Group Shot

Here's a picture of the group from the bike tour 

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we have Axel, Lisa, Susannah, Ryan, Chris, Luuk, Dave, ME, Uncle Robbie, Aunt Patty, Emily and Andy

Thanks for the picture Emily! 

 

Yay for free internet!

The German's do not like to share their internet, but good thing they do for Marriott Gold Members!

So after a little bit of a fiasco, we're in Munich for two nights! It feels nice to be able to settle in a little bit. The one thing I am not a fan of is the fact that it has been raining all day. It's stopped now, but it is also almost 9 pm! 

The drive to Munich was beautiful even through the rain! I stared out the window for most of it (the rest I was napping). 

We're staying a little bit away from the Marienplatz but you can definitely tell we're in a big city, it's so much different from the little towns we've been staying in the past week! We took the subway downtown and trudged our way to the world famous Hofbräuhaus. I must say I have never seen anything like it, I cannot even imagine what it looks like during Oktoberfest! It was an absolute zoo, and there were SO many Americans! 

It took us awhile to find seating and we ended up sitting right next to the kitchen. It was amazing how fast they work! I ordered Pfälz Wurst with sauerkraut and it was pretty good. We also got bread baskets and I am definitely a fan of German pretzels, plus they make some good mustard! For dessert we had espresso and apple strudel which was delicious (but the strudel recommended by Luuk in Traben-Trarbach was better). 

After our meal we walked around the downtown, but since it is Sunday, almost everything is closed. We looked in St. Peter's which was beautiful, it would be such an experience to go to mass there! Then we stood in the square to hear the  Radhaus-Glockenspiel, it was a good 10 minutes long, but really cool! The figures danced around to the music and there were so many people gathered in the square!

I loved the street musicians and we stopped to listen to a group of them, I could have been there all day listening to them play more of their jazzy Beethoven! 

We found our way back to the subway and then to the English Garden, which is Munich's equivalent of Central Park. It was gorgeous, especially after the rain! We saw the Chinese Tower, which I expected to be much bigger but it was still cool! We wandered around the park for awhile, it was nice to take a leisurely walk! Eventually we found our way back to the hotel for the night! 

I must say I was extremely excited that they had a fitness center and was very impressed when I went downstairs to see it! It is a full spa down there! Two more plusses about the Marriott München, ice and a jacuzzi. Firsts for me since I've been in Germany! 

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David's Beer, Sarah's Beer. I always seem to be the mini.

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For Papa Liebig from your brother. 

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The Glock.

 

 

Photos!

The Valley

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Abbey in Echternach, Luxembourg

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Zeltingen, Germany

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6 Generations have owned and operated this hotel. The history and stories that go along with it were unbelievable!

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Cochem

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Burg Eltz

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Sunset from the wall in Rothenburg 

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My right knee after a week of adventuring. Believe it or not it looks worse in real life. 

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I guess Inglostadt did have something to offer us aside from a shady laundry mat.

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Technical difficulties

Uploading these pictures is proving to be quite the task...they'll be up soon!

Too Much to tell!

So after a night in Koblenz we took the train to Trier. On the train, my uncle made me sit next to a random girl. Her name is Saskia and she goes to University in Mainz. She was so nice and we talked almost the entire ride, which was a little over an hour. She's studying to be a doctor and we exchanged emails. Even though at the time I was SO embarrassed that my uncle practically forced me on her, it was so nice to talk to her and you can never have too many contacts! 

The hotel in Trier was beautiful! I got my own room which was up about 3 sets of stairs. Dragging my suitcase up them was quite the challenge, I was getting quite discouraged until I found my room at the end of the hallway. I definitely lucked out, it had a kitchenette, bathroom, office area, living area and a bedroom. The views were beautiful and I felt like a princess in a castle. We stayed there for three nights, two nights were for the bike tour. 

These are pictures from the hotel Eurener Hof in Trier

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We went and explored Trier a little and it was old and beautiful. It is the oldest city in Germany and was founded in 6 BC. The next day we met our tour guides Luuk and Axel at breakfast. They are both from the Netherlands and were so different from each other that they fit perfectly. We waited for the other family to arrive and then we went to downtown Trier and took a tour. It was a long tour, about two hours but I learned so much and it was beautiful. We saw the Pointe Nigra as well as the Roman baths. The history in Trier is so rich, I would love to go back and really explore! We all had a wonderful (but long) dinner at the hotel. It started at 7 and didn't end until 11. It was four courses and absolutely delicious! 

