The End...and The Beginning

When Ben and I landed in Louisville, as promised, Ben kissed the ground in joy of returning to America.

We had quite the time trying to take all of our luggage by tram to the airport in Düsseldorf, then rearranging everything in our luggage when we found out one bag was too heavy to check, then having to throw away our beach umbrella because of having too many bags and the umbrella would have cost 130 euro to check. But, we still made it home with all the important stuff.

Farewell, Europe, we had a lovely time. Thanks to all those who followed our journey this summer!

So, back to everyday life...and the beginning of my new blog! Since I really enjoyed keeping this blog all summer, I decided to start my own blog going forward. To see more about my everyday life in the states, check out http://everydaymegan.blogspot.com/.

Back to the Future

Well, this is it...our final night in Düsseldorf!! Living here has been surreal, almost like our lives are just on hold, waiting to get past this phase until we can start living our real lives again. Tomorrow morning, we head back to Louisville, back to our family and friends, back to the future of our lives. So, what better thing to do for our last night in Düsseldorf than watch "Back to the Future"? And we're not talking about the 3 DVDs of it we brought (which we already watched several times this summer, by the way). We're talking, on the big screen, at the theaters, popcorn and a soda! We took it as a sign from God that we were meant to go watch it since all 3 of those movies are in our list of favorite movies of all time, and it was playing on our last night here, and in English. What a great decision! We walk in, and right there in the lobby was a Delorean!

Sadly, no flux capacitor was inside. So before the movie started, a guy spoke to the audience, thanking the people who got the Dolorean there and thanking the fans for finally making this happen. He made the comment that maybe they can one day get parts 2 and 3 of the movie to play, too. Suprisingly, when the movie started, it wasn't part 1, but actually part 3! Someone yelled out, "This is a surprise!" I was so excited, though, since the 3rd one is my favorite! It was everything I hoped it would be and more. So much fun to see it on the big screen - so funny, so exciting, even though I've seen it a million times and could quote all the lines. What a geat note to end on. In the words of Doc at the very end, "Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one - both of ya!" Will do, Doc, will do.

Bittersweet Ending

As I count down the days until we go home, I can't help but feel a litte bit sad. This summer has been so amazing, so surreal…but at the same time, I long to be home. I can hardly believe we've lived in Europe 18 weeks! I never would have imagined we would get an opportunity like this…ever! What an experience!

When I think back on this summer, I will remember it as the summer that I traveled all over Europe and had the time of my life; that I had no real responsibilities outside of work; that I felt like I was living someone else's life, seeing and doing things I'll probably never get a chance to do again; that I spent every penny I earned on just enjoying life here; that I gained a new sense of independence and self-confidence…

...but also, this is the summer that I put my real life on hold; that nothing was normal; that I missed out on my first summer in my new house; that I missed my aunt's funeral and my brother's wedding; that I didn't get to see my grandma in her last days; that I wasn't there for my family in their grief and in their joy; that I've missed out on all the planning and events of my best friend's wedding.

I've taken advantage of every opportunity; but in another sense, I've missed out on so much. I guess all I should do now is remember the good, be thankful for getting this opportunity of a lifetime, and celebrate the moment I step off that plane in Louisville!!

Reflection

I started thinking today about how excited I am to go home, and then I started thinking about all the random things I've noticed about living among Germans. So I wrote them down, in case anyone cares.

Things I miss, in no particular order (most of these are really shallow, I know, so don't judge):

Family; friends; our bed; our deck; my car; my favorite restaurants; English; small talk with strangers I meet; small talk during the work day; eating lunch slowly; going out for lunch; American keyboard at work; American movies; tv; our Wii; my Chi hair straightener; our shower; our bathtub; our bath towels; having a scale to weigh myself; the water purifier; dry sheets (it's always damp here); using my cell phone; text messaging; having parties; buying in bulk at Costco; Southeast; Southeast; Southeast; did I mention Southeast?; free public bathrooms; American outlets; kitchen counter space; a huge refrigerator; ice cubes; free refills; iced tea; dollars; our washer and dryer; free gym at, where else, Southeast; people who don't think I'm crazy for not loving Obama.

Things I've noticed about Germans:

They do not give free refills; water is not free, in fact it is more expensive than ordering beer; they love beer; they never cross the street until the walk sign is green, even if nothing is coming, and they look offended if we cross on red; everyone says bye ("tschüss") in the exact same high-pitched voice; they seem to all use the same phrases, such as "alles klar" (all is clear) and "genau" (exactly); they eat really healthy; they snack on things like fruit at work, not vending machine items; they are skinny; celebrating something at work with champagne in the middle of the work day is perfectly acceptable; pork is their meat of choice; sometimes when they are calmly discussing something in German, it sounds like arguing to me.

Barcelona: the last excursion!

Last weekend we went to Barcelona, Spain - our last weekend excursion while living in Europe. I was paranoid about getting pick-pocketed the whole time since we heard and read that it is the worst city in Europe for that, but we managed to keep our wallets the whole trip. It was a great, relaxing weekend, and also a little sad knowing it was the end of our travels! Ben might say otherwise...I think he's traveled out...but I could keep on traveling if only we weren't so far from home. That we do agree on - we can't wait to get home this weekend!!

We flew to Barcelonal Friday afternoon after work...all day I was so excited I could hardly focus on working! By the time we got there, took a train from the airport to the city, took the subway to our hotel and dropped our stuff off, it was already pretty late. We were starving, so went out to dinner on the Ramblas (the main boulevard there where everything is going on). The place we went was recommended in the Rick Steves book - the ambiance was really nice, the food was presented really well, and the prices were really cheap...but the food tasted sort of cheap, too. But we were starving, like I said, so it was all good. We got some champagne (a local type), an appetizer (fried potatoes), 2 meals (gorgonzola ravioli was mine and grilled chicken with cheese sauce and rice was Ben's) and 2 desserts (profiteroles, which is like cream puffs smothered in chocolate, and something like ice cream with custard on top and chocolate all over that - we shared these) for 35 euro...not too shabby!

