As for Sinzheim/Baden-Baden, we had a packed weekend. It started on Friday with coffee and cake at 3 pm at Melanie and Karl's, Andrea's parents. It was nice to be there early to help out. Eventually everyone arrived and the group was complete; Fritz and Maria, Achim and Isolde, Wolfgang and Margarete, Uwe and Ines, Gerhard and Steffi, Christiane, Ulrike, Andrea, and me. We enjoyed a cup of coffee and some cake before heading to the St. Martin's Church in Sinzheim, which is absolutely beautiful! We ended the evening at the Angelika Vogel Weingut with a wine tasting and dinner. That made bedtime midnight! 1 day down...
8 am came early Saturday morning for breakfast. Golf from 11 - 2 was next on the list. We had a 3 hour session on putting, chipping, and driving from 2 German pros, Patrick and Kevin. It was a lot of fun but I am not very good at the game. Anybody who says Golf is not a sport, is wrong. I actually had sore muscles which means I was doing it right =) I drove 3 buckets of balls and at least 10 of them went over 100 meters. The rest went somewhere else. I now feel I can join my fam on the course for some entertainment. Of course, food was up next before heading to Schloss Favorite for a guided tour. It was a nice palace but not necessarily my taste. Amazingly enough, after the tour, it was time to eat again. The next meal was at Monte Christo's, a Tapas bar, and it was DELICIOUS!! Bedtime was a little earlier, 11:30 pm. A good night's sleep and then it was time for breakfast again at 8 am. Day 2 down...
Sunday was a cold day. It was so cold that even I borrowed a jacket from Andrea but I did wear my sandals so it wasn't THAT cold. I was the focus of most of the weekend due to my clothing attire. Most of them were wrapped in scarves and layers while I was in short sleeves and sandals. It was quite interesting but those who know me know that I am Grandmama Lemmond in many ways. One of them being my hot nature. Well, so moving on from my clothing...we took a 2 hour guided tour of the Casino and Baden-Baden which was really informative. You are probably picturing Las Vegas or New Orleans but you would have the wrong idea in your head. It was actually extremely sophisticated and had been used as a palace in previous years. It is now the Casino with a dress code and entry fee. You do not have to play if you're there but you do have to pay to get in. The Germans also know how to regulate the gambling. The citizens of Baden-Baden are not allowed to gamble at this Casino which makes perfect sense. You do not have the citizens of your own town going into debt so quickly. There are also 3 casinos in Baden-Württemberg that are all owned by the state. The money goes back into that state. The city of Baden-Baden received 20 Million Euros last year from the casino. Smart right? Now moving into the city for our tour...it's a beautiful city and our tour guide was clever. She gave us some good information, told some jokes, and was really relaxed. It was a nice 2 hours. Now that we were done with the tour, it was time to...yes, you guessed it...eat once again. We headed to the mountain top for some lunch and then back into the city for some "shopping", coffee, and cake. About 5 or so, we headed to the Red Cross for a tour. Andrea works there so she was able to explain the blood donating process as well as show us a little of her daily job. It was REALLY interesting and I was the only one of the group that was a blood donor. I did America proud!! The clock struck 7 and it was time to eat once again. We ended our hometown weekend with dinner at one of Andrea's favorite Italian restaurants. Now I wasn't really hungry but somehow I managed to eat an entire plate of spaghetti. Amazing how that works...after dinner, we all said our good-byes and went our separate ways. I wanted to say good-bye to Andrea's parents before leaving so we made our way there. It's always sad saying good-bye to them. They are some of the sweetest people I know =) After a short chat and lots of hugs, I made it back to Andrea's to pack. Sunday's bedtime, 12.00 am.
3 am came early on Monday morning. My flight was out of Stuttgart at 6.55 and it's an hours drive from Sinzheim. Andrea was more than nice to drive me that early in the morning. I made to the airport and back to Vienna on time. Then it was straight to the institute for class. Needless to say, my brain function was rather limited but I survived. Now we're in our last week and time is FLYING by...will have to fill you all in on that later....until then, love to all!!
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