Ich hatte viel Spaß in Paris.

Wednesday morning I left for Paris via a high-speed French train to meet my parents. After stopping in Karlsruhe and Strasbourg, and traveling at 320 km/hr, I arrived in Paris in just over three hours. My only complaint about the train was that many of the bathrooms were out of order and the few that worked were dirty and did not have toilet paper. Thank goodness I carry pocket tissue packs in my purse all the time now! I ended up giving most of mine away to the five or so ladies in line for the bathroom after me.

METRO - Once I gained my bearings at the Gare de l'Est station in Paris, I bought tickets and took the metro to my hostel on the other side of town. For those traveling Paris, the book of 10 tickets are definitely the way to go. Also, be careful in the Gare de l'Est station and only receive help from the people in the official station shirts and vests. There are many other people by the machines there trying to sell you the 3 day Paris pass which is a rip off or trying to distract you to pickpocket. The Metro in Paris is very convenient and easy to use. Everything is labeled clearly and once you scan your ticket and enter the turn-styles you are connected to every line in the network. I learned that the metro lines are only under public roads to avoid any issues of private underground property and the Paris metro is one of the first in the world. The trains are short and always very crowded, but they come every 3-7 minutes so the wait is never very long. I never felt unsafe in the stations, and although they smelled a bit like urine, they were relatively clean.
*At one stop there was a small orchestra of students playing beautiful music in the station.

HOSTEL - I stayed at the Aloha Hostel near the Volontaires Metro stop. Now this was only my second hostel experience and my first hostel by myself so bear with me if you are more hostel experienced and I am complaining about a situation that is very typical. So when I first got there I locked my bag up and went to the Eiffel Tower until I could officially check in. When I returned to check in, I paid the 30 Euro a night in cash, the deposits for a key and sheet, and was assigned to room 100, bed 6 which was supposed to be a co-ed room of 10 with a shared bathroom. I was unable to find my room on the second floor (because it is Europe so the first floor is 0 and the second floor is 1). I consulted with another girl there who went "o no, I bet you are in the courtyard." She took me out the back door to a courtyard filled with plants, mattresses, an old gas pump, ladders, a small cement structure, and a larger cement shed where the door had a handwritten piece of paper taped to it reading "100". I hesitantly entered to find three bunks and a short low-ceiling hallway to another room with a sink and three more bunks. One lower bed labeled 6. So I took a deep breath, made my bed, left my bag and exited to find the bathroom. Guess what was in the other small cement structure...a toilet and sink...so pretty much an out-house. And then I found out that to shower I would have to go up and into the main building. That was fine by me. At least it was inside.

The first night I returned to my bed to find the rooms full of British boys heading out for the night who kindly warned me that they would be returning drunk at 4 am. They did and they brought back two girls with them. Awesome! The second night, I returned to find the room empty except for two guys that were already asleep. When I woke up the next morning, the rooms were packed with Asian guys and their stuff was everywhere. So me and 11 guys, I have to say that the smell was quite strong. It was quite an interesting hostel experience for me.

EIFFEL TOWER - The Eiffel Tower is an interesting structure, I really enjoyed learning learning some history about it by overhearing a Segway tour guide. It was built for the 1889 World Fair, was originally red, and was supposed to be dismantled in 1909. Mr. Eiffel made back his money from building the tower in six months once it was open for visitors. Now it is painted four different shades of grey, with the lighter shades at the top to make it appear taller. On Wednesday, the tower was closed due to a "social dispute". Check out this article for more information on the strike. The local panhandlers are aggressive around the tower and park. They harass you for donations, to purchase tower statues, and to take your picture. I was happy to get away from this area.

It is definitely worth it to see the tower in the evening when it lights up and sparkles for the first 10 minutes of every hour after sunset.

BEER - We had drinks outside on the patio of a fun little brasserie Wednesday. Belgian beer, especially Leffe is very popular in France. Thursday for lunch we enjoyed the French beer 1664. The French add an orange bitter liqueur made in Northern France to beer. It is actually quite good and adds a bit of spice and citrus. We shopped at La Cave a Bulles beer store north of the river. I absolutely recommend this beer store to anyone in Paris interested in craft beer. The employees stock great beer, provide excellent recommendations, and share an abundance of information about things like the French Farmhouse Ale marketing ploy in the US. I purchased a few bottles and a glass that they wrapped and packed in a case for me to ensure easy transport.

FOOD - I explored La Grande Epicerie grocery store and purchased the following items for my dinner on the train: a fruit smoothie drink that was raspberry and citrus, a fruit and nut granola bar, a bag of vegetable chips, a nut bread in the shape of a heart, and some delicious french sandwich cookies that I cannot remember the name of. I also got Ryan a Choc Star chocolate bar with a dog dressed like Snoop Dog on the wrapper. Check some others out here. The cashier at this store tried to rip me off my over charging me by 9 euros for the smoothie. I paid her, then read the receipt, and went back to her. She took me to customer service to get it all sorted out and since nobody spoke English, I stood there like an idiot and waited for my money back.

