skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I awoke with the light sneaking in on the sides of my blinds, and birds chirping away... it was 5 a.m.!! So much for sleeping in! I laid in bed for a bit, but the blue sky was calling me. I got up, dressed, and out the door by 5:45 and went walking through the small village of Wolkering where Uli and her family live. So peaceful and beautiful. It was colder than I anticipated and I walked quickly through the town. At 6 a.m. the bells from the small church chimed loudly. I only stayed out for about 30 minutes, enough to walk to the end of both sides of town, and have cold fingers, toes (yes, I had my flip flops on!) and a cold noz (nose). Still no one awake when I returned, so I curled up with a warm wrap and dozed off again. Up and at 'em by 8 for a wonde
rful breakfast of brot (bread) with homemade jams, sausage, cheese, and orange juice. Then I had a few hours to kill before our adventures for the day. Uli and I were off to visit the Nepal Temple and Himalaya Pavillion. Absolutely stunning plants and flowers (blumen) surrounding the entire area. We walked on paths and across stones and marveled at the beauty around us. I took some incredible pictures of statues, made of marble, gold, or wood. I watched an artesian create a pot from his hand turned potter's wheel. The sun was playing tag with the clouds, and it was incredible how fast the sun would be out, and literally a minute later, it was raining! (I DEFINITELY did not pack enough stuff for the chilly weather!) On one occasion when the sun came out, we sat upon the steps and just rested and enjoyed its warming ra
ys. Next, we were off to meet up with Francisco, his host Michael, and his girlfriend, Hariett. They were not quite ready, so Uli stopped by a delightful little place she knew and we had a wonderful glass of Regensburg Landwein (wine), Müller-Thurgau-Trocken - a wine made from the grapes of the area. (OK... the picture makes my glass look WAAAAYYY bigger than it really was... lol!) Then off to the next surprising place, a Greek temple! Seriously, this enormous 
marble-made temple is a replica of one from Greece. Crown Prince Ludwig of Barvaria wanted to have an incredible building constructed and used as a place of honour for those deemed worthy. Well, a magnificent place, it definitely is! There are many "busts" of famous people such as Albert Einstein, Beethovan, Bach, and many others on display there. But it was a VERY weird feeling to be in Germany, yet seeing sights from such other places in the world. Absolutelz amazing! We stopped by the grocery on the way home, and picked up some needed items. We did not get home until almost 7 p.m. where I helped prepare a sausage salad for dinner. I can't wait to eat!
I just want to say that my travel partner, Francisco, is lucky to be alive! I told him Friday night that we would be by to pick him up at 4:30 a.m. to head to the airport. So, at 4:00 I called him - no answer... and again, and again, and again. I texted, I called, I sent him very LOUD mental messages... NOTHING! So we get to his condo, and out in the parking lot, there he was! Barefoot, shirtless, and looking for a lost cell phone. He was frantic! "I JUST WOKE UP!!!" he yells to me... So, to make a long story short, we rushed liked mad, and we made it to the airport on time.
(OK, and I`m telling you right now, if there are a couple of funny symbols, or if there is a letter Z where there should be a Y, it is because the German keyboard I am using is mixed up a bit from what I'm used to!!)
The first leg of our journey was to Atlanta, and it was uneventf
ul (thank goodness!) Then boarded our big jet to Munich... not bad, not bad I thought... then, 2 movies (Leap Year and When in Rome), one snack, one meal, and 2 glasses of wine later... I had a little different thought going through my head... mainly, "I want to go to sleep!" But usually I CANNOT sleep anywhere but at home, so I just kept tossing and turning. I DID keep a close eye on the onflight tracking system. It was so cool! It showed you exactly where zour flight was, and where it was going. (ya, ya, it probably isn't new, but I am NOT exactly a world traveler!) Next thing I knew, we were having breakfast and pulling in to Munich. Customs was a piece of cake! I just had to show them my passport and answer one question... DONE! Picked up our luggage with no problems, and went out front to have Ulrike (Uli) and her 21 Jahre old daughter Miriam waiting for us. I'm here!!
