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Marcus and I in Heidelberg

Jetlag, you know... and that's why I'm wide awake right now, so why not post a couple more pics of our trip?

Mia and Tobi, after waking up from a mid-day nap! (Tobi flew in from New York and was also a bit jetlagged)

• Mia seemed to be dead-scared of "Onkel Marcus" at first. Just a look at his face and she'd start crying!!! The poor guy! But music heals the soul, and soon enough, she was on his lap playing the piano!
  

Pling, plang, plong!

And if she wasn't performing herself, she'd be dancing to the music (in her very own style!!! What a sight!). Oma Eva is clapping along!

• We met up with Marcus' dad and visited Mainz and Heidelberg
  

Marcus and Gerhard in Heidelberg

I especially have fond memories of Heidelberg, as I was an Erasmus-student there in 1997-98. I hadn't been back since then. Seemed like the town hadn't changed much!

Kornplatz. From here, we walked up to the Schloss...

and enjoyed a beautiful view over the city and its "alte Bruecke"

Of course, we also visited a typical German Brauhaus and tasted the beer.

Marcus at Brauhaus Vetter having the famous Vetter 33

In Mainz, we visited the St. Stephan church which is well-known for its blue windows designed by Marc Chagall. Impressive!

It did make the church look very blue!!!

Hey, it looks as if it says "Mia"!!!

We had a nice stroll around town, with the necessary coffee and wine breaks :-) and saw the sun set over the Rhine.


And voila, that was it! It was really great to spend time and get to know better my German relatives. Hope we will see each other again soon!

Saying goodbye to Mia. One last picture...

Tchuess!

eine Woche Deutschland!

Arrival at Hauptbahnhof Stuttgart

I've been away for a while, because we were busy visiting friends and family in Germany! We've been back since last Thursday, and I am still recovering from jetlag... But it was soooooo worth it!

Things I loved:

• Seeing my little niece Mia (Tobi's little girl) for the first time. She just turned two and she is the smartest 2-year old I've ever met, no kidding! She knows soooo many words already (actually, hanging out with her proved beneficial for my own German language skills!!!) and is able to say short sentences. She blew me away when I took a picture of her and she asked me: "Hat's geklappt?" or when we went out for a walk and she exclaimed: "Yippie! Jetzt geht's los!" or when we were looking in a children's book and she saw a picture of a lantern and started singing "Laterne, Laterne" (a well-known German children's song) or when she was eating and explained to us that "Mia erst Mund leer essen" (so well-behaved!) before she could take the next bite or when she insisted on "Mia auch ein Prosit machen!" or, or, or... the list goes on and on!
  

Here she's having a blast with daddy's hat:

Putting it on...

... and loving it!

What's up, man?

Kicking ass

You go girl!

• Spending a day in Munich and meeting up with Christoph "Chrissi" Rummel and his wife Sabine, and Matthias "Matze" Lupp, Marcus' old hockey-friends.

Enjoying a beer and a bretzel at "Zum Franziskaner". Doesn't Chrissi totally look like Ralph Fiennes??? Matze hadn't arrived yet, so is not pictured.

We were lucky with the weather! Blue skies and sunshine, it made Munich look very beautiful!

Frauenkirche

Viktualienmarkt

• Sightseeing in Stuttgart with my mother-in-law Eva and my parents (who drove down to Stuttgart for the weekend, thanks mom and dad!!!)

With Eva and my dad at the restaurant in the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart where we enjoyed a terrific view over the Schlossplatz

This is the view of the Schlossplatz

• Getting a "fresh nose" in the fields of Ostfildern - Ruit
  
  
  My mom and me
  
  
  
  Mia was ook van de partij (mit Papagai!)
  
  
  
  en de papa ook
  
  
  
  The whole gang (Tobi took the picture)
  

• Seeing Rainer Gombos and his family again!
  
  

• and many many more people (Peter, Silke, Folko!)
  
  
  Avondje uit in "Die Krone" in Kemnat
  
  Time for a break. I will post more pictures later!