Needless to say, we were stuffed afterward, so walked around for only a short while then headed back to the hotel.

The next day we went to the beach, which was gorgeous! Golden sand, sail boats out in the ocean, palm trees lined up behind us, topless women everywhere...oh wait, that last part wasn't beautiful, just disgusting! Please, people, get some pride! Oh my. That's all I have to say about that. So Ben was pretty disappointed with the water because it was really rocky and hard to walk out into the ocean, but he braved it anyway. I decided not to even go in since it didn't sound very appealing. When we first got there and were setting up our umbrella, a Spanish lady walked by and said, "Massage for 5 euro". Well, we'd seen people doing that on the Cinque Terre beach and had sort of laughed at it, but for some reason, we thought this time it would be a good idea for me to get one. So I did. And it was amazing. She had me lay flat on my stomach and she used baby oil and gave me an amazing back and arm massage for 15 minutes! Then, after I was all content and relaxed, she suckered us in by saying, "Leg and feet massage? 5 more euro." So I did that too. And again, amazing, and another 15 minutes. Then she said, "Hand and face massage? 5 more euro." But, I drew the line there and said no, we'd spent enough already...although I was really curious what a face massage would entail. Man oh man, what a great start to my day. Totally worth the 10 euro!!

For breakfast and lunch that day, we just bought groceries at a supermarket there so we could eat on the beach. We stayed out until about 5, then decided to see some more of the town. Ben managed to not get burnt at all with his SPF 50, but sadly since SPF 50 was all we had (16 euro for one bottle!!!!!), I didn't even get a tan even though I only applied the sunscreen once in the morning.

After a short trip to the hotel to get ready, we headed out to Park Guell, a famous park there conveniently within walking distance of our hotel. It was created by this architect (Gaudi) who designed the whole thing, as well as most of the other famous structures of the town like the famous Sagrada Familia cathedral. The park was amazing! He originally envisioned it to be a gated community for the wealthy (according to the Rick Steves book), but apparently that didn't work out so well. The park has these really colorful, bizarrely shaped buildings in front.

Then there were these stairs leading up the middle, with mosaics and fountains and flowers...so colorful and imaginative.

There were neat columns, a huge area with erconomically designed, mosaic-covered seating, interesting pathways, gorgeous flower beds, a perfect view of the city from the top...simply stunning.

Of course, my camera battery died there, so I resorted to taking some with the camera on my cell phone...but then my cell phone died, too. Oh well, I got a few pictures at least. Check out the gallery for the rest of the pictures!

For dinner, we ventured off to a street behind the Ramblas, to a nice little place to get some tapas. We had some fried calamari, cod, potatoes, and something like a crab cake. Then we had paella, which is a traditional spanish dish with rice and veggies and chicken. We had sangria to drink, which was amazing - made with red wine, which is different than I've had in the past, and lemons and oranges - it tasted like fruit juice! It was all great, but I was so full afterward I felt sick. Then we walked up and down the Ramblas all night, where people were doing magic shows, painting pictures, selling stuff, etc. It was pretty entertaining, so we just walked until we got to the Columbus Monument at the end (where Ferdinand and Isabella welcomed Columbus back after discovering America - I said a "thank you" to Columbus there, ha), then headed back to the hotel. We really didn't see much else of the city except that touristy boulevard and the beautiful park, but we were mainly interested in the beach anyway.

So the next day, we went to the beach again, of course, and did the breakfast and lunch groceries again. We went to a different area of beach, which turned out to be perfect. The ocean floor wasn't rocky at all, only sandy, so Ben loved it and was so mad we didn't go there the day before. I got in with him that day since he bought an innertube and I just floated on that the whole time. The greatest thing about these beaches, too, was that they weren't crowded at all! I guess it is late enough in the summer that most people have already taken their vacations.

We went early to the airport straight from the beach in order to have time for checking in, to get through security, and to have a hot dinner there afterward without rushing. But no - the check-in line wasn't even open for another hour, so we ended up eating sandwiches again for dinner, which was highly disappointing, and then waiting in line forever for check-in to open. Then we wanted a snack once we got past security and to where we thought the "good food" would be, but there really wasn't anything hot there either. I mean, come on, where's the McDonald's? Where was the Cinnabon? I was ready for my fattening American food at that moment, and it made me a little grouchy. Ben bought me a bag of assorted candy bars, though, which appeased me. A flight, a train ride, and a 25 minute walk later, we were home at 1 AM and exhausted. Had a great last excursion...sad to see it end!

Alone in Europe: Day 6

So I realize I am posting this a day late, but Ben got home last night...why would I want to get on the computer? My last day alone was the typical, I-hate-Mondays type of day. Got up feeling tired, went to work, and came home. Once I got home, I decided I didn't want Ben to come home to a messy apartment. I cleaned for about 45 minutes, which pretty much got everything clean except for the living room floor (what can I say....apartments are very big). Then I made myself dinner and left for the airport to meet Ben. It was so great seeing him come through those doors! I missed him so much while he was gone - hopefully we won't have to be apart that long again anytime soon! Ben also promised me that night that he'd never leave me alone in Europe again. Probably an easy promise to keep, but who knows what the future holds - I'm just glad I have him with me today!

