This morning, we said goodbye to Osnabrück with one more walk up to the “Westerberg” and through some of our favorite streets in my mom’s neighborhood (about 3 miles total) and then to Imke herself, after these lovely three days with her, and set out to take the regional trains to Aachen. We left about 11, our rolls and a couple of sweet baked things in tow, had to change trains in Essen (originally, that was supposed to happen in Düsseldorf, but there were some problems with the tracks), past Cologne, where Mark was already looking out for the cathedral, which is a stone’s throw from the main train station there. The trip was uneventful, and even though some of our fellow passengers were frustrated by the switcheroo and the minor delays, we never stop being delighted by being able to travel almost everywhere by train (and for a flat rate of 58 Euro a month for each of us, it is a steal, given how much we’ve traveled). We also tend to be fascinated rather than annoyed by tracking the logistics challenges that German railway companies face and solve daily–although there is certainly a lot of room for improvement that other countries have long implemented, whereas Germany let their excellent railway system slide for many years and is now paying the price.
e arrived in Aachen at 4:30 with about 25 minutes’ delay and were greeted at Aachen Rothe Erde by our friend Ralph. Ingrid welcomed us at their beautiful home with coffee and cake, and we sat and talked for quite a while on their deck. The weather was gorgeous and I love their house, which I visited so many times with the kids on our trips to Germany (and two with Mark, 2014 and 2016). They have lived here, in a roomy duplex with many neat environmentally smart features (like a cistern that catches rain water), for 26 years, and just got a heat pump installed, very happy to no longer be dependent on natural gas for their heat. Then, Ralph took us for a wonderful walk–really “just” one of their regular walking routes starting at their home, but what a beautiful region to have right at your doorstep! We walked along a hiking/biking trail that used to be railroad tracks and on country roads, through the rolling hills of green grass and yellow grain that characterize the landscape around Aachen. We ended up at the edge of Kornelimünster, a nearby town with a famous Benedictine abbey (the convent is still active, but the political power the order had here for years is of course gone). Years ago (2014) we did walk all the way INTO the town, but it was getting late, so we just walked the loop back on the bike/hike path (about 4 miles total), across the beautiful viaduct that I remembered so clearly from several walk in years past.
We were home around 9 pm and had the latest dinner we have had since we got here. Ingrid had made some fabulous roasted peppers and potatoes, with salad, a dip, and some capresi with the BEST buffalo mozzarella I have ever had. It was wonderful, as was the conversation that continued from coffee time through the walk far into the evening, about American and German politics, environmental concerns and urban architecture, our lives and our kids lives–just a big catching up on everyone and everything that we look forward to continuing over the next day or two.