Tomorrow morning we're all going to the airport. Kathy is heading home with the kids while I take a short hop back up to Frankfurt for a couple days - we've got a customer visiting our facility in Hanau. I fly home this Thursday.
Kathy packed roughly 800 pounds of stuff into our luggage while I was out of town in Denmark & Sweden this week. All I have to do is pack my clothes tonight and we're ready to head out at the crack of dawn, dump our baggage, return our cars to Hertz, and go.
I believe the kids think they're going to end up trick or treating Saturday night (which wouldn't be a horrible way to keep them up late enough to start the process of re-setting their internal clocks) but we'll see what happens. After ten plus hours in airplanes and fifteen or sixteen hours of total travel time we'll see how chipper they are. I have to say she's pretty amazing, able & willing to travel with a half ton of baggage plus three young boys from continent to continent. All hail Kathy!!! Someone please arrange some nights out when she gets back - she's been with the boys nearly constantly for 2 1/2 months and seems to be having some girlfriend withdrawal.
It feels simultaneously as if we have been gone for ages and as if we've blinked our eyes and the time was gone. It's been a great experience but we're all looking forward to seeing home again. I could really go for a Jack's frozen pizza and a liter of mountain dew... and a car that isn't a Fiat or Renault... and a Coke that tastes like a real Coke... and cable TV in english... and my Martin... and a Chipotle... and a decent steak... Uh, and you too of course! :) Seriously though we really do miss everyone a lot and can't wait to see you again.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Long overdue update (Jim update)
It's October 20 today and we've made a grand total of zero blog updates since arriving in Switzerland. That's primarily due to the fact that we have no wirelss internet at our house in Chayre.
It's a very different environment here as we're in a 'holiday house' or chalet kind of thing right on the lake. Since it's pretty much off season all of other holiday houses, campers, and cabins near us are empty. So it's very quiet, we really haven't met anyone socially, but the boys can be noisy as hell outside without bothering anybody. After a month in an apartment being told "Stop jumping! Our floor is somebody else's ceiling!" or "Shhhh!", it's nice to be able to let the monkeys act like monkeys.
Anyway, our place is a log cabin/chalet built in the early 70's judging by the tile and cooking utensils and hasn't been updated since. It kind of has that cabin smell, if you know what I mean. It's right on the lake as I said and the boys were able to splash around the day we arrived before the temperature plunged by 30 degrees.
Work has been busy but we've had a good time on the weekends. Kathy's childhood friend Christine came to visit a couple weeks ago and she's always good yucks. They went to see cheese being made in Gruyere' (yeah, those chicks are WILD!) and we went to the mountains near Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen two weekends in a row.
The scenery really is eye boggling and there's one spot where you can actually see a waterfall inside of a mountain. I think it was Rick Steves who described it as "God's band saw cutting through the mountain at 5000 gallons per second". The energy of twelve hundred tons of water falling past you every minute makes you feel fairly inconsequential on the big scheme of things. Everything was wet and slipping and despite the hand rails we made a point of scaring the crap out of the kids by telling them the true story of how a 13 year old boy died there a few years ago. Apparently he was climbing around somehow, slipped, and that was that. For the first time ever, our kids held onto our hands without griping so it apparently was effective.
This weekend we plan to drive up to Fribourg as there is some kind of kid friendly town activity on Saturday night. We're going to meet a colleague who lives there and has kids similar in age to our younger ones. I think the plan is to have fondue (melted cheese) along with raclette (uh, more melted cheese but slightly denser). That's kind of the swiss diet. From what I've read, nobody poops here. Ever.
Kathy flies home with the kids on Halloween (10/31) while I head back to Hanau, Germany to work for a few more days and come home 11/5. It's been great, work-wise and family-wise, but I think we're all about ready to head home.
