Life is too Short to Learn German

My thoughts exactly!

A few weeks ago, I finally cashed in my Christmas gift from TJ and we made it to Berlin!  I have only been to Germany once before and it was a very long time ago!  1987 to be exact...I was practically a baby, hehehe!   I went on a business trip to Cologne with TJ and spent a few days getting lost on my own while he worked.  I remember being overwhelmed by my inability to understand anything in the German language.  The most lost I have ever been was in Cologne while wandering the streets alone.  I did not even know the name of my hotel, or the address...rookie mistake!  That was the day I learned to always carry a matchbook or business card from my hotel with me!  This was back in the dark ages before cell phones and a paper map was my only GPS.

In 1987, before the Berlin wall came down, it was much harder to find anyone who spoke English in a restaurant or shop.  The language barrier in addition to my novice traveler status on my lost day resulted in an unadventurous lunch of pizza because I could just point and nod to place my order.  I sat alone eating my pizza, calmed myself down and tried to figure out how to find my way back to my hotel.  The next day I went on a half day river cruise just to be in a safe place, see some of the countryside and not get lost!  I even found some other English speaking tourists on the boat which made my day.  With my hotel address in hand and a clear path back to my hotel I patted myself on the back for not getting lost that day!

Back in 1987 when I had 3 children, short hair and no clue!

My safe zone in Cologne for a few hours!

Fast forward 32.5 years and I am a much more experienced traveler who remains intimidated by the German language.  No worries though, we had our own personal German speaking guide in our son-in-law!  My daughter (the 4th child who wasn't even born in 1987) can also communicate in German now thanks to her recent German classes.  All I had to do was follow along!  No escape river cruise needed.  Berlin is a far cry from 1987 Cologne...about as far as I am from 1987 Lisa.

I was awed by the history in Berlin.  To think of everything that city has seen throughout history is daunting.  I only touched the surface during my visit and I was still overwhelmed.  The city has done a great job of acknowledging and preserving its past.  The day we arrived, while trying to stay awake until a proper bedtime, we put one foot in front of another and saw many of the city's highlights.  It may have been the only sunny day of our trip and in hindsight, which is 20/20,  we were so glad we powered through our jet lag!

Crossing the river to Museum island
enjoying the "sunshine"

Berlin Cathedral

Neue Wache
Central Memorial to the Federal Republic of Germany for
the Victims of War and Dictatorship
Sculpture of a mother and her dead son

Brandenberg Gate

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe

Inside the memorial

The Memorial to Murdered Jews of Europe was a fascinating sight.  Each block is a different size and set at a slightly different angle.  They go from the lowest to the highest in the center of the memorial.  A person could definitely get lost among them.  Another interesting aspect of the memorial is that if you look closely the surface seems to be crying which almost moved me to tears.  There seems to be so many interpretations of the memorial, in my mind, and I could not help but wonder exactly what the creator had in mind.

Tears

Berlin is also full of street art!  Walking the streets, which we did a lot of, is never boring!  At first, I was a bit put off by the "graffiti" but after a while I started to appreciate it.  I still am not a fan of the random unfocused spray painted words or lines but there really is some interesting and creative art on the walls of Berlin.  We walked along the East Side Gallery but were unable to fully enjoy it because it was pouring rain at the time.  I would have liked to visit it again in fair weather.  I think seeing the street art on what was the wall between east and west puts it all in perspective.

Berlin, between New York and Tokyo

Not our Airbnb....and not my favorite street art

This one is iconic!  

This takes commitment! 
A bright spot on a gray day.

It is everywhere.  This is Berlin.

Five days is not enough time to spend in Berlin.  Especially when you are cramming in all the visiting with your daughter and her husband for the past and next several months, dodging raindrops, trying to see the many historical sights, and eat at as many interesting and delicious restaurants as possible.  Maybe I will just have to go back one day.  I will say that as far as Christmas gifts go, this one is right there at the top!

Here are a few more of my favorite photos to close.

Aren't they adorable?!

One of many...prost!

Pigeon graffiti

Best and most unique lunch spot!
Rogacki

That is TJ outside....was it something we said?

We would have been drenched without it!

Finally.....all the food!
Auf Wiedersehen

Food For Thought

If you read this blog on a regular basis, you already know that we are not home very often.  Put it on the calendar, we (yes, that even means TJ) have been home for  two weeks in a row!  Whoo hoo!  I realized this in the grocery store, of all places.  Do you know how nice it was to be able to buy food and know that we would be home long enough to cook and eat it?

