First, Kelly and I flew into Frankfurt on the same day as his parents, Rex and Liz, and his Aunt Monica. Liz and Monica (as well as another sister and a brother) are our connection to Germany. Their parents emigrated to America (well, Canada, and later to America) in the 30s (40s?) and over the last 80 years the American family and German family has been able to stay in touch.
So day one: Kelly, me, his parents and aunt load up and drive to Ludwigsburg to stay with Jurgen (Liz's cousin) and Irene. (For anyone who remembers, their son Daniel visited us two summers ago.) These two people were amazing with their generosity and hospitality. There was never a shortage to eat, drink or discuss. I wish we could have stayed longer so Irene could show me a few things in the kitchen because she was a tremendous cook. She made for us a whole host of traditionl German meals that made me sad my stomach could only hold a limited amount of food.
We stayed here our first two nights, using this time to also visit Jurgen's brother Rainer and his wife Ursl and later Joachim, another of Liz's cousins, who painted the picture we have hanging in our living room a few years ago. Then we went to Ulm and stayed three nights with Michael and Karmen and their children Cheara and Samuel. (Some people may remember that these four visited us briefly last summer.) We stayed here with Kelly's cousin Lindelise and her husband Aaron and their children Ethan and Annelise. (Their parents, Linde and Pete, were also on this trip. They are all part of the American family.)
Our first day in Ulm, we went to the Ulmer Munster, which is the tallest church in the world, and Kelly, me, Aaron, Lindelise, and Ethan climbed to the top of the steeple. We ate some and shopped some and that night spent some time meeting more members of the German family.
The next day, Saturday, was the day of the wedding - the reason for the timing of our trip and for the influx of Americans. The groom, Thorsten, is Michael's brother. He and his now wife, Steffi, have a very cute little boy, Dominik. The wedding started at three in a very beautiful and very old Catholic church. Immediately afterward they held a small reception in the church courtyard, mingling with wedding guests with champagne, OJ and croissants because some people at the service wouldn't be going to the bigger reception. The reception was quite the party. There was skits (one of which a bunch of us Americans participated in), much dancing, food, food, food, and all the beverages you could drink. We didn't leave until after one in the morning!
Sunday we had an uneventful day driving Kelly's parents back to the airport and staying in Frankfurt watching the German soccer team lose (sadly) to the Spanish team in the European cup. The next day, we set off on our own.
Our first stop: Baden-Baden. I don't think I'd ever heard of this place, but wow, was it worth it! Cute, cobblestone roads, old homes, open markets, outdoor patios...it was fabulous.
Plus, this place had a fantastic smell to it - like all of the flowers were in bloom all at the same time. We did a quick walking tour of the city, courtesy of our Rick Steve's guide book (which was also awesome!) and found this spigot in the middle of town that puts out hot water from the underground spring. The book said that children used to be sent down to collect a bucket full of water every morning for their father's shave and that older people in town still remember doing this. The water was clean and drinkable - if you don't mind the taste of mineral water. Then we went to a bath house - a Roman-Irish bath house, actually. It's a long process of steam rooms and saunas and soaking pools with a soap massage in the middle. At first I was a little uncomfortable walking around naked with all the other women in the bath with me, but after a while all our nakedness didn't seem like a big deal any more and I was just able to enjoy myself. This was definitely my favorite European experience!The next day we drove a little west to Strasbourg, France. This time, it was my turn to translate! My first purchase was ice cream cones for the two of us.
It was exciting how much French I remember after so many years of not using it. We walked around some, at lunch and perused a book store, where I had to ask the lady working for a certain book that my French teacher used to use with us. I loved it so much, I wanted one of my own. My French was successful! She knew exactly what I was talking about. It was great!Then we went a little further south and back to Germany to Staufen, one of my favorite places that we visited. Staufen was a cute, relaxing town with old-world charm. We stayed at a gasthous with a tremendous view of a vineyard-covered hill with a ruined castle on top, all nestled in the rolling hills of the Black Forest.
The next morning we visited that creepy old castle and were amazed at how well it's held up over the last 800 years. No one could live there now...But in America something that old and "useless" would've been torn down ages ago to make room for a new Wal-mart or something.Then we drove to Hallstatt, Austria. You've seen The Sound of Music? Yup, that's this place. Well, not this exact town, but the area, sure.
Hallstatt was a thriving city with established trade routes when Rome was being (legendarily) founded by Remus and Romulus. It got its start as a mining town because in the mountains the town is built around is a massive salt cache. (I learned more about salt on this trip than I ever thought I would! Ask me sometime.) Salt was always very important and, for people farther away, very expensive, so it came to be called "white gold." We stayed in Hallstatt at a fabulous gasthaus ran by a very friendly woman named Maria, who told us of a great place to swim at the lake, Hallstattersee.After two nights in Hallstatt, we headed back through the Alps to Munich for two nights. We ate at the Hofbrauhaus, which is, unrelatedly, the first place that Adolf Hitler delivered a speech to a large group of people, visited near-by Dachau concentration camp, ate, shopped, ate, drank and walked. We saw the Glockenspiel, rode the tram, I talked to a stranger on my own in German (I told her the bench was free - as in unoccupied), and stayed in a single room to save a few Euros. We both thought Munich was all right - definitely lots to do - but it wasn't our favorite place. If I go back, I'd like to investigate more of the history of the city.
Then to Rothenburg, which Kelly mistakenly called Rotterdam so much that it left me rather confused as to where we were. This city is a completely walled-in city with a fascinating story (another one to ask me about in person) and more old, old, old-world charm.
We took a tour that night from the night watchman, who definitely gave the best tour of our entire vacation. We also went to the Crime and Punishment museum - not as in the book, but as in torture, etc. It's sick how much time and effort people have put into hurting other people, but it makes for a cool museum.The next day was Monday and our last full day in Germany. We drove back to Frankfurt, found a cute place for dinner and ate our last European ice cream cone. We were sad to have to leave, but we were also ready. More than anything, we missed our dogs! We decided that Germans love doors, as there were doors in every imaginable doorway, but we couldn't figure out why, if we were staying in a clock-making capitol of the world, there were no clocks anywhere we stayed. We also noticed that Germans love ice cream, practicing their English, cutting in line and doing other things indicative of a lack of patience, and sitting forever after a meal drinking and talking (which works, even though it doesn't fit well with their aforementioned lack of patience). We enjoyed driving on the Autobahn, practicing our German, learning so much about another culture and history so different from yet still so similar to our own, spending time together through all these adventures, and being able to go, see, and do whatever and whenever we wanted for so long. Kelly loved having so much bread all the time - a different type for each meal, it seemed - but I was missing veggies by day nine. I drank my fair share of eiscafe (cold coffee, often with whipped cream and sometimes with vanilla ice cream) and Kelly drank a dark beer wherever we went. If I wasn't drinking an eiscafe, I was probably drinking Radler - 50/50 beer and lemonade. I didn't think it sounded very good at first, but after I tried it, I couldn't get enough. I highly recommend it. And if I wasn't drinking one of those two things, I was scrounging for water. In Germany, they think water - especially tap water - is just for washing and cooking, not drinking. So if you order water in a restaurant, you get sparkling water unless you specify to them that you want non-sparkling water...which means that you'll likely get mineral water (which I thought tasted like I was drinking dirt). They served all water by the bottle and never more than you could fit in a wine glass. I don't know how they're all still living! I felt so dehydrated all the time!
Overall, the two weeks there were two of the most memorable in my little lifetime. It was a phenomenal way to spend my first trip to Europe!
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