Pictures of the Black Forest

These are just a few pictures of our stay in the Black Forest -

Harrison, Lord of the skies, at the top of the Belchen mountain.
Then theres the view with the Alps in the very back. (The sea of clouds!)
And the view overlooking our little village of Sallneck - our house is the bottom left one in the center of the picture - and the kids in the field behind the house.
And finally, the hot springs at Bad Bellingen. It was so much fun swimming outside! You can see the little oval jet stream, and all the steam behind Evanleigh. It was lots of fun.

Black Forest Adventure

Greetings all

I now have a few minutes to create an entry about our Christmas here in Germany. We left Muenster on the Friday before Christmas for the south-west corner of the country to a small town called Sallneck. We were just 20 minutes from the Swiss and French borders! It took quite a long time to get there - 9 hours with a long lunch and traffic jam - and we arrived after dark. The view from our little house on Saturday was just gorgeous! No snow, but because the forest is mostly pine, it was storybook pretty.

Our first trip was to some Roman ruins in Switzerland - Augusta Raurica. They had quite a nice museum dedicated to the study Roman lifestyle, including a video showing what it was like to eat then. One screen showed a rich person dining, and the other a poor person. The kids really liked this because of all the gooey, slurpy sound effects. I guess the only utensil they used was a spoon with a sharp, pokey handle to spear things with. (Mostly, they ate with their hands, another point in their favor, according to the kids.) Anyway, we left and attempted to drive home through Basil, and got completely lost. Ah, the frustrations of poor signage. It was late, we hadn't eaten- the kids were protesting for McDonalds. Well, lo and behold, we found the way out and the McDonalds to boot. Steve parked and I ordered and got the kids squared away - the bill? Um....50 euros!!! Steve and I even shared a salad and french fries! UGH.

Sunday was just sunny and beautiful, so we decided to visit a German mountain peak nearby. Not the Alps, certainly, but you can see them from the peak we visited - see picture.
The Belchen peak was only 1400 feet high, but as you looked over to where the Alps towered, it was like looking over a sea of white foam. You could even tell that there wasn't much snow in Switzerland either. Poor skiers! As for Christmas eve, we hooked up with some friends of ours from our Cairo days - Randy and Nancy Capp - who live just 20 minutes away, and visited their church. Nancy teaches at the English-speaking Black Forest academy, so there is quite an English-speaking community there. Anyway, it was fabulous to worship in our mother tongue. (Even if it was a little "dramatic" according to Evanleigh.)

Christmas morning was grey and misty, but this didn't bother us. We opened stockings, played games (we've been stocking up on the great German games here), and had a huge meal complete with turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes! We didn't venture out at all - and although the vacation apartment was teeny-tiny, we enjoyed the time together as a family.

The next few days went quickly - Steve and I hiked for two hours on a trail right behind the house. The Black Forest is just riddled with awesome walking trails. We visited another smaller peak, had dinner at a restaurant overlooking the Alps, and visited a natural hot springs "bath." This last venture was our personal favorite - imagine swimming outside in 38 degree weather! If you look at the picture of Bad Bellingen, you'll notice a sort of oval shaped part of the pool - this was powered by jets that just pushed you along like a river. There was another area where you could lie in the jucuzi-like bubbles. VERY COOL. Although after just 2 hours, I was entirely too water-logged and got out. Anyway, I have never been so relaxed as I was that night going to bed! Ahhhhhhhh, heaven.

So, we've been home now for a week - New Year's Eve here deserves a mention. We decided that the kids are finally all old enough to stay up, so we rented the latest Pirates movie, which was much longer than we thought, and had to pause it when we heard some fire crackers and thought to check the time. Well, as most of you know we live in an apartment complex, and EVERYONE was outside putting off quite strong fireworks! Especially loud, and maybe not as big as say, city fire works, but pretty darn close! The rockets were going off everywhere and in every direction! Honestly, you begin to understand why it's illegal in many states. We watched in fascination as rockets hit the side of our building, went off quite close to people standing near, seemed to bounce off cars...it was very strange. (Especially for what we've come to consider "rule-oriented" Germany.) Anyway, no one seemed to be rushed off to the hospital, no sirens were heard, so....we finished the movie and went to bed in 2007.

The kids go back to school on Monday, and life returns to 'normal' - German lessons, reading, writing, and just general learning. We eagerly await the second half of our sojourn here. We have much to be thankful for!

Pictures of Christmas in Meunster

Steve and Stephen and Barbara Emmel drinking Gluhwein - the mugs are to keep. I guess many people collect these mugs from different markets. The secend picture is the 'Principal Markt' - a very famous street here in Meunster - during the market. And finally, Rowyn got to play the angel bringing good news at her school Christmas play! She had quite a speech to say in German - and did GREAT!! She'll repeat it even now for anyone who asks.

Christmas Adventures

Greetings and Merry Christmas all!

Much has happened in the two weeks since I last wrote. First of all, three of us got a nasty stomach virus that pretty much wiped us out for a week or so - just before we were to leave on our Black Forest vacation. But we managed to get our appetites back in order to enjoy some of the Christmas goodies and events here in Meunster. I found it very interesting to compare how they celebrate the holiday here and how we find it in the US.

First of all, like home, the shopping is pretty frantic. However, The Christmas markets here are something to see - each good-sized town has one. Dotted throughout the old city here, there were rows of stalls selling everything from new gift ideas (artsy jewelry, ornaments, nutcrackers, wooden nick-nacks, etc.) to yummy snacks and drinks (fried brie cheese, lots of wurst, hot sandwiches, and especially - Gluhwein! Hot, very sweet, wine). They opened in the week before Dec. 1, and ran all the way to Christmas. The old city was beautifully and tastefully decorated - not tacky at all - with hanging wreathes of greenery and candles. There were even street singers and bands on the weekends.

What was different for me was the lack of anticipation. In the stores, there is little Christmas music played. In the US, by the time the 25th roles around, I am usually pretty tired of all the little ditties played everywhere. Here, I wish I could hear more. And, there are no special church 'shows' - just a Christmas eve service, usually at 5 or 6 o'clock. I have been singing with a small choir at our church, and when we met during the first week of December, it was to discuss what we might sing at Easter, and there was NO music for the Christmas season at all. We sang Christmas carols as a congregation, but the choir did not sing at all. Given all the preparation that goes into the Christmas choir music at every church in the US, this was a big surpise for me. Although there are advent calendars everywhere, few are religious in nature. I have one from our grocery store with coupons for each day. (A nice idea, that one.) Rowyn has one from her 'W.I.T.C.H.' magazine with pictures of present behind each window. Now, it may be that we are not really connected into German society sufficiently, that we notice this lack of seasonal spirit. However, is it that Christmas should be a personal experience, not so much a corporate one?

In any case, we missed home. We missed our family especially, and our friends, and our church! So. On December 21, we did our Christmas gifts as a family - and left the next day for a week in the Black Forest.