First Trip to Wales
Nottingham
The Costa Del Sol
Skiing the 3 Valleys
Canterbury
Dublin!
Oxford
Cologne, Germany
Well, we officially made our first trip to the continant this weekend- Cologne, Germany!! The occasion: Stephen's Godmother's 85th birthday. We had an incredible time, and it was fabulous to finally get to meet most of the European crew that I've been hearing about from Stephen and his family.
We left Saturday morning early and arrived in Cologne mid-morning to be picked up by Manfred (family friend of the Siards) and his son Jakob (pronounced Yakob) and taken back to their home in a suburb of Cologne where we would spend most of our time. Manfred and his wife Marianne are long time friends of Stephen's parents when Gib was stationed in Germany. Manfred is now retired from Exxon and Marianne is a teacher of History and Germany Language in the local public school system. They have four children, all of whom are in University: one son 23 (Kristian), twin girls (Alexandra and Theresa) age 21, and another son (Jakob) 20. The way the German educational system is constructed, it is a fabulous achievement to have children studying at University. All four of them were home for the weekend, so we had the pleasure of meeting them and talking with them. Bonus: the entire family speaks English really well. The eldest son Kristian could easily be mistaken for a native speaker.
They have a beautiful home in the suburbs. It's extremely comfortable with an "American" style living room added and a huge backyard complete with Walnut trees and a type of crab apple tree that is used to make a type of jelly well known in their region. A very pleasant comfortable home that is unique to happy families. Watching them all interact and joke with eachother was a wonderful experience.
Anyway, once we got there we found out that the get together for Stephen's godmother was that evening, so we did a quick reorganization of plans and talked Kristian into coming with us to act as a translator since virtually no one at the party would speak much more than basic English. Let's just say we owe Kristian BIG TIME.
Now, I really do love my dearest husband, *but* he is hell on translators. When we were in Petersburg he would try to get into philosophical discussions with Russians who didn't speak any English and then get upset, because my translations were too "simplistic". *rolling of eyes* I'm sorry, epistomological isn't in my working vocabulary. Anyway, I tried very gently before going to the party to remind him that when working through a translator it's a good idea to keep your ideas concise using language appropriate for the situation. He sort of listened to me, but Kristian did an excellent job nonetheless, especially considering we were there for 5 hours. I was also amazed at how much German I started to understand. It shares quite a few cognates with English, Russian, and French, so that combined with knowing the context, I was understanding about 10-15% of what was being said without translation. Not too shabby for being almost completely new to the language as a whole. Naturally, I forgot my camara to the family events, so we're definitely going to have to go back to visit, this time with German language skills in hand
Stephen's Oma is a fabulous cook too! She made all of the cakes for the reception and they were delish!! The three I tried were a Marzipan and Cream, Apple cake, and something like a Cheesecake with a "german" chocolate cake outside- tres yummy! She was the sweetest old woman too, and you wouldn't take her for much older than 65. Very spritely with a great humor, reminded me a lot of my friend Marcella in that way, and a lot like my grandmother when it came to her attitudes toward food. We quickly learned that an empty plate was her exuse to fuss over us and fill our plates with the next round herself. Fortunately everything was really tasty.
So we had a really nice time and learned a bit of a new language while we were at it. It was quite frustrating though to rely on someone else to be able to carry on a conversation or even deliver simple compliments to the hosts. So now I'm debating on if I should start learning German now or work my French up to a reasonable level first and then start.
Sunday we got up rather late, had a fantastic brunch: cereal, 10 different kinds of bread, butter, 5 different kinds of cheese, cold sausages (think salami type). Doesn't sound like much, but it really hit the spot and got us off to a good start for spending the afternoon in Cologne.
So we went into the city centre and saw the *huge* Gothic Cathedral.
From across the Rhine (sorry it was so dark)
Upclose to the facade. Each of the gargoyles
are the size of people.
We didn't get much time there as the day was for an overview of the city, but it was incredible. Started in 1200, it wasn't finished until in the mid 1800s, only of course to be partially destroyed in WWII. So they're slowly restoring it. You walk in and the spiritual presence is electric. Next time we go back I want to go to Mass there.
Then we walked around the city as Marianne told us about the history, the various places that are now memorials to WWII and the Roman times. Evidently Cologne was an old Roman outpost and still has some of the original strucutures. Incredible considering that the city was virtually flattened during the War. Marianne had an interesting point of view as her father served in the German Army and her mother fled the Russian "liberation" of Eastern Germany, as well as being a modern History teacher.
