Yesterday I went on a little adventure with a friend of mine. She's another au pair with the same agency, but I actually know her through the language course. Anyway, she's been having the same problem that I have with not being able to find anyone who wants to travel with her, and since she and I have started talking to each other more recently we've decided to start taking little trips together. So yesterday we went to Holland. It was an interesting trip, but also a lot of fun.

The place we went to is in a town called Lisse, but we didn't actually see any of the town. The primary (and only) destination was a place called Keukenhof, which means "Kitchen Garden," and it's the world's largest flower garden. This place was absolutely amazing. I have never seen so many tulips and daffodils in my life!! Nor did I realize that there were so many colors and varieties of bulbs. I don't think that I can really explain this place in a way that makes it sound as fascinating as it was. As I mentioned, we spent the whole day (about 5 hours) just at this one place, so there was a lot to see and admire. Plus, they had a little parade that was like a very miniature version of the Rose Parade in Pasadena. They had a dozen or so floats that they decorated with all the different kinds of flowers that they grow in the park and they closed down the little street that runs through that part of "town" for this parade in the middle of the afternoon. A part of me actually wishes that we hadn't watched the parade because it involved more waiting than seeing. The streets here are narrow anyway, and people were being stupid and crowding into the road so that the trucks and floats had to constantly keep stopping and waiting for all the jackasses to move, and then they had to creep exceptionally slowly down the street so they didn't hit anyone. The floats were beautiful, but I would have liked to been able to walk through the park more during that time to see more of the flowers. If I ever go back there, I'll know.

I realize that this doesn't sound like a very interesting trip (even though it was amazingly beautiful) but that's because I haven't gotten to the interesting part yet. I did not plan this trip; my friend Elena planned and booked it through a travel agency. Basically the only thing I knew was that we were going to Holland, and that we were going by bus. That sounds horrible, but it's not so bad. It's only about a 3 hour drive, so you could drive to Keukenhof and back in the time that it takes to get from San Diego to San Francisco. Anyway, what I didn't realize was that Elena, who is Ukrainian, booked the trip through a Russian travel agency. So, in 3 charter buses worth of people, I was the only one there that did not speak Russian. Since we're in Germany and the trip was designed for Russian speaking people who live in this country, it didn't occur to Elena that everything would be in Russian. So the whole time there was a woman speaking over the loudspeaker on the bus, explaining what we were going to be doing for the day, and talking about Dutch history and things like that, and I had no idea what was going on. At least Elena speaks enough German (she's been here for 9 months and knows a little more than I do) for the 2 of us to communicate with each other. She doesn't know English, though, so if we can't explain it in German we better hope it's not important. Plus, even though she speaks Russian, she isn't Russian; she's Ukrainian. Therefore, due to various reasons, she's not particularly fond of Russians, and didn't have much of a desire to speak with anyone other than me. In a way that's good because at least I had someone to talk to, but it's also kind of funny. So, as I said, it was an interesting trip.

Today we were supposed to go to the tennis club here in Königsdorf to join the Wievers for the season opening party there. That didn't happen because everyone was so exhausted from yesterday (apparently they had a long day here, too). Late this afternoon, however, the family went shopping at a garden center somewhere, and I went for a walk on my own. It was about 25 degrees today with a slight breeze, and it was absolutely gorgeous. There was no way that I could justify sitting at home by myself. Anyway, during my walk I passed by the tennis club and I saw Jörg and Barbra there with the boys. I stopped by to say hi and hung out with them for a little while. David was so excited to see me. He immediately got the biggest smile on his face and did his little flirty thing he does with his eye lashes. He's so cute! David and Fabio spent most of the day riding the little carousel they had there, and at 5 Barbra and I sat with the boys to watch the puppet show. Fabio was scared because the show involved a devil, a wizard, and a crocodile, so I held David in my lap while Barbra kept Fabio calm (and seated in one place). Afterward I played with David at the playground for a few minutes while Barbra took Fabio to the carousel before heading home. I knew that Olaf was going to be grilling, and I didn't want them to have to wait for me, or to walk through the door in the middle of dinner, so I didn't hang around too long. I got home just as Olaf called out that dinner was ready (perfect timing!) and we all ate out in the garden. It was a perfect evening for a barbeque.

