Stockholm, Sweden

To get from Copenhagen to Stockholm we took a 4-hour train.

Then a 1-hour bus.

Then another 1-hour train.

We stayed in a really nice hostel, that was really conveniently located at the end of one of the main streets of down town. Adam and I headed out to explore the town a little, looking for outdoor things to do the next day which would be Easter Sunday, which meant everything would be closed. One of the things that we noticed, was just how many 7-Elevens there are in Scandinavia, they're everywhere. I have actually never been to a 7-Eleven in the States, and now I've been to about two hundred in Sweden and Denmark.

It turns out we were wrong. Lots of things were open on Easter Sunday. Adam and I found a pretty amazing place to eat. It was called the Kungshallen and it's basically a really awesome mall-food-court, but without a mall. There were tons of restaurants inside and you could get whatever you would like and then sit in a giant cafeteria-style room. We ate there a lot.

We walked around Downtown Stockholm and also the Oldtown. 

(Stockholm Downtown)

(Entrance to Oldtown)

(These were pretty cool, they're air and 

water pollution meters.

They light up and show how dirty everything is)

One of the fun things we learned about was the Tomte. They're these little troll-like creatures that live on farmsteads in Sweden. Around Christmas time you're supposed to leave food out for them. If you do then your farm will go on being prosperous and safe. If you don't or if they don't like the food, then they harass you and your farm. They're also creepy as hell.

(Adam wouldn't get close to it)

Sunday night I met up with a girl from Stockholm who did a year at my High School, Mikaela. She took me to one of her favorite coffee shops and we sat and talked about all of the people we used to know in High School. I hadn't realized that it's been five years since I saw her last. Time is certainly moving quickly. After coffee she took me on a VIP tour of Stockholm, pointing out venues where she sang with various choirs growing up. Important buildings, interesting sites. It was really cool to get to see the city where she grew up, it made it feel less like I was just traveling to see the big attractions, but that I was also getting a taste of what life for normal people is like there.

(Mikaela and me)

Monday, Adam and I headed to an island that is famous for its various museums. Adam went to the Vasa Museum which holds the remains of a famous boat. I guess it sank in the harbor from which it was launched, which to me would suggest that it's not that great of a boat. The real marvel was how well preserved it is, because the water isn't quite as salty as most salt water, so the wood was able to survive.

I chose to go to the Skansen Park, which is basically the Greenfield Village of Sweden. They have some original farmsteads, blacksmiths, glassblowers, potters, everything. They even have a collection of Animals that are native to Scandinavia.  My favorite was of course the Seal. It was pretty cool to walk around and see what it might have looked like way back when.

(A windmill in Skansen)

(Seal nap)

In the afternoon, we met up with Cassie who had just arrived to Stockholm and was planning on staying for a while. We got ice cream and then I headed off to find a Barber to get my hair cut. Unfortunately the day after Easter is considered yet another Holiday in Sweden, so nothing was open.

Adam and I met up at Kungshallen for dinner, and then headed back to the Hostel. Earlier in the afternoon we'd made reservations at the Absolut Ice Bar in the Nordic Sea Hotel. For those of you who don't know what an Ice Bar is, it's basically exactly what it sounds like. It's kept below freezing and everything inside is made of ice: the walls, the bar, the furniture and of course the glasses.

In order to be allowed in, you have to put on what looks like a boxer's robe, with mittens attached. Adam and I stayed for a drink, which was long enough to experience the chill without catching one. We then headed back to the hostel for our last night in Sweden.

The next morning we woke up and packed. We said goodbye to downtown Stockholm and headed to the airport to fly back to Germany.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Denmark was absolutely beautiful. And significantly less expensive. I'm not 100% sure how it works, but because of the exchange rate, things would cost the same amount of Norwegian Kroners as Danish Kroners, but American Dollars were worth more in Denmark. 

Adam and I headed to our hostel, which was very nice and only a short walk away from some the downtown area and a subway station. 

