Adventures in Deutschland

2008-06-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm now back in Michigan! A lot has happened since I last wrote in March. My sister Haley, Alex, and Caitlin visited me and I had a lot of fun traveling to Valencia, Prague, Plzen, and Dublin.

Joe and I had a chance to see some more things in Heidelberg that we hadn't made time to see while I was living there so we went one some day trips, like the one to the top of our mountain via Bergbahn and we checked out the Packaging Museum, which is pretty geeky but fascinating to me!

I'm back in Michigan and starting school again, so I don't have a need for my "Heather in Heidelberg" blog anymore. My email address is HHendricks(at)gmail(dot)com if anyone wants to get in touch with me!

Thanks to everyone who checked the blog out :)

Wow!

2008-03-31T14:25:00.000-07:00

I have become a traveling MACHINE the last few weeks. Between Frankfurt, Munich, Prague, Plzn, and Valencia, I have received my fair share of sites!

Every new city in Europe is so vastly different and I feel so lucky to be able to experience them all. I'm also so incredibly grateful that I've had people I love come to visit me while I've been here.

Our first guest, Alex, whom I have known since middle school, came to visit and we had a chance to see Buck 65, one of Joe's favorite musicians, the day before Alex's birthday. The night ended up being more than we bargained for and we had to put off our trip to Prague for the day.

We had a great extra traveler with us on the way to Prague as well. My friend Liam, with whom I took classes at Schiller, has a brother in the Peace Corps teaching English in Ukraine. He decided to backpack his way there and we drove him a little closer to his destination before he hopped on a train for a day of travel in Eastern Europe.

In Prague, we got to see some of the most magnificent sites in all of Europe. The apartments were all beautiful and I felt like I couldn't find a direction to look in where I wouldn't see an elaborate sculpture or historic site. Aside from tour guide specials like the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle, which were almost completely overtaken with souvenir vendors, we also had a chance to get an inside look on the city.

We stayed with a German Erasmus student in Prague named Jane. She was so hospitable and her roommates were incredibly nice too. Our car disappeared from outside her flat after a day of site-seeing and her American roommate, Charlie, quickly arrranged for a Czech friend of theirs to come over and help us call the police since none of us could speak any Czech. Thankfully it only took a few minutes for their friend to rush to our rescue and while we were deciding whether it could have been stereotypically jacked in Prague or impounded, their friend called and told us, much to our relief that it was parked illegally and had been impounded just down the street!

Their entire group of friends and us, about 10 people, all walked together to get the car. I was so impressed that they all were so interested in making sure that we got it back and were there to support us. I love Couchsurfing!

We found a safe place to park the car and went out for great Czech beer night both nights we were there. We tried the original Budweiser Budvar, Grombius, and Pilsner Urquell. Our host knew some really great Czech bars and restaurants outside of the city center, so it was absolutely great to be around locals!

On our way back to Heidelberg, we stopped at Plzen, the city where the Pilsner style of beer came to be. We visited the Pilsner Urquell brewery and tried the beer straight from the wooden barrels that it is stored in, without preservatives or artificial refrigeration. It tasted like magic!!!

We arrived back in Heidelberg safely and without incident and then went to Burg Eltz to see the absolutely beautiful castle and take a tour inside. We had great luck finding the place down a steep and twisting road and then had great luck again with
finding our way back via flat terrain.

The next day my sister, Haley, and her friend, Rob, came to visit us. They arrived early in the morning, so we decided that Alex and I would pick them up from the airport and drive directly to Munich from Frankfurt! It was a big game day for the Bavarian footballers and the city was packed! It was a great day to be there. We went to the Hofbrauhaus and had beer in Oktoberfest-style, one-liter glass mugs (Masses) along with gigantic Bavarian soft pretzels.

Our trip home was a bit more adventurous than we would have liked due to inherited direction deficiencies and we ended up very close to Salzburg, Austria. It was a long day/night to say the least.

We celebrated Easter together the next day and Joe cooked a ham, pierogis, green beans, mashed potatoes, and even baked an apple pie! It was a great dinner and we even had more for lunch the next day.

On Tuesday, we exchanged one Alex for one John at the airport, and went on a phenomenal tour of the Heidelberg Castle with help from our landlord's wife, the tourism director of the castle. It was great having John, Joe's older brother, and my sister here at the same time.

John was here only two days when we all parted ways for the brother trip to Poland to see where their grandma grew up near the Prussian border, and for the sister (and Rob) trip to Valencia to enjoy some sunshine and Spanish culture. I loved it! I took Spanish all through high school and was actually able to communicate rather effectively. More about Valencia in the next post!

The baths at Baden-Baden

2008-03-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Initially I was emphatically against a trip to Baden-Baden and made all kinds of excuses as to why I would not like a trip to the most well-known spa in all the world. All the tour guides we had read raved about Baden-Baden being laden with historical reviews from royalty, writers, philosophers, and movie stars. The part that I was hesitant about was the fact that the most famous of all these spas, Friedrichsbad , has a "no clothes" policy. Germans are notoriously liberal when it comes to nudity and have a philosophy of FKK (Freikörperkultur) which literally translates to "free body culture."

