The title sounds like a Woody Allen movie. 🙂
A lot has happened in the past two days and the most memorable was the time we spent with Leonor.
Leonor is a friend Paula met at her German language course. She is Spanish, our age, kind and nice and has that typical Spanish look and aura about her (attractive and relaxed). But most of all she is very undemanding, which is a great thing when you have to entertain a guest and a couple of kids that get bored just sitting at the table talking. Paula says it feels we have known each other for years – I tend to agree.
Let me start at the beginning of the weekend.
On Saturday we went to town after Paula came home from a quick trip to work where she had to do something (again, she explained and I took care to forget it, because there is just so many things I can remember about science – if I knew too much I would realize I know nothing. It is just a matter of time before Paula starts telling me: »You know nothing Dominik« – Paula is also a fan of the Song of Ice and Fire). The trip was awesome as the kids were in the mood for adventure, Paula was there, the sun was up – what more could a houseman want. There are a lot of things happening in Bayreuth this time of the year, one of them is Bayreuther Volksfest. They promote the fest with handing out free sweet foam (for the love of me I cannot remember the English word for it, but I am certain all of you know it. It comes on a stick, looks like raw cotton wrapped around the stick and is really sweet.). It was the kids first time they had it, so I made it sure to eternalize the moment:
He ate his own and the one his sister couldn`t finish. / Pojedel je svojo in še Mojčino.
Then, at the height of our fun,
Just chillin! / Uživam!
we grew hungry and I made a mistake. I ate a Coburger Bratwurst and it was just too much for my stomach so I started feeling really sick (serves me right for eating a Coburger in Bayreuth instead of a typical Bayreuther Bratwurst. I don`t know what I was thinking and the Bratwurster gods have punished me for it). So we went home and I felt better in some time. In the afternoon Paula invited Leonor to our house for lunch.
As the house chef it fell on me to prepare the meal. I made Mexican tortillas (now I know there are also typical Spanish tortillas, as Paula explained what Leonor told her) and for dessert we had some vanilla ice cream with Slovenian homemade pumpkin oil and pumpkin seeds. Leonor came around four o`clock and stayed until past eleven pm. So I guess she had a nice time. We talked a lot and meantime the kids had a chance to watch all the cartoons they couldn`t watch in a long time, which gave us the time to get to know Paula`s new friend. Leonore shared her experience of working in the Panama rain forest for a better part of two years and it was amazing listening to it. In the evening, when the kids were sleeping peacefully, we watched the movie Silver Lining Playbook (it was even better the second time Paula and I saw it).
During her visit we made another date with Leonor for a bike trip to see the Fantaisie Castle on the outskirts of Bayreuth that neither of us has seen until today. We started in the morning around 8 30 and after a few complications with a flat tire on Paula`s bike, we were well on our way. The thing about doing plans just by looking at the map is that on a regular map you do not see the difference in altitude you will have to overcome with a bike and two kids riding merrily in a chariot – all together weighing well over 50 kilos. As it turns out Fantaisie Castle is situated on a hill near Bayreuth. It was quite a ride and when we finally arrived on top my heart was pounding so hard I felt for a moment as I am going to pass out. But then we saw the castle and I concluded it was worth the effort:
The one thing that was missing was again the main party pooper of late – the sun that was promised to us by German weathermen. By the way, Leonor shares our opinion about German weather forecasting abilities. So we had our picnic in the shade of the clouds.
This guy was NOT happy to see us. / Ta nas ni bil preveč vesel.
But with the right company it was all the shade we needed. When we had our lunch of bread, sausage and cheese we started heading back. The trip downwards was much more pleasant and a lot faster. And soon we were home, with new memories for reminiscing and a new friend we look forward to seeing again.
Vikend Slovencev:
Naslov se bere kot kak film od Woodya Allena. J
Veliko se je zgodilo v preteklih dveh dneh. Najbolj pa si bom zapomnil čas, ki smo ga preživeli z Leonoro.
Leonora je Paulina prijateljica, ki jo je Pauli spoznala na svojem tečaju nemškega jezika. Leonora je Španka, približno najinih let, prijazna in prijetna in ima tisto tipično Špansko avro in videz (sproščeno in privlačno). Najbolj pomembno pa je to, da je zelo nezahtevna, kar je super, če moraš zabavati gosta in še dva majhna otroka, ki ne moreta dolgo sedeti na miru. Paula pravi, da se ji zdi, da Leonoro pozna že več let – bi se kar strinjal s to izjavo.
