Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival 2012

It's that time of the year again!  I LOVE FALL!  You guys might remember me posting about this last year. The Finch Family ladies drove down to visit and join us at the Ludwigsburg annual pumpkin festival.  We took Vaiosina for the first time last year and she loved it.  I swore last year to go again this year.  It was so fun to share this with our good friends yesterday afternoon.  The weather was absolutely beautiful too.

 

The festival is held at the Ludwigsburg Palace, which in and of itself is a sight to behold. Last year's theme was dinosaurs.  This year's was Switzerland.  We saw a Swiss Army knife made of pumpkins, as well as the Swiss Alps, some Swiss farmers, cows and other things we really couldn't figure out.  The fairy tale children's garden was there and we went on a boat ride and visited Rapunzel's tower.

 

The best part, of course, was the food.  We had pumpkin bratwurst (which Vaiosina enjoyed much more this year), pumpkin fries, pumpkin muffins, and pumpkin soups.  I even snagged 4 bottles of pumpkin wine, which I remembered from last year.  It's so crazy to see how much Vaiosina has grown from last year. 

 

Yesterday also made us miss Malu.  Last year, we went later in October and it was so much colder.  I have fond memories of sitting on haystacks near the bonfire with him and with Vaiosina staring so intently at the flames.  I also remember Malu trying to feed Vaiosina to one of the dinosaurs.  Fun times. 

 

Anyway, here are some pictures!

 

 

The pumpkin festival goes until the end of October.  My mom will be visiting us and arrives on Tuesday. I'm going to take her to see this.  No reason to limit this year to one visit.  Plus, I need a reason to go back and get more pumpkin wine!

 

Hope everyone is enjoying the weekend!

Hamburger Fischmarkt

Wow!  It's been such a long time since I've posted that I almost forgot my login password to this blog!  It really is sad that I haven't been consistently updating my blog.  You guys have been missing out on so much in our lives.  We've been BUSY!  What's worse is that I haven't been providing statuses on how much Vaiosina has grown in the last few months.  No worries though...I plan on catching you guys up.  I also plan on giving this blog a little makeover, but let me just get to business for now.

Malu is out of town due to yet another TDY.  So it's me and my little bug for now.  We spent most of the weekend relaxing at home.  This evening, I just wanted to get out and do something fun--not to mention, I had nothing planned or cooked for dinner. 

The Hamburger Fischmarkt has been going on downtown for the last week or so.  Not too sure what the story behind this festival is, but I did some Googling.  The original Hamburger Fischmarkt (Hamburg Fish Market) is a 300-year old market located in the city of Hamburg, which is six hours north from where we live.  Hamburg is Germany's second largest city with an 800-year old harbor that is one of the largest ports in the world and the second busiest in Europe.  The fish market is a huge open-air market showcasing all kinds of seafood, fruits, nuts, flowers and teas from all over the world.  It sounds a lot like the Pike Place Market in Seattle to me.

Anyway, the city of Stuttgart brought the some of the sights, sounds, and definitely the tastes and smells of the Hamburger Fischmarkt in the form of a festival right in the middle of downtown.  As with any festival located in downtown, it was crowded and a pain in the butt trying to maneuver Vaiosina's stroller in and around it.  However, it was fun and we had some really good eats.  Despite some drizzling, the weather was comfortable (although breezy) and I managed to enjoyed myself.  I think Vaiosina enjoyed herself as well.  There's not much complaining once you give this little girl a cup full of ice cream :)

In this picture, we're nearing the entrance to the festival.  I tried my best to get a shot of those flags that said Hamburger Fischmarkt.

Fried seafood galore!  Calamari, fish sticks/nuggets/paddies, shrimp, mussels...you name it!

They even had shrimp scampi.  See that big pan?  It was filled up with scampi.  Yum!

What's a fest without beer?  Here's Sina enjoying her ice cream next to this mini bar.

Okay, so these kinds of sandwiches are sold everywhere around here.  I believe they're herring sandwiches.  The fish is served sashimi style (ugh..raw!), with sweet mayo, pickles and onions. There is nothing or no one on the face of this planet that could possibly convince me to try one of these.  What do you think?  Would you try it?

Our dinner a.k.a. "heart attack waiting to happen."  I didn't finish it all, but it was delicious!

Strawberry wine.  I held off on this for obvious reasons :(

A ship bar.  Too cool!

