Beanbags

Kelly: What an inagural spring weekend! Our first bikerides and our first game of beanbags. Matt won...many thanks to more of my bags being in than his, but I'm not bitter. We have lots of spring and summer beanbag playing nights ahead!

Spring!

Kelly: I think that spring has decided to creep into our sleepy German town...hopefully, to stay. A crisp frost coated the purple flowers that laid near the soil in the roadside gardens this morning. The refreshingly crisp air slowly warmed, and by mid-bikeride in mid-afternoon, we were definitely warm! We did plenty of Sunday walking last weekend in Paris (sigh), and given that we got the bikes ready for riding yesterday, we decided to take them out for a spin. We started out meandering through our neighborhood and joined one of the many bike/pedestrian trails in the region. Like many of our experiences in Germany, our expectations were violated when the trail ended without warning, leaving us to navigate the gauntlet of parked cars, street traffic, mopeds, pedestrians, and other bikers on the small town streets. It is easy to spot the American bike riders...we have our spiffy bikes with brand names blazen on the sides, and we wear protective helmets. The Germans ride older-style bikes in impeccable condition adorned with baskets, and they are dressed in casual clothing without helmets. We moved through the neighoboring town and decided to ride to our Austrailian/Surgeon friends' home in the adjacent town. We rang the doorbell and were surprised to be greeted by an older gentleman and a "good-day mate." The Aussie's parents were visiting and had not been able to get a flight back due to the volcanic ash in the air. The surgeon was at work, as usual. So, we hydrated and chatted about their recent trip to the South of France. Our trip back was not as smooth. The Aussie guided us through a pasture on to a nice, paved path. Our uphill ride was complicated by Matt's out of control allergies and frequent "snot breaks" as I endearingly named them. The day was truly splendid...one of those rare crisp but warm first days of spring when everyone is out and about. I convinced Matt to check out a nearby lake. It was sized closer to a pond, but was replete with a gastutte (beer hourse), a playground, and a few trails. We circled the pond...er, I mean lake and sat on wooden steps opposite a small railed dock area. As we chatted and enjoyed the sun on our faces, we notice that the group of children on the other side had multipled. We assumed that their parents were at the nearby garden cafe area, keeping as eye on them. The latter assumption was challenged as we watched the youngsters strip and frolick in the shallow water. This didn't alarm the parents. Cultural differences in personal responsibility or lousy parenting...we weren't sure. As more children disrobed, the growing group slowing migrated out the of the railed, enclosed water area to the open beach. Finally, a father came down from the beer garden, talked briefly to the group, laughed with them, and returned. We weren't sure what to make of it. We left soon thereafter. Another interesting cultural experience.

Runaway Blog

Kelly: Over the past month, every time I tried to log into my blog, random websites would flash on the screen. I'm hopeful that the nice people at Google have fixed it and I can continue to write about our experiences here...let's find out if this will work...