And another week begins!!

Monday, June 21^st

Before I begin with today’s events, I would like to wish a very Happy Birthday to Kelley Mann, my cousin and friend. Hope it was a great one Kell!!

Ok…so now down to business. The morning started off pretty early. Andrea and I were in Regensburg and had decided the night before what we wanted to do the next day. The first thing on our list was surprisingly enough, not breakfast. We decided to see the Cathedral first. It was exquisite! I have been in and out of several churches and cathedrals in Europe. Every time I go, I am still in awe of the masterpiece. What’s mind blowing is the massive structure with beautifully colored windows and carefully crafted carvings that was built hundreds of years ago. Many of these structures have survived wars, plagues, financial crisis, etc. but still stands as a refuge for all who enter. This particular cathedral is one that was unharmed by WWII. There are no words for the feeling one has when entering. Of course, the second thing on our list was to have some breakfast. Maria, from previous entries, recommended a café just across from the cathedral. We had looked over the menu last night only to find it would suit us just fine. I had scrambled eggs with ham, a baguette, and a café latte. As usual, it was delish! We then headed for the 3^rd thing on our list; shopping. I had seen a couple of shops that could be promising for my future nephew. I don’t want to give everything away but I will say it was a successful souvenir trip for Davis. I CAN’T wait to give him his gifts. While he’ll only be a few weeks old, it will still be a joy. Some of them are educational, some are souvenirs, and some I just thought were cute. For the rest of my family though, don’t worry, I’m shopping for ya’ll too. After spending most of the day walking around the city, seeing more of the sites, and doing way to much shopping, we loaded the car for our next destination; Bergen. Regensburg is an amazing city and I could’ve stayed all week but there other lists that needed to be crossed out!

Now our final destination was not Bergen but Chiemsee. Bergen happened to be where we found a place to stay for an extremely reasonable rate WITH breakfast. We stayed at the Hotel Mariandl. It’s a house run by a lovely Bavarian couple. The town is quite small but has character and is nestled beautifully in the mountains. It would be a perfect place for a relaxing, not so touristy vacation. We arrived with plenty of daylight. It rained off and on during the drive down. Upon arrival, we were given our key and shown to our room. Of course, the first question we asked…”Could you recommend a place to eat?” The wife of the house recommended the Italian and the Bavarian restaurant. We opted for the Bavarian. EXCELLENT CHOICE!! I ordered a schnitzel with a pretzel crust and fries. To wash it down, I ordered a Radler (beer with a lemon soda). Andrea chose the Knödel (dumpling) in a mushroom cream sauce. Now Josh, you will be disappointed in me so you may want to skip ahead a little. Apfelküchle was on the menu but I didn’t have the room for dessert. I had the desire though. Sorry Josh! After a filling meal, we went for a walk around town before calling it a night. To give you an idea about how big the town was the walk took us about 15 minutes to walk to the city limit.

Tuesday, June 22^nd

We got up early and headed down to breakfast at 8 am. There was coffee and bread which made me happy. The lady of the house made sure we had what we needed and chatted with us for a few minutes. Once we were caffeinated, we headed for the Chiemsee about 15 minutes away. The Chiemsee is a lovely lake in southern Germany. The lake possesses 2 islands, Herrenchiemsee (Herr = man) and Frauenchiemsee (Frau = woman).

On the Frauenchiemsee is a nunnery. On the Herrenchiemsee is one of the 3 castles built by Ludwig II. He was the king of Bavaria at one time. To me, he is the Michael Jackson of the time. He was quite extravagant and was entitled the “Fairy Tale King”. He wanted a childhood that he never had. Much of this can be seen not only in castles, but also his designs for developments. As for his castles, I have been in Neuschwanstein (what the Magic Kingdom castle is based off) and I have seen but not toured Linderhof. Since Andrea is a wonderfully accommodating friend, she agreed to go with and drive me around southern German to Vienna. One of my desired stops was this castle. We caught the first ferry to the island and went immediately for our tour. This particular castle was based on Paris’ Versailles. It’s situated wonderfully on the island with a view I could only dream of waking up to every morning. The inside is ornately decorated with gold, marble, candles, chandeliers, mirrors, and so much more. Picture in your head the most ornately decorated room you can think of…have it? Not even close. I am speechless as to how to describe the décor. While I know it’s touristy, I am really glad to have seen it and can’t wait to see Linderhof. Now after our tour and walk around the grounds, I’ll give you one guess what was on our minds….If you guessed food, you’re right. We stopped for lunch at a nicely located Biergarten on the island. I had lintel soup and Andrea had white sausages with bread. Now we were ready for the next island.

