Deux Dindes!

Well, today was very successful!
Mom and I woke up early and got ready to go. We had made plans with Justine to pick her up from her house, and drive to Betschdorf, France; which is a city along the pottery road. There is classic pottery for the Alsace region. It's really beautiful and we've been wanting to go there for awhile.
So, my mom drove my dad to work in order for us to have the car, and we set off. This was going to be the 4th time we have driven to Justine's house (1st time for my mom driving), and every time we have gotten all turned around and lost. So we left here just a little bit before 10:30 (we were supposed to meet Justine at 11, and it is SUPPOSED to only take 15 minutes to get to her house...but has always taken us much longer). We got there 15 minutes later...without a single hitch! We were actually early!
Then we went on our way. This drive went smoothly as well (after a near death experience during a left hand turn and a confusing intersection...) and we got to Betschdorf in good time. Good job mom for excellent direction following!

We walked up and down the slightly deserted streets (it was a bit like a ghost town...but with a surprising amount of traffic) and stopped in a few shops. My mom picked out some things and I got something special, and then it was time for lunch. So we ate at a little restaurant, and then back on the road.
Justine showed us the way to a town in Germany because she thought they would have jello for us (my mom has been looking for it for one of her Thanksgiving dishes and France doesn't seem to like jello). We got to the store and found the jello. Then we made our way to where the milk was, and once there, I noticed my mom had fallen behind...she was in the frozen meats area. I motioned to her and she said, very excitedly while holding a frozen, wrapped bird, "I think it's a turkey!" So I went over, only to discover it was a goose (I think it's safe to say that 'bird-watching' can be scratched off my mom's potential hobby list). But further down the aisle, was a whole spot full of turkeys! So we now have two turkeys 'chilling' in Justine's freezer, waiting to be enjoyed for Thanksgiving dinner here in France. By the way...in case you were wondering, I named them Bill and Paul : )

Une dinde GROSSE!

We got chocolate fondue. Yum!

Well, yesterday mom and I met Justine downtown so that she could help us at a boucherie. We are cooking Thanksgiving dinner here in France for Justine, her parents, Claire and Marion. Only problem...the French don't really do turkey like we do, in fact...they don't really eat turkey like we do.
So we went into a butcher shop, and Justine talked to the guy behind the counter. Surprisingly, he was very helpful. We would be able to have it by Thanksgiving, they had the proper size...and it costs over 14 euros per kilo. We need about a 7 kilo birdie...

14 euros x 7 kilos = No Thanksgiving Turkey

Instead, my mom is going to buy the seperate meat pieces at a hyper-marché. So there will still be turkey, just not a big, uncarved bird. Which would have looked much more impressive, but it's not worth the 140 euros.

Today mom and I went downtown to see a store that Justine told us about. Monday night, we went to an E. Leclerc that we pass by occasionally, and it is a hyper-marché (which is the next step up from a super-marché). The place was HUGE! It was like knapp's corner Meijer...only TWICE the size! I walked down the toy aisles...and felt like a kid again. They went on forever.

This is just the toy area...

But Justine had told us that the Auchan is even bigger. So mom and I took the bus to the tram to the other tram there today (which took us an hour), and when we walked in, it first felt like a mall. There were all sorts of shops, sort of encircling the grocery store. Then the grocery store itself was super big. It was quite the adventure. We wandered around a bit, and my mom found sweet potatoes that would work for her really delicious sweet potato dish.

It just goes on for days...

Then we were both starving, so we found a sandwich shop. We sat down and ate, and then we were standing at the cash register paying. The guy that had served us came over and, he must have heard us talking, because he said "anglaise?" and I told him american. He made a shocked face and said "oh!" and then he smiled and walked away. As we were just about to leave, he comes over and hands me a little package, and said something really quick. The only thing I got out of what he said was, "Barack Obama" I looked inside the bag and there was too little bonsbons (candies). I thanked him with a huge smile on my face and as we walked away I explained to my mom what he said, and we both cracked up. Thanks Obama for the free cookies!

