The first thing we did was go to a festival in a little town about a half hour from here. It was a historical fest, meaning that they celebrated historical trades, like blacksmithing, barrel making, spinning wool, horseshoeing, etc. It was really cool because they had people who actually did the trades demonstrating for everyone to see. And, the kids could participate in some of it. Stella is still a little young to do too much, but she definitely enjoyed seeing the animals that were there. She saw a goat being milked, which was the funniest thing, because since she's potty training, she thought the goat was going tee-tee. So when I explained to her that it was milk, she said, "Milk come out the goat's bah-min." Meaning, milk came out its bottom. Gotta love two-year-olds. We also enjoyed some fresh-pressed apple cider, tried some apple wine or beer, I can't remember, (and no, I did not drink too much of it, I honestly can't remember if it was wine, but tasted like beer or what), some yummy and hearty bread, and some delicious pork steak cooked over an open fire. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon. Then, Nick got to run a couple miles to go get the car because the shuttle bus stopped running, even though there were about 25 people waiting for it! Good thing he's in good shape. (Oh, by the way, we sold our VW Golf wagon and bought an '86 (?) VW camper bus with a pop-top. This one doesn't have all the kitchen stuff in it, but that's okay. I'll have Nick do a post on that event, as he took care of it. We haven't taken it camping yet, but plan to in the near future. The thought of climbing down from the top through a 1.5 foot wide opening with a huge 9 mo pregnant belly to go to the bathroom a couple times during the night just isn't too appealing to me. :) )
That evening, we went over to our friend's the Blokers' house to hang out and go to the carnival that was going on in the platz next to their house. Stella rode on the merry-go-round and had a blast, and the Bloker kids, their dad and Nick rode the bumper cars. Then, we all retired to their house to hang out and gain a mild sugar rush from the crepes and candy we purchased. Good times!
On Monday we traveled to Schwaebisch Hall to visit Domi, the foreign exchange student who lived with Nick's folks for a year, at his parents' house. It was fun to take the bus out for a longer drive, and proved to be a smoother ride than our last one was. We only got to spend one day and evening at their home, but thoroughly enjoyed their company, hospitality, and, as always, amazing spreads of food. Stella had a blast the afternoon we arrived, playing in their hammock in the backyard. Domi was sitting in it, then she would ask to get in, then tell him to get out, and then back in, and to swing, or not swing, etc. She's definitely the first child and a girl! She also had fun playing in their little fountain, and managed to get her pants completely wet. What else are fountains for?
When she took her nap, Domi took us for a little tour of Schwaebisch Hall. The cathedral there, St. Michel's, has a theatre festival (freilichtspiele) during the summer, and was going on while we were there. The unique thing about this particular festival, is that the productions are set on the steps (VERY steep steps, mind you) that lead up to the church itself. You can see a few pictures of the church and the steps here. The night we were there, they were showing Romeo und Julia, which Nick and I thought would be really cool to see, even if it was in German since we all know the story so well. So, after a delicious dinner at Domi's house, Nick, Barbara (Domi's mom) and I went to the show. It was so cool! It was set in a more modern time, but still with the traditional language (it was interesting picking out the lines we knew, even in German), and their dexterity on the steps was impressive. I had to hold onto the railing and have Nick's hand holding my other arm to feel comfortable, especially being 8 mos pregnant, so I can't imaging literally running around on them, all the while remembering your lines. The only goof we saw was a candle get knocked over, and no one got burned. It was quite unique!
After our visit with Domi, we continued on our way to Rothenberg o.b. Tauber. We visited last year when Nick's mom was here, and she wanted to take Gordy to see it as well. It was nice being there during warmer weather. We got there in time for dinner, and then took the Nightwatchmen's tour, followed by a stop in the infamous pub, "Hell." The next day was gorgeous, and while Gordy went through the Torture museum, the rest of us went for a walk around town for some window shopping. We spotted a park outside the city wall and stopped so Stella could have some play time. Thankfully parks and playgrounds are plentiful in Germany, and it makes traveling with children SO much easier. Plan a little time in for Stella to run around and she does so well while doing other things like sitting in her stroller through a museum. Well, it was a very nice day and Stella had a lot of fun playing, until she suddenly realized she needed to go potty. No toilet in sight. Well, she knows how to squat (with Mommy or Daddy's help) in the grass, because when we go out in our backyard it's about 5 minutes walking to get back in the house, so we just found a more private spot to squat. No one else was around, so it wasn't a big deal. That is, until she was done and I looked down to find a big turd perched triumphantly atop the grass! I cracked up laughing and Stella pronounced, "Mommy, I go poo-poo in the grass!" No warning or anything. I think Nick was laughing so hard he was almost crying. Stella was quite proud. So we found a plastic bag to take care of it, and tossed it in the garbage. Too funny! The rest of the trip to Rothenberg was quite uneventful.
