A one thousand year old town

Yogi and I borrowed two of the Germans’ friends and went on an expedition to Bautzen near the Czech border. Having shared a case of Warsteiner beer over a game of German monopoly (with Deutsch Marks!) the night before, we were a bit sluggish in leaving. Time was quickly gained on the autobahn as Katha cruised at a lazy 170kmh. The idea of the expedition was to see the town that one of my ancestors was from, before he jumped on a ship to Australia in 1848. It also happens to be a one thousand year old town inside city walls with some old churches and bad coffee. Not so conveniently, most things were closed over this Christmas period, but it was great to walk around. We didn’t end up seeing the harsh GDR prison on the outskirts of town because the girls decided that they were hungry for bagels from a shop in Leipzig.

Back on the autobahn, the sign said 166km to Leipzig. One hour later we were there, despite the snow storm (finally, snow!). Happy as a pig in mud, I gleefully began the schneeballschlagt with a well aimed snow ball to Yogi’s right cheek. After becoming sufficiently cold and wet, we sought refuge in the bagel shop then in a church. Useful things, these churches. Our church of choice happened to be where JS Bach is buried and the snow fell persistently on his statue outside, as we enjoyed some funky organ music and heating.

Mutti Förtschi wrote us a lovely note when we left, which went along the lines of wishing us a great trip and to stay as we are – full of drink and full of food. I think she found us quite hilarious, which is not surprising considering our late night Ludo marathons with herself and also Kristina’s grandma. “Oma”, or “Zuper Oma” as we sometimes called her, was almost the MVP of our time in Gera. Two incidents were especially memorable. Super Oma was on a roll with sixes, which is awesome when you’re playing Ludo, but quite funny when you have a grandma crying out “Sechs! Sechs! Sechs! Vielen Sechs für Oma.” Super Oma soon became “Sexy Oma” and we had to find some towels to dry up the rivers of tears from laughter.

The other Oma incident was when I was accosted in the hall, while in my boxers on the way to the shower, and forced to have a coffee before anything else. So I sat there listening to Oma chatter as if I was more fluent in German than herself, sipping my coffee, smiling, nodding and saying “ja, ja”.

So while we didn’t get a white Christmas, we did get a one thousand year old town, some autobahn action, a snowball fight, some German monopoly, about 237 large Christmas meals, many parties with the Hermans, Ludo and much fun with Sexy Oma and Mutti Förtschi and glühwein at the Christmas markets. And, most importantly, a great week with Annie and Förtschi, who are just as awesome as when we last saw them a year ago in Australia. Worthy of the Junket.