Visiting the Mother Country!

One of the best parts about being in Germany is how close and easy you can get to other countries. I took the opportunity to visit England and my beautiful and amazing cousin took me in for the week!

I flew from Frankfurt to Heathrow which took about an hour and change gate to gate (quicker then a trip home to FL!) I made it to Stacey's and we spent the day hanging out at the house. Of course it was raining in England but it was good to spend time and catch up! 

We went into London to do the typical touristy things: London Eye, Buckingham palace, Big Ben, etc. 

First thing we decided to do was to go on the London Eye which if you haven't had a chance to I highly suggest it! It looks like a carousel but with pods of clear plastic so you can see all of London at a birds eye view. It takes 30 min to go the entire circuit so you don't have to worry about motion sickness! 

View of the London Eye, River Thames, and Big Ben

On the London Eye with Big Ben in the background!

Once we got back to the bottom we walked along the River Thames and then hopped on a Double Decker bus tour. Sadly, no it wasn't red. We took the bus to Buckingham Palace so we could visit my other husband Prince William ;) sorry Jim! Unfortunately, in the summer the changing of the guards only happens on odd number days and my luck it was an even day :( nonetheless we got to see the guards which has always intrigued me since I was a kid. How someone could stand still in the same spot and not move for hours on end was beyond me.   I guess it intrigued me enough to marry someone who does something of the same haha.

Standing guard

The front gates to Buckingham Palace

After visiting the palace we had worked up enough hunger for lunch so we went to the a pub called The Kings Arms. I had steak and ale pie and it was so deliciously amazing. 

Steak & Ale pie yummmm way better than the one I bought at Trader Joes!

After lunch, we hopped back on our double decker bus tour and got to visit Hamley's the biggest most amazing toy store I've ever been in! Drove past Trafalagar SQ. Which is completely different from when I was last there and you could feed the pigeons and turn into a crazy pigeon lady! We got to see Westminister Abby, Tower Bridge, London Bridge ( which is quite boring compared to Tower bridge), more of Big Ben, and the sight of the the first Irish Pub. You know, the important stuff! 

Out front of Hamley's

Trafalgar Sq without the pigeons :(

One of the better pictures I took!

With the 100th anniversary of WWI having just passed I wanted to go to the Tower of London to see the ceramic Poppy display done by artist Paul Cummins titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red and will eventually include 888,246 ceramic poppies. I had seen pictures on Facebook from when my aunt went but it honestly didn't do it justice. 

Tower of London

From there, we hopped on a river boat cruise on the Thames that brought us back to the train station. It was good to get another London perspective before we left! 

The Shard

A few days later, we got the chance to meet up with my other cousin Annalise who I hadn't seen in over 10 years! It was the first time the three of us cousins had gotten together so it was pretty special. Now, they don't like getting their pictures taken but I had to document this momentous occasion! After coffee, Annalise and I went to my Uncle Alan and Aunt Jackie's who I last saw at my wedding almost three years ago! My cousin Lucy, who couldn't make the wedding I hadn't seen in 15 years! Seriously. How is that even possible?! We had a great time and a wonderful BBQ until my uncle busted out pictures from my last trip to England. I was the hormonal teenager that didn't want to be bothered with anyone and boy did the pictures show it! I'm surprised they invited me back! 

From L-R Annalise, Stacey and Thomas (hiding) and me!

More cousins and family reunited! Jaime, Lucy, Uncle Alan, Aunt Jackie, Suzanne and me :)

My second to last day in England Stacey, Thomas and I went back to the city. We had afternoon tea at Harrods which was good minus all the seafood sandwiches. Yeah, I ate a shrimp one without knowing it. Bleh. But the sweets and tea were great! I picked up some souvenirs to bring home and then we went shopping in Harrods.

High tea :)

If I had to sum up my trip in a few words it would be: Family, Tourist, Tea, and lots of new memories! 