As evidenced by their winding walking paths, mountain hikes, pedestrian-only zones, and sensible footwear, Germans love nature and part of their philosophy is enjoying nature and its perfection in all aspects. In order to fully enjoy a day at the spa, a German feels that nudity is the answer, whereas a bathing suit or other accoutrements will not allow them to fully experience the health benefits.

So we went to Baden-Baden, and enjoyed the 17 stages of shower, warmth, heat, shower, scrubbing, shower, steam, hot steam, water, bubbles, floating, shower, cold, rubbing, moisturizing, and relaxing in under three hours. I was definitely surprised by how relaxing the experience was, especially sans clothes.

I have to recommend the baths to everyone who visits Germany but it was nice going there, at least for the first time, being sure I wouldn't see anyone that I knew. The overall experience was wonderfully relaxing and Baden-Baden is a beautiful town full of Roman ruins, beautiful architecture, winding cobblestone streets, and a lively atmosphere.

On our trip, we also took a hike up a hill near the baths to enjoy a picnic lunch. The trees were enormous and fragrant. We also had a chance to take part in a wine tasting after the baths and tried German Riesling and Spaetburger, which is a German Pinot Noir as well as sweet red wines too.

Enjoy the photos we took while in B-B:

Joe in front of the baths

Me in front of cute little wild flowers

The view from our picnicking location

Joe in front of a memorial to fallen WWII soldiers from Baden-Baden

Joe as he embraces nature

Here I am, embracing nature

In front of the grand entrance to Friedrichsbad

Baden-Baden is full of gorgeous architecture since it attracts royalty from around the world.

The arch is home to a tap of water straight from the hot water springs below.

I took this photo from the corner of the main entrance of the baths. The staircase splits and takes men into the men's lockers and the women into their own. The entire building is full of marble and dramatic architecture.

A Rowdy Night in Heidelberg

2008-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

I hadn't seen my Schiller friends for weeks, so I decided that we needed to get together for some fun on the Untererstrasse, where the good bars and clubs are.

Thamar, Anna, and I started at Extrablatt for dinner on the Hauptstrasse. I had an awesome Caprese pizza and we had a perfect table by the window so that we could see all the action going on outside. After dinner, Liam and Joe joined us and we headed to the bar. Joe and I taught everyone how to do our signature move:

After our pitcher, we hit the streets and ran into Anna's gangstas, Alex and Martin the Crazy Slovak.

It was great having all my favorite Heidelbergers together:

These two are always up to something.

After the guys went off on their own, we hit the Dubliner and met an American from Philly who works for SAP and was on a business trip. We had so much fun talking to her (and drinking) that we felt we needed to take her to the castle since she was leaving in the morning.

She was staying in a hotel by the river with a beautiful view of the bridge and the water. She also had a mini bar which we made use of by bringing champagne and wine up to the castle, just in case!

It was dark and raining/hailing heavily during our trek, but Anna managed to take this awesome shot of the castle. Sometimes I think it's even more beautiful at night, all lit up, than it is during the day.

I'm the shadowy figure in the lookout area with a view of the entire city!

Making the castle look good:

The three of us, totally drenched but having fun!

We saw that there was a party going on in one of the rooms and we decided we needed to investigate, just to make sure everyone was okay. We ended up crashing a German lawyer's going away party and snuck into one of the rooms they weren't using so that we could see the inside of the castle and get out of the rain! Anna and Kim threw caution to the wind and decided to sing in the rain inside of the castle:

We ended the night by harassing a local fraternity and being chased down Schlossberg! German frat boys take their parties very seriously.

All in all, a totally fabulous night to remember!

Brussels, Belgium

2008-02-26T05:47:00.000-08:00

Chocolate, amazing beer, friendly people, and delicious waffles: Belgium was an amazing trip. We stayed with our new friends Annabel and Steve who are native Belgians and have been living in the Etterbeek neighborhood of Brussels for six months now. They helped us plan our trip around the city, recommended the best places to try chocolate, and made sure that we saw the city's wonderful gem: Manneken Pis.

All the signs in Brussels are bilingual. They are posted in both Flemish and French, so they were almost entirely unhelpful to Joe and me, who can get by with Spanish, German, and English. French is similar to Spanish, so I could decipher some of those words, then Flemish is similar to English and German, so between the two of us, we could just barely discover what the signs meant (or so we thought).

We started off the day with croissants that Annabel and Steve gave us for our journey. We enjoyed our breakfast at around 8am with a view of the Arc de Triomphe near the parc du Cinquantenaire. This is a beautiful pedestrian zone in the heart of Brussels and also happened to be the landmark we were looking for to tell us to get off the bus!

Arc de Triomphe

Standing at the base of the AdT. This monument is enormous!

A picture of Joe being hesitant after I talked him into climbing the AdT

Delivery truck

It's always funny to see something that looks like my last name since you don't see anything like it in the states.

While looking for Manneken Pis

It looks like the lion has SARS

Grote Markt - Beautiful gilded facades

Mmm! Belgian cheese!

