postcard from monsheim, germany

the past two days handsome and i were in the most charming town ever!  we decided to stop for a few days in monsheim to visit our new family, the hagenlochers.  out of all the cities we are seeing on our trip, this was the one city were the only plans we made were to meet ute’s family, and make spaetzle with oma.

i can’t put in words the unbelievable amount of fun we had in two short days!  we were set up in our own flat above oma and opa’s house with wine (and a lot of it!) water, juice, snacks, fresh linens and towels- everything!  the picture above was the view from our private balcony and the view we woke up to each day.   we spoke the same amount of schwabisch words as oma and opa spoke english so our conversations amounted to large hand gestures and a lot of laughing, but it was still so wonderful!  i did get to make spaetzle with oma while jay and opa drank together in the other room.  i think the only understanding between jay and opa was a nod of the head for more wine. 

when we weren’t with oma and opa we were being toured all around by our new aunt and uncle elke and bernd.  i would spend any day of the week with them- they are the best!  the last day we spent there was by far my favourite as we basically got a private tour of the ludwigsburg palace simply because were the last tour of the day, and the only people who showed for that time slot.  after touring versailles with hundreds of people you can imagine how spectacular it is to walk with just four people through the rooms of a royal palace!  at the end we decided it was no longer the ludwigsburg palace but instead the palace of elke, jay and rachel.

i don’t think any new memory we make on the trip will top our last night there- i really really don’t!  after the palace we went to dinner at a restaurant where the owner invited us back to the kitchen for fresh sausage he had made that day.  afterwards we went back to the main room with him to sing along to german songs while he played the accordion.  not sure exactly what every song was but we knew one line for sure…

überall auf der welt scheint die sonne 

…but i think this is especially true for monsheim.