Summer Vacation III--Spain Wieder

Valencia and Barcelona were the last planned stops of our Sommerurlaub. Unfortunately, our stop in Valencia was not a pleasant one. Not because Valencia is an awful place. On the contrary, it has everything I like in a city--an old and gritty center, great museums, and restaurants facing clean Mediterranean beaches.

Our stop in Valencia was unpleasant because our car broke down. The car's battery died in an underground parking garage. If there is one thing I truly fear, it is car troubles. Maybe it is because I once owned an old Saab that was constantly breaking down and leaving me stranded. Luckily, Bob joined ADAC, Germany's version of AAA. They were great! First of all, their phones are manned by people who speak English, and when we're stressed, neither one of us can remember a word of Deutsch. Secondly, they took care of everything. They asked to speak to a Valencia native, which was not hard to find since we were next to the Mercado Central. The woman told them our exact location, and they sent a local mechanic to jump the battery. It took him about an hour and a half to get to us, so during that time the kids and I went shopping in the Mercado.


Since our car decided to die on us on the day we were to leave for Barcelona, we couldn't wait for car garages to reopen after lunch. Everything in Valencia closes down from about 1 or 2 until 4 PM. Since Bob couldn't turn the car off, because the battery would die again, we drove straight to Barcelona. Bob didn't even turn the car off when he added gas. The bartender at our hotel in Sant Cugat, a suburb of Barcelona, told Bob how to find a garage and we had a new battery within the time it took the kids to finish their swim in the hotel's pool.

While we were in Valencia, we tried paella, which wasn't very good, but we ate at one of the restaurants along Valencia's immaculate city beaches. Supposedly, Hemingway ate his paella at La Pepica, a couple of doors down. Too bad it was closed that day.


We also saw the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, a modern museum complex with an arts center, science museum, IMAX theatre, planetarium and aquarium. The science museum had an exhibit about the Titanic, but we didn't have time to see it. Schade!

Last stop Barcelona! I used to think Paris and Prague were the most beautiful European cities. Now, I'm going to have to add Barcelona to this list. In fact, Paris has been bumped down. After my second visit to Prague (possibly in December), I'll decide which one tops my list. The architecture was mesmerizing, and the locals were very patient with the tourists, almost too patient.



Our first stop, of course, was La Sagrada Família. All I can say is "Hmmm?" I don't know if I liked it. It was not as impressive as I thought it would be, but I didn't hate it. I am glad that we viewed a few of Gaudí's other architectural gems; otherwise, I would have left Barcelona without a positive impression of Gaudí. We saw Palau Güell, which was under scaffolds but the rooftop sculptures were visible, Casa Batlló, and La Pedrera. La Pedrera was especially breathtaking--flowing concrete and metal is the only way I can think of to describe it.



After taking photos of La Sagrada, we stopped at a café across the street for dinner. The food on the menu seemed reasonably priced, and we assumed that beer and Fanta would be only a Euro or two more than in Valencia. We ended up paying almost 7 Euros per beer and almost 5 Euros per Fanta. The waiters said, "It's not us, it's the church."

The next morning, we visited the Barcelona Zoo, home to the only know albino gorilla, Snowflake. What their website neglects to tell you is that he died three years ago. We were all disappointed, but we knew that he was old--he was brought to the zoo in 1966--and he hadn't been in good health since 1996, so we weren't completely surprised. They did have some of the largest pythons we had ever seen, and during our visit we came across a cage of about 50 nutrias. Bob said, "This is why the pythons are so big." I told him to keep his voice down, because Alex was going on about how the nutrias looked like his favorite stuffed animal, Bibery, which is actually a marmot but looks like a beaver.

We spent the afternoon walking through Barri Gótic and along La Rambla. We found a great restaurant in the Barri Gótic called 4 Gats (4 Cats)--Art Nouveau décor and three course meals, including water and wine, for 15 Euros a person. There were too many mimes along the Rambla, in my opinion, but the boys found them interesting, as did the British tourists.

Bob and I will remember the architecture and the food in Barcelona. The boys, on the other hand, will remember the completely naked, old man riding his bike down a busy street. Too bad we didn't get a photo.

Originally, we had planned on camping one more night in either Lyon or Dijon, about half way between Barcelona and Erlangen. But, Bob was anxious to get home, so we drove 14.5 hours home.