For meals, we ate French specialties including salmon (too much salmon), biscuits, steak tartare, pizza with a fried egg, a burger with a fried egg, bread, bread, and more bread.

*I like this picture because it contains numerous elements that define Paris.

COMBINED BUS AND BOAT TOUR - This was my first every bus tour in Europe and I have to say that we were able to see a lot of Paris but I did not enjoy it as much as I like the free walking tours. We drove all over the area looking at buildings while listening to a prerecorded audio guide. This meant that we spent a lot of time stuck in traffic and there were too many moments of silence on the audio guide. The boat ride on the River Seine was better even though we were sitting in the middle of a giant group of school kids. The boys and girls waved to everyone on the bridges and river banks, cheering and chanting when they got a wave in return. It made for an amusing boat ride and it was neat to see the city from the water.

ARC DE TRIOMPHE - So this place is ridiculous! The arch is located in the center of a giant unmarked six or so lane roundabout that connects 12 roads of traffic. You can enter the memorial site via an underground tunnel so that tourists are not killed crossing the road. Take a look at the place via Google Maps satellite to get an idea.

We also explored the exterior and interior of the NOTRE DAME CATHEDRAL. There was a mass going on at the time and the sound of the pipe organ and singer was amazing inside the large cathedral. The gargoyles on the side are awesome rain water run-offs that are replaced by tacky white pipes when they break. I walked around the HOTEL NATIONAL DES INVALIDES but did not have enough time to go inside the museum.

LES CATACOMBES - Friday morning I waited in line with hundreds of other people for nearly two hours to enter the Catacombes. I had no idea that the line would be so long and arrived there before it opened to find the line already halfway wrapped about the entrance building. For just a few euros I went underground to explore the quarry. After walking for a few hundred meters you enter the cemetery part where the remains of people were transferred beginning in 1786. The rest of the 2 km walk is through walls of bones in a dimly lit environment. When I left, the doorman asked to check my bag, and I looked at him with shock when he told me that he has to check for bones. He pointed to a pile of bones on the table that he had taken from people's bags. I cannot believe that people would steal the bones of the deceased. It is shocking enough that I paid to go look at them and take pictures at this tourist attraction.

I had a great time in Paris and would definitely return to spend more time exploring if I have the opportunity.

Nicht Deutsch ... Italienisch - Grazie! Prego!

The drive to Italy through Switzerland is beautiful, especially around the Lucerne area. It took us just over eight hours from Boeblingen to Bologna. You know when you are in Italy by the tolls and how the Italians drive. I think that the driving style is much more like Americans from the Midwest, particularly Chicago. The reason we traveled to Bologna was for a Bosch trainee conference so while Ryan was busy with those activities Thursday evening, Friday, and Saturday, I explored Bologna with another American trainee's fiance.

Thursday night the Bosch group went to Le Stanze for dinner to mingle, so Rachel and I went to for a 6 Euro buffet including a large beer at English Empire, an English pub. It was quite a deal and the food was different than the typical Italian cuisine. We had couscous, some pasta, roasted eggplant and tomatoes, chicken, and other salads. We were happily dining when I noticed that we were definitely the "eye-candy" for nearly every Italian man in the restaurant or that walked by. We enjoyed free beers from the romantic short, dark and handsome men that offered. One young man asked me to sit because I am "too high". While we waited for the boys to be finished we strolled around the small Piazza Giuseppe Verdi near the Universita'Di Bologna, the oldest existing university in the world, where there was a group performing classical music. The small orchestra was surrounded by a crowd standing and listening while the rest of the piazza was filled with people sitting, chatting, eating and drinking. We stood near the edge of the standing group and talked quietly, only to be "sssshhhh'ed" by the people standing. Ooops!

Friday morning I met Rachel in the lobby for breakfast and then we began our day touring Bologna by foot. Bologna city center is shaped like a hexagon formed by the major roads. Our hotel was on the West and we walked pretty much all the way around and across a few times. We walked to the Piazza Maggiore and found the food market hustling and bustling with locals. We checked out both Basilicas but did not enter either. There is the Basilica di San Petronio and the Basilica Santuario Santo Stefano. We also walked all the way to the Giardini Margherita park on the Southeast side in the heat and enjoyed cool refreshing smoothies. I ordered the peach smoothie flavored with bits of sage leaves. After some shopping in the flea market near the Parco Montagnola on the North side we went back to the hotel to put up our feet and wait for the boys to return. We found out later that there was an 5.2 magnitude earthquake in the area earlier than afternoon. We did not feel it and honestly had no idea. 

We changed and walked to the restaurant where the Bosch group of 60 people were dining. Rachel and I found a table for two outside in the street at the same restaurant. The street was closed to cars and filled with patio tables and chairs from the restaurants there around a stage where a string group was performing classical pieces. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of  very traditional dishes from Bologna, pasta with bolognese (meat sauce...aka Ragu) sauce and tortelloni with a butter cream sage sauce. After dinner, we joined the group to an open air disco to listen to music and dance. I have to say it was an amazing experience to join the locals for evening activities.

