“Every house guest brings you happiness. Some when they arrive, and some when they are leaving.” – Confucius
We were the lucky house guests of a childhood friend of my partner last week. At the age of nine or ten, my husband made a German friend (and lifelong penpal) at a pool in Spain. Over the years, they have met up at various points to check in and rekindle the friendship. This friend and his sweet family welcomed us under their roof in Engen, Germany, near the Swiss border, and I feel like they were probably as happy to see us arrive as they were to see us go.
Our stay was short and touchingly sweet, and I was taking notes on their warm and easy hospitality: German chocolates on the pillows, the smell of warm bread in the morning, cozy beds, fresh cut flowers, cornucopia meal spreads, and kind, compassionate eyes when our family popped at the seams. They were a breed of thoughtful generosity that makes me feel I have failed all of my own previous house guests. Yet again, I find myself elevated and improved by the goodness of other humans. Our German friends were the height of hospitality and easy grace. I will endeavour to emulate their energy.
Here are a few photos of our short stay in this gorgeous part of the Earth: Pretzels, flower-adorned homes, Grimm’s fairytale forests, castle walks, beautifully preserved villages, steamy thermal baths, church bells ringing from green-tiled clock towers, breakfasts of cheese and baskets of bread, frog-seeking in a lotus pond, stand-up paddling on a much-loved lake, and a visit to the home of Herman Hesse. Everyone in our crew wants to come back here for a longer visit someday. But maybe we won’t inflict ourselves as house guests. Really, though, the boys were quite charming and chatty… if a bit ratty at the end. I’d say 3.5 days was perfect… isn’t that when fish start to smell too?
It bolsters one’s faith in humanity to know that delightful people like this are nestled in all corners of the world, just living out their stories, being the beauty of humanness. And to be connected to some of them, even on wispy-thin ribbons of friendship, is such a precious marvel. What a gift friends are.
From a pool in Spain to a barbie in Germany over 40 years later. Humbled by such spreads of generosity. So many German treats and thoughtful touches to enjoy!The town of Engen was such a surprise. I went on a morning run our first day, and the glow of my bedazzlement must have been sparkling all around me. It was like running through the pages of fairytale book or a movie set. Everything was perfect. The painted houses, the over-flowing flower boxes, the dips and curves of the cobbled streets. I was totally gobsmacked by this little village. When I expressed my delight to our hosts upon return, they just nodded and said “Ja?” like my enthusiasm was a bit perplexing. I stand by it, though. I think most visitors would have been bewitched by this German provincial charm.Quite a few buildings had a flat facade that was painted to look like protruding stone. This one even has a bored-looking lady looking down from the window painted on.Little flip-up heads to hold open the shutters were on many houses.Engen’s shops have metal-craft signs above their doors. An eyeglass shop, a curtain shop, and a tailor are among them. Fairytale setting, I’m telling you.Waiting for pizza… as we do…Lake Constance was the site of some fun SUP (Stand-Up Paddle-boarding) with our friends. A local tradition, it seems.This large lake is bordered by Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. It’s a very popular site of summer recreation. The temp was perfect, and our spot beneath a great willow trees was a dream. And the boys discovered a new push-up ice cream with Haribo gummy bears. It’s the small stuff.The eldest and his dad headed off with our friends to visit the house of Herman Hesse. A family relative, Anni Carlsson, was an editor of Hesse and created a compilation of correspondence between Herman Hesse and Thomas Mann. The ladies at the museum were able to find a copy of the book.A quick cross-over to Switzerland did not disappoint this crew. Gorgeous.And Emma, the family dog, was along for the ride, too.Hohentwiel Fortress Ruins were a good little outing. This cemetery was at the bottom of the long climb up. There is a lot of German ancestry between my partner and I. Perhaps a genealogy trip will be on the calendar one day. This was a very atmospheric place. You can probably smell the wooded damp from looking at the photo. Being the biggest visitable castle ruin in Germany, perched on the very top of a dead volcano, there was a nice, steep walk up to the fortress. These beautiful stone-formed tunnels led the way.The climb up offered beautiful landscape views, complete with baaing sheep and circling falcons. Mentioned first in 915 AD, not much detail is known of its construction… that I could find, anyway.Silly us. Tickets are only sold at the bottom of the hill, near the parking. We couldn’t get in.This was as close as we got.Just some snacks with a view for us this day.And a nice run/walk back down… punctuated with brotherly skirmishes befitting of a fortress.Off to dinner… at a local Thai place… haha. Actually, Thai is one of our family staples, and we haven’t had it all year. Can’t go to Germany and not get LEGO.Germany, which is about the size of Montana, has a flag of three colours: red, gold, and black. Like many countries, it has red as a symbol of the blood shed for liberty and democracy. The gold is for their light-bringing achievements in the arts and sciences, as well as the bright future democracy brings. And the black is for the darker past, to remember the challenges that have been overcome as a nation, and for the perseverance to continually improve. (Multiple sites verbalise this in different ways.)View of Engen from a nearby hill. Engen is in the district of Konstanz, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.Our hosts had a beautiful garden, including a pond with colourful fish and lotus flowers that open and close with the movements of the sun. We watched this lotus open over a 30 minute period one morning. Three resident frogs were always silently poised somewhere for a jump and a dive.Really, the card game Uno is the universal language.We LOVE the juices here. And all the trees were bursting with fruit: cherries, pears, plums, and, of course, apples.Breakfast our last day. You can see, they are actually glowing. Apparently, you want the knot in the middle to be a bit crunchy and the large arch of the pretzel to be soft and chewy. According to our hosts, these were about 7/10 as far as pretzels go. Poor Emma, the dog, has insurmountable instincts. She barked at us with vicious snarls anytime we were in the house. On walks and outside, she was okay, but as a herding dog, we were not cows of her responsibility and were treated as the threat we posed to her herd. This was a rare moment of passivity… no doubt due to that pretzel on a plate. Life is good when you feel like your breakfast is smiling at you.
Danke schön, Germany and friends. T’was fantastic! We will definitely be back someday. We got only the smallest slice of this very appealing country, but it’s a taste that will keep beckoning, I’m sure.
Those pretzels look delicious! I think will be making pretzels this weekend.
Also, if I were on this trip, my greatest struggle would be not buying souvenirs and such. So many amazing things you have to say no to. It must be even more challenging for the kids Teaches you about minimalist living and letting things go, right???
Bill has been to Germany, quite some time ago with work, and absolutely loved it. He spent his time in Eingen at the Leibheir Crane factory. He stayed with wonderful hosts, who showed him a lot of fascinating parts of Germany, including Neuschwanstein Castle and surrounds. One day we’ll get there together, hopefully sooner than later! 👏👏
Your description of house guests is very funny, but oh so true! We very rarely stay with people, as romantic as it sounds, it’s actually a burden on the host, so we do multiple drop-ins and activities, but it’s always lovely to retreat to your own space at the end of the day. Unless they’ve got a granny flat out the back lol.
Good on you guys and particularly Danny for staying in touch with his childhood friend. It’s wonderful to have these lifelong friends, especially exciting when they’re on different continents!
We would have been so peeved off having climbed to the top of that mountain only to be told tickets to those ruins were back down in the car park. I can just imagine the climate at that moment haha!!!
Be safe, you’re almost home, can’t wait to catch up!! Xoxox
Mapping the Gap 
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