The End is Near...My thoughts on Germany

Last weekend was the last "real" weekend Brian and I had left in Bonn. I've really been trying to take in the city and enjoy my time in Europe because it's quickly coming to an end. I can't believe we have less than 5 weeks until we leave and we're traveling the next 3 weekends. The week after our travels end, carnival begins and the following weekend we're on a plane to Chicago. Time goes by so fast! My class is coming to an end as well. I'm done on February 6th. I've really enjoyed learning German and am glad I decided to take the classes.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what I love about Germany and what I'm definitely not going to miss. I love the simplicity of life here. Just thinking about all of the boxes in our parents' basements makes me laugh at how much we have back in the States. Brian and I have been living with the least amount of "things" we've ever lived with, but it makes life a little simpler without so many material things. We don't have a clothes dryer, a microwave, only 6 glasses and plates, 6 towels...etc., yet it isn't ever a challenge. (except to get Brian to use what we do have...jk) Our refrigerator is the same size as the one I had in college in my dorm, yet we've learned to live with it. We only use cloth bags to shop and we go to the market every other day, including the fresh street market(in the picture above). That would have seemed so inconvenient 6 months ago. I walk everywhere here and enjoy it even though it's cold outside. All of the restaurants and cafes still have tables outside and put blankets out so people will enjoy sitting outside. I love that dogs are everywhere; they are allowed inside restaurants, malls, airports, etc. (although I miss mine every day) I love that you always see people drinking beer at every meal and with that said, I'm going to miss the wonderful German beer! I'm definitely going to miss jumping on a plane Friday and being in a new country in just an hour.

There are still a few things I'm not going to miss about Germany...I definitely won't miss the smell...You're probably wondering what smell...well I like to call it "dirty European" The smell of the people. Not everyone smells, it's just the majority. Haha! But seriously, there are a lot of smelly people here! ;) I also won't miss German TV or internet. It's terrible! I won't miss not having a car - it's very inconvenient when we need one! (although I hate driving, so maybe I won't miss not having one) That's about all I don't like about Germany. There isn't much and that's probably why I've loved living here.

We leave Friday for Rome and I can't wait! I'll definitely update my blog as soon as I'm back! I hope everyone is having a great week!

Budapest

Brian and I spent the last weekend in Budapest, Hungary. It was only a 90 minutes plane ride and I was thankful when we landed safely without any birds getting in the way. (I was a little nervous before the flight) Budapest was a really unique city. The architecture is beautiful and a lot different from the places I've visited in Europe. Every time we were outside, I wanted to take pictures of every building. We were able to see the Parliament (the picture above), a few churches, Heros' Square, and a lot more. We ate at great small family owned Hungarian restaurants and enjoyed the amazing food.

We were only in Budapest for less than 48 hours, but I was happy with what we were able to do. We didn't make it to the spas, but still saw so much of the city. Our next stop is Rome. I can't wait to enjoy a weekend in Italy. We'll be in Bonn this weekend, but go to Rome the following. I hope all is well in the US. I can't believe we'll already be home in 6 weeks. Time really goes by fast!

Travel Plans

Well, we made it safely back to Bonn and have been enjoying our time back in Germany. After Marie and Nick left on Wednesday, we spent the next few days relaxing. Brian's cousin, Lacy, arrived on Friday and spent a few days with us. She's working as an au pair about 15 minutes away and left this morning to meet the family.

Brian is in Northern Germany this week for work, but will be back Thursday night. He's keeping busy at work, but we still have no idea where we'll be in March. I just have to stay patient and I'm sure we'll end up in the perfect location.

We booked our flights back to the States last week. We'll be arriving on February 28th at 4:30pm in Chicago. We're not sure how long we'll be in Michigan, but it should be a least a week. We're spending the next 6 weeks enjoying Europe. We have a big travel schedule coming up. Here's how we'll be spending the next 6 weeks:

1/17 - Budapest

1/30 - Rome

2/6 - Prague

2/13 - Barcelona

It's going to be a great end to our German adventure!

Skiing (and Sledding) in the Swiss Alps

After our one day rest in Bonn, we headed to Switzerland to Ski in the alps. This was my 3rd time visiting Switzerland and every time I get into the mountains, I'm still amazed at the sight. This time, we were actually ON the mountains not next to them. I still can't believe I'm here!

Marie gave me a bit of her cold, so I've been pretty sick. I was still able to make it sledding and skiing though. Our first day here we decided to ease our way into the Alps by sledding down them. It sounded like a great idea and it probably was if we would have found the sled path.
Unfortunately, we ended up sledding down the ski runs, almost died a few times and when we got to the bottom (2 hours later) we decided that sledding when we were 12 was a lot more fun. ;)

The next day it was time to test our luck skiing. The fear started pouring out of me. When we got to the top of the first ski lift, I thought A: Why is everyone yelling at me, B: Why did I agree to this, and C: Wasn't the last time I went skiing 8 years ago? Well, the reason everyone was yelling at me was because I didn't put the bar down on the ski lift which stops you from falling down the mountains. (I guess I'm not in Michigan anymore) After getting over my fear, I was informed that we still had 2 more lifts to go. We got off the second lift and my luck saved me because the 3rd ski lift was broken and we had to only make our was down from there! Skiing was fun, a little scary, but the views made up for my fear. It took us 4 hours to make it down 4 runs, but we made it. I only had 1 BAD wipeout, but I blame it on Brian since he took me down the equivalent to a triple black diamond at Bittersweet. Brian had a bad fall himself. He lost control and ended up face first in snow on the edge of the mountain, very far away from the ski path. It was scary at first, but then pretty funny!

It was so much fun skiing, but a lot harder than any place I have ever been before. Switzerland is such a beautiful place and I hope I'm lucky enough to come back here again someday. We head back to Bonn tomorrow. We all hope it's an easy drive. Marie and Nick leave on the 7th. :( I wish they could stay here! Luckily Lacy arrives on Friday so I'll have family around until I leave in March!

New Years in Dublin

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's already 2009. Time is flying and Brian and I only have 2 more months in Germany. I can't believe we've already been living here for 4 months. We spent the last 2 nights in Dublin to celebrate the New Year. It was definitely the perfect place to bring in the New Year. After a scary Ryan Air flight, we made it to Ireland. We took our time getting ready, dragged my sick sister out of bed and headed for a local pub for some yummy Irish food!

After some amazing Irish Stew and a few too many pints of Guinness, we headed to a few local bars to drink and celebrate the quickly ending year. We had a group of 9 people with us and we definitely had a great night. We were pretty sure we drank all of the beer in Dublin when our eyes opened around noon the next day. It was a rough start, but we actually made it to the Guinness Museum, Trinity College, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and a few other city sights. I really loved Ireland. It has such a relaxed feel and I definitely enjoyed speaking English to locals for the first time in 4 months.

We left early this morning and headed back to Bonn. Our flight was great, no delays, and have been relaxing most of the day. We leave tomorrow morning for a 3 day skiing trip in Switzerland. We're staying right in the Alps! I hope everyone had a great New Year!