P.S. Bob Snyder and Mike Davitt, our friends Brooke and Jason are moving back to Minnesota from Boston on 10/25 and will be staying at our place for a few weeks as they get settled and find a spot of their own. So if you see a big shaggy looking guy with a beard lurking around our place, please do not shoot him. Do not. Patty and Kathy S, you don't shoot him either. Unless of course he doesn't answer to the name 'Jason' - in that case it's a burgler, so plug him. Thanks!
It's a very different environment here as we're in a 'holiday house' or chalet kind of thing right on the lake. Since it's pretty much off season all of other holiday houses, campers, and cabins near us are empty. So it's very quiet, we really haven't met anyone socially, but the boys can be noisy as hell outside without bothering anybody. After a month in an apartment being told "Stop jumping! Our floor is somebody else's ceiling!" or "Shhhh!", it's nice to be able to let the monkeys act like monkeys.
Anyway, our place is a log cabin/chalet built in the early 70's judging by the tile and cooking utensils and hasn't been updated since. It kind of has that cabin smell, if you know what I mean. It's right on the lake as I said and the boys were able to splash around the day we arrived before the temperature plunged by 30 degrees.
Work has been busy but we've had a good time on the weekends. Kathy's childhood friend Christine came to visit a couple weeks ago and she's always good yucks. They went to see cheese being made in Gruyere' (yeah, those chicks are WILD!) and we went to the mountains near Interlaken and Lauterbrunnen two weekends in a row.
The scenery really is eye boggling and there's one spot where you can actually see a waterfall inside of a mountain. I think it was Rick Steves who described it as "God's band saw cutting through the mountain at 5000 gallons per second". The energy of twelve hundred tons of water falling past you every minute makes you feel fairly inconsequential on the big scheme of things. Everything was wet and slipping and despite the hand rails we made a point of scaring the crap out of the kids by telling them the true story of how a 13 year old boy died there a few years ago. Apparently he was climbing around somehow, slipped, and that was that. For the first time ever, our kids held onto our hands without griping so it apparently was effective.
This weekend we plan to drive up to Fribourg as there is some kind of kid friendly town activity on Saturday night. We're going to meet a colleague who lives there and has kids similar in age to our younger ones. I think the plan is to have fondue (melted cheese) along with raclette (uh, more melted cheese but slightly denser). That's kind of the swiss diet. From what I've read, nobody poops here. Ever.
Kathy flies home with the kids on Halloween (10/31) while I head back to Hanau, Germany to work for a few more days and come home 11/5. It's been great, work-wise and family-wise, but I think we're all about ready to head home.
P.S. Bob Snyder and Mike Davitt, our friends Brooke and Jason are moving back to Minnesota from Boston on 10/25 and will be staying at our place for a few weeks as they get settled and find a spot of their own. So if you see a big shaggy looking guy with a beard lurking around our place, please do not shoot him. Do not. Patty and Kathy S, you don't shoot him either. Unless of course he doesn't answer to the name 'Jason' - in that case it's a burgler, so plug him. Thanks!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
2nd to last night in Hochstadt (Jim update)
It's Thursday night and we're counting down to our departure for Switzerland on Saturday. It's amazing how quickly the month went. We've really gotten into the groove of this nice little town and now we have to leave. Last night, we went out for dinner with another couple we met, Michael and Stephanie Schoeneman and had a blast. They took us to a great place we hadn't been in yet, called the Babelgass on the little main street of town. I had just spent four hours humping four very heavy pieces of luggage around the Frankfurt Airport train station (long story) so I was REALLY ready for a beer. The best part was that the bar was in a sort of courtyard with a play area so the kids weren't forced to sit still while the adults made boring grown up conversation. Anyway, we had good fun talking with the Schoenemanns and made it home near midnight. Tomorrow I turn in one of our cars at Hertz, we pack, we enjoy one last night drinking a little bit of Ingo's beer, and we hop a train at 8:00 a.m. Saturday.
P.S. Bob Snyder, if you read this, could you do me a favor and look at my front yard? I saw some mole hills when I was home and I hope they're not tearing the hell out of it. Thanks!
