We had lots of visitors last week! Matt’s cousins, Rob and Candra, and their spouses, Kellan and Ellen visited for a week!
On Monday, they arrived via train and we met them at the train station. After they got a quick nap, we headed to downtown Böblingen for dinner at Seegartle on the lake, followed by a few more drinks at the Boat House. We finished the night with several rounds of Phrase Party back at our house.
Tuesday, I had to work so Matt joined everyone on a trip to Bad Wildbad in the Black Forest. There, they did the treetop walk, giant slide, and the Highline Bridge. When we visited before, we didn’t make it all the way across the Highline as Matt didn’t want to do the heights- but now that he’s completed it, I think our family needs to go back and give it another try.
That night, the cousins stayed overnight in Baden Baden and then visited Strasbourg on Wednesday with Matt.
Thursday, everyone returned to Böblingen. We went out for dinner in Stuttgart at the Schönbuch Brauhaus. We tried to go out for drinks afterwards, but found everything was closed! We headed back to our house for a few more rounds of Phrase Party.
On Friday, Matt and the guys went golfing. Me and the girls went to Mineraltherme for some relaxing in the baths and saunas in order to prep for Oktoberfest that night.
Friday night, we took the train to Bad Canstatte for opening day of the Stuttgarter Volksfest! We arrived early enough to walk around the fest grounds before entering the tent at 5:30. Since it was opening day and the fest ground only opened at 3pm, it was not crowded at all. We were able to walk from one end to another and back again in an hour, which would have been impossible on any other day due to the crowds. Once we were in the tent, we made it all the way til the end of our table reservation at 10:30, and then made it a little while longer before taking the train back home.
Saturday, Brooklyn had another tennis match at school and then a sleepover with one of her friends. Ryan also went to his friend’s house for a sleepover. The rest of us hit the road for Dieburg, Germany.
Dieburg was a very special stop for us, especially Ellen. Ellen’s grandmother had fled Dieburg prior to the beginning of World War II and Ellen was the first member of her family to return since then. Our first stop was the Dieburg Museum. There, we met with a docent, who had already done some research into Ellen’s family, the Darmstadters. She gave us a brief tour of the museum and overview of the history of Jews in Dieburg. The docent was obviously really passionate and emotional about the subject so it was really meaningful and touching to hear her speak. Afterwards, she took us to Ellen’s grandmother’s house. While we did have the original address of the house, we never would have found it without the docent’s research as the street numbering had changed since the 1940s. She explained that the Darmstadters must have been a prominent family of Dieburg; basing this off of the large size of their house and its location on the main road leading to the Market Square. Afterwards, we visited a memorial to the Jews deported from Dieburg, and walked around the town.
Afterwards, we continued our drive to Frankfurt. We got checked into the hotel and then went out for dinner in the Altstadt at an amazing sushi restaurant. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel for a few more rounds of Phrase Party before saying goodnight and farewell.
Sunday morning, the cousins departed super early for their flight back to the US. Matt and I drove back to Stuttgart, picking up Brooklyn, Ryan, and the dogs along the way. We spent the rest of Sunday napping and getting ready for the week ahead.
Gilcrests Abroad 