Adventures with Renate and Uwe

This past Sunday, I got to go on an adventure with my host parents, Uwe and Renate! While talking earlier in the week, I had told them that my family, the Willers, has origins in Wuppertal, which is a town just north of Bonn and East of Dusseldorf. They loved the idea of this, and immediately said they would take my friends and me there if we wanted. Of course, we agreed!

So, we went driving around on Sunday and they took us all around Wuppertal and several of its surrounding towns. In Wuppertal proper, we got to see the Swebebahn, which is a suspension monorail which Wuppertal is famous for. Uwe and Renate are very knowledgeable about Germany's history, and gave us a lot of background on Wuppertal and its history as an industrial city, producing first swords, and then cutlery in more modern times. On the right is a picture of the Swebebahn rail!




We then traveled to Solingen, just outside Wuppertal, where we stopped for ice cream in a quaint, beautiful part of an old town. We hiked up some stairs for a good view of the town and to see a beautiful church. On the way back down, I had the pleasure of making a wonderful acquaintance while trying to pose for a picture! (I was very excited to meet her).

 

We then traveled to a castle in Wuppertal, called Schloss Burg, which was a cool surprise! It was a fun ride up to the castle in a lift, since it was at the very top of a hill. My friends and I had a great time touring all through the castle and marveling at the views.

Finally, we stopped for refreshment at a historical steel mill in Solingen, which also houses a little cafe! The mill was right on the river Wupper, which also runs through Wuppertal (hence, Wuppertal!) and was very remote and peaceful. It was a wonderful experience just sitting at the banks of the Wupper, listening to the water while surrounded by nature. The mill on the building still worked, and we also got to see many of the machines they had used to make blades and cutlery in former times.

 From this weekend, I learned how clearly lucky I am to have Uwe and Renate as host parents. I would never have had this amazing experience without them, and I will never be able to thank them enough! It meant so much for me to see where my family came from. Although I don't know my family history well, and I don't even know if I have any living relatives in Germany, I felt connected to my family history. It was cool thinking that I could have been walking in the footsteps of my ancestors. I cannot wait to see what other adventures lie ahead!