Ronda rocks

December 27, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Culture, Spain, Travel, Visit Ronda Tags: culture, ronda, Travel 2 Comments

No pun intended. The rock formations here are outstanding, but I like the feel of this place for some reason, even better than Granada. It is smaller, but no less touristy with the history, museums, incredible bridges built into the cliffs and its status as the home of bull fighting. We stayed in the lovely guesthouse La Boabdil .

The fact Hemingway and Orsen Wells spent many summers here, inspired by Ronda leads one to believe there is something to this place that evokes “the just something about this place” feeling. Possibly the natural beauty, cobbled streets or views seen in the shots below on one of our walks. I am also a sucker for agriculture and farms. I have an ongoing dialog in my dream world of living in the city for culture and stimulation, by an ocean, or back on a farm. One that might now include olive trees and citrus.

How about fields of olives harvested between November and December within hand’s reach…Did you know Andalusia has over 40 million olive trees? Here’s a great site for basic facts on Spanish olive oil.

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I’m back now….got way side tracked on that link. I look forward to a full post on olive oil.
We also had the fortune to cross paths with friends from Orcas Island…go figure! We shared the morning with Lydia and John Miller and their three homeschooled boys, out on a 9 month European adventure. Check out their travels here- The Camel Ate My Homework.

Now we head back to the coast…next stop Tarifa.
I thank you in advance for patience with mistakes here. Am learning mobile WordPress with dodgy wifi. But blessed with such a full head of hair, I can rip some off my head and you won’t even know. I’ll leave a few more photos here.

Hello to JC from the Sierra Nevadas

December 27, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in holiday, Travel, Visit Granada Tags: culture, Granada, holiday, Travel 2 Comments

We woke Christmas morning to bells in a frequency unrelated to time..and they were beautiful. It’s been a lovely few days, noticeably lacking in the commercialism of Christmas. I appreciate that fact. I certainly feel less stress. And, if I’m honest, do I maybe miss the santas, poinsettias, and decorations a little too? I think so. Coming from the mouth of the German Christmas markets, lights and serious tannenbaums, it is a bit of a shock. But a good reality check of the point of December 25th. It’s given me something to think about.
Our presents were very minimal this year, and no stockings filled with candy and more bits. Here’s our tree and gifts. Notice innovative use of TP.

After sleeping in, O and I were up squeezing a dozen oranges, scrambling eggs, and getting the jamon on the plates. Coffee, sweet crumbly cakes and olives were set on the coffee table serving as our dining table. Kids wallowed out of bed to more church bells. We ate, opened our gifts and all donned new fuzzy socks.
Despite a plethora of churches, one of which we might have attended, if the service started at 1.30, we chose the Sierra Nevadas as our place of worship. We drove into the mountains and said happy birthday from here…

After 4 days of seeing the Alhambra (above) from our porch, our final day in Granada was spent visiting this monument, a Unesco world heritage site and one of the most visited in Spain. The construction of the original Moorish palaces of the Alhambra began in the 9th century and continued through the 16th century. Its beyond description here, so I won’t even try. Here are a few photos.

We left our pink little apartment and headed south through the mountains to the coast. We drove along the Mediterranean to Marbella then back north in the dark, up a very curvy, tummy turning one way in only road to Ronda…. to be continued.

Granada

December 25, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Culture, Spain, Travel, Visit Granada Tags: culture, food, Granada, Travel 2 Comments

Plaza Neuva above… We parked our car just outside the old city streets and took a taxi here. Felt like we were miles and miles away. Actually, Granada is only about 1.5 kilometers square. We are a fifteen minute walk from our car!

On our sunny drive to Granada, we made one unscheduled stop in Estepa…. Keep the spontaneity alive I say. Wikipedia states it being founded in 1241, but there seems to be about another 1000 years of history dating back to Romans. I’ll let you continue that history lesson. It’s also famous for producing 45,000 pounds of Christmas biscuits made with lard, in 30 factories, with about 60,000 employees, of which about 90% are woman, from Sept to Dec.

First meal in Granada a bit heavy on the mayo but I love it.

