Capture the Color Photo Contest

I'm embarrassed at how long it took me to respond to my nomination (by Lisa Goodmurphy at Gone With The Family) to participate in the Capture the Colour blog contest by Travel Supermarket.  In fact, I waited so long, the contest is over.  See the beautiful winning entries here.

Oh well.  I had fun looking through my old digital files.  The object of the game was to select a photo from one's archives that best captures each of the following colors:  Blue, Green, Yellow, White and Red.  Here are my picks:

Blue

Royal Blue Delft is the exquisite, hand-painted, trademark porcelain of the Netherlands, crafted exclusively in the small town of Delft for over three and a half centuries.  Traditional designs are pastoral Dutch scenes such as windmills, sailing ships, and tulips.  We toured the oldest Delftware factory in the summer of 2010 and were fascinated by the history and technique of this ceramic art.  In the photo above, one can see the before and after of a vase.  The artists use black paint containing cobalt oxide to paint their design, which then turns blue during firing.  By adding more or less water, the craftsmen determine the final color and shade of blue.


Green

My two kids, coincidentally both wearing green, at the Lautersee (Lauter Lake) in Mittenwald, Germany.  We came upon this lake by accident on a drive, and ended up staying all day.  We rented a motorboat and let the kids pilot it, hand-fed some goats, and ate Bratwurst at the Gasthaus on the lake shore.


Yellow

Gouda cheese is for sale (and sampling!) every Thursday morning at the cheese market in Gouda, the Netherlands!


White

This might perhaps be my favorite picture taken in Spain last summer.  It's just a nameless narrow alleyway in the precious white hill town of Vejer in Andalusia.


Red


The only thing missing here is a red double-decker bus!  London is one of the best places to take young childen in Europe - there's so much to see and do!

Photo Friday: The Southernmost Tip of Europe

I'm not sure why, but one always feels so special, so adventurous, when standing at a geographically unique point on this earth.  It was exciting for us years ago to be at the southernmost point in the continental U.S. in Key West, Florida, only 90 miles from Cuba.  My fellow travel blogger, Lisa Goodmurphy, who authors the terrific blog Gone With the Family, recently posted a fun report of her family's visit to Cape Spear in Newfoundland which is the most easterly point of North America.  The next stop to the east from there is Ireland.

So of course my family celebrated with photos when we stood this summer at the southernmost tip of Europe in Tarifa, Spain.  Or, as the sign below reads in Spanglish, "You are in the European Southernpoint."  From here you are only 8 miles from the continent of Africa.

This "European Southernpoint" used to be an island, Isla de las Palomas, but has been joined to the mainland by a road.

Narrow road from the mainland to Isla de las Palomas.

There's not much to see on the very small Isla de las Palomas, just some ruined fortifications, but you can watch the ferries go back and forth across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tarifa to Tangier.

Ruined fortress on Isla de las Palomas.

My kids thought it particularly cool that on one side of the island and road they were on the Atlantic Ocean and on the other, just steps away, they were on the Mediterranean Sea.

 This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

Back to Ski

Are you ready for winter and hitting the ski slopes again?  Mara Gorman, who authors the family travel blog The Mother of All Trips, is hosting a Back to Ski Week this week featuring the best of the best tips for the upcoming downhill ski season for families.  She'll be sharing not only her own tips for planning a family ski vacation but also stories and ideas from other family travel bloggers (including moi) around the world.  You can follow the buzz on Twitter at the #backtoski hashtag and check out the Back to Ski Pinterest board, too.

My daughter and friends checking out the open runs in Adelboden, Switzerland.

Renting our equipment in Adelboden.

On the slopes in Adelboden!

German Unity Day

Today is a federal holiday in Germany, called Tag der Deutschen Einheit, or German Unity Day.  The October 3rd holiday commemorates the anniversary of German reunification in 1990.

Do you remember when there was a West Germany and an East Germany?  I only visited East Germany once, in 1987, just two years before the wall came down.  East Berlin was an eerie place, crawling with Stasi as you can sort of see in the two photos below.

I remember watching the news on November 9, 1989, in disbelief that the wall was just simply coming down, from one day to the next.  It represented such evil and death and was finally being peacefully dismantled.  

