Home again, home again, jiggity jig

When I started this journey it felt like I had an unbelievable amount of days ahead of me; however, the last thirty four days have flown by. I spent my last weekend in Germany relaxing and helping Leslie get a few projects done for school.

Leslie wanted to make a little something for her kids in her home room as an end of the year gift. We needed rubber cement which is almost impossible to find here. Luckily we were told about an art supply store in Augsburg called Boesner. It was unbelievable...and huge.


I wanted to touch everything. They literally had every color paint you could imagine. It was a true delight for my eyes.


I was "oohing" and "aahing" so much that the sweet worker brought me a free gift to take home. I was in hog heaven. If I actually was an artist I would have thrown up from excitement.


But then we had to get to work cutting the backings that we needed. Hans, the worker, was very helpful with the inches to centimeter conversions. I ran the cutting machine while he measured away in the back. As a side note, Hans had two incredible features. His mustache was one. I bet he spends longer on shaping it than I do getting ready in a week. It was very artsy for sure. The second feature would be his nails. He could have entered some kind of contest with those things. I can remember pretending that I had nails when I was little by putting paper clips on the ends of my fingers. Well his were longer than the paper clips. Not a feature you see on many men.


Add the mustache and nails to the large gold hoop earring in one ear and I would bet serious money that this guy rides a unicycle.

After we left Boesner, we went to a few other stores before heading home. The weather was nice and cool so I tried my hand a bike riding.


I was all smiles until I started running into fences. I went ahead and took the bike around the neighborhood. I was shakey at best. I'll go ahead and add this to the list of sports that I'm not good at. The best thing about it was the bell.

Today I headed into Munich. Nothing is open on Sundays in Germany so I just walked and walked. I saw a lot that I had already seen, but then I stumbled on a crazy shrine. Naturally, it was a shrine for Michael Jackson.





There were people paying serious tribute to ole MJ while I was there. Tears...dramatic hugging...the whole bit. I felt like a jerk but I could not stop laughing. Some of the personal messages to Michael were hilarious. But I have to say that my favorite part was the information boxes in a variety of languages.


It gave me the answers to all the question that I have been wanting to know about Michael. Four pages worth. It was so informative that I went ahead and stuck one in my purse. If you need to know why he underwent plastic surgery, why he dangled his son over the balcony in Berlin, did he ever use drugs, why was he in the Guinness Book of World Records, or any other question just let me know. I will pass on the information. It is hilarious!

It really has been such a fun trip. I have learned so much about the German culture but even more about myself. I have continually surprised myself by I handle different situations. Tomorrow morning I head home. I am ready. I can not wait to see my family, eat some Mexican food, understand what people are saying to me, and crawl into my own bed. Until next time...

Location:Munich,Germany

Fa, a long, long way to run

Yesterday I was all about the Sound of Music. The bike tour that I originally intended on going to was booked on a first come first serve basis, and I've never been the first one to get to anywhere so i missed it. Instead, I took a hop on hop off bus tour. There were two benefits to this particular bus tour...air conditioning and a constant stream of the Sound of Music soundtrack.

I started my day at the gardens. They were perfectly manicured and beautiful.


In the gardens Maria and the children run around singing thew famous Do-Re-Mi. They splash in the fountain before continuing to frolic around.


Unfortunately, my backpack and purse kept me from being true to the part.

After I left the gardens I headed to the Schloss Hellbrunn. Apparently, the archbishop prince that built it thought that he was a jokester. He installed many trick fountains all around the property.


Water shot out of everything. There was no where safe. He even installed it in the seats of his table so that he could surprise his guests during dinner. I'm sure people loved him.

On the property there were normal fountains.


And there were very odd ones.


He even had giant moving vignettes with hundreds of moving pieces that were powered solely by water.



But the best part was in the park of Scholss Hellbrunn. After the Sound of
music wrapped they gave the gazebo from the movie to the city. Salzburg actually didn't want it and moved it around many times before leaving it here.


The doors were locked or I would have acted out the whole scene. This is where Lisle sings "I am sixteen going on seventeen." I had a few minutes at the gazebo by myself before more tourists arrived. I sure did walk around it singing. Sadly, "I am thirty going on thirty one" doesn't have the same ring to it.

We also went to one of the two houses that were used in filming. Neither one is open to the public, but we were able to visit the lake that was used for scenes looking away from the house.



We didn't get to see the movie version or the real life version of the Von Trapp residence. Bummer.

Finally, we stopped at the Mozart footbridge. Maria and the children sang Do-Re-Mi while skipping across the bridge. I felt like the only way to do it justice was to skip across it too.


People were looking at me like I was stark raving mad. I don't know if they were more concerned with me skipping and singing or with the fact that i set the self timer on my camera. Who cares. I'll never see them again.

