After the Jet Lag: Germany 2019, pt. 8

We were an active duty military family for about 13 years.  We were stationed from the West Coast to the East Coast and in between - and even lived in Würzburg, Germany for 3 years.  Some of the people we met during that time are the kind of people that you remember for a life time, and if you ever run into them again, you just kind of pick up where you left off.  I am so thankful for our military friends!

When Dan and I were a young married couple, living far away from home in Washington State at our 2nd duty assignment (a 3 month stint in Monterey, CA being our first), I met Randy by a chance encounter at the commissary while grocery shopping.  I was wearing a t-shirt from my recently-graduated-from university (Tennessee Temple, a small school in Chattanooga), and he approached me.

He too had spent a semester at TTU ... and as we talked, we found he knew my brother-in-law.  Small world!  We soon decided that our spouses needed to meet ... and from that time on, his wife Laura became my closest friend for the 2 years we lived in Washington.  Since then, almost 24 years have gone by ... their children grew up, married, and had children.  Dan and I eventually had children, who are now almost grown up too (well, except our 9 year old!).

A few weeks ago, Laura messaged me for tips about visiting Germany.  Randy was going to be doing some training there as an Army flight instructor, and she was going to go with him.  As we compared notes, we figured out we'd be in Germany at the same time!!  So, of course, we planned to meet up!

On Thursday, June 20, my daughter Anna and I drove up from Ravensburg to meet them in Heidelberg.  June 20th also happened to be a Germany holiday - Fronleichnam (Corpus Cristi) - but that didn't stop the tourism at the castle by the Neckar River.

I have tons of pictures of Heidelberg because the castle ruins are just so amazing and the area around the castle is lovely and historic as well.

There was just something beautiful every where you look. 

We chose not to take a tour of the castle (I had been previously), but we spent some time walking around the castle grounds and inside.

Again, it is just such a lovely place to visit ... and I am sure the tour would have afforded more insight into the history of this castle-fortress on the hill over the Neckar River valley.

But I have to say the BEST PART of our Heidelberg experience was catching up with old friends and realizing we still have SO MUCH to talk about ...

and the very best of the best was that my friends immediately took in my daughter as a friend too ... 

It helped that Laura and Anna seem to be kindred spirits.

Our time in Heidelberg went by too quickly, and we had to be on the road by 6p.m.  Anna and I did stop in Darmstadt (which we'll visit again later!) for dinner:  a Schnitzel for me and "Spare ribs" for Anna.  Then we headed back to Frankfurt to spend the night with my aunt.  

Parking our huge vehicle in her neighborhood turned out to be a little bit of a dilemma as the parking spaces around her apartment were all rented to residents, and the narrow streets around the neighborhood were already full of parallel-parked vehicles.  We parked half-way on and half-way off a fire lane since it was just for a quick over-night ... but believe me, a nosy German neighbor lady let us have it the next morning when we went to move the car!  I love that my aunt (who is 84 years old!) just smiled at her and said she understood and wished the lady "a nice day" as we drove off...  

Friday, June 21 - Old Town Frankfurt - in part 9