Berchtesgaden, July 2016

This past 4th of July, we made a trip to Berchtesgaden Germany.  Berchtesgaden is located in the German Alps in Bavaria.  In keeping with our efforts to experience as much as we possibly can while living in Europe, we decided to stay in a Jugendherberge, or a family hostel.  We had originally reserved a family room with private bath, however, our room was given away at the last minute to another traveling family.  Apparently, at a hostel, this is not uncommon to have your reservation given away.  We stayed in a room with 4 sets of bunk beds, a small sink in the corner, and a bathroom across the hall for the entire floor.  Despite this accomodation being outside of our comfort zone, we actually enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.  Also staying at the hostel was a high school German class from Wisconsin with their teachers.  I had a pleasant conversation with the teacher about the kids and their experience in German schools.  

One evening we were standing outside the hostel, and the American students were quite rowdy in the basement where they were playing ping pong and other games.  Patrick hollered through the window, "Keep it down!  What's going on in there?!"  Our children are not used to anyone responding when they speak English.  Which is why, when an American school boy hollered back, "We're having a par-tay!" Patrick's jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out of his head.  He said, "I did not think anyone would answer!"  Teddy and Patrick had the opportunity to talk to these high school students about German and living here.  They felt so proud of themselves that they speak better German than kids almost twice their age.  After struggling for so many years, they finally got to feel the sense of accomplishment of knowing another language and not being the one who speaks in the worst in the room!

We took a bus up to Hitler's Eagles Nest.  In front of us on the bus were 4 men, with heads shaved, all wearing "edgy" black, white and red clothing, and speaking something other than German.  They all had piercings and tattoos as well.  Being married to a bald, tattooed man myself, I quickly reminded myself this could mean nothing!  After touring the Eagles Nest and coming back down the mountain, I did a little research.  Our traveling partners were most likely neo-nazis from Scandanavia. Apparently, the Eagles Nest gets quite a bit of this kind of traffic.  Needless to say, we had the full tour!  

We also visited the Konigsee (King's lake) nestled deep in the Alps.  Bavarian royalty and local rulers of Salzburg and Berchtesgaden hunted here, Hitler boated on this lake, and Eva Braun even sunbathed on its shores. We took a boat to the other side to Saint Bartholomew Church, originally built in the 12th century.  The boater stops the boat half way to the other side and plays his trumpet.  He plays a line, pauses, and the mountains echo with his trumpet sound!  

Konigsee, July 2016

Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

Eagle's Nest

Inside the Eagle's Nest

Konigsee Boat Houses

Boating the Konigsee

Playing a little foosball

Cold Alpine Water

Mountain Boy

Skipping Stones in the Alps

Little foosball with dad and his beer

Our beautiful bunch

Incredible view!

Verdun

After New Years, Germany experiences a "lull" in planned events until almost May.  One day at the end of February we were having some exceptionally good weather and decided to pack things up for the day and head to Verdun France.

I am not much of a World War I buff, but I can honestly say anyone would be after a trip to Verdun France.  I have a new appreciation for what the soldiers of World War I endured.  

The battle of Verdun began on 21 February and did not end until 18 December 2016.  It was the largest battle of World War 1 and The Western Front between the German and the French armies.  

The Germans attacked France here because they wanted to "bleed France" by launching a massive attack on a narrow strip of land that had sentimental value for the French. 

The French lost over 360,000 men while the Germans lost nearly 340,000.  The battle averaged 70,000 casualties a month.  Verdun is known as one of the longest and costly battles of life in human history.   

The landscape in this area is incredible.  The land is still riddled with massive holes from artillery.  The trenches are still in place.  Two million shells were fired by the Germans in the first 8 hours of the attack.  The attack would continue another 302 days.  

We were able to walk the route of Sargeant York through the woods outside Verdun.  After his platoon suffered heavy casualties and 3 other noncommissioned officers had become casualties, Cpl. York assumed command. Fearlessly leading seven men, he charged with great daring a machine gun nest which was pouring deadly and incessant fire upon his platoon. In this heroic feat the machine gun nest was taken, together with 4 officers and 128 men and several guns.

All in all it was a gorgeous day and a history lesson we all benefited from.  

