German beer and sausages are never disappointing

After finishing my locum job and having no work organised I decided to book a ticket and jump on a plane the following day. I ended up in Germany being met by Phil and Basti at the Stuttgart airport. They met me with a NZ flag !! So cool to see them !!!! We drove to their home town of tubingen. It interesting driving on german motorways at night, on the right hand side with no speed limits!! Was met by phil's family who all stayed awake to meet me and have a light evening meal.

Stayed with Phil's family - his mother Rika, sister Julia, dog Luna and brother Johannes- who everyone calls honey, but i called Joe. I got to live in a real german house and they made me german food. I got german buses into town, ate german sausages (phil's aim was for me to eat as many different kinds as possible, drink german beer, look at german castles, drunk german ice coffee and sparkling water. However I was unable to speak German. Phil and Basti took me to parties and dinners every night, because I was unable to speak the language I just drunk instead and got really plastered.

Everyone is really attractive in Germany and they all dress very well. They don't hug (unless you know them very well) but shake hands instead - Phil didn't tell me this until the last day I don't know how many people i must have offeneded over the week I was there. All schools are finished in the afternoon by 1pm. People study at university for at least 5 years. The big meal of the day is lunch, followed by bread & cheese for dinner.

Tubingen is a university town and there are a lot of young people that live there. We visited the castle in the town where phil learnt archery in the castle grounds. It had big bear pits, where they used to throw people in if they did stuff that was wrong (in medievil times, not now). We visited a german monnestry, Julia who studies history knew lots about the monnestry so was our guide. Phil likes monks because they invented beer. Basti cooked us great food in the wednesday evening. He worked during the day so only saw us in the evenings.

On saturday phil, basti and I visited a very fairy tale like castle near their town - very impressive. Called Burg Hohenzollern. We got to look around - there was no expense spared inside, purely spectacular. You had to go with a guide to see inside and they only spoke german so phil was able to translate for me. You had to wear these slip on things over your shoes so you didn't scuff up the wood floors or possibly for the tour guides amausement at people's frustration as they kept on coming off.

We had a magical night on saturday. A good friend of phil owns a plot of land just outside of tubingen in the hills overlooking the town. THey have a vegetable garden and a large field and it was set up for parties. We had a cocktail party here with a bbq in a big fire pit. The ambience was fantastic - and we had a really good time. I even participated in the conversation, everyone knows little bits of english that they were able to peice together in sentences. Phil and basti had only taught me "bad" phrases so I couldn't participate in the german speak, unless i wanted to insult someone's mother ans suggest things for them to do in hell.

My time in germany ended on sunday morning. Basti cooked me a "white" breakfast - traditonal in germany. We had white sausages, white beer and white pretzels.

I was farewelled at the airport by phil and basti - broke my heart, i din't want to leave. I had a fantastic time and need to go back soon!!!!!!!!!!

---

---