Horlacher Family

We arrived at Minoritenhof 1 around 4:30 p.m. 
I was an exchange student with the Horlacher family back in 1981 when I was 16 years old with the Tempe Sister City program.  At that time the family had beautiful 200 acre farm on the Danube River.  Their house was a 1000 year old monetary.  In the late 1980s the family converted the farm land into a semi-private golf course.   Heinz, the father died in 2000 after falling backwards and hitting his head.  He was taking blood thinner at the time, and the doctors were not able to stop the bleeding in his brain.

Now, Martin, the younger son, runs the golf course.  Martin is in his early 40s and only just married 3 years ago.  He’s always been somewhat of a free spirit—and still is.  His wife is a lawyer, who specializes in family law. 

Martin showed us around Minoritenhof.  Irene, the mother of the family and now in her early 70s, wasn’t home.  The room I stayed in overlooked the green forest and the Danube River.

We had drinks with Martin on the patio of the Italian restaurant at the golf course while waiting for Eric to arrive.  Eric, who is a year older than Martin, was my exchange brother in 1981.  He stayed with my family for 6 weeks in 1981. 

Today, Eric is something of a venture capitalist.  He buys companies in bankruptcy or going through bankruptcy.  He drives a racing Porsche.  His job is stressful.  When I asked him how he shattered the screen on his iPhone, he said that he was angry. 

We drove our RV to Eric’s house to meet his wife and son and to see us his house.  One of the companies he owns makes a special glass that has blinds in between the panes.  He had these installed in his house last year.  I forgot to mention they also have a Jack Russell terrier named Max.  Leah and the girls had a chance to get an “animal” fix and pet Max.

Martin picked us up in his small BMW SUV and drove us to a traditional Bavarian restaurant, where we had dinner with Eric and family and Martin and his wife.   We enjoyed visiting with them.  The girls even talked with Eric’s 12 year old daughter and Sevi, Eric’s 14 year old son.  Martín and Eric generously picked up the tab for dinner.