This morning
Roni was up early and Frau Uhde dug out a book in English for her to read – so
lovely! A relatively slow start before we met at the breakfast table. Once
seated all four of us (Simon, Maren, Bray & Roni) were a bit overwhelmed
with the variety and sheer magnitude of food set before us. We all gave it a
good go before helping clean up. Then into two cars and off for a tour of the
local region – each car held one grandparent (for commentary & info on the
area), one Simon/Maren (for English translation) and one Roni/Bray (to listen
and learn).
The day had dawned
clear and sunny so the views were fantastic! First to a lookout – vineyards
everywhere – then to see the magnificent garden at their old house, wander
through some vineyards to a Roman ruin (discovered 20yrs ago) and back through
town past the old house itself to where we parked.
It was after
1.30pm when we hit the road again, off into the sunlight on our way to the Schwabisch
alps – the area Maren grew up in and where her elder sister, aunt, nephew and
cousins still live. Climbing higher into the mountains we were swallowed by
mist and it was pretty nippy when we arrived at Sonya’s (Maren’s sister) place.
A warm welcome, cuppa and fun with Noah (1yo) and Mika (kitten) awaited us.
After a cuppa we lounged about on the couch before dropping our gear down the
road (Bray & Roni staying with Aunt Andrea) and hitting the supermarket.
Back to
Sonya’s where her husband/partner Tarsten
was back from work so we met him too as we prepared tortilla (the Spanish
version), salad and chicken for general consumption. Yum! After dinner Sonya
& Tarsten introduced us to the game Wizard
– it is very cool and definitely one that the CHCH games night crew would
enjoy! A game takes a fair while but by the end rookie Bray took it out with
his clever strategy and intuitive play. We wandered off home for a good sleep
early in the morning...