Summer Vacation II--Portugal

After five days on the road, we arrived in Portugal. Our first stop was Porto, and when in Porto, one must buy Port wine. Unfortunately, Bob and I know nothing about Ports, so Bob called his friend Mike in Chicago. He told us to look for Churchill or Sandeman Vintage 1995 Ports. Interestingly, the shops we visited recommended the Portuguese Port houses over the British. A little competition? We ended up buying a Borges Vintage 1995 and a Sandeman Founders Reserve. We have yet to try either one.



After Porto, we stopped in Óbidos en route to Lisbon. Touristy, but charming, here we saw our first and best impression of azulejos, decorative tiles often depicting landscapes, historic scenes or the holy family.

That same evening, we arrived in Lisbon. We stayed at the Novotel, a hotel chain belonging to the French Accor hotel group. This may become our default hotel in Europe, because they all allow dogs. Even the Holiday Inns, which allow dogs in Germany and France, don't allow dogs in Portugal or Spain. In six days we had seen so much that we decided to stay in and call room service.


Normally, our first stop when visiting a new city is the historic center, the old city. But in Lisbon, we decided to go to the Oceanário first. It's a modern aquarium somewhat similar in design to the New England Aquarium in Boston with a large central tank and smaller tanks circling the walls. It had your usual collection of sharks, rays, eels plus a huge Ocean Sunfish, which I thought looked prehistoric. The Lisbon Oceanarium is the second largest in Europe, but which is the first? When I did an Internet search, the aquariums in Barcelona, Valencia and Genoa all claim the title.

Before going to the Oceanário, Oscar's leash ripped opened Bob's left index finger at the second knuckle. Oscar lunged at another dog, and since Bob was holding the clasp, which allows you to lengthen or shorten the leash, it somehow snagged the skin on the inside of his index finger and cut it deeply. Because it was still bleeding that morning, we couldn't tell how deep the wound was. But, when we returned to the hotel and took the bandage off, we realized Bob needed stitches. I thought I was going to faint, because I could see the cartilage of his knuckle.

I had seen a sign for a clinic near the hotel, so I told the guy at the desk, who seemed to speak perfect English, that my husband needed a doctor and how do I get to the clinic. He said he was new to this hotel, so he went to ask the manager. I didn't hear their conversation, which was probably in Portuguese anyway, but I think they thought I wanted to buy Clinique cosmetics, because they sent us to El Corte Inglés department store. He said the clinic would be right in front. Later, I realized that cosmetics are usually sold in the front of department stores. Nevertheless, the security guard and the department store nurse helped us by sending us in a taxi to the closest hospital. Luckily, almost everyone in Portugal speaks English, unlike Spain or France. Both the receptionist and doctor who stitched Bob up spoke English.



That evening after Bob returned from the hospital, we decided to see historic Lisbon. The guy at the desk (same one) suggested we take a taxi up to the Castelo de São Jorge and then walk through Alfama. Great idea, because the castle sits on top of a hill overlooking Lisbon, and if we had walked up the hill, we would have heard a lot of whining from Alex. The views from the castle were great--Lisbon has its own versions of SF's Golden Gate Bridge and Rio's Christ the Redeemer. And walking through the winding streets of Alfama was fun, although my outdated guidebook made the Alfama sound like a working class neighborhood with lots of family-friendly restaurants. Instead, it reminded me of Wicker Park during the early stages of gentrification. Finally, we did find a family restaurant that served Cape Verdean food.




The next morning, we drove to the suburb of Belém to see Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. I had read that this monastery had the most beautiful cloisters in Europe, and this time the guidebooks were right on target. The architecture is Manueline Gothic, which is unique to Portugal. Even though I couldn't fine a source confirming a Moorish influence on Manueline architecture, the monastery and its cloisters reminded me of the Alhambra. After the monastery, we were going to walk to the Torre de Belem, which according to Rick Steves is right across the street. Across the street and a kilometer away, which is not far unless it's a hot day and one has two kids in tow. It might as well have been 10 kilometers away. We decided to drive. Since the line to get in was long, we just took photos from the banks of the Tejo River. Besides, the kids were more interested in some jellyfish that had washed ashore.