Alone in Europe: Day 5

Today was pretty boring. I basically did nothing all day as Düsseldorf practically shuts down on Sundays. Sure, I knitted a whole scarf while listening to 2.5 sermons and a Dave Ramsey podcast, but is that really considered doing something? I also made myself breakfast, lunch, and dinner and cleaned all the dishes. Oh boy. For the lack of doing anything active all day, I ran 2 miles in the evening. Now I'm just getting ready for bed, bummed to be starting another week, but excited to have Ben home tomorrow night!!

Alone in Europe: Day 4

Today has been the best day yet! I think it's because it's Saturday, and I got to sleep in. I made myself hashbrowns for breakfast and then went shopping for 3.5 hours in an area we don't go to very often that had all these cute little stores. I went home for lunch (in an effort to save money since I had already spent money shopping...ha) and made myself some scrambled eggs, but then it was back to shopping. I did buy myself a Berliner (a jelly doughnut), which was oh-so-yummy. Shopped for 3.5 hours after lunch, putting my total shopping at 7 hours for the day. This would never happen with Ben here with me, so maybe it was good having a day to myself after all! Came home for dinner - made myself some chicken nachos and fried apples (random combination, I know). Watered the plants, then settled into my usual spot on the bed with my laptop, where I've been since dinner. Video-chatted with my parents for a while. I'll probably just take a shower and head to bed in a bit.

Not even a smidgen of paranoia today, even with walking all over town. Just wait 'til the lights go out though...that's when I always let it sneak in!

Alone in Europe: Day 3

I miss Ben. A lot. Thank God I'm halfway through this week without him...and thank God it's Friday!

I went for a walk by the river and through a park with a friend from work today. She is also in the graduate program, living here in Düsseldorf for 5 more weeks, and we met at the last workshop. We talked a lot and were surprised at how much we had in common even though I am American and she is Romanian. It was a nice way to pass the time this evening, chatting about family, weddings, work, living abroad, church, traveling, money, etc. etc...you know how girls can talk!

Now I'm home, settling in for the night, wondering if I'll enjoy this weekend at all or if I will miss Ben as much as I do at this moment and be lonely all weekend...

Alone in Europe: Day 2

I guess I used up all my paranoid energy yesterday because today felt perfectly normal. Slept fine, went to work, nothing new there...except for missing Ben like crazy! After work, I went out with a lady from work for a couple hours since it was so nice and warm today (in the 90s, which is pretty unusual here). She taught me to knit at work one day (I know, sounds crazy...but she knits and I expressed an interest since I crochet, and she brought me some needles and wool yarn and showed me the basics right there!), so this was a chance for her to teach me some more and to have a nice conversation with someone in the evening. So we had lemonade at an outdoor table of some little restaurant, and she taught me to "purl" (previously I had learned to "knit") and how to make little holes in the design. I'm just hoping I remember all this when I sit down to do it by myself! She was a great teacher and very encouraging, even though my knitting was very sloppy! She even brought me a magazine with a bunch of knitting patterns for beginners...now if I can just learn to read the patterns...

Made it home fine after that, but it was already getting dark so I decided not to run...darn. And just now when I thought I was ready for bed, it has started raining and thundering and lightening a ton...what was that loud noise in the other room? OK, paranoia, please leave me alone tonight...you haven't bothered me all day!

Alone in Europe: Day 1

So day one begins. I wake up at 4:45 just to tell Ben goodbye as he walks out the door. Ben is leaving me all alone in Europe for 6 days to go to California for Blizzcon, a gaming convention. I can't say that I blame him - the host company, Blizzard, paid for his plane tickets and hotel room, so of course he has to take advantage of that opportunity to promote his fan website there! But the fact remains...I'm on this continent, alone, for a week. Can't really sleep now...God, why am I worried? Just keep him safe, please...I can't worry about this, I know You're in control. Nope, still can't sleep...guess I'll just toss and turn until the alarm goes off.

Is that alarm going off already? Ugh. Better throw myself together. Walk to the tram stop. Feels the same as every morning. Forty minutes and only 3 miles later, finally at work. Man, I miss my car although it is nice having someone else drive me, even if it takes a little longer. Work is fine. Lunch is okay, but these sausages aren't quite as good as the homemade pasta they served a couple days ago. Dang, why did I bring a chocolate bar to work with me? It's heavenly and I want to just eat the whole thing right now, it is so good. Starting to miss the random e-mails Ben and I send each other throughout the day...hope he's sleeping on his flight. Lord, keep him safe and let him sleep.

Well, work is finally over...walk to the tram stop, same as usual. I need to go to the grocery, but I should probably go home first and change since it's pretty hot today, suprisingly. Home sweet home...well, not really, but whatever. Shorts and flip-flops - that's better. Off to the grocery store for some stuff for dinner. Wait, do I have my keys? I better not lock myself out because Ben isn't here and neither are the landlords. Yes, I have my keys. Wait, check again...yes, I have them. One more time...okay, the keys are definitely right here in this pocket in my purse. Pull the door shut all the way - it can stick sometimes and it's not really shut. Is that man on the street following me? No, no...just keep walking, he's not even going the same direction. Buy a few things to eat this week so you don't have to take another trip...chicken, broccoli, grean beans, apples...dang this grocery bag is full. Too bad I have to carry this toilet paper down the street in front of everyone because it doesn't fit in the bag.

Guess I'll make chicken and broccoli with cheese for dinner. Eh, why not, may as well make a little marinade here and let the chicken sit awhile...I can make something nice for just me, right? Check my e-mail...of course, Ben won't be on, he doesn't land for 5 more hours. Oh good, there are people online to talk to! This isn't too bad...I can just pretend Ben is right in the other room. Cook my dinner and eat it. Not bad.

