March 12-March 17

Tuesday March 12

Our good family friend, MSD took us to Bonn Zentrum by car through falling snow. The weather was 85% chance of snow all day long (turned out to be basically 100% since it was snowing when I got up at 6, still coming down when we came home from dinner at 9 p.m. and never quit in between!) and below freezing temps! What kind of March is this?! Quite unusual for this part of Germany... Nevertheless we enjoyed ourselves. Breakfast at a cafe, shoe shopping, window shopping, toy store...

Breakfast with MSD

After feeding the kids supper, L and I tried to catch a bus to a restaurant along the Rhein, but waited and waited and no bus! After our reservation time came and went, I called a taxi to come get us. The snow was still coming down! Taxi got stuck in traffic too but eventually found an alternate route and we got to the restaurant, Schaumburger Hof just 15 minutes late. 

The options were not meat-free and dairy-free friendly! All the fish dishes had cream sauces and so I ended up patching together potatoes from one entree with a Schnitzel from another (one of the only things that didn't have butter or milk in the breading). Delicious, but a little too heavy! LY had a roast with a "sour" sauce (vinegar), potato dumplings, and a side of baked apples.

Wednesday March 13

The morning dawned bright and sunny, but still cold. The world is white again! We took the bus to drop off GE at Kindergarten then I took L and E up to the old Muffendorf mainstreet which is full of wonderful old Fachwerk buildings. I knew of a little cafe there that purportedly has wonderful croissants, but unfortunately it's closed except 2 or 3 days of the week and of course, this was one of the "closed" days! 

Explaining the method for filling the gaps between the timbers.

So, we hiked down the hill to the main bus drag and headed back to Bad Godesberg and warmed ourselves up at the cafe Bistro am Theater instead. Some fresh fish from Stuch and groceries from REWE and we were on our way home again (today is a "short" day for HR, so I have to be home by 11:30).  

After lunch L stayed at the apartment with the girls while I went to the Kindergarten for a "Spielnachmittag" for the parents and Kindergarteners. The teachers wanted us to get a taste of what each day is like for our children, so the afternoon simulated the morning routine: free choice play (GE and I did some pattern puzzles), then circle time (games and songs), followed by a snack, and then play in the Turnhalle (parachute games in the gym). It was great fun and I had a chance to talk lots of German with GE--immensely entertaining! She sang while she was putting her puzzle together and her teacher approached me to ask if she did that at home too. I told her "yes!" and that she often annoys her older siblings with it. To this, her teacher replied that the teachers or other students sometimes have to ask her to sing a little softer in school too!! GE looked a little sheepish but then her teacher hugged her and GE hugged back. 

No Laufengruppe tonight. :( HW canceled for some reason.  

Thursday March 14

Today I took Laura along for some grocery shopping at Der Leyenhof. I kept GE at home since we had plans for right after lunch and I didn't want to have to wait until after Kindergarten to leave. She tagged along to see the bunnies, chickens, and the Bio Hof shop. She'd never been there since I always do my shopping while the kids are at school!  

Checking out the huge bunnies at the Leyenhof.

After lunch we hopped on the U-bahn to Piratenland. We'd been there over the Karneval holiday and HR wanted to take cousin E there to play. It was basically empty when we got there with a just a few others trailing in for someone's birthday party a little while later, so the girls had their pick of giant tricycles, bikes, go-carts and the trampolines. LY and I sat at the tables on the side and talked while the kids played. Before we left, I reserved a birthday table for a party for HR's 7th birthday. She can hardly wait! We headed home in time for a light supper and then tucked some tired girls into bed! (The following pics are all from ME's camera--she asked me to take the one of her!)

Then LY and I headed over to Club Galacia for paella and tapas!  It was packed, as usual! I'd made our reservations on Sunday for Thursday since one has to order the paella ahead of time to make sure they have enough stove-top space.  It was delicious! And we had a wonderful time visiting, of course.

Paella (a Spanish specialty) with "Meeresfruchte" (Seafood)

Friday March 15

LY wanted to spend the day in Köln with her daughter E, so I took them to the Bonn Hauptbahnhof and helped them get tickets for the regional train to Köln. They climbed the Dom spire, took the Bimmelbahn through the Aldstadt, shopped, went to Cafe Reichard, and went to the Schokolade Museum. In the afternoon I took HR and GE on the train to Köln and met them near the Dom. From there we took the U-bahn to see our friend, VM and her husband, CN. We ordered some pizza for the kids and some Thai food for ourselves (plus a very yummy arugula salad that VM made) and sat around catching up on all the years since my sister, LY, had spent a summer with VM and her family! So many memories... 