The Fraueninsel is not near as big as the Herren. The ferry took us to the island where we had several hours to explore. To walk around the entire island took about an hour. We were able to see the church and walk around the nunnery just a little. The people were friendly and the weather was nice. We came to the conclusion that we had earned a treat. We situated ourselves on one of the patios of a restaurant to have a piece of cake and a cup of coffee. It was a relaxing journey; one that I would love to take again with family ;) We leisurely enjoyed our dessert before catching the last ferry off the island. Once back in Bergen, we decided to play a little mini gold.

It was set up a little differently than what I’m used to but the concept was still the same. It was tons of fun but let’s just say I wasn’t in it to win =) Andrea slaughtered me. I took it like a pro though. After 18 holes of “golf”, it was time to eat. We both agreed on pizza so we tried out the Italian restaurant in town. This time though, we decided to save enough for a cold pizza lunch on Wednesday…always thinking about future meals. It was a great decision. The pizza was good and I had a scoop of ice cream for dessert. Nice end to a relaxing day!

Wednesday, June 23^rd

This morning was not an extremely early one. We slept about a ½ hour longer than usual and had our breakfast at 9. We then loaded the car and headed off to Linz, Austria which was the European City of Culture for 2009. Now I don’t really know why, but I’ve always wanted to see Linz and Graz. Since Andrea was driving to Vienna, Linz was an on the way stop we could make so once again, she humored me with an overnight. We arrived at our hotel around 1 pm. Before heading out into the city, we had our cold pizza lunch…yummy! The reception had a city map so we picked one up to look it over. We walked around the city and visited quite a few churches and cathedrals. We found a rooftop café to have a cup of coffee while overlooking the city. While enjoying our coffee, we discussed the plans for the evening. Germany was playing Ghana at 8:30 and must when to continue in the World Cup. Since this was important, we decided to pick up some bread, meat, and cheese for a cold dinner in the room. It was a quiet evening watching Germany beat Ghana. It was a stressful game and it didn’t look like Germany was going to get a goal. Andrea decided to take a bathroom break which did the trick. She was in the bathroom when I yelled, “Tor!” (Goal). That was all they needed to pull out the win. Germany plays against England Sunday night and Ghana plays against the USA on Saturday. Since we had internet access, I decided to call mom and Nae to check in. Mom reported the cats well but that my washer had bit the dust. Luckily, I have such a mom to take care of things like that. She made sure everything was replaced so I would be able to wash clothes when I returned. I just love her! Nae had had an eventful day. She had a doctor’s appointment which proved all’s well. She then had a visit from my aunt, cousin, and her two boys. From what I understand, there was a lot going on. It was good to see her on the webcam. I even got to see Davis move a little. Sometimes technology gets on my nerves but I am extremely glad to have it this summer =)

Now you may be wondering what else I have to tell you about Linz. Well, nothing really. It was a nice city and I’m glad I can check it off my list but it was not so impressive that I feel the need to go back. It’s the type of city I would enjoy living or studying in. It’s beautiful and large enough to have something to do but not so large that it’s overwhelming. As a tourist, I didn’t feel it had enough to do and see. I’m glad we made a brief stop though and would recommend if you’re in the area to stop by for a brief walk around.

Thursday, June 24^th

This morning we slept in a little longer. I got up at 8 to get a shower and pack. We didn’t have to check out until 12 so we decided to head into the city for breakfast and then pack the car. On our way to breakfast, I stopped to purchase a cell phone. I had seen it yesterday for 29 Euros. It was 1/3 the price of everything else I had seen so I slept on it before deciding to purchase. I then felt like I was in contact with the world. We then stopped by a café to get a roll and a latte for breakfast. We ate in a lovely little park. As we made our way back to the hotel, Andrea convinced me to stop by a shoe store. I finally gave in to the peer pressure ;) I found a pair of sandals for 8 Euro. I was glad she twisted my arm =) Back in the room, we fixed ourselves a sandwich with our leftover meat and cheese for lunch. We then packed the car for the last leg of our trip.

