Chaos on the way to the airport!

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 uneventful (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 temps 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 horse 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!