Time for a run. It is already 8:30 and I usually go at 8, but I won't be out long. Wait, I have my keys, right? Yes, Megan, stop triple checking...you have the keys in your palm right now. Two miles...just run as fast as you can and get back inside...keep running...man it's hot today, why am I running? I hate running...I am never running again...this is so stupid...ugh...finally, done with this run! I bet that was a new record for me- dang, 19:10...nope, not a record, but still good. Glad I ran after all. Guess I will make this workout complete and do some crunches. And I'll use my water bottle here to work out my arms...dang this water bottle - just not heavy enough to do anything.

OK, starting to get dark now...I did shut the front door completely, right? Yep, door is shut. Check. Guess I should shower...I'll shut the bathroom door, why not. Wait, is the door opening? No, it's still shut. Now is it opening? Nope, still not moving. Now? No. Now? No. Apparently I can check the bathroom door every 10 seconds while showering and still get nervous every time that it will have magically opened. Stop it, Megan, the door is not going to open. Wait, did it just move? Again, no.

Finally ready for bed. Turn the light off and run into bed...where's my laptop? Light, I need light - turn on, you stupid laptop, turn on already! Phew, it still works! Thank goodness for this laptop. Maybe I'll write a blog post about my first day alone until I get tired enough to sleep. I miss Ben...oh, another IM from Mom- yay! Ben called her from California; he made it safe and sound! Thank you, Lord! Too bad it's so expensive for us to call each other or I'd call him myself. On top of that, he has our one cell phone charger and I have to preserve my battery since my cell phone is my alarm clock. Well, guess I can sleep good now knowing Ben is safe and sound in California, being picked up by his sister any minute now. Hope he adjusts okay to the 9 hour time difference! Wish I were more tired so that ticking clock didn't sound so loud. Pillow over my head ought to block out those creepy sounds. It's a good thing I'm not paranoid, or I might not have survived day one without any trouble!

Pasta Party

So Ben and I have decided that when we get home, we need to have a pasta party. Our inspiration? Vapiano. That's right, Vapiano.

Vapiano is our new favorite pasta place here, and we're pretty disappointed that we just now discovered it because we would have loved to take our visitors there. The only reason we tried it in the first place was because a guy from work suggested it to me. We ate there last weekend and again today for lunch, and we'll probably even eat there for dinner tonight because there are so many things that we want to try!

Vapiano is a self-serve restaurant. They give you a little menu and a card when you walk in, and you go up to the designated counter areas (pizza, pasta, or salad) and order your food.

Then, they make your food right there in front of you and give you a little plate of bread to go with your pasta. They ring up your order and put it on the card, and you pick your seat, inside or out. After the meal, you take your card to the register and pay. And the prices are great - all the pizzas and pastas are broken into 4 price categories: 5.75, 6.75, 7.75, or 8.75.

Let me take you through the pasta process: Ben walks up to the counter and orders a shrimp pasta. The chef instantly takes out raw shrimp and throws it into the skillet (Ben thinks they are those magnetic skillets where they get hot instantly).

As you can see, he's also working on someone else's pasta in the right skillet (something with pesto and pine nuts). The chef asks what type of pasta noodles he would like (there is a sign there with pictures and names of about 12 different noodle types to choose from). Whatever Ben chooses, the chef grabs the little container of their made-fresh-daily pasta, and dumps it in a fryer-like appliance where the noodles go down into boiling water. Once the shrimp is slightly turning pink, the chef puts in a couple ladels of cream. He adds some chili pepper slices, a handful of fresh spinach, and grinds some salt and pepper over the mixture. He lets this cook and bubble for a minute. "Do you want garlic?" he asks. "Sure." So he ladels in garlic infused oil. He dumps in the pasta, already boiled and ready because the pasta is so fresh. He gives it a quick toss together and puts it into a classy white bowl. "Parmesan?" "Yes." He sprinkles parmesan on top, more freshly ground pepper, a few cherry tomato halves, and picks a sprig of some herb (not sure what, I don't know my herbs very well and I didn't taste or smell it) off the plant there for the finishing touch.

Then it's my turn, and I go through the same process, except I order gorgonzola pasta...yum.

Delicious. Fabulous. Amazing. And it looks so easy - thus, the inspiration to have our own pasta party - just get some simple ingredients, a hot skillet, and have everyone order their own pasta creation right there. We MUST have a pasta party like this when we get home!

Another Düsseldorf Day

Yesterday I was going crazy trying to decide whether or not we should travel this weekend. I really wanted to go somewhere, but Ben really didn't. The place I want to go, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, was either really expensive to go to, or we could go for really cheap but take an 8-hour long train route to get there. In the end, we decided it just wasn't worth it, so another weekend in Düsseldorf it is.

I met a Romanian girl named Veronica at my last workshop (for people in the graduate program) who is also living here in Düsseldorf for 4 months. She recommended weeks ago that I visit Kaiserswerth, which is just another area of Düsseldorf, about 20 minutes from our apartment by subway. So Ben and I decided to make that our afternoon.

First, we went to the farmer's market held every weekend in Old Town to buy some stuff for a picnic so we could take it to Kaiserswerth. I love this farmer's market; you can buy everything here - meat, cheese, fruits, veggies, olives, bread, flowers, dips, wine, etc., or even get lunch (last week I got a fresh fried fish sandwich there and Ben got a bratwurst). So for our picnic, we went with bread, dip, cheese, and dates (we already had wine).

Of course, we had to stop for an ice cream along the way...but then it was on to Kaiserswerth. What a cute section of town! The one road we walked down leading to the river had adorable little buildings and shops.

By the river, there was a little castle...all this time, a castle 20 minutes away from us, and I didn't even know!