Patrick at Verdun

Kids on French Fort at Verdun

Gun inside Verdun Fort

Artillery holes at Verdun

French Fort at Verdun/Artillery hillside

Daniel at Verdun.  Barbed wire left behind.

Verdun Fort in the forest

Boys playing in the trenches at Verdun

Trench

Boys in the trenches

Daniel and Teddy in the Trench

Trenches

Fort at Verdun

Daniel in the fort.  This fort was so damp and cold.  I cannot imagine living in there.  It was loud too.  I cannot imagine how it sounded with artillery outside.

Racks where the lucky men slept.  The others slept outside in the trenches.

Toilets where the lucky men got to relieve themselves

Verdun hillside

Life

Last Summer, I had a life-changing epiphany.  Many people may learn this lesson at a much younger age than I have, but let's face it, I can be a slow learner.  I finally learned at the ripe age of 36, that strength comes from weakness and vulnerability.

Gratefully so, I was raised to be a strong and independent woman. I was raised to be tenacious and "soldier on" through tough times.  However, somewhere along the way, I interpreted vulnerabilities as weaknesses.

For the past 12 years, I have been the best wife and mother I could possibly be.  All my strength and motivation in life stemmed from these roles.  I wanted to be the healthiest, strongest woman I could be for my family.  While living in Arizona, I was perfectly content focusing my energy on my physical health through workouts and a healthy diet.  With 300 days of warm sunshine, anything was possible, right?

German Winters have presented me with a unique challenge.  I do not "Winter" well.  As wonderful as life here has been for our family- learning a new language, Daniel's wonderful job, the family travel, not to mention all the amazing aspects the German culture has to offer, my body and mind require a bit more vitamin D. The environment ages me.  The absence of daylight hours being so far North, the cold seeping into my bones, as well as constant rain seem to sucker punch me right in the gut each and every year.  So last Summer, I decided to get proactive and devise a strategy for Winter.

Step 1:  Supplement a cocktail of vitamins to help me power through the dreary months.

Step 2:  Exercise, exercise, exercise.  We bought a rowing machine so I would have no excuses.

Step 3:  Institute explicit expectations for the kinder in this household: chores, homework, etc

Step 4:  Maintain an active mind.  Return to school and finish the Bachelors degree started 18 years ago.

Now I do not know if any one of these steps helped more than the others, or if it was the creative concoction of each and every element of the plan, but I weathered this year's Winter quite well, and now have a souvenir Bachelor's degree.

I have not blogged in quite some time, as I have been balancing my home life, freelancing, and full-time school for the past 10 months.  But now that I have completed my last classes, I am ready to do a little backtracking and fill in all the gaps.

Seasonal depression has brought me to my knees in the past.  I am now to the point where I know when the air turns cool, the leaves begin to change, and I hear the faint clinking of the first fall beer fest mugs, I should already be in a defensive stance, fists raised, ready for a possible knock-down, drag-out fight.   I can honestly say from my previous encounters with this opponent, she fights dirty!

Out of my weakness and vulnerability has come strength.  It has taken this challenge for me to realize I am writing my life's story.  I have some weigh in on what happens and what comes next.  As fulfilling as life as a stay at home mother and wife has been, I wanted to use this opportunity of weakness to gain a new confidence and strength. I have always told myself when my life is over, I want to look back and be able to say with zero hesitation-  I never wasted an opportunity.

So far, throughout my life, there is only one opportunity I can remember that I was offered and I turned down.  In boot camp after the swim test, I was offered an opportunity to take a test and see if I would be eligible for diving training.  A teeny tiny voice in the back of my head said, "You are a strong swimmer, Megan!  Stronger than most of the people out there taking the test.  Do it!"  The only reason I did not try, was because  another louder voice was telling me I was not good enough.  I lacked confidence.  I was afraid to fail.  So instead of jumping in the water, I politely declined. Now, many years later, I ask myself if I would have passed that test. So what if I had failed?  At least I would have tried.  I was afraid to show weakness.

