| Update for Fun |
[May. 6th, 2009|11:14 am] |
So K5 and I are in CA and we're showing my mom how to read our journal. But we've been such slackers about posting lately, I need to actually write something! Lots of fun in SF with esti626 and N this week, loved seeing kronemab and K and M!! Off to San Diego today... |
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| Easter Egg Markets |
[Mar. 22nd, 2009|07:03 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  nostalgic | ] |
Today is was three Ks south of Frankfurt as a friend joined K5 and I for an easter egg hunt of a different sort. Every year when I was a child, my mother would hang our freshly dyed easter eggs on an easter tree, a small collection of branches in a vase. She also had a few precious German eggs, painted with bunnies and chicks or decorated with paper that she always added out of the reach of little fingers. No one else that I knew ever had a easter tree, and I was always sad for them because it was something special and beautiful. When I moved into my first apartment, my mom sent me an egg at easter, white with paper decorations, that I still have. Over the years in Europe, I've been slowly adding to the collection, but it wasn't until we got to Germany that I really got the chance to build my own beautiful Easter tree. Here everyone has a special collection of eggs that come out with the first signs of spring and every florist sells cut cherry, willow, and other switches that somehow always seem to burst into bloom on Easter, so that the eggs and the blossoms fill the center of the table with the promise of spring. And the eggs are amazing, sold at markets in small towns around Germany by artist who chose to work in an impossible medium when they could choose paper or clay or paint. They carve them, they paint them, they coat them in paper, and lacquer, and straw. They range from tiny quail to giant ostrich and everything in between. Emu, goose, grouse... today we bought an pair of pretty etched lavender eggs with traditional patterns and flowers, a pair of amazing eggs dyed dark brown and then with a duckling and a mouse painstakingly carved out with an exacto knife... six to eight hours as she pulls each hair and feather into view. A papercut of one of my favorite fairy tales (Sterntaler) tenderly glued to a white egg and four tiny quail eggs with bunnies and blossoms found their way into our bags as well. We also took a walk through the beautiful Michelstadt old town with its fabulous half timbered houses and then a happy ride home through the rolling German farmland and the woods of the Odenwald. |
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| K8 is feeling crafty |
[Jan. 23rd, 2009|07:52 pm] |
K8 says:
The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
* I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
* What I create will be just for you.
* It'll be done this year.
* You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a song. It may be a something costume-y. I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
* I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you have to put this in your journal as well. We all can make stuff! |
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| Random thoughts by K8 |
[Jan. 10th, 2009|02:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | the couch | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | contemplative | ] |
| [ | music |
| | kids on the stairs | ] |
So, we had a great time in MA and CA, seeing lots of family and friends and just generally enjoying our free time. It has been surprisingly easier to settle back into work than I thought it was going to be, although stubborn remnants of jetlag seem to have me a bit out of whack inside my own body. I get hungry and tired (and therefore cranky) at odd times. Hopefully a weekend of lots of sleep will help kick this. But what I am really pondering today is transition, and how it never seems the same. This time around, the fact that we are less than a year away from leaving is waging a guerrilla pillow fight on me. I keep going along, busy and committed, and not at all checked out from life here yet and then tap tap on the shoulder and whamo! A soft and fluffy smack in the face that is full of goose down and happy anticipation comes and hits me... you know, the kind of whack that makes you smile and laugh but kind of hurts too? Yeah, that is how the countdown is starting this time. I'm looking forward to DC and to Bolivia afterwards, and the challenges of Spanish and a move and a new apartment, but I also love our life here. We've been really happy and comfortable and in many ways, for a variety of reasons, this time I feel like I will be leaving more pieces of myself behind than usual, and the pieces I am taking with me don't seem as likely to fill up the holes. Of course this will change a thousand times between now and the fast approaching undefined date in August when we step on that plane and I cry (I can never avoid it that last time). Happy, but sad, but excited and anticipating all jumbled up at once. Welcome to the roller coaster. |
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| Voting Absentee |
[Nov. 5th, 2008|10:35 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  chipper | ] |
