Aaahhhhhhhhhdventures: Africa, Amsterdam & Alps

My mom came to visit last week and we traveled all over.  During the first few days of her trip, she helped us unpack and get organized.  She even accompanied me to IKEA.  In Germany, IKEA is also a very scary place, a hellish maze of curtains, shelves, and decor.  This was a crucial shopping trip because Germans do not have closets and apartments have minimal built in storage.  Thus, Germans purchase giant wardrobes called SHRANKS (no joke).  These massive pieces of furniture hold hanging clothes and come in a variety of styles.  Choosing the different components for the SHRANK was challenging to say the least since everything is in German.

Our SHRANK is scheduled for delivery this Thursday and I hope we get what I think we ordered and not a bunk bed.

After our stressful IKEA outing, we had a leisurely 3 hour dinner at the delicious Italian restaurant on our street.  I explained to Cindy that the important Germany delicacies are bread and beer so there was no rush to go out for a German dinner as long as we hit the bakery and bar right away.  

On Sunday, we packed up and flew to Marrakesh, Morocco.  Marrakesh is in the northern region of Africa and has many influences from Arab and European (France) cultures.

I was thrilled to see palm trees and feel some warm weather.  The Atlas Mountains are nearby (background of the pic above).  The majority of the people are Islamic and most of the women are all covered up.  The primary industry is agriculture and they farm everything from oranges to olives to argan oil (Moroccan hair oil ring a bell?) .

We woke up each morning at 6 am sharp to a blasting groan from a large speaker in the city center known as the "call to prayer".  It sounds every day at 6 am and 6pm to call the Muslims to the mosque for daily prayers.  The picture below is the Koutoubia Mosque which is the tallest building in Marrakesh.
.

This Koutoubia is not to be confused with a Ketubah (Jewish marraige contract) like the one I signed at Becky & Tan's fabulous wedding last August.

I felt honored signing my first ketubah and sharing this moment with one of my favorite couples on the planet!

Back to Morocco- on our first day, we took a private cooking class with a great chef at a Riad in the Medina (old city).   Moroccans cook with lots of fresh spices and herbs (paprika, cardamom, cinnamon, garlic, ginger...)

Angelica, the chef, was not impressed with our cooking skills.  I couldn't keep up with the chopping pace and motioned to her that my knife must be dull.  She snatched it from my hand and traded me knives.  Then, she proceeded to dice vegetables at an unbelievable rate making me look like a moron.  This chef was very orderly and precise (I can see why some say cooking is an "art").  My mom and I are not talented artists and Angelica was clearly frustrated with both of us.  She frowned as she watched my mom unevenly toss the peas on the lamb tagine.  (pic below- lamb tagine after the chef rearranged the peas).

 After dicing carrotts with a grater, Cindy and I agreed that food processors are the greatest invention. 

The final products were very tasty (but way too much salt - Moroccans love salt!)

The next day, we went on a tour to the Atlas Mountains.  We had traditional Moroccan mint tea with a Berber family.  We also got to see the local artisans.

The man above reminds me of high school when I skipped band class and visited a girl named Leigh Ann who was a master potter in Ceramics class

Camels and Donkeys galore!  Snake charmers and dancing monkeys were also plentiful on the city streets.

The picture above is the local Baker.  He has a huge wood burning oven where he bakes bread and cookies.  Most people are too poor to buy bread or have their own ovens so they bring him dough and he bakes it for a small fee.

On our last day, we had a traditional Moroccan Haman.  This essentially means "bath".  We went to a room that was like a giant shower/steam room and a nice plump lady scrubbed all the dead skin off our bodies.  After the intense exfoliation, she rubbed oil all over our fresh raw skin.  It felt amazing and was a great experience!

Our flight from Morocco to Germany was cheaper by connecting in Amsterdam for one night.  It was a great opportunity to check out the Netherlands.  The city was so beautiful!!

We had less than 16 hours to see as much as possible so we went on a canal tour.  

Amsterdam has many things I love: bike riders everywhere (even in the freezing cold and ice!), canals and houseboats, delicious food and tons of tasty cheap Belgian beers!

I am really excited go back to Amsterdam with Scott!

When we got back to Stuttgart, he was done working and ready for a road trip.  We drove to a town in the German alps called Garmisch. 

 Cindy finally tried a local German weis beer.

Scott went snowboarding so we decided to check out the ski resort.  We went up in the cable car and then decided to do the "walk" to the gondola.  A "walk" to a German = a strenuous uphill monstrous hike

Above pic is Cindy so happy that the hike is complete and she is heading downhill to the Gondola.  We met Scott at the top of the mountain and had a delicious feast of venison goulash, braised cabbage, and warm apple strudel in custard.  The food was devoured before I could think to take a picture

Gone to Marrakesh, Morocco

The blog will be back on January 30th

Home Sweet Home

Hooray we got the keys to our apartment- Volgelsang 33!

We are thrilled to have a place to call home!  The movers delivered all of our stuff and only managed to break our brand new bed.  Oh well!  It's wonderful to get quality sleep on our memory foam mattress.

Scott's exceptional vocabulary continues to crack me up with phrases like "we are still in flux" but he is correct; it has been hectic.  As soon as we finish unpacking, I will post pics of our apartment and neighborhood.