Goodbye for another couple years...

Sunday morning we got up...rather slower than usual. We got breakfast, and then Guenter picked us up at our hotel (just as bubbly and buoyant as usual!).

He took us on a little driving tour and Aalen and showed us a few of the sites. We stopped first at a really neat old castle (where Guenter told us a very entertaining tale from his young years), and then saw a church with a crazy intricate ceiling. After that we stopped at another castle, and then went back to his house.
We had  planned to go into Ulm for the day and walk around and get lunch. Luzimar had originally planned to come with us, but she was teaching two dentists to speak Portuguese (she speaks Portuguese, English, German, French, Danish, Swedish...am I forgetting anything...hmmm...) at 4, and our driving tour had pushed us into early afternoon. So she decided to stay behind and prepare for her lesson. She was very anxious about it because the doctors only had two more weeks before they were leaving.

So we headed out and got lunch first thing in Ulm. We had Pfannkuchen (or Eierkuchen), with is a german traditional food. It's pretty much like a giant french crèpes. It was pretty good. Then we wandered around the city. My mom really liked it. It was a really cool town. They had old and new everywhere.
Then we bid goodbye. My dad and Guenter said, "See you in another few years."

Everything (besides the clock) was painted on the town hall.

Well...I went to Germany, met an older man, who gave me some drinks, and then gave me a diamond!

So this weekend was a blast. My dad met a guy, Guenter, about 22 years ago through work. They have kept in touch, and seen each other a small handful of times over the years. So, it seemed silly that we wouldn't see each other while we are here in Europe.

We drove to their house saturday morning, and arrived to a friendly welcome from Luzimar (Guenter's girlfriend). She entertained us until Guenter came home from the grocery store. He was very excited to see my dad and us. He gave my dad a hug and greeted both my mom and I with a good amount of enthusiasm.
He then showed us a cake his mom had baked for us, so we all sat down and enjoyed a very delicious apple pie/cake. It was super fluffy with sweet apple chunks in it. After a few minutes of enjoyable cake and conversation, we went off to check us into the hotel (and ended up driving to the wrong one...who knew there were two Hotel Adler's in the Ostalbkreis area of Germany?), and then off to Limes-Thermen.

All over Germany they have what they call "spas" but they are very different from our spas. They have massages and such, but they also have saunas (nude only...) and natural mineral water hot spring baths. This is what we went there for. Not the saunas! But the baths. : ) At Limes (pronounced Leemess)...luckily bathing suits are required. They have about 5 of these baths (which are essentially shallow, heated swimming pools).

1. indoor/outdoor. You walk into it inside, and then swim/wade outside. This pool was quite large, and had fountains in an area coming up from the sides, so you could stand under them. And jets to massage.
2. seperately closed off. This one was nice because when you walked into the seperate room, it smelled lemony. The whole building was decorated in an ancient Roman style, and this pool had marble blocks in it with marble towers on top of them.
3. centrally located, probably the second biggest, and the second warmest. the pools were all supposed to be different temperatures, but 1 & 2 were similar degrees.
4. this one was in a small enclosed area and was the hottest. It was just like a hot tub you might find at a nice hotel in the states
5. a teeny little one, three person max I'd say, that was full of freezing water. Gunther managed to convince me to try this one, going from 4 to this one...I literally lost my breath when I went from standing in it, to up to my shoulders. It was COLD! but did feel good!

So after a few hours of trying each pool and relaxing, our fingers were thoroughly pruny and our tummies rumbling hungry. So we got dressed and while we went back to the hotel to get ready, Guenter and Luzimar went back to their house to prepare for a party they were having.

