20th Wedding Anniversary

A local couple are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. I don't know the couple but as their garden is decorated in all types of porcelain its easy to identify.

I happened to be walking the dog when the "set up" committee arrived en masse. In true German precision, the 20 helpers or so arrived within 1 minute of each other in cars and on bikes to decorate the garden.

Here is an attempt at more garden detail.....

A driveway of plates!

The center piece with delicate tea cups hanging from it. There were also tea cups all around the front porch. The next door neighbor even mowed his font garden in the shape of a love heart...my camera did no justice to this, so you will just have to imagine it!

Last year there was a 20th anniversary close to the local school which featured a toilet in the middle of the garden..he he! Shame I did not take a photo. But as its "Wedding Season" there might be some more photo opportunities soon.

Football Flash Mob

We decided to join a Flash Mob today. It was my first. The idea was that if 100 or more people turned up to the local supermarket (REWE), they would donate Euro 500 to the local Ambulance. The catch was that the people needed to also be wearing football shirts/jerseys.

Today the UEFA Euro cups starts, so there are German flags everywhere we look. Cars, houses and pets are wearing the local colours! So I guess that is where the football shirt idea came from. There was also a popcorn stand, a sausage sizzle and tea/coffee and cake with all proceeds to the Ambulance.

We met a few locals - dressed to impress. Love the crazy hat!

I decided to mix it up a bit with an Australian jersey and several German flower necklaces!

M let her Austrian colours show with her Vienna football team shirt. Here she is attempting to put her hair up in the German flower necklace.

Here is a part view of the 290 or so people that turned up. Needless to say the Euro 500 was handed over. Now we are watching Germany play Portugal, their first game of the cup.

Cousin Peter is visiting and received an handmade necklace from M. Here they are watching the match in their outfits!

The craft princess also created an interesting head piece for Ron. There is another 2 weeks of full on football (widow-hood)....I will be ready for the Olympics by then.

Echidna Cake Pops

Last year I completed an ESL (English as a Second Language) course. Since February this year, I have been giving a weekly lesson to 11 students from years 3 and 4.

The course is part of a program at the local junior school where children select a "theme" for 6 months. In the second half of this school year there were great subjects to choose from. They included girls soccer, journey around the world, theatre, and a boys dance group. My topic is Australian Animals.

I have been obsessed with making cake pops for a long time. That is, crumbled cake with icing mixed together to make a sticky mass. I thought to test it out on my class as a pre-Easter activity. I researched cake pops, echidnas and hunted the sweet aisle of the various supermarkets to get the best echidna accessories! All culminating in the following design. If chocolate covered hands, mouths and clothes equate to success -  it was a HUGE success!

Voila.....behold the Echidna Cake Pop.

P.S. they are anatomically correct with tongue length as a ratio to body length and backward facing hind claws!

They had so much fun that a few suggested we bake a Salt Water Crocodile cake - life size of course! This means it could be a 6m long cake. Let just say I am still thinking about it ;-)

A gentlemans agreement about bees!

Having grown up in the city I am now learning daily things about farming life and semi-rural living. Friday evening I learnt about a gentleman's agreement between the local farmers and bee keepers.

The farmers use pesticides and fertilizers to ensure the apples and cherries grow big without getting eaten by bugs, as well as keeping the grass and weeds around them to a minimum. Bees are not very fond of these chemicals when they go hunting for pollen. So the farmers have agreed to only spray their fields when the bees are happily tucked up in bed of an evening. In fact this is often best as the winds usually milder in the evenings, making the spraying more effective.

Which solves the riddle to why many evenings when I go to bed I hear the distant sound of tractors. I also feel happier buying local honey which hopefully has less chemical residue it in.

But have you ever wondered where a bee might go if he stayed out after curfew? Here is the answer....he can shack up with his bug buddies at the local Insect Hotel. Here is the Intercontinental of Estebrugger! They offer a variety of rooms and suites to meet the needs of any passing creepy crawlie in need of a rest!

Also an upmarket offering from the Sheraton group featuring local ceramics and great views from all rooms. Some local gardens have built more modest accommodation for the budget conscience bug! It certainly is a bugs life round here.

A weekend in Sweden and beyond.

Last Saturday we drove just over an hour to Lubeck and took a ferry to southern Sweden. It was a huge ferry with 2 decks to load cars, lorries and Harley Davidsons (yes! there were a group of them). The journey took about 7 hours. During this time we played with the kids, watched movies, ate, read, slept. A very relaxing start to a long weekend.

Our base was Malmo. The guide book in Malmo suggested a playground tour! Perfect for our kids. After a huge breakfast we headed to our first stop.

Here is M on top of a butterfly.....