P.S. Bob Snyder, if you read this, could you do me a favor and look at my front yard? I saw some mole hills when I was home and I hope they're not tearing the hell out of it. Thanks!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Paris or Bust!
OK, so Paris was NOT a bust, yahoo! We made it, in one piece, "safe and sound" as they say. I lost no children on the subway, did not run over any French people, and no one, as far as I know, got bitten by a camel! All is good. We did however, spend a ton of time in the car where the children had unlimited access to their Nintendo DS players and videos on my laptop. Brain suckers I say, none of them could spell their name when we arrived!
It took us 10 hours to make the 6.5 hour drive. Primarily due to the fact that the Autobahn was closed around Frankfurt and neither Gretta (my GPS) nor I have a 6th sense about direction and how to get around construction in a city. It took us over 2 hours to travel less than 20 miles. Imagine the response I gave when the children asked "are we there yet" and we hadn't even left town! We also had some experience with Paris traffic on the west side of our journey, which shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, even Gretta...
We stayed in a B & B near Giverny, the town where Monet did most of his painting. The B&B was on a 10 acre farm with no other guests in it that week. Awesome for 3 little boys who have been watched over like hawks on every city street we travel on (they tell me I am over-protective about traffic...well, this may be true,but...if they would just watch where they were going!!). The boys were able to play outside without my supervision, something to remind them of home, and good for everyone I must say.
Giverny has turned into quite an artist colony since Monet put this very quaint, rustic, little 2 street village on the map. The village has many art galleries, art museums, as well as street side artists selling their wares. One gentleman had loads of sand delivered to his yard and used it to make sand sculptures. The rule was you could see the sculptures for free, but he asked for a euro or two for a photograph. The kids enjoyed the sculpture of a cool dragon and of the Last Supper. So much so, that after leaving, Daniel says to me (in a way only Daniel can), "mom, that was really cool we got to see that First Breakfast sculpture!" I am not kidding. He is funny, that boy. The boys were unimpressed with the impressionist museum claiming (too loudly I am afraid!) that the paintings all looked like blobs and asking when we were going to see some art that looked like something! Out of the mouths of babes, honestly, I thought the art looked like blobs too. I just would have never admitted it! Monet's house and gardens were fabulous. The gardens look exactly like you would imagine them to and have probably seen in every popular Monet artwork (or umbrella!).
We were wisely advised to avoid ever driving in Paris, even with trusty Gretta as our guide, so we took the train into the city. Smart choice. Paris traffic is AWFUL!!! I was going to say, "like none other" but I still have night terrors about riding in a taxi in Cairo, it may not be worse than that! We had an agenda of 3 or 4 (the 4th was going to be a bonus) sites to see in Paris. We saw 2. I know,it sounds kind of lame, but you try getting 3 distracted boys on and off subways, down streets filled with things to look at and pigeons to feed and still cover any ground. Not possible. So, I just let the boys set the pace (I say that now like I am such a calm mother, if you could have counted how many times I said, "Come ON boys, please! Hurry up! We will never get there at this rate!" You may think otherwise.)
We spent almost 3 hours at the Eiffel tower. A kind of goofy, but super popular tourist attraction. I know why; my kids loved it! It was pretty cool to be so high up and see the entire city. Fortunately for me, this attraction is one of the very few we have seen in Europe that has pretty good safety standards. There was almost no way my kids could have plummeted to their death off of the tower. I only had to worry about losing them in the giant crowd. The best part about the Eiffel tower (after the view) is the great number of pigeons in the courtyard below. The kids saved all their leftovers from lunch and fed pigeons for what seemed like hours. Connor's new claim to fame is that he caught 3 of them in his hands. Yuck! Don't they have bugs and stuff?
After getting lost for quite some time, (I should have brought Gretta) we ended up at Notre Dame. We actually made it here (by accident) for mass. Very cool. The church is truly amazing, and is worth all of the hype.
