We had some very special visitors last week!
On Tuesday, my cousin Bonnie was the first to arrive. She let herself in, and we finally reunited after I returned home from work in the early afternoon. When I got home, our first stop was Herrenberg, where the softball team was having a scrimmage.
After seeing their win against the local team, we went to The Brauhaus in Böblingen for a traditional German dinner.
On Wednesday, we all had to work, so we dropped Bonnie off at the train station, and she traveled to Zurich for the day. She had a great time and got back around bedtime.
On Wednesday, we also learned that the kids would make a surprise trip to Italy that weekend. They were initially scheduled to play against a high school in Bavaria; however, the team forfeited, so the district rescheduled them to play against the Vincenza team. Now, they would need to leave the school at 11 AM on Friday for the quick trip down and back up. We spent the evening getting them packed and ready for the journey and the school they would miss.
Thursday, I took off work, and Bonnie and I went to Bad Wildbad in the Black Forest for the day. We took the funicular up Sommerberg Mountain and hiked the short distance to the Treetop Walk. We walked the entire length and then climbed to the top of “The Beehive.” It was pretty cloudy and foggy, so we had zero visibility from the top, but it was still fun.
Afterward, we took another short hike to The Wildline, a pedestrian suspension bridge spanning a gorge in the forest. We visited here as a family in the summer of 2021 and chickened out about halfway across the bridge. Brooklyn and I returned in 2022, and she made it across with her Girl Scout troop. Matt also returned with his cousins in 2023 and made it across, so Ryan and I were previously the only ones who still needed to do it. With a bit of coaching from Bonnie (and the dense fog that made it impossible to see the ground), I was able to make it all the way across and back.
After The Wildline, we took the funicular back down to Bad Wildbad, where we had lunch in a local Italian restaurant. Before leaving town, we took a quick walk around the city center before jumping back in the car.
On the way home, we made a quick stop at Hirsau Abbey, a medieval abbey. At this point, I’ve probably driven past here ten times and never been able to stop. Having Bonnie with me provided a great opportunity to tour it with someone. We walked around all the ruins and checked out the medieval church. The rain held off, and it was great! Another item checked off my Germany list!
The rest of our visitors; Megan, Patrick, Jill, Jesse, Vince, and Kitty, arrived soon after we got home. It was raining pretty hard by then, so our original biergarten plans were swapped for dinner at the Seegärtle in Böblingen. We had a great dinner and finished the night with a few more drinks back at our house.
On Friday, the whole group made a day trip to Strasbourg, France. We started on the riverfront, where we wandered into a Good Friday procession. A cross was being carried through the streets, followed by the cathedral staff and many followers; it was really beautiful.
We walked around the tiny half-timbered streets and shopped before checking out the Cathedral, Notre Dame de Strasbourg, and its main square. At this point, we were starving, so we headed over to Le Gruber for lunch, the same place we had eaten when Kathy and Elsie visited. Contrary to our prior visit, the restaurant was completely packed; I’m glad we had a reservation.
We had onion soup, escargot, charcuterie, sausage platters, sauerkraut, tarte flambe, steaks, and even a pizza. We thought we were full, but then the dessert menu came out, and we added tiramisu and a gingerbread creme brulee, which was a new dish for me and so good! We were stuffed entirely when it was time to leave and ready for a walk. We walked down the river to Petite France and saw the canals, locks, and half-timbered village, and then walked back up to the cathedral for a final coffee before heading back to the van.
Thank goodness for Patrick, who drove us all to Strasbourg in a giant van with a manual transmission. We were all sleeping on the way back; I’m not sure how he stayed awake! When we got back to Stuttgart, Matt was finally off work, and we all went to Corners in Sindelfingen for a burger dinner.
Saturday was our big day to visit Stuttgart Springfest. We left the house around 10 a.m., caught the 10:17 train, and arrived at the fest in time for the 11 a.m. opening! Our booking this year was in the Benz tent and we had a group of 30 people for the day!
We spent the full five hours in the tent drinking bier and radlers, dancing and singing with the schlager band. It was a great time. When it was time to leave, those of us still standing headed to a biergarten with another band and kept the party going until it got dark and it was time to take the train back home.
We slept in a little bit on Sunday, which was Easter. Brooklyn and Ryan arrives home about 1am from their trip to Italy. Then, we drove down to Hohenzollern Castle for a tour with our guests. The castle was decorated for Easter with bunnies, eggs, and flowers everywhere. After last being here at Christmas and before that autumn, it was so special to see it during another holiday and another season. They even had an Easter scavenger hunt in the castle to find as many golden bunnies as possible. None of us got the correct amount, but we were rewarded with a prize!
After the castle, it was time to head to Abacco’s in downtown Stuttgart for our Easter dinner. We had a huge steak dinner with many starters, desserts, and drinks. The food was all delish, and everyone had a great time cooking their steaks on the hot stones.
On Monday, it was time to say ‘goodbye’ to all our friends. First was Bonnie, whom I took to the airport bright and early. Then, everyone else departed in the van around 10 for the trip back to Frankfurt Airport. We had a blast, and it was so nice having friends from home visit, especially over the Easter holiday. The house felt very empty and lonely on Monday night!
Gilcrests Abroad 