It's been a full week since my fast, and things are still going pretty well. I regained about 100 grams once I started eating again, which I expected, but then I dropped another half kilo, putting me at 3.7 kilos below where I started. Except for the fact that I added meat to my diet on Thursday, I haven't been eating anything that's not in the fasting how-to book that Esther has and always uses as a guide. So I've been eating a lot of whole grains, salads, and steamed vegetables. I'm really surprised at how delicious and satisfying everything has been, since I generally don't like vegetables and never feel satisfied without red meat. All of my meals are cooked one at a time in single portions, so it's impossible to overeat, and I've been forcing myself to chew my food until it's almost not food anymore so that I don't eat too fast and my brain can process when I've had enough. Like I said, it's going really well and I intend to keep this up a long time ago.

The other big thing that's happened during this past week is that I've started running. I haven't run in literally at least 2 years, and I gave it a try for the first time on Monday. I didn't run very far or particularly hard (for obvious reasons) but I was still running. And the best part is that my knees don't hurt. They were achy at first, but it was just because they're not used to being used that way, not an injury pain. I took Thursday off to let my legs recover a little bit (my quads and shins have been so sore!) and I didn't run today because I was too tired to get up at 6 when I would have needed to in order to run, but other than that I've run every day this week. My intention is to run at least 4 days a week, preferably 5 or 6, and gradually build up to longer distances. That's the reason that I've added meat to my diet, too. I was afraid that I'm not getting enough protein with what I've been eating to build the muscle I need to keep running, so I've been eating turkey and chicken breasts at lunch. As with the whole eating healthy thing, I'm going to have to work hard to maintain this as long as possible.

Today I had a little adventure. I met up in Köln with the other au pairs from MultiKultur and we took a trip to Brühl to visit the 18th century castle there. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, since my last experience with the au pair gathering was kind of a waste of time, but it was actually a lot of fun. There were 7 girls there from Brazil who all hung out together speaking Portuguese the whole time, but they were at least open to talking to other people and didn't entirely seclude themselves. I spent most of the time with these 3 girls from the Czech Republic and a girl from Chile who's only been here for a month. In total there were 24 of us there, so it was a pretty big group. It's kind of frustrating, though, that every time someone asks where I'm from and I say America, their immediate response is, "Good! We can speak English." I don't want to speak English. If I wanted to speak English I would've stayed at home. The problem is that for most of them their German is not so good, so they'd rather speak English. But when I continue talking to them in German they switch back (it's hard to respond to a foreign language in a different foreign language) so it wasn't too bad. After we got back from Brühl the Chilean, a couple of the Czech girls and I went to the gelatto place in the Hauptbahnhof to get some ice cream (I broke my diet, but I only had a little bit) and hang out for a little bit. One of the Czech girls lives actually pretty close to me, on the way from Königsdorf to Köln with the S-Bahn, so we're going to try to get together every once in a while. Unfortunately none of the people I was hanging out with today are going to Paris next month, but the girl from my language course is so I won't be alone on that trip, either.

As far as everything else that's been going on, all I can say is that I'm exhausted. Gustav has been absolutely horrible lately with all of his whining and crying and complaining. He's seriously driving everyone a little crazy with it because he starts whining before anything is even actually wrong. For example, if he wants something that Pauline has in her hand, he doesn't ask her for it but instead starts crying and saying that he wants it. It's almost like he doesn't talk anymore, he just fusses all the time, and cries for his mom. Of course it isn't really all the time, but it certainly feels that way to us. He got a new bunk bed this week which he's really excited about, so at least he's willing to go to bed at night. Pauline's deal now is that she basically refuses to sleep. Because it's still light outside until 9 pm, it's almost impossible to get the kids to come in from outside to get ready for bed anyway. Then Pauline sits there demanding more milk and playing with her toys and crying and everything else for hours. Last night she insisted that she sleep on her rug, and then couldn't sleep very soundly because she was uncomfortable, and when I tried to move her to her bed she started screaming at the top of her lungs, calling out for momma. I gave her more milk but she wouldn't drink it, and every time she stopped crying she would make herself start again. It was 10 at night and I had to sit in her room humming lullabies for 20 minutes to get her to fall asleep. Tonight she did the same thing with insisting to be on the rug and then crying for her mom. This is the most difficulty that I've had with either of this kids while Esther and Olaf aren't here. And then there's poor little Amelie, who's depressed right now because she's in heat. She has to wear this little doggie diaper with pads in it so she doesn't make a mess in the house, and when we go out for walks she's constantly being harassed by all the male dogs. She looks up at me with these big, sad, confused eyes because her hormones are telling her to breed but she knows she's not allowed to. It's really pathetic. She's been having a lot of fun going running with me in the morning, though, so at least that makes her happy.

