Tuesday, June 17

Our last full day in Osnabrueck! We spent the morning packing, went to go shopping for chocolate (presents, mostly Kai’s for his friends) at the local ALDI, and then went for a little outing with my mom. We went to a hiking area along a mountain ridge that has a lot of really interesting and partially climbable sandstone cliffs, and we’ve been there many times before, but Mark had not. It’s notorious in my family because 5 years ago, at the beginning of our German year, Kati slipped and fell as she was climbing around in the last of the four major formations, the so-called “crouching woman,” sustaining a superficial head wound, and had to be taken to the hospital in an emergency vehicle! I had not been back since, and was sort of simultaneously dismayed and gratified that that last formation is now surrounded with warning signs (“Mortal Danger! Do not climb!), since it is considered to be unstable and too dangerous to climb anymore. But of course that meant we could not visit the spot where Kati fell, and our trip was pretty short. We drove a very scenic route back home and bought some baked goods for our last “Kaffee und Kuchen” in Imke’s garden. All of us felt a little sleepy and rested the remaining afternoon. In the evening, after dinner, Mark and I took one more walk around the lake, since it had gotten a little sunnier; we even got to check out the very cute Scottish Highland Cows that have recently been added to the area. When we got home, Imke and I went through the photos that Mark took on this trip, so that she could pick out some favorites for us to make prints from.