Essingen

 

Just when I think that we may have visited and seen everything there is to see within a half hour of our house, we stumble upon another amazing find. This time it was the town of Essingen, which is a little reminiscent of Tubingen with its cobblestone streets, open air cafes and old homes that date back for centuries.  However unlike Tubingen, Essingen has the old castle walls still in tact high on a hill.  The hill is surrounded by vineyards and once you make the climb, there is an amazing view down into the village. Within the walls lie a beautiful green space and huge playground.  This is only a twenty minute drive from our home! I wonder what else is out there that we have yet to discover?

Spring Rains ...and Rains

Ug! I was told that if I made it through the cold and dark winter days, Spring in Germany was the reward. Everyone speaks about "last May"...how HOT it was, how people went out for the morning without sunscreen and came back with a burn...well, that is not a Germany with which I am familiar. They are just mean people spreading untruths. May Day is when the rain started to pour..and pour..and it wasn't stopping. We had to make the best of it...we pulled out the finger paints, then the Play dough and then when we couldn't take much more, we headed out in our rain gear to splash in the puddles and the mud.

Just when we started to embrace the rainy weather, something amazing happened.  The sun came out... and with it our tulips bloomed (as did our moods).

Fruhlingsfest

Stuttgart boasts that it hosts Germany's largest Fruhlingsfest, which is the Spring version of Oktoberfest. The last weekend of Fruhlingsfest coincided with a visit from our close friends from home. Could there be a better way to indoctrinate them into German culture? We called our babysitter, reserved tickets for a beer tent, and headed downtown. Fruhlingsfest didn't disappoint.

This guy had the best time of all:

 

Tulips Tulips Everywhere

On the way to Brugge, we made a pit stop in the Netherlands. We spent our first night in Amsterdam and after settling into our hotel room, we headed out to tour the city. Amsterdam was such a dichotomy between beauty and sleaze.

The streets and canals that surround the University are clean and lined with gorgeous, historic buildings. Just 1 Kilometer away, there are still gorgeous, historic buildings but the windows are lined with red neon and scantily clad women for hire are standing behind the glass. It was both fascinating and depressing. After finishing our walking tour, we found the restaurant and bar, Cafe Luxembourg, that CM had read about in the New York Times.  There we had a few Dutch cocktails, a great dinner and dissected what we had just seen.

The next day we headed to Keukenhof to see the tulip fields. Tulips are some of my favorite flowers and you will find them in my home on a regular basis. Keukenhof was such a worthwhile trip to take. The landscaping of the flowers were gorgeous and the endless fields of tulips were breathtaking. In the park, there were also playgrounds and a petting zoo.I love playgrounds.  I hate petting zoos. It took a lot of strength to stifle my gagging and spend some time there.Thankfully, I don't think it is one of Griffin's favorite places either. Fifteen years ago, I probably wouldn't have thought to visit the tulips fields.  That is one of the reasons I love that I am experiencing this adventure now. I am finding such pleasure and beauty in all of it.

Show me your waffles..Spring Break in Belgium

We just returned from a wonderful week and a half in Amsterdam and Belgium. Having mentioned my husband is a planner in a previous post, this trip was no exception. He planned each day's activities: Keukenhof to see the tulips, Trappist breweries to taste and purchase their goods, Calais, FR where we could see the ' the white cliffs of Dover', and both a carriage ride and a boat ride through town. This isn't including the multiple walking tours of Brugge itself, where we rented our vacation house. It was wonderful. The beer, the food, the history, the chocolate, the beer..oh, did I already mention that?

Garmisch with my Bro and SIL

I mentioned in an earlier post the importance of family in my life. My relationship with my little brother is no exception. He's great. He is a cooler, more talented version of me. Or at least I like to think so. He also married someone who is smart, fun, athletic and the best part, hysterical. 
We were so happy when they made plans to visit over the winter. The winter was very cold and that made some of the days very long. Their visit was such a bright spot in an otherwise dark season.
We headed to Garmisch for the long weekend to ski and snowboard. They are much better snowboarders than I am a skier and they could have ditched me many times up on that mountain. They didn't. Like I said, they're great.