Fasching!

Prost!

Mardi Gras is celebrated here in Germany too. In the Munich area the season starts in early January and ends with Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday. During the "season" there are balls, there are both costume and formal dress parties. I did not know about these parties, I know, I can't believe it either. So I will now add it to my list of things to do next year. Always something new to try. Really.

The last three days before Ash Wednesday, Munich turns into one big party. This culminates with the "Dance of the Market Women" on Shrove Tuesday and a big costume party. Steve and I didn't experience any of this last year so we decided to check it out this year.

On Tuesday we headed into Munich at 9. We were drinking Prosecco by 9:45. Oddly enough this was recommended by Rachel's orthopedic doctor, she and I had seen him that morning (by the way she is FINALLY healed) and he has said it's more fun to watch the show if you've had one or two glasses of Prosecco. We always try to follow doctor's orders.

We watched a float make it's way through Marienplatz, we later realized it was carrying the Burgermeister, aka the mayor. And yes, Burgermeister is the word for mayor, just like in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". Do you remember, "Bugermeister, Meisterburger"? We walked over to the Viktualienmarkt, which is a huge open market, to wait for the performance.

While waiting, the people watching got better and better as more people turned up in all sorts of costumes. Also, everyone was drinking. We were surprised to see that many of the shops and market stalls had added tables out front that they had lined with drinks to sell. Butcher selling meat? Not today.

The performance started and it wasn't with the market women but with the Prince and Princess of Karnival and a troop of dancers. They did dance performances to music from the 50's all the way through current time. Once they were finished it was time for the Dance of the Market Women. We then realized these are the women who run the stands in the markets all dressed in fancy costumes. They performed a great dance to what was clearly a traditional German song since the entire crowd was singing!

Afterwards we spent time in the crowd taking in the costumes and revelry. I've included some of the best costumes here. We didn't stay long into the afternoon but we could see that it was going to be a fun, fun all night party!

Serious Witch Costumes

Who you gonna call?

There are FOUR people inside this VW!

Weekend in Luxembourg

We spent the past weekend in Luxembourg. Why Luxembourg? Rachel was competing in a middle school math competition. This weekend she was a "mathlete". Since Rachel would be there we decided this was our time to visit.

Rachel, AJ & Stefanie - Rachel's ready to fly

Rachel got to fly with her team but the rest of us drove. After dropping Rachel at the airport we made the five hour drive. A fun bonus of this trip was a hotel with a pool. We spent our Friday afternoon swimming and working out while Steve took some calls. That evening we headed to The Grund area of Luxembourg for dinner at a beer hall. While the atmosphere was cool, the service was not, but we still had fun.

Saturday was our big tourist day. We started with Vianden Castle which is 45 minutes outside of Luxembourg. It is an amazing feudal castle originally built between 1100-1400. What I found most interesting was that it was sold off piece by piece through the years. Then the Grand Duke of Luxembourg transferred it to state ownership in 1977 and it was rebuilt. 

AJ in the stocks

Stefanie in the stocks 

Stefanie and AJ make a smiley face in the castle

Next we had an awesome tapas lunch at Una Mas. The kids learned all about tapas in Barcelona and definitely enjoy it. We then spent the afternoon exploring Luxembourg City. We walked part of the Wenzel Walk and explored the Bock Promontory and the Bock Casements. Standing on top of the wall affords beautiful views of the Pétrusse valley. 

Stefanie, Dominic & AJ

Underground there are 23km of mazes that was used as part of the defense system of the city starting back in the 17th century. During WWII as many as 30,000 people took shelter in them. We also realized that we couldn't let the kids wander around here on their own or we would lose them. Luckily we figured this out before Dominic got too far ahead of us!

We explored the main plazas of the city Place de Guillame and Place d'Armes. There was even a flea market which was fun to poke around. Then we headed over to the Palace of the Grand Duke, you can only tour it in the summer but right across from it is The Chocolate House. Here you can order many different types of hot chocolate. The chocolate flavor comes as a chocolate block on a stick that you stir into your hot whipped milk. It's a delicious way to have hot chocolate. We also sampled some cake while we were there. It was a lovely afternoon break.

Dominic, AJ & Stefanie

We spent the early evening swimming and working out (notice a trend?) and then had a lovely Italian dinner near our hotel! We started our Sunday leisurely and then headed over to the International School of Luxembourg for the math competition award ceremony. Rachel's team didn't place but she had a fabulous time.

MIS Middle School Math Team

Dominic has been appointed to West Point!!!

We are so proud and so thrilled that Dominic has received an appointment to The United States Military Academy! The first step towards his goal of serving his country. Go Army!

Olympic Opening Ceremonies

AJ, Stefanie, Dominic & Rachel

For the opening of the Olympics in Sochi, we decided to continue our tradition of cooking traditional food of the country hosting. Luckily I found Olgas Flavor Factory to help me. Every single one of the recipes we tried the kids loved. Four new recipes, four new "make agains". Clearly Olga's website rocks! Rachel gets a special shout out as my sous chef. She was awesome helping me make everything!