Now you can see the Alice in Wonderland structure that themed the whole play ground. It was fantastic. Then onto a playground featuring all metal sculptures that the kids could climb, balance and swing from. We then headed to a beautiful main park with an wooden play area that offered a spider shaped slide and a circular wooden path with little wooden shops along the route to play in. All very different and imaginative. It was then off to the beach to watch brave Swedes swimming in the sea that was 15 degrees C.

The next day we forked out the 43 Euro to drive one way across this amazing bridge. You can just see Copenhagen in the distance. Its called the Oresund Bridge with (2 dots above the O) or the Sound Bridge.

This is the middle section of the 8km long bridge. Then there is an artificial island which links it to a underwater tunnel of about 4km. There a wind farms on either side and you can watch the planes landing into Copenhagen...the reason for the tunnel section. We then headed north the visit the Hamlet castle.

This is the place where the Danish family became very rich - Kronborg. They controlled the sound between Denmark and Sweden and charged each boat passing a fee. They became more sophisticated over time and charged a percentage of the cargo and got first dibs on buying it.

 For those that tried to get away, there were cannons to stop their passage.

The castle became most famous as the place in which Hamlet is set. In fact there was a crazy Danish king after whom it is believed inspired Shakespeare to write the play. Each summer a theatre group comes to Kronberg and perform the play. You can also purchase Hamlet dolls from the castle shop...some child had the camera at this point.....

We danced our way through the grand ballroom with the most amazing wooden beamed ceiling.

We then ended up in a play room with large buckets of lego and lots of drawing equipment...the kids highlight of the castle tour.

In keeping with the weekend ferry theme we took another car ferry from Helsingor Denmark to Helsingborg in Sweden. The narrowest point between the 2 countries. Then it was a short drive back to Malmo and home the next day. Now is back to business as usual as the May long weekends are now over. Bring on the summer!

How to make Kaiserschmarrn

An alternative title to this entry could be: "The way to your Austrians heart".

Anyone who has skied in Austria will know about this yummy broken up fluffy pancake usually served with plum sauce/compote. It can be accompanied with jam, icing sugar, apple or other fruit compote. It is often the main part of the meal in Austria. For example, entree = soup, main = kaiserschmarrn. A reason to love Austria....sweets for lunch!

Here is an Australian take on the recipe.

What you need:
4 eggs separated
200g flour
250ml milk
2 tablespoons of icing sugar
pinch of salt
(grated lemon rind - optional)
1 1/2 tablespoons of butter for cooking

Preparation:
In a jug or bowl mix the egg yolks, milk, flour, salt and lemon rind.
In another bowl beat the egg whites and icing sugar till you have fluffy peaks. Gently fold in the egg yolk mix into the egg white mix.

Heat the butter in a large frying pan. You should have a thin film of butter all over the pan. When its nice and warm and starting to bubble pour in the whole mix. Then I turn down the heat of my electric stove to medium. You want to get a brown crispy bottom (not burnt). Check regularly to see how the bottom is cooking. When it is crispy make an X through the mixture so its cut into quarters. Then you turn each quarter over to start cooking the other side. This is the trickiest part of the recipe!

The 3rd quarter is flipped!

After another minute you can put on your Japanese samurai warrior outfit and start chopping up the pancake into chunks. The outside of the chunks should be slightly crispy and the inside light and fluffy - well that's they way we like it. Serve and eat. Share with family or friends...only if you feel like it. Its a great alternative to cooking up multiple individual pancakes.

Here is M's serving suggestion of the day: yogurt and 2 types of jam. We used our Austrian plates from Gmundner - this is one of their traditional designs they have been making for over 300 years.

400th Anniversary

There are 2 major events in the Estebrugge calendar. The Schutzenfest and the Estebrugger Markt. The recent long weekend was a 4 day celebration of the local shooting guild's 400th anniversary. Tonight it culminates in a Ball in a very large tent down the road at the guilds practice range. Its like a local version of Octoberfest.

The days have been syncopated with bands marching here and there around the village. Guilds from other villages have joined the throng, so the place has been a buzz with people in top hat and tails or guild uniforms covered with medals and a hat with a feather in them.

Check out the guy in the middle just covered in medals. You don't want to be a deer around him!

Over at the tent one of the bands were entertaining the crowds.

M is now a professional dodgem car driver.

Apart from A LOT of beer, there were plenty of sweets to be had...Oh I get a sore tooth just looking at so much sugar.

A little someone enjoyed the little kids ride in blue fire truck.

On Saturday the children's parade was led by the local band. Here they are passing over "our" bridge. We see it open and close now many times a day as the boats come and go. You may have noticed that the band leader dyed a section of her hair to match the uniform...now thats dedication.

All in all a good weekend. We had the usual 4 seasons in a day, but the weather held out for the most important parts!