Hamburg!

Blurry, but it captures the fireworks and the boats and all the lights

Getting ready to go on the water ride at the fair!

Olli and Daniel after the slide. The slide was so cool because there was a conveyorbelt to take people to the top because it is so high.

One of the ships that was part of the celebration

Remember the ice cream creations? This is one...yum!

Russian Submarine

We got wet a couple times :p

The first boat we were on with a gear problem =) We were all ok, but the boat was bruised.

Hello,

Here are some pictures from the time we spent in Hamburg. There was a special festival (Cruize Dayz) going on while we were there, so that was very fun!

Enjoy,

Christy

Home

All of us..even Miles, their dog



Merle, Holger's neice, and I

L to R: Friederike, Olli, Holger, Andrea, and Theis Ole

Holger and Andrea on top of the old water tower in Lunaburg

Hello!

We made it home safely today. They over sold our plane, but thankfully we were able to secure seats 30 minutes before take-off! The flight went well and we made good time driving home, although we had to stop to air up one of our tires that had gotten low while we were gone. All in all, it was a wonderful trip that I will always remember. Rachel was very glad to see us, and we were very glad to see her and our dog, Lucky. It is good to be home again, although my time schedule is messed up. I will continue to put more pictures up and have already started editing some.

Thanks for checking,

Christy

=(

Hello!



I cannot believe tomorrow (Wednesday) our plane leaves. It seems as if the past two weeks have just been one long day full of new adventures and fun times. I don't have much time now because we are busy bagging our liquids and figuring out how much our suitcases weigh for the plane tomorrow =). Our time with the Hinrichs was so much fun. Since the past few days have been so busy, I haven't uploaded any pics. Once we're back, I will put a few more pictures up.

Love,
Christy ♥♥

Hamburg and Chasing Trains!

Good Morning!



Yesterday was a very fun day. After a huge German/American breakfast (lots of rolls, jams, meats, eggs, cereal, coffee, and tea,) we went to another little village to get on the train. We took the train to Hamburg. Hamburg has lots of shops, some I was familiar with from the states and some I wasn't. We also took the S-Bahn to the harbor and then took a boat out on the river to sight see. Our first boat had a gear problem and we bumped into another boat, so we had to evacuate it. We got on a bigger one and took off. It was relaxing and we got to see several ships, older buildings, and a shipping center in the river that sends empty crates, such as train cars, all around the world to be filled. We then walked to an ice cream shop...it was incredible. It was not just ice cream cones, it was ice cream creations. Daniel, Mom, and I had ice cream spaghetti. Dad and some others had something like a frozen yogurt sundae. It was delicious. We then went to the fair! It is a permanent fair that opens three times a year. Because the rides are permanent , they are a lot smoother and more fun than the rides at our fair. We enjoyed them all very much and also had slushies! We then walked to the restaurant that Olli's (Friederike's boyfriend) Dad works at. It was a very fun night because the DJ was fun and the food was scrumptious!!
After that, we walked down to the harbor and watched the events happening at the "Cruise Dayz Festival." There was a boat parade on the river with fireworks shooting off their decks. It was so pretty! We left there around ten and walked to the S-Bahn station that would take us to our train. Unfortunatly, the S-Bahn station was PACKED with lines snaking down the street. So we walked to the station. An intense five mile walk because we were trying to make our train at 11. It was long and our feet hurt because we had been walking all day. Friederike would let us know how long we had every so often, "Papa! Drei minuten!" (That means Papa, three minutes!!!) We hurried and passed many stations before coming to the one we needed. As we hurried into the station, the clock said 11. Friederike and I ran down the escalator and jumped on the train. Olli and Daniel soon followed and held the doors so they would not close before the others arrived. The train left not even 30 seconds after we were all on board =).

Pictures tomorrow!

Love,
Christy ♥♥

Altenmedingen

Hello!

Today was an exciting day! After a quick breakfast, we headed to the train station. We switched trains twice and rode for about three hours. Then, we arrived at the final leg of our trip...Altenmedingen! The reason I am so excited about this is because this is where Dad was at during his work exchange program after college. I have had an email correspondence with one of his friend's daughter, Friederike. It was so great to finally be able to meet her and her brother and I know Dad was excited to see Holger, her father, again. We enjoyed an afternoon tea time with cake and then got on bikes. We rode to an antique tractor museum and then to a BBQ at the firehouse. Daniel and I were able to meet Friederike's friends while Dad reaquainted himself with old friends. It was very fun!

Love, Christy

Quick Update

Hello all, and sorry for the couple of days delay in blogging. Once we left Oberammergau, we came to Berlin and our hotel doesn't have free Wi-Fi.

Oberammergau was a cute little town that makes the most of being in the limelight once every ten years. Every ten years, they perform the PassionSpiel (the Passion Play of Christ). It was very moving and realistic. Almost too real at the end. At times, it was hard to follow along because we had a book that told us in English what they were saying because they spoke in German. It was difficult to chose whether you wanted to know what they were saying or watch. The play was five hours long, and split into two sections. All in all, it was a great experiance. Our guest house was one of the best places we have stayed. It was spacious and the food was incredible.

We then took the train to Berlin and we arrived yesterday evening. I love it; it is my favorite city so far. For me, it is the perfect mix because it is so rich with history and yet so new and modern because they have had to rebuild after WW 2. Last night we had a nice meal on top of the Reichstag, their capitol building, which is an older building topped by a huge glass dome. I would post pictures but our Wi-Fi is limited, so I will do that tomorrow. We were also able to see some of Berlin's sites, but today we hit them hard. We took 4 and 1/2 hour walking tour. We walked about 20 kilometers, or 12 miles. It was tiring, but very educational. We were able to see the old Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate and Tor, the plaza where Hitler held his first rally, the former locations of Hitler's headquarters and bunker (which is ironicly now a parking lot,) Checkpoint Charlie Museum, a monument for Jews, and the HUGE building built by Hitler in 15 months prior to the 1936 Olympics, as well as several other sights. I don't remember the building's name, but if you have seen the movie Valkerie, it and some others were filmed there.


Enjoy your day.
Love, Christy

You Know You Aren't In Central Illinois Anymore When...

1. The speed limit through a construction zone is 100 km/hr.
2. There is graffiti on everything...signs,overpasses,buildings...because it is legal
3. You have to wear a jacket because it is chilly, even though it is in the middle of summer
4. You get on a train in a mountainous area, but get off 15 minutes later and it is flat
5. You have to pay to use public bathrooms
6. The water is "sparkly" or with gas (carbonated)
7. You have trouble finding a trashcan, especially in hotel rooms and peoples' homes
8. There are castles in places other than story books
9. Kleenex's are hard to find
10. Washclothes are nonexistant
11. Toilet paper is the consistancy of paper towels
12. Breakfast often consists of hard bread, cheese, lunch meats, and soft or hard boiled eggs
13. Eggs for breakfast are eaten with a spoon out of the shell

Have a great day,

Christy