Monday, May 16, 2011
Observations around Miesau
I wanted to write this before it fades from my mind. Sharma, I and the kids had the glorious experience of renewing our ID cards yesterday. As most of you are not privy to military adventures such as this I will describe it as such...very similar to sticking a hot poker up your nose (which is better than a hot 'picker' I guess, but I digress). I had my picture taken for the ID card and I realized "Rob, you don't look like you did last year". In the picture, whether real or imagined I felt like my face was much fuller than it was a year ago. When I told Sharma about this she called me crazy and said that I looked the same (as a good wife should, she said all the right things). However, since I had been thinking about doing some exercises lately and this visual proof was in my hand I decided today was the day. I asked if Sharma wanted to go and she politely declined but said that she would walk with me. So we compromised, we sadled up Eddie with his harness and leash, set out with money in hand and off we went. We walked down to the local Hanchen (chicken) guy that shows up down the road from us everything Wednesday selling his rotisserie chicken. Man, these aren't just any chicken, golden brown, dripping juices, just spinning around...tempting you with every spin. Now, this is not all, he also has some of the best fries as well, freshly made at the time of your order. In addition he has a small container of salad (cucumber, carrot, sauerkraut, potato) that you get. We order Menu #2-chicken, salad and fries (which feed the whole family) for 10.90 Euro. We purchased the meal and walked back down to our house, as we approached our house there is a small road that branches off and leads of into the fields behind our house. I told Sharma not to eat the whole meal and ventured off down the road on my run. The first thing that entered my mind was "I am running...here in Germany" just a mundane activity that I could be doing anywhere, but I was doing it here in Europe...how grateful I was. Then I started to really take in my surroundings. I found myself running on this paved path through fields of bright yellow flowers, followed by green fields, followed by yellow as far as the eye could see. Then I noticed the hills that surrounded us, far in the distance, but still present, watching over us. As the monotonous sound of my gasps for breath continued I noticed this brilliantly yellow bird land on a plant in the field and watched me as I lumbered by. I had never seen a bird so brilliantly yellow, except in photos, what a treasure. In conclusion, I made it all the way back (I didn't run that far because I have to start slowly, lest I kill myself) and enjoyed the chicken, fries and potato salad that we bought. But I just wanted to let you know I do the same things here I would back in the states, pretty ordinary if you ask me...ordinarily amazing! I love it here and am glad that I took the time to really notice what was happening around me yesterday and appreciate our unique situation.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
My oh Mallorca
We had a really hard time deciding where we should go on vacation for sp
ring break. We had a few requirements, among the most important was it needed to be warm. Second, it needed to have sand for the kids. We thought about the south of France or Sardinia, off of the coast of Italy. Then as always, we let Ryan air help us decide. We were able to get tickets to Mallorca for 6 Euro each way, problem solved. We were able to go with two other families, the Cherringtons and the Tholens, they each had children the same age as ours so it really was a nice fit. We were able to get a hotel with three rooms that could accommodate all of us, which turned out to be 30 minutes outside of the main city of Palma. The funny thing was that when we booked plane tickets on Ryan air I thought we had all booked on the same flight, it turned out that we were the only ones on the late flight, and the others had arrived there early in the morning. We arrived around 6pm and found our way to the car rental, we upgraded one step to get a little bigger car, a nice Peugeot. The first impressions of this island is that it is fairly large with a very diverse terrain and much like Aruba in that it is a pretty arid place. It is not the lush green island one would automatically think of, but then again the Mediterranean lends itself to this kind of landscape. The other noticeable feature of this island is its dichotomy, 1/3 of the island is very steep mountains and 2/3 very flat expanses. We arrived to our
hotel in Cala Pi and found our cohorts resting from their fun adventures. We were starving and they had just ordered pizza and were getting ready to eat. Since our hotel had a kitchen we decided to go to a grocery store. We had Kyle Cherrington take us back into town to the grocery store they went to. We didn't realize it was going to be such a long drive. We made it to the store and bought breakfast and lunch items. On our way home we stopped at the pizza joint and ordered three pizzas. They looked good and they were good, mainly because we were so hungry. At the restaurant we picked up a cool souvenir of wooden matches in a triangle box. We quickly planned out the next day and then went to bed. So the observation on driving on this little island. The side roads that lead to the smaller towns are narrow, not a terrible thing but when you combine this with the fact that they line every lane with 4 foot tall rock walls, it makes it a bit treacherous when you meet another car. Now if this wasn't bad enough, apparently in the winter this is where are the cycling teams do their training. So now we had the added pleasure of trying not to kill the cyclists. They were everywhere, on the road, on the side of the road, in the middle of the road, in the bushes, in the trees...okay, they weren't in the trees, but if they had been I wouldn't have been surprised. And the problem? They all thought that they owned the road, if you came up behind them, they may or may not scoot over to let you past. I felt like yelling at them "Hey! You're not Lance Armstrong you know?"...since I was driving I had Sharma do this. Our first full day we decided to hit the beach. I had done a little research and found a beach called Es Tranc, which was supposed to be this big beautiful beach. We get to one end of the beach and realize 'this place stinks', there was washed up seaweed all over the place, no place to enjoy the sand, no facilities etc. So after driving all the way there we decided to go back to Palma and hang out at the beach there. As a side note, come to find out, we were at one end of the beach and the nice part was at the other end. We went to Palma beach, which was very nice. They