When we arrived at their house, there was already two other couples there. One, who had just stopped in to say hi really quick, left shortly after we got there. Another couple arrived not long after that. Jeff and Carina were one couple. My dad had actually met Jeff around the same time as Guenter, as they were all working on the same project. And Jeff is actually born and raised in Flint, Michigan! But he has been living in Germany for the past 18 years (I think).  It soon became very clear that Guenter and Jeff are very good friends. The other couple there were both German, the woman was born in Berlin, and the guy in the area that Guenter lives in.
When we got there, Guenter was making a drink that he had told us to be prepared for earlier. It's a brazilian drink called Caipirinha. Luzimar is Brazilian, so I'm sure this is where Guenter learned it from. Now...something you need to understand about Guenter...he certainly does like his alcohol. And, knowing that I am 20, (and the drinking age for beer and wine being 16 and alcohol 18 in Germany) he offered one to me. He had told us about them earlier, describing them to have lots of sugar, and lemon (but he meant lime) juice in it, I figured it was worth a try. Holy Alcohol...strongest drink I've ever tried...to date.
While I cautiously sipped on that, everyone was talking and drinking there own drinks. After about twenty minutes, I still had about 5/6 of mine still left, and my mom's was now gone. She kindly offered to help me with it. It was down to about two sips in probably ten minutes.
After appetizers and the Caipirinha's, it was time for dinner...and dinner drinks. Luzimar was asking everyone what they wanted. I took a champagne with cassis in it. This was yummy, and I drank it myself.

After dinner...Guenter started pulling out bottle after bottle of different alcohol's. It was so funny to see him stand at the end of the table with probably a dozen different bottles in front of him. He poured me about two sips of something or other into a shot glass and insisted I try it. I was seated next to Jeff, and every time Guenter got him a drink, he would pass it to me and tell me to try it first. I probably tried about 6 different ones. It was quite entertaining.
Then, Guenter was telling us about a friend he has that is working with a new technology. Basically, the guy can make metals look like gold (Guenter showed us a completely silver coin that looked like a gold coin) and he can color diamonds as well (or cubic zirconias). He comes over to me with some tissue paper, and shows me a diamond sitting in it. He tells me that this is what I should tell John I want (it's a pretty nice sized stone). He then tells me that it's a cubic zirconia though, and is covered in diamond, to make it look more real (and let me tell you...it DOES), and then tells me that he is giving it to me! I almost fell out of my chair. It's b.e.a.utiful!
Later, after everyone had a few drinks in them, we all went for a walk in the cool 1 o'clock in the morning air. Then we came back and talked for a bit more. Finally, it was time to go. Guenter had pre-arranged for Carina to drive us to our hotel on their way home. So they did that (but once we got there we had to turn right back around because my dad had forgotten the hotel key in the car...which was parked at Guenter's...).
Once we got into the room, my dad (who had had about 4 beers, and a few shots of different liquors) laid down on the bed to wait for my mom and I to finish getting ready for bed. I came out of the bathroom to find him still laying on the bed...eyes closed and mouth agape. I told him the bathroom was free and he mumbled something and then said, "but that means I have to get up." He didn't move. About three minutes later, as I was just relaxing and starting to fall asleep...I heard a few snores coming from my still dressed (shoes and all) dad.

Where was Marie Antoinette from?

Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna was born in Vienna, Austria.


Post coming soon...here's a bit of a precursor...

Diamonds are a girls best friend!

Happy 50 Mom!

The birthday present to my mom from the Achards.


We left it home still wrapped when we left for Italy.
And broke into it tuesday...

 yumm...

It was gone thursday after dinner : ) Delicious!

Firenze > Milano > Bâle > Strasbourg

Sunday morning we woke up, thinking we had overslept. So we rushed downstairs, and discovered another couple standing there, and they told us that there was no breakfast. They were confused because they knew they were supposed to do breakfast each morning, and wondered what was happening. I went back up to the room to finish getting ready, and my mom soon followed. Then my dad came up a few minutes later and told us that there had been a time change! We had gained an hour at midnight. So after getting ready, we went back downstairs and breakfast was ready.

