Visiting Family Abroad

Blog 33

While I am in Germany with my daughter to spend time with family and friends, I decided to post some of my favourite paintings to keep you entertained until my return.

While I usually only take pictures and create some sketches of places, objects, and people that I see while I am traveling, I have created two paintings in my studio after a trip to Germany.

The painting "Hayfields in Nauheim, Germany" shows the landscape in my small hometown, Nauheim, with a population of about 11,000 people. I moved here when I was 7 years old, and my parents have lived there since then. The small town is surrounded by the cities Darmstadt, Mainz, Frankfurt am Main, and Wiesbaden which are known by tourists for their culture. Together the four cities form the centre of the Rhein Main Region, a metropolitan area of about 6 million people.

Nauheim is the “Musikgemeinde” (Music Community) of the area as many instrument makers from the Sudentenland settled in the town after the Second World War.

What I love about this little town is that you can get anywhere in town by bike. There are also bike paths between the farmers’ fields as well as extensive bike routes to the surrounding communities.

My daughter and I will definitely take the bikes out to get some exercise in between all the visits that usually involve lots of delicious food.

The second painting is “Odenwald”, which captures the view of the fields from the “Veste Otzberg”, a medieval castle on the summit of the hill Otzberg in the Odenwald forest.

Our visits to Germany are mostly for the purpose of seeing family and friends, but we try to put little bit of sightseeing into our programme, so that my daughter gets to know more about the country of her ancestors.

Have you been able to visit the country of your families’ origins or is it still on your bucket list? I would love to know where your you are from and whether you still relate to the countries of your ancestors.

When you read this blog, my vacation in Germany is already in its last stretch. I will have lots of new material for you next week.