Where's the Beef?!

Yesterday was the last day of a 5-day fast that Esther, Olaf and I started after Easter. Actually, it was the last day for me, but Esther and Olaf are going to keep going until Monday or Tuesday. I almost didn't make it five days, so there's no way I could possibly extend it any further.

I knew it was going to be a difficult week when on Monday morning, the first day of the fast, I woke up and the first thought that popped into my head was, "Oh, I'm so hungry!" We hadn't even technically started fasting yet! Then, for "breakfast" we drank a laxative solution because an important part of the fast is making sure that your intestines are as empty as possible. It's supposed to help make it so you don't feel hungry during the fast, and so that your digestive system can heal itself from the usual hell you put it through trying to digest the shit you eat daily. Olaf and Esther pretty much both had to go to the bathroom immediately, but not me. In fact, it took several hours before I even felt like I could go to the bathroom. Later in the day I took more of the stuff and ran up and down the stairs a million times trying to get it to work. It definitely didn't benefit me as much as it did Esther and Olaf.

During the fast basically all we could consume was water and tea. I've never had so much tea in my life!! Everyday I've had at least 2.5 liters of some sort of tea (black teas, oolong tea, fruit teas and herbal teas), as well as 3-4 liters of water. At lunch and at dinner we had juice. For me I either made fresh orange juice or drank an organic multivitamin juice for lunch, and then Esther made fresh fruit/carrot juice for dinner (always thinned with water, of course, because otherwise it's too much). That's it. Except for the occasional buttermilk or sauerkraut juice we had to drink to make us go to the bathroom. That was an awful experience. You're supposed to drink it in the morning every other day to make sure that you're still going to the bathroom and your intestines remain empty. Once again, it worked for them but did nothing for me. Awesome.

I almost gave in and ate something during the last 3 days. I have been sooo hungry!!! The worst is when I had to make the kids something to eat, and then couldn't have any of it. Everything smelled like butter, and everything looked delicious. It took every ounce of my willpower not to eat mashed potatoes on Wednesday, a chocolate bunny on Thursday, or noodles with butter and Parmesan cheese yesterday. Seriously. It was nearly impossible, and I wanted so badly to give up. Esther and Olaf have only felt occasional mild pangs of hunger, usually out of boredom or habit, but I've been hungry all week. And everyone keeps saying to drink more water when I feel hungry, but the more I drink the more I want to eat. Pretty much all I've been able to think about for the past week has been potatoes, and occasionally cake batter or gummy bears. I miss food.

Today was the first day that I got to eat since last Sunday. After fasting you're supposed to start slow so that you don't shock your system, overeat, or get into your bad habits of eating crappy food. So what did I get to eat today? An apple. I got to eat an apple for breakfast. Then, for lunch, I made a soup consisting of one very small potato, a carrot, leeks, and some celery root. It was one bowlful, and that was lunch. For dinner I get to make myself a similarly sized portion of tomato soup. I am still starving. Esther and Olaf have been saying the whole time that once I start reintroducing foods, I'll find that on the first day all I can really eat is half of the apple and a portion of the soups because I will get full so fast. Not true. I've even cut everything into little pieces and chewed the crap out of it to make sure that I don't eat too fast and know when to stop, and I'm still waiting for that signal. I don't know what's wrong with me, or what's going on in my body, but this is not the way it was supposed to work. And I've remembered why I always eat so much, and so fast. It's because food is delicious, but only when it's hot (or cold, depending on the temperature it's meant to be eaten at) and eating is way more enjoyable than not eating. Supposedly eating too much or too heavy right now makes you feel sick, but I could definitely go for a steak and baked potato right now, and I don't think it would make me feel sick at all.

There are 2 good things about this fast, though. The first is that I've lost 3.4 kg (7.5 lbs). The second, and most important, is that I have more energy right now than I can ever remember having. I honestly don't think I've had this much energy since at least high school. I haven't felt the need to take a nap or stay in bed all morning since Tuesday, and that's a miracle. I've always needed/thought I needed ridiculous amounts of sleep just to survive, and I just accepted that that's the way it is. Now I'm awake, and refreshed, and I actually feel like doing stuff. It's amazing. As miserable as this has been otherwise, it's all worth it because of the energy I've gained from detoxifying my body. Now I just have to transition into healthy eating habits and keep this feeling as long as possible.

