Herrenberg/ Rohrau

Between the 28th and the 31st we took a little drive to my home town and the surrounding villages. We visited with my Uncle Heinz and his family in Herrenberg, this is the town my dad grew up and where I was born. They were all extremely welcoming and their hospitality could rival any 5 star hotel. After lunch We took a walk through the town and up into the local 750 yr old church. This amazing building was built on unstable soil and the front of the church has been subsiding 1mm/yr faster than the back, causing a gradual downward lean towards the town square. To rectify this, and prevent the church from crashing into the houses below, the town has spent a good part of the last 30 years and millions of euro adding concrete supports. It has given the gracious old lady about another 100 years. This is my grandfathers house.

After spending a good part of the day with them we made our way to my Godmothers house in Rohrau, where we spent the next four nights being pampered and spoilt. We had the whole ground floor to ourselves including a double lounge, kitchen, two bathrooms and a huge bedroom.If these lovely people and my Uncles family are indicadive of what Germans are like in general, then make sure you put Germany on your holiday destinations list, because you wouldn't regret it.

On the day of our Wedding Anniversary we took a nostalgic walk throught the region to the village where I spent my last years in Germany before moving to NZ, Nufringen. This is where I went to Kindy and started school. Unfortunately our jaunt through the countryside was 5 km longer than expected, due to an accidental turn in the wrong direction. Not a bad thing normaly, except for the -7 temperature, as we discovered later.

Later that we drove to Sinsheim where we were treated to an educational wonderland in the form of the Auto and Technik Museum. Here we were able to hike from the tail to the nose up the belly of a genuine Concord. Quite an adventure for a 13 yr boy. Oh and the rest of us. This museum was full of planes, trains and automobiles!