Happy 3rd, Sophia!

New Year's Eve found us at Campingplatz Nord-West, just outside of Munich. We had arrived on the 30th, surprised to see the campgroung FULL! Most of the motorhomes were from Italy and they were laughing at our size. After seeing someone else disturb the office during "rest" time, I knocked and asked if we could stay in the only available spot, which was more of a turn out and was not intended to be a overnight spot. We were granted an OK and manuevered in. It was the last spot on the grounds. We were able to move to a normal spot on the 1st.

Our friends Aaron and Kerstin were gracious in researching and planning Sophia's birthday event. We decided to attend Circus Krone, a permanent circus in Munich.

This is a cool circus! I don't think there's a bad seat in the house. Though some of our neighbors may have thought so... by the time the show started, I had gone through the crowded aisles twice, with kids in tow. First was an attempt to get Megan to go down and try to ride and stand on the horse in the ring (all the kids were doing it but we were too late).
The second was to take Sophia down to be acknowledged for her birthday - they present all the birthday kids with a really nice certificate and small trinket (it was a frog key chain). She most remembers the frog key chain!

It was a long show - started at 3 and I think it was 5:30 before it was over. Kids overwhelmed and happy, we wandered back to Aaron and Kerstin's place to have cake.

Birthday Girl:

Circus Krone:

One-Ring Wonder:

The Story of the Pied Piper - Hameln, Germany

Our friends, Aaron and Kerstin, were with Kerstin's family in a small village near Hameln. As this was only a short distance from Lubbecke, we had to swing by for a visit. I had forgotten the fairytale, "The Legend of the Pied Piper" until I started reading an Encarta article on the city (something I've started doing more regularly as we are visiting so many cities without appropriate context).

Anyway, Kerstin's parents would hear nothing of our staying at one of the two Stellplatze's in Hameln and after much research, found out it would be OK for us to park for a day or two in front of their house. They measured off and blocked off an appropriate space for us; the only worry being that the garbage truck might not be able to squeeze by us the next day. No worry at all - the truck fit just fine.

The morning after our arrival, Kerstin's family arrived to meet us and tour the RV. It was fun to meet everyone and funny to hear the remarks about our living quarters. Most folks are surprised at the room inside (once you open the slides). Everyone seems to love the bunk beds for the kids and the ability for us to have private space after the kids go to bed. I think people must believe we are clinically insane, but are just too polite to admit so when they meet us.

After much discussion as to transportation options, we finally pulled out the strollers and boarded the bus for Hameln. My "gingerbread" remark about Minden buildings doesn't hold a candle to the buildings in Hameln. Very ornate buildings greeted us with more detail than I could possibly take in in just one day. Traces of the Pied Piper are everywhere! There's a giant rat on the top of the bridge leading in to town; imprints of rats leading through the town, several statues, even placards on the sides of buildins and houses, all reminders of the 13th century legend detailed by Brothers Grimm.

We enjoyed a stroll through the city, capping it off with coffee and cake at the Museum Cafe. The hot chocolate served to the girls was the richest we've seen. Literally, the chocolate coated the spoons when you removed the spoon from the cups. Very rich and flavorful - a nice balance of flavor and texture (not that they were too keen to share).

Pictures from the experience:

Us in front of the Pied Piper statue (well, one of the statues, anyway):

Is that a gold rat I see on the bridge?:

Gingerbread detail at it's finest - I believe this is the Rathaus:

Cool view of Hameln:

Church we visited - it has a book detailing deaths of town members in WWI and WWII in which I found a reference to an Ernst Scherer. Maybe some day we'll take the time to start that family tree research...

Christmas is here!

Feeling a bit embarrassed, as I had lost my host family's phone number and we didn't have email access during our travel week, we kind of showed up unnannounced. Well, not really - they knew we were planning to arrive on the 23rd, but they didn't know what time. I hate feeling rude. But, timing seemed perfect as we arrived after Sabine and Susanne, but before Simone and Stefan. In other words, we were just in time for a late breakfast.

We were so busy from the time we walked in the door, there was not much time to really consolidate thoughts and post blog updates. We did manage a round of Internet calls to our folks so the kids could wish grandmas & grandpas a Merry Christmas. We feel quite blessed to be thoroughly welcomed into the home and every ensuing activity. I had not spent Christmas with the family back in my days as an exchange student - so really had no idea what the family traditions were. It was fun and heart-warming to share the season with everyone - and at the same time, we missed our friends and family back home.

