THE BLACK FOREST

So, great news!  This last week I was on Spring Break and I have one week left, and we decided to finally go to the Black Forest.  This was good for multiple reasons.  One, who doesn't want to go to the Black Forest?  And two, I finally went to the place and ate the cake that is the namesake of this blog!  But you can keep reading to find out more about that. 

Let me first clear up one thing, though.  The Black Forest is a REGION, not an actual individual forest.  And the trees in the forest are not actually black.  But I did know this before, I just wanted to correct any naive notions you have...

So, we arrived on Saturday and showed up to our hotel, the Hofgut Sternen.  That evening we just walked around a bit near the hotel and it was a gorgeous evening.  There was this super high bridge there that trains were constantly going across.

 We hiked up this little hill and found a cool little cabin thing so we looked out over the...electrical wires.  No just kidding, it was actually a nice view.

 This cool old church was close to our hotel so we checked it out too.  At one point in time Marie Antoinette stayed in that hotel so that's pretty cool.

 The next day was Sunday and it was actually Easter Sunday and we had a good time there.  Afterward we were invited to lunch at the home of a family in the ward.  The father actually served with President Kohler when they were young missionaries so that was really fun, and we spent a long time talking to them and just relaxing.  It was really kind of them to host us on Easter Sunday.  Their youngest son was a few years older than me and I felt for him.  I know how it is to have people over that you don't know and don't want to talk to, but have to put on a good face and clear the dishes.  So thank you...

After that we just went and walked around the Altstadt (old city) of Freiburg, so here are some pictures of that.

 The next morning we started off by looking in a clock shop right next to our hotel.  The region is known for cuckoo clocks, so they are ALL over.  But they really are cool and so beautiful.

 I also love these little 3D rooms that I have seen other places.

 Every half hour on the side of the building there is a giant cuckoo clock that goes off, so we went to go watch it and it was super cool.

 Here is me standing by it just for scale.

 After checking out that and another glass shop close by, we went to go walk around this cute little town called Gengenbach.  It was so beautiful.

 We were walking down one of the small streets when we ran into this small museum tucked away in a wall.  Well apparently it was a museum that wound up into the main tower of the city, the Niggelturm.  Inside was all this weird stuff about this thing they do or used to do at least in the city.  We were kind of confused, but it was something about dressing up as witches and other weird things.  So the whole museum was filled with these creepy, life-sized figures.

 The video showed that little kids learn to do these wooden clappy things, which I thought was pretty cool.

 Evolution of wooden witch masks...

 Mom and a creeper dude...

 No comment

 Dad and his favorite animal

 Me and my new bud

Then here is the view from the top of the tower over the town. 

 And the stairs

 Then we just wandered through little streets in the sunshine.

 And finally found an open cafe where we could try black forest cake!

 There she is

 Her close up

 The moment of truth

 Trying to pick up a bite

 And...it's good!  I was a bit disappointed by the lack of chocolate, but it was okay.  Honestly not as good as I thought it would be, and I'm pretty sure there was alcohol in it, but it was worth a try.

 More walking around, here is the tower we climbed up in via the museum.

 Artsy picture...

 Then we were on our way to another small town when we saw another giant clock so we stopped and paid like a Euro to watch it go.

 Then on the way to Triberg, we spontaneously decided to ride a Rodlbahn we passed on the side of the road.  It was basically a mix between an alpine slide and a roller coaster, so that was way fun.

Then we were planning on doing more in Triberg, but I was kind of expired and grumpy, so we just saw the water fall and went back to the hotel.  So here it is.  It is supposedly the longest waterfall in Germany. 

 At the top

 Tuesday our plans kept falling through so we just ended up walking around a nice lake close to where Mom and Dad stayed when they came here before.  Then we ended up going to this really cool water park place because we had coupons there form out hotel.

Wednesday we headed home and stopped to check out this old abandoned house close to the hotel and took pictures there.

 On the way home we stopped at a city in Germany that is classified as an island because it is in the Bodensee, Lindau.  We climbed to the lighthouse and then to the lion statue.

