Germany Part 1

Last week I had the enormous pleasure of traveling to Germany for the first time. It was also my last trip before moving back to the USA, which is very very soon. Germany has always been a place I needed to visit. My great grandparents emigrated from Germany in 1929, and the descendants of these two get together every year in upstate NY for a family reunion. Going back to Germany, and back to the relatives that remained there, is something that we all have always wanted to do. Various ones have, of course, over the years. But now it was my turn.

Luckily for me, I wouldn't be going at this adventure alone. During my stay in England I became very good friends with two German students: Lennart and Beate, who had invited me to visit them in Germany over the summer. After several weeks of planning between the three of us, it was finally time to leave. My plane was at 7am, which meant my sorry butt had to get up at 4am. That was slightly nightmarish- I am a woman very fond of her sleep- but it was necessary. I flew into Stuttgart and landed at 10am, where I quickly met up with my friends and we were soon on our way!

Our first stop was a castle named Hohenzollern, and it used to be the royal seat of the kingdom of Prussia. It was GORGEOUS. Right out of a fairy tale!

There was a (brief) discussion on whether we would hike up the mountain or drive up to the castle, but my exhaustion at having gotten up so early made the decision for us. We drove most of the way up and walked the last 400m or so up to the castle, which was still very steep.

You could literally see for hundreds of miles around. It was overall a very flat area, and I could see how this was a prime location for a castle. We talked a lot about how we would siege the castle if we were so inclined to do so with medieval weapons, but decided it was impossible. Well the joke was on us because apparently castles built on this hill had been sacked twice in history. Obviously not this one though, which stood tall and gorgeous still.

It had two chapels built into it which was strange. One Protestant (pictured) and one Catholic. Beate explained to me why it was like that, but I can't remember what she said! Oops

You can only enter the castle through a guided tour, and were very pleased to discover that there was a tour in English that would start 40 minutes after we arrived! Lennart and Beate were very happy they wouldn't have to translate the entire tour for me. (No photography inside the castle)

We walked around the castle for a while, examining everything we could from the outside. We found lounge chairs in the castle gardens, and laid down on them for a while. It was very difficult to get up. They were just so comfortable! (And I was so tired!) In the tour itself we got to see a bit of the castle, which was very gorgeous. Interestingly, they made us put on these massive slipper things over our shoes, that we slid around on. It was to protect the floor, but I have never seen anything like it before. It was a lot of fun, but very odd. During the tour we got to see the crown jewels of Prussia, which was pretty cool. The only crown jewels I have ever seen!

After the tour we headed into the gift shop, where Lennart and Beate abandoned me to go to the bathroom and never came back! (they were waiting outside). I think they forgot I couldn't speak German, so I had to bumble my way through purchasing a few souvenirs without speaking and only using hand gestures. It was pretty funny when I came out afterwards to my friends and I saw the looks on their faces when they realized they hadn't helped me with the purchase. They really are the sweetest and most wonderful people, and I never would have made it through this trip without them!

After we left the castle we headed to my relatives' house near Lake Constance. It was a long drive and I started to fall asleep in the back seat. However I woke up to a horrible horrible feeling in my stomach. You see, I have suffered motion sickness ever since I was a kid. It is not as bad as it was when I was little, but still as an adult I can get pretty sick sometimes, and these just happened to be the most ridiculously winding roads I have ever seen. The rest of the drive was me sitting silently in the back trying not to hurl my brains out. It was unfortunately something that happened a lot on this trip.

We did finally make it to my relative's house, and as we pulled into the driveway I suddenly got very nervous. What exactly do you say to a long lost relative you are meeting for the first time? I didn't need to be nervous though. After we rang the doorbell Hanneli, my grandmother's cousin, opened the door and ran out to hug me. She said she recognized me immediately because I had the family eyes, a sentiment her husband also expressed a few minutes later when I met him. I also met her daughter Barbara. They were so welcoming and happy to see me, it felt amazing. They were very welcoming to Beate and Lennart, and we all sat down to have afternoon coffee together.

I learned in Germany that in the same way the English have a meal called afternoon tea, the Germans have a meal called coffee. Same concept, except with coffee. Beate got on very well with the family, as she was a southern German girl herself, and she spoke the same dialect as them. When they would be talking in German and I had no idea what was going on, I would sometimes catch Lennart with the same confused look on his face, as he did not speak the dialect of southern Germany. After coffee and we settled into our rooms, Hanneli and her husband Wilhelm took us on a driving tour of the area. We saw gorgeous fields filled with orchards and small villages every couple miles. It was a flat area, except for massive hills that shot up every once and a while. And I kid you not, on every single one was the ruins of a castle. I could not imagine what living there was like when they were all occupied and lived in. The fighting must have been constant! We eventually made our way to Lake Constance, a massive lake on the border of Germany and Switzerland. We drove on this tiny road back to a secret beach.

We had brought our bathing suits and changed into them to go swimming. Beate and Lennart ran right in, but I was a bit hesitant. I dislike the cold, and it was not a warm day. The water was very cold itself. I walked in about to my waist and watched Lennart and Beate splashing around. It was all well and dandy until I felt something ram into my big toe, and then a shot of pain. That was my NOPE moment and I quickly made my way to shore. I sat down on a log with Hanneli and two girls who were camping on the shore. While we were talking I glanced down at my toe and saw it was gushing blood. Something had bit me. Wonderful. The two girls and Hanneli helped me get it cleaned up, sterilized, and put a band aide on it (or plasters as they are called in Europe). Pretty soon Lennart and Beate came in, we all got dressed and headed off. As we left the sun was setting....

