Our next road trip took us north of Berlin all the way to the Baltic Sea. Travelling the country roads through sleepy, sometimes all but forgotten villages was beautiful. Stopping in Neustadt and having Königsberger Klopse in a still very GDR like restaurant was definitely a highlight. The Klopse were very good though not as good as Anke and mine. We are becoming quite good at them. Today we made a particular good batch. The other highlight was stopping in Seetz. The little town that my Schemeit grandparents settled in after the war. My grandfather was the mayor of the town for several years and they had built a house there. Just before the iron curtain came down they managed to get out. It was very interesting to be there, to see the house though it’s quite dilapidated. 
The new owner now is renovating it and so the property looks kind of crazy. We walked around the streets of the itty bitty town. There’s a little industry there and a church and a closed down old Gasthaus. As we were driving out I noticed an older man in his front yard. I introduced myself and he looked a little quizzical. I asked whether he’d lived here long and whether he knew the Schemeit family. Oh very well, he said. And figured I must be Günther’s daughter. He then regaled me with stories of Günther being a friend of the house as he and his brother were friends. He himself, Wilfried Wolf, had been in the same class as my Onkel Kurt and he wistfully remembered those good old days. And that it isn’t a surprise that things are so different with all the children having moved away to the big cities for jobs leaving really only a few old people in the village. That’s the way it goes, he said. I enjoyed our little visit over the fence and he seemed to get a little emotional when I passed on greetings from my father and he sent them back. 
Next we headed up to Rostock where my mother’s cousin Ralph used to live in the coolest little village Neuendorf. It was dark by the time we got there but I remembered the way to Neuendorf without a problem. I was shocked but also not to discover that the village is being swallowed up by the growing city of Rostock. And that the beautiful fields and tree-lined street are now filled with the likes of big American type wholesale shops…Media-Markt, Globus…you know Wal-mart type shops. Once we wound our way out of the maze I was able to find Haus Nr 12 where Ralph used to live and where I have many good memories of wonderful times. It’s still sad that Ralph is no longer with us. We stayed overnight in Warnemünde, the sea-side resort town, in a little pension. At this time of the year it was all very quiet. Not many people travel after the holidays. We were the only ones staying at the pension. We had a nice walk along the beach in the morning. And visited Rostock’s city centre too for a little trip down memory lane. It’s a beautiful city.
We high-tailed it to Dortmund after that, stopping in Lübeck for lunch. We visited Luise, our most amazing 92 year old friend. We’ve known her for many years now when she and her partner came to visit us in Toronto still. It’s unbelievable that she’s 92. She has so much energy that we almost had a hard time keeping up. She took us into town on Sat morning so that I could do some errands and she just zipped around. She made us meals that included bacon and eggs for breakfast. It was very nice to stay with her and she was so incredibly happy about our visit.
We headed back along the Rhein river, staying overnight in Boppard so that we’d still get to see some of the Rhein’s beauty in the daylight. The hills, the craggy rocks, the vineyards, the barges, the picturesque towns are all very beautiful. We stopped in Bingen for a coffee break where Hildegard is from (aka. Hildegard von Bingen). But at this point in the day clouds and fog had rolled in, and the quiet Sunday streets became damp and dreary. We didn’t stay long. The fog cleared while we were driving through the mountains of the Pfalz which are peaceful and beautiful. When we got to Rheinstetten Anke and their friends Uwe and Jutta had cooked a delicious dinner which we were invited too. We had a wonderful time and the food was perfect Sunday dinner comfort food; rouladen, red cabbage, dumplings and Spätzle too. I enjoyed meeting Uwe and Jutta again. They’re great. And their children, 12 and 10 years old, were very impressive in trying out their English skills!
Larry went home on Monday, looking forward to seeing his family again. I’ve spent the week getting ready for my next adventures. I’m excited and apprehensive and curious all at the same time. Now it’s late the night before. I still have to do my packing in the morning. Checking in on-line the way I would have liked hasn’t quite worked out. And I find myself not being able to sleep…many things going through my head…(where am I going from here? what happens now? could I have prepared myself better? what exciting things lie ahead?)...and so I thought I’d make use of the time and update this blog. I don’t know how often I’ll have internet access in East Africa but will definitely do my best to keep as up to date as possible.
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