From Linz, we were headed for Leobersdorf. It’s a small town just outside of Vienna. Andrea has a friend, Wolfgang, who had offered to let us stay with him for a couple of nights. We were extremely grateful! Andrea is a wonderful driver! She chose a good piece of the trip along the Danube before hitting the interstate. We drove through several lovely towns. Along the way, we chose to stop in Melk for a picnic by the river. Melk is a small town with an amazingly beautiful Byzantine monastery situated at the top of the hill. (I’ll have to post a picture later cause Andrea has it.) We found a place to park and walked toward the river front. It was a nice 10 or 15 minute walk. We found a bench to enjoy our sandwiches and some chips. The weather was perfect; sunny with a breeze. I just love breezes when the sun is shining. Once we had finished eating, we walked back into town for a short walk through the streets. It was then time to load the car for the last little bit of our journey.

We left Melk, hit the interstate, and arrived in Leobersdorf before Wolgang got off work. We drove by his apartment to make sure we knew where to go. Then we went to the train station to investigate tickets to Vienna. After that, we drove into the city center to find, what else, a café for a cup of coffee. The market square was quite comfortable. There was a nice open area with places for kids to play and places where water would come up out of the ground much like a sprinkler. This was surrounded by shops, cafes, and the town hall. It was nice to watch the children play while drinking a latte. Wolfgang met us there after he got off work. We followed him to his apartment and he took us on a tour. Of course, it was time to eat again. He recommended we walk to a local Heurigen for dinner. Vienna is famous for lots of things; one of them being their Heurigens. A Heurigen is a family owned restaurant which serves food and wine during certain times during the year. Sounds like a normal family owned restaurant. Well, there’s a little difference. The wine served is from their vineyard from the previous year. It’s nice to share the fruits of your labor with others. This particular one was great. The food and wine was great, the service was friendly, and the company was enjoyable.

Friday, June 25^th

Today was a day in Vienna. Wolfgang had to work and Andrea and I had some things to take care of in the city. We took the train into the city and headed straight to the institute. The students wouldn’t be arriving until Saturday but I wanted to stop by to say hello. Markus was there to greet us warmly. I made sure there was nothing they needed from me. After chatting briefly and checking email, we headed to the Austrian Red Cross. Andrea works for the German Red Cross in the blood donor lab. She met a technician, Andrea, from the Austrian branch last year and made contact with her since we were coming to Vienna. Andrea was excited to have us stop by for a hello and a tour of the lab. Now, everyone who knows me knows I don’t do well around needles and blood…I normally pass out. Not knowing what to expect, I was extremely nervous but agreed to go. The lab was actually really cool to see but really confusing. There were machines everywhere doing all sorts of things with viles of blood. I sort of listened while watching the machines but the vocabulary wasn’t in my dictionary. I waited until we left to ask my Andrea a couple of questions. While I didn’t understand it all, it was neat. It reminded me that I’m due to donate again. It’s on my list of things to do when I get back in August.

We left the Red Cross for the city center. I had made plans to meet Traci for lunch and had we had a couple of hours to kill. We leisurely walked around the center. Andrea has planned a trip to Japan in September so we stopped by a bookstore for a “learn Japanese” book. I got a text from Traci saying she would be late so Andrea and I went ahead to the restaurant. We ordered and ate before Traci even got there. It was nice though. We took our time eating and enjoyed the nice weather. When Traci got there, we were ready for a cup of coffee. If you haven’t noticed, coffee and food is an important part of travel =) Traci and I discussed a few “business” things as well as enjoyed a leisurely conversation with Andrea. We cleared up a few topics and then dispersed. Andrea and I headed to one of the parks. She wanted to study her Japanese and I wanted to finish a book I had been reading for what seems like forever. I laid in the grass under the rose bushes while Andrea chose a bench. I read several pages before deciding to take advantage of the free time for a nap. It was great!! Wolfgang called when he got off work and we made plans to meet at 6 at the Stephan’s Cathedral.