So that fruit basket...there was a booth where these guys put out about 20 or so baskets and tossed all kinds of fruits into them--grapes, plums, nectarines, pineapples, apples and oranges.  You see it's filled to the brim....we got it for 10 euro (which is like, $12).  What a steal!  Truth be told...I really wanted the basket.  Vaiosina loves those grapes!

We called it quits after about two hours.  And only in Germany (or maybe in all of Europe) will you run smack dab into a completely different festival on the way back to your car.  We did some browsing for a while then made our merry way home.

Like I said, I'm extremely behind in posting, but will do my best to get you guys caught up to speed!  I kind of hated that I was in such a blogging funk.  Time to get back to it!

Happy Sunday everyone!

And Then There Were Two

Easter trees, I mean.  Not another baby, which I'm sure my parents would love to be true.  So remember a few weeks ago when I posted about our German Easter tree?  Well, at that point, there was only one.  Let's just say that I've amassed quite the collection of Easter eggs and ornaments.  So, now there are two!

 Around this time, you can find lots of cool branches (some painted) at the farmer's market and some floral shops.  I got a bunch of them and actually had to put them all in a big vase.  Would you believe that I snagged that vase for $1 at a flea market months ago?  I love it.  I've since added over half a dozen more eggs, most of which were painted by my friend, Zinda.  Sadly enough, I don't have any pictures of the beautiful eggs she painted, although a few are pictured here.  Even Sina knows which ones she painted.  I have such talented friends!

Anyway, these are pics of three eggs I picked up at the spring bazaar on post a few weekends ago.  See how those holes have been carved into the egg? 

The design on this one is made of candle wax.

This one is just hand-painted.

Now, here's the second tree...also known as Sina's Easter Tree.



No eggs, just lady bug and bumble bee ornaments that I picked up at an Easter market last year.  I'm definitely going to add to this one next year.  I've only got one more year left of this, so I need to get a move-on on stocking up!

When Malu returned from training, he noticed that the house was particularly decked out for Easter (both inside and out) and loves it.  It's been so much fun.

The fun will continue this weekend because we're spending it in Prague with Team Finch.  And...there's going to be a huge Easter market there!

That being said, it's a short week and I'm already ready for it to end!

I owe you guys tons of posts.  We had an absolutely gorgeous weekend in Stuttgart and spent it downtown and at the zoo.  I'll have to try extra hard to blog about it this week! 

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!



Fireworks!

You would have thought we were right in Times Square the way the fireworks were going off here in Stuttgart!  It's been years since I've lived in a place where fireworks are legal.  I mean, they sell them in the grocery stores around here.  In Colorado, my brother has to drive to Wyoming to buy fireworks he's not even permitted to use on the fourth of July.  He would have gone nuts here!

We spent NYE at our friend's house off post and it was crazy!  They popped off for almost an hour.  We personally didn't have any fireworks.  Instead, we had some sparklers that Sina was able to try for the first time.

It was reminiscent of New Year's Eve celebrations I'd spent with family in Hawaii.  We'd have a million sparklers lined up outside while my uncles set off their fireworks in the driveway.  It was so much fun!

Anyway, here's a video clip I took that evening.  Enjoy!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays as much as we did.  We're not quite done taking down our Christmas decorations.  To be honest, I'm going to miss having our Christmas tree in the living room.  Sina wakes up every morning asking for it and still says "Oooooooooh!" every time I turn the lights on.  I guess this just makes me more excited for next year.

I can't believe it's back to the grind tomorrow.  I'm dreading work with every fiber of my being.  On the positive side, we'll be having short weeks for pretty much the rest of the month.  We have another training holiday and another day off for MLK, so this year is already feeling like it's off to a great start.

Well, everyone enjoy the last of the weekend and have a great week!

Frohe Weihnachten! {Stuttgart Xmas Market, Part II}

Last Friday, we took the Finch Family to the Stuttgart Christmas Market since Malu and I had such a blast the first time we went.  We had a slight hiccup that morning.  We were actually supposed to take the train to Strasbourg, but it didn't quite work out.  For our large party, it was going to cost us almost $500 to take the intercity train all the way down there.  Heck no...not for a two-hour drive that would only cost us almost a full tank of gas.  So, since we were in downtown Stuttgart anyway, we settled for going to the Christmas market just a short walk from the train station.  How convenient!  Strasbourg was going to have to wait another day.

