Germany Again. But This Time I Like It.

We spent Tuesday night through Friday morning (October 20-23) in a small town called Jena, in the east-central part of Germany, between Weimar and Leipzig. The town of Jena is most famous as the temporary residence of Goethe and the more permanent residence of Friedrich Schiller, philosopher, and Friedrich Schlegel, critic, poet and philosopher. The confluence of these minds, and others, made Jena the center of European intellectual thought for a short time in the late 18th century. Nowadays it's not famous for much of anything, but it does have a nice University, enough restaurants for variety, and some decent shopping. Also, the old town is small enough to walk completely around in 30 minutes, so three days was just fine for enjoying the area.

Ed's work went well while we were there (finally), and he again accomplished some good networking, as well as tablet scanning. We were staying in a hotel (as there were no apartments or airbnb offerings within 40 minutes drive), so the kids and I got out for as much of the day as I could get them out. The hotel was small--only ten rooms--and everyone was gone during the day, so we weren't too much of a nuisance running back and forth between our three separate rooms. When possible, I try to have the kids do homework in the morning, and it always takes until lunch, even though it should only take 40 minutes. I am not nearly as efficient as classroom teachers, and it seems like no matter what I do the kids are always sneaking onto their apps and games when I'm not looking. Aargh!

An example of Jena architecture. It sits in a run-down lot with graffiti, but the windows and doors are lovely.

Part of the city wall remains around the Altstadt, including this tower. The kids were cold and didn't want to pose for me.

On Wednesday afternoon we went to the planetarium to get tickets for the sky show, then had to wait a couple hours until it started. We decided to go out for lunch and found a waffle restaurant--we haven't had waffles since we left the States!

While buying the tickets, the kids all bought silly putty with their allowance. It was a great way to keep them occupied while waiting for their waffles to arrive. Joe apparently wasn't ready for the picture.

Of course, these waffles don't have syrup. They have ice cream.

Then we went to buy hats, gloves and scarves at H&M, and we ended up with a few extra pairs of pants and shirts we hadn't planned on. (Have I mentioned yet that we are all very sick of our clothes, except Joe and Isaac who haven't seemed to notice that they are wearing the same thing every day?) Then we went back to the planetarium and enjoyed our tour of the universe, even though it was in German. (Also, this is the world's oldest planetarium, so Mary was particularly enthusiastic for the visit.) After the planetarium we headed back to the hotel, then met Ed for dinner at the Hercules Restaurant, introducing the kids to Greek food. Luckily, the kids like meat.

Abby posing with Ernst Abbe, the scientist of note related to the planetarium. She can even melt a stone heart.

Like I said, Jena is a small town, so although there were a couple small art and history museums, the kids would have hated them. We decided to take a couple hours on Thursday to go to a "swimming pool." It's actually a swimming complex, similar to the new one in Provo, but with fewer restrictions of age and height on the water slides. We ended up spending a whopping six hours there, and the kids were absolutely exhausted when we were done. But it was a marvelous time, and I was particularly happy watching the kids play together. They went down the water slides in twosomes, in fivesomes, in a train, in races, and they were always careful to help the little ones and cheer each other on. It was the sort of attitude I have most wanted this trip to cultivate--I want my kids to be best friends with each other, and the Jena GalaxSea created some good memories for them. My heart was warm and full as I watched them play together.

A victory cheer after their successful team run down the blackout slide.

Looking back, I can see now that our ten days in Italy was the moment of real change for me. Before Italy, I measured the success of our trip primarily by how many monuments we visited, or how much time I could keep the kids out of the house and off of their computers and tablets. Now I try to count the perfect moments. They are everywhere: the kids helping each other with homework, playing at the pool, goofing off with Dad, my quiet walks at night down beautiful city streets with Ed, Joe recognizing the prophet during Conference, Abby offering her candy to Isaac so he won't be sad. I am beginning to realize that we have at least in part attained what I wanted most from this trip: closeness and joy.

After the pool, we picked up Ed from work and went to the waffle place for dinner. Unfortunately, they were closing, and we were all disappointed. We promised to come back the next morning before leaving town. Friday morning we packed, got waffles (the same waiter served us all three times--a nice college kid who was patient with my kids and had great English), split up to hit two quick museums, then hit the road for the Czech Republic. Actually, our next stop was only two hours away, so we didn't have far to go. But the whole week had been cold and wet, and this morning the clouds opened up to gorgeous blue sky and sunshine. The fall leaves were still in full swing, so we had a beautiful drive.

This is the Friedrich Schiller House, where Schiller lived and had meetings with Goethe and other intelligentsia, fueling German Romanticism.

And just for fun, Linda and I stopped at a shoe store to try on some really fun shoes.

Love the elf curls!

These are for Aunt Rachel--they'd go great with her 50s Drive-In Diner dress!