international travelling, part II

We left Stuttgart on Wednesday morning, and drove to Berlin. We arrived that evening, and Kent heroically carried all our luggage up 6 flights of stairs (no elevator) to Tina and Ben's flat. We were so glad to be there!


I'll deviate for just a moment for a little historical information:
For those of you who don't know Tina (I'm sure most of you have at least heard of her), she and I met in Wichita when we were 16 years old. She started taking ballet at Metropolitan Ballet of Wichita, where I was also dancing. (Just think, Tina, if your host-family wouldn't have chosen that studio? We never would have met!!) I had by then 1 year of high-school German, and my interest was piqued. I was determined then to visit Tina after finishing high-school. I went over in 1994 and stayed with her and her parents for a few months. I will always be thankful to her parents for allowing this 19-year-0ld girl with no direction live with them for so long! Anyhow, Tina was my maid-of-honor, and we've managed somehow to meet up every 1-2 years since we were 16!




The impotus for our trip to Germany this year was the christening of Tina and Ben's son, Nikolas, who was born 10 days after Emerson. Tina had asked me to be his honorary godmother. (Honorary, because a. I'm not Catholic and she is, and b. they wouldn't ask me to take custody, living overseas.) Tina's sister Sarah is the actual godmother, and I'm more than glad to fill in the honorary position as the American Ambasadress! :)

We did not have quite the jam-packed schedule that we had in Stuttgart, as in Berlin we had only Tina, Ben, and Nik to visit. We saw a few sights, but since we'd both visited Berlin before, we didn't feel like we had to see everything. Mostly, we walked, visited the local cafes, Biergartens, and playgrounds. It was the best time for Sofia!



The christening was on Sunday, and Tina and Ben threw a wonderful party afterwards for their closest family and friends. It was a great time! And, we didn't feel like strangers, as some of the guests we had met at their wedding when Sofia was 1 year old, and others we had met even before that! It was fun to see familiar faces, and a warm feeling to be included in this special group of people. Of course it was also wonderful to see Helga and Harald, Tina's parents, who I often have referred to as my "German family".

Kent left on Monday, May 18th, to return to Denver, and to work. We were sad to see him go, but very grateful for the opportunity to stay just a little longer.

Tina and Nik, Sofia and Emerson and I, all left for the North See on Tuesday. I'll post that in the next installment!

international travelling

Here we are, the international travllers! We made it to Germany and back with out (too many) hiccups! The flight over went really well. We left Denver around 6pm, so the flight was actually through the night. Sofia fell asleep soon after dinner, and Emerson did fall asleep as well, but his sleep was a bit fitful. We sat behind the bulkhead, so we were able to use a basinett for Emerson, luckily, so I could put him down from time-to-time. I did not sleep, mainly because Emerson's sleep was so fitful! But, I did close my eyes a bit. Kent sat directly behind me, Sofia and Emerson, so got some sleep, when I wasn't needing his help!

We arrived in Frankfurt on Friday, May 8th. It took way too long to rent the car (a nice black Audi station wagon (or "combi") with good acceleration, and get the car seats rented and installed. Finally we were on our way to Stuttgart to stay with Meike, a friend of mine from the Universität Stuttgart, and her husband Isidro. They actually live in Sachsenheim, just outside Stuttgart. Not 10 minutes away from the airport, I get "blitzed"!! That means a camera set up to catch speeders catches me... speeding! Now, you'd think - Autobahn + Germany = no speed limits! Well, not quite. There are areas where there are some strictly enforced speed limits. Unfortunatly, the camera was set up before I'd adjusted to looking at the German speed limit signs! (By the way, speed limit in German is "Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung". Nice long word.) We have yet to find out if the rental company got the ticket and if we have to pay for it!

It was a relief to finally arrive at Meike and Isidro's house! Meike was at a training in Düsseldorf, so her mom met us and let us in. She was really sweet, and fell in love with Sofia immediately! Later that evening she walked with us to a playground, then into the village to show us the Gasthaus (local restaurant with typical regional fare) for dinner. Isidro arrived just as we were leaving, to drive us back home - luckily, as it had started to downpour!

Edited to add... Meike and Isidro were wonderful hosts, and adapted marvelously to our chaotic lives with two small children! Meike had found some of her childhood toys, and Isidro got busy setting up a toy train in their kitchen! It was the hit! :) We are very grateful to them for everything they did for us! (We miss you guys, and hope you're having a wonderful trip in your Mustang along the West Coast right now!)...

Saturday we visited the market in Feuerbach, the village outside Stuttgart where Kent and I lived. It was nice to see the same Blumenhändler (flower seller) was still there! From there we took the U-Bahn (underground) into the city, where we met three of Kent´s former co-workers and Denis, a friend we made here in Denver. We had a nice afternoon in the sunshine!















Sunday was "reunion day", where we met a group of friends from the university. It was quite an international group! There was Meike and Isidro of course (Germany & Spain), Ernest & Maria (Croatia), Jean-Marie (France), Jonathan and Austin and us of course (USA), and Victor and his wife and daughter (Sweden & Germany). Here's a picture of us all except for Victor and his family.
















Monday was rainy, so we were off to a slow start. We visited the Märchengarten (fairy tale gardens) in Ludwigsburg, then headed on to Sindelfingen to visit our friend Sarah Kupke, who I worked with at kmp. where I taught English. Sarah is now head of a bilingual school, and her husband Joachim is an artist. They live in a beautiful 15th century house in old-town Sindelfingen. It was wonderful to catch up with them!
















Tuesday Meike took a holiday to spend the day with us. We drove through the Schwarzwald (Black Forrest) to Freiburg for the day. Freiburg is a very "green" city, and the university really is geared toward environmentally friendly developments. I think the highlight of the day was a park we found for Sofia to play in! Oh, and I can't forget the "cocolatte" - a coconut latte at a cafe that Kent found. Delicious and refreshing! :)



















Wednesday we were off for Berlin! Our trip took us over Nuremburg (famous for the trails after WWII), near Dresden (famous for the bombing) and Leipzig (famous for Bach).