That evening we drove to Cabo da Roca, Europe's westernmost point. In my mind, I had always pictured Ireland and Great Britain as being much further west than continental Europe, but after this trip and a glance at a globe, I realized that the western coasts of Portugal and Ireland fall approximately on the same longitudinal coordinates. It was beautiful, but very windy and cold.

From Cabo, we drove to Sintra. Originally, I wasn't too excited about visiting Sintra, because it sounded too touristy, but now I regret not seeing more. First of all, the road to Sintra wound, or should I say spiraled, through quaint villages and beautiful mountain forests. The pines don't look like traditional Christmas trees, i.e., triangular. They look like most deciduous trees, with a long trunk and full canopy. We drove past numerous Quintas, or estates, some of which doubled as hotels. I had hoped to see the Castelo dos Mouros, which overlooks Sintra. All we saw was a glimpse of the walls between the trees before the fog rolled in. We never saw any part of Pena Palace, which from the description in the guidebooks sounds like it rivals Neuschwanstein.


After three nights in Lisbon, we spent a week on the Algarve, Portugal's southern coast. We rented an apartment in a house with a swimming pool. We ended up using the swimming pool more often than the beaches, which were about two kilometers away, and like I said before, on a hot day with two kids…



As it turned out, the beaches in our area near the town of Albufeira were very crowded. I had assumed with British and German tourists, but the owner of the neighboring house told us that all of Lisbon comes to Albufeira in August. But we managed to find a less crowded beach in Salema, in the western part of the Algarve. Part of the beach allows dogs, which is not true for Falésia, the beach near our house, and there is a great seafood restaurant, Atlântico, on the beach. This is the beach popular with British and German tourists. We rented kayaks, and Philip paddled quite well. Alex, on the other hand, just wanted to enjoy the ride.

On August 15, we celebrated Alex's 6th birthday. All he wanted to do was swim in the pool and eat Chinese. Luckily, we noticed a Chinese Restaurant near Falésia.




We spent most of the week relaxing by the swimming pool, but we did a little sightseeing. We saw the rock formations of Ponta da Piedade near Lagos, the Moorish fortress in Silves, and the beaches along the barrier islands of Tavira.

First Day of School

I'm interrupting my summer vacation series to announce that yesterday Alex Kozan began first grade at Adalbert Stifter Schule. This is a big deal in Germany. Parents take the day off and grandparents drive in from all over Germany. The first graders arrive at school one hour later than the upper grades and are greeted by the second graders with songs. It's a big deal, because unlike the US, kids don't learn to read and write in kindergarten. Here, kindergarten is like what I remember kindergarten being 40 years ago--a place to learn how to socialize with other children.

The best part of the first day is the Schultüte. This is a cone filled with candy, school supplies and toys. It is meant to make the transition from Kindergarten to Grundshule easier. The children take their Schultüte with them to school, but don't open them until they get home. On the way to school, Alex complained about how heavy his backpack and Schultüte were, but on the way home, he was so excited about being a first grader that neither one seemed heavy anymore.

Summer Vacation I--France and Spain

August is the month when all of Europe goes on vacation and so did we. But unlike most Europeans, we decided to make a "Grand Tour."

Our first stop was in Tours (no pun intended), France. Here, we visited only two of the Loire Valley's countless chateaux--Chambord and Chenonceau. Chenonceau is the more interesting of the two, in my opinion, because its great hall is actually a bridge over the River Cher. We also stopped briefly at Clos Lucé, where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life. Clearly, my guidebook was written before "The Da Vinci Code" was published, because it said that not many people know about Leonardo's last home. But, by the number of people lining up to get in, it was obvious that everything about his life has become popular.

I also had my first great French dinner in Tours. We've been to Paris several times, but I've never had a great French meal--African and Italian, yes, but not good French food. If you're ever in Tours, you have to eat at L'Devalière.

The second night of our tour was spent camping at Dune de Pyla, on the Atlantic coast near Bordeaux. I thought I had seen some big dunes at the Indiana Dunes and Warren Dunes in Michigan, but this dune makes those dunes look like babies. Dune de Pyla is three kilometers long! That's almost two miles. And the top of the dune was desolate. With the sand blowing against our legs, I felt like I was in the Sahara. The kids thought it was the end of the world as depicted in "Pirates of the Caribbean 3."