had built rows of shaded straw huts that you could just throw your beach towel under and start to enjoy. It was also next to a McDonalds so if we needed a bathroom, food or a diet coke (for Sharma) it was 30 seconds away. The day was sunny, but it was not warm, in the truest sense of the word. If the wind wouldn't have been blowing it would have been fine, but the wind kicked up pretty strong and it kept the day cool. The kids stripped down to their swimsuits and started to enjoy the sand right away, even getting into the water. The adults just lounged. I collected a bunch of small shells and sand from the beach as is our custom anytime we go to a new beach. I didn't put any sunscreen on because I wanted as much color as I could possibly get. And boy was I successful. I never realize how red I am getting when I am out in the sun, and this time I had no pre-beach color...I was as white as I could be. Oh I would pay later. We walked across the street to a McDonalds and grabbed a quick bite to eat, while there we decided to go to the big cathedral in Palma. We drove down to the Cathedral and decided to pay the entrance fee to get in. It was a very interesting church, very different architecture on the outside, faced by a pond and just a stones throw f
rom the bay. We bought a few souvenirs from the cathedral to commemorate our visit and then decided it was time to head back. We found a nice restaurant so we could sit down and enjoy the evening. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the refreshing air. We ordered pizza and burgers and just enjoyed good conversations throughout the evening. The next day we decided to explore the other side of the island. We drove through Palma and went up into the mountains. Along the way we passed an Ikea, Sharma drooled and we drove on. We went to a little village along the coast named Soller. It was a very quaint city that sat on a cove, surrounded by 90% land. There were two lighthouses at the entrance to the cove that looked off into the Mediterranean. There was a small beach that sat along the cove. They also had a cool little train that went from Soller to Palma and back. We walked around the whole cove along the waterfront, stopping in stores and browsing their goods. Our goal was to make it to the lighthouse, after walking for what seemed like an eternity we made it to the other end of the cove where the lighthouse sat. Then we realized the lighthouse was in an area off limits to tourists. We decided to climb up the hill, looking for another way into the lighthouse. We passed little alleyways full of tiny houses, with ladies out hanging laundry and sweeping, kids playing. We made it to the top of the hill and found a museum that overlooked the ocean. We all took pictures of each other, with the sea in the background with it's constant pounding against the shear cliffs. We walked back down the hill to the city and found a nice little grocery store and did our normal routine. We found a few tables and sat and ate our bread, cheese, meat, chips, red peppers, drinks and candy. We decided to drive to the other side of the inlet and checkout the other lighthouse, with the main goal of finding a bathroom at the top. We did find a bathroom but don't think it was mean
t for public use. It was meant for a bed and breakfast that sat at the top of the hill, but it served the purpose we needed it to. We drove back to the hotel and let the kids play. The older ones wanted to go to the little inlet by our hotel and do some snorkeling and the younger ones wanted to swim in the pool. Sharma and I stayed at the pool with Maddi and her friends and just enjoyed the sunshine, however it was a little on the cool side. McKay was only one of two people that actually went snorkeling, everybody else said they wanted to, but when it got down to it they decided it was too cold. We cleaned up and went to this little restaurant that we passed every time we drove from/to our hotel. And every time we passed it there were 50 cyclists there eating. This evening it was us and another family. Sharma and I decided to order the Paella (seafood). Man it was good, very filling and plenty of seafood. Oh and just so you knew I had a pretty bad sunburn from the first day so I was pretty happy not to be at the beach today. The next day we decided to hang out at the beach on the eastern side of the island. We drove several small villages, as we passed 
one in particular we noticed them having a small farmers market. We stopped and roamed around, but several different fruits and sat on the steps and ate. We bought more food from a local grocery store and had lunch before continuing on our journey. We finally ended up in Portocristo and planted ourselves on the beach. We enjoyed the beach, the kids played in the sand, the older ones played with a soccer ball McKay had brought and the adults lounged on our mats and talked. I played keep away with the kids, using the soccer ball, until I realized that I was in the middle more times than anybody and I should probably quit before I pull something. After several hours we decided to drive into Palma one last time. We found our way to the McDonalds by the beach, we had spent quite a bit on dinner the previous three nights so we needed something a little more manageable on the pocketbook. We enjoyed our meals and then walked across the street to take in the view one last time. There were four guys that had just finished making a beautiful sandcastle complete with candles on it. We paid them a few coins and then took some pictures of it. The Cherringtons always collect items from 'Hard Rock Cafe' wherever they go, so we hit that up so they could collect their souvenirs. Then it was home to pack. Goodbye Mallorca, it was fun getting to know you. Maybe we'll meet again sometime.
