My work in Jülich is done! Friday was my last day, but I've got a few more days in Germany before I fly home, so I took a high-speed train to Stuttgart to hang out with my friend Guni and her family in Winterbach.
Winterbach is beautiful! Fruits and berries and flowers grow everywhere. Apples, pears, cherries, peaches, ..... all sorts. The rolling hillsides are covered in vineyards and grapes grow like weeds in the town. The blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries actually ARE weeds, they grow so well. It's a regular Hobbiton down here. Guni and I took a bike ride through the wineries and orchards until it started to rain, so we stopped in a little cafe for espresso.
Here's me at the beer-garden with a local hefeweizen. Tasty! I also tried some of the local Trollinger wine. Very light and fruity with a light color. Quite glugable. I glugged two bottles with Guni.
The local houses all belong on postcards. This tiny house was built in the 1600s and is one of the narowest in the city.
Another 17th-century house sported this ranchy brass handel on the front door. (Must ... resist ... lewd comment about brass door knocker....)
Guni's dad is retiring from teaching after 40 years. I attended his retirement party, which was incredibly boring, even for the native speakers. Someone decided to weight the napkins with painted building blocks. A big mistake! These board engineering professors soon had them collected to one table and were building away during the keynote speech. Half the table encouraged them, half ignored them. I was cracking up.
I only survived the boredom when a very nice old professor with long dirty-white hair and brown teeth joined our table. He looked so like the Crypt Keeper that I started mentally-translating his conversation into the lead-lined guttural tones of death to keep myself amused. For example: I always enjoy riding my bicycle.