Saturday was an interesting day since Rachel and I were both exhausted from the night before. We checked out of the hotel and had breakfast while the Bosch group headed out for their activities. Then we found the small Parco 11 Settembre 2001 to sit and chat. I probably could have taken a nap. For lunch we enjoyed two squares of pizza each. I honestly don't know what was on mine since I ordered the most interesting looking slices, but they were hot and delicious. For a view of the "Red City", we climbed to the top of the Torre degli Asinelli. It was 400 or so wooden stairs supported by scaffolding wrapped in Styrofoam so people did not hit their heads. The stairs were horribly steep and a lawsuit waiting to happen if it was in the US. Since in Italy it was "Enter at your own risk" I scurried to the top for an interesting view. The way down was much more hazardous than the way up! To complete the Italian experience we had gelato and I chose very typical flavors instead of the interesting pistachio, pine nut, licorice, and cantaloupe. Since it was Saturday, downtown Bologna was busy with people and the center area was closed to cars. After shopping we once again went back to the hotel to wait for the boys to return.

Once they did, everyone dispersed and Ryan and I headed to Venice.

We stayed at the Hotel Tritone in Maestre across from Venice on mainland Italy. The hotel is cheaper, parking is cheaper, and we thought the buses would be relatively convenient compared to staying in Venice. Our first time to Venice we took the train, arrived at the Santa Lucia station and began our walk with the goal of getting near the Ponte di Rialto bridge to find a restaurant for dinner. This area was recommended by the hotel front desk employee when he laughed because I was worried about finding a restaurant since we did not have a reservation. There are definitely tons of eating options in Venice. We were quickly turned around on the narrow walkways and canals so we stopped at Al Bagolo for dinner. We were nowhere near the bridge and actually in a non tourist area so I was happy to find the restaurant. If they had a website I would definitely provide a link and a high recommendation. The food was fabulous and reasonably priced, and we were provided with dining suggestions by the owner. Ryan enjoyed sea-bass, and I had a wonderful tagliatelle with lobster and tomato sauce. There was lobster in the sauce and the rest was in the tail on my plate. For dessert we enjoyed homemade apple pie with cream and caramel, very different than American or Dutch apple pie but equally as delicious! We had a romantic meal and enjoyed a casual stroll through the Giardino Papadopoli park back to the bus stop to return to our hotel.

Saturday was Venice all day! Our bus ride to the city was packed in the morning and there was standing room only. With my height, when I reached up to grab the hand-bars, an Italian man found his face only inches from my bare arm-pit since I was wearing a sleave-less shirt. Lucky for him, it was early in the day and I had remembered to wear deodorant. It was definitely the longest and most uncomfortable 10 minute bus ride I have ever experienced. Once in Venice, we took the boat taxi around the outside of the island between Venice and the Isola Della Giudecca to the main Piazza San Marco. We found the tourist area there to be overwhelming. Although the buildings are beautiful, we had no interest in going inside the museums or Basilica, and definitely no interest in purchasing hats or trinkets for sale at the dozens of stands in the Piazza and along the coast. We decided to walk through the streets towards the Rialto Bridge, stopping for gelato along the way. This time I did order the cantaloupe gelato and enjoyed the refreshing taste.

For lunch we had pnnini, pizza, and wine at a slightly tourist trap restaurant on Fondamente Nove on the North coast. Although we ordered a 1/2 Liter of the house white wine, we were served and charged for a whole Liter. That made for an interesting afternoon...We took the boat to the island Murano to walk around, see a quick glass blowing demonstration, and peruse the glass gift shops. The "Master" made a small vase/pitcher and a horse figurine. While we watched we listened to the glass from previous demonstrations exploding because it was not cooled in a temperature controlled environment.

Once back on Venice, we walked to the park on the Southwest side to sit and enjoy the water. This was definitely the most relaxing part of the day and we enjoyed conversation and sunshine.

After dinner and more gelato with Ryan's friends from NC State that were in Italy for an academic conference, we took the boat taxi back to the bus station through the Grand Canal. We noticed the flooding since the tide was high. It definitely was an eerie experience to see the piazza, gondola docks, doorways, and patios flooded with water in the darkness. I honestly don't think I could ever get over the fear of flooding living on the first floor of a building off the grand canal.

Interesting things I noticed in Italy...

- Nearly everyone in Bologna owns a scooter. They are definitely the most popular mode of city transport.

- Italian is a beautiful language.

- Italian men are very flirtatious.

- People do not wait for the "walk" signal and most times cross streets wherever they want to.

- Food and clothing is cheaper than in Germany.

- People fight for a seat on the bus from Maestre to Venice.

- Venice is a tourist city to eat, drink, and buy souvenirs.