Our third night was spent in a new country, Spain. We camped at Covadanga, at the foot of the Picos de Europa. We had planned to drive up to Lake Enol, but only made it as far as the Mirador de la Reina, because we were low on gas. We thought we would go back into town for fuel, and then finish the drive. Unfortunately, we learned that they close the road from 10 AM to 8 PM to reduce traffic up to the lake. Only bus tours are allowed during the day. Smart! Not only does it reduce car traffic, but crowds too. I'm sure many people are like us, and say, "I'm not paying to take a bus when I have my own car." Instead, we visited a shrine to the Virgin of Covadanga built into the side of a cliff.

The next two nights were spent in Santiago de Compostela. This time we stayed in a hotel, one of the few on the Iberian Peninsula that allows dogs. Many German and French hotels welcome dogs, but Spanish and Portuguese hotels are not so pet-friendly.

In Santiago, we visited the pilgrimage church of St. James the Apostle, who supposedly is buried under the altar. Of course, Bob bought the boys walking sticks from the surrounding souvenir vendors, just to pretend that they walked the Camino de Santiago. We also found a great restaurant, Meia Pataca Meson, away from the touristy parts of Santiago, where Bob tried something that looked like tube worms, and before they were cooked, they would move in and out of their shells. They tasted great!

We made a side trip, while in Santiago, to the Rias Baixas, the Galician estuaries west of Santiago. Specifically, we visited Porto do Son, a fishing village on the Ria de Muros e Noia, and Castro de Baroña, a 2000- or 4000-year old (depending on the source) Celtic ruin. We noticed that the price of food and beer in the Rias was about half that of Santiago.

Coming Soon! Part II--Portugal

Summer Vacation-Intro

We just returned from a three week vacation. We drove through France, Spain and Portugal with stops in the Loire Valley, Dune de Pyla along the Atlantic Coast near Bordeaux, the Picos de Europa in Northern Spain, Santiago de Compostela, Porto, Lisbon, the Algarve (here we rented an apartment and stayed a week), Valencia and Barcelona. I plan to write about our stops in more detail within the next two weeks before the kids return to school.

Although we saw a lot of Western Europe and we had a great time, this vacation was not very relaxing. I've always thought the typical European vacation of renting an apartment or house for two or three weeks and just staying put sounded boring, but now I'm thinking this may be the way to spend the holidays, especially with children. Bob and I love road trips, and before the kids were born, we would drive to Montana to visit Larissa or to Upstate New York to visit Polly when she lived there, and we would make stops along the way and see as much as we could. Even when we lived in Europe before, we were able to tour around and see more since Alex was in a backpack carrier or stroller and Philip was small enough for Bob to carry on his shoulders. But those days are gone forever.

Now, they walk but not quickly or for very long distances. They also have very strong opinions about what they want to see or do. They like museums and I like zoos, so there is quite a bit we enjoy doing together. But Bob and I like just walking around and looking at architecture and trying to find a good restaurant. The boys hate this unless we buy them toys or ice cream, and their idea of fine dining is McDonald's. And they despise driving. "Are we there yet?" and "How much longer now?" are asked at about two-minute intervals.

I think our next vacation will be European-style.

Alex's Birthday and Übernachtungs

Last week we celebrated Alex's birthday. His birthday is actually on August 15, but since we'll be in Portugal, we decided to celebrate now. He had a party at the kindergarten during the week, and on Saturday, we went to Tucherland, an indoor playground. He didn't want a big party--just Philip and his friend, Callum, who's from Boston but was in Erlangen visiting his grandparents. Tucherland has a climbing wall about 20 or 30 feet tall with an automatic rope system, unlike the wall at Dick's, which has a human on belay and supervising your climb. Dick's has a height limit, whereas at Tucherland anything goes. Tucherland also has trampolines, unsupervised. The attitude here in Deutschland seems to be if one hurts himself than it's his or his parents' fault, not the establishment's.

Alex's kindergarten graduation was one week before his birthday celebration, but it was nothing like the graduations in Chicago. They started the day with a field trip to a cave, Binghöhle, in the Fränkische Schweiz. To get there, they had to take two buses and one train. Then they returned to spend the night at the kindergarten. They also had a bonfire that night in the kindergarten's garden. This rite of passage proves to the kids that they can travel and sleep without their parents. Philip's class also had an übernachtung (sleep over) at his school, but their field trip was to the local ice cream shop.

