Life: Idiotropic

Every year, or at least most, we make a gingerbread house together as a family. Each daughter gets to decorate a wall and Kirk and I each decorate a piece of roof.

This year I decided that if I was going to make gingerbread, I might as well make a lot, so I volunteered to bake gingerbread for Luci's, Arianna's, and Tiara's classes at school. Thankfully, not all on the same day.

Yesterday I made dough, divided it up into segments for Luci and her classmates, and put it in the fridge. Today I packed up the frosting I'd made, the dough, and a ton of candy and cookie cutters and brought it all into Luci's class so her friends could all make gingerbread cookies. I worked with each of them individually so it went smoothly and all the kids were very well behaved. They all rolled it out and chose a cookie cutter to make a cookie. We baked them right away, then they decorated them at snack time and ate them. It was fun and I think Luci enjoyed it. Then again, it was sugar. Luci always enjoys sugar.

When we got home from Tiara's ballet class tonight we all sat down at the table to decorate the parts of our house. We just used candy canes, red hots, marshmallows, and some hard candy drops, and red vines but the walls turned out pretty cute. When everyone was sleeping I assembled the house, then stood over it, holding it still for a while as the frosting set so it would not collapse. By morning it looked like a hurricane had been through - my first complete failure in gingerbread house construction. The up side was that, now destroys and un-pretty, my family members did not feel the need to wait to eat it and all gobbled it up that day.

I've been using the same gingerbread recipe for years and it's a really good one as long as you don't get caught up folding laundry and leave the cookies in the oven for an hour. Then you'll have gingerbread that truly could withstand a tropical storm and could probably break your jaw as well.

Here's the recipe - don't double it. I doubled it this last time and my kitchen aid went on strike and started throwing dough out the sides before I'd even finished adding all the flour!

In large mixing bowl:

• Beat 1 cup softened butter and 1 cup white granulated sugar at high speed until fluffy. Add 1 cup molasses and 2 egg yolks (save the whites for frosting) and beat until smooth. Continue beating as you add the flour mixture a little at a time. Dough should be stiff and slightly dry.
• Flour mixture to be added slowly above: 6 cups flour, 3 t. cinnamon, 2 t. ground ginger, 1/2 t. ground allspice, 1/2 t. salt.
• Shape dough into two balls and wrap one while not in use. Roll out the other to desired thickness. I like thick gingerbread - 1/4" thick is good. Just keep it even. Use cookie cutters to cut it or press it into a lightly greased cookie mold. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes. Cool completely before frosting.

Royal icing: Combine 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar, 2 egg whites, and 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar in mixing bowl and beat ingredients on high speed for 5 minutes or until still peaks form and icing is glossy. Tint with food coloring if desired and cover when not in use.

Christmas was kicked off officially today with the U.S. Children's Christmas Party and the procuring of a Christmas tree.
The Christmas party began early much to my dismay (I really enjoy at least the option of sleeping in on a Saturday - not that the little ones ever make it an option. Instead they pull off the covers, grab my hand and drag me from the warmth. But, it is nice to not have to go anywhere on a Saturday morning).

From 9ish until noon when it ended we let the kids loose in the elementary school gym where they played games, stuffed themselves with sweets, popcorn, and cotton candy, met Santa, and took a train ride. Tiara stayed home. Seeing Santa is not and has never been worth getting up early on a Saturday in her book. Arianna is the only one who jumped onto Santa's lap. She was thrilled to talk to him and tell him what she wants for Christmas: a magic wand. Luci and Elise wouldn't get near him, so they played. Luci spent most of her time oscillating between the big inflatable jumping thing and this large air filled plastic bag full of whirling Styrofoam peanuts that kids were jumping around in. By the end of the party those little peanuts covered the entire gym floor. Elise wanted to sock wrestle - or so they thought, but she just liked the tumbling mats and as soon as the sock wrestling was over she began bouncing around on them with her piggie tail bouncing, "dancing" on her tippy toes to the music.

The train ride was short, but greatly anticipated and fun for the kids. This little train is used a lot by the schools around Christmas and supposedly is used by the Canadians once a year to deliver "moose milk" to all the squadrons. (Moose milk is an adults-only beverage)

After the party and a little rest, Kirk and I drove down to our local produce stand where I'd bought pumpkins just a few weeks prior, to get our Christmas tree. It was hard to pick one. She only had a few unwrapped, so I really only had a choice between about 5 trees in the size I wanted. They were all "ok," but none of them were very full on top and a couple of them were way too sparse down below too. I like full trees. That is one thing that I've missed ever since I moved from Oregon. No place has had trees quite like home.

