Farmer's Market Meal

Tracy asked me to go on a date this morning to the City Center - have coffee, walk around, and enjoy the scenery a bit. We ended up at the Farmer's Market - a fun spot to see lots of colorful, fresh produce, beautiful flowers, and plenty of delicious samples! I don't often shop there because the prices are generally higher than at the grocery stores, but I've been wanting to splurge on a few items. Today was the day. We stopped at every spot offering something to sample - there are quite a few samples on Saturday mornings! At one of the booths, we sampled some fresh pesto.  Of course, we decided to buy a jar. This purchase led us to buy fresh pasta made that morning to go with our pesto. And then some bread baked on the spot. Plus, flowers for the table. Without realizing it (or maybe just a little), I worked myself out of a job for the evening! Since Micah is spending the night with friends, we ended up enjoying our feast at lunchtime instead so that he would get to enjoy it as well.  The boys all said that this needs to be our Saturday tradition!  Not going to happen, but it sure was a delicious treat. A treat made even better by going for ice-cream for dinner - two scoops even!

We tried two kinds of pasta - one that was a spinach/feta ravioli and the other
was a spiral wheat pasta - both were tasty but we all liked the spinach better.

Apples Galore!

The boys have gone apple picking a number of times in the last few weeks....each time assuring us that they are indeed allowed to pick these apples that they are bringing home. The boys told us about this small apple orchard on their school grounds that is open to the public, but it just seemed odd to me that one could pick apples and not have to pay for them. So we asked around a bit and found out that yes, the apples are available to anyone wanting to take the time to pick them. We have enjoyed lots of applesauce and apple crisp from what they have picked so far. Since the boys are really putting away the food these days, we went today as a family (minus Micah as he is with friends at the movies) to pick more. And plan to go again Wednesday since the boys don't have school that day.

The orchard is located behind the school within a sheep pasture. When we arrived, one of the sheep was lounging by the fence and seemed to be interested in watching us. Later he decided that he didn't like Josiah and Noah being there so butted them in the rear and retreated to his pen!  He left us to pick in peace the rest of the time.

The boys climbed the trees and threw the apples down to Tracy and me. We took my bike basket and Tracy's backpack, filled them within a few minutes and could have filled them ten times over if we had wanted.  It was hard to stop ourselves!  So now to cut all these up and freeze them for the winter....I will be missing my apple peeler/corer for this task. That is one slick machine! I do have boys that enjoy helping with chores that involve knives so might not be doing this one alone! And what a blessing to have free apples so close to home. We'll be enjoying these all winter long!

Noah couldn't resist enjoying one on the spot.  In fact,
a couple of families came past with young children
wanting apples so we picked some for them to enjoy as well!

Safe in a tree!

Stretching for that "perfect apple" - he eventually got
it but almost fell out of the tree as a result!

We ended up putting some of these in Tracy's backpack as I was afraid of a
spill if I hit a bump on the way back home.  Plus, too much junk in the trunk
can tend to make me tipsy when riding!

Dachau, Germany - Day 3 of our August Trip

On Sunday, we returned to Göttingen via a stop through Dachau, Germany.  We contemplated not ending our weekend vacation at such a sobering place, but we also don't know if we will get the chance to be in this area of the country again this year.  I won't go into much detail here as you can google and research for yourself what the place entailed.  Just a couple of key points from our tour though....first, this was the concentration camp that was the model for all other camps built.  It started as a work camp for political prisoners near to Dachau before the war which is why the fence entrance says, "Arbeit Macht Frei" - work makes free.

Prisoners could lose their lives just by nearing the gate.

One of the main points that our guide continued to return to during the tour was that all of humanity is susceptible to repeating this - we must learn from it; hence, there is value in touring the facility.  It serves as such a humbling reminder that evil exists and that when evil comes together unhindered, this is what is possible.  Hitler was just one of many.  Heinrich Himmler was the one controlling the ins and outs of Dachau.

The yard where all the prisoners would present themselves
for roll call each day.

Foundations of the 32 barracks - two were
rebuilt to show just what they looked like but none of the
original barracks are still in existence.

Bunks in one of the rebuilt barracks.
Over 32,000 people were liberated in 1945 - in
a camp designed for 6,000.

One of the eight prison guard towers - the front
gate serving as the eighth

Den Toten zur ehr den Lebenden zur Mahnung.
The dead serve as a reminder for the living.
Over 40,000 people lost their lives at Dachau in its 12
years of existence.

Of all that we witnessed at Dachau, the crematorium was the most
sobering.  This is the building that came about because men sat
down together to engineer the most effective way to dispose of
humanity.  It was in here that prisoners were lured with the
temptation of a hot shower - manipulation to cause the
prisoners to not fear going into the building.