We made Porcupine Meatballs with Cream Sauce, called porcupine because they have rice that sticks out of the sides like porcupine quills, Peppers with Potato Stuffing (the boys really liked these), Creamy Spring Garden Salad, and Apple Cookies which are incredibly delicious.

Then we had a fun night watching the opening ceremonies and trying to make sense of the Germany commentary! Go USA!!

Knödel Cooking Class

Some friends talked me into being brave and taking a cooking class in German this past week. Note, the class was in German not just in Germany.  Up until this class, my only experience with this type of food had been a plain, round, sticky dumpling somewhere between a golf ball and baseball in size. I really wasn't a fan. The class at Wirsthaus in der Au has changed my mind.

Work Table

The knödels we made were nothing like those sticky, white balls. This is not a great description but these knödel were something like a gourmet stuffing ball filled with delicious ingredients. The class was lots of fun and I even understood some of what the chef was telling us, maybe 30%, but my friends were translating and luckily a lot of cooking can be done by following the leader!

Partners in crime - Cheryl, Lana & Missy

We paired up to make five different kinds of knödel. That's when the prosecco started flowing. Definitely my kind of cooking class. My friend Lana and I made spinach, the rest of the class did beet, speck (bacon), cheese and a dessert knödel made with cookie crumbs instead of bread crumbs as a base. As a bonus we learned the perfect way to chop an onion as well as an awesome way to prepare spinach and get the water out of it.

Time to mix, with our hands!

Spinat Knödel

Andrea explaining that the dumplings will "dance" when they are properly cooked.

I have to say each and everyone one of them was amazing. The speck knödel was served in a soup. The next three were served together but each with their own sauce. The beet had a horseradish sauce, the spinach was topped with pesto and ruculoa, and the cheese was topped with a parmesan cheese sauce. They were incredibly amazing.

The dessert knödels were also terrific and served with our choice of schnapps. I tried hazelnut which did compliment it nicely.

It was a terrific way to spend the day, fun to learn something new and even a little fun to take the class in German.

Prosecco, Rot Wein oder Schnapps?

It didn't hurt that at one point this is what was sitting in front of me. Cheers!

Bar Mitzvah Fun

Rachel got to experience a special event this weekend. She attended her friend's Bar Mitzvah. This was a big deal not only for her friend Ilai, but for his friends. It was also a fancy event which meant shopping for "glamorous cocktail" dresses. Rachel and her friends had lots of fun shopping for fabulous dresses. I wish I had taken a picture of them at the store, or at least the dressing room carnage after the four of them were done!

Rachel & Mirsa

They attended the Bar Mitzvah and then a luncheon afterwards. Then in the evening it was time for the party.

Mirsa & Rachel

Rachel and Mirsa met all of their friends at the party since everyone lives all around Munich. It was held at a cool place called the Lensbach Palais in Munich and the kids had a blast dancing all night. Rachel wasn't thrilled with the extra accessory she had to wear but somehow she powered through the party!

Rachel's New Accessory

Rachel and I had a new experience in Germany today, although doing something we had a fair amount of practice at in the US. We visited the ER at our local Klinikum. Thankfully everyone speaks more English than I speak German

Last night Rachel twisted her ankle at basketball practice. She had a strong limp but we decided to try ice and ibuprofen overnight. Things weren't better this morning so off to the hospital we went. I've had a bit of experience with minor versus more serious injuries especially with Rachel and AJ (meaning I don't run to the doctor with every injury), and this didn't feel like just an ankle twist or muscle pull. Rachel by the way insisted she would be fine because there is a tournament at school this weekend that she didn't want to miss.

The doctor initially thought it was just a sprain and our fingers were crossed, but after an X-ray she was concerned that there was a small fracture. Our next step was an MRI.  They were ready for us right away which was great. However when Rachel came out she said, "Mom, I'm not sure they did the right foot". She explained to me that both feet were on the table but the left not the right was in a compartment. So I asked. The girl at the desk went to get the manager who spoke awesome English and he checked and someone had written left instead of right. Darn!  So back to the waiting room to wait for another MRI. This was a good lesson for Rachel too, when in doubt, ask.

After a second MRI of the correct and also right foot we headed back to the doctor. Yep, small fracture in the growth plate. This means crutches and the cast for 10 days and then walking in the cast for another 2.5 weeks. We also had a piece of interesting news, since they also took an MRI of the left foot they read it, and 2-4 weeks ago she had a small fracture in that ankle that she never complained about, in fact, Rachel can't remember doing anything to it. So we know she's tough.

**Update** When I wrote this yesterday I forgot to mention one thing. During all of this Rachel walked everywhere! She walked from the clinic across the hospital to x-ray, then back. Then she walked from the clinic to the MRI area and back. Then when the doctor was going to show us the MRI's, Rachel started to get up to come see too and the doctor said, "No, you can't walk now that we know your ankle is fractured". At this point it was just funny.

Lastly we learned that in Germany when you get hurt at school, school "foots" the bill!