Oct. 17-23, 2010

It was the second travel week for us Ambexers and I stayed with my oma in Winnenden (near Stuttgart, Germany). Every morning before breakfast I would roll out of bed and eat awesome chocolate and a banana and go on a run in through the village. When I got back I would eat a delicious breakfast of pastries, meats and fresh fruits accompanied by honey, jams, and Nutella. Oh and hot tea. While I ate my breakfast, my oma would be busy preparing the hot water for my shower. What a humble servant she was! She did everything in silence and with joy. When you offered help, she kindly denied it. She did the dishes, cooked all the meals, drove me to all of these villages and made sure that I had a week that I would never forget. And she did that successfully. 

She took me to see many things around Stuttgart. On Monday we went train hoping. First we went to Bachnang and walked around for a while. I was shown many beautiful half timbered houses. Then we went to see the castle in Ludwigsburg. We didn’t go inside, but we walked around in the gardens. Irmi Früh (my grandmother is technically my step-grandmother, but that doesn’t matter to me.) is one of the most educated women in botanics that I have ever met. If you sniff a flower she can tell you it’s name in German, Latin and English. One of the flowers in the garden at Ludwigsburg, get this, it’s called the Chocolate Flower!!! Here pictured to the right, the flower does not look like it’s covered in chocolate. No, it gets its name from its scent. If you smell the flower it does in fact smell like chocolate! Mystery that… 

We left Ludwigsburg and went to Marbach. Marbach, like many of the old villages in Germany, has a wall (older than time) that surrounds the town. It was very much like the city of Rothenburg which I saw in September. Marbach had entered a contest of some sorts to win the most pumpkins on a street. They had pumpkins up and down this street that Oma and I walked on. They were all carved with the number 4, I forget why. They won the contest. This is just another example of Germany’s sense of unity. Nearly every house on this street had pumpkins out on their property. The contest was held a few days before, so it is very likely that during the contest, every house on the street had their pumpkins displayed. 

Now it is October 19th and it is my youngest brothers birthday! Happy Birthday Mikey! I can’t believe how old you are! Oma must have known that it was your birthday, because we went to Waiblingen (another city surrounded by a wall) we went to a church that was called “Michael’s Church.” The stained glass inside was very modern, and very colorful. This church was actually one of the only churches in my entire stay that had a door open so that you could go in and see the inside. Al of the other churches we tried to get in were locked. It was very disappointing.  Today (the 20th) we relaxed. I sat around and read some of a book for one of my classes and did some other homework.. My eyes hurt from staring at the computer screen. No offense computer, but it just hurts to look at you sometimes. After a good couple hours Oma asked me if I would like to go in a walk. I, like anyone, thought it would be a short 15 to 30 minute walk. We ended up being out for 3 hours. It was amazing! We took a walk through the forest that was 5 minutes from the house. We walked all through the woods on a road that was only for walking, hiking and horses. There were signs that said no cars, trucks, or wagons. I felt safe walking through this place. Oma pointed out a slug that was making its lowly way across our path. I wouldn’t have even noticed it, though it was the brightest shade of orange that I have ever seen a slug. He blended in with the fallen autumn leaves on the forest trail. It’s like stopping to smell the roses, noticing the small things in God’s creation and not just keeping your head up to see what lies ahead. Slow down. Look at everything around you! Sometimes you will be surprised at how beautiful it is. 

After we broke through the forest and walked up a grassy knoll, we were welcomed by a torrential downpour of buckets and buckets of rain. But that didn’t stop either of us, we had come prepared with umbrellas and a determination to explore. The wind threatened us as well, trying to take our umbrellas from us, or just make them useless by turning them inside out. But no worries, we got the better of the wind. Up ahead in the hazing distance was a city on a green hillside. Oma turned to me and asked if I would like to walk there and I thought why not! Another 30 minutes later we were in this small town at the top of the hill, looking down at the most beautiful view. Oma said it was like looking out of an airplane, and I agreed fully. On our way down we strolled through several vineyards and I did what I have always wanted to do… I took some grapes. Though it was cold and gloves were important to the survival of my hands, I sacrificed them for these grapes! They were delicious! So fresh, cold and juicy! My hands were slowly turning different shades of purple blue and after we made it down the hillside, I started to lose feeling in them. So to my sadness I had to throw the grapes (only half eaten, because it was a big cluster) into the bushes to save my hands. Gloves never felt so good on my hands! 

With the excitement over for the day we got back to the house and relaxed for the remainder of the day. I really enjoyed that walk. The next morning I revisited the woods in my morning jog. I ran in my Five-Finger shoes so that I could feel everything (good and bad) and work my calves (because the shoes force you to run in your toes, which is the proper way to run, but if you are not used to that then it can cause very sore muscles in the morning). What a way to start the day! After my morning routine we headed to the small city of Openwailer. In this city there was another Castle! It was at the top of the hill of which the city was built on and was not for tourist. The Castle was a housing establishment for the gifted. In the square there during the Holiday season they hold a Christmas market, though very small, it is something to keep their hearts attached with the rest of the town. The view from this location was amazing, though not as exquisit as the one from yesterday’s “walk.” You can see it in this picture to the right. 

