Comedy Night

Yesterday I had the opportunity to see an English speaking comedy night as part of Koln's Comedy Festival. The reason I heard about it was a co-worker of mine was actually performing. He had been doing some training with a comedy troop and was one of his first times on stage. I thought it would be a lot of fun if not to laugh with him, then maybe at him a little so got a group of people to join in.

So after work I grabbed a quick dinner an met Bjorn to make the trek to the Venue. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't quite cooperative that evening so we ended up speed walking in the rain. With each of us carrying an umbrella and zig zagging under awnings and ducking in and out of other covered areas, I felt like I was out of a musical.

We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof with a few minutes to spare. The only thing was we didn't quite know where the venue was in relation to the station. Fortunately, I remembered that the venue, called Alter Wartesaal, was actually the old train station and when we looked around, we saw that it was actually situated right underneath the current train station. When we entered I could immediately imagine people bussling around trying to catch their rides, but it had been trainsformed The high arched brick ceilings and pillars had been painted black with green lighting. There were also yards of shimmering fabric hung from the ceiling. There was a stage at the far end of the room with black curtains and a typical brick background for comedy shows. The blue and green lighted bar ran along the right side and there were a few chairs and tables set up in the middle.

I thought it was a little exoctic for a comedy club and that's when we met up with our performing co-worker. He shed some light on the scenery by saying the Alter Wartesaal was a general venue used for various events. The event that had booked the hall the night before was actually a swingers party. It was at that point that it all came together and I was quite glad they weren't using black lights for anything.

After all of us ordered our Weiss beers, we sat down for the show was about to start. The originator of the english comedy troop came on stage to warm up the audience. He made some jokes about the Germans and then proceeded to ask where people were from in the audience. I was one of only two Americans there, but you could immediately tell where we were sitting because we were by far the loudest group. That of course received a joke or too. After the hooting and applause, my boss comes bounding up the stage ready to perform. Now I purposely did not mention that my co-worker was actually my Boss until now. Just seeing my boss on stage doing something other than crunch numbers was hysterical to me. His act was very good and a grea way to start off the night.

Next on stage was James. He had quite a knack for making fun of both the British, Americans and Germans all in one joke! I had to "translate"a few jokes from British to American English for our Spaniard friend, but that's what made it more fun!

One of my favorite performers was actually Swedish. He was tall and lanky with a shaved head and thick glasses. His jokes were the most random that you were laughing and wondering how he thought of such things. For example, "Have you ever been walking on a bridge and had the sudden urge to throw your keys into the water? It's a terrible feeling because you know it would be bad to loose your keys into the water, but the urge is so great that you'd rather just throw your keys to get rid of the aching feeling and before you know it, you hear 'plop'... sigh, for feeling better, you wonder where you'll be sleeping tonight." Yeah, I know it's not really funny right now, but to hear him say it was just hysterical.

After the Swedish Comedian we had a short break before the self proclaimed "Sex Icon"came on stage. Apparently Jerry Seinfeld opened for him before. He comes on stage with an apparent Toupe, large thick glasses, white suit, and spats. He sits on a stool, strums his guitar and begins to sing songs about being a sex icon. Pouting his lips and asking the audience to assist in making all the appropriate noises. Odd, but enjoyable.

I can already tell that some of these jokes will be circulating in the office for quite some time.

Strasbourg

Friday afternoon during lunch, Alex looks at me and asks, "so when do you want to go to Strasbourg"? We had been toying with the idea for two weeks, but since it was Alex's friends who we would be staying with, I hadn't pressed the issue. Now it had gotten down to the day we should have been driving down and he was just contacting people to stay with. It was decided not to burden people for two nights so we would go down on Saturday morning and leave Sunday after brunch. The main excuse for going was that Alex had left some things at his old school, International Space University, while he went back to Canada for the summer before returing to Germany. The lady with the keys to the locker would be there on Saturday. Since I wanted to go, I offered to drive my car so we could lug it all back with more ease than on a train.

Now that we had finally made up our minds to go on Saturday, we had to figure out what to do on a Friday night. Luckily Casey had already decided to have movie night at his place. So Simon, Alex, Sergi and I met up at Casey's apartment with beer to order a couple pizzas and watch European Vacation. Sergi and Alex had never seen it before and had a real laugh making fun of the Americans in Europe.

After a few beers and a silly movie, we took the party outside. It was my first experience at Scheinbar. It is a small little lounge that plays 60's music literally two blocks from my apartment that was a favorite of the BMEs before me. When I stepped through the red velvet curtain, I instantly knew why. It is all done in red lights with little disco balls and red and orange beads lining the top of the bar. It was crowded with young locals chatting and scoping their surroundings. I'm sure our group looked a little odd with one girl and four guys. Casey made the comment that either it appeared that I was a very lucky woman, or that they were gay.

After a couple drinks there, Casey lead the way to Brusslerplatz and M20. Simon immediately caught on to the theme of bars that Casey enjoyed. This bar was also small, but instead of a motif of red circles, this one had brown boxes. Apparently everyone was having a good time as we did not realize it was now past 2:00. Simon had been planning on being home at midnight and we were slowly loosing our early departure to Strasbourg. Simon and Sergi left to catch a train back to Wahn, but Alex, Casy and I moved on to a bar all in blue. There was a little dance floor in the back with a DJ spinning God knows what.

It was then Casey spotted a few girls eyeing Alex and thought it was a good time to play wingman. Casey strikes up a conversation with an attractive blonde. Apparently it was her 23rd birthday and she was living in Germany for a short time before she went back to her home in France! Casey and I thought this was perfect for our shy French Canadian. So Alex started talking and apparently she enjoyed is accent, but then he just backed off and started dancing alone. Casey and I looked at each other and just rolled our eyes. Soon after the strike out, we made our way home since we still needed to get to Strasbourg. Nothing like getting up and driving 3 hours on 3 hours of sleep!


Alex and Sergi showed up right on time. I didn't know a Spaniard could be so punctual. I on the other hand was not ready becuase mornings and I don't get along. But we eventually hit the road and the drive down was quite beautiful as we had taken the same way to get to Koblenz. Sergi wouldn't know because he slept the whole time which made me very jealous.

