On Our Own

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Sometimes the realization that you're in a new place hits you slowly, in a kind of sink in your bones kind of way. Other times, it hits you all at once. Today was one of those times!

We were on the train from Munich to Prague after two great stays with our German friends. One man in our train car looked a little rough around the edges and weathered. While we were rolling through the German countryside, he rested quietly with his thumbs hooked in his overalls.

The sun was low in the sky and a deep orange as we crossed the czech border. Soon enough, he was laughing and singing songs and miming them on the guitar and piano. When I took this picture, everyone in our train car was laughing, singing, clapping, and stomping.

The other couple in the train car was an older German couple from Stuttgart. THey were 75, give or take a few years. The man started chatting us up by asking us where we were from and then launching into a little Bush bashing *sigh*. We didn't know there was no food offered on the trains between countries and they offered us part of the lunch that they had packed - including a sandwich with Appenzel cheese!
They were both very young during WW2 (less than 10, i guess) but it was fascinating hearing their family story. We even talked a little about Dresden, the city that the Allies fire bombed in 1945...I remember reading about that in history class, but it's ahrd to put into words what it's like to talk to people about the real thing.....

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