This past week I desperately needed a haircut and found a salon called J-7
I asked the receptionist if they had any hair dressers that spoke English and she recommended Flo (as in my favorite band Flo-rida or my wonderful Granny Flo).
This was clearly a sign!
Here is a visual of stylist Flo sporting ear gauges and facial stubble

 

Flo exceeded all expectations!  First, he treated me to a heavenly welcome massage (head, neck and shoulders).  Flo was disheartened by my hair's lack of moisture and split ends so I explained that my hair products were stuck on a container in the Atlantic Ocean.  He provided an extra conditioning treatment and even taught me how to make glorious curls with a hot iron.  What a gem!

Scott also needed a haircut (#2) so he went to a new salon and Luisa did a fabulous job:

After our haircuts, we met for brunch.  We have learned that crowded restaurants are the tastiest so we chose a place packed with goofy Germans.  They did not have an English menu option (also a good sign).  Fortunately, I am learning a few no fail orders that are trusty choices when the menu stumps me.  Thanks to my Hebrew roots, I can quickly spot the word "lachs" (as in lox or smoked salmon).  I was served a heaping portion of this smoked fish with a horseradish cream on a delicious whole grain seeded roll.  Yum!

I have been taking many long walks around town and the weather has warmed up since I arrived! One day, when it was 41 F, I thought "what lovely weather!"  The lake below is frozen so this feeling of warmth must be my warped perception of reality, spending the first week here in frigid zero degree temps (special thanks to my pal Hope who inspired me to start wearing pantyhose (under my jeans))

For those who don't know German, the sign above reads "Geese ice skating"

On my walks, I smile noticing signs that remind me of activities and loved ones back in the USA

Hotel Living - Food & Random Observations

Breakfasts are huge in Germany and I have been impressed with the buffet at our hotel
According to Ute, (oddly named wife of Scott's coworker), in Germany it is acceptable to take as much food as you would like and bring it back to your room for later.
Here is the fine assortment I gathered today:

I know my Granny Flo would be proud if she could see how many rolls I managed to stuff in my pockets (if only she was not anti-Internet)

It's important to note that many items at the breakfast buffet are not appealing - for example:

(yes that says "meat jelly" barf)

Living in a hotel sounds fun but we are getting very excited to leave this 1 room suite and move to our new apartment in the city.  This hotel is not in the most picturesque part of Stuttgart.

Scott took photo below from our room's balcony 

One night we had dinner at the hotel restaurant "Red Grill" which has menus in English. 

 However, the turkey "burger" Scott ordered resembled more of a turkey cutlet.  

Why do the Germans manage to incorporate corn into almost every dish? 

(Notice Scoot's immaculately clean finger nails)

We are becoming regulars at the nearby China Palast.  They are friendly and always open (everything closes on Sundays kind of like Mt Pleasant, SC but worse)  The menu is a million pages long and includes a variety of Chinese and Thai dishes (page from menu below)

Living in a hotel for months has truly made me appreciate having a real kitchen
As much as I love going out to eat, sometimes its just too dark and cold to leave our cozy room
Good news:  Germans are also lazy and order delivery

The pizza was awful so we tried again and ordered Indian (surprisingly from the same delivery menu)
The vegetarian items were scrumptious but the naan was an unremarkable pizza crust.

Thank GOD we have military ID cards so we have special privileges.  I truly appreciate having these benefits without having to go into battle.  We have access to pharmacies, gyms, bowling, PX (electronics store) and the commissary.  The commissary has some of my favorite American brands that I was excited to purchase:

The Army base also has barbers and Scott's fro was getting out of control.  Unfortunatley, he does not trust barbers for fear of a buzz cut so we found a salon.  Aveda salons are usually legit.  

Photo below is at Akzente in Stuttgart West a few blocks from our future apartment.  

Now (after paying roughly 50 US dollars) it looks exactly the same.

Perhaps we will keep looking for another salon so he can get it cut short

Must try treat: Scott brought me an amazing piece of fruit that I had never seen before

It has the texture and firmness of a plum or nectarine (you can eat the skin).  It tastes similar to a mango but less sweet almost like a mangapple or appango (hybrid apple mango)

This one was from Spain and Germans call it Kaki fruit (pronoucned cock - ee)

 It should be cocky because it is so freaking delicious!

Happy SILVESTER 2013!!!

New Years Eve in Zurich Switzerland

Zurich is only 2 hours south of where we live in Stuttgart.

It's a beaituful drive on the autobahn over rolling green hills and farmland.

We felt like we were flying in our rental VW Golf (maxing out at 118 mph) but Mercedes station wagons and glamorous Porsches zoomed right by us.

The drive was fun and we arrived in Zurich mid day to meet up with Alicia and Nikki.

The city was built along a river that feeds into a pretty crystal clear lake with views of the snow covered alps in the distance (my pictures of the mountains didn't turn out because it was so sunny)

 

We went out for fondue at Sussie Churchi in the Old Town

It was cheeezy!

 

 

 

 

 

Zurich is a popular city in Europe for celebrating Silvester (German word for New Years Eve) because they have a huge festival along the river that lasts all night long! 
  We had a blast meeting people from all over the world (Iran, Russia, Atlanta, Italy, and Morrocco).  

 

Alicia decided to dress like a Russian which was hilarious because we later met some fun Russians

 

 

There was an amazing fireworks display over the lake at midnight

 

 

Roman & Natasha shared their bottle of Prosecco with us!  

  (Is every Russian female named Natasha??)

 

After the fireworks, we went into the tents where DJs played music ranging from classic to ridiculous: David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Black Eyed Peas, Pink Floyd, Mambo #5, Belinda Carlisle...

 

It was surreal watching my husband dance with random Germans and Iranians who were proudly singing every word to the Macarena and YMCA (however could not speak a lick of English)

 

We had a blast and stayed out way past my bedtime dancing and prancing around the city