Kirk sawed off the bottom couple inches and drilled a hole into it to encourage it to drink water. Luci took a couple of the sawed branches and wore them like antlers. Tiara and I put the lights on it, then we all decorated it together. I sorted the ornaments into piles of what belonged to who and the indestructible ornaments went into a pile on the floor for the three little ones to put up. The weird thing is, that after the tree was finished, the bottom branches are nearly empty. The three little ones all want to put their ornaments up high. Luci kept climbing the step ladder and leaning way into the tree to put her ornaments on the very tip of a skinny little branch. I was so worried she was going to fall into the tree and get stuck like one of our ornaments. So, all of the ornaments are hung in the middle or higher. Some branches have two or three ornaments on them. It's a wonder the branches haven't given up and drooped completely over.

It feels good to have a tree in the house. It makes everything feel more festive. The girls all love it and get excited every time I turn on the lights. The ornaments travel around the tree a lot, but so far nothing is broken. When my housekeeper saw our tree she was like a little kid, looking carefully over every ornament, "schon," she said over and over. She loved our small twinkling lights and our interesting variety of ornaments. Her tree only has candles (electric ones) and kugel. Kugel are those thin glass balls. Here they seem prettier than at home. They are traditional here, so they come in all sizes and colors with beautiful glittery designs on them. I bought a variety of them to hang in my window since I won't put them on my tree. The markets have other ornaments besides glass balls.... of course, they have a ton of those "old world" glass ornaments, but they also have ceramic angels and a lot of carved wooden ornaments. But, most German homes will adorn their trees with Kugel, and little colorful candies with holes in the centers instead of candy canes.

Too much fun leaves very little time to write. I still have piles of laundry to fold and a million other random jobs flocking onto my to-do list. So, blogging is slow, but I have finished half of my France blog and should be posting it tomorrow.

I could have blogged today, but I drove two hours one-way to go shopping. Nuts? Yes. I am. But so are a lot of other American women. For some reason, the American women here go absolutely crazy over Polish pottery. So much so that they frequently plan special trips in which they get up ridiculously early to hop into a crowded van or bus, drive straight through to Poland, shop like mad, then drive straight back.

Unlike many of them, when I go to Poland, I want to see Poland, not just pottery shops. And while I do like some of the pottery, it's not worth driving 10 hours for.

But, in the spirit of being social and hanging out with friends, I drove to Zieke, NL today with Elise and three of my friends to a Polish pottery wholesale distributor who was open to the public today just so we could go shopping. This place is two hours away - almost to Amsterdam, but made the easy drive there, shopped for two hours, then drove back. The place was packed with pottery, American women, and a group of Japanese women. There were too many patterns to count and people were sifting through boxes on the floor. The aisles were narrow and though it was obvious that an attempt was made to organize it, keeping it organized would be a monumental task. I didn't think I'd find anything that I'd really like, but I did manage to find a simple pattern and got a much needed teapot with the matching sugar and creamer. I am excited as all the Asian teapots that Kirk purchased in Korea are much to small to serve tea to a group of friends.

Anyway... I will be posting a lot of beautiful travel pictures soon and filling you in on everything new. Here's a quote from Elise to wrap this up:

ZUCCHINI AND SAUSAGE CASSEROLE
I found this recipe about 4 years ago online and it was such a hit that I make it every Thanksgiving. I usually put in just a bit less sausage than it calls for and milk instead of cream would be a good "healthier" choice. It is also a very good idea to absolutely drain/press as much of the liquid out of the zucchini as possible or the dish will get very watery. The nuts are a wonderful addition and to add a lot of texture - don't leave them out unless you have to!

2 pounds zucchini or yellow squash, coarsely grated
3/4 pound sage sausage
3/4 pound hot sausage
2 onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
5 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 to 3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups chopped pecans
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Hot sauce

Topping
6 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a wide, 2-quart baking dish, or spray it with nonstick spray.

Put the zucchini in a colander to drain for about 30 minutes or wrap it in a clean tea towel and gently squeeze it to remove the excess liquid. Put the zucchini in a large mixing bowl.

Heat a large skillet and add the sage sausage and hot sausage. Cook until the sausage starts to brown, stirring to break it up. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons grease. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook 1 more minute. Combine the sausage and onions with the zucchini.

Stir in the cream, the 1 cup bread crumbs, the eggs, the 2 to 3 cups cheese, and 2 cups pecans. Add salt, pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. The casserole may be refrigerated at this point for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 3 months.

For the topping, combine the butter, the 3/4 cup bread crumbs, and the 3/4 cup pecans. Sprinkle evenly over the casserole. Bake, uncovered, until hot through, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top with the 1/2 cup cheese and return to the oven just until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Makes 10 (side dish) or 6 (main dish) servings.

Nathalie Dupree's Comfortable Entertaining
September 1998
Nathalie Dupree
Viking

Two of Luci's closest friends are sweet Italian girls that go to her school and I've been fortunate enough to become friends with one of the mothers whose willing to use her English a little more.

