Showering with friends!
At the beginning of our trip Marvin and I decided that even though we had set some distance goals for our daily rides, we would not let distance govern the use of our time. In other words, how far we travel is not as important as where we go or who we meet on the way. We had been warned that one of the problems with "warm showers" was that you met such wonderful people that you stayed up chatting, didn't find time to work on your blog and could have your schedule thrown off. This was a risk we were willing to take. As a person of German descent who adored my father, his sister and many other German people I have know, it was as important to me that Marvin got to enjoy the German people just as much as he did the scenery. Therefore, when he suggested we seek out places to stay through warm showers, I was game and, boy, did that turn out to be a good decision!
Our first night out we stayed with Sven Wildermuth and his parents Eberhart and Irmgard. First Sven met us in the town square of Steinheim, a lovely small town on the Murr River. The Murr is a tributary of the Neckar. Right away he aided us with our bike lock problem and played translator to a very enthusiastic lover of Canada. He then led us up to his parent's home where we were greeted warmly by his father. Sven enjoyed a warm greeting from his girlfriend, Annika, who had been away for a while and was surprising him by being there. It is hard to describe how welcoming and generous these people were. First we were offered some welcomed drinks and a refreshing shower. I actually chose a cool show and all the warmth was in the welcome we received.
We were shown to our room which turned out to be a suite in the lower floor. Along with a bed we had a living room, kitchen, and our own bathroom. We were shown where water and juice were in the fridge! Once were we clean and presentable, back up stairs we went to discover Sven making dinner and the table on the terrace beautifully set. While all of this was lovely the truly nice part was sitting and chatting with everyone.
Sven is a handsome young man with a quick smile and a warm, accepting nature. He is an environmentalist and it was evident in his parents garden, solar panels and food choices that stewardship of this planet we make home is of great importance to him. His father, Eberhart, was equally warm and welcoming and is obviously proud of the man his son is. Annika is finishing off her degree in primary education and I think anyone whose children get her as a teacher will be very lucky.
The five of us chatted until the sun started to set at which time Sven pointed to a hedgehog scurrying across the garden. In the fall Sven and his mother had piled some leaves and twigs under the trees in their garden in hopes of encouraging hedgehogs to hibernate there. The little fellow we saw was the first evidence they had that it had worked. Once he was under the tree we could hear rustling of the dry leaves. Neither Marvin of I had ever seen a hedgehog in the wild, so to speak, so we were quite excited. Sven and his father were equally pleased as their plan had worked. They shared that re establishing hedgehogs was an environmental goal in the area. As it got dark it was agreed that we would all get up for a 0700 breakfast together. We said good bye to Annika, who head home, wished every one a good night and headed down for a sound sleep.
The next morning we were pleased to meet Irmgard, Sven's mother. She had been out with friends the previous evening so had been unable to join our chatter. Like the rest of the family, Irmgard is a warm, welcoming person. We enjoyed a wonderful German breakfast. We were also encouraged to fix ourselves sandwiches for our lunch.
By the time we headed off on the next leg of our journey we felt we were saying good bye to old friends. We also couldn't imagine that we could ever have as wonderful host again. We were wrong.
On day four of out trip we cycled into Heidelberg. There we had arranged to stay with the family Glauer; want an amazing group they are. Three years ago Martin and Julie decided they wanted to tour the world by bike with their four little boys. At the time the oldest was four and the youngest was still a babe in arms. Their blog can be found by googling Global Mobile Family. This is a very busy family so for them to open their door to us is a testament to what wonderful people there are in this world. For Marvin and I it was a treat to be surrounded by little boys again. The energy, noise and cuddles were just what we needed! I even got to introduce them to Groover on my iPad and read several bedtime stories. Just to clarify, Julie is British and Martin is German. Julie speakers to the boys in English and Martin speaks to them in German. As a result there are four fully bi-lingual little men. Even the three year old moves from one language to the other with out any problem. It was quite adorable to hear the boys speaking English with both British and German accents combined! They provided me with story books written in English and seemed to quite enjoy my interpretation of several of their books.