Democratic elections paved the way for unity and the "Treaty of Unification" was signed by East and West Germany in 1990.  Finally, Germany's unification became official on October 3, 1990.

The Brandenburg Gate in 1987.

The Brandenburg Gate was an important symbol of Germany's division after World War II, and nowadays it's a symbol of reunification.  The monument is so much prettier now:

Photo credit:  www.thewashingtonnote.com

Germans have today off work and there are public celebrations with political speeches, concerts, festivals, and fireworks.

Photo Friday: Local Artists

In Madrid, as is so commonly seen in Paris, local artists sit in the open squares and paint canvases primarily purchased by tourists.  I love that they depict regional scenes and cultures, and found the brilliant colors of Spanish matadors and flamenco dancers fabulous.

This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

My One Wish (Briefly) Comes True

My One Wish briefly came true.  I had no idea we had two seats in Business Class on our recent flight to New York until I looked at my ticket, looked at the seat number, looked again at my ticket and again at the seat number.  Was it a mistake?  Was the upgrade intended?  Why hadn't I received any brandish accolades from American Airlines announcing my customer loyalty to be so commendable as to be worthy of a class upgrade?

Just look at those fluffy comforters and standard size (as opposed to cereal box size) pillows with cotton (as opposed to scratchy, disposable, non-woven) pillow cases.  See how the seat almost fully reclines and a convenient foot-rest reduces the pesky risk of deep vein thrombosis, a.k.a. "econony-class syndrome".

Dilemna:  only two of our seats were in Business Class and there were three of us flying to New York. Obviously one would belong to me (momma's gotta have her rest), but would my husband or my son enjoy the luxury of a double arm rest, bountiful legroom, warm lunch, and a freshly-baked chocolate chip cookie served with a smile by an attentive flight attendant?

My kind and generous husband surrendered the seat to my 13 year old son so he could gain the experience and -  I think - to hopefully motivate him to financially succeed in life in order to afford a little luxury once in awhile.  It might have worked.  Every time the flight attendant offered us something to eat my son would ask, "Is it free?" and the steward would say, "Of course!" to which my son would exclaim, "Cool!"  The deal was clinched for sure though when said flight attendant brought my son a Galaxy Tab for the duration of the flight.  For free.  Loaded with video games, TV shows, music, podcasts, and over 70 movies.  "Cool!" was then the exclamation from me, as I nested into my soft comforter, reclined my seat, and went to sleep.

Another Cooking Lesson

I couldn't let my German house guests get away without cooking us some Spätzle in addition to the delicious Klöße and Geschnetzeltes meal we made together, so Kathrin, my cousin's wife, led the kids (hers and mine) in another Spätzle lesson.  Every German cook has her own little tips on this simple German delicacy, and I didn't want to miss out on hers.

We got the boys to mix the dough.

 Everyone wanted a turn at the fun job of scraping the dough into boiling water.

Be sure to remove the dough after just a minute or two from the boiling water.

 So what is Kathrin's Spätzle secret?  Grilled onions.

We alternated layers of Edam cheese and Spätzle noodles in a casserole dish and baked until melted through.

Serve the Spätzle with grilled onions on top and the result is fabulous.

Making Klöße With Kids

My German cousin and his family have been gone only about two weeks and I miss our nightly meals together.  I enjoyed cooking typical American favorites such as hamburgers, tacos, casseroles, and barbeque beef burgers for them to taste, but my favorite dinners are when my German house guests cook for me! Last year my kids and I had lessons in Spätzle making, so this time around I suggested Klöße, also known as Knödel, which are German dumplings.  My cousin's sweet wife, Kathrin, had showed my daughter how she makes them at home in Sommerhausen when we were there two years ago:

The trick with making them here in the states, however, is to find the right dough, so Kathrin and I drove to the local German delicatessen to find the brand she likes best, called Henglein Seidenknödel.

No luck, so we bought these packages instead:

These are powder mixes, which Kathrin didn't think would taste as good as the fresh dough in the Henglein package.  But we forged ahead, with all four kids blending, mixing, and ball-rolling.

The rolled Klöße are placed in a pot of boiling salt water but should be immediately removed from heat and allowed to just gently simmer for 20 minutes.