Happy Easter!!

Here in Germany, Easter is a 4 day weekend because both Friday and Monday are observed holidays. Since Esther and Olaf don't work on those days, I don't have to either. In fact, Esther was absolutely surprised to see that I was even awake on Friday morning. I set my alarm as usual, got up, and walked Amelie in the field just like any other day. We hadn't really discussed it, and I wasn't sure what they were going to be expecting of me, so I figured it would be best to stay on the safe side and pretend it was a typical Friday.

Since there really wasn't anything for me to do (I had no work and there was no place to go because everything was closed for the holiday) I spent the afternoon in the garden with Esther and the kids. At first I was just playing with Amelie and helping the kids clean up the 3 million toys they have in their sandbox, but when they decided they wanted to ride their bikes instead I started helping Esther with the weeding. I love gardening, and I really look forward to helping Esther with it this spring and summer.

Günther and Silke showed up Friday afternoon as well and stayed until about 3 this afternoon to celebrate Easter with us. They were responsible for Amelie most of the weekend, and since they didn't have much to do and sometimes get bored, Amelie got a lot of outdoor time over the past few days. Right now she's limping from her right front limb, so hopefully that will go away soon. We'll see over the next few days how she's doing.

Yesterday was kind of a busy day. There wasn't necessarily anything important going on, it was just activity filled. Esther had bought a new waffle iron in January to make what they call Piepkuchen, which is the thin wafer-like waffles used to make waffle cones. She opened it up and we made those for the first time yesterday. The recipe she used was one from her great aunt, who she used to make Piepkuchen with regularly (but that was over 20 years ago), and Esther quickly recalled how her aunt used to spend all day making these things. The recipe produces like a gallon of batter. It was fun, even though it was a lot of work and time, and we all sat around to eat them with vanilla ice cream, cherries, and whipped cream. The kids especially loved it. Later in the afternoon, Olaf and the kids dyed Easter eggs together. They only made 14 eggs, and nothing fancy (the kids are too young to care about anything more than the basic old-school egg dyeing method). Gustav was really excited about it, though. Pauline didn't seem to care too much, but Gustav watched the eggs intently and was really impatient to take them out and look at them. I haven't dyed Easter eggs in over 3 years, so I had a good time with it, too.

This morning, after the kids were all dressed and ready, Olaf brought them upstairs to play while "the Easter Bunny" hid the eggs in the garden. Silke and Esther scattered the eggs about, along with chocolates, amongst the flowers and plants in the garden while I wrapped a couple of gifts for the kids. They each got a book and a Playmobil figure. It started to rain just as I was about to put the gifts in the garden, so I had to hide them on the patio instead so they would stay dry. I finished just as the kids came downstairs and saw that the Easter Bunny had been there. We put their shoes and jackets on them, gave them each a basket, and sent them into the garden to find the eggs. At first Pauline didn't even recognize that there were chocolates with the eggs; she was taking eggs and leaving the chocolate behind. What was really nice is that neither of them fought over who had more, or who saw what first. In fact, Gustav found 2 eggs right next to each other (one under the flower he planted on Friday and one under the flower Pauline planted yesterday) and called Pauline over to make sure that she got the one that was meant for her. It was so cute.

Once all of the eggs had been collected and the gifts opened, we sat down for a nice Easter breakfast featuring the beautifully dyed eggs. Pauline dove right into the chocolate, of course, but luckily they both ate real food along with their candy. After breakfast everyone kind of just relaxed and did their own thing (except for the cooking and cleaning up that Esther and Olaf had to do) until around 2 or 3 when we sat down for lunch. Esther made a delicious lamb roast with potatoes and a salad. And, since we start our fast first thing tomorrow morning, we made sure we ate everything today. I laid down on the sofa after lunch, and Pauline came over and sat next to me on my pillow. She rolled my head over toward her while saying, "Komm mal hier," (come here) and then she started petting my head. It was so adorable and sweet, I wish someone else had seen it.

After Silke and Günther left we all headed into the woods to take Amelie for a walk. We took the kids' little bikes with us so they would be entertained (not to mention faster). It started to rain pretty hard while we were there, so we didn't stay too long. It was nice to get the fresh air and get out of the house a little, though.

Tomorrow is still a holiday, and I'm pretty sure Esther and Olaf will both be at home, so it should be another easy day. That's good, since it's the first day of our fast and I'm not really sure what to expect since I've never done one before. We'll soon find out just how horribly my body will react to this.

