I followed the Canadian election as best I could while visiting my dear relatives in Germany and was of course overjoyed with the result. Three seats short of a majority is annoying, but compared to what was predicted in December it was practically an Easter miracle – the resurrection and all.

First stop after the airport was a store as I said to Heilke I’ll need a drink the minute we hit Hannelore’s house. So we bought vodka and juice, and I arrived half dead on a Thursday afternoon, yet by 10:00 PM I had to force myself to sleep, but then joyfully slept for nearly 12 hours!

Good Friday it’s a tradition to eat Maultaschen, which are basically German ravioli minus the tomato sauce. They’re hamburger-filled dough pockets and then covered in beef or chicken broth. We ate these with a delicious potato salad Heilke’s son Andre had made. This was followed by a variety of ice-cream flavours, however I knew if I wanted to remain normal sized for the two weeks I’d have to say no thanks.

And speaking of food, every morning at Hannelore’s I’d eat delicious bread slathered with the freshest butter you’ve ever eaten, and coated in homemade berry jam. This was accompanied by vats of premium quality coffee.  At around 8:00 PM we’d end the day with the same bread and butter, but with ham and cheese, accompanied by sugary sweet cherry tomatoes and various salads.

One salad I’d never eaten is called Ackersalat which means farm salad, but it’s a very soft small leaf that grows throughout the winter and is ready in spring, after which the season is over. I experienced the joy of this kind of seasonal food when we went to a” Spargelbesen” on Easter Sunday.

A “Besen” is a kind of food or drink event held at a farm for a limited amount of time. So there are asparagus, beef, wine, and goose events held at only certain times of the year, which I love. I told them we sadly get asparagus all year long, but they said, no, here we get it only in spring. At this event the main thing was the thick white asparagus which was served slathered in Hollandaise sauce.

I had wonderful homemade Spaetzle at my cousin Ruth’s in Meckenbeuren served with gravy, and also chicken and mushrooms in a creamy sauce. All so good, and one of the main reasons for visiting Germany other than the family.

We toured the beautiful town of Calw on the edge of the Black Forest. Hiked to a waterfall near Bad Urbach and then visited the cute town itself, sitting outside to have a German lunch of Bratwurst and fries near the town’s fountain.

Every Saturday Hannelore’s daughter-in-law goes to the bakery at the crack of dawn and gets freshly baked pretzels for breakfast and hangs them on her door at 7:15 AM. Isn’t that just so adorable, I mean both the idea of doing that plus the precision of the hour for delivery? We would cut them in half and coat their soft interior with unsalted butter which contrasts so beautifully with their crust of salt. Other than eat, we did drive around and see sights such as the cloister at Bebenhausen which was founded around 1184. Southern Germany really is a pretty amazing place, then throw in great relatives and it was a fabulous holiday.