Holiday Season

It's subdued, this holiday, though not as subdued as last year. Between Corona and my eye surgeries, everything around Christmas 2020 got cancelled, including the tree.  I actually had to go back and try to find digital evidence of any celebration.  Found nothing. 

This year was a bit more festive and we got to share some together time with others, but still in limited numbers.

First, we set up a tree!  I've said it before, but this could be the last year for a full tree with lots of ornaments and lights.  Without little kids or lots of family and guests, I think I can do with a few nice boughs of greenery and one string of lights and a few of my favorite ornaments.

Practically every ornament has a story so picking favorites will be hard.  All the others go the kids.

Christmas Eve we had a Raclette dinner with Renate and Gerd.  I don't think that's well known in the USofA - I tend to think of it as upside-down fondue.  There's all the parts - cheese and veggies - but you put them on a little tray and then they go under a grill on the table.  But just like fondue, it's a slow dinner with lots of time for conversation. Nice!

Christmas morning, there was a brunch with three others - and what a feast it was!  Really, another four could have joined us and still there would have been leftovers!  We ate and dawdled and very much enjoyed ourselves. The only negative was Helga, our hostess, who kept trying to coach her cat into the house.  Paula, the cat, is quite shy and because it was SO COLD, Helga was a bit worried.  Of course, Paula was OK. And we were sated!

Our evening meal was just the two of us, but festive!  Breast of duck, red cabbage, potato dumplings.  Werner was disappointed that the prepared fresh potato mix for the dumplings was sold out so we were reduced to the dried version.  It was OK, but next time...

Second Christmas Day (as they say here) we visited René, Rima and family.  Lex and Monika were there from Curacao as well as Finn, Amina's boyfriend. Aren't they cute?

  Of course there was more food - goose, (more) red cabbage, (more) potatoes and apple stuffing.  

Dessert?  I asked Rima what should I bring.  She said, You know that one with all the nuts?  Pecan pie, I asked? Yes, that one!  It's been two years since I made one and it was delicious. I tell you what, I have pie crust down.

It was FREEZING all those days and it would have been nice to have had some snow, but at least we got some sunshine.  That has been in very short supply lately.

Coming up, New Year's and more food.  There will be lots and lots and lots of black-eyed peas. 

 

First Snow

Sitting around, watching the little screen, and Werner comes into the living room and announces:  "It's snowing!"  Sure enough, there it is. Snow.

When we were in Florida, we had plans to go to Dylan's high school football game, but it was not to be.  It rained.  ALL.  DAY.  LONG.  That does not happen here.  We get spurts of stuff (snow, rain, hail) but it rarely goes on for long.  Same with this, but it's fun while it lasts.

Werner made a very small snow kind-of-thing.  Really, I am not sure what to call it

In his defense, there wasn't all that much snow, though I have to say that Werner's snowpersons are a bit off the usual mark.

Anyway, it was fun for a short time.  This morning, most of the snow was gone, but parts of the snowperson remained.  I don't think it looks very person-like, but it does look a bit otherworldly. As in weird.

Finally! A Visit to the USofA

 Finally. It's been two years, a two very long years of not seeing and touching people I love.  Finally, we were able to go. Not without a few hurdles, though. Yow.

Of course there's the usual stuff - setting dates, booking a flight, getting a visa for Werner, finding seats, renting a car - none of which is as easy as it sounds or as easy as it used to be.  I'm not sure if that is because we're getting older or because it really is getting a bit trickier, but I'm going with the latter. (And a bit of the former too?)

Hey, when's the last time you had to show your marriage license in order to fly to another country?  Because the borders had not yet been opened to European citizens since the pandemic, Werner had to prove he was married to a US citizen in order to get on the plane. Note to self: Save all your important documents. Get certified copies. 

We've been fully vaccinated but we not only had to prove that, but we had to get a quick test as well. I am OK with all of these regs, but it does take a bit more time and effort. 

