Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Reflecting the Setting Sun (photo by Meredith Stone) Our trip to Süd Tirol feels like a long time ago now--John has left for two trips since we returned from our family trip.  We are getting back into our routines again.  But in my mind’s eye I can still see the light gray Dolomites surging up against the backdrop of a blue sky, green mountains spreading down in the foreground.   Our Approach Road (see first post about Süd Tirol)-photo by Meredith Stone Rittnerhorn Summit (photo by Ralph Stone) We took a few hikes with the children.  The one I most wanted to do turned out to be only the prelude to what became my favorite. We took a cable car to the start of the hike, and then hiked the rest of the way up to the 2260 meter summit.  We had a gorgeous day for this, but it turned out to be steeper than I had thought.  Elisabeth had no trouble.  Henry kept on pretty well but I was quite grateful that he needed to stop and rest as much as he d...

On our first morning in S ü d Tirol, the kids woke us up at 7 AM.  It was very dark in our apartment, since we had closed the exterior shutters, and there were no night lights, so we were all sort of stumbling around.  The bathroom is one step up from the rest of the apartment, and there are thresholds to step over from one room to the next.  Any bruises we have may be a result of that.  The next nights we didn’t bother to close the shutters.  Those of us living on the plains need reminders of what a mountain morning in October is like.  There’s no bright sun streaming into your room at 7 AM. Once we were up I suddenly had a brilliant idea that we should go outside to see the sunrise.  I quickly made coffee, got dressed and everyone bundled up so we wouldn’t miss it.  Our hostess, Maria, saw us leaving and commented on our early rising.  When John told her that we were going to see the sunrise, I wonder if she laughed a little. There we were...

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...