PS The weather has been cold and rainy most of the summer, unlike the southern European countries, which were having a serious heat wave. It feels more like fall to me. We did have a couple of hot days in June and then again in July. On Sunday, July 15, the temperature topped 40 degrees C, or about 104 F. Since very few homes have air-conditioning, everybody was at the outdoor swimming pools, which are not heated.

Sommerfests and Gäste (Guests)

It's been a long time since I've written, but it's been a busy summer, although it feels more like fall--cold and rainy.

The weekend after Philip's birthday was Kindergarten St. Nikolaus's Sommerfest, and Alex played the xylophone during the Vögels Hochzeit (Birds' Wedding). Plus, he had a birthday party to attend and two play dates that week.

During the last week of June, Bob and I made numerous phone calls to hotels in Paris and Strasbourg trying to get a hold of my friend, Darka, who was touring Europe with a Ukrainian Dance Group, Hromovytsia, from Chicago. We finally made contact and met her and her family in München (Munich) for dinner at the world famous Hofbräuhaus, which was packed with American and Asian college students getting drunk on liters of beer.

Saturday, June 30, was Philip's busy day. He had his Sommerfest, during which the students presented projects they had been working on throughout the week. He learned to whittle and worked on the wood decorations that would complement a painting done by another group of students. Later, in the afternoon, he had his piano recital and played "Happy Birthday" almost flawlessly.

The highlight of our busy schedule was the arrival of C.K. (C.K.'s blog) from Chicago en route to India. It was a mini-vacation in Bavaria for us, because instead of doing all the things we normally do with visitors, such as driving out to the Fränkische Schweiz, we did things we hadn't done yet.

On Saturday, we did the underground tour of Nürnberg. We visited the dungeons of the Rathaus, which, of course, the boys loved because they had a torture chamber and instruments of torture. We also visited the Felsengänge, the tunnel system that served for centuries as a natural refrigerator for beer and food, and later, during WWII, as an air-raid shelter. This tour was a little too long for the boys, so Bob left with them early. C.K. and I toughened it out.

On Sunday, we drove to München to meet C.K.'s imaginary friend (C.K.'s friend's blog). First, we had lunch in the Englischer Garten. Bob and I had heard that people sunbathe in the nude here, but we were surprised by how many naked Germans, mostly men, there were sprawled out on the lawn. We were also surprised to see so many people swimming in the fast moving Eisbach river. Later, we met C.K.'s friend for coffee, and the imaginary friend became a real friend.

Before C.K. continued her journey to India, she gave me a much appreciated yoga lesson. She taught me some poses that would help strengthen my arms and stomach and loosen up my back.

Thank you very much, C.K., for a wonderful weekend.

Happy Birthday

Thursday, June 14, was my birthday, and Sunday, June 17, was Philip's. For my birthday, we went to Mekong Vietnamese Restaurant, which was perfect. This was all I wanted. Saturday and Sunday, on the other hand, belonged to Philip. His friend, Jan (pronounced "Yan"), spent the weekend with us from noon on Saturday till 6PM Sunday. We went to a movie, then out for pizza, ate cake, opened presents, and on Sunday, we spent the day at Playmobil Fun Park.

It was fun, but not relaxing. I remember wanting Philip to be born on June 14, so that I could forget my birthday. He was due on June 6, but he was late, and on June 14, I kept wishing that I would go into labor. I never liked my birthday. I just wanted it to be another day like any other day. Now, I miss having my own special day. Instead of spending my birthday thinking of myself, I now spend it planning Philip's parties. This year I baked brownies for Philip's party at school. I want to be selfish on June 14--I want to spend my birthday in Paris or Mexico or New Zealand with my sister and a few friends.

Swinging back into mom-mode, let me add that I'm very proud of my nine-year-old. He has become so independent. He walks to and from school and piano class by himself. He cleans the table after dinner. He does his homework without complaining. He speaks, reads and writes in two languages, everyday. He gets good grades. And, he loves playing with his little brother! Bob and I are very lucky.

