A Drama of Simplicities.

Layah had the one Schokkokuss left from the box (which I kindly let her have, although forced her to have might be how she described it). The long few minutes that followed was in silence as I crept around the house quite similarly to searching a dark haunted house not knowing when the jump would happen……stress kick if you ask me. I reached the top steps embracing for what was to come (dramatic music please),

I found Layah brushing her teeth in a room that smelt of what could only be an eaten Schokkokuss. PHEWWWWW!
A phone call to the Family followed to drown out the stress that had quickly accumulated, little did they know the great surprise that followed as they watched my face come into contact with this sticky white substance that I was so sure Layah had eaten. She had hidden it in a cupboard ……. they wonder why I have trust issues. Because we needed a little more laughter to start the day, Layah and I made a small music video compilation that if you have not seen, be glad that you have not seen because you cannot recover from the continuous fits of laughter that follows. Out of all the reactions we have seen so far, Moni and Siggi’s was almost more entertaining than the video.
Going for a walk through the Fürstenlager was next on our schedule for that day. The beautiful bright green grass flowing over the rolling hills was a dream as the sun beat down on our backs keeping us more than pleasantly warm. This place is commonly rented out for weddings because of the beauty that it holds and it’s actually were Moni and Siggi had their reception. Coffee and cake followed taking the last four slices of cake left (that couldn’t have been more perfect) as we found ourselves in a small, wooden, old styled restaurant place which is actually right next to the church Moni and Siggi got married in. Layah and I most appreciated the unique style of lighting in this restaurant as glass bottles, old lanterns and teapots hung from the ceiling. Milchreis (milk rice) which is a very traditional German meal for us was made for dinner that night…..I didn’t want to eat food for another week after the amount that was eaten.

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The weather over here has been extremely warm these last few days getting temperatures up to 14 degrees whilst at home temperatures plummeting down to 14 degrees. Despite us being in the middle of winter and at home being the middle of summer, we are still having the same temperature making it feel a little bit like home. Because of this lack of snow and ice that’s apparently banned from falling until we leave, we adventured back to the ice skating rink to enjoy the cooler environment there. On the way we passed a sign saying Goldbeck (check out the 5^th blog) and Layah wanted to take a photo of it. As she pointed the camera out the back window, I looked behind me and the person in the car behind us was waving. He thought Layah was taking a photo of him. The funniest part was that Layah didn’t notice until I told her.
To my great entertainment that wasn’t the only time Layah felt embarrassed that day. While we were attempting different tricks (some of the time succeeding) on the ice, two young men (who happen to be champion freestylers in ice skating) came up to us. I must have seemed terrible rude because all they were hearing from me was laughter. They spoke such fast German that I didn’t understand a word they said and I knew Layah didn’t either, making it very funny for me. We stood there for a good few minutes just looking at each other in confusion eventually understanding that it was about shoe laces…..SHOE LACES! All of that confusion for shoe laces. Don’t ask, I’m just as confused as you.
That evening Eva, Thomas and Nikolay, along with their two dogs Layla and Kylie came over for a drink and some games……well the dogs didn’t drink and play games. While we were playing a game of Skipbo with Nicolai, Kylie was under the table snoring. My first instinct when I heard the noise was that it was Siggi snoring. Well, didn’t I get that very wrong. That evening was an absolute blast of a time with great conversation (in English, German and French) and plenty of laughter.

On Friday Layah and I had the privilege of going to Siggi’s old work place to collect some boxes. It was an incredible experience as this work place offers many jobs for people with a handicap……what an awesome idea! There were huge wood and metal workshops with a great variety of tools and machines to be used. Everyone we met was so friendly and it was just an incredible atmosphere to be in.
Moni and Siggi have a little park about 10 meters from their front door, so after Layah and I had taken the rubbish out to the bin, we found ourselves on the swings talking about nothing in particular but just enjoying each other’s company (yes, even after spending 7 weeks with each other). All we needed was Jordan.
The intensity of the evening increased as soon as we turned the TV on…….. it was soccer time. Siggi is a soccer fanatic and when it comes to a game, there are 5 rules that we must abide by.

1. Must go for his team
2. Must accept his position as unrecognised all time world best referee
3. Must not drink Krombacher (the type of beer he hates)
4. Must not attempt to control verbal contributions
5. Must not provide distraction

Because of Siggi’s telepathic, beautiful, inspirational, encouragements towards the team, they WON!!! We all slept well that night.

Saturday started with a four hour train ride to Wuppertal where Lilith and Chiara (who we met in blog 6) were waiting for us. It was surreal to ride the train along the Rhein river to Köln for our stop-over and having familiar views from the cruise (ahhh, that’s how beautiful it all was) but also not familiar in that we’d been there lots before – ‘familiarly new’. On the way to Lilith and Chiara’s house we stopped to get some flowers for Michaella (mother to Lilith and Chiara), Layah enjoyed being a florist in the car as she rearranged the flowers. In Germany it’s very much a tradition to bring a small present when you are visiting someone, hence the flowers.
When we arrived we had the tour of the house then sat down to a nicely set out coffee and cake layout on the table. We managed to fit in a walk with the dog (Wilma, who I nicknamed Schlafmütze: ‘sleepyhat’, German version of ‘sleepyhead’) in the forest just behind their house before it got too dark. During the walk in the forest Layah nudged me and said “look, a bear”. I knew there were no bears in Germany but when I saw this big brown fluffy thing, by the time I realised it was a dog it was too late to re-write the scream that was being processed in my brain……..thank you psychological refractory period.
After a beautifully made dinner we played the phase 10 board game with the whole family…..well, Wilma didn’t play.

