Laura's Travels

We experience so much in each weekend trip. It seems like every day has 48 hours instead of 24. We get out early and return late.

On Thursday, we left after class and a quick dorm room heating up of left-overs from dinner earlier in the week (a delicious stir-fry that was just as good second time around). After an afternoon of switching trains and stopping by Ulm we made it to Munich around dinner time.

Ulm was beautiful. I may use that word too often to describe things here but its often the first one that comes to mind when I take in these sites. In Ulm, we had just over an hour break in the train schedule. First, the bags got locked up at the train station then we took off, weaving through the peaceful colorful streets filled with bakeries and boutiques. Many of the windows were filled with chocolates, small gifts, cards and flowers in pink, red, silver and gold. I wished I could send some of it home in time for Valentine's Day.

Our final destination in the city wasn't hard to find; we just followed the extremely tall cathedral spires. It was even more impressive once we reached it: high ceilings, intricate stained glass and statues, like most other German cathedrals, but what set this one apart is that we were able to climb all the way up to the top of it's towering spires. I think it's the highest climbable spire in Europe. There were windows to peek out along the way to look out and see the town people below turn into ants. Once at the top, the sun hung at the perfect spot in the sky. It cast a gleaming golden glow over the angles of the city. My favorite part of the view had to be the milky greenish-teal river running through the city under an multi-arched bridge. Through the river little kayakers paddled and small ships scooted. I felt like I could stare at it until the sun sank.

I couldn't stay and look too long though...we had a train to catch. Once at Munich, we checked into a hotel then headed in the direction of the Marien Platz, one of the main squares in Munich's rich and well distributed attractive areas. On the way we stopped at a restaurant called Augustiner-Keller. It had an underground area--a coppery brick high ceiling-ed tunnel shaped eating areas. I liked it but it was much different than the golden rooms upstairs, where men sat around in green felt and feathered Bavarian caps. The downstairs must be where they put the loud Americans. The company and goulash were both OK.

We walked around a bit after dinner then headed into yet another restaurant with the waitresses wearing the traditional dresses (very cute!). The next day, I was curious to see how much it would cost to dress that way...one store had a fancy version and I flipped the day: $699! I'll just admire them.

At 11 am on Friday we watched the figurines dance on the world famous coo-koo clock: the Glockenspiel. The the "onion-domed" spires of the Frauenkirche cathedral drew us in. After seeing this church whose Bishop from 1977-1982 was Pope Benedict, we went shop then the New Modern Art Museum. During these daytime excursions I had Caitlin and Micki as sight-seeing companions, but sometimes I get so caught up in looking at my surroundings that I still feel like a lone traveler.

I'm so glad for the opportunity to see all the art. I've never seen the very varied techniques of world renowned artists up close. In my modern art history class I saw some of these art's works but in person its a whole new feeling. Here I saw Monet, Manet, Van Gogh, Klimt....some of my favorites! I even discovered a few new favorites. I have a renewed drive to paint...maybe try out some of these brushstrokes myself.

At night we went to the beer hall, Hofbrauhaus, which has a great atmosphere. I ordered a homemade noodle dish with a brown ground meat and veggie sauce. Good! I passed a few bites around and tried some other Bavarian specialties in return. They must have huge pots of the dishes constantly ready because in this brewery which can serve around 4,000 people at once had fairly quick service! Then after leaving this hot spot we went to a different kind of hot spot...one that was classy and the place of choice for visiting politicians, Ratskeller Muchen, for a few snacks and dessert. Long day.

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Now I'm on the train to Fussen to see the castle used in Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang and was used as a model for Disney's Sleeping Beauty--Neuchschwanstein Castle. I'm very excited. I love fairy tales.

The weekend trip has been full but still fun. At first, I thought it was exhausting to leave for our trip to Bonn, Dusseldorf and Cologne right after class on Thursday but now it feels nice to be heading back and settling in on a Saturday night. Last weekend, I was anxious to get back but this trip seemed to be the perfect amount. We spent two nights at the same place, a hostel in Bonn, which helped make it more relaxed.