(Our hostel is on the left, note the ridiculously

blue sky)

The day was young, Adam and I decided to split up so he could do a biking tour and I could see the most photographed statue in the world, The Little Mermaid. I took the subway one stop and walked over to the harbor. The statue was pretty much what I expected it to be, just a bronze mermaid. I think the thrill of it was knowing that I was there seeing it in person and not just a photo. 

Speaking of which

After the mermaid I headed to this fortress that was pretty famous in Copenhagen's history, and walked around for a while.

(It is still used for military purposes today)

The city of Copenhagen had pretty remarkable weather while we were there. There are lots of rivers and canals running through the city, which meant that boat tours were also probable here. I had had enough of boat tours after turning into a popsicle in Norway though, so I decided to pass. I chose instead to walk through a few parks.

(The boats for the tours were everywhere)

(I sat for a while by this pond, it reminds me

of a painting I have in my room in the states)

Adam and I met up again in the evening and walked around the downtown area and then called it a night. But not before seeing some amusing things.

(This was funny, because it's just "probably"

the best beer in town)

(This was a pretty awesome thermometer, 

on the corner of a building)

The next morning I went to Christiania. Wow. It was pretty amazing. Christiania is this small section of the city that broke away from the government and is now called the Free State of Christiania. Unfortunately, due to some recent legal issues, photography is no longer allowed inside. Basically it was a living embodiment of what the world would be like if the hippy movement hadn't died down. There was graffiti everywhere, lots of little booths where you could find clothes, jewelry, drug paraphernalia etc.

I spent the morning there and then headed to Riz Raz, a restaurant that for about 10$ has a vegetarian/vegan lunch buffet. Naturally I ate lunch there, and then spent the rest of the evening walking around town. Around 8 or so, Adam and I met up, because we had to change hostels for the night. For that night we were staying in the Copenhagen Youth Airport Hostel which as its name would suggest is right next to the airport. 

However, the airport is not exactly in the city. We took a subway, a bus, and walked for about 15 minutes to get there. Only to find out that bed linen was not included, which is pretty typical in Scandinavia. It wasn't the greatest hostel. It was founded by two guys in their early thirties who basically bought a house and turned it into a hostel. But, our train the next morning was early, so it didn't really matter as long as we had a place to stay. 

We woke up early, showered and headed back to the Copenhagen train station, where we would catch a 6 hour train to Stockholm Sweden. 

Oslo, Norway

Foreword: I know, I know, you're all very disappointed in me. It's been FAR too long since I've updated. I'd like to say it's because I've been super-busy, which is true.. but I've also just fallen victim to the ultra-relaxed German way of life. So here goes.

To fly to Norway, I booked a flight with Ryanair, which is a VERY cheap airline. The only problem with that is that you have to fly out of obscure little small-town airports. So in order to get to the airport called Frankfurt-Hahn, I first took a train to Frankfurt am Main which is where the super-big international airport is. From this airport I took a bus. Then I took a donkey through a jungle to find the treasure-map that would lead me to the airport. Then I had to ford a river with only a swiss-army knife and some dental-floss to make a raft. I then had to barter a few of my belongings to get a native guide to take me the rest of the way. Ok, so really I just had to take a bus to the airport, but nonetheless it was complicated.

The flight was short, only an hour or so, which was such a silly feeling. In America, an hour long flight doesn't seem to get you that far, but here I could fly to Norway in an hour. Amazing. I arrived in Oslo and met up with Adam my traveling buddy. I'm still not sure how he did it, he'd already been traveling for a while, England, Ireland, Scotland. The two of us took a shuttle to catch a train into the city itself. 

Our Hostel was really nice, and very centrally located. We stayed in a room with a few other people, mostly other foreigners.

(Adam in our hostel room)

We decided to go out and see if we could find a cheap beer somewhere. So as I'm making sure that all of my important belongings will be safe, I noticed something was missing. Oh nothing important... just my United States Passport. No big deal right?

