Waldenbuch, Germany
48° 38' 26'' N, 9°8'16'' E
In the days between Christmas and New Years we went on the grandest adventure possibly ever! We were invited to the home of Lotteʻs mother in Waldenbuch, Germany, gathered around large tables with incredible food, and hiked to see the Schwäbische Alps. We will break this up into valuable life lessons:
In Germany your beer glass will never be empty, so plan accordingly.
Krystal learned quickly that beers in Germany are GIANT, super tasty, and Germans will make sure your glass is never empty. We pulled up a seat at the family dinner table and said yes to a tasty winterbock. Once that beer was gone another one was poured! Before we knew it we were laughing with family members we just met and learned the inside secrets of the delicious maultaschen, a giant meat dumpling invented by the Catholics during lent. The meat is covered by noodles and hidden from God. We thought they were delicious and highly recommend attempting to make them at home is you are far from a Swabish grocery store.
2. Church bells ring reliably every fifteen minutes. If the GPS fails, just wait for the bells to ring you home.
What on earth is wrong with US cities? Seriously, all of the things you need to get to often require a car or public transportation. Do people in the US not have working feet? Building a town with everything in walking distance and including paths that go far into the country side is brilliant! How did we miss this? We super enjoyed wandering the country side outside of Waldenbuch and appreciated that the sound of the church bells helped us to stay oriented as we wandered through the winter fields of flowers.
3. Germans make things IN Germany! Including Ritter Sport chocolate!
Things that we love that are made in Germany: Nivea, Faber-Castell, Volkswagen, Mercedes Benz, and RITTER SPORT chocolate! Krystal loves Ritter Sport and almost lost her mind when we discovered that the Ritter Sport chocolate factory is IN Waldenbuch, Germany. The greatest day ever was going to the factory and getting chocolate found no where else and seeing the wild art. When a company makes 505€ million a year they can be wild and build an art gallery and put art made from toilet paper in the gallery and we will love it because we have eaten so much chocolate we can no longer think correctly!
We had a blast in Waldenbuch! Krystal learned that she is the Heinzelmännchen, mythical gnomes that come in the night and clean. Future friends be warned - she will wash all of your dishes! Maryʻs version of Christmas stollen was rosemary crackers…the Germans put almonds in everything. Danke schön mama Rosi for hosting and sharing the history of the Lamm-Brauerei.