We made the Klöße as a scrumptious side dish to Geschnetzeltes, sliced pork tenderloin with fresh mushrooms in a cream sauce.

The meal was enjoyed by all and the kids were very proud to have taken part in the cooking, of course. Of the two varieties of Knödel in the packages we bought, we thought the bayrisch, not the halb & halb, tasted a little bit better, but overall Kathrin still prefers the Henglein fresh dough she buys at home in Germany.

Photo Friday: More Royal Alcázar

Writing my post on Wednesday about the Royal Alcázar Palace in Seville brought back such beautiful memories I just had to post some more pictures.  We had such an extraordinary day here.

You can see the Giralda Tower of the Cathedral of Seville from the Alcázar courtyard.

This post is part of Photo Friday at DeliciousBaby.com.

Alcázar Palace in Seville

It's time to present some Moorish architecture, and I do so now with a newly enlightened, genuinely astonished, profound and humble appreciation for these North African people whom, I learned, brought arts and sciences, architectural design, a peaceful religion, sophisticated irrigation systems and civilized government to the Iberian peninsula, while the rest of Europe languished in the Dark Ages.  This all began with the migration of the Moors to what is now Andalusia as early as the 8th century and their inhabitance continued for over 700 years.  It is to our huge benefit that some of their buildings, customs and traditions have endured over the centuries for us to marvel at today.

The most outstanding surviving examples of Moorish architecture in Spain are the Alhambra palace in Granada, the Alcázar Palace in Seville, and the Mezquita in Córdoba.  My family made it a priority to visit all three this summer.  These are all glorious, unique, works of art.

Of the three sites, unanimously our favorite was the Alcázar in Seville.  The exterior is deceptive.  The massive red Lion's Gate at the entrance looks like a military fortress, not a palace.

My kids in front of the Lion's Gate.

Even once inside the immediate courtyard, the Lion's Patio, the intricacies of the exquisite interior architecture are not yet revealed.

Lion's Patio inside Seville's Alcázar Palace.

Through the triple arches another courtyard, called the Patio de la Montería, allows us to see the entrance of the Palacio Pedro I, the original palace of King Pedro I, constructed in 1364 on the site of a lavish grand mosque.  Many subsequent monarchs added to the construction of the palace and the upper floor is still regularly used by the Spanish royal family today.

Patio de la Montería.

The palace façade is decorated in Mudéjar style with emblematic horseshoe arches and carved stonework.

Immediately upon entering the palace our gasps began.  We had rented audio guides, and even the kids were spellbound by the history and descriptions of the centuries of craftsmen who designed this magnificent complex.

The grand buildings and halls are arranged around a number of patios, and the elements of light and water were obviously carefully considered in their delicate construction.  Water is ultimately significant in Islamic culture - water is life - so everywhere there are fountains, reflecting pools, and narrow running canals (which, if in the U.S., would be cordoned off as tripping hazards) through rooms and halls.

Beauty in the Alcázar, ankle breakers in the U.S.

Ceramic tilework (azulejo) and mosaics are abundant and beautiful.

Over centuries of additions and reconstructions by Moors and then Spanish Christians after the Reconquista, Alcázar Palace now exhibits a fusion of Mudéjar, Gothic, Renaissance, and Neoclassical architectural styles.  The result, if I haven't already mentioned it, is an absolutely stunning work of art.  The four of us took over 300 pictures.  Photos never seem to do justice to ceilings, but these domes, squares, and polygons were wondrous, too.

Just when my husband, son, daughter, and I thought we couldn't be any more impressed on that hot July day inside the walls of the Alcázar, we entered the gardens.  I think their description will have to wait for another blog post.


Fast facts about the Alcázar Palace in Seville:

•  Touring with toddlers or young children is no problem.  The halls and rooms are mostly empty of furniture or breakables.  The gardens are expansive and full of peacocks, pond fish, and friendly stray kittens.  There's even a garden bush labyrinth.

•  Some websites mistakenly state that the Alcázar is closed on Mondays.  It is open on Mondays.

•  Admission is 8.50€ per adult, 6.50€ per child.

•  Audio guides are informative and essential to understanding the history and beauty of the Royal Alcázar.