Class Field Trip to Wiesbaden

Our German teacher decided a field trip was in order, so we met today in her hometown of Wiesbaden, the capital of the state of Hessen. You have no doubt heard about Wiesbaden as the city with the American armed forces hospital wounded American servicemen and women are evacuated to before heading home to the U.S.

Window shopping along Wilhelm Straße, a street known for its expensive shops

I have made a vow to get that brown bag hanging to the left before I leave Germany for good.

Traditional German Christmas decorations

You can tell this little fellow in the theater square has been touched in some places more than others

The Kurshaus (spa house) was built about a hundred years ago and houses performance halls and a famous casino. These school children were arriving for a performance of "Robin Hood." It is a tradition in Germany for school children to attend some kind of performance during the Christmas season.

The lobby of the Kurhaus. That poinsettia Christmas tree consisted of 2,200 poinsettia plants.

The lobby was decorated with an Antiquities theme

A painting high up on the wall of the lobby of Apollo

Germany's national symbol in stained glass

The larger hall

This little fellow was painted above a doorway in a smaller performance hall

Strolling through town, we passed the Heidenmauer ("Heathen Wall"), the last remnants of the Roman aqueduct of Aquae Mattiacorum.

A Gummi bear store.

Wiesbaden is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Its name literally means "bath in the meadow". Over 2,00 years ago, the Romans who settled here found springs that carried hot thermal water to the surface. Throughout its history, people have flocked to the town to bath in its waters that are said to have curative properties. Wiesbaden remains famous for its mineral springs and at one time, boasted 27 hot springs. Fifteen of the springs are still flowing today.

This is the most famous sodium-chloride thermal spring, the Kochbrunnen. The temperature of the water is 66°C (151°F) and it gushes 346 liters (91 gallons) of mineral water per minute. The water is said to be good for your skin and digestion. People of all ages were dipping their hands in the water and spreading it on their skin and drinking the water, too.

Here at the nearby Kochbrunnentempel, we sampled the water. It was extremely salty and for most of us, a few sips was enough.

Wiesbaden also has many spas and thermal baths. Beware, though. They are almost always co-ed and no clothing allowed. Some do feature "Ladies Night" once a week, though.

Here was a list of the minerals in the water. I found two of the ingredients particularly noteworthy.

Arsenic

Cyanide

After a relaxing cup of coffee in an elegant café, it was on to the Christmas market

Some in our group found these springy toys memorizing

A little food and drink at the market

The writing on my paper napkin made me laugh. It's great, man!

One last look at the Marktkirche, the largest Protestant Church in Wiesbaden

As we walked back to our cars, we came upon a large group of children, each sucking on what looked like a huge green jaw breaker. Not sure if that, too, is a Christmas tradition or not.

What the heck was that?

Driving home from school a few days ago, we were driving around a roundabout, when something caught our eye and Micaela, James and I all yelled out simultaneously, "Did you see that? What was heck was that?"

There was a new poster at a bus stop, but we were only able to catch a glimpse and there seemed to be a scary-looking woman, babies and an animal, but we weren't sure.

The next day, I went more slowly through the roundabout and we got a better look at the new advertisement.

I briefly explained to the kids the story of Romulus and Remus being cared for by a wolf, noted the name of the product at the bottom of the poster and did a little research at home.

This ad was for Lavazza Espresso Coffee and the unveiling of their new calendar every year is a big event in Italy. For 2009, the famous American photographer Annie Leibovitz shot the photos and this homage to ancient Rome is among them.

James didn't seem to care if this was "art." He dubbed it "the creepiest thing I have ever seen."

Christmas Concerts and Plays

Tis the season of school concerts and plays.

I hope to have Emilie's concert pictures posted soon. At ISF's holiday concerts, not all songs have to do with the holidays. My favorite quote of the day was when a teacher introduced a song by saying, "And now to put you in that Christmas Eve spirit, here is class 2B singing Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah."

A few days later, it was James' concert.

Is James suffering from:
a) food poisoning
b) fatigue
c) stage fright

The correct answer is c) stage fright. James had a short solo during his class' performance of a song from The Polar Express, and he was stressing before hand.

When his solo approached, he grabbed the mike....

...and did great. (Please excuse the bad red eye correction here.)

Then it was Rebecca's turn. At her Kindergarten, her class put on a Nativity play. Guess what role Rebecca had?


She kept her cool in spite of the stress of playing such a monumental role.

