Back in Germany

Aug 27: Today Jorg picked us up and we went shopping for roof materials. Eric is going to help Jorg tar the roof because it has been leaking. Randy is going to put a new roof the next time he is able to come back.

Aug 28: I think it rained today (can you believe it??????)

Aug 29: The weather is much better today, actually a little warm! Eric and I worked on a path behind the guesthouse in the back yard. Another neighbor brought us some tiles and we broke them to make something like a mosaic looking pathway! It was fun working outside, and hopefully the weeds will not grow there anymore. We hope Randy likes it!

Aug 30: Today is Roof Day! Jorg came over in the morning with some Brotchen (bread rolls) and fresh homemade strawberry jam for breakfast! Then it was time to cover the roof with tar (not the most fun job in the world). It was a little dangerous up there since the roof is soooooo steep (that is why I just stayed on the ladder). It took about 8 hours to finish the roof with three people (although I didn’t do as much as the men).

Sept 1: Now that all the roof work is done, Eric and I went on a hike towards a town named Tahl. On the way we found Tropfsteinhohle (this was a mine as well as a cave)! So we decided to take a small tour of the mine and caves. We had to wear these bright blue hats as I later found out were for safety (since I hit my head on the ceiling). It was a long way down and I started getting a little scared. The mines were cool, but most the caves were too hard to get too and not viewable unless you wanted to crawl (more like shove your body through very small openings) between huge rocks on your stomach for 200 or 300 meters! This was a mine for some kind of heavy metal used in the medical field. I have to say that I was a little relieved when we came up out of the mine, but it was a very cool experience.

So we continued our hike to this old tower (I think remaining from an old castle) at the top of a hill in the small village of Tahl. We walked around for a while trying to find the path up. Finally we made it to the top! The tower had been renovated in the early 2000’s so we climbed all the way to the top to enjoy some scenic views.

Later in the evening Sabine (and her sister) picked us up to go to a wine festival in downtown Eisenach. There were many different booths with food and wine from many different wineries! There was a band playing all kinds of music… even a little salsa with dancers (we thought of you Scotty). We ate, drank, and danced all night until we were very tired. It was a very cool evening hanging out with Sabine and her friends!

Sept 2: After waking up a bit hung over and queasy from the night before. We went next door to learn how to make a Thuringen dish called Rouladen with our neighbor (another Sabine) Sabine. This is our favorite traditional meal but it is very hard and time consuming (of course) to make. First you take very thin, long pieces of beef. You roll up the beef with mustard, onion, speck (bacon fat pre cooked) and pickles inside! Then you boil it with some water and herbs. Then you make the red cabbage (with onion, apple and more speck) and KloBe (the “B” is like a double “ss”), which are like a potato dumpling. The KloBe take a long time to make, first you peel the potatoes, and grate them (very dangerous, just ask Eric) into a mush. Poor Eric had to use 3 Band-Aids to stop the bleeding that was caused by catching his fingers in the grater! Then you use cheesecloth to squeeze all the liquid out! Next you are left with the dry grated part of the potato. You add boiled potatoes (1/3 of the total potatoes peeled) and mash and mix them into the dried grated potatoes. Anyway, then you put a crouton in the middle and roll them into balls and boil them till they float! Whew! It is hard but soooooo tasty. It is served all together with the beef roll, red cabbage, and KloBe all covered (or swimming) in the beef gravy! Yummmy! We will try to make it at home for everyone to try. After a while we were able to kick our hangovers and enjoy a great lunch with the neighbors.

Sept 3: Not sure what we did today!

Sept 4: Eric and I had Reggie, Connie, Sabine, and Michael over for dinner. We made good old American Cheeseburgers. I made some German salad and Reggie brought some baked beans and champagne! Sabine brought over some cherry liquor and a few different jellies. And to top it all off, we had fruit parfait for desert. It was so cold here so we decided to come back inside. It was a great night with many funny stories of Reggie and Connie’s trip to California!