Germany

Julie left Sunday morning for New York and I left Monday afternoon to stay over in a hostel in Stansted. I had been traveling non-stop for two weeks already and I was starting to feel it. I awoke Tuesday morning at 4 AM to catch my 6:30 flight. It was a good flight, no interruptions, but when I got to Bremen to meet up with my friend, customs held me back about an additional hour. When I finally got out, I found Rebecca and we headed to her house. On the way I saw the highlights of the city--the old churches, the town hall, the city center, and the Becks brewery. We stopped for some bread for breakfast at the local bakery--I got a bagel and a pretzel, which was very good--and made it to her house a little after 10:00. There she showed me her house, which was very cool--a row house with a balcony, roof terrace, and large rooms with big windows. After I got settled, we headed straight for the stables. With me not being used to horses, I was a bit nervous when I walked into a stable full of them. All were anxious to see what was going on with me and Rebecca, and all were pretty big. I am used to dogs, but apparently horses enjoy the same attention. So, after a while, I warmed to them as much as they warmed to me initially. Rebecca took out Freestyle and after we were done grooming her, Rebecca took her out to ride. I stood watching and taking pictures next to another stable for the younger horses. While I was taking pictures, one of the horses came right up to me and started sniffing my hair. Nice. It was funny trying to keep this horse occupied while figuring out what Rebecca was doing. After about 30 minutes of riding, Rebecca decided that Freestyle wasn't up for riding anymore, so she then asks me if I would like to ride her. I thought, great--I would love to ride a horse, for the first time ever, that doesn't want to be ridden. I said, "sure". So here I am on this horse trying to tell it what to do, you do so with your legs, and the horse realizes that I have no clue what I am doing. So she decides to head back to the stables, lol. Rebecca stops her and I figure out how to convince her to do what I want. It was really fun and not as difficult as I thought. We got back to the stables, went to see a few more horses, while Rebecca tells me their story, and then headed back to her place to take the bikes out.



Rebecca on Freestyle



Freestyle leaving to go to the stables.



This is the other horse that Rebecca rides--a male.



One of the stables



Oh, yes, bicycles. Apparantly, I am extremely short, because the bike I was given, when altered, was stillto tall for me to eve touch the ground. It was terribe. I haven't ridden a bike in years and wen I finally do, I look like a complete idiot! Hahahaha. I only fell a couple of times. The bike ride was really quite nice, despite my difficulties. I was so surprised how many people actually bike to work and school, even to do errands. Bikes are the vehicle of choice, without a doubt. So on the bikes, we decided to get some Bavarian food, which is what you think when you think German food, at a restaurant downtown--something Rebecca had never tried, lol. When we finally arrived after riding through a park, into a fair, and over the river--about 30 minutes. It was quite the experience eating the German food--bread that you spread, not with butter but a fat concoction, sausages with pretzels, spreadable meats such as liverworst, and fatty cheeses like brie. We couldn't finish the meal after sharing it! And then, we had to ride home after this. Ahhhh. It was actually okay. I didn't have any mishaps on the bike on the way home. But when I finally got off, I was very, very sore. We called it a night after that and went to bed watching Sex and the City.



Bavarian food, Mmmmmm...



The next day we decided to explore the city-center. So we went to the church erected in the Middle Ages, the town hall, the market, and the famous chocolate shop--Hachez. We go lunch at the famous, Rathskeller, which I thought was cool because we have a Rathskeller at UT. I got some soup--kinda like Italian Wedding--and Rebecca got salad with chicken livers--hers was very good. After that Rebecca took me down a street that reminded me of Saint George St. in St. Augustine. Very cute. There, we saw the smallest house in Germany! To finish the day we went back to the park and rented a row boat. Again, not so good with this vehicle of choice either. I am used to canoes and kayaks I told her. After a while, I got a hang of it though. Already in two days I have probably had more exercise--biking, rowing, walking--than I have had in my entire vacation, minus the 7 hour walk through Paris, of course, lol. Because of that, we were exhausted and went to bed around 9.






