Deutchland

Welp, I have exactly 8 hours to go in Germany, before I'm on the train heading to Switzerland. Didn't think time could go by so fast, but it seems like it was just yesterday when was hugging my great German friend Elli after 3 years of not seeing eachother. Some background info for ya folks. I came to Germany to visit Elli for part of my fall break. When I was a senior in High School, she was an exchange student that year. We luckily crossed paths and became good friends. We've been in touch over the years through the internet, but it's been tough with both of us being quite occupied. BUT FINALLY!

It's 1230 right now and unfortunately she had to go to bed already because she has to get up at 530 in the morning for work. I COULD go to sleep tooooo, but I figured that since I have so much to talk about...just from Germany, I should get it out of the way before my Switzerland adventures start. So tonight is gonna be an all nighter.


Well, shall we? Let's start from the beginning!

I was to depart Paris on thursday at 4 in the afternoon. I took the metro to the station of my departure, got out, and started looking for the train station. I walked around for a little then decided to ask someone. I asked for the train station, and the guy kind of looked at me funny, and pointed towards some stairs. As I was walking down I came across some Euroline signes (that was the company I was going through) but they had buses on the signs! So I was a little confused because I thought I was going by train. I came to the ticket area, and sure enough, it was bus. Not a big deal, but I was just shocked I didn't catch this on the eurolines site. Silly me. I get to my bus, ask the bus driver if this bus is going to Heidelberg, and when I say I asked, I mean I just said the word Heidelberg, because I asked in french first, nothing, then english, nothing. He eventually told me "no english" and "a little french" but otherwise he just spoke German. So that was fun! The bus was really nice, and there was only like 10 people on the whole thing. I passed the time playing sudoku, looking out at the countryside, and get like an hour of sleep. Tough to sleep on these things. I finally got to Heidelberg, Germany at 1130, but hey, my friend doesn't live there, she lives in Zwickau. See, I took this eurolines bus to Heidelberg, and then from Heidelberg I took the German train line DB BAHN to Zwickau. The reason being, because that was the cheapest way of getting to Zwickau. Unfortunately, my train from Heidelberg to Zwickau didn't live until 440 in the morning so I had mucho time to pass. I went on a walk first, except that it was freezing out, and really foggy, so that only lasted about an hour. I eventually just went back to the train station and layed down on a bench and tried to sleep. Not very comfortable, but eventually the time had come and I was on the train. It was a little tricky though because from Heidelberg I had 3 switches to make before I got to Zwickau. This is a picture of some building across the street of the train station. It had perdy lights.

Germany countryside from train
Heidelberg 442 depart
Osterburken 612 arrive
Osterburken 616 depart
Wurzburg 722 arrive
Wurzburg 734 depart
Nurnberg 828 arrive
Nurnberg 842 depart
Zwickau 1125 arrive!!!!!

Well of course I ran into problems, wouldn't be an adventure without them! I was on my way from Osterburken to Wurzburg, we get to a stop that says Wurzburg-Sud (south) and I guess I didnt think anything of it and got out, only to realize right away on the ticket it says Wurzburg Hbf (which means the main station) so I had gotten out one stop too early. So I was standing on this platform, all by myself freaking out, because I had to get to Wurzburg to catch my train to Nurnberg. I was trying to decide if I should try walking to the next stop, but I didnt know how far away it was, or if I should wait to see if another train came. Luckily another person came to the platform and luckily she was able to speak in broken english that another train would come in 5 minutes. I get on that train, arrive in Wurzburg when my other train was supposed to be leaving, so Im running through the place trying to get to the platform, get up the stairs, scared to look if the train is still there....IT IS!!! woop woop, I get on, and within a minute the train leaves. Ofta I was lucky. I really have no idea what I would've done if I missed that train. It probably would've screwed up my arrive plans in Zwickau as you will soon find out. Next train adventure! So Im waiting at Nurnberg for the final train to Zwickau, some announcement is made on the speakers, in rambling german, I think nothing of it, but notice that the other two guys at this platform have disgusted look on their faces and start walking away down the stairs to get to other platforms. Im starring at this one guy because I had no idea what was going on, but figured there had been a change, and luckily this guy turns back to me as I continue to blankly stare at him, he motions me to follow him. NICE MR.!!! He starts rambling in German, I explain I have zero german knowledge, and luckily he was able to get the message across to me in english that the platform had changed. I arrive on time in Zwickau, and thus my train stories! On to the epic walk.