We finally packed the little girls up and headed to the train station. Poor GE was sooo tired that she fell asleep lying on the pavement next to the ticket machine while we tried to get the machine to print multiple tickets for the ride home! She slept through me picking her up, carrying her to the train, laying her down on two seats, picking her up again in Bonn, and loading into a taxi for the ride home (there was no way I was going to carry her all the way from the U-bahn station to our apartment plus the little "big" girls were not going to make it either!). The regional train became pretty full (we were some of the first to get on) and folks kept coming up to where GE was sleeping thinking they'd found some free seats, only to stop and see the little sleeping form (sucking her thumb), responding with "Awwww!" and then moving on without any ire at us for hogging the seats! 

Saturday March 16 

Another full day planned: the weather was sunny and mostly clear but still quite cool. We bundled everyone up and took a regional train from Bad Godesberg to Koblenz, then a bus to the Stolzenfels Schloss. It was so quiet, we were worried that the castle wasn't open (it also had parts shrouded in scaffolding and lots of construction riff-raff about), but when we got to the gate, it was open. We had to wait 40 minutes in the cold for the tour to start, but it was worth it! A beautiful castle with the original walls and floors (we had to wear big felt slippers over our shoes). Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside, but we made up for it outside with the sun shining and the view south to the Marksburg and across the Rhein to the Lahneck Schloss were clear. ME went a little camera happy, so some of the photos below are hers (I've given her credit.)

The bus let us out right at the entrance to the Schlossweg. Quite the dramatic picture despite all the construction shrouding the tower!

Burg Lahneck on the opposite bank (where the Lahn river enters the Rhein).

Cousin E at the main entrance.

Waiting for the tour to start. It was cold but at least it was sunny and the benches were warm when we sat on them!

Bundled up and waiting!

After the tour inside we were allowed to explore the gardens and walk ways. Here are MK (left), HR and cousin E.

A fresco on the wall above the main entry to the inner courtyard.

GE in the purple, HR on the stairs.

The Rhein river looking north towards Koblenz. Cousin E in the foreground.

Another shot of the Lahneck castle. Would like to visit it, but it's a little more complicated to get to the other side of the river!

The Marksburg castle further up the Rhein river. We remembered being able to see Stolzenfels from the outer walls

 

 Maggie's Pictures:

We took the bus back to the train station, got a little lunch in the station and got the first available train back to Bad Godesberg. The hurry? Our friends RW and GW were coming for Kaffee und Kuchen at 4:30 and we had reservations for supper at La Vita at 6:30. We got home about 3:30 and everyone pitched in to straighten up the living and dining rooms while I got the coffee and cakes ready (some from a quick run to the Merzenich bakery near the train station and one I had baked on Friday while LY was in Köln). It was great fun seeing them again and visiting with them. Only sorry we didn't have time for more!

from left to right: GW, RW, my sister LY and daughter E at La Vita.

March 4-March 11

Monday March 4

It's beautiful weather! Sunny and supposed to get into the 50's today and the rest of the week too! There are crocuses in the lawns and flowers poking their green tips up in the flower beds. Yeah!!

We borrowed our neighbor's bike again for cousin R to ride. She rode with MK to school to see what it looks like, then came along with me to drop GE off at Kindergarten. She tagged along to the grocery store, DM (sort of like Riteaide or CVS but without the pharmacy), and walked around the pedestrian zone in Bad Godesberg a bit. We took the groceries home and made lunch for the girls. She rode back to the Gymnasium to meet MK when she was done and rode home with her. Then they went up to the Klufterplatz Eis Cafe for ice cream cones. MK went to tutoring from there and the other girls and I met R at the Klufterplatz for their cones! Still sunny! Our neighbors joined us and the little kids rode their bikes/Laufrad around and around the cobblestone plaza.

On our way home, we stopped in at the shoe store. HR's boots have gotten so tight she could hardly pull them on! No idea how long they've been like that or maybe she just had a growth spurt. In any case, she pointed at R's shoes (sort of canvas tennis shoes in pink and black) and said, I want shoes like that. Oh dear, I thought, how am I going to manage this one. Inside the shoe store, I looked around at the available choices and immediately spotted a pink (heart pattern) canvas high-top tennis shoe! They lace and zip so she can manage them on her own. They had her size (a full 2 sizes bigger than what she was wearing!!) and she wore them home. 5 minutes in and out. Whew.

