November and Our First Visitor

It's hard to believe that November is here and gone so fast.  I can't believe how busy our "sabbatical" has gotten!!  Jay continues to plug away at two of his Projects.  #1, learning German  and # 2, his Greek Grammar textbook.  I seem to have gotten caught up in the "dailies" as I call it.  The shopping(we're NOT talking Mall here people), cooking, cleaning, retrieving kids, etc.  To think I thought I was going to be catching up on all of my photo books, reading etc.  Ha.  Anyway, here's what we have been up to....

 

At the beginning of the month one of our highlights was the first potluck for our apartment complex.  The girls helped decorate and we all had a great time.  There is only one other American couple (but she is actually Venezuelan) and the rest are from everywhere - check out the picture(just click on it for a better look)!  We enjoyed sampling various dishes from the countries and it was really fun.  We'll have a Christmas dinner in December and everyone will bring a Christmas goodie from their country.  We have posted a world map on the girls wall which shows the various flags in addition to the countries.  As we meet people from different countries the girls are highlighting the respective flags.  It has been fun and pretty amazing how many flags have been highlighted.  I need to do a count but would guess it is around 25.

As the weather has dampened a bit (actually alot, but we do get beautiful rainbows) we have only gone on two outings this month.  The first was to a town called Blaubauren which is about an hour away.  There is a beautiful blue spring that feeds out of the mountain.  Once again we joined our Icelandic friends who have been such a blessing to us.  You can see a picture of the gang above in front of the "blue lagoon".  There was also a pretty church there as well as you can see.

The other outing was to take our first official visitor somewhere fun!  The Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.  It just opened this year and we took Flat Stanley (our visitor from Grace Hartman Elementary in Rockwall courtesy Emily Henry) to check out the cars.  It was a gorgeous museum and we all enjoyed looking at the history of the Porsche.  The girls took about 500 pictures between them - ahhh the beauty of digital!  Jay and I ordered his and hers - mine is blue, his is red.  We'll have them shipped back to the U.S.

A few weeks ago I helped in Dayna's class as they made their annual plaster masks.  They have a program where a 3rd grader is  assigned to a 1st grader as their buddy for the year.  It's really a great thing and the 3rd graders got to do the mask of their 1st grader.  Fun to watch!  Dayna's teacher allowed Karissa to make a mask since she hadn't had the opportunity as a first grader.  Amazingly enough she allowed her pesty little sister to do it.  They had a ball.

Thanksgiving was a bit odd.  It is not a holiday here so the girls had school.  We did have a little turkey that night but really had our feast on Friday night.  We were hosted by a German American couple (she is German, he is of German descent but was born and raised in the U.S.) and had the traditional Thanksgiving meal with a German flair (can you say Knodel? A big doughy ball made from potatoes).  I managed to cook, scrape and puree a real pumpkin for my pumpkin pie (actually pumpkin bars - pie pans do not exist here!).  The only pumpkin you can find is in a jar and is pickled - not quite the flavor I'm looking for in a pie! Ah, the comforts and conveniences of home!

We are getting ready for the big Christmas Markets here in Germany.  A VERY big deal.  The market it a large outdoor "bazaar" for lack of a better word held in the old town square with all kinds of Christmas lights and food.  Each town has one and they are supposed to be really pretty.  I'll send some pictures of that soon.  Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving - we do have a lot to be thankful for!

