A lovely but short visit from Down Under!

Auntie Charo and Uncle Jorge dropped in to see us this past weekend! They have been traveling around Europe for 4 weeks and Stuttgart was one of their last stops before heading back home to Sweet Sydney. It was wonderful to catch up, and even though we are having typical German Spring weather (beautiful sunny mornings, thunder and rain in the afternoons and then sunshine again), we were blessed with beautiful weather for most of the weekend. We look forward to our next guests coming soon in July!! Love and Hugs, Zev and Fi xoxoxoxo

Spring has Sprung, German Men's Choir and White Asparagus

Moving around a lot as a military family means that we get to experience various "seasons" of the year and of course seasons of life. A lot of military families say that living overseas allows you to strengthen family bonds, because, well, you really have to rely on each other especially when you are in a country that does not speak English as the first language. Zev and I have enjoyed running together during the week and exploring our beautiful surroundings on the weekends. It is Spring-time in Europe; "Fruhling", and for those of you that have visited or lived in Europe during the Spring, you will be able to relate to the things I describe in this post. It is truly amazing and beautiful to see life literally "spring" all around us- new flowers blooming; people wearing a lot brighter colors now than in the Winter (Zev was the first to point this out- the first warm day we had all of a sudden the Germans were wearing white pants, white shoes- and it was only 12 degrees Celcius outside!! Funny). We found out that the tree in our backyard is actually an apple tree and apparently yields an abundant load of apples (which is good because I have been "sneaking" apples into Zev's lunch box- I cut them up and he eats them with a little peanut butter at work- at least I have him eating an apple once a day, right!!?) Spring-time also means lots of festivals in Europe. Today is May Day which is a public holiday (except for my poor husband who has to follow American holidays!) But there are lots of "Maibaums" or May Poles all across the little towns. I'm not sure if they do a May Pole dance here, but if I see one, I will take pictures and post them on this blog!! We have also noticed that Germans really love their "seasonal" dishes- for example venison in the Fall, and now in the Spring, every restaurant and cafe is serving "Weiss Spargel" or White Asparagus. I have been blessed with a gourmet chef for a husband, so Zev cooked me up, what I believe is restaurant quality, White Asparagus this week. He wrapped them in Spanish Prosciutto and drizzled home-made Hollandaise Sauce over the final dish- am I lucky or what? Our next door neighbors (and our wonderful landlords- yes the Lord has blessed us with INCREDIBLE neighbors at every place we have been stationed at- very grateful) invited us to attend a German Men's Choir Concert last Sunday. Our neighbor has sung in this local choir for the past 40 years, and his father sang in the choir before he did. It was really neat to be a part of this, and then to hang out with our neighbors and their friends in the "local"- which is 2 minutes up the road from us. It is a soccer club that also has a German Restaurant in it. I has Maultaschen- a local Swabish speciality that my other neighbor, Magda (who is in her 80s) wants to teach me to make. She makes hers from scratch and it takes her about 3 hours to make. But they taste wonderful- think spinach and meat filled giant raviolis. Zev ordered the German equivalent of "bangers and mash"- Wurstchen und Kartoffeln. All good. We hope you enjoy this little insight into life in Germany. We love our friends and family and miss you all very much. Take care and keep in touch! Fi xoxo

A Wonderful Visit...

New York- London- Esslingen-Ludwigsburg- Stuttgart- Strasbourg- Budapest- Salzburg.....
What a wonderful visit with wonderful friends....until next time guys!
Love and hugs, Fifi and Zev xoxoxo

Fruehling in Deutschland!

Spring time (or "Fruehling") is here in Germany! The flowers are blooming, the weather is warmer every day and the days are longer. Life is GREAT! Zev and I celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary this week and we are also going to be blessed with Mike, Deanna, Tyler and Rob visiting us from the States in one week! Zev surprised Fifi with riding lessons at a local riding club for her upcoming birthday (don't worry, the big 3-0 is next year. Fi is still in her "20s") A lot of good things to be thankful for. Hope you are all doing well!

Love from Germany, Zev and Fi xoxoxo

Cisco's Visit!

We were blessed again with Cisco's visit from Dubai. It was fun to catch up for dinner with Cisco and his German friends here in Stuttgart, and then we showed him the sights and sounds of Esslingen today. It is always wonderful to catch up with old friends! Safe travels back to the UAE, Cisco and come back again soon!

Vicenza

This week Fi visited downtown Vicenza before teaching her class. Vicenza is a lot like Venice, except on dry land. A lot of beautiful cobblestoned streets and vineyards and gorgeous architecture.

Venice/ Venezia/ Venedig

The Lord has blessed Fi with a job teaching Business Law in Vicenza- about 45 minutes from Venice. Fi flies down to Venice on Thursday mornings and flies back to Stuttgart on Friday mornings. It's only a 6 week course at a time, but the students are lovely and it is a great way to see a little of beautiful cities such as Venice and Vicenza. One of Fi's favorite parts about the trip each week however, has been the stop over in Zurich, Switzerland. Aside from Australia and upstate New York, Switzerland has got to be one of the most beautiful, breathtaking countries in the world. And Swiss chocolate is great too......here are some pics from Fi's visit last Thursday to Venice. Even though it was a short visit, it was such a beautiful experience- the sun was shining on a clear, early Spring day, there were children playing and university students walking from class to class, the boats were gliding through the water and there were so many little alley ways and ancient paths to explore. Definitely a must-see in Europe.

Visit from Louisiana friends

We love to show our guests the wonderful sights and sounds of Stuttgart and Esslingen, and the Glassells were no different. We enjoyed taking them to the Stuttgart "foodie" market in the "Old Castle" area; showing them our local "mini" castle here in sweet Esslingen; and of course the gorgeous (and Fi's favorite) Baroque castle in Ludwigsburg. Steve, Berry and Elizabeth also traveled on their own to Munich, Salzburg (which they say is a MUST DO- Sound of Music tour anyone!?) and Strasbourg in France which is an hour and a half from our house. They also did some traveling in Germany to explore where their ancestors came from.