Our days have been spent walking, exploring and eating. We spent a lot of time walking in one of the barrios near us, an area originally settled by gypsies, dwelling in caves, where we visited the museum here in Sacromonte.

Another afternoon spent in the Arabic Hamman baths gave us all a new lease on life. The world an even better place after 2 hours spent here

I heart Iberico jamon

December 25, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Culture, Spain, Travel, Visit Ronda Tags: culture, food, Travel 1 Comment

We flew into Seville, Spain about 9pm Wed night. After a small struggle at the Avis counter deciding on insurance, we hit the road to Granada. Why might you ask did we choose this route? Even when I questioned myself after making these plans 3 months ago, I realized after a full circle of thought, for very good reasons that I won’t bore you with now.

Does that ever happen to you? You make plans way ahead. Then you are on your trip and asking, “Why did I choose this or that” …and you spend about an hour thinking and re-researching in order to return to square one and go, “Oh right, that’s why.”

Our first night, we went rogue…. No reservations. Just winging it. Like the time I showed up in Baja Mexico for 5 weeks with no plan and ended up crossing the Sea of Cortez on a sailboat with an old man named Richard. I was to cook for him in exchange. But due to a storm, was unable to remain vertical and ate saltines for 2 days. Once to the mainland, we stayed on the boat for 2 weeks cooking, touring, playing cards and chess. … But that’s another story.

So here’s our first night at a roadside hotel. And after our first breakfast in Spain, we continued on to Granada. Fresh squeezed oj. Great coffee con leche.

Holiday entertainment… naughty and nice

December 20, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Cookies and Bars, holiday Tags: cookies, holiday, movies, music 2 Comments

There are loads of sites to get all the latest and newest, and the traditional holiday flicks and music. Here are our family (and adult only- ok… not that kind of adult) favorites.

Although Charlie Brown Christmas show is classic and we love it, we don’t always watch it. But, the soundtrack officially kicks off our season. This year it accompanied our holiday sugar cookie baking and decorating. I LOVE this CD and usually OD on it the first day because we listen to it over and over for about 5 hours. But then I’m ready for it again in just a few days.Cookie extravaganza… They didn’t quite look like the magazine ones….they were better:-)

Here’s a couple more fav’s…

Starbucks Holiday tunes from 2009

Then for films… I’m going out on a limb here and starting with the naughty/nasty. Don’t watch Bad Santa with the kids! It’s raunchy funny and only for the thick skinned. Then comes nice…..Nativity, A Christmas Story, Elf and the classic Miracle on 34th Street. Not pictured- A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life… (of course)

And lest we forget these classics….. Here’s the original 1966 Grinch (with Boris Karloff, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolf, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and Frosty the Snowman.

Ok. That’s it for now. We head to Spain tomorrow for 2 weeks. I’m hoping to get a couple posts and pics out while we are on the road. I mean those tech savvy peeps are doing it. Why can’t I. umm… because I’m a wee bit behind that curve. But I’m adding that to my 2012 resolutions. Get on top of that curve!

Happy Holidays

PS – Here’s one more Tim Allen film that’s fun.

St. Petri Weihnachtsoratorium and steak tartare

December 18, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Culture, Hamburg, holiday Tags: choir, culture, music, steak tartare 3 Comments

Sankt Petri Choir, Hamburg on Saturday Dec 17th,2011

Saturday night we partook in a very traditional German event, the Bach Weihnachtsoratorium. Here’s the wiki entry for Bach’s Oratorio. And here is a little idea of the 2 hours spent at St. Petri Kirche, downtown Hamburg. (this is a Dresden choir)

Dresdner Kreuzchor – Weihnachtsoratorium (Johann Sebastian Bach)

Granted 90% of the time, well at least 75% of the time, I listened intently, feeling my cultural integrity expand by the minute. I even read along with the German passages in the program. Though I will say, there was the tendency to repeat the same 3 sentences over and over to stretch out the show.. go Bach.

The other 10-30% of the time, I thought about blog posts and what I would order at Cafe de Paris. I quickly came to Steak tartare and Frites. Really though I don’t mean to sound like a cultural cow. It was beautiful.

We also spent the evening with 5 other couples. This was our first real couply social event. Yeah us!

