The End

What I want to remember about our flight home:
1) Not as nice or exciting as our flight to Europe - I think the reasons are obvious. :)  Also, we really liked Luftansa, and going back we flew Delta.
2) Making 3 attempts to watch the Lego Movie but kept falling aslepp.  I made it through the third time though and it really made me laugh.
3)  We had a layover in Newark and had the nicest time talking to a lady named Linda while we were eating lunch.
4) Going out to dinner in Atlanta with Newel's sister and her family.
5) Finally making it home and being SO tired.  We realized that we had been traveling for 24 hours by that point so we slept really well that night.

Well, that's it.  I'm finally wrapping up my posts about our trip to Europe.  We left one year ago today.  Crazy how time flies, and I'm feeling a little bit sheepish that it took me a whole year to document our travels.  I just wanted to conclude with some things I took from 14 days, 4 countries, 13 cities, and 60 euros worth of tickets later.

What I learned about the German people (from being there and from what Newel told me):
1) Men pee where ever they want (saw this at least once).
2) They drink and smoke a lot (saw this too).
3) They are not shy about public displays of affection (yep, saw it).
4) They like to sunbathe in the nude - I guess I lucked out being there when it was a little too cool to sunbathe.
5) They drive really, really fast (on the Autobahn) - there's no federally mandated speed limit.  We would be driving at 75 miles per hour and cars would fly right by us all the time.
6) The roadways, especially in East Germany, were very well maintained and easy to drive on - I really appreciated this because Birmingham struggles in this area.
7) They sneeze really loud (no specific stories with this one, but that's just something I noticed)
8) They are great hosts - the Sengers were so good to us - they fed us lunch and dinner and took us to see all the neat things in Annaberg.  Newel said most Germans were hard to approach as missionaries and a little stand off-ish at first, but when after they got to know them, they were very friendly.  I always felt welcome by the people we came in contact while in Germany.

What I learned about myself:
1) I get thangry.  I knew I got hangry (angry because I'm hungry), but never knew I could get angry because I'm thirsty.
2)  It's still hard for me to cope when things don't go the way I want them to (like when Versailles was closed on a Thursday - it's usually never closed on Thursday!)  I'm getting better at this but I learned it's still a little struggle for me.

What I learned or what was reconfirmed to me in general:
1) Things work out (we were still able to do all the things in Paris that we wanted and then saw Versailles the next day).
2) The history of the human family is filled with a lot of sadness and suffering (e.g., Holocaust, Berlin Wall, etc.), and how grateful I am that we have a Savior who suffered all these things so people can and do move forward and learn from their experiences - the bad and the good.
3) Americans really do have a weight problem.  Not trying to rag on anyone here.  I love this country and it's people, but really, other people in this world are not as big as we are.  Maybe my view is skewed because I live in the 2nd fattest state in America.
3) God loves all people and hears all languages.
4) We are all connected - I saw people and looked in their eyes and saw them as real people with life stories even though I had never seen them before in my life and I couldn't speak the language they were speaking, but I felt this connection to them.  I knew they were like me.  They have their struggles and challenges too.  Maybe it's not getting thangry or not coping well with change, but they have something that's hard.  We all do.  But that helps us to be more compassionate with one another.
5) Newel is a good, GOOD man and the best one I could have married (people over there would comment about how good he was for not drinking alcohol or carrying my bag and other things that I have taken for granted because that's just who Newel is and that's what he does).  He's also so awesome for loving me with all my thangriness.
6) It really is a small world after all - we made connections with Americans in Germany and Paris.
7) Faithfully serving a mission blesses you your whole life.  I know Newel wouldn't trade his two years serving a mission for anything and it was an awesome experience for both of us to visit where he had served and lived.
8) I live in abundance daily, in all kinds of abundance, and as much as I loved our trip, it was also good to get home - home to the South!

Food Adventures

So for those of you that know me, you know I love food.  Especially homemade food made with real ingredients and a lot of love.  I LOVED the food in Europe, especially in Germany and Prague.  I said I would write a little bit about our food experiences in Europe so here I go.

One-time eating experiences that we loved:

Currywurst - bratwurst with ketchup and curry powder served with brichen ("little bread"/roll).

Garden salad with some kind of mustard vinaigrette - fresh, tasty & healthy.

Strawberry flavored milk and Ritter Sport chocolate bar with yogurt, honey, and crispy sugar wafer from the grocery store in Dessau.

Fresh double brichen from the Leipzig bakery - when Newel broke it apart for us to share, steam came out of it!  Wow.  It had basically come right from the oven in the back.  And it was so delicious dipped in hot chocolate.

