Visiting Germany

So on Saturday and Sunday I was a busy bee as there was plenty of work to be done! I quite like doing the housework if I've got my iPod on; Saturday I mopped while listened to songs beginning with 'A', and yesterday I hoovered to Fleetwood Mac. It makes it much more fun! There were other jobs, like setting up bedrooms for the Helen Storrow seminar participants who will be arriving on Tuesday. Also, on Saturday I helped lead a Snowshoe Hike with some of the Centre Team guests to the Magic Tree, finishing at Baby Chalet where the guests had Gluvine (mulled wine) and snacks. In the evening, after dinner, a lady named Diane gave us all a talk about Helen Storrow and Juliette Gordon Low. She told us the fascinating story of how Juliette Gordon Low came to be living in England, how she met Lord Baden-Powell and went on to found Girl Scouts USA. During the evening, us Spring Vollies were finally presented with our official staff neckies. This was an exciting moment for us that we'd all been waiting impatiently for!
The 12th March 2012 is the official 100th birthday of Girl Scouts USA - we had our UK centenary in 2010 - which is why on Sunday we had a special 'Scouts Own' evening which Stef put together to mark the event.



Today I had a day off, and together with Carly and Karin, we went with the Grounds Assistant, Christoph, all the way up to Germany! He likes to go shopping for certain things over the border as it's a lot cheaper there, and so we went along for the ride. We drove through into the southern part of the Black Forest (The setting of Grimm fairytales like Hansel and Gretel) and went to Titisee in Baden-Württemberg. We walked down by the lake there, and looked through the souvenir shops at cuckoo clocks and lederhosen-wearing teddy bears.

Then we found a cafe and had lunch outside in the sun, each ordering something traditionally German. Carly went for Schnitzel, Karin had German Sausage, and I chose Spaetzle with pork and a mushroom sauce. For dessert, as we were in the Black Forest, we ordered a few slices of Black Forest Gateaux! Nomnomnom.

Next it was time for some shopping, so off we went to Lydl. Us girls stocked up on cheap chocolate and helped Christoph find meat and food for the barbecue we were planning to have later on. Not content with our shop at Lydl, we then drove 15 minutes over the Rhine river and across the border into France to another supermarket to get a few more things, including a "cheap sheep" for Karin. Although spending your time in foreign supermarkets doesn't sound like a lot of fun, it kind of was! There was a lot of laughing :) Plus, we saw a chariot of leeks and got to drive through French countryside and see pastel coloured houses and the sun setting behind the mountains in the south. Pretty.

It took a few hours to drive all the way back to Adelboden, and it was about 9.30pm when we arrived. Obviously we were planning to have our barbecue (Really late I know!) so we quickly unloaded the food and went on up to the campfire area to get a fire going. We sizzled some sausages, steak and some spaetzle over the fire. It took a while, but I told a ghost story while it cooked and when it was eventually ready it was worth the wait it as it tasted so good!! All in all, it was a really cool day.