Day 22 - Mainau

Like a kid in a candy shop...

Monday Jan, my dad, Therese and I went to the nearby island of Mainau while Todd was in class. Mainau sits in Lake Constance (Bodensee) just off of Konstanz and is full of gardens. Jan was about to jump out of her skin she was so excited (she is a big gardener). I was a little nervous that the gardens would be hokey or just not that good, but even Jan who knows a lot about gardening really liked them. In order to get to Mainau we had to take our first bus ride (the No.4 from the train station in Konstanz). For all of you Harry Potter fans, it was like riding the Night Bus. As soon as you stepped through the door and into the bus, the doors would slam behind you and the whole vehicle would lurch forward, sending its passengers and their belongings flying through the air.

Once we reached the island, we were greeted by characters made of flowers like the above flower "Bloomi," a peacock, and ducks. We were also greeted by an enormous play area that included everything from kid-sized log cabins to slides to musical instruments to swimming holes complete with Huckleberry Fin-type log rafts. Therese immediately gravitated toward this area and refused to leave, arching her back as she walked away from me screaming. It was a kid's paradise. But we were there to look at flowers, not children playing so we had to leave it alone, promising to come back at the end of the day. Therese let her wishes known every two minutes for the rest of the day ("Reese wants to go to park now! Swing on swings and slide!").

Mainau included all sorts of gardens, a vineyard, a number of fountains, and a great view of Lake Constance from every spot. The most amazing site was the Italian rose garden. It was indescribable. You can see the picture below, but of course a picture can't quite capture something like a rose garden (at least no picture taken by me). Therese, livid about not getting to play in the park all day and sweaty from the hot sun, had melt-down after melt-down. I "went all German," letting Therese play in the various fountains (side note: the Germans here let the kids splash in all of the city fountains and sometimes even do so as adults. They don't wip out their hand sanitizer or anything. They just splash the water and even sometimes use it to clean their faces. I'm sure my mom is now horrified after reading this....). Don't worry - I returned to my American roots and spraying sanitizer all over Therese after she was finished. The poor thing got so worked up about wanting to go to the park that by the time we finished lunch and started walking to the play area, she fell asleep in my arms. She NEVER sleeps in my arms. Even as a baby she wouldn't. She didn't even stir when I put her back in her stroller and we caught another bus that hurled us from side to side.

When we made it back to Radolfzell, Todd met us at the train station and we went to my dad and Jan's for some local white wine, cheese, and crackers on their back patio. Reese ran around after downing half of our cheese. Her mood had improved greatly but she was still very upset that she wasn't allowed to play with the "balls" - statues that are ball-shaped in the back of Art Villa. We kept trying to explain that they were too heavy to throw, but she couldn't understand. She did, however, pet the metal sculptures of chickens. When she did this, Jan asked her what a chicken says. Therese gave her usual "I don't know" grunt. Jan acted out a great chicken impression, 'Bock, bock, bock, bock" to which Reese replied, "Like a bunny!"...

Reese playing with a fountain
An Italian water cascade (it runs down the steps in the middle)

The Italian rose garden

Day 21 - Triberg (the Black Forest)

We've been so busy traveling and having a good time that I've had trouble finding time to blog! But don't worry, I'll catch you up in the next couple of days...

Sunday my dad, Jan, Todd, Therese and I all took a train to Triberg in the Black Forest. The train ride was only a little over an hour and was beautiful. We saw deep valleys and gigantic trees. Once in Triberg we took a taxi to the city center, a nice tip we got from a small book on day trips I got. It saved us walking 45 minutes up hill. When we got to the city, we were greeted by over-sized cuckoo clocks and animated figures along with very "German" looking buildings - the type you would picture if you thought of Germany. It reminded me of Kings Island. I almost expected to hear band music streaming from speakers. More seriously, it was really cute and picturesque.

