November 2010

Neil tends to work arduously and lengthy at his new post at the Landstuhl hospital.  One morning while I was flying solo, I decided to take the three children and the dog out for a walk in the Village.  Managing three under the age of five presents challenges of it's own.  The poodle tugs, the baby is strapped to the shoulders and the toddlers follow closely on the stone sidewalk.  We pass German houses attached to barns and a Mercedes attached to a horse trailer.  Neither is an anomaly.  I make an autocratic decision to climb the steepest hill in town with a premise that there must be a view at the top.  As we continue up the hill the road comes to a close.  

Deciding to test fate, thy gaggle and I continue up a private road into open pasture. Sticking to my convictions that toddlers perform best in wide open spaces I encourage Ansley and Evan to venture off.  The children struggle up the steep hills to several abandoned apple trees.  Evan spots a small patch of forest and begs to go inside the woods.  Wanting to encourage a sense of adventure I tell the toddlers I'll meet them on the other side.  Soon I hear Evan yelping for help and proclaiming to be stuck.  I climb down the hill into the forest to survey the situation and both legs are caught in barbed wire.  I manage to unravel his pants and thankfully he escapes with only torn pants and two apples in hand.  On the way home Evan lets his prize apples roll down a steep-stone-walk hillside.  We all giggle as we watch the apples.

For Thanksgiving we decided to visit my sister in Manchester, England with side trips to Wales, York, and the Whitby Abbey.  Attempting to depart Germany via the Frankfurt airport, we found out Colin needed a security deposit to ride on the plane.  We had to re-book our flight and wait 5 hours in the airport.  Apparently it is not possible to buy baby security tickets on-line.  

We ate chocolate, toured the duty free shops, tried on perfume, played with Evan's cars on the airport floor, and discovered a Spielplatz (playground) and of course used the toilets many times.  We arrived in Manchester at 6pm exhausted.  The only challenge left was for Neil to drive one and 1/2 hours in the dark, in the rain, and on the left side of the road.  Welcome to England.

York, England

York Minster Abbey

We arrived at our B&B to find a Georgian row house, with my favorite stain glass entry door, fresh flowers, chocolates, a warm room, and view out the window of the York Minster Abbey.  I promptly decided our plane travel woes were worth it.  In the morning we had a scrumptious English breakfast.  Ansley sampled the tea.  The china was white and the table was set with an eye for detail.   We spent the day on top of the city fortress walls William the Conqueror and his men created in the 1000's.  We crossed over the Skelder bridge and Ouse river and visited the York Minster Abbey.  We were taken back by the crypts of former bishops.  Evan's favorite part of York was the railway museum with retired steam engines and even the Royal family had their train cars on display.  In 1846 Queen Victoria would be the first to start the royal obsession with train travel.

We finished the evening with a traditional English dinner.  On the walk home we passed the York castle with a full moon as its backdrop.  York is such a lovely town.  I understand why there is a fortress to defend it.  I understand why the Danish Vikings, Anglos, and Romans coveted the city.  Constantine, the first emperor of Rome was proclaimed Emperor in York.  The sight of his crowning is preserved at Yorkminster.

The next leg of our journey was the Whitby Abbey.  En route to the abbey we encountered the austere mohrs.  The mohrs are normally laden with purple blooms of heather but the heather had died off for the winter.  The mohrs are expanses of hills with the tops cut off and tight crevices instead of valleys.  Culminating our route we came upon a vista of the Whitby Abbey, a willowy, yet towering educe of stone construction.  The Abbey was founded by Saint Hilde half nun/half royalty in the 900's.  St. Hilde was too stubborn to get married and wanted to evangelize Christianity instead.  The monastery had cloister nuns and was a sanctuary for whoever needed it, including criminals. All that is left of the abbey are its skeletal stone remains stretching against the backdrop of the ocean.  The monastery thrived until its suppression in 1539 by Henry the 8th.