First off, a wealth of packages greeted us when we arrived. It was hard not to open them immediately - huge thanks to Lisa, Sandra, our moms & dads and Landon. You really helped make Christmas memorable for us (especially the feather boas...which leave a trail of mini feathers and the screeching stuffed animals - you've made your point. We should be home for Christmas next year).

Christmas traditions where we were are pretty simple. Eat, eat, and eat more! Celebrations started off with a lamb dinner, Norweigan style on the 23rd. Susanne explained the secret was in the brining process and allowing adequate time to rinse the meat - all I know is it was some of the tastiest lamb I've ever enjoyed.

Holy Night (Christmas Eve) saw a late breakfast and a "wander" to town for Gluhwein and socializing with friends. As you can see, we weren't the only individuals imbibing. Seemed like the whole town was out for the afternoon. The middle street was so packed with people that it was easier to walk around the block than to try and push through. Stores closed at 2pm, and would be closed through 27.December.

Later in the afternoon, the Christmas trees were brought in and decorated, including real candles on the big tree! Monika designated the "small" tree in the entry way for the girls to decorate and was happy to have their help decorating the "big" tree in the main living room. The traditional approach would be for the "big" tree to be decorated in secret and revealed after dinner - but we're all pretty relaxed about these things. With candles lit and other lights dimmed, it was quite beautiful. Forgive my photography skills - I seemed to not take many pictures and those that I snapped are blurry.

Megan and I followed Simone and Sabine to church services on Holy Night. We arrived early (or so we thought) and waited patiently for the earlier service to let out. Finally, the rest of the folks waiting started spilling in and, voila! the church was filled almost immediatley to standing room only. Poor Megan was bored - I had warned her that services would be in German, but she was determined to attent. She worked on reading the hymnal throughout the service and tried to hum along with the songs. For the first time during the season, we were hearing Christimas hymns in German. Thus far, we had only heard English carols when out shopping or surfing radio stations. The German lyrics are quite beautiful and it's almost a shame to have not encountered the local language versions earlier in the season.

After a dinner of carp and knudeln (oh, don't forget the Linie Aquavit to aid digestion), we retired to the living room to exchange presents. Our family was simply doted on - lots of new toys for the girls, games, hats, gloves - the unwrapping was overwhelming and the kids simply were melting down by the time we were finished. Poor Megan waited until we were at the top of the stairs (3-stories) to ask for her new PJs from Aunt Sandy... I said "no" (assuming they would need alterations, as usual) and she was just about inconsolable.

The First Day of Christmas was largely one of relaxation. Of course, Santa found the Scherer girls. Megan first went running into the living room, looking at the big tree but there were no new gifts. She thought he had missed her. Alas, he left gifts by the kid's tree in the entry way, of course. New baby dolls for the girls and stockings full of chocolate. They couldn't have been more pleased with the new "stuff."

Christmas dinner was roasted goose and knudeln. Quite tasty - again, followed by our now beloved Aquavit (which has medicinal value, honest). We hung out talking and enjoying the evening together. Without realizing it, we sipped our way through 11 bottles of quite tasty wine (8 people) over the course of the evening. The family started teasing us - this was the finest from the family cellar and we had drank it all! Turns out it was about 2Euro/bottle from the local market. One of the wonders of Europe - if you know what you're buying, you can find some excellent wine options that are not super expensive.

The Second Day of Christmas saw Dan and Sherry frantically fixing an American breakfast of pancakes, cinnamon rolls, bacon and scrambled eggs. We were only 30-minutes late in serving than we initially thought. It's near impossible to pull off such a feat in a strange kitchen, on a distinct lack of sleep and two kids running rampant. Various family members kept checking in on us - I think we looked more stressed out than we were. It was actually quite fun to pull off, but there were some complications (like bacon or "spec" is largely sold in uncut blocks; which we sliced by hand... which were thicker slices and smoke a LOT when you cook them.). We didn't catch anything in fire and we cleaned up after ourselves. People seemed to enjoy the breakfast - though it could be simply because they were all but starving by the time it was ready. =) Funny how what is a no-brainer at home is quite complicated in someone else's kitchen.

Extended family arrived later in the afternoon and we enjoyed a long tea (coffee). Finally the threat was issued, either go for a walk through town with Hans or stay and help Monika in the kitchen. Given our time in the kitchen that morning, we opted for the long walk.

Dinner that night was Venison - which had been slow cooked throughout the afternoon and was served with more knudeln. So tasty - it brought back vivid childhood memories for Dan.

