We were now heading into the country I was most excited to explore for it's wealth of history and culture.
Our first stop in Deutschland was in the small town of Esslingen where we spent a quick two nights visiting Nina's lovely and very charismatic grandma, Omi.
We were given an enthusiastic welcome to her home as she waved us in from her fifth floor balcony. When I stepped in the door her warmth and eagerness to provide us with a comfortable hospitality was prevalent, as was her desire to practise her few English phrases.
Literally seconds after arriving at the apartment I was introduced to one of the many German traditions that is practiced in homes throughout the country, "kaffee und kuchen".
The Germans are famous for their sweet tooth, and I had first noticed this on the boat when there was a special cupboard assigned to sweets to satisfy the Germans and the Swiss on-board!
On the table was a selection of enormous slices of different German cakes... apricot cheesecake, chocolate cake, plum cake and a forest berry and chocolate sponge variety.
It is routine for each person to eat an entire piece each, and not being a fan of cakes made this a difficult task for me!
With absolutely no appetite for food have just scoffed down the last of the cake we returned to the table to share dinner together. Nina couldn't keep the smile off her face as her favourite German dish was laid out in front of her, Moultasshen soup. I sat at the table rather lost in the German conversation that was unwinding in front of me, catching perhaps one in every hundred words.
The following day Nina and I were eager to try and walk off the extra kilos gained from the following evening, so we woke early and left the apartment. We followed a little path up alongside a number of farms, again filled with apple trees. We stopped at the top and took a big bite from one of the apples from the tree and were overcome with happiness at it's crunchy texture.
When we retuned to Omi's she had already prepared us a breakfast of fruit, muesli and tea. We went into the city later that morning to have a look around and buy a gift for Nina's great Aunty who was celebrating her 95th birthday.
That afternoon together with all of Nina's German relatives we went to a local restaurant for a second round of kaffee und kuchen for the birthday party. It was a very overwhelming experience as I sat in a room of about fifty Germans who couldn't speak a word of English. There was a lot of nodding and smiling on my behalf over the following few hours.
In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant with a panoramic view of the town and spent the final hours sharing some drinks at a local bar in the centre with Nina's cousin and her partner.
After a few slow days and the excitement to get to Berlin I was eager to get back on the road, so on Sunday morning we prepared ourselves for another day travelling on trains.
Our first stop in Deutschland was in the small town of Esslingen where we spent a quick two nights visiting Nina's lovely and very charismatic grandma, Omi.
We were given an enthusiastic welcome to her home as she waved us in from her fifth floor balcony. When I stepped in the door her warmth and eagerness to provide us with a comfortable hospitality was prevalent, as was her desire to practise her few English phrases.
Literally seconds after arriving at the apartment I was introduced to one of the many German traditions that is practiced in homes throughout the country, "kaffee und kuchen".
The Germans are famous for their sweet tooth, and I had first noticed this on the boat when there was a special cupboard assigned to sweets to satisfy the Germans and the Swiss on-board!
On the table was a selection of enormous slices of different German cakes... apricot cheesecake, chocolate cake, plum cake and a forest berry and chocolate sponge variety.
It is routine for each person to eat an entire piece each, and not being a fan of cakes made this a difficult task for me!
With absolutely no appetite for food have just scoffed down the last of the cake we returned to the table to share dinner together. Nina couldn't keep the smile off her face as her favourite German dish was laid out in front of her, Moultasshen soup. I sat at the table rather lost in the German conversation that was unwinding in front of me, catching perhaps one in every hundred words.
The following day Nina and I were eager to try and walk off the extra kilos gained from the following evening, so we woke early and left the apartment. We followed a little path up alongside a number of farms, again filled with apple trees. We stopped at the top and took a big bite from one of the apples from the tree and were overcome with happiness at it's crunchy texture.
When we retuned to Omi's she had already prepared us a breakfast of fruit, muesli and tea. We went into the city later that morning to have a look around and buy a gift for Nina's great Aunty who was celebrating her 95th birthday.
That afternoon together with all of Nina's German relatives we went to a local restaurant for a second round of kaffee und kuchen for the birthday party. It was a very overwhelming experience as I sat in a room of about fifty Germans who couldn't speak a word of English. There was a lot of nodding and smiling on my behalf over the following few hours.
In the evening we had dinner at a restaurant with a panoramic view of the town and spent the final hours sharing some drinks at a local bar in the centre with Nina's cousin and her partner.
After a few slow days and the excitement to get to Berlin I was eager to get back on the road, so on Sunday morning we prepared ourselves for another day travelling on trains.
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