40s of Stella Artois with plastic twist-off caps! What???

Belgian waffle (to die for)

Look at the elation in his eyes: he'd been waiting years to get his Belgian waffle with chocolate AND bananas

Piles of little chocolates in a chocolate shop

I'm not entirely comfortable saying that the hike with a backpack full of beer was worth it for Manneken Pis.

Asian tourist groups are a sight in themselves

Yes, you can buy snails on the street.

Cantillon brewery tour

This is how they bottle beer.

Trying their signature Greuze. Very bitter and acidic. They brew it like it was brewed hundreds of years ago, without pasteurization law.

Joe and his three new bottles of Cantillon.

The street our hosts live on.

Overall, an amazing trip. It would be dangerous for me to live in Brussels because of the amazing beer and chocolate, but it's now one of my favorite cities!

Westvleteren!

2008-02-24T11:09:00.000-08:00

We decided to visit Westvleteren, Belgium because we found a brewery at the St. Sixtus Abbey where the Trappist monks brew ales that are known to be among the absolute best in the world! The abbey only brews enough to make money for the daily operations of the monastery, so they have been perfecting their brewing process over time in small batches.

The only way to try this beer is to visit the abbey and buy it directly from the monks, so we decided we needed to! First, you have to call to find out when you are allowed to call for a reservation time. When you call to set a time to get your beer, they tell you when they are available. We set up a time to pick up the beer and went on the 6-hour journey to Westvleteren.

When you get to the abbey, you pull your car around a driveway and wait your turn to load a crate into your car (they are sold in crates of 24 bottles). We were pleasantly surprised to learn that we could buy a maximum of three crates if we wanted to! We were only planning on buying one and finally decided to buy two crates because we drove all the way to Belgium for it. :)

Signpost on our way to the abbey

We saw a line of cars waiting for their beer, so we decided to get out and stretch a bit

Here's Joe at the entrance of the whole monastic campus

Waiting in line with his beer in sight...and looking more than a little psychotic.

Sweet success: 48 bottles of the "8" which is named after its percentage of alcohol.

Brewing Process in Flemish

A random play area outside the brewery. Joe poses with his Blondes

Our beer with a field of hops in the background

The abbey also has a modern cafe with relics from the abbey and brewery. Beer is seen as a very cosmopolitan drink in Belgium and it has the same prestige as a glass of wine in most other countries. I was surprised by the sight of proper older ladies drinking glasses of beer in the middle of the day! We drank the "12" while in the cafe because it wasn't available for sale by the crate. The 12 has an alcohol percentage of 12 and we could feel it. It was a great beer. We also had bread, cheese, pickles, and onions from the abbey.

This was an amazing adventure and we're hoping to go back sometime to not only return the bottles, but to have them refilled. I highly recommend trying all of the beers at Westvleteren, especially the 8 and 12.

Joe's 23rd Birthday

2008-02-24T09:10:00.000-08:00

For Joe's 23rd birthday, we took a hike up to the very top of the mountain across the river from where we live. The views are amazing and there are really interesting sites at peak like an amphitheatre used by the Nazis and ruins of an old monastery.

Here's Joe about halfway up

Here I am, taking a scenic break

Sitting on the Nazi Amphitheater getting ready for our picnic lunc

We made it to the top!

View of the castle from the top of the mountain

The view on the Altbruecke while walking home

Happy Birthday, Joe! I love you!

Speyer Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:32:00.000-08:00

Speyer (pronounced "Shpayeh") is known for its huge Roman Catholic cathedral. The basilica is a UNESCO world heritage site because it was built around the year 1000 by the Roman army.

Joe standing in front of the Speyer cathedral.

Joe perched on aqueduct remnants with the cathedral in the distance

I'm sitting on the edge of a fountain that was off for the weather with the cathedral behind me

Fountain in the middle of Speyer built in the WWI era. The engraved phrase says "Germany must live even if we must die for it."

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:31:00.000-08:00

Interesting wooden sculptures painted in vibrant colors outside an art museum in downtown Schwetzingen.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:30:00.000-08:00

Here is Joe enjoying a rare moment of direct sunlight in Germany.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

The mosque cast an interesting shadow on this pavillion in the courtyard of the mosque.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:25:00.000-08:00

Arabic is read from the right to the left and this phrase says, "There is no God but God."

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:23:00.000-08:00

Joe just finished his first semester toward getting his Masters in Islamic Studies, so we were interested in seeing the mosque close up.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:21:00.000-08:00

Beautiful and random mosque in the middle of the Schwetzingen Schloss gardens.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

I'm not entirely sure what kind of bird we encountered here, but it was a lot like a duck but much more robust. They were pretty friendly and made noises like chickens.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:03:00.002-08:00

Here I am posing on a very charming old bridge in the gardens.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

The bonsai-like trees in the Schwetzingen gardens. We were lucky enough to visit on a beautiful day with almost completely clear blue skies.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T13:56:00.000-08:00

Schwetzingen is famous for their Schloss (castle) with beautiful gardens and walking paths. They have sculptures in the gardens but they hadn't been unveiled for the year when we visited.

