Buon Appetito!

Daniele and Paola invited us over to their flat so they could teach us how to make homemade passatelli. This hearty soup is local to the Emilia-Romagna region and is a favorite of their two year old son, Marco.

Here is the recipe....
A large pot of broth cooked the day before: this broth was made from coarsely-chopped carrots, celery, onions, beef ribs with meat, and chopped pieces of chicken on the bone. Cool the broth in the fridge overnight and remove the solidified fat from the top. Throw the fat away...unless you have another good use in mind.
200 grams of Grated Hard Rolls: Daniele and Paola collect all their leftover rolls from the week and then they grate them with the small side of a cheese grater. The bread needs to be very hard to grate properly. After you grate it run the crumbs through a sifter.
200 grams of Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
Zest from 1/4 of a small lemon
3-4 Eggs
1 Tbsp. of Flour

Combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, lemon zest and flour. Make a well and crack 3 or 4 eggs, depending on their size, in the middle slowly combining all ingredients. Knead the dough into a tube shape about three inches thick. Tear off a small amount of dough and squeeze it through a schiacciapatate, potato masher, until the pasta is about two to three inches long. Cut the pasta free with a knife. Continue this process until all the dough is passatelli-shaped.

Meanwhile bring the broth to a boil in a large pot (meat and veggies removed). Cook the passatelli in the broth until it begins to float (7-8 minutes). Serve immediately as the primi piatti or first course. The broth is rich and the passatelli are yummy. This is no big surprise since nearly one half of the pasta is cheese. The meat and veggies can then be eaten as the second course. Some folks like to eat their meat with mustard while others prefer moutarde which in Italy is a spicy and vinegary combination of syrup and pickled fruits.

Lucchetti d'amore

On February 9th we took a day trip to Florence, the capital of Tuscany. Florence's art and architecture are among the most beautiful sights in the world. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there touring museums (including seeing Michelangelo's David), and taking in the unbelievable views of the city from Piazzale di Michelangelo. This is the Florence Cathedral, truly a breathtaking work of art.


Pallazzo Vecchio houses the town hall and an art museum. Note the copy of 'David' near the door.

Ponte Vecchio originally hosted butcher shops. Now the bridge is lined by jewelry shops.
A relatively new trend in Europe is to engrave or write you and your lover's names on a lock and attach it to a bridge. The couple then throws the key into the river to symbolize the lasting nature of their love. It seems that Alberto and Bubu were doing quite well after their first six months.
There is an incredible view from Michelangelo's Park. Unfortunately, none of our pictures can really capture the magnificence of Florence.

Andiamo!

We left Erlangen February 1st bound for Italy. The Humboldt has kindly funded a month for John to conduct research with his old buddy, Daniele. The journey south proved to be really beautiful through Munich, Innsbruck, Verona and on to Bologna. This is the view as we approached Innsbruck.
This is a castle we saw once we entered Italy. It really seemed like the landscape, architecture, and the color of rocks and soil changed once we crossed the border.
This is the view from Daniele's second floor porch on our first morning in Bologna.
We took a short drive to the coast of the Adriatic Sea on our first Sunday in Bologna. It was a surprisingly short drive, about 45 miles, and a really beautiful coastal area. Of course we collected a "sample" of shells. It was so refreshing to be at the beach. There is something incredibly soothing about listening to the waves, collecting shells, and especially the smell of ocean air.

This might make an interesting trace fossil one day. If you look at the hole in the center of the picture there is an imprint of the sole of a shoe just above it. This is from one of the many fashionistas on the beach that day.

This Blog is Under New Management

October to February is a long time, so as a bridge I am going to attempt to offer a brief run-down of what has happened since our last post.

Here goes....

Joey visited us in October. We had a great little two night camp-out in our apartment.
Our friends, Heather and Corey gave us a great gift! We love our little Ka! It has made traveling so much easier. We are so thankful!

At the beginning of December we had a great opportunity to meet the Chambery Huntleys in Munich for a Molitor Thanksgiving. This is a view of the Alps from Munich about forty miles away.On December 13 we took a quick visit to Bamberg, Germany. We started getting ready for Christmas just after Thanksgiving. We had a really great time decorating and preparing for the Huntley's European Vacation. We scoped out the Christmas Market in Nurnberg on opening night. Here's a picture of the Christmas Angel.
Here are a few pictures from our adventures with the Huntley Family over Christmas. We had a phenomenal time taking in the sites, eating really wonderful food and sharing some priceless memories with the ones we love. Here's a picture of John and Frieda in Erlangen at the Christmas Market. (Picture Courtesy of Ruth Huntley)Over the three week visit we got to see Erlangen, Uttenreuth, Nuremburg, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Bamberg, Moosburg, Dachau, Munich and the Black Forest in Germany. In France we visited Chambery, Chamonix, La Plagne, Lac du Bourget and Abbaye Royale d'Hautecombe. This is a picture of a picture of Mont Blanc because it was too snowy and foggy to see it while we were there. (Picture Courtesy of Ruth Huntley)
By far, this was my favorite pastime on vacation. Gosh, I love that boy! (Picture Courtesy of Ruth Huntley)
On our way back from France we stopped in Switzerland for the night to see some of our friends in Sugiez on Lac de Morat. Our camera had long since run out of battery power so we don't have any pictures. You will just have to trust that we enjoyed our drive through Switzerland....very much!

We love you guys! Thanks for keeping up with us and faithfully checking for new posts.

