Oktoberfest 2011

September 23rd-25th
Oktoberfest

Friday after the boys got out of school we packed up and headed for Munich. It was just about a two and a half hour drive. We ate on the way and arrived in around 9pm. Kenny, Muchelle and i made a deal that one night they would go out and i would watch the kids and the other night i would go out and they would have the kids. Friday night was kenny and michelles night to go out. I got the kids ready and in bed early. Kenny and Michelle came in late and gushed about how awesome oktoberfest is. They loved it and were excited for all of us to go. They bought me a coffee mug from starbucks that says oktoberfest on it.

In the morning we woke up and kenny took the boys down for breakfast while Michelle and i got ready. We blew a fuse trying to do our hair, so we couldnt use any curling irons or flat irons. We got dressed in our Dirndl then we headed out. We went to the Glockenspiel first. It was huge. We waited outside until 11:00 when the musical clock at the top has figurines that dance. It dates back to 1908. We watched that then quickly ran back to the hotel because we forgot Trevor's shoes. Then we went to Oktoberfest. There were people in Dirndl and Lederhosen everywhere and it smelled like the GA state fair. Except that its about 100X larger than the GA state fair and has much more beer and cool clothes. We walked around there all day. The boys enjoyed riding some rides and playing games. They loved all the food and gingerbread hearts with writing on them. 

They left oktoberfest around 5pm and i stayed to meet up with the english girls i met in Nurnberg the weekend before (Telle, Leah, and Lucy) I had a very hard time finding them since there are people everywhere and they kept moving around. I finally found them and we got straight onto this huge roller coaster called olimpia. It was so much fun. Lucy was not with Telle and Leah, apparently they had lost her. After the roller coaster we went to a bier garden and i had about 2 liters of HB Munchen. I brought the girls red solo cups because they dont have them in England and they were obsessed with them. So we poured beer into those so we could walk around outside of the tent. we went to a ton of beer tents and gardens. at some point in the evening i began grabbing strangers beers - chugging them - and handing them back empty while saying "Amurica".  they were more impressed than angry. 

we found Lucy later on. she was in the hospital the whole time we couldnt find her.

somehow, i made it safely back to the hotel by 12:00 (took a cab) 

The next morning i was counting my money and realized that I arrived with 200 euro and bought a 25 euro t shirt, beers, rides, and a 25 euro taxi home and i ended up with 170 euro in my purse. 

in the morning we all had breakfast and packed up to head home. i was not feeling awesome. but i wasn't feeling terrible. we went from the hotel to Dachau concentration camp. It was my first concentration camp. It was opened in 1933 - 55 days after Hitler took power. It was huge. We saw the living quarters and some memorials but couldnt stay at any place too long because the kids were being loud and didn't understand. 

I am sad the trip is over. I loved Oktoberfest so much.

October 7th-9th

Berlin

Friday October 7^th the  Letchers drove me to the train station in widen to catch my train to Berlin. My train was leaving at 9:10. It was about a 6 hour trip with one transfer in Nurnberg. I arrived in berlin around 3 and shopped around for a while at alexanderplatz while waiting for steven’s train to arrive at 9:30 from Austria. I got a bunch of pieces of the berlin to use as Christmas presents. I got myself a sweatshirt and starbucks mug. I got one for the letchers too. I met steven in the train station when his train arrived. Then we began to navigate to our hostel using my iphone. We ended up terribly lost and had to get a cab because we had to check in by 11:30. While we were walking someone was setting off fireworks and we were sure someone got shot. We finally made it to the hostel boat and the girl at the front desk was very nice and helpful. we got settled in our room and got ready to go out. No one else was in our room. We went to the lounge on the boat for a beer before going out. The bartender told us to go to suicide circus club. It was freezing out and we were walking around trying to find this place so we stopped at the first bar we saw to warm up. We quickly discovered it was a Spanish gay bar. Probably my favorite part of the trip. When we left there we found the club. All the clubs in berlin are very hidden and in the sketchiest areas. We did a bunch of shots and made friends with a professor and her husband. We left and started to travel back to the hostel around 5 am. We took a train at some point. We slept and I woke up at 10 to get ready and got breakfast. Then woke steven up. We walked along the berlin wall first. It was right in front of our hostel (the longest surviving stretch) we walked along the main street with all the sights leading to the Brandenburg gate. After we got there we sat in a café for a while to warm up and map out where to go next. Then we navigated to the holocaust memorial. Its just these super tall cement blocks. From there we started the long walk back to our hostel. We were getting close to alexanderplatz where the train station is when it started to get really dark and terrible outside. The sky was very very dark and it was freezing and windy. We knew it was about to rain. There was a beautiful dark church that we were walking past and it looked so cool with the black sky behind it. There were crows everywhere. Like a ton of crows. It started pouring so we ran into a covered place and got dinner. We ate then kept walking (it had stopped raining). We finally made it back and were exhausted. We took naps and got ready to go out again. We asked the bartender on the boat where to go again and found the places a little easier. I think we went to three different clubs. Between two of them we went to a doner kabob place that was delicious. The last club we went to was very cool. I love the way they dance here. But berlin kicked my butt that day and I took a cab back before steven and went to sleep. We woke up the next day and packed up and walked to alexanderplatz. My body hurt so bad from all the walking. Steven left before I did and I hung out at starbucks until it was time for my train. 

