The Blue Danube....

I know that there is a song out there with this title, and I hate to break it to those of you who have never visited Budapest- the Danube is not Blue. At least not where we were- in the heart of Budapest, and not in early February. Nevertheless, the city is laid out very nicely along this ancient river that has inspired so many poets, songwriters and authors and the historic buildings along the Danube are simply amazing. Zev and I set out for a little run the day we arrived in Budapest- running throughout a city is a great way to explore the sights and sounds!! We ended up running almost 6.5 miles, all along the Danube and through Margaret Island, and even took some goofy shots with some statues. We saw more Trabants (the "People's Car" as Zev liked to call them) then we ever expected- and they actually looked like they were in pretty good condition! There was no shortage of quirky and comfortable restaurants and cafes to eat in, near where we stayed behind the Opera House.

Skiing in the Black Forest

You've heard of Black Forest cake, Hansel and Gretel and cuckoo clocks right? Well, we are very blessed to live close by to the Black Forest and yesterday we decided to drive right into the heart of the Black Forest to the highest peak of "Feldberg" (which has an elevation of 1,493 metres- you can see from the pictures below that we actually visited the peak- and Zev tried not to fall off the side of the mountain)....Feldberg is is not far from the Swiss and French borders with Germany, hence the variety of skiers including people from France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and even Australia (we heard some Aussie accents on one of the chair lifts)! The weather was gorgeous (sunny skies, no rain or extreme wind) and the skiing was fabulous. The drive took us only about 2 hours from door to door and it was nice to experience skiing in Germany. Although the ski runs were not as challenging as the Austrian Alps, there were a lot of diverse runs and we enjoyed exploring. Fi actually enjoyed the skiing in the Black Forest ("Schwarzwald") better than the skiing in Austria because the slopes were gentler and the snow was more powdery and not as icy as St. Anton. Zev gave Fi some really good skiing tips (like having her own personal ski instructor all day!) and Zev even showed Fi some cool tricks of his own. We took some little videos (Fi's voice sounds a little distorted but perhaps that is due to some wind interference on the microphone), including a video of Zev showing Fi "how it's done". Be sure to hit "PLAY," watch, listen and enjoy! We miss all our family and friends and pray that you are all doing well. Love and hugs! Zev and Fi xoxoxo

Chooke's Visit

We were honored to host our dear friend Brooke ("Chooke") who stopped in to visit us last week on her way back to Australia, after visiting Canada and the States. Bhooke and Fi lived in the same corridor at the Academy and hadn't seen each other in at least 5 years, but they wasted no time catching up and laughing over memories, especially related to playing soccer. We ate dinner one night in our local neighborhood "castle," (the Burg), where Brooke tried some typical "Swaebisch" dishes. Brooke and Fi also visited the castles at Ludwigsburg (which was covered in snow) and ate their packed lunch on the front porch of Favorite Schloss (the castle above with the orange/ yellow coloring), overlooking the main castle. Pretty special. Thanks for visiting, Brooke!

Happy New Year 2009!

We hope that everyone had a happy and safe New Year's Eve and that God blesses you all in this coming year. New Year's Eve is called "Silvester" here in Germany, and what an event it is! We spent "Silvester" with Fi's friend, Adele, from her German class, Adele's husband, Romain, and her friends from France. Most of the French guests also spoke English but we had fun trying to understand one another and use a lot of "sign language" to communicate. We were treated to a traditional 5 course French meal, beginning with Foie Gras and Gelee, followed by Duck and Potato Gratin and Green Beans, and finished with a cheese course (wonderful cheeses from France!)

One of the highlights of the evening was watching the fireworks from the top floor of Adele's apartment- it is so hard to describe in words what we saw but basically we had a bird's eye view of hundreds of homes around Stuttgart letting off fireworks in every direction. Unlike most places, the city does not put on the fireworks, but the people do. About a week before New Years, suddenly fireworks go on sale everwhere, even the corner grocery store. At midnight, every one goes wild with an amazinly vast display of pyrotechnics shooting up from every nook and cranny in the city. The fireworks "display" went on for about 20 minutes, it was incredible. And these were decent fireworks too-some pretty amazing stuff, but the sheer volume in 360 degress around us was the best part. No fires, but there were plenty of fireworks bouncing off buildings, roofs, and trees. The amount of empty launcers, rockets, and casings littering the streets the next day ws equally impressive. However, in good Teutonic precision, most of it was all swept up by midday. But, there is still a big black smudge on the outside of one of our secoond story windows and some burnt rockets I the roof courtesy of some neighbiorhood punks... I am already starting a firworks saving for next year. I will not be watching from the window for 2010!

