Side-note to female readers: all our flight attendants had on Christian Louboutins..?? So I'm changing career paths.
Got here early Friday morning, & instantly in love. Germany is like an efficient version of Spain. Got off the Plane, was through customs in less than 4 minutes (does that ever happen?) met up with Ben, got on the Autobahn (German highway- 100mph speed limit). Everything is fast and efficient- and clean! The public restrooms here nearly brought a tear to my eye. But it still has that laid back European feel. (People sitting outside cafes talking & drinking coffee (or mostly beer) for hours.) In the immortal words of Miley- the best of both worlds.
Drove to Kaiserslautern, where my brother lives. Cute little town-Had my first Schnitzel, which is basically chicken fried pork. Hit up H&M, the sales person talked to me in German- took that to mean I don't scream "American Tourist".. yay! Went to bed at 7:30pm, woke up at 10am. thanks jet lag!
Next morning went to the market to buy vegetables (moms idea) then headed to Ramstein. Largest military base in Europe. Kind of like entering little America- over 50,000 Americans live on base. They have their own mall, supermarket, churches, version of Wal-Mart, everything. No wonder my brother doesn't know a word of German. Except for "Doner" which is "midnight fourth meal" haha. Went to base headquarters, got to see where he works, look inside the C21. Went to a squadron party and met all of the guys and officers in his squad. and their wives, Hannah-take heart, all these ladies were normal, capable, and fairly well dressed! We got a personal shout out from the band, and Ben got pulled on stage to do an Irish dance. Wasn't a total insult to our heritage, but was definitely a humbling experience. Also the guitarist told my dad he looked like James Taylor-made his night.. maybe his whole trip.
Ben's street:
Back of Ben's house:
As you can see, the motorcycles found a home under the deck. PTL.
mom & dad in front of the German country side.
Went to a small American Baptist church this morning, then out to eat afterwards.
If you don't order beer (Bier!) or Coffee at meals the waitress looks at you funny. I have yet to order a beer, mostly out of fear that I will say the name wrong (major taboo) so instead I have some of other people's, and all the stereotypes are true- it's better over here. That goes for both Chocolate and Beer...what more do you need?
Went to a castle today, they are everywhere here! half of it was ruins, half was still standing.
They also took the time to BLUNTLY describe what your dog cannot do here:
love Germany.
Gaining important life skills while I'm here, such as:
How to play Call of Duty (MW2). !
"OSCAR MIKE!" now I know what that means! thanks Call of Duty.
As you can see, Texas heritage is being represented well behind us.
On another, more depressing, note- our neighbors sent us this picture of our house in Plano...
All i have to say is my heart goes out to those of you who stayed in town and are now having to deal with this! you did nothing to deserve this fate.
well, next time you hear from me I will be in Rome! We leave tomorrow- 4:30 wake up call, sweet! Love and miss you all!
Sounds like a fun trip so far. Nothing sounds more German than beer, chocolate, and an Audi on the autobahn, I think I could live there. It's true, Call of Duty is an overlooked skill in life. Have fun on the rest of your European spring break.
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