We immediately picked out the beer garden where we would dine after our visit to the waterfall - a nice place outside on a deck overlooking a small stream coming from the falls. There is water trickling in streams all over this town. You hear the rush of it everywhere and find it seaping through cracks in stairs. We climbed through the woods and over a footbridge, viewing these beautiful cascading falls from all sorts of angles. These falls have some seven levels and rush into streams strewn with mossy boulders in a way that looked too perfect to be real. I had to keep reminding myself that this was nature's work and not the hand of a set designer. It really reminded me of Lord of the Rings. There were more shades of green in this forest than I knew existed. Plus the white, clear water over the black rock.... Amazing.

After our hike through the forest and over some of the falls, we ate an amazing German lunch complete with beer, bratwursts, and potato salad. It was so exciting that I had to take a picture of it (as you can see below). After lunch we checked out some of the wood-carving and cuckoo clock stores. The Black Forest is well known for being the original and authentic makers of the cuckoo clock. I am now very well educated about the details one should look for in buying a cuckoo clock, all the way down to what the bird is supposed to look like ("Can you believe that bird they put in that clock? That's not even a cuckoo! It doesn't even have spots!"...How dare they...). Once we got the window shopping out of our systems (it took about two stores), we found a nice tea shop where we indulged in the much-anticipated Black Forest Cake. It's one of the specialties of the region, famed for its chocolate cake with cherry accents. In searching for this Black Forest delicacy, we all expected some nice, rich cake with really dark chocolate and dark cherries. Not quite. It was a light chocolate and white layered cake with a layer of cherries in the middle and some top. The cake was a really wet one, almost like authentic tiramisu. While it wasn't at all what I expected, it was REALLY good. Therese slept straight through our dessert so I didn't have to share :-).

Our first look at Triberg - the bears on top of the store moved
Reese and Grandpa

The falls

The Messner Cottage - built in 1697 to house pilgrim-monks and pilgrimage priests

Triberg after the Falls

Good times...
Todd and I in the beer garden with our half-liters
A truly German lunch (it was delicious!)

Therese asleep in her stroller...again

Black Forest Cake...mmm...

Day 20 - Around the Town

Today, the first official full day of my dad and Jan's visit, included a lot of...well...rain. Todd, Therese and I ventured through the down pour this morning to Art Villa. We ended up spending much of our morning in the hotel. Therese helped break in the bed, cuddling in it, jumping on it, playing throw the bunny off it... The room is very nice and pretty big by European standards. The bathroom is especially nice. During our stay at Art Villa, we managed to figure out how to work my dad and Jan's international cell phones. They let us borrow one so now we can communicate back and forth in case of rain, etc. :-).

The rain let up around 12:30. We walked around the city center and shops and Therese fell asleep so we kept walking. We explored Kaufland, a local grocery store, and then, once the sun came out, ate a late lunch at Il Postino. After lunch we wandered to the lake where Therese ran around and ate some ice cream (as did we). Eventually we headed back to our place for a break and to show my dad and Jan our humble (and messy) abode. We ate dinner around our place at Il Cavallino. Dinner was long (typical Italian sense of time...) and the restaurant was a little hot, lulling us all to sleep, but it was worth it. Therese and I had the BEST gnocchi outside of Italy. And I mean Therese and I - she ate almost half of it. After dinner my dad and Jan, armed with a map and a cell phone, embarked on a journey back to Art Villa by themselves. So far no phone call pleading for directions...

Reese and Jan (and bunny) cuddling in Art Villa as we waited out the rain

Ordering tea and coffee for a mid-afternoon pick-me-up

Sailboats on the lake

These rocks in the lake are said to not be stuck together using anything - just gravity...

We happened upon a biergarten where a band of trumpets and other big band instruments were playing in the middle of the afternoon. The atmosphere was so fun and the place was packed with people.

Off to Zurich... a visit from my dad

Welcome to Germany, Grandpa and GrandJan!

Yesterday (Friday), Therese and I traveled to Zurich in order to meet my dad and stepmom who flew in to spend the week with us. Reese was amazing on the train to Zurich. She was a bit tired and tried to fall asleep, but couldn't quite make it - she was too excited about being on a choo-choo train. About half-way to Zurich, she got really excited and told me that we were going to see a kitty cat. She thought we were going to Grandpa and GrandJan's house...

