The Hills are Alive

So on Friday, I left beautiful Haßloch and the wonderful hospitality of the Weidenbach's to travel to Freilassing, Germany (just minutes away from Salzburg) to meet with more relatives, the Hederich family. I was a little bit nervous because I had not really ever met the Hederichs before (with the exception of a now grown son, Roland, when I was about 6). Not to worry, I can pretty clearly understand Barbara's German (even if I don't always know exactly how things translate, I can at least figure out what words are being said, so this will help later when I actually know some German. Sweet.) Also, she knows much more English than I was expecting, however, she hardly uses it, just when I ask for translations. I have now met Sandi (Barbara's daughter), Sandi's husband Wolfram, and their darling daughter Nora. This blog entry is basically pictures of Nora because I AM IN LOVEEEEEEE. 

This was my first view of the Alps

Walls guarding the city of Salzburg. See the tiny windows on the front of the tower? Those are for bow and arrow. I shoot you, you cannot see me. Winning.

View from above the city

Follow the bridge, this is the street I will live on!

This is a very old wine vineyard atop the berg

Even castles need satellite haha

A Kirchweihfest outside the Dom in Salzburg

Apparently this ride and the one just pictured are about 600 years old according to Barbara. Totally makes me want to ride that.

This was dinner last night. I included this because my dad would never believe I ate it.

Introducing Nora

Today we went hiking-ish in the mountains. I say "ish" because we mostly stuck to the paths instead of true hiking.

Even Nora hiked with Barbara (her Oma), Sandi and Wolfram

But hiking is slow when you must pick up every stone you see

Little mountain lodge

See the little walled in areas? Usually cows are there grazing, but it's too late in the season

Barbara and Joy and two dudes I don't know. Don't even look at those guys in the background. Why are you looking at them?

This is not Edelweiss, but let's pretend for this dumb American, ok?

Check out the sweet glacier in the back ground.

This is fresh spring water from the mountains. And my shadow.

Nora sleeps. Little angel :)

A fly would not leave my glasses.

This is a cow pie for all of you non-farm kids. Do not eat. Do not step in. It's poop, not a real pie.

We had a picnic

She basically took this one herself

Makes you wanna ski down it, don't it?

Nora had such a hard time walking over these drains. It was super cute.

Snow!

This snowball then hit Joy in the back. Priceless.

Little Adventurer

Nora and Opa (Joy)

Meet Giovanni. I'm not kidding, that's what the plaque says.

I don't remember what this was called. It was good though.

Notice the Stiegl stein. Stiegl is THE beer of Salzburg. Also, apple strudel in the background. yum.

This boy was wearing Bob the Builder suspenders with his lederhosen. I thought it was cute.

Sometimes you just want to roll down these hills. And then you remember the painful stones and near certain death. And then the feeling passes.

Joy added a little mustache to Nora's doll as a joke. I guess they couldn't get it off, so now it remains.

And the pièce de résistance, I present to you Moo - A Kim Scorsese film

Hinaus, Hinaus zum Hambacher Schloss! and Life in Haßloch

This morning we traveled to the Hambacher Castle. This castle is seen as an important symbol of German democracy because of the Hambacher Fest in 1832. The gathering was a time of brotherhood and speech making about the importance of democratic rights such as free press and speech, etc. The symbol of the movement itself was the Schwarz-Rot-Gold flag (which later was adopted as German colors). Feeding off of the French Revolution movement, this Fest would later help influence the Revolutions of 1848/49. Here are some pictures from the castle which, even in the time of the Fest, was basically ruins.

View from the schloss. Fyi, all castles are built on hills so you can shoot cannonballs at everyone below and make them pay taxes.

A lot of this farmland consists of vineyards. The area we are in is the Rhineland-Palatinate and it is known for its wine.

Medieval Times? I bet on the White Knight!

Big German plaque that says why the castle is important

Really thick walls

Someone left a heart wreath in one of the schloss Konferez-Saal (halls)

I told Hans that if I can't get a picture of him, he doesn't exist. Always behind the camera, now in front.

Of course, I must take a picture of anything that has my name (Schäfer aka Schaefer)

Life in Haßloch

The Weidenbach residence

Leberkäse is a German staple. Basically a giant fried bologna sandwich. Oh and bread. Immer brot.

How do you know you live with boys? Is it the urinal in the bathroom? The many bottles of Axe? The swimsuit calendar? No, it's the barbed wire toilet seat.

In the old cemetery, this is a memorial to the WWII dead of Haßloch

Walking through the cemetery

Old houses

More old houses

Germany is very into solar power and other green energy. The Weidenbachs sell some of their solar power and get to use the rest.

Grapes grow in the backyard

Käthe finally let me help make dinner. She insisted I wear this apron.

Tonight we had flammkuchen, almost like a German pizza...ish

That white sauce is fresh cream and plain yogurt and God knows what else. CREAM CREAM CREAM.

Of course some kind of ham goes on this.

And pepperoni (remember this means little peppers) and onions

Hans made this wood oven

I surprised Florian by taking a picture. He HATES getting his picture taken and refuses to smile, so this is a good as it gets.

Right now, I am bummed because Haßloch is literally starting it's hugh Andeckser Bier Fest tomorrow and I am leaving in the morning for Salzburg. The Bier Fest is going to be so enormous, Käthe and I took a walk through the streets and already so much is being set up. I cannot even imagine how many people will be here because it seems like almost every street of the town is involved. Dominik says that all of his friends come back from wherever they are just for this event. Hopefully I will get to have a little taste of this kind of fun at Oktoberfest in München (Munich)!

Off to Salzburg!