Frankfurt and Reuthlingen

Monday 22nd September
Germany - Lina and Cristofolo

Our first morning in Germany was great because the staff was so helpful and polite! Imagine that!

The night before we were so tired and slightly p***ed off to notice the fabulous décor… slight Asian theme in shades of jade and dark blue and really neat bathrooms.

During holidays in Australia we’ve stayed in a few Formula One motels and they’d been great for a quick stop over and this Motel One in Germany was no exception.
The main difference was the breakfast. There was a coffee machine which made all imaginable coffees and very sweet hot chocolates for the kids. There were all sorts of bread rolls and heaps of delicious spreads, all varieties of pate, lots of small goods and cheeses!! We all had a fabulous breakfast and were now ready to take on Germany.

Kurt and my Dad went for their 15 minutes walk to collect the motor home.
We slowly moved all our luggage into the reception area to avoid a mad panic rush when the motor home arrived.

Meanwhile I discovered there was free internet connection in the reception and so while I waited for the guys, logged on and replied to a few emails. The kids also sent a few quick emails all the while watching the windows for this motor home. (My Dad had walked home to tell us there had been three Australian families before them also collecting their motor homes. They had to watch a video about managing a motorhome and I hoped they’d watched the toilet section twice!!)

When they finally arrived, all I could say was holy shit!! It’s big! It was so big; so long (8mts), so wide, (2.3mts) so high (3.4mts). That’s big!! We now can’t park under most car park roof….
Until you stand near the front corner and look down the side, it’s hard to comprehend the sheer size of this monster we now call home. And poor Kurt was happy to see the end of the 9 seater van!!! But inside our motor was gorgeous!!! Three beds (2x queen , 1x double) with screens for security although the kitchen table becomes the kid’s beds. Little bathroom with toilet, basin and shower with full screen and loads of storage. Actually the whole motor home had heaps of storage and we have cupboards still empty.

At the back of the motor home, there is a huge storage section that we have an outdoor table and 6 chairs and all our suitcases. There was additional storage that goes across the width of the home and we’ve stuffed that with more suitcases and shoes. Then inside the motor home, we’ve found little cubby holes in the floor, more storage that we’ve stuffed with onion, carrots and fuji apples, another with everyday shoes, another with serviettes and some groceries!!! We still have empty storage compartments!


Anyway, once we collected the motor home, we packed it with our suitcases and jumped in. (While the guys had been away, my Mum had called my Dad’s cousin Lina to let her know we were on our way and she said, we’ll see you for dinner…..

but we were hoping for lunch!)

It turned out that somewhere the wires got crossed because my Mum thought Lina was 30 minutes away and it turned out she was at least 2 hours 30 minutes!!!
That really threw our plans into havoc because we had lots of stuff planned between Frankfurt and where Lina lived and unfortunately we couldn’t back track.
We ended up missing out on great things like an amazing museum with a suspended Boeing 747 and the beginning of the Romantic Road.

Didn’t matter….. we were going to meet family that I couldn’t remember meeting 20 years ago!!! Kurt was a bit stressed because he hadn’t intended to drive 2-3 hours within 15 minutes of collecting the motor home but thank god the Germany roads were superb and free!

We arrived at Lina’s house in the rain and her 15 year old son Davide directed us to their car park all the while wearing a t-shirt and getting drenched, until his dad Cristofolo got home and took us to his work car park to store the car for the evening.

Lina is my Dad’s first cousin (their Dad’s were brothers) and although I’d met her 20 years ago I didn’t remember her (until I saw photos of her and myself)

She was 18 years old bride when they left Licodia and had lived there ever since. Unfortunately no members of her family followed her up and very few had ever visited. So when we contacted her wanting to meet up with her and her family she was thrilled. Lina had organised all the bed linen and doona for the caravan (but that’s another story!)

When we arrived there were lots of hugs and kisses and introduction. (Lina is Paulo and Gaetana’s sister)

We sat down and had a coffee and Lina announced that her husband would take us to the factory where the motor home would be parked and we should collect enough clothes for 3-4 days. We looked at each other dumbly, and a bit confused!

Lina was adamant, she rarely if ever, had family come visit her and we’d come all the way from Australia, so there was no way we were going to sleep anywhere but her home!!! We were pleasantly surprised and once again were had to do some quick thinking!! We’d thrown our suitcases into the motor home thinking after dinner we’d go and organise our selves but we now had to organise clothes for 3-4 days and in a hurry because dinner was waiting!!

Our stay with Lina and Cristofolo turned out to be a lovely surprise!!!!
Lina’s meals were even more amazing. Once she knew the date of our arrival, she’d spent 2 days prior cooking and freezing dinners for us to share!

That night we had delicious lasagne (although I always regret eating the massive portion of lasagne after dinner…at the time I can’t ever get enough of it and a knowingly look for the biggest piece!!! I know what you’re all thinking….what a pig!! But at that moment I’m such a happy pig!

The sleeping arrangement were like this: my parents had Lina’s bed, Kurt and I had a sofa bed in Davide’s room and the kids had Davide’s bed and Lina’s family slept in the lounge on a variety of sofa beds. When we protested and wanted to swap into the sofa beds, they protested even louder!!! Kurt loved Lina’s house because Davide had internet connection and he spent the next few days trying to catch up with his photos, banking, and organising skype sessions!!


