When we found out that the Chateau would once again be available over Easter, we gathered up a group of friends and headed back to the Loire Valley. Spring had not yet sprung and it was still cold, but luckily it was dry most of the week. The cold didn’t stop the kids from playing outside almost non-stop or the Easter bunny visiting. We failed to get many photos and this one of our Easter feast is the only photo of the entire group.
Two weeks ago we received the bad news that our landlord won’t be renewing our lease and that we need to be out by July 15th. We really don’t want to leave the river, this nice old house and this convenient neighborhood. We considered squatting, which is acceptable in this culture, but just couldn’t picture ourselves actually doing it. I was pretty freaked realizing that we had just 90 days to find a new place in this country with a shortage of housing and get moved in. Luckily, it looks like we’ve found a place in the nearby town of Leidschendam. It’s not on water, but has an interesting water feature. More details later...
It was so exciting watching Veronica perform on stage. She wasn’t a bit nervous about speaking, dancing and singing in front of 350 parents. Her part was surprisingly funny and her comedic timing was spot on. I was especially proud when she and Mungo sang their duet of “Guess We’re in Love.” While Mungo sang in his monster voice, Veronica sang in her lovely voice. It was hard to believe such an incredibly professional production could be pulled off by a bunch of 10- and 11-year-olds. 
This year’s 4th/5th grade play was The Rocky Monster Show, a comedy based on Young Frankenstein and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As a member of the after-school drama club, Veronica was entitled to audition for a role in the play. Surprisingly, our beautiful blonde daughter was cast as Elsa, the Bride of Frankenstein. As you can see, she was completely transformed during the hour she spent having her make-up and hair done. She had to spend about 10 minutes on stage in the closed coffin, then another 5 minutes asleep on stage. Here you see her being awakened by Mungo, the Frankenstein monster.
At the beginning of the school year, I was recruited to be the US International Representative at our school. Besides greeting new American families, I was asked to find a way for the US to participate in the school’s International Festival for the first time. Not surprisingly, it was Jimmy that came up with a unique way for us and a few other Americans to be part of this annual variety show. He wrote a script for an old-fashioned radio show complete with news, jokes and singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame. He wore a tux as the MC and was in charge of audience participation. Veronica was a co-anchor and the straight man for jokes. Ashlynn did an Ovaltine ad and lots of special effects. And I did the travel report, which concluded with water being poured over my head to simulate a rainstorm in Yellowstone. It was pretty silly, but we enjoyed performing and luckily the audience seemed to enjoy it. I won’t give away what Jimmy’s already plotting for next year, but will say he’s threating to include a pie fight, which will be a good way not to be invited back the following year.
Ashlynn really enjoyed learning about Ancient Rome this term and was especially excited about Roman Day. All the kids dressed in togas for the day and did a variety of activities related to the Romans including gladiator wrestling and amulet making for protection from evil spirits . I also wore a toga when I helped with the feast at lunchtime. For the first half of the feast, Ashlynn was a slave and helped serve food to other students. As you can see, she especially thrived when she was a member of the royalty and was served by slaves.
As you know, it doesn’t take much to make me laugh. In Garmisch there were many posters for political candidate Max Wank, which frankly sounds like a perfect hash name to me. Throughout Bavaria, I laughed whenever I walked past a jewelery store.
* When a downhill mountain biking junior champion says a hill is steep, believe him. No idea why we still let the bike rental guy at the hotel talk us into riding up to the Eibsee, the lake above at 3,000 foot elevation. Turned out that the bike lane was covered with ice, so we ended up pushing the bikes alongside the road for 1.25 miles up a 13% grade (granted, Jimmy did most of the pushing) only to find out the trail around the beautiful lake was also covered in ice and I was too much of a wimp to try it. I did overcome my fears of downhills enough to ride my brakes all the down.
It was easy to consider giving up on the hike as I was gasping for breath on the long uphills in the deep snow, but I managed to keep going and eventually the end was in sight. I was truly thrilled when I finally saw this ski lift (which both Veronica and Ashlynn had ridden several times that day). I was even happier when I had a big plate of spaghetti and a nice cold beer in front of me. Ironically, once I filled my belly, I would have actually considered hiking back down, but there wasn't enough time before we had to meet the girls. Veronica was very surprised to see us on the mountain and thrilled that we could ride the gondola down together.
When we got the map for the gorge, we noticed that there was a trail across the mountain to the ski resort where the girls were. So, instead of a simple walk back, we set out for over 3 hours of trudging through the snow as we made about a 2,000 foot elevation gain. I may be smiling in these photos, but I was not a happy camper despite the gorgeous scenery.
After dropping the girls off at ski school, we set out for a hike to the nearby Partnach Gorge, which is a natural monument. It was quite remarkable turning a corner and discovering the simple river transformed into a gallery of fantastic ice sculptures. The gorge is 2,300 feet long and rises to 260 feet high with a walkway near the river’s edge. While I’d seen the backside of a waterfall before, it was definitely cool walked behind a frozen one for the first time.
While the family was off skiing, I did some sightseeing. I spent one day with a friend at the picturesque town of Oberammergau, which since 1634 has hosted a passion play every decade (in 2000 there were over 400,000 visitors who watched the 7-hour long play which was repeated over a 5-month period and starred 2,000 of the town’s residents). Another day, I took a bus trip down to Innsbruck, Austria for a tour of the royal summer palace and a few hours of exploring on my own (unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time to really explore the way I like to which is why next time I’ll just take the train on my own instead of an organized tour). The historic city center was lovely, especially with the snow covered peaks of the Alps towering behind. I especially enjoyed the Hofkirche (Royal Church) which had the most amazing tomb memorial for Emperor Maximillan I. Completed in 1555, it included 28 larger than life bronze statues of relatives and role models placed around the immense sarcophagus.