When we got closer to town, Alex decided it would be a good time to mention that he had never driven into town before so he didn't know how to do it or where to park once we got there. Just like in Luxembourg, I got nervous and we spent a 1/2 hour going in circles and driving in and out of garages until we parked at the shopping center. Once that was taken care of we made our way to the city center and the Cathedral. It was pretty touristy with all the shops selling souvenirs, but you could tell it was also still used as the town's center. It looked like a classic village with timber and plaster houses curving with the small alleys.


We took one of the alleys to the river where we hopped on a boat tour. We went all around the city listening to a recording in three different languages describe the sites and history. The boat also went through the locking system. I had never gone through locks before and the boat barely fit. Going from the lower section to the higher one was an extra treat. The lock was right in the middle of a walking street. As the water rushed in and slowly lifted the boat, people stopped with their children to watch. Once we had reached the higher level, I could now untie the shoes of the people who were once 10 feet over our heads. As the boat tour went on, we wished we had sprung for a covered boat. By the time the tour was over, we were all frozen to the seats and scurried away to find some warm drinks.

After some of the best hot chocolate I had had in a while (it could have been because I was so cold, anything warm would have tasted like yummy goodness) we stopped by a local shop to pick up some Alsatian wine for our aperitifs or "pre-dinner drinks". We were staying at the party house apparently. It was the home of two French guys and a girl and so was the only place large enough to house a social gathering. Soon, eleven of us were sitting around the small coffee table on whatever we could find to sit on sharing drinks ranging from tea to 15 year scotch and stories. A few hours later and once we had killed every bottle that had made it's way to the table plus a few extra beers from the beer-run to the kiosk downstairs, we went our separate ways. They had to stop by a birthday party while Alex, Sergi and I needed dinner.

We went into this little pub where every table was on a different level. There were lots of old timber supports exposed and lots of good beer on tap. I started with a trappist ale to go with my Alsatian pizza. It was a thin crust topped with cream cheese, ham and mushroom. It was so yummy, the three of use split four when under normal conditions each could have fed two people.

For my second beer I thought I'd look at the menu. I was overjoyed to see that they had La Fin Du Mond and Delirium Nocturnum. These Quebec and Belgium beers are some of my favorites, but I normally don't order them because they are too expensive. But in Strasbourg they were a third of the price they would be in the US. That puts a beer lover in a bit of a pickle. Do I treat myself to a favorite that I can get in the States but normally don't, or go for something new that I may not enjoy. After the waiter had stared at me for a few minutes waiting for me to make up my mind, I went with a Dubbel. I hadn't had carmel goodness like that in a while and it was certainly a treat.

After dinner, we made our way to another local bar to meet up with some more ISU students. We were walking around the bar when I looked up at the TV and saw Georgia and Florida game! I stopped dead in my tracks and Sergi ran into me. I was so happy to see that Georgia was beating Florida. Even though I don't care for either team (putting it as nicely as possible) I don't care for Florida more. Unfortunately, the people we met were not in the mood for American Football so we quickly departed.

The group ended up at Le Kokrigan. It was in the basement of an old house with arched bricked ceilings and a live band. There were giraffes of beer and strange pink drink by the pitcher being passed around. Among those in the group was an extremely loud French Canadian who spoke terrible French when drunk and a much shorter Canadian we ended up lovingly calling the drunk dwarf. It had really appeared like the guys in this group had never seen a girl before, and there were at least three in our party! I was able to talk to a Costa Rican, a Rastafarian, and a Norwegian before the drunk dwarf came over, landed in my lap and proclaimed, "I have the jaw of a hippopotamus, Grrrrr"! Sergi and I kept the comical drunk dwarf busy so that Alex could talk to a cute Asian girl he had been dancing with. However, by four in the morning, Sergi and I were about done while the Asian girl asked Alex to go to an after party. Sergi and I wished him luck, put our dwarf in a cab, and slowly made our way home.

When we got to the apartment, we saw Alex on the doorstep. Apparently the girl couldn't decide whether to like him or leave him so he gave up on the party. The afterparty at the apartment lasted until the sun was rising and Sergi was falling. Morning came all too quickly, but we knew we had to get going. After a quick shower and some chocolate bread we hurried around to do the site seeing we had initially come to do. But first there was the trip to ISU for Alex's belongings.

ISU is quite a large building to house only 50 students a year. They have many displays of the world's accomplishments in space. I know this because we spent an hour there waiting on someone with a key. Apparently they had changed the keys on the locks earlier that week and did not give the TA her set. The security guard never showed so our reason for travelling down there was in vain.

We made our way back to the city to take in the Cathedral but did not have time for any of the museums we were hoping to get to. We went back to the Turkish restaurant for another Lufka because Sergi had fallen in love with them before we made the long journey home. Let's just say I was not as chipper as I could have been Monday morning.

Colbie Caillat

You may be surprised to know that German TV is in German. Even the Simpsons and other American Shows are dubbed into German. This makes it very difficult to relax in front of the boob tube like most Americans like to do. The only shows that are in English are CNN, BBC World News and MTV. After seeing the same news report three times, it gets a little dull, so on comes MTV for dinner before it gets really crazy with things like Flava Flave, but I digress.
So I’m watching German MTV that includes both American and German artists. After some crazy German Rap video, I see a warm sunny beach and a blonde granola cruncher on the screen. I immediately knew I would like this song. It happened to be California native Colbie Caillat.

I heard the chorus of Bubbly and was immediately beaming because just earlier I had been talking to James over IM and said that the best feeling is when he says something and my toes curl and nose crinkles. It was instantly my favorite song. Maria will know what I mean when I say I played it like I did when I discovered O.A.R. Crazy Game of Poker :-) . At least this time I wasn’t bothering anyone else.

Bubbly has now become my fall back song. When I’m tired in the afternoon, or I get a little grumpy or lonely, I can play this song and change my mood a little. I was happy to discover that Colbie is coming to Köln on 19 November! That means I better learn a few more of her songs. Stay tuned to read about the show!

