Hamburg or Bust!

Out of Control!

Spring break has arrived!

Two weeks off of school for Spring Break is a long time, so we are trying to squeeze in a few trips since our time in Germany is starting to draw down.

Our first stop was Ronnenberg to visit the Kellersmann family again. They are so good to us. Our trip wasn't as long as we would have liked because someone (Russell) had to teach a class. Oh well.

Our friends wanted to take us to Hamburg for the next day, so we all hopped on the train and off we went.

The train ticket we had, a Niedersachen ticket allows you to ride any local train (which means not the fast ICEs). Luckily, that ticket also included water taxis. Once we arrived in Hamburg, we hopped onto a water taxi and had a tour of  the Elbe through Hamburg.

I took a picture of this building before I even read the text painted on the house.  It says "Out of Control". I love the mixture of styles and colors on this row of building!

I also saw these two amazingl doors. 

This one made me a little home sick. Mermaids are the symbol of Norfolk. If you look closely, you can see the mermaid enticing the sailor.

We took a short walking tour of the city and saw the Rathaus. A Rathaus is basically city hall. Hamburg's Rathaus is open to the public and holds concerts and exhibitions. It is not a museum, but the building itself is pretty historical so there are tours through it.

Our next stop was an Italian restaurant where we ordered, then waited and waited for our food. Then waited some more. Sadly, bad service seems to be exactly the same here as it is in the U.S. I am convinced the waitress forgot to put in our order!

Luckily our children were very well behaved and waited patiently.

Our final destination of the day was the Miniatur Wunderland.  Just in case you have no idea what that is, imagine an entire building filled with model train layouts. I am not talking about your strange neighbor's train set that circles the basement. This was truly amazing. You can walk through a good portion of the world in HO scale. The lights were set on a timed dimmer to give you the night time perspective every few minutes.

There were so many amazing displays that is was hard to pick a few out to share.

Can you see the Ferris Wheel in the picture above?

This palace reminds me very much of King Ludvig's Chimsee palace in Bavaria. This is the same king who constructed Neuschwanstein (Cinderella's Castle) .

This exhibit (below) was one of the most popular. There are doors on the wall that let the model airplane through on it's "take-off", complete with jet noise sound effects.

There was even a post war exhibit - "Never forget" is pretty important here.

The exhibits included city and attractions from around the world. It was interesting to see what someone from another country would pick as a representation for other lands. Here is a desert scene from the US. I think it is supposed to be a part of Utah.

Here is a depiction of Las Vegas. The details were pretty impressive. This portion was complete even with the column of light beaming out of the Luxor.

Here is a scene from Scandinavia. The water in this section was no simulation!

One of the last sections we saw this beautiful replica of a church in Scandinavia.

The last section was a winter wonderland, complete with sign warning you that the snow is actually small pieces of glass that can cut you!

No matter what age you are, if you ever have a chance to visit Hamburg, the Miniatur Wunderland is definitely worth a visit if you have time.

One day is really not enough time to really see Hamburg. There is so much to see there that I really hope we can visit again to experience more of the city.

Expanding our Minds at the Picasso Museum (And our bellies at the Eis cafe)

Münster Picasso Museum

Frau mit geblümter Bluse

Spring really is almost here. We took advantage of a lovely, non-rainy, day to visit one of Münster's highlights - their very own Picasso Museum. Our youngest child gave us a great tour since his class visited the museum last fall.

Here is the facade of the museum.

I love the doors.

The museum is located in the Altstadt of Münster and even has it's own cafe. In addition to the Picasso pieces, there was also a huge exhibit of work from another Spanish artist named Eduardo Chillida.  We spend the first part of our trip looking through his works. I downloaded the image below from here. The exhibit showcased  drawings, sketches, and three dimensional works in metal, stone, and paper.

For about 20 Euros, the cost of a family ticket, we spent a lovely afternoon expanding our minds a little.

Take a virtual tour of the museum here.

Of course I didn't actually take pictures of my favorites (photography is verboten!) I snapped these images off the museum tickets.

Überraschung!

Surprise!

As we made our way home from the museum, we noticed some sort of commotion at the Schloss. We dropped the boys off at home and went back to check it out.