Finally, so it was.  We got on the plane, we had to show all the papers we brought at one time or another, and we landed in Orlando and got our car and made it to Lee and Crissy's.  Yea!!

Finally. Hugs with real people. It is hard to describe.  It is at once like I have never been gone and everything is immediate and the past is forgotten. I'm so happy to be where I am and the sorrow of not being there has gone poof. That's a good thing.

So, back in the USofA. Catch up!  The grandkids have changed so much.  

Dylan is a young woman.  

Hayden has grown, too.

Lee works a lot and Crissy is working more, doing a regular paying job as well as a bit of on-the-side cooking that developed during the lock down. Not everyone loves cooking the way we do, and some of those folks found that Crissy does!  

The weather was for the most part wonderful, but on Friday, when we hoped to watch Dylan perform with the marching band at her high school, it rained ALL DAY LONG and finally the whole event was cancelled.  So sad!  

But Saturday, we were off to Tallahassee (without Dylan since she had to perform for her Performing Arts grade) and the tailgate with the PC part of the family - plus friends.  Of course it's fun, but more, it's so satisfying to just hang around with family, eat some food, enjoy the weather, and just be there.  What a great time. 

Because we still feel a bit vulnerable, Werner and I decided to skip the stadium event and headed off to PC to settle in before Michelle and Joey got home from the game. Just as well - FSU lost!

What a week in PC!  We visited Hannah and Harrison in their new home (why don't I have pictures???).  Wow.  Ample room for two young folks and two cats and a yard bigger than they want. 

Even Hunter is getting into the home-owner set and hopes to move into his new digs early in 2022.  Wow. 

There was one beach day, and we picked the right one! Lots of sunshine and such lovely temps.  Lunch at Pineapple Willy's was an extra treat though the beach renewal project was a surprise! So many machines on that pristine sand!

We got in a few of our "wish list" foods - bar food at The History Class, seafood at Capt. Anderson's and steaks at home. If you asked me, I'd have to choose those steaks. Sooo very yummy.  Next day's breakfast was a steak sandwich!

Painting!  We did some holiday decorations, we girls.

There were a couple of projects to do - covers for the ottomans, a replacement ornament for Hunter since it didn't "match" Hannah's (note to self: be careful with future ornaments!), and replacing the slides for a kitchen drawer.  Might not sound like much, but it kept us busy.

Hunter's been busy with his wood-working projects and we got to bring a few goodies home.

Michelle and Joey had been to Charleston some weeks before and she found a needlepoint shop and my project for next Christmas. 

And then one more tailgate

...  then back to Orlando after a short visit with Paul in Tallahassee.  (Why don't I have a picture of that?) Unfortunately, Nancy wasn't up for a visit because Minnie was ill; fortunately she got through it!  We'll have more time next visit.

More projects to finish!! The pillows were still not done, so out again with the sewing machine. But there was time to watch Dylan at baton practice, eat even more good food, do a little bit of necessary shopping.  Pecans.  Corn meal. Key lime juice.  It's pretty international here in our Germany, but some stuff is really local to the US, so imports are important!

And then before you know it, it's over.  So many hugs and so much looking forward to our next trip to see Hannah and Harrison get married in March and have a fun fun time at their wedding.  

It can't come soon enough.

Biking around Münster

We had the notion to do a bike tour before my operation in July, but that didn't happen.  But here, early October, it finally did happen: a tour of castles (Schlösser) and manor houses (Herrenhäuser) around Münster.  

The window for doing this was rather small: we've booked our trip to the US, delayed for 2+ years because of Corona, and then there is a scheduled visit from friends, and then there are classes at the university, and there's this and that, and so October 6 - 9 was the only time. 

We'd been there once before with friends, but that was way back in 2007. This time, apps were the answer to everything: app for booking the train, app for booking the hotel, app for booking the bike rental. Our vaccination passports are on an app and there's an app for checking in and out of restaurants.  It is getting harder and harder to navigate daily life without a smart phone.