Switzerland Final Thoughts

We have had fun enjoying the differences in the cultures.  One that has been completely embraced is the Europeans ability to create fun playgrounds for kids.  We always have to check out a "spielplatz" (German word for playground) when we see one on a map.  Switzerland did not disappoint.  Right in the heart of downtown is a huge park with a nice herd of Swiss cows with their cowbells on - kind of
an interesting phenomenon in the center of their city.  But, hey it's Switzerland!   And of course,  right next to the cows was an inventive spielplatz.  The girls had a ball on this "merry go round" type thing.   Actually I kind of had a little fun on it myself!  It seems that they really try to get kids to be active.  You'll see more photos of playgrounds in later blogs I'm sure.  Although Interlaken is considered "touristy" we spent a fair amount of time outside it and got to see where the "locals" live up in the mountains.  Interlaken itself is extremely expensive.  We thought Germany was expensive but nothing like Switzerland!!  The only thing less expensive than in Germany  was gas - it was only about $6.50 a gallon vs. $7.50 - woohoo we filled up before we left!!  We're not sure if it's because of taxes or what.  The European economy is hard to figure out!!  Nonetheless we managed to get this great apartment (see girls waving out the window and then another picture from our balcony) and ate most of our meals as a picnic or from the grocery since we had a full kitchen (much nicer than mine in Tübingen!).  The streets of Interlaken
are filled with expensive jewelry stores filled with watches and
souvenir shops filled with Swiss Army Knives, not to mention lots of
Japanese tourists! Our German friends kind of laughed when we said we
went to Interlaken - it has quite a reputation as a "tourist only" city where no real European would ever go!  It worked for us though!  We'd highly recommend it.  We had a great time but at the same time our hearts were still a little in Texas with our sweet little friend Matt Burpee who is battling brain cancer.  The girls made a sign for him from Switzerland and we plan to send him a special greeting from each country we visit as he faces this battle.  Pray for him if you will.

Switzerland #3 Giessbach Falls

Our final big excursion was to Giessbach Falls which was about a twenty minute drive along the shore of Brienzersee Lake from our apartment. It was another gorgeous day. The fall foliage was undoubtedly the most beautiful I have ever seen. After two big days of multiple train rides and schedules we decided we were ready for some unstructured wandering. Many of the "major" attractions were closed for the winter or for a break before the big ski season began (great excuse for us to return in the spring!). The large Trummelbach Waterfalls were closed so we decided to give the Giessbach Falls a try. We weren't disappointed and again we encountered fewer than 10 people in our 3 hour wanderings! It was fabulous. There is a grand, old Victorian hotel called Hotel Giessbach that was closed for the winter on the shore of the lake and the falls sit right behind it. It really felt like stepping back in time. Most tourists visit this spot by boat but since the hotel was closed we could park in their little lot and hike to the falls. The girls got to run ahead on the trail without us having to worry and really got to explore. We climbed up quite a trail nearly to the top of the falls and back down - Dayna assured us there was no way she was going to hike that far but once she got into it she couldn't wait to see what was around the next bend in the ascending trail. The view was breathtaking with the aqua blue glacial lake, the colorful trees, blue sky and snow capped mountains. Pictures don't ever capture it. We ended the hike with a picnic and rock hunting in the water at the bottom of the falls. I'm sure the girls and Jay all weighed twice their weight as we left due to the bounty in their pockets!! The water was freezing and amazingly we managed to stay relatively dry.

Switzerland - Jungfraujoch

Another of our highlights in Switzerland was on Thursday, Oct. 29. We found out that the train tickets we had purchased allowed the girls free passes to go up to the Jungfraujoch which is the highest train station in Europe and quite expensive to get to. That was enough to convince us to do it and we're so glad we did. It took nearly two and half hours to travel up to this mountain and inside it -much of it on a rack rail train - the only kind that won't slide back down! We saw some incredible views on the way up - one in the picture is of the Lauterbrunnen Valley with the incredible Staubbach Falls. As we ascended we began to see the glaciers up close - they kind of have a bluish cast to them and look like they are "oozing" down the mountains. The railway and the building at the top are quite amazing engineering feats. The main viewing platform is literally balancing on the tip of the mountain - it's pretty weird to look down through the grated floor and look down and down and down some more! Obviously the panorama was amazing. When we got up there our first opportunity to go outside was super windy, very icy and FREEZING. Europeans are not nearly as safety conscious as Americans. Here we are out on this icy mountain top, people are falling left and right and there is only a little rope around the edge. It's amazing that people don't slide right off the mountain. I was the only one in our family that stayed vertical - Jay even wiped out and slid down a ways!! Crazy! The main viewing area was much calmer and beautiful(safer too!) and overlooked a huge glacier called the Aletsch Glacier. It looks like a massive river flowing between the mountains. It is enormous and as we were out on the platform two fighter jets flew through the glacial valley at incredible speeds - it was amazing to see how small they were compared to these mountains. There is a huge structure inside the mountain that houses the train station, a research center, a bunch of restaurants, souvenir shops (of course) and the Ice Palace which was one of the girls' favorites. We had fun walking through the Ice Palace - an area carved into the glacier. It is like a cave that is completely ice and has a number of ice sculptures throughout it. We caught the last train of the day and so we had time to go through it twice. The second time we were all alone and it was quite weird to realize that we were 8500 feet above ground inside a glacier and no one else is around - talk about isolated!! It was a great day and we were glad that it was off season and didn't have to wait in any lines or elbow our way to the front to see the views. (If you want to see any of the pictures blown up you can just click on them.)