The day after Paris we visited Versailles. King Louie the 15th (I think) built this enormous structure to show off his wealth. Well done Louie, it is big and looks like it cost a lot of money. We toured the inside which was very cool, but not as cool 9at least to the boys) as the big snail we saw outside. I left the boys to look at this for about 45 minutes while I walked the gardens alone. They wanted to take it home. Boys are funny little creatures, aren't they?
Well, that about sums up our 5 day furlough to France. Jim was in Minnesota at the same time we were in France. This made the boys a little homesick for the first time. Jim brought back peanut butter and syrup so I think that helped a little. This week Jim is in Ireland for a few days and I am hanging out with Jim's brother Steve who came to visit for the week. It is really good to see him. The boys sat by the window for over an hour waiting for him to show up.
Once again dear friends, I wish you all the best!
It took us 10 hours to make the 6.5 hour drive. Primarily due to the fact that the Autobahn was closed around Frankfurt and neither Gretta (my GPS) nor I have a 6th sense about direction and how to get around construction in a city. It took us over 2 hours to travel less than 20 miles. Imagine the response I gave when the children asked "are we there yet" and we hadn't even left town! We also had some experience with Paris traffic on the west side of our journey, which shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, even Gretta...
We stayed in a B & B near Giverny, the town where Monet did most of his painting. The B&B was on a 10 acre farm with no other guests in it that week. Awesome for 3 little boys who have been watched over like hawks on every city street we travel on (they tell me I am over-protective about traffic...well, this may be true,but...if they would just watch where they were going!!). The boys were able to play outside without my supervision, something to remind them of home, and good for everyone I must say.
Giverny has turned into quite an artist colony since Monet put this very quaint, rustic, little 2 street village on the map. The village has many art galleries, art museums, as well as street side artists selling their wares. One gentleman had loads of sand delivered to his yard and used it to make sand sculptures. The rule was you could see the sculptures for free, but he asked for a euro or two for a photograph. The kids enjoyed the sculpture of a cool dragon and of the Last Supper. So much so, that after leaving, Daniel says to me (in a way only Daniel can), "mom, that was really cool we got to see that First Breakfast sculpture!" I am not kidding. He is funny, that boy. The boys were unimpressed with the impressionist museum claiming (too loudly I am afraid!) that the paintings all looked like blobs and asking when we were going to see some art that looked like something! Out of the mouths of babes, honestly, I thought the art looked like blobs too. I just would have never admitted it! Monet's house and gardens were fabulous. The gardens look exactly like you would imagine them to and have probably seen in every popular Monet artwork (or umbrella!).
We were wisely advised to avoid ever driving in Paris, even with trusty Gretta as our guide, so we took the train into the city. Smart choice. Paris traffic is AWFUL!!! I was going to say, "like none other" but I still have night terrors about riding in a taxi in Cairo, it may not be worse than that! We had an agenda of 3 or 4 (the 4th was going to be a bonus) sites to see in Paris. We saw 2. I know,it sounds kind of lame, but you try getting 3 distracted boys on and off subways, down streets filled with things to look at and pigeons to feed and still cover any ground. Not possible. So, I just let the boys set the pace (I say that now like I am such a calm mother, if you could have counted how many times I said, "Come ON boys, please! Hurry up! We will never get there at this rate!" You may think otherwise.)
We spent almost 3 hours at the Eiffel tower. A kind of goofy, but super popular tourist attraction. I know why; my kids loved it! It was pretty cool to be so high up and see the entire city. Fortunately for me, this attraction is one of the very few we have seen in Europe that has pretty good safety standards. There was almost no way my kids could have plummeted to their death off of the tower. I only had to worry about losing them in the giant crowd. The best part about the Eiffel tower (after the view) is the great number of pigeons in the courtyard below. The kids saved all their leftovers from lunch and fed pigeons for what seemed like hours. Connor's new claim to fame is that he caught 3 of them in his hands. Yuck! Don't they have bugs and stuff?
