This morning, the heat had broken–hallelujah! I went for a run under cloudy skies at 71 F / 22 C and then we spent the morning on some computer things we’d gotten behind on. Andrea went to her “probationary” day and by the end of the day had an offer with conditions that she’s happy with–4 days a week rather than 5–and she’ll start on July 1! Wow. We’ll celebrate at the end of that day, because Mark and I took off around mid-day to go visit our friend Uschi in Oldenburg for a couple of days and will be back Wednesday for that.
We had a quick Asian lunch at the train station and then took off via Bremen for Oldenburg. Uschi met us at the beautiful train station and we walked across the cute Oldenburg pedestrian mall to her apartment. It always feels like coming home to yet another “home away from home” in Germany. We stopped for gelato on the way, which of course was a big hit! We talked for a bit, then Mark and I went for a little walk since we had some minor errands and needed to stretch our legs some more. Uschi’s place is across from the gorgeous Schloßgarten, Oldenburg’s main city park, and we strolled through that.
Later, Uschi took us to dinner at an Arabian hole-in-the-wall, where they had yummy shawarma with good fresh veggies. But she was a little disappointed because she had been there with Syrian friends before, and had managed to get a sample of more special food than the meals we were able to order off the menu. But it was good! Uschi then dropped us off at a spot on the canal (Küstenkanal) that runs through Oldenburg (along with the Hunte river) and we walked home from there, along the canal and then through and along green spaces–a short walk (just over 2 miles / about 3 km) along enjoying the water and through green spaces. Then we chatted a bit more, and went to bed pretty early–I must be decompressing, because I was quite sleepy and dead asleep before 10 pm.