The other family was American too, from DC and turned out to be a perfect fit with us. I'm beginning to realize I'm going to have to be a little more concise in my thoughts, so I guess for more information you're just going to have to email me and ask. I'm keeping a travel journal so I definitely have more to tell!

 

Basically, through the week we took four bike rides that added up to be almost 200 miles! My bottom is still a little sore, but I'm so happy that I did it! It was such an amazing tour and I honestly do not think there is a better way to have seen the Mosel River Valley. We learned so much about each little down we stopped in or stayed in and our families grew close pretty quickly, a 2 km "steep uphill" to a tower looking over the valley can do that to people. 

We went on tours and went wine tasting all while making amazing memories with people we met just two days before. The Mosel area is absolutely beautiful and at times I just wanted to stop riding and stare. It is so completely different from home, I could never have imagined. 

Our guides were so knowledgable about Germany, but aside from that we all enjoyed learning about the Netherlands. Axel was very professional, but knew when to let go a little and so interesting to talk to. He studied philosophy but has a passion for history that was amazing, especially for me! We even ran into his old history professor and life mentor in a museum! What are the chances of that? He gave me a lot of tips about studying abroad and has definitely made an impact on me. Luuk was a little different, but in a good way. He was a little more laid back, but took his job seriously. When he rode with us we'd always talk about the Netherlands and his home. He always seemed to pop up just when we needed him, like on the last day when Andy, Ryan, Emily, Susannah and I all got a little lost in Koblenz. He weaved us in and out of pedestrian traffic to our safe arrival at our beautiful Hotel Mercure. 

One of the days it rained, and not only rained, but hailed. I had no jacket on just a tank top and shorts and it was FREEZING! We rode through anyway, and it turned out to be really fun because we would never have rode in that type of weather back home! 

The week flew by, I can't even believe it's over and I'm going to miss the Savage family, thank goodness for Facebook! 

Since then, we got on the train to Frankfurt to get the rental car. That was quite the adventure. They didn't have the car we ordered and the one they gave us didn't fit our bags. We had to rent a larger one, which is kind of like a boat and a little too advanced for all of us to figure out. It took us about 5 minutes to figure out how to start it, and it was definitely a group effort! 

We then drove to Rothenburg, which was a beautiful city still behind it's medieval walls. We took the Nightwatchman Tour and it was excellent! So much history and I'm really glad that it was able to be preserved and didn't get bombed during the war (thanks to an American). 

Today, we got a little bit of a late start but we went to Nuremburg and saw Zeppelinfield and the Indoctrination site at the Nazi part headquarters. It is now a museum, and so interesting and scary how real it is. Of course it has always been real, but when you are actually at the location, it is something so completely different and the scariness of it all is significantly elevated. After Nuremburg we drove to Inglostadt which is where we are now. 

Inglostadt is definitely not where we should be, and we have been struggling all day here. Dave and I needed to do laundry, so we went to a laundry mat, on the wrong side of town. It is apparently the hang out for some people and it was a little seedy to say the least. This is all after my uncle thought he was driving the wrong way on the street so he pulled into a construction zone only to realize it was all ok. There have definitely been a few close calls today, but so many laughs along the way! It's been such a long day, we were just needing some good ol' American fast food! Good thing there was a Burger King near by!

The one good thing about Inglostadt...they have a Liebigstraße!

 

 

Here!

Well after a 9 hour 50 minute nonstop plane ride I am finally here! Frankfurt airport is hugeeeee and the first thing I noticed was the smell of cigarettes. They have these little camel cubicles inside the airport for smoking, so much different from home! After we went through customs and baggage we found our way down to the Bahnhof to catch the train to Koblenz. Well just to our luck, they cancelled it. We got on the next train and then transferred to a Koblenz bound train. On this particular train, a man came to check our tickets, well we were all separated and my uncle had a group ticket...definitely could have been problematic! Luckily he spoke a little English and understood (we think) our circumstances.

