This weekend I got to spend with my wonderful Schödels. I got to Regensburg, where Johanna is going to University, very late (well, later then I expected). Maria picked me up from the station (her and Esther had come into town to play too!) and then we walked to Bini's place (Johanna's cousin) where we (Johanna, Murat, Olivia, Bini, Esther, Maria, and I) ate some spätzle and steak that he had made (me no steak) and then ate this delicious fruit torte that his friend Murat had made. We were a jolly group and it was great to be in all their company. We drank some wine, apfelschorle with Amaretto that was very tasty and played a German version of Memory and some Changa. Next day Maria, Esther, Johanna, Olivia, and I walked around the city, seeing all the old sites. The Dom was super cool - old German Gothic.
This city is very old and original because a lot of it was not destroyed during the war. The old stone bridge was built in the 12th century and the 2nd and 3rd crusades used it to cross the Donau River. Their is a staute of the devil in the middle of the bridge where he is looking up at the top of the Dom. There is an old story about a competition between the master builders of the Dom and the stone bridge which were built at the same time. The master builders each said that they would be done building their structures first and the stone bridge master builder used the help of the devil to finish his and then we don't really know the end of the story. I'll have to look it up. Here is a picture of us on the bridge. Johanna used to live in the pointy building second from the right.
Then the Mama Schödel came to town to wander a bit with us, have some lunch/Maria and I split French fries, and then we headed out to Eichstätt. I love going back to Eichstätt to hang out with the family, play games, snuggle with Esther, eat lots of good food, morning/evening walks with Maria, catch up with my wonderful Johanna, embarrass Benjamin, hear funny stories from Papa Schödel, listen to Mama Schödel's laugh, speak German/Bavarian, and just hang out with my lovely German family. They are always so great to me. Olivia came and stayed the weekend too so that was a lot of fun! We went for a nice walk/jog/run around Walting and it started to pour rain in the middle of it. Oh so fun! It felt good to be out somewhat hiking in the forest. Made me miss hiking at home with my lovelies.
Had a great run this morning - I'm loving the sun!!!!!! It's supposed to be in the upper 50s today, the sun is shining, and I am happy.