Need for Speed

I'm just going to say that the Germans have it right by utilizing the Autobahn. If you build just find automobiles like VW and BMW, then you should be able to use it to it's fullest potential. Well my drive to work does not allow for true German driving because it is so close to Koln, but on the drive to Luxembourg, I got to see what a 4 cylinder mean to VW in my rented Passat.



The roads are just windy enough to keep you interested, but gradual enough to maintain a decent speed. They are also lined with trees or span across valleys over villages so there is always something to see if you don't want it to be a blur.

Just before entering Luxembourg, I found the perfect stretch of road; downhill, and dry with no cars. We used Marco's GPS to get exactly how fast I was able to get the Passat. I made ti to 213 kph before I had to slow down for a turn. The Passat definitely needs a 6th gear if you are going to stay at that speed. The engine was roaring, but oh what a sound it was!


The next Monday Morning commute was even more frustrating than usual because 100kph felt like 30 compared to the exhilaration of 213 baby!

Luxembourg

Needless to say, waking up after a night full of men was difficult. Even if they were gay men. I called my hiking buddies Alex and Marco to see if they were still up for a drive and they agreed. I didn't think Bjorn was up for going anywhere at this time in the morning.

The drive to Luxembourg was quite beautiful. The small towns nestled in the hills surrounded by bright colored folliage was picturesque. The tree lined road was quite refreshing to go cruising through. Certainly nothing like the highways in Houston. The only annoying part was the short spurts of construction areas where the speed limit went from "none" to 60kph. It was cramping my style. Fast.

There was a perfect stretch of road where I tested just what it felt like to have no speed limit. 213kph was the fastest I went before I needed to slow down. Luckily the car was there because I was secretly reaching my comfort limit along with the adrelene of speed. It was a real inner conflict.

We made it into the city and then came the fun task of trying to find a parking spot. I swear, europeans could allow a little more room in the parking garages. Talk about nerve racking! Once the car was parked, I whipped out my handy map and saw that the Crypt I wanted to go see seemed to be on the other side of town. I told my travel companions that we needed to hurry if we wanted to get there in time.

We hurried a couple blocks before I stopped to check the map. Surprisingly, it seemed we were already more than 1/2 way there. Apparently, drawing things to scale is not one of Luxembourg's strong points.

We made it to the Archeological Crypt. It is an old fortress built deep into the hillside used to defend Luxembourg City in the Middle Ages. I was quite impressed with it's design. Places for cannons and archers as well as passageways that led to no where in case of infiltration.

We spent a lot of time exploring every nook and cranny. There were even some dark crannys Alex and Marco wanted to explore just to make me scared.

After we left the crypt, Alex found a old tower in ruins at the edge of a bridge crossing a large ravine that was begging to be climbed. Marco has a theory that all Canadians are climbers. Well Alex wasn't willing to try and prove him wrong.

After Alex had got the climbing itch scratched we went to a pub to grab a coupl beers. We had already walked through the city twice and needed a place to rest our feet. We found a pub that was full of old men watching the rugby match and we took a corner booth. We each asked for the draft beer. Luxembourg beer is a very crisp pilsner what was surprisingly refreshing. We spent a couple hours just shooting the wind and trying to translate a interesting note on the back of one of our coasters that was in Luxembourgian.

After a couple beers, we went for dinner at a French restaurant. Yes it's a little backwards, but we needed to kill time before we got hungry. Yes, the city is that small, especially on a Sunday when nothing is open. After a nice dinner spanning England, Germany, Russia and France. We started the drive home.

About 1/2 way home I was merging onto a new highway while talking to Alex in the passenger seat. From the back seat comes this scream, "Watch out!" I thought a deer was running onto the road. When I realized that it was just Marco concerned that I didn't know to merge, I yelled back. I almost swerged to avoid a nonexistant deer! Then we'd be in trouble. It was just a freaked out German worried about American drivers is what he told me. That's funny because I'm just as freaked out when he's driving.

The rest of the trip was quiet and we listened to my '80s mix the rest of the way. By the time I got home I had only spent 4 hours in my apartment the whole weekend. I was certainly not ready for an early morning, but that's the price you pay to live it up in K-town!

Hiking in Koblenz

Instead of rowing on Saturday like Marco and I planned, we decided to catch a little more fall color with a hike. Marco said he had found some more places to hike in the Eifel area that he wanted to see and since Alex's intern partner in crime Sergi was off in Barcelona we figured he'd be up for getting out of his small room for some fresh air.


Now I had heard Erin's story of hiking in the Eifel area with Marco and some interns so I made Marco promise that he knew where he was going and we wouldn't get lost. Of course I realized I was asking a guy not to get lost so I partially knew it was all in vain.



It took less time than I expected to get lost because Marco wanted to make sure we started on a particular path and none of the villagers knew what we were talking about. We drove around for another hour until we found some tourists who were going to the same trail. We parked the car on the side of a small road near a waterfall knowing we wouldn't find it again for quite some time and headed out.

The first part of our hike was through the outlining farms of the town. We then ended up on a dormant volcano with some cool lava formations. Then we decided to hike back to the lake where we started looking for the volcanic trail. We had lunch by the Hot Spring just enjoying the scenery.


By this time it was 4:30 in the afternoon. If we hiked around the lake, we wouldn't start our trek back to the car until 7:00 and it gets dark quickly in the woods. So we decided to hike to the parking lot where we started and then make our way to the car. As we rounded the lake we found a pastry shop so obviously we stopped to have some cake and cocoa.


When we go to the parking lot we realized it was the wrong one and had no idea where the right one was. This is when Marco's favorite "short cuts" come in. This is where instead of following the road around the hill, you hike up and down the hill to double your distance. By the end I corrected him and said they were more like scenic detours.

If it wasn't for the detour, we wouldn't have found a lookout tour to catch a beautiful sunset. The detour also meant that we spent the next hour looking for the car in the middle of the woods in the dark. The only reason we found the car was walking toward the sound of the waterfall nearby.



By then I was hungry and tired while Marco wanted to go swimming. We compromised and went into the next town where they were having a festival of lights for an incredible steak dinner at a winery. After dinner I pulled my typical Jen in a car and pass out before Marco put the car in drive. Man I was exhausted but sleep doesn't come easy in this town...