When I am "away" in Nova Scotia, I am actually in one place for about 3 months.  We don't really go anywhere else when we are there.  There is no kenneling the dog, no stopping the mail or the paper and no booking flights and rental cars and a lot of cooking and eating at home.  I get to buy food at Costco plus we have a giant garden and ample opportunities to cook and serve all that food.  When we are home in Houston, we really aren't "at home" that much.  My refrigerator is proof.  It becomes one giant science project.  I go to the grocery store with  good intentions of buying fresh produce and baked goods with plans to cook healthy meals at home.  I end up cooking about one out of four of those well intended meals every week. Something always comes up!  There is the occasional business dinner or TJ goes away on a business trip (and I eat popcorn for dinner) or  I go out with friends or we end up playing golf and staying at the golf club for dinner (after all, who has the energy to cook after playing golf? ....that's my story and I'm sticking to it, don't say a word!) .  Such is the life of an"empty nester".   Whatever the situation, those well intended meals go uncooked, uneaten and fermenting.....

I am not complaining....as a matter of fact for the first 30 years of our 33 year marriage I would have gladly not cooked a meal every night.  I would have been happy if we could afford to eat out once every month much less every week.  Ah, those were the days....we had four children to feed every night so I have done more than my share of meal preparation over the years.  I still find myself unable to cook for only two people, I learned to cook for six, it's hard to scale back.  This often results in a lot of leftovers....and a few science projects in the fridge.  This week it resulted in some delicious leftovers, that we actually finished!  Looks like I need to go to the grocery store....again!  Sometimes it is just fun to cook and sometimes it is fun to make reservations... no matter what is sitting in the fridge!

A Little Louisiana in Texas

I have not given my "home" state of Louisiana much air time here on the blog....sorry.  Tonight was a little reminder to me about where I "come from".  Tonight was a lot of Louisiana!
TJ and I went out to dinner, it is the night before we fly to Boulder for our son's wedding, so I was not cooking!  We chose to eat at Rouxpour, a Cajun restaurant here in Sugar Land, Texas.  The food is actually quite authentic, whoo hoo! I opted for the grilled tilapia and vegetables though (boring)....I have to fit into that mother of the groom dress this weekend!   I did had some spinach Madeline (not exactly on the mother-of-the-groom-fit-into-the-dress perscribed diet) that rivaled my own, that's good cher!   We were in a celebratory mood so we had a couple of drinks too.  The TV's were tuned into sports, what else?  Our conversation veered to sports and we were overheard by another patron who chimed in..... "Geaux Tigers"!  One thing lead to another and soon we were in a deep conversation about LSU sports, college athletes and whether LSU should be #1 this early in the season or not.  We think NOT, ìt`s too early...let us sneak up later in the season.  The fellow we were talking to, or more accurately was talking to us, was from New Orleans, had played college football and had the biggest smile in the room.  He was exuberant!  He was happy to be talking to other Louisianians (we can relate)!  He shared his football stories with us and we shared our enthusiasm for LSU sports with him.  It was a match made in heaven.  The conversation ended with TJ telling our new friend he should go into sales and there were smiles all around the table.  Louisiana people are so friendly!
We head to Boulder at dark thirty  in the morning for our son's wedding.  It will be a Rocky Mountain High!  I hope everyone else has a fantastic weekend.....we will, stay tuned for stories and pictures.

It's All About the Food, Isn't It?

Yummy lobster roll in Freeport, ME

As I sit here eating my breakfast and start thinking about what I'm going to make for dinner tonight I am struck by the fact that life around here revolves around food!  I just returned from a trip to the States to pick up my daughter and our dog and was treated to 3 days of eating out!  This was a nice little break in the farmhouse life of no eating out!  I did not have to think about what I was going to cook, or how I was going to cook it and I did not have to do dishes...the old fashioned way!  It was a lovely break.  I think we still started thinking about what we were going to eat for dinner while we were eating breakfast though!  Yes, it is all about the food!

One day last week I was struck by how different meals are up here compared to home.  When we sit down to eat, and often there are many of us at the table, we are not distracted by the TV being on or by the events that we have to rush off to after dinner or by people at the table texting and are seldom even interrupted by the phone ringing.  Meals are also often a  communal event.  Since there are no restaurants around we take turns inviting each other over for dinner.  It gives us an excuse to  cook a great meal and in return we get a night off later in the week! 

The conversations at the dinner table up here are far different than those back home.  When was the last time you just lingered at your dinner table and chatted about....  current global events?  Local issues such as when the bridge down the road, which has been under construction for over a year, will be finished?  Whether the local organic farmers are going to make it and how we can support them?  Your long lost relatives and where they are and how they were back in their day?  When will the sun shine again?  We have good conversations around our tables, without distraction most of the time.  It is  a lovely way to spend a couple of hours!  Is it all about the food.....or is it about the meal? 

How long before this can be on my dinner menu? Although I don't even know what it is, I'm just babysitting the garden.