A hearty "thank you" to everyone - we had a very memorable holiday.

Minden, Germany

We finally made it near Lübbecke and by now, are quite tired of traveling. I had figured we could stay at the Stellplatz in Bad Essen, about 15km from my host family's place. Turns out, it's parking in a farmer's field with only a 6amp connection and a minimum 20-minute walk to town. Given the weather, we decided to move on the next day.


We ate 20km and moved on to Minden. A free Stellplatz is located just across the bridge from the city. The only "gotcha" here is you have to purchase a chip card from the tourist office in order to connect electricity (50c/kwh) and use water/dump facilities. This being the weekend before Christmas, they had only two 10Euro cards left; which I pursuaded them to sell me... but they were quite reluctant to do give me both. Ordinarily they can readily get new cards from the bank, but apparently the bank had closed early - so there was no ability to recharge or buy new cards until the next morning. Crazy system - we wish they would just put an automate in place. The dump & water station were closed up tight - though as we don't use the chemi toilets, we were able to dump in the normal grate.



Downtown Minden itself is very beautiful. We loved the easy access from our parking spot and the old-world charm (maybe it's the Gluhwein talking?). Our first night in town, Megan and I got lost heading back out of town and I found a second hand shop with a used stroller in the window for 24 Euro. It was as though it was calling out for us personally (we had considered one earlier in October, but at 99Euro++, we agreed we could all walk.) After talking it over with Dan, we went back to town that evening and purchased it. Sophia couldn't be happier!! With Sophia tucked in, we stayed out and enjoyed the beautiful evening. We were warmed by the lights of the Christmas Market and a round of warm beverages for all (Dan and I had yummy Gluhwein, not so yummy Glogg while the kids savored hot chocolate). Everyone was out, friends gathered together in small groups, reconnecting. We could easily see the social aspect of Christmas Markets and enjoying time with good friends. The buildings in the alt stadt (old city) were lit and looked just like gingerbread cookies. What a lovely evening.

Shopping was the primary point of the visit and we wound up missing the lego exhibit and the beautiful church in town. But, shopping was finally done and after spending a night wrapping presents, I was ready for Christmas. Just in the "Nick" of time. =)


For the duration of our stay, weather was mild - though cold and frosty at night. The day we were to leave was another story... it clouded up and started raining in the early hours of the morning. ICE! About 1/4" of ice covered the cobble-stone. Turning out of the parking space would not be an option as we wouldn't have enough traction to turn... and Dan didn't like the prospect of sliding backwards, out of control. For a while we thought we might not be leaving... but once the motorhome in front of us moved on, we had the space to pull straight forward and make the turn on gravel.



Quick pic of downtown Minden - all decked out for the holidays:







The coolest Gluhwein stand - though not the tastiest. They had cool commerative cups - of which we purchased 2 from 2007.






View from the pedestrian bridge connecting the stellplatz with the city.

A travelling we will go...

With most of the shopping taken care of in Constance, we wandered on. This blog covers several days of travel but some thoughts along the way (most of them to do with the cold weather).

Sometimes 15km off the freeway feels more like 50km. I was pushing for a hard schedule - get to/near Lubbecke fast so we have time to finish our shopping and gift wrapping. Alas, the going is always a bit slower than we anticipate and we found ourselves reaching 4pm with another 100km to go. I found a promising "free" site in Nagold, supposedly only 15km off the freeway.

Suffice it to say, while the town looks interesting to explore in the summer, it was the coldest we'd encountered yet. And the most expensive "free" site with electricity available at 1 Euro/kwh! It got down to 14-degrees F (I think that's -6-degrees C). The inside of the windshield was iced up as were the interirors of the cabinets.

We promptly moved on the next morning. Sadly, the town was too far away from the Stellplatz in this weather for us to enjoy.

Our next stopover was at Biggesee - where we overnighted at a very large, very nice campground. Getting to the campground was pretty easy, though it's definitely not near shopping. Getting out, we didn't pay attention to the route mapped by AutoRoute, and it was a bit sketchier driving. I have to remember AutoRoute will always keep you moving forward and doesn't have the ability to know that we are driving a big, heavy, wide motorhome and should avoid hairpin turns and narrow roads.

Given the frost, all external water was turned off for the winter. We were able to fill up water from one of their wash sinks, and did laundry. There were plenty of other caravans, but the campground was largely deserted for the time we were there. Yes, it was cold - I thought these pictures were cool ... the beautiful sunset and the icy, crystal clear morning.

