We're German, German 2
- krolesh
- Aug 22, 2024
- 5 min read
To Germania
My Flixbuses to Stuttgart travelled via Milano and then Heidelberg, and then I was booked on a Flixtrain from there to Stutty.
Following those Appenines again, northwest this time
Lampugnano bus and train station, on the outskirts of Milano, was pretty dodgy at night. I arrived there very late, hung for a couple of hours, and then caught my overnight connecting Flixbus to Heidelberg. It was tiring, after already being on a bus for a whole day.
TV screen built into the mirror in the toilets at Heidelberg Hbf. Never seen that before.
I had three hours to kill there, so I drank coffee and ate Laugenbrezeln, my favouritest of German savoury bakery snacks.
Baiereck
After the usual Deutschebahn (German railway company) delays, I finally made it to Ebersbach, and Manu and Carmen were waiting at the station to greet me.
It was so great to see them, especially because it was sort of a spontaneous thing. I hadn't stopped off in Germany at the beginning of this little Europe trip because I wanted to keep the whole trip short so I didn't miss the Central Asian summer, but, luckily, the universe had other ideas.
Carmen and Manu have been living at Gudrun and Michael's place, a beautiful local couple who have a farm in the tiny village of Baiereck, and have horses and other animals (which Manu loves), and a big garden (which Carmen loves).
Carmen seems to have made a career out of rejuvenating and making other people's gardens beautiful and productive, and then harvesting the organic produce to cook up all sorts of delectable storms, for herself and others.
I've gotta say that in my opinion Carmen probably treads the lightest on this planet of all of the people I know (which is a lot), and, with all her tree planting and garden magic, her carbon footprint is probably in credit, I'd say.
As opposed to mine, after a lifetime of stomping around the planet.
I'm trying though.
Gudrun and Michael have been so welcoming of me over the years, I've stayed with them a couple of times already, and, although they had their own family coming, they still made room for me at their place. Sweeties.
The view from my upstairs window.
I spent the next couple of days and nights just chilling out on the farm, going for walks, helping a little here and there, jamming with Manu, and visiting other friends nearby. It was so restful and nurturing.
Michael and Gudrun are also musicians, run music classes and choirs, and have a stack of instruments, including 2 beautiful pianos. The bliss!
The other hand's holding the phone
Manu with her buddies.
Very healthy looking rooster
Flowers galore
The first night we went to a birthday gathering and jammed. It was fun, and I met some super nice people.
One day Claudi and Matthias invited us to go for a stroll along a little river near their place. I know those guys through Carmen, both are super lovely people, very accomplished musicians too, and we've had many amazing jams over the years. They're the sweetest people ever.
Strolling through the fields
See the Schloss, or castle, on the hill?
Carmen and Manu playing games
The swimming hole
Looking up at the cosmic truth, from a lie
Mum, dad, and our darling progeny
Manu's art shots
In other words, danger, high voltage
Green, burgundy and purple blackberries
And black ones
Fresh apples. Ahhhh, summer!
A bee home
We couldn't resist our sweet teeth, and went to get gelati
Later we went back to Claudi and Matthias' pad, jammed, and ate the most delicious dinner.
They cooked it on their solar cooker. Works a treat.
One afternoon I borrowed Michael's bike and rode to Uhingen, to visit Manu at her supermarket job.
It was green and delicious
Shoppingland
Hell beer. Hell means bright, not hellish. Erheltlich means available. Get the multicultural vibe.
Manu carrying the Dolomites
If you're a Kaufland member, you can pick these scanners up as you enter the supermarket, and scan your products as you put them in your trolley, then pay at the end.
Later I sat in an Italian-named café and ordered a big cappuccino. After I'd ordered in German and went to pay, the waiter rattled something off in very fast German, and, before giving my brain time to think, I replied, "ah, mi dispiace, non parlo italiano." (sorry, I don't speak Italian). D'oh. Forgot where I was, didn't I. He looked at me blankly for awhile and then said, "Deutsch Oder Englisch." Ooops, sorry cobber, me brain went into a spin.
Beautiful traditional fachwerk buildings
It was stunning riding home in the eve.
Baiereck is famous for its glassblowers. The green thing is a "book wardrobe," basically a free swap library.
"In the valley of the happy."
Later Manu and I went off to walk Kalle, Gudrun and Michael's rather large, and very sweet, dog.
Indian neighbours
Please don't eat me
Manu knows these two stocky fellas from when they lived at Gudrun and Michael's. Unfortunately they really trashed one of the paddocks, as it was raining for weeks at that time, and each bull weighs about the same as a small truck.
Home sweet home
And so it was eventually time to leave Germany. Amazingly, another flight was cancelled the night before I left, and I got an extra day and night. But eventually I had to go.
Bobby summed up my jammin' German leg perfectly, just in case you were wondering where I got the blog title from:
What an amazing three and a half weeks it's been in Europe. I got the chance to catch up with Manu and Michael, to hang with Brad and Amy, Rich and Imo, to meet Gerry and Monica in Dublin, to feast on the the joys of southern Italy in the summer, and to spend an extra few unexpected days with Manu and Carmen in Germany.
This is the Italian and German parts of my trip. I started in Napoli, hung around the Adriatic coast for awhile, then returned to Napoli and bussed and trained it to Stuttgart and Baiereck.
Europe's amazing, I've gotta say. The countryside is beautiful, and cared for. The food is unbelievably good. The cultures and languages are so diverse, and so interesting.
I'd better go back.
Oh yeah, I am going back. In fact, I'm riding there, I forgot.
But before then I've got many lands to explore. And mountains to climb.
For now, it's time to go back to the land of horses, of hard salty qurut, of vast fields, towering mountain passes, round, plain bread, and warm, welcoming smiles.
Yeah, it's time to return to Kyrgyzstan.
Go to Part 3
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