, and Captain Z takes the wheel!

The Big Moon rise and a quick trip to Lagos: medieval fort --Alex's take away:  "Doesn't seem like much of a fort when all you have to do is go around the corner to get in!"

Driving home from the German airport, I asked the boys what they noticed was different about this countryside and that of Portugal.  Barely looking up from their ipads, they all commented "I don't know."  Oy.

Tschuss!
Linda