In Zurich, we found my dad and Jan at the arrival gate all in one piece and looking surprisingly awake. They had been bumped up to first class which made the overnight flight a bit more bearable. After a bite at McDonald's, we grabbed a train (or 3) back to Radolfzell. We passed through quite a bit of rain on our ride home, but luckily it hadn't reached Germany by the time we made it home. My dad and Jan were troopers, hauling their luggage from the train station to their hotel, Art Villa, which is located in the beautiful, older looking area of Mettnau. We saw such beautiful gardens and flowers everywhere.

Therese and I wandered around and met up with Todd while my dad and Jan freshened up. We then took them around the city center a bit, showing them the centuries old streets. We saw a play being put on in the Marktplatz that included flag throwing and a bunch of guys dressed as monks. We eventually made it to dinner at Alte Zunft where we dined on "rostis" - dishes of pork, sauce, and vegetables on top of hashbrown-like potatoes - and a healthy amount of wheat beer. Needless to say, we all slept very well last night :-).

Going to Zurich!

Reese loves the new Jan brought her

Me and my dad in Radolfzell

A Note To My Brother

Dear Adam,

I realize that as my older brother it was always your job to put me in my rightful place and to toughen me up by making fun of me as a child. It's doubtless that I gave you ample material to work with, given my penchant for wearing only one sock, my constant mispronunciation of words, sleep-talking about my love for the color pink, and, of course, that persistent fear of drains. However, I feel it is my right - maybe even my duty - to defend two of my actions that as a child (and still at select family events) brought on many occasions of mockery.

Now you will remember, dear brother, that as a child, you would make faces at and make fun of the delight I took in dipping my fries in not only ketchup, but mayonnaise as well. "Gross," you would say, "Disgusting. Who would ever think of doing that?" Well now I can tell you who - the good people of Germany. You see, it seems that the German folks have always had a love of mayonnaise that expresses itself, among other ways, as the preferred condiment to sit alongside ketchup when eating fries and even hotdogs. That's right. I am not the only person who liked to put ketchup and mayonnaise on my hotdogs. If you order fries (pommes) here in Germany, they will ask you if you want mayonnaise and ketchup and will put a big glob of each on your plate.

Doubtless you also remember, dear brother, that as a child I would open the refrigerator and take cold hotdogs straight from the package and eat them. Again, you thought this was gross. Again, you thought, "Who would do this?" Well, I am here to tell you that I am not alone in my cold, uncooked hotdog eating. It seems that the good people in Germany also eat "raw" hotdogs and even cut them up - never cooking them - into tiny bites to make "wurst salad." So you see, as a child, I innately sensed a connection with the German people and, affected by my German roots, shared in their love for ketchup with mayonnaise and raw hotdogs. Don't blame me, blame my German heritage. So now the stories will have to come to an end. In fact, in case the other weird things I did as a child are also culturally rooted (and one would hate to accidently offend another culture), I should never be made fun of again. Unless maybe it is for being too smart or too funny or too good-looking. I think I can live with these. But as for the others, I have found just reasons for at least two of my past weird behaviors. Now if only I could find people who eat sticks of butter....

Days 16 and 17

A fountain in the city center
Some of the local shops

We've definitely found our routine and settled in here in Radolfzell now. It's been a very lazy couple of days, especially since it rained all day yesterday. Therese and I did laundry and took our first trip to the Apothoteke - the pharmacy. In Germany you can't go to a grocery store or supermarket and get Tylenol or other over-the-counter drugs. You have to go to an Apothoteke, which kind of makes sense because then a professional can make sure you know what you are doing and tell you what not to cross each drug with, etc. We ventured down to the pharmancy together in order to get some hydrocortisone for Reese whose skin has a terrible rash (typical eczema) from sweat and heat. Todd did all of the talking and we managed to get some nice OTC hydrocortisone. It makes Therese a little antsy/moody, but her skin is looking much better.