When we arrived in Bonn on Thursday night we checked in then headed out for a night to explore the town and get some dinner. It is a clean medium-sized town with plenty of shops and beautiful buildings (as most of Germany is filled with). In the center of downtown, a big tent bursting with costumed young people and a loud band's music filled a large brick courtyard. It was the perfect amount of bustle--I'm sure its much more insane at night in Cologne during this time of the year. We experienced some of the insanity just in the train station during a quick train switch in Cologne.

After getting a feel for the city, we settled in at an underground restaurant which served mostly German food but many had a Spanish flair. For example, Caitlin and Micki ordered German meat dishes with gravy and a hot chili pepper was the garnish, ha. I ordered goulash with bread. It was delicious and tasted like shredded beef in brown gravy. I wasn't full enough though so I ordered boiled potatoes, which came with onions and bacon. It tasted OK but was way too greasy. We ate the German way--relaxing, taking it slow and spreading the experience over a few hours. The middle-aged men at the table over from us greeted us and we found out that one of them lives in the suburbs of Boston and lived in Bonn for some time. When he stood up he towered over our table; his friend informed us that he used to be a pro-basketball player! We were pretty excited. Whitney was instantly in love. Ha.

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On Friday, the group split. Micki and I were travel buddies while Caitlin and Whitney wanted to go off and check out Caitlin's ancestry in Minden.

Micki and I first visited Bonn's cathedral then headed to Beethoven's home and birthplace on the way over we walked through the town square. It was so lively and fresh looking. Stands of colorful fruits and vegetables abounded. The bright, deep red cherries and white pears tempted me.

When we reached Beethoven's house, the experience was even better than I expected. I saw a piano Beethoven played on as well as letters, music, paintings, his ear pieces and various other instruments used by the music legend. One of my favorite parts was a magical 3D digital performance of his musical operas. The translation into English played across the top of the screen over the rhythmic dancing art. The words were so passionate and the notes soared. I soaked it all in. It made me want to watch Fantasia or go to an opera. It left me wanting more. What a wonderful memory made.

After we left Beethoven's we were off for an afternoon visit to Düsseldorf, the state capital.

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Düsseldorf was nice, not phenomenal, but nice and worth a visit. The part of the city by the Rhine is very picturesque. It was cold and the trees are still bare so I imagine it's even more of sight to see in the spring/summer. As we walked through the city we first traveled down the "Ko": top designer clothes/jewelry stores lit a glitzy strip through the city like the $18,000 diamond bracelet in the Cartier jewelry window. We drooled at the window of a lucky mannequin saying its labels name in a posh accent.

Then we went through another part of the city that was magical in a different way. Germany's oldest park lay before us and it was not only old it was extremely large! It seemed to go on forever. Around each bend an artsy character character greeted us. A huge pond filled with a dozen swans kept us a while. In the last section of the park a small green house sat under the tall trees. It reminded us of the one Snow White slept in in the heart of the woods, waiting for her prince to come. Instead of Snow White napping in the glass enclosure, there was a tree stump lay there. We think there was some kind of artistic statement being made but couldn't read the sign explaining it. It entertained/amused us just the same.

That night we headed back to Bonn for dinner. We were hungry and ready for a break...to just relax and warm up. We found an acceptable place (kind of expensive!) and I just ordered a small cheese pizza. Pretty usual, but it worked. We had nice conversation and the night wound down from there.

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Today we explored Cologne. It was so exciting and simply enjoyable to be part of the Carnival festivities. As we walked down the street through costumed people of all ages the mood was light. Balloons, costumes, drinks, decorations and more filled the streets. Random mini parades or bands burst through the crowds, raising the spirits.

The only downer of the time in Cologne was that the wonderfully detailed cathedral was closed for the holiday. Mom had told me so much about its delicate intricacies and how it stood out among all the cathedrals of Europe that she and her college friend, Pam, visited years ago in college. Oh well, at least I got to see its beauty from the outside.

Overall, it was a smooth full weekend with good company and memories. Thank Jesus for the blessing.