This actually makes Bremen famous. There is a story about how all the animals wanted to go to Bremen because it was animal paradise. This is a representation of the story. If you hold its hooves and make a wish, it comes true. Mine hasn't.



Smallest house in Germany



Me, trying to avoid the trees.







The following morning we woke up to enjoy a lovely assortment of breads and jams with tea and grapefruit juice. We had a big day ahead of us--we decided today we would head out to Lubek--most popularly known for their marzipan (which isn't as bad as I anticipated). There we saw princess castle-type structure, chocolate, and old ships. The town was really quite small--we walked the whole thing in about 2 hours. When we saw everything there was to see, we went further east a bit to the beach. I could not believe how cold it was! The day was nice up to the point when we went to the beach. In Florida, the beach is always warmer. Here, it is the opposite. You don't get a nice warm salty breeze, you get blistering cold gusts of wind. People were wearing ski coats and here I was determined to go out in a tank top because "I knew what it would be like on the beach". Terrible. But it was nice. I hadn't seen a beach in 4 months up to that point. When I was sufficiently cold, we got back in the car and headed home.



Princess Castle












Beach house




The next day we were supposed to go to Hamburg, but since I had been living in a big city for the past 4 months, Rebecca suggested we go to the place where her family goes sailing. Excellent idea, thought. We drove about 100 miles per hour to get to Bad Zwischenhan in, oh, an hour or so. When we got there we got lunch--we got snitzel--and wandered around the quiet town. We headed back home early to enjoy a lazy afternoon. On the way, we picked up a few beers that Rebecca wanted me to try out. In Germany, they have "girl beers" for girls that don't like the real stuff. It is basically beer with fruit flavoring. One was orange, for instance, while another was tropical. We shared about 7 bottles between me, Rebecca, and her mom. I found a few hard to drink--very sweet. But outside of that, some were okay. I liked the Grapefruit beer best. Anyway, after it became too cold to stay outside, we went in and shared some brownies I had made earlier that day. Yep, the outrageous brownies. The parents were impressed, but quite overwhelmed, lol. After this, I was feeling a bit drowsy so we went up to Rebecca's room to watch the end of a soccer match and went to sleep.



A little over 100 MPH



View from the restaurant






"Girly beers"






Saturday we went to the Netherlands--Gronghing. I have never seen more bikes before in my entire life. It was very odd, yet very practical. It took Rebecca and I about an hour to park in a garage. Once we were out, we were greeted by a beautiful day. We walked around the city for about 3 hours, saw some shops, lots and lots of flowers, and some old buildings. We got some lunch and headed back. Relativly easy day. The town was really quite cute and the canals outstretched all over the country, were really different from anything I had seen. It really felt like a completely different place. When we made it home with some mini-pancakes, a specialty in the Netherlands, Rebecca's father brought home some real beer for us to try. We all sat out on the porch and had a really nice night. When Rebecca and I headed upstairs, we fell alseep to another soccer match. Not a bad way to end the day.



We saw plenty of these.



These as well.



Weird, right?



One of the many canals.



MAN beer!



Rebecca's dad






Sunday...my day of relaxation. We got on the dreaded bikes again and went to a park known for flowers. Since the weather had been so beautiful when I was there--no rain for 7 days and wonderful temps, prob in the 60s--the flowers were starting to come out. It was really nice. We jumped over to another park after and got lunch. I got the raw meat on bread--yay! Quite the experience. Wasn't as bad as thought...I prob wouldn't get it again though, lol. Then we went back home to sunbathe on the roof terrace. By the end of the day, I was sufficiently sun burnt--which shows how terribly white I have gotten living in England. Oh dear, I must hit the beach when I get back in two weeks. Later that night, the entire family took me out to eat at an italian restaurant. It was really wonderful..got quite a few drinks I had never tried, which definitely allowed me to get some good sleep. :)












Yep. I ate that.



The next morning I left for London. My vacation had ended, and I have been studying ever since. We will see what happens in the next few weeks.