 It was an enjoyable trip.

Then I got together with Rachel after we got back and we drew our album cover and wrote a song about Ramen...

Salzburg, my home away from home...

So a few weeks ago, an area seventy and his wife, the Pilz's came to the mission to do a mission tour.  There was a meeting in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.  I was in school for the first two meetings, so just President and Sister Kohler went to the ones in Germany and Switzerland, but I missed one day of school to go to the Austrian one in Salzburg.  So here we are in Salzburg driving around in the mission van after successfully completing the mission tour.

***Side note: we go to Salzburg pretty often, and I am guilty of complaining about how we always go to Salzburg.  I have become way too spoiled... 

The next day were the priesthood leadership and adult sessions of stake conference there in Salzburg, so during the day while president went to the priesthood leadership meeting, Mom and I checked out this natural history museum that had all this cool stuff, including an aquarium, inside.

 We had lunch at a little cafe there

 Then went over to the physics and sciency part and played around

 The rest of the weekend we spent going to stake conferences.

This picture has no back story, I just wanted to try doing a thing like a faux-side shave thing so I did and I thought it was cool, but this is the only picture I have.

 Then last week we had parent-teacher conferences and they went well, and afterwards Mom and I went to this cool place to eat, kind of like Kneaders.

 And here is a lovely artsy picture of my sandwich, because my nails matched the seeds on it...

 This is my alternate "mother" Jodie in Anima, and on Tuesday we ended up wearing out matching sweaters from Amsterdam so we had to document it.

Then this last week there was a senior conference that my parents went to so the sisters in our ward stayed with me and we had a blast! 

 And last but not least, President and I enjoying lollipops we got from a package from Tosha...

Have an amazing day!!!

The Daily Messy Bits

So last week I finished my personal project!!!  I guess none of you really know what that is!  It is basically this thing that all tenth graders in the MYP program have to do.  They say, "pick something and do it."  Very general.  So basically you pick this project that is supposed to expand your knowledge and help you develop "approaches to learning skills" and become a more globally minded student and all that jazz.  So yeah.  The project includes a lot more than the project itself however, in fact they only really care about the "process" and "reflection."  So we all had to keep these process journals and make research tables and write thirty-page reports and last, but not least, have the exhibition evening.  So it's finally all over!  Here are some pictures of my product.

The recording on Garageband

 My sheet music I made

 My chord charts

 Equipment I used

 And here we are at the exhibitions!  Margaux, my good friend had a similar project, so for the parents evening we were together.  Parents would come around and see all the students' projects.  The next day the other students could come look at them all.  So here we are presenting.

 Killing time...

 We were also both asked to perform live during the "opening ceremony" of the parents night so that was cool, but way nerve wracking.

 And this is how we all felt after it was all over....very exhausted.

 I just thought this picture was worth putting in here.  We are doing cartooning in art and we are supposed to animate one of our friends, so Tacie is trying her best to make it easier for me I guess...

 And this week was transfers!  I know!  Crazy!  Anyway, Sister Berry was one of the sisters going home and it was sad to see her go because we've gotten to know each other really well and are good friends.

 Then Friday after school we traveled to Stuttgart and stayed over night there.  We ate at the foodcourt in the mall connected to the hotel and I got some really good Ramen.  I mostly just took these to make Tosha jealous...

 Then the next morning we got to go to the temple!  The last time we went was in the summer so Tanner could go for the first time before his mission, so it was really nice to go again.  And this time it was even in German!  

 Afterwards we got lunch at our favorite Döner shop in Bern, and spent the rest of the weekend going to sessions of stake conferences in Bern and Stuttgart.  Mission life.  

 This week was also my Grandpa Clark's 80th birthday.  Our family all got together for a party in Utah, and we got pictures and were very sad we couldn't be there.  I love him though, and am thankful for his great example, and awesome hugs.  We miss you Grandpa!

 And...here his just a video of me playing my ukulele.  Sorry I couldn't upload a video of the song I wrote, because the file was too large.