Yesterday was a blur! I got to the airport in Frankfurt around 6:30 am local time. After getting my luggage and going through customs, it was a little after seven before I got out of the secured part of the airport... and I didn't see Katharina! So I was a little nervous... called home to let them know I made it and buy time to find her. Luckily, only a few seconds after calling home, she came around the corner. It doesn't seem like there's anyway that it has been 6 years since she and I have spent time together!! It is still so natural. Our conversations are easy and we understand each other very well!! It helps, of course, that her English is soooo good!!
After the airport, we grabbed a quick breakfast and went to Baden-Baden where her family lives and met her parents and talked, showered, etc. Then Katharina and her mom and I went into the town and walked around. Of course, when we decided to do this, the rain decided to come back! It rained all day!!! By about 4 o'clock, I was exhausted!! The night before I left, I only slept 2 hours or so and sleep on the plane is never as good as the real thing! So, we went back to her house in a little village called Vernhaft and I slept for a few hours... much better!!! Then our easy to understand English quickly shifted to German!! Katharina's brother came home and her boyfriend came to town... and German was very quickly the language of choice!! I definitely missed alot of the stories b/c I was so busy trying to translate in my head but it was good to become accustomed to the sounds!
Today we woke up and had breakfast... traditional German: bread rolls (harder than anything we eat at home), cheeses, meats, peanut butter, Nutella, jam, etc. Then we went over to France, which is only about a 15 minute drive from here! WOW! We went to a small town that looked exactly like things look in Germany!! The waitress where we ate lunch even spoke German :) So it wasn't that exciting but hey... two days and I've been to Germany AND France!! :)
A little later in the day, we went back into Baden-Baden and went in the remains of an old castle on a mountain. It was so cool. The castle is from the 12th or 13th century and we climbed to the very top!!! I could see the Rhein, the river that creates the border between France and Germany and I could the mountains in France. SOO Beautiful!!
Finally, we went to a "Dorffest" in Katharina's village. It's a street party basically, except the whole village goes. They close off most of the streets and drink beer, dance, play traditional music and have fun. Katharina was kind of embarrassed because it's a very small town sort of thing to do and she wouldn't normally go but it was a chance for me to see very "German" things! And eat very good food and drink very good wine and beer :) (But of course, not too much!)
Love you all!! Hope you're having a blast in the States!!
(And hopefully your weather is better.. it's rained almost nonstop since I arrived here!!)
.....My pictures are taking too long to load and I'm very tired!!! I will post tomorrow morning when I'm more awake :) ....
Sounds pretty exciting to me. :)
ReplyDeleteAmy-It sounds like you had a great day! I wish I was there with you to see all the beautiful sites.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get a good nights rest and can't wait to hear more! Love, Mom