Amerikanischer Bibliothek

Until the mid-1990's (after the fall of the Berlin Wall, when European tensions eased), there was an American army base in Karlsruhe.  (There are still a few such bases around Germany, including nearby Heidelberg, but not nearly so many as before.)  To help support the servicepeople and their families, the Army provided a library of English-language books.  After the base closed, a movement emerged among the local community, and they've managed to keep the library going.  The Amerikanischer Bibliothek has naturally been a popular destination for our family.  On a recent visit, in addition to Tolkien and Asterix & Obelix, we took out a 6-CD set of the original BBC production of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and have been listening to episodes at odd times since then.  

One result of this is that diet of odd 1970's British comedic science fiction is that Kielan is starting to talk like Zaphod Beeblebrox (the left half of whose brain is the hippest place in the known universe).  Oh, man!  Hopefully she won't adopt other aspects of his character.  But hey, baby, that's somebody else's problem. 

On the next visit, we'll very likely get the books out of the library -- all five in "the increasingly inaccurately-named Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy."  Far out!

...and Maren and the girls will surely get some more actual travelogue postings online in the near future...  once a cup of tea restores their normality.  In the meantime, be sure to keep an eye on your towel!  

Die Historische Dampfzüge (by Kielan)

Die Historische Dampfzüge  

             

On Sunday the 7^th, my family and I went on a trip on an historic steam train. On it, I met one of the train's many St. Nikoli. Our particular St. Nikolaus had a monk helper, not an elf.  

                    

St. Nick asked us to recite a poem, and every kid got a cute stuffed eisbär (polar bear),even the ones who wouldn't recite.

       

When we arrived at  Bad Herrenalb, a small mountain village in the black forest, I got to turn the lever that let water flow into a huge 26 cubic metre tank.

       

My sister and I then climbed up into the engine where I took some super pictures of the 8 tonnes of coal needed to fill the coal car :o, and the roaring fire that powered the train. 

 

Next, we watched a concert by some of the Bad Herrenalbers, and proceeded up a hill* to the Rathaus (town hall) where we saw the christmas market and a tree growing out of an old church ruin. 

                                         

When we finally re-boarded  the train, The engine was pulling the train backwards, in order to avoid taking it around a tight curve! 

* Because it is FLAT (as a pancake) here in Karlsruhe, a mere Bad Herrenalb hill is a mountain! 

Our Polar Bear Family (text and composite photo by Innes)

These are polar bears that we got on the train in the picture.  The little polar bear was not he was from the store under our apartment.   

     

Cool Playgrounds

The Cool Playgrounds!  by Kielan

Here in Karlsruhe there are tons of cool playgrounds.

  

One is a model viking ship equipped with a crow's nest, slide, raft, and harbor town. There was a blacksmith's, a pub, and a super wonky house complete with a bucket for hauling sand and a chute for dumping it. The seesaw has dragon heads for seats -- there are dragon heads everywhere!  There is even a basket-on-a-rope swing and a tightrope thing.

    

One has a giant rope structure with a rubber bouncy strip, a tiny wooden house, a baby area, and a seesaw.  The bouncy strip works like this: Kid 1 sits on side 1. K2 jumps onto S2. K1 goes boooooiing! plop! All laugh. 

     

Innes even scaled the rope tower!!☺

  

  

                                  

At the 3^rd playground, there is a wooden village, a really fun zipline, a molecule, a twin rope thing,  a water works, an overhead seesaw, a merry-go-round, and a wooden house. Here I finally climbed the rope tower. 

    

  More to come!!

--KHD--