Spring has Sprung

Spring has officially sprung in our backyard. Only a mere few weeks ago, the trees were still bare in the orchard and the hedges were only just starting to fill in with their leafy covering. It is absolutely beautiful to see the gorgeous apple and cherry trees in full bloom, and minuscule purple and yellow flowers covering the ground. We have been enjoying some of the most gorgeous spring weather this past week with blue skies, plenty of sunshine and temperatures in the mid 60-s and low 70s. Unfortunately, our weather is about to take a turn, so I wanted to capture this perfect day with some pictures of the backyard. Of course a camera does not do justice to the real thing, but here's a glimpse of a beautiful April day in the Netherlands.

Apple and cherry trees in bloom

The large cherry tree in the back is just ending its blooming period and the two walnut trees are the last to grow its leaves. Pretty soon, our wall of green will be completely filled in and we won't be able to see a bit of the brick building behind us.

Jon has spent the past couple weeks on his hands and knees scrubbin' the deck to rid the weeds and moss that grew between the tiles. It was hard meticulous work, but it looks so much better and was finished just in time to kick-off the start of outdoor BBQ season. On Sunday, we enjoyed having friends over for a post-race BBQ at the house. It was the perfect celebration of our first annual participation in the Sittard Mooiste (beautiful) 15k run. 

Nothing like fresh spring flowers to decorate the house and a branch from an apple tree to hang Easter eggs from.

Brunssum Charity Night

Last weekend, Jon and I had yet another opportunity to dress up in the month of March at the Brunssum Charity Night. Brunssum is the nearby NATO base in the Netherlands, and their spouses club organizes a charity night with a different theme each year. Last year it was a 60s theme, and this year it was "A Night at the Movies." This theme leaves your costume quite open for interpretation, but most people came as characters from movies. Some of the more creative costume ideas included V for Vendetta, Eliza Doolittle, Natalie Portman from the Black Swan (a couple of those), the Joker, and many more. There were even a few who chose to dress up from Zorro - including us!

Antonio Jonderas and Cathleen Zeta-Clough

People weren't sure if his Zorro was to represent Antonio Banderas or George Hamilton, but he did a great job getting into character, and I was his sultry senorita, (aka. Cathleen Zeta-Clough) for the night. We had a blast dancing, tasting all the different nation's food booths and hangin' with our friends.

Zorro and Pete Mitchell from Top Gun

The Ladies of the Night

With all the heavy dancing, by the end of the night, the wig came off. Another thing that came off, as of today, is Jon's mustache. He's enjoyed growing his 'stache during Mustache March, and being referred to by people as Clark Gable and Errol Flynn, but April 1 couldn't come soon enough for me. His face is simply too handsome to be hiding behind a 'stache and I will certainly cherish the next 11 months before March comes round again.

Cheerio from the Swiss Alps!

Switzerland - the land of Alpine escapes, mountain villages, cheese and Brits. Yes, that's correct, Switzerland (especially the village of Wengen) was swarming with Brits on holiday in early March during our ski-tastic week in the Berner Oberland. We were exposed to more "Cheerios" than "Gruetzis" during our stay, but then again that could have something to do with the fact that all the Brits in Wengen happened to be staying in our hotel.  

Presenting the village of Wengen from our hotel room balcony

Hotel Falken in Wengen

We were by far the youngest people in our hotel, and although everyone else seemed to know each other, we still enjoyed the old world ambiance of the hotel, built in the 1890s. There were no TVs, but several parlors and a beautiful piano room and bar where everyone would gather for post-dinner entertainment. Jon and I would scurry out to the town to visit some pubs, and by the time we returned, the retired Brits were still singing away with the piano man and not even close to retiring to their rooms.

Our first day of skiing, we ventured to the top of the Jungfrau mountain. Once difficult to access, the Jungfraubahn cog railway now runs inside the mountain, up to the Jungfraujoch railway station at 11,332 ft, the highest in Europe. The glacial wind was incredibly fierce at the top, but we managed to spend a few minutes out on the observatory deck to gaze at the incredible views around us. The whole area constitutes the largest glaciated area in the Alps as well as in Europe. The Jungfrau complex is quite extensive with an ice palace, several restaurants and viewing platforms. 

