Four Years in a Row!!!

Regular readers of the blog will know that I did a German exchange program 27 (for those of you who can't do the math, in 1986) years ago.  I've kept in touch with my German brother, Uli and over the years have become great friends with his wife, Alex, and kids, Josefine and Jonah.  Each summer in during my years in Italy, I made a trip up to Nuremburg, Germany to visit them.  This summer, my last stop before heading back to the United States for the month of August was to visit Uli and his family.  Leaving Serbia, I flew to Nuremburg via, of all places, Istanbul.  It was the cheapest ticket AND I got miles.  So Turkish Airlines it was.

I arrived on the evening of July 31st and on the 1st of August, the family and I drove out to Uli's hometown of Spiegelau (where I did the homestay).  Germany has these fantastically fun roller luge runs.  Jonah and I did it three times.

Most of my pictures were on my camera, which I left at the Frankfurt airport. These were taken from my phone.  The morning of the 2nd, we went into the Bavarian National Forest and climbed Mt. Lusen.

Alex and Myself on the top of Mt. Lusen.

On the way down, Alex and Jonah went directly to the car, while Uli and I trekked to Tummelplatz to see the cabin in which we stayed 27 years previously.  It was a glorious day and the place looked as beautiful as ever.  We all stayed at Uli's mother's place and had a fantastic BBQ with great homemade cake.  Uli himself is dealing with the fact that his mother is now 81, living on her own and it's getting tough for her.  He's lucky that the couple next door helps her out with things like shoveling snow and major lifting, but he too is going to have to make a decision soon about her future living conditions.  Will he move her out of the house and town that she's lived in for 50 years and relocate her to Nuremburg?  Uli and Alex are both dealing with a 12 year old daughter who's a complete pre-teen brat.  If you ever read this Josefine, your behavior is unacceptable and I wish I had done Uli and Alex the favor of telling you that from an unbiased third person perspective.  I love Uli and his family and it's always such fun to spend a few days with them every summer.