Europe Trip: Germany

Ahhhhhh Deutschland! Deutsch must stand for beautiful. Beautiful Land. We loved Germany. We spent most of our time in Bavaria and it was perfect. This is going to be one long post about Germany. Wifi has been sparse so far in Greece and I want to catch up while I have it so I do't fall behind:)

We took an overnight train from Paris to Frankfurt and other than waking up with "train legs" (like sea legs) it was one of the best night's sleep so far. We planned to road trip our way through Bavaria so we rented a car. It was significantly cheaper to rent a manual so that's what we did. Brett learned and practiced (ahem.. twice) at home and we figured it would be fine. We picked up our car and spent about 10 minutes in the parking garage trying to pull out of our spot. Apparently it's very difficult to go from park to THIRD with your emergency break on. Finally we figured it out and were on our way. First step of the directions... get on the Autobahn. Joy. If you don't know what the Autobahn is it is the freeway system in Germany. Notorious for no speed limits. Anyway, we got on the Autobahn. Brett became very focused and serious on driving and I also became very focused and serious... on praying. Good Lord get me out of this car!! I seriously reconsidered the value of a bargain and whether it was worth it to save money when it involves being trapped in a fast moving, inexperienced driven, metal death cage. I prayed again. Then I decided I was going to commit to being positive and encouraging and not let my fear turn me in to a screaming, yelling, nagging, negative, discouraging, hyper-ventilating wife. Even when Brett was going 92 mph. Germany... where I learned a big lesson in self-control.

The death trap.
Our first day we spent road tripping through Bavaria on a little stretch called the Romantic Road. It's a convenient little road that takes you through all of the old Bavarian villages that weren't destroyed in world war II. If you think of Germany and you think pretzels, lederhosen, Pinnocchio looking houses, wind mills, and giant beers then you're thinking of Bavaria. That all came from Bavaria and is not what other parts of Germany are like at all. We stopped at a few villages and absorbed all of the cuteness. Our favorite village was called Rothenburg.

Schnee Ball!!!!! Supposedly a Rothenburg original this little ball is amazing! Crunchy, flaky, sweet, yum!




When planning Germany Brett and I kept talking about how wonderful it would be to see Germany during Christmas time. Apparently it is so wonderful that they have year round Christmas emporiums devoted to the season. They were the best!! Christmas in June, I love it. We totally got a German ornament.


All of the village churches were open to letting people walk through them. What a crazy experience. Church was so different back then. The pulpit was usually above the congregation somewhere in the middle-side of the pews. A few of the churches even buried some of their dead inside the church, under the floor, next to the pews!

This darling, quaint, super old village church... was straight up CREEPY! We couldn't read the German telling us who this extra special guy was but we're guessing some sort of priest. He's so special in fact that they buried his body in a glass case. Yup, right next to the pews. The poor children in that church. Sunday morning a time for worship, fellowship, and watching our beloved priest decay. Gross.

We finished the Romantic Road in a place called Fussen. Where we stayed in a hostel much nicer than the last. We got there late in the afternoon so we went to dinner, came back, and went to bed. I have had a few authentic German plates in the past and wanted to try a home favorite in it's home land. We found a cute and fair priced little restaurant. Traveling tip: Sometimes when the prices get lower it may mean you are eating where the locals eat. This is both awesome and intimidating because they expect you to know what you want and don't have any interest in trying to explain things to you in English. I ordered sauerbraten and spatzle and was happy to find out it tasted exactly like home!! Way to go mom! 2nd travelers tip: don't order "water". In Europe if you order "water" and don't specify "tap water" they will bring you a tiny glass bottle of extra fancy extra expensive mineral water. It's the biggest tourist trap around. I got so caught up in ordering my meal properly that I completely forgot and fell in to the trap:( Here's my very extra special, I swear they just filled the bottle with tap water, extra fancy water.

Our hostel... the itchy one.