Schwetzingen Day Trip

2008-02-23T13:53:00.001-08:00

Here is a statue near the market area of Schwetzingen. Germany is famous for their asparagus and the statue shows a child helping to sort the Spargel for market.

London 2008

2008-02-23T13:39:00.001-08:00

038_35A
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Joe relaxing with his London Pride beer at a place in Chelsea where we shared a meat pie and fish n' chips.

London 2008

2008-02-17T14:21:00.001-08:00

Sending his postcards
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Joe sending his family postcards from London.

London 2008

2008-02-17T14:15:00.001-08:00

Beefeaters
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

The London Tower had just closed when we got there so we tried to make a scene so that we could get pictures of the Beefeaters. I'm not sure if they turned around or not because our disposable camera was pretty awful.

Buckingham Palace

2008-02-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

Buckingham Palace
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Joe being a goon outside Buckingham Palace

London 2008

2008-02-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

We went to the food court at Harrod's after our day in London. The food court was like nothing I'd ever seen before! There was a man making pizza dough and flinging it high into the air while singing opera that I had to have a picture of.

London 2008

2008-02-17T14:06:00.001-08:00

Joe and one of the guards on horseback
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Joe's standing with one of the guards to a royal garden.

London 2008

2008-02-17T14:01:00.001-08:00

Westminster Abbey
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Here I am at Westminster Abbey in London! This was a beautiful area to walk through.

The London Eye

2008-02-17T13:57:00.001-08:00

On the escalator to the underground

2008-02-17T13:54:00.001-08:00

On the escalator to the underground
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

The longest escalators I've ever seen in my life! Terrifying.

London Underground

2008-02-17T13:52:00.001-08:00

London Underground
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

All the platforms have warnings to "mind your step!"

Big Ben

2008-02-17T13:50:00.001-08:00

Big Ben
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

A windy day in London!

My Aunt Susan

2008-02-17T13:49:00.001-08:00

HPIM1615
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

We were walking across the bridge as the sun was about to set. The river looked really pretty and this is one of my favorite views in Heidelberg!

Crime and Punishment Museum

2008-02-17T13:46:00.001-08:00

Crime and Punishment Museum
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

Joe and I tried out the stocks at the Crime and Punishment Museum in Rothenburg. It was a really awesome museum and we were able to see a real "Iron Maiden" while we were there. The Iron Maiden is shaped like a giant woman but made from Iron and opens. A woman being punished would be sealed inside the Iron Maiden until she died. Gross.

Cuckoo clock in Rothenburg

2008-02-17T13:43:00.001-08:00

Cuckoo clock in Rothenburg
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

This cuckoo clock is in the main square of Rothenburg and depicts the story of how Rothenburg was saved. The mayor received news that the city was going to be sacked and the mayor made a deal with the general that if he could drink a gallon of wine in one gulp, the city would be saved. He did it! Viva Rothenburg!

Rothenburg!

2008-02-17T13:36:00.001-08:00

Horse and Carriage in Rothenberg ob der Tauber
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

We took a day trip to Rothenburg-ob-der Tauber and it was a beautiful medieval city. It wasn't destroyed during the war like many German towns so it was cool seeing the half-timbered houses and sights like this horse-drawn carriage.

Mom

2008-02-17T13:28:00.001-08:00

My mom at a Starbucks
Originally uploaded by HeatherRocks128

My mom with a German Starbucks sign after she put me through the linguistic gymnastics of ordering an extra hot, medium chai tea latte with no water or froth in German!

Susan found a new house!

2008-02-14T05:37:00.001-08:00

Susan found a new house!
Originally uploaded by H Monster

Here's Susan peeking out of her door by the castle. I love this picture!

Bacchus

2008-02-08T06:17:00.001-08:00

Chillin out with Baccus and my mom at the castle
Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is a fountain on the castle grounds that I really like. My aunt knew that is was Bacchus, the god of wine. Not very many people would do this, but my mom and I climbed up onto the sculpture for a picture! I missed my mom so much!

View of the Altstadt

2008-02-08T06:15:00.001-08:00

Enjoying the beautiful view from the castle!
Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is my favorite view from the castle! We walked up and I was able to show my mom and Susan the entire city, from the end of the Hauptstrasse all the way down to Bismarckplatz.

My mom and Aunt Susan at the castle

2008-02-08T06:14:00.001-08:00

My mom and Aunt Susan at the castle
Originally uploaded by H Monster

On their first day here, we wanted to take them up to the castle to have a look around. We ended up going through the Pharmacy Museum and all around the beautiful grounds.

A Visit from My Mom and Aunt Susan!

2008-02-08T05:18:00.000-08:00

My mom and my Aunt Susan came to visit from January 20-28. It was so great to see them and we had a lot of fun talking about planning the wedding and going on adventures in Heidelberg. We all went to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber and I was so impressed by what an amazing little town it is. It's a lot like Heidelberg but without the university crowd. I really enjoyed it! Pictures to follow!