A graveyard by the Whitby Abbey

Ansley and Evan at the Whitby Abbey

The next stop on our adventure was to "Project Jones Heritage" in Wales.  Where did our family name hail from?  What is the nature of the lesser known Wales?  The way we knew we were in Wales was by the names of the cities.  Welsh is the oldest surviving European language still spoken.  The Celts of Wales can be followed back to Salzburg, Austria and Switzerland.  The Celts wore ornamental jewelry and were invested in physical appearances.  Names like PenYrOleWen, Llyn Padarn and Caernarfon are common place in Wales.  Neil's greatest of Grandfathers resided in Caernarfon and left in the 1850's-60's.  Many Welsh were being bullied by the Gentry.

Slate was everywhere in Wales.  They even had slate mines.

We arrived at our cottage called Pen-Y-Bont.  It was a restored 1700's farm house project.  Remodeling is much more arduous than building from foundation up.  The focal point of the house was a traditional Welsh hearth, furnished with iron implements, kettle, copper pan, and metal mugs.  We settled in for our first night of sleep.  The next morning we toured the Caenarfon castle built by Edward I.  The castle had high walkways and as a family we scaled the castle.  Signs warned proceed with caution due to slippage, head trauma, and small spaces. The Jones moved forward.  I threw only one small motherly fit when we got to the top.  I made Neil clutch the hands of the toddlers so they would not launch themselves into the ocean so far below.   We finished the day with a drive through the local area.  I realized how much Ihad underestimated Wales. The land where mountains share space with ocean and sheep master the earth.

The bridge in front of our cottage in Snowdonia Wales was from the 1600's.

We finished our adventure with a Jones hike up a steep sheep pasture. I never made it to the top of the mountain but the toddlers and my husband did.  At the top was a fort from the Bronze age 200-400 AD. Stone forts were used as strategic look outs and defense.  Also, at the top was a rare view of the peninsula.  Ocean on both sides and mountain in the middle as well as patch work farms abounding.

Ansley & Evan ages 2 and 4
We are potty trained, and we climbed the top of
this mountain to a 2000 year old fort.

The next day as we departed Wales we felt as if we had discovered a best kept secret.  We arrived in Manchester to visit the Fraternas, my sister's religious order and community.  My sister had prepared a complete Thanksgiving dinner with turkey, yams, pumpkin pie, green beans,and cranberry sauce. We went with my sister to Chester, ate curry on the Curry Mile, digested some fish and chips, and had a grand time in general with the Fraternas.

Aunt Julie, the Jones family, and the Fraternas

After our vacation I resumed my latest obsession.  I wanted the children to attend German Kindergarten.  Maria and I visited approximatly 13 German Kindergartens to find one that would allow the children to attend.  We were told each time that all the spots for Americans are taken.  Sometimes the kindergarten teachers were nice and other time we are told curtly "There is no room at the inn." and the Kindergarten door was all but slammed in our face.  Some hostility towards Americans is apparent in parts of Germany.  Maria,our nanny, explains it so well.  "It is easy to show hospitality to a few outsiders but more difficult when there are many people to be hospitable to."  Perhaps 54,000 American is too many.  Surrounded by Americans we struggle to seek out the language and culture of Germany. Even many of the houses and local businesses are Americanized.

I guess persistence does pay off.  Ansley had her first day of German Kindergarten (ages 2-5).  Ansley's kindergarten is a nondescript peach building.  The inside is charming with a napping room, small toddler tables, an exercise room, and two instructional rooms with ovens for baking.  The outside playground has soft ground.  I am pleased to see the ground conditions because German children are more physical.  It is acceptable to push and wrestle.   

As I drop her off for the first day of school, I feel as if I was feeding her to the wolves except for she is the daughter that is similar to a weed.  She is very resilient and if you pull her out of the ground she will grow back fuller and stronger.  It was Saint Nicholaus feast day at the school and the children received stockings filled with peanuts to be used in their nut crackers, a mandarin and a Saint Nicholaus chocolate.  Ansley did not complain about the day and her only comment was that the children spoke crazy German to her.  She said the word she learned was Apfel Saft or apple juice.