Salzbergen Day 5

6 June, Sunday
Germany

Elisabeth and Norberts Wedding Anniversary of 35 years! Another achievement of togetherness. A great day to be part of their family. We attended church with them at St. Cyriakus, Catholic Church. Although everything was in German – it was the songs that taught you the pronunciation of the letters. We have been comparing it to Afrikaans a lot. They are at times similar and are totally different at other. When I was raised Catholic in South Africa there would often be Priests originally from Italy, France or Ireland. This time the Priest was German. It is not very different from those days, I thought. We could never understand what they were saying with their heavy accents either!

Lisbeth decided that we take a cycle from Salzbergen through Schuttorf to Bad Bentheim. Picnic along the way and end up in Bentheim to visit Norby's Mother, Maria Wirtz.



We made beautiful buns bought fresh from the bakery in the morning. Apples, bottles of water, cookies, etc. We made our way through lush green lands in 30 degree Celcius heat. Cycled through a gorgeous little place, Schuttorf. Stopped for the picnic in the Bentheim woods. Travelled through the gardens filled with sculpture at the Bentheim Hot Baths. Then free cycled down a hill (Elisabeth reaching 38km p/hr) down to Norby's “Meine Mutter” (trans. My Mother).

Ms Maria Wirtz, 92 years old. The happiest face on this earth.



The heat was hectic and we were all tired. Peter, the across the road neighbour to Norby, offered to fetch us from the Home. The neighbourly love again. We were all grateful! We also had a dinner celebrations at the “Am Wasserval” Hotel for Norbert and Elisabeth for 19.30, so we needed to shower and wash away the days hard work.



Dinner was incredible! It was the perfect end to our stay with our new Aunty and Uncle.

The thing is, we did not know any of these people to start with. Within 4 days, broken or no English, we felt like we are part of their community. Their friendship and families are together. The bonds and spirit (not the Schnapps) amongst these people is diverse. This being only the first week of our trip, we feel like it has been a lifetime. It has been a humbling and very blessed experience.

Thank you to Vanessa, Erhardt, Kevin, Birgit, Jurgen, Olaf, Werner, Inge, Doris, Engelbert, Pieter, Annamie, Herman, Heinrich and all the others for an enriching experience. Most of all to our very dear Onkel und Tant, Norby and Elisabeth. We will always have these memories and look forward to making more together.