We all met around 6. Now I’m sure you think we went to eat but surprisingly, we decided on something else…before eating =) We took a 2 hour walking tour. Vienna has some wonderful walking tours on all sorts of topics. You can take a highlights tour, Vienna in film, food, the Viennese underground, etc. You name it, they probably have it. It was really interesting but after 2 hours of walking, it was time to eat. We went to the Bermuda Triangle for dinner. The triangle is an area packed with restaurants, bars, and clubs. We chose a table outside and enjoyed our meal. I ordered a chicken and cheese baked potato. Wise choice! After dinner, we stopped by one more bar for a drink and just to enjoy the company. You know, it’s surprising. I used to be a night person but not anymore. I’ve never been one to like being out to bars and clubs but I’ve always stayed up late. When I travel, I’m exhausted by 10 or 10:30. It has taken all I had these past couple of days to keep my eyes open while sitting at the table. Man…I definitely can tell I am too old to be staying up late. On the ride home, I slept so hard that when I got back to the apartment, I crawled straight into bed. It was 1 am.

First week...over already????

It’s been a while since I’ve posted but I’ve been on the road and haven’t had internet connection. I have written from Tuesday to Sunday and will catch up as soon as I get to Vienna…enjoy!

Tuesday, June 15^th

My first full day in Herne was quite relaxing. Val and Werner both had to work so I got to spend most of the day just hanging out. I got up early to have breakfast with them before they left and then took some time to watch some tv. It was nice to flip through the channels and what I love the most is catching up on my music videos. Of course, right now, they are mostly songs for the WM (World Cup) but there are still some good ones out there. I also took the time to watch a couple of soccer games and talk with my Lil’ Sis. We talked for over an hour which is easy for us to do =) I knew I would be on the road so I took the opportunity to check in with her. So far so good and there will soon be a nephew in my life. But more on that later…Val called around 4:30 so say she was on her way home. Once they got home we went to Hoheward. It’s a hill, or what Alabamians would call a mountain, that has a beautiful view. It took us about 20 minutes at a nice pace to reach the top. From there, we got a beautiful view of several different cities. It was perfect weather for a climb. The sun was shining and the wind was blowing. It was chilly at the top but perfect for the walk up. At the top we took our time looking around and enjoying the weather. We then headed back down to head into Bochum. In Bochum, we went to the Dreieck (a pedestrian area with tons of bars and restaurants) for some dinner. There is a famous Wursthaus famous for it currywurst but I chose the bratwurst and was not disappointed. They were delicious along with some warm crispy fries. We then came to conclusion that some dessert would be just right so we walked into town for some ice cream and coffee. It was DELICIOUS!! It was so nice to simply “hang out” with friends. We spent some time watching a little more tv before deciding to head to bed. I had a long train ride ahead of me in the morning.

Wednesday, June 16^th

It was an early morning but I knew Val had to get to work and I didn’t want to make her late. She took me to the train station and dropped me off. We said our good-byes but a year will go by so fast and it’ll be time to visit again. She left for work while headed in to get some breakfast from the bakery. Delish! I bought a sandwich and coke for the train ride. I had a good 30 minutes before my train left so I mosied around the train station to kill some time. There was a wonderful fresh market just outside so I looked at all the fresh fruits, veggies, eggs, meat, cheese, and flowers. As I walked through, I wished such a market would appear in Opelika. Man oh man that would be great! Anywho, I went back into the train station so as not to miss my train and noticed I had a 45 minute delay. I know many of you think the Germans are extremely punctual but that is a false stereotype. These delays appear quite often with trains and busses. So I went out into the city for a brief walk. I found the 1€ store and looked through the tourist information. I couldn’t walk anymore, I was so tired, so I decided to head to the platform and just wait. The train arrived on its delayed time, I found my seat, and went to sleep. I woke up about an hour from my destination. I made it safely to Baden-Baden and met Andrea for coffee and cake. Again, it was delish! After coffee, we had a couple of errands to run before getting on the road tomorrow. We stopped by the grocery store to get some picnic food for our trip and then to her god daughter’s for dinner. Anna, the god daughter, turned 11 and Andrea wanted to take her gift. I was fortunate to get to tag along. The family is extremely friendly. Anna, 11, and Felix, 9, were quite entertaining. Their mother, Simone, has been friends with Andrea for years. It was fun to watch the kids play. During our visit, Simone got a phone call. She told the person that Andrea and America was there to visit. From that point on, I was America. In honor of the WM everyone decided they should all be a country. It was fun but it couldn’t last too long. Andrea still had to pack so we headed “home”. I didn’t have to stress too much about packing because I still had the morning while Andrea worked. So it was off to bed for me =)