 

In this room the prisoners would be told to make sure to keep their shoes
with their clothes because they would need them after their shower to
keep from getting cold on their way back to the barracks. 

It is hard to imagine what really took place in this room.  The
incinerators would dump the ashes into a holding tank
located behind the building.

Dachau was a lot to take in - overwhelming at the very least.  It's easy to walk away from such a place with an attitude of disbelief.  I'm reminded of the quote by John Bradford, "There but for the grace of God go I." 



Salzburg ~ Day 2 of our Trip South of the Border

~ Cafe Ritter ~
I've said it before and will say it again - I LOVE ALL THE FLOWER BOXES!
And...our front porch will be looking something like this eventually!

On Saturday morning, we ventured over to Salzburg after pastries at Cafe Ritter.  I wanted to be the typical American tourist and climb on one of the 'Sound of Music' tour buses, but I must not have made my boys watch that movie enough before coming to Salzburg....can you believe that I was the only one with this interest?!  We opted rather to walk around the city for a few hours and then find a place to hike into the mountains.

As we were locating tourist information, we happened upon the statue of Mozart in the city center.  We laugh at the picture below!  I forgot to tell Tracy that I wanted Mozart in the photo!

We chose to meander the streets with our main focus of being to make it to Schloss Mirabell and the gardens around it.  It is truly a beautiful city with massive architecture and wonderful street musicians and performers.

Beautiful music - we enjoyed them for some time feeling like we
enjoyed ourselves a concert without the cost.

 

We sat on a park bench and listened to these two for
some time as well.  They played very soothing pieces.

We thought this guy was a statue at first glance!

 

These two performers were fascinating to watch.  One whistled and the other tweeted to get kids' attention - they were such great statues and often ended up sending younger children behind their parents' legs!

 

This is of us enjoying our Mozart Kugeln.  They are bite size treats made
only in Salzburg....or at least that is what we were told.

 

The making of Mozart Kugeln - I'll try just about anything dipped in chocolate!

 

The following photos are of some of the massive architecture that we saw in the City Center - we love to look for dates on buildings.  The earliest date we've found so far is actually from a structure here in Göttingen - date was from the 1100s.

Noah is as tall as the blocks of stone at the foundation of this building - took
us quite a while just to walk around the perimeter!

 

I have a photo of the rest of the family by this fountain, but
everyone was getting so wet that it didn't turn out great.
The water was spraying a good 10 feet from the wall.

 

1382!

 

These kinds of colorful odd shaped benches were all over the city.

 

 

 

 

 The next several pictures are taken in the gardens surrounding Mirabell Palace - several of the family opted to sit and listen to musicians while enjoying a shady spot....it was quite hot that day.  Hence all the pictures having just one or two of the boys in them!

 

 

Hohensalzburg Fortress is visible from
many points in the city.

 

 

 

 

 

This view shows the Pegasus fountain that was in
'The Sound of Music' and the Hohensalzburg Fortress
at the very top of the hill.

 

Just one more idea to implement!

 

 

Josiah had to get on tippy-toes just to see
through the key hole - he also lifted Noah
up so that he could peer through as well.

A better picture of the Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill -
you can take a trolley up to it for little cost, but the crew was
ready to hike by this point.

 

  

This is the largest chess board we've ever seen!

 

After getting our fill of Saltzburg and of course, eating ice-cream for lunch, we ventured back towards Berchtesgaden in search of a hiking spot.  In addition to hiking, the boys really wanted to swim so we got directions to Lake Königsee while also getting information about hiking trails.  We opted for swimming first so that their shorts could dry while hiking - we hadn't planned on swimming so were not prepared with suits or towels.

 

 

The water was freezing!  Tracy and I had our feet in long enough
to begin to get numb.  Needless to say, the boys were not wanting to
swim long.  Noah would want you to know that he was the first
of the boys to go the whole way under the water.

 

The gal at the information center suggested a hiking trail that was only about an hour's hike and had a restaurant at the summit.  Perfect!  We were all looking forward to dinner and the thought of eating on at a mountain-top restaurant sounded fun and romantic.  This was another time that we were so thankful for GPS - we had a map of the local trails and roads leading to them, but it's just so easy to punch in a street name.  So we plugged in "Kneifelspitzweg" - the name of the street that led to the trail head - and followed the directions to a T.  The information gal told us there was a parking lot with markers for the trail so we simply followed GPS directions.  As the roads took us higher and higher into the mountains, they also became more and more narrow.  The final direction said to make a U-turn and arrive at your destination.  So Tracy made a U-turn - it was then that we could see the driveway to a hotel...a very steep driveway.  He gunned the vehicle and made it up into the parking lot.  We then saw the road sign for Kneifelspitzweg and realized we must be at the right place, but looking at the map we also realized that we had another mile or so on this "road" before reaching the parking lot. 