Even though I define my current primary job as caregiver of 4 fantastic children, this does not mean I should not be setting and working towards goals.  This does not mean I should not be trying new things or learning new skills.  Some of us find it so easy to get caught up in the everyday motions of life that we forget to live: set goals, learn new skills or try new things.  I seemed to forget that my days do not need to be completely defined by making dinners, doing laundry, and helping with homework.  Those things are wonderful and I am grateful I can do these things for my family.  Call me selfish, but I wanted something just for me.

In a nutshell, I always regretted never finishing my Bachelor's degree.  I am proud to say I finished what I started.  I still regret not taking that dive test.  Maybe I should go back and "give that a go," too!  It is never too late to finish what you start or to pick up where you left off.  I have learned to find strength in my vulnerabilities and weaknesses.  I fear failure just a little bit less than I did before. I realize I have influence over my Winters and what the Spring may bring.

Rudesheim Ring Tour

Daniel and I have discussed how we are getting to the point in our time here in Germany, that it is becoming harder to find places to visit for the day that we have not seen.   This past November, we still had one day trip we had not taken yet that comes highly recommended.  The Rudesheim Ring Tour.

Rudesheim is a wine making town on the Rhine River.  This town complete with a beautiful Old Town, was originally settled by the Celts.  The original mention of this town from 1074 mentions wine making and shipping, particularly timber rafting as its main forms of livelihoods.

On this particular Saturday, we decided to purchase "ring tickets."  The ticket includes a boat ride on the Rhine, a gondola ride from the Old Town, over the vineyards up to the Germania Monument, and back down.  This particular weekend was the peak weekend for all the fall leaves.  We could not have picked a more picturesque weekend!

The boat ride was a bit chilly as it always seems to be cold in the river towns.  After a German lunch in an outdoor cafe, we perused the streets and shops of Old Town before catching the gondola ride up to the monument.   It was probably the last beautiful fall day before the weather changed and the leaves were all gone.

                                      

                                            Teddy on the Rhine River

                         

                                              Dad and Patrick at Lunch

                                
             
                                                Old Medieval Town

                        

                                                          Rudesheim

                                   
   
                                               Rowan in Rudesheim

                                    

                                      Stopping for a treat in Rudesheim

                                    

                                                Rowan in Rudesheim

                       

                             Beautiful day for a Gondola ride

                       

                             The Rhine, the vineyards, and fall leaves

                        

                                           Family photo at the top

                        
       
                                        Liam in Rudesheim

                         

                                                    Us

                          

                                                Faces their mother loves!

                                   

                                              Germania Monument

Odds and Ends

So I have a bunch of random pictures that I want to share, that really do not warrant their own "official" posting.  So I am going to post some here, and tell you all about 'em!

                  

                                      First day of the 2015-16 school year.

                            

                              Liam and Rowan after Liam participated in his
                           Protestant Kindergarten's version of The Jungle Book.
                                                 He was a monkey.  :)

                           

                                         Liam during the performance

                                     
                                 
                                           Teddy's 6th grade photo

                                     

                                 Liam in Weilerbach's annual village parade
                                 ending at the Kerwe (carnival).  The theme
                                 this year was school children.

                           

                            Halloween.  From left to right, top to bottom,
                            Jonathan Harms, Liam (scary pirate), Torben (Teddy's
                            good friend from school), Teddy (zombie), Damien Harms,
                            Patrick (werewolf on the end), Bottom row L to R:
                            Dominic Harms, Rowan (cat), Jenna Harms

                                     
                         
                               Daniel and I on one of our walks in November
                               with Belle.  We have access to some amazing
                                walking paths.


                                     

                           Same day walk.  Walking the gorgeous farm fields.



                           

                           Patrick is the elephant on the left.  His class play at
                           a school assembly

                           

                           Rowan and friend Stella on the Lantern walk.  Every
                           fall, German children walk the streets with their
                           very own made lanterns to a village bon fire where
                           kinder punch (hot kid's punch), Gluwein (hot mulled
                           wine), pretzels and other goodies are enjoyed.  The
                           children sing songs through the streets.

                                     

                                     Daniel, Liam and Rowan with lanterns
                                     enjoying the bon fire, treats, and friends.

                             

                             Last but not least, Liam with his friend Caolin at school.
                             Caolin's dad is American his mom is German.  He speaks
                              an interesting mix of both languages, picking whatever
                              word is easiest!