english

Everywhere in the cafés or restaurants or at a bakery you will see a cake called „Eierschecke“ a egg custard cake. But how do you do it? We were invited and could watch a baker do it: For the different layers you need different ingrediences. Here they are nicely sorted. For the bottom you need flour, sugar, baking soda and liquid butter. Mix everything. Powder a baking dish with flour. Put the dough on the bottom of the baking form and spread it in a thin layer. Put it up a little bit at the edge. For the curd cheese layer you need to mix curd cheese, custard powder, sugar and eggs. Spread it afterwards onto the bottom. For the next layer stirr custard powder and sugar with milk. Heat this mixture in a pot. Add butter and mix it all. Separate the eggs. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff. Put the egg yolks

Mariner Carnival or „Schifferfastnacht“ as it is called here… We have been to a mariner carnival at Saxon Switzerland. Something new for us. We both come from the Rhineland and we know a thing or two about it… But the mariner carnival somehow is different… The first thing that stands out is the date. The mariner carnival in Postelwitz takes always place at the first weekend in February. So it is not on Rose Monday or Shrove Tuesday. No. It is always at the same date. Here you can also see carnival groups. But they look quite different. Like they just came from ‚Love Boat‘. All dressed in sailor suits or captain’s uniform. And they do carry flags. Rather serious. The battle call is not ‚Alaaf‘ or ‚Helau‘ and also not ‚Halt Pohl‘ or ‚Schöpp Op‘ but ‚Ahoi!‘. But it sounds rather seldom. At the speech in the beginning before the

In the middle of Saxon Switzerland you can not only experience the old handicraft of dipping candles but you can make them yourself. So we had to try it… In an old huge barn you can get everything related to candles and what you need for making your own. First you bring your personal belongings to the cloak room and then you have to choose from the samples which form you want to do. That is a difficult decision. Then you get at the entrance a wooden plate. With this plate you can dip candles or even make lanterns or bowls out of wax. Put the wick into the slits at the plate. One wick makes two candles. First you let the wick soak for 10 seconds. After that the wick is dipped shortly into the wax. Afterwards you let it dry for around one minute. You can hang the plate on

What happens to the Ecovillage Schmilka in winter? we asked ourselves and went to have a look. Normally during winter time there is not much going on in the region. Therefore a lot of restaurants and hotels are closed. Also Schmilka has had a winter break so far. But 2017 will be different. During the winter the ecovillage will become the wintervilage. And when it gets colder people tend to get closer together. Also at the „Bio- und Nationalpark Resort Schmilka“. This then changes to the winter village. And the center is transferred to the mill. Nearly everything happens there. First there is the reception. Which then is at the mill. For the whole village. From here you move into your eco room at the hotel Helvetia, a rustic holiday flat at the old forester’s house or one of the generous holiday homes with view to the Elbe at the

We had the chance to watch how individual composed her pouches for massages are made. Of course you need some linen and some strings. And herbs. Lots of herbs. But there are enough of those here. For inner or outer use. They are harvested in the herb garden right behind the house but also while walking or hiking in the nature. The selected herbs are put onto the prepared cloth. The choice depends on the effect you wish for. A lot of herbs fit into such a pouch. When there are enough herbs in the linen you can take the corners and carefully push the herbs together. You have to push hard because the pouches have to endure something afterwards. Do a quality check once in a while. Afterwards the pouch is tied. You have to be careful again and tie a very tight knot. After that the handle is