I think that's one of the mixed blessing things about living here. There truly are some amazing opportunities being in a multinational community like this one where we can share friendship and cultures with people from Turkey, Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Canada, The Netherlands, France, and, of course, Germany. The difficult thing then becomes the language. As many things exist that can transcend that language barrier, a there are a lot of things that rely on the use of words. I've been fortunate with the use of my Spanish language skills to get to know and become friends with several wonderful Spanish women here, but not all the communities are as open or speak English as well (and I certainly can't learn all of their languages). We really are limited in our friendships to those that we can communicate with.

Marica, Martina's mom, is very nice and one of the few Italian women who has been very willing to try to speak English, and so we've enjoyed visiting with her family and felt very honored to be invited to Martina's birthday party today. We were the only non-Italians there.

It was held at Pee Wee's, a favorite party location among many preschool parents of all nationalities. It an enormous room full of climbing things, slides, and every piece of Little Tikes type plastic available. Kids love to take off and explore the ball pits, slides, and myriad of climbing things. Parents love to sit with the endless cup of tar-like coffee knowing that the worst thing likely to happen to their kids, is the complete blackening of the bottom of their socks by the end of the afternoon.

The Italians were all very warm and friendly and even Marica's mom, visiting from Italy, talked to me in her broken English, but we understood each other and where English failed, Spanish worked.

The kids never care what language is used. They just play. Luci ran off with Martina and Federica. Everyone was happy. Then about 20 minutes later Martina and Federica ran back crying and talking quickly to their mom's, shaking their hands as they talked in true Italian style. It was amusing in that it was so typical of kids. Talking over each other to tell their side of the story and arguing over what the other had said. I didn't need to understand Italian to understand what was going on and the one word that did ring out loud and clear was Luci. They were fighting over who got to play with Luci.

Anyway, it was a nice party. We stayed for three hours while the kids did bumper cars and played. The cake was German and all the toys were American. The one unique Italian thing was the Asti toast that is traditional after the cake is cut. The kids were done with the sweets and the adults all enjoyed a toast with Asti. It's a very nice tradition that I enjoy and will probably adopt for my girl's parties as well - something a little nice for the adults.

Even Tiara likes the bumper cars. I don't like the smell of rubber that surrounds that part of Pee Wee's, but it doesn't seem to bother the kids who clamber to ride them again and again. Arianna's a pretty good driver. Luci will have to learn to enjoy public transportation.

On Sunday I'd made jars and jars of my homemade cranberry sauce. Last week I baked the two pumpkin cream cheese rolls that are sitting in my freezer now. On Tuesday I'd assembled two pans of my yummy zucchini dish and the cornbread stuffing. I don't remember now what I did on Wednesday. On Thursday I made pie dough enough for four pies and on Friday I baked the pumpkin and pecan pies, assembled the candied yams, carved mini pumpkins and gourds and filled them with floral foam and created floral arrangements in them. This morning among other things, I baked two Apple Galletes, stuffed the big turkey, and did a whole bunch of scurrying about decorating and cleaning.

Today we had 32 people at our house for Thanksgiving.

Both turkeys were brined the night before. Jeff and Kirk deep fried the 15lb one. The 21lb bird got stuffed and baked. We had regular stuffing and cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and candied yams, green beans and zucchini bake, great gravy, cranberry sauce, two salads, rolls, devilled eggs, stuffed celery, nuts, clementines, ham, a cheesy potato dish, a coconut pie, and all the above mentioned desserts also.

At two the guests began to arrive. The didn't leave until after 7.

I love Thanksgiving and living here has made Thanksgiving even more special because it's one of those few things that is truly American and truly wonderful. Last year I celebrated Thanksgiving in our tiny gasthaus with it's Barbie kitchen, easy bake oven, and refrigerator too small to fit a decent sized turkey even without the shelves inside. This year I still had to contend with a closet sized kitchen, but at least I have borrowed American appliances from the nearby Army base to make cooking in Germany a bit more normal.

I was excited to share this day with my non-American friends this year, so I invited a few people. Of the 32, we had Spanish from Madrid and Spanish from Majorca, a Frenchman with an Italian father from the French-Italian border, a Canadian from Quebec, a German from Frankfurt who now lives in Brussels and his Romanian wife, and then Tinny who used to live in our house and now lives next door. Then of course a couple Texans and a couple New Yorkers, a couple from the Midwest and a couple from the west coast... it was a great mix. Everybody talked together and laughed together. The food was good and it all went well. Everybody mixed well. There weren't any odd moments or uncomfortable quiet times. There were no quiet times at all. The house was full and loud, but wonderful. The only crazy thing is that once food was served, no one left the table. They all stayed and talked as the plates were cleared and even as dessert was eventually served. They were still there. I think our last guests left just after 7:30. Tinny was one of the last which surprised me. She was the only one who couldn't speak English, but there were a few people who could talk to her and when she wasn't talking, she was listening. I watched her as she watched and listened to the conversations, her eyes darting back and forth like a tennis match and her mouth turned up in a warm smile. She enjoyed herself. I think that gave me the biggest feeling of success - knowing that Tante Tinny had a nice time. Of course, I had a lot of helpers. Mom and Jeff were there and they both helped a lot. Kirk helped too. Our American guests all brought things, and it ended up really being a great holiday. Full of family and friends. It was the first time that my Spanish friends or our friends from Brussels had ever had an American Thanksgiving. It was Fabrice' first Thanksgiving too. It is safe to say that they were all a bit shocked by the quantity and everyone enjoyed it. We had TONS of food and sent a lot home with people. Alberto decided that he really likes American food having broken his previous idea that Americans eat burgers and fries all the time.

