July 2, 2023
Down Day in Walsrode
Enjoying Time with the Fam
I spent the night at my extended family's house in Walsrode. I slept in their guest room in a trailer in the backyard. It was dark and comfortable and I slept great. Upon waking up, I found Regine and Werner had made my parents and I an unbelievably delicious breakfast spread. Fresh brötchen, käse, varuous jams, aufschnitt, mett, lachs, and teewurst covered the table. Nothing like eating raw ground pork for breakfast (seriously, this stuff is my favorite, and it is safe to eat in Germany). My great Aunt, Doris, as well as my second cousin, Moritz, and his wife, Doro were joining us too. We enjoyed a long meal together and drank lots of coffee. Doro amused the table with her comically large coffee mug.
Moritz and Doro also brought their dog, Blanca, with them, and she seemed friendly and energetic. Doro's personality matched her dog's, and she was planning on doing a tough-mudder like event with Blanca later that day. Hanging out with the German relatives gave me a much needed chance to practice my German. I could mostly understand them when they spoke, and I managed to cobble together some sentences when I needed to; randomly choosing between die/der/das when I couldnt remember the correct article. They of course, also spoke English, which made things easier. We chatted about our plans for the summer, and trips that everyone had done in the past.
After a few hours together, we said goodbye, and Tante Doris, Moritz, and Doro went about the rest of their weekend. By now it was about 11:00. I took the next hour and a half to do some much-needed bike cleaning and maintenence. Regine was nice enough to give me some cleaning supplies to degrease my chain and gears. I cleaned down my bike, stripped the grease from my drive-train, along with all the find Heide Sand, and put it back together. I also replaced my brakepads, worn out from long steep descents in Norway.
By the time I was done fiddling with my bike, a new set of relatives had arrived in time for Kaffe und Kuchen: Karen and Andrea (also my second cousins). They had come all the way from Köln. We caught up about recent life events, then ate a couple of delicious cakes Regine had made. Karen and Andrea hung out for a couple hours before heading home. Once they left, Regine helped my dad and I buy our train tickets for the next day. The German train system, as great as it is, could use some improvements to its ticket booking process.
We spent the rest of the evening watching world championship game of "Handball", like soccer but they can use their hands. Germany won. My parents and I then walked from Werner and Regine's house to downtown Walsrode. There I walked past my grandmother's childhood home, and saw the "Kappe" bookstore, the owner of which I am distantly related to. We got gelato at an ice cream shop, and ate outside. As we were eating, a group of motorcycle riders blasted down the narrow cobblestone street going about 40mph. They intentionally made their bikes backfire as they were passing a large group of people outside the ice cream shop. They must have thought they were cool or something. We then headed back and went to bed.
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