A Spell in Spaichingen

with Kurt, Elvira & Susi

Six years ago, my aunt Melody, uncle Cliff, and cousins Sarah and Chad were sitting at a Café in the small town of Spaichingen, Germany, when a 20-year-old German gal came riding by on her bicycle and overheard them speaking English.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Since then, Susi has visited Cliff and Melody in Reedley for extended periods of time, she's stayed with me in LA twice, we've e-mailed and skyped, and even Susi's parents have made the trek to Reedley twice.  In August, Susi's brother Michael came to San Diego on business, and we had the opportunity to meet-up for dinner.  The only people I had yet to meet in person (i.e. not over Skype) were Susi's parents, Kurt and Elvira.  This week changed all that, and I now feel like I've known the entire family for years (well, I guess I have technically known Susi for years....but you know what I'm saying!).

I arrived in Spaichingen on Wednesday night at 10pm.  It worked out perfectly, because Susi was visiting her parents for a few days and was able to pick me up at the train station.  When we got to the house, Kurt was still awake, so I met him briefly before heading to bed.  In the first 5 minutes, I could already tell that this was going to be a good time!

On Thursday morning, Susi and I woke up to have a nice leisurely breakfast with Kurt and Elvira.  Although Kurt and Susi speak English, Elvira does not, so the conversation this week has only been in German.  At first it was a little difficult for me, but now I'm getting used to it.  Kurt and Elvira speak slow and clear so that I can hear what they say.  And if I don't understand something, they explain it in a different way, but still in German.  Kurt is adamant that the only way to learn a language is to be immersed in it, so he doesn't translate something unless it's really necessary.  This means that my response time and ability to communicate in German has improved the last few days.

After breakfast, Susi took me for a driving tour of Spaichingen and up to a local church....in the Porsche.  As we drove, I thought, "yep, this is the life."

Susi actually had to leave after lunch to head back to München, which left the rest of the day for me to have some fun with Kurt and Elvira.  We drove to the Insel Mainau, which was the residence of a count, and now is a tourist attraction.  It has plenty of activities for children and adults for an entire day -- beautiful gardens, a palm tree greenhouse, a butterfly house, a chapel, petting zoo, playgrounds, walking paths along the Bodensee, a castle, restaurants, etc.  The Bodensee is crystal clear, and the water in Spaichingen actually comes from the lake.

Inside the palm tree greenhouse, there was a history of cacao and how it is processed into chocolate...along with free samples!  We stayed in the greenhouse for our afternoon coffee (well, I had hot chocolate and a piece of poppyseed cake), because they had a little café inside.  I'm telling you people, this ritual of afternoon cake and coffee is not good for me.  Somehow I've already fallen into the cycle of bread and sugar everyday!

Kurt wanted to be taller than me!

with Elvira in the butterfly house

On the way home, we stopped for dinner at a local Irish pub.  I tried something new, a "Black and Tan," 1/2 Guinness and 1/2 Kilkenny.  And although the Shepherd's Pie wasn't exactly authentic, it was still a fun atmosphere.

On Friday, Kurt and Elvira took me to the Black Forest!  Unfortunately, it rained all day and the fog was so thick in the forest that I couldn't get a good view of it.  But it is autumn here, so I can't expect everyday to be clear and sunny.

I had my first taste of a real Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (a.k.a. Black Forest Cherry Cake)!  The cake is not as dark, nor as thick as in America, and there is a lot more whipped cream.  They also use real cherries and a liqueur called Kirschenwasser.

We drove to a small lake called Mummelsee in the mountains of the Black Forest, but it was so foggy, that we could hardly see the water.  Of course, it reminded me of Voyage of the Dawn Treader!  But the drive was nice and we had good conversation.

Later that night, we attended a concert at a local church with a choir and small wind ensemble.  They performed sacred music from Palestrina and Bruckner.  It's hard being a musician attending a concert, because I notice all the little things like the tenor trying to keep the pitch up by himself, and the soprano who doesn't give a rip, the bass on the back row who is shorter than the guy in front of him, the ending of consonants at different times, etc.  Despite all that, it was a lovely concert and a good time to think and pray, even though the church was freezing.

I've had a really good time here in Spaichingen with Kurt and Elvira.  They have been so welcoming and made me feel like part of the family.  I plan on returning here in a few weeks and staying longer, because they are so much fun to be around, and they only speak to me in German!

Bis bald!