It’s a very easy recipe: a beautiful area (Altmühltal) + great company (my brother Jürgen) + a cute little convertible = a daytrip filled with fun, great talks, memories, connections! Very, VERY special!!!
We saw interesting buildings, for example a church built of willows. It was planted in 2009 and is growing since. We were lucky to watch a wedding ceremony there, just in time before the next rain shower!
We also saw a few interesting animals, some a few days old, others a few million years old:
Enjoying this beautiful day and exchanging stories from the time way back when we were little, which icecream we preferred, which games we played, etc. It’s always so much fun to spend time with Jürgen! And of course we had a stop at a cute little beergarden (the 13th apostle).
Just another thunderstorm rolling in…Neuburg, where I spent a nice day with my sister Petra…Munich with everything your heart desires, family,the opera house,and Princess Sophie cake, rhubarb cake and delicious teaMy niece Saskia and her huge portion of tiramisu. I swear, I only tried a tiny bite! Or was it half of it? I can’t remember and it’s not that important…
The last time I attended a highschool reunion was 30 years ago. It was our 10th and it was not very well attended. Mostly the nerdy kids, that had landed a great job; they bragged about “my house, my car, my boat” stuff and I couldn’t keep up with any of their lives. I was a single mom with two boys, I had a masters degree, but no house, no car and no boat either.
Then…… and now
This time, 30 years later, we really enjoyed each other’s company. We gave each other hugs, because – as one of my class mates said – now we’re brave enough to do so! Very sweet! We talked about life, fate, disappointments, new beginnings. We talked about trauma, struggles, bumps and loosing loved ones. Starting families, blending families, we enjoyed talking about kids and a few already had grandchildren! No house, no car, no boat was mentioned. Very funny: now that I have a house, a car and a boat. Technically it’s 2.5 houses and it is Ted’s boat, but that’s not the point. The point is: I enjoyed seeing my classmates again and sharing stories. It was a very hot and humid day and the white wine was plenty. This event left a warm fuzzy feeling around my heart and I felt closer to my buddies than ever before. Except Ulrike, my BFF! Knowing somebody so well at the age of 20 and still be so close at the age of 60 is special and I feel spoiled…..
Anticipation is a mixture between expectation and prediction. Expectation leans more to wishes, predictions more to the known. Maybe it is a right side vs left side of the brain thing? Who knows???
I know anticipation really well, I’m in the middle of an overdose right now: the next trip awaits me and it’s packed with predictions (high school reunion in the heart of Bavaria! Cruise through the Caribbean! Broadway shows in New York City! etc) and expectations (will I recognize those people I went to school with? Will the hurricane season be in full swing? Will my non-profit loose momentum during those 6 weeks while I’m gone?, etc) All those hard facts, the predictions have a „!“, whereas the expectations end up with a „?“. What’s more exciting?
We shall see and I’ll make sure to keep you posted. Let the journey begin…
You might wonder by all the food posting I do (and therefore all the food I am eating), that I must have gained weight like never before! Infact, I wonder myself 🤣
But would you say no if somebody – like my sister Petra – invited you for breakfast and it looks like this?
Or you meet your friend Wendl from highschool to cook dinner together, and you create this Bavarian classic: bread dumplings with chanterelle cream sauce and endive salad, would you say no to this?
As Wendl says: cooking is the sex of old age
Wendl and I have a history together, it’s kind of a love affair, but not with each other: we share the love of cooking and eating. So every time I am in Germany, Wendl and I cook something delicious 🥬🍲🌶️🥗🫒🍷 And did I mention that we know each other for 40+ years?
Or would you refuse to eat those spinach and cheese dumplings I ate today for lunch? Would you? Followed by Kaiserschmarrn, a dessert classic in Bavaria 🥰
My good bye dinner party two days ago was not only lots of fun – 15 family members showed up with fun stories, good mood and big appetites – we also had delicious food!
My sister asked me a few days ago what I’d like to do if I had the chance to try something totally different. My answer: something food related, not being a chef, but a taster (if there is such a thing). Somebody trying, tasting, combining, presenting food to perfection. That’s what I would do! No wonder that I like to eat and drink…..
About a month ago I bought Jonas. I mean I bought a Vespa scooter from a guy named Jonas, so that’s why the Vespa is called Jonas now.
And today, my brother Jürgen and I took a whole day driving around with our Vespas, enjoying another beautiful fall day here in Bavaria. We drove along fields with corn, cabbage and potatoes, piles of sugar beets along the way, sunflowers and poppies still in bloom. The smell of wet soil, fresh cut grass and moist fall leaves. The sun partly hidden behind the clouds, occasional rainbows inbetween. We drove through many little villages, we stopped at a few ferry crossings along the Altmühl river, it couldn’t be more perfect, romantic or beautiful!
Jonas is 20 years old; quite a senior Vespa, but he is a great scooter with some age related issues…
The tubing connecting the gasoline pump and the gasoline filter was so old and brittle, it broke, and all the gasoline was gone in a matter of just a few minutes. Gas tank empty, that means:
Fortunately Jürgen is an expert: he repaired the broken tubing and we were back on the road again in an hours or so. And so we continued and enjoyed our ride.
Then, another part of the old tubing decided to claim retirement a few hours later, so Jürgen, still an expert, repaired the second issue, and we were back on the road again in 45min or so. I guess if we would have continued a little longer, and if a 3rd issue came up, he would have needed only 30min, right?!? 🛵🛵🛵
Many more villages later, Altmühl River, Schambach River, the Main-Danube channel and the Danube, we crossed many bridges, we drove through forests and fields – it was a gorgeous day and Jonas and I were very happy (I guess Jürgen too 🤩)
It is the middle of October and fall is in full swing! Night temperatures reach down to the freezing point, the days are barely warmer. Rain showers shake hands with sunshine, hail knocks down some leftover flowers and heavy wind gusts blow the colorful leaves off the trees. And then it starts over again. You never know what to expect and/or what to wear.
Citymap of Ingolstadt from 1810. It is surrounded by protection buildings and a citiwall that is still intact. Nowadays the Danube on the south side of town has 3 bridges for traffic crossing over, 2 pedestrian bridges and 1 for trains… Ingolstadt was founded in the year 806 and had a busy history, being a custom point for the salt trade from the Alps to northern territories. Here, every shipment of salt had to cross the Danube, which made it a popular location for thieves and bandits.
Today my brother Jürgen and I spent a whole day together. He needed a haircut, a motorcycle helmet, tennis shoes, lunch, a walk and everything wrapped with meaningful brother-sister conversations.
On our way to the motorcycle helmet store we found this neat barber shopWhat a fun place!Billiard table, retro furnitures and fixtures, super cool!
With his new haircut, Jürgen bought a new helmet and afterwards we had a tasty lunch at a restaurant at a nearby lake, the „Auwaldsee“ in Ingolstadt. At this lake I learned to swim, to ice skate, I learned to play Romme, I read books, many MANY books. Back then we rode our bikes to this lake, we spent our childhood afternoons there, and for us, it was perfect! The lake seemed huge, biking around took forever, swimming across seemed impossible! And today after lunch Jürgen and I walked around the lake, 3km, 1hour, just a little afterlunch walk. And it was beautiful! And perfect!!!
