Rebecca Goes To Stuttgart

It's been some time....

2009-03-09T02:26:00.002+01:00

It's been some time since the end of my journey, as I'm no longer in Stuttgart!

Come see me at sleepingroses.blogspot.com!!!

Later......

A day at the zoo.

2008-12-24T17:19:00.008+01:00

So today is the 24th of December, and in Germany it's considered the Family Christmas Day. The 25th is the one for friends and extended family. So we're going to exchange presents after dinner. So far today we've had breakfast and have gone to the zoo. Ready for zoo pics?

Tarantula bathed in red light. It was hiding in shadow, but I tried to get it anyway.

Indoor waterfall. Boy, was it hot in there.

Same waterfall, just the base. This was the spider/desert and rain forest insects/butterfly/turtle/reptile exhibit. That's why it was hot.

It was watching a turtle swimming, like, "Yes, if my dinner is late, I will be eating you..."

Yeth, eating joo............

They were doing the last show of the day and this was them catching the handler's fish. There were about 6 more, but they were in the water.

This peacock kept following us around.

Evil peacock. Yes.

This was the daddy polar bear. The mom and 1-year-1-month old baby were separated from him by reinforced glass, and went in just as I took out my camera.

Big, creepy spider. Creepy.

Penguins! They wouldn't look at me either.

Jelly-fisheroos. The tank was kept in blue light, and they were constantly circling.

The circling is why this one looks a little blurred. They just kept moving.

This was the evil slimy octopus. It was trying to catch some bug thing in it's aquarium.

Again with the fish catching. This one has one right behind him.

From the butterfly exhibit.

This bird did nothing but eat while we were there. Just kept dipping in and eating, dipping in and eating.

GIANT FRICKING GRASSHOPPER.

Seriously, they were huge.

That's my hand next to the bug. Wanna find that on your pillow? No? Because it's HUGE!
(Oh, something I feel I should point out: The finger next to the bug, there? That's my forefinger, *not* my pinky. Yeah. Huge bug.)

There's a link in this one. Can you find it?

2008-12-23T12:58:00.005+01:00

All right, I had a whole post here, but because I'm apparently a moron this morning, I closed the window without saving, so all you're getting today are pictures. See you later.

This is just a fountain (turned off for the winter) that I found downtown.

In Biddy Early's, someone cut away the side of a bathtub once upon a time ago, painted it, and added a cushion to make a bench. Aces, hahaha...!

The sign outside of Biddy Early's. Click the pic to go to their website!

This is Jer and his wife, Tammy, who are the owners of Biddy Early's. Jer is one of Glenn's best friends. Both of them are so nice, and I was told that I can take any pictures I like while there, so yay!

German public transportation is so much better than home's (at least around here).

2008-12-22T00:43:00.001+01:00

Today was so fun!

All right, for those of you who read yesterday's, you know I didn't crash 'til the early morning, so it's not so strange that I didn't get up until, like, 2 in the afternoon (aka when Kyle's dad Glenn pounded on the door and said it was time to crawl out of bed). The whole family (Glenn, Michaela, Kristina, Oma, Phillip, Yurich, Kyle, family friend Neslie, her four year old daughter, and me) got up and dressed, and then headed downtown.

It was great, we took a bus to the train station (called U-bahn, the local train for Stuttgart) which took until we transferred to the S-bahn (the larger train line, multi-city). We went to the Christmas market, which is an open air market, with stalls and shops and what-have-you, and there was so much to see. And the crowds! Wow, so many people in one place. I was told that people there just learn to move past one another, and it's not rude, it's just walking through. So when I'm squeezing between two people trying to suck it in and follow the group, and end up in contact with them both, it's not rude, just keep going. Huh. Weird, but it works here.