So, I'm already planning on next year... I'll have to borrow some more chairs because there are more people that I'd like to bring, plus everyone that came this year, but I'll cut down on the number of dishes, because we had almost too many options to fill the plates this year. People were getting full as new dishes were still being passed around with things to try. Next year I'll plan some things for the kids too. They all did great, but towards the end the older non-English speaking kids started to get bored and it was too dark outside for soccer.

So, the star dishes this year were the deep fried turkey of which there were absolutely no leftovers, my zucchini bake that has become an annual treat ever since I first tried it, the pumpkin roll that is also a must-make every year, and the apple galletes that are easier than an apple pie and somehow taste better. I'll try to post recipes here later... but now I'm still trying to play catch up from the visit.

Today was the first day of the Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt, so we had planned on getting up early and heading down to Aachen in time for it to open at 11. We would have been there early, but we needed ice for the two defrosting turkeys in the slachthaus. Ice wouldn't have been a problem a couple years ago. I would have gone the 2 minutes from my home to the 7-11 on the corner for a couple bags of ice. Here - not so easy. Germans don't use ice - at least not whole bags of it. They don't drink coke cold and never put ice cubes in drinks. Milk isn't refrigerated nor eggs. It's just different here.

Knowing it would be a challenge, I went to the expert, my neighbor Tinny. Showing her my filled ice cube tray as a backup in case my German skills didn't work, I asked her if there was a place in town that sold ice cubes. She said no, but mentioned Aldi. So, to Aldi we went looking for ice. The lady looked at me like I was crazy. A bag of ice??? Neeee. Ok, so I went to the Rewe - a pretty good sized grocery store. This lady said they sold the trays and I could make it myself. I asked if there were any places around to buy "eis wurfel." Ne. She was probably shaking her head at the crazy American as I walked off. Truly, I must be nuts to so desperately want a huge bag of ice. As tiny as their toy refrigerators are, I'm truly surprised that ice isn't more common. If I had a refrigerator German sized, I'd have a stack of ice filled coolers in the garage 24/7.

The Natex grocery on base was sold out of ice. By then, it was no surprise why.

So, we ran home, put bags of frozen chicken over the turkeys in the cooler, then left - finally - for Aachen.

The market was the same as it had been last year and probably is every year, winding its way around the Rathaus and down to the Dom. The vendors were the same with the same things and in the same locations, so it was really easy for me to get my bearings and get around. The linens were pretty and there were some very nice ornaments. We looked at jewelry, decorations, wooden cookie presses, glass, wool hats, candy, toys, and a bunch of other things. It was the best market day for me so far since there were very few people there yet and we could walk right up to any vendor and see everything. The weather was perfect and it just felt great to be there. Elise rode a little carousel and I rode with her. She was in a great mood which has been quite a commodity these days since she's reached 2 1/2 years and the truly terribles.

When we got hungry we found the 1/2 meter bratwurst booth and each got a krakauer on a brotchen. The krakauer were shorter... the thin white bratwurst truly was an entire 1/2 meter long - a sight that made a group of high school boys giggle.

Since I had tourists, we had to go to the Dom. I'm not tired of it yet and the agreement was that it is definitely better than the Koln Dom - more special and unique. The tiny tiles set over the entire ceiling and upper walls in intricate mosaics are absolutely mind boggling in their detail and beauty.

This man played the accordion at a church near the Dom. My camera's timer got set on accident, so I kept trying to take a picture and then it wouldn't take, but he just kept looking over and smiling. The printen window near us impressed Jeff. Of all the beautiful Aachen windows, the printen shops do the best job with their elaborate displays of stacked gingerbread, Santa Clauses, and big red balls. It looks like Christmas in those shops all year 'round.

A customary stop at Starbucks finished off the fun portion of our day. And you just can't beat that - shopping and coffee in Aachen. It's always great. After the fun portion? Baking pies... cleaning, cooking... for tomorrow!

