Rhine River Cruise

Today we were up early for our Rhine River Cruise. We would board the boat in Rüdesheim which is less than a 1 hour drive away, and cruise up the river for 4 hours to Koblenz and then take the train back down to our cars.

The swans were really hoping for a tasty handout.

Here's our ship, complete with a little playground on the upper deck.

This is what the river cruises are all about: the many fortresses, palaces and villages built along the hillsides. Many of the castles we saw date back to the 11th century. There were also many vineyards along this section of the Rhine.

It was a very hazy morning and and we were hoping the view wouldn't be too obscured. Up on deck, it was chilly and windy.



Die Pfaltz, built at the beginning of the 14th century, is the only castle built in the middle of the river (for the purpose of levying tolls).

The little playground came in handy when the 4-hour cruise seemed to be 2 hours too long for the kids.

The Lorelei is a rock which soars some 120 meters above the water line. It is one of the narrowest parts of the river and a very strong current and rocks below the waterline have caused many boat accidents there. Lorelei is also the name of one of the beautiful Rhine Maidens who lured navigators of this river to their dooms with their alluring singing, much as the ancient Greek Sirens did. The name comes from the old German words "lureln" ("murmuring") and "ley" (rock) or "murmuring rock". The heavy currents, and a small waterfall in the area created a murmuring sound which was amplified by the special echo the rock produces and gave name to the rock itself. The murmuring is hard to hear today due to the urbanization of the area. At the very top of the cliff is a statue of the Lorelei herself.

OK, I'll admit it. I just couldn't resist giggling at this town's name, and neither could James, who repeated it several times during the day, albeit with a humorously strong American accent. "Hausen," by the way, means house.


James striking a rather Potteresque pose with a rather Hogwartseque fortress in the distance.


"I'm King of the World!"

This little blurb in the ship's menu caught David eye. "Family value special: For two adults and one child." We had a big chuckle over that. What are the chances, here in Germany which has the second lowest birth rate in all of Europe and is below replacement level, of having a family special for 2 adults and 4 children?

Lunch break



Our journey ended at 2,000-year old Koblenz. This area, where the Moselle and Rhine rivers meet is known as German corner (Deutsches Eck).

In 1897, a monument to Kaiser William I, mounted on a 14 meter high horse, was inaugurated at the corner. The monument stood till WW II, when the statue was destroyed by US artillery. In 1953, the monument was re-dedicated to German unity. "Re-dedicated" seems to be code for rebuilt after having been destroyed.

These two cuties were born just three weeks apart.

Schloss Braunfels

Today we visited Braunfels, a privately-owned castle mentioned previously in our blog.

We viewed centuries-old clothing, household items and paintings of the family. Tools from 3,500 BC found on the property were on display as well. To protect the original wooden floors, we had to shuffle along in large felt slippers in many sections of the castle.

The Knight's Room shows the evolution of armor -- beginning with medieval chain mail. By the late Middle Ages, plate armor came into vogue. The plate armor was so heavy, a knight needed to be placed on his horse via a small crane. The weight of the armored knight, plus the horse's own armor made for such a heavy load, the horse could only handle 45 minutes of fighting before needing to be pulled out of battle, exhausted. If the knight got knocked off his horse, his armor made it impossible to climb back on.

Over a hundred knights lived and trained in this room at a time. The windows had no glass which let in the frigid cold air and wind, and the fireplace was rarely lit, making the winter months less than tolerable. Being a knight was not as glamorous as we had thought.

After the tour, we made our way down to the village square for ice cream and Apfelkuchen.

A Taste of our Lifestyle

Today, our friends got to live in Germany à la Nylund Family. Chris, Mariyka and Daniel got up with our kids to spend the day with them at the international school. Their school year back home ended last week, they had just spent a day in German school the day before with the children of friends, so I was pleased that they wanted to go to school yet again with our kids.

We took the little ones on a walk up the path that runs along our backyard, then along the Liederbach creek, past the chickens and on to the playground. We are having a heat wave, with temperatures reaching the high 80s. That doesn't sound too bad, until you factor in that we have no air conditioning and all the heat rises to our bedroom and guestroom. Plus, if you want to "when in Germany, do as the Germans do," then you don't wear shorts. Capris come in very handy. I was still sweating and red-faced by the time we got home from our short outing in spite of wearing capris.

