Zurich

Since I have not been stellar at keeping up with my blog as much as I'd like this year, I'm now going into overdrive and finally sharing some little adventures and everyday things here in Germy.  So for the next few emails I may be going backwards, detailing a few happenings from our recent past here.

My mom - Grandma Sweetie - came to visit us over the Easter holiday break.  Our first "real" visitor!  We had a lot of fun despite the crummy weather we had most of her time here.  Of course, her favorite part was devouring Peter and Marky as much as she could!

We did a few day trips with Grandma including one to Zurich, Switzerland!  We drove there in under 3 hours.  It is just amazing how close we are to so many fabulous destinations.  Zurich was just beautiful!  Unfortunately, almost the entire area was shut down due to the holiday Easter Monday.  Who knew?!  The europeans LOVE their holidays here (there are 4 in May alone!).  While we all enjoy a day off of school and work, we do not love that almost everything closes on these days with the exception of gas stations, trains and a maybe a few restaurants.  No grocery shopping... nothing!  So was the case with our day in Zurich.  First, we had a horrible meal of highly suspect "fish" and chips at a Nordsee in the main train station (fast food seafood is probably never a good idea).  The rest of the time was spent walking up and down some main city streets oohing and aahing over the beauty that is Zurich.  We walked down the famed Bahnhofstrasse past uber high-end boutiques and window shopped, strolled along Lake Zurich, took a short inner-city train ride around nowhere in particular and was able to go inside one of the amazing churches downtown.  I definitely want to go back on a nice day when things are open for business!  Not really to buy anything but just to take everything in and maybe do a scenic boat cruise on the lake.  As you can imagine, Zurich is a world-class city with world-class prices to match!  For example, a large soft pretzel that is typical around these parts for under 1.00€ is 5 francs there!  Switzerland has not adopted the euro and still uses the Swiss Franc.

Here are some picts of our sightseeing trip to Zurich!  Can't wait to go back!  (Click on pict for larger view)

Main Swiss train station (Hauptbahnhof)

Cool fountain in front of Hauptbahnhof

My mom and I along Lake Zurich

 

Smaller train station with cool clock

Grossmünster (Great Church) - c. 1220
One of 3 major churches in the city.
The twin towers are one of Zurich's most recognized landmarks.

Charlemagne on Grossmünster's southern tower.
This church was built on the site of a
Carolingian church commissioned by Charlemagne.

Peter (with new glasses!), Grandma Sweetie,
Marky and Mike in a lower level of Hauptbahnhof

Fancy pay toilets in Hauptbahnhof.  Worth every franc!
Strangely, no separate men/women sides.
Also, lights above each stall door.  Green = go in.
Yellow = just used / needs cleaning.  Red = in use.
Yes, I am oddly fascinated with the European toilets.

Peter at the Hauptbahnhof showing off a Swiss train.

Frühlingfest

Frühlingfest translates to Spring Festival and is held every year in Stuttgart between the middle of April to the beginning of May.  It's the largest spring festival in Europe!  It's the "little sister" to Stuttgart's 3-week Fall Festival the Volksfest which is the 2nd largest beer fest in the world after Munich's Oktoberfest.  Obviously, they LOVE their beer here in Germany!  I have to say I am loving it too.  It is rich in flavor and (watch out!) much stronger in alcoholic content than its American counterpart.  (Bud Light is considered tap water here.  Ha!)  The festivals begin with the Lord Mayor of Stuttgart trying to tap the first barrel of beer with as few hits as possible.

The festival(s) consist of many beer tents which are open to all until about 5:00p when it turns adult-only.  When I say beer tents (as they are called), the term is used very, very loosely.  The "tents" are giant structures the size of football fields built specifically for the festivals and hold hundreds (thousands?).  They feature stages at one end with live bands.  Some tents have more german oom-pah-pah type stuff and some "good" tents, like the one I was in, features a huge soundstage with singers, dancers and musicians.  They sing all kinds of stuff but mostly lots of stuff that the crowd can sway, sing and dance to including American classics like "Sweet Caroline", "We Are Family" and "YMCA".  There were some german standards sung to which the crowd acted out all the parts, similar to a YMCA type thing only they were pretending to ride horses and waving.  The beer tents are about 5,000 degrees inside, almost unbearably loud and if you are *not* wearing the traditional Dirndl or Lederhosen then you stand out like a sore thumb.

A group of 1st grade moms and I all met at the first night of Frühlingfest 2013 last Saturday for a very rare girls night out and yes, we all wore the traditional Dirndl.  A dirndl is a type of Bavarian dress based on historic Alpine peasant wear.  There are 3 parts to the dirndl... first, a cropped blouse with pouffy sleeves that shows various amounts of cleavage, depending on how chaste you are.  There are a LOT of women who needed to "cover that up"!!!  But I'm sure the men would disagree.  Next is the actual dress.  If you are younger (or have a "special" mirror in your house) and have nice gams to show off or are trying to attract the guys, you go with a shorter "mini" dirndl.  The typical dress falls at or just below the knee.  Then there are the floor-length versions which look more Little House on the Prairie to me.  The 3rd part of the outfit is the apron which ties at the waist.  You must be careful how you tie your apron as it dictates your "status" as follows:

- bow tie on right = married

- bow tie on left  = single

- bow tie in back = widowed

Mike said, "Just don't tie it in the back!"  Ha!