So, in a panic, I call the airport where we were to see if they'd found anything. 

Nope.

We went back to the train station.

Nope.

I decided that there wasn't much more I could do about it this late in the evening. I figured as long as I didn't get arrested before making it to the U.S. Embassy when they opened the next morning, everything would be fine. And really, how likely is it that I would get arrested my first night in Norway. Pretty unlikely, except that oh.. there was a big riot happening..

(This was about two blocks from our hostel)

Apparently there's a seemingly large population of Sri Lankens in Scandinavia, and the protest was in hopes that Scandinavian countries would start sending a little more money to the aid of the Sri Lankens. Adam and I watched from a distance and then headed to find some dinner. Now, let me just say, if you're looking for a cheap place to travel, avoid Norway. It was VERY expensive, and a little difficult to figure out because of the exchange rate. Eventually, Adam and I decided on a charming little restaurant called...

(Dolly Dimple's, what else?)

After dinner and on our way past the riot, I received a call. My passport had been found.

Oh. thank. god.

The next morning, I took the hour-and-forty-five minute train back to the airport, picked up my Passport, and took another hour-and-forty-five minute train back to the city. The man who was checking tickets had not only been working on the train to the airport, but had also been working the night before. He saw me and just said.. "Are you just riding back and forth?" I explained the situation, and he just smiled and said "Don't worry about a ticket," So at the very least I saved some money because he let me ride back without a ticket.

The day mostly spent, Adam and I headed towards the Akershus castle. We walked around the grounds for a while, which was pretty neat, but we didn't get to go inside.

(View of the Akershus from the outside)

After dinner, we decided to head back to the hostel for a little R&R before heading out to find a bar in the evening. Well... a little R&R turned into a good nights sleep. We woke the next morning, refreshed, having gone to sleep around 7:30 the night before.

It was our last day in Oslo so we spent the morning on a guided boat-tour of the Fjord. Aside from being absolutely gorgeous, it was also absolutely frigid. Norway in April is like Michigan in November, plus rain. Because of the weather, the boat tour wasn't the most popular attraction, so we ended up just sharing the boat with a seemingly obnoxious couple from Great Britain. 

(Wrapped in Blankets on the boat tour)

(The tour guide thought I was funny because 

of the amount of blankets I wanted: 4)

(A light house that can be rented out for parties)

After the tour we walked around and found lunch before checking out of our hostel and collecting our bags.

(On some of the trash-cans there was some 

unusual signage. I'm pretty sure this

one means that you can either throw out paper

or dogs... strange)

When Adam and I first started talking about this trip, he had mentioned that he found a pretty cool way to get from Norway to Denmark. He called it an over-night ferry. From the sounds of it, I just assumed it was a large iron barge that had rooms for sleeping. I assumed we would just check in, get sent to our rooms and have a rather boring but peaceful night of sleep while we made our way to Copenhagen.

Then Adam sent me the link to the website. My first impression was that it looked bigger than I'd imagined. Then I noticed that there was a bar on board. And a swimming pool, several hot tubs, a duty-free store, a night club, a ton of cafés, and a movie theatre.

"Adam... we're going on a cruise..."

And sure enough we were. We we're going to spend the night in The Pearl of Scandinavia. It was pretty fantastic.

We boarded The Pearl and found our room, which was teeny-teeny-tiny. I know what I'm about to say next will be a little obnoxious.. but I didn't manage to take any pictures of the inside of the ship. Let me just say it was a sight. Adam and I hit the duty-free store to buy some... supplies (drinks) and hit the deck. We sat and watched Norway pass us by. After dark hit, we ran to our room, quickly changed and hit the hot tubs. Which is where we spent most of the rest of the night.

The next morning we woke up to find ourselves in Copenhagen Denmark. 

Goodbye to Horb! Adios! Farewell! Plus a visit from the Mumpkin!