Choir concert

December 16, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Hamburg, holiday, My life Tags: choir, concert 2 Comments

Our choir sang today at Santa Fu prison in Hamburg. We all met with smiles at the S-bahn (train) in Blankenese and made our way north about 45min. We stepped off the train in Ohlsdorf into a light slushy rain, randomly cursing the weather amongst ourselves. We walked 15 maybe 20 minutes in one large group to the facility. We stepped inside the first entrance, handed over our passports and placed all our possessions in lockers. We sang a few warm up notes while waiting to be led in small groups through the scanner to another room. Each time, the door closed and locked behind us. All but one of the choir were chatty and a little nervous, unaccustomed to visits to correctional facilities. The exception was Stephen, a defense attorney who works with some of these inmates. He set up the gig for us. I would say the majority of our conceptions of prisons had been provided by the media and movies. About 30 minutes later, after each of us had been separately taken behind a curtain to be searched, we walked back outside across an inner courtyard, up another set of stairs and locked doors to the hall and dining room. We were debriefed with a little history about the prison and inmates and the fact that these men were only allowed to see their children in an open setting once a year at Christmas. This is what struck my heart. Continue reading →

What motivates us?

December 13, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Humor, Writing Tags: exercise, humor, Motivation 1 Comment

My alarm went off this morning at 7am (very reasonable). Today I sprang out of bed excited about ideas generated last night before closing my eyes. I’ll back up… before turning the light out, I day dreamed (or before sleep dreamed), of clever food blog names, struggling to discover something original. This is no small feat in this overflowing, or one might say saturated, depending on how you look at it, blog age. I held my arm in the air, waited for smart phone to find service and patiently waited for the answer to load each time I checked availability on a domain name. We have our internet on auto shut off 9pm- 7.30am for our ahmmm… teenager. But last night I just couldn’t wait till 7.30am. I came up with sugar and sauerkraut, trying to reflect food and the fact I live in Germany. Please don’t tell me if you think it’s ridiculous because I still like it and it’s available. Well, ok tell me because I haven’t paid 12.99/yr for it yet…and there’s still time to keep me from wasting my $. So as I was saying…I was motivated to jump out of bed today because I was excited about an idea. [SUCCESS/EGO]

Here from Pyschology Today:

“Motivation is literally the desire to do things. It’s the difference between waking up before dawn to pound the pavement and lazing around the house all day. It’s the crucial element in setting and attaining goals—and research shows you can influence your own levels of motivation and self-control. So figure out what you want, power through the pain period, and start being who you want to be.”

Sign me up! The who I want to be part… not the lazing around the house all day (well maybe some days)

The next thing I was motivated to do was take my pooch out despite constant wet rain and umbrella buckling wind. Why? 1) I want him to feel good/relieved 2) I didn’t and don’t ever want to clean up pee and poo. Who does? [NEED BASED]

I then was motivated to go to the gym. Out of sheer desire? Unfortunately not. Because I know it’s good for me? Sort of. Because I’ve gained 10 pounds since moving to Germany and barely fit in my bra or pants? Getting there. (I still love my body and am grateful for my health and mobility…[forced smile]). I could always buy new clothes- but I don’t love shopping for things i cannot eat and society leads me to believe I should be thin… and fit… for my health. [SOCIETY] The biggest reason? Because after trudging through horrible class taught by a woman whose neck would look stunning with my low resistance blue exercise band tightly wrapped around it, especially after she traded her easy resistance blue one for my medium resistance red one IN THE MIDDLE of class, feigning concern and handing me humiliation, “nur noch sechzhen” (only 16 more) she shrieked as I squatted next to my bench shamefully avoiding eye contact. Because after all that, I knew I would experience a sense of accomplishment. And because best of all, afterwards, I knew I would have coffee with a friend who would have shared aforementioned hour of torture. [SOCIAL] And let’s face it. Has anyone ever ever thought after working out. “God that was a stupid idea.” No. Period. (Note to self… blog post on german gym class:-)

And today I was motivated to write this post on motivation. [CREATIVITY] Actually, due more to the fact I’ve thought about it a lot lately. We are trying to figure out how to motivate Alice (fake name to protect identity- even though so far only friends and family actually read this and know my daughter’s real name – I’m planning for the future and you might not have known she loves the name Alice). Right… I’m trying to figure out how to motivate Alice to get out of bed in the morning. But frankly it’s damn hard. I can’t say I was particularly motivated in 8th grade to get out of my warm cocoon five mornings a week to knock elbows with other awkward 13yr olds. I decided money wasn’t a particularly healthy option and would get expensive for the next 4 and 1/2 years. Now I work with persuasion and pleading, not always met with success. [UNKNOWN] Feel free to give advice.