Last night we went with our new-found friend Jesse to an Italian place called Il Cavallino which was really nice and had great Italian food. We had our first fish since we got to Germany and had a very Italian pizza - artichokes and olives with the pit... Reese had a hard time understanding why she wasn't allowed to eat the pit, but other than that the dinner was great. Jesse is a really nice, bright guy from California who is (unfortunately) just wrapping up his time at the CDC. He is part of a scholarship program along with 4 other Americans here that gives them 4 weeks of courses at the CDC and then puts them into internships for 2 months here in Germany. Jesse is working for a firm that does environmental engineering related to tsunamis.

Today Therese and I joined Todd's whole class (and a few other people) for lunch with his teacher at what was advertised to us as a "very German" restaurant. The teacher did drink a liter of hefeweissen with lunch, which seems very German :-). The restaurant (The Golden Eagle) was in a former house that was built in 1537. The food was very good and must have been German because it was different than the Italian food we've been eating. I experienced my first German salad bar, which had few varieties of cabbage (red and white), cucumbers, olives, and baby greens. We also had were surprised to find that the daily special was TURKEY. Therese called it pork. Either way it was delicious. I was happy to speak English with my side of the table - two Americans, a girl from Manila, a Cuban, a Bolivian, and a guy from El Salvador. It has been really fun meeting people from all over the world. We were talking about tv shows we watched when we were little, and it was nice to hear that all of us were familiar with the same programs - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Pee Wee's Play House. I meant to take a picture, but I felt stupid asking everyone to turn and smile...

After lunch we wandered over to the train station to buy my tickets for Friday, when Reese and I will go to Zurich to meet my dad and stepmom. I'm really excited to have them here and show them around and to visit new places with them. Hopefully the rain holds off while they are here!

After the train station, Jesse showed us what is supposed to be the best ice cream in Radolfzell as we strolled through the streets of the Marktplatz, which is when I took the pictures above. Therese is now napping while Todd and Jesse are out looking at beer... It's a nice life here :-).

Days 14 and 15

Yesterday (Sunday) was a very quiet, rainy Father's Day here in Radolfzell. We stayed around our place all day, only venturing out to walk bunny in his stroller. We did make a special dinner, though - burritos made with ground pork. Therese was ecstatic to see the tortillas, which is one of her favorite foods at home. She ate like a champ, downing the meat and cheese.

I asked Birger, our German roommate, if they celebrate Father's Day in Germany. He said that they do, but he doesn't know when it is. He said the celebration usually involves the dads filling their "wagons" with alcohol and going off to camp and drink. I asked, "So they don't celebrate or get together with their families?" "No." I think Todd would have enjoyed this kind of a Father's Day. I described our typical Father's Day activities in the US - namely, eating brunch or grilling out with the family - and Birger replied, "Oh yeah, that's how we do Mother's Day." Nice. So the guys go camping and get drunk, the mothers get to eat brunch...

Today (Monday) Therese and I walked to the store, came home, and then took bunny on a walk in his stroller to the drink store (what is like a liquor store in the US only half of the store is filled with normal non-alcoholic drinks like water and Coke and juice - Germans have a thing for buying drinks). This means that Reese walked her stroller for the entire 15-20 minute walk to the store (she moves a little slowly) and half of the way back. Good use of energy. We then turned right around (after dropping bunny off) and walked to the CDC to meet Todd for lunch. After lunch, a walk back home. After a busy day of walking here and there, Therese is now taking a well deserved nap :-). Hopefully she'll sleep for a while.

Day 13 - Strasbourg, France

Yesterday (Saturday) we ventured all the way to Strasbourg, France (2.5 hours by train each way). What can I say? It was amazing. I've never been to France before. There were 22 in our group and I think one person spoke some French making it a real adventure. It was nice knowing that, for once, I wasn't the only one who had no idea what was on the signs or what other people were saying :-).

