the week when I stayed overnight in THREE countries and in SIX cities

After a lovely week spent with my brother and sister-in-law (country and city #1), I made the long (in time, not distance) trek back to my home near Stuttgart, and 9 hours after arriving there was back on the road again to meet some travelers coming from the States.  A friend from Philly and his brother wanted to come and see all that they possibly could see in six days.  The whirlwind tour is admittedly not my personal style to travel, but I also understand that if you are only given a small window of time to travel in Europe, you will want to make the most of your time.  With that in mind, we had planned out a course back and forth across Germany with a short detour into the Czech Republic.

Tour guide Bethany and her two guests

On the day that they arrived - a cold, snowy day in Frankfurt - we walked around that city a bit, then picked up our rental car and hit the road to Prague.  My friend was always in the driver's seat, since I am still younger than the normal car rental age, but for the first couple legs of the trip, I was copiloting, translating signs from German into English, and running the in-car drink and snack service (you're welcome, driver).  A 5-hour drive turned into a painful 6-hour drive (in which none of us had slept more than 3 hours the night before) and the highways were completely covered in ice and snow for the last half of the trip.  By the time we reached snow-covered Prague (country and city #2), we were all a little cranky, hungry, and tired.  Thankfully, the very kind concierge at our hotel recommended a non-touristy restaurant, where we feasted on traditional Czech food and beer.

Oh how I love to eat.  First,  bread baked over open coals.  Next, goulash in a bread bowl.

We awoke the next morning to a fresh layer of snow and a fantastic view of the city we were about to explore.  We left early from the hotel, drove into the city, then wandered about in the general direction of our final destination:  the castle.  On the way, we were able to see a traditional Christmas market, visit some incredible churches, and eat some delicious food.  Prague was everything I had hoped it would be - beautiful and almost fairy-tale like, especially covered in snow, which only enhanced the inherent charm of the city.  For lunch, I ate a warm, hearty serving of goulash in a bread bowl.  However, all too soon we needed to be on the road again, in order to make it to Munich by dinner time.  I said my goodbyes to Prague, with a promise to be back as soon as possible.

After checking into our hostel in Munich (country and city #3), I took my friends to my favorite restaurant there - the Augustiner Braustuben (which is connected to the Augustiner brewery).   There we ate such traditional Bavarian foods as Schweinehaxen (pork knuckle), Bauernente (roasted duck), and Bauern-Hendl (roasted chicken) with the usual sides of potato salad, dumplings, and blaukraut (sweet red cabbage), washed down by delicious Augustiner beer, of course.  For me, visiting this city that I fell in love with last March was like seeing a long lost friend.  I didn't even take any pictures, because I enjoyed simply being there.  In the morning, we took a walking tour with a tour guide that I had in March.  It was a wonderful way to acquaint my friends with the Bavarian culture, with an overview of German history and how Munich has played such a key role.

From Munich we drove back home (for me, and city #4) to spend New Year's Eve, or as it is called here, Silvester, in Stuttgart.  After getting settled at my house, we drove into the city, found an Italian restaurant that was luckily open (almost everything shuts down here on that night), then walked around central Stuttgart, dodging fireworks that were rolling across the streets and going off around every corner.  In Germany, there is no law against doing fireworks in the middle of the city.  When we spontaneously decided to go ice skating on a small, outside (seasonal) rink in the center, there were random fireworks shooting off above us.  This was my first time on the ice in several years, and after skating awkwardly around the rink once or twice, a beautiful, graceful older woman motioned me aside and explained, in German, how to bend my knees, balance my weight on the ice, and not look so much like a penguin.  I tried again, and continued to watch as she glided swiftly and delicately across the ice, in a long winter coat that swept out around her as she slid smoothly around the curves.  A while later, she pulled me aside once more to give me a quick lesson on keeping my feet parallel and bending/leaning at the knees to turn side to side.  That was the first magical moment of my night.  The next came after we had driven up one of the many hills surrounding Stuttgart, in search of a good spot to watch the fireworks at midnight.  There, through the friendliness of the younger brother, we met a kind German couple and their friend who invited us to come along with them to the best spot, where several other people were gathered with their bubbly drinks and bags and boxes of fireworks.  Here, there isn't one single fireworks show at midnight.  Everyone buys their own, and at the stroke of midnight, the entire city explodes in light and color.  The clamor and flashing and cheers lasted for at least the following 45 minutes.  We toasted and wished our friends a "Gutes neues Jahr!"

Berlin graffiti, one of the few portions of the Berlin Wall that still stands, and the coffee shop that I haunted (4x in 2 days) during the weekend.  So great to have GOOD macchiato again (sorry...I know I'm a snob).