As much as I enjoyed eating out for a few days,  I am really looking forward to the days that I can just go outside to the garden, pick whatever is ripe and create a meal.  This month will be a month of patience as we weed and watch the garden.  The faces around the table will be an ever changing cast of characters and I anticipate the conversations will be as varied as the faces.  The dinner table is one of life's simple pleasures and should be enjoyed, even if you do have to wash the dishes....the old fashioned way!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler!

St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans

We spent the weekend in New Orleans, the Big Easy, NOLA, the Crescent City, or Paris of the South to name a few of it's nicknames.  It has been over 10 years since I had been to New Orleans.  Growing up in Baton Rouge meant that I visited the city many times a year all through high school, college and early marriage.  I never really appreciated it back then, it was just New Orleans, a place for Mardi Gras and a good time and good food.  Having visited a few other cities since those days I now appreciate NOLA for the awesome city it is.  Post Katrina it seems to be doing well and we really enjoyed our visit.

Our friends Bob and Donna met us there and they had never been before.  How fun it is to share a city with friends.  We were greeted with amazingly perfect weather for the first two days. 



Note the cloudless sky and brilliant sunshine!  Nice architecture too.





We were not greeted by beautiful accomodations.  I was a bit skeptical of our time share exchange from the start.  For 2 couples, we could only manage a one bedroom, one bath suite so one of us would be sleeping on a sofa bed, well... we are all good friends right?  When our bell dude, Nate, showed us our suite, and I use that word loosly, there was no mistaking my disappointment.  Nate picked right up on the shock and horror that I was sending his way and told me discreetly that he had another unit to show me if I was interested.  I practically ran out of the room and flew down the 6 floors to option B.  Option B was only 4 times larger then option A.  Hmmmm, let me think, how fast can you bring our bags down here Nate?  Bigger does not mean awesome, still only one bedroom and one bath but the sofa bed was a queen not a double and the bathroom had a swimming pool size round sunken tub and private dressing area so we dealt with the lack of privacy.  We thanked Nate with a handsome tip and were his good friends for the rest of the weekend.  Welcome to the Crescent City!



TJ and Donna preparing our happy, because we are not staying in Option A, hour treats!



Our weekend adventures included a lovely dinner at Herbsaint on Friday night, which happened to be walking distance from our hotel.  Heck, almost everything was walking distance from the hotel, a bonus.  We all left with happy faces and went back to our room and watched LSU beat Texas A & M in the Cotton Bowl.  Not a bad night if you are from Louisiana!



We began our Saturday with a perfect breakfast!  Here!

Cafe du Monde in the French Market



Beignets and Cafe au Lait, breakfast of champions!  Nom!



The rest of our day was spent soaking in the "flavor" of the Big Easy.  We walked the French Quarter and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the city.  There were many street performers that day, one of our favorites was a group that reminded us all of O Brother Where Art Thou.  The Saints were playing football that afternoon in a playoff game and the city was full of anticipation.  Check out this balcony.

Ready for the game!

We had the pleasure of watching the first half of the game in a local brew pub and it was standing room only.  The place erupted when the Saints did anything good.  We were there watching a football game when what to my surprise should walk by outside than a group of bagpipers and an Irish dancer!  I had to leave the game and run out to listen!  I am a sucker for bagpipes!

Gotta love a man in a kilt!

Everyone cheered when they came into the bar and played When The Saints Go Marching In.  My day would have been complete if the Saints had won the game but they lost.  Oh, well....

Our evening was an adventure.  We took the streetcar down St. Charles street almost to the end of the line.  When we got onto the streetcar it was packed full of all different types of people.  Donna says she sat next to Sammy Davis Jr.  There were other groups of visitors going out for dinner just like us.  There were students, families, loners, bums, and our driver was a real character...imagine that!  We found a wine bar where a friend's son works and were treated to several plates of delicious food and had some great wine.  On our ride back to town we ran into two groups of people who rode down with us...everyone wanted to know how dinner was!  People are so friendly in NOLA!  It was a great night!  Several people thanked us for coming to New Orleans too, they are just so happy to have tourists again.

Sunday was a different story.  It stormed all day....so we stayed in and played cards.  That is what friends are for.  We did venture out to dinner and I finally had the quintessential Louisiana dinner.  I can't believe I ate the whole thing and that is what I repeated all night long while my stomach rebelled.  To add to the joy, we had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. for our 6:30 a.m. flight.  Guess who made those travel arrangements?  Not me!

Not wanting to end this post on a sour note I have a little tour of New Orleans to end this post. Enjoy it...we sure did!

Peeking through a wrought iron gate at a fountain

One way to keep the riff raff out of your yard

The river boat Natchez on the Mississippi River

Royal Street

Just making a living.  He gets the creative use of instruments award for the day.

So, as they say in New Orleans....
Laissez les bon temps rouler! 
We sure did!