Hunger Games

Tonight was not a usual Sunday night for me.  A friend emailed me earlier and asked me if I wanted to go and watch the “Hunger Games” at a theater downtown Mannheim that occasional has movies shown in English.  And though I have not read any of the Hunger Game trilogy, I was still very interested in seeing the movie that has been number one in the USA for 5 weeks AND to go see an English movie with a friend!!  I absolutely LOVED the movie and cannot wait to either see the second one or read the book:).  Usually I am not interested in science-fiction books or movies, but this movie has got me hooked!  The only negative of the night, was there was so much cigarette smoke in the lobby (hence my foggy pictures) I now have a killer headache- oh well, hopefully a good nights sleep will help that!!! 

ZERO confusion

Recently, I was shopping and used a WC that summed up any confusion one may have:).  You can be from any part of the world and speak any language and you would know that this WC is unisex!! Leave it to the Germans to be so graphic re: sexual identity.

dai Mittwoch

Elle asked the Librarian if she could watch her work:)... the Librarian said, "of course, that is why the stool is there!"  I question whether the stool is really there for a 3-year old and a 2-year old to stare at her for 10-minutes while she is trying to work!!  But honestly, the Librarian seemed to love it (i.e. kept asking the girls questions, asking the girls to help, etc.) and the girls loved it!  It was very funny to watch!

Britta eating her ice cream on the way home...just a little on her face!

Elle feeling very proud of herself for not having any ice cream on her face nor feeling sticky, "I am not even sticky Mom...but, I will be four next week!!"

Buried Treasure: Spargel

38 Euro = 50 Dollars- for a spargel buffet!!  

For the past 3 weeks, everywhere you look there is what the Germans refer to as “edible ivory,” “white gold” or “the king of all vegetables.”  It is what I refer to as white asparagus but recently, more often Spargel.  It is Aspargus Season here, “Spargelizeit!”  There are spargel stands EVERYWHERE, every menu includes a dish including spargel (often a side dish) and of course all of the grocery stores are selling it.  I have learned that that this crop is so abundant in this part of the country that it is truly a nationwide celebration.  The end of the season is marked on June 26^th; at this time approximately 70,000 tons of the vegetable will have been harvested.  With a total value or 175 million euros, the slender stalks have become Germany’s most important cultivated product over the years.  I grew up eating green asparagus and always did like the taste of it.  I have found that white asparagus does not have as much flavor, though in order to not make any enemies I will continue to say it is delightful when asked:).  Green and white asparagus are genetically the same plant, but the white asparagus is said to have a more distinctive taste??  White asparagus is considered a delicacy due to it needing a specific combination of soil (light and sandy), the perfect amount of sunlight and temperature (hence the plastic tarps in the picture below) and rain in order to develop its unique taste.  A town 10 kilometers from our home, Schwetzingen, is known to be the “Asparagus Capital of the World.”  One particular restaurant in Schwetzingen is known for its spargel dishes; we hope to get to this restaurant before June 12^th!  Regardless of whether or not I like it (and maybe I truly just need to learn how to cook it more properly), people around here LOVE it; it has a cultural significance due to the Germans really feeling as though it is “their vegetable!” 

A magazine suggesting wrapping bacon around spargel...I think that would lose some of the nutritional benefits:)

In order to achieve the pure white spears demanded by German consumers, certain varieties of asparagus are grown underground under piles of dirt, such as these, called hillings. This way, the production of chlorophyll is inhibited and the spears don't turn green.  And the harvest is back-breaking work; the spears need to be gently freed from the surrounding dirt before being cut by hand.  As the growing and harvesting process is more time consuming and labor intensive, white asparagus is often more expensive than the green variety.

Fresh off the grill... 

Weekend Recap: Visiting the Netherlands

We made it back from the Netherlands!  And boy did we see and SMELL a lot of flowers!!  There were indeed 7 MILLION flowers for us to see and smell (I think Britta alone smelled 100:) at Kuekenhof!!  Though the weather was far from ideal for this type of trip, the lovely fragrances and radiant colors of the flowers seemed to alleviate some of our chills!! 

On Friday, Matt literally walked in the door at 1:00PM from his flight back from the USA and we were out of the door for the Netherlands by 1:30PM!  After a 5½ hour drive, we made it to the beautiful city of Haarlem!  On Saturday, we joined up with another family from our town and visited the well-known Keukenhof garden.  Around 3:30PM, we headed to the 65^th annual Bulbflower Parade.  The parade followed a forty kilometers route from Noordwijk to Haarlem.  We viewed the parade outside the Kuekenhof gates.  This parade is called the  “Face of Spring” for very good reason and is the most famous parade in the Netherlands. The procession consists of about twenty floats and more than thirty vehicles all covered with flowers and decorated lavishly.  Musical groups lead the procession along the length of the “Keukenhof Corso Boulevard.”  Thankfully, around 3:30PM we started to finally see blue skies- perfect for the parade!  After the parade, many people left so we could enjoy the park with less people, and were able to better admire all of the flowers (tulips, daffodils and hyacinths).  We did not leave Kuekenhof until 7PM; when leaving Matt said, “would you ever have guessed we would stay at a garden for 9 hours!?”  Time flies when having fun:)!

Before we headed back to Germany today, we visited downtown Haarlem where many of the floats were on display.  It was nice seeing the floats up close; we were able to admire their beauty and detail up close.  Also, downtown Haarlem was very charming. The girls had a BLAST enjoying one of the carnival rides set up for the market square.  It was another great trip- especially since it was shared with some friends.  

Elle smelling the flowers

Elle, Taryn and Britta smelling the flowers

Britta smelling the flowers

Elle, Taryn and Leena

Elle and Taryn having a blast dancing in one of the main pedestrian areas

Elle and Taryn decided to let their sisters join in:)

The parade was SO PACKED with people, it was hard to really see a lot of the floats and/or take pictures of them- you can see all of the cameras up in the air, hoping for a good shot:).  Luckily, the three oldest girls had front row seats thanks to some kind people.

The girls (sans Leena) 

Britta smelling yet more flowers

Britta's idea to stand in the middle of the trees for a picture:)

Outside of Keukenhof there were multiple fields filled with rows & rows of flowers

Downtown Haarlem had various rides for children.  Elle & Britta rode the swings... they both LOVED it.  Britta had an absolute BLAST!!  Elle would often turn around and look at Britta... and they would just laugh and laugh.  It was almost the best part of the trip:)