Germany

Well we arrived back in England this afternoon around noon. I enjoyed Germany. Here is a recap of my German experience.We arrived in Germany mid morning on Monday after getting up at about 4:00 or so. April rented a car for us to use. The car was a little orange Kia which was a stick shift. Thank goodness mom taught me how to drive one. I really didn't have trouble going forward, but reverse was another story. Luckily we didn't have have to go backwards at that point so we moved forwards and on our way. I will have to say that German roads are awesome! The ones we drove on were very well maintained. About half way to our first destination we stopped off at a rest stop. I hate to admit this, but...we ate at Burger King. Yes, I know that is a big travel no no, but that Whopper was dang good.After our delicious Whopper, we walked to the car for the next leg of the trip and OH NO, someone was parked in front of us which meant we needed to figure out reverse. Reverse was in the top left corner of the gear shift, but it just wasn't moving, no matter how hard I tried ramming the gear shift up there. April, my never have drove a stick shift sister, suggested we pull up a little accordion looking thing on the stick shift. After explaining to her that was just a cover, she pulls up on it and BAM it goes into gear. YEAH April!!!
So, back on the road. One of the main purposes for this trip was to visit the village that my great grandpa Meyer was born in. April plugged Landersdorf into the GPS and off we were to check out our heritage. When we arrived, after a beautiful drive through many cute little German towns, we discovered the town was pretty dead. We weren't surprised though, it was cold and who wanted to be outside. Oh my gosh I forgot to mention that it was snowing and had been for several days so the ground was covered, but the roads were cleared. So, we found a spot to park and walked down one of the streets. After not seeing much, we decided to drive to another spot. We saw what looked like a church (wasn't sure at that point because it had a rooster on the steeple instead of a cross) and parked across the street. The building we parked in front of looked to be a pub and we walked around the back. A lady came out of the back of the building and asked if she could help us (in German). April asked her in German if she spoke English and she did a little. She told us that the people next door had the same last name as part of our family. They weren't there so we walked on. The church looking building was a church, but it was locked. Turns out that the church was where our family went to church. After snapping some pictures, we decided to be on our way.
Last leg of the Monday's journey was the worst. Did I mention that I had been up since four o'clock or so? Well the lack of sleep combined with night time driving in Nurnberg (which is a big city) in a stick shift sent me over the top. To top that all off, I thought I put the wrong kind of gas in the car because it was in German. Poor April must love me for putting up with me crying, I just want to go home. We did make it to our hotel after plenty of people honking at me.
Yesterday was awesome. One of the most incredible adventures of my life. We left the hotel around 10 a.m. and went to the information center. We then traveled across the street to get bus tickets, but turns out we needed to buy them at the information center. After getting the tickets we caught our bus, the number 9 that traveled to the Documentation Center. I believe that was the first time I ever road a public bus. Can anyone say, sheltered?
The Documentation Center and surrounding area was fascinating in a weird sort of way. The Center tells the history of how the Nazis came to power and their eventual fall. The title of the exhibit was Fascination and Terror and I think that was a perfect title. It was housed in a old Nazi building that was part of what was know as the Congress Hall. It was one of the buildings that was to be finished and used in the Nazi rallies. It was never completed.
After our walk through the Documentation Center, we decided that we would walk to Zeppelin Field. I thought this would be great because we could see were the big rallies were held, so we started off. We were on side of a large lake and the field was on the other so we had to walk around. That would have been no big deal, but I wore the most uncomfortable high healed shoes. We got there though and it was incredible. We were able to stand on the same ground that a major part of history came together on. I am so glad to live in a country that fights to keep such atrocities that were promoted in this place from happening again.
Luckily, April and I made it to the the bus stop and headed back to the hotel. Once I changed back into my comfortable tennis shoes and dry socks, we headed down historic Nurnberg to see the sites. Nurnberg is a medieval walled city. 95% of the original wall is still around the city. We headed to Nurnberg castle and along the way saw several churches and numerous other beautiful sites. At this point we were getting hungry so we went to a place that was recommended in a travel book and it was great! We each had a class of Banana Viessen (sp?). It was basically banana flavored beer. I'm not a beer drinker, but I'd drink that again. It was good. We also had some little sausages, sauerkraut, rye bread, and apple strudel. Everything was so good. After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to the hotel for the evening and turned in.
This morning we head out at approximately 5:00. We walked the dark streets to the parking garage and went to pay for parking. The machine would not take either of our cards and we did not have enough cash between us to pay, so we had to walk the dark streets of Nurnberg to find an ATM machine. YIKES!!! Thank goodness April is more brave then me. We found an ATM and made it back to the car in one piece and off we went to the Airport.
There was nothing eventful to the drive to the Airport. We stopped at a German MickeyDs for a diet Coke. I'm so glad Coke is so popular world wide. :) We got to the Airport in time to check in, have a bite to eat and get in the security line. Once in the security line, we got up to put our carry on on the scale and low in behold, each of our bags were heavier then 10kg. Dang it! We either had to get ride of stuff or check our bags. The only option was to check the bags which meant paying 20 Euro, so we did. On to the plan and back to England. We got back to April's place late this afternoon and then headed to downtown.
I was able to buy my teapot and some accessories. We also picked up Indian takeout that was delicious. Tomorrow I'm off to get a new haircut, we going to a local pottery shop, and we're going to the spa.
Well, if you just read all of the above, you must really love me. :) Here's some pictures.