The problem with going to the Christmas market on a Saturday?  The crowds.  I mean, it was hella crowded.  But not crowded enough to ruin the afternoon/evening.  We had such a great time.  We actually stayed out until the late evening, which either family normally doesn't do because of the babies and their bedtimes, the hassle of it all, etc.  But we braved it anyway and it was totally worth it. Because I took so many pictures...I had to narrow them down to a few that I thought everyone would enjoy.

It was rather chilly that day, but it was perfect because there was no rain!!!  Anyway, we immediately set out to look for some gluhwein and to start collecting our gluhwein cups.  Every place has a different kind of cup or mug and we probably picked up about 3 or 4 that day.  What's nice is you pay a deposit on the cups when you buy the drink.  If you choose not to keep the cup, you just turn it in and get your deposit back.  It's the same with some of the dishes that your food gets served in.  I actually walked around with a dish full of spaetzle (noodles) at one point.  People looked at me weird, but hey, I paid a deposit and turned it in when I was done!  We did some shopping, some munching, and--to be honest--a lot of gluhwein-ing.

And we all actually learned to say Merry Christmas in German that day.  Frohe Weihnachten! 

Madisen, the cute 4-year old belonging to Team Finch, is absolutely adorable.  She loves getting piggy back rides from Malu.  They posed in front of the life-size nutcracker.  The German Pyramid Windmills are a mainstay during the holidays, or you can see them year round at a local Kathe Wohlfahrt store.  This is a giant version of the windmill perched atop a Kathe Wohlfahrt kiosk at the Christmas market.  There, you can purchase miniature ones.  They are so ornate and intricately decorated.  Heat from candles at the base turn the windmill at the top.  I'll be buying one of these before I leave Germany...for sure!

At night, everything is lit and you just ooh and aah at the splendor of it all.  One of the best parts of the evening was listening to a live choir inside the Altes Schloss (or Old Palace).

 We stood amidst a large crowd in that palace and people around us were dancing and singing joyfully with the choir.  It was especially fun when we sang Jingle Bells.  The other best part of the evening was ice skating with Madisen.  Yup...there was an ice skating rink out there.  I hadn't been on the ice in..well...ages.  And Madisen chose me to take her skating.  Needless to say, I had to call for backup.  I snapped a cute picture of Madisen and her mama, Mattie.  Easy peasy for Mattie...she "skated" in her normal shoes!

We decided to go and warm up at a restaurant and have some dinner.  The pick?  Sushi!  I also hadn't had sushi for ages until then.  It was dee-licious!  While we were there, I was able to take a picture of little Mackinley, the newest addition to Team Finch at 7 weeks old.  What a cutie.  And there's Malu and Madisen with our yummy sushi!

One thing was for sure...we were all exhausted when we got home.  It's not easy being out all day and carting around three kids.  Still, we got our rest and headed out to Strasbourg the next morning.  I promise...I'll be telling you guys about that too!

In the morning, Malu, Sina and I will be heading out to link up with Team Finch in their neck of the woods.  Yup, we'll be spending Christmas weekend with them.  Guess we just can't get enough of those guys!

Please keep us in mind as we travel on the roads.  And everyone enjoy your Friday!

Be Still Our Hearts...

Team Finch is in the house!

The last time they were here, they were a party of three.  Today, they're a party of four and we get to spend time with little Mackinley Elise, who's a 7-week old angel.  More pictures of her to follow.

We're having a blast already.

Madisen and I spent some time making this German gingerbread house.  Isn't she just the cutest?  Sina was in the background playing with the cool toys she received as gifts.  Otherwise, she would have made an appearance too.

On a side note, this Germany gingerbread kit required us to mix our own icing.  I mean, I had to break out the Kitchenaid, beat an egg white and add it to the icing powder.  Not that it was hard to do, it's just that you open the box expecting to go at it, but nope!  Mix your own icing!  Whatever, it was still tons of fun.

And look at that face!

We're off to Strasbourg tomorrow and we're taking the train!

Stuttgart Christmas Market

Christmas Markets, or weihnachtsmarkt or Christkindlmarkt {literally translated, Christ child market} have opened everywhere in Europe.  It's basically a street market in celebration of Christmas during the four weeks of Advent.  In any major city, even small cities and towns, you'll see Christmas markets in the city/town center.  The place is adorned with lights and Christmas decor and there are tons of vendors selling trinkets, ornaments, and even some household gadgets.  Most importantly, traditional regional foods and nice, hot drinks (to keep you nice and cozy warm) are sold.  Here in Germany, you can enjoy a fine mug of gluhwein (hot, spiced red wine).  It's just an all around fun time for the entire family.

