All-You-Can-Eat-Strawberry Shortcake

A delicious tradition that I married into happens at least once a year in early summer. It's a night of All-you-can-eat Strawberry Shortcake. So with an "Erdbeer Hofs" (pronounced Erd-bear)--"Strawberry Huts"--popping up all over town, it was time for this extravaganza.

I bought 2 kilos of strawberry, not wanting to run short. On our way home on the tram the luscious red strawberries sparked a conversation with a friendly lady we were sitting with. She asked how much I paid for them, and since they were from an Erdbeer Hof, I knew they were more expensive, but better than what I would find at the grocery market. These were from Laatzen, a town just southeast of Hannover.

After Dinner Crash

We've had a fabulous crazy weather day, alternating fierce thunderstorms with brilliant sunshine and blue skies. We made it to the zoo this morning, beating the crowds by arriving at 9:30, half an hour after opening. We've noticed that around here people don't seem to rush to get going on Saturday mornings, so if we can get out before eleven or twelve, things are quieter.

In the farm area there was a day-old colt. His long legs and jittery gait entranced Elisabeth and me, while Henry kept running over to the nearest tractors and climbing.

We saw the birds of prey today, a section of the zoo we hadn't visited before. We saw some North American noble birds: the bald eagle and the turkey. But the most engrossing specimen was a type of vulture. While we were watching several different kinds of birds in a large caged area, suddenly a huge vulture flew towards Henry and me. We both suddenly doubted the integrity of the fence and Henry darted away. I was frozen. But rather than crashing into us, the vulture headed to a pig carcass to dine. We were transfixed watching this gruesome and intriguing exercise. Then he noticed us, and as we began to walk away, the bird hopped and walked along the fence next to us. There was a clearing in the bushes and we realized we could walk right up to him. It would've been very easy for a curious toddler to stick his finger into the fence for that curious bird. I held on to both children, rather afraid they might be snatched away. Elisabeth snapped a few pictures:

Unfortunately we could never get a good picture of the huge wingspan, but suffice it to say that Henry seemed very small next to that bird.

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