Thursday, June 17^th

Once again, I had a morning of nothing much. Andrea went to work and I got to have the apartment to myself. I couldn’t believe it. I woke up at 10:30. I had slept 10 full hours and only woke up once when I heard Andrea walk through the living room. It was a great feeling but it was also one of those, “Man, that’s half the day”. Either way, I took time to sit around and watch some more tv. I also packed for our trip to Schwandorf and also had to repack my suitcase for Vienna. As soon as Andrea got home from work, we loaded the car and headed to Karlsruhe. There we met the rest of the group for our trip. There were a total of 10 so Christiane rode with us in Andrea’s Mercedes A class and the others in a VW bus. We had to pick up a couple of people along the way but before long, we were all ready to head to Oberpfalz. The group included Uwe, Ines, Steffi, Achim, Isolde, Fritz, and Maria. Gerhard and Wolfgang met us later at the hotel. Now, you’re probably wondering what this trip was all about. Well, I just kind of happened to be here when they had their “Home Town Tour”. They are all friends from various aspects of life and decided a couple of years ago to plan yearly trips to each others’ hometowns. This year was Maria’s turn. They planned the trip and were gracious to let me tag along. I personally think it’s a great idea to plan such weekends. It’s a great time to get together and share your past with your friends. I personally know a good bit about my hometown but not everything. I’m sure many of you are like me. There are things just around the corner that I’ve never seen but feel the need to see when there are guests that need to be entertained. It took us about 6 hours from Karlsruhe to Schwandorf. Of course, about 45 minutes of that was spent in a traffic jam but we finally made it to our hotel. It was in a beautiful location with a restaurant just across the parking lot. The first leg of the trip ended with a meal together. The VW bus riders were extremely hungry but the A class riders were content. We were prepared with snacks and sandwiches. That didn’t stop us from enjoying yet another meal for the evening because we were unsure of our next one.

Friday, June 18^th

Well, the day began with a lovely breakfast buffet and some nice hot coffee. The weather has been a little chilly so it was nice to have a warm drink. After breakfast we loaded up to attend our first event, a brewery tour. It was quite interesting…especially for me. The tour guide was extremely nice but spoke quite softly. What made it even worse was his use of the Bavarian dialect. I don’t know really how to explain it but in 10 minutes of the tour I understood maybe 10 words. All in all it was a descent tour. We then loaded back up to have some lunch. There was a beer garden waiting for us with white sausages. White sausages are the typical Bavarian breakfast which should be served warm with a wheat beer before 11 am. I personally am not a fan of them so I choose the bratwurst with kraut and apple juice. Maybe it’s my Methodist/Baptist background but beer before noon seems wrong. Either way, we enjoyed yet another meal together and then loaded up for our next stop, the farm. Maria took us to her family’s farm where she grew up. The first and MOST important thing to do was watch the soccer game between Germany (0) and Serbia (1). That was so much fun. It was much like watching a football game on any given Saturday in the fall. We all took our places and no one talked until half time. Even after the game, there was conversation of what was done wrong and what should be done for the next game against Ghana. I just loved it! Before taking a tour of the farm, we were all escorted to a beautiful balcony for some coffee and cake. It was just perfect. The tour of the farm was also extremely interesting. I mean, I had seen cows and been in a pasture with them but this was something different. Maria’s father and brother told us the ins and outs of the dairy farm which has been in the family since the 1500s. Amazing! They were all so wonderful about asking me if I could understand or had any questions. From the farm we headed back into the city for a tour of the underground…literally. We met our tour guide for a tour of the underground system in Schwandorf. There was a connection of cellars that were used for beer brewing and later for storage. During WWII, 4000 people spent 4 weeks in the underground. I cannot imagine. There are no words and there would be no way I could ever know what that must have been like. It was freezing down there. The tour lasted about 2 hours and it was difficult to focus on anything but being cold after about an hour. A nice schnapps helped but not for long. We finally reached the surface, which made me happy, and headed to dinner. Once again, it was time to eat!!

