QUIRKY STUFF

It is April!!!  Wow!!!  Our time is drawing short.  When I get home, I am going to publish my blog in book form and want to include memories of missionary moments, people we've met and places we've seen.  Customs.  Favorites.  And "Quirky"  things we don't typically see in Utah.  So the next few posts will be  a mish-mash of things I want to remember.

PASTRIES  (well of course)

How do you pick just one?

The words  "Danish Pastries" does not even begin to cover the width and breadth of the term. Multiple bakeries on every street and inside every grocery store display their goodies behind big class cases: fruit tarts, pies and cookies,  muffins and sweet rolls.   Stuffed with jelly and creme fillings or almond paste and topped with whipped cream just waiting to mustache your lip and add a few pounds.  Think buttery, flaky, melt-in-your-mouth layers.  Think cinnamon.  Think works of art.  The shelves are filled  and emptied every day.  Evening rush hour brings crowds buying bread for supper and sweets for breakfast.  You have to take a number for service for Pete's sake!  We met a visitor from Utah who brings an extra suitcase when visiting and fills it with Danish pastries to freeze until he can come back again.   Addiction.

TRANSPORTING LIL'UNS

Portable beds no less

The ride of choice for babies:   gigormous buggies which convert to strollers .  They are everywhere. You see moms, dads,  grandmas and au-pairs wheeling these down the streets.  Stair-less escalators accommodate them as well as buses.  A whole section of the bus is reserved for strollers and buggies, and the bus actually lowers on one side (hydraulics) so it is easier to enter and exit.  If the bus is crowded and you are standing in a buggy area, you move.  Buggies get on and off first.  Everyone knows these rules and no one bats an eye or complains.    AND parents will often leave sleeping children outside a cafe or church snugged up in these sleeping bassinets.  Yes.  True.

Deluxe Buggy

The nursery school version of the buggy.  You'll often see a procession of them out for some fresh air.  And refreshingly, men are behind the buggies as much as women.

Bike Transport

When the kiddos can sit up,  they bob along on the front or back of mom or dad's bicycle. The tiny ones are almost always asleep with chin on chest. Ninety per-cent of children from age 2 (or younger) attend nursery school or kindergarden.

Christiana Bike

Then we have the all-purpose carrier.   All sizes of children, whole families, dogs, groceries, home repair supplies, big screen TV's and neighbors can wedge into what is called a Christiana Bike.  The front section swivels to make turning corners easy.  Plastic covers on fancy ones zip up in bad weather to make a snug trek to school.  Pricey, though.

To be continued...............