There was also a memorial there to the Nazis who died in the war. Maybe that's why no one ever mentioned this place to me - ha.

There was a nice little grassy area behind the castle, where we settled into a park bench and had our picnic. It was such a beautiful day, too - really sunny, but we were in the shade, so not too hot. After our food, we just sat there for a while, enjoying the weather and having a nice chat about Adam and Eve and questions we had about the creation story in Genesis...not sure how that conversation got started.

After coming back to the apartment, Ben playing some games, and me taking a nap followed by a short run, we got a pizza for dinner - four cheese, and we sat there watching the guy make it, complete with fresh basil off his basil plant. Oh, how I love that about Europe...why can't restaurants in the states always use fresh herbs? So simple, and so good.

Now to think of something else interesting to do tomorrow!

London

Saturday morning, bright and early (4:30AM) we left the apartment, walked to the train station 25 minutes away, took a 30 minute train to the Cologne airport, took a 1 hour plane to Stansted, and took a 45 minute train to London. We finally made it there around 8:45AM (London is an hour behind Düsseldorf though). Exhausted, but excited, we took the subway to our first stop - the Imperial War Museum. Ben was in his element here, of course, explaining to me what each tank and rocket and gun was for…and even having a little Indiana Jones moment...

After the museum, we only had about an hour to kill before meeting up with Jenn and Scott at their hotel. So we wandered over to London Bridge (it wasn't falling down though) and Tower Bridge, stopping along the way to share a hotdog and do some shopping at a Christmas shop and some souvenir stands.

After meeting up with Jenn and Scott, we all went to a pub and had some Fuller's, fish and chips (well, Jenn and I had that - Scott got some beef pie thing and Ben had a sandwich because he isn't eating fried food and wouldn't even cheat for fish and chips in London!!), and a great conversation with the British people at the table next to us. We walked around Piccadilly Circus (a famous shopping area) and went into Hamley's, this amazing, 6-story toy store that happened to have a Harry Potter display at the entrance!

In case you're wondering, that is a lego structure of Hagrid! From here, we went straight to the theater and saw Les Miserables…which was just phenominal!! Even Scott, who doesn't care for musicals usually, gave it a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 (Ben and I both gave it a 10, and Jenn gave it a 100 :)). Our seats were on the second row, right next to the orchestra pit...you could see the spit flying and it was great!! We had a nice Chinese dinner after that, where the server gave me and Ben chopstick lessons...but to no avail, for me anyway.

Ben and I had quite a time trying to find our hotel at 1 in the morning since we had yet to check in. The subways were no longer running that late, the bus we were waiting on never came since the traffic going the other way was so bad (yes, that bad at 1 in the morning), so we ended up taking a cab. Then, our hotel was terrible…it was right off the lobby so you could hear every noise there and outside the window to the street, the door let in light from the lobby, the bathroom was so dirty I wouldn't even take a shower in it (Ben did though- floor was filmy and hairs on the shower wall!)…so I was just praying the sheets were clean. No bed bugs, at least. At checkout the next morning, Ben asked for the e-mail of the manager, and the guy at the reception desk didn't even so much as ask if there was a problem. Oh well, we were only there 7.5 hours (2:30AM-10AM).

Day 2 began with history again…went to the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. It was a flop, in our opinion, at least compared to what Ben had built up in his mind. We met up with Jenn and Scott afterward near Big Ben, where I couldn't resist this picture...

...or this one...

That is supposed to be me going into the Ministry of Magic (all you Harry Potter fans understand, I'm sure). Once we met Jenn and Scott, we decided to take a bus tour. We sat on the open top and luckily it was a nice, sunny day.

The tour took us to see all the main sites- Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, etc., and also a lot of other random sites, like this street where tons of famous people live or used to live (Ian Fleming, Sean Connery, Michael Cane, etc.).

We also passed by the building where the statue at the top is used for Gringotts Bank in Harry Potter, but didn't manage to get a good picture of it. Our tour guide was hysterical, so it made for a great bus tour. We went to lunch at another pub where I had some great, spicy curry, Jenn had fish and chips again, Scott had the meat pie thing again, and Ben had chicken stir fry. We ended the afternoon walking around a ritzy shopping area and sampling some delicious dates at a shop that only sold dates…apparently you can only get these dates in certain parts of the world, because they were nothing like the dates we get in Kentucky.

London made for a crowded, fun-filled 2 days, but extremely expensive given how short it was! We had a great time with Jenn and Scott and it was really hard to say goodbye, but we'll see everyone soon…31 days!

4 Years!

July 30 was our 4 year anniversary…can't believe it's been that long already! We've come a long way since then, and we've loved every minute of it! Living in Germany has been great for our marriage, too. We have gotten to spend so much time together, and we only have each other to rely on. It's been fun!

To celebrate, we went out to dinner to an Italian restaurant within walking distance of our apartment. We ordered some wine to begin, served in these really cool looking wine glasses…

…Ben ordered a pizza with ham, cheese, and spinach...

...and I had this pear and gorgonzola stuffed pasta with gorgonzola cheese sauce.

It was delicious! If you've ever tried eating bleu cheese and pears together, you know what I'm talking about…it's a very similar taste. For dessert, we got (what else?) icecream at one of our favorite little icecream stands. Ben had a mint chocolate chip cone, and I had a cinnamon shake. Yum! We might have done something a little more special for our anniversary, but given that we are living in Europe, walking to an authentic Italian restaurant, drinking authentic German wine, in the week between our trip to Amsterdam and our trip to London…we figured that was special enough. It doesn’t get much better than this!