After sleeping late the following morning, catching up on some much needed rest, we ate a leisurely breakfast, then drove to Berlin (city #5).  By then, the routine was pretty much set - we would stop along the way, purchase our travel snacks of coffee, pretzels and gummi candy, and then play 20 questions or listen to music to pass the time.  After checking into our hotel in Berlin, we wanted something quick and filling for dinner - so what other option is there besides some good döner?!  This is a typical Turkish fast food here, with meat freshly roasted on a spit, falafel, veggies, and sauce stuffed inside a pita-like bread.  So satisfying.  And very Berlin.  We did a walking tour of the city the next morning, picking up more history and stories, but by the end we were all totally frozen.  After a break in the hotel, we went out for Indian food for dinner (which was absolutely wonderful - rivaling the Clay Pit in Austin, or Tiffin, for you Philly folks).  Another group of travelers we met on the tour had invited us to go salsa dancing with them (most of them were also from Texas, haha).  The club we went to had four different dance floors, and I spent most of my time on the salsa floor - dancing is always an interesting social interaction, and even more so when the music is loud and you don't speak the language as well.  Thankfully, words aren't usually necessary, and I wore myself out with dancing, as it should be.  Sunday was much calmer - we checked out of our hotel, got some lunch, then picked up my friend Liesl who was returning to Berlin after the holidays, and joined her and her friend for dinner.

Former roomates in front of the water tower;  the University in Mannheim

Late that night we traveled back to where we started, Frankfurt (city #6), and checked into a hotel in order to get a few hours rest before waking up in the morning to eat a quick breakfast, drive to the airport, return the rental car, and say our goodbyes.  However, my adventure was not quite over yet, because on the way back home, I stopped in Mannheim to see a former roommate from Philly who was staying with a friend there.  It was wonderful to see another familiar face and share an experience in Germany together (which we had often talked about when living together in the States.)  We were able to do a lot of catching up in our few hours together.  Finally, I set out for home again, and was so thankful to be back in my own bed for good.  Well...until I travel the next time.  :-)

a tale of snowy nights, balmy days, and the adventures in between

After such a long silence, I definitely owe you some good stories.  I will try not to bore you with tales of travel difficulties to all the places I visited, and instead focus on the places themselves.  Suffice it to say, after 2 hours waiting in sub-freezing temps for my bus, I will avoid flying out of Frankfurt Hahn Airport (a.k.a. the middle of I-don't-even-know-where) ever again.  Overall, my travels were characterized by waiting, sitting, icy roads, and over-priced snacks and drinks.  A strange highlight and/or confession that I must quickly share - I went to my first McDonald's here in Germany.  It was the only place open and warm on that cold night in Frankfurt when I was waiting for my bus, and being able to get an espresso macchiato in their McCafe was a gift that night.  Grace comes in strange ways.

My first adventure over the holidays was to visit my brother and sister-in-law in North Africa.  I couldn't wait to be around family, have familiar smiles looking back at me, and share new and old holiday traditions together.  Because they had a lot of sprucing up to do around their apartment - cleaning and repairing and arranging - I was actually able to experience some parts of life that I would, on a "normal" vacation, never have seen.  Some examples would be visiting half a dozen "drogerie" or hardware stores in five block radius for various parts, tools, and questions;  having one shop owner offer to find me a husband;  and seeing my sister-in-law bargain like a pro in the marketplace.

Our Christmas preparations were also a little different - first having a small "family" celebration via Skype, then in a kitchen which had just been turned upside-down by the cabinet maker, preparing all our Christmas day foods.  I am proud to say that breakfast did not disappoint - it was up to par with what a Harding Christmas breakfast ought to be - right down to the sour cream coffeecake.  My other unique non-vacation experience was going to get our Christmas chickens - at a store where all the chickens are squawking in the back, you say what size you'd like to have, then they butcher, pluck, and clean them right there.  I did not watch the butchering - however, I did see some serious plucking going on.  And smelled some smells like I had never smelled before.  I also learned that you must get your chickens butchered the day before, as they must rest before they are cooked.  All that being butchered and plucked is hard work.  Thankfully, the smells wafting from the oven on Christmas day were not even in the same realm as those I had smelled the day before.  Dinner was amazing, and it was such a blessing to be with those I love.

On my last day in the city, we finally had some nice warm, sunny weather (after 4 days of solid rain and wind).  We were able to go explore the old city, walk through narrow, winding streets shared by donkeys and mopeds alike, and look at all the brightly-colored pottery, spices, and fabric.  There were also times to simply talk - one of my favorites was sharing coffee with my sister-in-law in an outdoor cafe on the top of cliff, with the Atlantic Ocean crashing down below.  At the end of the week, I was ready to sleep in my own bed again, but that was about the only thing tugging me back to Germany.  I could have enjoyed some more family time and warm weather for at least another week.  ;-)  Ah well.  I guess I'll just have to go back.