Hello Reader. After turning off the computer around two in the morning the other night, I was headed down to bed. I tiptoed by Mr. and Mrs. Noppel’s room, quietly opened and closed the hallway door then reached to turn off the light… and I rang the doorbell. The dog went nuts. I was jumping around in embarrassment and emphatically whispering ‘SHHHH!’ to the ringing bell and barking dog. I, of course, woke up her parents and her dad came out to see if everything was okay… I was lucky he didn’t grab for one of his rifles on the way. [View Full Entry]

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Hello Reader. Steffie tried to wake me up at eight. I slept until nine thirty and then headed up for breakfast. She was excitedly waiting for me at the top of the stairs. I had some oats/granola mixed with cut apple and pear, raisins, and yogurt. ‘Good for energy - you’ll need it.’ Crap. We start out on our trip, Mrs. Noppel waving to us shouting ‘remember to take it easy on him.’ The signs just aren’t looking good for me. We bike for a while through the country. I have never seen so much farmland. It looked like rolling hills [View Full Entry]

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Hello Reader. Have I got an entry for y’all. The past two days have been so full. And true to the Barnes nature, I’ve taken more pictures than I can count. If I could, I would upload every one of them. I might try starting a gallery, also offered on this site, but I haven’t really looked into it yet. But I’m getting off topic. After crashing following the Disco night, I woke up at 12 noon. We ate breakfast, packed, and headed for Southern Germany. We weren’t going through Heidelberg, (sorry, Zio, maybe on the way back through), we wanted [View Full Entry]

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Hello, Reader. Today was a day of new experiences. In the morning, I went with Katrin to shop and then walk through the park in Bad Homberg. Bad means bath. In this context, it refers to the rejuvinating and healing fountains where old or sick people come to drink and feel better. The park offers several fountains from which one may drink extremely foul, egg-tasting water. Though Katrin warned me first, she insisted that I try them. So I did... it was worse than the cherry snapps that her father had me drink the night before, after dinner. We then picked [View Full Entry]

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Here are pictures that would not load for the previous entry. [View Full Entry]

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Hello Reader. I never expected I would be updating my journal as often as I am now... but I want to take the opportunity now while I can, because there is a good chance that I won't have access to a computer for days on end in the future. I was up at seven thirty this morning. I scared Katrin's mother half to death, and she, in turn, screamed and scared ME... so we're even. After a first breakfast at eight with Katrin's parents, I accompanied Sybille (Katrin's Mom) to the supermarket... an experience to which I was looking forward. She [View Full Entry]

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Hello Reader. Okay, some first impressions. First, dinner last night. We had what can only be translated to 'mouth-bags.' They were like ravioli, but German meat inside and no sauce. We also had a salad and beer. Then Snapps. It was an amazing first meal. Too amazing. There is no way that I'll lose the weight I thought I would if I keep eating like this. I then went to a local bar that had a happy hour from 8 to 10... of which we took full advantage. I had a swimming pool (sans chlorine) and a gin and tonic (total [View Full Entry]

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Hello Reader. I have arrived in Frankfurt unscathed. After a long flight into Iceland, then to Germany, I am TIRED! I am quite thankful that I don't have any bags getting lost stories to write about. Everything went more smoothly than I expected... in fact, as i was exiting baggage claim, i was confused because there was no customs. There was no one there to check my bag and grill me about why I'm coming to Europe and for how long. I had even went over my answers in my head... nope, just a door and a my friend Katrin and [View Full Entry]

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Hello reader. I'm at the very front end of a life changing journey. I'll be leaving for Europe in about a week. Right now I'm preparing for my trip, doing some last minute chores before I can leave. I have bought most everything I'll need. I have a backpack, a nice camera, good shoes, a journal, a guide book, and, of course, cliff bars. I have been talking to people online using couchsurfing.com as a resource from which I can gain potential contacts in Europe. I'll be traveling by myself. My father did the same when he was younger. He would [View Full Entry]

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