Since we’ve been here, Kate and I have been meaning to make the two-and-a-half hour drive up to Düsseldorf to see my family. It’s not a particularly long drive. And it’s actually very pretty, especially in spring, when the rapeseed buds on the rolling fields light up the various shades of surrounding pastels with their bright and happy blooms – yellow, like the color of cheap mustard. And the ornate church of Limburg – which can be seen from a nearby autobahn bridge – jutting out precariously above a deep ravine. Or the beautiful Siebengebirge (Seven Hills) region. I should know…I mean, it’s not like we haven’t already driven by the place three times already (twice to go to Holland and once to go to Köln). But, for whatever reason, we just hadn’t committed to seeing family.
Well, now we did. As you can see in the photos, we met the German relatives for a dinner last Friday night to a Balkan restaurant called Pfefferkönig located right down the street from my uncle Uwe’s house in Oberhausen. Present at the dinner were my mom, Bill, and Oma – of course – who are visiting for two weeks. But on the local side, there was my uncle (really second cousin) Uwe (pronounced OOH-vah) and his wife (Petra) and kids (Stefanie and Dustin), my great aunts (Anneliese, Gisele, and Angelika), and my other second cousin (Heide) with her husband (Frank).
The dinner was good – I’d actually been to the restaurant once before, when I was visiting Uwe – and ate the “half-cow with onions,” I believe. And seeing the family was actually pretty fun. Granted the majority of the conversation was in German, so Bill and Kate formed a quick bond….but it was good.
My mom and Bill are driving up there again tomorrow to pick up my Oma, whose been busy driving other people crazy for a change. Then, when she comes here, we’ll have to figure out a way to carry her up two flights of stairs. Does anyone remember how a pulley works?
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