I caught the train back to Augsburg around four so that I could be back around seven thirty. The trains went smoothly and when I got back to Bobingen I hopped on a bus to take me to Grossaitingen. I would then walk the rest of the way to Leslie's house. Being one who pays super close attention to where they are going, I missed the stop. I didn't stress about it because I knew the way through the fields at the next stop. From there it went downhill fast. I got up and pushed the button to get off but the bus driver never stopped. So I pushed it again at the next stop. Nothing. The bus driver was on his phone which was much more important to him. When I finally was able to get off the bus I was in a village called Schwabmunchen.


I Was 7.4 kilometers from where I needed to be. I wasn't upset. I figured I'd just hop back on a bus heading the other direction and be there shortly. Oh, how wrong I was. I got off the bus at 7:30ish and sat there 30 minutes before I checked the schedule. The bus didn't come back by until a little after 10. I could sit and wait or walk and be back at Leslie's in a little over an hour. I went with walking. When I was about 5 kilometers away a mega storm started rolling in. There was thunder and lightning but no rain. Fueled by pure adrenaline, I started a mix of power walking/running that would have made Flo Jo proud. I was hauling through fields and villages praying that I could get back before the rain started. It didn't work out. About 2.5 kilometers from Leslie's torrential rain started. It was falling in sheets. With it came pure darkness. I can't believe I didn't freak out. I kept thinking that I should start crying but I never did. I had enough water on my face as it was without adding any tears. When I finally made it to Leslie's I was a drowned rat.


I had to pour the water out of my shoes and ring my clothes out. They are still sitting on the front porch. Im not sure they'll ever dry out. It was quite an adventure. I'm not sure it's one I would relive without better preparation, so today I am just relaxing.

Location:Salzburg, Austria

My Dogs are Barking.

Yesterday I hopped on a train to Salzburg, Austria. After arriving I headed to my hotel to check in before making a plan for the rest of the day. By the time I got there the rain had started. It was raining cats and dogs. I figured that the best thing I could do was to lay down for a few minutes. That few minutes turned into 4 hours, but I don't regret it one bit. When I finally got moving, I donned my rain jacket and headed out. I stopped at the mall to spend some good quality time with air conditioning. They had all kinds of stores and brands that we don't. For example, forever 18.




If I'm going to pick an age to be forever it certainly isn't going to be 18. After I left the mall the real "fun" began. I walked all though the old town. I saw many lovely buildings and statues of Mozart everywhere. About 6:30 I decided to head on back to the hotel. You know those days when you amaze yourself with your directionality.




Yesterday wasn't one of them. I couldn't have found my way out of a paper bag. I walked until it was more natural to keep walking than to stop. All the buildings started to look the same. I kept telling myself that when I got to the end of the street if I couldn't see my hotel I was going to have to consult my map. In finally busted it out at 10. That's three and a half hours lost. Turns out that I was so close, yet so far.
Today was a much different day though. Today my good karma is back. I am having amazing luck. I'm going to attribute it to my American attire. I started the day by going to Mozart's home.




And then I realized I don't really care. Classical music isn't really my thing. What is my thing, you ask? Chocolate covered pretzels. I can't really put into words how excited I was!




After I inhaled my pretzel, I headed up to the castle.




This was my favorite of all the castles I've seen. By the time that I got up there I was sweating so bad that my eyelids were getting stuck open. It was super attractive.
But I loved the castle none the less. I loved that the castle was a impenetrable fortress.




I loved that it was really neat and it offered a fantastic view of Salzburg.




It even had a marionette theater inside with scenes of torture and a view of the dungeons.




That part was creepy.




After I finished the castle, I headed to a village called Grodig. Grodig is at the base of the mountain Untersberg. They offer a cable car to the top which is right around 1900 meters. It is so high that you cant see the top.




The ride up was nice until we crossed over a ridge and were surrounded by clouds. Everything quickly went white. If I was in a Lifetime movie it would have been my end. I would have been about to meet my maker.




But in real life, a cloud moved in and just sat on the top of the mountain. I went ahead and hiked through the clouds to the cross at the top.




It was a surreal experience. I could hear people around me but couldn't see anyone more than 100 feet away. I found a bench and sat down to stare into nothingness.




On the way back down is when I started to panic. I caught the last cable car down for the night. They stuffed us in there like sardines.




I did a quick assessment of everyone's weight verses the weight limit and hoped for the best. I should mention that I am awful at math. When I got to 7,000 pounds i just knew we were doomed.




I did take a picture of all the people in the cable car followed by me doing a scared face just incase the cable snapped. I thought that my phone would be more likely to make it through the fall than i would be and I wanted someone to know that it was overpacked. Luckily we all made it down and I didn't have to come back to haunt the man who packed us all in.
Tomorrow morning Im taking a Sound of Music bike tour. I haven't been on a bike since I took a nasty spill trying to be cool on my bike when I was nine. Not that I'm counting but that was 21 years ago. I can't wait to see how that works out.