As it turns out, we had stumbled into some sort of fabric Flea Market (Stoff Flomarkt).

This find was particularly convenient since I have been itching to make a blanket for a pregnant friend. Of course, the main problem is that I have no sewing machine here.

I found this really cute burberry plaid fabric and knew I HAD to make a blanket. I had seen knotted fleece blankets and thought I would give it a try.

I cut a square, about three inches in diameter, out of each corner of the fabric. Then I cut three inch slits, about one inch apart along the edges of the fabric.

This fabric is two layers of fleece fused together, but it easily pulled apart to tie the knots.

I tied every other strip, then flipped the blanket over and tied the other side.

I cut 4 inch slits on the sides that had the selvage and then snipped it off the extra inch before I tied it. It is probably  easier to cut the selvaged edge before you cut the strips, but these scissors are very dull and pulled the fleece too much to try to cut a straight edge.

I think this worked pretty well for my first attempt at fleece blanket making.

My report about our next adventure will have to wait till next week - on Tuesday we visited the Pinkus Braüerei for a wonderful, authentic German dinner.

Der Alltag - The Everyday Life

Routines...

Now that we are truly fully settled in, our routines are set but never mundane. After lunch on Fridays, we walk around the corner to the San Remo Eis Cafe. The menu has over a hundred kinds of ice cream concoctions to try.

This is just the menu for the ice creams. There is another menu if you actually want food.

The boys always get two Kugeln (scoops) in a Waffel (cone) and then eat it with a spoon!

Every week Russell and I try something new. We have never ordered anything twice, even so we will never be able to try the whole menu before we return to the States. We are waiting for visitors to come (hint hint) so we can try the party sundae. I think it would take about 6 people to eat the whole thing (it includes fruit, sauces, nuts, and  about 20 scoops of various ice creams).

This week, our selection was a Mango Becher. It had Mango, Vanilla and Raspberry ice cream, mango chunks and slices, whipped cream and mango sauce.

Still discovering new things...

Last weekend the boys went to a birthday party in a nearby town. It took us about 20 minutes to bike there. Russell mentioned that he overheard someone mention a huge grocery store was out there. On Saturday, the weather was relatively warm and dry, so we biked over to see what the store had to offer.

The store is called Marktkauf. Imagine a Wal-mart (but not dirty or unorganized and with a staff that is pleasant) mixed with a Home Depot, and you get the idea.

One thing that has been nearly impossible to find here is liquid Vanilla. Here is a bottle with 30 Milliliters of Vanilla for 2.29 Euros. Look at your pinky, that is how big the bottle is. I decided I am going to try my hand at making some myself.

Our older son really wanted us to buy these hotdogs.  This is the only way I have seen Hot Dogs sold over here - bun included. He left disappointed since I didn't indulge him. Don't feel too bad for him - he ended up with plenty of treats.

The boys have been seeing commercials for mini winis (pronounced meenie weenies) since September, but we have never seen them in the grocery stores we usually visit. Well, guess what we found at the enormous market?

After biking to the store and back, we had lunch and then it was time for the boys to take care of their cleaning responsibilities. Each Saturday, one cleans the bathrooms and the other cleans the living room thoroughly. This is not something they are paid to do - it is part of their responsibilities. The grown ups took this opportunity to go for a walk to get some quiet time. 

We decided to take a walk around the Schloss (castle) that is down the street from our apartment. On the way there I noticed this painted electrical box. We commonly see these normally unattractive boxes decorated with charming pictures.

We walked along a path that follows the moat encircling most of the Schloss. The weather is certainly warming up, but is still cold enough that the ducks can still walk on ice in the moat. 

As we walked around the Schloss, we noticed the first flowers peeking out. 

As we made our way around to the front of the Schloss, we noticed a group of people gathered and chanting. As we walked closer we could make out their signs. They were protesting ACTA - it is the anti-counterfiting treaty sponsored by the U.S. 

Taking Care of Business

We don't want our boys to be too far behind when they return to their lives in Norfolk. We have extra homework to make sure they stay up to snuff in regards to reading and writing in English. We are also trying to make sure they don't get too far behind in their scout troops. We have been fairly diligent in fulfilling requirements. Today our youngest fulfilled a Bear requirement making oatmeal cookies.  I must say, the provided recipe is a little dull, so we took a little artistic license.

