Beutiful Weather + Great Company = A Fabulous Weekend

June 15 - June 20

Hi All,

On the work front there is not much to report.

There have been lots of 'Open Air' (meaning outside) parties on campus but last week was
the biggest of the summer. There was a sea of people gathered in and around the student
residences. Lots of the multicultural groups had tables where they were selling exotic
food, there was live music, a couple DJs, and beer tents. Lots of fun :)

Last Saturday I arranged to visit my cousin Mike and his girlfriend Nadine in Heidelberg.
I let them know that I would  be arriving at the train station around 10 in the morning. I
took a train that had one stop over in Manheim. My train from Stuttgart was 5 minutes late
so I didn't make my connection and ended up being misguided by a deutsche bahn employee. I
somehow ended up in Karlsruhe which is back towards Stuttgart. On the train going the
wrong way I was able to borrow a girls cell phone and let Mike and Nadine know that I was
going to be late. The lady on the train was sooo nice that she even walked me to my train
to Heidelberg and made sure I was on the right track. She said that she believed that if
you are helpful to others the favour will be returned to you in some other way.....so
true! I gave her my e-mail address and told her she should come visit me in Canada.

Anyways, I finally made it to Heidelberg by 11:30 am and poor Nadine was there waiting for
me. Nadine and I had never met before and had never seen photos of each other so we had no
idea who we were looking for. I saw a lady standing around as if she was looking for
someone so I asked her if she was Nadine.....she was! Nadine later told me that she had
asked so many people before (at 10:00 when I was supposed to arrive) if they were Steffi
from Canada.....she was tired of getting weird looks so when she came to pick me up later
she let me do the asking. I felt really bad that I made Nadine wait for me for so long,
she was starting to get worried when I didn't show up, but she was very understanding.

Nadine and I got to know each other a little more as we toured the perfectly manicured
gardens of Schwetzingen Schloss (castle). After a couple hours Mike, who had to work
Saturday morning, joined us and we toured the inside of the summer castle. A lot of the
rooms were still furnished with original pieces and our German guide was full of funny
stories.

That night we visited my father's cousin Heidi, and her family in Haag (30 min from
Heidelberg). We had a yummy BBQ and I got to see Torstan, Jennifer and Helena all grown up.

The next day Mike and Nadine made an awesome breakfast and we (Mike, Nadine, Torsten and
his girlfriend) ate out an the patio. Torstan and his girlfriend offered to take me to
Strasbourg some weekend so that I can see where my dad used to study. That would be great
I just hope I can fit it in to my busy schedule ;)

Later in the day we visited Heidelberg Schloss which is like three palaces combined into
one castle. I preferred this castle to the one I saw on Sunday because the building was
not completely restored. Certain parts of the castle were still in ruins which to me seems
more authentic than a fully renovated place.

After a BIG traditional German dinner at a small restaurant I headed back to Stuttgart. I
could hardly move after my meal of potatoes, sauerkraut, saumagen, leberknödel, and
bratwurst but I still managed to fit in dessert.

I really had a fabulous weekend and it was great seeing all my family again.....I look
forward to having everyone come visit in Canada!

Bye for now,
Steph