After getting lost for quite some time, (I should have brought Gretta) we ended up at Notre Dame. We actually made it here (by accident) for mass. Very cool. The church is truly amazing, and is worth all of the hype.
The day after Paris we visited Versailles. King Louie the 15th (I think) built this enormous structure to show off his wealth. Well done Louie, it is big and looks like it cost a lot of money. We toured the inside which was very cool, but not as cool 9at least to the boys) as the big snail we saw outside. I left the boys to look at this for about 45 minutes while I walked the gardens alone. They wanted to take it home. Boys are funny little creatures, aren't they?
Well, that about sums up our 5 day furlough to France. Jim was in Minnesota at the same time we were in France. This made the boys a little homesick for the first time. Jim brought back peanut butter and syrup so I think that helped a little. This week Jim is in Ireland for a few days and I am hanging out with Jim's brother Steve who came to visit for the week. It is really good to see him. The boys sat by the window for over an hour waiting for him to show up.
Once again dear friends, I wish you all the best!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
September 20 (Jim Update)
Hello All. We haven't updated this week since I was back in Minnesota for a sales meeting for a few days and Kathy was in Paris with the boys. It's nice that here in the FDA free zone one can get a potent Valium/Lithium/Quaalude cocktail over the counter to help cover the after-effects of Paris traffic. I imagine she'll put up an update on Paris soon.
Tonight we're going to the Maintal Hochstadt "Kartoffelfest". That is, the Maintal Hochstadt Potato Festival. There's a building on the little rustic main street of town with a big wooden gate in front called the Kaevern. (the cavern) It's owned by one of the many Vereine (clubs or societies) ubiquitous in Germany. The fest will happen in a little courtyard inside.
According to a guy we met here in town, there are 140 different Vereine in Maintal and pretty much everyone belongs to one or more. One guy we met, Berndt, belongs to five. His significant other, Uschi, is in the local women's archery verein. There's a verein for medieval reenactors. Cooking. Wine making. Cars. Whatever.
One guy, Ollie, is a member of the local Maennerballet (men's ballet) Verein that puts on a recital once per year, which sounds pretty funny. He's about my age and build with a good 30 pounds tacked on. He was on his third beer last time we saw him at the beer garden and he had to leave to go to rehearsal if that tells you anything. From the way he describes it I suspect it's a pretty humorous show. It sounds like a "get out of the house & go to the bar to get tanked with your buddies every week before practice" thing. The only price is looking like an awkward dope once per year in front of everyone you know, which seems like a pretty good deal. I may have to fire up the Nowthen men's ballet chapter when I get home. Hell, we could probably 'rehearse' for a year' and can the recital at the last minute anyway due to a rash of plie' injuries and be free and clear!
Anyway, the Kartoffelfest deals with all food that is potato related. Potato soup, salad, puffs, frites, etc. The Verein that puts it on was started in 1908 and from the German name I gather that its whole purpose is putting on eating & drinking events and concerts that also involve drinking. Now THAT's a Verein I could get behind. Like much in Germany the Kartoffelfest sounds like an excuse to imbibe beer.
Last Friday we were invited over for dinner to the home of a cool older couple we met, Berndt and Uschi (mentioned above). They're very nice, speak excellent english, are very interesting, and have a really, really, really great house. It was built in the mid-1500's which is cool but the really neat part is that it incorporates a tall stone tower that stands over and includes the old city gate.
