Horst

We drove to Viersen Dulken which is 1 hour away from us. Stressful drive for me, Germany has a very different style of driving. Dave does really well, we are thankful for the sat-nav we couldn't image trying to navigate through the autobahns with a paper map. I know I would spit the dummy and be on the side of the road. We did get done with the speed camera again! The Germans don't obey speed signs if there is any but they do know where the speed cameras are and then they slow down, us australian dumb bunnies don't. Lesson learnt: if all of sudden they aren't flying past you there is a camera coming up.
It was lovely to catch up with the family, we walked in and it was like we had never left. We had good German coffee and Monika had baked their traditional Christmas biscuits. Which the kids want the recipes for. Kellie went off with Magdalena to her friend's house where they did their Kris Kringle, played games and ate biscuits. They have an American exchange student at the school. So Kellie had someone who spoke English and translated for her. They all learn and speak limited English but often the translation gets a bit confusing. With Magdelena I forget that you have to speak in simple terms not our slang. She didn't understand 'there were people rocking up'. I had to rephrase and say people arriving. The three girls went to an outdoor skating rink where they taught Kellie to ice skate. They had lots of fun and Kellie had a few falls but did get the hang of it.
Brodie went to a clip and climb with Julian and then on to Laser tag. Both places did an English version of the instructions for him. He worked up a bit of a sweat at both places. He really enjoyed the laser tag.
We sat and chatted with Bernhard and Monika and found out we won't be able to catch up with Mr & Mrs Kunz as their daughter is in hospital. After we picked up the boys we had soup and fresh rolls. Monika made her family soup recipe, leek and cheese with mincemeat through it. It was delicious, I would like that recipe too. Bernhard took Dave & I down to a small pub to sample the Traditional Christmas drink 'Gluwein'. A spiced warm red wine. It certainly warms you up. A stroll back then off to pick the girls up. Then we drove back to Gelsenkirchen-Horst. It was a lovely day catching up and sampling some of their Christmas traditions.Read more