- The boat taxis in Venice are extremely slow because they stop so often. Sometimes it is faster to walk.

Monday morning we headed back through the mountains in Italy and Austria in the rain. It pretty much rained the entire way and we were happy to arrive back in Boeblingen with time in the evening for dinner, relaxing, and laundry.

 

Wir haben Besucher.

Ryan and I hosted my parents and some very close friends this week in Germany, the first stop of their 18 day European Adventure. We acted as tour guides to enlighten them with cultural tips, encourage them to try local food and beer, and chauffeur them around Germany to share wonderful experiences. I will share some of our adventures even though my parents are probably the biggest readers of my blog and they already know what we did. This entry will serve as more of a travel guide for others interested in exploring Southwestern Germany.

STUTTGART

For the first full day of our guest's adventure in Germany, we took them to downtown Stuttgart. Ryan accompanied them on the train after running errands in the morning to meet with me at the Schlossplatz. We had lunch to-go from the cafe's on Konigstrasse near the Hauptbahnhof and then went our separate ways for adventure. The ladies and I went to Bad Canstatt for the Wilhelma Zoo and the men went to the Mercedes-Benz Museum. Wilhelma is easily accessible by foot from the Bad Canstatt S-Bahn stop so we walked to the entrance. It is more of a zoological botanical garden than a typical zoo. There are greenhouses and gardens on many levels with cages and animal exhibits throughout. Due to the large amount of stairs, uneven flooring, and many levels it is not exactly wheelchair or stroller accessible. It was definitely a good time though and I enjoyed the giraffes, birds, and polar bears.

Next we went up to Bopster or Bopsterwaldstrasse by train for a view of the valley of Stuttgart. I had the ladies walk up 100 plus stairs. They were not thrilled with me by the end but were satisfied with the view of the city. What goes up must come down! Then we headed back to the city center and for a cocktail before dinner. We found a biergarten in the center of the large yellow/orange building on the corner of a very busy intersection. It was great to sit down with a cold refreshing drink in the peace and quiet of the city. You could not hear the traffic from the street at all.

By 7:00 pm it was time for dinner so Ryan and I took our guests to Sophies, our favorite restaurant that I might have mentioned like four or five times before. We had absolutely the best service that we have ever had in a German restaurant and I enjoyed pork knuckle for the first time. My dinner was a giant piece of pork on the bone, skin-on, and cooked to perfection accompanied by a heaping mound of sauerkraut. Delicious!

ULM

We drove straight to the Old City area of Ulm with the goal of seeing the Ulm Muenster. The church is the largest Protestant Church in Germany and has the highest spire in the world. We climbed the nearly 800 steps to the top of the spire. For a minimal cost you climb stairs forever in a narrow stairwell that gets more narrow the higher you go. The view is spectacular though once you finally reach the top! After climbing back down we explored the interior of the massive church before heading outside into the sunshine.

We walked along the Danau (Danube) River and noticed evidence of some flooding. The water level was back down though and the damage was no where near what it currently is in many other German cities. Then we grabbed a bite to eat from Nordsee, the fast-food sea-food company. Our fishy sandwiches were pretty good and tied us over until dinner in Konstanz.


KONSTANZ and SWITZERLAND

So we drove down to the Southeast side of the Bodensee and then worked our way up North to get to Konstanz. As we got closer I noticed the ferry icon on the cars GPS across the lake where I thought there was a bridge and the panic set in. There is not a bridge and we took a risk driving to the pier and waiting in line for the ferry. Luckily the ferry comes every 12 minutes and it cost us only 21 Euros and 30 minutes to take our car across. That was my second "driving on a ferry" experience in Europe! After arriving in Konstanz we walked right across the border to Switzerland. The Seegarten Park in Kreuzlingen is beautiful and I would have loved to spend more time there but the sun was hot and our feet were tired so we headed back into Konstanz with the mission to find a place to sit for dinner.

We walked by the Schnetztor city gate. It is the most picturesque city gate in Konstanz but in my opinion not worth the walk to find it. Luckily I got some ice cream on the way. After doing some quick shopping, we found a fun Italian restaurant with indoor/outdoor seating. We sat inside but the exterior walls were all open giant glass doors so you felt like you were outside. We ordered drinks and pizza which were absolutely delicious. The challenge was eating the pizza that had super hard crust with a fork and knife. We tried to be good Germans and not use our hands but we caved when we saw numerous other people at the restaurant eating with their hands.

After dinner we walked to Imperia, the statue that symbolizes the flourishing trade of the prostitutes who stayed in Konstanz during the Council of Konstanz. She balances the Emperor and the Pope on her hands. It was awesome to watch the sunset from the pier after a long day.

Konstanz is actually a pretty big city but we stayed on the southern end on the Switzerland side of the river. It would not be hard to spend more time there since there is plenty to do on the islands, by the river, and on the mainland.