Kloesse, red cabbage, and rouladen - Newel's friends, Olaf and Marion, made us this for lunch.  They told us these dishes are usually for special holidays but they made them because they were some of Newel's favorite foods when he served his mission.  Isn't that so nice?!

Lamachun (Turkish pizza) - basically a döner wrapped in thinner, crispy tortilla-like bread.  It was huge, but so good and worth every bite!

Apple tea - tasted like a green apple sucker in warm drink form.

Bratwurst - we had a cheese one in Leipzig, and when we were in Dresden, Newel had a Turinger bratwurst with a German Coco Cola.  He was in food heaven. :)

Doughnuts - like ours, but they just tasted so fresh.

Czech food sampler - what we got at the Mustek Restaurant in Prague.  It came with roasted pork, potato dumplings, white cabbage; roasted duck leg, red cabbage & steamed bread; beef goulash, red onions, & cracked dumplings.  That sounds like so much food, but it really was sample size so it was just right. :)

Czech bread - like German bread but denser and filled with flax seeds.

Trdelník - rolled dough wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar and walnuts.  We saw these all over Prague and just had to try it.  It was pretty much forced upon us, but not really. :)

Polish sausage - enough said.

Apple streusel with ice cream and whipped topping - we got this twice; once in Prague and once in Ulm.

Leiberkase - meatloaf (with a bologna taste) and fried egg on top - a Bavarian specialty.

German pretzels - again, enough said.  Just imagine the best pretzel you've ever had.

Weiner schnitzel - my very first time having it.  I always thought weiner schnitzels were hot dogs because of that fast food place, but a schnitzel is actually a thin piece of boneless meat tenderized, coated with breading and then deep fried.  I had the Altwienerschnitzel which was grilled and then baked with spinach, mushroom, cheese and onion gravy.  Is your mouth watering?  Mine was.  It was really good.  My picture makes it look like an enchilada and it doesn't look as great as it tasted, but believe me - it was great!

Roasted pork leg - another Bavarian specialty.

Maultaschen - like ravioli but German-style.  I got a maultaschen salad and it was yum.

French crepes, croissants, chocolate pastries/tarts, and ham & cheese baguettes.

Frequently eaten on our trip:

The continental breakfasts - not to rag too much on the U.S. of A., but the continental breakfasts I've experienced here include toast, cold cereal, and juice.  I thought the continental breakfasts we would experience in Europe would be the same thing but maybe croissants and nutella instead of toast.  I was totally wrong and I'm so glad I was.  Every hotel we stayed in Germany, Prague, and Innsbruck offered a continental breakfast which included assorted homemade breads, artisan cheeses and deli meats, fresh fruit, boiled eggs, tomatoes & cucumbers, yogurt, muesli, assorted jams and spreads, and beverages.  OH MY GOODNESS.  I was in food heaven.  I don't even think I can put into words how good it all tasted.  Europeans, especially Germans know how to make and eat food.  I never got over how much I loved the breakfasts there.  When we came back, we tried to re-create it a few times, but it wasn't quite the same.

Döners Kebabs - we ate them in Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Prague, Ulm, and Stuttgart.  This was my most favorite thing we ate.  Döners are like gyros except the bread they are served in is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, served with cabbage in addition or instead of lettuce, you can choose to have a regular yogurt sauce or a garlic yogurt sauce, and everything else on it tastes even better (well, better than the gyros I've had here).  Newel said he ate döners as often as he could when he was on his mission, and I totally understand why now.

Ice cream - you know we enjoyed every bit of ice cream we had in Annaberg, Ulm, Tubingen, and Paris.

Adventures Elsewhere - Paris & Versailles

So I've wanted to go to Paris for a long time.  When I studied AP Art History in high school, I absolutely loved studying all the different pieces of art as well as the background behind them including the message the artist or architect intended through their work.  Most pieces we studied were listed as being in Paris, so I made the decision that one day, I would go to Paris and see these pieces of art and architecture with my own eyes.

10 years later, I went to Paris and saw it with my own eyes, and it was awesome.  Paris probably deserves a three-part post since we were there 3 days, but I'm going to be honest, I need to finish writing about this trip.  It happened almost a year ago, and I've stretched it out long enough.  Also, while I thought Paris was totally awesome, I ended up liking Germany more.  Nothing against Paris, just major compliments to Germany!!!

Oh, before I get to Paris, I have to mention that after Tübingen, we drove to Stuttgart to take the train to Paris.