London 2008

2008-01-30T03:29:00.000-08:00

The follow-up to our huge European whirlwind was a mid-week, three-day excursion to London. We flew taking advantage of RyanAir's wonderful airfares and spent the rest of the time experiencing as much as we could of what London has to offer.

Though less than three days is too short to get a real understanding of what such a huge city steeped in rich history is like, we were able to stay with our new friends, Valerie (from Quebec) and Tony (from New Zealand) and get a local perspective on one part of the city: Stratford. We had a great time staying at their place and meeting their other guests, people from Iowa, California, Israel, Germany, and Slovakia. Everyone was really friendly and the roommates had an awesome way of tracking all of their guests. They had a huge piece of blank cardboard that they called a map and every visitor had to draw their country or state on the map in relation to London. It was so interesting to see how easy it is to be confused with the shape and spacial relations of each region! We ended up having at least two Californias represented, Michigan was located south of the Mason-Dixon Line, and Egypt bordered Australia to the north.

Aside from our fantastic experience at Valerie and Tony's, we also had an opportunity to see the sites of London. We toured Notting Hill and Chelsea and checked out the hip coffee shops and vintage stores.

As we didn't want to miss out on the well-known sites in London, we also made a point to go downtown and see Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the Royal Mews, the London Eye (I don't understand the fascination with huge ferris wheels in Europe), and Big Ben.

I was most impressed with the Tate Modern, which was recommended to me by a friend who lived in London over the summer. I'm not an art expert by any means and I found the Tate to be very stimulating and the collections were extremely well organized and not overwhelming. Perhaps the best part was going to the top floor of the building, an old power plant, where the museum renovators built another floor for a bar and restaurant. The view from this glass-walled area were absolutely magnificent and there were people from all walks of life relaxing and enjoying themselves with bottles of wine.

Another really amazing part of downtown London was the new Millenium Bridge. We only walked across this bridge at night and there are areas where you can look down and the grate is so wide that you can see the waves of the Thames crashing immediately beneath you! It's terrifying but also totally exciting. From a distance the bridge is amazing as it is lit in neon lights.

The reason you aren't getting any photo posts for this trip is because I plugged my camera in to ensure I could take as many pictures as I wanted during our stay, and promptly forgot to pack it in the mad mix of trying to pack three days of belongings into a carry-on. Oops! We bought a Kodak one-time-use camera while we were there and I realized I hadn't used a real film camera in years! Anyway, one of these days we will get the film developed and perhaps share them on this site.

Winter Vacation!

2008-01-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

Poland:

Fredka and Chiesa on a walk in the woods

Joe and his cousin Ola on our walk through the park

A poster at a bar we went to in Lodz

Joe showing off his natural pierogi-making talents

Joe in his bow tie he got for Christmas!

Dessert! Poppyseed cake, gingerbread cake with lemon and plum layers, sugar cookies, etc...

It's been a wonderful and busy past few weeks for us! After finishing classes, Joe and I packed up the car to visit his family in Poland for Christmas. They live in the city of Lodz (pronounced like "wooch") which is about two hours west of Warsaw. His aunt and uncle, Marila and Olaf, are both doctors in Lodz and Olaf works on a helicopter! Their daughter, Ola, is just a few years older than Joe and I and Ola's sister, Justina, is older than Ola. She is married to Bartok and they are expecting a baby.

We spent about four days with Joe's family and had a chance to go bar crawling in Lodz with Ola and her friend who is also studying to be a doctor. We also experienced the incredible Polish feasting that Polish Christmas is known for! I tried a lot of foods I'd never tried before like jellied herring and a traditional dish that looks like meatloaf but is made from rabbit. We also had amazing cakes and cookies throughout our trip. Being in Poland was a lot like being in Michigan, with cold weather and a really nice family, but I still missed seeing my own family for Christmas.

France:

After our stay in Poland, we drove over 14 hours to Paris for three days! On the first day, we stayed with a group from the couchsurfing website and met some interesting people from Wisconsin, Canada, Africa, Turkey, and of course, our French host, who is an engineer and has lived in both France and many South American countries.

On our second day in France, we started off the morning with crossaints and Cafe au Lait at a cute cafe in the 15th Arrondissement. We then took le metro over to Champs Elysees and strolled along the most beautiful avenue in the world. After seeing the Arch de Triomphe, we headed over to the Taillevent, a beautiful world-class restaurant reviewed by the New York Times in the following article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9904E3DD1038F937A25757C0A963948260
All six courses of our lunch were amazing. It was a very special meal for both me and Joe!

Haagen Dazs on the Champs-Elysees

They were remodeling this building and, of course, could not have scaffolding show on the Champs-Elysees, so the restoration company made this huge printed canvas to cover their work in progress

Admiring the pages of a magazine in the Louis Vuitton store

Our view of the Eiffel Tower and the Tuileries Gardens from the balcony

Inside our hotel room on our cool antique furniture

Our hotel! If you look in the middle on the third floor, you can see Joe in his robe!

The signs for the Paris metro look a lot scarier than they actually are

Lunch at the Taillevent!