When we got of the train, hungry and exhausted we all thought it was time to relax. Instead, we walked down the WRONG way of the street a good ways looking for the hotel. We finally realized that it was not on that street and we had to go back past the Bahnhof. I was definitely dragging. It all turned out okay because the hotel is gorgeous and so is Koblenz. It was so nice to shower and lay down for all of 15 minutes before we went to dinner. I don't even know the name of the restaurant, but it was delicious (even if we didn't really know what we were ordering). We did some more walking down the street and found a little gelato place, which of course was also delicious. It's only 6:14 pm here and I'm falling asleep as I type this. I only slept 3 hours on the plane. Talk about jet lag. I'm just so excited to be here and I can't wait for tomorrow to see where else we go! 

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 this picture and the one below it are views from my window at the Ghotel in Koblenz. You can see the church tower and the hills behind the buildings.
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 It took me 10 minutes to figure out how to turn the lights on. You have to put your key card in the little slot and then all the power will work! I guess it's pretty helpful with electricity costs as well as preventing you from losing your key!
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 the bathroom...
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 the room...as we can all see I have made my self comfortable for the 1 night I am here! haha

One Down!

Well it's July 26. I'm all settled in at my aunt and uncle's house for the night. Tomorrow our plane leaves at 2 pm for Frankfurt. It doesn't even seem real.

Today was hard. I had to finish packing (one suitcase for a year is a joke but I'm really glad I don't have more...I was already toppling over). Staying under 50 pounds was really difficult but I guess I was only able to take what I REALLLLLY wanted. Saying goodbye to family was really tough , I already miss them, but I think I kept it together quite well. A year is a long time, but I'm so excited. I'm sure I'll get homesick but I think the next 2 weeks are going to be way too busy for me to even think!

 I flew out of Long Beach this afternoon without a hitch. When I got to SFO, things became a little challenging. With my backpack and 16 pound carry-on I hobbled (quite quickly and efficiently) to the baggage claim. It is quite the trek to baggage claim 12 from the Jetblue terminal at SFO. Retrieving my suitcase was also quite the fiasco. A 5'1" girl and a 48.7 lb bag on a moving carousel don't exactly mix well. Then it was time to find BART. Hobbling even more than before...I tried to find the elevator to go back upstairs but I was going to collapse if I stopped moving for 5 seconds! So 75 pounds of luggage and myself went up the escalator and booked it to the BART station (another trek). I buy my ticket JUST as I need to be boarding the train, luckily I made it, never mind that I was the absolute last person to jump on, I made it. I found a seat next to this kid from France ( I only know this because of my discrete creeping skills, I read his luggage tag) my suspicions were confirmed when he answered his phone and spoke in French for a good 15 minutes. By the time I got on BART I was too tired to move, literally. I sat there from SFO to Lafayette with my carry-on and backpack on top of me. Just sitting. Getting in the car and driving to my Aunt and Uncle's gave me an accomplished feeling. One step down on getting to Germany. After dinner, I repacked my carry-on. It is now ONE bag and I really hope it's not 20 pounds. Thank goodness my uncle travels light and his suitcase only weighed 30 pounds...hello Sarah's things!

Well now it's 10:57 pm and definitely time to bed. I'm so nervous right now (but a good, excited nervous)! Tomorrow's an early morning and step two on my travels to Germany! :]

 

goodnight!

The beginning...

For the next year I'll be studying at the University of Tübingen in Germany. I figured this would be the best way to keep all my loved ones updated with my adventures and experiences that I am more than certain will prove to be once in a lifetime. As of now, I'm still at home slowly but surely getting ready for my departure. I am leaving on July 26, and it still seems so surreal. My program doesn't actually start until August 15, but I am going early with my Uncle Robbie, Aunt Patty and my two cousins Andy and David. We're going on a bike tour of the Mosel River Valley and then some exploring around Germany.

This trip is so monumental for me for a number of reasons, a few being - 1. I've never been out of the country and 2. This will be the first time that I am truly on my own as well as the longest (and farthest) I've ever been from my family. Of course there are millions of other reasons but I am ready to go into this next year full throttle. For those of you who know me, I can be rather reserved (and picky) but I am really going to try and embrace as much of the German culture as I possible can, even if it means eating weird things or staying out past my self imposed bedtime of 11 pm. :] 

Even as I'm writing this, it feels like such a dream. I have so much to get organized and figured out before I leave and I don't even know where to start. I am going to try and be pretty diligent about posting updates, but at first I'm sure life will be incredibly hectic and posts will definitely be scattered (much like my brain on a daily basis). 

Love you all, 

Miss Sarah Beth :]