The weather was gross. It was rainy, but thankfully not as cold as the day before. Luckily, we had our reservations at Uffizi, so we didn't have to spend the morning in the rain. So we found our way there again.
Mom had been struggling with our reservations because she wasn't sure if her original order had worked. She had a printout of an email they sent saying that it had processed, but she hadn't received any emails since. So once we got to Uffizi, we found a line for the information desk. We waited in it for about 20-25 minutes, and then once we got up to the desk, they told us we were in the wrong line. So we found the right line, and waited for another 15-20 minutes. We got up to the desk, and my mom handed them the printout. The woman barely glanced at it, and then handed over three tickets. So we found the reservation line and got into the museum. My mom kept saying, "I paid 30 extra euros to wait in line in order to not wait in line." But we only waited a maximum of 30 minutes...when we would have waited 2-3 hours if we didn't have the reservations...in the rain.
Once in Uffizi, we spent the next 3 hours wandering around it. It is the largest gallery in the world. And it's probably the most exhausting. Sorry, no pictures allowed though.
After we finished, we were starving, so we found lunch. We ate at a restaurant that was decorated a bit like something you might find at home (where my parents got into a discussion with the woman about Obama...enough said). They had one, flat screen tv and it was playing a soccer game. There were groups of people all eating lunch and watching the game. I found it more entertaining to watch the people watching the game, than watch the game. Every five or ten minutes you'd hear everyone go "OOooooh!" and smack their foreheads, or shake their heads. It was pretty funny.
After lunch we went back to the market because my dad wanted to get another scarf (one of the things he said he would NEVER wear when we first got here and he saw all the men wearing scarves). On the way, we found another paper store for me to hop into and buy a quill. Then we were sick of the rain, and decided to head back to the villa and relax again before dinner.

We were trudging up the hill in the mud and rain, and we had just reached the gate, where the gravel road ends and becomes flagstones for the courtyard. I was watching where I was walking, since it was muddy and getting dark. But somehow I missed the T-shaped metal gate-stopper sticking out of the ground. The entire toe of my Converse got wedged underneath it...and I went down. When you are falling because your foot got stuck, generally as you fall you are able to free your foot and simply stumble, rather than go all the way to the ground. The entire time I was falling, I was trying to free my foot. To no avail. I fell on my right side, in a very strange way. I twisted my upper body around, and was able to catch myself in a partial push-up position, but my lower body was twisted to the side, with my foot still stuck.
Anyways, I managed to toss my umbrella and turn it completely inside out, scrap up my palms (luckily only one of them bled), bang my knee (which later swelled and turned black and blue), smash my hip (which was very tender and bruised), and tenderize my shoulder. I must say, I felt pretty awesome after that little stunt.

Once back to the room, I got all cleaned up, and got my dirty, wet clothes off to dry before heading out to dinner. My mom completely changed into pajama's, and when my dad asked what time he should make our dinner reservation for, she just kinda looked at him. We didn't end up going out. Instead, we stayed in the room (and were joined at one point by my friend who snuck into our slightly open room and decided to make himself comfortable on my dad's lap), unloaded all the snacks we had packed for the train rides, and played cards. Happy 50th Mom! : )

Monday we woke up to my 7:20 alarm. We went downstairs, with slightly grumbly tummies, and were welcomed by one of the women that works there. She told us she was going to make us cappuccinos and brought out the pastries she was going to be putting out that morning for breakfast. Our stomachs thanked her. Our taxi arrived at 8:00 and trundled us off to the train station (for a steep price of 31 euros...yikes!).
On our train from Firenze to Milano, we ended up sitting next to a younger guy and his mom. Only to discover they were from Virginia! They told us all about their travels, and we told them about ours. When the guy told us that he was going to Paris, I asked what he was going to do there and he just shrugged, saying I have no idea. So I wrote down the major things, helping them to get the best of their time there.
The rest of our travel day went uneventfully.