Friday

Elli and I had discussed before my departure about what I was going to do when I arrived in Zwickau. She had to work that day until "4". I google earthed the distance and it was 2-3 miles which isn't too bad at all. Me, not wanting to make her parents come pick me up, decided to just walk to her work from the train station. I drew a little map in a notepad and used that to get there. But some more adventurous problems!!!!!!!!! She gave me the address of her work and like I said, I put it in google earth to see how far it was from the station, but I never actually wrote it down. So when it came thursday and I forgot to write the address down, and was running all over the house getting things ready, I sent a final email to her explaining that I wasnt 100% sure where I was going from the train station, but I remember the general area. And I said if that wasnt where she worked, that I would be at this place at 4. And if we didnt meet up, I would eventually find my way to her house!! I also wrote down her home address and phone numbers in the notepad although I just use my cell phone for the time because it doesnt work to make calls. SOOO I leave the train station following my wicked drawn map. I really didnt have any problems locating the roads. I got slightly lost but got right back on track. I came across the Zwickau Stadium and saw it was open so I went inside and took some pictures. I continued on my journey. As I was walking I had a brilliant idea. I remembed entering the address of Elli's work into google earth, and usually it keeps addressed entered saved, and luckily I brought my computer along, even though it's a back killer. Stopped at a bus stop and used google earth to pinpoint my location and saw that the place I was heading to was indeed where she worked! So that made me happy and I continued on. I finally got to the building around 1ish. Elli decided after finished high school last year should was going to do a year of social work. It's and option they have before going to college. I dont know ALL the details about it even though she has explained it to me multiple times (sorry Elli), but she is working with handicap people and really enjoying what she does. Anywho, I parked myself on the sidewalk near the driveway to the building, whipped out some sudoku and some french newspaper game I had recently stumbled upon and spent an hour an a half doing this. Around 230 a car drives up and stops, a lady rolls down the window, and I kind of assume this has to do something with Elli, at least I hope it did because I was kind of scared. I asked if she knew Elli and she was just nodding head, and motioning for me to get in. She couldnt really speak english, but I asked where Elli was and if she had left, and the lady was like yea! So I thought, well are you driving me some where then? But she just drove back to the building and kept motioning me to follow her....so I assumed Elli was still there and hadnt left yet thank god! Sure enough, still there and it was so nice to see her again. Magical :P She told me that her parents were on the fritz because they hadnt heard from Elli about me. SEEEEE, after the email that I sent Elli before leaving Paris, explaining I was going to walk, she sent me another email saying she gets done at work at 230 instead and that her parents were going to come pick me up at the station. WELLL of course I didnt get this because I didnt have internet during my train travels. Elli said that her parents were asking around at the train station if they had seen me and they were calling out my name. I thought this was funny but mighty nice of them. Speaking of nice, I will have a whole paragraph dedicated to the niceness of this family. Jumping ahead a ways but on the same subject, during dinner, this whole ordeal was brought up again because they remembered seeing a BRIGHT....YELLOW...HAT, which was of course me. But I think I was so far off in the distance they really had no idea....and they probably thought who is that weirdo!?!?!

We then drove to the house. Its a pretty typical German house with the brown and white combinations. Elli is modeling her house in the picture. They live in kind of a forest area, trees which are turning colors are all over the place and makes for a very beautiful sight. Met the family and was given a tour of the house. They insisted that I take a nap but I was persistant in resisting. I didnt want to waste my precious time sleeping! and I was too excited to be tired. Elli then took me to the downtown area of Zwickau and gave me a nice little tour with exellent commentary of many of the buildings.