My beautiful engagement ring!

After we said our good-byes to the staff at the Taillevent, we shopped more along the Champs Elysees and then checked in at our hotel, The Hotel Regina Paris. Wow! We had an entire apartment with beautiful antique furniture, a work room, and...a view of the Eiffel Tower from the balcony! We headed downstairs to the bar to enjoy our pink champagne and enjoyed a very classy bar atmosphere. When we were back in the room, we enjoyed the beautiful view with the Eiffel Tower completely lit up and I told Joe how perfect the day had turned out. At that moment, he took a ring out of his pocket and asked me to marry him! It was a perfect moment and I look forward to spending the rest of my life with Joe.

Joe in Shakespeare & Co Bookshop: "Be not inhospitable to strangers lest they be angels in disguise"

Joe under the Eiffel Tower

The rest of our stay did its best to compete with the day we were engaged. We walked around the Tuileries Gardens and saw all the beautiful landscaping and activities they have for both tourists and local Parisians. We scouted out two of my must-see attractions: Brasserie Balzar in the Latin Quarter that I had read about in Adam Gopnik's Paris to the Moon and the Shakespeare & Co Bookshop along the River Seine. The Shakespeare & Co Bookshop is definitely worth a stop for anyone going to Paris. The store has all English books and has a rich history of hosting famous writers. The Parisian English book stores were especially exciting for me because it had been over four months since I stepped into a bookstore where I could actually read the titles!

Home and Rome:

After Paris, we drove back to Heidelberg where we did laundry and rested for a day. At 3am the next day, it was off to Rome for six days! We arrived on New Year's Eve and stayed for two days at Colors Hotel. There was champagne waiting for us in our room and we discovered that there would be an MTV-sponsored performance across from my favorite Roman monument, the Vittorio Emmanuelle II. As we walked back to the Termini metro station, we drank champagne with the huge crowd and had a view of the Colleseum!

Over the next few days we had a chance to see the Pope at Nervi Hall, tour the Vatican Museum, go on a great Roman Pub Crawl, and see Trevi Fountain. We also had great pizza and pasta. We even met up with couchsurfers in Rome and had "the greatest Pizza in Rome" and got some great advice on where to go for pasta. We went to a few places that were great but Pastarito had great pasta and great prices too. You can see some of the other places from the pictures I will post.

Eventually we got home and now we are excited to plan a wedding for 2009. It will definitely be in Michigan, and we will announce everything as we make plans!

A random slide in the middle of our neighborhood

2007-12-17T03:01:00.000-08:00

Joe and I saw this slide in August and it was completely covered in prickly vegetation. I'd been dreaming of showing up with a hacksaw to clear this wondrous slide for my own pleasure. It is located in a small playground near a local jail which we attribute to its former state of disrepair. I decided we needed to hop the fence and check it out, even though the stairs to the top are under construction. The best part about this playground is that there are no kids getting in the way.

2007-12-05T04:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a guy in the Christmas Market grilling some wurst (sausage). If you thought the sausage fanaticism was a stereotype...you're wrong. You see people eating and selling sausage of every kind everywhere.

2007-12-05T04:24:00.000-08:00

We were walking down to the Kornmarkt in a hurry and I made Joe stop for a picture :)

Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

2007-12-05T04:22:00.001-08:00

Outdoor ice skating rink down the street from us (I wish my cousins could be here!)

Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

2007-12-05T04:20:00.001-08:00

Me and my cherry Gluehwein!

Heidelberg Weihnachtsmarkt

2007-12-05T03:02:00.000-08:00

This is a shot of a bakery stand set up in Bismarckplatz for the Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas Market). So far I've tried a ginger bread cookie and Joe and I tried two Schaumkuessen, which are marshmallow fluff dipped in chocolate and then you can request a flavor of chocolate on it too! We tried rum (rum) and cinnamon (zimt). I highly recommend both.

Cologne, Germany

2007-12-04T01:44:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, November 25th, we saw Cologne! Cologne is an historic city built on Roman ruins. It was the northernmost outpost of the Roman Empire. There is a huge modern museum called the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (Roman-German) that houses some of the artifacts found in the city.

We left at about 9:30am on Sunday and went with Matt, Tyler, and Erica. Cologne is known for their beautiful cathedral, and it is hard to miss as it dominates the city's skyline. We went in and there was a mass going, but we could still watch from the vestibule. We had the opportunity to climb to the very top of one of the spires, which was 157m from start to finish and was comprised of 500 steps! There was a very small winding staircase and at times there were no windows, so we could see a beautiful view of the entire city and feel the wind at the top of the spire! Unfortunately the only person with a camera was afraid of heights and claustrophobic, so we don't have pictures of this view. Here is a shot of the Cologne Cathedral I found:

We hung around the city for the day, getting Doeners (lamb,lettuce, tomato, carrot, yogurt sauce, spicy sauce in a pita) and coffee to escape the rain.