If you feel like trying them out, this is how I, I mean my son, made them. He really did, I only back seat baked.

Ingredients

3/4 cup shortening *   **see notes below

2 table spoons butter (softened)

1 cup brown sugar *

1/2 cup granulated sugar *

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla - or one packet vanilla sugar if you are in Deutschland

1/2 cup cocoa powder - or more if you like it more chocolatey

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups old fashioned oatmeal

1/2 cup flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda - or half a packet of Backpulver 

Directions - preheat the oven to 375 F
1. Combine the shortening, butter, sugars, egg, vanilla, water and salt. Mix these until they look fluffy and the color lightens.
2. Add cocoa powder and mix well.
3. Mix in baking soda, flour and oatmeal. I find it is easier to do this with a spoon.
4. Use a table spoon to drop the cookies onto a prepared cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

*Please note that I am using European sugar and vegetable shortening which are a little different than what you get in the States. You may have to play around with adding a little more sugar and shortening to get the cookie consistency you love.

** I let my son pick between using shortening and butter. He chose shortening while I would normally have used butter. If you want to use butter, you can substitute the same amount of butter for the shortening.

If you are feeling adventurous, add a dash of cayenne or cinnamon or both!

Enjoy!

This blog entry is already pretty long, so I will wait till next week to write about the promised visit to the Münster Picasso Museum we made on Sunday.

Bis nächste Woche!

Dancing! Music! Carnival is Coming!

D.A.N.C.E.


I cannot remember the last time my husband and I went out for a night of dancing, so you can imagine our delight when we saw a flyer hanging up in the stairwell going up to the apartment. It said that the International Office at the University of Münster was hosting a Samba party with live Brazilian Music.

Both of my children are still hanging onto their coughs, which has really interfered with my sleep, so I felt a little like a zombie and I just wasn't sure I was up for a night of dancing. My man seemed to be looking forward to it, so I roused myself and put on a sweater, then another sweater and then my coat (the temperature has been below freezing for the last week or so). This particular university office is only a few minutes away by bike, so shortly after the little boys were in bed we were locking up our bikes in front of "Die Brücke" (The Bridge).

The poster says "Internationales Brückefest", Featuring live Brazilian Music, Latvian Folk Dancers, Samba show, and International music by DJ Dr. Samba

We even got hand stamps!

There were a few groups of dancers that came out to give demonstrations of traditional dancing. This group is from Latvia. The flash was not cooperating at that moment, but their clothes were dark, embroidered skirts (ankle length) for the women and slacks for the men, and white, long-sleeved  shirts. The women also had a long French Braid with ribbons. The boys wore dark vests. The dances and costumes were very conservative.

And Then...

The Brazilian girls came out!

The two dance groups made a very interesting contrast. The Brazilian's first set of dances was an example of Brazilian Hip Hop.  The costumes were rather skimpy compared to the Latvian group, and the dances were much more "physically expressive".

Next...

It was time for live music and dancing for the masses!

The band featured a singer that also played the drums and a guy that ran the keyboards and accompaniment. We had so much fun dancing the night away. We heard many songs that were familiar and some we had never heard before. One interesting moment was hearing the Macarena, Brazilian style.

But Wait, the Brazilian Girls were not finished yet!

The brazilian dancers had one more treat for us. Just in case some of you are unaware, the time of Carmival is nearly upon us, and we were treated to an extended demonstration of a Carnival dance. I can't show you what they look like from behind, but to give you a hint of what it looked like, one of the audience members very enthusiastically pointed out that "Sie braucht ein Waffeshein für das." (She needs a gun permit for that.) So much for Germans being nonplussed by nudity.

After this little show, the DJ cranked it up again. My feet got super sore after all the dancing on the tile floor, so we had to leave at about midnight (my boots are made for walkin', not dancin').

Birthdays and Breakfasts!

Birthdays are so much fun...

The last couple of weeks have been a bit tiring. It seems like my kids have had colds or viruses for three weeks running. One or the other of them has woken up in the night coughing almost every night. 