Amsterdam with the Fam

Amsterdam was an interesting place, to say the least! The city itself was just amazing- adorable little buildings lining every street, canals running through the whole town (very similar to Venice in that respect), hardly any cars to be seen...picture perfect, really.

But it was also crazy - hordes of bikers ready to run over you practically everywhere because half the sidewalks are actually bike lanes; pornography and prostitution everywhere in the Red Light District; the smell of marijuana in the air as you pass every corner - talk about sin city!

Our first night there we walked around forever trying to find a place to eat. We read in a tour book that you can easily be scammed there into eating at a touristy place where the food is really overpriced and tasteless, so we were trying to find a place our book recommended. Turns out the map in it was wrong (and no, it was not a Rick Steves book!), so we wandered around forever in the wrong place, for a restaurant that may or may not even still be open. We finally ended up at a restaurant in the Dam Square. The food was decent and the food prices were decent- then Ben and I realized with the bill that we paid 9 euro for a 1 liter bottle of water- yes, I said 9 euro! Ben about had a heart attack right there.

Saturday we slept in so we wouldn't be exhausted going into our full day of walking - and sleeping in was easy since we were staying at a Marriott...oh how we love American hotels with amazing beds and an ice machine at the end of the hall! We went all over Amsterdam that day - had a great lunch, walked (quickly) through the Red Light District (it's famous for that, figured we at least had to see it!), saw the Anne Frank house from the outside (line was too long and we didn't care to wait), did some shopping, did a beer tasting of 6 different Dutch beers - and walked, walked, walked! We stopped in at a little place for a snack...at least, Ben and I had a snack...

Ben's birthday was Sunday, but since we were planning on leaving Sunday night, Jenn and Scott offered to buy us dinner Saturday night for his birthday present. We went to an Indonesian restaurant that was just fabulous! They brought out 14 dishes for all of us to share, and they were all just out of this world. That was one of the best dinners I've had the whole time I've been in Europe! Thanks, Jenn and Scott!

Sunday we had another great meal for lunch, which included Dutch pancakes - yummy! They are really thin and huge, covering the whole plate, and you can get them with lots of different stuff like chocolate or apples or bacon or ice cream. I got one with cheese, and Scott tried one with currants and raisins. Ben made the decision at lunch that day, his birthday, to stop drinking sodas and to stop eating fried food! Something about being around healthy eaters...it starts rubbing off on you! We finished off our afternoon by walking to the park, then to a cheese and wine shop, then sitting on a bench in front of a canal enjoying our cheese and wine.

Ben and I had to leave around 6 to catch our 7 o'clock train. We got to the station around 6:25, and then Ben stood in line for 15 minutes for a döner (basically a chicken wrap), and then we went to see what platform our train left from. Turns out, there is no 7 o'clock train, and the last train to Düsseldorf had left at 6:34...and it was about 6:40 when we figured that out...pretty frustrating! Luckily our ticket was just a generic ticket from Amsterdam to Düsseldorf that was good for any time until September, so we figured out we could take a 7AM train back in the morning.

So we made our way back to the hotel, only to find (as we already knew) that Jenn and Scott had already gone out for the evening, and we had no way of contacting them! So, we went out and bought a bottle of wine, some pizza, and some white chocolate-covered oreos (since Ben didn't get a birthday cake) and brought them back to the room and ate them while watching a Conan O'Brien re-run. Ben and I have really come to appreciate wine lately, and it's great here and really inexpensive - great wine for only 2 or 3 euro! All in moderation, of course, but it's fun to try to pick out the smells and flavors of the wine, plus it just adds to the ambiance of any setting.

Luckily, Jenn and Scott came back not too much later, and we got to spend another night just chatting and hanging out. I wasn't too upset about missing that train after all. :) We left early the next morning, and Jenn and Scott left that afternoon and headed to Paris for the week. We met up with them Saturday in London...talk about a long week waiting for the weekend!

Just thought I'd add this last picture for fun...Jenn and I had practically the same outfit and wore it on the same day on accident...plus our purses are made by the same person, so we look like twins!

Visitors!!

My sister Jenn and her husband Scott came to Europe a couple weeks ago for their first time ever. We had the greatest time with them!! They arrived in Düsseldorf on Wednesday morning, luckily before I had gone to work so I got to see them for a few minutes before heading out. I think most of the morning they just took a nap, then that afternoon went with Ben and got lunch (lamb, so I heard), went walking around the Old Town, walked through the park, and made a quick grocery trip. When I got home from work, we went out to Himmel & Ahd, this great restaurant near us with amazing german food. Everyone loved their meals, and Jenn and Scott got to try some german beer brewed right here in Düsseldorf. Ben and I got some ice cream afterward for dessert, but Jenn and Scott were good and passed on the ice cream since they already tried some earlier that day in Old Town. That night it was supposed to rain, but luckily it held off and we were able to go to the Old Town again, wander through the little streets, and ended up sitting in front of the Rhine with a great view of the fair on the other side of the river.

Thursday I was tired since we stayed up late Wednesday night chatting, but tried to get to work early anyway so I could get out of there early...just knowing Jenn and Scott were in town made work feel so long! They were jet-lagged still and slept in pretty late, so I didn't miss much. That night we took a train to Cologne, where they got to see the Dom Cathedral there. They were impressed, of course, as was I (it was my first time going in it, though I've seen it on the outside before).

We had dinner at this awesome little restaurant there, sitting on a patio outside under a canopy while it lightly rained. The ambiance was great and the food was great too! We didn't get back to Düsseldorf until after midnight.