What we want to remember about our short experience in Stuttgart:
1)  Being able to find where to drop off the car rental despite poor directions/construction
2)  Getting our last German pastries and kebab
3)  The really nice lady at the pastry shop who helped us select our last pastries
4)  The pretty views of the vineyards up on the hills of Stuttgart
5)  Seeing the German/French countryside by train

Okay, now Paris!

After getting off the train, navigating the crowds through the train station, taking the metro, and finding our hotel was a little stressful and definitely different from making our way through Germany.

Once we checked in to our hotel, we took the train to the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing the tower was one of my favorite things we did there.  We spent half a day seeing it, just wanting to take it all in.  Some people say they've been disappointed by the Eiffel Tower, but Newel and I really liked it.  Everyone has heard of the Eiffel Tower too, and now we're part of the club of people that have been there. :)

What I want to remember about the Eiffel Tower:
1)  Meeting and talking with an American couple from Lilburn, GA (which is where Newel's sister lives and just 3 hours away from Birmingham) - small world!
2)  Being amazed at the size and population of Paris.
3)  Eating my first French crepe (with bananas and nutella) - YUM.
4)  Being frequently bombarded by guys trying to sell us cheap Eiffel Towers (something we actually don't want to remember but can't seem to forget).
5)  Staying to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle on the hour twice (one time while were up in the Eiffel tower and a second time when we were away from it but could get a complete view of it sparkling).

The next day, we went to Versailles which ended up being closed, so we took the train back to Paris to see things there.  Here's what we did:

Saw Notre Dame/Point Zero (center of Paris) which was super cool.  We were a little disappointed at not being able to climb to the top due to workers being on strike. :/

Walked to the Louvre and saw the highlights thanks to Rick Steve's recommendations.  The Louvre was even bigger than I imagined, and I really like being able to see the original paintings and sculptures that I studied in school.

Walked Champs-Élysées - we liked seeing all the cool stores.  Sephora was HUGE.  And there was a line to get into Louis Vuitton.  Also, did you know the McDonald's in Paris is the busiest McDonald's in the world?  Come on, people.  McDonald's?  I'd prefer another crepe.

Saw the Arc De Triomphe but was disappointed again that climbing to the top was closed due to scaffolding and strikes. :/

Walked back down Champs-Élysées and continued on to Musée d'Orsay. This was my favorite museum.  I loved the impressionist paintings, especially The Gleaners by Jean-François Millet because we had a copy hanging in our home growing up.  It also reminds my family of a story about one of our ancestors.

By the time we finished, our legs were SO tired.  We had walked everywhere that day.

The next morning, we went to a little pastry shop for breakfast and then got on the train for our second attempt to see Versailles.  Second time was the charm so we decided to see the gardens first, then the Grand & Petit Trianons (other estates at Versailles).

In the afternoon, we waited in line to see The Chateau (or main palace) of King Louis XIV.  It was beautiful, and Newel and I were amazed at how big it was.

What we want to remember:
1) The time we thought our bladders might explode as we searched for a bathroom in Paris.
2) The enormity of Versailles - everything was big and ornate, especially the gardens.
3) How everything was more rushed in Paris which kind of stressed me out, but Newel helped me still have fun.

Our overall impressions of Paris:

• Very cool but didn't love it like I thought I would - I don't know if my expectations were too high or I just liked Germany even more.
• The food was good but not as good as the German food - Newel and I question whether we actually found a good place to eat in Paris; we probably could have researched that a little more.
• CROWDED - it reminded me of New York City.  Some people love crowds and fast-paced activities, but I like when things are slower.  Maybe that's my Southern self coming out in me. :)

Adventures Elsewhere - Tübingen

After Ulm, we drove to Tübingen which we heard was a must-visit by several German travel bloggers.  We liked it, but I didn't write very much about what we did there.  Here's what I wrote:

Tübingen is right next to Bublingen (funny name - haha).

The hotel was comfortable, and the staff served a great seed roll for breakfast.

That afternoon, we walked around town which reminded us a lot of Provo, UT because it's a university town with lots of college students everywhere.  We had some maultaschen (like ravioli, but German-style) which is a Tübingen original/specialty.

I had ice cream two times because the first cone I got was a little smaller than I wanted AND I wanted to try another flavor.  Who says I can't have ice cream twice in one day?!

We walked long the Platanenallee (I think translated means 'park with a sidewalk' which is what is was).  It was very pretty.  We also walked around Old Town and a castle that was used by the university for classes.  Makes you think of Harry Potter, right?

