We've had a few problems with our technology.
The computer wouldn't connect to the web here at Steph and Felix's new house.
The camera disk won't download the photos.
Guess the 'equipment' is saying "enough already - give us a break!"
So, I did.
But tonight the laptop has connected first try when I plugged it in to a power outlet that actually has power connected to it (there are some issues with a couple of outlets and lights here at the new house - they should be sorted this weekend). Blasted SD card still won't download directly - but where there is a will, there is a way - and I am nothing if not determined - put it back in the camera and downloaded through the camera!
It was great getting back here to Schwäbish Gmünd. Steph and Felix had moved in the first week we were gone, and they are now almost settled in to their new home. They have actually had the house since April 2016, engaged an architect and set about making it their own. The former owner had lived here almost all her adult life and had raised her family here. Now, she has passed on and her children with teenage children of their own, have sold the house to a new family. They replaced the roof and pretty well gutted the interior, opening to a more open plan, put in new kitchen and bathrooms and are now putting the finishing touches.
We arrived home to have Steph cooking the selection of fish that Felix had bought for dinner in her new steam oven - very nice. Would love one if it was a little earlier in our lives! Very quick and combined with her induction hotplates, it is as good as gas! And veges - so nice to have veges.
Since arriving back, we have been trying to help around here a little - Michael spent two days cutting out hedges and hedges of diseased buxus. Four trips to the green waste bin to get rid of it all - and one to go! Tomorrow we will go back to their former house and spakfill the holes where paintings were hung, and sweep up and wipe down after the kitchen was removed - yes, they sold the kitchen that they had put in in the rental - it is not considered a fixture here!!
But it has not been all work and no play.
We spent Tuesday afternoon exploring part of the Schwäbish Gmünd Munster and marketplace.
It was nice to become re-acquainted with the Munster - we did visit it during our 2009 trip, but we spent more time delving into its history and secrets this time. There are some amazing stained glass windows and Michael happily discovered a number of Green Men in the carvings above doorways.
There is so much history in the churches. Makes you look on their role in a whole new way.
Now, the icon for Schwäbish Gmünd is the Unicorn and we see unicorns in lots of places around town. But there are other quirky little things - like the bright orange plastic armchairs that are chained in place to provide seating for those weary from their expeditions in to town.
And there are stunning examples of engineering, of architecture and of a community that has learned well, the art of bringing the old into new times, of mixing today's life with yesterday's heritage.
The fountain that was under its winter cover on our last visit, is happily providing drinking water to all who need the refreshment - and doesn't discriminate between beast or man - it as happily lets the pigeons drink as it does the local man filling his child's water bottle. The surrounds of the fountain tell the stories of the various coats of arms associated with the city and a multi-sided statue has the complete holy family watching over the users and the town square in general.
The main Marketplace is living history with a range of architectural styles showing how the city has changed over time. The buildings in the centre of the photo below (brown and white ones) are some of the earlier and date to when tax was paid on the footprint of the building - so the ground floor was smaller and each additional floor added width to the building! The Rathaus (Council chambers) is the pink building on the left. These always have beautiful displays of flowers and usually have a chiming clock - the one in Schwäbish Gmünd is particularly nice with some chimes that play a number of classical pieces.
Finally it is nice to see that the old buildings find longevity in new uses and that these communities of old have happily found ways to allow the old and the new to sit comfortably side by side in a new millenium.
After a few hours wandering and wondering, we come home to Steph and the kids, to pretzels and fresh seed rolls, to ham and salami and joy of joys to amazing cheeses that are SO cheap at the local supermarkets here!
Nite one and all - I'll tell you all about our trip to Ulm today, tomorrow.
Today was a quiet and kind of frustrating day.When we woke about 8 am Steph and Felix had gone to work.
I spent the first two hours on the phone to the trave agents, trying to change our flights back to Australia. When I booked the return tickets last December (and then only because we had to have proof of our return to our place of residence so we could go to the US to visit my brother) I knew that we would probably need to change them and that this would incur some cost. We can be a little flexible around the 13 - 16 November, so armed with this information I phone Zuji who have informed me that for security reasons they will not make changes through email.
I get an agent who sounds asian and when asked about the weather back home, he informs me that 'home' is in India where the Zuji Call Centre is located! Back and forth we go, exploring all possibilities including cancelling these tickets outright and booking a return fare home (a return ticket is always cheaper than a one way ticket - helps to have worked in the industry!) But the penalty costs are too high. And when I originally booked the tickets I was smart (NOT) and booked them through to Brisbane. Now however, we want to go via Sydney and catch up with our Mums before we return to Queensland and Maryborough. My Mum flies out to South Africa for 3 months to visit Michael and Aunty Mary on December 8.
Turns out that a change in the route - that is, Sydney instead of Brisbane, can only be okayed by the airline and they only work to 5 pm Monday to Friday - bugger the greatly increased time difference, it is now 10 hours instead of 8 and I have missed this time. So now, I have to wait for Monday because we sure as hell can't afford two changes.
