New Likes

A cow I named Rosie

Narrow, winding streets

Artistry in a cup

Old dungeon doors

Eclectic antiques

Shades of green

Friends and cousins

Love locked on a bridge

Now off for another installment of boot camp because of the chocolate croissants that loved me back.

St Petri

After a while, old churches seem to blend together for me.  I know there are people who would happily visit churches as much as I visited bakeries, I'm just not one of them.  But this church was the first one that we visited in Germany, and it was my favorite.  It was not the most ornate-far from it.  It was a smallish church with a sweet feel inside.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside the sanctuary so i can't show that.  There was a square of sand that contained votive candles nestled inside.  Aidan and Chloe both dropped some euros in the box to buy a candle to light.  Then they solemnly added their lights and prayers.  It felt significant somehow.

St. Petri's

Verboten was one word that I recognized.  And there are a lot of things labeled "verboten" in Germany.

Next, we climbed to the top of the tower.  I can't remember how many steps there were to the top, but it was a lot.  And it got hotter and hotter the higher we climbed, until our faces were damp and our hair was sticking to our foreheads.  The twisting stairs got more and more narrow until we were stepping on a tiny plank.  We kept passing signs that said "RAUCHEN VERBOTEN".  (When we later asked what that meant, our pronunciation was so garbled our friends thought that it was the wording for sliding is forbidden.  Which made sense to us, because-since we have an Aidan-we could understand a temptation to slide down the twisting railing.  Later we found out it actually meant smoking is forbidden, which makes more sense for the general public.)

The view from one of the levels.

Another view from the windows.

Overlooking a little street cafe.

One of the bells.

On our way down, the floors began to tremble with a great rumbling sound. We froze; not sure what was happening. Chloe thought maybe we were being bombed. But then the bells began to ring. We were on the floor above them, and it was so loud that it was shaking the floor. (Down below my mother's first reaction was that Aidan must have done something. She was imagining him swinging from the bell rope.) We had to cover our ears as we continued on down past the huge, lumbering bells with our bodies vibrating from the sound.

My legs were shaking by the time that we got down.  But we made it, and a sweet, older lady in the gift shop gave the kids a post card to prove it.  Aidan thanked her in German.  And so she must have assumed he was our interpreter because she would try to speak to us in halting English and then would turn to Aidan and switch to rapid fire German.  He played it off by nodding and answering her with yes and thank you in German which seemed to satisfy whatever she was asking.  And she never knew that those were the only two words that he knew at that point.

Willkommen

I am coming out of a travel and pastry withdrawal haze.  You know the sensation where you are swimming under water and when open your eyes everything is sort of blue and wavy, and it's a bit disorienting?  That's how I felt all day yesterday after arriving home the night before.  But today I feel more human and ready to tackle some pictures.

The friends that we stayed with in Hamburg lived in a cozy apartment overlooking the most beautiful (and tidy) gardens.  I peeked out the window in the morning to see the neighbor below giving a morning welcome with a colorful array of sheets drying in the breeze.  I was enchanted.

We were treated to a German breakfast of ripe tomatoes and fresh mozzarella sprinkled with herbs, crispy, sliced cucumbers, scrambled eggs, and fresh pastries from the bakery. And the company of best friends that we hadn't seen in too long. It was a perfectly gorgeous start to our vacation.

  

We took the train into downtown Hamburg and spent the day walking around, taking pictures, drinking coffee, and sampling any bakery that we passed (which would turn out to be a recurring theme).

Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany.  Much of the city was devastated during the bombings in the second World War, and by a fire resulting from the Allied "firebombing".  My great-grandparents on my mother's side immigrated out of Hamburg in 1902.  So I felt like the city held a bit of my history as well.

 Welcome to Germany.

Germany!

I've been so quiet lately because we are getting ready to leave for Germany tomorrow!  It's amazing how many people start sprouting the German that they know when they find out that you are going overseas.  My German is a little sparse.  I can say "I love you", a swear word, "No" and "Forbidden".  Most of which I learned from World War 2 movies.  I'm guessing that if I love you doesn't work, then one of the other words might be appropriate.  I believe in balance after all. 

Hopefully I will be back in June with stories and PICTURES!

Grammys and Cellos

My mom's coming today and we are so excited!  My grandparents used to come and visit us every year when we were growing up.  They would often arrive with presents from their travels, new puzzles to do together and slight-of-hand tricks.  We would get so excited, and eagerly wait for weeks in anticipation of their visits.  My brother and sister and I would even call a truce and suspend all of the hair pulling, fighting, and otherwise scallywaggish behavior in order to not spoil the event. 

Aidan and Chloe have cleaned up their rooms, argued over whose bed she was sleeping in, and Chloe made a huge welcome banner that is face high as you walk into her room.  (It's been up for days, and we have to duck everytime we walk in and out of her bedroom-which is frequent as we fulfill all of her nightly requests!)  Now every other sentence is punctuated with "I can't believe Grammy is almost here!".  My dad was unable to travel in the last few years, so now my mom is making up for lost time by scooting around the country visiting her loads of grandchildren.

AND we only have a week and a half before we all head off together for a visit to Germany!!

Aidan had another cello event over the weekend-the Razzle Dazzle Benefit for Impact for Education.  (More to come after I get the sweet husband to help me get video off my cell phone.)

Most of our yard is filled with weeds.  Which is an improvement on the bare dirt that it was when we moved in.  Little bits at a time we are reclaiming the space into what we imagine it should look like.  Some of the projects have gone slightly awry like the one where I sprinkled wild grass seeds that I had collected around the path to the stone patio area.  I was imagining tall grass growing on the side of the path in a sort of wild English garden look.  Well, it is definitely a wild sort of look now; and I'm not sure how to tame it.  It has turned into a raging beast with a mind of it's own on a quest to take over the world.

My newest idea was to install a white picket fence to create a little area near the house where we could plant some grass.  Then I had the brilliant idea to mix the grass seed with an abundance of crimson clover.  I'm aware that there are those who consider clover a weed.  I am not among them.  I love clover.  And it feeds my need for instant gratification and immediate results.  Plus it's good for the soil, and the bees.  And it's green. 

Sweetness at the Bottom of a Pie

I had a conversation with a newish friend recently who asked me what I liked to photograph.  I sheepishly admitted that I liked old, rusty, metal things.  Now, not everybody shares my affinity, so I was getting ready to defend my position when she unloaded on me with excitement.  It was the perfect Me Too moment.  But I should have known since her name is Esther too.  Although she's much taller than me, talks with a Scottish accent and sings with haunting gypsy vibe.  But we're both married to a man named Chris/Kris...crazy, huh?  Anyway, she gets finder's credit for these pictures. 

I received several curious looks while I was out this morning taking pictures of an old wheel, because this is the location that I was at.  But sometimes beautiful things are found in the ditches as well; you just have to be looking.

I had my new super cute camera bag with me that doesn't look at all like a camera bag-more like a stylish purse. But since I was dressed like I was going to be wading through weeds while carrying a Kelly Moore bag, I did look sort of odd. But that's nothing new, really.  Fortunately I have no problems waving my freak flag high.

One more picture because it's the first of May and the flowers are blooming!

Oh, and check out the other Esther's art here which is kind of like old rusty metal in a vocal form.  Because awesome things need to be shared.