Revelations 1 to 6 in Germany

Revelation 1:  The reason why I love to travel and, specifically, why I fall in love with a place, is due to the joy of discovery that goes along with seeing something new, discovering a hidden gem or creating a new memory that is mine alone.

Martin’s home town and surrounding countryside is a really beautiful place with rolling green hills and lush forests outside his back steps. However each and every time I go there, it is hard for me to make it my own or have any sort of emotional tie to it.  After so many years of trying to figure out the disconnect beauty and apathy, I think I finally cracked the code.  It is because every experience I have had in his hometown has been shown to me, explained to me, presented to me.  In an effort to get me excited about their home, my father-in-law has given me plenty of history lessons about the area and pointed out every world famous, very well-known location that I have never heard of all with limited participation from me.  In effect, I have been a bystander in every experience. And because of this, I have yet to create my own memories that spark joy and make me want to return.

This revelation came to me when we drove past a church on our way back from swimming at one of the lakes and my father-in-law started to tell me the history of the church.  I kindly cut him off to let him know we had been there before, with my parents, when Martin and I had our wedding in Germany.  I couldn’t remember or care about any of the details about the church, but it did make me smile.  It was next to the church that almost 9 years ago my dad and I stood in awe watching a tree trimming service cut down a tree and feed the entire trunk, branches and leaves whole into a large wood-chipper.

Revelation 2:  As much as I joke and gripe about the coffee and cake (and subsequent jitters) that seem to be part of the daily routine at Martin’s parent’s house, I actually was looking forward to it this time around since it had been so long. Imagine my disappointment when I realized Annegret hadn’t baked a single cake for our visit.  I mean, did she no longer love us? Were we no longer deemed guests of worthy of her baking skills? I was definitely thrown for a loop on this one.  So much so that I suggested the kids bake a cake with her Thursday morning.

Revelation 3: Melatonin really does help with jet lag.

Revelation 4: Martin and I have the best time in the most unromantic places. After a few nights of home cooked meals, Martin convinced his parents to have currywurst take out one night, so Martin and I left the kids with the grandparents and headed into “town” to pick up dinner and enjoy a little time alone with just the two of us.  It doesn’t take much to turn a mundane errand into a fun outing.   We placed our order, grabbed a beer and headed outside to wait for our food.  Rain had started to fall, so instead of sitting in the garden, we grabbed the bench on the sidewalk that had the only umbrella over it for protection.  It was there that we shared a beer, finally had a moment to talk, and laughed about all of the romantic places we have been. 

Revelation 5: I am a hypocrite. On more than a handful of occasions I may or may not have complained about how Martin’s family will sit around their dining table from coffee and cake at 4pm through dinner, dessert and late night drinks. Just sitting and talking. And I found this highly unusual. Who would want to sit in the same, hard uncomfortable chair for that long?!

If you can already spot the irony and hypocrisy then you are better than I. It took me until this trip to realize the very thing I found so odd is exactly what my closest friends and I do every time we get together. And even brag about. Put us anywhere and so long as there is a kitchen table for us to sit around and catch up then we are good.

Revelation 6:  While the food and games might vary depending on where you are, carnivals are the same everywhere you go.  You still have the loud songs and bright lights coming from every booth and ride, the junk prizes you spend way too much money on to win, the overpriced sugary foods and beverages, the carnie type characters operating the rides, the groups of young teens running around trying to act cool in front of the opposite sex and younger kids crying due to too much sugar, too much stimulation, too much chaos and not enough water.