And Now We are Here

Noah says it smells different, better somehow in Germany.
The high speed train ride from the Frankfurt airport to the outskirts of Bonn flew us through quaint villages dotted with small houses. Hills and forests, green from a recent rain. The humid damp is so different from the 100 degree heat of Davis. And yes, it does smell different somehow, musty, fresh, old, contradictory.
We were still traveling in our privileged class in the nose of the ICE train (intercity express) – though luckily our bags had not followed from the plane, since we ended up walking at least a kilometer inside train cars to get to this private cabin.

Once dumped at the train station in Siegburg, we were on our own. No fancy tickets would get us to the city center, and the kids were thrilled. Amazingly they were in good spirits at this point, and Noah had left his barf bag behind, refreshed by the German air. As we rolled through suburbs on the local tram, I had to keep pinching myself that this was it, our new life. Not really a vacation, and Olof would start work the next day.

20 minutes later and we were hopping off at a busy intersection in Bonn. We decided to skip a taxi because the apartment we had rented sight unseen on-line seemed to be close. Amazingly we walked directly to it in less than 5 minutes and landed. Olof went in to Deckers gun shop – our new landlords – to get the keys. Voila we were “home.”

There is always a risk in committing to anything without actually having seen, touched or smelled it, so I was more than a little nervous about what we had actually signed on for with our 3 week furnished apartment. Again, luck was with us and our little home is just fine. No frills, no luxuries, but 2 bedrooms, plenty of space, a funky doo kitchen with almost enough cutlery, but best of all, a washer and drier! What more could a mother ask for. And without our luggage, my first thought was to wash underwear so we could all sleep clean.

Actually before laundry, a mother’s first concern is food. And before we all crashed for good, we rallied out to find a few necessities. There seems to be no real food stores in the center of this city, but the multitude of bread and cheese shops would suffice. Olof actually ventured out later while the kids showered to find milk, butter and coffee in the basement of the local department store.

Once fed we all attempted sleep. We were up at midnight for a snack, and slept again until about 4:00. Louise was wide awake then and ready for the day, so she and I hung out and chatted until Olof had to go to work. Noah slept until noon and then our first real day in Bonn began.