Our last post may not have conveyed just how much of London we took in. I won't bore you with a comprehensive list. Suffice it to say every night I thought my feet were going to fall off before we made it back to the apartment. And I didn't even make it to a yarn store! (no, I'm sorry Curt, the craft department at Liberty doesn't count even though they did have yarn.) So, you'll understand that I was especially delighted by the travel mugs of coffee Rob handed us as we climbed into his car for that ridiculously early drive to the airport. Rob's generosity set the bar really high for our next hosts - Curt's high school exchange host family.
This being our second flight with Ryan Air, we were prepared for most of the eccentricities. I was amused by the air sickness bags covered in ads and noticed that the in-flight magazine alternated each page of features (thinly veiled promotions for cool places you can get to on Ryan Air) with a full-page advertisement.
Upon arrival, we were (for once) happy not to be EU citizens. Our line for passport control was MUCH shorter than theirs. A Mexican teenager tried to sneak around me in line, but I elbowed him out of our way and then noticed he was traveling with his family of at least eight. I must be picking up some instincts from the Austrian U-bahn riders.
We were enthusiastically greeted by Curt's German host father and brother who grabbed our bags and took us on a splendid drive through the countryside. While Till kindly spoke to me in English, I was also evesdropping on the German conversations in the front seat. When I already know the story, I try to pick up vocabulary. Lucky for me, Curt was filling Eberhard in on his academic life for much of the drive.
We got even bigger hugs when we arrived in Ottenheim. I felt like family immediately and it seemed as though Curt had never left.
Der Chef, Johanna und CurtWe had a wonderful long Easter weekend and were spoiled by Johanna and her family. Everyone was very patient with my lack of German. Eberhard and I spoke broken French (I even managed a joke that got him to laugh so I count it as a big linguistic success). Johanna managed a fair amount of English. Curt and Till translated the rest. Occasionally, the translations just confirmed what I had figured out.
Till and Curt took me on a stroll through town so I could see where they'd dodged trouble in high school.
Curt und TillTill took us across the Rhine to France's version of Super Target to buy vinegar and beer that he can't get in Munich.
We went to Freiburg and toured the beautiful "Munster" or cathedral. We also discovered that it is sister cities with Madison, WI.
Johanna made a Black Forest Cake that was to die for. She added flags from Sybille to make it extra special. See? SPOILED.
You can't start off Easter dinner without Champagne!
And lest you think we missed out on our Easter traditions, we did get chocolate bunnies and beautifully colored eggs.
On Monday morning, after another multiple course breakfast (where are the sweatpants?), Till and Eberhard drove us to the train station. It was hard enough to leave but with Johanna waving goodbye from the sidewalk until we were out of sight, it made us truly reflect on how lucky we were to be adopted by such a family.Next stop: Besigheim
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