LUDWIGSBURG PALACE

The Palace is not far from Stuttgart at all and offers beautiful interactive gardens for a stroll. We packed a lunch with the intention of eating in the gardens at the palace but the grounds are completely fenced off with an entrance fee so we ate at the park just across the street. I was thrilled to find out that the parking on the streets in Ludwigsburg is free until July. The park where we enjoyed our sandwiches, beer and wine was hosting the Sand World Exhibition. Although we did not enter the Exhibition, we were able to see the top of a giant sand castle over the fence while we ate.

The palace is beautiful and the grounds are filled with flowers in the front. We went around to the back and found the following things in the garden...
- shrubbery maize
- giant King that comes out of a fortress and speaks German
- vines, flowers, and trees
- really old carousel
- frog pond that spits water at you
- plants, plants, and more plants

ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER

Rothenburg is a medieval city surrounded by a wall northeast of Stuttgart. I cannot believe that Ryan and I had never heard of it before and I am very thankful that my dad read about it in a travelers book. Today the economy is tourism and tourism has saved the city numerous times in the past from war, destruction, and poverty. The city is surrounded by a wall, a low wall with a cliff on one side and a high wall on the other. When we arrived we visited the Medieval Crime Museum for about an hour. The museum was filled with information about laws, history of crime, and torture devices. They make it sound like all people did back then was punish and torture each other.


Our appetizer was schneeballen while we walked around the beautiful city of colorful houses and shopped. For dinner we ate at Braumeisterhaus near the market square. Most of us enjoyed spargel (asparagus) prepared with boiled potatoes, salmon, schnitzel, or sausage, and smothered in hollandaise. I do love spargelzeit. It is a great time of year.

After dinner we waited with 100 other people on the market square for the Night Watchman's Tour  to begin. The "Night Watchman" is a tall German man dressed in Medieval black clothing with a lantern and intimidating weapon. His voice echoed through the buildings in town as the audience listened intently to the history of Rothenburg and the role of the Night Watchman. I highly recommend this tour!

We were directed by the Night Watchman to either "Walk the wall or go to Hell" so we decided to walk the wall. We headed to the North part of the city to walk the high wall which was destroyed during the war and reconstructed with donations. We walked along the East side of the city ducking to avoid the low beams while viewing the city from up high. It was a late night again and a long drive home but definitely a fantastic day trip.

BURG HOHENZOLLERN

This is a great castle to visit when you are not interested in driving for hours from Stuttgart. Ryan and I came here months ago in the cold, dark, and snowy March and were happy to come again when the sun was shining. Burg Hohenzollern sits on a hill surrounded by forest so the view from the road while driving up is great. Our guests enjoyed beer and french fries in the courtyard, the view from the castle, and the castle tour in English of the interior rooms on the second floor. We also found the entrance to the cellars and casemates with a secret passageway. This are was not open in the winter probably because visitors would freeze to death.

**Side note, drive only on the paved road and designated look-out places. The shoulders are quite muddy and not the place for off-roading in a Volvo hatchback. I found this out after I almost got stuck and plastered the front and side of our car with mud.

TUBINGEN

Tubingen is an awesome college town on the Neckar River conveniently located only 30 minutes from Burg Hohenzollern. We stopped here on our return to Boeblingen to walk around the city plaza, shop at the local stores, and check out the river. There was a small craft show and some streets were filled with vendors selling fun gifts. Our guests happily enjoyed pork steak sandwiches and a vegetable plate of carrot salad, potato fingers, tomatoes, and sauteed mushrooms with a dill yogurt sauce for dipping. The pork steak sandwich was definitely one of the most delicious things I have eaten in Germany.

BOEBLINGEN

To give our guests a taste of Boeblingen, we walked them through the city from the train station, visited local stores and the bank, drove them around the neighborhoods and lakes, enjoyed appetizers and drinks on our patio, and wandered through the fields with a tiergarden. Since we spent so much of our time traveling we did not get to enjoy all the local charms that Boeblingen has to offer.

I had a wonderful time being the hostess for fantastic guests. I feel like our adventures gave them a decent taste of Germany. We kept them very busy and hopefully did not wear them out for the next city in their three country vacation.

Frühling ist jetzt!

The weather this past week has been absolutely amazing! It has been sunny or party cloudy with a high in the mid 70s everyday. I know that I should probably be used to using degrees Celsius by now but for some reason the number 70 feels warmer than 21. The wonderful weather has definitely had an impact on the overall mood and atmosphere of the Germans. Everyone has been so nice lately and I don't feel like such an intruder.

I honestly don't remember if I did anything particular interesting early in the week. I was able to get out during the days with the baby for walks in the woods, strolls downtown, and playtime in the park. This definitely helped the time pass.

THURSDAY though was a particularly awesome day...

