My Life in Germany

So during the process of moving out here there was an exchange of books between my mom and me. Actually, we managed to give each other the exact same book. I had bought her "My Life in France" by Julia Childs and wrote a cute little message inside about how I was hoping by reading this she would want to come visit me in Europe.

Now I know I was moving to Germany but somehow I just didn't think I could write the same message and entice her to come visit by giving her the book "The Diary of Anne Frank"

So Julia Childs it was. But alas she already had the book. Bit she couldn't give me back the book I bought her since I wrote the message. Therefore she regifted her other book to me with her own message.

Now I didn't know much about Julia Childs but I picked up the book and couldn't put it down. It was such a cute and motivational book. So I have slightly become obsessed with JChilds. I watched the movie Julie and Julia last night but was not as impressed with the movie as I was the book.

So I have made the decision I am going to learn to cook French food while in Germany. I went on amazon and bought her cookbooks. Now I did feel bad taking to French cooking while in Germany so I bought a German cookbook too. I figure for every five Julia recipes, I need to cook at least 1 Germany recipe.

Gretch and I have a big weekend ahead of us. We just got back from making a "Belgium beer run". We went to this supermarket right on the other side of the Belgium border. It was amazing the beer selection they had. Then tomorrow we are going on a volks march. I guess it is a German tradition and I guess a lot of fun. Then at night we are going to a free Toby Keith concert.

I do have to go to bed.

Tschus

Sardinia, Italy

My sister,myself, and three other girls had planned to go to Sardinia last weekend and I was really looking forward to it. This trip was suppose to be my first real European adventure. Well, a few wrenches got thrown into the wheel spokes aka Volcano Erikylolwyleiwhyme decided to spread some ash in the European skies so we weren't sure it was going to happen. So earlier in the week, we had decided not to go because Gretchen was still stuck in Spain with Josh and we weren't sure that we were going to get to go AND come back. BUT the night before me and two other girls decided that we should just make it happen and we packed up and left for the weekend. And it was extremely worth it because it was a lot of fun. Here is the tale of Sardinia.


We got there on Friday and it was downpouring rain. We went 7 km to a town nearby named Aleghro. At the bus stop we met a completely random girl that lives close to us so the four of us went out to dinner. It was a nice Italian dinner with good pasta, good fish, and GREAT Tiramasu. I had three goals while I was in Sardinia. 1. Eat Gelato because I never have. 2. Try Italian pasta and Sardinia seafood (I might have combined two separate goals in #2) and 3. Drink lots of cheap Italian wine. I fulfilled #2 the first night. We then walked the dark and wet streets of Aleghero and took a taxi home.

The next day it was overcast in the morning. We decided that it might be a good opportunity to take a bike ride. Okay, I should actually admit that I decided it was a good idea to take a bike ride and dragged my two friends with me. The girl from the night before came too. We rented bikes from the hotel and were on our way. This is where the adventure starts!!!

Now these bikes were not made for long distance biking and for some reason we decided that we could make it to this promiseland called Capocaccia... which is 20 km from where we started. We even asked someone if we could bike there and I think they said "Oh no, it is way too far" we didn't listen.

It was very beautiful, especially at first :) We came across these trails of daffodils and groves of olive trees (as the pictures show) and we were all in pretty good spirits as we casually biked the countryside of Sardinia...


Then we got to the coastal roads that went along the sea. The ride there was pretty much a pure ascension on bikes not made for this kind of riding. We did see other bike riders but they pretty much looked like Lance Armstrong, and I pretty much looked like the Wicked Witch of the West on my bike since I had to pedal really hard to even get down hills. And my mood might have slightly started to mimic the Wicked Witch of the West too.

So about 5 km into our bike ride, Abby and I saw a little path that lead straight to the sea, so we decided to take it. We got there and it was beautiful deserted beaches... Well, sorta deserted since there happened to be a dog there that was definitely a stray dirty mute. He seemed pretty harmless so we said hello, Abby threw a stick and I am pretty sure he thought he made four new friends. Four new friends that he then decided to FOLLOW along the highway of Sardinia for the next 20 km. I was freaking out for the majority of the ride from then on because I kept envisioning him getting hit by a car. I kept freaking out to which the new girl said, "Sure I would be sad if he got hit by a car, but it wouldn't ruin my day" to which I quipped back "It would freaking ruin mine for sure." I am just not a fan of animals or people dying in front of me.

Now I might have warmed up to the dog if it wasn't for two things. 1. I didn't want to get attached because I thought that might make it a little less painful if he did get hit by a car and 2. we had stopped on the side of the road shortly after this dog had joined our bike caravan. We looked over and sure enough he was rolling in and eating a big pile of poop. At that time, we gave him the name "Schieze" which is the German word for what he was eating and I decided that I was not going to be best friends with this dog.

