I woke up shortly after 6 am and I stayed in bed for a little bit catching up on the news, especially the horrific flooding in Germany that caused a lot of death and destruction a couple of days ago. Once Mark woke up and we got to chat for a little bit, I decided I would have enough time for my run, the first since last Sunday.
After all the usual baking prep that I managed to fit in yesterday, I put the bread in the oven, and then the cinnamon rolls right afterwards, and while things were baking, I took my shower and even did our laundry, all before Andrea and Peter and Dorothee came over after checking out of the little hotel for breakfast, which was a feast, in true Imke style–plus my sourdough-based contributions, and we sat for over an hour, eating and chatting–PARTLY in English because I had specifically asked. I felt that we are all really neglecting Mark in recent days, myself especially, but really all of us–it’s not just all my fault! He actually started reading a book on his phone / ipad to pass the time at the table (Peter had recommended Hail Mary by the guy who wrote The Martian). There were so many conversations where we gave up on translating (much too fast) or didn’t even try to do so, because so many topics came up, and in such quick succession, that it seemed impossible to keep him caught up. We did a little better at this meal, but at some point, I had to skip a whole bunch of details as I tried to explain how we got from complaining about the necessity of buying clothes (partly relieved by the pandemic) to childhood memories of various family members who had clothes sewed for them and/or were sewing clothes. (Andrea told a new-to-me story of her mother, now in her 80s, almost moving to Berlin with a family for whom she worked as maid/cook/seamstress as a young woman, with the promise to be able to train as a tailor, and not being allowed to go because she was expected to take care of her parents on the farm.)
After the feast of foods and words, we went for a walk–first, all 6 of us went to the Botanical Gardens and looked once more at plants, including some cacti in bloom and some carnivorous plants, and then, Imke and Dorothee went back home, while we four young whippersnappers went across the Westerberg and to Imke’s old street and house, which has been renovated–but we couldn’t really see enough with all the hedges to appreciate the difference. It was a nice addition to our walk, though, and as long as we stayed in the shade of trees and buildings, very pleasant–a gorgeous day, with no sign of rain and yet never too hot, with a little bit of a breeze.
After we got back, at about 2:30/3 pm, we all had coffee and tea and the rest of my cinnamon rolls (although I also packed some up in aluminum foil for Peter to take home, along with a tub of sourdough and some vital wheat gluten). We sat and talked for quite a bit longer, and also had Kai on FaceTime (something none of the Germans were used to). Peter and Andrea were supposed to take a train at 17:23, but had gotten a notice that the train was delayed (it had started in the region affected by the flooding, near Cologne), so we didn’t take off by bus for the train station until shortly after 6 pm, and then we still stood on the platform for a bit longer until we all said good bye and left them to their own devices. (They got home ok, but to a very hot apartment!)
Mark and I, feeling that we had sat still more than we had moved around, walked home from the train station along the river Hase (always fun) and through the little carnival that is currently set up in part of the old city. It took maybe 30 minutes to get home. Imke and Dorothee were sitting in her lovely enclosed garden, and we decided we would have dinner out there. We had soup and bread and chatted some more, but I have to say that after putting away the dinner food, I was truly exhausted and “talked out,” and excused myself to rinse off and go to bed (and write this).