Sue and I cannot say enough great things about our two Johannas and their families in Esslingen and Neuenberg am Rhein. German friends/family: you are always welcome to stay with us here in Minnesota and maybe we’ll see you soon in Italy or Hamburg. We will continue to post photos from our trip but here are a few random photos to tide you over.
We got home at 530pm with a fair amount of jetlag. I watched Django Unchained on the airplane and do not recommend it unless you like revenge movies with lots of blood. The photo is Father Rudi and me in Freiburg’s Old Town. My mother asked how Rudi had so much time to show us around. He is just a very committed tour guide, a tourmeister who loves his Germany, his France, and his Switzerland.
Last night all of the Grunaus gathered together to send us off with another awesome German meal replete with pork, pommes frites (French Fries), Spaetzle, mineral water with gas, and pilsner beer. We enjoyed the bountiful Gemutlickeit indoors as an afternoon shower had just rolled through town.
This morning we hopped on the A 5 autobahn before quickly darting east into France for the 30 minute drive to Basel’s Euro-Airport. We checked out the German language Basel newspaper which reported that the new royal baby does not have red hair like “Onkel Harry” and looks more like Kate “thank God!” Very funny. Elisabeth met us at the airport to see us off before driving to work. Thanks Elisabeth for the personal send off!
OK, so I bought some green jeans at a German department store. I wanted to get ahead of the colorful pants trend like Sue did when she bought red jeans in Paris in 2011. Get ready men, here come the colorful pants.The hat is Sue’s! I think this was the longest time we’ve ever had a rental car. You can’t go wrong with a small Peugot diesel.
Back in Stuttgart the weather was hot and perfect. After this hike up to the Mausoleum for Christina, the wife of a Duke. She was good and died young while he was not so good and lived a long time. He built this Chapel/Mausoleum as a public relations move. For the entire trip I was scoping out possible places to get a good haircut. I finally took the opportunity for a shearing at Christoph’s barber in Neuenburg (photos to follow).
This was the castle ruins hike near Esslingen where we 1) earned our top-of-the-hill-beer and 2) where we all survived the grueling hiking! Wolfram served in the German army in the 1980 so he had plenty of wilderness survival tips for us. He was in Berlin shortly before the wall came down in 1989. Rudi also served in the army in the 1970s as a tank driver on the border between west and east Germany! He said up until recently, military service was mandatory.
On our first day in Esslingen Baerbl showed Sue and I around town before meeting up after school with Jojo at the market square.
After our walking tour of Stuttgart, we had a lunch at a restaurant overlooking the vineyards. Jojo had the pickled salmon salad while the rest of us had the Swabian specialty, Maltauschen which seem like big, tightly rolled beef ravioli. Later we read in the travel book that Maltauschen sometimes also contains other parts of the animal—possibly the part the animal thinks with. Tasted like beef to me. More fun photos to follow!
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