Beautiful country! Green, green, grün! It was cloudy and rainy, with tem
ps in the low 60's... About 40 minutes to Michael's haus to drop off Francisco, and then to the Nowotny's home. Lovely 3 level white house with plants and flowers galore! I met Walter (Uli's husband) and David, one of the twin 17 year old boys. We talked a bit, I unpacked and took a quick catnap, then we had a wonderful lunch. Grilled sausage and marinated steak, with warm potato salad with onions and a green salad. Mmmmmmmm good! Das schmeckt gut! Then followed that up with some Cognac (spelling?) the liqueur... my first time!... really warms the throat going down. :)
Blue sky and the sun started to peak through, so Miriam and I went to go ride her horse Max. He is stabled nearby with many other horses. Miriam got Max and another horse out, and while she groomed and prepared her horse to ride, I did the same for Max. This may not sound like much, but I have not ridden (or even TOUCHED!) a h
orse for probably almost 30 years!!! After giving me a riding helmet, gloves, and a whip (!!?), I climbed aboard. Max is a VERY tall horse! Miriam was kind enough to let us go practice in the arena before we planned to go out on the road, just to let me get my "horse" legs back... Well, we had only gone around the arena 4 or 5 times amidst rumbling thunder, when the sky decided to open up, and we decided to call it a day! We quickly walked the horses back to the stable, took off sadle and bridles, brushed them down, fed them a treat, and put them away. Of course by the time we got done with all of that, it was SUNNY again! Oh well... Maybe tomorrow will be nicer for riding.
The rest of the day was relaxing and lazy... It is 7 p.m. now and I am going downstairs to watch some home videos of the Nowotny family... Tschüss for now!
I am a crazy woman right now!!! I just packed up my classroom today, and thanks to my team, got checked out on time... I spent the rest of the day busily getting beautiful - hair cut and color, pedicure, and a tan. Then ran around getting the last minute items I absolutely needed (lipstick, new brush, and some face lotion). At home I had to pay all the bills for the next month, clean the house, and finish packing (and UNPACKING, I keep changing my mind on what to bring...) What DOES one bring for 4 WEEKS??? I have already printed my boarding passes, and I hope to get a little sleep tonight... well, I have to be at the airport at like 4 in the stinkin' morning, so I better say Auf Wiedersehen!! FYI... I will be in the air the WHOLE day tomorrow, and land in Germany on Sunday. So, look for a new entry then...
I awoke with the light sneaking in on the sides of my blinds, and birds chirping away... it was 5 a.m.!! So much for sleeping in! I laid in bed for a bit, but the blue sky was calling me. I got up, dressed, and out the door by 5:45 and went walking through the small village of Wolkering where Uli and her family live. So peaceful and beautiful. It was colder than I anticipated and I walked quickly through the town. At 6 a.m. the bells from the small church chimed loudly. I only stayed out for about 30 minutes, enough to walk to the end of both sides of town, and have cold fingers, toes (yes, I had my flip flops on!) and a cold noz (nose). Still no one awake when I returned, so I curled up with a warm wrap and dozed off again. Up and at 'em by 8 for a wonde
rful breakfast of brot (bread) with homemade jams, sausage, cheese, and orange juice. Then I had a few hours to kill before our adventures for the day. Uli and I were off to visit the Nepal Temple and Himalaya Pavillion. Absolutely stunning plants and flowers (blumen) surrounding the entire area. We walked on paths and across stones and marveled at the beauty around us. I took some incredible pictures of statues, made of marble, gold, or wood. I watched an artesian create a pot from his hand turned potter's wheel. The sun was playing tag with the clouds, and it was incredible how fast the sun would be out, and literally a minute later, it was raining! (I DEFINITELY did not pack enough stuff for the chilly weather!) On one occasion when the sun came out, we sat upon the steps and just rested and enjoyed its warming ra
ys. Next, we were off to meet up with Francisco, his host Michael, and his girlfriend, Hariett. They were not quite ready, so Uli stopped by a delightful little place she knew and we had a wonderful glass of Regensburg Landwein (wine), Müller-Thurgau-Trocken - a wine made from the grapes of the area. (OK... the picture makes my glass look WAAAAYYY bigger than it really was... lol!) Then off to the next surprising place, a Greek temple! Seriously, this enormous 
marble-made temple is a replica of one from Greece. Crown Prince Ludwig of Barvaria wanted to have an incredible building constructed and used as a place of honour for those deemed worthy. Well, a magnificent place, it definitely is! There are many "busts" of famous people such as Albert Einstein, Beethovan, Bach, and many others on display there. But it was a VERY weird feeling to be in Germany, yet seeing sights from such other places in the world. Absolutelz amazing! We stopped by the grocery on the way home, and picked up some needed items. We did not get home until almost 7 p.m. where I helped prepare a sausage salad for dinner. I can't wait to eat!
