More Adventures

Hello friends and family! I am writing you from Germany, just outside Duessledorf. We are again with another good friend who was actually an exchange student of my familys' who came to study in the States when I was 9!!! I cant beleive its been that long, but we have gotten to see him over the years here and there, but its just very cool to be in his house with his family this time.

So unfortunately I will not be able to ever post any pictures from the first two weeks of our trip because our camera got stolen...it was in Ryans backpack which got stolen from the train the day after we left The Netherlands. Yes, this is quite a bummer, but that is probably the most valuable thing we lost, along with our travel book, which was just really inconveient to loose. Oh well. It happens! Luckily i have my i phone which i had been taking some pics with too, so we have a few on there. But the theif was sneaky because it was the morning and we had just boarded the train and put our bags on the overhead rack, like everyone else did since the train was quite busy. We were wide awake and talking, so we had no idea how it got taken. It was within 15 mins of being on the train, probably on the second stop it made someone just grabbed it from behind and ran off the train.

Actually, after leaving the Netherlands we felt in a slump for a few days there. Before we lost the bag we missed a train to our next really cool location. Because i am not used to telling time on the 24 hour clock, i caused us to miss our train to Coppenhagen. Not to worry thought, i now have my iphone set on a 24 hour clock so i am getting really really good at it (and i know i will NEVER hear the end of it). Anyhow, it was a night train, and a 12 hour ride. So we decided not to take the train there during the day the next day, but instead keep exploring on shorter train rides closer by. We visited Luxembourg, Heidelburg, Germany, and Trieburg, Germany (part of the black forest). Those days were tough because we felt alone and violated with the bag being taken, but we had fun nonetheless and looked very forward to being with our friends in Germany.

In Luxembourg we got to go shopping!! We actually tried to make it a fun time. We shopped on a street where there were pretty nice stores that Ryan would never buy clothes at, like H and M and some private designer stores. But we had heard that there was a mall close by, so we took the bus there to see if there were any cheaper shops, and there happened to be what is the equivaltent of a european walmart in that mall! So ryan got everything he needed there, even though we had bought some nice jeans at another store. we went back to return those jeans and they would only give us a store credit, so I got to do a little shopping of my own!! nothing fancy, just a new dress, tank top, and some underwear. but we had to spend that money there, so we had fun with it!

Luxembourg is such a small country no one ever thinks to visit there, but its actually a beautiful place. Its like a fairy tale land where you would imagine Cinderella running around with her one glass slipper. The town is built around a huge castle and giant walls that used to surround the old town, and there are newer buildings all inside these walls. and by newer i mean not 1500 years old, but maybe 800 years old. this is Europe! Very neat place to see.

Heidelburg is beautiful as well, with the main focal point being a giant castle and a nice river running through the town. Here we had some very traditional (and might i add delicious) German food...fried fish, roasted potatoes, brautworst, and saurkraut. Breakfasts in Europe have been amazing too...meat, cheese, and bread, and of course my favorite being yogurt and granola! After heidelburg we traveled south to the black forest which was beautiful too and we went to a spot where we saw Germanys largest waterfall and hiked for a few hours before we got a little quaint hotel and ate a quiet dinner.

Today we will take the train into the town of Duesseldorf to explore and take a boat ride along the Rhine river to see the nearby sights and castles. I should run, but I will try to write more stories very soon. Miss and love everyone!!