Another Weekend with my Relatives

Sorry its been a while since my last blog. My weekdays mostly consist of my Intensive German Language Class from 8:45 am-noon, lunch with friends, hang out at my apartment while my friends have class (they are all in the higher levels!), and meet up with them later for parties or hanging out. In other words, not too much to blog about ;) This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting another set of relatives that I have in Germany. All of the relatives that I have here are cousins, mostly 3rd or 4th or something distant like that, but nevertheless, they are family! I took a train (my first one by myself, eek!) down to Karlsruhe on Friday, which is about two hours south of Cologne, very close to the French border. I met my aunt, Pat, at the train station. She had been with the relatives since she took the train down there on Monday. Unfortunately, the family we were staying with had a funeral to attend on Friday afternoon. Pat and I were able to tour around Karlsruhe. After we stored my bags in a locker, we headed off to the main palace and Marktplatz. The palace was absolutely beautiful; I don't think anyone currently lives in it because the part we were in was turned into a museum.

The museum had so many pieces of art and history it was absolutely mind blowing! We were also able to climb to the top of the main tower, which made for quite a pretty view of all of Karlsruhe. After we finished there, we got some Kucken (cake) at a small cafe. By the time we were done, it was almost 6:00 and we needed to catch a train at 7:20 or so. We window shopped for a little while and headed back to the train station. We took a regional train that brought us to the small town, Mugensturm, where our host family, the Langendorfers, live. It was such a treat to stay at their house. On the first level, the whole back wall facing the backyard is 3 giant window doors. Over the weekend, we discussed a lot about Germany sustainability and energy solutions for houses and Germany in general. After they arrived home from the funeral, I finally meet Matthias and Simone, and their two girls Lisa (13) and Leah (10). Matthias and Simone speak very good English; Leah has had no schooling for English yet so she understands very little, but Lisa has had a few years and is doing well! It was very nice to have their parents as translators every now and then. The next morning we woke up and drove to Die Schwarzwald, otherwise known as The Black Forest. We had to drive about an hour to get there. Our first stop was at a Cuckoo Clock Museum and at the World's Largest Cuckoo Clock! To get there, we drove on the Autobahn. Our top speed was 180 km/hour which is about 106 mph. They are quite used to it but I was a little nervous, especially since the lanes were quite narrow (we sometimes were within a few inches of another car!). 

The World's Largest Cuckoo Clock

I really enjoyed being able to drive in cars while I am with my relatives. It gives me the opportunity to see parts of Germany that I wouldn't be able to see by train or bus :)
We then spent the rest of the afternoon driving through the mountains and forest. The views were pretty cool, very similar to Colorado or the forests of Yellowstone.

 We then stopped at a restaurant on a lake for some kuchen. I had Cheesecake with blackberries on it and it was so tasty! We then made our way back to their house. Simone made a wonderful dinner and we were joined by Matthias' parents and his aunt. Their English was extremely minimal so Matthias and Simone translated everything for us, or we just sat and listened ;) Being around German speakers and listening to German I am hoping will really help my listening skills. I can mostly only pick out words here and there, but I'm hoping soon it will be phrases and sentences. The dinner consisted of Zucchini Soup, Beef with a Horseradish gravy, potatoes, beets, and cranberry sauce. For dessert, we had a chocolate pudding with whipped cream, and a frozen popsicle type of thing that was fruity. There are many foods here that don't have good translations to English! The next morning, we got an early start (which for Germans was about 10:30 or 11) and headed through Karlsruhe and west. We toured a castle from the 1100's. It wasn't much to see from the outside, but inside was very cool and pretty well kept.

After the tour, we went to a small village on the way back to Karlsruhe for lunch. I had a salad with french fries. I absolutely love French Fries from home; they are about 10 times better here so its very difficult for me to resist! However, the ketchup is sweeter over here and in much small proportions. For any of you who know my family know that we are very big into condiments, especially ketchup, so its a huge change having little to no ketchup with my fries! My salad had an almost caesar-like dressing and was topped with mozzarella sticks. I was just expecting cheese and got the deep-fried kind like in America! We then took me to the train station and waited with me until my train came. Matthias and Simone were the most wonderful hosts and I can't wait to go back when my parents and Emilie come to visit. When it comes to hospitality and making their guests feel welcome, Germans by far take first place! I tried to help out as much as I could, but was usually told to go sit down and relax. Here ends this post and now starts another new school week. A few friends and I booked a "blind booking" excursion through GermanWings airlines and will be traveling to Nice, France next weekend. I'm very excited to get out of the normally cloudy, never sunny, and somewhat dismal weather in Cologne. Tschuss for now!