So, we continued on and for some reason we kept deciding to go forward. We were on a mission for lunch and for some reason we thought the best place to find lunch was in front of us not behind us. Then we got to the city and there was nothing there and the new girl wanted to go to another landmark but I said that to me it was only going down a hill to go back up to get to the same elevation we were currently at. Since I had to pedal hard uphill and downhill and we had already biked 20 km and still had to go back, I decided it was time for lunch. Unfortunately, we had to find somewhere to have lunch which was going to be a problem since we hadn't seen dining facilities along the way.

So we stumble upon this pizzeria. It was completely desserted outside. It honestly sorta reminded me of the dining facility in Goonies. You know the one that ends up having a dead body in the basement cooler. So the new girl goes in to check it out and doesn't come back for awhile. She is pretty gregarious and can obviously make friends pretty easy so I figured she must have been making friends because I refused to go in after her, especially after noticing this flag outside:


Now, please take a second to look at the flag closely. I do believe there are four men with blindfolds on. So I decided this pizzeria must have been taken over by pirates and I was not going in after anyone. But alas, I find out that is not the case and this is a variation of the Sardinia flag. Look up the Sardinia flag sometime. I don't think this is a NORMAL variation.

So, Abby, Danielle, and I go to another place for lunch and the new girl went to the final destination and came later. She did report back that there was nothing special about where she went so I was glad that we didn't go. Lunch was awesome and the native beer I had tasted really good.

So after our two hour lunch we came outside to see Schieze sleeping by our bikes. Turns out this dog is pretty loyal. So we start back but we decide to take a small detour along the actual beach and walk our bikes. The beach was super deserted which was really nice but then out of nowhere there was a beach bar. So we stopped and had a beer and enjoyed the beautiful day. There was one Italian man and four year old boy there. They started taking a liking to Schieze so when we left, Schieze stayed there. I was so happy because I did grow fond of the guy BUT I am pretty sure we gave him hip dysplasia because he was mildly limping. So I was happy that he enjoyed his day AND was going to live to see another one.

Here is the view from the beach bar:


So we biked the last 10 or so km and got home. That night Abby, Danielle and I went and bought some bottles of wine and pizza and came back to the hotel room. We also got Gelato ice cream so #1 on my list was complete. I think I had one sip of wine and most of my pizza and fell asleep right away. We decided to sleep with the door open to our balcony since the sea was right there so it was awesome to listen to that all night long.

We got up the next day and spent it by the pool before we left to go back to Germany. It was such a great time!!! It is a trip I will always remember. I was also really happy we did the Tour de Sardinia on our bikes. I have read the Blue Zone and Sardinia is in there (that book talks about communities that are living longer and healthier lives) and they did say the lesson to take away from Sardinia is to move everyday. I think we got in a lot of movement while seeing Sardinia so I was proud of that!

I now have a few other trips planned. Gretch and I are going to run a half marathon in Champagne France next month. They actually serve Champagne at each stop!!! Then we are going to Croatia at the end of May. Then in June I might be coming home for a few days while Gretch and Josh are there. I also have become really good friends with one of the PTs here (her name is Shannon and she is the vestibular specialist for the Traumatic Brain Injury department). We are going to go to Scotland together which I am REALLY looking forward to. We are also going to go to Berlin over the 4th of July. A matter of fact we are going to do a Bike Tour of the City to get a historic perspective via a bike. I might also go to the passion play with her in Bavaria which only happens every ten years. I did find out today it is a pretty penny to go to that but it might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to go. So I have to decide if I want to do that or spend my money on other traveling opportunities.

Anyways, things are really going well. I will try to write more so that my entries are not so long. Hope all is well with everyone back in the states. Miss you guys

Tschus!!!

Sorry that I have not posted nor have I posted pictures recently. The problem is that I don't have Internet at my house and only access to a government computer at work with a lot of restrictions. I also have a fear that they are tracking my every move so I try to be extra good. I constantly have the songs "every step you take" and "why do I feel like someone is watching me" in my head. But both are great songs so that is good.

I should also take this opportunity to apologize for any typos. I am on my iPhone.

So my house is now a home. I have furniture and no boxes. I just have my desk room that still needs to he organized but that is it. So I am pumped about that. Now it just needs visitors. I did have two come for one night as they traveled through Europe and that was a lot of fun. I forgot what it was like to be around people after 8 pm so I am pretty sure I talked their ear off.

I will take pics soon and post. Promise.

Spring I think is finally here :). I have read many a post on facebook about the beautiful spring in Minnesota and unfortunately we were not having the same luck. It was fairly gloomy and cold here. But something magical occured on Monday if this week. All of a sudden it stays light here til 9 pm and the weather is beautiful. I hear the fields fill with yellow flowers soon so I am really pumped to see that. Then maybe I can add Sting's "Fields of gold" to the songs that play in my head.

I went to Luxemburg this weekend. I really like that city it has a lot of charm and beautiful architecture. There is a night time half marathon in may so I am trying to get someone to run it with me :).

I am also trying to figure out a time to go to Scotland soon. I really want to go there soon. And I am getting really excited for our upcoming trips to Croatia and Sardinia. It will be nice to get away for the whole weekend.

I am going to head to bed but I hope all is well with my stateside friends. Tschus