Germany - Nievenheim, Köln, Düsseldorf & Gießen

Nievenheim
We arrived in Nievenheim, Germany on June 29th. My cousin's wife Henni and their 2 year old daughter Lilly picked us up at the train station. Nievenheim is a city located between Düsseldorf and Köln and is quite charming. Once we settled into my cousin Gerd's flat, Henni and Lilly took us to a small town called Zons where we went on a nice walk (and Lilly on her bike) to the Rhine River. At the river, Matt and Lilly threw rocks into the water and I watched the many boats go up and down. What a busy river! By the end of our visit to the river, Lilly had completely warmed up to Matt and I and was running into us to give us hugs! What a sweet heart!

Henni & Lilly at the Rhine River

Me at the Rhine River

Matt riding Lilly's bike! LOL!

During the evening, my cousin took us out to a really nice restaurant. The food was delicious! It was a great time for us to talk and learn more about each other since we live on opposite sides of the world and didn't grow up together.

Köln (Cologne)
The following day after a hearty breakfast of buns (Europe really has the best bread ever), cheese, meats, jam, etc., we headed to Köln for the day. The main cathedral in Köln is stunning - most impressive I have seen so far. Near the cathedral is a bridge that is covered in locks. There is a similar type of bridge in Paris, but this bridge had far more locks than the bridge in Paris. Here are some pics from Köln:

During the evening, my other cousin, Hans Peter, came over for a visit. I hadn't seen him since 1984, when I was under a year old, so we really were meeting for the 1st time. We had a chance to learn more about each other and also called my dad. Here is a picture from our dinner:

What a great dinner! Henni is a fabulous cook! Both Matt and I loved both meals and I have taken mental notes on the flavour profiles in order to try to replicate at home.

Düsseldorf
The following day Matt and I went to Düsseldorf . Originally I had planned on visiting my Oma's grave, but apparently it no longer exists! In Germany, tombstones are only put up for 20 to 25 years and then they must be renewed. Interesting, isn't it? Since visiting the grave was no longer on my itinerary, we just headed to the old part of Düsseldorf and walked around to get a vibe of the city. We checked out Hinkel's bakery, one of the most popular bakeries in Germany and I tried currywurst - basically a bratwurst with a curry sauce. Here are some pics from our Düsseldorf adventures:

Hinkel's Bakery

Currywurst

Museum in Düsseldorf

Walking along the harbour

Bridge that crosses the Rhine River

Gießen
On July 2nd, my cousin's family and us headed on a road trip to Gießen to visit my Aunt Brunni! I last saw her in 2006 when she came to Canada. Gießen is a 2 hour drive away from Nievenheim which meant we got to go on the autobhan! Oh man, do I wish I had a car while in Germany. While there are speed limits imposed on some parts of the autobhan, most of it is limit-free! Occassionally I would glance over at the speedometer of Gerd's VW Passat and it was over 190 km/hr. I am not sure how fast we hit, but I am certain we hit the 200 km/hr speed. Once we would slow down to 100 km/hr, it felt like we were in a school zone - so slow!

It was so nice to see my Aunt Brunni again! She's so sweet and full of life. I had a great time chatting with her with Gerd and Henni as our translators for the day. We spent some time at my Aunt's apartment which is located right downtown, went out to lunch at a nice Greek restaurant and did some window shopping. I also had the opportunity to flip through her old photo albums and see photos of my two aunts, my dad and my grandparents (both of whom I never met). What a great opportunity! I took photos of photos so that I could have my own copy :)

My Aunt Brunni and I

A photo of my Aunt Brunni and my dad

My Opa and my Aunt Brunni

My Oma with both my aunts and my dad as a baby

After our short time together, they all walked us down to the train station where we boarded our train to Berlin. Great memories created during these past few days in Nievenheim and Gießen!