Woohoo!
I thought I'd try to add a few details about our trip to Germany. The day after our ceremony, we had a bbq. There was lots of yummy food and great company! We had a good time. It was good to see some of our German friends and it was even better to have our families together.Ulli and Karin personalized some genuine German rocks for the occasion. Everyone got a purple rock with his/her name on it. Perfect souvenirs for all of our guests!
This is the same day that we tried to explain American football. It was a bit confusing, but a lot of fun! We even got my mom out to play with us! I don't think she's ever played football with us before. She's played volleyball, but no football. Come to think of it, my dad never played football with us either. So it was pretty exciting and we all had a lot of good laughs.
We did some more sight-seeing together in the next few days before heading off to Munich. I think that's where I left off the last time I actually updated the blog.(Becky, you were right--it's a lot more work than I thought it'd be!)
The day we arrived in Munich, we went to Dachau. I know I mentioned that before, but I think it deserves a little bit more than just a mention. It was Ulli's first visit to a concentration camp. It was a very sobering experience. Becky and I went back in 1996 during our first trip to Germany. Even though I've been to another concentration camp since, it doesn't make the experience any less powerful.
The next day we visited the famous German castles. We went to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. Ulli and my parents have never been. Becky and I have been three times
now. We went with the exchange group in 1996, and in 2003 (I think) we went with Ingrid, Kevin, and Maggie. It is interesting to hear the different stories from the different tour guides. Each guided tour is different. Even so, I don't think we need to go again. It's expensive!One of my favorite things around the castles is this road sign! Isn't it great?!
Ulli got to experience Germany as a tourist. I think she found that rather strange, but interesting at the same time. I'm not sure if she'll want to play tourist again though. It's much more expensive than the way we are used to traveling through Germany. It's also a lot more work. Staying with family and friends is much cheaper and they don't charge us a fee for their company.
The last day in Munich, we got to meet up with Heidi and Ingrid. Both are good friends of mine from Koengen. Originally, they were my German friends' mothers, but I would definitely have to say they're not just my friends' mothers. They're my friends. I haven't been able to catch up with my friends from southern Germany in a while. It's been over three years since I last saw them. Where does the time go?!
Heidi and Ingrid took an early train to Munich and spent the morning and part of the afternoon with us. It was the first time my parents got to meet them. We took a bus tour of Munich together and then had lunch before Becky, Kevin, and my parents had to catch their train to Switzerland.After Becky, Kevin, and my parents caught their train, we went for coffee with Heidi and Ingrid. We met up with Michael, Heidi's husband. We only got a few hours together, but it was good to see them all again. Don't get me wrong. I love my German family in the North, but I miss my family in the South too.
Ulli and I caught our train and headed to Reinheim, where we visited Oma number one. Oma in
Reinheim was happy to see us and we were happy to see her too. She tried to feed us two or three times what we could eat. We did our best, but it was just too much food!We ran a few errands for her while we were there, but mostly, we just got to hang out and chat. We shared our pictures with her. I ran the images through the TV and she got a real kick out of that. I did that three years ago too, but she still thought it was cool. When I took the picture, they were too busy looking at the TV screen to look into the camera! I look like a hunchback! That's a fan back there! I swear!
After a couple of days with Oma in Reinheim, we hopped on another train to visit Oma number
two: Oma auf'm Hagen. She is in a new apartment. It's really nice and has a little balcony and everything. It's also VERY clean. She should come and visit us! She could help us get our place to sparkle like her house!We got to eat more great food and we also visited Rolf (Ulli's step-dad) and his family. We had a bbq with them. Rolf is an awesome grill-master! Lots of yummy food!!! Martina's (Rolf's wife) house is also very clean. Spotless! Martina is a lovely hostess, but she doesn't let you help clean up. No
t even a little bit. We did manage to get a few of the dishes into the kitchen without her knowing! It was all we could manage.At the bbq, Ulli got a lovely sunburn. She likes the sun...a little too much sometimes. We watched the final game of the European Cup. Germany vs. Spain. Stupid Spanish bastards won. Grr. It was disappointing, but Germany was really great about making it to the finals.
Again, we ate tons of great food during our visit. We left the following day. We took another train to Buende and Oma number three, actually, Oma and Opa. The last time we visited Oma and
Opa, Opa drank us under the table! He really loves his wine. He knows his wine.
This year we got some more great wine as a gift, along with some homemade jam.
Opa, Opa drank us under the table! He really loves his wine. He knows his wine.Oma and Tante Marlies still run up and down the stairs at their house like they're kids! It's crazy!
We had coffee and cake, then lunch, then more coffee and cake, then dinner, then dessert. We only stayed one night, but, man, I was so full! The next morning we had breakfast and then lunch. We thought we were going to get out of eating the rest of the cake from the day before, but we ended up having coffee with cake again! I just couldn't eat any more.
It was good to see everybody again, but the Oma-Tour always leaves us stuffed full of lots of great food.
In the end, we took another train to Hamburg. There we met up with Karin, Sigrid, and Jens. And I think I'll write more later....
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