Germany Day 2: Black Forest, Sausages, Goats, & Ice Cream

Hola!

(Side note: I'm feeling better today. Have a slight fever, though, & a mountain of goop in my chest. Drinking lots of hot tea & Emergen-C packets. Just glad I'm not sneezing as much anymore.)

Alrighty. Let's get started here. Day 2 of Germany went down like this:

1. I wanted to sleep in forever. 
2. Ended up waking up at 10AM. 
3. Well, actually Uta woke me up. 
4. I looked like hell. There were huge bags under my eyes & my hair looked electrocuted. I basically looked like Penny from this episode of The Big Bang Theory...                                                                               
5. In fact, Uta's friend (the one who only speaks German) laughed at me as I sat down to the table. 
6. Interesting fact I learned: Back when Germany was separated by the Berlin wall children on the West had to learn English & children on the East had to learn Russian. Can you guess what side Uta lived on?
7. The three of us ate breakfast.  
8. Which was really good! I had toast with a blackberry/apple jam that one of Uta's friends made for her. I also had some salami on toast, which was also YUMMY!  
9. Whenever Uta left the room her only-German-speaking friend & I would just sit there awkwardly, occasionally trying to make conversation by pointing at things & smiling. Like I'd point at one of Uta's cats, smile, poke my chest with my index finger, & then show three fingers. Meaning: I have three cats. 
10. Then I showered. 
11. And thankfully didn't look like hell anymore. 
12. After that, I read for like an hour & a half of "Prodigy" (Read like 100 pages), while Uta & her friend downloaded & edited pictures from a trip they recently took.                                               
13. Then the three of us & Uta's dog Lena drove up into the Black Forest for lunch. 
14. We passed by a funny looking car on the way up (the video goes by ridiculously fast).                                                                            
15. I love the Black Forrest. It is SO pretty!
16. And I don't know about you, but for me, whenever I'm near a forest I feel at peace, so yeah, that was obviously nice.  
17. We ate at this restaurant that looked more like a Swiss house.                                                            
18. I had a really yummy meal: salad, sausages, & fried potatoes. Couldn't get better than that!                                                                                                     
19. Uta asked if I would like some wine, but I politely declined. 
20. I think the Wine Festival was enough for a lifetime for me. 
21. Actually the thought of sipping wine ever again made me feel like this...                                     
22. Afterwards, we looked at this barn that was near the restaurant.
23. And there were like a million geese. 
24. And they were SO loud!
25. It was funny because Uta said: They'll all be gone by the end of November. 
26. And then I busted up laughing super hard.                                                                                       
27. Then we went hiking & it was gorgeous. I'll post pics.                                                                     
28. It started to thunder & Lena was getting scared, so Uta took her back to the car (which was a ways back) while her only-German-speaking-but-knows-Russian friend & I walked down the hill to a tiny ice cream shop.                                                                                                             
29. While waiting for Uta to drive back I watched these 3 kids feed goats, finding it hilarious when the kids erupted into giggle fits each time one of the goats nibbled from their hands. They started pulling up nearby grass & tried to feed the dirt/roots part to the goats. I went over to them & showed them that the goats like the top part best.                                                                                                                                                                                       
30. Then Uta came & we ate some ice cream. 
31. We each got 3 scoops on a waffle cone. Not gigantic scoops, but rather PERFECTLY portioned scoops. 
32. From top to bottom I got A.) Hazelnut B.) Chocolate & C.) Espresso.                                            
33. The most magical thing about that pairing is that when I licked the hazelnut & chocolate at the same time it tasted like Nutella.                                                                                                    
34. It was SUPER delicious! 
35. Then we drove back home. 

All in all, it was a fabulous day. I really enjoyed myself. 

Blog to you later! 

Love, 

Manders 

Germany Day 1

Hola!

I'm back & ready to talk about my adventures in Germany. I had a fabulous time! I've been to Europe three times now & absolutely adore it.
At this very moment I am sick because...
People sneezing & coughing without the decency to cover their mouths + Proximity + Being Awake for 24hrs traveling = GERMS WHO SEEK MY DEMISE!
Disgusting, right?
Right.
(BTW: Here are some proper sneezing techniques.)

Ok, so FYI, I will be breaking up these posts by days.

Here is how Day 1 went down:
(WARNING: It was a long day.)