Our second day we went up the road to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that Walt Disney used as inspiration for his park castles. It was the castle of "mad" King Ludwig II and was only occupied by him for a few months before he died. It was then turned in to a museum a week later. He was known for being crazy. Attentive to every detail, a lavish dreamer, and spending every last dime of his family's fortune to build his dream house. Shortly after moving in to the castle a doctor came and diagnosed him as mentally unhealthy ("mad"). A few days later both "mad" King Ludwig and the doctor were found dead in the shallow waters of a small lake nearby. No one knows what happened but there is a lot of speculation. So interesting!!


This is the view from one of the castle windows. The little town off to the right in the back is Fussen, where we stayed. The mountains in the background are the Swiss Alps! Talk about a view. I'd want this bedroom window.

Ausfahrt and Einfahrt mean exit and entrance. On the freeway the Ausfahrt signs are GIANT.
We took this picture because we are extremely immature and laughed at these signs every time we passed them! We think farts... err fahrts are funny!

After leaving Fussen we drove to Munich (avoiding every hill and possibility of rolling in to other cars that we could along the way). Once in Munich we headed to the Dachau concentration camp. We drove silently there. Half because Brett was focusing on driving and I was focusing on not screaming when we almost rolled in to cars and half because I was mentally prepping myself for what I was about to see.

We walked up and were greeted by the gate. Dachau was the first concentration camp in Germany and for awhile was the largest. It was known for it's cruelty and would cause both Jewish people and non Jewish people to shudder at the even mention of it's name.

The little sign on the left told us that prisoners were brought in on the train, lined up on the brick road, and marched inside the camp where the disinfection and checking in processes began. In this picture you can still see remnants of the train track, the train platform, and the same brick road.

Every concentration camp had this above it's gate. It says "work sets you free". I imagined what it must have felt like the moment you stepped off the train and your feet hit the brick pavement. Who and what your thoughts must be on as you walked through the metal gate knowing that you may not and most likely will not ever walk back through again.
We walked through everything. The check in center, we looked at desks that were used to hold prisoners files, we looked at personal items that were confiscated from prisoners, we saw the propaganda that portrayed concentration camps to the rest of the world as safe and human work camps, we saw where the prisoners were disinfected and the bolts in the wall that held the hooks where they were hung to dry, we walked through the gas chambers, the bullet holed walls that prisoners were lined up against and shot and the blood trenches that were dug to carry all of the blood from the shootings, the "showers" where prisoners were doused in acid then carried to the incinerators in the next room. It wasn't cutesy and it wasn't fluffed up. It was raw and sobering. It was more real than any book, speaker, or history lesson could've ever made it for me. I felt like I understood these prisoners, these people that were not very different than me and who lived not too long before me more than I ever had. I walked through the camp fighting tears and swallowing hard the growing lump in my throat. Everyone needs to see places like these. To see the possibilities of our human flesh when we lose compassion, justice, and love. To see just how important it is to love our neighbors and raise our kids to do the same. Dachau was a life changing experience for me and it alone was worth a whole trip to Germany.

I was too captivated to take many pictures but I knew my little sister, who has a huge heart for this period of history, would want to see so I snapped a few.

These are the gas chambers. The soldiers denied ever using them to kill anyone. They were supposedly only used for the disinfection of clothing but the prisoners testified to different uses.


These are the "showers". Large groups of prisoners were brought in to a locked room next door so that they couldn't run away. Once in the room the doors to the showers were opened and the prisoners were forced inside. Again, I couldn't help but imagine myself in there and what that experience must have been like.
The very next room was the incinerator. How convenient. This building was a killing machine. A few bodies could fit in each one at one time making mass murdering quick and easy.

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After the concentration camp we headed to the house of our couchsurfing host for that night. What should've been a 45 minute drive turned in to over two hours. We were super lost and were very busy avoiding hills and battling stop and go traffic in the city streets of Munich. We got there much later than we would've liked and unfortunately we didn't get to spend much time with our couch surfing host. But he was really sweet and made us feel right at home:) We had to wake up super early the next morning for our flight to Athens! (which ended up being delayed because of the strikes). BUT we did get there to there and just finished our first day. This place is absolutely nuts. Between the riots, the history, the big city feel, and my new familiarity with the sting of tear gas... there is much to tell. Can't wait to post! Love and miss you all:)

Europe Trip: Homesick

OK, so, I am a very "homesick" person. I love home. I love the familiarity, I love my family, I love my pups, I love my job, I love my friends, I love my church. I love home.