That evening, we planned our metro routes to get around Paris the next day, and we practiced our French by watching basics of speaking FrenchYouTube videos (I still remember 'oo-ay la Seinne?' = 'where is the Seinne?).

All in all, it was a beautiful, sunny day - a perfect last day in Germany.

What we want to remember/maybe not remember:

1)  Getting stared at a lot - I'm not sure if this was because we looked really American that day or because we just looked too old to be university students...

2)  Newel eating too much ice cream and whipped cream.  He didn't feel too well afterwards.  As for me, I got seconds. :)

Adventures Elsewhere - Ulm

Although not usually a common destination city for many people traveling through Germany, we decided to go to Ulm or as Newel likes to say,"UUUULLLMM!" (in his best German accent).

Now Ulm really does deserve it's own post because we LOVED Ulm.  It completely took us by surprise as to how much we enjoyed being there.  We had the funnest time and here's what we did:

Stayed at Schiefes Haus Ulm, the most crooked hotel in the world.

Walked around the Fisherman's Wall and Garden Quarter.

Saw Ulm Munster.  The reason we decided to include Ulm in our trip was to see the cathedral (well, technically not a cathedral as it never had the seat of a bishop, but doesn't it look like one?).  When we went inside, we were blown away by how tall the ceilings were and the beautiful stained glass windows.  As we were leaving, we ran into another American who has just finished climbing to the top of the spire, and he told us how incredible the view was, and if we did anything in Ulm, we should climb to the top.  

So the next ironing, that is just what we did.  We climbed 768 steps to the very top, and that American did not lead us astray.  The views were AMAZING.  We couldn't believe how awesome it was.  You could see all over Ulm and all the way over to the German Alps!  It was also really cool because we were the only ones there that morning.  Maybe it was because of inclement weather or because it was kind of earlier on a weekday morning, but either way, it was cool to be together at the top of the spire, just me and Newel.

Also, did you know Albert Einstein was born in Ulm?  We went to his birthplace memorial (since a shopping center now stands in its place).

What we want to remember:

1) How much we really liked Ulm - really, if you are ever around this part of Germany, go to Ulm.

2) Being the only ones who climbed to the top of Ulm Munster that morning.

3) Climbing the Munster including how it was longer than we thought; as you got near the top, the steps got really small; and we had fun locating all the places we went to (including our hotel) once we were at the top.

Adventures Elsewhere - Garmisch & Neuschwanstein

After Innsbruck, we drove back to Germany and stayed at the mountain resort town of Garmish-Partenkirchen which was extremely beautiful and quieter than the other cities we had been to during our trip.

We stayed at Hotel Konigshof which was one of my favorite hotels because I loved the pillows so much.  The longer we were on our trip and not sleeping in our usual bed, it was the little things that made me more comfortable that I really appreciated.

It was too cloudy and rainy to take the tram to the top of Zugspitze (Germany's highest mountain), but the nice lady at the tram ticket station recommended the Wankbahn, a cable car that takes you to the top of another really tall mountain where you can see views of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Zugspitze and the rest of the Alps in that area.  So that's what we did and it was really beautiful.  It was also really, really cold and windy so we were pretty much the only ones up there, but it was totally worth it.

After the Wankbahn, we had a nice dinner and then relaxed at out hotel (i.e., watching German TV - Uppz - then Jim Gaffigan on the Tonight Show.)

Things we want to remember about Garmisch:
1) The view of the Alps/Zugspitze from our hotel room.
2) The happy cows that freely grazed over grass fields and had plenty of room to do so.
3) Taking the Wankbahn to see the fantastic views of the German Alps on Mother's Day.
4) The hotel receptionist being very nice and friendly but catching us off-guard when she told us,  "You sound very American, perhaps from the South?" (Oops. :/)

The next morning we drove to Neuschwanstein, commonly known as one of the castles that inspired the design of Disney's Cinderella Castle.  Neuschwanstein was beautiful.  While we were driving, we read a lot about it on our phones and in our tour book because we heard the tour of the castle would be quick - which it was.

Things we want to remember about Neuschwanstein:
1) Walking/hiking up to the castle - it was a beautiful walk and it felt nice to be outside.
2) The views of the Alps/Southern Bavaria from the Castle including the bridge (Marienbrucke) which was King Ludwig's favorite view.
3) We liked everything about the tour (no pictures inside were allowed).  The castle was a lot more modern (mid-19th century) than we realized.

P.S. Look how happy this cow is.  I think that's why German dairy is SO good. :)