Early in the week, I decided to run through the forest across the way from Molly and Rudolf’s house in Reinbek in attempts to compensate for the European bread diet overload. This was by far the prettiest path I’d ever run. It was bug free, shady, with zero humidity and sunlight trickling in through the leaves. I felt like I had jumped into an enchanted forest from a fairytale. Next thing I knew I was jogging through a golden wheat field under a cloudless blue sky. Unreal. Of course I ended up getting lost in this forest, which made for a longer run...probably a good thing. Maybe I’d go running more often if FC or Harrisonburg had an enchanted forest.
Also on Monday, Jo, Julia (Johanna and Torben's 4-month old), Katrin (Jo's sister), Annika (Katrin's daughter), and I visited a lake nearby in Reinbek. The Hamburgers (hehe) kept complaining about how “hot” the weather was. Although I don’t know the exact conversion equation from centigrade to fahrenheit, it was probably in the 80’s…but without humidity, which makes all the difference. They'd LOVE D.C. in August! This lake is a very special spot for them since it was where they spent most of their childhood summers.
Spending this summer in Europe, I've seen more than my share of naked children (including ages where it's no longer cute) and the lake was no exception. That's all I'll say about that.
Back home after a delicious dinner of salad and more bread (but who’s surprised?), Jo and I sipped on white wine in the candlelight and treated ourselves to pedicures on the back terrace. Rough life, I could get used to this. Our pedicures were interrupted, however, by a small slurping sound behind me in the garden…a hedgehog was on tiptoes drinking from the birdbath. I flipped. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hedgehog up close, and they’re as common as squirrels here. Nuts.
On Tuesday, Jo, Julia and I took a stroll around the Castle in Reinbek (also, the site of her and Torben's wedding ceremony). So lovely and right on the water. Every time I wanted to compare Reinbek to Falls Church, this castle and the enchanted forest put me in my place and reminded me how very far from home I actually was.
On Wednesday, Katrin, Annika, Jo, Julia (You-lee-uh) took me to Lunebourg, less than one hour from Reinbek. Lunebourg is a very picturesque little town with classic German architecture. We bought cherries from the farmer's market in front of the town hall...
...and strolled the cobblestone streets until we arrived at Katrin's old apartment. She spent her four years of college here, in the the red light district, no less....how's that for living on a college student's budget?
We finally settled down at an outdoor café for lunch and apfelssula (sp??) (apple juice and tonic water)--very popular here. Germans mix everything from juice to white wine with tonic.
Passing through St. Nicholai church, we stopped by to visit Jo's friend Henny, whose uncle happens to be the agent of a band called Tokio Hotel. She gave us a tour of their studio, which is attached to their already incredible house. Apparently, Tokio Hotel is extremely famous in Japan and Europe so they couldn't believe I'd never heard of the teeny band. If they ever strike it big in the States, I saw them here first.
Thursday, I ventured into Hamburg to take advantage of the sites (...and maybe do some shopping?? It had been almost a week after all). Once there, I met up with a free walking tour group, which provided a 3-hour orientation of the city. We visited town hall, the Chile Haus, the Afrika Haus, the new concert hall construction on the harbor, St. Nicholai:
...among a variety of other famous sites.
Jens and I had made vague plans to hang out at the conclusion of my tour. Phoning him to decide on a meeting place, our call timed out at 20 seconds, right after he asked the pivotal, "Where are you?" This began my 2-hour Vodafone adventure. Asking strangers where the nearest Vodafone shop was, I tried to put money on my card ASAP so I could call him back. Turned out that the closest Vodafone was a good 20-minute walk from where I was, but I had no other option. After spending at least 15 minutes conversing with the crankiest salesman I've ever encountered regarding my options, I discovered that my Spanish phone didn't support international service. The next option was to buy a German card in attempts to "fool" the phone into temporarily denying its Spanish heritage. This might have worked if my phone weren't the most primitive model ever created.
By this time, nearly an hour had gone by and Jens and I had no means of connecting. Frantic, I searched for a pay phone (a nearly dead form of communication today). Thankfully, I didn't have to look far before I spotted a pink T-Mobile box across the street. It took me a while to figure out why my coins weren't going in until someone told me I had to have a T-Mobile phone card to operate the machine. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?
This is when all my pride flew out the window and I humbled myself to the mercy of complete strangers. I approached the nearest passerby and offered her 2 euros to make a phone call on her cell...I'd made a human pay phone out of her. I tried to ignore the look on her face as she handed me the phone and my shaking fingers punched in Jen's number. I dialed twice, but got no response. NOW WHAT? This wasn't part of my plan. Had we been on Spanish time, this whole fiasco might have been forgivable, but Germans are painfully punctual. I was on German time and in the process of ruining a brand new friendship.
Feeling defeated and knowing full well I'd need to make more calls while in the country, I ventured back into Vodafone to shamelessly purchase an entirely new German phone. The salt in my wound was finding out that the "cheapest one possible" was out of stock in all 3 surrounding Vodafone stores. To make this already very long story a little bit shorter, I finally caved and bought the 50-euro phone and 10-euro phone card, leaving the store sniffly and teary-eyed.
Two hours after the initial call with Jens cut short, I tried him again. I guess you could call this the 60-euro phone call. Turns out he never got my missed calls and we didn't end up meeting. Good thing my dad loves Germany and can use this stupid phone when he comes back....an investment maybe?
In attempts to take my mind off the last two hours (I'll probably die an early death now from that maintained stress level) I ventured to the top of another St. Nicholai Cathedral that was partially bombed in WWII for an unimpressive skyline view. Still upset, I grabbed a Doner from a wine festival in the town square and did a little shopping in efforts to shake my mood.
Back "home" in Reinbek, Rudolf (Jo's dad) welcomed me at the metro station. Jo and Torben (who actually live in the city) had only been housesitting for Jo's parents while they were vacationing on an isle in the North Sea. Rudolf and Molly are adorable and I loved spending our few remaining evenings together sitting in their living room talking over fruit and ice cream. I love the way Rudolf says "garden" (yard) and "holiday" (vacation) as a result of his studies in British English. Molly's English is extremely limited and when Rudolf wasn't there to translate we did a lot of pointing and smiling. They really don't seem like such distant relatives to me :)
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