You can buy dirndls at a lot of places prior to the festivals (and year 'round at special dirndl shops) for various prices.  They begin at around 99€ and go upwards in the thousands.  Seriously!  I went for the less-expensive option at a lower-end german clothing store where I got all 3 pieces for the price of 1 but still ended up with something nice looking.  Since I will only wear it a few times here (for the twice yearly fests) and then *maybe* as a Halloween costume back in the States I thought it wouldn't pay to spend alot of money on it.  Plus, you are bound to get beer spilled on your fabulous dirndl.  If you are interested in seeing some pretty nice dirndls, visit this site http://www.krueger-dirndl.de/en/homepage/

One more thing on dirndls... typically, brighter colored dresses are worn for the spring fest and darker hues for the fall fest.  Mine was more "fall-ish" but unless you buy 2 dirndls you are only "in season" for one fest.  But trust me... everyone is drunk and nobody cares!  ;)

OK... this is getting quite wordy so time to wrap it up (yeah, right!).  My friends and I each paid 29€ in advance which got us a ticket to the "good" beer tent, seats at a table, 1/2 chicken and roll dinner and 3 beer tokens.  Our "seats" were a space at one of the loooong picnic styled tables.  You had to fight to maintain your seats as friends left for the bathroom (which was a loooong line).  The chicken... the best I have ever had!  The skin is crisp and super salty and just tastes like heaven.  I was told they make it extra salty so that people will consume more beer (as if we need a reason).  They must cook a million chickens and they are all perfectly done and steaming hot when you cut into them.  The beer.  Oh dear!  The beer comes in LITRES.  They are as big as my head.  I had about a litre +1/4 or 1/2.  Many were doing Jagermeister shots (obviously very popular here and sold in mini bottles at the store checkouts like gum or candy bars) and I very very wisely declined and stuck to my garbage-can-sized beers.  A good tip: wear very comfortable, old shoes.  Why, you ask?  Well, everyone *stands* (precariously balances) on the bench seats of the picnic tables for hours while belting out tunes, dancing and drinking from gigantic glass mugs of beer.  I thought I had comfy shoes on but ended up hobbling to the trains home due to my poor blistered feet.  Also, as you can imagine, with everyone swinging around giant mugs-o-beer some is bound to get spilled.  Well, alot gets spilled.  And it ends up on the benches, the floor and your shoes.  (And yes, as with every festival - indoor and out - and biergarten you get *real* glass mugs and dishes with real silverware!  No red plastic Solo cups here... and no trash!)  And BTW... to say, "Cheers!" here you say, "Prost!"  (One more BTW... thanks to one "seasoned" mom who brought a giant trash bag to keep our coats dry in under the table!)

One more thing.  This I'll bet you won't get from Rick Steves' european guides!  The bathrooms.  The germans are *brilliant* on this front.  Wherever you go you need to carry pocket change for the WC (water closet - pronounced Vay-Say here) or Toilets (never "bathroom" over here.  That's where you take a bath.)  Even somewhere that holds hundreds and hundreds of drunken people, the toilets are exceptionally clean.  You pay 50 cents euro to the attendant and walk in to a *clean* stall!  There's someone constantly cleaning the toilets, sinks, floors, etc.  As a person who absolutely *dreads* public restrooms I think 50 cents is well worth a clean potty!  They have portable WC trailers at outdoor events too where you pay a few cents and get a clean private stall and sink.  Can you imagine?!  No germy, disgusting, sewer-smelling port-a-potty!  Thank you Germany!  :)

OK... on that bright note... here are the picts!  I will definitely be attending the Girls Night Out for the Fall Volksfest!  Stay tuned!  :)  (Click on picts for larger/slideshow)

Something to Remember

This blog is primarily a place to share our european experiences with you.  But after the tragedies in Boston I kept seeing this quote pop up and I think it's pretty wonderful and worth sharing.  Something nice for adults and children alike.  Hugs to you all!

Helloooo!

Can you believe it's almost the middle of April already?!  I can't!  Yes, I am still here in Germy.  We are still alive!  ;)  For those of you who still actually take the time to check this blog... yes, there will be more postings.  I keep thinking to write things and time gets away.  Or I am too lazy.  Or too tired.  Or in a funk about being in Germy.  Or busy enjoying Germy.  Sometimes being an expat can definitely lead to a Jekyll and Hyde type sensation.  One minute missing home and cursing the strange place that we find ourselves in and the next ooh-ing and aah-ing over it.  Also, it's easy to feel very distanced from "home" in the U.S. and life there since "home" is now here and this is where life is for us now.

Anyways, lots to tell and as soon as I download picts from my camera I will be sharing some of our recent happenings here.  And in the future I will try to post small updates, whether thrilling or not, instead of my usual every-3-month or so novels!

