Savoring Silz

I just can't seem to get enough of the Southern Wine Route!! Every little town lining the Palatine forest is a little treasure on its own. Driving through some of these towns gives you the feeling that time has stood still and looking at the people who live there I always think that they don't have the slightest care in the world. Silz is a little town tucked away in the Southern wine route in the Wasgau region and it boasts of a 100 acre nature park called the Wild-und Wanderpark. It was Mother's day and it was a perfect sunny day to visit the park with the kiddies along with hubby dear and my parents.

There are several hundred animals who have made this nature park their home. Little bunny and rabbit met with fallow deer, deer, mountain goat, horses, rabbits, sheep and many other animal friends.

The deer roamed freely and some of them made it a point to walk all around the park with little bunny. She made sure that she collected enough animal feed for them and kept them very happy and it was no wonder that they followed her around very obiediently.

Indeed a great place for the kids and also for their parents. Plan to definitely go back there again one of these summer days.

Gender equality anybody?

Finally, finally it seems to be happening. So many discussions around gender equality and plans to mentor women to take on leadership and management positions. Many times in this part of the world for a women to take on a leading position is definitely an uphill battle. Finally there seems to be some form of official acknowledgement of the fact that something needs to be done!!! I am quite ecstatic about the fact that there will indeed be a defined quota for women to take on leading positions. I remember the times when I used to be completely averse to any such kind of quotas but in the last 12 years of understanding the system and how it works this move is definitely welcome. Don't want to make things more complicated thinking about how many changes need to happen for the entire eco-system surrounding you to also evolve to support the needs of working mothers. First things first, after all don't they say that little drops of water make a mighty ocean :-)

Storming of the city hall

Got to see and take part in a very interesting carnival tradition in our local town of Wiesloch yesterday (Mar 5 2011). It was called the Rathauserstürmung or the storming of the local city hall.

 According to tradition the mayor has to hand over the town hall key to the carnival revellers. A more of a symbolic hand over of the keys than a real act.

Yesterday in the old city center of Wiesloch it was nice to see all the people dressed up in their carnival costumes and the mayor Franz Schaidhammer officially handing over the city hall keys.

Everybody was in a jolly good party mood, little bunny also went up and shook hands with the mayor and was beaming with pride after having done that :-) Also bumped into some friends who also live in town and who also decided to start their weekend by partaking in this local tradition.



A nice way to start a lovely weekend indeed!!!

The Robber Hotzenplotz

I heard about Robber Hotzenplotz for the first time from a friend who told me about what he had read to his son the previous night. That odd name piqued my interest and when I checked out the book which was originally written in 1962 and read some excerpts about it found the story really interesting. I decided that I would buy the book for little bunny and little rabbit. Then came the perpetual question of whether I buy the original 'Der Räuber Hotzenplotz' in German or the translated editon 'The Robber Hotzenplotz'. I decided to go for the translated editon that way having to avoid doing the pre-reading and making sure I know all the meanings of all the words before reading it to the girls ;-) This was our first book of the author Otfried Preussler and right from the beginning we were addicted to it. Bed times in those weeks used to be so easy because both little bunny and me wanted to know what was going to happen next and 'Hotzenplotz' would be the code word to go upstairs to bed :-) So when I heard that the Werkraum Theater in Walldorf was going to host a childrens performance based on the story of Robber Hotzenplotz I asked little bunny if she would like to go and watch it and it was no surprise that I got a loud and resounding 'Yes Mama'.



We loved the way the characteres we knew from the book came alive on stage with their costumes and their dialouges. The characters Kasperl and Seppel and how they get their hats exchanged and get their identities switched. The magician Petrosilius Zwackelmann and the Sergeant Dimpfelmoser with his Prussian spiked helmet, riding his official bike.

The fun part was when during the performance when one of the characters was enjoying the stolen 'Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut' grilled sausage with shredded cabbage asked the children if they would like to try some and little bunny immediately raised her hand. I thought it was a joke but the children who actually went up to the stage got their own sausages from the robber!! The older children put up a very professional performance and the little children definitely had a great time. I definitely plan to read some of the other well known books of the author Otfried Preußler and keep an eye open for theater performances of his stories as well.

A short trip to Hannover and back

Work took me to the city of Hannover this week. The best part of the trip was my decision to travel by train rather than driving for about 3.5 hours to get there.