Martin works in Stuttgart in environmental works. I find it interesting that the two people who have reached out to us work in the environmental industry. Martin and Julie do all their moving about by bike or train. All three boy ride bikes but they also have trailers they can pull if the littlest get tired. The boys are seven year old Moses, six year old Caspar, four year old Turis, and three year old Herbie ( my apologies if I got the ages wrong). On the day we arrived Moses and Caspar were playing outside and were very excited to greet us. Martin helped Marvin to store the bikes in the basement and then up the stairs to the second floor we went. They have a lovely three bedroom flat with high ceilings and amazingly clean and well organized for a home with four energetic little boys. We enjoyed watching them pull out their toys to play and were impressed when they tidied everything up before sitting down for dinner. The Glauers have an extra room on the fourth floor of their building set up as a guest room for friends. There is/was also a toilette with sink. They shared that they had been in the building for over a year and had been waiting for the landlord to get the rather rustic toilette area renovated. We were pleased just to have water access and a toilet. The bedroom was set up nicely and the bed was comfy. We stayed with the Glauers two nights so we would have a full day to explore Heidelberg. It was a bit of a surprise when in the morning of our first day we discovered the toilet being taken apart for the renovations. Glauers then very graciously let us move into their space to sleep on their pull out couch and have access to their toilet (a night time need for us ladies of a certain age).
Our first evening we were treated to a wonderful meal. One of the things Julie does to ensure her boys eat well is to serve all the vegetables first. The boys love meat and if given the chance will fill up on meat if it is served first. By serving the veggies first she ensure the boys eat vegetables and don't over eat meat. I thought it was a brilliant idea for anyone. She had made a wonderful salad, cooked yams and quinoa salad. We ate our fill of those and then enjoyed some good bratwurst and grilled pork.
Staying up and chatting was fun for us but I think a bit of a sacrifice for Martin who gets up at 0500 to commute to work. Julie also has an early 0600 start to her day as she gets up, makes breakfast and lunches and organizes four little boys out the door by 0800. Our first full day in Heidelberg we spent the morning relaxing in their home ( I just might have slept in until 0900). In the afternoon we bought a tram pass and headed into town. We decided that by doing that we could go where we wanted without having to worry about the bikes. Once in town we grabbed a sandwich for lunch and wandered through the altstadt. Heidelberg is a very old city so the old bridge and old area are really lovely. The streets were full of university students on their lunch break. Heidelberg has several universities so is a buzz with life even if there are not many tourists about. We enjoyed the main square by the Rathaus (town-hall) and then walked on to the Cornplatz.
In the Cornplatz you are able to take a funicular tram up the mountain. Half way up is the castle that makes such a spectacular impression as you enter Heidelberg. We chose to ride all the way to the top. The funicular tram is in two parts. The first is fairly new. Just past the castle you get off and get aboard the old wooden tram and it completes the climb to the top of the mountain. The view from the top is well worth the time and cost of the ride. The vista of Heidelberg and the surrounding area is truly captivating. The only frustration is that there is no way our little camera can capture the impact of what we were seeing.
We enjoyed a snack over looking the area. We then got back onto the tram and descended to the level of the castle. Another WOW moment occurred as we poked around that magnificent structure. Unfortunately, it was later in the afternoon and we had just missed the last guided tour. However, that did not take away from our enjoyment of the structure or of the views. Marvin will be posting the pictures.
We enjoyed using the public transportation. Once we were down from the mountain we quickly caught a bus then transferred easily onto the tram that carried us back to the Glauers. There we got an enthusiastic greeting and I got to help the boys in making pizza. It was not only surprising to see what they put on their pizza (tuna on pizza was new to me) but how tasty all the various combinations were. Again I had the privilege of being surrounded and sat upon by little boys while I read bedtime stories. The grandma in me was in her glory!
That evening it was even harder to quit chatting a say good night. With Martin it was good bye as we knew we would not be seeing him n the morning. What a terrific man. We were able to enjoy some hearty porridge with the boys in the morning, get hugs and kisses good bye and see them off to school. Our goal was to take the train from Heidelberg to Saarbrucken where we would start up the Saar River towards Trier. Lovely Julie insisted on cycling with us to the bahnhof. She also handed us some snacks to take along including fresh ginger beard men made by the boys that morning. Each boy had decorated a man with raisins. Little boys quite enjoy cheeky humor which was evident by where the raisins were placed; the gingerbread men really were men!
Julie helped Marvin get the tickets and then, not only saw us to the plate form but right onto the train for hugs. Saying good bye was bitter sweet. We were excited for the next part of our journey but sad to be saying good bye to our new friends. We settled instead on Auf wiedersehen. We would love to host them in Canada and take those boys to the beach and out sailing. It seems like we may be back this way before they are able to get to Canada but I am pretty sure, regardless, we will stay in touch.
So, if you ever go bike touring and wonder about using "warm showers" I say do it! The Wintermuths and the Glauers are a definite highlight of this trip and great ambassadors for Germany.
To Sven, Eberhart, Irmgard, Annika, Julie, Martin, Moses, Caspar, Turis and Herbie, thank you so much for everything. You have become very quickly a special memory and joy in our life.