The tower is older, from 1470, and the floor immediately above the city gate is their family room. The old cruciform gun/arrow ports are still there though they now have glass covering them so they're weather proof. The hole still exists where you could shoot crossbow bolts down or dump boiling oil on people trying to get through the gate, though it's now covered by the hardwood floor. The entire interior is a mix of ancient wooden beams and rustic bare stone walls juxtaposed with modern floors, heating radiators, lighting, etc. The next floor up is their guest bedroom. Up there, through the westward gun port window you have a surprising view of the entire Frankfurt skyline glittering some miles off in the distance, perfectly framed by the quaint old cobblestone main street of Hochstadt. (Frankfurt is the only German city with skyscrapers and a real skyline)
Now I don't normally feel the pangs of envy. I'm literally always happy when somebody I know buys something really cool or has a stroke of good luck. I get truly pumped when a friend comes out well on something. But I felt an unusual exception in this case. As interesting and fun to talk to as Berndt is and as sweet and kind as Uschi was, I felt the unfamiliar but strong desire to forge a revised will with me as the rightful heir to their house and tower and arrange some kind of accident. Fortunately this accursed conscience that my parents drilled into me as a child (along with my weak grasp of German) stayed my hand. Therefore instead of premeditated murder for material gain we had a tasty dinner with local Hessian specialties, had great conversation, our kids didn't destroy anything except a glass ashtray of Uschi's, and generally had a wonderful time. Probably all for the best.
We hope to see them tonight at the Kartoffelfest.
More later.
Tonight we're going to the Maintal Hochstadt "Kartoffelfest". That is, the Maintal Hochstadt Potato Festival. There's a building on the little rustic main street of town with a big wooden gate in front called the Kaevern. (the cavern) It's owned by one of the many Vereine (clubs or societies) ubiquitous in Germany. The fest will happen in a little courtyard inside.
According to a guy we met here in town, there are 140 different Vereine in Maintal and pretty much everyone belongs to one or more. One guy we met, Berndt, belongs to five. His significant other, Uschi, is in the local women's archery verein. There's a verein for medieval reenactors. Cooking. Wine making. Cars. Whatever.
One guy, Ollie, is a member of the local Maennerballet (men's ballet) Verein that puts on a recital once per year, which sounds pretty funny. He's about my age and build with a good 30 pounds tacked on. He was on his third beer last time we saw him at the beer garden and he had to leave to go to rehearsal if that tells you anything. From the way he describes it I suspect it's a pretty humorous show. It sounds like a "get out of the house & go to the bar to get tanked with your buddies every week before practice" thing. The only price is looking like an awkward dope once per year in front of everyone you know, which seems like a pretty good deal. I may have to fire up the Nowthen men's ballet chapter when I get home. Hell, we could probably 'rehearse' for a year' and can the recital at the last minute anyway due to a rash of plie' injuries and be free and clear!
Anyway, the Kartoffelfest deals with all food that is potato related. Potato soup, salad, puffs, frites, etc. The Verein that puts it on was started in 1908 and from the German name I gather that its whole purpose is putting on eating & drinking events and concerts that also involve drinking. Now THAT's a Verein I could get behind. Like much in Germany the Kartoffelfest sounds like an excuse to imbibe beer.
Last Friday we were invited over for dinner to the home of a cool older couple we met, Berndt and Uschi (mentioned above). They're very nice, speak excellent english, are very interesting, and have a really, really, really great house. It was built in the mid-1500's which is cool but the really neat part is that it incorporates a tall stone tower that stands over and includes the old city gate.
The tower is older, from 1470, and the floor immediately above the city gate is their family room. The old cruciform gun/arrow ports are still there though they now have glass covering them so they're weather proof. The hole still exists where you could shoot crossbow bolts down or dump boiling oil on people trying to get through the gate, though it's now covered by the hardwood floor. The entire interior is a mix of ancient wooden beams and rustic bare stone walls juxtaposed with modern floors, heating radiators, lighting, etc. The next floor up is their guest bedroom. Up there, through the westward gun port window you have a surprising view of the entire Frankfurt skyline glittering some miles off in the distance, perfectly framed by the quaint old cobblestone main street of Hochstadt. (Frankfurt is the only German city with skyscrapers and a real skyline)
Now I don't normally feel the pangs of envy. I'm literally always happy when somebody I know buys something really cool or has a stroke of good luck. I get truly pumped when a friend comes out well on something. But I felt an unusual exception in this case. As interesting and fun to talk to as Berndt is and as sweet and kind as Uschi was, I felt the unfamiliar but strong desire to forge a revised will with me as the rightful heir to their house and tower and arrange some kind of accident. Fortunately this accursed conscience that my parents drilled into me as a child (along with my weak grasp of German) stayed my hand. Therefore instead of premeditated murder for material gain we had a tasty dinner with local Hessian specialties, had great conversation, our kids didn't destroy anything except a glass ashtray of Uschi's, and generally had a wonderful time. Probably all for the best.