Saturday

I wouldn't have had a problem with just staying in Zwickau the whole time, but I was lucky and got to do some traveling. I went with Elli and her family on a road trip to Leipzig. Her grandparents live there and it was her grandmas bday party that evening for dinner. As we were driving along, we were cruising at a pretty decent speed and it dawned on me that they have the autobahn in Germany (no speed limit road) I asked if we were on it already, we weren't but we would get to drive on it for like 5 minutes. Once we got on the autobahn, Elli's dad let er rip. I would periodically take pictures of the speedometer each time we went faster than before. The record was 170 km/h which is about 105 mph. Not toooo mind blowing but for me it was the fastest I'd been in a car. When the family found out what I was taking pictures of they started cracking up. Silly Americans with the speed limit psh psh

We arrived in Leipzig in the afternoon so Elli and I were dropped off to do some sight seeing. We first went to Völkerschlachtdenkmal, which is a huge monument there to remember the defeat of Napoleon in the Battle of Leipzig 1813. Then we went inside. Elli got a headset for me without asking, but that was nice of her. I could enter the numbers of different areas and in the monument and the tape would explain the area. We eventually made our way to the top...no elevators, and the staircase was a tiny spiral one, so by the time I got up to the top I was a little dizzy. There was a nice view from the top of all Leipzig and thhe surrounding country-side. We next went to the center of Leipzig....after climbing down all those stairs again. There is one gigantic building towering over all, which looked slightly out of place due to all the others being a lot smaller. Elli gave me a nice tour of the city. She has it down pretty pat, she will be going to school there when she finishes her social year of work, so we went to her school and took a lil tour which ended shortly after the information desk said we couldn't be in there. We went to the cathedral were the great Johann Sebastian Bach spent around 2o years conducting there and this is where he is buried. As we were walking we came across a little stand of one of the things the Germans are known for best, BRATWURST!!! We split one, and I must say it was the most delicious bratwurst I've ever had, and it was only 1.50! Bargain! Elli is paying for the magical bratwurst in this picture.

We arrived just in time at Elli's grandparents house for the dinner party, and what a dinner party it was. Walk in the door to see all these people wearing Japanese robes and hates. It was quite unexpected. Elli mentioned earlier that we might be having sushi, but didn't know about the costume party. We joined everyone else and each got a robe. There were about 15 people there including Elli's family, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and cousins...so there was a lot of food. I can't really go into any detail about what we were eating, but the first picture is a nice overview of some of the food. Elli likes the second picture much, so I decided to post it. Cute one isn't it? It's her and one of her cousins who I have unfortunately forgotten the name of. The third picture is of Elli's family...Dad, brother Richy, Elli, mom, grandma/pa. I missed getting a picture with all of Elli's other relatives but this is a nice one. When we were sitting around the table talking, some how it got brought up that I like chocolate, and Elli's grandpa went and got me this really nice chocolate. Twas very nice of him. And speaking of chocolate, there is much much more to come but you'll have to wait.






Lots going on in Leipzig, and the night wasn't even over. After the dinner party, Elli and I went to visit a friend of ours. See the same year Elli was an exchange student in Brookings, there was another exchange student from Germany. She met him, Sebastian, became good friends, and then I met Sebastian through Elli and became good friends. Sebastian is in Leipzig now because he is studying medicine. Just moved and started there a week before. He is living with another student in a very nice apartment. It was really good to see Sebastian again. The three of us sat and talked for hours and hours. Very nice. Unfortunately, this was all the time we had together, because in the morning Sebastian had to catch a train to his Grandma's and Elli and I were heading to Dresden. This picture is at the train station right before Elli and I saw Sebastian off.