Germany thus far...

I've been in Germany just over a month (month and a week to be exact!) and I figured this would be a better chance than ever to recap my thoughts on Germany thus far. The good, the bad and the ugly.

For those who I've been lucky enough to talk to often thanks to IMessage, Skype, etc. some of this you've had a chance to hear about already. The easiest way to recap my thoughts thus far is probably by bullets. It'll be a change of pace from my other blog posts! :) 

- Food -

How many of you have had German food before? I had before we got here at a cute little German restaurant in my hometown, I've eaten in Germany in Epcot and even been to the Biergarten at the Standard hotel in the meatpacking district. Those count right?! Ha. No. None of that counts. The food here is good don't get me wrong but what i've learned about the food that you have when you are in those stereotypical "German" places in the US is Bavarian German food which is quite different from other parts of Germany. When you go to a restaurant you can expect the standard Weinerschnitzel which is pork grounded really thinly and breaded. If you're lucky it'll be breaded in pretzel bread which will make it infinitely better. Pork knuckle (I don't think explanation is needed here), some kind of sausages, blood sausage if you're lucky and some starch. Germans love their meat and potatoes and fried food. Lord what I would do for a nice big salad with fresh fruit and some cheese and grilled chicken on it. Helllooooo Panera chicken poppyseed salad. But, sadly that doesn't exsist here. If you are a meat and potato and starchy type of person Germany is your place!

- Language - 

Before coming here I attempted to learn some German, I signed up for the German word of the day, downloaded a great free app called Duolingo ( I highly suggest it!) and bought a pocket guide of common phrases. I thought I would be set! I've mentioned this before in other posts about how much English Germans have which is true. Most of the people our age who i've met have taken about 9 years of English in school. When you are out and about and you try to order something in German, usually they realize that you are not a native speaker and will start speaking to you in the broken English that they have. Broken English + Broken German = well, an interesting conversation. 

- Atmosphere - 

I've now been in the shoes of anyone who visits America and doesn't speak English. Imagine walking around and everything from the sounds you hear, to the sights you see is in another language. It can be quite jarring to feel like you are in this alternate bubble of a language that no one around you is speaking. You have no clue what people are saying around you, or what the signs right in front of you says. Of course, nothing that a little Word Lens or Google Translate can't help you with, it'll just take you a bit longer to understand. Just make sure that wherever you are allows you to have your cell phone to be out.  I was kicked out of a store once trying to buy a Happy Birthday postcard and had my phone out with Google Translate trying to figure out what each postcard said. Having not seen the "no cell phone sign" when I walked in I was promptly escorted out. She didn't speak any English for me to try and explain what I was doing so I didn't try. 

- Convenience - 

We are spoiled in America. There I said it. If you are sick in the middle of the night, guess what there is a  24 hour walk in clinic down the road! Here in Germany--  It's passed 6pm and you need some tylenol for that headache? Oh, too bad the Apotheke is closed, you're going to have to wait until tomorrow and if tomorrow turns out to be Sunday, well.....best you google alternatives for getting rid of a headache. Back home, we pretty much have access to anything we want at whatever time we want. Jim & I have a 24 hour diner within walking distance from us so no matter what time of night we can walk down the street get a glass of sangria and a burger or have breakfast at 10pm. You definitely don't have those luxuries here.  Convenience also goes for the supermarket-- There are few choices of things- there are two kinds of bread, two kinds of waster definitely not enough for an entire aisle of water like we have at home. Here there's one, maybe two, cases of ice cream. Back home, we have an entire aisle. You want gluten free ice cream- you got it. You want all natural vanilla bean free- vanilla ice cream- you got it.  Here- not so much. After you've shopped through the aisles of minimalism and you get to the check out. I hope you brought bags with you. If not, you have to pay for them. 1 euro for a heavier duty bag, and 50 euro cent for a regular looking plastic grocery bag. This is the same for EVERYWHERE so make sure to bring your bags. :) 

