Round Two of Greven, Germany

No one can keep me away from Western Germany--I LOVE it there. What is not to love about lush green land, stone walls, red roofs, bikers everywhere and small-town pubs? Honestly, if I were to move to Germany then I would have to be in the west...well, I do love Berlin...choices, choices, choices. So I decided to revisit Matthi and the Greulich family for Easter weekend, which was also Matthi's 20th birthday weekend as well. Matthi had spent his 17th birthday at my house in Birmingham in 2008, so it was fun to spend another birthday with him...but this time in Germany. I flew in on a Thursday night, and we dropped my luggage and went straight to the local pub. As always, right when I walked in, I was greeted by Bernd (the owner--pictured in top photo with Matthi and Conni) with "AHHH MAGGIE AUS TENNESSEE! DAS IST MAGGIE AUS TENNESSEE). Oh, to be the center of attention--my grandmother would be so proud! We sat at a table with some of Matthi's friends and hung out until the wee hours of the morning. The next day I experienced a side of Germany that only locals see. It was a fußball tournament between small teams of friends who pair themselves up. The games were in short intervals and they played on a dirt "field"--I have never seen dirtier athletes! All the teams and people know each other so it was more like a social gathering than a competitive tournament, and as always in Germany, alcohol was a key component of the day. The players drank beer between each game and then played again and again. Not only were they getting drunk during the games, but I am pretty sure most of them were hungover from the night before (since I had seen quite a few of them the night before at the pub). It was a hilarious, entertaining, and great experience to say the least. We got ice cream afterward and took it pretty easy that night at Jonas' house, who lives close by Matthi. Saturday was Matthi's birthday and the whole day was full of festivities. We began with a morning brunch with his family and then headed to a local pub around 3pm to watch Bundesliga soccer games. Unfortunately, Matthi's favorite team lost their match; however, Matthi stayed in high spirits. We then made our way to the other pub (with Bernd my favorite pub owner) for another one of Matthi's "stammtisch" gatherings (a meeting between close friends). Like at the other one, I was the sole girl in the group of young, strapping German men. The night was long and as always we did not return until early in the morning. Sunday was, of course, a day of rest, and that is exactly what we did--rested!

The "5th Greulich Child" was sad to leave that Monday. Who knows when I will return "home" again to Greven; hopefully, it will be in my near future.

Vienna: Musicals and Music

Oh Vienna, Austria--what a gem of a city! We took a train from Prague to Vienna Friday morning and spent the last few days of our trip in the Austrian capital. Chelsey has a friend who was an exchange student at her high school and who studies in Vienna, so we decided to stay at her place for FREE (a college student's favorite "f-word"). She showed us around the city and took us to some of the major sites like the Opera House, the Hofburg Imperial Palace, St. Stephan's Cathedral, Belvedere Palace, and the Austrian Parliament Building (which looks more like a Gothic cathedral than a governmental building--I guess that is historic Europe for you, though). On the first night we went to a Le Gros Tube concert at a local bar. The band is Parisian and they play brass, percussion, and strings and sing reggae-like songs. We all had a lot of fun swaying to the music, and I got very excited when they played a cover of a Rage Against the Machine song.

We spent the most of Saturday in the famous market, where scarves, jewelry, ceramics, shoes, fruits, vegetables, spices, candies, etc., etc., etc., are sold. Basically, you want it, they got it! After purchasing a few things, we made our way to some other sites in the city. The weather was wonderful--sunny and warm--and we were dying in our jeans in tank tops and wishing we had shorts! Actually, we saw quite a few people with down jackets on with fur collars...maybe they are from Ecuador or the Sahara and found the weather to be chilling? Anyway, we ended our spring break with a trip to an Austrian musical called Der Tanz Vampire (The Dance of the Vampires), and it was wonderful! Although the lyrics and conversation were in German, we had Chelsey's friend with us to translate the important parts. We laughed and said it was like we were playing "Telephone"--sitting in a line repeating what the person before us had said in our ear. The music was very beautiful and we all laughed when they used Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" as a part of the music lineup.

Overall, it was a wonderful spring break, and I shared some great experiences with some wonderful friends!

Hey Prague, Czech Me Out!

The five of us (Lauren Ehrler, Chelsey Armstrong, Cara Huntley, Holly Taylor, and I) arrived at the Krakow train station on the night of the 29^th ready for our night train couchette experience. The train left around 21:00 that night and arrived in Prague around 8:00 or so the next morning—I’m glad I was asleep for most of the long ride! While it was not the most comfortable experience, I will say that camping in North Carolina and sleeping on the occasional rock, root, or slanted hill for the past twelve plus years did make the situation easier to adapt to…I felt sorry for the others who did not sleep at all. Upon arrival, we took a tram to our hostel (the “Czech Inn”—I highly recommend it) and got situated. Our eyes grew three sizes when we opened our 8-person suite room door and saw a guy sitting in his whitey-tighties; we were happy to A) see him put some pants on and B) see him packing his stuff for check out.

Prague is probably one of my favorite places that I visited while abroad! I felt like I was in a fairytale dream world as I walked around the city. Every building was so uniquely different, and they were all so beautiful in style and form. (It is amazing to think that the country used to be Communist less than twenty years ago.) All of us traveled by foot from one sight to another hitting all the major places. We witnessed the changing of the guards at the old castle and cathedral, which is built in gothic style. As you exit the “fortress” there is an overlook of the city where you can view all of the red-roofed houses and buildings—so pretty! Next, we made our way to the Charles Bridge, which has numerous religious statues as well as small arts and crafts vendors along the way. This was a great place to take the typical “tourist photo” (which I am always embarrassed to take but still do), because it captures the river, boats and buildings of Prague. We stopped at “Bohemia Bagels” for a delicious lunch break and then made our way to the “John Lennon Wall.” I’m not going to lie, we were all a bit disappointed with the wall; however, what can one expect when we come from Berlin where we constantly see the Wall (namely, the East Side Gallery). Despite the slight feeling of disappointment, we had fun being typical American tourists taking pictures of each other jumping, handstanding, and cartwheeling away. Also, Chelsey and I specifically wore our Beatles shirts (I, in my John and Yoko shirt and Chelsey in one that fashioned the entire band) just for this occasion—such dedication! We ended our day at the famous astronomical clock that supposedly all people of Prague make fun of for being a symbol of their beloved city.

The next day, all of us decided to go to Prague’s “Beer Museum Pub,” which in fact is not a museum but just a pub with a plethora of beers. Surprisingly enough, Prague has the top percentage of beer consumption in the world (not Germany…wow, I know!). Each beer is rated by a degree of alcohol content and not a percentage; therefore, none of us were sure how much we were drinking percentage-wise. The “normal” beer degree is around 13 degrees (I think?), and I ordered a flight of five beers that were between 15-18 degrees. Mind you, I was choosing the beers by their description and not by their alcohol content. Anyway, they were all delicious! The rest of our day was spent wandering, which (in my opinion) is the best way to experience a foreign city.