After that, I went back to bed and slept for much of the day - I am fighting a cold and a persistent sore throat so a few extra hours sleep was great.
Michael emptied the car and brought all our bits and pieces up and then did some washing. Tonight we sorted through all the literature we have yet to send home and sorted winter and summer clothes into the appropriate suitcases. Steph had a minor heart attack when she came home and saw the table covered in 'stuff' for them. Some camping gear and food staples that we are not going to be able to use any more. But it didn't take long to go through it and put it all away.
Felix is out tonight, so Michael and I are treated to some of Steph's Hungarian Goulash and Rice. She ate a big lunch (as they do here) and so just had bread with cheese and cold meats. We chatted over dinner and later Michael ironed and we half watched X-Men while he did it.
Tomorrow we are off to the Post Office to sort out the most economical way to get our extra stuff home - ah, the fun of it all!
The last two days have been lazy ones, staying up late chatting,
sleeping in until after 10 in the morning. It hardly seems like it was almost six months ago that we left Steph (and Felix) just as they were moving into their new unit in Schwäbish Gmünd. When we had visited with them, the unit was still empty and there were plenty of discussions going on about where each of 'their' collective furniture would go. Getting here it is obvious that concensus was reached and the unit looks great 
now that they are well and truly settled in. And yes, they did work out where to put Felix's large screen TV! But it is his dishwasher that Steph loves the most! The unit is open and airy and large for a couple without being so large that it is too much work.
After a late brunch of fresh rolls, cold meats and jams with pots of coffee, Felix gathered his gear together to go and fence (as in the sport, not in the yard). This will be followed by a 'pig on a spit' barbeque with some mates from his university days and he will stay overnight, drink driving laws being what they are. And although we really, really like this young man who has taken our darling's heart, it will be wonderful to have some time alone with Steph.
It is fantastic to see her so happy. For a long time we wondered whether she would ever be this settled. But she and Felix make a great couple - very complementary, and he so obviously adores her - the only really important thing in our eyes (oh yes, and she, him, too!!)
We catch up on all the Mucz knews including getting the latest progress on Mutti who is now in a convalescent home following her surgery before she will come back to her own home. Later in the afternoon, Steph manages to get on to Olga by phone to find out when we can visit Mutti, and plans are made for us to visit her on Monday afternoon, and then join them for dinner.
Mid afternoon Steph and I head for the supermarket while Michael does some work on the blog (by now many of you will have realised that we are a couple of days behind), sharing his time with Benny and Artie (Goodman and Shaw that is)! I think he relished some alone time because even after we return, he is content to sit upstairs, headphones on and pretending to be oblivious to us downstairs! Mind you, he has down two loads of washing while we were gone - thanks dahling!
Its almost 5 pm and although we don't want 'lunch', we are peckish so I quickly make that camembert, walnut and toffee thing, we cut some bread and wash some fruit and we nibble. Later though (like 8 pm-ish) Steph and I decide that yes, we will do a stirfry for dinner. So out come the chicken breasts (we only need one in the end) and the fresh veges we bought today (heaps of different mushrooms, zucchini, capsicum, broccoli, carro
t, fresh ginger and chili) with Steph's Asian pastes and fresh limes. Ahhh it was fantastic having some fresh asian tastes - very delicious!!!!!! Steph and I have hit the Gin bottle that I left here last time, don't think she had had any of it the whole time we were travelling - we remedy that Saturday night though! hic
The night sky is particularly nice - although those high clouds herald a forecast for rain tomorrow.
It's lateish to bed again - after 1 am, and 10 before we are up again. Olga has just phoned Steph to change plans and they will now come over for afternoon tea today. The day is overcast and has just started to rain - I really don't mind - a quiet couple of days will be bliss and the cooler weather is so nice after the heat of Bordeaux. I finally manage to get on to Gen on Skype after not being able to talk with her for most of the week with her being at Helens and us with less than perfect net connections. She tells me I have a letter that she will scan and email to me. Hmmm wonder what it is! We then manage to get on to Antony and my Mum as he and Amanda have arrived back in Newcastle to her on their journey north again. But the connection is really bad and the Skype signal keeps dropping out. Frustrating but we do get to have a bit of a conversation.
Breakfast is late and very relaxed with just Steph and Michael and me. In fact, we are still sitting there when Felix gets home at 1:00 pm and we make like we are just finishing lunch! (he he he). He has had a great day and night and brings fresh redcurrants from his parents' garden - they are sooo good!
And so we chat some more. About 3 pm I prepare a cheese and cracker plate for afternoon tea even though Steph says not to worry as Rudi and Olga will bring cake. They arrive just before 4 pm and are indeed carrying 'the box'. That box contained 12 slices of different rich tortes and German cheesecakes - they looked so wonderful (sorry, we forgot to take a photo!) and delicious that we have trouble deciding which ones to have. Mine was a very light cheesecake mix with a set strawberry topping with chunks of strawberries in it. Michael had a Black Forest one with cherries and chocolate cake and lots of cream. In the meantime, Felix polishes off most of the cheese platter - as he had not had any lunch! Didn't have the heart to tell him neither had we! Not that we wanted it!!