All the best for this coming year, Zev and Fi xoxoxo

One day ski trip to St. Anton

We went skiing in St. Anton, which is in the Austrian Alps last Saturday. We went on a one day ski trip organized by the "Outdoor Recreation" folks on base. Although it was nice to have someone else drive us there and back (and we were exhausted by the end of the day!), we will probably just drive ourselves down next time. The weather was beautiful, the sun was out and there was plenty of snow. The ski resort of St. Anton is part of a group of 5 resorts which are all connected by ski lifts- 85 lifts in total! We just stuck to the skiing in St. Anton which (for Fi) was challenging enough! (The "easy" runs here are like intermediate/ hard runs back in Australia- no wonder Europeans are such good skiers!) Even though Zev hadn't skied since Australia, he took to the snow like a pro and even attempted some really difficult runs while Fi took a break at the cafe on the mountain. All in all, a good taste of what skiing in Europe is all about!

The Chef

In German, the word "chef" is often used to refer to the "boss" or "head" of a department. Fi is happy to let Zev be the boss in the kitchen- check out the wonderful results!!

Fancy. schmancy

Our Christmas dinner menu

Has this guy worked in a French kitchen before?

Making the Beef Consumme

The joys of American appliances

As most of our kitchen and electrical appliances are from the US, they are 120V and therefore do not work here in Germany unless we use a transformer. We own a total of one transformer (they are heavy things too!) so our one transformer gets lugged around between the kitchen and the living room regularly, to power up the coffee maker and the stereo. Since we were playing Christmas carols in the background, Zev temporarily put the Christmas carols on pause while he mixed the carrots and potatoes in the bowl- in the living room. Gotta be resourceful, right!?

Christmas tree Au Naturelle

The movers lost our Christmas Tree decorations. Not sure how they managed to do that but we were sad that they did, because we had accumulated some rather nice Christmas Tree decorations from family and friends in all the places we have lived. Thankfully, Zev's mother sent us some decorations as part of out Christmas gifts this year. Time to start collecting again! German Christmas Markets HERE WE COME!

Timing is everything

And Zev got his timing down- producing a scrumptious 6 course Christmas dinner for two!

Zev's Cooking Slippers

He clicks his heels together and magic happens in the kitchen...

Pate and Sweet Gelee Toasts and Wild Mushroom Parcels

He had me at hello-these appetizers tasted as good as they looked!

Beef consumme with pastry top

"I think something or someone is trying to escape from out of my Remikin dish!!"

Celery and Green Apple Granite

To cleanse the palate in between meals- but of course ;-)

Duck Breast with Orange and Red Wine Reduction

Our main course was Duck with Orange and Red Wine Reduction on a bed of pureed carrots and potatoes. The reduction sauce was out of this world- it went so well with the duck breast. Zev also roasted the rest of the duck and shredded the meat to accompany the duck breast. The shredded roasted duck meat was a good contrast to the duck breast. I know, I'm a very lucky girl to be married to a great cook!

Poached Pears with Creme Fraiche

The perfect end to a wonderful meal.

Our Stadt, Esslingen

These are scenes from the place we call home (for the next 3 years at least!) We pray that you are all doing well and not getting stressed out by the holiday madness! Remember, Jesus is the Reason for the Season. Give thanks for the year and all that God provides. Hey, if you are reading this post then you have plenty to be thankful about right, such as your eyesight, the fact that you have access to a computer and internet, and of course the ability to read and write English (especially a premium in non-English speaking countries!) Zev and I are so thankful for the big things, like the chance to live in Europe, and the little things, like watching rental movies together at night. We give total glory to God of course, and thank Him every day. So I hope you are blessed this coming year also. And I hope that you enjoy these pics. I took the pictures in between class last Tuesday. I just walked through the Mittelaltermarkt and the Weihnachtsmarkt during the day, to try and capture the essence of Esslingen by day. What a great town, right!? Frohe Weihnachten! Merry Christmas!