Esslingen Finale, Germany Finale

After nap time on our last full day in Esslingen, we went in search of some milk for Lucy's bottle. We went to one of the pharmacies nearby but found nothing. After one or two other stops, we tried the fruit and veg shop. They stocked that long-shelf-life milk that doesn't need refrigeration until you open it. We bought a carton and headed back to the hotel to wait for the return of Mommy.

The wait wasn't long and the surprise was extra special because Mommy brought her friend Allison with her from work. We decided to wander the town for a while until we were ready for dinner.

Jacob wanted to show her the water wheel and some of the playgrounds, including that crazy spinning chair from our morning wanderings. She was properly impressed. Having explored some and returning to the right neighborhood, we sat down to dinner.

Our final dinner in Germany was at an Italian restaurant. It was kinda shameful to go Italian but we wanted to be sure the kids would eat their meal. Nothing is so yummy as tortellini. We sat outside, which is always a plus--if the kids make a mess it's not a big deal and if they are noisy or run around that's not such a problem either. We adults had great fun chatting.

After dinner we walked some more. Lucy wanted ice cream. We found a new place that wasn't at the base of the tower. It wasn't as good, but at least Lucy stuck to eating her strawberry ice cream and not eating my rum raisin ice cream. We said our farewells to Allison and headed back to the hotel for a restful night before the train trip to the airport in the morning.

The morning saw one more trip to the playground, where even Mommy joined in the fun.

Jacob plays "resternaut" with Mommy

Mommy crosses the bridge like a pro!

As we were walking back, we discovered a soon-to-be popular spot with Star Wars fans, as long as Lucas doesn't try to fix Han Solo's "Kessel Run in 12 parsecs" claim.

"Parsec" must mean something different in German.

Finally we had to get our bags and take the train back to the airport. The station was full of people going to the Volkfest that started the night before. If only we had planned better, we could have gone. Allison told us that with your 38 Euro ticket you got half a chicken (cooked) and 3 liters of beer. I'm not sure I could handle all that, especially since I usually finish my wife's drink. She usually drinks half a drink, which would not be 1.5 liters in this case. Probably more like 0.25 liters. Which means 5.75 liters for me! I would definitely be flying home after that.

We did not get outfits like this to take home, alas!

At the airport, we took Allison's other advice and picked up some inexpensive wine to take home. One of the unusual options in this region is schwarzreisling, which is pretty tasty. We picked up a few bottles of that and some chocolates. Just the sort of souvenirs that won't clutter up the house after a few weeks. We liked them both very much.

The trip home was fine though Jacob did get searched after he set off the metal detector. The German TSA agent (or whatever they are called in Germany) had a fun time trying to get Jacob to hold his arms up, lift his shoes, etc., by talking in German. Between the three of us we could figure out what he wanted and comply. Also, when we went through security in Amsterdam for our connection, they spotted the bottles of wine hidden in the laptop bag, which luckily were fine since they were sealed in "Duty Free" shopping bags.

We finally made it home and to bed with happy memories of our trip to Germany.