This past weekend, we went to the Stuttgart Weihnachtsmarkt.  We went in the evening and the weather was just perfect.  No rain or heavy winds, and it was probably in the low 50s.  Like I said -- perfect!  We had a marvelous time!

Here are some pics!

Clockwise:  A typical ornament stand; A bunch of beautiful ornaments; Sweet treats--thos big hearts are gingerbread cookies; a life-sized Advent Calendar.  The building is the Stuttgart Rathaus or City Hall.

Clockwise:  Star lanterns--I love these!; Malu and Sina in front of the life-size Nutcracker; I was able to find some herbs de Provence that I couldn't find at our commissary; and me buying chocolate-covered everythings.  Delish!

Clockwise:  Santa Claus ornaments; Since we weren't in a drinking mood, we settled for some heisse schokolade or hot chocolate.  It definitely hit the spot!; We were starving that night and helped ourselves to some wurst, brotchen (bread) with sauerkraut.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Clockwise:  Mommy & Sina; the display atop the tent that we bought our dinner from; visiting the Kathe Wohlfahrt where I bought Sina that Advent Calendar music box to the far right; more lovely ornaments in my favorite color!  

                                                                                                                          

I also bought traditional German straw ornaments and had some freshly roasted chestnuts to go with my hot cocoa.  The sights and sounds were intoxicating!

As I said, there are tons of Christmas Markets going on all over Europe and we intend to visit a good amount of them before we move back to the states.  As a matter of fact, our friends are coming into town this weekend and we intend to visit the Strasbourg Christmas Market.  My favorite city!

It's rough being away from family during the holidays.  I mean, there's no place like home for the holidays, seriously.  However, Germany does Christmas like nothing I've ever seen and we're enjoying every bit of it.  More to come on the holidays you guys!

Happy Wednesday to All!

Boy Toys

I wouldn't call Malu a car enthusiast, but there's something about fast cars, or maybe just cars in general, that just makes a guy go goo-goo ga-ga.  Ever since we moved to Germany, Malu's exclaimed on more than one occasion that wants a fast car--a muscle or sports car--like a BMW, a Mustang, or a Dodge Charger.  I mean, imagine what it's like for him to be on the autobahn in our tank of a Jeep Commander and getting passed by fast car after fast car.  He likes to joke that he's in a quarter-life crisis and that I should allow him to get his fast car.  I deny this request vehemently.  The thought of him speeding around on the roads just freaks the heck out of me.

There's a place in Stuttgart called Meilenwerk.  It's a place where you can purchase high-end luxury and sports cars.  It's a place where people who own these kinds of cars can work on them or have them serviced.  There's also a museum with classic cars, a hotel and a few restaurants.

To me, the placed reaked of carbon monoxide and I surely thought one of us was going to pass out from the fumes.  To Malu, it was heaven.  We saw classic and new Mercedes and BMW vehicles.  There were Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Porsches and Maseratis with million dollar pricetags.  Wow!

Funnies (and cuties) from that day...

~Looking at a used Mercedes, Malu says, "Babe, this one's not bad.  It's only 59,000 Euro."  Yup, what a sweet deal, babe.  That's like $80,000.

~Sina kept saying "car" or in Sina-speak "cah-yee".

~Sina sported her black tutu, leggings, and her smokin' furry black boots from her Uncle Jon and Aunt Jolene.

~Malu saying, "I'd totally buy one of these cars if they could transform into a house that we could also live in".  For real?

I'd say that another cute thing was Sina tap-tapping on a quarter-million dollar McLaren, but it got me in hot water with Malu since she was on my watch at the time.  That was no bueno.

Malu has admitted that he really doesn't want to buy a sports car.  Thank goodness because there's no way we want another car payment.  He said that if I let him rent a fast car that he can take to his next drill in Grafenwoehr, he'd be forever in bliss.  I've been looking around you guys, but the fastest cars that get rented out here are BMWs and Mercedes.  What to do?  I guess I'll keep on looking.  And at least he's easy to please :)

On a totally random note, Sina was using one of those harness-leash things and wonder if people think it's a weird thing to do. Is it? We can't help it though. Sina hates being in her stroller and doesn't want to be carried for too long. Boy, does she love to explore. She is a big girl and she wants to go everywhere on her own!

Well you guys...yet another week has arrived.  Can you believe that we're under two weeks away from Thanksgiving?

I can't wait!  Have a great week everyone!

