#illmensee

[thingsdavidlikes]

Illuminati by judith.kuhn

[ahmerinam]

Little Mountains by Ralph Hennrich Wood in a lake reflekting https://flic.kr/p/2oeP38t

[woshigulin]

Coming back from a drive to Lake Constance, we were entranced by the fields of canola. So beautifully yellow.

[keepcalmand-travel-on]

Ravensburg and Illmensee, Germany!

Once we got off the plane in Memmingen we were able to find the bus that took us to the train station, about a ten minute drive away. We had to wait for the train a bit so Michael bought a yummy pastry in a bakery/store at the station, and it was so German and delicious. Waiting for the train I already saw some people in 'traditional' German clothes, most likely headed to Oktoberfest. This would be the first of MANY people we'd see like this. Once our train arrived we took it to another station where we transferred to get to Ravensburg. However...the trains in Germany are very serious about leaving on time...so we got stuck on our train (mostly because i'm slow) and had to get off at the next stop, and take a local train BACK to Ravensburg where we finally got off, about 40mins after we were supposed to. Germany is confusing. So is German.  Anyway, so it took us a while to get in contact with Michael's cousin, Veronica, but we finally did and she came to meet us at the station. Veronica speaks Spanish, her first language, and German (because her husband is German) so there was a lot of translation going on during our stay..haha. Then she gave us a tour of the area! Ravensburg isn't a very large town, but there are a lot of cool buildings and churches to see. We had a German sandwhich that sort of tasted like a hot dog, but it was a patty (not a sausage) and on some type of kaiser ish roll, and it was much tastier than a hot dog. We also had some coffee in a cafe, which was lovely since Michael and I had woken up so early in the morning.  Veronica took us in one church that was large and almost entirely made of stone, so it was very cold. Most of the churches in Germany are like this, she told us, and the architecture was very cool, but very spooky too. There was even a skull on the wall! Creepy. She also took us to the top of a tower near the center of town (LOTS of steps), which gave us an amazing view everything (pictures to come). Once we were done touring Ravensburg (and Veronica picked up some candy for her kids, and some other odds and ends), we got our train tickets to Munich for the next day, and then began our journey to Illmensee, where Veronica lives with her family.  Illmensee is a VERY rural town, that only has several thousand people living in it, so everyone knows each other, and it's very quaint. Veronica's husband Chris works in construction, and even built their house (and a lot of things in it), which they are moving into soon. They currently were living with Chris's parents, who live right next door. Their house was really beautiful, and had a garden and turkeys out back (and an adorable fluffy bunny). Chris's parents own a farm also, and it was so peaceful and refreshing to be surrounded by so much open space and clean air (definitely a change from London!). Veronica's two kids were absolutely adorable. Her daughter, the oldest, is Noemy, and her youngest, her son Mael. Noemy spoke Spanish and German both very well, and she was a bit shy when she first met us. Mael spoke mostly German, but he does know some Spanish, he just is more comfortable speaking German. I really need to step up my game and learn Spanish!! Mael was a little shy at first, but he was definitely a character, and so full of energy.  Chris's parents speak German, and know a few phrases in Spanish, but they were very welcoming (just as Veronica and Chris were). Plus, Chris's mom was an awesome cook! She made a fruit cake for our arrival and it was delicious. Michael and I took a much needed nap a little after we arrived. The way the house was set up, it was split into sections almost, so we basically had our own side of the house for the weekend, which was lovely. Our room was positioned so we could see the sun rise in the morning, and the windows looked out onto the backyard, such a beautiful view. Once we had our nap, Veronica and Chris took us into the town center to their favorite bar, where we had some German beer and chicken wings and french fries! Yay fried, delicious foods!! My beer was pretty good, kind of like a typical Miller or something, but Michael's was a combination of beer and coke, which was muchhh better, haha. Chris spoke German, Spanish, and some English as well, so Michael didn't have to translate everything, luckily for him haha. The bar was small, and very homey and warm. The outside had a tiki ish theme and was all lit up and really neat looking, but we ate inside because of the cold weather at night. It was really nice to learn more about Germany, and about Chris and Veronica. Once we got back to their house, we were absolutely exhausted, and we had an early bus to catch around 8am, which would take us back to the Ravensburg train station, so we could get to Munich a little after noon. Our Germany trip was definitely filled with LOTS of travel, but we saw so much!  Next post will include Munich and Oktoberfest adventures, auf wiedersehen for now!