Happy Thanksgiving! It seems weird to say that today. If it wasn't for Arianna coming home wearing a paper bag vest and headband with a feather in it, I probably would've forgotten. Not that we'd forget Thanksgiving entirely. It's been on my mind for weeks with invitations out and food planned. I even bought two cases of pumpkin to ensure that last year's pumpkin fiasco didn't happen again. But, Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here. The kids are all in school. Kirk has to work. There is no football game. And I'm not going to cook all day just for Kirk and the kids to come home tired in the evening, eat, and go to sleep. We can do that any day and holidays are special.
Last week during one of Tiara's ballet classes, mom and I tried this little restaurant in the Sittard markt that I hadn't been to before. It was sandwiched between two other narrow little buildings and didn't stand out as anything special. Boy was I wrong. The atmosphere was great. They took our coats and hung them immediately. Nice music played. There was white linen on the tables and white candles lit around the room. We had an appetizer and a glass of wine then and knew that we had to come back.


So we planned to have dinner tonight - adults only - kids at home. I didn't think that Sittard would be crowded on a Thursday night, but all the open air parking lots were full. I'd forgotten that Thursday is the night that shops are open until 8. So we parked in the garage nearby.

The streets were full of people at 7:30 when we arrived at the restaurant. Shoppers walked by with bags in their arms. It was a nice night. The menu, of course, was only in Dutch, but I've read enough Dutch menus now to figure out quite a bit of it and the waitress spoke very nice English as most Dutch do. I think I ended up ordering the best items on the menu and I do plan on going back again... the food was the best I've had in the Netherlands. I had a very good duck salad to start, then the "Haasfilet ingerold met salie en pancetta met stampotje van boerenkool" for dinner. The rabbit was flavorful and very tender, served over mashed potatoes with pancetta and celery with a very good brown gravy. For dessert I had the "Warm taartje van chocolade met citruscompote" - essentially a very good molten chocolate cake with a citrus chutney almost on the side. YUM. They serve their cappuccino with freshly baked biscotti. That earns restaurant points right there.

So, dinner was fabulous and we were ready to go home. We got back to the garage at 10:30. The garage closed at 10. Never mind that there were many restaurants opened in the markt and a lot of people out. For some silly reason, this garage closes completely at 9 most nights and at 10 on Thursdays. There was no way to get the car. I called the number and got a very nice recording in Dutch, but no option to get a hold of a real person, so no option to get Kirk's truck.

We walked back to the restaurant. They were cleaning up to close, but let us come in. The waiter kindly called a taxi for us. The chef invited us in to sit and offered a drink "on the house." He said he'd drive us home himself, but he didn't have his car with him. So many here take the bicycle to work... and with parking the way it is, who can blame them!

Eventually the taxi came - it was a BMW. Everything here is either a BMW or Mercedes. I've even seen a Mercedes garbage truck. Crazy, but true.

[The next morning we were able to get to the garage at 0700 when it opened and got Kirk's truck out with no problem. It only cost 7 Euro too. They only charge for the time the garage is actually open, thank goodness!]

Cologne is not the most fantastic city that I've ever been to, but it is one that you just need to see. The first time I saw Cologne with the Dom sitting magnificently next to the Rhine, it made a solid impression as a great city and I was excited to come by myself and explore it. The grassy area along the Rhine is nice and there are some interesting shopping districts. The Dom itself is a big draw to the city with so much detail that I still notice something new every time I see it.

But, sadly, Cologne was very heavily bombed during WW2 and most of what was old and beautiful and historical is gone. The Altstadt is almost entirely gone. The flames during the bombing got so high that the planes had to turn back with undropped bombs. It was a different time, but the city can't go back, of course, so much of the glory of what was is seen only in museums.

If you have a day to explore museums, then Cologne would be an interesting stop. Roman artifacts are still discovered and several nice museum house what's already been found. Before I move, I'll do that.

But, we drove to Cologne which is an easy hour drive and then parked below the Dom in a parking lot that comes out right next to it. The Christmas market was being set up to begin the next day. Three human statues stood still in the cold wind in front of the Dom waiting for people to drop coins into the little genie bottles in front of them. They were different than the statues we'd seen before and not as serious. Two of them were ladies - one in silver and another in gold. Then a man dressed as Charlie Chaplin stood still. Luci was too shy to give him a coin, but he smiled and waved. Later we walked by and the statues were huddled in the doorway of the Dom counting their change and getting ready for lunch. Luci exclaimed, "Mommy, the statues can walk!"

Just around the corner in a nice shopping area was the restaurant where we stopped for food. The menu was mostly Italian and good, but sometimes I get tired to eating Italian food. It's almost too common here no matter how good it might be. Even on a good Dutch menu, you can almost always find Spaghetti Bolognese. It's reliable, but nothing very exciting.