We would love to spend a few days at Biggesee in the summer - looks like there's a lot of biking, hiking and swimming to be enjoyed.

Kids will be kids - they love playgrounds, frost or not.

Constance, Germany

We headed out to Constance, Germany to start our drive North for the holidays. Did we mention that it's cold? There were supposed to be several motorhome options in Constance. Alas, everything was closed for the season.


Finally found a spot about 30km outside of Constance. Through sheer determination, we made it in to their back lot; we were able to fill water from a hose tap inside the restroom. We knew things would be closing up for the winter, but didn't anticipate encountering huge difficulties getting water.


We were close enough in to bike to the train station. Fortunately, it was an honest town as we found ourselves without the keys to the bike locks. About 30-minutes by train and we were back in Constance, absorbing the beautiful Christmas market. Though we were quickly chilled.


By now, I am entering my annual Christmas shopping panic. I've done NO shopping and am concerned about the time we have. Dan is Mr. Relaxed about the whole thing. Men! I swear, they have it so easy that they can put off Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve. He gave in though and took the girls back to the RV to let me shop in peace. After seeing them off on the train, I decided to explore to the left of the station, where I found a huge shopping mall! It was warm and tons of stores and sales to take advantage of. I left with a lighter wallet but tons of Christmas presents for the kids - at about 1/2 what we would have paid in Switzerland. Made my way back to the Christmas Market for some gifts for my host family and then enjoyed a quiet train ride back to the RV.

The pictures below don't do the town justice. The Christmas Market is simply beautiful, especially when the lights are on. By the time I left town (6pm), it was just warming up - people everywhere. Market stalls extend out to the lake front, gluhwein, candles, bratwurst .... all the makings of holidays outdoors.



Pictures from Constance, Germany:

Steckborn, Switzerland

Feeling like we've all but exhausted our stay in Winterthur, we finally decided to move on. Looking through the Reisemobile Bode Atlas book, we found a Stellplatz in nearby Steckborn for only 12 chf per night (vs. the 22 chf at the campground in Winterthur). Why not? Instant savings of 10 chf per night can't be disputed - even if the dump station is 1.3 km from the parking lot.



An easy 30-minutes drive (after filling up propane in Winterthur where there is a huge facility for propane, helium and other gasses), we arrived in a sleepy town on the edge of the Boden See. Across the water is Germany, where we're planning to head for the winter holidays.



The town is tiny and very old (from the 1400's). Most recognizable to me is the Bernina manufacturing facility on the outskirts of town. If I felt more confident in my German, I'd be planning a visit to their "Creative Center" for some lessons.



Our first night in town, there was a knock on the door and a visitor offered us a bottle of wine. His wife is from Paris, and she told him to bring the Americans some "good" wine! Very sweet of them. We chatted a bit and expressed an interest in having them visit us again - which resulted in a dinner invitation to their home for the Swiss specialty, fondue! We're looking forward to an enlightening evening.



We were met by another American in town, and enjoyed a nice conversation at the marina. It's nice to be able to speak one's native language. After wandering through town for one afternoon, I felt like the entire town (population 3,000) must know us! Cute town and everyone we've met has been super friendly.





Pictures from the area:

Bernina Factory:

Church:


Center of the city:


City Hall:



View from Marina:

Zürich in a day

Our time in Winterthur has been met with semi-daily exclamations of, "You know, we really should visit Zürich." The train tickets for a 30km ride seemed outrageously expensive though (20 chf per person). But, we finally did it - and wow, what a great city! There are a bunch of cool (and spendy) shops to lighten your bank account alongside plenty of beautiful buildings and stunning architecture.

We were greeted at the train station by George Clooney staring down from us from an advertisement for a cappucino machine. Funny! The train station is also home to a vast shopping district and indoor Christmas Market. Neither of which we explored much in the interest of time.




Of note was the Singing Christmas Tree - granted we didn't see the evening production as the kids don't handle late-night excursions very well. But it was enjoyable and is the first time Megan has seen a choir.



Crossing over to the "hip" section of the city, we found the super spendy shops. Very fun to window shop, but definitely out of my budget. Found a beautiful, soft, wool shoulder wrap with satin trim ... for a very cool price of 499 chf! Yipes. I can wear my sweaters and jackets, thank you!

We visited two churches, St. Peter's Church (the oldest church in Zürich - official site) and Fraumünster Church (official site). Both were very elegant. St. Peter's has some very old and faded murals in the alcove and Fraumünster Church is home to world-renowned stained glass windows designed by Marc Chaqall in 1970.