Strasbourg is often referred to as the capital of Europe because it is the seat of several European institutions such as the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, Eurocorps, and part of the EU. It is in Alsace, an area that France and Germany have fought over for centuries, and the location that most people in Northern Kentucky (my birthplace) are originally from.

After a very early start (we met the group at 7:40 at the train station), we had a very smooth train ride through the Black Forest (the sights really made us determined to visit there soon) and into France. Like everywhere we've been, no passports were checked (although we were informed that you should definitely bring them to Switzerland in case they do ask because they are not very forgiving). Upon leaving the train station, Therese pointed to the beautiful facade of the structure and said, "Church. Quiet." :-) Once outside of the train station, we sauntered down one of the main streets which was gorgeous. There were banners hanging above a narrow street lined with little cafe tables. Describing it can't possibly do it justice.

We ate lunch at one of the little cafe tables and we finished with a chocolate croissant - a delicacy one of our friends has been raving about since she got here. I ended up buying another one before the day was over...

After lunch, we walked around the city, viewing the River Ill and the Vauban Dam (built in the 1690s) along with what Todd called "the uncovered Covered Bridges" (bridges from centuries ago that were covered until the 18th century). We then strolled through Petite France, a part of old Strasbourg where the fishermen (and women?), millers, tanners, etc. lived and worked directly on the water. There are still houses here that date back to the 16th and 17th century. The whole area is picturesque with little shops and restaurants scattered about small, winding streets. I could have spent the whole day exploring this area.

After Petite France, we went to the Strasbourg's Cathedral of Notre Dame, a towering structure made completely of local red/rust-colored sandstone that dates back to the 1200s. It was the world's tallest building when it was completed in the 1400s. The cathedral was interesting. It had very intricate carvings, etc, - very Gothic, but the rust coloring from the sandstones (you could see them stacked on one another), it wasn't very "pretty." Our group climbed to the top of the cathedral, which was said to be a rough climb due to narrow stairs. We opted to go elsewhere so Therese could use some of her energy. We ended up on this big, circular plaza (Plaza de La Republique I think) where there was ample green space for Therese to run like crazy. After this play time, Todd and I walked around hoping to peer in the windows of pastry shops and other local businesses. As we walked along, Reese fell asleep. Of course, delighted that Reese was taking her nap, but aware that we had the motion to thank for it, we had to keep walking... We finally risked sitting down after about an hour. She woke up after we started walking again (and got lost) very unhappy. A little McDonalds helped her calm down.

We then met up with our group and got on the train to come home. Therese watched Elmo and listened to her favorite CD on her personal DVD player while Todd and I struggled to stay awake. We grabbed a pizza at the beginning of our 30 minute walk home, meaning that Therese got to eat one of her favorite dinners - cold pizza.

The Vauban Dam built in the 1690s

Beautiful...

One of the Covered Bridges

Petite France

Cathedral of Notre Dame

More Strasbourg pics

This was in the Cathedral of Notre Dame on a wall near their famous clock. I thought it was really touching.

Todd liked this one.

The beautiful streets of Strasbourg

Our little American eating her "special French hotdog" (you can see more of her adventures in France on her blog).

Days 11 and 12

Things have been a bit slow around here as we have been recovering from Konstanz and gearing up for our big trip tomorrow to Strasbourg, France. We are going with a group from the CDC for a very long train ride and a day of sight-seeing in "the capital of Europe" (at least that's what the Europeans have been calling it). I'm not sure how Therese will do, but I'll let you know when it is all said and done.

Yesterday Reese and I explored two parks by the lake (after watching the ducks of course). The first park doesn't have a slide, so Therese was ready to leave after about 20 seconds in the swing. The other park (the one with the slide) is a wonderful little place that is quite a hike from the first one. Therese walked the whole way, refusing to get in her stroller. Literally the moment Therese and I made it to the bottom of the slide, a class full of rowdy little 1st graders (I think) descended like locusts upon the park. A word was spoken by their teacher and then they were off, running, screaming, climbing everything in sight, and hitting each other. Luckily, they discovered quite quickly that the metal slide was too hot to go down in shorts and Reese soon had the slide back to herself with minimal intrusions from the 1st graders.

