Prague bust redux

Well, once again we had to change our plans!

After our busted trip to Prague during spring break we targeted a three day weekend in May.  Nothing could come up, right?

So the last few weeks have been filled with craziness going back to the end of April/start of May.
We had senior prank day, and Gus decided it was an excellent opportunity to wear a chicken suit--even though he doesn't teach seniors--to school.

This was followed up by the Maibaum festival.  Gus loves Mayday!  The night before, it is tradition for the men of the town to guard the maypole so the men of the other town don't steal it.  That would be an embarrassment to the town.  They guard it by sitting near it and drinking copious amounts of beer.  Gus liked that!  If your Maibaum is stolen your town must suffer the consequences, which include ransom, performing silly tasks, and having a tarred and feathered maypole for the next year.  For Gus this was finally a reason to buy Lederhosen!

Gus looks very Bavarian!

That weekend I traveled up to Hamburg to celebrate the birthday of my good friend Frank.  Gus was going to join me, but at the last minute we decided I should go alone.  As always seems to happen when I travel by train, we had a slight delay that caused me to miss my connection and gave me a bonus hour in Würzburg.  I got into Hamburg Hbf at about 11:30 after having taught all morning.  It was incredibly crowded and we hadn't eaten, so Frank and I headed off to grab a bite.  The best place for late night anything in Hamburg is of course the infamous Reeperbahn, so that's where we went--something I hadn't done for some time.  I was pretty wiped, though, so we just grabbed some food and headed to his house.

Saturday I helped him cook (by that I mean offered moral support and took a nap) and buy drinks for the party.  That night a bunch of friends came over and we celebrated his birthday.  After they left Frank and I were both up for more, so we walked into the center of his town (Oststeinbek) and danced at their Maibaum festival.  Sunday morning we went into the HafenCity, the new, trendy section of Hamburg, and had lunch.  We even had time to ride the ferris wheel, which gave us great views of the city (unfortunately I didn't have a camera).  Because of the Kirchentage--a major church festival--which were held in Hamburg this year and were ending that Sunday, the train station was crowded for my trip home, but I managed to find a seat in the bistro car and at least had a semi-comfortable ride home.  Oh, and I arrived on time.  Gus had spent the weekend relaxing and having dinner with our friend Martin R (we know about 18 bajillion Martins here) and was there to pick me up.

The following week was only a three day week, and Thursday we headed back up to Hamburg--all of us in the car this time.  We had a relatively easy trip, and the dogs were, of course, happy to see Oma and the food she provided.  That afternoon we grilled with Doris and Karl-Heinz.  Jan and Finn were there, too.  Friday saw us puttering around Glückstadt, including walking the dogs along the dike. Omi worked hard to win over Trotsky, whom she has nicknamed "Der Russe" (the Russian) with food.  By her standards she actually didn't give them much, but the dogs loved it all the same.  Jimmy also ate a dog toy.  Not sure why, but it must have tasted good.

Wonder where Oma got that lovely flamingo . . . . ;)

The provider of all that is good--at least, that's what I think Jimmy calls her.

Saturday we had lunch with Omi, then headed to Frank's again.  We dropped off the dogs and met up with our friend Paco.  We checked out the Landesjugendtreffen--the youth event--of the DLRG, the German lifeguarding association to which I belonged in my younger days (and for which Frank and Paco volunteer).  We headed back to Oststeinbek to feed the dogs--who did NOT like the stairs to Frank's basement where they stayed--and to have dinner with his colleague Jon.  Jon is an American expat, and it was nice to talk to him--for him and for us!  Afterwards Frank, Paco, Gus, and I headed into Hamburg for the main event--Hafengeburtstag!  This annual festival is a highlight, though unfortunately we got there a bit later than planned.  We wandered through it, then headed off through the old Elbtunnel.  This is a Hamburg highlight that somehow, over the years, I'd never done.  Anyway, we walked through the tunnel, found a seat on the riverbank overlooking the bright lights of the festival and all the lovely tall ships, and sat down to wait for the start of the fireworks.  It was a good call, because instead of the cranes of the working harbor as a backdrop, we had the bright lights of the tall ships and the Landungsbrücken as a backdrop.  We watched the cruise ships come in, enjoyed the fireworks, then headed back over to the main festival where we met a guy doing his journeyman years.  For those who don't know, it's a medieval custom in which, after completing an apprenticeship, a young person sets out traveling and working his way through the world for a few years before settling down as a master craftsman.  Anyway, it was fun hearing about his travels and looking at his outfit!

Gus tries the toys at the Landesjugendtreffen

Paco and Frank

Hard to get a great pic in the dim light, but it was really beautiful.

Hamburg

Journeyman!

As the festival closed at midnight it wasn't too long before things started shutting down for the night.  We headed over to the Reeperbahn as Gus had never had the full night time experience, when Paco left us.  Since Gus had to drive back to Munich the next day (I STILL don't have a driver's license, which is another story), we took him back to Oststeinbek.  Frank and I headed right back out to dance some more.  This was partly because we both like to dance, but the main point was to get to 5am.  This is a Hamburg tradition on Saturday nights because the Fischmarkt opens at 5 on Sundays as it has since 1703.  It's a must for visitors to Hamburg, and it's another gem I have always somehow missed.  Anyway, we were able to keep dancing right through breakfast (we did not have any beer for breakfast, though it's not uncommon)!  We were headed back right as the Queen Mary 2 was pulling into the harbor, and we got back to Oststeinbek after 7.  I took a quick shower, then Gus and I hit the road.  We made great time back to Munich.