- What i've learned - 

Before coming here, I had this crazy adventurous bucket list. I wanted to visit Istanbul, go to India to see the bright colors and the amazing culture, all these things that littered my bucket list. After coming to Germany I've realized I'm an overly cautious planner, I like knowing where I'm going, how i'm getting there, how long that will take, what it will cost, and where i'm sleeping. I'm way less adventurous than I had thought. Now,  let me not get adventurous confused with spontaneous because I definitely still have a spontaneous side to me. I know Jim wants to visit Ireland and maybe one day i'll surprise him with plane tickets beause hey, they speak English there ;)

8.2.24 Driving on the Autobahn, Rothenburg and Nuremberg

Saturday, August 2, 2014 

Jim and I rented a car to drive to Rothenburg, I booked the car not realizing that meant I would have to be the one who drove. Ok, no big deal...my first car was a manual so I would just brush up on my old school driving skills. What I didn't realize was that I would get to drive on the Autobahn. Let me start by saying, yes, there is no speed limit (for the most part) but there are portions on the autobahn that go through residential areas so one minute there is no speed limit the next it drops to 60! 

When we booked the car we booked a low end economy car since we just needed something to get us from Wiesbaden to Rothenburg. Well, that low end economy car tapped out at a speedy 200km so needless to say we were getting passed like crazy. It was a lot of fun and I got the car up to 160 but man is it stressfull! One minute there is no one behind you then out of NO WHERE there is a car behind you right on your behind. In Germany, they very much stick to the rule that the left lane is for passing or for driving like Mario Andretti in a Volkswagen. I can now officially check this one off my bucket list! 

We got to Rothenburg about noon, checked into our hotel, dropped our bags and set off to explore. The awesome Rick Steves travel book that Christine my acupuncturist gave me before we left was a huge help! Thanks Christine! It mentioned there was a walking tour at 1:00 pm in English so even though we were starving we stopped in a bakery called Walter Friedel which is 132 years old! We just don't have things like that back home. Anyways, so we got a quick pastry and went off on the 2 hour walking tour. I was so glad that we did because there was a lot of stuff that we would have never have known had we not gone on the tour. 

The town center of Rothenburg on the left is the town hall or Ratskeller and the white building in front is the old pub that the politicians used to meet for drinks in. 

The most delicious apple pastry from a 132 year old bakery! 

St. Michael's church where space is limited so they built over the road which used to serve as the main road in/out of the city. 

The star that is hanging from this building symbolizes a brewery not a Star of David. It's called a Six Point Brewers Star. The tour guide mentioned that back hundreds of years ago this is how breweries were marked. The first triangle pointing up symbolizes fire and the second triangle pointing down symbolizes the earth two things needed to make beer. Germany also has the purity law which says you can only use beer, water, wheat and barley to make beer. Nothing else. The purity law is one of the first and oldest FDA type laws. 

After the tour, I was dying to get to the Christmas shop, plus it had started to rain so what better way to kill some time then to spend it in the Christmas museum and shop. :) Let me start by saying the place was amazing. I probably could have spent my entire credit card limit in this one store because anyone who knows me knows my love for two holidays: Fourth of July and Christmas. Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take pictures in the store so the ones I have were taken very quickly and not always the best quality. Come on, rules were made to be broken! 

Lots and lots of Nutcrackers! 

So amazing! 

I was super excited about all my new Christmas goodies :) 

Next stop after the Christmas shop was the Medieval Crime and Punishment museum which was actually really interesting. It was kind of cool to see the public shaming masks and the neck violin for quarreling women! 

