Parkstein and Duolingo

Last Sunday, Cody and I went to the nearby town of Parkstein as part of our newly added “Sunday Walks” inspired by Germans, who walk, if not daily, ALWAYS on Sunday.

There is a town that I always noticed on the road to Weiden.  It’s easy to spot because the entire town trickles down around a mountain that juts up out of nowhere.  For months I’ve been saying I want to go there, let’s find out what that town is.  A friend of mine took her family and I finally heard the name Parkstein.

The mountain is actually an inactive volcano.  Erosion has exposed beautiful hexagonal formations of basalt on the side of the volcano.  At the top is a small chapel with a bell that tolls the hour.  The peak used to be home to a castle but time and neglect are cruel mistresses that left little but a few decrepit exterior walls.  They have since overgrown with grass and moss leaving them beautiful reminders of a bygone era.

A path winds down around the back of the volcano and along it are huge, partially polished chunks of stone that I can only assume (due to my sub-par Deutsch) were all found in the area.  Also lining the path are mosaics depicting different events in the life of Jesus Christ.  At the base of the volcano is a charming Bavarian restaurant complete with dirndl decked waitresses and slightly inflated prices. We had a couple of beers and a cup of soup to cap off our Sunday walk then headed back home.  As Cody said “Any walk that ends in German restaurant drinking German beer is a good one.”

Just yesterday I discovered Duolingo.  I know it’s probably been out awhile, and I’m pretty sure someone I know mentioned it to me, but my 31 year old brain has trouble remembering things and keeping up with the times.  Duolingo is a free online language learning game/social network thing.  So far I love it!  I’ve been in Germany over a year and mien Deutsch ist unter alle sau, so I am eager to improve it.  I like the format of the site; it’s simple and to the point.  You work through in modules and as you pass each level, more become available to you.  It’s very hard sometimes because with German choosing the correct form of “the” is always hard and can only be learned through practice and use.  So go try it here if you’d like to learn with me.  German isn’t the only language offered either!

I’m trying to be better about the frequency of my posts but with rehearsals for the musical in full swing it’s hard to get around to sometimes. Until then (whenever that might be)  Tschüss!