The hops is being planted

Germany is known for its widespread use of solar power.  Considering the cloud cover in these pictures  it's an impressive feat.  This is typical.

More hops!

This is rape seed.  It has an unfortunate name, but it is used to make what we call Canola oil (not rape seed oil).  A big crop here, and its bright color makes it distinctive.

It was good that we got back early, because on Monday morning Gus headed out with the 7th grade to Bolzano, Italy to see Ötzi the Ice Man.  This left me with no car, and my pre-arranged ride was using public transport because his own car was in the shop.  Monday PM I had a meeting, then took the 5:30 bus to the train in Lohhof, which was late--leaving me stranded in Freising having missed the 6:15 bus home to Zolling.  I splurged and took a cab rather than wait another hour so I could make it to the grocery store.  Tuesday morning the bus to Freising got caught in traffic, causing me to miss the train and have to wait 20 minutes.  I thus missed the early bus from Lohhof to Haimhausen, waited another 20 minutes in Lohhof, and barely made it to school by 9.  This was annoying considering I'd left home at 7!  Oh, well--I did get to read a bit of my book.  Public transport is great when you live near it, but when you;re constantly switching and live somewhere with infrequent connections it's a real drag.  At least it's available, though--better than many places in the US!

Gus returned Tuesday evening, we took the dogs to the kennel, and then we repacked.  Wednesday we headed out with the 4th grade to Schwangau.  Gus was recruited for this trip as the ONLY male chaperone--otherwise they would have had to cancel.  The secondary school was loathe to let him go, which really annoyed Kathy, the primary school principal.  She has sent 11 staffers on secondary and sports team field trips and Gus is the ONLY secondary school staffer to come on one of our trips!  Anyway, we got it sorted, and off we went.  Gus and Kathy had 11 students, while Nicola and I had the same.  Verena and Andra rounded out our group with their 11.  Each group had an Outward Bound guide as well.  The students were generally well behaved and fun, though for most this was one of the first times away from home, one of the first times in a tent, and one of the first mountain hiking experiences!  After arriving and settling the kids (and ourselves) into tents we did a few get to know you games and then headed out for an afternoon hike.  All groups had 1/3 that did great, 1/3 that were okay with some support, and 1/3 that were either whiney or otherwise struggling.  Gus's group 3 and my group 2 did the steeper of the hikes.  After spaghetti dinner (and teaching the kids how to wash dishes!) Gus got to stand outside the boys' showers while all 19 boys cycled through.

Camping German style--you know, with fairy tale castles on the hill

I even got a few minutes to read!

We all awoke around 5 to the sound of whispering, giggling students.  We managed to keep them in the tents until 6:45, when Gus agreed to supervise soccer rather than fight the battle anymore!  We left mid-morning for another hike.  This time it involved walking in a river bed, cutting veggies for lunch (new for most students), and building a water filter as part of their unit on limited resources.  It was fun, and while in the riverbed the kids didn't even notice how far uphill they had gone--quite a contrast to hiking up the groomed trails.  Our group was the first back to camp, and the kids settled in to do some quiet reflecting and painting.  Once all were back we set them to starting and tending the fire, chopping veggies, and collecting sticks for Stockbrot (stick bread--a German camping tradition in which dough is wrapped around a stick and roasted into pretty yummy bread).  Gus enjoyed teaching the kids how to start and tend a fire, pyromaniac that he is.  The vegetable soup wasn't enough for our favorite carnivore, but Andra and I both managed to swipe some sausages from the lunches and beef up the soup for the staffers.  That evening after showers we headed over to the campfire for Stockbrot.  Gus taught the kids a new version of rock-paper-scissors that's sure to be a playground hit.

We tuckered the kids out so well that they slept in on Friday morning (so did I--Gus didn't wake me), which made it a rush to pack up the tents, etc.  We got everyone going, though, and headed out to hike up through the gorge to Neuschwanstein--an AWESOME hike along the river.  We got to the top and had a few minutes to sit before our tour.  That's when the only rain (light) of the trip hit.  The kids LOVED the castle.  A quick lunch and hike down in the rain brought us back to the bus and back to Haimhausen.

The famous Marienbrücke--the bridge overlooking the castle--from below in the gorge. 

Anyway, after all of that we were so wiped out we decided to scrap Prague.  Instead we cleaned the house, relaxed, caught up on sleep, and spent Monday, which was a holiday, going into the city and FINALLY seeing a bit of it.  We went to the Deutsches  Museum, a science museum that was way too geeky for me.  I liked the boats and the airplane section, but the steam engines and turbines and stuff were not at all my speed.  Gus loved it, and I tried to be patient.  I did like the maritime stuff and would certainly recommend the museum, though.  A fair amount of hands-on, which is always interesting and fun.  We headed over to the Englischer Garten, where we watched the surfers at the Eisbach, walked through the garden to the Hofgarten, danced a bit to the classical music in the gazebo, and then had an outdoor lunch before heading home.  Bummer about Prague, but it was ultimately the right call.

We're back to work now.  Only a few more weeks of school, which is of course exciting but also terrifying.  But more on that when we're actually in the final days . . . .

. . .  and a random picture of Trotsky with his Superman cape.