Happy Easter, or Frohe Ostern, from Bavaria! I know Easter was a week ago, but spring and Easter are synonymous in my mind, so we are still celebrating spring here. Actually, we should celebrate Christ's Resurrection every day. He is risen....He is risen indeed!
The German state of Bayern (Bavaria) is a largely Catholic state, so Easter is a big deal here. They take Good Friday and Easter Monday as holidays, and they go to mass a lot. On Easter Saturday night, the mass is around 3 hours long and involves the blessing of the ham, eggs, bread, and salt which will be eaten on Easter morning (see photo above). Our great German neighbors (Anastasia Kenty and her son and daughter-in-law, Marc and Birgit) brought us over this plate of sanctified food on Easter morning. It was good, if simple.
Another Easter tradition in Bavaria and Switzerland in particular is the Osterbrunnen, or Easter Fountain. Supposedly it has its roots in the importance of water in early rural Germany. The brunnen are made up of eggs, of course, and some are very beautifully decorated. The Osterbrunnen below is from our little dorf of Velburg.
Ben is busy at work, but when he has time he is researching which motorcycle to buy. He is torn between the Harley-Davidson and the BMW, but he is leaning toward the BMW. He plans to buy a larger touring bike so he can make me his Biker Babe!
It is drizzly here today and has been raining since yesterday, but prior to that, we had about 10 days of gorgeous warm sunny weather. Bulbs are bursting out of the ground, ready to bloom, and pansies are already preening and bowing for their debut. German hausfraus love to plant colorful flowers in their window boxes and gardens, much like their American counterparts.
I am traveling again tomorrow, flying into Boston to go to an Army Librarian Training Institute in Southbridge. I will return on the 26th and hope to stay for a while. I hope to be able to see a bit of the Boston area while I am there, or at least try some great seafood.
My dad died last month and I did fly home briefly for his funeral. While it is of course sad to lose my only living parent, I know he was not happy in the nursing home and was fast losing his tenuous grip on reality. Now it's just me and my brother Chuck. I was happy to be able to visit with him and his family while in Asheville, as well as Caitlin and Jake and Drew.
Stephen is still in Iraq, so do continue to pray. He is tired and ready to be done and come home. He said that although his R&R in March was great, it made it that much harder to go back. Please hold him up for strength and perserverance.
Easter weekend Ben and I went to a nearby town called Amberg. We ate at a great restaurant called Schloderer Braueri, with an outdoor courtyard and excellent food. Amberg has a very nice medieval wall and tor or gate (see photo). Delicious Italian Eis (ice cream) was enjoyed there too!
Last night I helped host a post Bunco event- it was really fun. Pretty different from my great Hickory group of Bunko Babes but fun anyway. We had bar drinks (I did not imbibe, as I was on the clock) and fancy sparkly top hats and a feather boa for Bunko winners! The prizes were great too, even if I wasn't eligible this time. This week was National Library Week, so we had several special events planned at the library. All week we had a Book Butterfly Scavenger Hunt, and the kids and adults had fun finding the butterfly in the books. It really flew, right out of the book! I love turning folks on to good books.
Ben and I plan several trips this spring and summer, mostly just weekend trips though. We want to see Prague and Saltzburg in warmer weather, as well as take our first trip to Berlin. We do have friends from Montana coming to visit in June (yea Michele and Dan!) so I am sure we will do some of that with them, if not before.
Do enjoy your spring and keep in touch!
God's blessings,
Ben and Nan