September 17th and 18th 2011

Nurnberg
September 17th
I departed on my first solo journey in Europe. I was nervous about the trains- missing one or getting lost. So i decided to go to Nurnberg because it is only about an hour away and has no train changes on the route. I made it into Nurnberg around 9am on Saturday. I walked into the walled city feeling victorious and sat down at a precious little coffee shop for a while. After that i began walking and shopping. I bought some shirts at H&M. After all the walking my feet hurt super bad from my flats so i bought some shoes and they didn't help a whole lot. I walked to the imperial castle and walked on top of the wall of the city. It was all precious. This is a beautiful city. Around 5:30 i went to find my hostel and check in (my first time staying in a hostel). All was successful and i went to my all girl room. I walked in to 3 lovely english girls. I got settled while we talked. They are all 21 as well and interning for puma. They invited me out with them that night and we all got ready. From the hostel we went to the apartment of some of their co-workers and then set off on an hour long walk to the club in the rain. The dancing here is so different than in the states. They don't touch each other. The next morning i woke up and got ready to go. I made my train and arrived home safely. I was so proud of myself.

September 2-6th 2011

Venice and Pisa
Friday morning Michelle and I packed up the car and the boys and headed to Italy. About a 9 hour drive. We passed through Austria and the Alps. The alps were beautiful, i'm guessing we drove through them for 100 miles. They were huge and lasted forever. Reminded me of Heidi. Got into Venzenia around 4:45 and got settled in the hotel. We drove around the town for a while and then had dinner in the hotel. Pizza and vino. My first Italian pizza and wine. It was delicious and the restaurant was nice.
Saturday morning we all woke up and got breakfast at the hotel. Good food and coffee. Then we drove to the train station and took a train to Venice. It was an hour train ride and it was about 89f outside with no AC on the train and limited windows. It was hot.
We arrived and turned right and walked through the city. It was beautiful. So much to see. I loved it. We saw Marco Polo's house. I didn't realize until i saw that that he was a real person. We had lunch at a little pizza place on the water and kept walking. There were so many beautiful allies and bridges. The boats were amazing. we took a gondola ride around. It was scary for me because i had my camera, which is just like carrying an infant around everywhere. Other than that it was gorgeous. The great canal had much bigger boats. We had dinner at the hard rock. After that we walked passed all the high end shops. We took a ferry back to the train station. The ride back was much better because it was not as hot. We were all exhausted. When we got back to the hotel it was about 9pm and the kids were getting ready for bed. I took my ipad downstairs to use the internet and sat in the restaurant and had some dessert and 1/2 liter of vino.
Sunday morning we woke up, had breakfast and loaded up to leave. Stopped in Florence to eat. When we were on the way back to the car it started pouring and we got lost. Then We drove 3 hours to Pisa. It started pouring while we were there. Looked like a tornado. We ran to the car. Then we checked in at Camp Darby and drove to the coast. The beach was closed but we had dinner at an awesome place on the water. They had my favorite pizza and wine of the trip. Collected some rocks from the coast after dinner. Wonderful trip.

August 15th 2011

Luxembourg and Trier
Went on a 4 day vacation this weekend with plans of hitting Bruges, Belgium. About three hours into the drive we got a "flat" tire. We had to stop in Ramstein at the airforce base to get it fixed and ended up staying there. The next morning (Saturday) we headed to Luxembourg which is a beautiful, tiny country about the size of Atlanta. We spent the day walking around the city and looking at the castle.
then we headed into Trier, Germany. Trier is the oldest city in Germany founded around 13 BC. It houses some Roman rouins dating back to 300 AD (the black gate or porta negra) an entrance gate to the city. It also houses a greek bath dating back to 300 AD. We walked around the city all day.  It was a long, exhausting day, but it was beautiful. oh, outside of Luxembourg we went to a U.S. cemetery from WW2. 5,700 soldiers are buried there including General Patton. We also saw Carl Marx's house in Trier.
We are now safely home and anxiously awaiting our household goods arrival tomorrow. Still no internet yet.

August 14th 2011

Went into Regensburg today with the Letchers. It was beautiful. Tons of churches, one older than America. We went to the oldest sausage restaurant in the world. Not much else exciting yet. We went to Ikea yesterday.

August 10th 2011

Second day in Germany! The Letcher's picked me up from the airport and of course- Canada lost my bags. I cried a bit. From the airport we went into Nurnberg and ate at a mexican restaurant. I didn't go to sleep until bed time. I woke up this morning around 12:30pm and went to the px and commissary with the Letchers. They got me some shampoo and deodorant and stuff so i can finally take a shower soon. Trevor is being super sweet. He is calling me nan, nana, or nanny. I can't tell which. Thomas is sweet as always, and Tyler isn't being mean so that's something. I'm trying to get my sleep on schedule. Emailing back and forth with parents and grandparents often.