Back to the Roots

I made it from Heidelberg to Appenweier without any problems and was met there by our cousin Helmut (technically speaking my dad's cousin).  Helmut picked me up and took me back to his house in Appenweier to see his family.  I haven't seen any of the german family since our last trip there 4 years ago.  Time flies to quickly and I was shocked when I got to his house to see his little girls were so big.  Isabel is spitfire 11 year old as cheeky as can be without being a total pain.  And Serena is the most adorable 10 year old.  Just as sweet as her big sister but not quite as rambunctious.  They were still little kids the last time I visited and toddlers the first time I came to Germany.  Just seeing them made me feel old.  It was late Thursday afternoon when I arrived so we met the girls and Sabine, Helmut's wonderful wife at the house then headed out to Offenberg (the next big city) to an open air market to walk around and get a coffee or beer.  I was glad I had a few days practicing my german before I got there.  I still can't speak much but I'm getting far better at understanding.  Helmut and Sabine both speak english well as long as I speak slow (not my best quality).  Isabel just started her first english classes that week so we had a grand time kind of practicing.  The market was in the town square and reminded me of the Portobello Market in Knotting Hill.  Some cool stuff and some junk.  Helmut bought a belt before we settled into a cafe and ordered some drinks.  I got a latte and a beer at Helmut's insistence.  We caught up and I told them about my trip.  They shared with me a trip they did to Australia before the girls were born.  And when they found out I was going to New Zealand told me I had to get cousin Volker's best friend from South Africa (who is actually a New Zealander that lived in South Africa) email so that I could meet them in Auckland when I was there.  Helmut said that the whole family was wonderful and they had a daughter my age that had come and lived in Germany as a nanny for a year.  He reminded me to talk to Tante Klara about it so we could call Volker.  Volker is the only one of my dad's cousins on that side of the family that is living that I haven't met, but then neither has he, Volker moved down to South Africa almost 20 years ago.

After our coffee and beer we rounded up the girls who were playing in the local water fountain thing (you know the ones were water sporadically shoots up all over a square) and left to meet the tantes for dinner.  Again, for those of you confused tante is like aunt in german.  We drove up a huge hill to an old castle now a restaurant with a great patio overlooking the valley and met Tante Klara and Tante Trudle for dinner.

Klara was married to my dad's uncle Helmut, one of my grandma's little brothers and Trudle is my grandma's younger sister and only living Bachle (the family name) of that generation left.  It was so good to see them after so many years.  They never seem to change which is one of the things I love.  We had a light dinner and I shoveled down kasespatzle, which is spatzle with cheese the equivalent of german mac and cheese but better.  We talked very creative germanglish with some translation by Helmut and Sabine for my benefit.  After dinner Sabine took the girls home and Helmut drove me and my luggage to Tante Klara's house where I would be staying, it also happens to be the Bachle family home, the one my grandma was born and raised in until she married and moved to the states.  Helmut was nice enough lug my suitcase up 3 flights of stairs (I stayed on the top floor also known as the penthouse).  He even guessed my bag was about 22 kilos.  We sat down and I was entertained watching Helmut program Tante Klara's new portable phone (she broke/lost the last one when she drove off with it on the roof of the car).  I could understand some of what was being said  but not all of it and it still managed to be entertaining.  Not long after I retreated upstairs to unpack nd organize.  I was actually going to be 1 place for almost a week.  I sorted out my dirty clothes with the plan of doing laundry in the morning, I was down to my last clean shirt.  I went to bed pretty early and slept very well.

I got up the next morning and dressed and went downstairs to breakfast which I ate in the kitchen.  The traditional fresh rolls with butter, jam, honey, nutella, cheese, and meats with super strong german coffee.  After my delicious breakfast I started a load of laundry and went walking on errand with Tante Klara.  Thankfully she speaks and understands just enough english and I understand just enough german to get by together.  When we got back to the house I hung my clothes out to dry on the line and started the next batch.  Tante told me that every Friday she cooks lunch and takes it over to Helmut's for the family so she cooked and I journaled and researched Greece.  Before we left she went into the laundry room and turned the washer off.  She said it was better to let the clothes sit in the soapy water then sit damp.  I said why not.  We went to Helmut's house and were met by Clause another of the cousins and Helmut's older brother.  He had lunch with Tante Klara and I as Helmut and the girls were late (I guess it's a chronic problem and Tante wasn't all that surprised).  I had a chance to catch up a bit with Clause (who also speaks very good english) before he left for work.  When Helmut and the girls arrived home they ate.  We decided to do some errands then do something fun and settled on a drive to Straussberg.  While Helmut finished some painting in the house I borrowed Tante Klara's purple VW gold and took Isabel first to buy her school supplies then to pick up Fabienne Helmut's youngest daughter in Oppenau.  Isabel gave me directions and now knows Right and Left very well in english.