Night Full of Men?

After hiking all day in Koblenz, I came home looking for a hot shower and a warm bed. The hot shower took a little longer than normal and I had just slipped into my pajamas when there was a knock on my door. It was Bjorn. He had been partying with some of his roommates and now they were heading out to a club. However, this wasn't just any club, this was a gay club. Bjorn did not want to be "one of the boys" that night so was asking me to join him. Even though I was tired, the idea of going to my first gay club was hard to pass up. Bjorn waited downstairs while I threw on some clothes and we headed out.

Conveniently enough, there is a Kiosk right next to my apartment. We made a quick stop where Bjorn introduced me to Jack and Coke in a can! Jack Daniels perfectly mixed with Coke in a convenient individual package. I was in heaven! What made it more sweet was the fact that we could walk down the street with our open containers and no worries about the non-existent drinking laws.

We made our way to the center of town where we waited in a short line to travel down stairs to find a large basement turned into a giant disco. I have to admit I was a little taken aback by all the guys dancing better than I could. But they were all very welcoming to have a girl on the floor. The music was awesome. They played it all, including the YMCA, which no one really appreciated. My favorite parts about it? We had to send Bjorn for drinks because he was the one the bartender fancied, and there was no line for the girls room! I did have to wait for a guy to leave, but I had been in his shoes before and so didn't mind.

Dawn was approaching and it was time to get home. Bjorn got away from us once, but after a few minutes we were able to find him in an alley and drag him home. It gave me time to talk to Bjorn's roommates some more. They invited me over for brunch the next morning, but that is when I remembered I was supposed to be going to Luxembourg the next day. I thanked them for the invitation and asked for a rain check before scurrying off to bed so I could get some rest before the drive to another country.

Shopping in Koln

BMEs who had perviously completed a rotation at ESA kept telling me not to bring much because I would love the shopping in Koln. After living here a month I thought I would write down my comments.

Major Plus: I enjoy the boutiques and not having to be in a crazy mall packed with teenagers to buy a shirt.

Major Minus: The hours. If I want to go shopping, I am always rushed to get home just to make sure I can make it over to the shopping center before they shut down at 8:00. This time wouldn't be so bad in Houston because I can get out of work at 4:00 and be at the store by 4:30. Here, I don't get out of the office until 6:00 and with a 1/2 hour drive into the city, shopping is always rushed making it less fun. However, I had been able to get in early on a few days so that I could leave early to get some shopping in.

When I got to Koln I realized that I did not have a proper rain coat or fall jacket. Living in Houston, when it rains it pours and no rain coat is really going to help. Also, funny enough, Houston doesn't have a fall. I still have heavy winter coats for when I go home to Rhode Island to visit family for Christmas, but I had not experienced a fall in years!

I had been window shopping enough to know what I was looking for. But when the store was finally open, things looked much different when they were on. The cute little A coats made me look 8 months pregnant and the 3/4 length sleeve ones made me look like an orphan with no clothes. Empire waist was too high and the low waist made me look boxy. :-P

I wanted something a little more daring, but European fashion can be a little over the top for me so this excursion was a challenge. I wasn't going to go into Zara because we have one in Houston, but it was getting colder and I was getting desperate.

This Zara was huge. I'm talking 4 floors of the trendiest fashion. This was nothing like what they had in Houston. I spent an hour going in sircles trying every coat they had. The poor sales lady was following me around because no matter how neatly I put a coat back, she would come and fix it.

I had given up and was heading down the stairs when I saw it. It was a black trenchcoat style in wool with a large houndstooth pattern in white, gray brown and tan. I didn't think I would like it, but when I tried it on I knew it was the one. Love's like that you know. That baby has been keeping me toasty ever since!

München Part III: Neuschwanstein

I woke up quickly on Sunday morning, which is a feat for me since I NEVER wake up quickly. I jumped into the shower thinking about all I had to do and started getting a little anxious. Could I honestly get to Neuschwanstein and back in time to catch my flight? The last day of the season for the bike tour I wanted to go on was Saturday so I was trying to do this all on my own. Then I came to a new revelation, what if Neuschwanstein wasn’t open on Sundays like everything else? I decided to have breakfast and then ask the hostel desk. Breakfast was interesting. Everyone was all sitting in groups so I sat at the end of a long table.


Soon after, an Asian girl came to sit by me. I thought I could strike up a conversation with her, but she looked intently into her Müsli. Then her travel buddy sat right across from me. Before I could say good morning the buddy started talking in some other language about her sausage and I knew then they weren’t interested in meeting new people despite the fact that they surrounded me. After breakfast I asked the desk if Neuschwanstein was open and she looked at me funny and said yes. (I’m sorry I didn’t realize it was a stupid question).

I made my way to the train station and talked to a Die Bahn rep about getting to Neuschwanstein. Apparently they only have a train that will take you as far as Füssen, but she didn’t offer to sell a ticket to me. I believe it had something to do with the German-wide Train strikes. I picked up a schedule and then made my way to the ticket machine. Apparently the cheapest way to go was with a group pass, which means I could have split the cost with up to four other people. Alas it was just me. So I threw my bag in a station locker and made my way to Gleis 29 to catch my 2 hour train ride. The train was already sitting there parked even though we had 15 minutes before it was scheduled to leave. I sat down and started reading some more Harry Potter and before I knew it, it was 15 minutes past the time we were supposed to leave. That means that I’ve also missed the connection. Then a scruffy voice came over the intercom yelling something in German and everyone around me grumbled and started to get up. I asked as politely as I could the older lady sitting across from me with long grey hair and was dressed for a long hike. She smiled and let me know that we needed to move to a different train and it was going to leave in 5 minutes. It was then I remembered reading somewhere that there is a fine of 40 euro if you have an un-validated ticket. The tour book said you had to validate it near the ticket machine. I ran over there and saw a little box with a card slot, but the slot did not fit my card. A gentlemen dressed like he was ready for the MS 150 was about to get on his bike when I asked him how to validate his ticket. As soon as he opened his mouth I remembered that a group ticket just needed a name from our trip to Bad Honnengin.

