Schlafen und Essen in Essen

Zeche Zollverein, Essen, Germany
Originally uploaded by lecasio

Literally translates to sleeping and eating in Essen. A corny play on words. We are back. The last week our our adventure was just that eating huge amounts of food that Mama made for Certain Someone. The food was fantastic and I couldn't have turned it down even if I wanted. Mama is lucky Certain Someone didn't bring home a skinny vegetarian , no sugar, no gluten type. We would have been in trouble. Never have I eaten such large amounts of meat( sausages, beef, pork roasts, etc.) One day she made a fantastic shrimp scampi and the cousins recoiled in horror at the mention of fish. More for us. And with all that eating , we just wanted to sleep. But that was hard as there was always something to do either with his parents or to meet more friends.
I got to see so many of Certain Someones childhood friends and understand what makes him the person he is today. Essen is the fifth largest city in Germany located in the Ruhr Valley, the center of industry. The people are hard working and without pretensions.There were boring industrial parts and beautiful parts. Surprisingly Essen has a great Opera and Symphony.My favorites were Vila Hugel and walking alongside the lake Balenysee. With Certain Someone its all about family in Essen. Most of his friends are married with children. I learned some new German from the kids. Like when we visited his friends in a fabulous hillside mansion outside of Essen. We sat on the patio and the little tot E kept repeating "Wo ist stinka". That means what is stinking. Adorable. I think she just smelled her brothers diaper.
Certain Someones parents are a great example of what a marriage is about . Over forty years and you can see the love. Its a hard and strong example to live up to in this day and age. They are proud of their son and encourage him in all his endeavors. I wish I could have communicated with them better besides rubbing my tummy and saying Zehr Gut, Bitte, and Danke! But we all seemed to understand and communicate. Certain Someone and I couldn't wait to get home though. After two weeks, there's no place like home. This trip was good on so many levels. But namely I feel Certain Someone can make a life in Europe in a few years.And most importantly, we can survive side by side travelling 24/7 for two weeks. That's pretty good.