None the less, this week we celebrated my sweet boy's birthday. One big cultural difference here is about birthdays. In the U.S. your birthday is your special day where everyone treats you special. They give you presents, they bring you a birthday cake, and they pay for your dinner. Here they still bring you presents, but you are responsible for having a party. You invite the people, you bring the cake, bring everyone to your house to celebrate with a party that you have prepared. If you go out to dinner on your birthday, you pay. For example, we (all four of us) were invited to an amusement park way back in September to celebrate the birthday of the department chair. We didn't have to pay for a thing, including lunch!

When someone has a birthday there is usually a small celebration at their workplace. I made a cake and icing was put in a cleaned out jam jar for easier transportation. I put the un-iced cake on my (only) cake platter and then wrapped cellophane around the whole things. It has a huge hit and there was none left for Russell to bring home. We had a activity packed weekend, so I think I ended up making 3 cakes - all of them chocolate!

German cakes are not nearly as moist as a cake from the U.S. It was a fun novelty. Russell overheard one person mention how moist the cake was. A person next to him said, "You mean undercooked?". Of course that person went back for seconds of the "undercooked" cake!

The next day we wanted to have a celebration at home, so I made another cake. Actually, I doubled the recipe because I needed a third cake for the next day.

Remember when I mentioned I only had one cake plate? Yeah, well Russell left it at school to be cleaned in their dishwasher. I like to think I am adept at improvising, so I put this otherwise unused tort pan to good use. This is definitely not my prettiest cake, but by this time I was pretty tired.

Below is a picture of us, pre-candle-blowing-out. Can you tell which boy was having a turn on the virus roller coaster?

Our Friday was especially busy - we went to two separate parties. The first party was a get together during the afternoon with the families of our older son's schoolmates (this party NEEDED an apple pie). The class parents decided to have a class party after the Christmas holidays to avoid the chaos of one more holiday party.

The next party was that evening. One of the other families we have befriended is moving a few blocks away to a bigger place. It doesn't take much to get the people around here motivated for a party. Chocolate cake and left over apple pie rounded out the party nicely, I think. 

Luckily, our youngest was recovered enough by Saturday to attend the birthday party of a classmate. All of the children and the parents of the Birthday Boy met at the bus stop near the elementary school. From there the group went to a bakery called Cibaria. This is what he brought home - 5 hours later!

Just in case you can't tell, he made two airplanes, a shark, a regular brotchen and a loaf. I will have to remember that chocolate chips make great windows.

Speaking of baking things, we had some friends over the next morning for a Traditional American Breakfast.

Breakfast, American Style
One couple we have come to know pretty well has invited us to various things, so we decided to return the favor. They were excited to hear how an American breakfast differs from those in Germany. Breakfast here is pretty different than in the U.S. At a traditional German breakfast table you would find bread (generally rolls), sliced meat, cheese, and jam. There may be fruit and granola-style cereal, or a boiled egg (only on Sunday). The meal is almost more of a morning snack, or even what we might consider a light lunch.

But, what should I make as examples of American breakfast? What normally comes to mind is pancakes, waffles, or bacon and eggs - but those seemed a little ordinary (German Pfannkuchen and Waffeln are really good, and Spiegelei is pretty common) I finally settled on biscuits and gravy as a nice southern recipe, and eggs Benedict because I figured it was something they hadn't seen before (yes, this is a bit much for one breakfast, but I just served a half portion of each). I had to use a new biscuit recipe because I did not plan as well as I should have and didn't have enough butter. I used a this recipe - they turned out beautifully I think.

I finally was able to use my biscuit cutters!

A few people have been asking, so here is the recipe
J.P's Big Daddy Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar
• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in the shortening until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Gradually stir in milk until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
3. Turn out onto a floured surface, and knead 15 to 20 times. Pat or roll dough out to 1 inch thick. Cut biscuits with a large cutter or juice glass dipped in flour. Repeat until all dough is used. Brush off the excess flour, and place biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet.
4. Bake for 13 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until edges begin to brown.

J.P.'s Big Daddy Biscuits

The Hollandaise sauce is ready, gravy is almost ready and water is ready for egg poaching.

Of course this is not something you would eat regularly in the states, but for the occasional treat, this is great.

The wife of the couple brought me a little gift - dark chocolate with cashews. She told me these are just for me. However, I may share with Russell. After all, he did just have a birthday!