Luxembourg!

We are back from our first big road trip! My long-time friend and colleague Erik is currently staying in Luxembourg where his university (Miami of Ohio) has a European campus. They have both local faculty and staff and also several Miami folks who come to teach there for a period of a few months or a few years. The university rents a castle in the southern Luxembourg town of Differdange, where they have classrooms, offices, and faculty apartments. We were able to stay in a guest room/mini apartment at the castle. The weekend was wonderful! Here are some details and pictures.

It all started somewhat inauspiciously on Friday morning, when I received a call from Enterprise Car Rental that the car I had reserved well in advance was actually not available after all. I had flashbacks to the Seinfeld episode about making a reservation vs. keeping a reservation. After a few more phone calls and negotiations, they came up with the idea to send a driver to pick me up from my apartment and then  take me to a car rental place in Mannheim. On the way, we got Alex from school. When we got to Mannheim, the place we were dropped off turned out to be a BMW dealership with a little rental counter. Here's Alex waiting at the posh dealership amazed at all the swanky accessories etc!

When we finally got the car, it turned out to be a black, 6-speed, convertible, Mini-Cooper! I thought of Hilary the whole weekend! Well, we left Mannheim in our stylish car and from there it was only a 2.5 hour trip to Luxembourg. We literally crossed the border at the town of Schengen. All that marked the border was a small sign on the side of the highway (and a text message from my cell phone provider).

Erik really truly lives in a medieval castle and he greeted us in the castle courtyard.

He then showed us to our quarters. Here's Alex settling in.

And this was the view from our window into the castle courtyard. Please note the stylish black Mini-Cooper parked in the snow.

Erik gave us a tour of the castle, which included the spooky attic, main medieval dining hall, beautiful library etc. We then had a walk in the town and dinner at home. Alex went to sleep and Erik and I hung out for a long time over a few glasses of wine.

The next day we made good use of the rental car and went on a road trip through much of Luxembourg. We drove past Luxembourg city and I learned that Luxembourg is the richest country in Europe (per capita income). Who knew? It also boasts large numbers of immigrants, many from Portugal apparently and there are colorful painted houses (Portuguese style?) all over the country. They looked especially fun and vibrant given the rather dreary, foggy, and overcast weather. Our main destination was the town of Vianden which has a large and wonderfully restored castle. It was built on the foundation of a Roman fortress (!) and perched on a hilltop. The town's other claim to fame is that Victor Hugo stayed here for a while while writing some of his novels. If so inclined, visitors can walk along the Victor Hugo trails.

But we were there for the castle. Here are Alex and Erik approaching Vianden castle.

 Here is another view of the imposing structure.

Once inside, we were treated to all the trappings one would expect of medieval castles - including suits of armor and canons.

As the castle grew and expanded over the centuries, they masterfully built it around the existing rock and I loved seeing the natural and man-made structures intertwine.

There was, of course, a chapel. This one connected two stories. Here is the view from below:

And from above. They had painted the columns in medieval colorful style.

At one point, Alex was using an inner courtyard to frolic in the snow.

We also loved the well which was 53 meters deep!

I've been to many castles over the years, but this one was really great. After our extensive tour of the castle, we had lunch in the town. The restaurant we chose turned out to be smoky and the food was marginal, at best, but the town itself was almost impossibly charming. I would love to come back here on a sunny day. Anyone want to join us?

After Vianden, we headed across the border to Germany. Both Erik and I wanted to see Bitburg. The small city is famous for its brewery (Bitburger) - though we had coffee instead -

and the military cemetery where Ronald Reagan ran into so much trouble in 1985.

We searched in vain for the US soldiers who were supposed to be buried there, but we did find the graves of a few SS men. Ugh.

The road back to Differdange was lovely. The next morning, we said good-bye to Erik and the castle and made our way back to Heidelberg. We had a wonderful weekend full of new impressions, great conversation, yummy food, and two nights in a real castle!