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First full day in Wuppertal was an absolute blast creating new experiences with one of the most fun, sweetest and excellent English speaking families. We first adventured to the Schwebebahn (suspended train) station where we took the train from Wuppertal to Vohwinkel and back, traveling above the river and main highway. We stopped off at Elberveld where we had a tour around the old city, Peter and Michaella telling us about all the history everywhere we walked. The rest of the day involved a walk with Wilma and a short road trip (singing beauty and the beast songs) to Lilith’s flat where we met Chiara’s boyfriend Alex. Together we went on a mission to find some currywurst which happened to be right next to a sign saying ‘I hate soap bubbles’……… Who has any strong opinions about soap bubbles! We then adventured to the Tiger and Turtle sculpture in time to see the lights turn on. Such an adventurous day couldn’t be finished better than watching harry potter with a hot cup of tea. Yes yes, you heard me right, I’ve been drinking tea.

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Monday morning presented us with no particular agenda, sitting in the lounge chilling, doing uni work or writing the blog. Once our fingers had typed enough or our eyes had read enough, the beautiful weather called for a walk with Wilma in the forest. Lilith, Chiara, Layah and I enjoyed the little bit of sun that normally hibernates over the winter only looking out of its cloudy window every so often.
Off we went in the afternoon on another small road trip to Köln with Peter and Michaella, meeting the girls and Dustin (Lilith’s boyfriend) at the train station. Together we walked to the Kölner Dom again being blown away by the size and detail of the cathedral. Meeting Caroline (Michaella’s friend) at the front of the Dom was the go signal for one of the coolest little adventures of this trip. While it was amazing to just walk around it,  going inside felt like we’d stepped into another world. The amounts of organs that would resonate through the Cathedral and being in the same place to where the three wise men’s bones are held was an absolutely amazing/slightly creepy experience in itself. But wait, I haven’t gotten to the best part yet. Not only have Layah and I walked around the Kölner Dom and experienced the internals of the ginormous building, we had the amazing opportunity to go on a roof top tour of the cathedral. I have one word to describe the experience: wahnsinn!
It was such a crazy breathtaking experience that left us gasping for air after holding our breath out of the amazement of the history behind the building. Every pillar and every stature (there are uncountable amounts of them) were all carved by hand and even now to keep up the ‘amazingness’ of the cathedral, all the repairs are hand done. The smallest little detail like the canopies above the statues can take a couple of years which is such an incredible thought. There are many little hidden statues of angels, popes and even a statue of a famous soccer player, someone with a mobile phone and one of JF Kennedy……. eye spy with my little eye. 
While the Dom is 157m tall, we got up to 68m high, not being able to go up the two towers. 
To cap off our great experience with these amazing people, we went to Früh and had dinner together, talking mostly of what we had just experienced while drinking the typical beer, which from my perspective tasted like dried nuts that had turned to rubber when mixed with water. I gave mine to Layah, although she’s not a beer fan either. Thank goodness for sisters!
A sad reality of saying goodbye to Chiara had come. It’s always hard saying bye to sweet people who are so easy to get along with. Thanks for letting us stay in your room! We got home that evening and sat in the lounge thinking over the lovely time we just had when Wilma came and jumped onto the same couch with a teddy. What a day!

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What can I say, while we didn’t have long with the Gärtner family it felt like we’ve known them for a lifetime. They are so welcoming and friendly, making everything enjoyably interesting…… even the car trips. It was awesome seeing and spending time with Lilith again, although it reminded us of why we didn’t like to say goodbye last time. Unfortunately there was no such thing as a peaceful train ride back to Moni and Siggi to mourn the fact that we won’t see the Gärtners for ages…it was the complete opposite. 
There was a bomb found in Köln from the 1st or 2nd world war that was being disposed of and no trains were being let in or out from the main station. That was a problem because our train was meant to leave from there. Thank goodness for Lilith and Chiara’s great train knowledge they decided to take us to a different station. One of the many dilemmas was trying to book the tickets for the train. Layah was able to book one ticket for herself but wasn’t able to book one for me. The train had arrived at the station and I had to aboard the train with no ticket…….was the ticket collector going to throw me off the train? Layah managed to book a ticket half way though the train ride just before the collector came. Phewww! 
We managed to get a train to Frankfurt with a connection to Bensheim but unfortunately because of the bomb our train was delayed 45 minutes causing us to miss our connecting train…..And we thought we had this whole system down pat. After an hour’s worth of people watching in a café we boarded a train that took us straight to Moni and Siggi.
Home sweet home if you ask me.

That’s a wrap or should I say a taco (which is definitely better) to another crazy, adventurous week folks. We hope you are all making your own great memories wherever you are.  

L&J&B