First Weekend in Deutchland

So I made it to Germany, but let me tell you that it has been quite a process getting here!

I drove up to Kristen's house a little past Seattle and stayed at her house for the night. We then woke up at 5:15 am and got to the airport at six forty-five. The airport had messed up our seats and we had figured it out the day before. When we got to the airport there was a power outage so the conveyor belt that carries luggage broke down....so it took like over an hour to check in and then by the time we went through security we had to board right away.

I slept a bit on the first flight and we landed at 4:30 in Philadelphia, and me up with Steven a guy from Philly who was joining us. Then we took about a nine hour flight and arrived in Munich at 8:50am on Saturday. I didn't get to sleep at all on the flight and was absolutely exhausted when we got there. We met up with Jerry and three others and finally got out of there 3 hours later and explored munich.

The one thing that really stands out to me about Germany, besides that they speak German, is all of the architecture. We saw huge old Churches with Massive cathedrals dating back to the 1300's and we also saw many different little shops and bakeries and cute little coffee shops. German city's and towns are very cute and quaint and they have many different colors painted on their buildings, like violet, pink, baby blue, green, yellow and orange...anything but dull! It is just the most amazing place because it is clean and when you drive there are the cutest little houses in the city and everything is green out on the highways with rolling hills and picturesque farm land.

Munich was very fun, to look around. We went to the English gardens, which is basically a park and it was very beautiful. We also saw some river surfers as there are no oceans they have to resort to rivers in order to surf and they actually did a pretty good job….I will post a video on my facebook soon that you will be able to watch it. That night we went to the hoferhouse, which I didn’t spell that correctly, but it is a famous brewery in Munich where they brew beer obviously why else would they call it a brewery? They also have some pretty good food…I had classic brautwurst sausage not too shabby.

Kirsten and I met these german fellows who were probably like 26 but they offered to buy us beer and were appalled that we couldn’t drink, as we are on corban lockdown and drinking is the ultimate downfall to a life of sin….haha. Anyway they told to sneak into a corner and we politely refused…but they were funny. The brewery was funny you just sat down at a table with random people, the Germans ordered tankards of beer and sang drinking songs…it was awesome…some of the guys wear lederhousen the typical german fashion, for no reason it is very unique to see.

After eating we drove to Regensberg and went to our hostel. It is pretty nice and the beds are comfortable…kinda like an older dorm but pretty legit. I am in a room with the fabulous Kristen and a nice girl named Hannah from Montana. Our beds are very warm and nice I was so exhausted when we went to sleep and 7:15 came too early.

Then today we went to church out past amberg to a church outside a military base in English, called High Point Baptist Church…it was nice because everyone spoke English and the majority of the congregation was from the Base. After that we went back to amberg and had lunch at this little Italian place. Kristen and I shared a salad and then I had a Calzone which was delicious. The waiter made fun of me in both German and Italian because I eat weird and tear my food apart and it looks like a carnivorous animal attacked my food but what can you do? So he was funny.

We then went on a walking tour around Amberg and saw more churches and cute little houses, and even an ancient palace where the prince and princess dwelled. We also saw the world’s smallest five star hotel. Which is usually reserved for honeymoon couples. It was interesting because in the olden days you used to not be able to get married unless you owned land. So this hotel would let you buy a room for a day and then the next day you would sell it to the next person who wanted to get married and needed land. I thought it was very cute.

After the walking tour we went up on a hill the overlooks the city and went inside a monastery which was built because many were spared during the black plague and the people promised to build it if they were spared. Even though the black plague hit. Then we went to a small restaurant where we had desert and had cream puffs the size of a dinner plate…so delicious!

After that we returned to Regensburg had a very small dinner in our kitchen and then got our textbooks and syllabus. Let me tell you it is going to be a stressful two weeks full of reading and assignments…not the work load I expected but I will be okay, I’m used to heavy reading work loads…it’s just annoying because I am in Germany and want to be present here you know? But I plan to study out in the city or a café or something, so will be okay.

After that we went on a twilight stroll around our city and saw a huge cathedral and old town. It is amazing to be somewhere with so much history, I think it’s going to be a good semester…but I have to go to bed its almost eleven here and we rise early.

I will try to keep this updated but if you have any questions or something let me know…pictures are to follow soon on my facebook!

Miss you all and I hope you are having a great time, because I sure am!

~~Kacey~~