Fasching (Mardi Gras)

These last few days have been dedicated almost entirely to Fasching, which is now - finally - over. Between last Thursday and Tuesday were the most important days of Fasching and most kids came to school dressed up most days. Here's Alex on Monday. Dana will recognize the Fireman shirt which is much beloved by Alex. Here he is standing in front of the door to his classroom. He's in the dragon group as you can see by the dragon on the door.

The school shared a CD of pictures with us that included shots from the big party last Thursday. Here are a few selections. You can see Batman with his friend, a knight.

Here is Alex's whole group in their costumes in their classroom.

Here's Alex with a bunch of other kids, including another Batman! Alex is the one in the center.

And, finally, here they are playing a dancing game in the little gym at the school.

Well, after most of the parties and celebrations happen inside, on Monday and Tuesday this week, Fasching moved into the streets. Many cities host parades, especially in Western Germany and Heidelberg's parade was set for Tuesday at 2 pm. The school closed right at 2pm, so everyone had the chance to go to the parade. We had made a date with Alex's new friend Victoria and her mom and we headed into the city together. Thousands of people were already lined up along the parade route when we got there, but we still got a good spot to watch - and collect candy! It was bitterly cold and though Alex was wearing his costume, it was essentially invisible under his 3 or 4 layers to keep him somewhat warm. I kept warm with a bright pink wig Alex had talked me into buying a few days earlier. Needless to say, wearing a pink wig inevitably leads to making silly faces.

We had to wait for a while for the parade to get to our spot and here's Alex in eager anticipation. His only other parade experience is the Greencastle Fair parade and this would be quite different. Here we are still waiting.

But finally the first floats arrived!

Some of the floats had political messages - as is typical for Fasching in Germany. Here's one commenting on the withdrawal of American troops from Germany.

There were also bands, dancing troupes, and groups of folks dressed as animals etc. Here is a group of people dressed as traditional German witches. We had to reassure the kids that these were just costumes, because the witches looked pretty large and terrifying. The fact that they were handing out candy, however, made them less scary to the kids.

Even with all our layers, it did get awfully cold standing outside in the below-freezing temperatures. Thankfully Victoria's mom had brought a thermos of hot, sweet herbal fruit tea (a typical German kids drink) and the kids were able to warm up at least a little bit. 

As if the day hadn't been exciting enough, when we got back home, there was a package waiting for us from the fabulous Rachel Musser who had sent all sorts of Batman stuff to Alex. Thanks, Rachel. You are wonderful!

What a day!

Day-trip to Sinsheim

On Saturday, we took a day-trip to the nearby town of Sinsheim. Those of you who follow German/European soccer may have heard of the Hoffenheim soccer team which came out of nowhere a few seasons ago to give the big-name teams a run for their money. They have their main stadium in this town, but we had come for technology. Yes, folks, you read right, technology. Sinsheim has a large museum dedicated to cars and technology, so I had read, and we wanted to check it out. We had to take a ride on the S-Bahn for about 40 minutes from Heidelberg, which was much enjoyed by Alex, as you can see here.

I really didn't know exactly what to expect and was as surprised as Alex to see this view as soon as we got off the S-Bahn:

There seemed to be two or more giant airplanes hovering in the sky. I had read online that visitors could  go into them, but how could that be possible if they were so high up? (Keep reading for the answer.) As we walked closer, Alex demanded the camera to take a picture of me in front of whatever giant machine this is. Not a bad shot for a 4-year old, I think.

Once we got to the entrance, we realized the scale of this museum. There were several hangars, an IMAX theatre (which we skipped), an outdoor playground (though the weather still left a lot to be desired), and those planes everywhere suspended in the sky on top of the buildings. Here is a view from the entry gates/parking lot.

Well, we found the main entrance, dutifully paid our fee, and then entered the first of these massive hangars/halls. It was filled to bursting with cars, trucks, trains, planes, tanks, motorcycles, engines, mechanical musical instruments, etc. An odd and sometimes seemingly random organization of things, but fun to look at and explore. Here are some of my attempts to capture the scale and the hodgepodge in photos.

