Shenanigans Crossing Borders

The first morning we needed some groceries, and discovered a new (to us) store, Lidl. It’s basically like Aldi back home (3 aisles, everything stocked in similar fashion food on the outside aisles and the center has some home goods). We actually wanted more produce, and found an adorable town nearby (Miltenberg). We found free parking near a church, and walked through the town, down cobblestone streets, past bakeries with incredible odors and breads, and enjoyed the old world river town.

On our way back to the car, we discovered an old Jewish cemetery right by where we parked. We were simply looking over the hill, when someone in our family saw a headstone with Hebrew on it. We walked closer and it turns out, there had been Jews in the area since the 13th century!?! Lord Google’s Translate handled some of the headstones that were over 200 years old! It’s a Jewish custom to put a rock on a visited tombstone, and we wanted to do so here. Unfortunately the grounds were locked, so we spent a few solemn minutes looking around and reverently discussing the history of the community.

Did we mention the hills in the town? These stairs spell disaster in reverse.

Back at our house, we learned that our host had purchased all the buildings that surround the courtyard, and it’s one of the few buildings that survived from before the war. Up another hill is a great apple (Apfel) orchard, where Darth and Inqueue got to run free (leashed to each other). Avital met some young ladies who groom and ride the ponies, and offered her an opportunity to ride. Actually, all the Jawas were offered a chance, only Avital took them up on it.

The nighttime silence and stars are so beautiful out here, albeit a bit chilly.

When we left the US, we did not pack winter gear, because, well, go back to the other post about packing in tiny suitcases. Sadly, it’s still winter here. And after a week in Berlin, we’ve decided none of our clothes are enough for winter.

Except JP’s fleece, which is amazingly warm. So. Not. Fair!

We decided it was time to go to a 2nd hand clothing store and find jackets/coats, so we drove to Frankfurt. It’s just an hour away, so let’s go!

What a different world when you get into a big city after spending a few days in the country. Parking is an issue, lots of people everywhere, and traffic galore.

We explored a little more of Frankfurt, drove past the Offenbach synagogue, and stopped briefly at the kosher restaurant, but decided it was too expensive, and we had plenty of food back home. The restaurant itself is part of a squash court club, in what we (back home) would probably call a JCC (or similar). It even has a bakery, but the bakery was closed. We snacked in the parking lot, then headed back for food and so JP could work.

Don’t mind the Tie Fighter parked outside our town. Happy Christmas Eve Eve!

News flash, parenting can suck!

This evening also became a bit of a turning point with our children and their feelings. Vered has been pretty decent at communicating. However Avital does not have a solid enough vocabulary, and both she and Ayelet lack the emotional intelligence to communicate their frustrations. Instead of talking, we often get a lot of yelling, belligerent attacks, and meltdowns.

Tonight was the first time we slowed things down and had a long, open-ended conversation about feelings, missing friends and beloved dolls, and just the overall concept of this adventure. Avital was very sad to not be able to talk to her friends. Ayelet expressed her frustrations as well about not having a chance to talk to her friends or siblings or cousins. So we started setting up FaceTime dates – and will continue to do so if anyone wants to chat (yes, even you, the person reading this post. Don’t say, “yeah, yeah, i’ll send a message later”. Put down the post, send us a message, and we’ll schedule it. It’s that easy. And don’t worry, the post will be here to pick up right where you left off).

That kind of emotional endeavor takes a physical toll, and everyone passed out (except JP, who works late nowadays).

Christmas Eve, and what should some Jews do? We found a time to go find a castle, eat chinese food, and watch a movie. Actually, we didn’t watch a movie, but we did see a castle! And we found Vietnamese people who made adequate vegan Chinese food¡ The castle is actually now a residence, but en route we also found a beautiful home with a lot of antlers on it, and a massive garden across the street.

Because Christmas eve is tonight, pretty much everything closes up by 1400. And because we are going to Bavaria tomorrow, we need to buy enough supplies to last us 3 days (Thursday and Friday everything is closed for Christmas, and we won’t shop on Shabbat). The goal here is to make sure we get through the Oregon Trail and don’t die of dysentery. Funny, we also have to play Tetris again tomorrow, with all the extra food, dogs, children, and luggage…sigh.

Another “tomorrow” problem.

And now that it’s tomorrow, JP parked backwards on the street, we loaded the car, and got on the road before checkout time (a new record).

Kitzingen, here we come!