I've been a homesick girl since I was little. It wasn't unheard of for me to call home from a sleepover to have my parents come get me because I wanted to go home. When we were planning this trip I worried about my homesickness. I could buy Dramamine for motion sickness but they didn't sell anything for homesickness. I checked. I've been shocked this past week that I hadn't felt homesick once. I tried not to think about it much for fear I'd jinx myself. I was confident that I had defeated homesickness! Or at least left it at home.

Until yesterday...
Yesterday was a day of madness. Brett learning how to drive a stick ON THE AUTO BAHN. Getting lost a million times. Sleeping in a strangers house. Finding semi normal food to eat on a German menu. Lack of water. And a very busy schedule.

Come dinner time all Brett heard me talking about was Estradas and laying on my parents living room floor with the dogs. I wanted home and I wanted it BAD. I didn't want German food I needed something I know. So, we found an Italian restaurant and I got mushroom pizza. We laughed and unwound over the familiar and my homesickness melted away.

So folks, I found the pill for homesickness. It's not next to the Dramamine. No, it comes in mushroom pizza form. Sweet deal!

Europe Trip: Paris

Our last morning in Gordes was wonderful. We took it slow, sat on the steps next to the fountain, ate pastries, listened to the clock tower ring every half hour, and people watched.

This is me waiting forever for our train.

It was a perfect day.... until we got to Paris.

Paris and I had a little bit of a rough start. A little bit is an understatement. I was ready to get back on the train and leave and I am not joking.

In Paris' defense our first impression had a lot to do with bad scheduling, poor location researching, and terrible directions. We got off the train and were told to walk in one direction to find our hotel, then we got lost, asked someone new, were told the opposite direction, then we got lost, wash, rinse, repeat. After 2 hours of being lost we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of some form of a woodstock festival... but crazier. We kept getting seperated, everyone was drunk or high and touching each other in ways that I can't even mention here. After being lost for the millionth time we found ourselves up against a wall, burnt out, and sandwiched in between a cross dressing bride and a couple making out. I lost it. I looked at the ground so no one would see me and then I bit my lip hard to make the tears stop. Brett knew better than to ask if I was ok. He went in to super hero mode and we found our hostel before we knew it.


Oh, our hostel. I am so thankful for the gift of our beautiful bastidon in Gordes... God knew we'd need some pampering before we reached Paris. I don't even have words for our hostel. Except that I couldn't decide if it was better to sleep in the bed or o the street outside. We knew we had booked something outside of the city but we didn't realize how "outside". We were in the slums. We unloaded our stuff and took a late train to the Eiffel tower. The actually city of Paris was much better. We grabbed a quick dinner at a cafe and took a baguette to the tower. We found an empty little park and layed on our backs in disbelief, once again, of what where we actually were. It was a "big ben moment" as we now like to call it. I know we'll remember that night laying in the grass below the eiffel tower forever.

**Paris can be a little scary so Ididn't bring the big camera out to play... these are all little camera shots:)**

Oops I uploaded a blurry one! :/ :)

The next morning we woke up and headed back to the city. We went to the Louvre and had our minds blown. It's a shame you have to go all the way to Paris to experience the Louvre. I was truly awestruck. I think my favorite parts were the sculptures and the Egyptian art. Also, we were told not to expect much from the Mona Lisa. There's a crowd in front f it and it looks exactly like the pictures. Both of those statements are true... but I got the chills once we got to the frnt of the crowd. It was like meeting Santa Clause. I just couldn't believe it was real!

These are the best shots we could get with the crazy crowd



This is a mummy!!!!!!!!!! Egypt is insane. Next trip? I think so.
After about 4 hours in a museum you start to go a little nutty and everything becomes funny...