He confirmed that for me and I raced back to the train where I found a seat next to a well dressed man I had sat across from on the first train. He smiled at me, probably because I was out of breath, as the train lurched forward. Then the paranoia sat back in. If everything is in German, how will I know to when to get off? This commuter train did not have the electronic notification signs like the ICE trains. So every time the train slowed I’d lean out of my seat to see the posting on the station. I noticed that there were a few groups in my car doing the same thing. Then I realized, why else would a commuter train to Füssen on a Sunday if they weren’t going to Neuschwanstein? That helped me relax a little. If we got lost, we could get lost together.


We made it to Buchloe and ran to the next platform per the schedule to hop on the next connection, but because the first train was late, we had missed the connection. However the conductor told us that it would be coming, then another Die Bahn officer said it would be on the previous platform. With three trains at the station at once, you saw a bunch of tourists running from one platform to the other trying to find a train that wasn’t coming. After all the trains departed, the boards were updated and we had a ½ hour to wait for the next train. It gave me an opportunity to observe my travel companions by common destination. There were two large groups of Asians, a group of three Italian girls, and me.

When the next train arrived, we all boarded with relief. The train was already pretty full, so I went and sat in the car that is used for commuters with bicycles. There was already a group of young people laughing in the car and I thought this would be more fun than sitting quietly in the previous car. There were nine of them in what appeared to be a small tour group for students. It was amazing though because I was definitely hearing multiple languages coming from the group. They were sharing pictures and candy and pointing out interesting sights along the way. There was one girl who was very quiet and the others tried to talk to her but she wouldn’t respond. I felt bad that maybe she was in a bad mood.

About ½ way through the journey, the supposed ring leader came and sat by me and started to ask something of me in very fast German. I told him I didn’t understand and he tried using hand gestures that didn’t make much sense to me. Frustrated, he turned to his group and asked if someone knew English. A bright, cherub-faced girl responded. They wanted to know when the train would arrive in Füssen. I politely said I didn’t know as I was a tourist too. They all were very curious why I was traveling alone and I didn’t have a short answer for that. They were happy to know that I spoke English because the quiet girl was South African and didn’t know enough German to really converse with the rest of them. So I struck up a conversation. I soon found out that she was an Au Pair working for a München family for a year to earn money for school. She wanted to go into Biotechnology. In fact, the whole group was just a bunch of Au Pairs who decided to take a trip together. They invited me to join them on their tour and I happily accepted.

In the end there were 2 Ukrainians, 1 Spaniard, 1 Russian, 2 Italians, 1 Frenchman, 1 South African and me. Each one had a name that I had not heard and regretfully, can’t remember now.

We got off the train and hurried to a nearby bus. This bus was packed with people and all had only one stop in mind. We made it to small tourist village full of little shops and restaurants eager to take your money. I was surprised to learn that there were actually two castles to see in this small area. However, due to the time of day and the impending doom of possibly missing my flight, we decided Neuschwanstein was enough. We were told by the ticket office person that the hike from where we were to the castle took 40 minutes so our tour times were made for 2 ½ hours after we got there! Since I had to catch a train at 4:07, I was a little nervous about a 35 minute tour starting at 3:15! No matter, I could at least look at the outside.

We started our hike and the scenery was breathtaking. The air was nice and crisp with the autumn smell lingering. The sun was warm on our faces and shown brilliantly on the leaves of all color. We made it to the castle in 20 minutes. We then strolled around the castle to a nearby waterfall and stream that made its way to the crystal clear lake. The waterfall was quite tall and landed in a gorge well beneath the path. Some of the Au Pairs thought it was a good idea to climb down. Normally I am just the person to suggest this, but today I wasn’t feeling like risking my neck for something I could see from the path. One of the Au Pairs paid for it a bit by falling and getting her leg dripping wet with Alpine water.

This gave me an opportunity to talk to some of the Au Pairs. The Spaniard was studying German Theology. He had fallen in love with the German Culture on a visit 4 years ago and decided immediately to learn German and study here. The cherub-faced Ukrainian had been an Au Pair twice before and knew the most languages as a result. She made me take a picture of her by the waterfall four times because she didn’t like the way she looked. For someone so angelic with a grabbing personality, you would think she would have some more confidence. A Ukrainian guy had been with an English-speaking family before, but it had been so long that he had used English, he got frustrated with himself and I felt bad that I didn’t know enough of any other language to continue the conversation.

As it got closer to starting the tour, I said good bye to the Au Pairs. After being slightly nervous the whole day about traveling so far to catch a flight, I couldn’t stand it anymore and needed to start my journey. So I ran down the hill snapping quick pictures as I went. I’m lucky I got to the bottom when I did because there was a long line to catch the bus. You would think it was a line for the Big Bad Wolf at Busch Gardens or something. I waited in that line thinking to myself, “ok, time to be an obnoxious American and make sure you’re on this bus to make the train.” The bus finally arrived and I charged forward as best I could and was one of the last people to make it on the bus before he pulled away with the doors open! My mom told me never to stand in front of the yellow line on the bus because I could get hurt. Well, if I missed my flight, my boss would hurt me instead. I ran from the bus and ran onto the train just before it started pulling away “Phew”.

The train ride to Hauptbahnhof was uneventful. However, I was mentally preparing for my next interchange. I would get off the train at Gleis 29, run to my locker to get my bag, and then run to Gleis 1 to catch my train to the Flughafen that was leaving 4 minutes after my arrival.

As the train rolled to a stop I heard the sound of a track gun go off in my head because the race was on. I had the locker key in my hand and had memorized the number and visual location. Getting the bag took 1.2 minutes. Then I ran to the direction where I thought Gleis 1 would be, the other end of the station. When I got there I only saw signs leading to numbers as low as 5. So it was time to bring out the little German I knew. I asked an older lady eating a pastry, “Wo ist der Gleis 1?” She smiled as I pointed to the sign that only went to Gleis 5. She pointed me in that direction and so I took off. When I made it around the bend I saw there really wasn’t a Gleis 1. I asked a younger lady who was buying a ticket at the kiosk where it was and she pointed me down and around where I had come from. At this point I knew I had missed my train.

