On the road again

Our trip first took us from rainy Germany to snowy Switzerland, where we explored Lucerne's pedestrian district and the Christmas market. I've now been to Christmas markets in 3 countries, France, Germany, and Switzerland. We stayed in a hotel right next to the river and enjoyed the lovely views. Sadly, the snow didn't stop once we were again on the road and even our magic tunnel failed to produce sunshine until very close to the Italian border.

Lunch was a fun adventure in getting lost in the industrial district of Genova, finding a trattoria full of old men, and having an amazing meal. If I thought I could find that place again, I'd go there in a heartbeat. As it was, we had to push on to Camp Darby and the beds of sleeplessness. Luckily, there was a commissary and Bx so retail therapy calmed the grumpy, sleepless Joy.

Naples was worlds nicer than we'd been led to believe, and the abundant sunshine was amazing. How sad is it when the kids, emerging into daylight, all flinch away from the sun and complain it is blinding them?

I won Italian Bingo on the drive to Pompeii, by observing five cars passing one another on a 3 lane road, and we were helpfully informed(after we paid to park) by our parking attendant that there was a strike closing Pompeii until 10. At ten, the note on the gates said it would open at 11, and when we returned, we found a helpful guide, Guido, who took us on a tour. Unlike Rome, the sites we've seen on this trip have charged our kids full price (except Noah, who is still free). We loved Pompeii, despite the wind and threatening rain. Actually, just before we got there, a pillar had fallen in the wind. We didn't make it to the archeological museum, but instead had the bestest pizza I've ever had. Seriously, I've had dreams about that pizza.

$20 in laundry later, we packed up and headed to Florence, where we rented an apartment so we could cook over Christmas (and the day after, which is a holiday). Ben and I headed straight to the Academia to see the David, and ease my guilty conscience that I failed to see it on our last Italy trip. Florence is covered in graffiti wherever you look, there are few signs telling you where to go, and tourists everywhere. It's not my favourite Italian city. Luckily on Christmas eve there were very few tourists so we saw the Medici palace, the Uffizi, and the museum which holds Galileo's finger bones without waiting in any lines. Plus the Duomo and lots of leather stalls.

I think the biggest difference on this trip, is I feel like we've not met anyone friendly here. The museums are old and neglected-looking and there is no such thing as a family pass. If I had it to do over, I'd spend more time in Naples, or spend a few days in Rome and only stay in Florence a night or two. Oh well, live and learn!

Oh, Naples

You are completely filthy, navigating is horrific, and your traffic exists in what I can only assume is a circle of hell unchronicled by Dante, but for your pizza I wish to return. How do you do that?

Nuremberg for Thanksgiving

Zeppelin field

Court room where the nuremberg trials were held

happy subway travelers

Talia insists these decorations were dalekanium

The nuremberg Christmas angel

Arks!

Her majesty and King Ludwig's fancy train

one-man train travel

writing with nibs, bamboo, feathers

Day one, some of us are still smiling!

We went to Nuremberg to see the opening of the Christmas market.  There is a big to-do in the main market square where the Christmas angel appears on the balcony of the church and welcomes everyone. There is music and singing and thousands of people all crushing in to try and see.  Luckily we didn't loose any kids in the crush and the only damages were my sore neck the next morning from trying to see what was going on.

We spent two nights and got the city card so we split our days between exploring museums and the market.  The card made it easy to catch the subway or whatever we wanted to get around.  It was No's favorite part of the trip, riding the subway.  We saw the DB (train) museum, art museums, a toy museum, the Albrecht Durer house (first mass-produced etchings) the Nuremberg city museum, the courthouse where the first ever international court tried the heads of the National Socialist party as well as the Nazi party congressional hall and the zeppelin grounds.  It is a lovely city, even in the cold and grey weather we had.

Memma gives thanks

I get an odd sort of déjà vu in attending the Thanksgiving program at the elementary here.  I'm not sure if it was Isaac who gave the same performance when he was here, or if there are parts of Em's from last year, but a lot of it seemed familiar.  At least the turkey was a properly deep-fried bird.  (I love Southern food, I just know it isn't any good for me and I'm grateful that distance keeps me safely away from the wonders of southern BBQ)


Also giving me déjà vu is the cowlick in her bangs.   And the cheezy kind-of-half smile.  

Oh, and this stuff?

On sale at Globus this week for only 1.49€ PER CAN.  ($1.98)

Just to point out

If you're feeling not so great about the economy and such, I'd just like to remind you that here in the land of eternal grey the price for gas has risen to 1.60 Euro for one liter.  That works out to about 6 euros per gallon.  And, unless the euro has failed today that comes out to about $7.90 per gallon.  No matter how efficient your car is, that's a lot to pay for gas.