Well that’s it. Our time in the quaint little village called Horb has come to an end. Our last week was bitter-sweet, though mostly sweet. For Maya’s birthday on the 24^th, we made a trip to a nearby town with a café that serves amazing cake. Thursday night, our last school night at HHK, we decided to have a sort of going away party for ourselves. It went as most of our parties in Horb did, by starting in front of the train station, and ending (for some) at Bella Arti, although the ending was a bit different, because this was the first time we were ever actually asked to leave… yikes.

The last day of classes were spent combined, where we played games and had snacks. After a final game that was a bit like “Musical Chairs” we were handed our grades, and bid farewell to the teaching staff of HHK.

That weekend, a few of the Americans moved into their rooms at Prinz Karl, the dormitory in Tübingen city, while the rest of us had to wait until April 1^st to be allowed to get our rooms. Monday and Tuesday were spent making final arrangements to move out of the Goldener Adler Hotel.

I really enjoyed my time in Horb, despite how tiny, and seemingly void of activity it was. At this point in my life, where everything keeps getting so hectic, and I have a thousand responsibilities, it was really nice to get to go to a place where things move a little more slowly.

Then, I had quite a day on Wednesday. I woke up at 5:00a.m. in order to catch a train to the airport in Frankfurt, because… drum-roll please, my MOTHER was coming to visit. Now for those of you who actually know my mother, that’s a pretty remarkable feat in itself. But the fact that she was flying to Germany alone was incredible for anyone to do.

The trip to the airport went extremely smoothly, I made every change on time, I arrived in Frankfurt when I was supposed to.

That’s when I realized that my mother and I had made the worst plan ever, for meeting up.

Mom: “I’ll just wait by the baggage claim”

Me: “Okay!”

The baggage claim. In one of the largest international airports world-wide.

Crap.

I panicked, started walking quickly up and down the large hallway where one of the Lufthansa baggage claims is located, and was just about to go find an employee who could help me page my mother, when out of the door, in an act of true serendipity, my mother walks out of the door I was just about to walk past.

What happened next was one of the most theatrically epic reunions known to man. We giggled and ran towards each other. She threw her bag to the floor and we hugged fiercely. And Scene!

In our excitement to see one another, we got on the wrong train, and ended up adding about an hour to our journey. But it was a pleasant opportunity to reconnect. We arrived in Horb, where I basically had 6.778 seconds to get my mom to the Goldener Adler, where she would be staying for the first night, and then get my bags to HHK where Herr Ost and his son were waiting with two cars in order to deliver luggage to all of the students who would be living up in the “north campus” of UniTübi.

I rode with Herr Ost’s son, and we finally arrived in Tübingen. I waited a bit for Joe to arrive, so that the two of us could head in the direction of our buildings together. The way that Fichtenweg (North Campus) is set up, there are three GINORMOUS dorm buildings, and then a spattering of smaller buildings. I live in one of the smaller buildings, next to where Joe and Maya live. I drag my luggage to my dorm and go to find Herr Frölich, my Hausmeister.

Now, I guess with a name like Herr Frölich (Mr. Happy) I should have known better than to expect someone who was actually happy, or at the very least pleasant. But I made the mistake of thinking he might live up to his name. Instead, he is a large burly angry hairy man who thought that because I am from America I neither speak nor understand German. Once he ascertained that I knew enough Deutsch to be able to move into a dorm room, he just kept pointing at things and saying in a gutteral German, “See how clean this is? It should always be this clean, and if it’s not it’s coming out of your security deposit”

To make up for Mr. Unhappy’s behavior I do have a very very nice room.

[You’re probably thinking, well, let’s see some pictures, and you certainly will. Soon. I will come back when I have pictures and add them to this post, where these words currently are]

Exhausted and a little offended, I headed back to Horb, hoping that a nap would lie in my very near future. Alas it did not. I got back, spent about 15 minutes with my mom, before having dinner with Familie Bareis and the other HHK students who lived at the hotel.