Rudi and Olga are looking very stressed and tired. In an effort to cut pollution and the number of unsafe vehicles on the road, the German government has introduced a scheme where they will make a €5,000 contribution towards the purchase price of a new vehicle so long as your 10+ year old car is crushed. So the motor dealers are busier than ever. In fact Rudi was telling us that last year they sold just over 200 cars in the year, and to date this year they have sold 360. But as with all government schemes the world over, there is a heap of paperwork that must be done for the dealers to claim the subsidy. They leave for a much needed holiday to Austria on Tuesday - and if they are in Saalbach for more than a week then maybe we can visit them there - no promises at this point though.
We chat about our trip and the sights we have seen to date. We were telling him about the 400+ old Renault 4 cars we saw in France in February, all the trucks travelling from Spain and into France carrying new Renaults and the countless trucks of all nationalities we had seen. In fact, just on the trip up to here from Switzerland, we saw our first trucks from Russia, Turkey and the Ukraine. I think we have seen them from all western and eastern European countries now.
I was telling Rudi about and demonstrating 'Kate' when all of a sudden I realise that there is no map of Turkey on her - EGADS. So as I sit here blogging, I am downloading the Turkey map - this is such an important part of out trip (Michael's no 1 priority) that there is no way I will want to be without it. He will be stressed enough making sure he is seeing everything he wants to without worrying about how to get there!
About 6 pm they leave for home. Felix has a newsletter to write for his fencing club, and Michael adjourns to the study with him to 'study potential routes' on the web. That leaves time for Steph and I to prepare dinner - a two course fish meal. The entree is fish parcels that are wrapped in shaved timber that you smoke in the oven, followed by a main meal of paper baked salmon fillets with lime, lemon, olive oil and herbs, potatoes cooked in stock, stir-fried mixed vegetables and a divine white wine cream sauce - it was good, even if I do say so myself! We washed it all down with a regional Rose. (Sorry, again no pics - don't even think about it if we are not in a restaurant!)
For afters, we open the box of Suisse chocolates and have 2 each - yep, we are ekeing them out, savouring every petite morsel. And Felix and I polish off the last of a sample bottle of Lagavulin 12 y.o. whisky - gee if I had known he was in to decent whisky I would have gladly bought him back a bottle!
It is now 10 pm and Felix must work tomorrow even though Steph has the day off to spend with us. So he heads up to bed, Steph too, Michael to his book and me to finish this episode.
Oh, and that letter? It is an invitation to my 30 year school reunion - you have to be kidding - it can't be 30 years since I finished high school - can it? I won't be there as it is on 31 October in Sydney. Around then we will either be finishing our tans on one of the Greek Islands, or already in Turkey - at least that is the loose plan at the moment.
It was great getting back here to Schwäbish Gmünd. Steph and Felix had moved in the first week we were gone, and they are now almost settled in to their new home. They have actually had the house since April 2016, engaged an architect and set about making it their own. The former owner had lived here almost all her adult life and had raised her family here. Now, she has passed on and her children with teenage children of their own, have sold the house to a new family. They replaced the roof and pretty well gutted the interior, opening to a more open plan, put in new kitchen and bathrooms and are now putting the finishing touches.
Since arriving back, we have been trying to help around here a little - Michael spent two days cutting out hedges and hedges of diseased buxus. Four trips to the green waste bin to get rid of it all - and one to go! Tomorrow we will go back to their former house and spakfill the holes where paintings were hung, and sweep up and wipe down after the kitchen was removed - yes, they sold the kitchen that they had put in in the rental - it is not considered a fixture here!!
It was nice to become re-acquainted with the Munster - we did visit it during our 2009 trip, but we spent more time delving into its history and secrets this time. There are some amazing stained glass windows and Michael happily discovered a number of Green Men in the carvings above doorways.
There is so much history in the churches. Makes you look on their role in a whole new way.
The fountain that was under its winter cover on our last visit, is happily providing drinking water to all who need the refreshment - and doesn't discriminate between beast or man - it as happily lets the pigeons drink as it does the local man filling his child's water bottle. The surrounds of the fountain tell the stories of the various coats of arms associated with the city and a multi-sided statue has the complete holy family watching over the users and the town square in general.
The main Marketplace is living history with a range of architectural styles showing how the city has changed over time. The buildings in the centre of the photo below (brown and white ones) are some of the earlier and date to when tax was paid on the footprint of the building - so the ground floor was smaller and each additional floor added width to the building! The Rathaus (Council chambers) is the pink building on the left. These always have beautiful displays of flowers and usually have a chiming clock - the one in Schwäbish Gmünd is particularly nice with some chimes that play a number of classical pieces.
After a few hours wandering and wondering, we come home to Steph and the kids, to pretzels and fresh seed rolls, to ham and salami and joy of joys to amazing cheeses that are SO cheap at the local supermarkets here!