Saturday, June 19^th

After a long day of tours and travels, it was time to start all over again. We started once again with a healthy breakfast and then we were off. Our first stop was Wackersdorf. We had planned a tour but the tour guide wasn’t there and we were a few minutes late so we made other arrangements. We took an hour and a half walk through the forest. Once again, perfect weather. It was a little chilly but the sun was shining so I had no complaints. Then it was off to a nice lunch at the Sternberger See (lake). This was something neat to see. I saw a sign for water skiing. Of course, I’m thinking a lake with boats and skiers. That was not the case. There were skiers but no boats. The skiers held a rope that was attached to a line. It appeared to be much like a ski lift but on water. They had ramps set up for jumps and stunts so it was definitely something different. There is probably something similar in the states but I have never seen anything like that on Lake Martin. Well…we ate lunch and had an appointment to tour Schwandorf so it was back to the city. Our tour guide was great! He was young and mixed history with jokes and folks tales about the city. I was impressed and ready for our next adventure. This was a tour of the church and kindergarten that Maria attended. It was beautiful and it was great to have Maria talk about her memories. Then, you know what comes next…dinner time! There was a small family owned restaurant just across the street where I ordered pork shoulder with a potato dumpling and salad. Again, it was DELISH! While I was stuffed, there was a dessert on the menu that I couldn’t pass up, Apfelküchle. Josh understands why! I managed to order and eat it. I went to bed with a full belly. There was one more day in the weekend so I needed a good night’s sleep.

Sunday, June 20^th

Alright…so here we go again. After another lovely breakfast, we made our way to the city of Nabburg. It’s a beautiful place that is still surrounded by its original fortification wall from the Middle Ages. Our tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable while giving us just enough info to keep it interesting. They have a renaissance fair every year and that would be something to see. Everyone dressed as if from years past. Maybe that should be on my list for future trips =) Of course, we finished the tour and began thinking about food. We all decided to head to our next destination, the Freilandmuseum (Open Air Museum). We were scheduled for a tour at 2 entitled “Before there were tvs”. I was unsure of what to expect until I got there. It reminded me a lot of Old Alabama Town. It was set up in various “cities” with the typical house from that area. We were shown what children and families did during the day before there was a tv in the house. The families spent their days working and spending time together. It was quite interesting to see and our tour guide spoke in a dialect I could understand…most of the time. She switched between the dialect and the high German quite often which was nice for me. One of the highlights of the day was the elder bloom cake “Hollerküchl”. It was like eating a funnel cake but with an elder bloom holding the deep fried dough together. There was even some powdered sugar sprinkled on top. I think a deep fried elder bloom would have great success in Alabama…of course, anything could succeed in Alabama if it were deep fried. Speaking of Alabama, I made my mother proud. I took my Lake Martin Living with me to the museum and we took a group photo. You have to understand, we gave her a hard time last year for wanted to take group pictures everywhere we went with Lake Martin magazines. Either way, I should ask for her forgiveness. It was fun to take the picture. In fact, everyone enjoyed flipping through looking at the pictures of the lake. Sorry mom…I love you!!! Any who, after our tour it was time to eat again. We sat together one last time for some coffee, hot chocolate, or beer with a piece of apple cake. I chose to have a cup of hot coffee but passed on the cake. I thought I had eaten enough for one weekend. We said our good-byes from the group. It was an amazing weekend and I felt blessed to be a part of it. It was so much fun to meet families and to make new friends. I was extremely nervous about spending time with a group but they made me feel like I was part of it.

