Monday, July 27, 2009

Adventures in Regensburg

Yesterday I went with 5 friend to Regensburg in Southern Germany. It was a perfect day with some wonderful German highlights. Regensburg was and is a very important medieval city. It's history and some of it's buildings go back to ancient Roman times. The Dom was beautiful and the Stone Bridge was built in 1146! I could keep listing the sites all day, so I'll stop, but I'd recommend researching the city in all the free time I am sure everyone has.

While there I ate one of the famous Regensburg sausages. (Sorry, but it tasted just like all the others) but the old building where they make them is really cool. Plus you know they must be good when a place has 2 things on the menu (sausages in a roll and sausages on sauerkraut) and still has a line out the door. Regensburg also has a gelateria that has not just one but two kinds of cinnamon gelato! Heaven!

Oddly enough one of the best parts of the trip was the train ride home. The train was packed and we wanted to sit together so we just went to the 1st class section and sat down. Well, it was empty and there weren't any other seats. So our plan was to just speak English when the ticket lady came by and pretend we didn't know that we couldn't sit there. Anyway after all the scheming she didn't even say anything when she checked our tickets so we had a very comfortable ride back. Well, that was until the character from a reality show appeared. I swear I thought we were on candid camera or something. Here's what happened. This probably 55-60 year old guy walked by sporting what I can only describe as terry cloth shorts which were so short that you could see the pockets sticking out of the bottom. They were white, horrifyingly short, and he wore a belt with them. And of course he hadn't seen a gym since Regan was president. Not so surprisingly he found a lot of reasons to walk back and forth. Every time requiring me to try to keep from falling out of my seat laughing. I only wish I could have gotten a picture. So far this is my first regret from my time in Germany.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Let The Comparisons Begin

I made it through my first trip back to the states and I didn't have to force myself back on the plane, so I guess that means I really do like it here. My trip was great, quick and busy, but great. I got to see lots of people, bought a bunch of groceries to take back, and ate lots of burgers, BBQ, frozen yogurt, and Mexican food. Plus I got to tell the same stories 34 times and answer the same questions 56 times. Now I officially know who does and who doesn't read the blog. Not that I expect anyone to read it, but now I know who my audience is!

One of my favorite parts is that I couldn't understand one of the first Americans I spoke with when I landed in Chicago. Poor guy at the bagel shop in the airport was struggling to tell me the total by showing me the receipt and I was so tired that I couldn't figure out why he kept pointing to the receipt. Oh America. . .

My other favorite part was that my name was on the display at Fireman's Fund where they welcome visitors. Made me feel quite special even though they didn't trust me enough to let me walk around unescorted.

Overall I loved my time home. Helped me remember how much I both love and hate driving, how much I miss the Food Network, how much I miss being able to small talk with clerks, and just how fat we Americans really are. Sorry but it's true. More on that later.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Look Out USA

It's finally here. My trip to the states is tomorrow! I will arrive in Omaha on Wednesday night (July 8th) and stay through Tuesday noon (July 14th). Then I'm off to Seattle until Thursday night (July 16th) when I head to San Francisco until Saturday night (July 18). If anyone would like to get ahold of me while I'm in the states you can call me on my old cell phone 402-305-1367. I hope to see as many of you as I can, so let me know when you're available!