Well I'm definitely going to have to do more research into the history of this quaint german village. It's always such a pleasure to be here, the architecture is quite different than in Calgary, you definitely know that you're not in your own backyard. The buildings are all brick or stone, everything is unbelievably clean, streets are small and narrow, the pave and cobblestone remind you that this village has been inhabited since approximately the 15th century. Lots of stories which I'll have to go looking for.
My mission for the day yesterday was to be chief playmate for 18 month old Antonia while Christine and Norbert went to work and Florian went off to kindergarden. My first task of the day was to walk Florian the 200 meters to the Kindergarden center at the end of their block. How tough can that be? Into the stroller went Antonia and we followed Florian around the corner to school. Upon arriving there I pushed the stroller up the ramp so I could help Florian open the door into the Kindergarden Center. He seemed to be telling me something quite adamantly which I finally figured out to mean that he wanted Antonia and I to come inside with him. I picked Antonia up into my arms and we followed him inside. I no sooner got into the door that out of the corner of my eye I realized that I had forgotten to lock the wheels of the stroller down, the wind had caught it and it was heading down the stairs on the opposite side of the ramp! The exit door was locked so I couldn't even rush out to rescue the stroller as I had to wait for some help to show me where the door release was. Fortunately by the time I finally got outside some kind lady was rescuing the runaway stroller... I never did figure out how far down the street it got but I'm sure Christine will hear about it from the kindergarden moms! Hadn't been in town for 24 hours yet and I was sure the village was now going to have a story of the Canadian woman taking Florian to school and having the baby stroller bounce down the stairs unto the street! The rest of the morning Antonia and I spent safely in the house playing with her toys. We went over to Oma's for midtag essen where we all enjoyed a very typical bavarian meal. I laughed as upon finishing her meal this young lady went and found her jacket and brought it to me as if to say it was time to go! She fell asleep in the stroller on her way home and being the attentive babysitter that I felt I should be and perhaps suffering from a bit of jet lag myself I laid down with her for a 2 hour nap! I woke up to Oma knocking on the door as they were bringing Florian home about 3 p.m. Florian had a gymnastics class at 4 p.m. so the 3 three of us went off to discover what happens at a 5 years old German gym class. The evening meals here tend to be just cold cuts, cheeses, crackers or bread and I may just have to bring that habit back home with me as I always do enjoy it when I'm here. Hot, heavier meals at lunch time and cold lighter meals at supper time seem to make a lot of sense.
Norbert and I spent an hour looking at photos of the construction of their new home and it's quite fascinating the different construction techniques employed here. You can certainly tell quite quickly that the buildings are designed to last for 100's of years. The floor tile in the house is from a local rock quarry and the granite stone is estimated to be thousands of years old. I'll have to get some stats from Norbert about the house and send those along.
Today I'm off to work with Christine to a trade show in Munich. Looking forward to the new German products that I will discover and the appreciation I'm sure to gain about Meile products. I'm also probably going to appreciate what a 1.5 to 2 hour commute to Munich can be like during rush hour traffic! Wishing you an awesome day!