After lunch we walked around the Dom. On one wall some men were cleaning and painting some of the carved art on the walls. One window had scaffolding up outside with men working on it, so from the inside there were all sorts of little silhouettes sitting with their legs hanging or standing working. I haven't been to the Dom yet without seeing scaffolding up on some part of it. It's so immense that it probably gets dirty as fast as they can clean it. In the photo above you can see the degrees of filth in some statues sitting in a row by a doorway. It's hard to visualize the church ever being completely white like that far right statue. It was the first time that I'd been there when the back portion of the cathedral was open.

Walking around the half-circle we could see tombs and shrines with the large life-sized carved figures of their owners resting on top. Alters with crosses sat behind a lot of the tombs. Most of them had large gates in front of them, so you could see them, but not touch. Some had pews set up so that one could potentially pray there.

After the Dom we tried to get to the Rhine. It's close, very close, but the construction in the area was so hard to navigate that we eventually gave up. Mom and Jeff did get a tour of the Hauptbahnhof (train station) though with all it's little shops and eateries.

Before the drive home we stopped at good ol' Starbucks for a Toffee Nut Latte. Luci and Elise sat at the little kid table a good 20 feet away and had a nice time together while us adults enjoyed some quiet.

Do you know who Al Stewart is? I didn't until I married Kirk. He didn't until he lived in Germany his junior year of high school. Kirk is a fan. I didn't appreciate the music until now. So, do you know who he is? I'm not sure if half the Germans in Mechernich could answer that, but they were at his concert tonight with us.

Al Stewart is a translucently pale, willowy Scottish folk singer who plays the guitar and writes stories into songs, stories both geographical and historical, and stories whimsical like that of his ex-girlfriend that broke his heart, so he wrote a song and turned her into an old ship full of holes with a treacherous crew that sinks to the bottom of the sea and is eaten up by scampi. He's a poet.

Months ago Kirk found out that Al was coming. He was supposed to be coming to sing at Burg Satzvey - the castle in the photos. We went there tonight. It was quiet and cold, but one man was putting lights on the trees and decorating for Christmas. Another man seemed to be coming home and entered the big castle that is a private residence. The castle grounds are used now for jousting tournaments and celebrations of different types. It is a touristy thing, but why not? If I lived in a castle, I might do the same thing. So... Kirk was excited to go and see Al in a castle. We reserved tickets. The venue changed.

So we went to Mechernich instead - a town that has nothing noteworthy. I wanted to dress comfortably. Kirk wanted to dress up. So we both dressed nice - good, since we rarely go out anyway. We got to the sleepy German Eiffel town, just an hours drive from our home, a couple hours before the concert would start so we would have time for a nice dinner. We walked in the bitter wind to find a restaurant. One was a smokey bar, another was a tacky pizza place, another had slot machines, and one had a billiard table. Finally we found one that almost looked ok, and we were hungry, but I choked through my meal because the smoke was so thick and the decor looked like dated Florida beach decor - sage green and taupe walls with solarium windows and canvas sails draped from the ceiling. I know that Germany has more to offer than that. Even so, I had a mozzarella salad and pasta. The traditional German meal that I'd hoped for was not in Mechernich. [I could easily insert here a rather lengthy tirade about smoking in Europe, but I'll save you this time. Just know that it is extremely frustrating to try to eat your food when you can't even smell it, when everything is soaked in smoke and you leave reaking of it, when there are no options and no escape and the no-smoking section means two tables on one wall, with the smokers all around you secretly blowing it in your direction, or so it seems.]

The concert, not at the castle, was held at a very modern, rectangular, could-have-been-in-any-mid-sized-U.S.-city gymnasium (high school) auditorium. We waited outside the doors to wait until the opened it for seating and people watched as the crowd grew. The median age was 50. The dress was ultra-casual: jeans and flannel, leather pants with a sports coat, jeans and sweaters, jeans... Men had long hair. Girls had short hair. My little girls would have gone crazy pointing all those people out. It's safe to say that in that crowd of at least 400 people that Kirk and I were the only Americans in the audience. I heard one British accent in the crowd and that was it.

The German singer who was supposed to open was "krank" with a sore throat, so Al Stewart started early. Dave Nachminoff, an American singer and guitarist who tours with Al, opened with a few songs, then Al came out and jammed. There were some sound system problems, but other than that, it was a lot of fun and very entertaining. Al and Dave actually jammed with their dueling guitars on stage and they were laughing, telling jokes, and having fun.

It was entertaining watching them and entertaining looking around. Most of the Germans there I'm sure had some degree of English language ability and I think all knew at least one or two of Al's songs, but you could tell that it was hard for them to understand some of the English spoken quickly with a heavy Scottish accent, so in between songs, Al would talk and tell the story behind the next song. And, most of the time the audience was silent. At one point, Al asked, into the microphone onstage, "Do any of you know who I am?" But it was obvious by the applause when he sung a song they knew and every time he phonetically slaughtered the name of the town, the audience would erupt in peels of loud German guffaws. So we are most likely the only audience to hear the impromptu tune, "Seduction in Mechernich." Quite a gem.... If Al Stewart every loses his voice, he could get a job in stand-up.

