It’s a hot day in Troisdorf, Germany 33 degrees to be exact. For you American’s stuck in your Fahrenheit ways that is about 91.4 degrees with a bit of humidity thrown in for good measure. Fun fact: Germans do not commonly have air conditioning. Another fun fact: many residences stay cool because their structures are rock and heat less quickly. But when they’re hot… they’re hot. No worries though, we’ve been cold the majority of this trip so it was nice to be warm for once, even if I, Bryce, hate warmth.
We woke up to food on the table of our guest living room from the wonderful family who opened their home to us. The mother came home as we left and was incredibly sweet. Because she speaks no English it is very difficult to communicate. But, even with the language barrier, her kindness and hospitality is felt. She really should look into hosting for Air BNB! They have a small black dog named Lucy that is in many ways is a little German Poodle version of our dog Abby. She has been incredibly cute and wonderful to have around.
We took the bus to Michelle and Daniel’s, like the public transport champions we have become, with very little difficulty. Well, aside from a crippling inability to communicate to anyone apart from saying “Danke” and “Gesundheit (ga-zune-tite)” which doesn’t come in handy that often. Typically a lot of nervous pointing, and hand gestures do the trick. If nothing else it gets them to communicate like we are small children and that seems to help.
After awhile we headed out to get dinner and “Eis” also known as ice cream. The dinner was at a fast food Turkish restaurant, we got filafel and something similar to schwarma on pita bread. Whatever it was- it was delicious as was the “Eis” we ate shortly after.
We left the lovely pedestrial friendly city center of Troisdorf headed for bed time, for the kids that is. I pushed the kids home in their heavy duty stroller going around turns and bumps like a Nascar driver and we got them ready for bed. As a thank you to the family I have been taking photos and videos of them and their kids while we are here. I was asked to take pictures and video of bath time with the kids. Being with them at such a sweet intimate time was truly a highlight of this trip. Thank you Michelle and Danielle for making us part of your family during our stay here in Germany. Thank Aliya for staring us down mercilessly until you decide you like us half way through the day and forgetting that decision after you sleep. We love you!
It was now time to say goodbye. That is goodbye to my wife and Michelle. They went out for a girls night at a steak house and Daniel and I stayed in for a manly discussion over music and strawberries and chocolate.
(Interjection by Bethany,”While Michelle and I spent time at the steak house* we discussed how so many woman’s ministry events are lame(subjective) and overly girly… too sugar-coated and sweet, nail polish and lip stick, crock pots and lace. Although I occasionally enjoy each of the aforementioned – the enjoyment generally doesn’t occur when with a group of women. (For some reason all too often it feels forced and fake). Why can’t we have a girl’s steak BBQ event? Where’s the women’s camping/paintball weekends at? Let’s have a women’s group skydiving day! … so we had a woman date night at a steak house*- and it was perfect!”. ***Sadly no steak was eaten in the production of this date).
It was a wonderful night and a fitting end to a another relaxing lovely day in Troisdorf. Tomorrow we will go see a few sites in the city after a brunch at Haus Benjamin. But now… it’s time to fall asleep to the sound of a thunderstorm. If only my California peeps could be experiencing this as well…
Cheers,
B&B
