Trip back to Germany - Day 1 (Traveling and Auerbach!)

 It was touch and go for a couple of weeks before our trip because BOTH kids got sick with colds about 1-2 weeks before we left, but everyone recovered, the adults never caught it, and we finally made it back HOME!

 

And it was touch and go whether we would make it to the airport or not, too!  We booked seats on the Logan Express out of Framingham - only... when we got there, they had no parking available. So in a panic, I checked the airport Economy parking, and it was also sold out.  Meanwhile, Central Parking was nearly $300 for the week, so that wasn't going to work!  We didn't really think, and I somewhat panic-booked something online through Way... BUT... it was in QUINCY.  So now we had to drive to Quincy and then get an Uber to the airport.  Phew.  Thankfully we always try to get there 3 hours ahead of the flight so there was plenty of time.  Plenty of time to grab some dinner in the E concourse, too! If I had actually stopped to think about it, we could have just driven home and taken an Uber back to Logan Express, which would have probably been a lot cheaper. My brain does NOT function in stressful situations that involve traveling!

But, we made it!  PROST!

The Bailey's are headed down the jetway and ready to board our flight to Keflavik!

Let's go to Munich, shall we? What exactly am I looking at, anyway?!?

The flight to Keflavik is VERY short, but it's so nice to be greeted upon arrival by Snæfellsjökull on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula!

Look at the sun rising over Sandgerði! I can't ever get over the beauty of Iceland!

This geography nerd is a sucker for coordinates of special places.  Not QUITE up there at 66 degrees north, but pretty darn close!

Our time in Iceland was very short and despite a kind of bumpy exit, we were definitely treated to the MOST beautiful views of Iceland!  Look at this crazy landscape!

This might be my favorite picture I took of Iceland. Not only can you see Thingvellir National Park (with it's big lake way in the background) AND the town of Sefloss on the river (which we went through many times on our first trip to Iceland), but you can also see (if you squint) Knarrarós Lighthouse down on the coast just to the left of center on the coastline.  It's a tiny little white dot (not the one in the water though) and it was the first concrete lighthouse in Iceland, built in the late 1930s.  At 86 feet, this was the tallest building in Iceland for a long time!

We were also treated to amazing views of Eyjafjöll.  You know... the icecap over the volcano Eyjafjallajökull that caused all kinds of travel headaches when it erupted back in 2010, and it's sister volcano Katla which is beneath the  Mýrdalsjökull icecap (as you can see here). This is considered an active volcano, although it last erupted back in 1918.

The outlet glacier from Mýrdalsjökull, known as Sólheimajökull is seen here, and you can see this one from the Ring Road on the south coast of Iceland.

We finally landed in Germany, got into our standard size BMW SUV (what??? Only in Germany!) and hit the A9 North to Auerbach! It rained most of the way, so I didn't get to speed like I wanted to! HA!

Our first stop in Auerbach was our old grocery store, Edeka!  Grant learned to ride his bike in this very parking lot. We noticed they have a new food truck in the parking lot (on the far left) but otherwise, it seems like nothing has changed!

After an unfortunate bathroom incident at the Brunner Bäcker which is connected to the Edeka (Grant can no longer show his face there), we high tailed it to the dairy section for some YUMMY Milchreis!  We were going to wait until after dinner to have it, but we JUST couldn't contain ourselves!

My favorite treat in ALL the land!

Look at that yummy vanilla Milchreis goodness!  Milchreis is much like rice pudding, but in Germany, they add stuff to it for flavoring beyond what it normally tastes like. Natalie and I have always loved the vanilla the best. I think I like the Zimt (or cinnamon) second best though!

Grant got a chocolate flavored one, and Todd got a chocolate coconut flavored Milchreis!  This is what it looked like after he stirred it. 

Leave me alone. I'm enjoying my Milchreis. I'm very happy right here. The kids and I have been dreaming of this day for almost 3 and a half years!

Next, we walked up to our old house (which is a very short walk from the Edeka) past the "new" Park That We Know. The kids used to play at this little park when they were young.  Natalie is still dreaming of Milchreis here, apparently, since she still has her spoon.

And there it is!  Ohrenbacher Straße 15! Our home! My favorite home!  Hilariously, we had driven by before we went to Edeka and someone was in the kitchen window as we were videoing out the window of the car from our phones! Whoops!  But this time, no one was watching us!

Yeah! Veedol is still there!  Every time we see cobblestones like this, we always say, "Look! It's our driveway!"  Aside from a new mailbox, I think this house is largely the same. Even the window coverings in the kitchen are the same (complete with ketchup that Grant accidently dumped on the right one since our garbage can was in front of it)!  The upstairs windows on the left above the kitchen were in Grant's room, and the two upstairs on the right were the bathroom and our bedroom. I still love this house so much.

As we walked around the neighborhood a bit, one of the neighborhood cats (Die Katze!) came over to say hello. We always had plenty of these cats running around, and as you can see, they're fat and well fed. We never had names for them back in the day, but Natalie decided today that this one was named Cheeto.

I cannot tell you how much I miss this house.

We decided to walk back to the car so we could continue our drive around Auerbach before dinner, and Cheeto decided to follow us. It was as if he remembered us!

Baileys just strolling down Roncallistraße with Cheeto having a conversation with my eldest.

Cheeto suddenly ran up a tree as we turned onto Kornbergsiedlerstraße!

We thought he might stay in the tree but nope. He continued to follow us until we got to the Speckbach.  Here, he spotted some ducks and continued to meow loudly at them!

Cheeto was hot on our tail, so we had to sprint to the car to lose him in front of Edeka. Everyone was a little bit sad to have to say goodbye to Cheeto in that way, but we were happy to see the Rathaus when we drove downtown!

Happy to see this guy, too!  The aurochs (also known as the now-extinct Ur) is featured on the town coat of arms. The last one of these in Bavaria was shot in 1470 (!!) but of course, Auerbach (hmm, sounds a bit like aurochs) is older than even that, having become a town in 1314.  Auerbach celebrated it's 700th birthday the year before we arrived here.

After our tour of the town, we went to our favorite local restaurant - Da Teo!

We have sat at this very table many times, although these two were much younger. The owner even recognized us after all of these years!  We were slap happy at dinner and probably annoying all of the very quiet Germans around us with our obnoxious laughter but I haven't laughed as hard as I did at this dinner in a LONG time.  We all were literally CRYING because we were laughing so hard.  I won't go into details (poor Grant) but at one point he had his head in his hands and said, "We have to pull ourselves together!!!" We were definitely losing it from lack of sleep!

Time for a jump scare when you open one of these! POP! I wish they sold Veldensteiner in America!

DA TEO BALLS!!!!  We have never known what these are called but apparently there are pralinas!  Our favorite waitress Arzu was not there, and with it being a Saturday night, I'm going to assume she doesn't work there anymore. We were wondering if maybe the pandemic had something to do with that (people needing to make money when restaurants closed sometimes left for jobs that could pay the bills.)  We were sad not to see her. 

Da Teo balls make me happy though, and so does complimentary Limoncello! Yes, we are doing THIS again. Many times on this trip. Some things never change!

Ohhhh there I am!

After dinner at Da Teo, we drove to Weiden to drop Natalie off for her BIG reunion weekend with her bestie, Giya. I would say they missed each other just a bit, wouldn't you?  It was like we never even left!

Until next time, Auerbach!  We love you so much!