On my way back I noticed that I was taking the S-Bahn. S for sub. They were on a different track system beneath the Hauptbahnhof. Luckily I only had a few more minutes to wait before I caught the next S-Bahn to the Flughafen. In the end I used a bus, train, subway, airplane, car, and feet to get to my apartment. I then rode my bicycle from the doorway to the bedroom just to add another one. The only thing I missed was a boat. I would have tried to fit it in, but I was just too exhausted. I literally crashed as soon as I hit the pillow. It was quite an exhausting journey, but well worth the ride.

München Part II: Downtown

Friday:
Friday was spent near COL-CC exchanging information and ideas with the PASOs so it’s not very interesting for this blog. When 5:00 rolled around Björn and I were quite ready to make our way into München.

When we got to the Hostel, we were both pretty exhausted so decided a short nap was in order. As I looked around, I had the strangest feeling I had been here before. I didn’t think that was possible since the Hostel was on the outskirts of the city and I had stayed near the center. Then it hit me. The hostel was on the same street as the one James and I got lost on trying to get back to the hotel after Oktoberfest! Now I realized just how far in the wrong direction we had gone.

The hostel itself was quite typical. Young 20 something’s working the desk in black t-shirts, an attached bar open till god knows when and a lounge full of young (and young at heart) slightly greasy travelers meeting up with companions and chatting in at least 6 different languages. When I got to my room, I was happy to see my own shower and bed. It was quite nice with modern art and furnisher making for some much needed Zen time.

I met Björn downstairs where he said we would be meeting one of his flat mates from school for dinner. I thought we would be heading into town but apparently one of the beast Beer Halls in München was right across the street from the Hostel. This place was dark and old and FULL of people. When we got in, we didn’t think we would be sitting, but a group of women offered their half of the table after they were finished. This beer hall served Agustiner Beer. Björn and I ordered a Weiss Bier, which immediately got us dirty looks from our inebriated table mates. Apparently when drinking Agustiner, one should only drink the Helles. Björn politely thanked them for the information and continued to drink his Weiss Bier, which was lucky for me because I really wanted to drink mine too. It was here that I had Jägerwurst. It was very tender meat in a mushroom sauce. The whole time we were there, you had to yell to be heard over the ruckus. There was less singing than at Oktoberfest, but I did not really see a difference in the drink consumption. Björn’s friend wasn’t very confident in her English so she would converse with Björn in German and then Björn would give a summary. However, if Björn would start the conversation in English, she would respond quite easily in the same language. We had a very good time teasing Björn about past girlfriends and forgotten memories of school.

Eventually, things started to quiet down as it got later and our inebriated older friends were replaced by inebriated younger gentlemen out for a Bachelor Party. There presence certainly livened the place up. They all had t-shirts on with his fiancé’s picture with the title “Ball and Chain” in German across the top. Björn and I had so much fun that we decided to join them at the next stop after his friend decided to call it a night. However, we immediately lost them because they weren’t waiting for anyone. We went to another, more modern bar for a drink but soon meandered back to the Hostel because Björn was catching an early flight to Houston.

Saturday:
During my trip I was really looking forward to Saturday because I planned on joining a bike tour of Neuschwanstein. This is the castle that Walt Disney modeled his Disney castle after and it literally screams fairytale. However, after a late Friday, I overslept and missed the train out there. So instead I made my way to the Modern Art Museum District to take in some quiet, dark culture. At the main museum they had a special exhibit on Max Beckmann and Chinese Photography. I am normally not one for modern art but Max Beckmann’s story is quite interesting how it needed to be smuggled out of Germany in the 40’s because it was no longer considered art. His paintings were mainly of theatre and the life surrounding it and his wife. He was very good about finding a new angle of perception and liked to show the working hands of a person. They were always up or holding something. He also had an interesting series of depicting revelation with its fanciful creatures.

After going through that exhibit I wandered through the rest of the standard rooms. They included a room just of large rocks positioned on the floor and one of a fair ground after the show was over. I then went into the Chinese Photography exhibit where I was expecting Chinese Prints in watercolor. Instead these were photographs of daily life in China. They were divided into Work, Relationships and Time. It included photos of mines and silk worm fields, barber shops and public urination. It was quite a different world to see.

After leaving the museum, I wandered through the central part of the city. It was incredibly crowded; more crowded than New York for Thanksgiving. I stopped by the Glockenspiel at 6:00 to see it chime, but nothing happened. They must have still been working on it. I was often stopped and asked for directions since I was alone and couldn’t possibly be a tourist alone. Sadly, I had to turn them down. I was relieved when the shops started to close and the crowd thinned. I hadn’t eaten all day and my stomach was starting to remind me. I made the hike back to my hostel and unfortunately my bed was calling more than my stomach. After a short read, I made my way back out to the lounge to see if anyone was interested in grabbing dinner. When I got down there, I heard loud yelling and saw 15 people in red white and blue cheering on the Rugby World Championships. I sat down to watch a bit; quite a crazy sport. I then decided dinner couldn’t wait until the end of the match so I went out.

After three nights of Bavarian food, I just couldn’t do it again even though it was my last chance to get it. I walked down a small side street looking into the windows. Most of them were bars with small gambling machines. It wasn’t the atmosphere I was looking for. Then I came across a little Italian place. The six tables were nearly full so I went in for a nice glass of wine and light dinner. I definitely got a few stares, but they were all kind. The waitress there was an Italian who was now living in Germany. She didn’t know much English so when I asked for something she would respond in both German and Italian as a sort of teacher. I asked for the “vino della casa” and she gave me a look and said I would like the vino from her home town better. This there was no difference in price, I accepted. It was sweet and dry and went well with my pasta and cheese. The cook often came out and sat down with the regulars and bussed tables. As it started to empty out I asked for my bill. I was going to make it an early night to make sure I could get to Neuschwanstein. I had been looking forward to it for so long, I was determined to make it.

