I know I am terribly behind on my blog posts. We traveled on Thursday morning, 14 July, to Frankfurt, Germany, via bus to the train station, Gare du Nord in Brussels, then the ICE (Inter-City Express) #15 train to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Hbf). I had deliberately left some time in Frankfurt so we girls could find something to do in that city before meeting our host. I got a map and navigated us successfully to the riverfront park. Luckily right at the entrance was a perfect playset made of rope and vinyl tarps. Although windy and cool, the girls played on it for an hour and would have stayed longer except I got too cold sitting there watching them, despite their joy in the playing. I really was hoping to walk across a colorful pedestrian bridge to a festival across the river, but no, it was just back to the station. We bought tickets for the continuation of our journey to Butzbach station (note, shakes in Germany are quite milky, not thick). Since I don't have a phone in Europe (strange, right?), Michael and I arranged via Facebook message to meet on the platform for the 4:44pm train. And it worked just fine!
We are going to stay through Sunday morning with Michael Imig and his family in Pohl-Gons, a lovely village where they bought last year a spacious home with a lovely garden. Some may recall that Michael is a friend and former AAMC colleague and it has been really great to see him, his wife Silke, and their three children, Jacob (9), Peter (7) and Charlotte (almost 5). The kids all started playing together so well right from the start and Charlotte in particular has glowed from having more girls than boys in her house. I'll write one or two additional posts about all the terrific sights we've seen while here; for now, I'll say that the Imigs have been generous and thoughtful hosts who have shown us unique parts of this region of Germany and fed us very well. German traditions I've loved: a fruit course before dinner, the breads, the cheeses, and kuchen (cake) and tea. Other experiences I've appreciated while here: learning tidbits of German especially from the Imig children, catching up with Michael and Silke, being in the countryside rather than a city, and being in a not-so-touristy part of Germany. More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment