What a gorgeous city! On Saturday September 5, 2009 it was off to Heidelberg via train! Heidelberg also has a great shopping street that I loved walking as we headed to the Heidelberg Schloss (Castle), a definite landmark. The castle is amazing, what a structure. There was several very large vats of Wine and a gorgeous garden. The garden is the perfect place to take a blanket, a picnic, a good book and good company. While were were there there were several brides. I must admit it would be a cool place for bridals, a wedding reception and to get engaged... Very romantic. The pictures do not do it justice at all. On the shopping street, I picked up a book about Germany, a watch, a carving of the castle, postcards and a small bag.
Lunch was eaten at Vetter's in Heidelberg. It is a Brewery that brews 33% beer, which is huge compared to Utah's 3% beer. Vetter's is where I ate my first traditional german meal... Brautwurst and Sauerkraut and the american Diet Coke. A glass of water was just as expensive as diet coke, so I had the soda. 
Saturday night, my younger brother had decided to have some of his church friends over for a small party. It was great fun to meet some more of Chadder's friends. We ate and watched Hitch. After Hitch the decision was made to watch a scary movie, so in went The Grudge 2, which was perfect. 
Chad had cracked his balcony door and then excused himself. At the most perfect point in the movie Chad snuck out on the balcony from the other bedroom and he hit the door into the living room, those on the couch all screamed and jumped. It was so funny.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Day 3: Heidelberg, Germany
Mannheim, Germany September 4, 2009
So... Day 2 in Germany and it was decided to stay in Mannheim for the day, which is where Chad lives. What a great little city. We visited the Marktplatz, the Water Tower (Am Wasserturm), The Paradeplatz, the Schloss which was turned into a Universitat, and the Hauptbahnhof (the train station). In Mannheim they have a fairly large shopping section of which had several H&M's Stores, a WoolWorths, Markets... Wow. Chad wanted me to familarize myself with downtown so that the days he had to go into work I could head downtown and shop... I have to admit it was a bit confusing, I had no idea what was east or west or north or south and living in Utah that is a bit of a challenge. Their downtown is done on the grid system, but it is different. It is a letter number system. Each block was a letter and each space/business was a number. For example the sushi restaurant we ate dinner at was at Q12 downtown. On our way into town we stopped and ate breakfast at a little card called Cafe Fellows. I had the best bagel I have ever eaten. It was great to just sit and eat and relax. There was no hurry at all. I was amazed at how everyone smokes over there. The cafe had a nice none smoking section and a smoking section as well as outdoor seating. Fun little tables, chairs and couches gave it a homey feeling. After touring the city and doing a bit of shopping, buying sunglasses and Chad buying a cell phone cover and an aweseom ring, we just walked and walked and walked. I love that aspect. They have an amazing public transportation system and everyone walks. Honeslty in the 12 days I was there I think I saw maybe 4 or 5 obese people, everyone else was slender. Friday night it was off to sushi, my favorite food. I was honestly amazed that my younger brother would eat sushi. Growing up all he would eat was applesauce and Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches... then here he is enjoying raw fish and seaweed with me. We met some of his friends for dinner. I enjoyed their company, but it was strange not being able to understand much of what was being said, due to my lack of understanding of German. I have decided it would be beneficial to take a german class before I go back to visit again. Friday night I crashed again after a day out on the town. I fell asleep watching Mamma Mia on the couch. Enjoy the pics!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wurzberg Germany and the flight over...
I recently had the opporunity to travel to Germany to visit my younger brother. I flew out of Salt Lake City on Wednesday September 2nd. The flight from SLC to NYC (JFK) was smooth and relaxing, I had the time to read a Mary Higgins Clark book. On the flight from NYC to Frankfurt was a different story. I had taken some dramamine, the drowsy kind, with me so that I could sleep on the 8 hour flight, knowing that I would not sleep when I arrived in Germany. So after dinner on the flight I took my dramamine and put the headphones to sleep. Not ever 20 minutes later we hit turbulance, and not minor turbulance. The plane all of a sudden took about a 45 degree dive to the left. Had I not had my seatbelt on I would have been ended up in another seat. The pilot immediately came on the intercom and told everyone to sit down and buckle up. I honestly thought we were going down. I began the "death bed" repentance and began being very grateful that I knew how to swim and that my seat cushion was a floatation device because we were over the Atlantic. The turbulance went on for about an hour and half...so much for sleeping. I arrived in Frankfurt at 9:00 AM, after 18 hours spent in airports and in the air! It was all worth it. After picking up my luggage, and meeting my brother, we were off to Wurzberg (I didn't even get to shower, oh well. My brother took me to see the Bishops Residenz, what a gorgeous building. We took a tour of it and then walked around the gardens. We also walked thru the town and ate at an absolutely darling and tasty cafe. I learned that a Diet Coke is a cola light... ina cola light grosse is a large diet coke... That phrase came in handy. It was strange to me because I would hear the german and not understand, but I would think in spanish... It was great going out for meals there, because you were never rushed thru a meal. I loved that. We headed back to Mannheim that evening, just in time for a bit of rush hour. I was exhausted but so glad to be visiting my brother. It was great and smart for my brother to not let me sleep. It helped with the jet lag and sleeping amazingly well that first night.
My brother's apartment is great. I was amazed to learn that when you move into an apartment there it is an empty shell. When my brother moved in he had to put in all of the light fixtures, the kitchen cupboards and everything. There was nothing there. Literally when you move out you take everything with you including the kitchen sink...
Emjoy the picutures... more stories to come...
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
What a weekend, Friday First...
So this is going to be a multiple post, the weekend was jammed pack with fun that must be shared!
I had to opportunity to spend some time with my dear friend Katie Cooper Christensen this weekend. Katie and I have known each other for 13 years now. Her sister and I were college roomies and she would come and hang with us on the weekends! Ahh the memeories of the 90's... :)
So Katie came up this weekend and I had the opportunity to meet her little one, Cooper, who will be 3 in a few months. What an absolute doll. Katie, Cooper and I met up with Jill and Lucy at the Aquarium in Sandy. It was great, none of us had ever been there. So Cooper was a bit shy at first, he didn't understand that the fish were behind glass and not able to 'get' him. Finally he starts to feel safe and he gets down by the Sting Ray's, where you can pet them. He is doing great, until the shark tank... dun dun dun... I am holding him and a shark swims past the glass and he is fine, all of a sudden a shark swims right up against the glass with it's mouth right there by Cooper's sweet little face. That starts it all, the scream and the tears.. The 3 adults think it is so cute and funny, so Katie pulls out the camera and starts taking pictures... He eventually calms down, but will no longer walk nor let go of Katie... Too cute.
After we dropped Cooper off with his dad, Katie and I headed to the apartment, then off to dinner at TGI Friday's, the steak was fantastic!!! Then home to watch a movie, you know it was a musical! Mamma Mia! I must admit it was nice to not watch the musical by myself! Someone else was there to sing with me! Wahoo, Thanks Katie!
While deciding where to eat, I sent a text to my dear friend Kevin, who works at a restaurant, to see if he was working... He wasn't :(, but in the conversation he asked if I would be interested in taking a ballroom class with him... Hello, of course I would, I have been trying to take a ballroom class for several years, but couldn't ever comvince anyone to be my partner to take it with me... problem solved, Kevie and I are going to take a class! Wahoo. I haven't taken a ballroom class since my sophomore year of college. Can't wait to work and improve the skills!