At the end of a very nice evening, we waited in line to see Al. Kirk shook his hand, got his CD autographed, chatted for a minute, and gave him one of his flying patches. It was a nice moment.

At one point in the concert, Al began to sing a song that he had not told us about. Kirk leaned over and asked me if I knew what it was about. I didn't. I don't think many people in the audience did either. Driving home Kirk told me that "Running Man" is a song about a Nazi criminal hiding from the authorities after WW2. Al had said that he didn't play it much, but that Dave had requested it. It has a very catchy tune, but I wonder what the audience would have thought had they known. That's still a touchy subject here among some.

Anyway... if Al comes again, we'll probably go see him, but I won't be running to Mechernich anytime soon.

After our wonderful breakfast in Sedan and a lengthy tour of the castle, we started the 90 minute drive to Luxembourg City. We drove from France, into Belgium, then had hardly crossed the border into Luxembourg when we entered the city itself. The country is so small, that it isn't so far to get anywhere within it.

Luxembourg City hails itself as "Little Europe" boasting the best of everything. With less than a day to explore it, we certainly weren't able to avail ourselves of all it has to offer, but we did leave wanting more.

Getting into the main center itself would have been easy but for some construction that took us off the main road and into a maze of narrow one-way and dead-end streets in a residential district on the hill. Once we got into downtown we found our hotel and parked without any problem.
The Hotel Albert is amazing. I'd searched online for a hotel not having any recommendations from friends hoping to find something nice. Most of the hotels I found were extremely modern in their decor which, for me, is a style best suited to doctor's offices and not to a cozy hotel setting. Being a large banking city, that doctor's office feel might be exactly what Luxembourg clientele are traditionally looking for, but for a quiet, childless, mother-daughter weekend, it wasn't quite for me. Fortunately, the Hotel Albert was exactly what I was looking for. It was very elegant, beautifully decorated with fabrics and furniture from England and Italy, and had a very warm feeling. The rooms drew you in and enticed you with large comfortable chairs and lush throw blankets to sit and relax a while. Our room had fabric on the walls instead of wallpaper and large, full curtains in the same fabric. A book of Europe's Finest Hotels (by Nicola Lecca pg 184-5) on the bedstand showcased our little Hotel Albert, a tiny building with only 15 rooms that just a few years ago had been a homeless shelter. The closet included a complimentary bottle of wine, Grandirn de Bordeaux Chateau Montaguillon's Montagne Saint Emilion 2002 from Gironde, France. The large bathroom had robes, slippers, and a beautiful assortment of little toiletry samples in pretty bottles. It truly felt like a vacation.

Downstairs the sitting room was filled with large chairs and couches that enveloped you as you sat down. There was a fireplace on one wall with little windowed cabinets on either side filled with chopped wood. The vases full of flowers were large and showy. Everything was warm and full of color. Behind the couch sat a long sofa table with a tray of alcohol on one end - a very nice honor bar. I would have loved to transport that sitting room to my house. The colors and the way it was all tied together was very comfortable and homey. I must make notes for my "dream home."

Needing a little snack and wanting to see the town, we made a dinner reservation for 7:30 at the hotel restaurant and left by foot for the city center to explore it. The walk was nice and the weather cooperative. In wet weather, it would have seemed far, but we strolled with ease down the wide city streets toward the city center. As we got closer we crossed a high bridge that traversed a deep ravine that went on in either direction as far as we could see. Below were houses nestled among the thick trees on the steep banks and at the bottom was a tiny little stream, walking trails, and more trees. The park was beautiful especially with so many colors in that leaves at that time. I immediately thought of the girls and how much they'd enjoy running around down there.

In front of us as we crossed the bridge was a beautiful old building with a large green copper tower. To our left across the ravine were several other beautiful old towers. And, as we walked, the numerous beautiful old buildings just became pasee. The city is filled with them. The closer we got into town, the nicer the shops became. It was fun to peer into the windowfronts and dream, but that was about all I could do. Luxembourg must lure in people with money because nothing in those windows was even close to being reasonable priced.

Eventually we found a wonderful little bakery and coffee shop, Les Salons Namur. The desserts in the window demanded that we stop to rest a while. They looked like something from a high end city bakery, but the atmosphere inside was very relaxed like any local cafe. Women sat and visited with each other. Mothers rocked their babies. Other than the amazing desserts and decorative chocolates at the counter, we could have been anywhere. I ordered a beautiful Framboise Torte, a Cappuccino Creme, and a petit quiche. Our coffee and desserts were served first, and our "real food" served afterwards. That's my kind of prioritization! The torte was amazing and my cappuccino with swirled whipped creme was served with a shortbread cookie. The quiche was also fabulous. I could have eaten more. My long coat slipped from my chair, so one of the waitresses there stopped to show me where the coat rack was. All the places we'd been on this trip took our coats and hung them for us. It is really nice.