We then joined Todd and Christian (our Italian friend) for lunch at il Postino where Therese ate almost all of Todd's lunch - pasta with creamy curry sauce and (of course) pork. We then ventured out to a German bookstore where Todd ordered some theology books that have not been translated into English. After all of this running around and all of the food, Therese lost it and cried most of the way home.

After a cool shower and a 3 hour nap, everything was back to normal again. We made brats for dinner and, while we were cooking, a neighbor from Japan came to use our oven. She is studying at the CDC for a few months before studying to be a baker here in Germany. She wants to open a bakery in Japan. I would have never thought of studying bakery in Germany, but it makes sense now that I'm here. Germans take their baked goods (bread especially) very seriously. There are bakeries EVERYWHERE here. At every grocery store we've been to, there is a section of pre-made bread to bake yourself, freshly baked bread, plus an actual bakery outside the cashiers lines. These bakeries are also spread all over the marketplaces and offer amazing streussels and cheese cakes and other treats to satisfy your sweet tooth. Anyhow, our Japanese neighbor used our oven to bake cookies that had no egg, no sugar, and no dairy in them. I know, that sounds disgusting, but she left us a plate full and they were amazing. They were flavored mostly with lavendar. We're hoping she needs to borrow our oven again soon. She'll be a great baker.

Today Therese and I ventured to the store twice (because I realized I had forgotten to get Coke Light as soon as we got back from our first trip and I am that addicted). Other than that we've had a quiet day. It is raining here in Radolfzell so there will be no more trips out today, which is good because we need our rest for our big day in France tomorrow!

Visiting the ducks (and swans)

Reese enjoying the slide

Part of the 1st grade infestation (isn't this a cool park? That's a boat they're climbing on!)

Therese showing off her new giraffe pajamas that Miss Katie and Miss Dulcinea helped pick out before we left for Germany

Sorry, this is random but I loved this picture from Konstanz. It is a woodcarving that is at the bottom of the ornately carved structure upon which the priest or bishop would have proclaimed the gospel in the cathedral. This is supposed to be Abraham who is balancing the rest of the structure (which portrays the 4 evangelists and and St. Jerome -in other words, Christianity) on his head. It looks like it hurts.

Day 10 - Konstanz

This afternoon we went with a group from the CDC to visit the large neighboring city of Konstanz (Constance). Therese was VERY excited about going on the "choo choo train" and could talk of nothing else all morning, except to add that Big Bird would be coming on the choo choo train with us. Puzzled by this addition, I put a Big Bird diaper on her and hoped that would suffice. It did. On the way down to the CDC, Reese pointed to a city bus and said, "Choo choo train." I told her that it was actually a bus, but I reminded her that we would be riding on a choo choo train shortly. She thought about this for a second and then exclaimed, "Like people!"

Konstanz is an amazing city. It is located where the Rhine becomes Lake Constance so that you have this beautiful blue river running through the middle of the city and then all of a sudden a large expanse of blue as far as you could see. Today, we could see as far as the Swiss Alps. Amazing. Konstanz is very much divided by the Rhine so that one side is very old (inhabited since the Stone Age, built to a large city by the Romans by the 300s) and a quite modern university town on the other. Apparently the citizens of Konstanz who lived on the south side of the Rhine left their lights on during air raids during WWII in order to trick the bombers into thinking they were a part of Switzerland. It worked.

In Konstanz we visited the main church (the Cathedral of Our Lady in Constance) which was HUGE. They aren't sure when it was founded, but the first historical mention of it was in 615. Inside the church was a crypt where we were able to visit the tomb of St. Pelagius (not THAT Pelagius) which was brought to the church in the year 900. We were also able to enter an older part of the current church which was said to have been "extended" in 900, meaning it dates before that. I marveled at the statues that had half of a face or wore so worn down that you couldn't tell what they were, just trying to imagine how many people in how many eras had passed before them. And there they were, just standing in a little church hall, out in the open with spider webs clinging to them.