Tuesday 23rd September
Germany - Lina and Cristofolo

Breakfast with Lina and her family introduced us to pretzels - Germany style!! None of that small rubbish we get in Australia, we ate huge pretzels, as big as your face!!! In Germany, they eat them like toast with spread and flavoured cold meats. Lina had all these great variety of Germany small goods, some with capsicum and some with ****. There was not a low fat version in site!! And we were not complaining!!

Cristofolo took us to an Aldi like store to stock up on groceries which Lina said are much cheaper in Germany than anywhere else, especially Italy!

Thank god Cristofolo was there, because although German and English are incredibly similar, we could have bought cat food for all I know…… Kurt was in his element, looking at all different types of food and planning gourmet dinners. God, I love that man!!!

We went straight to the motor home and organised the pantry and all the cubby holes with food; it felt like we were moving into a tiny apartment and setting it up.


Lunch was another meal to die for! Tortellini soup followed by roasted chicken and cubed potoates tossed in herbs. Food was always going to be a big part of this trip (or can’t you tell!!) because we’ve tried to sample all the local specialities and use the local produce! At every meal, in every home, Kurt would have asked about the preparation or ingredients used for the meals. (He knows how to flatter the ladies!)


After lunch my Dad and Cristofolo went out and bought some more wine and beer! (Oh, what a surprise!) while Kurt continued down loading his next million photos!
The kids and Kurt had completely taken over poor Davide’s room.

Learning English in Germany is compulsory so Davide’s parents were thrilled that their son had the opportunity to speak English to Kurt/.

Lina and Cristofolo had been in the process of planning to come to Australia in 2009 and perhaps for my sister Antonietta’s wedding, but after seeing us and Davide, they changed their minds about bringing him and are hoping to come in August when Davide has school holidays. He was thrilled! This kid had to get up every day at 7.30am for school but most night we were talking in the lounge so most nights he couldn’t go to sleep until after 11.30pm. He was so sweet and had a remarkable resemblance to the main actor in American Pie but a much, much cuter version!!
When he speaks Italian (which is what they only ever spoken in the house), he has such a strong French accent and rolls his “r” so nicely.

After lunch we walked to the town centre and withdrew some money!! The town of ***** was so picturesque and GREEN!! On the footpath, there was an indicated bike lane but we didn’t know and caused God knows how many German cyclist to get fed up with us and move onto the road. These German people are so damn healthy, riding their bikes everywhere but feeding us full fat dairy!!

Dinner was a simple affair of fresh bread, pretzels and small goods. It’s such a ideal way of eating but not practical for our lifestyles in Australia. Lina also said that they normally ate differently because they too work during the day and their biggest meals are in the evening.




Wednesday 24th October
Germany - Davide’s birthday

A little birdie told us that Wednesday was Davide’s birthday and we were thrilled to be celebrating with him. He has an older sister living and studying in Sicily. She met my parents in Licodia but Kurt and I didn’t get a chance to meet up with her. She left for Sicily a few years ago and therefore birthdays were a quiet affair with just three of them.

For lunch we were taken to a factory outlet where Lina said the prices were amazing. What she forgot to mention was that the factory outlet was for designer clothing. In Australia I don’t even pause at a designer store so I was interested in seeing what reduction they had. The names included were Hugo Boss, S. Oliver (Germany designer), Nike, Adias, Roxy, Quicksilver, Lindt and Espirt. Kurt loved Lindt!!

Kurt and I went to the Espirt store and went to the change rooms. The change rooms were a man’s dreams come true!! The first one that I saw, I thought was a one off, but as I looked around, I realised they were all the same. If the door was 1.30mts wide, the vinyl curtain was 1mt wide!!! There was a huge gap on either side of the curtain and to make a bad situation worse, there was a mirror on the back of the stall. You could see everything!! I decided the pants I was going to try on, were the wrong shade or something!!! There was no way I was dropping my pants for all of the shoppers to see!! No unless I had a great pair of undies on and I DIDN’T!!!! But my husband had no such reservation… he went in, dropped his pants and I was able to perv on him from heaps of angles!!!! I must say, he looked mighty fine in his chequered boxers!!

While we were there we bought Davide a small birthday gift from S.Olivier. As for the rest of the shops, we wondered in and out but didn’t serious look at buying anything because we’d just spend a small fortune sending some stuff home. We kept reminding ourselves that it was the beginning of our trip!!!

On the way home, I asked to stop and buy some candles because Davide had commented that once a child passed 10, they didn’t use party or candles. I thought it would be lovely to sing and blow some candles out.

We had a simple dinner and later asked Kurt (who was making a cd of English music for Davide) to bring lure him into the lounge. The lights were out and we sang Happy Birthday in English and Italian!! I couldn’t tell who had the biggest grins…. us, his parents or Davide. Lina said he was thrilled to have family there for one of his birthdays. It felt very special.

One of the nicest moments of the holiday was after dinner that night. Lina, Cristofolo and my parents all left Licodia at early ages (my parents at 5 years old, Lina at 18 years old), both started talking about food and their favourite meals. It was so touching to see these cousins who’d spent a lifetime apart burst out laughing when one of them would mention a meal they both remember from their childhood or a meal they both loved having. It was lovely when they both agreed the best meal in the hot months of Summer was an orange salad with fresh crusty bread. They both spoke about their love of Ricotta and Lina told us how she makes it from scratch. I saw the gleam in Kurt and my Dad’s eyes….I pretty sure we’ll be trying that in the motor home.

It was a great night and one full of memories for us all.

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