February 13-February 19

Wednesday February 13

Ash Wednesday. Kids are all back in school today. I took GE to Kindergarten and did my shopping. Lots of laundry, changed the bedding in preparation for having my sister visit.

We are going mostly meat-less for Lent. What does that mean? We're still going to eat fish once a week and if we are served meat as guests somewhere we won't make a big deal out of it, but at home, we are trying to experiment with little to no meat at meals. The kids balked a little when I said that today they could have cheese or jam on their Pausebrot (recess-bread) but we'd been talking about it for a little while so they were ready. We've also let the Nutella run out, replaced the sugary cereals with plain flakes and wheat Chex, and the candy is put away until Easter. That leaves honey, jam, butter, Gouda, cream cheese, and cinnamon and sugar (my own mix, so more cinnamon than sugar) for breakfast toast and Pausebrot. Yogurt, eggs, and cheese are also still on the table. For Abendbrot we'll have cheese, sunflower seed pastes or homemade bean spreads (if I can get them to try them!), jam, and honey (plus all the usual fresh veggies, salad, and apple slices or grapes). The warm meals are a little more challenging because I don't want to use a lot of processed soy meat-replacements and my kids are not all that fond of beans and lentils. However, I'm experimenting with hiding lentils in pasta sauces and soups, tacos/burritos (although I can't find whole wheat or corn tortillas here for the life of me) and that sort of thing. I'll keep you posted...

Went to my running group in the evening. A new circuit for leg strength building. Oi. A lot of heavy cinder blocks involved, followed by a steep run up into the woods and then down again, 4,39 km.

Thursday February 14

R (my little sister) is coming tomorrow! I'm so excited. Shopped and cleaned. An otherwise uneventful day. It's Valentine's Day too. Choir rehearsal was cancelled because the director is sick, so J and I decided to try at Spanisch tapas restaurant, Club Garcia, within walking distance of our place. It was packed! We didn't have a reservation, but they could squeeze us in between others if we were willing to eat in under an hour. OK! Fabulous food (although a lot of it was fried), hole-in-the-wall atmosphere with lots of locals. Our kind of place. We stuck to meat-less warm tapas (incredible white French style bread with aioli, fried potatoes with homemade salsa, assorted fritters) and a bottle of red wine, but I want to go back and order the Paella (requires at least a 45 minute wait!).

When we left the restaurant it was snowing heavily and there was about a 1/2 inch on the ground! Beautiful.

Friday February 15

Took GE to Kindergarten and then caught the U-bahn and Schnellbus to the airport. The security personnel are striking so many flights out were cancelled, but thankfully flights in were not impaired, in fact, there was little wait time. So R's flight came in smoothly and I found her without any problems. Took her home in the rental car (which I had picked up while waiting for her to arrive), dropped her off at home, fed her, set her up for a nap in my room, then went to get some car shopping done (crates of milk and juice, toilet paper, bulky stuff) before picking up GE from Kindergarten. J was at home to hold down the fort as the other girls came home from school. After getting GE, I went to a larger shopping center with a good bakery and got some cake for Kaffee und Kuchen with our family friends, MSD and her daughter, LD who came to our place at 4 p.m.

My sister, R, showing LD pictures of my niece that were still stored on her camera.

GE and HR wanted to see too. No, GE, is not breaking out in purple spots. She got a stamper in her Kinderschokolade egg and decided her face was a good place to try it out on!

HR with the fairy book from her Aunt R (center), MSD (left), and her daughter, LD (right). Have I explained who they are and how we're connected? If I didn't or you've forgotten: MSD and her husband lived in the attic apartment of our building in Marburg when my family lived there in '85-87. When I was 16 I returned to Germany for a summer as their au pair Mädchen. LD was 2, her older brother 6 and baby brother 9 months.

After they left, we had a late Abendbrot with a variety of German breads, cheeses, the sunflower seed pastes (my sis is vegetarian so this works out well!), and fresh veggies and fruit. Yum!

The girls are thrilled to have Aunt R here and HR begged for her to sleep in their room, so the air mattress (borrowed from the neighbors) is set up on the floor. Tomorrow will be a full day, so we are heading to bed on the early side...

Saturday February 16

Got up with the sun and woke R (her request) to go for an easy run through the neighborhood. Picked up some fresh Brötchen from the Markmann bakery on the way home. Yum!  We did some laundry, and got organized for our trip to Köln in the afternoon. R wanted to print some pictures of her daughter and husband to show our old family friends, so we raced into Bad Godesberg on bikes to the DM shop where there is an automated machine for prints. Then we raced back and made a quick lunch, cleaning out some of the food in the fridge. At 1:15 we piled into the van and drove to Köln, found parking in a garage downtown and then went to meet our good family friend (from our years in Hesston, KS and Marburg, Germany!), HM. She took us into the Kölner Dom and then sat with J and MK at a cafe while the rest of us (including GE!) climbed the steeple!