ring break. We had a few requirements, among the most important was it needed to be warm. Second, it needed to have sand for the kids. We thought about the south of France or Sardinia, off of the coast of Italy. Then as always, we let Ryan air help us decide. We were able to get tickets to Mallorca for 6 Euro each way, problem solved. We were able to go with two other families, the Cherringtons and the Tholens, they each had children the same age as ours so it really was a nice fit. We were able to get a hotel with three rooms that could accommodate all of us, which turned out to be 30 minutes outside of the main city of Palma. The funny thing was that when we booked plane tickets on Ryan air I thought we had all booked on the same flight, it turned out that we were the only ones on the late flight, and the others had arrived there early in the morning. We arrived around 6pm and found our way to the car rental, we upgraded one step to get a little bigger car, a nice Peugeot. The first impressions of this island is that it is fairly large with a very diverse terrain and much like Aruba in that it is a pretty arid place. It is not the lush green island one would automatically think of, but then again the Mediterranean lends itself to this kind of landscape. The other noticeable feature of this island is its dichotomy, 1/3 of the island is very steep mountains and 2/3 very flat expanses. We arrived to our
hotel in Cala Pi and found our cohorts resting from their fun adventures. We were starving and they had just ordered pizza and were getting ready to eat. Since our hotel had a kitchen we decided to go to a grocery store. We had Kyle Cherrington take us back into town to the grocery store they went to. We didn't realize it was going to be such a long drive. We made it to the store and bought breakfast and lunch items. On our way home we stopped at the pizza joint and ordered three pizzas. They looked good and they were good, mainly because we were so hungry. At the restaurant we picked up a cool souvenir of wooden matches in a triangle box. We quickly planned out the next day and then went to bed. So the observation on driving on this little island. The side roads that lead to the smaller towns are narrow, not a terrible thing but when you combine this with the fact that they line every lane with 4 foot tall rock walls, it makes it a bit treacherous when you meet another car. Now if this wasn't bad enough, apparently in the winter this is where are the cycling teams do their training. So now we had the added pleasure of trying not to kill the cyclists. They were everywhere, on the road, on the side of the road, in the middle of the road, in the bushes, in the trees...okay, they weren't in the trees, but if they had been I wouldn't have been surprised. And the problem? They all thought that they owned the road, if you came up behind them, they may or may not scoot over to let you past. I felt like yelling at them "Hey! You're not Lance Armstrong you know?"...since I was driving I had Sharma do this. Our first full day we decided to hit the beach. I had done a little research and found a beach called Es Tranc, which was supposed to be this big beautiful beach. We get to one end of the beach and realize 'this place stinks', there was washed up seaweed all over the place, no place to enjoy the sand, no facilities etc. So after driving all the way there we decided to go back to Palma and hang out at the beach there. As a side note, come to find out, we were at one end of the beach and the nice part was at the other end. We went to Palma beach, which was very nice. They
had built rows of shaded straw huts that you could just throw your beach towel under and start to enjoy. It was also next to a McDonalds so if we needed a bathroom, food or a diet coke (for Sharma) it was 30 seconds away. The day was sunny, but it was not warm, in the truest sense of the word. If the wind wouldn't have been blowing it would have been fine, but the wind kicked up pretty strong and it kept the day cool. The kids stripped down to their swimsuits and started to enjoy the sand right away, even getting into the water. The adults just lounged. I collected a bunch of small shells and sand from the beach as is our custom anytime we go to a new beach. I didn't put any sunscreen on because I wanted as much color as I could possibly get. And boy was I successful. I never realize how red I am getting when I am out in the sun, and this time I had no pre-beach color...I was as white as I could be. Oh I would pay later. We walked across the street to a McDonalds and grabbed a quick bite to eat, while there we decided to go to the big cathedral in Palma. We drove down to the Cathedral and decided to pay the entrance fee to get in. It was a very interesting church, very different architecture on the outside, faced by a pond and just a stones throw f
