There and Back Again
Just made it back in from Germany, and I am exhausted but thoroughly happy. I will try to make this brief.
Thursday: I took to bus from Oxford to Gatwick, traffic made us an hour late. Good thing I left early. I wandered around the airport and befriended a nice older lady from London who was going home to her husband in Germany. The flight went well except for the lightning during our landing. Anja was there waiting for me and I was very excited. We drove down the Autobahn and made it safely to her house in Giforn where we promptly went to bed.
Friday: We got up really early to we could drive to Berlin. Anja's dad bought us rolls from the backery and we put German chocolate spread all over our bread and had a verey chocolately breakfast. I met Anja's parents with Anja's help (her parents don't speak English). We took off for Berlin. It was about a 3 hour drive down the Autobahn. We parked on the outter limits of the city and took the U-Bahn (underground) into Berlin.
We started by going to the top of the Alexanderplatz and getting a good look of the whole city from the top. We then made our way to a backery for lunch. The bread was absolutely incredible, and we had russian cake for dessert. We made our way across the city, stopping to see a fountain, the German History Museum (which had lots of interesting pics from WW2),the Berlin Cathedral (which was stunning beyond words), the famous Brandenburger Tor, and German Parliament. Needless to say we were exhausted. Anja drove back while I kept falling asleep.
When we got back to Anja's, her neighbors were outside talking to her parents. They just stared at me as the car pulled up. They were really cute old ladies and they had been taking English classes, so they tried their few words of English out on me.
Saturday: Anja took me to buy lots of German Chocolate!!! Then we went to a nearby city for shopping. I was worried that the stores would be like English stores and only have sizes that 12 year old girls can wear, but I was pleasently suprised. I ended up with 2 new shirts and a skirt. I also tried German ice cream, which is a lot different than ours, but very good. It is kind of tangy, but really creamy.
Then, we went to ahuge furniture store where they set up all these different "rooms" with items from their store. We ate at the cafeteria there. Then, we explored Anja's hometown, Gifhorn. We walked around the lake and saw the windmills, which were incredible. There was also a really cool Russian Orthodox church. After our walk, we went back to her house for dinner. Her parents cooked on the grill, and I sat down to dinner with her parents, her grandparents, and her brother, none of whom spoke English. The food was really good, and I tried lots of new things, namely grilled tomatos and feta cheese. I also tried German beer (not bad). Anja translated most of the time (though I could pick up a few things).
Today: We got up this morning and had another chocolatey breakfast. Then, we went for a walk through the woods near her house. It was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect. We saw some rams and some other people out with their dogs. We made our way back to her house for lunch. I then gathered up my things to go. Her parents said goodbye to me, and I did the same, both of us trying to use the other's language. They gave me a really nice book with pictures and histories of Gifhorn that I hope to be able to translate some day. Her whole family was truly amazing. I found out that her grandfather was a POW in WW2 in Ruston, an hour from my home.
Anja drove me to the airport where I made it back to Oxford without any hassle (even through immigration, yay!) I am very happy to be back in an English speaking country, and in only 10 days I will be back in America. excellent.
Berlin Cathedral (my personal favorite)
The famous Brandenburger Tor
German Parliament
A windmill and a Maypoll
Windmill and Russian Orthodox Church
A quaint little German Road
Thursday: I took to bus from Oxford to Gatwick, traffic made us an hour late. Good thing I left early. I wandered around the airport and befriended a nice older lady from London who was going home to her husband in Germany. The flight went well except for the lightning during our landing. Anja was there waiting for me and I was very excited. We drove down the Autobahn and made it safely to her house in Giforn where we promptly went to bed.
Friday: We got up really early to we could drive to Berlin. Anja's dad bought us rolls from the backery and we put German chocolate spread all over our bread and had a verey chocolately breakfast. I met Anja's parents with Anja's help (her parents don't speak English). We took off for Berlin. It was about a 3 hour drive down the Autobahn. We parked on the outter limits of the city and took the U-Bahn (underground) into Berlin.
We started by going to the top of the Alexanderplatz and getting a good look of the whole city from the top. We then made our way to a backery for lunch. The bread was absolutely incredible, and we had russian cake for dessert. We made our way across the city, stopping to see a fountain, the German History Museum (which had lots of interesting pics from WW2),the Berlin Cathedral (which was stunning beyond words), the famous Brandenburger Tor, and German Parliament. Needless to say we were exhausted. Anja drove back while I kept falling asleep.
When we got back to Anja's, her neighbors were outside talking to her parents. They just stared at me as the car pulled up. They were really cute old ladies and they had been taking English classes, so they tried their few words of English out on me.
Saturday: Anja took me to buy lots of German Chocolate!!! Then we went to a nearby city for shopping. I was worried that the stores would be like English stores and only have sizes that 12 year old girls can wear, but I was pleasently suprised. I ended up with 2 new shirts and a skirt. I also tried German ice cream, which is a lot different than ours, but very good. It is kind of tangy, but really creamy.
Then, we went to ahuge furniture store where they set up all these different "rooms" with items from their store. We ate at the cafeteria there. Then, we explored Anja's hometown, Gifhorn. We walked around the lake and saw the windmills, which were incredible. There was also a really cool Russian Orthodox church. After our walk, we went back to her house for dinner. Her parents cooked on the grill, and I sat down to dinner with her parents, her grandparents, and her brother, none of whom spoke English. The food was really good, and I tried lots of new things, namely grilled tomatos and feta cheese. I also tried German beer (not bad). Anja translated most of the time (though I could pick up a few things).
Today: We got up this morning and had another chocolatey breakfast. Then, we went for a walk through the woods near her house. It was beautiful and the weather was absolutely perfect. We saw some rams and some other people out with their dogs. We made our way back to her house for lunch. I then gathered up my things to go. Her parents said goodbye to me, and I did the same, both of us trying to use the other's language. They gave me a really nice book with pictures and histories of Gifhorn that I hope to be able to translate some day. Her whole family was truly amazing. I found out that her grandfather was a POW in WW2 in Ruston, an hour from my home.
Anja drove me to the airport where I made it back to Oxford without any hassle (even through immigration, yay!) I am very happy to be back in an English speaking country, and in only 10 days I will be back in America. excellent.
Berlin Cathedral (my personal favorite)
The famous Brandenburger Tor
German Parliament
A windmill and a Maypoll
Windmill and Russian Orthodox Church
A quaint little German Road