The Grand Finale

Tuesday, Mar. 9
This was kind of just an extra day that we had to hang out in Prague. When I was planning the trip people kept telling me that you need at least 4 days in Prague, especially the first time you visit, so that's the way I planned it. It turns out that for what we were really wanting to do and see, we would have been just fine without the extra day, but whatever.
We slept in a little bit and then hung out in our room after breakfast. We'd been starting our days so early that we were tired and half frozen before it even got dark outside, and since we didn't have any particular goals for the day we decided to have a late start. We took the tram into the center of the city and made our way toward the river and the Charles Bridge. We wanted to walk across the bridge to see the city from there, and to take a picture of us touching the statue of the golden dog. We didn't know what that meant or why we were supposed to do it, but a friend of ours told us we had to make sure we did. It turns out that if you rub the golden dog it means you will make it back again some day, kind of like throwing your lei into the ocean when you leave the Hawaiian islands.
Once we made it all the way across the bridge we figured we ought to check out the area, since the castle was the only thing we had seen on that side of the river. Even though most of the historical and touristy stuff is where we had been most of the time, it's still really cool and interesting to just walk around and see all the great things that tourists miss in a city like this. For me it's not just about the monuments, but about life there and what things are really like. For example, we ended up walking through this park (because it was there) in the neighborhood where someone we know used to live. Lee found this out when he got back home and was talking to people about the trip, and that's just kind of a cool, crazy coincidence.
Anyway, in our wanderings through this part of the city we made our way all the way back up the hill to the castle. The view from there is absolutely amazing! Then we just wandered around the streets in that area until we found our way back to the train, which we took into city center.
We found another Czech restaurant that was a little fancier than the other one, and even older. They had mead there, which they sold in a 5 cL size (that's 1.7 ounces) and it was so good. We were confused at first when we saw the size listed for the mead (it was a spirit, not a beer or something like that) but when you tasted it it all made perfect sense. It was so rich and thick, it was almost like drinking honey. The food was great, too, of course. Food is a really important part of experiencing a culture, and I think we got a pretty good experience.
After dinner we did some last souvenir shopping, more for people at home than actually for ourselves. What we did get for ourselves was a small bottle of genuine (not the fake stuff they've recently decided to allow in the US) Bohemian absinthe. When in Rome, right? Anyway, we did the whole spiel with the sugar and the spoon and everything. I tell you, if you are not a fan of anise, than absinthe is brutal. Not to mention the fact that, even extremely diluted with water and sweetened with sugar, it basically tastes like pure alcohol. And no, it doesn't have any hallucinogenic effects, it's just a really concentrated spirit with a pretty green color.
We ended our day with some bad Russian television and then went to bed, looking forward to seeing Munich the next day.