So then we went back to their house, had a bit
of a rest and then out to dinner to a local
German restaurant that was wonderful! We sampled
some of the local brew Kolsche, and man was it
yummy. A light beer, but with less of the "grain"
taste you usually get with them. Very well
rounded and just a little on the sweet side.
Definitely something to drink socially and not
ponder too hard. It went really well with the
food- Sauerbraten kind of a "sour" roast with a
deep red gravy with macaroni type noodles dry
sauteed every so slightly to make them crisp. A
good description comes from
this website:
Traditionally made with a beef roasting joint
(topside or similar) the meat is marinated for
2-3 days in vinegar and/or beer, spices such as
cloves, juniper berries, allspice and
peppercorns, bay leaves and onions and is then
braised in the marinade for a long period
Very yummy indeed. And good sized portions too.
Stephen had to finish mine off, despite the fact
that it was quite tasty.
Then we went back and had a nice long chat with Manfred and Marianne before heading to an early bed, since we had to be at the airport pretty early (though it turned out our flight was delayed an hour).
So a really great "taste" of Germany, and we're defintely looking forward to fairly regular visits. Our next one will probably be in time for the Christmas Markets, for which Cologne is renowned throughout Germany. And "hopefully", by then we'll know enough Germany that we can do our Christmas shopping there, and maybe all our interactions can be in German. It's so much more fun to learn a language when you have fairly ready access to native speakers. Yay for that, and yay for another stamp in our passports.
California 2004 - Day 2
In keeping with their natures, the boys were
up at dawn, but kindly let me sleep until just
after 8am. Breakfasted and off we went into San
Fran to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Fortunately
for us, it was sunny enough to actually be able
to see the bridge (evidently it gets so foggy
that only the tops of the turrets are visible),
but still foggy enough to get the "authentic"
experience. We wondered through the little nature
area a while, me taking pictures from further
away, and watching the surfers among the rocks
near the closest in support structures. Not sure
how they managed not to freeze or bash themselves
to bits on the very pointy and prominant coastal
rocks, but it was neat to watch.
Then we decided to walk part-way across (to the
first turret) and look out over the bay. I didn't
realize that Alcatraz was so close to the shore,
and actually inside the bay itself. I always
envisioned it in the big ocean not visible from
land. The bridge also didn't sway nearly as much
as what I was expecting it to, and it was a
reasonably windy day; in fact, the bridge shook
more from the brisk traffic than from the
weather.
After turning around and coming back, we walked
through the Gift Shop (or Gifuto Shoppu as the
sign read in transliterated Japanese), before
heading over to Japan Town for lunch and a bit of
window shopping. As much as it pained me, we
ended up doing A LOT of driving, instead of
walking the city as I would have liked to have
done, but it was necessary to see everything we
wanted to see, and I got to watch out the windows
while Pyrex drove--a feat for which he deserves
to be sainted. CALIFORNIA DRIVERS ARE CRAZY!! Not
sure what rules they were driving by, but they
were just similar enough to lull one into a false
sense of security, before nearlly
catastrophically trouncing you out of it. Of
course it doesn't help that the lanes shift at
very odd angles without helpful markings.
Fortunately, Branson was equipped with a trusty
road map and a decent amount of familiarity, so
we got everywhere safely, but Pyrex's nerves must
have been shot by the end.
Anyway, lunch was at Juban which specializes in a
certain kind of Japanese cooking called
"Yakiniku." It's kind of like a do-it-yourself
hibachi, only minus the ultra sharp knives and
tons of strangers at your table. The grill is
actually recessed into the table, and you grill
the meat and veggies yourself. I ordered a
pre-cooked dish (Bibimbo--beef, spinich in sesame
oil, pickled dikon and two kinds of fermented
bean sprouts over rice. Actually quite tasty) The
boys did the grill-your-own thing, and wound up
with some ultra tasty bits.
Afterwords, we headed out into the shopping
district wondering through several craft,
textiles, & antique stores as well as some
exhibitions on temporary display. After two-ish
hours, Pyrex and I started to crave sweet things,
and being in San Francisco, the only place to
sate it is the Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory. Two
ice cream sundays (hot fudge and caramel) between
the four of us, we were off again. This time to
the Golden Gate Park to see the Japanese Tea
Gardens, where theoretically there would be tea.