Ampak, pričnimo na začetku vikenda.
V soboto smo šli v center mesta, potem ko je Pauli prišla domov iz hitrega obiska v službi, kjer je morala narediti nekaj…znanstvenega (saj mi je razložila, ampak sem se prav potrudil, da bi pozabil, ker je pač samo toliko stvari, ki si jih lahko zapomnim o znanosti. Če bi vedel preveč, bi ugotovil, da v bistvu nimam pojma. Potem pa bi bilo samo vprašanje časa, da se to posveti še Pauli. Hm, mogoče bi mi potem nehala razlagati te stvari). Izlet v mesto je bil zakona, otroka sta bila razpoložena, Paula je bila z name, sonce nas je grelo – kaj več si lahko gospodinjec sploh zaželi. Poleg tega se v Bayreuthu dogaja veliko stvari v tem času, en od teh je Bayreuther festival (nekakšnem karneval). Promovirajo pa ga tako, da otrokom delijo sladko peno. S Paulo je nisva poskusila že vrsto let in otroka sta jo poskusila prvič, zato sem vse skupaj dokumentiral (glej sliko zgoraj).
In, ko smo se najbolj zabavali, smo postali lačni in jaz sem storil napako. Namreč, pojedel sem Coburško klobaso (iz Coburga), ki je bila preprosto prezahtevna za moj želodec, nakar mi je postalo zelo slabo (saj mi je prav, kaj pa jem Coburške klobase namesto Bayreuthskih. Ne vem kaj sem mislil in zato so me klobasni bogovi kaznovali). In tako so morali iti domov, kjer sem se čez nekaj časa počutil malo bolje. Popoldne je Paula povabil Leonoro k nam na kosilo.
Kot hišni kuhar, je padlo name, da pripravim hrano. Tako sem pripravil Mehiške tortilje (sedaj pa celo vem, da obstajajo tipične Španske tortilje, kot mi je razložila Paula, njej pa Leonora) za glavno jed in vanilin sladoled z domačim bučnim oljem za posladek. Leonora je prišla okoli štirih popoldne in odšla domov nekaj čez enajsto uro zvečer, zato domnevam, da se je imela fino. Veliko smo se pogovarjali, v vmesnem času pa sta otroka prišla na svoj račun z gledanjem risank, ki jih že dolgo časa nista mogla gledati, ker nismo imeli časa. Tako je bil mir, da sem lahko spoznal Paulino prijateljico. Leonora nama je povedala o svojih izkušnjah, ko je delala v Panamskem deževnem gozdu skoraj dve leti, kar je bilo zelo zanimivo poslušati. Zvečer, ko smo spravili otroke spat, smo skupaj pogledali film Silver Lining Playbook (s Pauli nama je bil celo boljši kot prvič).
Med obiskom smo se dogovorili, da gremo naslednji dan skupaj s kolesi na izlet, in sicer na grad Fantaisie, ki je na obrobju Bayreutha in ga še noben od nas ni videl. Izlet smo pričeli okoli 8 30 ure in po nekaj zapletih s Paulino prazno gumo smo bili na poti. Slaba stran planiranja izleta s kolesi z uporabo le navadnega zemljevida je v tem, da ne vidiš kakšne višinske razlike bo treba premagati s kolesom, na katerega je pripeta prikolica in v njej dva otroka, ki skupaj tehtajo več kot 50 kil. Kot se je izkazalo je grad Fantaisie postavljen na hribu malce zunaj Bayreutha. Ko smo končno prispeli na vrh hriba sem za trenutek mislil, da bom omedlel. Potem pa smo videli grad in sem zaključil, da je bil vreden truda – kar poglejte zgornje slikica.
Edina stvar, ki nam je manjkala, je bilo sonce, ki so nam ga obljubili nemški vremenoslovci – spet. Mimogrede, Leonora deli najino razočaranje nad sposobnostjo napovedovanja vremena. Tako smo imeli naš piknik v senci oblakov. Ampak ob pravi družbi drugega nismo potrebovali. Ko smo se najedli kruha, sira in salame, smo počasti krenili domov. Navzdol je seveda šlo precej hitreje. In kmalu smo bili vsi doma z novimi spomini, ki jih bomo z veseljem obujali in novo prijateljico, s katero se že sedaj veselimo ponovnega snidenja.
cottoncandy?!
Almost guessed it!! Thank you.