Wednesday, Mar. 10
After breakfast we packed up our suitcases and made sure we had everything we were taking with us. Leaving stuff behind in a hotel is one of my biggest fears while traveling, so of course we quadruple checked everything. That's when I realized that something very important was missing: our RailPass. We had paid a little over 300 EUR for a ticket that allowed us to travel together anywhere we wanted on the German rail system for 6 days within a 30 day period. It sounds expensive, but it was actually a great deal. Without it, however, we had no way of getting anywhere. I was freaking out because I could specifically remember setting it aside so it didn't get lost in all of our stuff when we were packing at home. I knew that it was important, and that we needed to bring it with us when we left for Prague, and therefore it had to be in the luggage. It wasn't, and all we could do was hope that I had left it at home and didn't lose it.
When Lee finally convinced me to calm down because there was nothing I could do about it at the moment anyway, we went downstairs to check out and figure out how to get a cab. We looked into the possibility of taking public transportation to the airport, but it required switching trains twice and then taking a bus, so we decided to just pay for the cab. Lee asked the woman at the reception desk if she could call a cab for us, and we sat in the lobby and waited.
When we got in the cab and started driving, the first thing that Lee noticed was that there was no meter in the car. In other words, it wasn't a taxi. It turned out fine because the guy took us exactly where we needed to go, but we think that the receptionist basically called a friend of hers with an opportunity to make an extra buck. The price was the same as the day we arrived, too, so he wasn't trying to rip us off. Unfortunately, however, I ripped us off, by about 90 CZK. I wasn't paying enough attention, and money math always confuses me (don't ask why) so when he gave is 300 back in change from a 1000, and the total was 640, I got confused and gave him the extra 37 CZK I had in coin. It makes no sense, I know, but whatever. They guy got a sweet hookup and he didn't even have to scam us for it, so good for him.
When we landed in Köln and got our luggage, I immediately opened everything up and emptied it looking for our RailPass again. I refused to believe that it wasn't there, because I couldn't buy a new one and it would suck to have to go home looking for it when we actually already had it. Once again, it was not there. So Lee and I took the train to the Hauptbahnhof and I left him there with the luggage while I hauled my ass home to look for the ticket.
Luckily my train was leaving right when I got there, so I didn't have to wait for one. When I got off the train I walked as fast as I could back home. When I got there Amelie greeted me at the door, and only Günther and Pauline were home. I said hello, gave Pauline a kiss and went straight downstairs to look for the RailPass. Sure enough, I found it in a plastic shopping bag along with all the other papers I had removed from the suitcase from the Frankfurt trip. So I set it aside to make sure I packed it, and then put it back where it came from and packed it away instead. I grabbed the ticket and went upstairs to say bye and left. Before I left I asked Günther if I should let Amelie into the house because she was still in the foyer. His response was, "Nein. Sie hat mich geärgert," which made me chuckle because it just sounded so funny. She looked sad, though, so I made sure to give her a big kiss before I left.
With the ticket in hand, I went as fast as I could back to the S-Bahn. Once again I got there just as the train did, so I didn't have to wait at all. I wasn't sure where Lee was going to be when I got back to the Hauptbahnhof because I had tried calling him from the house before I left, but it went straight to voicemail. I didn't realize that we had turned my phone off on the plane and he didn't have the pin to unlock the sim card, so there was basically no point in even leaving the phone with him. Anyway, I had told him to find the Starbucks or the McDonalds, and since I get off the train next to McDonalds I tried there first. He was sitting next to the window, so I had absolutely no trouble finding him. We hopped on the next ICE train to München and were on our way.
It was pretty late when we arrived in München, so we didn't get to explore the city on that first day like we had planned to. We looked at a map in the Hauptbahnhof to figure out where we were and where we needed to be before going to our hotel (which was conveniently located across the street). It had been a long, stressful, exhausting day, so after we checked in I wandered around until I found a Döner place that was open and took some back to the hotel for us to scarf down before going to bed.