Tuesday March 5

MK asked her teachers on Monday if R could visit school with her and they said it was not a problem, so today R rode with her to school and stayed. MK called after first period to say she'd gotten a 1+ (perfect score!) on her math test! Only 6 kids in her class (of 29) got 1's and only 2 were 1+! Woohoo! Her last double period of sport was cancelled, so she was finished early and that meant, the girls could go to the movie they wanted to see. ME went too. They all scarfed down a quick lunch, then took the bus to the Kinopolis to see Die Vampirschwestern.

Meanwhile HR's friend T, picked her up at 1:15 to go to their house to play. J will pick her up later. I went to get GE from Kindergarten and then we had a little quiet time at home before going to meet the big girls at the movie theater. From there we walked to the indoor Kurfürstenbad to go swimming. MK needed to do her Bronzeabzeichen. Her class is going on Klassenfahrt (class trip) in May and they'll be doing some sort of program that involves rafts and a lake, so all the kids are required to have a certain level of swimming ability. For the Bronze, she needed to swim 8 laps in under 15 minutes (she swam them in 5:30!), retrieve a ring from a certain depth, and dive off the diving board. No problem. So, that's ticked off and she fully participate in the Klassenfahrt. Oh, but I forgot, we were going to do this on Sunday BUT we found out that we have to have a form to give to the lifeguard who is observing the test. And you don't get the forms at the swimming pool. Huh? No, that would be too easy and just not German. No, you have to go to one of the sporting stores like Intersport, and buy the form for a couple of Euros and bring it with you. Good thing I mentioned to a German friend that I wanted to take her on Sunday (when the stores are closed but the swimming pool is open, and therefore, we wouldn't have been able to go out and get the form! I got it at Intersport this morning instead.). Sigh.

Fed all the kids when we got home and then J and I went out to Club Galacia again to celebrate: he received notice on Monday that his application for Full Professor was approved and sent over to the President's office for signing! Yeah! We shared a few tapas and then each had a fish platter recommended by our waitress. Delicious! Have no idea what kind of fish they were (the menu is in German and Spanish and the only one I recognized was Lachs/Salmon). The place was packed. Couldn't figure out why (Tuesday night?! Huh?) until at 8:30 they turned on all the big flat screen T.V.s and turned the sound on over the speaker system: Real Madrid vs. Manchester United. People were standing to see and cheering or booing at ref calls! What an atmosphere! We stayed for about 30 minutes longer and then, since we couldn't hear each other talking and there were people waiting for a table, we decided to head home. R and MK had been our babysitters and everything was quiet at home.

Wednesday March 6

J left early in the a.m. for Ireland. The Fulbright Commission publishes a list of all the scholars each year and then universities can invite them to speak, paying much less for them to come than if they were coming from their home countries. J was excited to go but sad too that we couldn't all go him (believe me, we tried to make that work!!).

The weather is gorgeous. The windows are open, the sun is shining. Perfect for... laundry!

And for playing outside on the balcony!

Coloring with sidewalk chalk.

More laundry and the girls' window decorations...

MK had a shortened day again, so she and R went into Bad Godesberg after lunch to shop a little.

Went to Laufengruppe in the evening. Cousin R and MK "babysat" for me, putting the little girls to bed.

Thursday March 7

R went with me to town again to go grocery shopping. A pretty normal day otherwise. Weather is still nice! MK had tutoring after school. Tomorrow R is flies back to Paris. The girls are sad already, but looking forward to when R will live with us next year and attend EMHS!

I went to church choir in the evening and stayed for a while afterwards for their monthly social.

Friday March 8

Took GE to Kindergarten and then R and I took the subway and Schnellbus to the airport. My sister LY and her daughter E were set to arrive at 10:20 a.m. R's flight was scheduled for 3 p.m. but when we arrived at the airport we saw that many outgoing flights were cancelled and I immediately suspected that the security personnel were striking again! Sure enough, her flight was cancelled. We went to the Lufthansa desk and were told that she had two options: take a train to Düsseldorf airport and fly from there or re-book for tomorrow. I pointed out that she is an unaccompanied minor and I was not about to stick her on a train to Düsseldorf! So, then they tried to see if they had enough staff to send someone with her by taxi instead, but they didn't. So, we re-booked her for early Saturday morning, gathered my sister LY and my niece and headed home again! ME and MK were pleasantly surprised to see R again so soon! MK had her dance class in the afternoon so R went along to see and had a good time. ME got to stay up late with the older girls (a treat I had not allowed on school nights all week).