It was hard to make sense of it all, but we mostly enjoyed the sights and sounds of it. Thankfully, they had removed most of the Nazi insignia from the German military gear, but it seemed weird to me to see a Soviet tank, and German anti-aircraft gun, and an American Jeep all mixed up with each other as if they had all been on the same side. I kept thinking about to what extent this technology is ideologically tainted, but kept these thoughts to myself as I wandered through these gigantic displays with my 4-year old, who cannot yet make sense of any of these things. After we had more or less tackled the first hangar (it took almost 2 hours), we went outside and spent a little time on the playground, all the while intrigued by the planes hovering overhead. We were most interested in the Air France Concorde and the Aeroflot Tupolev (two supersonic passenger jets of the late 20th century).

When we took a little break with our picnic brought from home, I told Alex the story I remembered from my childhood that my dad had once been a passenger on a flight on the Concorde from Paris to New York and Catherine Deneuve had sat across the aisle from him. (I skipped the part about Ms. Deneueve in my version for Alex.) He now became obsessed with figuring out how to get into that plane. Well, it turned out, we had to enter another hangar filled to capacity with various vehicles etc., climb a set of stairs to the roof, walk along a walkway on the roof, and then climb up a spiral staircase up to the plane, which was mounted at quite a steep angle several hundreds of feet up in the air. Have I mentioned that I have quite a strong fear of heights and it was freezing cold, windy, wet, slippery, and snowing slightly? Here is our view of the plane from the roof of the building!

I was scared the entire time, but I could not say no and so we clambered up there together. And, guess what? On the inside, it looked like a passenger airplane, slightly narrower than the one we had been in just a few weeks ago. Was it worth it? For Alex, absolutely. In fact, he made me go up into the Tupolev as well, for comparison, and we've had multiple conversations about those two planes since. After that excursion into the sky, we went back down into the hangar and looked at more things for several more hours. We kept thinking that Alex's cousins, especially Niko would really love this place. 

With the exception of the two planes we visited, I think Alex's favorite exhibit was this "Blaster Master" - not least, because he was allowed to climb all over it. What a way to spend a Saturday!

Batman is back...

Those of you who have spent any time with us in the past 10 months or so know how much Alex loves Batman. His generous godparents gave him a wonderful Batman costume for Halloween (thanks, John and Barbara) and he's made excellent use of it in 2012. Needless to say, we had it in our luggage and when the various Mardi Gras festivities rolled around, we resurrected Batman. In all honesty, Alex has never stopped wearing the costume off and on.

Well, yesterday, the Kindergarten (preschool) had a Fasching (Mardi Gras) day. We had already looked forward to the day with much anticipation. There had been a signup sheet at the school's main entrance  for a week or two and all the families signed up to bring goodies to share. We had watched the list grow longer and longer for the past days to the point where it covered almost the entire door. There were snacks of all kinds on the list, juices, homemade cakes and muffins, candy, fruit, pretzels (that was us!), but also balloons, confetti etc. This would be an awesome party day. That morning, Alex woke early and we got him ready. He was wearing his costume on our walk to school already, but since it is still very cold, it was mostly covered up by his winter jacket. The hood, cape, and mask, however, were visible for all, and we got a lot of smiles and funny comments by other pedestrians. At one point a car even slowed down beside us, rolled down the window and complimented Alex.

When we got to school, all the kids and most of the teachers were dressed up. Here is what the hallway between the classrooms looked like when we walked in. You can see the kids and the teachers, the streamers hanging from the ceiling etc. The woman holding the child in the white blouse dressed as a pirate is Nicole, one of Alex's teachers.

And here is Alex with his new best friend, Victoria, or, as they want to be known: Batman and Fireman Sam.

Sadly, all parents had to leave, but the day was full of fun and games. In the morning, they made a buffet of all the goodies. Then, they played games (where the winner received candy!), and even did kind of a runway fashion show of all the costumes, so each kid got their special moment. The afternoon was dedicated to crafts and Alex made a great and decorated a mask etc. They were all still in their costumes having a great time at 4pm when I came to pick him up.

