The Definition of Wanderlust

Vielen Dank to Erika for showing me this wonderful video. The world is a very very different place - those that say to you, 'We're really all the same' are grossly simplifying the matter. We are all the same, partially, in our core. And one of those things that I think many of us have the same is that, when a random American starts step dancing in front of our national monument, we join in.

Giving Thanks In Advance

First, my Internet privacy has been invaded over 500 times!! It's almost as if I'm a popular person!

Second, and mainly, tonight after dinner my host father told me that the family holds a Thanksgivingparty (yes, one word. This is German.) for about 50 of their friends every year, and did I have any hints for them?

Uhhhmmm....

All that came to mind was turkey, that scene on The West Wing when the president calls the Butterball Hotline, pumpkin pie, and kindergarteners running around with construction paper feathers on their heads.

So I am calling on my vast network of Americans - send your favorite part of Thanksgiving, be it an activity, family tradition, or recipe, to me at heavenlydaughter@gmail.com. ASAP! And closer to the day, I will post a compilation of them for your very American viewing pleasure.

Also, I am saving all the very good questions I've received for slower posting times, don't worry, I'll get to them!

If I Were To Own a Castle, I Would Finish It. Day 2

Two-Day Extravaganza!!

10. Oktober
I had to get up early. I really do not like doing that. Fabio from Paraguay, Daiana from Argentina, Matt from Boston, and I got on the bus that was already full of Latinos, Asians, two Americans, two Turks, and two Europeans. We were a pretty crazy looking group, I must say.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenberg Above the Tauber River is a walled city that was founded in 1170 by a bunch of old German people with crazy names. It has been preserved rather well - at least the buildings have. No Tourism Department has the power to keep the locals preserved, which is a shame. I would have been very interested to see the original residents going on about their daily business, instead of seeing a bunch of Germans, Americans, and Japanese people running around with cameras.

This is called a snowball. It's a Rothenberg classic, and involves baking a bunch of tiny waffle pieces together and then slathering the whole thing in something. Mein ist schokolade.



11. Oktober

Kloster Ettal

In Ettal we visited eine Käserei, or a Cheesemaking Factory, and they're right - it smells just like a boy's locker room! Seriously. I felt like I was walking down the Gym hallway during football season. GAG. Did you know those rounded cheese things sit on a shelf getting wiped daily with some formula for five months? I knew there was a reason I didn't like cheese.
The Kloster, or monastery, was gorgeous. All copper roofs and pretty architecture.

Wieskirche

Our last stop of the day was a cathedral that was also very, very, old. This picture is of the organ, which doesn't hold a candle to the Mormon Tabernacle organ, but has rather impressive sound. I could hear it all the way down in the village. All of these buildings are serious Fire Code liabilities - all the doors open in! Remember American History, if the doors open in the people can't escape in a fire! I think the point here was that if the Barbarians come, you can block it from the inside. It's really all a matter of perspective.

12. Oktober

Schloss Neuschwanstein

New Swan Stone Castle is a very appropriate name for this castle - it is only 120 years old! That is really young for a castle. King Ludwig II of Bavaria was rather fond of the works of Wagner, which include Tristan and Isolde, amongst others. The castle is dedicated to him and his operas.
First drawings of the castle were drawn by a theatrical artist, not an architect, to give the castle a whimsical appearance. Each room is covered with designs from different works of Wagner - only a handful of rooms were ever finished, however. At the king's death work on the castle stopped and it has never been completed in the interior, probably because the funds no longer existed.
Visitors aren't allowed to take photos of the inside of the castle, so I have only pictures of the outside. To the left is the facade, and
to the right is a picture of AFSers in the center courtyard. The first row is an American, a Brazilian, a Slovak, a Chinese, and a Japanese! And the back is just as crazy.
I love it.

Austria

After all that, we got the brilliant idea to take a short, hour and a half long stroll to Austria! It was wonderfully pretty - the whole walk was through a forests. Here's me crossing the border. We walked to a tiny village and everyone bought beer - that is, except for me and the Buddhists. We wandered around looking for ice cream. We were unsuccessful, unfortunately. Then we walked back. OW! My feet may never recover.