Late Nights, Early Mornings

It has been great to see David and Rob hang out together this week. They are both night owls by nature and, when they are together, stay up in to the wee hours watching kung fu movies, eating popcorn, and bonding as one can only do in the late hours of the night. However, these late nights coupled with early mornings became a special challenge.

I tried leaving Wren in bed with David when I left for work in the mornings. As you can see, she had quite a bit more energy than he did.

Perhaps this was wishful thinking on David's part--give her Baa Baa Bedtime and maybe she'll go back to sleep!

I also tried putting her on her Uncle Rob's bed. She was charmed, he was stoically tolerant.

A well-rested Grandpa proved to be the best morning companion.

On returning from work, I found Rob and David lying on the ground next to the Wren--perhaps still trying to catch some sleep on the sly? And Gwendolyn was still full of energy. But all seemed happy, so all was well.

Biergartens Galore

While my family was here we tried to go to at least one biergarten per day, and I think we came pretty close, at least on average.

There was, of course, the great biergarten at the Andechs monastery. In addition to the monks' delicious brew, they have giant pretzels and schweinshaxe (roasted pig knuckles).

One at the foot of the alps, at Schloss Linderhof.

One near Tutzing, with excellent schnitzel (and pumpkin soup, for the less-carnivorous Rachel).

One in Herrsching, with a nice lake view (and outdoor ping-pong tables nearby!).

Sometimes, Gwen Wren gets a little fussy when we sit too long at the table.

A bounce on Grandpa's knee helps.

Love from Mom is even better.

But most often, a chunk of pretzel or bread is the best pacifier.

Bethels in Munchkinland

My dad and brother have now returned home after a great visit. We didn't manage to do much blogging while they were here, but we will try to catch up in the next few posts. Starting with our family foray into Munich, a.k.a. München, a.k.a. land of the little monks, or as I like to call it, Munchkinland.

In typical Bethel fashion, we got a late start. It was well after noon by the time we got to the gates of the old city at Karlsplatz. The pedestrian mall was bustling, packed with people of all ages and ethnicities--a marked contrast to the stodgy-old-white-folks feeling around Starnberg.

Our goal, to the extent we had one, was to get to the center of the city at Marienplatz, check out the noveau-Gothic town hall (pictured above), and look inside a couple of the big old churches. However, the first church we came to, St. Michael's, was closed. We realized that the day before Easter (as it was) was perhaps not the best day for visiting churches.

We did make it inside one church, however. We couldn't pass up the German Hunting and Fishing Museum, which is housed in a former church. It was quite surreal to see hundreds of taxidermied animals lining the walls of a church. Here, my dad and I are standing in front of the skeleton of an Irish elk.

Here is Rob at the top of the central staircase--looking as if he has grown antlers himself! This may seem plain silly, but just moments before, we had seen a case full of wolpertingers, fictional Bavarian creatures made up of the parts of different animals.

Not unlike the American jackalope. But even weirder.

Here is my dad with the skull of another creature, weird enough to be a wolpertinger, but real: a narwhal. To the museum's credit, they (unlike Melville) correctly placed it in the mammal exhibit, not the fish exhibit.

The fish exhibit was particularly impressive. They proudly claimed (and I believe them) to have the world's largest collection of fish hooks. They also had some amazing vintage rods and reels, and of course many taxidermied fish. My dad was impressed with this large lake trout.

Indeed, some of the fish were larger than Gwendolyn. She did not seem particularly impressed, but she seemed to have fun.

By the time we left the museum, we were famished. The famed Augustiner beer hall (shown in the background above) was just a few doors down. We ordered while Rachel went into H&M to look at the sale racks. Gwendolyn became distressed as Rachel left, despite out efforts to reassure her that Mom would be back soon. Fortunately, we had a charming waiter who had Gwen Wren smiling after only a few moments. The large Augustiner Edelstof beer he brought had me smiling too. And the food was delicious.

We did finally make it to the Neues Rathaus on the Marienplatz. Wren was asleep, and the rest of us were ready for a nap. So we headed home for a mellow evening at home, Bethel-style, with homemade popcorn and a Clouseau movie.

Easter Sunday

The Wren enjoyed Easter Sunday with a fellow member of the small set.

It was a warm spring day, and we had a great meal outside on our back porch.

Gwendolyn and Lorna conversed happily together. Lorna is already talking quite a bit, but she considerately used only baby-talk with the Wren. Here they are, intent on one another.

And here are John and Deanna, intent on the two of them.

