Day 14--Cheating, But Gaining a Couple of Days

And now we are in Käthen. We took the train from Spandau all the way to Stendal. Well, first we had to change trains in Rathenow. The train we planned to take was at 10:13. Since we were early enough, we took an earlier train the Rathenow. The good thing was it gave us more time between trains. With the 10:13 train, we would have 11 minutes until our next train. It would have probably been okay because the trains seem to rarely be late (unlike Amtrak!), but it didn't hurt to go earlier--wait in Spandau or wait in Rathenow. It didn't matter. We had planned to ride to Rathenow, then on to Stendal the next day. By taking the train, we have gained another day. Also, we are not going to take a day off here as we had planned. Christian says there is no reason to.

This is an old water tower in Rathenow.

In Stendal, we visited Ingrid and Ekhart (Mariella and Arthur's other grandparents). Mariella and Arthur were there. Mariella is on holiday for Pentacost. Steffi, Christian's daughter, was at work so I didn't meet her. I did meet Stefan, Mariella and Arthur's dad.

Mariella is 11. At first she was quiet, but then we started to play some tic-tac-toe. Then we showed each other how much (or little, in my case) we knew of each other's languages. She is a sweet girl, and I enjoyed getting to meet her.

And then there is Arthur. He will be 3 in August. He is a very busy boy! He was fairly shy with me. I think he might wonder why does that lady say such strange words? 

Ingrid and Ekhart have pretty much no English. I wanted to talk to them anyway. I had to work very hard to find the German words. Then, because my grammar is so schlect, Christian would have to translate my bad German. I think I am getting better, but no one can understand me so...not really. I'm like a child just learning to talk. I say things using the words I know, but that doesn't always work. Also, I have to be careful because sometimes I just "Deutschify" an English word by using a German accent. Ja, that doesn't really work either!

Christian took me on a little walk-around tour of Stendal. There are 3 big churches (Stendal is not that big of a town). Below is one of the two double tower churches.

And here is the old Tor (gate).

This is the Schulze home. It is all three floors. They have the family business in the house too. It is like a maze. A person could easily get lost in the house. I could hear Mariella, but had no idea where she was!

On our way back to the house, we stopped at a good Bakerei called Müller. The cakes are delicious and also very cheap. Christian and I picked out a variety and took them back to Ingrid and Ekhart's. We had the afternoon snack of cake and coffee (water for Mariella and I).

Soon it was time for Christian and I to leave. It was 6:00 and we still had to ride to Käthen where Christian's sister lives. It was only about 15km (and Christian didn't make one single wrong turn!). Along the way we stopped to see an old classmate of Christian's. We also stopped in Möringen where Christian's boyhood home is. Below is the home where Christian and his three sisters were raised.

We are camping in the yard of Friedel and Hans' house. They have a nice sized farm with chickens, ducks, and a pig. Friedel also has a large garden where she is growing everything from strawberries to potatoes. 

The ducks are just on the other side of the trees. Tonight is another great German experience!

Miles for today: 16

No more cheating by train!