Day 2

Gutten Tag!

Today was our long travel day into our first day in Germany. On the plane I watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2, When Harry met Sally, and the new Beauty and the Beast. Needless to say, I did not sleep on our flight to Frankfurt. We met our tour guide Julia at the airport and headed to Bonn. Ben asked us if we wanted to play the alphabet game on the back of the bus. This consisted of me, Ben, Corey, Zack, and the team of Vinny and Sam to name a few of the people playing. How do you play? Well you find words outside of the bus that start with each letter of the alphabet, whoever gets to Z first wins. Ben ended up winning, and Vinny and Sam ended up coming in second. It was a great game for us to waste time on our hour and a half drive.

We then made it to Bonn and we had an hour and a half to grab lunch. Bonn was the main city in Germany before the Iron Curtain fell. First, Sasha and I went looking through the streets by Beethoven’s birth place. I felt like I was in Vienna again with the street markets, cobbled stone roads, and narrowed streets. We met up with Zack and Connor and found a cute market shop down a street. I got a spinach quiche and Sasha got an espresso. We went to a different restaurant for lunch where Sasha and Connor got a special dish with meat rolled in cabbage.

They both enjoyed it a lot. It reminded Sasha of a Russian dish her aunt makes called Goluptsi.

It was time for us to head to our tour of Beethoven’s childhood home. Beethoven was baptized on December 17, 1770. In those days, when babies were born, it was not documented but baptism’s were. Baptism’s happened soon after birth to make sure the babies do not die. Inside we saw the original Beethoven painting,which is what I’ve been seeing in my music classes since middle school!!! When Beethoven was 7, his father made him perform because he was very talented. Mozart was famous around this time and he became a prodigy at 6. Beethoven’s father lied on the announcement of his performance that he was 6 when he was really 7. He did the same thing when Beethoven was 12 writing the 9 variations on the theme of Dressler, saying he was 10. We saw the room that Beethoven was born in, and even saw an original manuscript of his symphony #6. It was incredible to be in this wonderful building! To think that they almost tore it down! 12 citizen’s of Bonn could not have Beethoven’s home destroyed. They decided to restore it and make it a museum 150 years ago. Even though we were jet lagged, this was a wonderful way to start our trip.

When we got back on the bus, everyone took a long nap before meeting our host families in Schwelm.

Sasha and I had already been in contact with our host family for about a week. Eva reached out to us asking about our dietary distractions because she wanted us to have a traditional German meal.

We got to the church and we instantly had a feeling we knew who Eva and Marco were. They told us they stalked us on Facebook and we were greeted with big hugs. We drove to their house which is just outside of Schwelm. Eva’s parents live downstairs and we would be staying in the room next door to Eva and Marco. Boy we lucked out on host families y’all!! We immediately clicked with both Eva and Marco. They have a white cat named Ida, who’s deaf, but is the sweetest cat who loves her belly rubbed. They gave us beer that was originally made right here in Schwelm. They also gave us the famous wine we’ve heard about that is only served around Christmas time, glühwein.

They showed us how our choir is in their paper!We are famous here in Schwelm 🙂

Alright y’all. If you don’t know me, I am quite a picky eater. So for everyone who doesn’t believe me… I will share what I eat and you are just going to be stunned this whole trip!!This is our dinner Eva made for us. Duck, rosenkohl (Brussel sprouts), rotkohl (cabbage), klöße (potato with potato starch). Eva made a kosher version of klöße for me because I can’t eat meat and cheese together. I ATE EVERYTHING! It was all so delicious! Who knew I would like duck!? Yes mom and Dad I ate Brussel sprouts, all of them. They had a broccoli type taste, but I don’t know if I would eat it again. Eva’s parents joined us for dinner, and we helped them work on their English.

After dinner we lit the Hannakah candles for the first night of Hannakah. It was the first time Sasha and our host family had seen it done. Sasha has to deal with me the rest of the 7 nights, but it was fun to say the prayers and share my religion with them. Eva’s mother showed us the picture book she made for her granddaughter. They went on a trip to Berlin in August, and she wanted us to see where we should visit while we are there for 2 days.

Eva, Marco, and Eva’s parents will be staying with Dr. Walker when they come to visit Ohio next October. I’m so happy we get to have one more night with this family!!

Sasha and Marco bonded over Soccer and we all watched the Dortmund game, Marco’s favorite team. They won 2-0 and Marco was wearing his jersey to support.

I did try this dessert that Eva made with her father. It is almond paste with jelly and sugar. Mom and Dad, I hated this. I had to spit it out 😬 BUT I did try it! In Eva’s words, “You either love almond paste or you hate it.” I also just tried an almond covered with sugar and spices…. also did not like it. It’s a texture thing y’all.

Well it’s about time to head to bed and finally get a good nights sleep. Sasha and I are pampered with bottles of water and a kinder chocolate Santa left in our room. Tomorrow we head to Köln to sing in one of the most BEAUTIFUL cathedrals!

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