On our pastor Doug’s recommendation and connection, Josh and I were welcomed into the home of Mark and Nadine in Karlsruhe, Germany. We literally had no clue who Mark and Nadine were, what they did, or what was in Karlsruhe, and they had little to no information about us either. This is the beauty of staying with friends of friends—you really have no idea what to expect. We have been extremely fortunate thus far however, and Mark and Nadine were no exception. Upon arrival, we joined their community of friends at a barbeque, outside the café that Mark runs. The café (called Nun, or “now” in English) is a place for people to come and relax, listen to some music, have a drink, and on Sundays people come together for a church service where they share the tasks of music, speaking, planning, and all the other logistics. Josh and I had a chance to meet and talk with many of the people from the community, who share many resemblances with the people of our church community, Solomon’s Porch.
Later on that week, Mark took us on the grand tour of the Black Forest and Freiburg, then the next day we went north through the Rhine Valley. They fed us wonderful food and let us hang out with their two little sons, Noah and Meo. The last day we were there, however, we decided it was time to venture out on our own in this country called Germany. And since we were in the birthplace of the bicycle (Karlsruhe), we decided there was no better way to get around than by bike.
Mark had told us about this beautiful monastery, located about 35 kilometres east of the city and said we could borrow his bikes. He recommended that we take the bikes on train to a nearby town, and then bike from there. In our infinite wisdom, however, we realized that the distance from Karlsruhe to the monastery was approximately the same distance as from Eden Prairie to Minneapolis. Having made that journey with ease, we figured that it would be no big thing to bike all the way from Mark and Nadine’s home to the monastery. So, armed with only a few road names on a scrap piece of paper, we set out on the completely unknown roads of Germany.
I don’t remember how long it takes us to bike between Eden Prairie and Minneapolis, but it surely doesn’t take four and a half hours. Granted, we ate lunch in the middle, but 4 and a half hours? Maybe it took so long because Josh was riding the heaviest cruiser bike in the history of the world (complete with a decal of a naked lady on the side), or maybe it was the numerous times we stopped and had to walk our bikes on the sides of the highways we encountered. Quite possibly, it was partly due to the several times we had to stop at a fork in the road and use our best judgment (in other words, guess) which way to go. At one point we stopped to ask an elderly German man for directions. Although it was obvious that we did not speak German, the man proceeded to give us the longest explanation in history. A few minutes into it, I could not help myself anymore, and I literally started laughing hysterically (to tears) right in his face. At this the man simply finished his explanation and walked on his way, seemingly unphased.
Only by the grace of God did we roll through the gates of the monastery—unfortunately, with only 45 minutes until closing time.
After strolling the grounds for a while, we made the decision to bike to one town over and take trains the rest of the way to Karlsruhe. Apparently, for us, trains and busses are even harder to navigate in Germany than the roads, and it took us nearly the same amount of time to get back. I think the real kicker was when we exited the last bus about 5 stops too soon, and were forced to bike the last leg in the dark. Luckily for us we had Mark, who rescued us and lit our way home with the headlight of his Vespa. Thank God for friends of friends.
-Jessie, May 4th, 2007