We hope to see them tonight at the Kartoffelfest.
More later.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A day at the beach!
OK, so I know Jim just updated the blog last night, and my intention is not to overwhelm any readers by taking up too much time, but this is pretty funny!
So, knowing Tuesday was going to be the nicest day of the week, we planned to blow off school and go to the beach. This is, by the way, the thing I enjoy most about Home Schooling- the endless flexibility- very nice! So I used the internet (and Yahoo Babel Fish- my new favorite translating web site) to find a local beach. No worries. Gretta (my GPS) actually got us there without incident (very often we are lost!).
We find the beach, pay to get in, get changed and walk towards the beach. The very first person we see is an older than me younger than my mother, topless women. I quickly take the boys (who have pointed out every pair of breasts on magazines, art work, advertisements and sculptures since we have been in Europe) out of her ear shot and explain to them that just like all of the breasts we have seen around town, the Europeans are also more liberal about this on the beach, so get your comments out now before we walk by. They of course make the obligatory "oh gross" barfing sounds (while sneaking peeks I am certain!) and we head to the sand. We plop down our towels and get settled only to discover that not only are there a smattering of other topless women around the beach, there is also an entire section of naked people just to the left of us! Just imagine my boys reaction! Of course the naked people were separated by a gate on the sand, but we all shared the same diving/swimming docks. Too funny! As I am pointing this fact out to Daniel before he heads to a particular floating dock, he says, "don't worry mom, I have seen lots of naked people before!" Really? Where? As a side note, most people in this world, shouldn't be naked on a public beach. Enjoy your day dear friends!
So, knowing Tuesday was going to be the nicest day of the week, we planned to blow off school and go to the beach. This is, by the way, the thing I enjoy most about Home Schooling- the endless flexibility- very nice! So I used the internet (and Yahoo Babel Fish- my new favorite translating web site) to find a local beach. No worries. Gretta (my GPS) actually got us there without incident (very often we are lost!).
We find the beach, pay to get in, get changed and walk towards the beach. The very first person we see is an older than me younger than my mother, topless women. I quickly take the boys (who have pointed out every pair of breasts on magazines, art work, advertisements and sculptures since we have been in Europe) out of her ear shot and explain to them that just like all of the breasts we have seen around town, the Europeans are also more liberal about this on the beach, so get your comments out now before we walk by. They of course make the obligatory "oh gross" barfing sounds (while sneaking peeks I am certain!) and we head to the sand. We plop down our towels and get settled only to discover that not only are there a smattering of other topless women around the beach, there is also an entire section of naked people just to the left of us! Just imagine my boys reaction! Of course the naked people were separated by a gate on the sand, but we all shared the same diving/swimming docks. Too funny! As I am pointing this fact out to Daniel before he heads to a particular floating dock, he says, "don't worry mom, I have seen lots of naked people before!" Really? Where? As a side note, most people in this world, shouldn't be naked on a public beach. Enjoy your day dear friends!
Update September 9 (Jim Update)
As Kathy implied, I recently wrote up a few hundred word update covering the end of our vacation. Unfortunately our wireless kicked me off about one paragraph in, so I lost a solid hour's writing. My resentment has subsided so I'll try again.
