We spent a wonderful very full day with very old friends of Norbert and his family. At the time of our wedding, Bernt who is Norbert's age, and his wife and daughter drove from California to Connecticut in 4 days in a Volkswagen Beetle, attended our wedding and turned around and drove back in 4 days. THAT is friendship! Bernt' parents and Norbert's parents friendship went back to Goslar, the town Norbert grew up in in Germany.
Bernd's brother, Hans, remained in Germany and it was Hans and his partner, Uschi (Ursala) that we spent the day with. I met them for the first time and they are delightful and full of life. They told us why they have never married. A very interesting piece of German law. When they met both were working and had their own pensions. If they had married, Uschi would have lost her pension immediately but would not be eligible to inherit that of Hans for 5 years. The reason given for this was so many young women were marrying older men to inherit their pensions that the 5 year wait was imposed.
We took the U Bahn and S Bahn to reach them as they were unable to pick us up due to the big bicycle race that had many of the streets of Berlin closed and had brought another 40,000 people to the city to view the race (besides the 80,000 here for the Big Game the day before).
Passageway in the U Bahn
Seats in the S Bahn
One of the remaining outdoor toilets, one side for women and one for men
So we got into their car and our adventure began. We had no idea where we were going. We drove out of Berlin and through beautiful countryside and towns and then we saw a sign we both recognized - Neuruppin - THIS as a wonderful and total surprise. During the war with Berlin being bombed daily, ALL women gave birth in Neuruppin. It is on Norbert's passport as his place of birth. I never expected to see it and Norbert had only visited briefly once.
We visited this church just as services let out. Wichmann von Arnstein founded the Monastery of Neuruppin (1246). Today only the monastery-church is still standing. It became Protestant after the reformation and today is called Sankt Trinitatis.
The church is by the water
Even the sewer covers are pieces of art
Typical streets
Back on the road - so much beautiful greenery
Asparagus is a huge crop in Germany , especially the white asparagus. It is protected by these covers.
Bernd's brother, Hans, remained in Germany and it was Hans and his partner, Uschi (Ursala) that we spent the day with. I met them for the first time and they are delightful and full of life. They told us why they have never married. A very interesting piece of German law. When they met both were working and had their own pensions. If they had married, Uschi would have lost her pension immediately but would not be eligible to inherit that of Hans for 5 years. The reason given for this was so many young women were marrying older men to inherit their pensions that the 5 year wait was imposed.
We took the U Bahn and S Bahn to reach them as they were unable to pick us up due to the big bicycle race that had many of the streets of Berlin closed and had brought another 40,000 people to the city to view the race (besides the 80,000 here for the Big Game the day before).
So we got into their car and our adventure began. We had no idea where we were going. We drove out of Berlin and through beautiful countryside and towns and then we saw a sign we both recognized - Neuruppin - THIS as a wonderful and total surprise. During the war with Berlin being bombed daily, ALL women gave birth in Neuruppin. It is on Norbert's passport as his place of birth. I never expected to see it and Norbert had only visited briefly once.
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