1. Didn't sleep well the night before (even though I went to bed early). I was just too dang excited.                                                     
2. Woke up at 3:30am. Took a shower.                   
3. Almost fell asleep in the aforementioned shower.                                                                      
4. 3:50am grabbed my backpack & tip-toed into my mom's room, which was dark. Told her: "See you later. Love you lots." And then I hugged her & gave her a kiss on the cheek. 
5. 4am Mike (my step-dad) & I left for the airport. 
6. Car ride was good. I was just insanely tired.                                                                        
7. Got to the airport at like 5-ish.                                                                                                
8. Quickly went through security. 
9.  FYI: Only brought a backpack & purse with me. No suitcase or laptop. 
10. Mike bought me a hot chocolate. 
11. Hot chocolates are basically my favorite thing ever, so I responded like so...                           
12. Logged on to Twitter through my iPhone & tweeted various things about my hot chocolate because it seemed like the thing to do at the time. 
13. 8-something-ish got on the plane to Atlanta, Georgia. 
14. Mike & I sat in the middle of the plane.                                                                                            
15. Tried to sleep on my tray table.
16. Did... kind of. 
17. Arm fell asleep a couple of times. 
18.  Overall, however, it was very uncomfortable because the guy in front of me reclined his chair & kept shifting in his seat. And sometimes he'd get up & immediately sit back down like he was posting the trot. 
19. I soon became very grumpy & wanted to wring his neck!                                                                
20. 2pm (East Coast Time) landed in Georgia. 
21. Mike & I took the underground train thingy & entered a different Terminal. 
22. Ate some Panda Express. 
23. Mike left me to go on his plane. (He is a pilot. It is his job.) He went to Asia. 
24. Had to wait to see if I could go on the plane because I travel non-revenue style, so I needed to wait for a seat opening. 
25. 4PM-ish Got a ticket!                                                                                                                                   
26. Business Class. Super duper ridiculously lucky. 
27. Drank some orange juice in a wine glass. Felt fancy. Took a selfie. Tried not to laugh. 
28. Felt like a little kid. I got really excited. 
29. Watched "Monster's University" which was SO GOOD! 
30. Watched "Admission" (it was OK.). 
31. Ate dinner. Chicken with couscous. Had some bread rolls. Really good!
32. Felt like freaking royalty up in 1st class & wanted to scream this every second of the trip...                                                                                      
33. Pushed the button that made my chair go all the way down so that I could sleep. 
34. Fell asleep & had a nightmare about the plane crashing nose first into the Atlantic Ocean beneath us. 
35. Woke up to a panic attack: sweaty palms, rapid heart-beat, heavy breathing, shaking a little, etc.  
36. Looked this up on Wikipedia & it's pretty much true for me, except the vomiting & heights part. Most the time I rather go skydiving than fly in an actual plane.                                                                                 The fear of flying may be created by various other phobias and fears:
    • fear of crashing which most likely results in death, which is the most common reason for the fear of flying.
    • a fear of closed in spaces (claustrophobia), such as that of an aircraft cabin
    • a fear of heights (acrophobia) 
    • a feeling of not being in control
    • fear of vomiting, where a person will be afraid that they'll have motion sickness on board, or encounter someone having motion sickness and have no control over it (such as escaping it)
    • fear of having panic attacks in certain places, where escape would be difficult and/or embarrassing (agoraphobia)
    • fear of hijacking or terrorism
    • fear of turbulence
    • fear of flying over water or night flying
     