And now I have to investigate the prices for train tickets for our Christmas trip.

14

Gutenberg

Located in the heart of Altstadt Mainz is the Gutenberg Museum, built to honor Johannes Gutenberg, inventor of the moveable type press and most famous for producing the first printed Bible.  Considered the most valuable printed book ever made, a complete set (2 volumes) is worth somewhere on the order of 25+million dollars.  The museum has one and a half copies, plus several other valuable books all held in a maximum security vault on the top floor.   We dragged the kids there this Saturday, and they were all less than impressed.  Although, Zak pointed out that the vault doors were the same as the doors on the vaults at the national museum of Rome, where we saw old money.  

The museum is full of exhibits on the history of printing in Asia, Europe and Islam along with replicas of things like the Rosetta Stone.  You can see that Deanna was not impressed.  However, Zak, who recently read The Red Pyramid, was totally thrilled.  Until he realized it was a fake, and then he asked me when we are going to the British National museum.  Hopefully he doesn't intend to blow it up. . . 

Autumn Colors

My favorite season is full of reds, browns, yellows and more browns.  I love Autumn, especially when there is wind in the air and sunshine abundant.  My kids don't understand my obsession with hiking up the hill just to look at leaves, although No was easy to convince as long as there were acorns to find.  The only cloud on the horizon on these glorious, sunny days is the oncoming dark of winter.  We're already down to 10 hours of light, which will only decrease in the next 2 months.  I love that the communities around us all celebrate the harvest, the end of the sun and try to save up happiness for the oncoming winter, each in their own way.

As for me, I'm trying to savor the colors, and enjoy the sunshine while it lasts!

Columbus Day

I was hit on by a man old enough to be my grandfather.  It was the highlight of my day.  Of course, the rest of the day looked like this:

kids whine about being woken up to eat delicious homemade muffins

general complaining about being prisoned in the car
children whine in the car about being forced to travel to Luxembourg

Eating frites in Belguim causes fights
Got lost in Malmedy, where no chocolate shops are open on Monday
More fighting about who is breathing who's air, etc

Ben enjoyed visiting the national museum of military history in Diekirch, Luxembourg, and I was happy to look at all the pretty houses and fields on the way.

Family pictures

An attempt to capture all of us photographically.  These are the best shots out of about a billion tries.  Zac delights in pulling weird faces or giving his neighbor 'bunny ears'.  I'm just glad I wasn't paying for the pictures!

September

Somebody turned 10

Something old

This month we learned that the ceiling is not level in our house.  NOT ANYWHERE.  There was only one spot in the entire downstairs where the ceiling was high enough and level enough to fit the new furniture.  Everywhere else there were dips, curves and swoops which made it impossible to fit.  Now my main goal in life is to get us out of this house before it falls down on top of us!

Why my kids don't watch a lot of TV

Because Mr Rogers isn't on AFN.



http://www.pittsburghinwords.org/tom_junod.html

Cub Camp

no more archery for Joyful

Last week I made the tactical mistake of volunteering for cub scout camp.  Monday was volunteer training, and I volunteered to 'help' out with science only to be handed a printed out 'experiment' (dancing spaghetti) to try with the boys.  This was supposed to fill 3 days of science classes for 50 boys?  Being the type-A person I am, this was completely unacceptable and I planned 3 days of fun curriculum that actually taught SCIENCE.  (I know, the boys only come to camp to shoot BB's, so I'm silly to care so much).

I know I'm not supposed to brag, but science class totally rocked.  Even the Tiger cubs learned the steps to the scientific method, and I was scolded by scouts when I was carrying my metal umbrella in the thunderstorm Wednesday.  THEY PAID ATTENTION AND LEARNED STUFF!   By the end of Thursday I had 3 helpers who wanted to join the cool science class, and on Friday more than one cub was mad at me that we didn't have science class.  You know what?  I'm a good teacher!

On the other hand, I am not good at things requiring coordination.  See the bruise on my arm?  This was from my attempt to shoot at the archery range.   And, while I was not the only leader to end up with a bruise, mine was the most colorful and biggest.  At least I win at klutz?