So almost everyone we know is posting about how they helped change the color of a certain state, and how much celebration they are participating in, and how it is so great to be in America right now. All I have to say to that is we helped change the color of that state too and WE DID NOT HAVE TO WAIT IN LINE!!! Celebratory hugs to all! |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 14th, 2008|11:08 pm] |
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So, we drove the Romantic Road this past weekend, overnighting in Rothenberg and then Munich for two nights. The weather was gorgeous and the scenery lovely. We could not have had a more wonderful time, but the really funny part was when we were in the Neue Pinakothek on Monday looking at paintings. BIG paintings. And we saw this giant painting of this guy on a ship and it was Columbus!! I thought about explaining to the guard why we were sniggering, but I was too busy laughing. It was Columbus! Get it? It is really funny! Guess you had to be there. |
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| Remembering a wall... |
[Oct. 3rd, 2008|08:22 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | thoughtful | ] |
Happy German Unity Day everyone. Raise a (good) beer and remember that every now and then democracy wins out and the little guy becomes the hero. |
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| Suggestions anyone? |
[Sep. 12th, 2008|07:23 pm] |
Phew, what a week! For some reason the fall slow down just hasn't come... next week is likely to be another flurry of hectic activity, but on October 3 we have a holiday, huzzah!! Since both of us have not had the time to plan anything, we are now accepting suggestions for places to spend out three-day weekend. Yes, kids, that is right, you may now play "Whither the Wanderers, the European Travel Adventure"! Any suggestions are welcome, but preference will be given based on price and distance. Ideally we are looking for somewhere we can train or drive in four hours or less. The winner will receive a lovely tshotchke or other fabulous souvenir from the place they suggested!! So, whither are we headed this weekend?? |
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| psst |
[Sep. 6th, 2008|09:19 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  silly | ] |
K5's birthday is sunday! |
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| (no subject) |
[Sep. 6th, 2008|07:25 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | content | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Wazabe | ] |
So, originally we were going to try and meet up with some friends in Venice (hey you guys, did you have a good time???) But it was WAAAAAY too expensive to get there. So off we went to Paris...
K5 says:
Well, K8 and I just got back from Paris last night. So much to see, so little time.
We started with a walking tour from the Lonely Planet Paris guide. It was fun to see all the old apartments and such of some famous writers. We actually almost got locked in a courtyard at the beginning. The guide said James Joyce lived in an apartment down a walkway that may or may not be open. When we got there, it was open, as a car just pulled out. We went to check out the apartment and headed back out. But the 8+foot high metal gate was shut, with no apparent means to open it. We trudged back into the courtyard thinking we would need to ask a resident to let us out, and how embarrassing would that be... But we went back to the gate once more, and I noticed a little button on the side wall. Thinking it either opened the gate, or at least rang a doorbell, I pushed it. Yippee - we were free...
During the 6 hours it took us to finish the 7km, 3 hour tour, we saw Notre Dame, the Pantheon, St Germain des Pres, St Sulpice, St Michel and other really cool buildings and cathedrals.
Day 2 took us to the Invalides - The tomb of Napoleon, and the Rodin museum and sculpture garden. We also funiculared up to Sacre Coeur for a wonderful view of the city. We tried to make it to the Orangerie before the published closing time of 7:00pm. But it closed at 6:00pm that day. Bummer. We had a pretty nice dinner followed by a trip up the Eiffel Tower at night.
Day 3 - Monday took us to the Louvre and St Chapelle. We're definitely going back, if anything, to see more of the Louvre. It's HUGE, and well worth the price of admission.
K8 adds: What an amazing city and sooo many museums! We ate tasty pain au chocolate and baguettes for breakfast and lunch every day, did much basking in the Tulieres, Luxembourg, and the lovely park behind Notre Dame, and even caught a free jazz concert. We saw two Vermeers (my lifetime goal is to see them all) and enjoyed a wonderful, romantic break from life. |
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| (no subject) |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|09:56 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | still home | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
| [ | music |
| | still olympics | ] |
While we were in the cathedral in Trier, I was struck by this image, which was on a postcard in the shop.
I love the use of angels to form a crown of thorns. Powerful impact for me. We were not able to go into the crypt to see the crucifix in person, but I did some web digging here at home and found out the name of the artist. Needless to say, I was surprised and pleased to find out that Ulrich Henn is the same artist who created both the St. Paul's, and St. Peter's doors at the National Cathedral in DC. This makes me happy. |
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| Friends, Romans, Countrymen... |
[Aug. 18th, 2008|08:18 pm] |
Let's go to Trier!
