Love Us: December 2012

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Christmas Week

We began Christmas week frantically searching for a pediatrician. Owen's fever refused to subside. With our beloved doctors 4000 miles away, we need a local person we trust. Several phone calls later, I found a German practice that could see him immediately. A quick strep test solved the problem and 24hrs and two antibiotic doses later, Owen asked "When are we going outside?"

Emily and Owen begged us to let them ride their bikes to the Christmas Markets. They rode to the U-bahn, biked along the river - stopping at a playground - and found an Italian cafe where they had gelato for lunch and I had an Amaretto cappuccino. Looking at the German architecture, the decked-out Christmas booths, and the 30-foot Christmas tree, I felt like I was watching a movie.

Eager to experience Frankfurt traditions, on Christmas Eve we woke our napping children, put them on their bikes, and headed downtown for the "pealing of the bells." At 5:00 on Christmas Eve, 50 bells from 10 of the downtown churches ring together for 30 minutes. Frankfurt began this tradition in 1954. We followed the flow of people right to the city center. Then we got caught. Reminiscent of Times Square on New Year's Eve, thousands of people squished together in the small platz. We felt like we were suffocating and after ten minutes decide to get out. Tightly gripping both kids' hands, I navigated the crowd hoping to see Dave and the bikes at the other end. I could hear Owen screaming, "These people keep pushing me. I hate them," as I pulled him along. Amazingly, as we neared the U-bahn and the people cleared, we could still hear the bells loud and clear. The kids biked around the circle as we listened to the 70 tons of metal ringing in harmony.

When we returned to the apartment, our neighbors invited us for Puerto Rican pasteles, wine, rum-cream cake, and the lightening of the Advent Wreath.

After the kids set the stockings up on the floor and wrote Santa one last letter.

Santa came and we spent Christmas Day opening gifts, eating pancakes - followed by cookies - and watching movies. We never took our pajamas off.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Back in Time: Day 2

I feared a night in a boutique hotel would result in "Please stop jumping around. That is fragile. Shhh. Do you hear any one else yelling?" So, I found apartments at a farm ten minutes from Rothenburg. The kids could feed the animals and run out their energy. We navigated windey, dark, narrow roads in the rain to find this place. I stayed calm when the house number in our GPS appeared not to exist. I ignored Dave's look of distress and called the number I had carefully copied on a yellow sticky. No answer. I tried again. Losing patience, Dave took the phone. As I read him the number, he gave me a funny look. "That is my cell number."

I knocked on a random door and thankfully, he could direct us to the right farm. The kids loved the spacious rooms and the owner brought fresh breads, eggs, marmalade, coffee and juice in the morning.

After breakfast, we met the animals.

Emily loaded the buckets with cow food and brought them to the 10 cows. We learned these cows did not produce milk and were raised for meat.

We returned to Rothenburg and strolled the MUCH less crowded streets. (I strategically planned a Sunday night trip.)

The kids picked out bears at the speciality shop.

I just loved the architecture and the market.

We ended the day with delicious Chinese food and a walk on the wall.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Back in Time: Day 1

We spent a night in the Middle Ages last week. We traveled the north section of the Romantic Road to visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a small walled town that dates from the tenth century. I heard the well- preserved city fills its cobbled stoned roads with Christmas cheer during Advent so it seemed the perfect time to visit.

We started with the Kriminalmuseum (Medieval Crime Museum), four stories of torture devices employed centuries ago (or in the 2000s.) Owen, who tortured us with his wining the last hour, perked up with interest as we looked through the displays.

"What's this mommy?"

The people of Rothenburg, like in most towns during the Middle Ages, believed in a justice system requiring people to admit their crimes. To extract a confession, the interrogators employed these metal devices to squeeze heads, fingers, arms etc until the guilty (or innocent) confessed.

People wore these masks of shame in the city center when found guilty of gossiping and exhibiting bad manners.

Women engaged in promiscuous behaviors (unlike their male partners who could do as they pleased), spent time in the Iron Maiden, according to the museum.