July 26, 2009

In the morning Waldemar and Emma took us to see the largest radio telescope in Europe in Effelsberg. It is 100 metres wide and is one of the world’s largest fully steerable telescopes. We then drove to Bad Muenstereifel, an old walled town, where we enjoyed some ice cream and wandering through some antique stores.

After lunch with the Deleski’s, we drove around two and a half hours north to Detmold to stay with Heinrich and Lena Penner. Lena is my second cousin, and I had stayed here with my parents for a week five years ago. Their daughter Judith is going to stay with us from September to December while she attends MEI in Abbotsford.

The Penners took us to Hermannsdenkmal, where we climbed to the top of the monument and enjoyed the view. This year is the 2000th anniversary of Hermann’s defeat of the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest in 9 AD.

After returning to the Penner’s house, Lena’s parents Heinrich and Lena Esau arrived (Heinrich is my mother’s double cousin) and also Johann and Lydia, Judith’s brother, along with their two children. We enjoyed watermelon and rollkuchen and then spent the rest of the evening seeing Johann and Lydia’s house, which is under construction nearby, and visiting. Later on, Judith’s other brother Jakob and his wife Rita and daughter Leni arrived back from Italy, and we visited with them a bit as well.