This weekend was the Bread and Circus Roman games re-enactment in Trier, the oldest city in Germany on the border with Luxembourg. Trier is an ancient and beautiful city that we last visited at Christmas 2006, and we had long promised to take ourselves back there, so this seemed the perfect time to do it. After finding a surprisingly limited number of hotel rooms available for Saturday night ("Gee, honey, who knew that Bread and Circus would be that popular??) we opted to spend the first half of the weekend in Frankfurt and drive to Trier on Sunday.
We got up early, told the Garmin where to go and headed off. After some technical difficulties with gas (I (k8) forgot the discount card), we struck out on the Autobahn and made excellent time to the lovely forested two-lane highway that leads to Trier. It is odd but somehow very pleasant that in the country known for the best high speed roads in the world, to get to this relatively large metropolitan area, you are required to take a curving windy highway through the woods. It is great to get yourself in the mood for things Roman as you wander through the forest primeval where the Germanic hordes might be lurking!
As we neared Trier we started seeing all these signs for "Rallye [insert company name here]"... odd, but we were too busy trying to find the parking for the Bread and Circus to wonder. It was only when I saw the giant banner for the Rally Car World Championship that we realized we were in for an interesting experience. We found parking near the Basilica and wandered down to the main pedestrian square where we were encountered by the roaring, growling, multi-colored glory of the rally car race start in all of its multi-lingual, engine revving glory! The rally cars had taken over the pedestrian zone. K5 commented on the irony of the famous roman gate, the Porta Negra blackened with pollution, ringed by roaring rally cars. Needless to say, tourists weren't being allowed into the gate, which hosted the grand stand and the start, so we took the map some passing Roman women handed us and found our way to the Emperor's Baths for the Bread and Circus.
The reenactment itself was smaller than we expected, but very detailed and interesting. And you can't beat Trier for setting, with camp tents laid out in the shadows of the Roman ruins themselves. [K5 takes over...] Lots of blacksmith-ery stuff was very cool. And the mounted centurions in the exhibition arena were pretty neat. It was interesting to see the different evolutions in saddle and armor as the Romans encountered different enemies and learned from their weaknesses. A bit lacking in the excitement dept. as compared to say King Richards' or the Maryland Renn Faire, but fun nonetheless. I (K5) especially liked the fact that they geared up the injured horse and it's rider and brought him out for the event, even though he was still being re-hab'd, so he didn't feel left out at the end of the day. That was cool, and something I wouldn't have thought about.
On a side note, have you watched any of the Olympic Equestrian events where they talk about the self-esteem and psyche of the horses and how when they have a problem they really need to "get back on the horse and try again" as it were? And what's up with NBC's "how does that make you feel" line of questioning?
[K8 takes over again...] But back to our trip. After sampling the tasty roman food of ham in fig sauce, sausage, and tasty honey balls, and watching the horses, we decided to head back into town and do some more typical sight seeing. The Porta Negra was easier to get to, so we stopped there to give it the attention it deserves and then headed to the Trier Cathedral, which is stunning. (Some nice photos here: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/trier-cathedral.htm) The organ is particularly noteworthy. It is gracefully decorated and lovingly referred to as the Swallow's Nest. The cathedral is also home of the Tunic of Christ, whose confirmed history can only be traced to the 12th Century (only), but which is still recognized by many as a tangible symbol of Christian unity. There was a great sculpture of angels in the cloister that we will have to upload eventually.
From the cathedral we headed back to the car, and to a point in the trip where I must make three statements.
1. I love the scenic route.
2. I love cute little German villages.
3. I love my honey, who drove through two hours of scenic route and cute little German villages.
Poor K5 was hardly able to enjoy the quaint towns and steep vineyards we were driving through thanks to the need to actually pay attention to the driving, but he persevered and we drove about two hours along the Mosel through endless adorable half-timbered towns and past stunning vineyards until we both decided it was time to head for home. Up over the mountain, past high meadows, and down to the Rhein valley and we were home, exhausted but happy after another wonderful day of reminding ourselves just how lucky we are to be here. |
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| Hoppity, Hoppity, CHEEP! |
[Mar. 23rd, 2008|03:04 pm] |
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Happy Easter everyone! May the day be sunny and the bunny fill all of your baskets with love! |
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| Ho, ho, holy cats and dogs! |
[Dec. 2nd, 2007|07:49 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | pleased | ] |
So earlier this week, we decided to go to the Christmas market. I came home from work, and we pulled out the long johns, woolly socks, sturdy shoes and hat and gloves. We vacillated a bit about the cold and whether we really wanted to go, but decided to go for it. On go the long johns, layers of clothes, scarves, hats, gloves. Tissues in one pocket, camera in the other, change in the jeans and money counted and tucked safely away. We grabbed the keys, locked the house and bounded down the stairs, out the door, into...
the rain. Real rain. Not drizzle, not mist. Rain. So off we went... back up the stairs to the apartment, peeled off the layers, pulled on the sweats and snuggled up for a movie. After all, the Christmas market will be there all month.