Finally it was time for the show we came to see! The New Pornographers were on tour for their new album, Challengers, and this was their only stop in Germany. I had seen the band once in Toronto and it was a completely packed show with thousands of people, and A.C. Newman (the lead singer) played a solo show at Intonation 2005 in Chicago with thousands of people too! It was amazing to see them up close and personal. Joe and I were right at the stage for the whole show and it was pretty amazing. After the show, the drummer came out to talk to people and Erica got a picture of me with him, so I will continue hounding her for her pictures of the show.

Cologne is a pretty great city. I would like to go back in better weather to walk around, see the museums and art galleries, and of course I will have to see the Chocolate Museum down by the Rhine! Apparently they have a huge chocolate fountain of really great German chocolate that you can try :)

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T04:00:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Anna and Alex

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:59:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Chris brought over some vodka from Russia and they are doing shots from Russian-sized shot glasses.

L to R: Marcel, Chris, Joe

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:54:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Liam, Tyler, and Marcel all looking insane. What kind of chaos is happening in my house?!?!?!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:52:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Relaxing after our Thanksgiving feast!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:50:00.003-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

No party is complete without a picture of Liam between Anna and Thamar.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:48:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Joe knew Chris from classes in Arabic and Islamic Studies and Alex is Chris' girlfriend. Both are German and their families live in Russian.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:46:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

It was like a dream...my entire desk covered in wine and dessert. Joe made two pumpkin pies, an apple pie, and rice pudding. Matt brought Amaretto cookies, and Thamar brought an enormous towering confectionery delight.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:44:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

When you have the choice between pumpkin or hot apple pie, you should just choose both.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:43:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Liam did an awesome job carving the turkey.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:42:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Anna and Thamar with the pierogis!

Thanksgiving

2007-11-23T03:41:00.003-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Joe finally gets to enjoy the fruits of his labor.

The table!

2007-11-23T03:41:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Everyone came over for turkey!
L to R: Chris, Alex, Joe, Anna, Thamar, and Liam

Bathroom

2007-11-23T03:39:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

My mom sent a cute fall-themed hand towel, so I thought she should see it in action. Our towel rack is awesome because it is also the heater for the bathroom, so it acts as a towel warmer (awesome).

Couch

2007-11-23T03:37:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

For those unfamiliar with our couch, this picture is a perfect opportunity to get acquainted. It is purple and made for sitting on.

The feasting table

2007-11-23T03:36:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

We somehow found enough chairs, plates, and utensils for 10 people! Exciting. :)

Preparing for Thanksgiving dinner

2007-11-23T03:34:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

A day later and he is still cooking and consulting The Joy of Cooking.

Kitchen

2007-11-23T03:33:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

We moved the kitchen table into the dining room for more places to sit, so I moved the table from the balcony downstairs for the wine and glasses. You can also see our ever-growing German beer bottle collection behind the table.

Haha

2007-11-23T03:31:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

A delicious boiled pierogi!?!?!?

Joe

2007-11-23T03:30:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

He's been cooking for about 6 hours now in this picture...and there is still more left to be cooked.

AHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-23T03:29:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

DON'T EAT ALL THE DOUGH!!!

Pierogis for Thanksgiving AND BEYOND

2007-11-23T03:28:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Cutting out the dough

Pierogis!!!!!!!!

2007-11-23T03:27:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Here we begin an epic saga of Thanksgiving pictures. We cooked for nine friends, German, Dutch, Polish, and American. We have a lot to be thankful for and we were glad to share the holiday with good friends even though we had to be away from home.

Joe used his grandma's recipe for pierogis for our Thanksgiving dinner. It took us a few hours, but we have enough pierogis for an eternity! There are both potato with cheese and sauerkraut pierogis.

Bismarckplatz

2007-11-23T03:25:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This view shows some typical Heidelberg buildings and the crowded streets.

the other side of the river

2007-11-23T03:23:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This side of the river isn't as magnificent as the one with the Altstadt and castle, but it has a marina with sailboats and a view of the industrial area of Heidelberg. The marina is really beautiful in the summertime.

The bridge

2007-11-23T03:22:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

You can't see the Neckar River in this photo, but the bridge is over the Neckar and all of these houses and buildings have a view of the river, Altstadt, and castle

DSC_0041

2007-11-23T03:20:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is one stop before Bismarckplatz. I got off early at Brueckenstrasse to take pictures from the bridge.

Tram!

2007-11-23T03:18:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is what the inside of the tram looks like. They have an area in the middle where they can be flexible around curves, so you can see the area that moves in the picture. You can also see lots of people on the bus who probably thought I was very creepy taking pictures of them. Oh well, Ich spreche kein Deutsch!! Sorry!

Aww...

2007-11-23T03:16:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

My lovely tram stop that I spend too much time at. The two trams are the 5 and 23 which take me to Bismarckplatz. From Bismarckplatz, I can either take the 30 or 33 to Oberer-Fauler-Pelz which is very close to home, or a random bus to Universitaetplatz or Peterskirche and walk a little further.

House

2007-11-23T03:13:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Another example of a huge Neuenheim house! Some of them are converted into dental offices or movie rental shops on the ground floor and the residential area is kept intact and rented, but a lot of them house families who have lived in them for years!