Various pictures from around Zürich:

Dan in Zürich:

Clocktower - St. Peter's Church:



Fraumünster Church:



Door to Fraumünster Church


Babar Store (I was a litle surprised to see an entire store, in the trendy section of Zürich, dedicated to Babar the Elephant):



From Zürich with Love: (no, that's not Megan in the sculpture. Random sculpture in gardens across from the marina. Goes well with the next picture, don't you think?)



Free Hugs: (it's up to you to decide if you think it's funny or creepy. There were several folks with "free hugs" signs at the train station - a happy bunch. And hey, who can't use a hug?)



A side note: Short of our train ride from Brussels to Köln, we have not had our public transportation tickets checked at all. Fortunately, we always buy tickets. After four months of no checks, we were checked twice in two days. The first was on the bus one evening - after a normal stop, the bus driver announced a ticket control stop. When we next stopped, about 20 control officers boarded and very quietly, casually checked everyone's tickets. The fine is steep if you don't have it - 80 chf per person! I was amazed how quickly and quietly the whole process was conducted. I think one person in the back didn't have their ticket, but the only reason I clued in was that a control officer was back there so long. I kept thinking that in our neck of the woods, there would be loud voices, arguing over the rules or the "I must of lost it..."
Our train tickets were not checked enroute to Zürich, but were checked on the return leg.

A visit from St. Nick

Rumor has it that if you leave your shoes out on the 5th of December, St. Nick will stop by to check his list. If you've been good, your shoes are filled with gifts; if you've been bad, your shoes will be filled with sticks.

We visited the Christmas Market the evening of the 5th to admire the lights. Kicked off with a Santa ride - a horsedrawn carriage. The picture is blurry - the carriage was already full and we were taking up too much time... Sophia was also about to go into a major melt-down. She does NOT like being close to Santa. Alas, Megan and I decided that there was something funny about the horses. They must be reindeer in disguise. Afterall, Santa does have to keep the reindeer in shape during the off season, right?

I'm happy to report that both Megan and Sophia receieved shoes full of chocolate. In spite of having a very difficult time going to sleep, St. Nick was patient and left goodies (guess they must have been really good the rest of the year.)

We spent the 6th in Winterthur, wandering the SantaMarkt - which in addition to the hundred or so more wooden, seasonal Christmas Market stands, there were several others out around the city. Yummy waffles with vanilla sauce were in order for the kids.

Pictures:

1) Girls with Santa, about to get in the carriage

2) Goofy girls, decorating our mini tree

3) Our mini Christmas tree

Getting into the holiday spirit!

"Santa! Santa! Santa!" exclaimed Megan. As Megan and I were headed toward the Marionette Theater in Winterthur, we heard a jingle-jangle and the next thing we knew, Santa was gliding by in a horse drawn carriage! This is our first Santa sighting, short of the chocolate covered versions sitting in the stores. Sorry the picture is blurry - it's hard when there's so much in motion.

The Marionette show was fun - though was more of a story telling than I had hoped. I tried to to discreetly whisper the story to Megan as we went but it was difficult. The story was "Ein Abend Es War Kalt (One Night it was Cold)" and was about an Eskimo in Greenland, who went out side to investigate a noise on the 29th of February and found something sparkling in the cold. It wasn't hot to the touch, so he took it inside his igloo. The Eskimo wanted to keep the shining bauble - he tried to feed it, but it wouldn't eat. He tried to give it something to drink, but it wouldn't drink. Each night, he has a dream (total of 3) that he didn't understand. Finally, his dreams made sense (they were dreams of star parents looking for their child) and he decided to put the star back in the sky. But how? He couldn't throw it high enough; his bow couldn't shoot it high enough. He made it a nest in the snow and a bird swooped down and picked it up. As the bird flew away into the night sky, a new star appeared.

Sunday, we joined a couple hundred townspeope enjoying a free family concert by the Orchestrasymphonie St. Gallen at the Winterthur Stadthaus. Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" was the theme of the presentation (an abbreviated version). Throughout the concert, the story was narrated, which I found difficult to understand given the voice amplification and the slight echo. Sophia did well, for the most part. Megan seemed to really enjoy the music and watching everything in action on the stage. Here's our view from the balcony - the kids loved being able to stand up and look over the rail.

That's about all for this post. The weather has warmed up a bit, a nice reprieve from the freezing - though a bit of rain has set in. Not at all unlike Seattle. =)