The last touring we did with the Schultes was a "short" (I'll explain) trip to see Burg Eltz, a castle up on the Mosel River. As we were loading into the van, Nick thought it would be fun to ride the train instead of drive up. I ran in and checked the train schedule to see when the next one was leaving, and it was within the following 30-40 minutes, so we all agreed to try the train. See, they have these special tickets where you can get 5 people on one ticket for 25 euro and ride wherever in the region all day until 3 am. Not a bad deal. Depending on where you're going, you can even go as cheaply as 17 euro. So we get on the train, with travel time there extended about an extra hour to 1.5 hours, but it's a nice day and the scenery on the way is lovely. Plus, Stella was STOKED to go on a train. The only pain with these tickets is that you can only ride the slower trains that stop many times. It wasn't a big deal on the way there, so we decided to go see the castle, and ride the train a couple towns back to eat dinner and then catch a train home. Simple. We arrived at our destination, and had about 45 minutes of a hike up to the castle. It was a beautiful day, and the forest was gorgeous leading up to the castle, and not much of an incline so this preggo lady handled it quite well. The castle itself is very cool, and is actually still occupied by the Eltz family at times. It's been in their family for 840 years, was built in 1472 (though the foundations were from the 1100s), and looks pretty much the same as it did 700 years ago. We took a very nice tour of the castle and had some time for some photos out in the courtyard (the lighting was so nice!). I would recommend a stop here if you're in the area! It's, I would say, just as nice as Neuschwanstein (in Bavaria), just not quite as big and WAY cheaper! Funny thing-Gordy was wearing a Nebraska shirt and there was an American guy who noticed it and said, "Nebraska fan, eh?" I can't remember where he was from, though. Anyway, after spending a couple hours there, it was time for the hike back, at a slightly quicker pace, to catch the train. We then took it to Cochem, and ate a lovely dinner at the same restaurant that Stella got sick outside of the last time we were there. No problems today, thankfully! After a great big, "AHHhhh that was delicious," we went back to the train station and our adventure really started.
It was about...9 pm, I think. The train schedule had no trains listed on it that went all the way through to our home train station, which was slightly troubling. See, the thing is, evening trains don't run as frequently as the daytime ones, and they stop way more often since there are fewer trains. That means a much longer ride home, or at least we hoped we'd be able to get home! The only thing we could guarantee was getting to the next major interchange. When we got there (oh, maybe at like 11 pm, I can't remember now. It's all a bit hazy. I'm sure Nick and Gordy could tell you the precise time we arrived at each stop, since they were obsessively checking the route map to see if we really were stopping at EVERY SINGLE station between major stops. They would then come sit back down and say something lovely like, "Only 32 more stops between here and home. Averaging 3-10 minutes between stops, we should be there sometime next week." Ha. haha.), we found a train leaving in about 20 minutes for the next major interchange. Still no train listed through to our station. Bummer. We arrived in another major station about 45 minutes driving distance from home at about 1 am, I believe. We could get to the next closest major town if we waited about 30 minutes for the next train, but with no guarantee of a train all the way home by 3 am, when our tickets were no longer valid, and then we'd have to buy another ticket. Options at this point: 1-take the risk and go on the next train. 2-get a hotel room and get some SLEEP and take a train the next morning (would have been okay if we had been in a more interesting town; this one was pretty much just a normal city.) 3-fork it for a cab and be home in 45 minutes. We all voted for option 3 and were home by 2 am. Lessons learned: PLAN YOUR RETURN ROUTE before getting on a train! Had we figured out when the last through train left, it would have saved us a lot of hassles. Train travel takes a bit more planning than just hopping in the car. Thankfully, Stella fell asleep at aourn 10:30, so that saved us many headaches of dealing with a cranky, sleepy toddler. Nick's comment, "I'm NEVER doing that again." Well, not that way anyway. I still like trains, not dealing with traffic and parking and being able relax and not think about how to get somewhere, but next time we'll plan it a bit better. :)
The last few days of their visit were relaxed as we just hung out at home. We had some preparations to do around the home, getting baby clothes sorted out, putting together some bookshelves, and Nick and Gordy spent time tinkering around with the electrical stuff in the van (stereo wiring and such--a big jumble of cables. Still not functioning properly...). Then, Stella and I took Grandma and Papa back to the airport, where she said she wanted to go on the airplane, too. Tore my heart out when I had to tell her that she couldn't, and that they were leaving and she couldn't go with them, and she pouted her little bottom lip out and tears welled up, and buried her head in my shoulder and wouldn't wave good-bye. Which, of course made Grandma cry, and Mommy got a little choked up. It's much harder when kids are old enough to understand things like that! All in all it was a very nice visit, and we enoyed it thoroughly!
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