A Weekend To Remember

This past weekend David and I went to Germany for a couple of reasons.

• To visit Cori
• To pick up Duncan
• To see more of Germany

Here are some details:

Thursday evening we made somewhat last minute plans to head to Germany early Friday morning. We woke up pretty early to catch a 7:41am train to Frankfurt. As soon as we had crossed the German boarder the train controllers came around to check passports. Ours were in the bags above our head. I think David and I had just woken up so when they asked it took us a minute to remember where they were and then start to get them. This must have been normal for them because as I was reaching for the our bag the man said "Americans?" we said "Yes." and then he said "Nevermind, it's ok." ?? Well that was strange. Something has been strange lately, because when we arrived at the airport in France they didn't stamp our passports there either. Oh well! We've missed out on two more stamps though...

On our way to Frankfurt we were surrounded by kids. It was lots of fun. A set of German twins, an American girl (who knew a few languages for such a little kid), and a little black boy whose mothers language we didn't recognize. It seemed like all the Moms saw other children and then congregated in our car...right next to us. They were all very cute and fun to watch. The funniest thing was when the little black boy put his hand on the German Dad's knee so that he wouldn't fall over and the little German girl tried to kick his hand away (she was sitting on her Dad's leg). I've never seen a kid be defensive of their parent like that.

Then we took another train from Frankfurt to Wuerzburg to meet Cori. We got a quick tour of the downtown area of Wuerzburg and just missed a trash can fire...but caught the end of it when the guy put it out with a fire extinguisher and the police showed up. Then we went to Wertheim, where Cori lives and got to see her new apartment - it's nice! Then we picked up Frank from work (because we were borrowing his car) and proceeded to watch a documentary about David Hasselhoff...long story.

Saturday we went to a flea market, then a town market, ate some Bratwurst for lunch, and headed back to the apartment. I took a nap, and David and Cori read books. Later that evening we met up with Frank again and went to a Festival in a nearby town. It was a blast. There was a huge ferris wheel, another crazy ride that would make you lose your lunch, some swings, and of course, a beer tent. We didn't actually sit under the tent because it was crowded, no one would share their table, Frank didn't approve of the band, and it was kind of muggy in there. So we sat at a table just outside. David and I tried some weiner schnitzel and the alternative for beer when you are at a beer tent, Spezi. It's yummy!

Sunday we woke up and had apple pancakes for breakfast. Then we headed out to meet some of Cori's friends. Richard and Ulli. We had a "barbque" at their house for lunch. Richard was in the military, stationed in Germany, when he met Ulli. They have two daughters. They were really great. They had just put a pond in their back yard and Ulli kept fishing things out of it to keep it clean...especially nuts from a hazelnut tree. We also found out that Richard is into scuba diving. He hasn't done it in a while, but we might go scuba diving with him sometime! While we were there we borrowed their internet to check on Duncan. I also ended up checking the weather in Atlanta - it was looking hopeful! That evening for dinner we went to Cori's favorite Italian restaurant and totally understand why it is her favorite. David had gnocci, I had tortellini, Cori had a really tastey spaghetti, and Frank had a yummy penne. They were all worth ordering again. We left very full.

Monday morning Cori and I did some shopping. I was hoping to find a picnic blanket that had a lining on one side - great for ground that is always went AKA the ground in Metz! But I never found one :o( I did find Listerine :o) (we don't have it in France). Cori got all of her stuff and we headed back so that David could help her with hanging a shower curtain and cabinet in her bathroom. I took a nap :o) After I was rudely awoken we visiting another family Cori is friends with, the Webers. They were the ones who gave her her first job in Germany. We had a really good meal, really good, really really good. To me, it didn't seem German though, but it was really good. It was slightly baked Feta cheese (so that it was warm and soft), a salad made with tomatoes, onions, mozarella, basil olive oil, salt, pepper, and balaslmic vinegar, and bread of course, lots of bread. Some warm with butter and herbs, some just plain. Oh! And they made ice cubes for us to have with our coke. How nice. Oh, the luxury of ice cubes!

While we were there we got a call from my Mom saying that they had just dropped off Duncan and he was on his way - !! How exciting.

After going to bed way too late to wake up this early, we woke up around 6:30ish to head to the airport in Frankfurt to pick up Duncan! We got to the airport around 9am to start the paperwork process. By 11am we were almost done with everything, but it had already taken so long I took a picture of my watch.

Finally by about 11:15 they rolled him out to us and the waiting was finally over! We packed up the car, gave Duncan some much needed water and a 'restroom stop' and headed to the train station for the trip home.

We found a train that left 10 minutes after we bough the tickets so we hurried with all our stuff. On German trains Duncan had to ride in his box, again, or else we had to pay quite a bit. But, we did find out that on French trains we only have to pay 5.50 and he can ride just on a leash! All right for France making something LESS complicated! That rocks.

Now we are home, Duncan survived the 88 step hike to the top of our building, twice, and he sleeping like a baby - trying to ignore all the unfamiliar noises. I hope he continues to adjust well. Do animals get jet lag?