Where in the World are V and M?: V&M's RTW Reboot

After all the non-stop touring, long bus rides and hospital visits in Greece and Turkey we needed to catch our breath and take some time to chill out. Having planned to go to my mom’s hometown Bayreuth, Germany after Turkey was a great idea. We arrived in Nuremburg, which is about an hour away from Bayreuth (pronounced by-royt) and my mom’s youngest sister, Doris, picked us up with her husband, Uwe, and their daughter, Marina. We drove and chatted all the way. Thankfully my aunt speaks English pretty well so she could help translate for my uncle because my German was (and still is) very weak.

When we arrived in Bayreuth a million childhood memories returned to me. (I lived in Germany for many years when I was young; kindergarten to 6^th grade is what I remember most. We visited my Oma and Opa (grandmother and grandfather) many times over those years.) It was so great when we got to the intersection with a bus stop, then around the corner to the yard on the side, and pulling up to the front of the house. Everything felt so familiar even though 6 years passed since my last visit. Oma opened the door with tears of joy and let us in. She’s always so happy to see her grand children, plus I brought her a bonus… Muthoni! :) (I wish Mu could have met my Opa too but he passed on in 2009… RIP Opa).

Though Oma doesn't speak much English, nor us much German, the love spoke for itself. She had a meal prepared for us when we arrived and started to ask us what things we’d like to do. All we really wanted to do was hang out with her and my relatives (along with a one day excursion to Schloss Neuschwanstein).

So for the thirteen days we spent in Germany we truly C-H-I-L-L-E-D. Mu especially needed to rest because she was still suffering from swelling in her throat because of the fish bone (Fethiye will forever be etched in our minds). Oma took great care of her. Because Mu couldn’t swallow any solid food Oma made cool and creamy foods for her at every meal (pudding, yougurt, ice cream… living a child’s dream.) After about 3 days of that Mu was healed! Thank you God! And Oma!

So, still chilling, we visited (and were visited by) all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who were in town. In all we saw 25 family members. We slept from 10pm until 9am. I gained 10 lbs. (Oma cooks so well and I ate Mu’s portion.) It was exactly what we needed to recover from our travels and prepare for the rest of the trip. We also got to unload our cold weather gear since the next half of the trip would be through Asia where it averages 90 some degrees Fahrenheit daily.

Well enjoy the pics.

Unfortunately the weather in Fussen was foggy and rainy. Doris, Uwe, Marina, Muthoni and I toured the Neuschwanstein castle for 45 min. It was once home to Ludwig II of Bavaria.