Zorneding visit with Ruth and her family... Germany...

20th Aout 2006

It is a rather gloomy day as we leave Zorderling (just outside of Munich, in the farmlands) and the wonderful home of Heidi and Rainer. We are now traveling to see the Kenkel family on the Bodensee (Lake Constance). Like so many legs of our journey, this was another incredible one. We arrived on Friday, two hours late for the birthday brunch of Ruth. We got lost along the way and what we thought was a short backtrack back to the highway 1, was actually an hour’s journey out of our way. We thought we were on one highway n1, but it turns out, we were on highway 1. We took this “shortcut” through the beautiful farmland and rich countryside of northern Switzerland. It was so beautiful…verdant rich pastures with cows and sheep greeting us along the way. Finally near the beautiful town of Wil, we found the highway, called the Strack family and told Bernd that we would be late and not to wait for us. He told us that everyone was so excited for our visit. ;-)

When we arrived all of these wonderful faces came out to greet us and since I had been “testing” Jeff and Amy on the family history (who was who, and who their children were…) we easily knew the connections. Marcia had told me over the phone about the family…Heidi was the oldest and she was the mother of Bernd and Gabriele (also called Sam), Kurt Peter (whose daughters and granddaughters were not there), Tina who is married to Paulo. Tina is an actress and Paulo was a classical ballet dancer…he now is a choreographer). Romi is a teacher and her son Lucas was also there (he is Amy’s age). Gabriela, Bernd’s wife and their beautiful son Tristan also greeted us with joy!

But Ruth’s face as we arrived was glowing…with brightness and lightness. I will never forget it. We ate lunch together and Garbriela told us that Heidi had prepared traditional German foods for this celebration…and her beautiful Villeroy and Bock china called Summerday graced the lovely table.

Amy and I had a beer with the family and we all sat around the table talking and listening to German, English and Czech. We learned that Rainer was in the hospital after a triple bypass and would be in the hospital for three more weeks. Heidi did not speak too much English but we found that with what she alled “hand and foot” gestures, we could communicate fairly well. I wish I had studied more German. Tina, Gabriela, Bernd, and Gabriele spoke English well. Ruth’s English was very good as well! She told us how her grandmother Annella raised her since her mother died a few days after her birth. (Melinda, am I right about this? I may have to update ths information later…) Heidi brought out a picture of the grandmother, who would have been Amy’s great, great grandmother and Jeff took a picture of the picture. It will be nice for Annela to have a picture of her as well.

After our meal and much conversation, we took a long walk through the town of Zorneding with Tina, Paulo, Romi and Kurt. Tina told me the story of how she met Paulo and Kurt told me of his children Claudia and Pina and Claudia’s daughter, Leah. Zorneding was almost exclusively a potato farming town until 50 years ago when the farmers started selling their lands for home development. In the evening we went to a German beer garden where we celebrated Ruth’s birthday. At one point in the evening, Ruth looked at me and said “I feel like I am dreaming…” There was no mistaking her pleasure of having her children around her as well as representatives from the Laun family of Marcia and Wil.

We returned to Heidi’s home and after a little nightcap of French brandy, we went downstairs to our room where the blankets were so warm and heavy. When we turned out the lights, it was so very dark and quiet and we quickly feel asleep, happy that we had connected with this wonderful family.

In the morning, Jeff and I rose to a beautiful breakfast of coffee and juice and beautiful German breads. Jeff opted for his favorite croissants and we discussed the “making of the plans for the day." Bernd, Gabriela, and Gabriele (Sam) had a party the night before and did not sleep until 4…so we let Amy sleep till noon while we took off for a little chapel that Heidi had told us about. Heidi said it was a little similar to Lourdes…..

We traveled along the bike route that Heidi takes in the mornings through the forest and to the farmlands. We walked the path of the stations of the cross to a beautiful little chapel set in the forest, Maria of Altaman. Heidi and Romi told us that each station is maintained by a family in the village. We then returned to Heidi’s to get Amy up because we were going to take the obanhof (light rail) into Munich to meet the two Gabrielas as well as Tristan. Tina took us to the train and helped us buy an all day pass and off we went with her carefully written instructions and her handy (cellphone) in our pocket. We easily connected at Bernd and Gabriela’s apartment and we decided to skip the castle and do a walking tour through Munich.

We loved Munich…it is a large city with many beautiful sites and historical places but it is fairly quiet and civilized. We wandered the streets with Tristan in his pram while Gabriela told us of some of the landmarks. We met Garbriel’s mother who took Tristam for awhile since he was finished sightseeing… Sam also took off on her bicycle to meet her friends who had just come back from the US… We wandered some more through the English garden and downtown city area….there were many police since their had been a NeoNazi demonstration as well as an anti-Nazi counter demonstration. Gabriela talked of the dark shadow of the Nazi reign and how Neo-Nazi demonstrations are hated by her German people. Heidi had told us of the news of this demonstration in the morning and we had rearranged our plans to avoid it…

At the end of the day, Gabriela took us up to a high point in the city (about 300 steps) to look out… I stayed by the door…unwilling to go out on the catwalk while they walked all around. It was a wonderful day in the city with Gabriela, Gabriele and Tristan. We returned to Heidi’s and Tina and Paulo prepared a wonderful meal of eggplant, tomatoes, Czech cheeses and garlic. It was delicious! While we were eating, a thunder and lightning storm moved in and chased us indoors!
Tomorrow we leave for Lake Constance…the Bodensee…