Scampering about the plaza beside the Dom while we waited for HM to arrive.

What are empty fountains for? Climbing, of course!! It was cold and damp with puddles all about. I brought GE's Matschhosen (puddle pants) along, but didn't put them on her right way... Then, of course, she kneeled down in a half-gone puddle and turned her shins and knees dark gray! So, on went the Matschhosen. Probably one of my favorite German children's accessories!

"Hey, GE, Mommy's taking pictures!"

"We're going to climb that?!"

"But it's soooo big!"

"Uh...., do I have to?"

Inside the Dom. The windows were all taken down during WWII and stored somewhere, then returned after the war. Only parts of the front exterior of the Dom were damaged from bombing.

 

Stunning wood carving, Altarpiece of Agolilophus.

The detail in this altarpiece was incredible!

J with our guide and good friend, HM.

A little snack before we hit the stairs up the steeple tower.

Wow, this is really high! She only stopped once and asked to be carried and then kept tromping up when I said it was just a little further. HR raced up ahead of us and I had to keep calling her to say, "Wait!"

View down through the mist (it was foggy and cold but never rained that day) to the Rhein river.

Back at the bottom, there were some child-sized holes in the rock, just right for little girls to climb in for a rest!

 

 

 

 

GE is captivated by the Roman "soldier" on the plaza in front of the Dom.

After we made it back down, HM took us through some of the pretty parts of the Altstadt, treated us at a bakery, and led us down to the Rhein river bank. A little after 5 we returned to our van and drove to Düsseldorf to their home for a fabulous Raclette meal with her husband, UM, and their childrenÖ our friends VM (remember Princess Lea?), her husband CN (The Hulk!), and VM's brother, MM. About the time the kids turned into pumpkins (i.e. way past their bedtime), we headed home to Bonn!

HM got everyone bakery treats after our hard climb up and down the Dom steeple! GE chose a chocolate muffin (girl after my own heart!), HR and ME Rosinenschnecken (raisin snails). I had a Nougat Bretzel (pastry pretzel with chocolate nougat swirled into the layers and crusted with slivered almonds, OMG!), R had a Berliner (a sugar coated, jelly-filled doughnut). J had already had a coffee and MK cake at the cafe while the rest of us were climbing.

About 2 minutes later she started bouncing.

Walking back up towards the Dom from the Rhein. The Kölner Philharmonic is in the building to the left. We were politely asked to walk around on the outside side walk because walking across the plaza in front of the building caused sound disturbances inside the concert hall where there was a concert being held!

UM on the right, MM on the left, HM is taking the picture. VM and CN are at the end between me and J.

Prost!

Not much food left at this point.

Sunday February 17

I got up early, packed a lunch for everyone, and then rousted the sleepyheads out of bed for a quick breakfast. We packed a couple light overnight bags and piled into the van a little before 9 a.m. and hit the road south to Ulm. Smooth traveling--made great time (4 hours on the nose, including a stop for our picnic lunch and a couple others for potty breaks). We went straight to our good friend, EWT's apartment in a quiet neighborhood. Her husband, T, and baby son, T met us for the first time. EWT had a lovely Sunday afternoon Kaffee und Kuchen set out for us and we sat down for a hour or so to enjoy this. Then bundled everyone up and took the bus and trolley into downtown Ulm. We walked through the Altstadt and crossed the Donau (Danube) river into Bayern to go to a children's museum. The kids and grown ups enjoyed the "travel around the world" theme. 

Fun to see that EWT is a baby-wearing, nursing mom like my sister and I were.

 

The Rathaus with wonderful story-telling pictures and writing on the walls. On Monday we ate lunch at the restaurant on the main floor.

view back from the Rathaus plaza to the Ulm Münster spire.

Another side of the Rathaus, including its astronomical clock.

The Donau (Danube) river.

EWT husband, T explaining something to ME.

Couldn't get HR to keep her hat on, so Aunt R traded her hand-knit one for HR's red one. She kept it on... for a while.

At the art museum, J studying a modern work....

...which also turned out to be a puzzle on the floor that we could put together (once we figured out which picture in the room the puzzle was supposed to be).

Another floor puzzle: take these shapes and make one big square. Can we do it?

Yes, we can!

A light room: what color make you feel warm? what color makes you feel cool?

"Farbe Form Licht" (Color Form Light)

Step by step origami (on the wall)...