Hope you all are doing well and check back soon!  New stuff to come!  :)  Much love!

Fasching

While most American children were celebrating Valentines Day in their classrooms last week, the German kids had the week off for Fasching.  It seems they do celebrate Valentines here to a very small extent but it is only meant for adults, or "lovers" as I was told.  (How can you not think of the SNL Will Ferrell and Rachel Dratch skit?!)  Back to Fasching though.  What is it?  Think along the lines of our Mardi Gras.  While there are many historical events tied to Fasching it is predominantly a week-long celebration leading up to Lent.  Traditionally, on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday (the beginning of Lent), women may snip men's ties and kiss any men they choose passing by.  The weekend before there are many celebrations in the form of carnivals, parades and the typically stoic Germans cut loose and dress in all forms of costume.  The biggest festivities take place on the Monday or Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with people taking off work (many have the day off... Germans take their holidays seriously!).  Whole downtowns of cities and villages are closed off to traffic and temporary markets are set up selling everything from beer, wine, sausages and tasty pastries such as the famous Berliners (big donuts filled with jam or other fabulous fillings) to souvenirs and traditional German wear such as lederhosen.  The very first worldwide "carnival" was held in Cologne, Germany in 1823.

The boys and I were lucky to be invited to one such festivity last Tuesday in Leonberg.  It is a city about 20 minutes north of us.  They were hosting their 124th Pferdemarkt (Horse Market) and Fasching parade along with a carnival and horse & buggy competition.  The streets were closed down and some areas were lined with horses to buy and sell.  Most seemed like big sturdy work horses but there were also miniature ponies.  The weather was pretty miserable but bad weather doesn't stop the hearty Germans from celebrating and it didn't stop us.  We "braved" the weather for about an hour before the parade and sampled some yummy treats and watched some of the horse & buggy competition.  Then we retreated to our friend's business (a pretty, old converted apartment) right on the corner of all the action, 2 stories up.  Perfect view, warm & cozy and our hostess had lots of treats including Berliners and sparkling wine (sekt) for the adults.

Below are a few picts from our day.  Peter got in the spirit and wore his NASA astronaut costume!  Many of the photos are people dressed up as witches.  I think traditionally people dressed in mask to scare away the "evil" winter spirits to usher in the spring.  I think today these people (men & women) dressed as witches belong to wine clubs.  Each village has their own club/society and wine and you can tell where they are from by their costumes.  I am not sure at what age you may join but when you are younger you have no mask.  You somehow earn it and then a hand-carved mask made especially for the occasion is bestowed upon you in a ceremony.  I am not completely clear on all this and will have to confirm with a friend who may have more knowledge on this.  Anyways, these witches were fascinating to see and many of them "scare" and chase some of the parade viewers along the sidelines and make mischief like messing up your hair or providing tiny cups of their wine for the adults and candy tossed to children.

A few picts are random of the brand new McDonalds built a few miles from us.  Yippee!  This was on Peter's "Vacation To-Do List" as a treat.  Many of the McD's here have mini cafes inside, serving many types of coffee and espresso (Europeans *love* their coffee!) as well as various pastries all with real dishware.  Also, many have various specials that are indicative of local cuisine.  The Currywurst is some type of sausage/hot dog sliced up and served with a curry ketchup.  This is extremely popular here and can be found at many stands serving sausages and pommes frites (french fries).

Also a random pict is Peter celebrating his first 100 days at school.  I couldn't resist because he was so excited and he's just too cute!

Mike was out of the country for the 3rd week in a row so he missed our first Fasching.  Apparently the Japanese don't realize the whole of Germany shuts down for this!  ;)  I am hoping the next vaca I report on will be a little more exciting with a family trip!
(Click on pict for larger view/slideshow)

Wheeeeeee!

We have a valley at the end of our street which, during the warmer months, is home to grazing cows, sheep and goats.  On a good snow day, it's home to many families sledding down the steep hills.  Yesterday was such a day and, while we did not have 2 feet of snow (or schnee as they say here) as did our Boston friends, we had plenty for some good runs.  Everyone got in on the fun except for Marky who was happy just throwing snowballs and eating snow (hopefully no cow pies were hiding underneath!).  This valley is literally steps away from our place and is about a 15 minute walk to the train station on the other side, including the walk thru the opposite neighborhood.  Mike makes this walk to and from the train every day for work.  The pictures don't do it justice but it really is very steep and very pretty.  There are wonderful walking paths surrounding the valley and mini orchards.  In the summer, if there is a breeze blowing our way, it smells like we are living on a farm.  Eek!  There is also a horse farm near the valley and it is not uncommon to see people riding horses on the pathways and up our street.  Very surreal!  Here's our first sledding adventure in Germy!

(Click on picts to see larger slideshow.)

Dry run in the living room!

Looking down our street

Stairs at end of our street leading to valley.

Hmm... wonder why no one is using the wheelchair ramps?!

Sled hill - looking back at our neighborhood

These are genius and only 3 euro.  Easy to carry!

All the kids have these and take them to school.

Sit on the scoop and hold the handle up with your

legs up off the ground.  Easy stop - just put your feet down!