Germany – Page 2 – GOING NINETY MILES

I was living in Germany for about three months when my parents decided to visit. My Mom had never been to Europe before and she convinced my Dad they would stay for a month. A month straight with my parents! Just kidding Mom. I love my parents, just wasn’t sure what all to do but I planned the perfect Northern Europe sightseeing trip (I am available as a travel agent at any time). It was a flurry of travel here and there. Thankfully we all survived and had a great time. Here are the highlights, part one.

First of all, my Mom decided to pack up my entire closet of stuff left at the house in OK and brought my belongings in the oldest suitcases (yes, plural) ever. They look like a carpet on wheels (see picture, I threw my cat in to spice it up a bit). On a gorgeous May day, my parents arrived with the two said carpets and their own luggage in tow. We barely fit into the car to drive the two hours to Oberhausen. The German’s mama, a gracious hostess, had organized a dinner party to welcome my parents. She invited a few of their friends and served a three course meal to fourteen people! The night was brought to a close with a plethora of after dinner liquors brought out and sampled.

The next week was a few short trips to Hamburg, Aachen and Köln. I love Hamburg, it has a cozy feeling that wraps its arms around you and welcomes you. We took a boat ride on Lake Alster which is right in the heart of the city, and afterwards we grabbed a beer and did some shopping/street wandering. We ended up at the Hamburg Harbour – as a container harbour, it takes second place in Europe and seventh place in the world. There are lots of restaurants there along the River Elbe, it was hard to decide. We ended up at a fantastic sushi restaurant where I stuffed my face until I couldn’t breathe.

die Alster - Hamburg — die Alster – Hamburg

Finally it was time for the road trip. ROAD TRIP! I gave The German a kiss goodbye and climbed in the driver seat of our rented Peugeot. We sped off, stopping in Kiel, Germany for the night and the next day hitting Kopenhagen, Denmark for a late lunch. Settling back into the driving routine we headed north on the E6 towards Oslo, Norway. One of my Mom’s favorite hobbies is researching our family geneaology. My father’s side of the family is from Norway, and mom had a few towns on her list to poke around and try to scrape up some ancestors. My mom’s side is a bit trickier, possibly Northern Germany, possibly parts of what is now Poland. We were on a family mission.

Oslo was expensive. Hotel, food, even smelling the flowers were big bucks. My mom is the Energizer Bunny and she was ready for some serious sightseeing. We hit the Viking Ship Museum (pretty cool), the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (an open-air museum, with a variety of traditional houses from all over Norway, lots of activities take place such as folk dancing, arts and crafts, baking, yadda yadda yadda) and some castle type place. After that my dad and I needed a beer asap, I believe the total for 3 beers was equivalent to $35. The favorite of our Norway sights was the Vigeland Sculpture Park. The park covers 80 acres with over 200 statues created by Gustav Vigeland. Most of the statues depict people engaging in various human pursuits, such as running, wrestling, dancing, hugging and so on. And amazingly, it is free.

The next portion of our trip I booked online – Norway in a Nutshell. AMAZING. If you go to Norway, you have to do this. NIN trip coming up in Part II.

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When I arrived in Frankfurt the holidays whirled by, Christmas in Oberhausen with The German’s parents, his brother and his brother’s wife. We dined on fondue bourguignonne, which is basically meat fondue. The fondue pot is filled with oil and heated and you cook cubes of steak or pork to dip in various sauces (my favorite is curry) served on the side. It is so simple and delicious. I also love eating raclette, cooking my lil piece of bread with cheese, y-u-m. After dinner, bottles of different flavored grappa were brought down for our digestive and sampled. Yowzers, grappa. That stuff could start a car. But I liked it. NYE was celebrated in Köln with The German’s army buddy Oliver and his girlfriend Melanie (by the end of the night it was Melaner and Oliven) and their gang. We watched fireworks standing beside the Rhein. I remember it being so freezing cold I froze my cute lil behind off in my tights and miniskirt (but wearing a huge polar bear like furry coat, naturally faux fur, I love that coat).

herman Then the blur subsided and reality gave me a quick, swift kick to the head. I had just quit my job, moved out of my NYC studio, left my family and friends and was now living in Germany. I had minored in French for God’s sake.

My first instinct when moving to any new town is get to know your neighborhood. I love to explore. Our house sat perfectly on top of a hill at the end of a skinny street where there were strawberries and currants growing on the lot next to us. Looking out a large window my view scanned the top of the red roofs and up on a hill was a large soldier looking statue. I had to find out about my new hood. Where does that stream run to? How large is this beautiful forest surrounding me? What is that huge statue? And who is that crazy lady living down the street, she kinda freaks me out.

Herman the Gothic, Herman the German, Das Hermannsdenkmal, is a monument that stands 173 ft tall in the Teutoburg forests that surrounded my new town of Detmold Germany. It was a popular German tourist destination (a statue? whatev) but so was another place not too far away, the Externsteine. The Externsteine are a distinctive rock formation possibly founded as early as 815. It consists of several tall, narrow columns of rock which rise abruptly from the surrounding wooded hills and there is definitely a spooky vibe surrounding it as it was a center of religious activity and the tallest stone was used for sacrifices. The German would tease me that the crazy lady came to the Externsteine every night and did a ritual. And I believed him. I would say hello and smile every time I saw her so she wouldn’t put an evil hex upon me. She scared the bejesus out of me.

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Tag: Germany

Parental Trip Part I

fondue bourguignonne, grappa and herman