Let me just say, it is difficult to be a translator. I kept forgetting to translate things for my mom, because I assumed since I understood what was said, she would also understand. I would also translate things to the Bareis’ when they really didn’t need me to. Pretty frustrating. Fortunately, the other HHK kids all spoke English really well, and were able to keep up a conversation with her during dinner.

After dinner I took my mom for one final beer at Bella Arti. It was very strange to be drinking beer with my mother, stranger still in public, and strangest of all that I ordered it for us and wasn’t asked for an I.D. Then again, it’s been 4 years since I would have been asked for an I.D. in Germany, as they are allowed to buy beer at 16. After our beer, both thoroughly exhausted, we both went to bed at the Goldener Adler Hotel.

Thursday, we woke up, breakfasted with the family and headed out to see Horb, which took about an hour. Total. I showed mom all of the places mentioned here, and on Skype. I showed her Kaufland, HHK, the church up above, Müller, various little stores, basically everything.  We had lunch at Kostbar, returned to the G.A.H. and said our goodbyes to the Familie Bareis.

Around 5:30 or so, we arrived via train and bus to the abode of the Familie Mösinger. Kati was one of my host-sisters from the trip I took in 2006, and when we met for drinks a few weeks previous, she invited my mother to stay with her family while she was here. Score!! So we arrive and get my mom settled. We had a nice little dinner of Maultaschen which Karin (Kati’s mom) remembered was my favorite. We called it an early night.

Friday morning, Kati picked me up from my dorm and we had breakfast with her and her mom and my mom. Then She drove my mom and I to Ikea, so we could pick up a few things for my room. I can’t tell you how nice it is A] to be driven places again and B] to have my mommy there to help me pick things out and pay for them J

In the afternoon we ran into Kelsey and Annie as we took a small walking tour of Tübingen. I showed her some of my old haunts from when I was here in 2006, and some of the places I’m sure to spend time now. We headed back up to Kati’s house, which is right on the way to my dorm. In the middle of our conversation, we realized that we’d completely missed the stop where my mom was supposed to get off. She rode up to the last stop with me, and then turned around and got right back on. I worked for a bit in my room and collapsed into bed.

Saturday we woke up semi-early and headed to Stuttgart for the morning. There is a market there on Saturday mornings, with tons of fresh fruits/veggies, and also lots of stands with foods from different regions both in Germany and outside of it. We had lunch at a small café near Schlossplatz and then headed back to Tübingen, where both of us napped for a bit. I headed back to Kati’s where we had dinner and sat around talking.

I was really pleased with how well my mom and Karin got along. Everyone liked my mom, with the exception in the very beginning of Linus the Dachshund. It took him about 15 minutes to remember me, and then it was back to constant love from him. But for some reason it took him a while to warm up to my mom. It was really funny to see the change in expression from when he was looking at me, to when he would start scowling at my mother. As dogs go, Dachshunds are pretty frech (sassy) and they have very expressive faces, as we found out.

When it came time for me to head back up to FW, we all walked towards a little bar that’s very close to my dorm. We had cocktails and continued talking. I ordered a Zombie, which was quite delicious, and mom appropriately ordered… a swimming pool J

Sunday morning, I slept in. And it was good. Mom decided to go to see Paul (Kati’s brother) play soccer, which took up a good chunk of the afternoon, and we met up for a final dinner with Kati’s family. They put out a ton of different things for my mom and I to try, and they even bought me soy-schnitzel, which does exist, as it happens.

Both mom and I were scheduled to leave on Monday. Her to the states, and me to Norway to meet up with Adam for a Scandinavian adventure. I can’t say how happy I was that my mom got to come visit me here, and see what my life over here is like. I am almost certain she had a great time, even though we didn’t do any majorly touristy things, or go to tons of places. It was nice to have a little piece of home, even if it was just for a week.

We said our farewells as we got on separate trains, heading for separate airports. A great visit, and a fond tschüss to Horb.

Week 9 (Mar 16-20) And another exciting weekend.

