Our first day

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Chet summed everything perfectly, so all I need to add is that this trip is going to be a great chance to perfect our ever so American-German. I had been listening infrequently to German cd's, to learn how to get us around, and to try to impress my husband a little bit. I will admit that I was so proud of myself as I boarded that airplane, that the moment one of the stewardesses said something so simple as, "Gutentag," as we boarded, my vocabulary was minimized to, "Er, hello," said in a German accent. It's funny, how once you are immersed in the culture, you suddenly have lost everything you have prepared yourself for. It was like I had encountered stage fright. My second chance was when in the air, the stewardesses came for our drink orders. I was preparing myself to sound like a German citizen, repeating countless times,"Ich möchte wasser, bitter." Seemed simple until she actually came, and asked for my order, and I stumbled over my words. What she understood from my babbling was, in fact, "I'd like water please." However, that didn't prepare me for the fact that I needed to know if I wanted regular or mineral water. Ha. We sat talking about where we wanted to visit and the flight seemed to speed on past as we spent about 3 to 4 hours planning and reading about all the places we would like to go and stay."Let's Go Europe on a Budget" is one of the greatest investments we were told about and it has absolutely helped us in our planning. It's our most important piece in our luggage besides our passports. We've also decided that when traveling throughout Europe, we are going to take only our backpacks, so we don't have to drag around a suitcase, since we will be staying somewhere different most nights. This is going to be a very good challenge for me, as looking at my suitcase this morning has made me already re-evaluate what I really needed to bring to Europe. Can't wait for what tomorrow brings...

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Photos

LAX
Cracking open Travel Europe

LAX
Cracking open Travel Europe

on our way
on our way

Germany
The autobahn!!!!

Germany
The view from Grandma's balcony

Germany
Exhausted

Germany
The "not yogurt"

Germany
Grandma and Kat by the Rhein River

Germany
Grandma serving coffee and cake to friends after church.

Comments

[Sonia]

Hope you don't mind
Hey Guys, It all sounds so exciting! I hope you don't mind but I forwarded your web site to my nephew Ruben. He is headed out to Europe for 10 days on Saturday the 7th. He'll be in Germany, Berlin and the Czech Republic. I think your blogs will be helpful. Love You! Sonia

[Amy]

Kat Sleeping :)
Wow, the picture of Kat napping brings back youth retreat memories! We miss you guys and are having fun reading about your trip - thanks for telling us about your blog.