Thursday, Mar. 11
We got up early in the morning to enjoy a delicious breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Once again it was a typical European breakfast, but it was even better than the one in Prague. Germans know how to eat.
We looked on the internet really quickly to figure out how to get to Hohenschwangau before we left the hotel. The DB website is really good at helping coordinate and plan trips, so even though we had to take 2 trains and a bus, it was going to be really easy. There's no high speed train that goes that way, though, so it ends up being about a 2 hour trip each way because of how many stops the trains make.
When we got to the end of the train line and went to get on the bus, we didn't have any cash to pay for the bus ticket (our pass is only good for the trains) and there was no ATM at the train station. I hadn't thought about withdrawing money in Munich before we left because it never occurred to me that there might not be an ATM at the train station. I had to ask for directions from a couple of people to get to the nearest bank to withdraw some cash, and while we were hurrying back to the station to catch the bus before it left, we saw the bus drive past us. Bummer. So we just went back to the station to find and wait for the next possible bus up to Hohenschwangau. Just as we got back, the same bus pulled up again. The driver apparently saw us walking back from the bank and, knowing we wanted to be on that bus, came back to pick us up. How awesome is that?! No wonder I love these people. So we didn't have to wait at all but just hopped right on and headed up the hill.
It was a little after 2 when we got off the bus, and we were really discouraged when we saw a sign stating that the Neuschwanstein castle closed at 3. When we went to buy the tickets, however, we asked the guy there if it was really closing and he looked at us like we were crazy. Apparently they need to update their sign. We bought the tickets and he told us that the next and last English tour was going to be at 5:45. Since we were going to be making the trek up the mountain instead of catching a ride in a carriage, we went straight there. It's a hell of a workout getting up that hill, especially if you're out of shape. Even though it was snowing, we were both so hot by the time we got to the top that we had taken our jackets off and pushed up our sleeves. People probably thought we were crazy, but I'm used to that around here.
What we didn't realize when we were told the next tour was at 5:45 was that it actually meant we would not be able to get into the castle at this time. This is the first place I've been to where you can't actually enter without being part of a tour, so I had no idea that we were going to have to wait once we got up there. It kinda sucked, because we probably could have toured the Hohenschwangau castle in the meantime if we had known instead of waiting at the top of the hill with nothing to do. It wasn't too bad, though, because we met a few Americans that we were able to talk to. There were 2 guys there that were traveling Bavaria for a few days, and then there was a family that was actually living in Germany. The guy was in the military and had been living in Germany with his Spanish wife for several years. Plus, his little sister was there with her son, and she was actually born in Germany when their father was stationed there during their childhood. It was kind of crazy. But they were really nice, and it was cool talking to them while we waited.
Inside the castle is just as amazing as outside. Unfortunately you aren't allowed to take any photos of the interior, so I don't have any images to share, but it really is spectacular. It's clear to see why Bavarians were so pissed at Ludwig II for using all of the state's money to build his ridiculous palaces. No wonder he died "mysteriously" in a lake! This guy really knew how to live. I don't think I've ever seen woodwork as intricate as he had in his bedroom. It's kind of funny, though, that there's no throne in his throne room. He died before it was ever completed, so he never had a throne in his own palace. And rather than waste any more money finishing it (such as completing unfinished rooms or adding a throne) the Bavarians almost immediately turned it into a museum. That was a good choice.
When we got back to Munich we pretty much went straight to the Hofbräuhaus, which is a must if you travel to Munich. We ended up sitting at a table with a group of people who were visiting from Serbia. It was kinda weird to ask them in German if the 2 seats were available and get a response, in English, saying that they didn't speak any German. So Lee and I sat with them and hung out for about an hour and a half. It was too late for us to order actual food so we both ended up getting an apple turnover, which was delicious. I forgot that they put raisins in their apple turnovers, though, so that was kind of a surprise. They served it with a vanilla sauce, and it was really good. And, of course, we each enjoyed some of their beer. The smallest size you can get there is a half liter, which is a big contrast from the typical 200 mL you get when you order beer in Köln. It was fun to sit there and listen to the band and watch the Bavarian dancing. We didn't get to see too much slap dancing (although they did actually do a little of it) but they were definitely wearing the Lederhosen, and they did this one dance where there were 2 guys cracking whips over their heads the whole time. It looked dangerous and exhausting, but it was fun. We basically stayed until they closed, right after the band packed up and left and the place was essentially empty. I always like being places when they're empty, because then I can get good pictures of what they look like without a million people blocking my view. The last time I visited Munich, when I was in high school, I was really sick and didn't get to go to the Hofbräuhaus, so I'm really glad I got to go this time.

Friday, Mar. 12
Originally we had planned that we were going to visit Neuschwanstein one day we were in Bavaria, and the other day we were going to travel to Salzburg. Unfortunately, because I was an idiot and left the RailPass at home, we didn't have enough time. We arrived in Munich over 4 hours after we had expected to, and that was the time we had intended to spend exploring the city. So we decided that, instead of going to Salzburg, we were going to hang out in Munich until it was time to leave and head back to Köln.
After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and went to the Hauptbahnhof to store all of our luggage. From there we headed toward Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel, using a map we got from the hotel to hit all of the cool spots along the way. Munich is such a beautiful city.
We got to the town hall where the Glockenspiel is at just a little before 2 and hung around to see it do its thing. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that the whole display only runs 3 times per day, so we were a little disappointed when we waited for 10 minutes and ended up seeing nothing. We found out what time it was going to play again and then planned to come back then. At one end of the square was a toy and teddy bear museum, which we thought would be cool to check out. They don't have any toys in there that are newer than 1960, or something like that. They also have the story of the original stuffed animal, which was an elephant that a blind woman had created, intending to use it as a pin cushion. She even made teddy bears with movable arms and legs. It's a pretty cool story.
We also went inside this church where, according to the story, the devil's footprint can still be seen in one of the marble tiles. The story goes that the devil walked into the church and saw that there were no windows. He declared that a church is worthless without windows and stomped his foot in triumph, leaving a footprint (with a spur from his heal) in the ground. Then he stepped forward and saw from his new view that the entire building was lined with beautiful windows that he could not see from his prior position. So he got all pissed off and created a wind storm in an attempt to blow out all of the windows, and to this day there is still a wind that circles the church. It's kind of crazy, because there really is a wind that's just around the church. Lee and I commented on it when we first approached the building, before we knew anything about the story.
We checked out a few more churches and cool buildings before we headed back to Marienplatz to watch the Glockenspiel at 5. After the show we went to a cafe right on the square because we were both cold and hungry. We both ordered Weißwurst, which is the regional specialty of Munich. It was delicious! It's really hard to describe the flavor of it, though. It's kind of sweet, and it has a really soft texture. It was really good, but I just found out it's made from veal and therefore am not likely to eat it again. Oh well.
Once we were done eating we collected our luggage from the locker and headed toward home. It's about a 4 and half hour train ride, so it was already going to be super late when we got home, and then we still had to walk from the S-Bahn. We weren't really ready to leave Munich when we did, but we had to. As I said, it was really late when we got home, so we went straight to bed. We didn't have anything to do on Saturday and knew we could sleep in, so we enjoyed knowing we could just sleep until we were done sleeping.