After the meal, Gwendolyn worked on her crawl with some guidance from her grandpa.

Uncle Rob then tried to instruct her in the ways of the post-meal stupor. Not quite grasping the premise, the Wren remained alert and active, wondering why all her playmates had drifted off to sleep.

More and More Good Things

Just when the Wren thought things could not get much better, they did. Thursday night, Rob arrived at the Starnberg train station. The Wren was already asleep, but in the morning a surprise awaited her.

After a fun morning spent re-establishing bonds with her Uncle Rob, we all piled in the car for a trip to the Alps. On the way, Rob taught her that nearly any object can become a musical instrument. This is before...

...and this is after. Rob and Wren discovered they have a mutual love of sleeping in moving vehicles.

Our destination was Linderhof, another palace of the infamous King Ludwig II of Bavaria. The large building in the background here is the biergarten on the palace grounds (a more recent addition).

This is the view from the palace steps. King Ludwig was a huge fan of King Louis XIV, and built Linderhof as a sort of mini-Versailles.

Here is one of several ornate outbuildings.

The Bethel clan enjoyed the alpine sunshine.

And then ventured into the Venus Grotto, an artificial cave Ludwig had built to re-create the scene from a Wagner opera. A servant would row Ludwig around in a gilded boat on the water while he (and he alone) watched performances of the opera. We learned that this grotto was the first place in all of Bavaria to get electricity. Yes, the more we hear about Ludwig, the stranger he seems.

On the way home, we stopped at the Wieskirche, famed as the most beautiful rococo church in Germany. It was lovely in the evening sun.

The church is located in the little town of Steingaden, surrounded by fields at the foot of the German Alps. It was built there after tears were seen on a wooden statue of the Saviour, and flocks of pilgrims began to come to the site.

No tears, however, were seen on the face of the Wren. She had a great day with great company, and the promise of many more family-filled days to come.

Good Things Come to Starnberg

Monday was a happy day - it marked the arrival of David's dad, aka Gwendolyn's Grandpa Bethel. The Wren was very excited to see him. She has been a little under the weather for the past week or so. Besides nursing her first cold - pretty minor, but still not fun - she's had intestinal issues and has been sleeping worse than usual (yes, that is possible!). All culminating in some overall fussiness. This dissipated with John's arrival. She immediately perked up. She was overjoyed at the undivided attention, and seemed to sense this was someone special.

After some intense bonding with her grandfather, she decided it was time to investigate his luggage.

David also investigated the luggage. For those of you who know David well, you will not be at all surprised to learn he has been researching strollers since the Wren was in utero. Moving to Germany meant an additional challenge - he had to consider all the European strollers as well as the American ones, and then, once he decided which to get, find a way to actually get it to Starnberg. Not deterred by geographic challenges, David boldly chose an American model--the BOB Revolution. David's dad gamefully played his part, transporting it in his luggage all the way from Tulsa! Anything for his progeny. Though of course, it is as much for his son as for his granddaughter. :-)

Once the stroller was ready, Gwen Wren was ready to try it out.

Comfy digs! And she has plenty of room to grow into it, as you can see. :-)

Wrenlet Cleans House

In preparation for a very important visitor - her Grandpa Bethel!

Dinner at Björn's

A few weeks ago, we had dinner at Björn's. Björn is from Swabia, the southwestern region of Germany, so for dinner we had traditional Swabian food: sauerbraten, a large piece of meat marinated for several days in vinegar, wine, broth, juniper cones and cloves, then roasted for several hours. David was very excited about this. It was accompanied by spätzle or egg noddles, my favorite. The noodles were made from scratch - here's Reni, stirring (and stirring and stirring):

Erich then hand pressed the noodles into boiling water. We were told that this method was actually cheating - true traditional spätzle is made by cutting the individual noodles on a board with a knife. (The only spätzle we've cooked for ourselves was premade from a package from the supermarket, I guess that's really cheating.)

Our contribution to the meal? A big salad, a blueberry pie and chocolate chips cookies - pretty American of us.

While we were waiting for the roast to cook, Gwendolyn entertained Björn's kids or vice versa. She discussed the major themes of children's literature with Flora.

And convinced Sarah that even if you only have two teeth, you still have a pretty good bite.

Luckily, Sarah took this with great poise. We were sad to miss Björn's wife, Maja, who was out of town.

David was there, of course, but he was taking all the pictures. You may note his empty chair at the far end of the table--with a large piece of sauerbraten and a tall weissbier. It was quite an act of willpower for him to get up to take this photo before digging in. The final verdict? Delicious!