We then got my first glimpses of the Castle - very cool! When we got there, Ingo was stoked to discover they'd done some cleaning up around it so the moat (hehe his castle has a moat!) was nice and clear with water lilies and the purple flowers all around it were awesome, plus it's a castle! There are also a few new walks around the area around the castle including one which led to a bench to lie down on and look up at the tower (what's left of the tower) The walls of were so thick!!! like a metre thick! and some of the original stairs are still there, unfortunately the tower was locked so we couldn't get in to have a look up, but still very very cool!
Then we went on one of the walks that was through almost a marshlandy type area. There were a few boards up with descriptions and information about the area, the Castle and how old everything was - and they even had it written in English too! which was cool as Ingo said there were German words up there that even he didn't know!
We made it back just in time for lunch where again I ate waaaay too much! We had Pork, Sausage (just the word sausage doesn't really explain it, was one massive luncheon like thing cooked and sliced) mashed potatoes (which I later found out was from a packet) fried onions and of course sauerkraut! very German! Followed by a black forest inspired cream dessert. phew.
Then it was time to get organized for the party, so Ingo and Theo (his dad) went took the stereo and wine and beer over to the hall and me and Mona wrote the names onto the unlabeled wine bottles.
Then I had a sleep ;) I think mainly to digest all the food (my stomach is still making horrible digesting noises now) Ingo, much to my annoyance, woke me up only half an hour before the 50th party which meant not only that i had to rush to get ready, but also was a bit woozy - not good when you're about to meet somewhere around 90 people speaking German! but everyone was really lovely! Ingo's family (and extended family and extended again family) were all introduced as they arrived (and names promptly forgotten) and a few of them tried their best to talk to me haha but for the first part of the evening I just helped a little bit and tried to pick up on words - this being difficult with the hum of conversation all around and the different dialects… But after dinner (and a few Radlers - real ones as in half beer, half lemonade) I was standing by myself and the wife of Ingo's school best friend and neighbor called me over to them which was really cool, and we tried with disjointed German and English to have a conversation :) By that time as well a few more of Ingo's school friends showed up and they were all really lovely. It was cool just standing in the group listening to all of them.
I also had a good chat (in German! Yay!) with Petra's (Ingo's mum) cousin, who's English is really good, but she asked me if I could speak German and when I said a little, but it gets better with beer, she said well then! let's get you a beer and away we went! She had been to South America for 3 months and met a few Kiwi's and Aussies over there, and then I can't remember what else we talked about but as she was quite drunk I think either of us could have said anything - it probably sounded a very hilarious conversation to anyone else ;) Finished up at 2am
It was a very cool night and will be good when I can talk more with everyone :)
This morning after breakfast everyone went to do the clean up mission, although we\d done a lot the night before so they're back now and onto a relaxed afternoon :)
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