Said tea never qutie materialized, but the
gardens were beautiful, if not a bit small for
the amazing number of tourists in the area, but
that's what we get for going on a late Saturday
afternoon. Also turns out that admission was free
after 5pm (about the time that we left). So if
you're ever in San Fran, and want to see the
gardens, go after 5 on a weekday. But they were
beautiful none the less.
The next stop was primarily for Pyrex and
Branson, and that was the Castro. Filled with
some amazing Victorian architecture and lots of
neat little shops and cafes, Pyrex spent a good
deal of time shopping for friends back home, and
enjoying the atmosphere of acceptance and general
upbeatness. It was really amazing how hopeful and
fun the entire area felt, much more so than any
of the other neighborhoods we meandered through,
but then again, there wasn't much meandering, so
take that for what it is.
As it was getting dark, and our tummies were
getting the grumblies, we headed back to San Jose
for dinner at a random Vietnamese Noodle shop
that I didn't get the name of, and was only
adequete, but it filled us up, and got us on our
way in less than an hour so that we could pick up
snacks and drinks for the bonfire that Garner was
getting set up for later that evening.
I really couldn't have asked for a better end to
the weekend. We arrived at Ocean Beach and stood
on the shore watching the waves in the
darkness--inky blackness punctuated by bonfires
reflected from the distance and silvery caps on
the waves.
Then there was bonfire. =)
Garner had brought palates from the wharehouse
where we works, and another couple had just
decided to leave for the night, and allowed us to
take over their already fading fire pit. So we
threw on a palate at a time, drinking beer, and
generally talking and catching up with lives that
had been too long out of sync. It's always really
fabulous to see people loving what they do.
Garner had never quite been happy with CS as he
studied it at OU, but has since moved on to sound
production for a company that does big concerts
in the Bay Area, and he LOVES it. I have rarely
seen someone so invigorated in life and career
they have begun to create for themselves. I only
wish that all people can know that at least once
in their lives for whatever that may be.
So, tired, smokey, sand saturated and soulfully
sated we headed back to Branson's for the last
crash of what was an incredible weekend, one that
may never be repeated. Three days in a
fascinating locale shared with three of my
closest and dearest friends. Doesn't get much
better than that folks, doesn't get much better
than that.
California 2004 - Day 1
Aside from the fact that this day started WAY
TOO EARLY (up by 3:15am to catch at 6:00am
flight), but I got a good amount of sleep on the
plane, and it turned into a beautiful day,
raining yesterday instead of today. =) Yay.
We took lunch in Mountain View where Branson
lives at this really fabulous (and cheap!)
Japanese place- Bento boxes for everyone! Man
being a Catholic during Lent is way too easy in
this town- the fish is so tasty that it's not
really penitent, but hey I'll save the guilt for
something else. *wink*
Then we headed to San Fran, and started off by
spending a good 3.5 hours in the Asian Art Museum
across the street from the recently famous City
Hall. Talk about an great museum!! Not only does
it have some amazing pieces & is arranged
very well, but the building itself is also really
interesting, being cobbled together from one very
old building with new, very modern glass
additions onto some of the sides. So visually
appealling inside and out. We didn't get all the
way through, but will probably finish it up
tomorrow.
Afterwords, we walked towards the shopping
distric. The guys let me do my girly thing
picking up some bath bombs from Lush and then
walking through Union Square toward China town,
where we grabbed some very tasty Dim Sum and tea.
That's the great thing about Asian places--good
tea.
Overall, San Fran is a really odd city; kind of a
cross between Singapore with all of the ethnic
diversity and New York City with all of the
buildings and the odd street crazy elements.
Needless to say that it twisted with my
perspective. Granted, I'm more than a smidge
naive about these things, so it's probably good
for me. It is a fabulous city though, and I'm
looking forward to getting to see more of it
tomorrow. The agenda is looking something like:
Finishing the museum, Golden Gate, Japanese Tea
Gardens (mmmmm tea), Japan Town, and the Castro
(just for Pyrex & our Monkey--that should be
an eye opener for sure!), and whatever else
happens to come up. There is also talk of a
bonfire on the beach tomorrow night, so that
should be especially promising. It's a kind of
Zen weekend with some of my favorite people.