A man on the U-Bahn in the morning looked at me, smiled, and nodded his head.
I'm thinking "that is unusual, should I know him? Crap, did I kick him on accident once before or something."
Right before my stop he says to me "The weather is beautiful today isn't it?" in American English.
I'm thinking "Wow, how did he know I am an American too?" and said "Yes it is, finally."
He says that he is an American trying to learn German.
I said "Me too".
He goes on to talk about how my English sounds very good and he finds it amusing when he speaks to Germans and they say that they don't speak much English but then they break out into perfect English. He then asks me when I learned English and if it is a requirement in primary school or high school.
I smiled and said "I don't know. I am also an American." and the got off at my stop.

I had to make an appointment with a nail salon to have the fake nails I had put on while I was in the US removed. I am very proud of myself for calling four salons and having conversations completely in German to inquire about the availability of an appointment for Thursday afternoon. One didn't have any openings, one was not open until August due to renovations and I am not completely sure why the other one said no. I could not translate fast enough. I did get in to a woman who's salon closed but now works at a desk in a tanning salon close to where I nanny. I had trouble finding the entrance to the building number 21B for my appointment and was standing in front of 21C walking back and forth to either side, looking at my phone. While doing so, an elderly woman approached me and asked in German if I could help her find a street. I looked at my phone and we were standing on the corner that intersected with the street in question so I kindly pointed her in the right direction and then asked if she knew where 21B was. It doesn't surprise me that she did not know... I eventually found the door and it was around the corner of the building. Right in front of me...

The nail technician was Greek, raised in Germany and spoke perfect English so we were able to enjoy conversation. I learned that seasonal depression usually starts in November here in Germany because they do not have any holidays before Christmas and the weather is usually gloomy. This year however, the seasonal depression has been severe and continued February until May.

Coincidentally I made dinner plans for that evening with Rebecca and was torn between two Greek restaurants downtown. I took the nail technician's suggestion and we went to El Greco. We sat inside the restaurant under vines hanging from the ceiling so it felt like you were outside and enjoyed a bottle of wine, gyro, and moussaka. We have gone out to eat together once a month for three months on weeknights to different restaurants and ordered a bottle of wine to share with dinner. Every time we order a bottle, the server always looks at us and says, "Hmm how about some water too?" and brings us a bottle of water. We always laugh at how we were just judged.

The train on my way home was packed and the young man I sat next to was jamming out to Abba! At one point he turned to me and spoke two sentences in German and held out his giant cup of what I believed to be rum and coke based on smell. I held it for him and he put his headphones away in his backpacked and got situated to exit the train. I then returned his cup, smiled, and said "I speak English and I have absolutely no idea what you said to me." He laughed and we talked about where I was from and what I was doing here until his stop.

FRIDAY night, Ryan and I relaxed and enjoyed some Danish beer at home. We cracked open an India Pale Lager from Amager Bryghus in Copenhagen that I previously mentioned. It was delicious and not quite as bitter as a traditional IPA.

SATURDAY morning was full of errands and chores for both of us and I wanted to be out of our apartment while our landlord was showing it to potentially new renters.

In the afternoon I decided to bike downtown to Stuttgart where I had to babysit at 5:45 pm and the plan was to take the train home when I was done. I brought a change of clothes, money, ID, train ticket and everything I thought I needed. My ride turned into an adventure with detours due to construction and highways, traffic and a rollerblade race and I ended up in Bad Canstatt, Northeastern Stuttgart after biking 48 kilometers with time to head to the park, sit and eat something and then bike the last few blocks to their apartment. And I got a flat...And I didn't have the adapter for my pump and the quick release valves...so I walked my bike to the train station there with the plan to take the train a few stops to their apartment. And I got to the Schlossplatz station with only two stops to go and the trains stopped running and were backed up on the tracks as far as the eye could see. So I got off and walked the rest of the way past cars, trains, firetrucks, policemen, and gawkers to arrive just in time. I'm not sure what happened on the tracks but all the excitement seemed to be at my stop.

When I was done there I had to get home and let me tell you, I looked like quite a sight. My hair was messy and pulled back, I had no make-up, and was wearing a long sleeved shirt and shorts with flip flops. I probably smelled a little bit like sweat and baby vomit since the baby spit up on my arm and left a long white stain down my sleeve. And I was carrying my helmet and bike shoes while pushing a road bike with a flat tire. The trains were absolutely packed with drunk people and I had to weasel my way in the door, apologizing. Of course people stared, who wouldn't stare? I felt like the center of attention until some drunk girls almost missed their stop and then ran right into the closed train doors. I then ran through the Hauptbanhof carrying my bike up the stairs to catch my next train with two minutes to spare and was the center of attention in that train as well until a couple entered wearing bright green shirts with bright red overalls. They had dread locks and must have been actors or professional clowns of some kind because they had patches all over their overalls for some organization, face paint on, and toys. I am very glad that they took the pressure off of me.

A week of quite interesting experiences if I don't say so myself.

Ich bin eine Lund in Lund.