München Part I: Meeting PASOs

This the first part of a three part series on my trip to München. I left with all of my BME colleagues to catch a plane on Thursday afternoon to München. From there we drove to Oberpfaffenhofen, home of the Columbus Control Center, to meet up with the Safety Flight Controllers called the PASOs. We arrived at this little rustic inn just in time for dinner. Everything was made of beautiful, sturdy wood in the traditional Bavarian style. After lugging our stuff up to our rooms, we made our way to the Inn’s bar for a beer. It was refreshing to have something other than Kölsch. I like a little variety in my life you know. I knew I had to pace myself though because there would be a lot more opportunities for beer on this trip.

We left the inn to meet up this the PASOs for dinner at an old castle that had turned into a small shopping square. Now traveling with the BMEs is a little complicated because there are three companies represented in the six of them. Each company had to rent a car for the trip because you couldn’t share cost across companies. However, this means we didn’t have a car big enough to fit all of us in… or so we thought. Frits, the Lead ESA BME, is also quite an encyclopedia on cars. He realized when he saw the Wyle car that Bjoern grumbled about the whole ride out to Oberpfaffenhofen because it was a, “mom car with only 5 gears”, that there was a hidden third row seat. Now getting to that third row seat was a bit of a challenge and took all the engineering power we had, slightly compromised by beer mind you, to get the seat up. Now the reason the rest of us didn’t know there was a third row seat was because we didn’t think there was any room for one and with the majority of the BMEs being close to and above 6 feet tall, we certainly made it look like a clown car. Luckily the ride was short and the singing made it fun.

The restaurant was also traditionally Bavarian. Frits, suggested for an appetizer that I try some Franziskaner wine and an onion cake. Now Erin was nice enough to introduce me to Franziskaner wine before she left, but I was skeptical of the onion cake. However, before I could voice my reservation, Frits had already ordered. It was time to put on the adventure hat.
Just then the PASO entourage came in. It was not just the 3 PASOs but their NASA counterparts and some Houston Support Group members who were involved in the three day simulation. So our cozy group of seven exploded into a rowdy 17! It was no matter, Bavarian restaurants are not known for their quiet atmosphere and we were in a separate room.
I honestly don’t remembered what I ordered. I know that when the onion cake came I was amazed. It was sweet! It went very well with the sweet new wine. After the appetizer, I know I had meet and spätzel and I was in heaven. I’m really going to need to learn how to make it properly because it is turning into one of my comfort foods.

I’m certainly glad that it was a hearty dinner because we stayed a bit afterwards just trying to figure out where everyone was from, what their role was and what they found most interesting about the area. I sat next to a born and raised Houstonian, which is hard to find in Houston, never mind Germany. There were a few Italians, a few British and a lot of good stories being passed around. It was difficult to believe that we were actually going to meet these people at 8:00 the next morning, but we eventually said our good byes and wandered to the Inn.

Bad Hönningen and Schloss Arenfels

After a day of rowing and a late night out in Köln, I started by getting up early to meet some friends for a trip into the hills. Turns I got up earlier than I needed to because I thought we were meeting at 9:15 for the train. When 9:40 came around, I was getting nervous. I texted Stuart, no answer. I texted Alex, no answer. I finally called Stuart who said he would be at the station in two minutes. When we finally met up, he asked why I needed to call if he was 5 minutes early. That’s when I realized I had been sitting at the train station for a ½ hour for no reason. It was ok because Köln was hosting a marathon that day so there was a lot of interesting people to watch in the station. Most in spandex that really shouldn’t have been.

Now that we were all together, the five of use bought a group ticket. This is quite nice to do if you are traveling on the weekends because instead of being 20 euro each, it was only 6.50. After getting some affelpastte pastry we made our way to the train. The ride was quite nice to go through the countryside along the Rein on a slow train. Most of the conversation related to the fact that there were four languages represented in our group of five. Once we got to Bad Honningen we walked through the center of town. There were some buildings there that were built in the 1700’s. Most of the shops were just opening up. As we walked through the winding main street, most people would say good morning and smile. I think this is do to the fact that we had two Canadians with us who made a point to say hello to everyone we walked past.

After our quick tour of the town we made our way up to the Schloss Arenfels. It was a palace built on a hill over looking the Rein. The first half was built in the 13th Century while the second half was built in the 16th Century. On top of that, it was partially damaged during World War II so it was partially restored and partially remodeled. The result is three distinct styles of architecture juxtaposed into an interesting and surprisingly beautiful home. The walk up the hill is steep and the hillside is perfect for a vineyard. The vines had bee recently harvested and they were beginning to change color. There were still a few grapes left on the vine to taste. Those grapes would have made a very nice Riesling, but the Palace did not offer any. When we got to the top there was a courtyard that opened up to the Rein where they served food and beer. Even though it was a little early for beer, on the menu was a Fiesta Bier in honor of Oktoberfest. Curious, we all decided to have one. The half liter Pilsner tasted quite nice served in a classic etched glass with the family’s crest on it.

It was easy to imagine the view from Schloss Arenfels had been breathtaking in it’s time. However, as we looked out, we could see the Autobahn, an industrial plant, power lines and a train roaring by. Eager to get further out of the town, we skipped the tour of the Palace and went hiking through the vineyards. The hillside was quite picturesque with the vines in bright green, fiery red and goldenrod. We were supposed to be hiking a planned route along the Rein to the next town marked by blue placards. This route actually goes for over 100km. but that’s a little much for one day. When we got to the top of the hill, instead of following the path, Stuart thought another road looked more interesting. This was a dirt road that went further along the ridge instead of back down to the Rein. We saw some beautiful trees of oak and pine growing very dense around the road. It was quite refreshing to get into such crisp air. However, as we went further into the woods, we lost all signs and could no longer go in the direction we wished. We ended up at a small crossroad where three small trails met. We saw a little wooden sign marker Wanderweg and had a bunch of grapes on it. We decided to start following these signs in hopes it would take us back to Bad Hönningen. We actually didn’t walk much further, but after hiking through the hills for two and a half hours, we ended up on the same street in Bad Hönningen where we started. We walked down to the river bank where there was a little café. I had my first taste of Curry Wurst, which was quite good and another Pilsner. I also tried fries with mayonnaise, which I wasn’t expecting to be very good, but the mayonnaise was different and it actually wasn’t too bad and since the ketchup in Germany doesn’t taste the same as it does in the US, I didn’t mind. We sat at the café for a while watching the sun set behind the hills and looked around and everyone else at the café was local, and elderly. It appeared we had taken the table of a regular who was quite upset with us. We decided to go get some ice cream while we waited for the train. The ice cream ended up only being 0.60! It was the best vanilla and chocolate chip cone I had eaten since being in Germany.


