Travelogue 1995 / Episode Eleven

Travelogue Deutschland 1995 / Episode Eleven

Last Day In Zavelstein
It was somewhat of an easygoing day, even though I needed to pack my things for the last leg of the tour. We were planning to leave just after lunch, stop and visit Esslingen for a while, then continue on to Bad Uberkingen for the wedding. After an enjoyable breakfast, Martin went back to his room for packing and finishing his organizing of the school things that he had brought back from Esslingen. Rolf and I were planning to visit Calw again, to run a few errands there. I needed to send a postcard, find a card for Andi And Karin, and pick up a European license plate to take back with me. Rolf needed to visit the post office and the bank, so the trip was helpful for both of us.

In Calw
I was able to see a bit of Calw that I had not been able to visit while we ran our errands. First, we visited the post office, where Rolf bought stamps and I sent a few postcards. Next stop was the bank, where Rolf did something or other [I waited in the lobby and watched people walk by] and the final stop in the shopping area of Calw was to a small store where I found a really nice wedding card. The Department of Motor Vehicles was also located on a hill above the city center, so we returned to the car and began the drive up the side of the hill.

Calw DMV
Well, the DMV was pretty busy for a friday afternoon, though the personalized plate department was open for business. I had prepared for the visit there, bringing along a small sketch of the letters that I wanted on my plate. The letters read MKE-GRAFXZ, MKE standing for Milwaukee [since each German city is designated on the plates with a two or three letter combination, like CW for Calw] and GRAFXZ standing for the US plate that I currently have on my Saturn coupe. The woman behind the counter offered two different plates one that was plain white, and another with a small blue field on the left of the plate, with a white capital D surrounded by the European Union stars. I chose the white one, since I had not seen many of the EU plates, and needed extra space to fit my many letters on the plate anyway. It was a pretty good deal at about $20 [25 marks] especially since I could choose any letter/number combinations that I wanted.

Back to the House for Packing and Goodbyes
We arrived in Zavelstein a few minutes later, with just enough time to finish up my packing from earlier that morning. Lunch came quickly after returning, another delicious meal from Martin's mom, Krista. I felt that I would miss the enjoyable times around the dinner table with Martin and his family. After lunch, Martin and I gathered our things together and loaded them into the Volkswagen, then spent a few minutes with goodbyes. I took several photos of the family, and had Rolf shoot a photo of Martin and I [the travelers] sitting on the hood of the car.

Off to Esslingen
Soon we were on the road again, rolling along the Autobahn towards Martin's school town, Esslingen. The city was about an hour drive, which went quickly. Martin parked the car in a lot behind dorms a place that he usually parks since its reserved for students. We wandered into the center of Esslingen, and spent some time shopping there. I wanted to see if I could find a nice shirt for the wedding I had brought one along, but thought it would be nice to take advantage of year-end sales most of the stores offered. Martin also wanted to check out shoes for his internship in France, so we both spent time in several stores looking at shirts and shoes. I found a very nice off-white shirt for 20 marks we were not sure the size was correct at first, though after speaking with two sales people and being measured, I was assured that it would fit great. After buying the shirt, Martin spent about half an hour looking at and trying on shoes but chose to wait on the purchase until later. Our time was quickly passing away and I wanted to pick up a souvenir for my mom, so we began looking for art dealers. I wanted to see if I could find something interesting and unique to Esslingen and we did a nice sketch, colorized of Esslingen. On the way back to the car, Martin and I ran into a friend of his on the street, so we spent several minutes talking with him.

On to Bad Uberkingen
We were back on the road again, heading southeast toward Andis parents house. As we rolled into the area, we could see that it was very beautiful, with high hills to the north [they are the start of the Alps that run south into Switzerland] and old cities in the valley. Upon arrival in Bad Uberkingen, we stopped the car and I called the Lutzs house with the number Andi had provided earlier that week. Andis mom answered and then gave the phone to Andis sister, Sibella. Sibella had spent more than half a year in the US around the same time Andi was doing his practical semester and knows English very well. She offered to come to the bus stop that we were at, to direct us to the house.

The Lutz's House
After rolling though the narrow streets for a few minutes, we arrived at the home of the Lutz family. Sibella led us into the house, where we met Andis mom. She was most definitely a mom immediately directing us to the patio, for coffee and kuchen! Andi and Karin were running behind, so Martin thought he would wait until six or so, to say hello and wish them a happy wedding. Mrs. Lutz, Sibella, her friend, Martin and I relaxed for a while and talked about our trip and the wedding preparations. A little after six, Martin had to leave and Andi was still not home, so we went to the car, unloaded my luggage and I said goodbye to Martin. He was off to visit his grandparents that live on the border of Switzerland, in the region called the Algois. I was to stay in a place called a pension called the Kur Cafe, so I loaded my bags into Jorgs car [Jorg is Andis older brother] and we drove to the pension as dark clouds began moving over Bad Uberkingen. We arrived at the small building just as rain began falling Jorg helped carry my gear up to the room in the pension. I guess the best way to describe a pension is that its like a cross between a hotel room, bed and breakfast and an a apartment. The room had a small single bed, table and chairs, sink and mirror and a small box shower against one wall. This room was really very nice, with a door and window opening onto a balcony that was accessible to all of the guests.

Dinner at the Lutz Home
At seven, I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to find and Andi and Karin waiting outside. I invited them into the room for a moment, before we left the Kur Cafe for Andis parents house. The walk to Andis parents house was nice, we were able to catch up on things and the plans for the evening and the next day. Soon, we were at the house again, and I could hear noises from the upper floors as Mrs. Lutz was preparing dinner. The Lutzs house was quite nice, laid out in a modern architectural style, with art and sculpture throughout the livingroom, dining room and hallways. Moments after Andi, Karin and I had arrived and walked into the living room, Andis father Ernst arrived with the 3 guests from America. Andis other guests were friends related to the company that Andi had interned at. Gary was an engineer with the company Krones [a machine building company] and his wife Becky had come along as well. Another friend from the company was Raye, who had come without her husband for the wedding [She said he was unable to leave work] and was a friend of Gary and Becky. They had been touring with Ernst in the area during the day, having arrived just the day before.

We were invited to be seated at the table and spent a few minutes continuing our conversation before the food was served. Our dinner for the evening began with a dumpling-like soup, the dumpling made of meat and breading in a broth, along with salad, rolls and other side items. [The dish was called Moulthashen, and was developed by monks in the middle-ages, who were not supposed to eat meat during lenten season. Well, to bypass the rule, they hid the meat inside of a dumpling... I guess that they figured if God couldnt see the meat they were okay...] After dinner, we had coffee and cheeses [yup, cheeses] for a kind of dessert or something, while enjoying the conversations in both German and English. It was a nice time together and I felt that tomorrows wedding would be more fun with other Milwaukeeans to talk with.

The evening ended at about ten or so, when Andi and Karin were leaving for the evening. Turned out that Raye also had a room in the same Kur Cafe that I was staying in, so she rode along as well. Minutes later, we had arrived at the pension and said goodnight to Andi and Karin someone would be back in the morning at nine to take us back to the Lutz house to prepare for the wedding. Raye and I walked up the stairs to the second floor, agreeing to have breakfast the next morning [breakfast is included in the pension cost] since we would have an hour before leaving for the Lutzs house. I continued on to my own room and crashed for the evening, ready for a full day on saturday, though I did not realize just how *full* it would indeed be.

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