I know I promised some pics

I know I have been promising some pics of our area for some time now, and here are a few.

The kids Grandparents were here last week and we took them to see this castle. It is very pretty with a wonderfully restored interior, and pretty grounds.

Here we are at the interior gate in the courtyard.

This is a lovely old windmill very near to our house, it is gorgeous and completely fabricated out of wood which has been faded to a soft silver grey by the centuries of northern German rains.

I love the shape of it with its peaked slate cap, and was surprised to see that there are many similar to this around where we live.

I always associated windmills with Holland...No?

An ok start?

Bach and Sushi...Date night with Riel

Riel has a great friend at school who shares lots of his interests. His parents share our philosophy of exposing their kids to lots of interesting and stimulating stuff, much like we do.

Dee , Sam's mom suggested we take the two boys into Hannover to a Bach concert in a beautiful old church, and I suggested we go for sushi before hand...so there it was ...Bach and Sushi...

We decided to take the train into town , more fun that way especially since we can walk the several blocks from our house to the train station, and it was a lovely balmy day.

The kids and I love the bright red colour of the train as it snakes its way through the green country side. We proceeded inside and took our seats, the commuter trains are super plush and very clean.

I love it. An image of the hills and farm land near where we live, we have lots of windmills around us though I see I did not capture them in this shot...they are so cool, and I love how many of them there are here.

Why don't we have them at home?

Riel on a stair case in the Hauptbanhoff (Main train station) at the centre of Hannover, posing with the girl holding the chocolate bar...

And the boys all giddy and excited out side the church before the concert... (Imagine??!!)


The concert was wonderful. Though we were expecting the emotional and petulant strains of a centuries old great pipe organ we were treated instead to the wafting melodies of a children's choir singing funerary music...We were enchanted none the less...

Niki Saint Phalle

In Hannover we have more sculpture than you can shake a stick at. There are sculptures EVERYWHERE. Some of it I get... and some of it I do not.

Nonetheless all very interesting and thought provoking, and refreshing I find that the city of Hannover has invested so much in supporting sculpture artists. There is an wonderful installation in the centre of town called "Die Nanas" created by Niki Saint Phalle, and here it is...

I love the form of these figures, the colour and the movement as well as the exuberant femininity of them. Nikki celebrates the female form in a fabulous way. Apparently she went on to design and execute another series of female figures dubbed the "Skinnies"

In the largest and most prestigious formal garden in Hannover, the Herrenhausen Gardens (translated to Men's House Garden incidentally) Gardens Nikki has created a sculpture grotto in the interior of a traditional stone 17th century garden building. Entering the Grotto is truly an otherworldly experience, as the artists vision completely envelopes you with shimmering light. The interior is paved with multi textured mirrors and dotted with more colorful figures...She plays with light and incorporates reflections of exterior landscape features. You can find some background information here about her here is her biography, and also a great site about a sculpture garden in Italy called the Tarot garden.

At the The Sprengel Museum (Hannover's museum of modern art) she has built a fibre glass Nana that is hollow and as a shelter and very accessible structure for kids and adults to experience. The kids loved it as not only could they go in and out of it, touch it and be right up close to it but the thing echos. Truly cool.

Way too cool....