Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

We just returned from a week in Süd Tirol, Italy.  Americans say, “Where?”  Germans say, “Oh, I went there last summer” or “Oh, I grew up going there.”  Or, “Oh, we have been there every year for the last 3 years.  The kids love it.”  So along with all the Germans we went to the German speaking part of Northern Italy. Süd Tirol used to belong to Austria, hence the German.  Everyone said the German would sound different, and sometimes I really noticed the difference, but I don’t speak German well enough to be able to point out the different words.  I think perhaps it is similar to a European noticing a Texan accent.  I might get some flack for that. Our view from Sallrainhof We left Hannover at 4 AM.  By the time the sun rose we were in Bavaria.  We were all quite awake for those three hours, so it was exciting to finally be able to see where we were.  About 6:30 we rounded a bend on the autobahn and the beginnings of a su...

Yesterday I heard a first from Henry--he was telling me what was on the Kindergarten lunch menu for Thursday and he said, "It gives Pizza on Thursday!"  He was so excited, I had to ask him to repeat himself to see if he really said what I thought he said.  He directly translated the German phrase into English.  In German you say, "Es gibt am Donnerstag Pizza!"  I thought it was pretty funny.  I wasn't sure if I should correct him or not, and I didn't until later.  I figure it will all get sorted out at some point. Yesterday morning Henry asked me, "How do you say 'tomorrow'?"  "Morgen."  "How do you say 'Grandmere'?"  "Oma or Grossmutter."  Ah, then I realized--he wanted to tell everyone that Grandmere was coming tomorrow!  This morning on the way to Kindergarten he said, "How do you say 'today'?"  He's got some news to tell.   Riding to German class through some orchards and g...

Intriguing Walk I’m in love with the heath.  In the guide book this place kept grabbing my attention from our earliest arrival.  Finally as my birthday approached I told the family that is where we would go to celebrate.  So, against German custom (celebrating early is bad luck) we drove to Lüneberger Heide for my “birthday outing” as our family is beginning to term these little trips. It started out poorly.  In spite of my enthusiasm, I hadn’t planned well.  I just figured we would go exploring.  There is a large nature park that encompasses part of the heath (Heide), so during the one hour drive I was looking at the website on my iPhone and telling John where to go, continually revising our plan.  Nevertheless, we arrived in good time and parked. But was it chilly!  I guess the house was warm when we got dressed, and the sun was shining, so half the family left without coats, and only one fourth of the family had a jacket that might r...

Warsaw is a beautiful city.  I must say, though, it took me a few days to appreciate it.  Sunshine helps too.  I've learned that big cities scare me for a few days and then I start liking them.  So here are a few shots from our wanderings around the town on Saturday.  Weather being unpredictable, I carried around an umbrella and raincoats all day yesterday, under a bright blue sky.  Today, Sunday, dawned sunny and bright as well, so I pulled all the rain gear out of my backpack.  Thus, after church, the rain poured down.  After a wonderful lunch at Kino Kultura, we took a taxi back home. The gardens atop the University Library--we're walking all over the roof! Climbing up the roof A rare close up A view from the Palace of Culture and Science--Warsaw's old town is the area of red roofs. Here Dad is showing Henry models of Polish army tanks, howitzers, etc. etc.  Dad did not mince words and explained that these things kill p...

In Germany we have visited a number of German speaking churches--Lutheran, Reformed and Evangelical Free, but today in Warsaw I went with my parents to what they already, after one month of being here, refer to as "our church."  It is the Church of England in Poland, meeting in a Catholic chapel called Res Sacra Miser,  pictured here . There were certainly a lot of things for the kids to look at, a big change for these Protestant kiddoes.  Elisabeth sat on the pew with my parents and the three of them filled it up, so Henry and I sat behind them. The liturgy was printed on 2 sets of paper and it was a bit tricky to follow along, but it was so good and so needful to hear the word of God.  In my own language.  I don't think I realized until I looked at the liturgy, how hard it has been to not be at an English speaking church.  In truth I was refreshed. We read together the Nicene Creed, which is more in depth than the Apostles Creed, which even in most Pre...

At a playground a couple of days ago in Warsaw, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Henry was playing on a merry go round with a little Polish boy.  Instinctively Henry began speaking German to him.  It rolls off his tongue so easily . . ."Das geht so schnell!"  "It goes so fast."  Other times I hear him telling me things in German just as if he were speaking English.  I'm glad at least one of us keeping up his German while we are away.  On the train from Berlin to Warsaw we were in a compartment with a Polish woman who spoke Polish and German, so Henry had a very easy time conversing with her and showing her his cookies, his coloring book etc.  She was charmed. Waiting for a bus in the rain The kids and I are in Warsaw visiting my parents for a week.  John is in Germany flitting about between cities that begin with D.  Every time I talk to him I assume he is in a different time zone, but no, he's only 8 hours away, by train. Vie...

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 her...