rom the bay. We bought a few souvenirs from the cathedral to commemorate our visit and then decided it was time to head back. We found a nice restaurant so we could sit down and enjoy the evening. We were able to sit outside and enjoy the refreshing air. We ordered pizza and burgers and just enjoyed good conversations throughout the evening. The next day we decided to explore the other side of the island. We drove through Palma and went up into the mountains. Along the way we passed an Ikea, Sharma drooled and we drove on. We went to a little village along the coast named Soller. It was a very quaint city that sat on a cove, surrounded by 90% land. There were two lighthouses at the entrance to the cove that looked off into the Mediterranean. There was a small beach that sat along the cove. They also had a cool little train that went from Soller to Palma and back. We walked around the whole cove along the waterfront, stopping in stores and browsing their goods. Our goal was to make it to the lighthouse, after walking for what seemed like an eternity we made it to the other end of the cove where the lighthouse sat. Then we realized the lighthouse was in an area off limits to tourists. We decided to climb up the hill, looking for another way into the lighthouse. We passed little alleyways full of tiny houses, with ladies out hanging laundry and sweeping, kids playing. We made it to the top of the hill and found a museum that overlooked the ocean. We all took pictures of each other, with the sea in the background with it's constant pounding against the shear cliffs. We walked back down the hill to the city and found a nice little grocery store and did our normal routine. We found a few tables and sat and ate our bread, cheese, meat, chips, red peppers, drinks and candy. We decided to drive to the other side of the inlet and checkout the other lighthouse, with the main goal of finding a bathroom at the top. We did find a bathroom but don't think it was mean
t for public use. It was meant for a bed and breakfast that sat at the top of the hill, but it served the purpose we needed it to. We drove back to the hotel and let the kids play. The older ones wanted to go to the little inlet by our hotel and do some snorkeling and the younger ones wanted to swim in the pool. Sharma and I stayed at the pool with Maddi and her friends and just enjoyed the sunshine, however it was a little on the cool side. McKay was only one of two people that actually went snorkeling, everybody else said they wanted to, but when it got down to it they decided it was too cold. We cleaned up and went to this little restaurant that we passed every time we drove from/to our hotel. And every time we passed it there were 50 cyclists there eating. This evening it was us and another family. Sharma and I decided to order the Paella (seafood). Man it was good, very filling and plenty of seafood. Oh and just so you knew I had a pretty bad sunburn from the first day so I was pretty happy not to be at the beach today. The next day we decided to hang out at the beach on the eastern side of the island. We drove several small villages, as we passed 
one in particular we noticed them having a small farmers market. We stopped and roamed around, but several different fruits and sat on the steps and ate. We bought more food from a local grocery store and had lunch before continuing on our journey. We finally ended up in Portocristo and planted ourselves on the beach. We enjoyed the beach, the kids played in the sand, the older ones played with a soccer ball McKay had brought and the adults lounged on our mats and talked. I played keep away with the kids, using the soccer ball, until I realized that I was in the middle more times than anybody and I should probably quit before I pull something. After several hours we decided to drive into Palma one last time. We found our way to the McDonalds by the beach, we had spent quite a bit on dinner the previous three nights so we needed something a little more manageable on the pocketbook. We enjoyed our meals and then walked across the street to take in the view one last time. There were four guys that had just finished making a beautiful sandcastle complete with candles on it. We paid them a few coins and then took some pictures of it. The Cherringtons always collect items from 'Hard Rock Cafe' wherever they go, so we hit that up so they could collect their souvenirs. Then it was home to pack. Goodbye Mallorca, it was fun getting to know you. Maybe we'll meet again sometime.
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