On the walk home, we were getting pretty silly (and into the spirit of it all, I guess) and when we came home, we both drew funny things on our faces - just because.

Of course, the Fasching season lasts until next Wednesday, so we'll see what the next few days bring.

The Wild West

Heidelberg has a German American Institute that hosts speakers and events, has an English language library, etc. Since Fasching (Mardi Gras) is almost upon us, the Institute sponsored a themed costume party for kids yesterday. At first I wasn't sure we should go, because it would all be in English, but then we decided to go for it. I picked up Alex from school a little early and we headed into the city. The theme of the costume party was "The Wild West" and I was a little trepidatious about what weird things would greet us, but it turned out to be fun. Alex was dressed as a cowboy in jeans and a checkered shirt. A friend loaned him a fringed vest and I drew a mustache on his face. He did look awfully cute. When we got there, the event started with story time and two women read several picture books about cowboys and the US Southwest to the kids.

After story time, we all headed into a big room that was set up with a stage (where a guy with a guitar dressed as a cowboy led a sing-along of "Home on the Range") and lots of stations with games for the kids. Here's Alex with his new friend Irene listening to the singer.

And then he was off to the games. He started by riding his "horse" around a few barrels pretending to be at a rodeo.

The next station turned out to be his favorite. They had set up a few candlesticks with live candles and gave the kids squirt guns to try to extinguish the flame. He loved this game and came back to it all afternoon. Here are some action shots:

At the next station, they panned for "gold."

Then, he tried his luck at throwing horseshoes.

Here he is roping a steer (chair).

Then painting and branding his cattle.

Finally, we got the obligatory shot of him behind the sheriff cutout,

behind the jail,

 and in front of the jail.

It was a fun afternoon, though to say that they were playing with some of the worst stereotypes, is putting it mildly. Nevertheless, we had fun and even met some nice people. Tomorrow, the German Fasching starts and Alex will once again be ..... Batman.

Of Doctors and Donuts

When I got to Alex's school this afternoon to pick him up, I found him in one of the play rooms in the back completely decked out to assume the role of a doctor. When he saw me, he didn't even acknowledge me, but proceeded with his 'examination' of his patient. His friend submitted to all of Alex's procedures and I was amazed to hear him give her directions and explaining to her what he was doing. Where and when did he learn all this medical vocabulary? The kids had built a makeshift exam table out of some chairs and a mattress and Alex even donned the white doctor coat. Here are some pictures. I just couldn't resist:

On the way home, the young doctor asked me to get him a Berliner. Yes, the jelly donut of JFK fame. And he fully enjoyed it, though there was still room for chicken and veggie soup at dinner time, I was relieved to find out.

And, just for completeness sake, I should add that Alex went to the pool yesterday with Christian and Annika for a few hours in the afternoon while Sherry and I stayed home, drank coffee and chatted. It was a wonderful Sunday!

2 Big Things and some other things

Another week. I am trying not to panic that our time here is going by too quickly. It seems impossible that we've been here for a month already. Two big pieces of news this week: (1) we had our first visitor, my brother Lukas, and (2) Alex is now speaking almost exclusively in German. More on both, and other things, below.

(1) At some point late last week (or maybe last weekend) I got an email from my brother with the subject line: What are you doing on Wednesday? He was going on one of those (insane) American business trips and would have an evening free for us. Wow. Hurray. Well, yes, it turns out, we are free on Wednesday! Though we had just seen my brother and his family over the holidays, the thought of having him here in our Heidelberg life was a great thrill. So, Alex and I headed out to buy some gifts for his boys (a Lego keychain flashlight for the older cousin, and a toy tram for the younger one), some yummies that I know my brother likes, a belated birthday gift for him, some things to send back to my mom, etc. Though we followed our normal routine including a trip to the library etc, we basically spent Monday and Tuesday in eager anticipation of his arrival. It was almost 9pm by the time he actually got to our place on Wednesday night, but it was so fun to have hime here! It turns out that trying to get to Brussels, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, and Heidelberg in 48 hrs can be done, but it's exhausting. On Wednesday night, we feasted together and chatted late into the night. I have no idea how my brother didn't collapse from exhaustion, but we reveled in his presence right here in our little apartment. The next morning, we had breakfast together and Lukas was off again to catch a plane in Frankfurt that would take him back to San Francisco.