After the Louvre we decided to simply explore the city for the rest of the day. Exploring is my favorite. We walked around Notre Dame and spotted gargoyles and got ice cream. Then we sat and talke on the Seine River for a long time before we walked to the beautiful Luxembourg gardens. We had about a half hour before our train so we got a nutella and almond crepe and went back to the river to sit and talk. Another "big ben moment" :)

Center of Paris!

Europe Trip: Gordes, France II

Our second day in Gordes exceeded the first by a million. I couldn't have even imagined that was possible on our first day. We slept in late and started exploring the city center about noon. First mission: food. Breakfast is not a big meal in France. Usually just a pastry and coffee will do. I do not have a French diet and need more than a pastry for breakfast unfortunately. We stopped at the cafe on the corner and split a ham, cheese, basil, and tomato sandwich. How could something so simple and so cheap be so good? After our sandwich we began to walk the tiny town. You can walk the every inch of the center of Gordes in about 20 minutes tops if you're not ogling at every little detail. We stumbled across a patisserie (bakery) that had a window filled with mouthwatering things. We went in and ordered two things: a sacristain and pan au chocolat. We've had pan au chocolat (chocolate croissant) at Starbucks before but obviously this was a whole different experience! What we hadn't had was the sacristain (which I will be eating again in the morning no doubt). I have no idea what this thing is but I do know it's divine. Almonds, pastry, sugar, mystery ingredients, and hard to the touch but shatters in to a million soft flaky little pieces when you take a bite. It had every perfect texture and flavor. Drool.




We spent a good portion of the rest of the day exploring the city. We probably made our way through it about five times. Gordes is truly not for everyone. I think some would be bored out of their mind here. There are only a handful of restaurants and shops, there are about two semi-interesting museums, and most people there are a bit older. Fortunately for us.. we're not those people. We LOVED it. We touched every inch of that city at least 5 times and it was new and exciting every time. I swear it would change every time we started a new lap. There was a new vine covering on the wall we hadn't noticed, a new window, a new door, a new view. We just kept going round and round shifting from stunned silence to chattering disbelief. It was almost time for the village to shut down so we made our way to the very little market on the corner and found a bottle of wine made down the road. We took a new route back home and found some new treasures. Once to our bastidon we relaxed and simply enjoyed the provencial breeze coming through the shutters.












Before we knew it it was dinner time and we made our way back to the same restaurant. We had experienced pizza so we tried something new. Pasta and scallops in a truffle cream sauce. The food here is killing me. DROOL. Tonight we were rested and enjoyed the drawn out dinner experience, sitting at a table less than a foot away from your neighbors table, and waiting until whenever the waiter decided to bring the check. It was lovely.



Speaking little to no French is an interesting thing. It forces us to talk less and listen more. I've loved watching the French be French. It's very different than being American in so many ways. There are plenty of stereotypes about the French and I can already understand why they've gotten them. But if you watch closely and leave drawing conclusions behind you will begin to understand them more. Gordes is a well visited town but not often by Americans... I think it's too far off the map and too far from Paris. 95% of the tourist that we are here with are not American and do not speak English. Most tourists in Gordes are French! The other 5% are English and are still very different than Americans. We've run into about three Americans and it was very eye opening. Spending so much time around non-Americans makes an American suddenly stick out to you like a sore thumb. I hate to admit this and I know everyone is not the same (as I would like to think Brett and I are not the same) but in general we are noticing that Americans are loud, rude, expectant, prideful, and selfish. We've always heard an American before we've seen one and cringe at the things they have said and the way they have treated people. It's embarrassing and makes us extremely conscious of our actions. There's nothing like traveling to give you a dose of clarity.

That's kind of a sad note to end on haha! We are American and extremely proud to call our country home!!! It's just very interesting to see our own culture through different eyes. We are leaving for Paris and are excited to see what it's like. Can't wait to update you next time we get wi-fi!! ... or weefee as our French friend likes to call it:) Friends, we're bringing that home.