This has been a pretty good week. I'm finally feeling settled here in the German world. I've figured out how to work the European laundry machines, taken my first unsupervised trip, and found new safe trails to run on. Also I figured out some of my new favorite staples from the Penny Markt, a cheap local grocery store and I made a somewhat nice/"real" dinner for my roommate and me(chicken, creamy white spinach sauce with pasta shells and freshly steamed broccoli--YUM). Groups have settled in somewhat as far as travel goes. All this has made my third week mark (today!) a good spot to be in. God is really blessing me and working things out!

While all this is true, last night was stressful. After I made a late dinner for Karen and I, I tried to study for my first German test, given this morning. I had such trouble concentrating. I kept taking breaks so I didn't end up going to bed until close to 1 am and got up at 7 am to run, study more, and pack for this weekend--all before my 9:15 am class.

All is well now. I think I did alright on German and now adventure is ahead. We're staying in Bonn (home of Beethoven) for the next two nights, but are taking day trips to Düsseldorf and Cologne. We have state projects where we visit the capital and various other places to get a feel for our state up close and personal. Mine is North Rhine-Westphalia.

This weekend should be extra special, especially in Cologne, because its Fasching/Karnival. It's kind of like Germany's version of New Orleans' Mardi Gras. Today, "Dirty Thursday", starts a week long party before Lent. Should be interesting.

Last night I stayed at a hostel in Mainz. It was a LONG walk to get to the tourist information office which provided us with a map of the city. The heavy backpacks didn't help. When we got the map we found that the hostel was no where near, so we hopped on a bus. On our way we got to see what some of the neighborhoods looked like. It's so interesting to me to see how people from different parts of the world live. The style is unique. They're very quaint here. It seems even the simpler designs have charm.

We explored the town a bit once we settled in. First, we saw the city's dom: The Cathedral of Mainz. It was gorgeous--almost too perfect to be real. I'm seeing a lot of sights like that lately. It's construction began in the 900's AD and took about 300 years until it came to completion. Afterward, my small group and I went to an Italian restaurant. We wanted a sit-down place because all of us were ready for a break after a long train ride and trekking all over town. It was a strange experience for me. The waiter/owner got all worked up because I asked him a question about the menu in English. He said that in Germany you must speak German. Then he went on all night speaking Italian every time he stopped by our table. I wanted to tell him to start speaking some German!!

We were somewhat satisfied after dinner but all craved a little dessert. We were in hot pursuit of an "eis" (ice cream) shop. Most were closed or closing. Don't people around here like a little ice cream after their dinners?! I was very tempted to get some soft serve from a McDonalds down the street, but fortunately we found a dessert/coffee/small entree cafe open. I got a cone of peppermint chocolate-chip. It was small but delicious. Gelato has a unique taste to it--icy yet very creamy. Yum.

The night life in Mainz amounted to almost nothing so we went back to the hostel to relax for the night by 8:30. There was a bar/seating area set up there where we talked and ate nachos until close to midnight. The company was nice.

The next morning, we got up early, ate breakfast (cereal, rolls/jelly, coffee/tea, and some strangely plain chunky yogurt with canned fruit to mix in it), then took off to see the Gutenberg Museum before leaving on the 11:30 am train to Bacharach. We were only able to stay about an hour, but I really enjoyed it. I don't know if it's my love of books or art or the Biblical history (they had copies of the first printed Bibles!) but I seemed to like it more than the rest of the group. They said they had enough paper after an hour of being there. Bah humbug.

As we journeyed from the museum to the train station we passed through the town square filled with colorful market stands. I wished to grocery shop this way. People walked around with their wicker arm baskets filling them with fresh produce, rolls, pastries, flowers, dried pasta and more. What an endearing way of life.

For some portion of the train ride from Mainz to Bacharch, we followed the coast of the Rhine River. Villages of pastel and white houses lined the shoreline while occasionally up the in hills a stone castle stood proudly. This is a ride my mom had recommended to go on even if we didn't have a destination. We did have a destination though: a castle of our own in little old Bacharach. The castle, built in the 1200's, was a steep hike up from the sweet village below. It was worth every step. Inside there is a cafe, a game room and clean cozy dorms.