Monday night was really great, because I headed back to Tübingen and met up with Babsi, Kati, Anma and Leo. Four of the girls that I met and spent a lot of time with in 2006. We met at "El Chico" for a couple of drinks and then went to a Karaoke Bar. It was really really good to get to see them again. I will probably meet up with them again soon.

Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day, which was actually a little sad. It turns out that America is really the only country that celebrates St. P's Day. Even Ireland doesn't really care about it. So I ended up just having a couple of beers in Bella Arti with two Brazilians and a Mexican, which really didn't help me get into the irish spirit. 

There are a lot of culture clashes here. Last weekend when we went to "El Chico" for dinner, we were a little overwhelmed, speaking German to our Asian waitress in a Mexican restaurant. It was all very confusing. But anyway I spent an Irish holiday in an Italian bar with two Brazilians and a Mexican. Huh.

This week we were losing another member of our class, as it was Luca's last week. This kid is taller than I am, has spent the past six months in Germany, and is only 15 years old. He's a really nice guy, and we'll definitely miss him. In his honor we went out to dinner on Thursday night to the very same Chinese restaurant that I celebrated Chinese New Year in. Once again, food was delicious, despite feeling strange in a German-Chinese restaurant.

School on Friday was actually really fun, because not only was it Luca's last day, but it was also Annie's golden birthday (20 on the 20th). Susan our teacher, had the idea that we could record a cassette tape for each of them, which we spent the morning doing. And then in the afternoon we just played games, to the displeasure of the class on the floor below us.

Friday after school, we tried to head to Tübingen to pay our rent and damage-deposits, but tragically no one was in the office, despite the assurance of the director that there would be. Oh well, at least we will know how to get there again.

Friday night, was one of the more fun nights that I've had in Horb. We met up at 8:30 and took a bus up to Nordstetten, which is where Kelsey, Cassie and Maya live, because in the high school auditorium, there was a concert being given, by a band called "Mystery". Which was actually just a cover band for various rock songs. It was a really great night, until we had to walk home, down a mountain. But everyone made it home safely, (some of the group made it safely to other people's homes, but safe was the important part)

Saturday we headed to Stuttgart again, because I figured I owed it to the city to see it again in the daytime. We basically did a repeat of the previous saturday, and then cut it off right where it should have been cut off. This time it was me, Kelsey, Elisabeth and Kendrick. A relaxed and fun group. A large group of the other Americans and Mexicans had decided they were going to do this big Museum party. Basically you pay a cover price and get to ride a bus around and go into all of the museums in Stuttgart. It sounded neat but I was pretty exhausted.

Kelsey, Elisabeth and I headed back to Horb, where Adam had slept all day, and Brian had spent the day with his parents and cousin(and her husband) who are currently visiting. The five of us met up at (surprise surprise) Bella Arti.

One more week in Horb. I am really thankful for the time that I've spent in Horb. It was absolutely necessary, because it gave me time to relax and really get comfortable in Germany. That being said, I'm SO EXCITED to move to Tübingen. To be in a college town again, with other people my age! Where all stores don't close at 8:00 p.m. and there are people on the streets. It has only been a short leg of my journey so far, and I'm ready for what's ahead.

Week 8 (Mar 9-13) And Stuttgart Weekend

Monday and Tuesday were days like any other, but Wednesday held something a little different for this small band of Americans in Germany. We headed to Tübingen, the town where we will be studying from April to August, in order to take care of some paperwork.

It's remarkable how inefficient and bureaucratic the school system can be some times. As foreigners, we were required to let the country know in what city we are living, and where exactly. The first day we came to Horb, the man who runs HHK, Herr Ost, told us he would come by "tomorrow" to help us fill out the essential paperwork. Now, 7 weeks later, we are actually filling it out.

We met with the woman who will be sort of responsible for us, and filled out lots of different types of forms. Forms for school, forms for international student groups, forms for housing, forms to get more forms. It was in a word, boring.

We ate lunch in one of the cafeterias, and were pleasantly surprised by both the quality and price. I also found out that there is a vegetarian cafeteria in Tübingen, which is awesome, except for the fact that I will have to take a bus to get there.