Friday, Ben took Jenn and Scott to Königsallee, the famous shopping area here, and Ben bought me some clothes that Jenn picked out - so sweet of her to shop for me! I loved it all :) As soon as I got home from work, we hopped on a train to Amsterdam for the weekend. They had also bought some wine, cheese, olives, and bread to eat on the train ride over...all were yummy, but the olives were garlicy and we decided too smelly to eat on the train.

Nothing is ever ordinary with Jenn and Scott - everything is always fabulous, fun, and exciting. Love it!

Oh, what we crave!

Since about the 2nd or 3rd week we talked about what we've craved.  Since then it's been a snowball effect and just keeps building and building and the list gets longer and longer.  Today I got this email from Megan which pretty much says it all.

A hot, juicy cheeseburger and bottomless fries from Red Robin…a habenero cheese-smothered coney from Skyline…a toasted club with honey mustard from Penn Station…a white chocolate molten from Chili's…a fizzy, ice cold glass of coke…spicy chicken and fried rice from Ichiban...all you can eat buffalo chicken pizza dipped in ranch from CiCi's…a chicken quesadilla covered in spicy white queso from El Nopal…biscuits and gravy from Bob Evans...a huge baked potato with chili, cheese, and sour cream on top from Jason's Deli…garlic breadsticks and bottomless salad at Olive Garden...a stack of waffles drenched in butter and syrup from Waffle House…a buffalo chicken wrap with ranch from Cheddar's...a cheesy gordita crunch with extra white sauce from Taco Bell…a huge, straight from the grill steak from Longhorn...a slice of coconut cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory…a queso burrito with hot salsa from Q-doba…a chicken sandwich with extra mayo from Chick-fil-a…a pepporoni pizza from Little Caesar's…a melt-in-your-mouth, fresh glazed doughnut from Krisy Kreme...warm, salty bread dipped in seasoned olive oil from Bravo's…

Hungry? :)

Though I have to say, Megan's Biscuits and Gravy beat Bob Evans any day!

We've done some traveling the past two weeks, Megan will be posting about it in the next few days I think.

Picture Galleries Updated!

This is long overdue...but I finally updated all the photo galleries on the left side of the blog. All the galleries from the most recent ("Düsseldorf Funfair") down to "Bavaria, Germany & Austria" are newly added. Enjoy!

Funfair on the Rhine

This week there is a fair set up along the Rhine, which is the largest public gathering along the Rhine and the biggest summer event for Düsseldorf. For the 9 days it is open it gets around 4 million visitors. Ben and I decided to check it out since it is, after all, within walking distance of our apartment. It was quite the sight! This fair was huge, packed full with rides and food. And these weren't just little rides...they had roller coasters, they had rides with moving statues and water features at the entrances, all sorts of interesting things. Ben and I didn't want to spend a lot of money though, and didn't feel much like riding the rides, so we basically just walked through the whole thing, ate some food and candy, and left. It was still very entertaining though!

A picture gallery to follow soon!

A Week of Ups and Downs

Right before leaving Paris to go back to Düsseldorf, I found out the terrible news that my aunt Sharon died tragically in an accident. Needless to say, this was completely devastating news, especially after just losing my grandmother to cancer just 12 days earlier. Going back to what I said in an earlier post, losing my aunt makes me realize yet again how grateful I am for the hope we have in Christ! Sharon was a believer, so I know she is in heaven now with Christ, being reunited with her dad who died a couple years ago and all the others she has lost over the years who were Christians. I know this time is so difficult for all of our family, but what a blessing to know that we will all be reunited one day in paradise! Without a hope like that, a tragedy like this would be unbearable. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for my family!

I have been sick all week...not surprising after flying to the states for a funeral, flying back to Europe and touring all week, experiecing such a tragic loss, then a late train back to Düsseldorf. Luckily, I had a workshop the last 3 days of the week that was great and helped get my mind off things. It was on intercultural effectiveness...I learned a ton and it was really beneficial for working internationally. I also got to see a lot of friends I'd made from the last workshop, which was fun. The only bad thing was coughing and sneezing and sniffling through the whole thing, and even losing my voice completely on Thursday.

So after a long few weeks, we decided to stay in town for the weekend and put traveling on hold for a while. It was good to just relax and recoop. Saturday night, we went to our first movie since we've been here...I found a theater that plays the movies in english- score! :) Saw Star Trek, which we both really liked (even though neither of us have been into Star Trek before). Best part of all- while we were there, we bought tickets to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on Thursday...CAN'T WAIT!! The previews look awesome!

I guess I better go join Ben for the rest of the evening...he just beat Super Mario Bros 3 (the oldschool one, but we downloaded it on the Wii) for the first time in his life...all the way through, all by himself, no warps and no help from me! I'm so proud :) Now he's playing through it again since once you beat it once you get an inventory full of p-wings to play it again. You fellow gamers out there know what I'm talking about!

Paris

The last stop on our week of touring- PARIS!! I was so excited to finally visit Paris and see all the sites. It was a tiring 3 days there, but there is just so much to see! By the end of the trip, it sort of felt like "fabulous building overload" because there are just so many. The food in Paris was fabulous as well...even something as simple as a ham and cheese sandwich turned into something gourmet and unbelievable! The only drawback to Paris was that with so many immigrants, it didn't quite feel as "French" as one would expect...in fact, Carl was chatting with a school teacher in line to get into the Petit Palais museum and she said only about 20% of her students are French! Carl missed the French feeling he used to get visiting there years ago and said that the change was pretty unbelievable. We also found so much of Paris to be really dirty...literally, trash and debris everywhere. Still, we didn't let these things hinder our visit!

Some of the highlights: Friday, Ben and I went up the Eiffel Tower of course...

...but sadly, only got to go to the 2nd platform on the way up because the very top was too full and they weren't going to sell tickets for another hour. Oh well, still a good view!