We're finally here! (well, we've actually been here almost a month)

We are finally in Erlangen. I (John) have started my Humboldt Fellowship at Friedrich-Alexander Universitӓt. The University was founded in 1743 by Friedrich, Margrave of Brandenburg-Bayreuth. Frierich decided that a recently founded University in Bayreuth should be relocated to Erlangen where students would have the option to study Protestant Theology, Jurisprudence, Medicine, or Philosophy.

We are settling nicely into our new community. We actually live in a little village called Uttenreuth (pronounced oo-ten-royt) about 6 km east of Erlangen. We have been attending a nice church in town and have been made to feel very welcome. Laura has been involved in a weekly bible study for women and is making quite a few friends. The men have a monthly bible study that I will attend in early November. The pastor heard that I am a paleontologist and invited me to attend the bible study and contribute to their discussion about evolution. I'm pretty stoked about it.

There is quite a large community of English-speakers in Erlangen. The University attracts a large international crowd. Siemens corporation's historical headquarters is in Erlangen and employs a lot of Americans and folks from the UK. In fact, we've already met four other sets of Hokies. One couple lives about 75 feet from our apartment! It is a very small world.

Here is a brief photo tour of the parts of Erlangen we visit the most:

Here we are in the main shopping district of Erlangen. The population is about 100,000, though it seems to me like a smaller town.

This is the Schloss of the Margraves built from 1700-1704. Since 1825 it has been the home of the University Administration.

There is a botanical garden behind the Schloss. It occupies several blocks and forms the core of the University and University Hospital.

This is another University building alongside the garden. I'm not sure what happens here. I'll let you know when I find out. The geology department is in the building behind the tree on the right hand side.

This is the University library. I love how the ivy turns red in the fall.

This is where the paleontological magic happens...well...at least my part of it anyway. The geology department is next door to the Schloss, and the Institute of Paleontology is located in an old 3-story home across town. Two years ago the geology department at the University of Würzburg merged with the department at Erlangen to form what is now called GeoZentrum Nordbayern or the Geocenter of Northern Bavaria. Paleontology has expanded into this building in the center of town. My office is down at the other end on the second level. It is the largest office I have ever had to myself. Fortunately, an old friend from my 2006 stay in Friday Harbor, Washington will be coming in November to work on research. I look forward to having Fernando as an office mate.

Yes, we're still here!

OK, so it has been a long time since our last posting...again. We'll get back on track soon. Get ready for a few blog updates in rapid succession.

We finished language school in München on 25 September and were able to spend a few days with Adam, Ruth, John, and Rebecca in Chambéry. It was a great time! We left München on a 6:30 train that Friday night. The train ride was exciting as it was the end of the first week of Oktoberfest. We met some nice and interesting revelers from Zurich who made the most of their day at the Wies'n. They taught us a lot about their view of German and Austrian culture. :) After changing trains a few times we finally arrived in Geneva around 2:15 am. As it turns out the train station closes at 2:30, so we could not wait there for our 5:30 train. So we ventured across the street and found a hotel for the night. That's the story of how we figured out why our tickets were so cheap!

We were out the door the next morning and caught a slightly later morning train for Chambéry. It was so nice to be with family. Adam and Ruth are fantastic hosts by the way! We ate like we hadn't eaten since we lived in Hoopers Creek (check their blog for the tartiflette and lebanese bulgar recipes...wow!). We had fun hanging out with the French Huntleys and seeing the beautiful landscape of Savoie.

After our all too short time with family we hopped on the train bound for Erlangen, Germany. We had a similar scheduling issue on the way back so we spent the night in Bern, Switzerland. It is a beautiful town which we hope to visit again in the future. They do have a natural history museum, so we just might go there for work.

Walking through the streets of Chambéry.

Here we are on the balcony of our hotel room in Bern. We highly recommend the train ride from Lausanne to Bern. The view of Lake Geneva with the Alps in the background and vineyards in the foreground was the most beautiful place either of us had experienced.

Stay tuned for more reports from Deutschland!

September

Well, I guess it has been quite some time since our last post. September has been a little less eventful than August, but still we have had a good time.

We went to the viewing deck on the Olympiaturm and had a nice view of the city. This picture shows BMW Welt and BMW Headquarters.

This is a view of the Frauenkirche from the Olympiaturm.

We went to the Tierpark (zoo) and saw plenty of critters...

...including this fine example of a parent re-directing the child.

We visited Schloss Nymphenburg...

...and spent several hours walking around the gardens.

And of course we visited Oktoberfest, or the Wies'n as the locals call it. This is the 176th Oktoberfest. It was originally a festival organized to celebrate the wedding of King Ludwig I and his wife Therese. At first there were horse races around the Theresienwiesen (Therese's Meadow), but they later decided that a beer fest would be much more fun. It lasts for two weeks and draws 7 million visitors to Munich. There are many beer "tents" constructed by the local breweries. These are enormous wooden structures which can hold hundreds of people and are reconstructed every year for Wies'n. We went to one of the smaller beer tents (Nymphenburger), which I found out later, is the one tent that specializes in German wine and only sells beer in the tiny half-liter glasses rather than the 1-liter Maß. Check out our video below. The party was in full swing on early Sunday afternoon.

This is our last week of language school in München. On Friday we are going by train to see Adam, Ruth, and John in Chambéry for a few days (we are very stoked about this). Then we will move to Erlangen and I (John) will finally get back to work on research (John is also stoked about this).