Sunday

Elli and I arrived in Dresden. She has a good friend, Moritz who is going to school there. I had talked with him a little over the internet over the years before this, so it was nice to finally meet him. Elli and I stayed in his apartment which is a little ways from the center. We made some delicious soup when we got to the apartment and also a cake. They took me around the city during the night on Sunday. Dresden is a very historical city being that it was completely destroyed in WWII. Now it's looking pretty good, and the architecture is amazing.


We then went to a bar and played fooseball for quite some time. Moritz showed Elli and I up because he plays with a bunch of people once a week from his school.

Monday

We went to the famous opera house in Dresden and took a guided tour. Unfortunately, it was in German. But Moritz and Elli did a great job of translating for me. It was an amazing place. Lots of history, like the rest of the city, it too was completely destoryed in WWII but was rebuilt. The first picture is of the opera house, and the second of the city during the day time, and the third is Ellli and Moritz being silly.



Elli and I said our goodbyes to Moritz on Monday and took the train back to Zwickau. That night, we met up with some friends Elli works with. We went out to a restaurant. English was pretty tough for them, so Elli had to translate a bunch. But it was a very enjoyable evening and nice to meet some of Elli's friends.

That night, Elli and I were just sitting in her room on the bed when a friendly friend decided to scurry across the floor. It was one of the biggest spiders I had ever seen. It came out of no where, ran to the center of the room, and just stopped. IIIII eventually got it into the toilette. Good thing it decided to come running out of its hiding spot while we were in the room instead of when IIII was sleeping. I slept in Elli's room, and she in her brothers. That wouldn't have been very fun to wake up to mr. spider crawling on me. I took a great picture with a scale!

Tuesday

Finally got to see the famous high school of Elli's. When she was going to school in Brookings we talked a bunch about her school in Zwickau. It's a music oriented school. They still take normal classes science, math, etc. but also have a strong emphasis on music which makes for a super busy schedule. So the year when she was studying in Brookings, was more like vacation for her! She told me how her school was on top of a hill and she had to walk up this hill every day, and her school used to be an old castle. So it was really nice to see this place. I didn't get a very good picture of the school o well. She gave me a tour inside the school. Class was going on, but we caught the students on break so Elli was running into tons of friends she used to go to school with. We then went walking around the school. It's next to a mini forest which is super beautiful and we walked to Elli's favorite spot which is the second picture. We are facing the school but the trees are in the way. There is also a big church next to the school where concerts were held.



Wednesday

Sad sad day. Had to leave at 7 in the morning. I'm sorry if my tenses are throwing you off. Like I said, I stayed up all night tuesday night writing this, but didn't even get close to finishing. It's the 1st now...I'm actually back in Paris, back from vacation and have to write about my time in Switzerland next!!!!! Goodness. Anywho. I stayed up partly so I would be able to say goodbye to Elli since she left super early in the morning for work. Richy came and said bye to me since he left for school really early too. I then had breakfast with Elli's mom and dad. Got everything packed and loaded into the car and said goodbye to Elli's mom. Her dad drove me to the train station. It was very tough to say goodbye to all of them. Thank you so so so so so much Nebe family!!!!!

Chocolate

So I told you I would get back to the chocolate. One night Elli and I were at a supermarket and we decided to get some chocolate for the week. This is what we got.

And then for some reason, Elli's mom decided that I needed MORE chocolate so she went out and bought a whole sack of chocolate goodies. TOOOO NICE
Well the chocolate that Elli and I bought, we didn't even touch it really, and she was going a goober and not accepting any of it even though we both paid for half. SOOOO I ended up taking all the chocolate in both of these pictures home! Sorry the pictures are messed up. I have no idea why they load like this even though when I view them, they are right side up. O well, you get the idea. I'm not buying any more chocolate in PARIS!

p.s. I didn't go back and read this because it's soooooooooo long and I'm a busy boy. So no complaining. Also, everything typed until Saturday was on Elli's German laptop, which has a couple letters switched around.