The older kids liked the international school and remarked on how much freedom kids have in Germany. At their elementary school back in the states, the day is more structured (we often found it too structured): no free time before school, you cannot sit with whom you choose at lunch (boy-girl-boy-girl seating and no saving seats to be closer to a friend), complete silence during the first half of lunch to be sure kids eat, only one recess for the whole day, my kids had a mandatory silent bus ride home from school everyday...etc. Here, there's free time before and after school, two recesses, you can sit with whomever you like at lunch and get up and leave the cafeteria for recess whenever you feel like it. My kids love that aspect of their new school.

The kids were also surprised to see students changing for soccer practice on the edge of the playground, in full view of their classmates. In fact, James refused to change into practice clothes for months and I never knew why until one day I saw how the kids just change right there, not bothered at all that other kids may see them in their skivvies. I didn't make an issue out of it, but I'm curious to see if James will ever feel unselfconscious enough to change there like that before we move back home.

The only negative finding was that the school was not air conditioned. It made for a long, hot day. It does bring back memories of high/junior high school where we had no air conditioning either and were not allowed to wear shorts.

After dinner we celebrated, a day early, Laura's third birthday. The cake mix and frosting I bought at the commissary came in handy.

Check out those curls.

The book we gave her, Lauras Stern ("Laura's Star") is a popular series here.

A Double Dose of Happiness

We sold our house in Georgia today. After months and months of worrying about the poor real estate market and coming oh-so-close to selling several times, the papers were signed this morning and we are no longer homeowners. We can breathe a bit easier and cross one big item off our to-do list.

Here's a picture of the inside while it was on the market. The downstairs was "staged" and looked much more elegant than it ever did while we were living there.

I don't think it will really hit that we don't have our house anymore until our next trip home when we see another family living there. We lived there for over 10 years and have so many great memories. But we were starting to feel like we were outgrowing the house. There was no basement, little storage and Emilie and Rebecca had to share a tiny room. We loved our neighbors, the subdivision and the area so much, though. The thought that we may have moved within the area if we had stayed in Georgia has made letting go of the house a bit easier.

In even bigger news, our good friends Jim and Valerie and their 4 kids arrived today for a 5-day visit. Jim and Valerie had lived in Germany for 3 years when they were first married and so had planned a visit back to visit old friends and show their kids where Mom and Dad used to live. Oh, yeah, and show them incredible historical sites and beautiful castles and expose them to a different culture.

It means so much to us to have visitors from home. It's reconnecting with people we miss, the assurance that America still exists across the ocean and that one day we'll move back. And the kids are excited to show their friends their new home.

In preparation, rooms have been tidied, floors swept and a trip to the American Commissary to stock up on American snacks was in order. This was my second trip there and I was sure to stock up on those things I haven't been able to find elsewhere: lemonade mix, doubling-acting baking powder, soups for recipes, chocolate chips, Fruit Roll-Ups, Swiss Rolls, Goldfish, macaroni and cheese (the good Kraft kind), peanut butter (the good Jif kind), etc.

A few nights ago, David and I opened cans of the much-missed Fresca I purchased there, but we were both surprised when we found it so....so....so much! Just so sweet, overly flavorful.

We've gotten used to drinking room-temperature unflavored fizzy mineral water everyday like a typical German and buy it by the crate, just like a typical German. At this moment, there are four crates of mineral water in our basement. We experimented a bit and found that mixing Fresca half and half with mineral water made for a perfect, refreshing drink.

Payback

After enduring gentle taunts of "How could you not know more about football (soccer) and handball?" Micaela and her American friends at school got a little payback on their German classmates these past few weeks.

In phys ed class, American football and baseball were the games of choice. Micaela and co. got a kick out of how the German boys picked up the American football and tried to throw it long ways, holding the ball perpendicular to the proper way. Micaela recounted, "Mom, I had to go over to the boys and show them how to throw the ball!"

But playing baseball ended up being even funnier. The non-American coach told everyone to get a glove out of the bin and next thing Micaela knew, the boys had put gloves on both hands. Micaela and co. just laughed and laughed, harder still when the boys looked at them and said, "What? What's so funny?" The coach explained that you only use one glove, so the boys removed one, leaving a glove on their throwing hand. Micaela and co. chuckled when the coach said, "No, no! Put the glove on the other hand!" The kids protested, "But, how are we supposed to catch a ball with our bad hand? Why not put it on our good hand?" After further explanations, the kids were ready to play.