After Kindergarten, LY and I took the little girls to see a puppet show that was being put on in a tent in the parking lot of the OBI (a DIY big home improvement store) near us. They enjoyed it even if my niece didn't understand everything that was happening. I stopped at the bakery on the way home for some fresh bread for a traditional Abendbrot dinner to welcome LY on her first evening back in Germany.

HR and E waiting for the show to start. Check out HR's new shoes!!

Saturday March 9

Got up early (5 a.m.) and took R back to the airport for her flight back to Paris. This time everything went smoothly and I was on my way home shortly after 7 and home by 8:30. At 10 we all headed to the bus and then subway to Königswinter to go to Sea Life. We spent the morning there, then ate lunch at a comfortable grill restaurant (Bratwurst, pizza, falafel... a little something to please everyone!) before heading up to the Drachenfels cog-rail train station.

Giant Japanese crab! This thing was huge!!

ME taking pictures with her DS.

MK and HR peaking through the "bubble" on one side of a display tank.

ME has new shoes too! The high-to style is "in" again. Seems like they were "in" when I lived in Germany 25 years ago?

Touching star fish and sea anemone.

Ready to hatch! Turtle exhibit.

GE and HR examine the snapping turtle up close.

Very cool octopus!

Watching the fish in the 360 view tunnel.

Sister LY and jellyfish.

Lunch at the Königs Grille.

After lunch we took the train to the top of the mountain, one of the Siebengebirge, and walked up to the burg ruins (dated to 1138). It was a bit blustery but not terribly cold.

Getting on the cog rail train to go up the mountain.

Cousins riding shotgun.

Renovations are underway at the ruins. Since the last time we were here to visit in 2008, there is now a lovely new cafe and work being done to complete a viewing platform.

A little puppet show of the dragon that lived in the mountain and was slain by Siegfried.

Typical blustery, dramatic German sky.

The Rhine river.

I could pick out our neighborhood through my camera zoom. See the yellow crane in the center? That's at a building site just down the street from us. The large red brick building just above that is the Catholic church near our house.

We took the train part of the way back down to the Drachen Schloss (late 1800's). After we'd been through the open parts of the Schloss, we walked back down the rest of the way to town and found an Italian Eis cafe for some ice cream cones before getting the subway home. A great day! Not too full, a bit of fresh air and exercise, the kids had a good time, and the sun even came out a bit on our walk down the mountain.

Stained glass windows that were destroyed during the first and second world wars but were restored after shards were discovered and pictures in an archive helped the artists reassemble them and replace missing pieces. Lots of plain white glass still remains but several of the stained glass windows have been restored in recent years (these just since 2003).

Paintings on the walls of the stairway depicting historical scenes from the region. The governing royalty are pictured above in chronological order.

View of the Rhine from the rear garden wall.

Cousins in cahoots!

"Eating" the dragon in the gift shop!

Walking through the woods back to Königswinter.

Sunday March 10

The weather has taken a turn for the worse and the forecast for the week is dismal. Bleh. We slept late (I'm fighting a bad head cold and LY and E are a bit jet-lagged). After a late breakfast we took the bus to Bad Godesberg and went to the indoor pool, Kurfürstenbad. We met ME's friend Y and her dad there. Y's dad, A, is GE's special buddy. He just loves her and she adores the attention. He spun her around in the water and generally kept her happy. Meanwhile Y and ME practiced their backstrokes for their swimming class and E and HR played happily together until HR was too cold and wanted to get out. I'd made lunch before we left so we could go home and eat right away--a good thing since it was nearly 1 p.m. until we got home. We spent the rest of the day at home, napping and doing quiet activities inside where it's warm and dry!

Monday March 11

Took GE to Kindergarten and then headed to Bad Godesberg with my sister and my niece. We did my regular grocery shopping and then some fun shopping, taking a break to enjoy a cup of coffee at the French bakery and then got some new shoes for E. It's bitter cold again and there were snow flurries on and off. This afternoon it snowed steadily and there is a good 1/4 inch on the balcony railings and more coming down as I write this!  MK went to tutoring and ME went to dance. HR and E had new sticker books and have been busy at the coloring table.

HR and ME modeling their new outfits that I got on clearance shopping with my sister this a.m. (Mom and Dad, couldn't resist this T-shirt for GE! Just sorry there weren't bigger ones for all the other girls!)

Tonight is an Elternabend for the 4th grade classes to talk about the upcoming Klassenfahrt next month. I got ME and MK a good little camera (Canon) to take along on their trips (MK's is in May). They'll both be gone for 4 days and 3 nights with their classes.