A trip to the Backerei

That's bakery to all you English speaking folks. :)

Even though it was a chilly morning, (although not as chilly as it looks in these pictures,) we decided to go for a short walk to our village's bakery to get some breakfast this morning. It's Saturday today, and usually a day off of school, but we have adopted Steven's work schedule as our class room schedule which means we are in school Wednesday through Saturday. At least for a bit. When Steven's schedule changes, so will ours.

There is a walkway straight across from our house that takes us down a couple of streets instead of us having to walk all the way around. We Wings, we like to live up on top of hills. 

It's very foggy here a lot, especially in the mornings. I think this must be a lot like the weather in Seattle. Maya loves it. 

This is our local Kindergarten with the church tower behind it. All the sidewalks are made of either stone or brick.

This is a postal van. Every time I've taken a walk, which has been frequently, I see it parked here, right next to the school.

This statue sits in front of the Kindergarten.

The church tower. The bells ring all throughout the day, beginning at about 6 am until 10 pm. There are rules here, perhaps in all of Germany, though I'm not sure. We must observe quiet times from 10 pm until 6 am and from 1 until 3 in the afternoon. The bells chime at noon, which signals to the kids that it's time for lunch break!

Linden's Fire Department. This sign reads, "God protect the next ones called to duty". It is an old Austrian/German firefighters salute.

We're stumped on this one. Steven and I saw this for the first time the week we moved to Linden. It is a very tall pole covered in strips of paper. We don't know what it's for, why it's there or what it means but I thought I'd share it with you anyway. Things that may you go 'hmmm?'

Coca-Cola. Some things need no translation. If you haven't already guessed, the word trink means drink. That one's pretty easy. Soda tastes different here in Germany because it's made with real sugar instead of corn syrup like in the states. I think the Coke tastes better here, but I'm not so sure about the Dr. Pepper. It also seems more carbonated here. I don't know if this is actually the case...perhaps the change in sweeteners changes that? I don't know...but what I do know is that it makes all of us belch a lot more, and we are noisy! This house, with all of it's tile floors and no furniture produces echoes like crazy. We sound like a bunch of ill mannered drunks around here.

This is a war memorial that sits in the center of Linden. Den lebenden zur Mahnung  means "A reminder to survivors to honor the dead".

Here are a couple of ham bones.

The Kaiserslautern sign. If you take a left up this road, you'll find our friends, the Gilmore's. Oh, and Kaiserslautern, too. If you take a right, you continue on the main road that runs through Linden.

Do you think you can find your way?

The clouds were trying to clear as we continued on toward the bakery. The clouds never did give way, though. It rained later in the afternoon, but we were home long before then.

We pass by this tree nearly everyday and it makes me shake my head every time. I just thought I'd share it with you.

Here's the bakery! It looks to me like the bakery is the bottom part of a house. When you walk in, there is a stairway right in front of the door that leads to the living quarters. To the right is the kitchen and through a door on the left is the actual bakery. They don't speak much English here, and we don't speak much German but we point and smile a lot and they are really nice. They always give the kids candies when we are in there.

On our way back home, we pass this waterway,

and the mossy Linden rock. Gemende means "community".

Mylee walking back home with her treats.

The bad thing about living up on a hill is that to go home, you have to climb.

Yay! We made it! (In all seriousness...the walk to the bakery takes all of about ten to fifteen minutes. It's not far at all.)

Scott:  "I can't breathe. What am I doing walking out in this weather with a cold? I don't feel good."

Maya:  "Quit taking pictures and let me in the house so I can eat my treats."

We settled into our school room where the kids got ready for a day of classes...

...with their chocolate milk,

and pastries.

Cinnamon bread...yum!

It's our Friday today and we are anxious for our three days off. Hope everyone is having a great weekend. :)