Being married to Little Miss Extrovert (hereafter referred to as LME), we have a little cadre of acquaintances here in Maintal Hochstadt after only two weeks. The first guy we met is the owner of the tiny local brewery, named Ingo. Yes, she is also good at selecting the best people to get to know. LIKE THE GUY WHO MAKES THE TOWN BEER! We toured his brewhaus - about the size of our living room - and had beer with him at 11:00 a.m. that Saturday. Subsequently LME and I have met his wife, daughter, and a few other locals.
People seem nice and one of the guys we met is a retired pilot who owns a house attached to the tower containing the gate to the old part of our town. We're going over to his place on Friday to take a look inside the tower built in 1470. We were clear with him up front that even though the building is made of stone and has stood for 539 years, our boys are destructive and we can't make any guarantees. He's willing to take the chance.
Pretty much everyone we've met has eventually asked, "So how did you end up in Hochstadt?" so it definitely feels off the beaten path. We're enjoying the local beer and last night had some of the regional specialty, 'Handkaese mit Musik". Literally 'hand cheese with music'. The hand cheese is a soft, transluscent stinky cheese. It's served drenched in oil, vinegar, and garlic with finely chopped onions. The 'with music' name is because of the tendency for those toppings to make you toot. Who says the krauts don't have a sense of humor.
The first weekend we also went to the Freiwilliges Feuerwehr Fest or volunteer fire department picnic. For those of you who grew up in a small town like I did, it is exactly like the volunteer fire department picnics back home. Only it's Bitburger on tap rather than Miller light and it's Bratwurst and Spiessbraten rather than burgers and dogs. Also, the band plays mostly really really crappy german music rather than Creedence and Lynrd Skynrd covers. The crowd went ape shit for their rendition of 99 Luftballoons if that tells you anything, but I was pretty pumped to hear a song where I knew the words and could sing along! But the red faced, drunk locals are just like the red faced, drunk locals back home. It almost made me homesick. See ya/auf wiedersehen.
Being married to Little Miss Extrovert (hereafter referred to as LME), we have a little cadre of acquaintances here in Maintal Hochstadt after only two weeks. The first guy we met is the owner of the tiny local brewery, named Ingo. Yes, she is also good at selecting the best people to get to know. LIKE THE GUY WHO MAKES THE TOWN BEER! We toured his brewhaus - about the size of our living room - and had beer with him at 11:00 a.m. that Saturday. Subsequently LME and I have met his wife, daughter, and a few other locals.
People seem nice and one of the guys we met is a retired pilot who owns a house attached to the tower containing the gate to the old part of our town. We're going over to his place on Friday to take a look inside the tower built in 1470. We were clear with him up front that even though the building is made of stone and has stood for 539 years, our boys are destructive and we can't make any guarantees. He's willing to take the chance.
Pretty much everyone we've met has eventually asked, "So how did you end up in Hochstadt?" so it definitely feels off the beaten path. We're enjoying the local beer and last night had some of the regional specialty, 'Handkaese mit Musik". Literally 'hand cheese with music'. The hand cheese is a soft, transluscent stinky cheese. It's served drenched in oil, vinegar, and garlic with finely chopped onions. The 'with music' name is because of the tendency for those toppings to make you toot. Who says the krauts don't have a sense of humor.
The first weekend we also went to the Freiwilliges Feuerwehr Fest or volunteer fire department picnic. For those of you who grew up in a small town like I did, it is exactly like the volunteer fire department picnics back home. Only it's Bitburger on tap rather than Miller light and it's Bratwurst and Spiessbraten rather than burgers and dogs. Also, the band plays mostly really really crappy german music rather than Creedence and Lynrd Skynrd covers. The crowd went ape shit for their rendition of 99 Luftballoons if that tells you anything, but I was pretty pumped to hear a song where I knew the words and could sing along! But the red faced, drunk locals are just like the red faced, drunk locals back home. It almost made me homesick. See ya/auf wiedersehen.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