37. Calmed down a bit & started watching "42."
38. Didn't get to finish it all because we were descending. 
39. Flight attendants served breakfast before we landed. I honestly forgot what I ate. 
40. Landed in Frankfurt, Germany. Looked green & hilly like Oregon. (BTW: If this little video is being weird all I say is, "I'm in Germany right now" in a creepy voice.)                                               
41. Stepped off the plane. Around 8am-ish. 
42. Got in line to go through customs. 
43. Angry German dude yelled at people in (wait for it) German (which is horrifying BTW) in the custom's line for whatever reason. 
44. Stepped up to the customs counter. Good looking younger German guy asked a couple questions. A.) What is your purpose for coming to Germany? Me: Seeing a friend. B.) Where? Me: Freiburg. C.) How long will you stay? Me: A week. *stamps my passport & tells me to enjoy myself*
45. I wandered through the airport looking for signs to the train station.                                      
46. It was in Terminal 1 & I was at Terminal 2. 
47. So, I had to take this little tram/shuttle thingy over to the other terminal. 
48. Followed the signs to the train station area, which seemed to take forever.                                    
49. Bought a ticket with my credit card to Freiburg for 9:50am.    
50. Had to wait like an hour & a half until I boarded the train.              
51. So, I went to Starbucks & bought a chai tea because I brought some leftover Euros I had acquired on my last European trip.                                                                                                  
52. It was foamy & delicious & really soothed me. 
53. Called my mother & told her I was alive. However, due to the time back home, she sounded barely alive.                                                                                                                                  
54. Boarded the train, while this song got stuck in my head...                                                 
55. Sat next to this old guy. 
56. On my way to Freiburg (which was 2 hours away) I read "Prodigy."
57. Started getting really sleepy. 
58. Eventually the old guy next to me left & apparently I was sitting in his seat while he sat in mine, so when the next guy came. He freaked out that I was in his seat. Like had a freaking German heart-attack. So, I got up & let him have the seat. No big deal. Sheesh. 
59. Later on the trip this other older German guy came stumbling up to me, muttering in German, & I no clue as to what he wanted. I told him that I only spoke English at which point he stumbled away. 
60. I was sitting next to the toilet, so I heard a lot of hissing & flushing. 
61. It was nice & sunny that day in Germany. When I left home in Oregon there were thunderstorms & lightning & lots of rain. 
62. 2 hrs later made it to Freiburg. 
63. Uta picked me up. It was so nice to see her again! 
64. BTW: Uta is my mom's really good friend. They were roommates in college. 
65. Uta has one of the coolest mugs in the world.                                                                                
66. Picked up some sausages (my favorite) from the store.                                                                   
67. Gave Uta her painting I made for her.                                                                                               
68. Uta's house is SUPER nice BTW.                                                                                                   
69. I had lunch at Uta's house. We had this really delicious salad that was made of chopped up cabbage, carrots, celery, & an olive vinaigrette  dressing. We also had some turkey & pasta. It was delicious.                                                  
70. But kind of weird, since I already had a million meals that day. 
71. Drank a ton of water.                                          
72. Went to bed for 2 hrs. 
73. Had a REALLY hard time waking up. Felt like an inch above death. Like Zombie status. 
74. I took a shower.
75. Had a snack. Thinly sliced dried apples & more water with mint leaves & lemon.                                                                                                                                                                    
76. Then Uta & I met up with her friend, who only spoke German.  
77. Walked down the road a bit at which point we were picked up by her two other friends: a mom & daughter. The daughter, I think, was in her 30's & spoke perfect English because she lived in London for a period of time. 
78. Went to a Wine Festival.
79. This thing lasted for 3 days & I went on the first night. It was crazy. I think I was way too tired to take pictures. So, sorry about that. Yes, I regret this now.
80. It was in a tiny German village, but with lots & lots of people. 
81. What you do is you pay for a wine glass that you take everywhere with you to try out wine. 
82. I had snail soup...
83. Not bad, since the snails were chopped up into tiny little pieces. 
84. I ate the entire thing. 
85. Tried some wine. White wine from the local Freiburg vineyards to be specific. Not my favorite thing in the world. I added sparkling water to it to make it taste better, but still, not a huge alcohol fan.  
86. Basically the rest of the night involved visiting different places in the village to drink more wine. 
87. Let me tell you something: Germans like to drink.                                                                         
88. Also, unlike in America, they let they're children stay up late, which I thought was cool. The kids were all sitting on the stone fences above watching the adults drink wine below.
89. Although some of the Germans couldn't speak English they could sing in English. It was hilarious. They sang to a lot of American songs, including several Bruno Mars numbers.  
90. Uta liked to dance & party. 
91. My knees felt like they were gonna buckle from all the traveling, so I just watched & liked bobbed my head.                                                                                                                         
92. Throughout the night, I was fed more snail dishes. The next one being a bread stuff with a chopped up snail paste. I liked the bread part...
93.  I also ate this beef thing, which was thin slices of beef wrapped around a stick. It was good, but I was getting super full at that point. 
94. Had to go CODE YELLOW super bad & was on this desperate quest for a port-a-potty. 
95. Found one. 
96. Life became SO much better. 
97. I saw people making crepes & really wanted to go there, so that I could wash my snails down with some Nutella. But we passed it too quickly & there were a ton of people & crepes kind of take forever to make sometimes. 
98. We stayed at the festival for hours & I was about to pass out from exhaustion. I had been up for over 24 hrs. 
99. Finally, Uta & I went home. 
100. And I could barely strip out of my clothes & into my pajamas.                                                     
101. Brushed my teeth. 
102. Passed out on my bed. 
103. Possibly drooled as I happily slept. 

Geez. That really was a long day. 

Tomorrow I will write about Day 2 in Germany! 

Blog to you later!

Love, 

Manders 

P.S:

Can you tell I like The Big Bang Theory?