Now throw in the motivation to eat when hungry… [PHYSICAL NEED] eat when I want [NO PHYSICAL NEED] eat when I’m sad or bored [ NO PHYSICAL NEED]. And the other bodily functions I won’t go into detail about even though I do crave a good discussion on said matter now and again. I was after all a nutrition major and we love what and how it goes in and what and how it goes out. (yet another future post.)

We’ve covered in one day all but security in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. There could very well be a part II to this post. But I can’t commit to that….(will have to see if mood strikes)

Coming soon to your area…..

Iron Maiden

December 8, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in Humor, Writing Tags: funny life, housework, humor, ironing 5 Comments

I recently took up a new hobby. Ironing. I thought about bridge but it seemed awfully social. Ironing you say? What’s the point? Are you crazy?… Really. Try it. It’s like a free meditation class and provides instant gratification. Granted most normal working or sane folk probably can’t be bothered. But if you have the time it provides a sense of satisfaction and order to one’s life. Not to mention my husband loves and appreciates it. Oh stop rolling your eyes.

I set up in our tiled hallway with a cheap board in front of me, wondering if it too should be replaced, now that I have a new, moderately expensive, blue, steam sensor iron by Siemens. Will my new iron be offended passing over this stumpy, girth lacking wafer of a board? Would I be that much more efficient if I spent another 75 euro on a new plank? One always needs the right equipment. Wrinkled t-shirts, undershirts, dishtowels, sheets and pillowcases, awaiting their creaseless destiny are piled on the short IKEA side table. The one with 4 conspicuous drill holes on top, relegated to the hall, unseen by visitors, punished for being wrongly fastened together. It now has a purpose. I take each piece of clothing, drape it or lay it on the board and together with the hunk of metal, we work magic. Do you know why gap outlet t-shirts are so cheap? You would if you ever ironed one with the seams that don’t match up. Ever tried ironing viscose pretending to be cotton? Can’t be done. It’s like sliding on glue at a 180° (yes that’s a straight line). Don’t run your hot iron over rubber/plastic team numbers or appliques- you can guess why. I’ve also found an excellent way to iron sheets. Email me for more info (I won’t hold my breath). This is also a gorgeous time to indulge in the new series Once Upon A Time. O’s music stand turned flat serves as a platform for my laptop. Streaming and steaming. Sweet. And the opportunity presents itself every week.

I didn’t come up with this ironing idea all on my own. It was one morning whilst having coffee with a friend who told me she irons everything except underwear and jeans. Feeling like an underachiever, I thought I’d have a go at it. Besides my mother would be so proud I thought. Not really, she thinks it’s a phase because I’m a newlywed…. Maybe during the first marriage… But now it’s serious business and I will do it forever. Ok. Lastly, it’s probably not burning as many calories as some sports or other housework for that matter, but I’m standing and my hands are full of something besides food for an hour , so that counts for something.

Here’s my new tool.

Who Can Argue?

Nanowrimo

December 4, 2011 By Wendy Ellen Thomas in My life, Writing Tags: nanowrimo, Writing 1 Comment

Where did November go anyway? I made a good start the first 2 weeks and hit about 20K words and then seriously petered out when I let myself make excuses about the rest of my life taking the front seat. My writing was trailing behind the car at a slow jog. But it’s okay. It’s 20K words more than I’ve ever written on one piece.

I’m taking some time now to evaluate the direction of my story, add and subtract a little and then hit it again. I think it’s important to get this first story out on paper just to 1) know I can , and 2) have something to refer to when I’m reading the how to’s so I can see what I’ve learned so far, and 3) have something to put under the false bottom of my desk drawer.