Cats and the English language

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by catcrazylady
Hey Sirrahbed we were in Germany at the same time! I was there from 1983 to 1987!

OOps, I think we were there 83-86 now that i think of it - Missy was born in 84.... weren't ya Missy? Maybe *I* should be CCL Emphasis on the middle "C" I miss the good beer and the brand of coffee we would get in the gold brick....YUM ..Jakob's Kroenung maybe???...and the italian eis ...and the schnecken rolls.....and the broetchen.....and the fresh meats marinated in the red herbs...and the rolladen....chocolate eggs with a toy in the middle.....and stollen with marzipan in the middle and....and...and...all FOOD

[Kirsten]

So you like our food, sirrahbed? Yeah, Jacob's Kroenung is still available here!
Have to admit I ate too much of these Kinder Ueberraschungseier lately (chocolate eggs with a surprise in the middle) , because some had little Lord of the Ring-figures inside and I wanted them all - but I'm never really lucky in things like that, so I only got Bilbo and Éomer - but I wanted Aragorn and Gollum so badly! LOL



Funny, I was still very young when you and catcrazylady have been in Germany!

Just in case anyone is interested in what it's looking like where I'm living:

city of Hann. Muenden

Landscape near Hann. Muenden in the fall

Big Christmas Candle of Hann. Muenden

St. Blasius church in Hann. Muenden

Hann. Muenden is more or less in the middle of Germany, about 150 km north from Frankfurt.

Kirsten

[catcrazylady]

I miss the (can't remember the proper term in German anymore) Christmas Kris Kringle market. I remember we used to go into town and there would people doing the most beautiful chalk art on the cobblestones. There would be booths set up selling fun and beautiful things. They would have a carriage go by with Kris Kringle riding in it and all the kids would be chasing it and having a good old time. It would be so cold but you could buy Gluewein (PLEASE forgive my spelling!!). It tasted like NyQuil but one shot of that you were warm for the rest of the night!!
I miss the food too!! It was wonderful! I can't remember exactly where we were when we went to this small restaurant and I had the most wonderful potatoe dumplings!! They spoke hardly any english so I didn't get much further than that. I didn't learn the name of it and I was never able to find it again. I have never forgotten them!!
The only thing I can say that I don't miss is the crazy Autoban!! We had a little Volkswagon Bug and I thought we would get run over everytime we got on that thing!!!
Germany is a BEAUTIFUL country and I enjoyed all my time there.

[Kirsten]

Ah, you mean the Christkindl-markets? Yes, some cities have really nice ones! And Glühwein, yes! Personally I don't like it, but I don't like alcohol anyway, especially not when it's hot, but many people here love Glühwein.

Try to describe that potatoe-meal to me, maybe I can find out what it was.

I agree, the Autobahn can be crazy sometimes. Had to drive there to get to work for a couple of years, and almost every day there was some scary incident!

Kirsten

[catcrazylady]

Kirsten it is beautiful where you live!!! Your pictures show just how beautiful the towns or villages are. You would drive along the beautiful countryside and there would be scenes like those in your photos, and then just more beautiful countryside until the next town.

I will try to describe the potatoe dumplings. I remember each dumpling was small. They were kind of rounded and obviously rolled in the palm of the hand. I think they were deep fried and seved with melted butter. They were so good!!!

Oh and Kirsten thank you so much for correcting my horrible German spelling!! Please forgive my abuse of your language and spelling!!

[Kirsten]

Oh yes, it's a very beautiful landscape here, pretty rural actually. And the town where I'm living is very old, more than 800 years! It's fun to imagine how life here must have been during the Middle Ages!

Kirsten

[Randy_K]

Kristen, in the 1200s life was pretty difficult (and short!) for everyone but the rich and even they didn’t live that long. There was a huge gap between the landowners and the peasants who worked the land – definitely no middle or lower classes. What are simple illnesses these days meant certain death back then. Armies attacked castles with stone-throwing trebuchets (the standard siege machine for 800 years until 1350-ish) and arrows. Being a soldier meant having regular meals every day – not guaranteed to the peasants - but a relatively short life. Even so, it was a really good deal. In a few more years the Bubonic Plague swept Europe killing a third of the population (about 25 million). I’m happy where I am…

[bisi.cat]

Sure live was tough in the Middle Ages, but it's fun to visit all the castles over here in Germany...there are several at our place and we love to visit them again and again, there's so much love put in the details, you can see complete sceneries and paintings and armors and everything and it just feels grand to stand on a castle and watch over the widespread open country, you just know you're standing were many people all through the ages have stood before...
There's even a famous open air museum quite close to us, it's very interesting to see the houses of people from the Middle Ages...it's not a time I would have loved to live, but I think a safe look back in time is wonderful and educational...

Catcrazy lady, I love dumplings, too, but I've never heard of such tiny ones in our area...were they stuffed or were they served as a starter?!
Did you have gravy with them or just butter sauce?!

It's fun to know how many of you have lived here, but I guess most of you have travelled the South, maybe you should come again and visit the Sauerland?! Plenty of forests, hills and lakes and castles of course...

[Kirsten]

Yes, I know life was hard (and short) in the Middle Ages, but I love to read about it. Books like "The pillars of the Earth" are my all-time-favorites, it's really fascinating.

And I love to visit these medival markets!

bisi.cat, have you have been at Hanstein Castle near Witzenhausen? It's so great there, one of my favorite places!

Kirsten

[bisi.cat]

No I haven't been there, but thanks for telling me...I always look forward to seeing new castles...
There are two castles very close to my hometown, one is Burg Altena, wonderfully situated on top of a hill and you can overlook the whole city of Altena...the way up to the castle is so small and you can only walk up the hill...the other castle is Hohenlimburg, which isn't very popular in our area...everytime I'll go there, there are usually only few visitors and that's fun, because you can watch the whole exhibition on your own...

[Killearn Kitties]

Kirsten, these photographs are beautiful. It certainly looks a lovely place. I love the advent candle. Does it get smaller every day until Christmas Day?

I was trying to find Menden on a map to find out where it was. I didn't find it, but I did discover that there was a cat show there last month! Were you there?

[sqwelch]

Kirsten

Your photos are brilliant, I've never lived in Germany but my Uncle lives in Nuremburg and I've visited it twice now. I was most impressed by the old buildings Nuremburg has, they are so beautiful. And of course you Germans are much like myself and do appreciate fine food and of course beers (there are sooooo many!!)

June

[Barbara]

June, people here say that the Bavarians are the Scots of Germany! And we are only one and a half hour of Nuremberg, so if you ever are in the area, let's have a beer together

[catnapper]

Ok, all of you living/lived in Germany... I am getting jealous! I have German in me (about 40% Irish and 40%German.. throw in some Scott and American Indian!) I want to come and see those beautiful house with all the red clay (I'm assuming) roofs! I want to try all of the glorious food! I'll take your word on the beer - I am allergic to alcohol! I want to stand on stone floors that are hndreds of years old! It all sounds so romantic and bautiful!

[bisi.cat]

I think my hometown needs some touristic support (lol)...here are a few pictures on the web, you can enlarge them by clicking on the thumbnails:
http://wolfgang-kissmer.bei.t-online.de/pe2web.htm

It's a variety of ancient buildings and homes...my aunt is living in one of the tiny timbered houses (picture No.26)...it's wonderful there...

Catnapper whenever you'll come over, please plan to visit here, I would be delighted to show you our city and our lovely restaurants and pubs...