In the Ice Palace, which had several ice sculptures on display

On Day 2 of skiing, we trekked to another famous peak, the Schilthorn via a series of cable cars. Once again, the view was magnificent and after enoying the panoramic scenery, we had breakfast in the revolving cafe at the summit. Jon was especially thrilled to be at the Schilthorn, as he calls his snowsuit onesie very Bonds-like, which fits at this location where the James Bond flick "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was set. 

At the top of the Schilthorn

There was only one ski run down, and of course, it was crazy steep and narrow. I had been getting more and more anxious during our time on the Schilthorn thinking about the descent and was on verge of a freak-out when this picture was taken. But, like anything, after taking that first step forward, my anxiety dissipated, and by the end of the run, I even thought I might like to do it again.... but we didn't.

Jon making his way down the Schilthorn

The best snow and skiing was on the Schilthorn side of the mountain

The last day of skiing, we visited the third area of the Jungfrau ski region above Grindelwald. Although we still had patches of sun and blue sky, this was our first day to have any clouds. The skiing was still excellent, and although it took a lot of travel time to get to this area, it was worth it to ski the entire Jungfrau complex. We traveled via train, cable cars and ski lifts to reach the various ski trails. It is quite a mountain network!

Training on the Wengeralpbahn from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen

Jon  looking oh-so-Swiss

Three days straight of skiing can get quite tiring, so we made sure to make lots of rest stops for coffee, beer and gluwein. By Day 3, we had found our favorite places for mid-ski breaks and we planned our final run of the day to hit up all of them. 

The Rancher Bar in Grindelwald where we had a mid-ski coffee break 

Enjoying an Apres Ski party (complete with a band) at the Wasch bar

At the Allmend cafe where we stopped at the end of each ski day as our hotel was merely a short ski away

We loved being able to ski directly to our hotel (yellow building in distance)

Of course, no trip to Switzerland would be complete without a fondue experience. We had two! On two separate occasions we shared a delicious cheesy pot of fondue and a traditional Swiss rosti. It was quite yummy, but after our stint in Switzerland, we were definitely cheesed out for a while. I am so glad that we were able to experience this beautiful part of Switzerland that I had heard so much about, including Wengen, Murren, Lauterbrunnen, and Grindelwald. Although it was magnificent in winter, I would love to see the Berner Oberland in summer as well. Hmmm, who knows what the future has in store!

Colmar Quaint

On the day after Carnaval, Jon and I decided to take advantage of his comp time and get some ski action, heading south to Switzerland, via Colmar, France. Although we had previously visited Strasbourg for a day and I had done pottery shopping in other Alsace villages, we had never visited the treasure of the Alsace region, Colmar. We made an overnight stop here and had a delightful afternoon and morning to enjoy this most charming town. So close to the German border, it has a great deal of Germanic influence in the half-timbered architecture, Riesling wines they produce, and even the food is similar.

Standing amidst the beautiful half-timbered houses with Rick in hand

After dropping of our bags and consulting Rick on the best place for a wine-tasting, we headed to a cute wine bistro where we were educated on the Alsace wines and cheeses of the region. Two of our favorites were the Pino Gris and Gewurztraminer, both with a bit of a spicy kick. We bought a couple bottles here, but then loaded up at the Cora, like a French Cosco, on our way out of town.

Enjoying a Gerwurztraminer at a wine bistro

We were so fortunate to have gorgeous weather and mild temps during our overnight and we could not take enough pictures of this town with eye-catching color and architecture every way you turn.  Colmar has a beautiful canal running through an area of town called Petit Venis.

Petit Venis

Colmar Alley

A view of our hotel (green building) in Petit Venis

We lucked out on some last minute deals at the Hôtel Le Maréchal on booking.com and very much enjoyed our stay in this romantic hotel with beautiful decor. The first thing I noticed when walking into the room were the beautiful timber beams across the ceiling and the 18th century style furniture. Jon walked in and immediately noticed the naked woman hanging above our bed. Of course, it's France! 