We dropped our stuff off and went out to explore. In the winter, this town basically shuts down so we decided to just enjoy the nature around us. First, we took a walk along the Rhine and stopped by a park to play. As we continued our walk we saw a look-out tower on one of the vineyard covered hillsides. We decided to see how far up the hill we could go. One and a half hours later, including some breaks to enjoy the view, we made it to the top. The view of the town and river below was unforgettable. The sun shone across the quiet town as trains slide by the rocky coast and barge made ripples in the water's surface.

There's a unique atmosphere here. It makes me wonder what it'd be like to actually live in a town like Bacharach. The town in no doubt relaxing, but I think I'd miss some of the hustle and bustle. Maybe the people here travel to other villages during these winter months?! Smoke drifting up the valley from houses below indicated that some people were around. I wanted to be in one of those cozy homes and see what it would be like to be a local for a night.

As most of the town's shops and entertainment were shut down, so too were most all the restaurants. We decided to take the hostel up on their all-you-can eat buffet. After a long day of hiking we were ready for some hot homemade German food.

Dinner ended up being decent. It was salad with corn, beans, spices, an oddly good onion/cream/pineapple mix and shredded carrtots to top it off. The salads here have a kick. The soup, buttery herb, was not so good. The main entree, on the other hand tasted decent and hit the spot. It was hollow spiral noodles topped with brown gravy and roast beef tips. In addition, there were crunchy canned pears, strawberry yogurt and apricot tea. I had it all and left very full. I took advantage of "all-you-can-eat", especially since there would be no "eis" shops open to stop by later. Overall, satisfying but I do miss home-cooked family dinners!!

We started classes this week. They seem like they'll all be fairly interesting but the way they're scheduled in is much different from my college schedule back at Valpo. It may be the change in friendships and the lack of cafeteria time that adds to this, as well. Instead of classes being spread out, they're all pretty well in a row and for longer periods of time. To add to the "blocked" feel, every class is in the same room. I think my favorite class will be German Economics because the professor is such an odd man (I mean this in the best way). He loves to joke and has a jolly chuckle that reminds me of a character from a book or movie. Very animated. He likes to pull out random strange facts about Americans or German life and say "you think I'm joking, I'm serious." When he says this he gets really quite and leans in like he's letting us in on some big secret about the world around us.

Earlier this week was really hard on me. Sometimes I feel like everyone came into this trip with a best friend and it's hard not to have that same deal. Some people are big time drinkers and some are whiners: both I have a hard time relating to. It makes me appreciate even more the wonderful family and friends I have back home and see even further how special they are. I finally got a phone system working to connect with family back home. I talked through a lot of it with my mom and felt better just hearing the voice of someone I'm so close to. I'm so blessed to have her and all others who are praying for me on this journey. God is my strength.

As the week went on things got more hopeful. My roommate, who acted out of control our first few nights here, has some really great qualities, too. She's growing on me and I'm actually glad for the chance to be roommates and get to know her better. Her name is Karen and she loves to laugh. I think she comes off as a bit of an airhead to some people, but I see that there's more to her. Last night she made some delicious Ravioli and shared her leftovers. It was nice to have a hot dinner, as its been a transition to cook for just myself in these beginning stages. She does stuff like a lot-very giving. After dinner we blasted the music in our dorm in between homework breaks. It was so much fun...we're thinking about heading out to the downtown Irish Pub for karaoke soon.

Another discovery I made that is helping me to feel a little more settled is going for a run on the trails just beyond campus park. It's so safe and pretty. I now have a place to get out on my own and blow off a little energy. Last night, I went out and ran a loop several times and listened to music. So relaxing.

Tomorrow I'm headed out to Rhineland-Pfalz. The first night we're staying in the state's capital, Mainz. I hope it'll be a beautiful and fun experience. The group I'm traveling with doesn't exactly like to plan ahead so I'm not sure exactly what is to come! I'll be praying. It'll be an adventure.

So, all-in-all, I went from rock bottom to pretty good this week of daily life in Reutlingen. God always finds a way to lift me back up when I'm sinking. I am so thankful for all those praying back home.