This morning when we woke up, it was snowing! This is the view outside our cute hotel room:
Our bed had a giant white cloud of down comforters. In Germany, you get your own twin-sized down comforter even if it's a double bed. (More often than not, the double bed is really two twin mattresses in a double frame. They really, really, really don't like to sleep together, I think -- they just do it because it's expected. :-)) German linens are really cool -- the night before when we stayed with Dennis' aunt, we slept under fluffy pink blankets that have buttons all the way around the perimiter. Sheets are buttoned onto these blankets covering one side, and overlapping the edge that is near your head. I love these -- so much easier to deal with than a giant duvet that encases the comforter. I guess these kinds of linens are old-fashioned, but I'd like to find some for us to use for ourselves. Or maybe I can talk one of my handy family members into a project. (Hi Mom!)
Anyway, Dennis was all wrapped up in the crisp white comforters, and I decided that he was an eskimo in his igloo on this snowy morning. He was so cute, I took a picture:
On Friday morning, we took the train to Stuttgart to visit Dennis' family. It was a direct train, and it took about 6 hours. We had a lovely lunch on board with wine and brandy and dessert. What a nice way to travel, with no customs or security lines. Nobody went through our suitcases, no metal detectors. And every seat has a great view. Here's what the engine looks like:
The night before, we stayed at the house of Manfred and Gerda Schübel. Gerda is the sister of Dennis' father, and she takes care of Dennis' paternal grandmother, Omi Fanny, who lives in the apartment next door. Omi is 92 years old, and I'm glad we got the chance to visit her. Manfred doesn't speak any English at all, but Gerda speaks some. They're incredibly generous and kind, and with Dennis as translator, we managed to chat some. Gerda cooked a delicous dinner of baby turkey and a potato dish with vinegar and cucumbers. We slept for 11 hours that night -- it's been a stressful week.
On Christmas morning, D's cousin Frank and his wife Mithra came, along with their children, Ramin and Maryam. It was fun to have kids around for Christmas. Dinner was beef filet in a mushroom cream sauce over either spaetzle (german noodles) or knurdles (dumplings). Stuttgart is in the south of Germany, and they speak a dialect that they call Schwebish. The knurdles that Gerda made were a bavarian specialty -- they were made from day-old soft-pretzels bound together and rolled into a log, then sliced. (Bavaria is also in southern Germany.) Here's Mithra and Maryam and Ramin:
You can learn a bit about the german starchy foods here: http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/pastafacts.cfm
For dessert there were multiple home-made treats. It was such a nice time, and I felt very much at home. The German was getting all mixed up with my French, and I was a bit afraid of losing the French I have gained thus far. Oh, here's a picture of the neato whirlygig thing that Frank got going after a few false starts. He point a coin under the metal rod, to make a better bearing. Smart! That's Frank on the right:
That night we went for a ride to downtown Stuttgart in Frank's new car, a 500 series BMW (the factory is in Munich) with all kinds of fancy navigation and electronics. it was nice to sit with him and Mithra and chat -- they both speak great English, so it was particularly enjoyable for me, after a mostly silent weekend. Frank works for Deustche Bahn, the train company, and has an apartment in Berlin (where his office is) that he stays in during the week. We hope to visit Berlin, and we also look forward to having a visit from Frank and his family here in Paris.
Here's the view from Frank's car this morning on the way to the train station:
Thanks for the ride, and for the great weekend! It was fun to spend Christmas with my new family, despite the fact that I miss the folks in Baltimore. I spent plenty of time on the phone with everyone -- but of course it's not quite the same. Love and Christmas joy to everyone. We're back to work tomorrow for the week.
--Aimee
p.s. Here's my cute husband in the train station in Stuttgart:
Our bed had a giant white cloud of down comforters. In Germany, you get your own twin-sized down comforter even if it's a double bed. (More often than not, the double bed is really two twin mattresses in a double frame. They really, really, really don't like to sleep together, I think -- they just do it because it's expected. :-)) German linens are really cool -- the night before when we stayed with Dennis' aunt, we slept under fluffy pink blankets that have buttons all the way around the perimiter. Sheets are buttoned onto these blankets covering one side, and overlapping the edge that is near your head. I love these -- so much easier to deal with than a giant duvet that encases the comforter. I guess these kinds of linens are old-fashioned, but I'd like to find some for us to use for ourselves. Or maybe I can talk one of my handy family members into a project. (Hi Mom!)
Anyway, Dennis was all wrapped up in the crisp white comforters, and I decided that he was an eskimo in his igloo on this snowy morning. He was so cute, I took a picture:
On Friday morning, we took the train to Stuttgart to visit Dennis' family. It was a direct train, and it took about 6 hours. We had a lovely lunch on board with wine and brandy and dessert. What a nice way to travel, with no customs or security lines. Nobody went through our suitcases, no metal detectors. And every seat has a great view. Here's what the engine looks like:
The night before, we stayed at the house of Manfred and Gerda Schübel. Gerda is the sister of Dennis' father, and she takes care of Dennis' paternal grandmother, Omi Fanny, who lives in the apartment next door. Omi is 92 years old, and I'm glad we got the chance to visit her. Manfred doesn't speak any English at all, but Gerda speaks some. They're incredibly generous and kind, and with Dennis as translator, we managed to chat some. Gerda cooked a delicous dinner of baby turkey and a potato dish with vinegar and cucumbers. We slept for 11 hours that night -- it's been a stressful week.
On Christmas morning, D's cousin Frank and his wife Mithra came, along with their children, Ramin and Maryam. It was fun to have kids around for Christmas. Dinner was beef filet in a mushroom cream sauce over either spaetzle (german noodles) or knurdles (dumplings). Stuttgart is in the south of Germany, and they speak a dialect that they call Schwebish. The knurdles that Gerda made were a bavarian specialty -- they were made from day-old soft-pretzels bound together and rolled into a log, then sliced. (Bavaria is also in southern Germany.) Here's Mithra and Maryam and Ramin:
You can learn a bit about the german starchy foods here: http://www.germanfoods.org/consumer/pastafacts.cfm
For dessert there were multiple home-made treats. It was such a nice time, and I felt very much at home. The German was getting all mixed up with my French, and I was a bit afraid of losing the French I have gained thus far. Oh, here's a picture of the neato whirlygig thing that Frank got going after a few false starts. He point a coin under the metal rod, to make a better bearing. Smart! That's Frank on the right:
That night we went for a ride to downtown Stuttgart in Frank's new car, a 500 series BMW (the factory is in Munich) with all kinds of fancy navigation and electronics. it was nice to sit with him and Mithra and chat -- they both speak great English, so it was particularly enjoyable for me, after a mostly silent weekend. Frank works for Deustche Bahn, the train company, and has an apartment in Berlin (where his office is) that he stays in during the week. We hope to visit Berlin, and we also look forward to having a visit from Frank and his family here in Paris.
Here's the view from Frank's car this morning on the way to the train station:
Thanks for the ride, and for the great weekend! It was fun to spend Christmas with my new family, despite the fact that I miss the folks in Baltimore. I spent plenty of time on the phone with everyone -- but of course it's not quite the same. Love and Christmas joy to everyone. We're back to work tomorrow for the week.
--Aimee
p.s. Here's my cute husband in the train station in Stuttgart:
See our photos on Flickr!
About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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