First trip to Switzerland - Schilthorn Mountain

I say first because we really hope to make it back. It truly is breathtaking! One of the big tourist areas called Interlaken is about 5 hours away so very doable for a return visit next year when more of the areas are open. The girls had a week long break at the end of October so we spent 5 days in the Interlaken area which is south of Bern near the Jungfrau and Eiger mountains if you've heard of them. We were blessed with fabulous weather which was a real gamble since it could have easily been rainy and foggy this time of the year. Each day was sunny and around 60 degrees for a high. Perfect! It is "off season" so we had the place almost to ourselves. We rented a great two bedroom apartment in downtown Interlaken, bought a two day rail pass and explored the area. We went up to the Schilthorn mountain via 3 trains and 3 cable cars (note in the cable car picture you can see at the far upper left the station where this car started!!) to a height of nearly 10,000 feet. The view was fabulous (don't ask Dayna though she was preoccupied with the snow on the viewing platform!). We could see as far away as France and Germany. The restaurant and viewing site was initially used for a James Bond movie called In her Majesty's Secret Service if you've ever seen it. Revolving restaurant and all - amazing that they can build something like that up in the middle of nowhere!! We had some transfers in small mountain villages so it was very quaint. Most of them are "carless" and there were cows everywhere. It is hard to imagine an existence like that still exists in 2009! Of course, they supplement their income with tourist ventures but it really is a foreign existence living at that altitude!! Here are some of our pictures - they are worth more than any words I could write.

The Beauty of Fall

Wow, it has been busy just handling the daily tasks of life. I am a bit behind but will catch up. We have so enjoyed the beauty of fall - my favorite season. The colors have been brilliant - especially the golds! I'm not sure what the type of tree is here that turns so yellow - the leaves look kind of like an elm tree. They are beautiful. We've enjoyed a number of walks in the nearby woods and the "crunch" of leaves under our feet everywhere. The weather has been quite damp and somewhat rainy so when we get a dry day we capitalize on it and enjoy it. We find it so funny here. They dress like they are in the Artic - you'll note the picture of Dayna and her friend. Dayna has no coat, no socks and crocs while her friend is all bundled up. We thought as Texans we would be the wimps!! Anyway, since the girls get out so early we have time during the week for some outings. One of our trips after school with our Icelandic friends was to a nearby town called Bad Urach (pronounced "Bod Oooorachchch" - gotta get that guttural ending!). It was about 30 minutes away and is the site of some ruins and a beautiful waterfall. There's also hot springs there (we didn't get in although the day was warm enough to). The Germans love their hot springs and mineral baths. We have yet to do that - good for the winter months! The kids opted to wade at the top of the waterfall and of course got wet. The site was very pastoral with cows in a pasture and the Swabian Alb mountains in the background. It was a great time. Another day we went a few miles away into the Forest Preserve to see some wild boars who are in a fenced area. They are supposedly all over here along with deer. I've yet to encounter one and don't have any plans to! The kids had a ball feeding them, especially the babies (didn't dream ANY size wild boar could be deemed "cute"). We have collected enough leaves, horse chestnuts, walnuts, acorns, and pine cones to last a century. The girls have enjoyed playing in the leaves (remember we have only 3 spindly little trees at home!!) and yearn for someone to ask them to rake some leaves for them!! Another chilly day, I went with Karissa's class to the farmer's market downtown which was a huge treat. The farmers/bakers/cheese/meat vendors were all so kind and gave out lots of free samples - YUM!! We went to the city hall for a snack of our purchases and then back to the school and made pumpkin soup with all of the vegetables. It was really delicious (the one variety of pumpkin they eat skin and all so it was "chunky" soup). The scary part for me was all the 3rd graders equipped with knives to cut up all the veggies (German kids are a bit unruly in school)! In addition to all the cabbage, Germany grows apples, pears and plums over here like crazy and there are different varieties than in the states - delicious!! The best apples are called Cox Orange. I can't wait for spring to see all the fruit trees in bloom.