Prague--not!

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, we attended the a local spring festival, and we've been enjoying the long days and warmer weather of spring.  Yay!

We have also discovered a new favorite holiday here--May Day!  The first of May is a major festival in many parts of the world, and Germany is no different.  It's particularly big here in Bavaria, and it has some neat traditions.  A maypole--a large wooden pole decorated with crests of various local organizations, town entities, etc. and here in Bavaria typically painted blue and white (state colors) is erected for the year.  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.  If your maypole (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 my darling husband this was finally a reason to buy Lederhosen!

That weekend I traveled up to Hamburg to celebrate the birthday of a good friend.  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.  Getting in at 11:30 PM after teaching all day is no fun!

I enjoyed the day in his town (Oststeinbek) and the birthday party with friends.  Afterwards we headed to the center of town and danced at their Maibaum festival, which was celebrated on the weekend rather than on May Day..  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 for once.

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 my grandmother, who spoils them.  We cooked out with family that night.  Friday saw us puttering around Glückstadt, including walking the dogs along the dike. Oma 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 . . . . ;)

Saturday we had lunch with Omi, then headed to meed up with our friends.  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 our friends volunteer), then headed into Hamburg for the main event--Hafengeburtstag!  This annual festival is a highlight on the local calendar, though unfortunately we got there a bit later than planned.  It was the 824th birthday of the port (second largest in Europe).  We wandered through it the festival past a variety of live music stages (everything from sea shanties to oldies to pop and rock), food booths, rides, and craft markets.  You could also tour tall ships, book an evening river cruise to watch the fireworks and more.  We then headed off through the old Elbtunnel.  This is a Hamburg highlight.  It's an old, narrow (one lane) car tunnel under the Elbe river.  Back in the day there were car elevators that sent the cars up and down.  Pedestrians and bike riders could use the narrow sidewalks.  It's still in operation (though most traffic goes on the modern highway tunnel or over a mega-bridge), but for special occasions it's closed to traffic and used solely as a pedestrian tunnel.  We enjoyed the artwork inside it and riding in the car elevators.  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!

Trying the toys at the Landesjugendtreffen

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--the district where the Beatles got their start!  Then we did a typical Hamburg thing--dancing all night before going to the Fischmarkt.  I personally like the German Schlager (similar to pop oldies) music.  The Fischmarkt (fish market) is a Hamburg tradition.  It opens at 5 on Sundays as it has since 1703.  It's a must for visitors to Hamburg--listening to the local fish mongers and merchants try to sell their wares, watching locals and tourists who have gotten up early--and those like us who were simply out very late--and dancing to rock music over breakfast.  By that time we were pretty tired, so we headed back to my friend's house for a bit of sleep.  We were headed back right as the mega-cruise ship Queen Mary 2 was pulling into the harbor, so that was a cool sight.  Then it was 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 my husband 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!

The 7th graders returned Tuesday evening, we took the dogs to the kennel, and then we repacked.  Wednesday we headed out with the 4th grade to Schwangau.  This is the village just below Neuschwanstein castle.  We camped in this meadow for two nights and filled the days with hikes, talks about limited resources and the use of the forests and mountains, hiking up a river bed and through the running river, and experiments such as building a water filter.  We also made Stockbrot (stick bread), which is bread dough wrapped around a stick and cooked on an open fire.  Healthier than s'mores and just as good.  We even taught kids how to wash their dishes and take down tents.  Friday morning we headed up a gorge, past a water mill, along a raging mountain river, and up the back trails to the castle before receiving a tour.  The only rain of the entire trip was the short walk down the road back to the town to meet the bus back to school.

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

I even got a few minutes to read!

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.  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, and then had an outdoor lunch before heading home.  Bummer about Prague, but it was ultimately the right call.

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