Day 4 Oberndorf bei Salzburg

advent celebration?  Should have written all these down! 

celebration at the river's bend

Our awesome hostess

Memorial chapel
The original was destroyed in a flood

leaving Deutschland

Our detour into Hallein prompted us to go on another 'unscheduled' adventure to Oberndorf, the town where "Silent Night" was composed and first sung.   It is a town located at the bend of the river Salzach which forms the border between Germany and Austria.  The chapel was at the very farthest curve of the bend, in a place prone to floods and fires and harsh weather.  The entire area is called the 'unterberg', which means under the mountains.  Maybe in the shadow of the mountains?  In any case, it is a beautiful place to visit and live, but the winters are snow filled and for the farmers of the area the climate is not always favorable.  We visited a tiny little museum where the proctor took our family around, explained every exhibit and told us about the traditions of the area.  Most of the festivals are based on asking for a good harvest, giving thanks for the harvest, or scaring away the bad spirits which come in the long, dark, cold, winters.  I'm not sure the kids understand what it means to depend on the weather, the seasons and to never know what the future might bring.  Not that we know what the future brings, but our comfort is practically assured.    Of note also was the warm reception our children received at the museum.  We are used to stares and questions if these are all our children, instead she complimented us on taking the kids around to learn the history of the places we visit.  It was such a nice change!

The rest of the day we recovered from our travels at the Watzman Therme, a series of pools filled with naturally heated spring water (salty, also!)  I thought the water wasn't nearly warm enough and stayed in the tepidarium to get warm.  I guess feeling cold all the time is just my default state.

Day 3 Salzburg

The last water-powered marble mill in Germany

Really, they're thrilled

No is not afraid of dinosoars.  

Hedgie!

street food

I love Salzburg, but do NOT love the traffic.   We started our day at the Kugelmühle near Berchtesgaden.  They still grind marbles the old-fashioned way, with water power.  I thought it was cool and we bought marbles for everyone.  


Next stop:  Mirabell gardens to see the sound of music gazebo.  Again, I seemed to be the only one impressed.  

In Hallein, Austria, Franz Gruber's grave

Then:  Salzburg, lunch at the market square, walking tour of the city and kids complaining and wanting to know when were were going to the Haus der Natur.  So, we gave up on culture and went to play.  After an exhausting day of scientific exploration and exhibits we got stuck in traffic.  Our attempt to detour led us WAY out of our way in Hallein, which happens to be the place Franz Gruber is buried.  We saw his old organ and the place he is buried while we waited for the gasthaus to open.  Our day ended in one of our more unique detours through the mountains.  Even our new GPS wants us to use back roads!

Day 2 Königsee

Even the water in the streams looks a different color than the streams I'm used to seeing.  Because it's glacial?  We hiked up to the Eiskappelle (Ice chapel) which is essentially a glacier that has a stream running under it.  This makes a tunnel, and the shape of the hills above it cause the snow to fall in a slant on the 'roof'.  The hike starts out easy, is killer in the middle and is easy again at the end.  Either that or I am a wimp.

Det 1 retreat day 1

We hiked over to the mittelstation of the Jennerbahn and took the lift up to the top station.  We had near perfect hiking weather under grey skies, but once at the top the rain began to fall and the kids began to grump.  So down again we went, and hiked back to the Hinterbrand so we could drive down to the Obersalzburg documentation center.   And I'll just add here that I've never seen such clearly marked well-maintained trails as we hiked above Berchtesgaden.  

After WWII any properties not maintained by the occupation forces were destroyed by the government.  It was done in an attempt to prevent groups from having a place of pilgrimage or memorial.  However, it had the unintended effect of looking as if the government wished to wipe away all memory of that point in time.  So, when the US government returned the General Walker (formerly the Platterhof) hotel to German hands it first was mostly demolished, and then turned into a parking lot for the new documentation center.  The center gives the history of the Nazi movement in excruciating detail and allows the visitor to tour the underground bunkers constructed to save the party leadership from allied air strikes. 

One of the few remaining structures is the former atrium of the General Walker (itself formerly the Platterhof), now converted to a restaurant.  We had lunch there and enjoyed the lovely views out the windows.  It’s the perfect place for lunch—both protected from the weather and still lets you see everything.

After lunch we toured the Documentation center and the bunker tunnels.  The kids found most of the center too boring for their tastes, but in the bunkers were more ‘scope for imagination’.  I can’t imagine being so desperate as to hide out in those bunkers for any length of time.  It’s not like help was coming to  save them.    Also, the history of how easily Hitler came to power—and manipulated the people into thinking they were doing the right thing is quite sobering.  It makes you realize that given the right circumstances such a thing could happen even today.  

Fav'rit things

Old city centers and

These smiling faces

Learning new cultures

And seeing new places

Seeing their smiles as we learn new cool things

These are a few of my favorite things!

Flower full gardens and unicorn fountains

Old fashioned mills under grey skies and mountains

Stille nacht chapel and boxes that sing

These are a few of my favorite things!

When the clouds stay, more of rain delays, when I’m tired and sad, I’ll simply remember these favorite things and wish I was in Berchestgadener land.