Normandy

Another two-week Schulferein (school holiday) comes to an end--this time Pfingsten, also known as Whitsun or Pentecost. We spent the first week of the holiday in Normandy. The weather was awful--lots of wind and rain, but it made the visit to the D-Day Beaches somber, which was appropriate.


We visited the American Military Cemetery at Omaha Beach, where 9386 American soldiers are buried. Some of the headstones have no names on them, because the soldiers' bodies were never identified. We visited on Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, and many of the graves had flowers on them, even the nameless ones.


Walking along Omaha Beach made me think of Saving Private Ryan, the only movie about D-Day that I have ever seen (I've never read or seen The Longest Day). I kept describing to the boys the opening scene of the soldiers climbing out of the amphibious vehicles and running through the surf, up the hills, trying not to get shot. I don't know the exact distance, but the movie made the hills look much closer to the beach than they actually are.

We also visited Arromanches, where the British established an artificial port. Quite a few metal bridges and docks still remain along the beach.

To continue learning about Normandy and its battles, we experienced the Bayeux Tapestry. I say "experienced" because it was like watching a needlepoint film. I was worried that the boys would be bored, but we got them the audio tour and they listened, while walking along the tapestry that wraps around the center of the gallery, to the story of how, in 1066, William the Conqueror defeated King Harold of England. The entire story unfolds with each panel, and near the end, gets graphic. The boys loved the beheaded soldiers and King Harold with an arrow sticking out of his eye.


The rest of the trip we spent at Mont St. Michel, an abbey on top of a pyramid-shaped island that is connected to the mainland by a causeway, which floods when the tides are very, very high. We stayed at the Hotel Le Mouton Blanc, within the medieval walls, which was a great idea, because in the evening, after the tourists had gone back to the touristy villages on the mainland, we had an entire medieval town to ourselves. Well, almost to ourselves--there were, of course, other tourists staying at small hotels within the walls of the Mont. We bought the boys wooden swords (Alex wanted a metal one), and they ran up and down the streets pretending to be knights defending the king and his castle (they didn't want to accept that this was an abbey instead of a castle).

We returned to Erlangen in time to catch the last few days of the Bergkirchweih, the second largest Bierfest, after Oktoberfest in Munich, in Bavaria. It's all about drinking beer served in a keller dug into the side of the Berg, a large hill north of Erlangen. Unlike Oktoberfest, one does not sit in a tent and drink, but on wooden benches set in the forest above the kellers, or in the kellers, which are more like caves than anything else (although some are furnished like restaurants). When the days are hot, the kellers are naturally cool, important in a country where very few places have air-conditioning.

Too Many Holidays

Yesterday was another holiday, Christi Himmelfahrt, also known as the Ascension (the German name literally translates to Christ's Heaven Journey). It was also Vatertag (Father's Day). Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday of May, as it does in most countries, but Father's Day falls on the Ascension. I guess they didn't want to waste another Sunday. Nevertheless, we celebrated at our favorite Brauerei, St. GeorgenBräu. The boys were being extra nice to each other since it was Father's Day.

Next Saturday we leave for Normandy. Just a long weekend. Monday, May 28, is also a holiday, Pfingstmontag, or Pentecost Monday. We'll be in France for only 4 days, but Philip has two weeks off. The kindergarten will still be open.

Before we left Chicago, I looked forward to all the German school holidays. Kids in Bayern (it varies from state to state) begin school in mid-September, and go to school for about six weeks before the one-week Herbstferien at the end of October (Philip calls it Halloween break). Then it's another six or seven weeks before the two-week Christmas break. Before Lent, they get one week off for Fasching (Carnival), and 40 days later, two weeks for Easter. Six weeks after Easter is Pentecost and yet another two weeks off. The school year ends at the end of July, and Sommerferien is about six weeks long. School-aged children (children aged 3 to 5 are in kindergartens, which double as daycare centers, so they have fewer breaks) have just as many days off as kids in the US, but their breaks are spread out throughout the year instead of packed into the summer. The boys and I were always so exhausted by Christmas and Summer break in Chicago. I like having the frequent breaks from getting them ready for school and helping them with homework, but on the other hand, it feels like we've just settled into our weekly routine (all extracurricular activities also follow the school break schedule, as do many businesses and doctors' practices--see the next paragraph) when a new break starts.

