We went to Regensburg today to visit Martina, Stefan’s sister and her family.   Stefan took us on the Autobahn but mostly there was a lot of traffic so we didn’t go faster than about 120 kph (74 mph).

Martina’s family all lives in one house.  Martina and her husband live on the main floor and upstairs, there are two apartments where her daughter and family live and her son and his girlfriend live.  Her grandchildren Mina and Bruno who are 6 and 4 played with Esme and Nova.  

The adults talked for a long time, shared photos and stories and Martina shared the death notices of some relatives with me so I can add them to our Ancestry account family tree.  Then we went for a walk around the neighborhood.

Martina pointed out this orchard which was part of the property rented by Florian and Theresa (my mom’s and Stefan’s grandparents) a long time ago.  The orchard has apples, pears, plums, blackberries and more.  The next photo is the house.  They lived here with the children during/after WW2. 

We played at a nearby playground before walking back to Martina’s house.  This house was owned by Sepp and Emma, Stefan and Martina’s parents. 

Esme actually took a long nap after this walk while Nova played with the kids more.   They did some of the crafts I brought including scratch art and stickers you can color. 

We set the timer on the camera and took a family photo.  Left to right: me, Christian (Martina’s husband), Alexander (Martina’s son), Mina, Martina, Bruno, Stefan, Esme, Nova and my mom. 

We brought gifts for all of our hosts from America and to give when we visit someone’s home.  The flags are a gift for the kids here. 

Back on the Autobahn, we got up to about 135 kph (84 mph) so nothing too scary. 

This is Passau which we drove past on the way to Gundi and Stefan’s home about 10 min outside of the city. 

We stopped at Lidl (like Aldi) to get a few groceries. 

Soccer hot dogs anyone?  You’ll see they are “printed” with soccer balls.

Nova got a generic kinder egg which the girls love because they’re illegal in the U.S. 

I made us a dinner of chicken and salad.  Gundi, who had been out of town with a friend all day, got back from her visit and spent time with us after dinner while Stefan helped us translate a letter my Grandpa Al wrote in German in 1994 about how and why he immigrated to America.

Nova and I finished the day with a call home to talk to Nole.  Unfortunately, one of our guinea pigs died today.  He lived the average life expectancy of a guinea pig but it was still hard news for Nova.  Cal buried him in the front garden and very sweetly, added a gravestone for the girls to decorate when they get back.