It worked, all the apps. The trip from here to there, Münster, was easy.  Weather, not so great at the beginning, though we knew that.  We arrived, found the hotel, left our bags and headed to the old town.  In the wet. In the rain. In the cold.

First stop, food! We went to the first good looking place we saw in the old town, a bistro with a Schnitzel menu. Werner got that, I got a Flammkuchen and we had a beer. Good start.

Though we tried to follow the tourist map and check out the most important sites, the weather got increasingly worse so we fudged.  Insides were better than outsides.

It's such a very old city, as are so many in Germany.  In North Rhein Westphalia, it's mostly Catholic so the churches are open all the time (unlike the Protestant churches which are closed most of the time....) and we love visiting churches.  Church one - St. Laurentius. 

It's harvest time, and most churches will have such displays of the local products near the altar.  I suppose they give the goods to charity before it spoils.

There's an amazing astronomical clock there, created in 1540 and of course restored in the meantime. We had a time, so to speak, trying to figure out what the various hands were for but were stymied.  Come to find out, it runs counter-clockwise.  Is that weird?

We made our way then to the main square and the cathedral, the Dom. It is, like cathedrals in so many towns or cities, a place that just takes your breath away. The windows, those that survived the war, are so colorful and impressive. 

We go back to check into the hotel, rest a bit and then head out for dinner.  We'd seen the Five Guys (!!!!)  but decided to do that later.  Tonight it was the Frittenwerk (Fry Factory). Everything on the menu was just that! What a hoot. My stomach is still recovering.

Day One - off to the Castle Tour. There are four marked Castle tours from Münster of the many, many castles and manor houses in the region. They're set up as rounds, but all are much longer than what we had time for, so we made our own tour. 

But first we had to pick up our bikes. Münster is about half the size of Bremen but I think there are twice as many bicycles! They do advertise themselves as the "bike capital of Germany." 

The Radstation (bike station) at the main train station rents parking space for bikes or you can join the chaos on the street (first picture!). And they have rentals. We got our bikes and had a 5-minute intro to operating the e-bikes and then off we went!!! OMG.  I was of course a bit cautious at the beginning, but this stuff is easy. I soon began trying to figure out how I could justify buying one. Werner, on the other hand, was a bit embarrassed by it!! I think we can help him get over that.

We checked off seven sites on that day, which started gray and cold and ended sunny and cold!  I was happy to have the turtleneck we bought the day before. 

We saw them all only from the outside.  Many were private (!) but there just wasn't time to bike and visit insides. Castle #1, The Erbsdrostenhof (the first of several tongue-twister names) right in the middle of old town. Used today for concerts and other events.

# 2 Schloss Münster was built by one of the last Prince Bishop's of North Rhein Westphalia but has been part of the local university since 1954. I'd have loved to visit the botanical garden behind the Schloss, but... time. All the sources say it's wonderful. There were lots of small student groups along the path - it's orientation week!

Now we're heading out of town, and #3 is a no-go, too far from the road to see. It's now a hotel, so it should be rather open to the public at least from the outside, but it is surrounded by an extensive lawn and garden and we are not willing to wander into that private space.  So it is.

At this point, we are still in the metro area, biking along busy streets with lots of traffic and such.  I am beginning to wonder where the countryside begins.  But it does.  And it is nice.

The farmers are starting to harvest the corn (other grains have been long gone) and there's a good bit of tractor traffic.  Make hay while the sun shines.  

Haus Rüschhaus # 4 was the home of a German poet, Annette von Droste-Hülshoff. It houses a museum now but the gardens are open all the time.  And there are so many paths around and through the woods to a second home of hers. But here's the first.  I do think I could sit here and write a bit of poetry myself.

A bust of the lady in the garden.

And the interlopers.

