20 June 2007

A day off in Biberach, Germany

What a couple of snoozers. As our hosts went off to the jobs early in the morning, we slept until 10:30. By the time we had done some chores, Joerg and Giovanna were home. Again Giovanna made us a huge lunch with pork chops, 2 different kinds of sausages and potato salad. Then we and Joerg walked into town to get some needed bike parts. Joerg gave us a tour of the town and acted as our interpreter at the bike shop to help us get what we needed.
Upon arriving home a little after 6:00 we enjoyed pastries and coffee. Later John worked on the bikes and discovered that he wasn't able to get the replacement brake pads he bought onto the bikes. This meant a trip back to the bike store tomorrow.
At 10:00 we ate sandwiches. This was our first experience with the European eating schedule that we had read about, a large lunch with cake and coffee in the late afternoon and a light dinner in the late evening. Very interesting!
Again we spent the night talking. However, tonight we had an added guest. Our hosts had asked their neighbor if we could use his telephone to send our logs home since our hosts had only a cell phone. He brought his cordless phone up to the flat. We tried sending, but it didn't work. He stayed until about 2:00 A.M. as some thunderstorms rolled in and we talked about politics (mostly Mr. George Bush) and many other things. It was enjoyable for us and the neighbor, but poor Joerg had to spend the whole evening translating for both parties.