June 13, 2014 - Witten - Dülmen, Germany

We arrived at our third exchange student’s home in Dülmen mid-afternoon and were met with warm greetings. It had been 12 years since we had seen Hauke and his parents, Hugo and Renate, and his brother, but it seemed like yesterday! After a wonderful snack of those yummy cakes, they took us to see the Burg Vischering, a 13th century castle which is about 15 minutes from their home.

The castle, complete with a moat surrounding the fortified defensive structure, was built on an island. The round castle with drawbridge embrasures and battlements was partially damaged by fire in 1521. The reconstruction of the medieval foundations took place in the Renaissance style. It was interesting to see, but a severe thunderstorm with high winds earlier in the week downed several trees, so much of the area was closed off while crews were working to make the area safe for visitors limiting some of our tour.

We headed to a lovely nature park for a walk before heading back to their house for dinner. We spotted one deer and lots of people enjoying the beautiful weather.


Back at the house, Hauke and his brother, Arne, became the grill masters for the evening. Hauke’s girlfriend, Pia, arrived in time to join in the fun. We had so much fun catching up that we talked well past midnight!

Saturday morning everyone slept in, then we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast that lasted until noon! It was hard to say goodbye, but we hope that it won’t be another 12 years before we see him again!

Next stop, Hamburg!