Happy Easter!

Easter is a Christian festival. The roots of the Easter celebration are to remind us about the Resurrection of Jesus. Also death does not manifest the end but a new beginning.

The week before Easter is called Holy Week (Karwoche) and is an important date in the Christian calender.
Religious tradition has it that on Good Friday (Karfreitag) people grief. It's the death of Jesus, his crucifixion which people mourn. Then on Saturday, Holy Saturday (Karsamstag) the fasting period ends.

And finally on Easter Sunday the Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus and rejoice.

In some churches Easter fires are organized.

The custom is to color eggs and decorate branches with Easter eggs. There will be Easter pastry in shape of bunny or lambs. Very important is the Egg hunt on Easter day. Children are looking forward to search the eggs which the Easter bunny hid. Ideally this is done outdoors, in a garden. Colored chicken eggs or mostly chocolate eggs. And sometimes you might see a bunny when hunting the Easter eggs.


Actually in our courtyard there are some bunny sometimes. So maybe we can see them on Easter Sunday.

Easter Monday is a public holiday in Germany and usually again spend with the family.

 But what about the Easter bunny? Why would he bring the eggs? It should be the hen, isn't it. Apparently there are a few different conclusions. Already in Greek mythology the bunny is a holy animal and as a sign of fertility belongs to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love. Also the egg is a symbol of fertility and origin of life.

This year it's the coldest March and really really cold. It even snowed yesterday. It's also the time for clock change. Yeah, Summertime starts. I head the chirping of birds. Hopefully a good sign for the start of spring soon.

Wishing all of you a Happy Easter - Frohe Ostern -  and have fun looking for eggs even though it's still freezing cold.

Night Train to Lisbon - Nachtzug nach Lissabon.

I haven't read the book  by Pascal Mercier, however I really enjoyed the movie directed by the Danish film director Billie August. The movie really pulled me into the story. It's like for the protagonist in the story the Swiss professor Raimund Gregorius (acted by Jeremy Irons) who gets pulled into the story of the book (a philosophical novel) by Amadeu de Prado- a Portuguese doctor and poet, a serious man who fought against the dictatorship. Raimund gets touched deeply and like the viewer gets more and more thrilled and follows the persons that had touched Amadeu (acted by John Huston). He wants to find out about Amadeu's life. It seems more important than his life, Raimund's life in Bern, Switzerland., his teaching job.

Raimund crosses the bridge -  not knowing that this morning will change his routine life forever. The mysterious lady he saves on the bridge, leads him to board a train to Lisbon. From there his life takes a different turn. He doesn't  know this yet. Raimung and the viewer could have never imagined the turn of his life. 
You'll find a beautiful picture gallery here.

I can only recommend this movie.  It's a touching story and a brilliant movie. The right thing to watch on this never ending winter, the long lasting cold.

Beautiful Wernigerode - Harz

Because spring is not coming and this winter definitely goes on forever. I am very tired of snow, winter, coldness and want the spring badly. Apparently this winter 2012/13 has already been the longest winter, the longest hours without any sun shine. And now it's also the coldest March since 100 years, according to the Deutsche Wetterdienst. Frankly I could do very well without this record. After all officially spring begun three weeks ago.

Anyhow, I decided to dig out some pictures from a previous trip. We went to Wernigerode, situated in Harz in autumn. Here are just a few impressions as we didn't have much time. Next time we'll also explore the castle. You can go up with a small train or horse carriage. If you want to go higher up, the famous mountain "Der Brocken", it the highest mountain in North Germany and the Harz area. It's a very popular tourist destination and can be reached via a Gondelbahn. I've heard that on most days it's cloudy. These days for sure it will be very cold.

I'll end this post with a sweet poem I found about the Robin bird and I particularly like the end.

Robin

Robin sang sweetly 

When the days were bright: 

'Thanks, thanks for summer,' 

He sang with all his might. 

Robin sang sweetly, 

In the autumn days,

'There are fruits for everyone;

Let all give praise.' 

In the cold and wintry weather,

Still hear his song: 

'Somebody must sing,' said Robin 

'Or winter will seem long.' 

When the spring came back again,

He sang, 'I told you so! 

Keep on singing through the winter 

It will always go.' 

Anonymous 

Survival Kit for my Korean Husband

This should give you an idea how my dear Korean husband manages to survive

 living with a German wife in Germany.

 The very important Shin Ramyun
Korean instant noodles,
 includes a packet of seasoning (spicy)
and dry vegetables

You can add eggs, dumplings ...
whatever your taste bud wishes.

Sesame leaves in spicy sauce.
Best to be eaten with rice.

Home-made kimchi
white cabbage with leeks, onions, carrots
and spiced with garlic, ginger and of course chilly.
This is made by my husband. And I also love it!

Ok, Ok, before you think that we don't make some more real korean food ...

On a good day, we make Miso soup and Kimbap (Korean rice rolls)
And enjoy  :-)

Guten Appetit!

Ha, ha, ha you know my sweet heart is not really seriously fuzzy about food
 and loves non-Korean food as well. :-)