Lund and Malmo, Sweden

After breakfast at our hotel we head over to what reviews said was the “Best Brewery in Denmark” Amager Bryghus. It is located in a warehouse close to our hotel and was only open for beer purchases from 10 am to 1 pm on Saturdays. They had a large selection of beer bottled for sale in a warehouse bar with just four beers on tap. The beers were great and we ended up purchasing a whole case of Danish craft beer. The staff was very informative and helpful, sharing information about the brewery and samples of beer. We found out that Amager is brewing a beer for a liquor store in Chicago and hosted 3 Floyds brewers there earlier in May to brew a beer together.

Next we drove about 30 minutes across the tunnel/bridge to Lund, Sweden. When you leave the land of Denmark you go halfway through a tunnel and then come out to enter Sweden on a bridge to cross the rest of the way. The tunnel/bridge costs 375 SEK or 43 Euros each way. The remaining drive to Lund was pretty simple and we drove around the town and through the Lund University to find parking in a garage in the town center. For lunch we stopped at a café for a salmon sandwich and open faced rye bread sandwich. This was similar to the smorrebrod that I wanted to try so badly in Copenhagen. Thank goodness it is a Danish and Swedish dish! It was delicious! We had apple cider with rhubarb to drink and it is a sweet and tart juice.

We explored the area by foot, walking to the Lutheran Lund Cathedral, around the botanical garden, and through the city streets. I was on a quest to find the Lundabryggeriet that I found online a month ago but unfortunately it might have closed. The website looks like they are still in business but the year on the bottom is 2011 and the location on Google is a boarded up storefront in which a new cafe is moving into. We stayed in Lund for a few hours until the dark clouds came rolling in. We just made it back in the car when the pouring rain started. Our very dirty car was cleaned by the torrential downpour as we drove on a ridiculously narrow road through the farm fields of Sweden to the coast while I gripped the sides of my seat and closed my eyes when we were forced off the road to make room for oncoming traffic. Once at the coast, we sat in the car for a few minutes hoping the storm would pass. It did not and the view was not pleasant so we continued on to Malmo.

In Malmo, the storm was just arriving and everything that I thought we could do was outside so we drove to the Malmo Brewery which was recommended by the brewer at Amager earlier in the morning. We stumbled into the Boabab festival in the park close by while we waited for the brewery to open. It was some kind of African music and fundraising festival with rides, music, tents, and food. Definitely an interesting festival to walk into.

Fun things we learned about Sweden:

-It is illegal to give tastes or samples of beer for free in Sweden. You have to purchase all alcohol.

-Malmo is a very ethnically diverse area.

-All of the Swedes that we spoke with in Lund and Malmo spoke perfect English with barely any noticeable accent.

-Sweden and Denmark have a 25% VAT or sales tax! (Germany is 19%)

-Alcohol is controlled by the government and most towns only have one Systembolaget or alcohol store to purchase all liquor over 3.5% alcohol. They are only open from 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Friday and Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm.

The Malmo Brewery was a great find and we enjoyed a few beers and dinner which included American style nachos and a large bowl of fish soup. I thoroughly enjoyed my cocoa-porter in a wine glass, made from the cocoa from the chocolate factory next door, the Malmo Chokladfabrik. Unfortunately the factory, store, and museum were closed. Otherwise I would have loved to explore there too. After sitting outside under an awning in the pouring rain and then inside upstairs in a large pub hall, we went back on the streets on the quest to find a bakery to spend our last 60 SEK on a treat. We were in a Middle Eastern district of Malmo and unsuccessful in finding a bakery or cafe that had the kind of treat we were looking for. SO we drove down to the coast to walk out on a pier in the drizzling rain. We tried to imagine a blue sky with warm sunshine on the beach and completed the image by enjoying a scoop of ice cream from the stand which was still open despite the weather.

Sunday morning we were on the road by 8:30 am to drive South in Denmark to Rodbyhavn to take the ferry across to Germany. We made great time and drove our car right onto the ferry. We took Scandlines and the ticket was 84 Euros for us and the car for a 45 minute ride. You leave your car on a lower level and go up to shop and explore. We only bought beverages and since I was not driving I enjoyed a Swedish pear cider with berries that was very good. It was quite windy on the deck!

Soon enough we drove our car off the ferry into Germany and got caught in major traffic around Hamburg. We were stopped or going 10 km/h for over 3 hours due to a car fire, construction, congestion, and a few break-downs. We decided not to have lunch in Hamburg and slowly made our way South. The drive felt like it took days! We stopped at a rest stop for the bathroom facilities and we couldn't find parking, the women's bathroom line was 15 people out the door, and there were people peeing everywhere in the woods around the stop, men AND women! The next stop we tried was a gas station and restaurant. I happily paid the .70 Euro cents to use the bathroom and then we enjoyed some quality cafeteria style food. It seems like most Germans chose to drive North for this long weekend. 14 hours later we eventually made it home! I am happy to say that we will NOT be driving through the entire country of Germany again while we are here.

Kopenhagen ist weit weg!

Copenhagen

 What a short and wonderful work week! Thursday was Corpus Christi Day, a regional German holiday so Ryan had off of work and we decided to take a trip to Copenhagen, Denmark and Lund, Sweden.

