Somebody Stole My Apple

This weekend we drove to Leipzig to see a Coldplay concert. A good friend of ours came along to play PJ's self-proclaimed nanny (more on that later; he did an awesome job!). On the five hour car ride over, PJ took a monster nap and then we stopped for a snack and coffee.

There PJ decided that sliced apples are not for him, he'll take the whole apple, please.

The apple slice.

The rejected apple slice.

The full apple. That I wanted to eat.

I want my apple.

I aint getting my apple.

Sad mommy.

Happy PJ.

Very happy PJ.

Happy family. Notice who still has the apple.

xo

Colorado in the House

This week a Colorado cousin and two of her college friends stopped over in Heidelberg as part of their six week trip around Europe. Together we took a quick tour of the Thingstätte (in German only) and the monastery ruins above Heidelberg, followed by the mandatory Heidelberg castle tour by yours truly.

It was good fun to meet two new good people and get to know my cousin a little bit more. Listening to their stories and their plans, I was reminded of the awesome trips from my late teens and 20 around the US and the world, first to Spain, Bolivia, and then all over Europe with a short pop to India, and finally New Zealand (link leads to collection of all New Zealand related posts) and Australia. Those trips changed my life: it changed how I think, feel, and act. They opened my eyes and my heart, leading me away from where I shouldn’t and couldn’t be and bringing me to where I should be - which is here with my Mr. Onion awaiting our first little bundle of joy.

Looking back the trip that I carry with me the most was also my first time out of the US when I went to Spain to study abroad. It was tough and lonely and frustrating and a hell of a lot of fun. It was also the first time I realized that just because I’m American doesn’t mean I’m right. That my normal isn’t necessarily normal to everyone and sometimes my normal is just super weird. That history is written by the victor but that doesn’t mean the victims or the losers or the not-quite-victors have lost their voice or have nothing to say. And that sometimes I will be the victor and sometimes I won’t.

What about you - what trip(s) do you carry with you?



xo

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

The Mr. made a new friend during our trip to US: a horse. I can’t say it was love at first sight on either side:

but with a little get-to-know each other time,

and a small amount of instruction for the Mr.,

both the Mr. and the horse got comfy and by the end we even got a smile from everyone involved.

Turns out strange friendships aren’t unknown in the barnyard.

In case anyone is interested in what an electric fence shock feels like, the Mr. can provide a detailed description. This is him a minute after he confused the fence with a guardrail and got a real shock.

Thanks to Little One for the riding lesson!

xo

We’re All Getting Older

The Mr. and I flew to the US two weeks ago to visit family and friends and enjoy two baby showers (more on those later, promised). After an almost 24 hour trip door-to-door, we showed up at my little brother’s apartment. I was jet lagged, exhausted, and the little boy was disco dancing around in my belly – which made it quite difficult for me to make sense out of this picture.

Yes, those are three quite muscular manly-men chilling on the couch with glasses of wine.

Dear Lord, we are all getting older.

 
 
xo

Not Easy But Worth It

Time to come clean: I’ve been having a difficult time writing about our time in Moscow. I’m thankful for the opportunity to have visited and to have had the chance to spend quality time with one of my favorite people – lovingly nicknamed Cold Snob – as well as meet one of the most energetic and entertaining young women I’ve had the pleasure to meet.

Indeed, the visual images and moments deeply touched me. Just to share a few of the best:

The imposing state museum:

The intricate ice sculptures built both inside and outside:

The majestic Red Square:

The newly rebuilt and exceedingly golden church in the center of Moscow:

The arresting changing of the Kremlin guards:

The still and impressing Kremlin:

But unfortunately three large themes also impressed me, and a not so positive way: media, equality of nations and races, and equality of women.

We arrived in Moscow shortly before the airport bombing that killed 36 people. With some very helpful translations, we experienced the initial Russian media coverage. The words “independent” and “free” didn’t and don’t spring to mind. Like one of the buildings dedicated to news coverage (next pic), the words “imposing,” “controlled” and “structured” do.

We might have missed experiencing Russian media completely or at least the emergency media coverage without the bombing tragedy. We might have also missed the underlying – and not quite so underlying – racism within the Russian society.

I need to add an disclaimer here: we were in Moscow for one week only and our contact to the average man was limited due in great part to language limitations. However, it did appear to me that the general populace holds the belief that the “pure” Russians deserve better pay, better treatment, and while beating the hell out of the “others” isn’t necessarily to be encouraged, it might not be all that bad either.

Which puzzles me because the best food we ate during our visit - and I continue to claim that cuisine tells us a lot about a culture, look at the American and German for proof points - were all absolutely not Russian. Georgian was the absolute best; if you haven't eaten it yet, run to the next resturant. Unfortunately we ate that meal so quickly there aren’t any pictures. So here’s a yummy and recommended Uzbekistani dish: fowl stuffed with lamb.

Lastly, while the women may exude a certain strength and remarkable beauty, it appears that they hold a second (at best) place in society. I can get really militant about this topic – so I’m cutting myself off.

With all that finally off my chest, lets return to the good stuff – did I mention Moscow is beautiful? Even at night and especially from above.