Location:Salzburg,Austria

Thirty, flirty, and thriving.

I turned thirty on Friday. It was a birthday I have been dreading for a long time. Thirty is officially an adult. Thirty year olds get ready before they go places, are on time to said places, and generally have it all together. I do none of those things. Never the less, having a thirtieth birthday is better than not having one at all.

We went ahead and celebrated all weekend. After all, you only turn thirty once. I spent Friday resting and reading. It was fantastic. That evening we went to an Italian restaurant in Grossaitingen. I feel like all I have eaten since I've been here is pizza, and I love it.

Saturday we started the morning by going to the market in Augsburg. The fresh fruits and veggies were a delight for your senses.


There were precious stores where I wanted to buy one of everything. I didn't though because how would it fit in my backpack?

I had been doing a fantastic job not buying anything. But eventually I caved. I couldn't stand the pressure any more.


So I bought a dirndl. I have probably walked by 75 dirndl shops and resisted the temptation, but eventually the idea of skipping, singing, and twirling in a dirndl wore me down. Plus, it has pockets. Who doesn't love pockets on a dress?


I was so excited about it that I busted it out for dinner...in public...at a snazzy hip restaurant. Believe it. I'm sure you'll notice that you don't see anyone else in one, and you are absolutely right. I only broke into a nervous sweat about it like 14 times.


That being said, it is the traditional costume of Bavaria and people really do wear them everywhere. Watch out Texas, you never know when Im going to show up somewhere in it. Seriously. You can't hold me back. I'm thirty now.


Leslie got me some lovely flowers for my birthday that I just love. It's crazy how things just grow here. Everything is lush and beautiful. It is so peaceful. Speaking of peaceful, yesterday Leslie and I spent the day at the spa. It was amazing. I can't think of a time I was so relaxed and renewed.

When we got home I took advantage of the cool weather and headed out for a walk through the forest. I saw deer, hedgehogs, and tons of slugs just having fun being animals.


But on the way home I got to see a gaggle of gnomes. I had been a tiny bit disappointed by the lack of gnomes in their natural environment.


Luckily, I found this gang. Otherwise I would have never known that gnomes live in a peaceful environment with alligators, ducks, and frogs. This changes everything.

Tomorrow I am heading out to another burg. I am heading to Salzburg, Austria for a few days. I have spent the morning brushing up on all of my Sound of Music trivia so that I can be that annoying American reciting lines and songs from the movie. I can't wait!

Location:Augsburg, Germany

La La La La La La Bamberg

This morning Leslie dropped me off at train station on her way to school. At that point I wasn't 100% sure where I was going. I had a couple of day trip destinations in mind, but I settled on a small town called Bamberg. Bamberg is supposedly the "Venice of Germany." I arrived around lunch time and set off. At first I wasn't impressed.


It was nice, but nothing fancy. If I would have gotten a map I would have realized that I wasn't in the right part of town. I turned around and went in the opposite way of where I thought i should go I was a believer. Bamberg is fantastic. It could be my favorite town so far.


As I was walking I had to squelch my urge to sing. I felt like I was in Beauty and the Beast. It was really lovely.


There was water everywhere, and people used it just like streets. I walked for the better part of the afternoon and I saw churches with creepy underground crypts.


Castles and a theater that called to my dramatic flair. I wish could have seen a play or been in one there.


When it was time to head back to Augsburg I was feeling great about my day. It was fantastic. The Internet is broken at Leslie's so when my train stopped through Nuremberg I decided the best thing to do was get off. After all, I knew where there was a Starbucks. After talking to my parents and checking on some things from home I headed back to catch the train to Augsburg. Because I was on a day pass ticket I couldn't take a direct train. I had change trains after an hour. Unfortunately, I started talking to a really nice girl from Russia who wanted to practice her English and without thinking got off the train at the wrong stop. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere.



I took the bus from the small station to the larger station in town. When I got there I had 30 seconds before the train I needed to be on left.


I chased that sucker down those very tracks, but didn't make it. I was forced to sit and wait an hour before the next train was scheduled to arrive.


Really exciting times. All I wanted to do was watch the game. When the train got there I was excited to be on my way. It was a tad bit creepy though because the train was missing people.






Yep, I had the train to myself. It was just me and the guy punches the tickets. If he would have been a bit more friendly I would have entertained us with a musical number, but instead he was all business.
When I finally got back to where I needed to be the busses were no longer running. Thank heavens Leslie came looking for me or I would still be walking. I will say that it was definitely a dramatic way to end a decade.

Location:Bamberg, Germany