House

2007-11-23T03:12:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Just an example of an enormous Neuenheim house.

The hill!

2007-11-23T03:11:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

I fight this hill every day! It doesn't look very steep, but it is! It is also a contributing factor to my calves looking like I'm a body builder.

Schiller garden

2007-11-23T03:09:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is a really nice area to do your reading or whatever when the weather is nice.

Spiral Staircase

2007-11-23T03:08:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is the stairway to the main lobby at Schiller. The lighting is very dark and I'm not a fantastic photographer.

Main entrance

2007-11-23T03:07:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

There are a lot of stairs at Schiller! Be prepared to get muscular legs whether you want to or not!

2007-11-23T03:06:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is the main entrance

Bergstrasse

2007-11-23T03:05:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is a view down Bergstrasse, the street that my school is on. It is located in Neuenheim, a section of Heidelberg known for its huge estates. SIU used to be the home of a Chemistry professor/scientist from the University of Heidelberg and it has an interesting story about being financed by Soviets, sold to the bank, given to the church, and finally purchased by Schiller in the 1980s. These houses all have about thirty rooms and are very old and impressive.

Schiller International University

2007-11-23T03:02:00.001-08:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This is the main entrance of the school I go to. I'm currently taking 5 classes and I have at least one class every day Monday through Friday. I also work here, so this is a very common view for me. It is right up a hill from the bus stop, Blumenthalstrasse.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! The holiday isn't celebrated too much in Germany, so we found a mostly-American bar called O'Reilly's where a lot of the Army people and study abroad students go. Not too many people were dressed up, bummer!
We did carve pumpkins and they came out pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Mine was a little monster named Hellfire, with fire streaks across his pumpkin skull. Joe's was a two-faced pumpkin, with one scared half and one demonic half. We put our pumpkins outside to be enjoyed by all passers-by and little Hellfire was stolen in a matter of minutes! I've decided it was because it was just such a beautiful and valuable piece of artwork. The day after Halloween, Joe decided he wanted to eat his pumpkin that had been sitting outside all night. Here are some pictures from right after carving:

Joe's Pumpkin

My pumpkin!

Hellfire got his name from these sweet fire escape holes I bored into his pumpkin skull.

Joe imitating my monster jack o'lantern

Here I am with Joe's beautiful Scared/Angry pumpkin. The angry side is green and gross from it laying on that side in the pumpkin patch, and the scared side is a nice orange.

We also made pumpkin seeds and these German pumpkin guts smelled like cucumbers instead of pumpkin. The seeds were also a lot bigger than the pumpkin seeds we're familiar with. We made the guts into something soup-ish with brown sugar, milk, cinnamon, and some other ingredients. So good!

Notre Dame -- Strasbourg

2007-10-24T06:27:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

This church was truly gorgeous. The outside of the cathedral was so ornately carved that it looked like lace. If you look carefully, you can see Joe in the picture.

Strasbourg, France

2007-10-24T06:25:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Joe and a beautiful old offiice building

Strasbourg, France

2007-10-24T06:23:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

After Liechtenstein, we traveled through Switzerland and had dinner at Swiss Chuchi, where we enjoyed extremely strong fondue and great Swiss beer. Like everyone told us, Zurich is extremely expensive. The equivalent of a sandwich costs about 20 Swiss Francs.

Finally we arrived in Strasbourg. The city is absolutely beautiful and I would love to go back and spend more time there.

Vaduz

2007-10-24T06:17:00.002-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Here's Joe at the entrance to the castle in Vaduz.

Vaduz, Liechtenstein!

2007-10-24T06:17:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

We arrived in Liechtenstein with our busted tail light from a small fender bender on the Autobahn, but they still let us into their fine little country. The prince of Liechtenstein still lives and rules from this castle.

The Road

2007-10-24T06:15:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

These roads should not even exist.

Austria

2007-10-24T06:14:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

The car with a traditional Bavarian church behind it.

Austria

2007-10-24T06:13:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

I was also excited that we made it to this little town in Austria. Even the buildings' facades in these little towns are decorated with paintings and biblical scenes.

Austria

2007-10-24T06:12:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Driving through the Austrian Alps is terrifying. As you are twisting and turning around the mountains on the snowy roads, there are rarely any guardrails. We chose to drive extremely slowly and this was how Joe felt after we reached a little town without perishing in the Austrian wilderness.

Schloss Hohenschwangau

2007-10-24T06:10:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Joe is eating his royal gummy bears at the castle.

Hohenschwangau!

2007-10-24T06:09:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Here we are, at 800 meters above sea level within walking diistance of Neuschwanstein at Schloss Hohenschwangau.

Me

2007-10-24T06:04:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

Here I am, posing with the castle and blocking off the other tourists' walking path. It was perfect for frolicking!

Neuschwanstein!

2007-10-24T06:02:00.001-07:00

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Originally uploaded by H Monster

As you can see from this picture, Joe was extremely excited to try on the traditional German garb which looks like a wizard's hat. It was very becoming on him and I think he should incorporate it into an everyday look.