Word of the Week: Blumenzwiebeln

The German word of the week is Blumenzwiebeln. This translates to "flower onions" in English and it refers to flower bulbs. The literal nature of so many German words and the German's deep love for onions never fail to make me smile.

We ran across this word quite a lot during our trip to the Netherlands. We started our trip in Amsterdam, and made a quick stop at the Bloemenmarkt to see the floating bulb shops on the canal. It was mobbed, but I really enjoyed seeing the wide variety of bulbs, including some as big as my hand!

After Amsterdam, we rented a car and drove along The Flower Route. Driving along winding roads in the Dutch countryside and seeing the tulip fields spread out around you is absolutely magical.

We were good and didn't walk in the fields (there were signs everywhere), but it was amazing to stand at the edge of the fields with so many flowers rustling in the breeze.

Timing is everything, too. The flowers peak at a slightly different time each year. What makes the timing even trickier is that the farmers behead the tulips at their prime so that the bulbs get the nutrients. You can see this in the picture above. We felt that just leaving all those pretty flower heads in the dirt was quite a waste, but I guess that the sale of bulbs is lucrative enough that it isn't worth the extra effort. Anyway, all this goes to show that just a day or two can make a huge difference in what you see!

A few of my favorite things....

Our trip to the Netherlands was filled with many of my favorite things.

1. Breakfast.

it may look brown and lumpy, but it is quite tasty! [Flickr: multipel_bleiben]

The Dutch know how to do breakfast. Giant pancakes? Yep. Tiny pancakes? Of course. Syrup? Yes, please.

In particular, I loved the poffertjes, which are small puffed pancakes covered in butter and sugar, and served with fruit. They are cooked on special dimpled griddles, and I did my best to eat them at least twice a day!

poffertjes in the seaside village of Volendam

Spring has Sprung

We just got back from a 3 day trip to Holland to visit Amsterdam, Haarlem, and the tulip fields. The tulip fields were unbelievable, the countryside was filled with happy little lambs and goslings, and I also really enjoyed poffertjes (mini, extra-puffy pancakes) and touring both Anne Frank's and Corri ten Boom's houses. We had a wonderful trip!

While I work on posts about our trip, I thought I'd share a few shots of pretty spring blooms at the Cologne Botanic Garden, which is next to the zoo and only about a mile from our apartment (and free!). We visited on the 28th of April, and only a week and a half later the lilacs and rhododendrons are already blooming. Hurray for spring!

the gardens have a large outdoor and indoor collection
of camillas

I'll be back in a few days with a few dispatches from Holland!

Happy May!

The trees are finally leafed out, everything is in bloom, and we just had 5 (!) days of glorious sunshine. Today the cloudy skies and rain returned, but it's still mild and everything is beautifully green.

I learned about a May tradition in Germany, the Maibaum (May tree or Maypole), which celebrates the first day of May. I didn't know about it until after May 1st, when we saw colorfully decorated branches and trees all over our neighborhood.

In Bavaria, they celebrate May Day with maypole dances (including the famous maypole at the Viktualenmarkt in Munich), but (as far as I know) in this region the celebration is a bit more personal. According to my sources, young men decorate branches outside the homes or shops of young women they admire, sometimes tying love notes onto the trees. But, like Valentine's Day, I believe that this tradition now includes trees from more than just potential beaus. Either way, it is fun to walk around town and see all these colorful tokens of love on the street.