Thanks to consistently good tailwinds and leaving mostly on time, we arrived in Deutschland today just after 7 AM.
We landed in Frankfurt to a mostly quiet airport, which made sense as it was still a bit early. Passport control was easy and quick, and I got my first (and likely only for now) stamp in my passport book! Baggage claim took the longest to get through. My bag took quite a while to appear and then Brandon’s seemed to be nearly one of the last on the belt. From Frankfurt, we were originally taking the train to Bochum to meet one of Brandon’s relatives whose home we are staying at on and off during our time here. However, because we arrived early and caught an earlier train, we only had to go to Essen for our pickup. Before leaving Frankfurt Flughafen, we got some euros and I got to practice my German at a small bakery counter nearby to get some breakfast to take on the train. The train ride to Essen was very comfortable and fun. It was a bit stressful to find a seat initially as there were a lot of people, and sometimes seats are reserved, so we had to be sure not to take ones designated as such….Neither of us slept much on our flight due to a number of things, but I was able to doze on the train. When we got to Essen, Brandon’s relative, Alina, met us with a very fun sign made by her daughter (picture below). We then hopped in the car and headed to Hattingen! Hattingen is a beautiful town, and we were still fighting jet lag, so we all took a walk to the city center, which contains lots of old architecture and is designed for pedestrians, so cars are not able to drive there. We got lunch at a newer Greek restaurant in the Altstadt (old town), and then we walked back home to nap ahead of dinner. One of the very cool things in the city center was a model of Hattingen that is eventually going to have Braille labels to become a more functional tactile model of the town. Brandon and I were graciously offered the newly renovated bottom floor of his relatives’ home. The couch turns into a large bed that is INCREDIBLY comfortable :) We both had a nice hour long snooze before waking up and helping prep dinner, which were three homemade varieties of Flammkuchen, or flatbreads. All were made with a sour cream based “sauce” and were topped with mushrooms and spring onions; zucchini, peppers, and onions; and white asparagus, respectively. We had some ice cream sundaes with fresh strawberries from the garden for dessert. All of our eating was done on the balcony of the house, which has a gorgeous view of lush green fields and the Ruhr river. I am so glad we had a chance to have a full day for our arrival day to Germany! The next few days are likely to be equally leisurely until we get used to the time change, but I do believe it will be back to the city center tomorrow! Until then, I hope you enjoy the photos!!
4 Comments
Lauren Smith
6/11/2022 03:55:30 am
Love the pics! The view looks AMAZING!! The Flammkuchen looks pretty good too ;)
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Alicia
6/11/2022 01:51:12 pm
Glad you are enjoying! It is GORGEOUS and the Flammkuchen was so good!
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Barbara Taylor
6/12/2022 04:50:54 pm
I remember everytime I wanted to practice my German, the Germans wanted to practice their English.
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Alicia
6/12/2022 11:49:34 pm
Yeah, we've been fortunate so far that most Germans aren't assuming they need to use English with us right away, but they've been willing to. Especially since Brandon and I are trying to practice our German, many people have been kind enough to help us work our way through it already. Today (6/13) is our first day on our own, though, so we've also had his relatives speaking for us a bit. We also have been taking a bag around with us to carry our purchases, which was not the original thought process, but I've been glad to have it since there are no plastic bags really!
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