Outside of the cathedral is a small excavation site which shows a wall built by the Romans between 300 and 400. Overall, the city is amazing. There are magnificent buildings, very tall, lining the winding streets that were desinged centuries ago. Plus there is all of that beautiful blue water. Now I understand why people keep telling those of us in Radolfzell that we HAVE to go Konstanz. Of course, we only spent a few hours in Konstanz and didn't even make it to the biggest theological landmark - the one that put Konstanz on the map: the place where they held the Council of Constance. I guess we'll have to go back and visit another time!

The part of the church that was "extended" in the year 900...how far back could this date?
The tomb of St. Pelagius. It was very simple, which I liked.

The Rathaus (city hall) in Konstanz.

Reese double-fisting her ice cream.

The shoreline where the Rhine becomes Lake Constance.

Day 9 - Wandering Around

Today was another more "normal" day. Therese seems to like getting up nice and early lately, meaning that we have a lot of quality time together in the mornings. This morning we wandered down to the city center under a perfectly blue sky. As we passed this fountain that kind of marks the halfway point between our place and the CDC, I thought, "Ha - and the weather forecast was for rain. Good thing I didn't bother bringing my raincoat!" Cue dramatic, troubling music. As I thought this, I looked behind me and, of course, I see these huge ominous gray clouds rolling through the sky in our direction. I decided that maybe Therese and I should hang around the Marktplatz until the storm passed in case we needed to duck into a store to avoid the rain. After a while, we ventured down to the lake where Reese insisted on spending 20 minutes watching the ducks waddle around the grass looking for food scraps. She would get excited everytime the ducks would do something she was doing ("Ducks on green grass like Reese" and "Ducks sit like Reese" and "Ducks eat food like Reese," etc.). She got really excited, jumping up and down, saying, "Duck walking on rocks (the rock path we were on) like Reese!" I looked around. She was definitely pointing at a pigeon.

After the ducks, we took a very loooong walk to Mettnau, a nearby town on the lake, to see where my dad and stepmom will be staying when they visit us at the end of next week. Their place, Art Villa, is only a 15 minute walk from the CDC, but Therese slowed us up by stopping every few steps to pick "flowers." Mettnau is a beautiful area with a lot of "beach" (grass dipping straight into the lake). There are benches lining the entire waterfront so you can sit and enjoy the calming water (or the ducks, depending on your taste). Art Villa looked like a nice place, but someone stared out the window at me as I got out my camera so I didn't take a picture. Anyhow, it's back leads to a small field which dips directly into the water. There are walking paths around the shoreline with small pieces of art representing the stations of the cross every once in a while. I'm sure I willl have more to say about Mettnau once my dad and stepmom get here.

After this adventure, Therese and I split a brezel (pretzel) on a bench in the city garden and then ate lunch with Todd and a high school aged girl from California who is studying at the CDC. There was no German being spoken at our lunch table - even the waitress spoke English :-).

I did have two interesting experiences of German culture today. On the way to the Marktplatz, I saw (and heard) what must have been a very agitated teenage girl yelling at her mother. Still yelling, she stomped off and started kicking a garbage can in anger. She kicked this thing about 5 times. Minding my American manners, I looked away and pretended as if nothing was going on, only to find that EVERYONE around me had blatantly turned, mouths agape, to stare at this teen. Then, a few older ladies near her started telling her off for kicking the garbage can and for yelling. In a related incident, on our way out of the city garden (which hosted what must have been many young children's field trips today), a young boy at the end of a class' line wasn't watching where he was going and ran into a young mother who was pushing a stroller. The teacher stopped the boy and asked him if he was going to apologize. The young mother then sternly told the boy to apologize (say "excuse me"). He did and the woman, still stern, said, "Danke" (thank you). It struck me immediately, after having already witnessed the trashcan scene, how the people seemed to help correct the out-of-line children. Interesting.

