Bier and Wein: two essential words

Roughly 118 miles per hour. Small stuff.

Arrival to Deustchland was, like the flight, uneventful but certainly in a good way. I did notice on my way in that the Frankfurt airport had both a Jewish and Islamic prayer room. Interesting.

Meeting up with Sam was super simple, definitely more so than I thought it would be! Literally once I picked up my bags, she was right there ready for action... on the autobahn. Note the speedometer. This was the warm-up kilometers per hour...

From there we headed home to Heidelberg where I was greeted by a breakfast from the Marktplaz. Oh. my. It was absolutely delicious. There were all sorts of breads including some authentic honey courtesy of Enrico's, Sam's husband, grandfather who is a beekeeper.
After the hardy breakfast, we headed on to tour Heidelberg. We started with a morning dugout session where we were supposed to help build a dugout. Key thought: intended to build one. I ended up having a beer with the girls, Sam, Enrico and company at about 11am. Heck yes. I have been told that this isn't that typical, but any excuse to have beer before noon makes this country a-okay in my book. I was so excited about my beer that I couldn't even open my eyes for the picture. In all actuality, I was probably laughing too hard.

Then our on-foot tour of Heidelberg continued where we walked through the shopping streets, past the Church of the Holy Ghost, over the old bridge and down by the river. What an exhausting trip!

Church of the Holy Ghost

The Old Bridge

The stairway leading to the stage

Then after the mini-hike, we climbed into the car and headed to the "special mountain" as told to Kayla. We headed up the mountainside to see Der Keltenweg which to us Americans is known as the Celtic trail. This area is rich in Celtic history and is home to a monastery that was built in the 800's. However, Hitler being the power-hungry and prideful being he was, seized the place and decided to build an amphitheater that he used to hold propaganda-laced plays. Why elect to build it here? Simply because the German roots were so deep and it was a perfect stepping stone for building his "ideal" Germany. Visiting the amphitheater was really interesting, at one point it actually housed 20,000 people circa 1936 for a Nazi-promoting rally. It was absolutely chilling standing at the base of the stage knowing that at one point Nazi colors flew atop the flagpoles there.

Then we continued our hike further up the mountainside to reach the monastery. It reminded me a lot of the Trim Castle in Ireland where there was a good bit of overgrowth and many of the room's older functions were questionable. I got to have a taste of real German culture while I was there- one family was playing hide-and-go-seek in the ruins (brilliant idea) and another group of interesting folks were having a medieval brunch. When I say interesting folks, imagine the Medieval club except with more authentic garb and props... sitting in an ancient ruin. Oh, my.


With a very tired and hungry Kayla in tow, we climbed back down the mountainside back to the amphitheather. It really was quite captivating.

Imagine this place filled with 20,000 people. it actually only seats around 7,000.

Heading back home to re-group, Kayla conked out on the windy drive back. After only a few minutes to recover from all the walking, we were back on the autobahn. We also drove by SAP, Sam's work, and saw the campus. Yes, it is that big.

Our eatery of choice was in a teeny little village outside of Heidelberg. I apologize, but the name of the town completely eludes me so a photo will have to suffice. There we grabbed a table outside and were served HUGE pieces of beer bread, and had some fantastic wine. Service was slow, as it quite customary in Germany. I actually preferred it that way- it was much more relaxed and carefree. Plus, Kayla got to meet some new (boy)friends! I believe I failed to mention this before but she is a whopping 2 1/2 years old.

I ordered the flemmkuchen mit frischen pilzen and zwiebeln- the biggest personal "pizza" known to man. It was delicious flat bread with mushrooms, onion, creme fraiche, and cheese. Imagine foccicia except bigger and better. We finished off the meal with a shot-size drink of their homemade currant

Massive flemmkuchen of epic proportions with Sam's schnitzel in the background

liquer which unlike the nasty stuff back at home, is meant to be sipped and enjoyed. It tasted quite a bit like jam syrup with a bite. I promise- tastes much better than it sounds.

Later on into our feast, we were joined by a bizarre German man and his less-than-sober wife. She asked about my schooling and upon hearing about my pre-vet studies began to ask me questions about her little terrier with heart problems and a giant tumor. The dog is 13. Let the poor beast be. She was concerned that other people would think she was heartless by not having the tumor removed. Quite possibly one of the most awkward conversations... ever.

After my grand escape, we tasted some red wines that were made right there at the vineyard. Exhausted, we headed back home all the while drawing ponies, bunnies, and kitties for Kayla on her etch-a-sketch (love those things!).

And then.. I was immersed in German culture. Words cannot even begin to describe what I witnessed tonight. We watched the German version of American Idol except subtract the talent, add a techno beat and throw in some clothes from another dimension. Thus you have Deutschland Superstar. It is very possibly one of the most hilarious foreign tv shows I have EVER witnessed in my life. A picture of one of the contestants, Norman, explains it all. What a winning name! Unfortunately I can't find a photo from tonight but I will definitely post one as soon as I find it. Is his jacket a coat? A hoodie? A florist uniform? The world may never know.