Pumpkin Festival @ Ludwigsburg Palace

Warning:  Picture Overload!

On my last post, I talked about the fabulous Ludwigsburg Palace.  Well, every year (late September until early November), the palace holds an event called Bluhendes Barock, or Baroque in Bloom.  Baroque refers to the architectural style of the palace as well as the gardens and I believe when they say Bloom, they're referring to the fall harvest.  

Part of this event is the annual pumpkin festival, which takes place in the gardens and behind the palace.  There is a place within the gardens called the Marchengarten, which is essentially a fairy tale garden that is quite the adventure for the little kiddos--Vaiosina included.  There was a boat ride, "magic" water fountains, Rapunzel's tower, and all kinds of exhibits that portrayed our most beloved childhood tales (i.e. Pinocchio, the Frog Prince, Hansel and Gretel).

I believe every year, the same dinosaur theme is used throughout the grounds.  There were all kinds of dinosaurs covered in pumpkins.  Speaking of pumpkins...I have never seen so many different kinds of pumpkins in all shapes and sizes.  I mean, there must have been hundreds from all over the world.    I especially enjoyed seeing all of the colors.

Of course, what's a pumpkin festival without your pumpkin-themed foods.  As soon as we got there, we smelled pumpkin seeds being honey-roasted.  The first thing Sina said was "Mmmmmmmmm!"  We had pumpkin bratwurst (Amazing!  You could actually see the seeds in the sausage!) with brotchen (bread roll).  We also had pumpkin-potato pancakes with applesauce and gluhwein (which is spiced, sweet red wine served hot).  Yum-o!  And of course, the token beer tents were out there too.

I mean, there was tons to see and do.  There were animals (tons of apiaries, goats, and geese), a facepainting booth, a pumpkin carving booth, pumpkin carving artists showing off their skills, and shopping tents (where I bought pumpkin wine).  There was even a fire pit, which was nice because it was a bit nippy that day, as well as a live band.  Life was especially wonderful that day.

Anyway, there are tons of pictures, so I'll just let them do the rest of the talking.

Holy huge pumpkins!

The entrance to the Marchengarten!

Boy, was she excited about the boat ride.  As we waited in line, she repeatedly said, "row, row, row" as each boat passed by.  So cute!

This really hit the spot!  Gluhwein and Pumpkin Potato Cakes with Applesauce.

She LOVED that fire!

Rapunzel's Tower.  You can't see it, but off to the tower's left side is a long braid hanging out of the window.  The place was beautiful!

We decided that Sina has become too much of a liability.  And T-Rex looked hungry!

A neat water fountain.

Another palace across the street.

The back side of the Ludwigsburg Palace.

We are definitely going to make this an annual event for our little family.  I hope you all enjoyed a small taste of Germany.  With the holidays quickly approaching, we'll be showing you lots more!

Ludwigsburg Palace

Yesterday, we spent a beautiful (but chilly) fall afternoon in Ludwigsburg, a city about 20 miles away from here.  The Ludwigsburg Palace is one of Germany's largest palaces built in the Baroque style.  It has an enormous garden, also built in Baroque style.  The place was just exquisite.  Beautiful.  The grounds were extensive and we walked just about every inch of it--even Sina!  And she didn't tire one bit.

For those of you that didn't know, Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wurttemburg.  This palace was once the primary residence of the Dukes of Wurttemburg.  I wish we could have seen the inside, but the place was bustling with activity.  I think there were two weddings going on, some band event was being held in the courtyard and the annual Pumpkin Festival was being held in the gardens (which I'll post about later).

Here are some pictures from our stroll about the palace grounds.  As you can see, there's a huge pond and water fountain in front of the palace that Sina could not take her eyes off of.  She would have stayed in front of it forever.  She also loved the roses and all the other flowers.  As we walked through, I thought about my Grandma Ines, who absolutely loves roses.  She would have been in heaven visiting this place.

She's staring at the water fountain.  We had a difficult time pulling her away.

She and Malu played hide and seek.  So cute!

The courtyard.  Some of the original buildings still exist, after several refurbishments. One of the two buildings on the right-hand side is one of the oldest preserved theaters in Europe.

The colors of fall are omnipresent here at our for-now home.  We love taking drives through back roads and along the highways just to be in the middle of it all.  I hope you all are enjoying the fall weather in your own neighborhoods.

Anyway, I'll try to post about the Pumpkin Festival tomorrow!

Have a great week everyone!