The city gardens right outside of the CDC (Therese and I visit every day as we wait for Todd to get out of class)
More of the city gardens

Therese enjoying her Brezel

Happy (Early) Father's Day

We love you, daddy!

(Update: Ok, for those of you who read this earlier, don't worry-my own father had to correct me that Father's Day was not yesterday, but in fact will be next week. At least I didn't forget it altogether :-). Todd informs me that I now owe him another bottle of rum....)

Yesterday (Sunday) was Father's Day in the US. We didn't get to celebrate too much here, where it was a normal Sunday, meaning EVERYTHING besides a few restaurants remained closed all day. Luckily, I had been prepared for this and bought Todd a bottle of rum on Saturday. Saturday night we had wandered around the Marktplatz in order to see the International Festival that was being held there. There were lots of booths selling foreign foods (mostly Asian and some French wine). There was also a cute little carousel, face painters, and a stage with live music. We didn't stay long because we got there just in time to see everything start to close :-). On our way home, we tried to stop at a liquor store on the way home and it was closed. The liquor store closed at 6:00 on a Saturday evening. And of course it would never open on a Sunday. This is all very strange to my American sensibilities - I thought consumer demand drives everything.

Right, so yesterday we celebrated Father's Day by going to Mass at the very old church here in Radolfzell. We're not quite sure what happened, but we're pretty sure we didn't have a first reading. According to Todd, the first lector read a reading that was "according to St. Paul." We then definitely sang a psalm and had a Gospel reading. There were 6 servers, all tiny; the tiniest who must have been about 7 years old and was carrying a gigantic candle. Also, instead of having an offertory procession where ushers come around and gather money and then it is presented with the bread and the wine, they skipped the procession and had ushers collect money through the beginning of the Eucharistic Prayer. Ah, Germany efficiency. That's about all I can tell you about Mass because I couldn't understand a word of it :-).

After Mass, we stayed around our place. It was 30 degrees (around 90 F) by the time we got home from Mass making it too hot and humid to do much outside. Today (Monday) the rain finally came. One would think this would get rid of the humidity, but so far it has not. It is supposed to storm some more so maybe we'll be in luck. Knowing it was supposed to rain all day, I decided to run Reese down to REWE quickly to pick up some lunch and dinner supplies. Unfortunately, we beat the rain on the way there but not on the way home. I managed to carry 3 grocery bags and an umbrella while pushing Therese in a stroller all the way home. Therese was a trooper- she was soaking wet by the end but still wanted to push her stroller down our street.

After our adventure in the rain, I tackled two new chores: laundry with our German wash machine (Todd did it last week) and changing our sheets. I realize this sounds really silly, but these were two big accomplishments for me. The wash machine went ok after I pushed a million buttons. The wash cycle here lasts around 1 hour and 15 minutes. The clothes are still in the dryer which takes about 2 hours. The making the bed was a whole different story... The owner of this place asked (in very fast German) if I wanted fresh sheets. I actually understood the fresh part and said yes. I had to strip the old sheets and put on the new ones - a feat which lasted a good hour. Before all of my American friends start laughing at me, I should explain that German sheets are different than American ones (which I can handle quite well, thank you). Anyhow, our beds, which look like every bed and advertisement I've seen here, have a sheet covering the mattress and then a big square pillow and what is like a comforter. That's right, no "sheets" - very hard to get used to. Anyhow, just as the pillow has a pillowcase, the comforter has a case that is changeable. The pillowcase and comforter case were the items I had to wrestle with today. And these cases don't just have a hole on one side where you slide the item in - they somehow fold over the ends to hold everything in place. Ok, I realize that this is not looking more heroic as I explain so I'll stop. Just remember, if you are planning on coming to Germany and like sheets to sleep with, bring some, because you won't find any here.

Therese walking her stroller home from church (she kept stopping, pulling it down so she could look at the seat, and saying, "There's no Reese in here!").