recap....

Disclaimer: This is a post that recaps a lot of what I’ve been doing while in Münster with my dad’s friend Kai and his family, and in Volkse with my dad’s family, i.e. Tante Rosie. It is quite long, but if you do decide to read it all don’t complain that I didn’t warn you J

Recap: Münster, Germany

Dad, sorry I wasn’t able to post this on Friday when we left Münster, but I didn’t have access to the internet to post a blog about all of my adventures. But, here it is!

Münster was fantastic! It is a relatively small city, in both population and kilometers, but it is such a great place. Elke and I stayed at a hotel within walking distance from the Haupbahnhof in one direction and the center of town in the other. Good sized room, apparently a large bathroom for Germany (so Elke told me). Münster is a university town with 50,000+ students there a year. It is also a very mobile city with a 2-1 ratio bikes to people. It was really easy to get around via foot, bike or car – there was equal space for people to walk (in the Fussgangerzone), ride bikes (via bike trails on every sidewalk and through all of the public places – to the Alstadt.

Kai and Marion were such good hosts for Elke and me! (Kai was my dad’s teammate from ’84 when he was in Germany playing professional ball in Gottingen) On Wednesday evening Elke and I went over to their house and met the family and talked. I spent Thursday with Kai and Marion around Münster to lots of the shops and old buildings in the city. On Friday I went for a run around the Promenade, and got lost, went to breakfast with Kai and Marion and then hopped on a train to Braunschweig where Rosie and the relatives live.

I am amazed at the friendliness of everyone and the generosity that I have been welcomed to here in Germany. Like Anja and Wolfgang, I have not seen Kai and Marion since I was a child and they are practically strangers to me. Needless to say I was a bit nervous about my time in Münster, but it turned out to be great! I felt very at home in Münster with the Limburgs. Both Kai and Marion speak English, which made it all so much easier for me. Kai showed Elke and I some watches in transit from the jewelry store he manages (where Rolexes are the cheapest watches they sell) and was able to take me on a bike tour of Münster on Thursday afternoon all around the city. We biked through the suburbs, down by the Aasee, through the center of town, down to the canal, past the castle, through some gardens and back (it took 2 hours!). Everyone in Münster is very active, and I think that that was one of the things that I liked about it the most.

So, that is Münster in a nutshell. Mom was right, that I’d love it, and I would definitely want to go back soon! Now, if only they all spoke English/I wasn’t intimidated to speak German…

Moving on to my next leg: Family in the countryside.

So far on this trip I have visited one of the only cities not destroyed in the war, Celle; an eco-friendly, active, modern and young town rated as one of the best places to live in the world, Münster; and now, the countryside in a village with only 200 inhabitants in it, at a little farm house in Volkse with my Tante Rosie, my dad’s (and Elke’s) aunt (Opa’s sister). Rosie doesn’t speak English, nor do most of the relatives that I have met while here in Volkse.

Elke and I took the train from Münster to Braunschweig on Friday and arrived in Volkse late Friday afternoon, just in time for “Kuchen und Kaffee”. The other Elke Kolodinski (my Elke and dad’s cousin) picked us up from the train station and drove us to Rosie’s. We passed through several towns on the way, one of which was Wolfenbuttel, where Connor is playing basketball right now (I think…), as well as one of the VW plants.

It has been a very eventful weekend for both Elke and I, but more so for Elke. Tante Rosie doesn’t speak English, not do most of the relatives. So, I’ve have a relatively mute few days with not really being able to communicate with anyone without the assistance of Elke or just talking to a few people, which has been very frustrating for me. As for Elke, she’s been getting plenty of practice with her German, which is so good! She has been complimented by nearly everyone for how well she speaks German, and in her modest way says thank you but disagrees. I on the other hand, can’t speak it to save my life and get by with the “spanglish” version of German and English only when necessary.

On Saturday there was a little family reunion of sorts with over 20 people. It was nice to meet several of my dad and Elke’s cousins and aunts and uncles. Dorothea and her father-in-law came down from Hamburg (the one with the book for my dad), Elke and her two sisters, their families and mother were there, Herta’s daughters and families and a few others. I kept wanting to make a family tree to make sure that I had it all straight. But, with all of the time that I had to sit there and think about it, I think I figured it all out J I know that it made Elke really happy to be able to see people that she hadn’t seen for at leave 15 years, and I know people were happy to see us as well. I kept getting requests to come back with my family (Andrew, Jon and Tovah and parents) next summer! I wish that were the case (maybe to purchase a BMW or VW, perhaps …ha).

That night Sabine, Elke and Berbel took Elke and I out to Braunschweig for a night on the town. We went to 2 different restraint/bars and had a really great time! We went to the tallest building in the city (with 17 stories) and had a great view of what was around the city and of the sky (full moon, stars to see and a few clouds, sehr schn!)

Sunday morning Elke and I slept in a bit, ate a late and small breakfast and went for a good walk with Rosie around the countryside through some farmland. Rosie made a big Mittagessen – roast duck, rotkraut, boiled potatoes and baked plums and apricots (like stuffing). It was so good! Rosie is suh a good cook! She has made so much food these past 3 days, and I’ve eaten so much! I didn’t think that the day would come when I would reject the idea of cake, but sure enough it has come. My body can’t handle this much sugar, or coffee! But, I’m only in Germany once and it is all al good, so my body will just have to survive.

After lunch we went to the Flohmarkt (Flea market) in Gifhorn. It was pretty much a 2 mile long garage sale. Elke was looking for this one song “Eine Mu, eine Meh” (sp?) on an LP or CD or something but was unsuccessful. We went with Rosie, Elke’s cousin Rhea, her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Josephine (this little girl can scream like no other! It’s so high and ear-piercingly loud). Got back around 4:30 and of course it was time for more Kaffee und Kuchen. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.

The funniest thing about this place is Ronja, the dog. She is a hunting dog, but she is so mischievous and a terrible listener! Gerhardt will yell at her “RRRRRRRRRRonjaaa! AUS! RRRRRRRonja!!” its like a TV sitcom. And the dog will stop what she is doing, look and then keep doing whatever it is she wants to do. This morning we were sitting at breakfast and she was lying there, and then just got up and chased her own tail for 5 minutes straight! She never got it, but it was hilarious to watch! Growling at this little wagging stub that is a part of her….haha Elke has been trying to get a video of Gerhardt yelling her name, but she has been behaving today so she is a bit disappointed.

Rosie is quite the German country wife! She has an insanely beautiful garden with nearly everything in it; makes her own marmalade and honey to sell in the markets; has geese and chickens (sells the eggs); cans nearly everything that she grows (she has rooms of equipment in this house and shelf after shelf after shelf of storage space in the cellars); and makes this amazing Schnapps liquor with Quintin (a type of fruit that she grows in her garden, we don’t have it in the states I don’t think). Rosie has been very generous with Elke and I, giving us both some marmalade, honey and this fantastic liquor, as well as giving Elke a fur coat (she’s pretending that it’s not) and me a necklace.

Visiting Rosie has been really great, and I know that she really enjoyed Elke and I coming to see her (probably Elke more than me, I can’t really talk to her, and I’m a bit farther removed). But, I’m glad that we were able to come and stay with her and I couldn’t be more grateful for Elke being here with me! I could not have done this without her!!

Done for now… next post about Berlin!