On the way back Hanneli and Wilhelm wanted to stop at a store that sold all local produce to get some fruit. This store was amazing. You could smell the fruits and roses and everything was so gorgeous. On top of it the store was flooded with golden light from the sun set. I am completely serious when I say my favorite photos from the entire trip, I took in this store.

I was running all around the store taking photos like a mad woman. The three of us could not get over how gorgeous it was.

One half of the store was completely covered in roses of all different colors. It was so gorgeous I wanted to cry. All I could think of was how much my mother would be obsessed with this place.

The sunset was absolutely perfect. I couldn't have asked for a more gorgeous scene.

These are just a few of the photos. For the rest, you can head on over to my Flickr page. Sadly, we had to leave, but not before the store owner let us sample the most delicious plums I have ever had in my life. It was a magical experience.

That night we had a delicious dinner. It was a local dish that she made for all the relatives that came through. I enjoyed it a lot! I must say I really loved German food, so much more than I expected! I did not make it long, however, and went to bed early. I fell asleep almost instantly.

The next day we split up. Lennart and Beate went off hiking, while Hanneli and Wilhelm took me to the village where my family came from. It was a fairly long drive, and on the way they picked me up some medicine so I wouldn't get motion sick. Now, I didn't know it at the time, but one of the side affects was drowsiness. Any time we spent a long time in the car I would pass out! I didn't know what was going on at the time, so it was a bid odd, but at least I wasn't sick! On part of the trip we drove through Switzerland! Which was very exciting. And yes, I was awake for that part! We got to the village, and it looked much the same as any other village. But it was different because this one was mine...sort of. And thankfully Hanneli was there to show me exactly which buildings were important.

This house was the house that belong to my family. My great grandfather was born there. It is where they all lived. If they hadn't immigrated to the US, it is where my grandmother would have been born.

It is so strange standing on the road and seeing what your ancestors saw. This was their home, the street they knew and walked every day, and I was looking at it from a stranger's eyes.

An artist lives there now, and it is decorated with Scandinavian designs. It is quite beautiful, and reportedly he keeps the house in good repair, so that is good.

The above photo is the church where many of the family are buried. I walked among the graves and listened to Hanneli talking about them, most of whom she knew.

We also saw the house where my great grandmother was born. It looked like a house combined with a stable, and it was filled with horses. We didn't linger though, because the current owners were staring at us, and they didn't look friendly. We drove back a different way than we came, taking the route through The Black Forest....and I fell asleep again. We stopped for coffee at a cafe where I had 100% authentic Black Forest Cake. It was a good, but a bit too much schnapps for my liking. After that we headed back and met up with Beate and Lennart. The three of us decided to go out for dinner, and to explore a little bit before we ate.

This picture was actually pretty funny. We were driving past this church and saw how beautiful it was, and a snapped a picture as we drove, but then when looked behind us it was even more gorgeous, so Beate immediately pulled over the car so I could snap a photo!

The village we visited first that knight was called Meersburg. It was small, but very beautiful.

It was right on the coast of the lake. It was on a hill that sloped right down to the water's edge.

There was a lovely rustic castle, but I don't know anything about it. It was closed by the time we got there, but he walked up to the door to have a look....okay I just looked it up and am very disappointed that we couldn't go inside. It is apparently the oldest occupied fortress in Germany.

Next to it was a gorgeous old mill.

After roaming around the village (and eating some ice cream), we took the ferry across the lake to the city of Constance. The sun was setting as we made the crossing, and despite the clouds it was rather beautiful!

After we made the crossing we drove down to this lovely area where we could watch along the beach for a while. It was dotted with campsites filled with people. Lennart is apparently an expert at skipping stones, and could skip it 7-9 times each time he tried. I attempted it and my stone skipped twice...

We made our way into the city and had dinner at a pancake restaurant. When I say pancakes, I mean something more like crepes. Beate and I split one that was covered in mushroom sauce and bacon. Then for desert we had one covered in apple sauce and powdered sugar. It was so delicious! We then walked around the city in the dark, which was beautiful and quiet. We even stumbled across the remains of an ancient Roman fort, which led to an impromptu history lesson from Lennart. Afterwords we headed back and had a lovely night's sleep.

The next morning we woke up and got ready to leave. Before we left through, Barbara wanted to show us the fruit fields they owned. They were quite amazing. HUGE black berries and trees with so many plums on it it was almost falling over. We picked a box full of black berries to take on the road with us.

After we left the family, we headed to one of the nearby hills that had a ruined fortress on top. The climb was a lot more than I was expecting, but nice to get some exercise after sitting in cars so much. After being very out of breath (it was a steep path and I am very out of shape) we made it to the top, and to the ruins that were there.

Not as much as we hoped for, but still very cool.We climbed all over them as much as we could. There was the remaining wall of a tower that had a (horrifying) spiral staircase leading to a platform where you could see the entire region. I hate spiral staircases so I had mixed feelings about it...

Afterwords we made our way down and to the car before heading to town and get food for lunch. We had a lovely picnic at a rest stop on the side of the road.

At one point a man in a van came up to us, which had me pretty freaked out, and started talking to us. There was a brief exchange before he handed Beate a big bag filled with different types of sausages! It was very confusing, and Lennart and Beate were completely surprised as well. Apparently he had been given it by a friend in the village, and didn't want it. When he saw us eating he decided to give it to us. Lennart and Beate could not believe how kind and gracious people were being to us on the entire trip, and I was slightly suspicious. We are all alive and well however, so I guess his intentions were pure.

I think that is where I will leave off for now. So much happened in such a short time! I will pick up here soon!