First days in Germany

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Sorry to have been slacking with the blog lately, with Oktoberfest, meeting with friends and train schedules keeping me busy, I haven't had too much time to keep this updated. As well, it takes about 15 minutes to upload each individual picture so I'm sorry for the lack of photos. Anyway!

The trip so far has been wonderful. Besides sitting in Heathrow for 8 hours and paying 20$ (9.5 pounds) for a hamburger) I have to say that Europe started off just perfect. Wolfgang was at the airport to greet me and had a room and cot already set up by the time I arrived. It was just himself, me and his sister for the entire stay so the house seemed earily quiet for most of the time. He was quick to show me Bavarian (not German, each province has its own unique culture and they are strict about distinguishing themselves) culture by feeding me Bavarian sausage with Bavarian mustard and local Weissbiere (a type of wheat-based beer brewed in his town of Eding).

After going to school and meeting some of his friends we met up with Ashleigh at the train station in Munich and brought her back home. The next day we were off to Oktoberfest and it all sort of got crazier from here on in. Unfortunately, Ashleigh didn't quite get to experience the sights and sounds of Münich since we spent most of our time at bars or under the influence of some type of Bavarian beer. Overall I really enjoyed my time in Munich and I hope Ashleigh did as well. My friend Wolfgang was nice enough to let me invite Ashleigh to stay at his house and she stayed for about 4 days. We drove her to the train station and I left the same way about 2 days afterward. Ah! Another thing! For some reason all old Bavarian men like to do this thing called Schnuff Tobacc where instead of putting chewing tobacco in their mouth they snort it up their nose! Suffice to say, I bought three packs to bring around Europe (you can only get them in Bavaria)

From Munich I came to Ulm (where I am at the moment) and stayed at a Hostel overnight. At the hostel I was lucky enough to meet an Auf der Walz which is basically a 'travelling craftsman' who must travel for 3 years and one day at a 50km distance away from his home village and learn from different craftsman around Germany ( I chatted with him for quite awhile). It's an old tradition from around 600 years ago and only about 700 still exist in Germany. Hard to explain but they dress and act basically like homless Amish carpenters if this makes any sense. Kind of a interesting bit of information.

From the Hostel I was picked up by Werner and I've been here ever since (about 4 days now), although not to say that I have been simply sitting around. He took me to visit a friend of his and we stayed at their house for 2 nights. They were a German family with 5 kids and they all basically spoke perfect English and took me to see the oldest castle in Germany (built in the 6th century) along with a lake that borders Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Again, fresh baking, German sausage and German beer were all consumed throughout.

Today Werner took me to one of the last 'old' cities in Germany dating back to the 14th century. None of it was destroyed during the war making it somewhat of a gem. Werner brought his video camera along and took lots of photos and will make a DVD for me at a later time. As well, Werener's friend will forward me the pictures he took while I was with the family (since I forgot my camera at Werener's house that day).

Tomorrow I'll be getting my first haircut NOT done by my Mom and going to see the doctor for my bronchitous (I got it about 5 day ago although it's not that bad. It's bacterial so you need antibiotics blah blah blah...I ate a clove of garlic thinking it would help but it just made me a very Ukrainian fregrance)

On Wednesday I'll be off to Zurich to stay with Ashleigh until around the 15th and then off to Dortmund to visit another friend. From here I'll be off to Hanover, then Berline and up to Denmark to visit relatives. I'm seriously looking at a work permit in Norway since I hope to stay in Europe for a great deal longer than just 4 - 6 months that I had planned. I figure this way Ashleigh will have someone to visit if she gets bored and I can do another tour of Europe in the summer after I've found a job and appartment in Norway.

Anyways, I hope everyone at home is doing well and I'll let you know if I make friends with any more gypsies!

All the best,
Nicholas

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Comments

[sam]

Autobaun!
205 km/h while driving with Werner on the Autobaun. I would've shit myself!