Skip to today. After a Saturday of fun but unproductive shopping (at an honest to goodness MALL, with walls and everything! Most malls here are open air... a un-typical, un-German fault in logic.) we decided to head to the Christmas market after church. But after church it was raining and we were hungry so we came home. Then we were lazy, so we watched a movie/quilted. Finally, enough was enough, the rain had stopped so we rounded up a friend and off we went. Layers back on, scarves wound tight, we were ready!
Nothing can top a German Christmas Market for ambiance. The lights, the music, the food and the decorations are just unbeatable. Frankfurt's may not be the biggest or the quaintest, but it has the comfort and convenience of home. A lot of the exhibitors are the same as last year, so we have the fun of seeking out old favorites and new treasures. After a tasty dinner of wurst and hot chestnuts, we wandered the stalls and soaked in the sights... undeterred by gale force winds and spitting skies. And then on the way back to the U-bahn...
the rain. Oh the rain. Cold wet and bedraggled we finally made it home. But hey, you know it was a successful effort to get in the Christmas spirit when you are ringing yourself out and making your hot cocoa with a song in your heart planning the next Christmas market adventure! |
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| Thanksgiving in Germany |
[Nov. 22nd, 2007|10:14 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | full | ] |
So today mom and dad F. are here, back safely from a fabulous cruise. It sounds like they had a great time, but we weren't sure how tired they would be, so instead of making dinner K5 made us reservations! After wandering around one of the local neighborhoods with dad and going to a small holiday craft market, it was off to the Marriott for Thanksgiving dinner. French brasserie, American hotel, German city. The first course was smoked salmon (tasty), shrimp (also tasty) and pumpkin chutney (do not try this at home). Next course was turkey with chestnut stuffing on a bed of bread dressing, with green beans and a sweet potato gratin, with a little thumb sized jar of cranberry sauce. The turkey and the cranberries were really superb, and the sides were a decent attempt, though nothing like mom's sweet potatoes and definitely not green bean casserole! Dessert was a duo of pumpkin and pecan mousses with apple chutney. While not pie, and therefore liable to throw off the cosmic balance of the universe, it was nevertheless tasty. Everyone at the table gave me (k8) their strawberry garnish as well, so I was particularly thankful. :) Now we are safely ensconced back at home, having decided to forgo the scary pumpkin prosecco in the fridge (it was orange and has a smiling pumpkin on the label, what can I say? It seemed like a good idea at the time) and blissfully contemplating the lack of dishes to do. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We count you among our blessings. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 17th, 2007|10:53 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | couch | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  lazy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | K5 surfing | ] |
Lazy saturdays with K5 still feel like a luxury! We got up late and slowly and headed out to pay bills at the post office and then found a new fabulous bakery. We'll be calling it APC Europe for those who remember our favorite next door indulgence in Alexandria. Then it was off to our favorite organic grocery to buy supplies for tomorrow's potluck at a friend's. Then not much of anything for the rest of the day, AND my honey cooked me fajitas for dinner! I am a lucky, lucky girl. Oh, and we watched Star Trek... I forgot how manly and virile young Kirk really was! That is all for now in a renewed effort to post more often. |
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| Purr |
[Nov. 7th, 2007|09:34 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| | cheerful | ] |
We are all back where we belong, my parents (K8 that is) are here, the house is clean and a three day weekend is coming. Life is good. |
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| Tickets? I love tickets! |
[Oct. 18th, 2007|09:02 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | couch | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | ecstatic | ] |
K5 and K8 both have tickets!! As of Nov 3 there will again be two ks in Frankfurt! Woot!!! As of December 14, there will be two ks in SF, and then various K sightings during a VERY brief window in MA. Did I mention there will be two ks in Frankfurt??? Wooot. Tonka is very excited... can't you tell? |
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| Arrrr! |
[Sep. 22nd, 2007|06:03 pm] |
K8 shall henceforth be known as...
My pirate name is:
Captain Anne Kidd
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.part of the fidius.org network
Arrrrr! |
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