We walked through until Yurich (Michaela's brother) came to a drink stand to grab something, and the rest of us grabbed a snack. Then we wandered a bit until Glenn decided he wanted a drink (heated wine, which I had one called met (pronounced meet) which was honey wine); the interesting thing I'm finding over here is that the people who are selling you the drinks are also charging you an extra fee - for the glass you're drinking out of! Now it's not a bad thing, you get your money back as soon as you return the glass... or if you like it enough to keep it, it's paid for! They even put nice things on the glasses because you might keep it. I'm bringing home one with the name of the city we were in on it, and Glenn got us another so Kyle and I could each have one. I've noticed they're big on selling warm drinks (mostly alcoholic, but some aren't, I had a hot punch earlier today (that I could have gotten with rum put in, but I optioned against that) and the drink was very sweet and good - I think it's called Kinder Punch because it's what they have for kids).

After the main crush of the market, we took to wander the city a bit, and found more open stalls and wares. I saw this cute hat, but didn't buy it. 29 Euros (a bit over $60) for a fleece hat just seemed a bit much to me, no matter how cute it seemed. Then again to the train station back to Stuttgart, and we had dinner at a really nice restaurant. What surprised me was that there's no refills on drinks here. Glenn paid (I think) 2.60E (is that how you symbol for Euro?) for each drink I had at dinner, so I limited it to two glasses of Diet Pepsi (but only because he asked if I wanted another, otherwise I wouldn't have). Something else that's different from home: The first people to receive some of their food (soup) at this meal were Yurich and Michaela, because it was heated and ready. About five minutes later came Oma's and Glenn's dinners. Give it about another five, and there came Kyle's and Michaela's. Add about ten to that, and you've got my food, and if you add five more to that, Yurich's dinner came. Why is this interesting? Because instead of waiting until everyone's was ready and bringing it all out at the same time, they served it as soon as it was ready for each person, nice and hot. It's not what I'm used to, but it does make some sense (though I must admit I worried they'd forgotten about me once or twice).

After dinner we went back to Biddy Early's (which was practically downstairs of this restaurant) and we sat around and had a drink and digested. We conversed a bit as well, and when we felt tired, we took another train, and then the bus, and then toddled on home. Like I said, it was great.

We're going to head to another Christmas market again tomorrow or the next day, so we can buy gifts for the family and ourselves (if we want to). Glenn's going to grab us a drop phone on the way home from work tomorrow, and then we might be getting out own bus and train passes (remind me to explain how that works later, ja?). I've been trying to sound out some of the German words, and I might grab a phrasebook to help me out. Glenn said I should ask Kristina to help me, so maybe I will.

And now for what you've all been waiting for: Picture time. And then? Bed.

Kyle as we wait for the U-bahn.

U-bahn tracks.

View from the window.

Another as the train sped by (can't remember which train, though).

I noticed it and thought: Wow, cool statue. Why is it just sitting on the side of a building?

The church near the Christmas market.

Clock tower.

A woman on stilts - she was all colored in blue (as you can see) and painted up butterfly-ish.

Christmas lights put up downtown. So pretty.

We couldn't figure out if this was a living statue or not. What do you think?

(p.s. oh and to any of the family, if I've misspelled your name, let me know and I'll change it!)

Okay, 'tis five-thirty in the mornin' now, I'm going to sleep.

2008-12-21T05:13:00.000+01:00

All right, it's a bit after five and wow am I tired. We went to the pub tonight, named Biddy Early's Irish Pub, and I found out that, of all the drinks, I like Guinness. Huh. Who knew?

But, yeah, like I said, it's a touch after five in the morning and I ought to be getting some sleep. More tomorrow, but here's some pictures to keep you interested.

This is the obligatory cloud shot (one of several, but I shall spare you).

The view from the plane when we arrived in Germany. Yeah, rain > snow.

And this is a lego manger scene. Yeah, you heard me...

LOOK, IT'S LEGO-JESUS!

And apparently Hedwig (from HP fame of course) was there too!

More sleep now, yes?

2008-12-20T15:47:00.003+01:00

Well, I can say this much, the plane ride was loooooooooong. Goodness, long, but we managed to stay fed (holy Beebo, the prices were crazy in the airports) and watered. The first flight was short and bumpy and took forever to get off the ground, but the second flight wasn't so bad. Watched a couple of movies, tried to sleep.