We left Thursday morning at 7:30 am to drive North 1,138 km (707 miles) to Copenhagen. Although we made great time the first four hours, the autobahn was under major construction the rest of the way. The highway would have an unlimited speed limit for just long enough to cruise up to 170 km/h and then there would be signs for construction and it would drop from 100 km/h to 80 km/h to 60 km/h and the process would repeat. We drove North through Hamburg and across the border to Denmark before heading East across the Great-Belt Bridge (that cost 235 DKK or 31 Euros to cross). It was just after 7:00 pm when he arrived at our hotel South of Copenhagen.

We checked in to our dorm-size room with a bed, desk, and bathroom in a hotel that used to be a commune before heading out for dinner. I found reviews for a price-friendly restaurant with great beers on a main street downtown so we figured out the train system and took the train 2 stops or 10 minutes to the central station and then began the short walk to the restaurant. I noticed the overwhelming amount of youth out on the streets for a Thursday night by the station right away and figured the city had a large young population and maybe they had a public holiday Friday. As we walked down the street with restaurants, we noticed the extent of drunk people, garbage, food and beer, and foul smell of urine. We walked right into a large music festival Distortion! For four days a row per year, there is a free street music festival that moves to a different street daily. There were at least four stages constructed on the street with DJ’s, rappers, and performers, probably ten beer booths in addition to the restaurant booths and thousands of young people. The sound was absolutely deafening and it was very difficult to walk down the street but I thought it was awesome. The free music on the streets went until 10 pm and then the after-party begin around the city.

**Side note - there were these plastic urinals on the streets for 3 men to stand around right there and pee. There were still lines for these things though so men ended up urinating all along buildings, fences, and bushes anyway.

We ended up going in to the restaurant, Cafe Dyrehaven and grabbing a beer to carry out with us while we walked back to a quieter area. We had pale ales that we awesome and we were able to drink them out in public. Our burgers were amazing at The Burger Corner! and were accompanied by potato wedges and local draft beers. My burger had caramelized onions, goat cheese, and a mango chutney. We finished off the night at the bar next store with the popular Somersby Cider from a can.

Friday we spent the day in downtown Copenhagen beginning with a three hour free walking tour with Copenhagen Free Walking Tours. Here is some fun information about Copenhagen that I noticed as we walked or learned from the guide:

-The Danish men and women are tall and good looking! Many are blonde and there seems to be more women than men here.

-The Danish sense of fashion must be stuck in the 80’s and 90’s. Everyone wears cut-off jean shorts, parachute pants, wife-beater tanks, leather jackets, mom pants, shorts with black tights underneath, belly shirts, jumpers, jean jackets…

-There is a popular word in Danish that sounds like “hoo-glie” that is not translatable to English. It means something similar to “comfortable” or “cozy” but is used to describe situations, people, clothing, environments, buildings, etc.

-The Danish language sounds similar to German but they just do not pronounce a lot of letters. For example "Magstraede" would be pronounced “Ma-stl”.

-The city of Copenhagen was been almost completely destroyed by two major fires. There is nothing left of the old Medieval city.

-Legos were invented in Denmark.

-The Danish Royal Palace is actually comprised of four palace buildings connected by underground tunnels. The guards wear large bear hats in the winter and change to small hats for the summer when the temperature has reached over 25 degrees C. The day that we visited Copenhagen was the first day that they wore the summer hats.

-Denmark is gorgeous when the sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the temperature is maybe 80 degrees F.

-Most of Denmark is under construction to build the underground Metro…

-Denmark is home to both the first and second oldest amusement parks in the world. The second oldest is the Tivoli Gardens.

-The Danish love Hans Christian Anderson and Carl Jacobson who donated the Little Mermaid statue to the city of Copenhagen. Here is the actual story by Anderson.

-The DKK are inflated and everything is very expensive in Copenhagen. While we were here, the exchange rate was 7 DKK = 1 Euro. A beer cost between 20 and 30 DKK, a hotdog was 25 DKK, a burger was 79 DKK, a 10 minute train ride was 36 DKK and a cheap hotel was 645 DKK/night. 

We tried to eat cost effective and we avoided shopping.

After the tour we made the mistake of thinking that our feet could handle more walking so we went up to the Little Mermaid, down the main shopping street, over to the other side of town to try and find dinner, and then across the bridge to Christianhavn to continue our quest for dinner. We ended up grabbing sandwiches and a baked treat from a bakery there and eating on the canal with the locals. Then we dragged our swollen feet back to the center of town for beers at a bar with craft beer. We enjoyed two Belgium beers each at the first beer bar and brasserie in Copenhagen before taking the train back to our station.

Once back we stopped at the Netto, Danish discount store and found a great selection of local beers and licorice, the candy that seems to be a local favorite. If I were to come back to visit Copenhagen, I would definitely rent a bike for the day to bike around the city, go to the Viking museum, and eat Smorrebrod!