Merit Stuttgart

This morning we went to church. We went because we wanted to see the church where Granny and Pop were married. When we got there and had sat down Ute whispered to us the Hilde had told the Priest that we were here, that we were visitors from Australia. She is so proud and happy to have us here. The service started and the German was all going ov...

Today we spent the day with Philip. He got us really excited to go to Switzerland when he showed us pictures from his holiday there. He then took us over to Hilde and Karl's. We had waffles for lunch with fruit from trees they had planted many years ago. Philip taught us a game, I don’t know what it’s called but you lay out 18 sticks...

We were back on the road again today, but we didn't go to far. Interlaken to the Black Forest in Germany was only a couple of hours. We stopped for lunch and a look around Switzerland’s capital, Bern, where we were lucky enough to see one of the bears they keep in captivity, albeit from a distance and only for a minute. When I was last in ...

We spent the day with Herbert. He took us to the Black Forest (Schwarz Wald) and showed us where my Great, Great Grandmother Sophie had lived. We also went to a spot where Mum and Granny had come when they were in Germany. We went for a beautiful walk in the forest. It was really magical walking through the forest half covered with snow. I was r...

For our first morning in Kieselbronn, Harald took us for a tour of the town. It's been much warmer then we were expecting – around 4°C, the perfect temperature to go walking outside. It is such a small, friendly place, as an outsider it has the feeling of a strong community. There are a lot of clubs and groups here such as sport, outdoors ...

My time in Germany has definitely forced me to confront some of my perceptions about Germans. My birthday made me rethink the perception that workers don't have friendly relationships with colleagues. My trip to Stuttgart made me rethink the perception of punctuality, particularly in regards with the Deutsche Bahn, or German Train System. What ...

Got up reasonably late this morning and, much to our surprise, with no hangovers. Had another huge German breakfast with muesli, fresh bread, meat selection including "Xmas polony", pizza liver cheese and all sorts of hams and sausage. Rose took us down to the Pfaeffingen station and Penny and I then disgraced ourselves by missing the train to H...

In the l*st entry I cre*ted I st*ted th*t it h*d been * long time since I h*d written *nything. I w*s right. Now this one h*s been even longer overdue th*n the l*st one but *l*s, it is complete. Th*nks to those of you who h*ve continued to push me for upd*tes *nd to everyone for t*king some time to follow *long with me in my *dventures. Followin...

19th June Took a train to Starnberger. A lovely lake towards the German Alps. Just took a ferry around the lake and saw the Germany Alps of in the distance. They looked pretty amazing In the evening we went to a place called Lake Chemsie which was also pretty amazing. It was sunset and there were so many contrasting colours with the mountains an...

Steve slept through breakfast, thanks to a somewhat sleepless night because of Judy's snoring (she's allergic to feathers and the bed had feather pillows and a down comforter). Judy brought him a roll with salami and another meat on it and a banana, but no coffee-poor baby. We had a little adventure of asking for an iron from someone who spoke n...