Easter Weekend

After the Bebenhausen trip we had a lot of regular classes and were all relieved for our first big breakfor Easter weekend. I was lucky enough to get to spend a beautiful weekend with Peter's mom, Ane, as well as her boyfriend Wolf and his daughters Liane and Thea.I traveled up to Kronberg, where Ane lives, on Saturday. She cooked an amazing white asparagus gratin from a Swiss cookbook (it was perfection: white asparagus plus Swiss cheese!)which made a lovely meal with some wine and great conversation.

The next morning we were up early for the 6 AM Easter service. It was a beautiful service and I even understood some of the sermon!

Later, we breakfasted and went back for the second service, in which Ane

sang some very lovely music. I sat with Peter's friend Clara, who had just returned from her many-month long trip to Peru.

After the service, Ane and I took a train to Wolf's house, which is in the countryside outside of Nürnberg. It is a beautiful house-in-progress and we had a great afternoon and evening searching for Easter baskets, gazing down the hillside from the hammock-style chairs, enjoying dinner on the balcony, and talking in Denglish (German - English) with Wolf and his kids.

Here are some images of the house - my beautiful guest nook, and the house itself:

a day of hiking

Today Ane and I had a lovely breakfast and then set out to walk in the nearby woods and towns! It was beautiful and we took many photos and had a long, winding conversation - much like the long, winding trails we followed. :)

This morning began with my discovery of a hilarious tea: Heiße Liebe. For those of you without German, this means "Hot Love." Apparently there is a whole line of these funny-named teas! Anyway, it was raspberry-vanilla flavored and quite pink!

After, we went walking into woods around Kronberg and visited a sweet little spot called Viktoria-Tempel, which is a little sitting-gazebo with a marvelous view of Frankfurt and the local towns. It was chosen and created by Queen Viktoria, like the parks around here (hence "Viktoriapark"). Then we continued, more down, and visited a castle, Burg Falkenstein.

It was BEAUTIFUL! Full of people relaxing, having picnics, kids playing, dogs running around. With a marvelous view.

Here is me, at the wall that overlooks Frankfurt and the towns:

And here is the view, Frankfurt in the distance:

Then we went and had ICE CREAM! It was delicious. Now, we are relaxing a bit after having found a train for me tomorrow morning. Tonight we are going to Sabai Sabai, her favorite restaurant, so I can try the (apparently BLUE) kamikaze. And then in the AM I will have my train to Tübingen! Wow! I'm sad to leave Kronberg but sure I will see Ane again this term, and excited to get moved into my room in Tübingen and start school!

der erste Samstag

Today has been lovely! After Ane came back from her choir rehearsal, we went for a glorious walk. First we stopped at the most adorable French café that is just around the corner from Ane's house. (I ordered an orange juice - it was so warm, I couldn't imagine having a tea or coffee. We also shared a lemon tart, which was AMAZING.) We browsed in their sweet little store, and got a few chocolate eggs (in real eggshells).

And then, a walk! It is a GORGEOUS day here, and we went around looking at all the little blossoms and whatnot. We did a loop of part of the town, and this lovely pond:

Afterwards, Ane made green sauce, and I observed. Here is the recipe from the package (Ane does not need it and also has her own edits to it):

Here is Ane cooking:

And here is the result, a late lunch (since I had breakfast at 11:30!) of hard-boiled eggs and potatoes in green sauce. Yum!

The best part of waking up

is butterbrezel on your plate!!!

So I slept from 9:30 pm until 11:30 am (and I still feel tired! maybe a shower will help). Anyway, Ane has choir rehearsal this morning from 10:30 until something. When I woke up, there was a full breakfast spread for me, including a note from Ane :





Yum!

Photographic proof

that I am here in beautiful Germany. :)

I went for a short walk to the local park, Viktoriapark. It is warm enough that I wore just jeans and a sweater! I hope the weather continues like this or gets warmer - nothing colder please! There were small flowers in the fields in the park, which were so pretty. The fresh air was great, and so was the feeling of going for a walk all by myself in another country. That's a first step and before you know it I'll be doing all sorts of independent things! Yay! Also, I spoke one German word to someone ("entschuldigung"). Go me!

Later, Ane came home from work and made dinner (a delicious salad and ravioli with cream sauce, yum). We had a lovely conversation and meal, and now she is at choir rehearsal and I am making myself stay up for another 30 minutes before bed-time! Go Laura!

So here are some photos : me, in Viktoriapark, on a bench that Peter and I took photos at last summer (yeah, yeah, I look a little tired...one hour of sleep!):

One of my favorite views - out the kitchen window:

The desk from which I am blogging:

My next destination - my cozy bed!