I just got back from Germany and I had an amazing time! Everything was great, though it’s changed a lot, and I asked the Germans a lot of questions about things that they took for granted, like “how do I buy a ticket for this streetcar? Am I on the right streetcar/train to (destination)? How do I make a phone call? How do I get a ‘Handy’ (cell phone)? How do I load it up with time? Where’s the museum? What’s this weird word mean?” I said, “we don’t have this where I come from” (Das haben wir nicht bei uns!) a lot, and I would go into delis or grocery stores and just stare at the cold cut selection, until a kind German would come over to me and explain the amazing variety of meats, cheeses and breads.
In the shortest possible encapsulation, I saw lots of medieval churches, several castles (and slept in one for two days, how cool is that) and many many Roman ruins, biked along the Rhein River, went into a chocolate museum, climbed to the top of the massive Cologne Cathedral and was awed by its incredible Gothic interior, saw demonstrations and a bachlorette party in Cologne, was amazed for hours by contemporary German history in Bonn’s “House of History,” ate fabulous food, drank great beer, saw bizarre TV, and met a wide variety of friendly, funny, and interesting Germans (as well as quite a few German-speaking East Europeans who were working in Germany.) By the time my trip in Germany was over, I felt like the guy in this commercial.
I took over a thousand pictures, and I’ll follow up with all my stories and anecdotes over the next few weeks. I missed my family though, and I’m happy to be home.