Our hotel we stayed in last night was very nice. So nice, in fact, that a breakfast buffet was priced at $26 euro. Of course, when we found that out, we decided not to partake. How can you make breakfast that expensive? Gold spoons? Caviar? Convoluted logic with a side of Money to Burn?
I woke up before everyone else this morning and was quite hungry. And so, I decided to eat what I call the scrounger's breakfast- a complimentary green apple from the lobby plus a packet of almond butter I brought for emergency purposes such as these. Those blessed packets containing around 200 precious calories or so of almond butter have saved me on many occasions of being out and about with no food available.
It took us all a while to get up, especially the Lady of Honor, who had been thoroughly worn out by the concert and the day before. We ended up leaving the hotel around 10:30.
We were all hungry and so picked out a breakfast/lunch at the little take-out pastry place we ate at yesterday,
With it being Embla's trip, we let her decide where she would want to go, and the Odysseum science museum was her first choice. It is an interactive science museum geared towards children. I wasn't sure if they'd have English translations for the terms or not, and wasn't particularly looking forward to having to decipher German science terms, which are made up of many words squashed together, but thankfully, they had English subtitles on almost everything.
We walked everywhere and as such, never had to take a bus or a subway. It is fun to discuss the buildings and sights as we do. On the long walk to the science museum, Embla asked to hear my various Accents, including Australian, New Zealand, Scottish, Yorkshire, and classic British. Well, that's one way to keep ya busy, right?
I had everything I needed packed in a backpack, and while it was a lovely feeling to have all I needed conveniently stored there, it got rather heavy on my shoulders after a few hours. I need go get a proper backpack (like the ones they wear here, called Deuter) It was, however, vastly superior to a rolling suitcase.
(At the Science Museum. We are quite the travel group, let me tell ya)
In one room of the museum sat the astronaut training simulator. Embla said she would do it if I would, and I'm always down for a challenge, so I agreed. She went first, and I had to fend off several boys that tried to cut in line as I waited my turn.
I suppose they just assumed that a Big Girl like me would not want to do such a thing as ride a legit astronaut simulator. Oh yes I do, fellas, yes I do.
The operator dude asked me if I wanted slow, medium or fast.
"Schnell."
I have no photos or videos of my ride, but George tried to film it and his phone ran out of space right in the middle of it.
I know he must have had fun with me while I was at his mercy, especially when he works with little kids all day that don't like to go super fast. I am fairly certain that I hit 4G's at least twice. By the end my stomach felt like it had migrated to my nose, but other than odd that sensation, I felt totally fine. He seemed surprised that I was able to walk a straight line after I was done with it.
This obviously means that I could be an astronaut.
(as long as math is not involved.)
;)
I am never too old for a playground, and so when we reached the outside portion of the museum, I climbed the climbing wall. And all the kids stared, and Embla snapped these pictures of Yours Truly.
There were so many cute German kids playing on the park and in the museum that I could barely contain myself. This one in the pilot cap had me in a fit. This was the best I could do for a photo without looking like a stalker. Think German baby with chubby cheeks and blue eyes.
From the science center, we walked to the Schokolade museum, which is on a little peninsula in the Rhine River. I learned a whole lot about the growing and the manufacturing of chocolate that I didn't know before. For example: The whole process of propagating, picking, and preparing the beans in bulk for shipment to buyers is done entirely by hand. I learned that Germany is the top producer of chocolate in the world, but the Swiss take the prize for top consumption of chocolate.
They actually had a factory line set up so you could see how the machines mix the raw materials together and then temper and mold the chocolate.
A gigantic chocolate fountain sat near the assembly line from which we were all given a wafer dipped in chocolate. As we were all quite famished, this was equivalent to a (perhaps slightly less nutritious) form of Manna in our eyes.
With all of us being so hungry, it's a wonder we didn't break the glass in the display cabinets to get at the bars of chocolate used as props for the exhibits. Though the thought crossed my mind, I will admit.
When we finally came to it, it's a wonder we didn't buy the whole store, which had everything chocolate you could imagine. Ever wanted false teeth made of chocolate? It's yours. A chocolate Russian nesting doll? You can get that too. Embla and I got some chocolate to share on the train and I got my Mother a bar of dark chocolate wrapped in an art nouveau wrapper that hails form Barcelona.
The building we ate dinner outside of was a classic German-style building near the waterfront and next to the "Echo church" I wrote about yesterday. I am getting so spoiled with all these open air restaurants here in Germany! You can sit back and enjoy a meal while you watch the boats sail away and the people walk by.
It must be a big wedding weekend here, because we saw a wedding at the church we visited yesterday and also witnessed the chintzy "Wedding train" that drive by. It is a small tram wherein the brides a groom and their guests sit on the way to and from their wedding.
The wedding at the church was very interesting, because they appeared to have had the wedding in the church and then walked out front, with all the guests standing on the cobblestones strewn with rose petals. The reception appeared to be the guests drinking champagne and socializing as the Bride and Groom took their final wedding shots with their vintage Rolls Royce getaway car nearby. Interesting way to do it!
It may be interesting to note that it would appear that most Germans and Europeans that I have seen wear their wedding ring on their ring finger of their right hand.
There were plenty of Bachelorette partygoers as well, evidenced by a lady in a ridiculous get-up and a pin that says "Ich bin ein Braut."
We took a "fast train" (aka an ICE train that goes around 200 mph) from Köln to Frankfurt, then from Frankfurt to Stuttgart. Our train also had stops in both in Mannheim and Heidelberg.
It was a surprisingly uneventfully trip, and we weren't even sitting next to any interesting characters, which tends to be uthe norm for me. Embla and I played cards (namely, the speed game Spit) to keep awake. Once we were bored of cards, we listened to music together via splitting the earbuds.
After hopping on the S-Bahn for the final leg of our trip to Böblingen, we finally arrived at home around 23:30, quite worn out. Though I can't be too worn out come tomorrow, because we have brunch plans in Esslingen. :)
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