Travel to Ulm/Münich

Woke up to my German teacher showing me her dolly she stuffed up her shirt ("Mamma mit eine kleine baby.")

Forgot to show y'all where my room is from outside the house, so here is a picture:

In the bathroom, I saw that George had left his hat on the floor, sooooo naturally:

.....anyway, moving on! ;P

Later in the morning, Aunt Rachel and I went to the bakery up the street so she could get a cappuccino. 

It's funny how much American influence there is in this little town. Popular American songs by Ellie Goulding and Katie Perry are on the radio in most stores and a lot of shirts people wear have lettering or words in English. 

When you come to Germany, you may think that everyone wears lederhosen and says "Auf Weidersehen" when they leave. Naa. Actually, that's the formal way to say goodbye that is not really used in everyday life. The informal way to say goodbye, when you leave a store or something, is Tschüss. "Chooz" is the best phonetic spelling of how it sounds. Unless you practice throughly, saying this common German word with an American Southern accent sounds like you are either sneezing (at best) or saying "Jews" (at worst.) And so, we practice. 

Aunt Rachel has made good progress. At stage one of learning to say "Tschüss," it sounded at first like "Jews," now it has become more of a sneezing sound. No comment on my progress. We are getting there. ;)

George got the car fixed so that it won't shake when we go over 75 mph on the Autobahn. So now, we should be all set to go like 100 or so with no trouble at all. ;)

We drove to Ulm this afternoon, which is almost the halfway point between Stuttgart and Münich. There were lots and lots of tunnels on our way there and the countryside was just gorgeous, with plains, rolling hills, farmland, and mountains all green and lush with early summer foliage. 

We passed many a rural village, with the red and white of the houses dotting the landscape, every one with a church steeple of some kind piercing the horizon. This country is just stunningly beautiful wherever you look. Saw a little of the Black Forest as we drove- it was black, that's for sure. Trees and pines that grow so close together you couldn't see very far inside the interior.

We arrived in Ulm a little after 2:30. After locating parking and acquiring a parking spot for "familien und kinderwagen," we set off to explore. 

(first peek at Ulm Church)

It was a lot colder in Ulm than it was back in Stuttgart, so just for fun, Aunt Rach and I went in an H&M (American Equivalent: Gap or Banana Republic) and scoured the sale rack, she looking for a sweater, me for some leggings, tights or something to wear underneath my polka dotted dress. I landed a pair of really comfy stretch jeans that all the girls wear around here for only €14. Not bad at all, and they are just what I wanted-warm and comfy.

We walked on over to the main thing we came to see: Ulm Church, built in the 1300's. It's just a stunning piece of architecture and as such, words fail me, as usual. 

It survived both world wars and is absolutely majestic inside and out.

 

Not many folks were there today either, which means I got free reign to walk all the way up the the very front of the church and take this picture, looking back from the altar:

I really like this picture and this point of view, because the crucifix was positioned in such a way that when you are standing at the front of the church, Jesus on the cross is looking at you from above.

They had a wall that you could write a prayer on a note and pin it there. Erla wanted hers to say: "liebe Gott, Happy Birthday. Von: Erla"

Well, I guess we don't know God's "birthday," but maybe she does? ;)

We were all absolutely famished by the time we got to Der Ratskeller restaurant for dinner. It was well worth the wait. 

I had a giant steak and salad and Ellert and I took care of the pommes (French fries) and schnitzel. Schnitzel is super yummy, by the way. It's a fried pork chop-ish thingy usually served with pommes. 

Have I discussed pommes? Most of the fries here are cooked in beef fat. You can't tell, only that they are insanely yummy. If you are a true German/European, you don't mess them up with ketchup. No, no. Youuse salat mayo to dip them in. Yup. I have converted myself to dipping my fries in mayo. Though I still use ketchup, I am making the transition. 

After dinner we got Eis (English: ICE CREAM.) This particular variety was rather Gelato-y and extremely yummy. I got schokolade, of course, but stole (*tasted) some of Erla's, which was one scoop pistachio and one scoop zitrone. Very yahmmy.

Next stop was our hotel in Munich.  The German name for the city of Munich is München (muen-chin,) which I find hilarious for obvious reasons. (Munch. Munchin.' So much room for puns.) ;P

These are exciting times, because every mile we go is the furthest that I've ever been away from home.

"All the lights are flashing go

Nobody cares how fast we go...."

I bet I'm the first person to listen to Country music (or Johnny Cash) while traveling on the Autobahn. The songs are strangely applicable, as evidenced above, especially the "no body cares how fast we go" part. ;)

We arrived at our hotel, which is like a giant German style house but is a hotel inside. It is small, but we have enough bunks+ a blow up bed for George. AND WE HAVE WIFI! Which is why you are seeing this post. And will see posts at least until I have no wifi again. :)