That evening, we had a fabulous dinner of Alsatian stew and escargot and afterward enjoyed walking around the town oh-so-strategically lit to showcase its beautiful buildings. 

The next morning, we headed to the one and only touristic site of Colmar (other than the city itself), the Unterlinden Museum. This quickly became one of my favorite museums in all of Europe with an excellent floorplan, in an old Dominican convent, and informative audio guides on the various exhibits. The vast number of medieval paintings were impressive, but the highlight was viewing the Isenheim altar peice by Grünewald. Just as every American knows the Mona Lisa, every German knows this work of art, displaying the crucifixion and burial of Jesus on one side and his resurrection and ascension on the other. Seeing it exhibited in the cathedral was especially moving.

Unterlinden Museum

Brief as it was, our visit to quaint Colmar, exceeded its expectations as we were able to view gorgeous architecture, partake in wine-tasting, explore the culinary delights of the city and even take in a bit of the museum culture. Now, onward to Switzerland!

Carnavalsdagen

One of the great things about living in Europe is partaking in the many festivals that are region-specific. While living in Wiesbaden, we did Fasching, in the Limburg region of the Netherlands, the equivalent is Carnaval. It is very similar to Mardi Gras festivities in the States, except everyone dresses up in elaborate costumes of color or characters.

There are usually lots of parades and events that take place all across the various cities, and Sittard is no different. Beginning on the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, all of Sittard is focused on the most important event of the year, Carnaval. Young, old and in between participate in the many activities and parties and of course we couldn't help but get swept away with the Carnavalsdagen as well.

On Friday night, we were spectators at a small German village's parade and on Saturday we kicked it up a notch and brought back an old Fasching favorite, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, at a party in Maastricht.

On Sunday, we descended upon the Sittard parade with our party posse and enjoyed watching the many floats. Later, we made our way to the market square where the parade ended and the real partying began.

After one night and one day of this, I was about done, but for the Limburgers, this is the highlight of their year. For five days straight they wear costumes, march in parades, attend parties, and play Carnaval music non-stop.

It is truly an incredible event and for anyone that wants a taste of authentic European culture, enjoys dressing up, and wants to take advantage of more economical airfare - this is the time to come!

A Very Braxtonian Post

In case you haven't heard, Braxton Fabian Blue, came into the world on September 18th and is the cutest baby imaginable. Of course I can say this because he's my nephew and first baby on the Catlin side. He is pretty much the most adorable baby since, well, me. I first met him when he was a mere 8 weeks old in November and instantly fell in love. I got to see him again  just before turning five months during my last trip to Texas and discovered that he'd gotten even cuter - as if that is possible! He's now smiling, laughing and making all kinds of fascinating facial expressions. 

Some of you may be thinking, "hmmm, I wonder what spurred on Cathleen's motivation to do a post all about her nephew." Well, I'll tell you. It's pretty simple.... Braxton is worthy of his own post. That's right, he's that special and fabulous that I couldn't bear to include him in a run-down of the past several months. Some people perhaps may have wanted to accuse me of forgetting to include Braxton in my blog, but they would be terribly wrong. Oh no, he had to be highlighted as the best, most wonderful thing that's happened not only to the proud parents, but the entire Catlin Pack 7-now-8. Among exciting endeavors and special bonding moments between Braxton and me, included pushing Braxton in his stroller, making the fish face, enticing him to blow bubbles, tickling his little legs, carrying him, burping him and many more moments of pure joy.

All facetiousness aside, I enjoyed spending time with this little toot more than I can express and will certainly miss seeing him continue to grow and change over the next few months. 

I am one proud aunt and feel so blessed to share the joys of aunthood with Mandy. Here we are, the two aunts and momma, at a farewell lunch at Z Tejas before I left Texas. Although the lunch ended in plenty of waterworks, I am so happy to have the family that I have and look forward to the many adventures that the newest generation will bring.