The train ride back was quite quiet as my companions were beat after such a full day. One the way back from the train station, I decided to take a different way back to explore a little before heading home. It was there I found a golden, winged car on top of a building, and a nice modern area filled with boutiques and galleries. I was feeling quite good about the walk when I realized that all the shops were just showing men in the windows. When I past by the gay sex shops I realized I had wandered into the gay part of Köln. I walked through a platz filled with cute little cafes only to find not a single girl was to be seen. I tried to look as cool as possible, like I meant to be there, but I’m sure they all knew I had jumped into the deep end by accident.
By the time I got back to my apartment, I was completely exhausted, but completely satisfied. Getting out of the city for a while and into some hidden gems of Germany was just what I needed.

German Rowing

It was my first Saturday on my own after Erin and James left for the states and I was a little tired from the whirlwind of travel I started with. I decided that my first weekend alone in Germany should be spent getting to know Köln and the neighboring areas. After a lazy breakfast and puttering around the apartment for a bit, Marco called asking if I wanted to try rowing with him. Granted I had rowed in college, but I hadn’t been in a rowing boat in 3 years. But after seeing the regatta in Amsterdam, I was eager to get back in it. Marco’s rowing club is very close to in Wahn. It was built in 1907 and some of the boats look like they are from the first fleet. Now I have swept before, but I had never sculled. It is not a bright idea for your first attempt to be on such a large river like the Rhein. The current and the traffic are far too heavy. Marco and I decided to take a very wide double out to a man made pond nearby to practice. When I saw the pond, I almost threw up in my mouth. The pond was full of a kind of seaweed. The water was so dirty, you couldn’t see the bottom. Even if you could, the top of the water was covered in a very thick lime green film. I was praying as we put the boat in the water that we wouldn’t capsize. I sat in the stern and Marco sat in the bow so he could steer as we rowed. It was like rowing through green cake batter. The pond certainly wasn’t very big, but it took us over an hour to row around it 5 times. At the other end of the pond was a fountain. There the algae and seaweed was thicker. It took a great amount of back strength to get through it and every few strokes an oar would get stuck and we’d have to stop and fight to get it out. To top it all off at this end of the pond was a small restaurant where people were having their lunch. I looked up to see them in the middle of my struggle pointing and laughing. I’m sure it did look quite funny from their comfy chairs. There was a small area where the water wasn’t so thick where we could actually row for 5 strokes. That is where I really saw how much Marco was carrying my butt around. I was trying so hard to concentrate on getting full strokes without digging too deep, catching a crab, or banging my knuckles together that I almost hit the resident swans in the head a couple times.

In the end it took us close to 3 hours to maneuver the boat and row around the pond eight times. By then Marco and I had huge blisters on our hands for having to pull so hard, pains in our backs and bored with the small circles with no progress. After putting the boat back up in the boathouse, we sat down at the adjoining restaurant for a drink with the rest of the club. It was here I had my first Ratler; both ways. For those of you who don’t know, a Ratler in Germany is when they mix Kölsch with either orange Fanta or Sprite. It’s for when you are really thirsty, like after a three hour row I guess. I have to say that I liked it with Sprite better because it just made the Kölsch sweeter without the fake orange flavor. Then I tried a Diesel. A Diesel is Kölsch mixed with Coca Cola instead. I have to say it was interesting and not completely disgusting to drink, but I don’t know that I would have more than one in a sitting because the Coca Cola messes up the head of the beer something fierce and if you let it sit too long, the Coca Cola starts to turn into flakes at the bottom of the beer. Not something you want to see after drinking the concoction. I had wanted to get home early so I could try and replace the shoes I had destroyed the night before, but by the time we were done, the sun had set and it was way past dinner. So the only thing left to do was to run home, shower and head out for a few drinks and experience Köln on a party night. Hopefully next time, I’ll be able to go on the Rhein and actually get to row!

Day of Exploration

My first day alone also happened to be a German Holiday. The plan was to sleep in, but unfortunately, my body had other ideas. I woke up at 7:30 bright eyed and bushy tailed. For those of you who know me, you know that never happens. I tried to roll over and go back to bed, but it just wasn’t happening. God was telling to get up and face the day. So I compromised and read my book in bed until 8:30. Then I got up and wandered around the apartment setting things up a bit for single person living again. By 9:30 I decided to muster up some courage and explore Köln a bit for myself. After a good shower, I packed my book bag with my book and a snack and took the bike out for a little ride.

I headed northwest through the park and was going to follow it around Köln to he Rhein. It was quite nice to see a different area of town with its quiet platz’s and small shops. I got to the Rhein and found a piece of stone to sit on and read my book while watching the traffic on the river and the people out enjoying the holiday. That’s the thing about Germany. On a holiday, nothing is open so you are somewhat forced to relax. Not even the grocery stores are open. I saw lots of families on their bikes and older couples taking a little stroll. The sun was out and it felt nice and warm on my skin.

After a little while, I was feeling good and went exploring some more. I thought I could just cut across and make it back to the little platz by my apartment for a little lunch. Unfortunately, I took one too many right turns and ended up in a place I hadn’t seen before. It was quite beautiful though with ivy covered buildings and small churches. However, things were getting more and more suburban. I stopped to check my map and didn’t see any of the streets on it. I assumed that I had wandered off my map but did not quite know which way would get me back on the map. I made a U-turn and headed back toward a street I recognized. I found that I had went past my apartment and ended farther northeast. I eventually made it back to the park and tried to take a different way home. After making a lot of turns, I was surprised to find myself in my little platz from a direction I hadn’t expected. No matter, home is home right?