The laughs weren't over yet. The first pitch was placed perfectly, and missed by the batter, so the coach yelled, "Stroke one!" then, "Stroke two!" Micaela and co. just rolled their eyes. After 9 months of feeling like you're constantly being corrected, it's nice to be on the side that knows best.

Emilie Grace's Birthday

Just four days after Micaela's birthday, it's Emilie's turn. Things have been busy this month, so we've promised both girls they can have parties in June. For now, they need to content themselves with picking dinner, eating cake and opening gifts. Not a bad deal.

For dinner, Emilie chose pizza and here blows out the six candles on her princess cake.

An Equestrian Barbie and...

...Enchanted DVD are nice, but...

...a new featherbed and pillow are the best!

Micaela Marie's Birthday

Twelve years ago today......the kids love hearing the stories of the days they were born. Today was Micaela's 12th birthday and all during the day we reminded her of what was going on at exactly that time twelve years ago. Since things got going at about 4:00am and she was born just before midnight, there's a lot to tell.

For her birthday meal, Micaela picked chicken fried rice and I found frozen spring rolls that weren't as good as what you find in the U.S., but were better than nothing.

I haven't been able to find American-style cake mixes and frosting, but a little frozen chocolate cake from the supermarket was perfect for the six of us.

Still not too old for a kiss from Dad. That's Guinness, by the way, at Micaela's side, just hoping she drops a fork full of cake.

Micaela feigns surprise over her gifts. You see, she picked out most of them at IKEA on Saturday, but makes her Mommy happy by expressing shock at the big stack of presents.

Micaela requested a carpet and some bedding for her room. She got an ultra-shaggy carpet and then a pillow, featherbed and featherbed cover.

The featherbed is rather ingenious. What we got Micaela was a set -- a lighter-weight one for warm weather and a heavier-weight one for cooler weather. In the winter, you snap the two together for extra warmth. Then, you put them inside the cover, which is like a huge pillow case. You can have many different covers, so you're not tied to the same comforter or quilt all the time.

And it's easy to make the bed. You have a fitted sheet on your bed and then directly on top, the featherbed. No extra sheet or blankets to fiddle with. Just give the featherbed a fluffing and you're done.

Here's a typical pillow.

Happy Birthday, Micaela!

Transient Synovitis

The last few weeks here in the Nylund household have been full of illnesses. A severe stomach bug made its way through the family, then, I had a sinus infection, Rebecca got croup which turned into bronchitis and Emilie had a few days of fever. But this week, we had the strangest illness yet.

When we picked the kids up Tuesday, James was sitting in the cafeteria reading, instead of practicing soccer with him team. He could barely limp over to me to tell me that his leg hurt, that he could barely walk. He swore that he didn't strain or pull anything. The only way he could walk was to bunch his pant leg up into a ball and lift his leg by lifting his pants. It took forever for him to get out to the car.

We kept assuring James that he would feel better the next day. He must have pulled a muscle and all would be well soon. He was in tears at bedtime, though, saying that he couldn't climb the stairs. We thought he was carrying the drama a bit too far.

The next morning, James flat out informed us that there was no way he could go to school and he wouldn't listen to us telling him that it must just be a strain or pulled muscle. So, we told him it was either school or a trip to the doctor's.

An hour and several piggyback rides later, we were at the pediatrician's office. Rebecca and I stayed in the waiting room while David and James saw the doctor. When James and David came to get us, James' face was all aglow. "I have to stay on the couch for 3 days, Mom!" he announced excitedly, clinging to his Dad's back.

David explained that the doctor, remembering that we were just in last week with Rebecca's croup and bronchitis and had mentioned the stomach bug, knew right away what the problem was. A quick blood test confirmed that James had transient synovitis, more commonly known as hip flu. Whatever virus or viruses that have been lurking around our house settled in Jame's hip joint, inflaming the lubricating lining, or synovial membrane around the joint and making moving the leg very painful. This condition occurs in children (usually those aged between 3 and 10 years) and is more common in boys than in girls.

The cure is bed rest and James also got a prescription for a strong pain reliever. By the next day, he was much better, but the doctor wanted him to come in today for a check. A quick ultrasound showed that the hip was still inflamed, so two more days of rest. Two more days of David and me hanging our heads in shame over doubting our son.

At least James' fingers are getting exercise -- he's never played so much Nintendo DS in his life.