Followed by this installation in the stairwell! Cool. Take note of the little "men" on the left wall...

This photo is actually rotated on its side, just to give some perspective.

What it actually looked like.

HR, the hotel registrar!

 

Puppets!

A rock monster!

The girls quickly figured out that they fit in the monster's mouth too!

 

 

Heading up the stairs to another level... more little men on the walls and ceiling!

Learning how to warp a head scarf.

A room about what we can do to help our mother Earth. HR decides she needs to give it a little lovin'.

A kitchen "stove" where you add ingredients to your virtual "pot" and learn about where the food comes from as you "cook".

Getting ready to cook up some international delicacies!

GE is not sure how to use these things for eating...

On the train around the world.

Pretty much any museum that has proper dress-up is a big hit.

Back to the kitchen, MK now has the apron strings tied on. Even 12-yr-olds aren't immune to the lure of dress-up!

Then back to their apartment again for Abendbrot: Schwäbische Spätzle (homemade egg noodles) with cheese (she made some with tomato sauce and veggies for me--no dairy!).  My sister, R, spent the night with them, but since there wasn't room for us all, the rest of us headed to the Jugendherberge (youth hostel) that was only a few minutes away: one private "family room" with 7 bunk beds and sink (shared toilets and showers) and a breakfast buffet in the morning. Everything was clean and neat. There was only one other couple in the whole place, so it was quiet and peaceful. ME had a bit of a stomach ache and nausea that had started in the afternoon (she only ate a few bites of the Spätzle), so she hugged a borrowed bowl for a good part of the night (but didn't need it). That finally passed at some point and so all slept fairly well.
Monday February 18

After breakfast we headed into town again. We got there a little earlier than R and EWT, so we headed back down the way we'd gone to the museum to see if a particular hat shop was open. It was, so J picked out a solid German Hut that he'd been coveting, then we made our way back to the center of town and met R and EWT in front of the Munster. The spire on the Munster church is higher than the Kölner Dom and the highest spire in Germany. They are very proud of this. But no climbing this one because of ice on the stairs at the top--probably couldn't have convinced any of the kids to do it with me anyway!

Daddy in his new hat. The girls wanted the fur-lined ones until I pointed out the price-tags (99,90E!!)

Examining the model of the city on the plaza outside the Munster.

The final height of the spire was completed in 1887.

HR looking at one of the Ulm Spatzen (sparrow)

Frescoes on the wall.

Playing peek-a-book around the columns.

After wandering through the church a bit, we went to find a Wolle shop (yarn) for R to buy some good knitting yarn. Then back through the Altstadt to see some of the older buildings before circling back to the Rathaus for lunch. 

Old Fachwerk in the Fischviertel (fish quarter)

 

The "Blau" (blue) creek running through the old part of the city.

The famous Schiefes Haus (crooked house)

An actual Spatz! There was a bush full of them.

At lunch at the Rathaus Keller Restaurant.

After lunch we piled back into the car and headed home. R slept a good bit, the kids watched DVDs on the mini-DVD player or played games on their DS's. Once we were home I made my light popcorn supper since we hadn't had that on our usual Sunday night, then R and I took the van back to the airport while J put the girls to bed. R and I timed it just right: caught the Schnellbus back to the Hauptbahnhof with no waiting at the bus stop and then there were just 2 minutes until the next subway train arrived, so we were home shortly before 9 p.m.

Tuesday February 19

Shipped the girls off to school and Kindergarten. We borrowed my neighbor's bicycle for my sister to ride and then went into Bad Godesberg to shop and poke around. We sat down at the French bakery for a cup of Cafe au Lait (R) and green tea (me). Before we headed home we stopped at the grocery store and the Merzenich bakery (Rheinland specialties) for some Walnussbrot. R recently got her ears re-pierced (she'd gone for so long without earrings that the holes were closed) and wanted some new earrings, so I took her to my favorite scarf and jewelry shop and she chose some funky new earrings (we definitely have different taste!). But mostly we window shopped and talked. Luckily the light snow-rain that was called for last night held off until after we got home.

R wanted to take the older girls to the movie, Fünf Freunde 2, so I looked up the movie info and show times. Turns out the film is rated "ab 0 Jahre" (G), so I decided we'd all go together. ME's friend, Y, came too. We took some cheese sandwiches, pretzels and bananas along since the film started at 5:10 and wouldn't finish until 7, right over dinnertime. Then we caught the next bus home, tossed the little girls in the bathtub and fixed dinner (soft tacos with home made re-fried beans).  The girls went from the table directly to the bathroom to brush their teeth and then straight to bed!