Summary: Moscow should definitely be on your list of places to visit, just don’t expect an easy experience if you think too much.



xo

For the Record: Cher Got It Wrong

Its January, we’re in Moscow visiting a friend and – surprise, surprise – its freezing cold. Free-zee-ing cold (and that is the nice version). When we leave the apartment each day, I’m wearing at least thick wool tights with feet, jeans, t-shirt, sweater, winter coat, scarf, hat, gloves and wool lined boots. Most days I have another layer on top, like a second jacket under my thick winter coat, as well as an additional pair of socks. Yet, I still find myself shivering within ten minutes of being outside. 

This picture was taken 5 steps away from the apartment. Yes, I’m already cold. Yes, my dear friend - lets just call her the Cold Snob - is laughing AT me.

But I plead basic sanity in my defense. It is cold here and I offer four pieces of evidence to prove my argument.

A - This is a city that clears its snow with a digger. A digger.

B - This is also a city that has an army of men who spend their entire day cleaning snow off of the top of buildings. 

C - This is a city covered in ice for a good part of each year. There is so much of it, that the sidewalks would be better purposed as skating rings.*  

D – This is a city that has to cordon off parts of sidewalks to protect pedestrians from getting killed by the “small” icicles hanging around in the city. 

So its free-zee-ing cold here. 

Which brings me to: For the record – Cher got it wrong. Love isn’t in his kiss – its in his willingness to swap his much warmer hat for your far too thin one just because your head is cold. That’s love.  

xo

*The women of Moscow have the incredible talent of bucking basic physics and walking on ice in stiletto boots. This was just one of many, many woman who gracefully and quickly tour around the city balancing on….what exactly are they balancing on?

Goodbye 2010 - You Were Good to Us

2010 is coming to an end and I, for one, cannot believe that it has already been one complete year since we celebrated the beginning of 2010. So much happened this year, most of it really good and some of it, eh, well, not so good. But like all good personal historians and people who chose to remain sane, I find myself concentrating on the positive.

The Steinbach Clan celebrated our first year of happy matrimony as well as many small moments of shared happiness like this one, this one, and this one. The Mr. also finally revealed to the world his dance moves.

2010 brought some pretty significant changes to how I view myself:

• I started responding to “Frau Steinbach” with the understanding that its me.
• I finally got unlimited German visa, more than seven years into this adventure.
• I started writing again – even trying some new stuff like fiction and attending two excellent workshops one in Scotland with Joanna Paterson and one in Ireland with Irene Graham
• I started growing towards the role of mother.

2010 did include a few sad moments. I lost a dear friend and faithful writing fan. The Mr. and I also said goodbye to our little Peewee. Happily, I reached 30 and finally broke the curse of crappy even birthdays. Thanks again to everyone who helped celebrate my new decade!

But we sure did travel a heck of a lot this year:

• Ireland
• Italy (where we came home with a little bun in the oven)
• Vancouver and unlimited Sushi (yes, it turns out this was my highlight looking back)
• Our honeymoon in New Zealand – there are so many blogs, but I chose the one that remained in my heart at the highlight
• London
• Scotland

xo

Fun Little Tidbit – Sharing Shoes

The Mr. is about 4 inches taller than I am. I can easily fit the top of head under his chin. Yet, we wear the same size shoe. It is fun for me because I get to slip into and out of his shoes whenever I want to. The Mr. loves this about me, almost as much as when I hound him about new home improvement projects. It isn’t as much fun for the Mr, since he isn’t really all that interested in the majority of my shoes.

While in Italy the Mr. and I took a hike and his bad knee started hurting again. That made him not happy.

I was wearing my Nike Free, so we decided that we’d take advantage of our identical shoe size and swap shoes.

It was a successful change. We both got to enjoy the rest of the hike pain free, including:

A view onto the lake

Fairy mushrooms



The valley where we got engaged. We sat underneath the tree that has been since been cut down.



And even took a little moment for a kiss.

xo

Ze Germans are Everywhere!

And aren’t they great.

I’m in Ireland this weekend and I first had the great pleasure of driving the wonderful (sarcasm meant) Irish roads in the dark to a location I’ve never been to before. It was a lovely, non-stress experience (sarcasm meant, again). But I did indeed find my target location without major incident and only a few wrong turns, and aren’t we all pleased about that one?

In the super cozy pub attached to my hotel I accidentally met some excellent tourists on their first trip to Ireland. They just happened to be from Germany. Since they will most likely never read this blog - though I totally pitched it to them - and I have no photographic proof…my view of the conversation.

Over Guinness and cider we talked about all those topics one “shouldn’t” talk about: politics, the history of Germany, the status of foreigners, the craziness about September 11, 2001, and comedians. I know I should have enjoyed the comedians part the most - but I actually appreciated their trust and openness in covering the other topics with me, a certified foreigner. I even have the accent, American passport, and German visa to prove it.

So this is my open letter to them. Thank you Robert and Anja for sharing your views. Thank you for being controversial. And thank you for referring to us, the foreigners, a part of the greater society, as “ausländische Mitbürger".

Thanks for a great evening. Next beer is totally on me.

Images of Italy

Last week we enjoyed a full week in Italy, along the Lago Maggiore - also known to yours truly as “the center of the beautiful world.” In the case that you doubt said title, photographic proof:

But, it wasn’t all breathtaking views, excellent red wine, and cozy dinners for two. There were also the hours and hours of reading;

Deep conversations on the balcony with a cool beer and a warming sun;

Cut throat games of trivial pursuit;

Relaxed cappuccinos in the sun;

And, last but not least, super excellent (not just excellent) red wine.

Ahhhhh, Italy. I’m not done with you yet!





xo