At this point, we were wondering what to do.  We weren't sure if this road was for vehicles or bikes, but the boys were really excited about the hike so Tracy decided to take a chance.  Let me just say that the drive into the hotel parking lot was nothing compared to the stretch of road ahead of us.  Tracy put the car in first and started off....for about fifty yards.  I started with, "I don't think this is a road, I don't think we should be trying this, etc" - oh, so helpful of comments at moments like this!  Tracy wasn't sure either as our car barely fit on the road so stopped in the middle of a climb.  He turned to me and calmly said, "This isn't good."  Talk about tense!  He decided to back down to the hotel because that was really the only option, and I decided to start praying.  I'm not sure if I've ever done this before or not, but I started praying out loud for our very lives as Tracy backed down into the parking lot!  I'm sure that I helped the boys' mind-set and probably put Tracy at ease, too!  Ummmm....I didn't know what else to do!  Long story short, we got out of the car to make a gameplan of what to do and within two or three minutes, two Smart cars whizzed right up that very road we had just backed down.  Tracy estimated that the slope was close to 40%, so I opted to walk until it was a lesser grade.  All that to say, we did finally make it to the parking lot for the trail...with a few more gray hairs.

The hotel with our little red vehicle parked off to the right.

This is the view from 10 minutes into the hike just before entering
the woods.  Had we gone no farther, it was a beautiful view.

Well, I wish I could share pictures from the restaurant and its view.  I wish I would have seen it.  But alas, we made a foolish decision as parents and are very thankful that our kids are obedient and listened to us on this particular day.  Long story short, the boys wanted to HIKE not walk some sissy switchbacks.  Mind you, the entire hike was switchbacks after the first 15 minutes or so...not an easy climb for Tracy and me!  So we told the boys they could take the shortcut up to the next switchback and wait for us.  We connected again and they asked again.  As long as they stayed together and waited for us at the next joining of the trails, we were cool with them scaling the mountain rather than hike with us.  Well, wouldn't you know it?  Our trail didn't have another switchback for about five minutes so we got separated and couldn't hear each other any longer.  We were just sure that we'd connect back with them soon so kept hiking.  After about 20 more minutes, we're both getting concerned and asking everyone we passed if they have seen four young boys.  Tracy finally decided to sprint ahead to the summit as we were just sure they beat us to the top and were waiting for us.  And no, they weren't there either.  WHAT HAVE WE DONE?  We allowed our kids to hike away from us in the Alps without so much as a bottle of water with them!  A mistake you only make once in your life - glad ours is behind us!

End of the story is that our boys listened to us.  When they reached the trail joining their short-cut, they waited for us.  They stayed together and waited....for nearly two hours!  The problem was that they connected back up to another trail which also led to the top, but we told them to wait for us.  All the while, we were hiking on a different spot from them.  Needless to say, by the time we found them, the restaurant was closed, Tracy was the only one that got to see the view from the top and we had some very disappointed boys.  I was so happy that we weren't calling in a search team that I didn't care where we ate dinner that night!  Twice on my hike back down the mountain (we decided I would hike back to the car in case they ended up going back there), I had to retrace my steps as I couldn't quite remember where I was at - yes, that added to my panic.  Thankfully, we serve a big God and He was reminding me of truth as I hiked.  And thankfully, we have trained our boys to listen to us - this was one day it paid off.  They talked long and hard about separating so as to find us more quickly.  It may have worked but I'm thankful they obeyed!  We ended up eating dinner at a fun restaurant in Berchtesgaden.....we're saving the restaurant at the top for another trip south.

The boys found a fountain to wet down their hair
before stopping at a restaurant in the city center.
We all felt pretty sweaty and grimy after that day.

 

This restaurant served only typical German dishes.
We ordered about five meals and passed them around
to share.  The couple at the table behind us kept
laughing at our attempts to sample every plate.
Tracy has a brats and potato salad dish.  Joj and Noah have
Pommes and currywurst...basically hotdogs.

Josiah was so excited that all the wurst was linked together!

This was a ham hock with potatoes and sauerkraut.  We also
had some steak dish that was also quite delicious.

This was one of those days that you say, "All's well that ends well."  It was a day we won't soon forget.  The boys got their wish - they really hiked the mountain side.  They also decided on this trip that they could move to the Alps indefinitely....as long as their friends and cousins moved over here, too!