I love travelling by train especially the high speed Intercity Express travelling at around 300 km/hr is a real pleasure to travel in!!! Work kept me busy the whole day so seeing the city was only possible late in the evening. I had the chance to visit the new town hall a important landmark in Hannover, it took me a long time to register the fact that this building was a town hall and not a majestic palace.

Yes a building of its size and grand architectural style supposed to have cost the city 10 million marks when it was opened in 1913. The old part of the city or the Altstadt was also beautiful especially the old town hall or the Altes Rathaus is a building with very intricate brickwork all the way back in 1410!!

I really wished that I could also see these building during day time but that will have to wait until the next time I am in the city. Another highlight of the trip was that I got to meet with K a frined of the family who is originally from Bangalore and who is doing her MBA at the GISMA Business School in Hannover. We had a lovely dinner together and some nice conversation and we wished that we had more time. She even got me aware of the fact that the town of Hamlin was just a 40 minute drive from Hannover. Remember the Pied Piper of Hamelin that we all read when we were in school, this whole story was based in this town. Unfortunately time did not permit me to actually go visit this place as much as I would loved to. A very short trip but definitely a memorable one. The CEBIT one of the world's largest trade fairs is always hosted in Hannover and I am sure many of you plan to attend in the first week of March. So in case you are there you now know that the city has a lot more to offer than just work

Narro...Narri....it's carnival time again

It's again Fasching zeit or Carnival season here in Germany. Fasching is a term derived from the word Fastnacht meaning "eve of the beginning of the fast." What I love the most about it is the masks and costumes that people wear as part of the different parades.






Especially the very traditional Alemanic carnival parades are a highlight at this time of the year. Like in the last years we were with friends in the little town of Oberkirch in the Black Forest and it was so much fun to be part of the local Fasnet parade. The carnival celebrations in the Black Forest are completely different from the carnival parades that happen in cities like Köln or Mainz. Here you can find traditional wooden masks, even for little infants with all the accessories, head gear, make-up and wigs that match.

A beautiful sight indeed and some serious tradition that has been carried down since several years. Hubby and me donned our red and purple wigs, little bunny dressed up like a frog princess and little rabbit was a cute little ladybug. But there was stiff competition from the witches, devils and carnival fools who donned their scary wooden masks and paraded down the streets of Oberkirch. Over the years little bunny seemed to take on a very professional attitude to the whole candy gathering exercise which is a very important part of the whole event for kids. She would look straight into the eyes of the scary monsters and demand her candy, and as always her charm did seem to work on these creatures of the carnival.

You have to be prepared if masked witches grab your arms and legs and put you in a cart and you become part of the procession and if there is confetti poured on you, there is no getting mad at anyone, it's carnival time folks :-)

When the witches shouted 'Narro' we all shouted back in unison 'Narri'. Hopefully we did manage to drive out the evil spirits of the cold winter months.

Ladenburg lädt!

Ladenburg a town a little north of Heidelberg is another charming town with cobblestone alleys where you can walk right next to ancient crumbling Roman walls. The town's Roman history actually dates back to the first century!!! But even before that, the first Celtic settlements in Ladenburg date back to 3000BC. All this history can be quite overwhelming at times.

Hubby and me have been to this town so many times but then everytime we find it so beautiful we keep going back. I remember that the very first time we visited we were quite oblivious to the great history of this place, walking around telling each other that everything looked so old and ancient.

If you are looking for a nice place to go on Sunday for brunch the Kaffehaus is quite good, especially love the little square and the surroundings where they are located. Hubby ordered the Belgian breakfast on the menu and at the end the waiter surprised him by turning up with a large crepe filled with fresh fruits.

The town is also known for its many beautiful half timbered houses dating back from the 15th to the 17th century.

Ladenburg's cuisine apparently has a lot of Onions and Potatoes as main ingredients. They even have a restaurant dedicated to potato and onion lovers namely Die Kartoffel and Gasthof Zwiwwel. We were still full from our brunch so we did not go to these restaurants this time around.

I was especially tempted when I saw this board which boasted of specialities from Grandma'S kitchen. Everything sounded yummy on the menu.

The weather was nice and dreamy a perfect Sunday morning to stroll around and take in the sights of this beautiful town.