Malu started school a few weeks ago and since then, he's been hittin' the books pretty hard. However, since he has to watch Sina during the day, it doesn't leave much time for him to focus on his schoolwork. So, he has no choice but to stay up into the wee hours of the morning (good thing he's a night owl; nocturnal, my mom says) to study or do his homework. I can only imagine what his schedule will be like once he starts going to drill again or when/if he starts working full time again. Sooooo....since we usually spend Saturday doing something fun as a familly, I agreed to give him all of Sunday alone so that he can work with no distractions.
Hence, the visit to the town of Waldenbuch (I think it's pronounced "Valdenbush", but I like to call it Waldenbooks, as in the bookstore. Do those even exist anymore?) for their Easter Market. Just Sina and I--a perfect mommy-and-me day. Oh, the weather was just so gorgeous. Waldenbuch is not very far from Patch Barracks. It took me less than half and hour to get there. And the drive was awesome....beautiful. It's out in farm country, so it was a vast expanse of green grass and wildflowers (some places where you could go and pick your own flowers and pay via the "honor system"), laden with biking and hiking trails. Everyone was out and about.
It's a small town and the market was right in the middle of it, near the Schloss (church) Waldenbuch.
Side view of the Schloss Waldenbuch
The front of the church....It was really beautiful that day. Not a cloud in the sky!
I had a terrible time finding parking...as I said, the town is small, and the roads are narrow and the place all the good spots were taken. I almost gave up. Finally, I just decided to park our huge Jeep Commander on a sidewalk somewhere. I'm surprised I didn't get ticketed.
But it was a small affair....vendors selling crafts (especially Easter eggs and ornaments) and food (you could smell waffle cones being made--for gelato) and some other displays.
You can find beautifully dyed/decorated eggs just about anywhere in Germany right now. They hang them as ornaments and I am determined to collect enough to do my own Easter tree next year.
Walking away from the church and just shopping around.
A traditional German building...this is actually a cafe and bakery. I didn't get anything, but people were outside eating black forest cake and other confectionaries. Yum!
Waldenbuch is also home to the Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory. Malu, Sina and I had visited the place when we first got here and since I was in the area, why not stop by and stock up on more chocolate? So I splurged...and I'll be giving some away on here sometime soon! In the vicinity of the chocolate factory was a small flea market where I was able to buy some Easter ornaments on the cheap.
I was bummed that Malu wasn't with us. He would have enjoyed it, but he also got tons of work done at home that day. Next year, we're definitely going to another town for Easter market--and we'll drag Malu out with us!
It's been such a busy week so far and thank goodness it's just about halfway done! I can't wait for the weekend already!