Andrea and I hit the road headed for Regensburg. The drive took about 30 minutes. Along the way, we discussed the weekend together and were in agreement that it was great! We had reserved a room in the Altstadt (city center). We arrived with plenty of sunlight to discover the city but we had to brave the rain which was no trouble. After checking in, we headed into the city. It’s an amazingly old city that was spared during WWII. Everything is still as it was which is something to see. We saw many of the sites and churches but also did quite a bit of window shopping. Before we knew it, it was time to eat once again. As we ate our pizza and pasta, we made a shopping/to do list. There were a couple of things that we wanted to definitely to do before leaving the city. At the top of my list was the Dirndl shop, tourist info, and to see the cathedral. There were also some shoe stores and souvenir shops that needed to be viewed from the inside ;) After making our list we headed back to our hotel for the night. Before hitting the hay, we decided to make some plans for the rest of our travels. We reserved rooms for our next 3 nights via the internet. We were so tired that we decided to make other decisions on the spur of the moment. As long as we had a place to sleep we were happy. Now it was off to sleep until our next meal =) Stay tuned…

Welcome to Germany!

Well, I have arrived safely in Germany on Sunday the 14^th. The flight was smooth and I sat next to a polite, extremely quiet Romanian woman. Normally, I have trouble sleeping on flights but this time I opted for some help. Two Dramamine did the trick. I was able to sleep most of the flight which was good and bad. The good was I wasn’t too terribly tired upon arrival. The bad was that the film selection of the flight was great. There were at least 4 movies I wanted to see. Oh well…I had no trouble getting through passport control and only a few questions through customs and then it was out into Frankfurt. Waiting for me was my friend, Andrea, and her dad, Karl. I have to tell you, it’s so wonderful to come into the country and be greeted by friends. It was a wonderful surprise to have Karl there as well. He is one of the sweetest people I know. And Andrea has been a great friend since our first meeting at Starbucks. We both volunteered to be conversation partners with a program at UA which randomly paired people together based on the language they wanted. Our first meeting was at the Starbucks in the Ferg. I was nervous but that didn’t last long. We spent our time alternating our conversations between German and English. She corrected my German and I her English. It works great! She moved back to Germany but we have kept in touch over the years and we continue to correct each other’s languages…in a nice way of course. Ok…so now back to the day…We then headed for home. Well, not really my home but I consider it my home in Germany, Sinzheim. Andrea’s mom, Melanie, opted not to come to airport but rather stayed home to cook lunch. I must say…I missed seeing her smiling face at the airport but it was a wonderful decision. When we got there, we were greeted with a warm smile and a big hug. My parents need not worry about me when I am in Germany, I have the most caring family to take care of me. Lunch was delicious! We ate white asparagus…which I had never had but it was good…with hollandaise sauce, ham, and thin pancakes. I could’ve eaten several but didn’t want to make myself sick on my arrival day. Of course, I jumped right into speaking German or at least attempted to. It’s extremely difficult on the first day to really focus. I did my best to carry on a conversation and Andrea did her part on helping and correcting me. I love having someone I trust to give me pointers. I’m still learning. Anywho, Karl and Melanie are the sweetest people ever and are quite understanding of my grammar mistakes. They even do their best to change from badisch, their dialect, to High German. Although I must admit, I really love the challenge of comprehending the dialect. I think a few more visits and I might throw a few badisch words into my conversation. Either way, we get along wonderfully and I could spend hours just sitting around the table talking with them about this and that.

