Here We Come Kiera!

August 9 - 18:

Sue and Ian with Kiera outside the campground building and spa!

Wonderful reunion with the Naudaschers

Attridge home in Mahlberg from 1979-1981

And so we journeyed by train across Germany to meet up with our niece Kiera, who was visiting Lahr for over a month on an exchange. We breezed through the lovely Island of Bornholm, Denmark on our way to Rugen Island, Germany. This island is famed for its cycling, but we were unimpressed with the facilities provided and the island was crawling with bikes and cars, a holiday haven for sure, but not what we expected. We did enjoy swims from the long crescent of sandy beach, though! We had the luxery of a 2-day stopover in Berlin, where we scurried around to see what we could of the city. We loved Berlin, found it to be very cycling friendly, except for the tram tracks (Ian landed on his feet) ... We familiarized ourselves with German train travel again and had a great experience crossing the country to the southwest where we met up with Kiera, Ian's sister Karen's 16-year old daughter. We were pleasantly surprised to find that our campsite, situated in the scenic Black Forest, included a luxerious spa - regular sauna, Finnish sauna (super hot), steam room, rainforest shower, etc. Not bad digs for campers on bike!

Ian showed us around the little town of Mahlberg where his family lived from 1979-1981 and we had a great rendezvous with the Naudaschers, from whom Ian's family had rented the house where they lived in Germany. We had so much to share and talk about in their sunny windowed addition opening on the garden. It was a fun reunion to share stories, chat about biking and local history, meet young members on both sides, try fabulous cakes and wine from local vinyards, and even be serenaded by Kiera's singing! We also enjoyed meeting Kiera's host family in Lahr, who were generous in their hospitality to us and acted as a base for our excursions into the city. Before leaving the Black Forest, we had a delightful walk through the forest itself (a popular activity in these parts) and also rode our bikes up steep hills to the top of the peak housing the ancient Garoldseck Castle (a fun place to visit during Ian's late teens). The visit brought back many memories of family, friends, school events, birding along the Rhine, and adventures for Ian during these transformational years at the end of high school.

The Naudaschers all have solar panels on their houses. In Germany, we saw many solar panels on buildings, plus the wind turbines that are common in France, Holland, Denmark and Sweden, and also, tons of solar panels, both photovoltaics for electricity and hot water. The German solar incentive program has really caught on!