Carl poses in front of Churchill, one of his heroes...

We toured Notre Dame, yet another amazing cathedral (Europe is just full of them!). There was some sort of service going on while we were in there, and they carried supposed relics (a splinter from the cross and a thorn from the crown of thorns) to the stage and had some ceremony.

We saw the Conciergerie where Marie Antionette was imprisoned, but it turned out to be a flop without a tour guide. We walked down the street where people would have been paraded through town on their way to be killed, ending with the Place de la Concorde where Marie Antionette and others were guilitined. We visited the arch for Napolean with all the names of his generals and all the wars he fought and won, as well as a tomb there for the unknown soldier. Carl took off his hat in respect. Loano (you can see that name at the top) was one the generals Carl likes.

Saturday we went to the Palace of Versailles...WOW! Talk about a palace! That whole thing in the background is all connected...all parts of the palace, not to mention the gardens in the back! Practically all the gates and balconies are gilded in gold.

King Louis the XIV, XV, and XVI lived at the Palace of Versailles. The inside was just as spectacular, with rooms full of paintings and more gold-gilding, an amazing chapel, the Hall of Mirrors where the Treaty of Versailles was signed ending WWI, painted ceilings, statues, etc. If you walked through the gardens in the back you could see where Marie Antionette lived, but we didn't get to do that. We ended this long day of touring the palace with a nice, leisurely dinner with- what else- fabulous food.

Sunday we visited the Louvre. Luckily for us, the first Sunday of the month is get-into-all-the-museums-free day, so no charge! Unluckily for us, the first Sunday of the month is get-into-all-the-museums-free day, so it was packed!

We saw the Mona Lisa and tons of other famous paintings, sculptures, artifacts, etc. One of our tour books said that just to glance at everything in the entire Louvre would take 9 MONTHS! We stayed about an hour, but didn't have a lot of time so decided to move on...ha. Next we visited the Petit Palais, but Carl was disappointed to find that the huge war paintings he was expecting to find there from his last visit were either only a temporary display last time, or in another museum altogether. We also passed by the Paris Opera House (where the Phantom of the Opera story takes place), and later the tunnel where Princess Di was killed in a wreck, where a memorial now stands. We ended the day with an early dinner before Ben and I caught a train back to Düsseldorf, while Carl stayed behind to fly out of Paris the next day.

Quite an exhausting week...who knows how many miles we walked all over Rome, Berlin, and Paris, not to mention Carl and Ben walking all over Pompeii, Capri, and Sorrento before I got there! We truly had the vacation of a lifetime and are so thankful that Carl could be there with us!

Berlin

The next stop for Ben, Carl and me on the week of traveling was Berlin. We decided to take an 8 hour walking tour that started at 10:30 AM. Little did we know what was in store for us with our guide Terry...he was a 74 year-old former British embassy worker in East Berlin...and did he ever have ENERGY! After our 9+ hours day of touring ("It's impossible to give a shorter tour, there is too much history," according to Terry), he was still energetic and hadn't sat down once except for at lunch and dinner, while the rest of us were sitting down at every site and were completely exhausted...meanwhile Terry looked shocked that anyone would be tired enough to sit down. Exhausting at it was, Terry truly made Berlin come alive for us. He was passionate about this history and would barely let anyone ask questions because he was so intent on telling the story.

We walked mostly through East Berlin, then made our way into West Berlin toward the end of the tour. While sometimes we saw some neat monuments or memorials, the stuff that got to me the most was when we would stand somewhere and hear a story like, "Right here in front of this Jewish girls' school is where the Jewish girls had to report to be shipped off to concentration camps." Nothing spectacular to see, but so moving. A lot of the buildings in East Berlin were pretty dilapidated still from the war, but there were still quite a few that had been rebuilt.

This was just the first neat building on the way over to "Museum Island"...we saw beautiful building after building after this- apparently they rebuilt more than I realized! Suprisingly, the picture below is actually a Protestant church...again, beautiful.

Following a lot of these churches and museums, we saw most of the sites associated with Hitler- the place where his bunker used to be, the place where he and his comrads would do their plotting, the memorial to the Jewish people killed in concentration camps, etc. Below is a picture of the memorial where Hitler did the burning of the books- it is a glass floor in the middle of the square, and below you can see an empty library, with rows of empty shelves to symbolize where the 20,000 books could have been had Hitler not destroyed them.

We also saw a lot of stuff associated with the Berlin wall- the part of the wall still standing, Checkpoint Charlie, etc., and of course heard all of the history associated with it.

We passed a fabulous chocolate shop full of chocolate sculptures...

...and I really wanted to try something...

...but we bought a little chocolate bar instead. We also passed the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony. Not exactly historical...but I took a picture anyway.

At the end of the tour, Ben went back to our hotel to check some things online, but Carl and I went to a concert we saw setting up earlier that day that was taking place in the middle of a square between all these beautiful churches and buildings (a "desecration" to ruin such a fabulous square with a concert, according to Terry). We sat at a cafe on the corner where we could hear. Carl went to get a closer look- and who does he run into? Yep, Terry the tour guide. He bought him a coffee and we had a nice little chat. Turns out Terry knows a lot about music, because he knew every song that played. He also speaks 12 languages...wow! I told him I couldn't even name 12 languages. We had the server take a picture just so Ben would believe our crazy stories about Terry.

After we left, Terry even followed us down to the subway...we think he must have been lonely the way he kept turning up everywhere we went. Whatever the case, he made Berlin a fabulous experience for all of us. Before going, I thought Berlin might be a little boring, but it turned out to be one of my favorite places I've visited so far. Thanks, Terry!