My day started at 3 am, thank you Jet Lag. I came downstairs and wrote my 1st blog post and WhatsApp’d with Kenji as it was 6 pm back home. I finally was tired enough by 5:30 am to back to bed and slept well until 7:30 am. The home we are staying in has no curtains or blinds on the windows, only pull up blinds for halfway up from the floor so Naila can’t see cats or other animals crossing through the yard to prevent unnecessary barking and scratching at the doors. It makes for bright and early mornings with the sun rising around 5 am. We are so far north that it doesn’t start to get dark until 10:30 pm.
I had been asked prior to arriving what I would like for my 1st breakfast, Broetchen (a German crusty bread roll that is pillowy soft inside) or Museli with homemade yogurt and fruit. I LOVE Bröetchen especially when it’s served traditionally with meats like salami and wurst, cheeses, tomato and sliced cucumber. Bröetchen was my answer and the toppings offered were cream cheese and homemade strawberry/rhubarb jam as well as homemade elderberry jelly, but I wished later I had known Bröetchen was their tradition for Sat. breakfast and I’d be having it then, for I would’ve chosen Museli. Mom had Museli and I tried a bite and it delicious! They have an espresso type machine and I had a cappuccino. Anja says she has 8 coffees a day! I was surprised until I realized they were all cappuccino sized.
I showered after breakfast and then Anja (I realized I didn’t clarify the pronunciation of her name yesterday. It’s An-ya). Mom and I went to the city center to shop the Farmer’s Market for ingredients for dinner. We were in search of zucchini and bell peppers. We did not find any bell peppers, but we did pick up some sugar snap peas, almond stuffed green olives, tomatoes and fennel. We walked by a drug store and I told Mom I wanted to go in and find an eye pencil and lipstick as I had left mine at home. After testing several colors on my hand I found a shade I liked as well as an eye pencil that was similar to one I left at home. We made our purchase and I was extremely grateful to have Mom’s German-speaking ability along!
We went home and relaxed a little before a light lunch of more Bröetchen along with the anticipated tomato, cucumber and cheese. After lunch Mom and I went to Remscheid, the neighboring town where Mom lived with her German AFS family (Anja’s mother is Mom’s AFS German sister) in the summer of 1956 and where Anja and Herbert (pronounced Hair-bear-t)lived in the family home until Anja’s mother, Eva, died 3 years ago. Mom and I explored the city center while Anja was at her PT appt. Our only task was to find bell peppers at the small Farmer’s Market, which we did and we picked up some strawberries, too. We walked a Santa Monica Promenade-esque street with clothing stores, street food type stalls with hot dogs, frites (pronounced fry-ts in Germany) and currywurst as well as pizza and ice cream and coffees.
We found a stationary store and Mom expressed a desire to buy a birthday card for a friend as well as thank you cards for Anja and Herbert. We spent some time perusing the cards and finding the best ones, Mom translating them for me. I was surprised to see how many cards said “Happy Birthday” in English on the front of the card. Inside the message was in German. We wandered through the Allee Center, the local mall, and went to City Hall, where Anja and Herbert were married. Mom and I did a whirlwind 4 day trip in May 2002 to come to their wedding, 6 months before Kenji & I were married. There was a celebration in front today that looked to be a post-wedding one as well. It is common in Germany to have the legal ceremony take place at City Hall and have the reception later elsewhere, as we did with Anja & Herbert 20 years ago.
We found our way back to the car park and reunited with Anja and went home. We got Naila into the car and went for an hour long walk in the nearby forest that surrounds the local reservoir. It’s a chance for Naila to get out for an extended period of time and for Anja to continue Naila’s training, always training, she says. A ouch off dog treat is reached into often when proper behavior is exhibited. We pass many people in the forest and Anja keeps Naila on a short leash right next to her at the times and allows and much longer leash when we are alone. Naila is prompted to jump up on tree stumps on wood benches along the way and she eagerly does so and receives a treat as a reward. The forest was so lush and quiet, beautiful, peaceful and unlike anything near our home in Pasadena. I am envious of the deep green I see everywhere here and no need to be careful with water spenditure. The temperatures are low-mid 70’s.
When we got home from our walk it was time for a piece of cake that Herbert had made a few days ago and a coffee. I passed on the coffee and after sitting still for a bit and not being on the go, jet lag caught up with me and I decided to take a nap. Mom woke me at 6 pm and said dinner would be at 7, that Anja was preparing it now and I got up to go see how she was going to put all the ingredients together. When I got downstairs I saw she had already put some macaroni-type pasta in the bottom of a roasting pan and was slicing up the zucchini and yellow squash to put on top. The red bell peppers were added as well as carrots, the sugar snap peas and fennel that had been blanched. Sliced tomato was scattered around and the almond stuffed olives were tucked in here and there. Dried herbs were shaken all around and Emmental cheese was grated over the top. Anja made a crème fraishe, egg and corn starch mixture and poured it all around to bind the casserole type dish all together. It was baked for 30 mins and then fennel fronds were sprinkled all over and it was served. Delicious! The 4 of us ate almost a whole pan of it, leaving only 2 small servings for possible lunch tomorrow.
Herbert seems pleased that I drink wine. :) I had red wine with dinner last night and 3 small glasses of a sweet white wine tonight. He drinks wine while Anja is a beer drinker. We sat outside for serval hours talking around their fire pit. It is simple, small and square, very heavy and Mom wants one. I have my marching orders for Christmas!
Herbert was interested in the 2nd half of the German/Denmark Women’s soccer match taking place as part of the European Football Competition taking place in England. Mom wandered inside every so often for a score update. I am eternally grateful Anja’s English is as good as it is. My German is nowhere near as good. I can understand a topic being discussed but not any details. She shared what’s been going on with her the last few years and her struggles with work and mental anguish after her mother’s death. She does not currently work and Herbert is retired. His health issues have forced him to not be able to be active anymore and she is sad for their loss of bike riding together and being outdoors doing sports together. She says she needs sport in her life to keep busy and not overthink things and life. Being home during the pandemic has been most difficult but necessary. She is annoyed at people here who are not wearing masks indoors anymore.
We are farther north than I am at home and it really didn’t start to get dark until 10:30 pm here. We sat at the fire pit til late and after brushing our teeth, Mom and I crawled into bed at 11:30 pm. Here’s hoping I don’t wake up too early tomorrow and am able to go a full day without a jet lag nap and am fully acclimated to the time change!
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