Since the kids are off, many parents also take time off from work, including business owners and doctors. It is not uncommon to call your favorite hairdresser, for example, only to find out that the entire shop has closed down for the holidays. Over the Easter break, I made an appointment with my dentist. Thinking since he was open, I would call to set up an appointment for Alex with a speech therapist (he has problems pronouncing "s" and "sh"). I left messages on the answering machines of three different practices, and only one called back before the end of the break. I think I've lived too long in a cultural that never sleeps--I need to learn that it is best to put everything off until after the holidays, and there are so many of them here.

Maifeiertag

Yesterday was May Day, a public holiday in many European countries, and contrary to what many Americans believe, it is not only a Communist holiday. In fact, it also commemorates an important event in Chicago history, the Haymarket Riots.

Since the kids had the day off and Spiderman 3 opened here on Maifeiertag, we went to the movies. Bob refused to go because the Cine-Star Theater was showing the movie only in Deutsch. We could have driven 20 kilometers to Nürnberg and seen it at a theater that shows films in their original language, but it's so much easier to go to the local theaters. I didn't have any problems understanding the movie, but I do have a problem with seeing familiar actors speaking in unfamiliar voices. Let me digress here and say the worse are the dubbed voices of Clint Eastwood and all of the Simpsons--they are not even close!

All movies and TV programs on German channels are dubbed. We have CNN in English, TV Monde in French, and MTV in English with Deutsch subtitles, but all the other channels are in German, regardless of the origins of the film or program. It's not a big surprise that Bob and I love visiting Przemko and Kristin, because the Belgians don't fool around with dubbing. They use subtitles!

Lyme Disease 3

I had a second antibody titer done last week, and on Tuesday of this week, I found out that I was still negative. In other words, no antibodies developed against the Borreliose spirochaetes, and therefore, I am no longer fighting an infection. The itchy rash is gone, and I don't have to take anymore antibiotics!

But, I can't help wondering if the antibody titer had been positive, would I have been immune to further infections? I guess I'll just have to do very careful tick checks after long walks in the Wald (forest).

Skiing in Austria

We spent the second week of Osterferien (Easter Break--kids get two weeks off in Deutschland) skiing in Austria. We stayed in a condo in Radstadt and skied Obertauern. The boys took three days of lessons. Philip took an advanced beginner class (he took his first ski lessons in Obertauern three years ago), and Alex took a beginning class. Philip had a great time skiing both easy (blue piste in Austria, instead of green as in the US) and intermediate (red piste instead of blue) runs. Alex, on the other hand, was not begeistert (enthusiastic) about skiing. He complained that he didn't like falling and getting wet.

On the fourth day, we skied as a family. We stayed on the blue piste because of Alex, and even these were steeper and longer than the runs Alex had been skiing. So, Bob took his ski pole and held one end, while Alex held the other end, and they skied side-by-side. Alex enjoyed this form of skiing more than skiing on his own.

Oscar joined us on our trip, although he didn't do any skiing--he just wore Alex's helmet in our condo. It's easier to take pets with you on vacation in Europe than it is to leave them in a pet hotel. There just aren't that many pet hotels around. In Chicago, when I asked Oscar's vet for a list of boarding kennels, she gave me about 25 names of kennels and in-home services. Our tierärztin in Erlangen gave me a list of three names, one of which was in Munich, two hours away. Thankfully, most hotels and vacation apartments allow pets.

Even though it was a great trip, it wasn't perfect. Unfortunately, our car got towed in Salzburg. We stopped for lunch on our way to Radstadt, and we parked along a busy street, just as we had three years ago. I noticed signs with a drawing of a bus and hours on Werktags (work days) and Samstag (Saturday), but I understood these as the hours when parking is allowed. There was nothing such as "Parken Erlaubt" (Parking Allowed) or "Parken Verboten" on the signs, and other cars were parked as well. Five years ago, I got a ticket in Erlangen for parking on a street without any signs (There were other cars parked there, and they got tickets, too.). I learned to look for signs stating when and where parking is allowed, instead of "No Parking" signs, such as the ones we have in the US. In hindsight, it should have occurred to me that the hours on the sign in Salzburg indicated the hours when the bus was running, since there was a drawing of a bus instead of a car. But, I didn't take the time to think deeply about the sign. I just wanted something to eat.