Later that day Oma and I went to her sons house for dinner. Norbert and his wife and son (Victoria and Andy) live in a good sized house in Winnenden. We came over for the evening to have a home cooked German meal. And I am glad that we did. It was amazing! Victoria had cooked pork, sour croat and potato dumplings called “Kinuddles.” Usually I am not one for kinuddles, I think they are so boring I don’t see the point in eating them… But these were the best that I have ever had! I was so glad that I could taste what one was really supposed to taste like. I could then see why Germans like them so much. So thank you Victoria! 

The next day was the 22nd and we visited the city of Stuttgart. Oma took me all around to see the Gothic Cathedral (that of course was closed) but was beautiful on the outside. Next we took a tram up to the top of the hill to see the Stuttgart Tower. From this tower, which bared much resemblance to Seattle’s Space Nettle, you could see the entire city of Stuttgart and much more. The fall leaves really brought out the countryside and the woods that surrounded the city. After a visit to the top we took the incredibly fast elevator down to earth again. It was a good sight. After that we made our way back down through the city and visited a town market that was inside, rather than outside, where I couldn’t help but buy some chocolate… Mystery that. While snacking on this chocolate I took in all of the different scents in this covered place. There were the cheese booths, which reeked of stinky feet and worse, but you knew that the cheese was delicious; the spice stands which you can imagine smelled like a far away country like India or Asia (I guess those aren’t as far away for me as they are for all those reading this in America); the sweet aroma dried fruits and nuts. There were so many different fragrances in that building. As we ventured back out into the fresh air I ate the last few bites of my Chocolate bar, it was delicious. 

Our next stop was the Old Castle. The Old Castle is now a museum for all to see. It possesses a tomb where the King of Stuttgart was buried; a large and out of place collection of ancient Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age artifacts; a small collection of art; and a beautiful display of Crown Jewels. We left there and journeyed over to the New Castle just to look at the exterior. When my oma was younger she worked for a group that catered, set up and waited on people for parties, banquets and huge dinner occasions. She met many important people because she served them their food. While she was working this job she did many dinners at the New Castle. After that Oma caught the next train home and I went shopping in the city. I thought about getting a Starbucks while I was shopping but once I saw the line… I rethought my decision. The line was as long as the line for Slash Mountain in Disneyland! Okay, I am exaggerating a bit... 

After I felt like I had spent enough money, I returned back to the little familiar town of Winnenden, Oma was there waiting and we drove home. What a great day! 

The next day, which was my last day there (the 23rd), we hardly did anything. It was good. I tried to do some more homework, without much success and later Oma took me to her garden. She and her husband had bought this piece of land a long time ago so that they could go somewhere to relax and tend the flowers. We hopped in the car and 30 minutes later we were there, to the only land that was and is fully Irmi Früh’s. A few years ago Oma’s sister got really sick, so she went to live with her and take care of her. The down side to this was that she needed to find a tenant for her garden while she was away. She left simple instructions for him to follow, but man must have been the daftest in all of Germany. He chopped down her Hazelnut tree and hacked down the majority of her beautiful flowers. This place of refuge and rest for my oma was no more. Her Garden house that her husband had built was not how she left it. The wall paper was peeling off due to maltreatment, and the man was trying to grow crops in places where light wouldn’t even reach. I wished that I could have met this man. I just couldn’t understand how someone could be so selfish, pigheaded and insensitive! If I met him I would replace the handshake with the face slap. Okay, probably not. But I would give him a slice of my mind-cake! 

We left the garden after about half an hour and headed to another small town. It was called Schorndorf. It was another beautiful town with cute timbered houses and cobble stone roads. We went up to the church to see if for some reason we could get in… But not such luck. Mystery that… We wondered around for a while and then headed back to the house. That night for dinner Oma made the most amazing meal! Bratwurst, red cabbage and the softest, fluffiest, lightest mashed potatoes that have ever entered my mouth! I went for seconds on the cabbage and potatoes right away. They were magic in my mouth! My oma makes the best red cabbage in Germany, probably in the world! She starts by sauteing onions and letting them soften and brown in butter. Then she slowly adds the cabbage and water, but not too much. Then she cuts up a small soft apple and adds it in with cloves and other spices. It will slowly cook for hours, filling the house with this magical aroma that could make full stomachs growl as though they were empty! Then she adds some burgundy wine into the bucket of dreams and in a short while it is finished. The result is sheer perfection in a deep shade of purple. When we finished dinner we relaxed for one more evening and in the morning I got ready to catch the 12:58 train making my way back to Regensburg. Thank you Oma for a very satisfying week of relaxation. I cannot wait to do it again.