I am writing currently from Haßloch, Germany at the home of my German relatives the Weidenbach's (Hans, Käthe, and their kids Dominik and Florian). It has the designation of being the biggest village in Germany or Europe (or something like that). Meaning it is big for a small town (somewhere in the ballpark of 23,000, I think?).
Yesterday felt like one of the longest days of my life, for sure. I woke up sick as a dog (just my luck of course). One of the suitcases broke before I left, thankfully with enough time for my dad to get another. My first flight was at 4:00pm in Chicago to Philadelphia. From Philly, I flew to Frankfurt and arrived at just after 10 am their time (3 am CST). You can bet I was tired. I hate not having a window seat on planes, a) because I love watching out the window, and b) you can at least lay your head against it to sleep. Instead I sat on the end of an aisle next to a very American couple who I wanted to kill and a very silent man to my right. I barely slept a wink, of course. Good thing the first movie shown did not hold my interest (a documentary called Ancient Aliens, anyone?), so I tried to get some shut eye. At some point, I woke up to Captain Jack Sparrow running across a beach, but attempted to fitfully return to sleep. I woke again and thought I saw an Arnold Schwarzenegger flick on screen, but of course when I put my glasses on, I realized it was Rob Pattinson in that circus-y flick with Reese Witherspoon? My bad, RPatz. Back to sleep it was.
Some photos from day 1:
This is a shot of Chicago from my only window seat of the trip to Philly. We are so small and insignificant.
Hans and Käthe have a garden property about 5 minutes away. Her son Dominik and friends decided to roast a pig. This is their attempt to get the pig on the homemade spit.
Boys versus dead pig: dead pig is winning
Finally the pig is skewered (yes, I tried some. It was delicious)
Looking down the street in Haßloch
On a side note: Yesterday was the only time the joke "Rest in Pieces" has probably ever been funny (albeit it was funny to the Germans). As one of the boys held a mock funeral/eulogy for the pig, I made that little "Witz" about the bits of pig we were throwing into the fire.
Day 2: Today we celebrated a birthday party (70th b-day I think?) I'm not quite sure who all of the people are but these are mostly for my Oma to coo over.
On the menu these things were called pepperoni. When it came, I was like, "that ain't no pepperoni, fools!"
Hans and Käthe
Dad, I guess you'll know this guy. It was his birthday. You and Eric stayed with him in Germany (His name is Martin?)
No worries Mom, I didn't eat this whole piece of cake. Zu viel Kalorien.
BTW, I love that all the Omas and Opas here call me Kimberlein (aka little Kimberly) :)
Höffenlich, I will write again soon.
Yay! So glad you posted! Have a great time. By the way, tickets to New York were a hell of a lot cheaper than tickets to Europe. I'll just have to live vicariously through you.
ReplyDeleteKim! This is great! I loved reading this and can't wait to hear more about your trip. I'm living vicariously through you for now, stuck in Elmhurst until I can get back to Germany. The pepperoni really do throw you off though!!!! I ordered a pizza with pepperoni and was like um..... those are spicy peppers not pepperoni! But now I eat all my pizzas with the German pepperoni. If you want what we think of as pepperoni, you have to ask for "salami!" Viel glueck!
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