This week was also a little sad because one of the Mexicans, Karla, who was my first international friend, had gotten a really amazing prakticum in Nürnberg, and would be leaving us. Karla is pretty amazing, she speaks Spanish, English and French fluently, and her German is incredible. She is studying to be a lawyer, specifically immigration law. So Friday night we decided to have a little going-away party, that mostly just consisted of drinks at Bella Arti, which is probably what we would have done anyway :-D.

Saturday morning the HHK excursion was to Ulm, which I decided to miss, because I got to see it in 2006. Kelsey, Brian, Adam and I decided we would head to Stuttgart in the afternoon. It was really a pleasant day. We walked around, did a little window shopping. We stopped to have coffee at this cafe with a lot of outdoor seating, next to a park in the center of town. 

For dinner we decided to give German Mexican-Food one more shot, and went to a restaurant called "El Chico". It was actually very good. Brian and Adam have been complaining about the lack of Chipotle burritos here, and were pleased to discover that "El Chico" makes some pretty excellent burritos, and you can get "The Burrito Bomb" to go. It was also Happy Hour, so we had a few cocktails. It was a good thing we decided to eat there, because as it turns out, we have an El Chico in Tübingen.

After dinner, we met up with the Americans and Mexicans that had been in Ulm for the day, climbing the tallest church tower in Europe with a whopping 765 steps, and also going to the Bread Mueseum (really...?) We spent some time outdoors in the Schlossplatz, which is the big park in the middle of the city. 

We had talked about whether we wanted to try and spend the night in Stuttgart or not, and none of us really wanted to spend the money for a hostel, so some genius had the brilliant idea that we should just go to a couple of clubs, which stay open til 5:00 a.m., and just spend the night dancing. (Ok fine. It was my idea. I'm ashamed and should be punished, because it turned out to be a HORRIBLE decision) Being in a club all night, is a lot more difficult than it sounds. We ended up breaking into two groups, at two different clubs.

We finally got on the first train back to Horb at 5:18 in the morning. 

Probably not something I will ever do again.

Ever.

Slept the whole day Sunday and recovered for the week ahead.

THE ZOO

Probably the most amount of pictures I've taken in a single day, were taken at the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart.

So I woke up early, took a shower, and headed to the train station. Our group was pretty small this weekend, despite the really exciting destination. We took the train, which was about 45 minutes to an hour long, into Stuttgart.

We had Juliana as a tour guide again, which made Brian happy, ( :-D ) and she lead us on a very short tour around Stuttgart itself. We mostly just saw several famous fountains. I however chose to save my camera's battery for the Zoo.

We walked over to the zoo, and paid 4,50 euros to get in. We saw basically everything that was to be offered in three hours. I think people were surprised to discover that once I enter a Zoo, I immediately revert to my 8 year old self. I was running from exhibit to exhibit, giant grin on my face. 

Here are some of my favorite exhibits at the Zoo:

(A famous 1 yr old Polar Bear)

(That's right! I finally found my Malayan Tapir!)

(Samir, the baby rhino)

(Who by the way shares a birthday not only with Kelsey, but also Tisha!! August 11th)

(Careful.. Animals Bite)

At 3:00p.m. we all met up by the sea lions, to watch them get fed. It was a pretty spectacular show. The handler knew them all by names, and they would respond by name as well. Some of them did tricks like high-fives, while others would 'sing' for their supper. It was great.

Then we headed into Stuttgart for some free time. A group of us went to an asian restaurant for dinner, and I made my first yarn purchase in Europe. I'm going to buckle down and make a pair of socks. 

The train ride home was relatively miserable. There were a LOT of people on board. It was oddly reminiscent of being on a bus at U of M, except instead of standing too close to a bunch of strangers around your age, on the train it was a lot of older people, young children, and drunk soccer fans. 

All in all, it will probably be one of my favorite day trips from HHK.