We're just hoping all the bowing down to her doesn't go to her head.

Wiesbaden Christmas Market

Everywhere you go in Germany this month, you can find Christmas markets: festive fairs teaming with food, crafts, toys, and Christmas decorations to buy, and rides for the kids. This year we went to the market in Wiesbaden and instead of driving, took the bus.

Guess who got on at one of the stops? St. Nikolaus himself. You should have seen Emilie and Rebecca's faces when he walked by us and took a seat. He even gave Emilie a chocolate ball. He knows, of course, how good she has been. Micaela and James did not get anything. Hmmm..... We had fun for the next 45 minutes watching people's reaction to St. Nick when they got on the bus. Most people showed no reaction, a few smiled and one young man greeted him cheerfully.

The square around the Marktkirche (market church) was all lit up.

David has been looking for one of these fire-breathing dragons for years.

Becca is always sad when a merry-go-round ride ends

While we were enjoying big puffy German pancakes with Nutella and applesauce, some people from the Green Party appeared on a church balcony, unfolded this banner and with a bullhorn gave a speech calling for the end of coal-powered power plants in the area. Everyone listened for about 12 minutes, then the speaker ended with "Thank you for listening and now go enjoy the Christmas market," and the crowd applauded politely.

Emilie had been asking all week for a Lebkuchen cookie that you wear around your neck. David threw in some cola-flavored taffy.

Chocolate-covered pears

Our evening ended with a ride on the huge Ferris Wheel and then a train trip home.

St. Nikolaus Day

St. Nikolaus passed by our house last night and left these treats for the kids. They were lucky he didn't leave for them what naughty children receive -- a switch to be beaten with.

There were chocolate St. Nikolauses, books, little toys and even a few DVDs (Charlie Brown's Christmas and Mamma Mia). Emilie is already on Chapter 3 of her Pippi Longstocking book.

This Playmobil Fußball player wearing the German National uniform really kicks

We just love German chocolate, almost as much as Emilie loves wearing sundresses, even on a cold day.

It was about time that we put up some Christmas decorations. Emilie helped put together the pyramid that David bought several years ago on a business trip to Germany. He bought me that arch in the window last year after I complained that everyone in Germany seemed to have a Christmas arch in their window except us.

James had match duty. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with these Christmas pyramids, the heat from the candles hits the blades which then spin and turn the figures inside the pyramid.

One of my favorite people in Germany

Today I paid a visit to one of my favorite Germans: our pediatrician.

Yesterday, Becca began running a fever and by noon today, it was climbing rather than cooling down. I thought I should take her to the doctor, but the timing was all off. The office was closed for lunch and by the time they reopened and I called to make an appointment and got there, I could be late picking up the older kids from school.

Keeping in mind that this was the fellow who gives out his home phone number and encourages his patients to call him anytime, I simply bundled Rebecca into the car and we arrived soon after the staff opened the office after lunch. I approached the receptionist and said (in German I might add), "Hello. My name is Nylund. We don't have an appointment, but my daughter is running a fever." Even with other people in the waiting room and milling around, we were put straight away into an exam room. The doctor saw us within 5 minutes, ran a test for strept throat (negative), printed out a prescription for ibuprofen (you can also get it over the counter) and sent us on our way. I stopped by the nearby Apotheke to pick up the prescription. I've written before about how efficient the pharmacies are here.

We were back in the car with our prescription within 20 minutes of entering the pediatrician's office with no appointment. I wish I could bring our doctor and the Apotheke home with us to the U.S.!

Advent Calendars

It's the first of December which means just one thing -- Advent calendars! Gone are the days when my brothers and I opened tiny windows on an Advent calendar, like the one above, to be rewarded with a little drawing of a candle or an angel. It was always a fight (even up through high school) to see what the order would be for opening windows, because we figured out early that whoever opened December 3rd would also be the lucky one to open the large doors on the 24th to find the Baby Jesus in his manger.

Germans love their Advent calendars and, as you also see in the U.S., they have gotten more and more elaborate. You find inexpensive calendars here with little chocolates and expensive calendars with gourmet chocolates. It seems that every popular character and toy has its own Advent calendar, including Spongebob Schwammkopf, Legos, and Polly Pocket.

I'm a sucker for Playmobil, so this year our kids are taking turns opening the little boxes of a Playmobil wildlife calendar and also a Kinderschokolade calendar.

Who knew you would need an instruction booklet for an Advent calendar?

Setting the scene.