By the time we left Namur, it was very dark outside. We walked to the brightly lit train station at the end of the road, then started to loop back to the hotel. Walking back a different way, we passed by a bagel shop that had Sunday hours - the only eatery on the entire walk that was open on Sunday. There were a lot of people out, but the shops were just starting to close. We walked past the church that had been in the distance before and by a military memorial with a flame burning. The bells of the church sounded in the distance - a noise I won't tire of here. They are all different, but always comforting to hear.

Going back a different way got us slightly twisted around and back just a little later than we'd expected, but it also brought us into the shopping district with Louis Vuitton, Rolex, and all the big name designers. Disappointing as it was that they were closed, it was probably best for my wallet that way. Still, it was a fun area - clean, sparkling with lights and decorated windows, Santas and ornaments, and full of treasures.

Eventually we got back to our hotel with just enough time to run upstairs, freshen up, then go back down for dinner. The restaurant of Hotel Albert is not at the hotel, so they provide complimentary taxi service both there and back. Taking us there was a very friendly Portuguese taxi driver. His English was ok, but not the best, but Spanish worked well, so we talked a bit. He'd lived in Luxembourg for 14 years and was fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, German and French, with a decent knowledge of English as well. Arriving at the Lagura, we walked up the short narrow walkway into an old house that was the restaurant. The waiter took our coats and seated us in a quiet room. The decor was completely opposite from that of the Hotel, but it's modernity wasn't unsettling. The modern chic interior actually provided a warm cozy atmosphere even amidst the grey walls and black tables. White candlelight, showy white bouquets, and lush upholstered chairs livened it up. Our waiter was young and handsome. For our appertif we chose champagne pinot noir which was excellent. I had a very nice salade cesar, then for a starter: a creamy polenta with gorgonzola cheese served with a very light pesto sauce, and a rucola salad with balsalmic vinaigrette. Mom had fresh raviolis with the thinnest dough I've ever had - it was light like paper and not at all doughy. I had saltimbocca di pollo with some sort of potato side dish. Both were excellent. Then, the grand finale! The most delectable wine: Moscato d'Asti, a muscadelle that was so light and sweet, I could have had the whole bottle. It was wonderful. Our waiter then brought another bottle over with a glass so I could try a taste of another - the moscato di pantelleria - which truly did taste "just like fresh squeezed grapes." For dessert our waiter recommended the Risotto de framboise y sorbet di cocos. I like risotto, but could never had imagined this. The risotto had been cooked in blackberry juice. It was exactly the color of blackberries and had fresh raspberries mixed into it. It was served warm and topped with fresh coconut sorbet and raspberry sauce. MMMMM. I've never had the equivalent of this dessert and I absolutely will order it again when I go back. Wow!

The driver back to the hotel was very quiet. I'm sure he was just listening to mom and I chat. At the end of the drive we heard his only words that trip and they were spoken in near perfect English which took us off guard just slightly. The hotel sitting room beckoned, so we sat to relax for a few before heading to the room for the night. Upstairs, our bed had been turned down. Chocolates sat on the corner of the blankets where they'd been folded with a note: "Mrs. Stahlbaum, we would like to wish you a goodnights sleep. Tomorrow's weather forecast: Rain. Min 2C Max 9C.

The next morning before we checked out and headed back to Germany, we enjoyed a lovely breakfast in our room. I had a flavorful cappuccino and an earl grey tea. They served a basket of fresh rolls, butter in a little silver dish, fresh fruit with yogurt that tasted homemade. The raw sugar cubes mixed in white and brown filled an old silver pitcher and the jams looked delicious. Truly, everything is relative - or so these precious experiences teach me. A decent wine in one place is nothing when you're in France. Some places just do things well. Here, in Luxembourg, and in France, all the wine is good. All the pastries and chocolates are good. It is not hard to find exceptional quality. It just is.

This place is worth returning to. I would come back here with my mom, a group of friends, Tiara for a mother-daughter weekend, or my whole family. Luxembourg City really offers a lot and deserves more than one day. Next time I'll spend at least three.

Coming home to my children after 2+ days away was nice. I'd missed them. We came home and watched Cars. So, I left my kids on Friday, I was pampered. I stayed in a castle in France and an upscale hotel in Luxembourg. I sipped champagnes and dined in some fantastic restaurants where the waiters took my coat for me and treated me like royalty. I sampled cappuccinos in two countries. I took the sugar for my tea from an old silver pitcher. Then I came home, got mobbed by children, and nestled in among them to watch tractor tipping in the Cars movie while they all laughed uncontrollably. Sometimes it doesn't make much sense, but it's still good to be home.