Unfortunately I've also managed to end up with a toothache, so the change in pressure on the planes drove me nuts (mostly while descending to land). Less achey now, so I'm hoping it will fade.

So, as you can tell, Kyle and I have made it to Germany safe and sound. I've got several of the obligatory cloud shots, and I'll post all of this in while. We're going to an army base for some shopping shortly, so I don't have much time to post.

Oh, and seeing dubbed english-to-german TV is hilarious.

Smooth Sailing?

2008-12-18T06:29:00.002+01:00

All right, ladies and gentlemen, it's officially after midnight, and that makes it Thursday BWPF (BW=before work pre-flight). After I get out of work, I'm going to double check that I know where everything we need is (last minute items packed, i.e. deoderant, toothbrushes, toothpaste, body spray, shampoo and conditioner).

I don't know if it's nerves or what, but my stomach is very unhappy (and unpleasant acting) today. Oh where oh where has my pepto gone? Oh where oh where can it be? No seriously, I need to remember where I put it. I bought it earlier this week, and I can't remember where I put it....

I'm still quite worried about tomorrow night's storm. We're leaving from CP to Romulus pretty much as it's starting, and will hopefully arrive at about midnight. Part of me wishes that Kyle and I could get out of work earlier, but I'm not scheduled out until 6pm and he's not scheduled out until 8pm so there's not much we can do unless we're both dead slow at our jobs.

Okay, I can't think of anything else to say. If I get the chance to post again before we fly, I will, but until I get back here, keep safe and healthy everybody. Later....

Proper Planning?

2008-12-17T17:42:00.006+01:00

Okay, so apparently the timestamp on my last blog was way off, haha.

We're cleaning, laundering, and packing today. If I didn't know I had work tomorrow, I'd think we were leaving tonight.

Thus far the plan is to work all of Thursay, come home, change out of work clothes, do a last minute panic check of OMG DO WE HAVE EVERYTHING WE COULD POSSIBLY OMG, stick it all into the car, gas it up, and jump on the highway to Detroit with (hopefully accurate!) google maps and/or mapquest directions.

Kyle's gotten us a reservation at the Howard Johnson Metro Airport (in Romulus, MI) this Thursday night. We'll be staying there the night before takeoff, and I'll note that they do breakfast in the morning (which is a worry off of my mind). Hey, they even have a pool if I can find wherever I stuck my swimsuit last. They'll shuttle us back and forth to the airport, so it's good to not have to worry about the car while we're gone, though to hold our car they're charging a pretty decent fee (but they're the cheapest around by far, so I'm not really complaining).

Bek and Keith are going to be feeding and watering (and litter box cleaning, I hope) Eli while we're gone, though I hope they'll pet him now and again (because he is a very affectionate furball). The last time someone else took care of him, he didn't take it well (he was a very naughty, stinky, messy kitty). But last time, he stayed at someone else's house, so hopefully he'll be better as he's staying home (just without us). Why do I expect to come home to find he's crowned himself King Cat of the Complex, dressed up like some foreign native complete with
sacrifice?

All right, that's enough of a break for me for now. Back to laundry....

Approximately T Minus 35 Hours to Takeoff!

2008-12-17T05:30:00.000+01:00

Hey there cats and kittens, it's Rebecca here with my first post on my Trip to Germany Blog (aka Rebecca Goes to Stuttgart). I figured this would be the easiest way to keep everyone up to date on my happenings while I'm away. (If anyone posts anonymously, make sure to leave your name in the post so I know who you are!)

It's about 2:32 am, technically Wednesday morning, and we'll be driving out to Detroit this Thursday night. I heard there might be a really bad storm, so let's all hope it blows right over us, yeah?

I plan on bringing my digital camera and lots of batteries, and I'm hopeful I'll see some really cool stuff while I'm over there. I'm so excited! And nervous. And excited. But still nervous, haha!

All right, I'm heading for bed as it's about 3:06 am now and I've killed enough time setting up this blog. Later!