Saturday, Mar. 13
We didn't go anywhere or do anything in particular this day. We planned it this way, knowing that we would be exhausted from our trip and that it was going to be nice to relax with the family. We didn't get to sleep in the way we intended because the kids came running in to wake us up. That should've been expected though, since that's been the tradition for Saturday mornings since I first got here.
After breakfast we literally spent the whole day hanging out with the family and playing with the kids. Esther wasn't there because she had gone to Bielefeld to visit her mother. Lee and I were wanting to send her and Olaf out for a nice dinner on us as a thank you for letting him stay at the house, but we obviously couldn't do that. It was still nice, though, to just sit around and relax. And, of course, play with the kids. Naturally we spent a good amount of time playing with the Legos. I've always had the habit of organizing Lego blocks according to size and color (it's the OCD in me) and Gustav thought that I was building towers, so he and I made a city. He was very proud of it. In addition to the Legos Lee and I read books to the kids (both the new English books that he had brought for them and some of the German ones they already had here), pretended to ride in the train with them, and let them play with Lee's hat and hair. They both really enjoyed having him here to play with, and he fell in love with both of them right away. These kids really are too precious, too funny, and too smart not to love.

Sunday, Mar. 14
What a sad day. It was Lee's last day here in Germany, and we were all really bummed about it. We got up in the morning to have breakfast with Olaf and the kids, and then Olaf took the little ones to go to the animal park for the day. It made Lee really sad to have to say goodbye to the kids. It was a moment he definitely wasn't looking forward to. At first Pauline didn't want to say bye to him or give him a hug. I think it's partly because she knew he was leaving. She does that a lot when she doesn't want Esther to go to her office or something like that; she gets upset and refuses to say goodbye. After I explained to her that he wasn't going to be there when she got home, and that he wasn't come back, she finally said bye to him.
When everyone else was gone, Lee and I finished making sure that all of his stuff was packed so that we could head to Frankfurt. His plane didn't leave until after 9 pm, but we wanted to spend some time sightseeing in Frankfurt, since we didn't really do that the last time we were there. We packed everything up, he cuddled with Amelie a little and gave her some love and a goodbye kiss, and off we went.
In Frankfurt we stopped at the airport first so that we could drop off Lee's luggage. We checked him in for his flight (only to find out that he had a stop in Newark that wasn't on his itinerary) and then found their luggage storage so we could leave his carry-on there while we went exploring. As with every place we visited, our main concern was seeing the Alt Stadt and all of the historical, cool looking stuff. There were a lot of Fachwerkhäuse (half-timbered houses) in the main square and the Römer area, which was really fun to see. We also got to see a little bit of archaeology in front of the cathedral that had been exposed when the city was bombed during the war. They excavated this area (called the Archaeological Gardens) in the '50s and uncovered foundations of a Carolingian chapel as well as Roman ruins, the oldest traces of inhabitance in Frankfurt. Archaeology always makes me happy because it makes me feel at home, so of course I really enjoyed seeing that.
After some quick sightseeing and one last meal together, it was time to take Lee back to the airport and part ways. I went with him to pick up his stuff at the luggage storage, and then I went with him all the way to security, as far as I could go. After not being able to see him for almost 6 months it was really hard to let him go. The 2 weeks went by so fast. He unfortunately had a hell of a trip trying to get home (he loves Lisbon, by the way) which didn't make having to leave any easier for him. I had to sit on the floor of the train on the trip home because all of the trains were at least 45 minutes delayed (Frankfurt apparently has a problem with this) so it was really crowded. That didn't really matter to me, though. When I got home I went straight to bed, and then everything went back to normal the next day. It was a great vacation, and I can't wait to do it again.