After lunch, Andrea and I headed to her apartment to drop off my things and rest a little. We both wanted a nap but knew it was in our best interest to stay awake. I REALLY wanted a shower. I felt disgusting after the long flight. After a quick shower I felt more like myself. We sat on the balcony and enjoyed a cup of coffee. Around 5, we went back to her parents’ for a bar-b-que. Now grilling is a little different in Germany than in Alabama. Here we used an electric grill and the meat was bought directly from the butcher already seasoned. I must say, it’s to die for. We had sausages, chicken, lamb, and pork in a variety of marinades. We grilled last year as well and it is always a wonderful time. With the meat, came a mixture of sauces, bread, and a tomato mozzarella salad. I could eat that almost every day if I could. For the bar-b-que, Melanie’s sister, Hannelore, and Andrea’s friend, Simone, and Simone’s son, Felix, joined us. It was a nice evening on the back patio. I was still fairly quiet, which for those of you who know me, is unusual. I was still mentally out to lunch but did my best to stay alert. For dessert there was sampler platter of cakes. I had a nice piece of Bienenstick cake and that was it for me. My eyes got really heavy and given a little more time, my head would’ve hit the table. We said our good-byes and headed back to Andrea’s. As I mentioned previously, the World Cup is taking place and everyone is proud to be German. And they should be after the game against Australia; Germany won 4-0. We didn’t watch the whole game but we didn’t really need to. Every time Germany scored, you could hear horns being blown. After the game was over, people would honk their horns on their way home. It’s a wonderful atmosphere to be in even if it is a little loud at times. I headed to bed early, about 10:30, because I had an early start on Monday.

My first full day in Germany started at 6:30. I got up, got ready, and packed once again, only this time in a backpack, before heading into Baden-Baden with Andrea for breakfast. She then had to go to work and I walked around the city for a couple of hours before finding a shady park bench. There is a beautiful alley, Lichtentaler Allee, in Baden-Baden with water flowing through. There I spent at least an hour people watching and reading. It was a relaxing morning. I took the bus to the train station around noon to catch my train to Bochum. The trip to Bochum takes about 5 hours. The route I had to take was through Heidelberg and I had to change trains. I was quite lucky today because I almost missed the stop. I was sound asleep on the train when I woke up only to see the Heidelberg Hbf sign out my window. I pretty much jumped over the man sitting next to me and ran off the train. Apparently I still had a few minutes but it was quite a scary moment. Now I’m sure you’re wondering why I chose to head from Baden-Baden to Bochum. Well, I went to grad school with one of the greatest people in the world, Valarie Jones. She now lives in Herne, just outside of Bochum, with her boyfriend of 5 years, Werner. Since I was in Germany, I wanted to spend some time with her. We still keep in touch via email and Christmas/Birthday presents but it’s just not the same as visiting in person. She was waiting for me at the train station with a huge smile on her face. It’s funny that I’ve been speaking German the past 24 hours and I meet up with Val and all of a sudden speak English. We both went to school for German and yet we enjoy a little English between us. When Werner comes into the picture, we revert back to German with no trouble. It’s a great thing to be able to go between the two…even though Val thinks Werner should practice his English a little =) Any who, we then went from the train station straight to Werner’s office so he could show me around a little. Last year I visited but mostly with Valarie. I’m now getting to know Werner and I really like him. He’s friendly, funny, and goes great with Val. I’m glad they found one another. After seeing his office, we headed to their apartment to exchange a few gifts and have a wonderful dinner. Dinner, like bar-b-queing, is a little different in Germany and I just love it! It entails, normally, different types of rolls with a variety of meats and cheeses. My favorites are the pumpkin seed rolls or the ones with poppy seeds. I could eat 3 or 4 before making myself sick. We also had some red bell pepper, cucumber, and tomatoes to balance it out. It’s simple and delicious. After dinner we went for a nice walk. The weather is perfect right now. A little cool with a slight breeze…I love it! It was after 10 when we got back and it was just beginning to get dark. Seems strange to adjust to but after a day or 2 it’s not so bad. While there’s really not, it seems as if there is more time in the day. We all made ourselves comfortable in the living room to watch a little tv. We watched Burn Notice and Boston Legal…in German of course. I must say, Shatner sounds better in German ;) Then we decided we should get some sleep since they have to work tomorrow...don’t worry, my working days are coming.

Now I really do love to travel but have come to a realization; it’s nice to arrive to a familiar place first before heading off into unknown territory. As I walked leisurely around Baden-Baden this morning, it was relaxing. I knew the area and was familiar with the streets. It was a nice, stress free feeling. I can’t wait to see new places but am grateful to have a familiar place to begin. Of course, it helps to have family there waiting. Maybe that’s the key to travel; always have a loving family waiting at the arrivals gate =)