Eloise at the Plaza

I HAVE ARRIVED.

So the plane was delayed by an hour and forty-five

 minutes, leaving plenty of bonding time for most of our group. We boarded the significantly-less-than-full plane, and prepared for the six hour flight. We weren't sure at which point it was no longer 11:00pm and was suddenly 5:00am, or when 12:00 became 6:00, so we all tried to get as much sleep as possible, except for Brian and Adam who were too enthralled with the on-board flight, "Nights in Rodanthe," to even consider closing their eyes. 

We finally arrived in Frankfurt at 8:00am local time, where we bought train tickets to Stuttgart and then finally to Horb.

(Brian and me on the train)

(Brian, Kelsey, Joe and Michael in the back)

(We're pretty sure this means:

 Step 1: Get down rectangle

Step 2: Hit red button on window with wooden mallet

Step 3: Massage window.)

We got more than one dirty look from locals, because of the sheer bulk of our luggage.

Needless to say, when our already-delayed train pulled into Stuttgart, it was against the laws of physics for our group of nine to make it from platform 15 (which by the way is the longest platform known to man) down to platform 7, with all of our luggage, in under six minutes. So we missed our train to Horb.

We caught the next train which left an hour later, meaning that we would arrive in Horb an hour later. Or so we thought.

Up until this point we had been so wired for our next stop that we would get ready about twenty minutes before we got there. But Horb was our last stop, we didn't need to get on any more trains, we just had to get off the train. An easy enough task.

Unless the train decides to stop for about thirty seconds and then keep going.

In that case, only Kelsey and Joe can get off, leaving seven of us on the train.

The next stop was Sulz, where fun goes to die. It was this teeny little barren wasteland, where we got off and waited for a train to head in the other direction. Which was fortunately only five minutes.

We finally got to Horb and met up with our host families. Peter drove me back to his... HOTEL ... which is GORGEOUS. Back in America I had joked with my mom that I would be living in a hotel room. Turns out, I AM!!! It is wonderful, on the third floor with a great view.

(My sink)

(My bed)

(My table)

Classes started today, and it seems like this is going to be a pretty amazing stay in Horb. Well I will keep you all posted about what's coming up next! Auf Wiedersehen!