Once all that was done we did really quick trip into France to see Straussberg and the big gothic cathedral.  I had been there once before but was not able to go in due to a funeral being done.  Plus Straussberg is only like a 45 minute drive from Appenweier.  So this time Helmut, all 3 girls and I went tromping through Straussberg's old city to the cathederal.  This time I went inside and got to admire it as well as light a candle a tradition I picked up from my mom.  We even climbed all the way up to the bell tower platform to see the city.  About step 400 I was ready to die due to burning thighs.  But the view was well worth it.  It was even entertaining watching 2 French women look at me with this family thinking I was either the other woman or a second wife.  As I'm walking around with a 40 something guy and 3 little girls hanging all over me.  On the climb down Serena had a death grip on my hand as she is scared of heights and going down the spiral staircase and looking through the windows along the way wasn't helping.  But she did it the little trooper, even if I did almost lose a finger to lose of circulation.

After our quick visit we jumped back in the car and raced, literally, back to Appenweier to meet Sabine for dinner.  Helmut is one crazy driver.  I think at one point on the autobahn we hit 190km/hour, which if my calculations are right is something close to 130-140 mile per hour.  We met Sabine and went to dinner at a local winery that specializes in what they call new wine.  It's pretty much wine that only ferments a couple of days or weeks or something so it's alcoholic but super sweet like grape juice.  It is yummy and lethal.  I was a very long dinner that took forever to get but we had a good time talking and drinking.  To go along with our new wine we ate flammekuchen and onion cake.  I know what your thinking.  Onion cake, I thought the same thing but it is really tasty.  It's diced white onion that is sauteed down then mixed in a sweet ricotta type cheese and used to fill a pie crust.  I thought it was great.  The flammekuchen is more or less german pizza.  But they use a super thin crust made out of like pretzel dough and topped with a white cream sauce, kind of like sour cream but not really, and cheese and whatever else you want on it.  The girls split on with apples and cinnamon on it and we had two with cheese, onion, and bits of ham.  That was also good and something I remembered eating from the last trip.  After during dinner there was discussion about the plan for the next day as my parents were arriving from the states.  Since both Sabine and Helmut had to work in the morning and needed some to watch the girls I opted to collect some stuff from Tante Klara' s and spend the night at Helmut and Sabine's to watch the girls he next morning since my parents wouldn't be in until 1-2 in the afternoon anyway.  So we dropped off Sabine and the girls and went to the house and I collected some clothes and essentials for the next day.  While we were there Rainer (yet another cousin Klara's oldest son) arrived with his son Timon.  Rainer, Helmut and I drove down into Oberkirch (a city between Oppenau and Appenweier) to have a beer at the local pub.  The pub closed at 11:30 and we got there at  a lttle after 11 so it was only one beer then we all went home.  I spent the night in Fabienne's bed which i kid size as she is only 4. And was up early to get ready for the day of babysitting.

I started breakfast with Helmut and finished it with the girls.  When Helmut left he left me the key to his car to take the girls out if I wanted and instructions that Serena had a school thing at 10 that we had to be at.  So we all got dressed and started our walk to the school.  I guess they do a ceremony to welcome the new kindergartners on Saturday morning with songs and what not.  Since Serena was singing we hiked to the school and watched the performance.  I had no idea what was going on.  After that we walked back to the house with a stop at a local park to play a bit.  When we got home we raided Sabine's cake and each had a piece then played Memory, colored, Fabienne showed me her room and all her toys and rambled away at me like I knew what she was saying.  Every once in a while she would look up at me like "duh, don't you know what I'm talking about."  Regardless I had a very fun time with the girls.  About 2:00 Rainer showed up in Appenweier with my parents fresh from the train station after the travel from the states.  It was soooooo good to see them.

I almost forgot how much I missed them since I have been on the run so much.  the kids vanished to go play so Rainer, Mom, Dad and I sat and talked about the plan of events for the next couple of days and just general catch up.  Sabine arrived home soon after my parents arrived and I was relinquished of my babysitting duties.  We all jumped in Rainer's car and headed for Tante Klara's for the "first night in Oppenau" well at least my parents.

Check out the next blog to see how Oppenau with the rents unfolded :)