Sweet Chris surprised me with a ticket to go and visit my half sister Julie and my brother-in-law Al in Heidelberg, Germany for the week of Thanksgiving! It was just me--Chris and the kids went to his sister's house in Dallas.
I had such a wonderful time with Julie and Al. We rode bikes everywhere as they don't have a car. I thought Julie was just not used to the cold because they moved to Germany from Hawaii, well, I was wrong it was cold and oh so beautiful!
This is the only time that I will appear taller than Al (he's kneeling!)
We shopped, talked, ate, slept, and read--all my favorite things! It was great to be able to do these things with Julie and really be sisters.
Al's job is so interesting! He has discovered a satellite that orbits something (eeks I forget what) and designs telescopes. We got to go to a lecture by an astrobiologist--that's someone who looks for life on other planets. I was in heaven--those of you who know my love of sci fi will understand!
Gate to the observatory.
Cool new building designed like a spiral galaxy.
Julie and her bike--see the little basket hanging from the side of the bike--you can't buy more than fits in the basket, but trust me we found ways to cram a lot of purchases in there!
Two of my best purchases! Julie knows the best shoe stores!
Here's Julie in her new hat that she bought at the same shop where I got my coat...
We went to every glasses store in the whole city looking for glasses for me...
Eventually, I decided that I wasn't hip enough for any of them, so I didn't buy any, but boy Julie was patient while I tried them all on!!
She also knows the best chocolate--yum! We bought plenty of it!
Ridiculously thick hot chocolate at this great little chocolate shop--look at the viscosity of it!
Did I mention it was cold--especially when you are riding your bike everywhere even late at night! Here is what we looked like all bundled up...
Here's how we locked up the bikes before we got a second bike lock...
Hee, hee! We must be both trusting people! We got a bike lock for the "guest bike" soon after I arrived. We also got a bike light because riding home at night with no lights especially through the section of the road they call "the Dark Ages" (the part with no lights) is a little sketchy!
Riding over these is bumpy and makes your tires make a funny noise. The first time I heard it I thought that I got a flat tire.
Here's the Old Bridge over which we'd ride into town every day...
The town really is like something out of a fairytale storybook...
Common door knobs shaped like little mushrooms...
View from the Castle...
It was Christmas heaven...
We went to wonderful adventmarts and I bought tons of Christmas ornaments and drank kinderpunch--the kid version of warm wine. You need it to keep warm! Julie and I had so much fun wondering around the adventmarts and eating and shopping. The one at the monastery was right out of the Sound of Music!
We also made a delicious Thanksgiving dinner! It was so spontaneous and low stress and was truly delicious! Preparing it was half the fun!
