Aachen & Vaals, Netherlands

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Kristin generously gave me the login and password to her travel blog so that I could practice my hand at blogging without having to create my own profile. What a good sister. 😊

Let me begin by saying that I thought I would write a couple of blogs about where I was and what I was doing and have pictures to both illustrate and make you all jealous...but like a dumb dumb I can't seem to figure out Carly's MacBook Pro. Apparently when trying to import photos you have to add them to a drop box. Unfortunately I am one of those people who takes a million photos, so of course there is not enough space to import the photos to Carly's computer 😞 This of course means that you will just have to picture in your minds what Aachen and Vaals, Netherlands look like. Perhaps you can google some images and photoshop my face into some of the pictures 😊

As I know you are hungry to learn all about what I have been doing the past couple of days...here goes. The flight from SF to Munich was the longest flight of my life. It was 11 hours in the air but once we landed we had to sit there for 45 minutes because it was raining and in Germany when it rains all the airport procedures change. This of course means that there were several VERY angry people on the plane who were afraid they were going to miss their connecting flights. I have no idea what this one guy was saying, but from the tone of his voice you could tell he was not pleased. I was also not very jazzed considering I was sitting next to this big German man who wouldn't stop talking to me. Even when I had headphones in and pretended to read. Obviously some people do not get the hint.

After deboarding the plane and heading to the proper gate for my flight to Dusseldorf, I heard over the announcements that the plane that was to take me to Dusseldorf had been diverted...meaning that I was now stranded in Munich without a plane. Luckily they had a spare plane they were able to whip together and the flight was only about a half hour late. I have come to the conclusion that spare planes are used only in case of emergency because this plane was loud and rickety...I was a little afraid that it was going to fall out of the sky so I closed my eyes and hoped for the best. Apparently I wasn't that nervous because I remember closing my eyes and then next thing I knew we were landing. I had not realized how exhausted I was...I needed toothpicks to hold my eyes open.

Carly met me after customs and we took a train back to Aachen. I knew in the back of my mind that the laws about drinking were different than in the US, but it was still pretty crazy to see drunk people running around with open containers. The Germans are very big on soccer and they like to drink and sing songs to rally together for the games. You don't even have to have a decent voice. In fact, if you have a voice like a dying rooster this just means you sing louder.

On Sunday Carly got up early in the morning to fetch some rolls from the bakery down the street. We had a traditional German breakfast of bread rolls, quark, jam, cheese and other delicious little food items. I ate so much I was sure I was going to burst. In Germany people have a super big breakfast on the weekends and then in the afternoon everyone goes and gets coffee and cake. When Carly mentioned that this was custom on the weekend, I thought that maybe on a few people did it, but no. EVERYONE goes and gets coffee and cake in the afternoon on the weekend. It's a thing.


Before our coffee and cake experience, Carly gave me a tour of Aachen. All the shops were closed, as Germans do not work on Sunday (they go to church), but we were able to wonder around the cobblestone streets and look at all the window displays. People really know how to do a window display here -- I never thought that gingerbread ladybugs and other assortments of cookies could look so cool.

After a tour of Aachen -- which was Charlamagne's ol' stomping grounds (very awesome by the way), we hopped on a bus to Vaals, Netherlands. After wondering around for a bit and a little confusion as so where we were needing to be headed, we found ourselves in this beautiful wooded foresty area. Not that I believe in fairies or gnomes or anything of the sort, but if one had popped out, I wouldn't have been surprised. Vaals is particularly interesting as it is where 3 countries meet (Belgium, Germany, Netherlands)..very conveniently located next to a ice cream shop and a french fries restaurant. Although the restaurants were very tempting, I stayed strong and danced around three countries with a bunch of little kids. Not really dancing, but I was as excited as the kids 😊 If I wasn't technology stumped, I would provide photographic proof that I was at the Tripoint. What was really pretty awesome is they have this super tall tower thing where you pay 3.50 euro and you can go to the top of this tower and look at all three countries. Obviously I couldn't resist (and why would I, right!?!) and I walked up these ridiculously steep metal stairs to the top. It wasn't the craziest climb, but I was certainly feeling the burn.

Of the three countries, Belgium is the prettiest from far away. The red tiled roofs are really quite a sight -- I think we should take up some of the architecture I've seen these past few days. People really use to know how to design a building. After trekking around for awhile Carly and I headed back to Aachen by bus. There is no border check so we just breezed from the Netherlands back to Germany as if it was nobodies business.

After getting back to Germany Carly and I did as the Germans do and went to go have coffee and cake. I ended up with a hot chocolate and a apple pie thinger with thinly sliced almonds on top. Not exactly coffee and cake, but a similar gesture none the less.Last night Carly made (with a little assistance from me) a delicious roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and a salad. Instead of putting in milk, she followed this French woman's recipe and added a egg yolk instead. Super delicious (Dids -- we must try this at some point). Side note -- Kristin.. I know Loki is Mexican, but do you think he could also be part French? French people, like Loki, like to eat snails. Just a thought :P

Today, Monday, Carly and I visited the Dom in Aachen. This is the big church that Charlamagne had build back when he was running around. It is absolutely fantastic. The stain glass windows and the tiles were stunning. I took some great photos that I would love to share...I am going to have to figure out how to do so at some point because what is a blog without pictures? Carly had a class or two to teach today so I had a few minutes of free time to explore on my own. As I am sure you are all well aware, Germans look like any other white person you see wondering around. As a typical white person, I have been mistaken as German on several occasions. I think I got asked directions a few time, but I nodded and smiled and said I didn't know in English...this of course is an immediate sign that I have my own customs and a crazy passport 😊 Although Lauren told me this before I left, it is really quite fun (but a little weird at the same time) to be confused as German.


Carly should be back soon from her class and then we are going to go get Lebanese for dinner. I've never had Lebanese food, but I'm super hungry so I'm sure it will be good. More later!!

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