Kleingärten

My cold is getting worse in that I'm coughing all the time.  But my nose isn't running anymore, so that, at least, is good.

Today has been pretty darn uneventful.  Really, all that's happened today was going on a walk and my grandparents' friends come over.  So let me tell you about those two things...

First we went on a walk.  I have to say, I saw parts of Schlebusch that I've never seen before.  The part of the walk I want to tell you about is the kleingärten.  Kleingärten doesn't translate into English.  'Klein' means small and 'gärten' means gardens.  Since a lot of people in Germany live in apartments, not many people have yards.  Kleingärten are essentially neighborhoods of yards and gardens.  There are plots of land all next to each other, usually with a small hut on the property.  Here is a typical (and somewhat boring) kleingarten:

Kleingärten come in many different sizes.  There are also bigger ones.  When you own a kleingarten, you can pretty much do whatever the heck you want with it!  You can plant flowers and pretty things in it...

You can grow fruits and vegetables in it...

 You can leave it as green space and/or put in a play structure if you have kids...

You can fly a flag of your favorite soccer team...

You can put in a grill, you can put in decorative things, and lots, lots more!  It's pretty much just like a normal yard or garden, but instead of being attached to your house, it's next to other gardens!  (Which I personally think makes a nicer, more natural atmosphere)

My grandparents showed me all the berries, other fruits and vegetables that people had in their gardens.  I do think it's important to see where your food comes from.  Not kleingärten specifically, but what fruits and vegetables look like when they grow.

Berries!  I ate all of the ones in these pictures, by the way

Here are some other things I saw during our walk:

Lavender

Cool swing

Can anyone guess what this is?  That's right, wheat ;)

Strawberries!

They were small strawberries

In the afternoon, my grandparents' friends came over for coffee, cake and Rumycube.  The man recently had a major operation, and he isn't doing too well.  Today's visit was good for him because he got a change of scenery and a nice distraction.

German word of the day: Kleingarten.  I know, you're surpised. ;) It's pronounced KLYN-gahr-ten.  Plural is Kleingärten, pronounced KLYN-gaer-ten.  I'm not even going to bother telling you what it means. ;)

The Sunflower Project: These are the same pictures as the last post because I wrote that post the same day as this one.  Deal with it ;)

Book update: I read a lot today and am on page 80 out of 172.  I am very proud of myself. ;) A lot has happened, too.  A family from Germany came to the guest house where Anna's family lives for summer vacation.  At first, Anna, her brother, the owner of the guest house's kids and the German family all played together, but the visiting kids' mom got really mad and told her kids they weren't allowed to play with Anna and Max because they were Jewish.  It led to a big argument between the parents of all three families, and the German family left earlier than expected because of it.  Anna's dad also goes to Paris to pursue work opportunities.  In the meantime, Anna's grandma comes to visit.  She lives in southern France, where she ran away to when the Nazis rose to power.  She brought along her dog, who everyone hates but she adores.  During the night, he drowns in the lake.  I thought dogs could swim, but whatever.  

This part gets its own paragraph because it's pretty much the most horrible thing I've ever heard.  Anna overhears her grandma and mom talking about what's happened to whom after Hitler took power.  A very famous professor was caught and thrown into a concentration camp.  He was chained to a dog house at the entrance of the camp.  Every time someone entered or exited the camp, he was forced to bark, and he was fed out of a dog bowl and prohibited to use his hands.  The once-professor went insane and was, essentially, reduced to an animal.  This is a true story, people!!!!!!!!!!! :O

Then Anna's grandma leaves and Anna's dad returns, eager to move the entire family to Paris because of a great job opportunity.  However, Anna's mom wants to go to England instead.  Both parents leave to go house hunting in Paris, leaving  Anna and Max at the guest house.  (These kids are ten and twelve, and the parents are leaving them in another country while Hitler's hating on Jews?  Irresponsible, in my opinion.  But then again, the owner of the guest house and his family are checking in on them...)  The kids are told to be extra good to prove the bad things Hitler's saying about Jews wrong.  At the part I'm at right now, school has started again and Anna goes on a class trip to see the sunrise in the snowy mountains, which is apparently gorgeous.  It probably is. :)

Here is a random picture that I took.  The once shadow is supposed to be a heart.  If you like it, then I claim the idea, but if you don't like it, I'll admit that I saw it as a postcard once and my version didn't work as well. ;)