Shame Mask: For talkative women, with long ears and a long tongue. The bells would ring upon each turning of the head. Think it's safe to say I would end up with this on if I lived during Medieval times! haha 

The Neck Violin for Quarreling women. Could you imagine getting put into one of these if you got into a fight with someone.  Is it sad that I thought of Matthew and I getting put into a neck violin to fight out the cost of Family Weekend? haha sorry MP ;) 

We rounded out the night by going on the 

Night Watchmen's Tour which was listed in the Rick Steves' book as one of the three must do things while in Rothenburg. Also, my parents went on this tour when they were in Germany when the World Cup was hosted here. The guy really takes on the character and you learn a lot about what life was like back when night watchmen were necessary and how these small villages protected themselves from intruders.

The Night Watchman 

The most beautiful view--trust me this doesn't do it justice. 

Sunday, August 3, 2014 

The next day we didn't have too much time since we had planned to drive to Nuremberg to sightsee and to meet one of Jim's friends for dinner. We walked back inside the walls of Rothenburg and the most amazing smell led us to this little bakery called  Brothaus or Bread House. We got there just in time because soon after the line was out the door with all the locals coming to get the most deliciously baked breads, pastries, and of course pretzels! 

Don't worry, this was breakfast and lunch! Chocolate Croissant and some kind of Apricot custard pastry, a vanilla doughnut and no clue what the other thing was that Jim had! 

After breakfast, we walked down to St. Michael's Church which we didn't get to go in the day before. When we got there, mass was going on so we were only allowed in the lobby and could look in through the glass doors inside. It was beautiful but unfortunately no pictures :(  

On our way out, we took some really steep steps up to the top of the wall and walked around parts of the wall still standing. It was really interesting to see just how narrow and vertically challeneged it would have been back then if someone needed to run from one side to another. Needless to say, i'm guessing hte average height was a bit shorter and people weren't 5"12 around then. ;) 

NJ in the house! 

The view from the wall you can see just part of how far it stretches. 

After walking the wall, we checked out of our hotel and headed to Nuremberg. After parking the car, and taking a walk to the Tourist Information center Jim spotted a Dunkin Doughnuts so of course he haddddd to stop. While he got his coffee I just drooled over the tons of different donuts they had there! Sunshine rainbow doughnut anyone?? 

Someone was veryy happy :) 

We then took the trolley out to the Nazi Documentation Center and Museum. While we didn't have enough time to do the museum (they suggest it takes 4 hours) we walked around the rally grounds that were designed by Albert Speer who was Adolf Hitler's favorite architect. In the center of the grounds is Gross Dutzendteich Lake which actually, was strangely very peaceful.

Not all the plans actually came to fruition because the war started but you could walk around and see Congress Hall and Zeppelin Field where Hitler would address his followers.  Now, Germany uses this area for a variety of more positive events. Park of Congress Hall is used by the Nurenberg symphony orchestra and a number of festivals, fairs, etc. are now hosted on the grounds. Additionally, in the back near Zeppelin Field a futbol stadium has been built for the home team. I can't even begin to explain the feeling you get standing where Hitler stood to address his followers. You get this immense feeling come over you and to think you are standing where so much history took place and what was the tipping point for so many things to come. It is a feeling I definitely won't soon forget. 

What Zepplin Field looked like in 1933 

....and in 2014 

Standing from the top of the podium and looking out to where Nazi enthusiasts would assemble. The police take very seriously anyone joking around or making any Nazi symbols or movements. Don't try it, you will get arrested. 

Panoramic view from the top of Zeppelin Field

After walking completely around the lake we decided to head back to downtown Nurenberg which was   PACKED for a Sunday afternoon. Similar to Bergen county most things are closed on Sunday so people come and congregate in the square. There is no shortage of street performers and so there is plenty to entertain you. Before heading home we met Jim's friend Erin and her husband Brian and there little on Chiara for dinner at this really cool place called Bagger's. The cool part- your food is delivered to you by roller coaster. Yes, a roller coaster. Don't worry, I took a video! :) The food was great, and the company was even better! It was great to make some new friends and to meet the people who got married in Italy when Jim and I first met (i'll save that story for another day!).