On his way, he drove us to Alex's school in his rental car, which turned out to be a rather gigantic van.

It was a quick visit to be sure, but so great to see him - here!

The rest of the week went by in a flash. In Alex's class at school, they have been reading a particular book called "Millie kocht!"which is about a little girl exploring the kitchen, cooking, and baking. The kids were all asked to bring a recipe for their favorite cakes or cookies (we supplied the recipe for his favorite oatmeal-raisin-chocolate chip cookies) and the whole unit culminated in a baking bonanza with the kids on Friday. The teachers picked a recipe for a typical German pastry/cookie, ironically called an "American" - sort of like a big soft sugar cookie with icing. The teachers had put a list with all the necessary ingredients on a bulletin board and we all signed up to bring something. Alex chose to bring the eggs. So, on Friday, everybody brought their ingredient and the kids took over the kitchen for a while to bake. I wasn't there, unfortunately, and have no pictures to share, but according to Alex, it was really fun and the cookies were yummy. Needless to say, by the time I got there around 4pm to pick him up nothing was left. It struck me as brave of the teachers to go into the kitchen with 15 3-6 year olds, but also wonderful.

(2) In the midst of all this, Alex has started to speak German this week. I mean, not just words and fragments, but the real language. Of course, I've been speaking to him in German since the beginning as have his grandparents. He's watched German DVDs and he has books, but so far, with the exception of a few words and phrases, he had not actually spoken German. He could understand it, but he did not speak it. Well, after 3.5 weeks in Kindergarten with peers, his German is there. He's making grammar mistakes, of course, but it's hard to tell sometimes if these are mistakes because he's just figuring out the language or if these are normal 4 yr old mistakes. He says all sorts of idiomatic things and is working hard at putting long stories together. Those of you who know him, know what a chatterbox he is. Well, now he's chattering away in German. To say that I'm thrilled and amazed is an understatement. I was hoping it would go fast, but this seems very fast, indeed. Last night he woke up at some point form some kind of a nightmare and when I came to his bed, it was clear that he wasn't fully awake, but he was jabbering away in German!

Here's a gratuitous shot of him in bed pretending to be asleep. Note the slight smile on his face.

Today, Alex and I had all sorts of plans, but then the day turned out completely differently from what I had planned. I woke up with a bear of a headache. Ugh. Then, we were headed to a particular bakery/cafe in our neighborhood, because I had promised Alex a particular kind of pastry for breakfast. Well, we got there and the bakery wwas out of the pastry and the cafe was closed. Now, I had a headache, no coffee, and a fussy kid. And then it started to rain. Part of me just wanted to go back home and go back to bed, but instead I called Sherry on her cellphone (which, by the way, inexplicably is called a "Handy" in Germany). Thankfully, she answered and knew just what to do. We started by meeting at the farmer's market in her neighborhood to get locally farmed produce and meat for the week. (I also got some herring that's not local, I'm sure, but delicious!)

She then asked us to join her family for lunch. Homemade crepes with all sorts of jams and sweet spreads and a huge cup of coffee with steaming hot milk. My day was getting better by the second and the headache had all but disappeared. We then all headed out for some more errands and reconvened at Annika's basketball game which her team won 74 -54 and which Alex LOVES to watch. We had stopped by at home on our way (to drop off the groceries) and found a thick envelope with all the holiday cards that had arrived in Greencastle after we left. So, Alex watched the game and frolicked around the gym while I read a whole pile of wonderful cards and letters. Thanks, everyone. After that, Sherry, Alex, and I went for a long walk (including a stop at the playground). We headed home to warm up and play for while and then the three of us went back out for a wonderful, lovely, and delicious dinner at a local restaurant. On the way back to the bus we realized that the Italian gelato place at the corner which had closed for the winter re-opened on Feb 1, so life is good, indeed.