 

The poet's second residence was more modest still, but the garden! So French, to my eye, with kilometers of boxwood hedges and so many Putti in the garden.  Don't you love their little fat feet?

We weren't quite sure how to get to the next stop, but friendly folks abound! We were talking with a docent at the place asking directions when another visitor came up and said, "I'm going that way.  Come with me!"

And we did.  You can imagine that she immediately figured I was not a native speaker, though her first guess was that I was Dutch (often a first guess). Turns out she had spent some time in Richmond, VA and of course her English was very nice.  We had a pleasant ride together to  #5, Haus Vögeding, my favorite of the day. This is a private residence, and part of a working farm.  Cows, fields, tractors!  And an amazing farmhouse, partially protected by a moat. Our poet had a close friend here and she often over-nighted in the tower.  Fun!

More to see! 

 #6 is Haus Havixbeck the furthest from Münster and a pretty big one.  We could only take pictures from the gate because this is private, too, owned by the same family since 1601. The imagination boggles both with the length of time and the size.  What do you do with all those rooms??

Done.  Or half done.  We have to get back and it's a pretty direct and swift trip.  E-bikes make it really, really, really easy!  On our return, we run into a neighborhood market.  What a surprise - not!  Markets abound in Germany!  And we thought, hey, we can just pick up some stuff here and eat in the room. 

 

And we did - smoked fish, some fresh tomatoes, some fresh rolls. We return the the bikes to the Radstation for safe-keeping and re-charging and made a quick stop at the supermarket for a packaged salad mix and some herb butter.  That was a yummy dinner!  

Day Two 

As promised, it is sunny. Our plan was ambitious and we failed ambitiously.  

Werner had figured a route that would have been 55+K, and though e-bikes are fast, that's a really full day when you figure stopping and looking.  Plus, I had discovered a store with tons of Harry Potter stuff and just HAD to get a couple of things for Dylan before the shops closed. And we are not early risers.  

We did get to the Radstation before 10 and mounted our bikes. It took about 5K to discover I had the wrong equipment for sitting on my saddle for a repeat 45K, so from the get-go, it was looking poorly. 

First stop, Haus Drostenhof in Wolbeck.  We came up to the house just as someone was letting herself in with her little dog.  Not realizing at the time it is a TOTALLY private residence, I stuck my head around and got quite a stare.  Sorry!

I'll readily admit to sympathy for these folks who live in such historical houses and have to deal on a regular basis with curious and obnoxious tourists like us (we're curious but I hope not obnoxious), the trade-off for having such a wonderful place in which to live. The house still has a huge private yard which you can glimpse from the neighboring public garden, but I wonder if the residents feel that is a truly private space. 

The next stop, well, we never found it. We went up and down and checked the map and checked the GPS and it just didn't show up. Werner said, Let's head back. It took a little bit of convincing, but I agreed. We were already 20+K from the start and with no other stops, we'd match the 45K from the day before. And my bottom was talking to me!

There were several pleasant exchanges with other bikers along the way and in general, outside the city, folks were really easy to talk to and congenial.  Being a tourist is oftentimes fun.

We did get back in time to visit the Harry Potter Emporium and a hat shop, a new topper for Werner!! 

Food.  I had really thought we'd do Five Guys, but we were fried out and opted for a pizza and salad. That was a Happy Meal for us!

Saturday we checked out, put our baggage in a locker at the station and headed to the outdoor market. We do love a market. 

Mushrooooms!  It's the season and there was a stand selling so many different sorts - I had no idea what some of them were.  But we got a half bag and then asked for a few more Chanterelles.  The market person said, Hey, it's a gift.  Enjoy!  Thank you!!!

After another coffee and a bit of cake, we got our train and with our mushrooms between the two bike helmets, protected from being squished, we got them safely home for dinner.

Is that not pretty!?  We cleaned and chopped and sautéed and creamed and put them on some Spätzle and had a great dinner to celebrate our little trip to Münster.