This Week in Germany

One of the things that has been hard to get used to here in Germany is that people on the street or on the trains don't smile or say hello to people they don't know. And if you smile at them, they kind of look at you like you're probably a little simple--or they ignore you.

So this week I got on the train to go to German class, sit down and the woman across from me says, "Morgan (morning)". I was stunned and kind of excited to have been greeted on the train by a stranger who was German. "Must be the nice weather," I thought. So then, she asked me something in German and I explained that I spoke only a little German and could she please repeat. She was asking me about the book I was holding and I simply told her it was good--which is about as far as my Deutsch will take me. Pleased with my friendly little encounter, I turned to my book and the woman kept talking. She wasn't talking to me. She was talking to herself. And she kept talking to herself. It didn't take long to realize that the woman who had greeted me so kindly was mentally ill. Which goes along with what my friend Sheree's German teacher told her--that the only people who will talk to strangers on the street are crazy people. MY German teacher --who knows about my ongoing battle to get Germans to smile at me--thought my encounter was the funniest thing he'd heard about all week.

On another note, it's getting warm here and no one has air conditioning. That includes businesses. It's really odd to walk through an un-air conditioned store--though nice not to have to take a sweater with you because they've got the temperature down to near-artic temperatures. It's not uncomfortable (yet), but it's a little stuffy. I wonder if income for retail takes a downturn here in the summer.

It's Spargel (asparagus) season in Germany and every restaurant has their Spargel menu and every vegetable stand boasts frische Spargel. It comes in standard green or big fat stalks of white Spargel. It's only here through May, so for about six weeks, everyone eats it until they don't want to see another stalk of asparagus until next April!

Corporate Bonding

In order to strengthen the relationship between the Acxiom and one of their clients, Skip and his cohorts decided that a cooking class was just the thing to help them bond with the group they interface with at the bank. So they all headed off on Tuesday night to prepare and eat a gourmet meal under the careful guidance of the master chef at Duesseldorf Cooking school. It was apparently fun and enjoyable and Skip escaped with only a minor cut on his finger.

But then, he had the nerve to forward me the e-mail with the recipes of the night in case I wanted to prepare those dishes in the future. I thought I might at least get a home cooked meal out of the deal.

Kruller-Muller

Sculpture Garden at Kruller-Muller Museum

Black and White Garden Sculpture

Dad getting up close and personal with the exhibits


Expert bikers


Mom and Dad and I hit the Kruller-Muller Museum and Park in Holland. The museum has a huge sculpture garden and one of the largest collections of Van Gogh on display anywhere. But the big selling point are the bicycles that any visitor can pick up for free and ride around the grounds. Mom and Dad are experts now, having bought their own bikes last year. We had a really great time.

Bielstein

Bielstein

Skip in front of the worlds oldest kloster (or monastary) brewing. This order has been brewing beer since 1050.



The view of the village across the river from Bielstein from the top of the Closter


Skip and I left Maddie with mom and dad for a night and headed off to Bielstein--a little village on the Mosel, pop. 135. It's a beautiful little village built right into a hill between a bunch of vineyards. We can highly recommend it.

Rothenberg om der Tauber

Maddie overlooking a grape field in Rothenberg

Yes. It's been there since 1374!






Haven't been very good at updating the blog lately, but I'll try to catch up.

Last week, Mom and Dad and Maddie and I went to Rothenberg, a Medieval walled city about 4 hours south. It is really beautiful and full of all this amazing history. We should have planned to stay longer.

There's a really great story about how they restored the part of the city that was destroyed during WWII. After the war, they sent out word across the world that anyone who would send 80 francs toward the rebuilding of Rothenberg could have their name embedded in the wall that surrounds the city. As you walk along the wall, you can read the names of people from all around the world who had seen and loved the city and helped it rebuild.



On the way home we took the scenic route through the little villages of the Bayern area of Germany. Just by the side of the road we found this little chapel that was open to whomever wanted to stop in.

John and Nancy in Germany

things are bluming in Duesseldorf

It took a bit to recover from the jet lag, but my mom and dad are here in Duesseldorf and having a good time. At least, Maddie is having a good time with her Nana and Papa John.

We went to a castle yesterday and Maddie got Nana and Papa John up on what she calls the "flying benches" and what is in reality a chair lift that takes from Oberburg to Untersberg. Even those of you without formal training in German may be able to figure out those names.

Tomorrow, we head off to Rothenberg--a medieval city just about 3 hours south of here.

Skip takes advantage of the Grandparents' visit


my mom and dad on the "flying bench"

good ad space, dontcha think?

London

Me in front of the Tower Bridge


Maddie at the Natural History Museum

Big Ben

Maddie and Big Ben...Parlaiment

Maddie at the Gates of Buckingham Palace


Maddie at the London Zoo

Skip in front of the Tower of London

Got to tag onto one of Skip's business trips and see London. What a spectacular (and spectacularly expensive!) city. Of course, when you're seeing it with a five-year-old, your experience is a bit different than if you're simply on your own. We saw the zoo and the aquarium, but we also made it to the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and the Natural History Museum (the movie Night at the Museum has done great things for Maddie's interest in Natural History!).

Maddie and I hit London on our own on Monday and Tuesday and thoroughly mastered the London Underground train system. The long escalators, tunnels and moving sidewalks made the subway one of Maddie's favorite attractions. Of course, everyone speaks English and everything is written in English, so I can't really take much credit for not getting lost. We took a hop-on, hop-off bus tour to see the sights of London.

My two favorite parts were learning that Sir Robert Peel founded Scotland Yard and that is where we get the expression my father taught both me and my daughter, "Keep your eyes Peeled." And then when the tour guide told us that we had entered the round-about made famous by Chevy Chase in the movie European Vacation when he coudn't get off and just kept circling, shouting, "Look kids, Big Ben! Parlaiment!" Maddie's favorite part when the tour guide pointed out a shop where the Queen buys her underwear. Are we highbrow or what?

Probably our favorite part of the trip was getting to see Mary Poppins on stage. What a fabulous show. Only slightly dampened by the fact that when Mary Poppins flies out over the crowd (amazing set!) Maddie is sobbing because Mary Poppins has to leave.

We will probably go back at least once before we come back to the states for good, and I've made a deal with Skip to take Maddie somewhere for the afternoon so that I can explore Westminster Abbey.

My mom and dad are arriving first thing tomorrow morning--Good Friday. I don't believe we'll have much luck observing the somberness (is that a word?) of the day.