IKEA, internet, and other extras.

This has the potential of being a pretty boring post, but I have some extra time so I thought I would update before my parents come on Friday and all madness begins!

No, I don't have any pictures of the apartment.

Which is a perfect segue into what we did today. We went to IKEA! Now before you start wondering why that was anything special--there's a few reasons why it's pretty special to us. One: I've never been to an IKEA (yeah, I know, I know.) I had it on my list of things to do before we found out we were moving to Germany, then I just kinda forgot about it. Two: Our apartment is furnished, but we have a few things that we needed to get. A mattress for example (the guy who used to live here is coming to get his mattress this week) and some linens and blankets for our beds. I needed a few things in the kitchen. So for a couple of cheap college kids, it was perfect.

We were on the hunt for a mattress that was comfortable and not too much money, because obviously, it is something we are going to have to leave behind. We found a mattress that is full sized and about 80 euros. Perfect!

Haha! I had to post this. It cracks me up that there is actually a sign on the demo toilets telling people that it's not really a toilet. What's even funnier is to imagine someone so desperate to go to the bathroom that they would think of using it!

Next stop was something I was really excited for: the German blankets. If you've been to Germany, Switzerland, or Austria, you might remember that on the beds are huge fluffy blankets called federdeckes (they are like your own little individual comforter) and the huge pillows that are almost twice the size of American pillows. Anyway, the thing that I LOVE about German bedding is that there are the federdeckes and the pillows. No top sheet, no thin blankets! If there's one thing that drives me bananas, it's a top sheet. Even when I was little, I could never sleep with one. I'm not sure why, but when I would wake up in the morning, the top sheet would be scrunched down at the bottom of the bed every time. Mark feels the same as I do, so we love German bedding! All you have to do is buy a bottom sheet, a federdecke, and a cover for your federdecke that you remove and wash like a normal sheet. (I know they have these in the U.S. too, but I've never had one. Or wait, do they?)

Here's a nice picture of what I'm talking about.

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Anyway, I know I'm boring you to tears, so I'll stop rambling about blankets and sheets. While we were there I also picked up a non-stick pan for 20 euros and some much needed other items. We are all set! Man, I love IKEA. I also need to mention that I love our downstairs neighbors who drove us all the way to Ludwigsburg so we could get our stuff. They are ever so kind!

Monday was Pfingsten so everything was pretty much shut down around here. Germans and their holidays! I think they have one every week. Mark mentioned that it's so crazy that there are so many Christian holidays that they celebrate over here that we don't celebrate back in the U.S. Tuesday, we went and registered at the Waiblingen rathaus. I guess a rathaus (kinda pronounced rat-house) is like their city hall, and if you are going to live in a city in Germany, you have to go tell them that you are living here and officially "register" with the city. Boring stuff.

On Sunday we went for a walk around more of Waiblingen and it was lovely! Here's some photos:

A World War I memorial

Here are the names of the people from Waiblingen who died in WWI. Weird fact: Did you know you can't name your child Adolf in Germany (well, it should be obvious, but I guess there's actually a law that you can't)? Looking at the names on this pillar, we noticed many Adolfs that died in WWI.

I love testing the macro mode on my camera!

Here's something you don't see everyday: a spider that Mark actually likes. Before we came over here, Mark would tell me about these spiders, called kreuzspinnes. They are named that because it looks like they have a crucifix on their back. Mark loves them because they build huge cobwebs everywhere that help get rid of the mosquitos and other annoying little bugs. :)

A sunset along the river.

Here is the old rathaus in Waiblingen. Isn't it cool how you can walk underneath it? Vendors can set up shop here during the markets on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It's not used as the main rathaus anymore though, because there's a newer one right by it.

Oh, did I mention that we also have a good internet connection now? I can actually upload clear pictures and look at a few websites! Hooray!

This weekend we are going to go on an expedition to Switzerland to do some hiking and relative finding. We have some names of some distant family in Switzerland, and we are going to try to find them. Wish us luck!