Tonight we were supposed to fly out of Stuttgart to London, but our flight got cancelled. Sadly enough, we didn't find this out before we hauled all 100+ pounds of our luggage up the snowy hill to the train station to catch our 45 minute train. We found this out after we got to the check-in desks at the airport. Curses!
Our light to London was with British Airways. After we found out our flight was cancelled, we went over to the BA desk which was completely empty. We stood there for about 10-15 minutes wondering if there was anyone around to help. Then we heard people talking and laughing in a back room, and it was instant annoyance! So I yelled, "Entschuldigung!" Then the lady came out and told us that we would be able to take a Lufthansa flight tomorrow morning. Then she told us that she wouldn't be able to cover any of the hotel or transportation costs. BA fail! But she said that when we get home we could try to get some of our money back. Wow, what a treat!
Mark then asked her if she knew what the luggage restrictions where with Lufthansa, and she said that it was 20 kilos. BA gives you 23 (the equivalent of 50 pounds). So Mark asked her if we could get a voucher for Lufthansa so we wouldn't have to pay the baggage fee, and she replied, "No, you'll just have to repack everything."
OH HOW NICE.
That's okay, we'll just forget the two days of packing and weighing that we just did. Oh, and I'm sure we won't miss any of our stuff that we'll have to throw away.
She did tell us, however, that Lufthansa had a late night check-in and we could check our bags in so we didn't have to haul them around with us. So we scampered over to Lufthansa where the lady informed us that we could indeed have a limit of 23 kilos and we could check our bags in. What a relief!
We decided to head back to our apartment in Waiblingen for the night. Luckily, our landlords are amazing and were more than happy to let us stay. Now we are all checked in and squared away for the morning. We're hopping the earliest train to the airport. After a layover in London, we'll be on our way to Minneapolis and then Salt Lake! Here's to hoping all goes well. :)
Last night we went with Mark's coworkers to a nearby restaurant to celebrate the end of Mark's internship. It was a farewell party of sorts.
The restaurant we went to was really good! It's a type of restaurant that is owned by a wine company/family, and when the grape season is over, they open a restaurant to sell cheap food and wine. We were really surprised at how affordable the food was; most dishes were about 6 or 7 euros. For a European restaurant that is really affordable, considering that the price includes the tax and the tip. Hooray!
I ordered a "Grosser Salatteller" which basically is the German equivalent of the "Big Salad" (which was pretty funny to me, as a Seinfeld fan). OH MY. I've never had such a good salad in all my life. First off, the plate was huge. Then on top was salad greens, dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette. Then underneath the greens was a potato salad, rotkohl, carrot salad, radish* salad, and cucumber salad. I really wish I would have taken a picture but I devoured it before I really could. I used to eat a lot of salads back in the U.S., but for several reasons I haven't really eaten them over here. Needless to say, the salad hit the spot and I'll never forget it. YUM! Okay, I'll stop talking about it now. Mark ordered the schnitzel, which came with a potato salad. He said it was really good. The potato salad over here is really simple, but is so delicious. I'm not sure of all the ingredients, but it seems like it is covered in a lemony, creamy vinaigrette and a few spices. Really, very tasty.
They also had fresh grape juice that we could mix with carbonated water to make our own Traubenschorle (carbonated grape juice). We had a great time and I could tell that Mark really enjoyed some of his last hours with his coworkers.
Here's everyone at dinner! The couple in the front are the Yanceys, who are over here from USU for a Bosch internship as well. Then across from Mark is Alex, Mark's boss. Sitting next to Mark is Steffi, another coworker, and across from her is Katja, who is from a different department at Bosch but still came. Then at the end of the table is a lady who used to work at Bosch. We didn't know who she was, but were glad she was there to celebrate with us.
After we ate our main course, Alex ordered desserts/small appetizers for the whole table. He ordered a salzkuchen (salt cake--kind of like a thin quiche), apple cake (don't know the official german word for it), and two cheese platters. They were a perfect way to end the dinner, and each dish was delicious.
From the top left is the salzkuchen, followed by the cheese platter next to it, then at the bottom of the picture is the apple cake.
Mark and Alex. :)
I had to get another picture of them outside the restaurant together. I'm so glad that I remembered to take my camera so I could get a picture of Mark with his boss. Mark has really enjoyed working for Bosch, and a lot of it had to do with Alex. He was really kind to Mark and really respected him as a worker and intern. Mark really liked that he had a sense of humor and liked to joke around with him. He appreciated his kindness and patience in teaching him just how a business works. I know he'll always be thankful for Alex, and that he took him as his intern.
The dinner was so much fun. We had such a good time chatting with each other. We've had several of these dinners with Mark's coworkers as various interns have come and gone, and each time we always have a blast. His coworkers always make me feel comfortable and like I am part of the crowd, even though I don't know them and work with them everyday.
We've had fun lately getting used to the cooler weather and watching all the Christmas decorations get put up around the city. The Christmas market in Waiblingen starts this weekend, and the one in Stuttgart started earlier this week. We are so excited to see them both and will update soon on our trips to them. In the meantime, we've been enjoying the Christmas treats on the stores around here, especially this:
Behold, the beloved quark. Mark loves this stuff and I've really come to like it, too. This flavor is "baked apple." It has cinnamon and bits of cooked apples, with other spices. Quark is really hard to explain, so I won't attempt to do it. Instead, I'll just send you here. If I had to simplify it, quark is similar to cream cheese (although, don't say that to a German) not in taste, but in the fact that it is a soft, fresh cheese that is used in savory and sweet things. This quark that we eat is like a super thick yogurt. I think it's mixed with cream and fruit. It's almost indescribable, but trust me--it's delicious! We're definitely going to miss it, like we will with a lot of German foods.
Tomorrow is Mark's last day at Bosch. Next week, we will fly home!
*I think it was radish, made from a daikon. If it was, it was pretty tasty and I don't even like radishes. :)
Mark has exactly eight days of work left at Bosch. I haven't asked him his feelings on the subject, but I know one thing for sure: it has gone by FAST.
I know his time at Bosch has been fun and entertaining, but also challenging. I know he's learned many things that will help him in the future. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this internship. Not only was it for a big international company, but it was in another language and another country!
A few days after our castle and soccer trip, we prepared to head to Switzerland for a weekend with the Stettlers in Grindelwald. We were really excited to see them again, and it was going to be Todd's first trip there.
Did you know that trains over here can be really expensive sometimes? Well, they can. So we decided to rent a car to get down there. After shopping around for awhile, I found a good deal at SixT. As it turns out, most European rental cars are manual (as are most European cars in general, especially the small ones). I tried to find an automatic car, but the only one I could find was a Mercedes that was more on the expensive side. The plan was that I was going to drive down to Switzerland because I had been studying up on the road signs and how the roads work over here. The only problem was that I'm fairly inexperienced with a manual. Anyway, after I reserved our car (a VW Polo) I tried to get over the fear that I would have to drive and just hoped that everything would work out.
So the time came for us to leave to Switzerland. Mark and I went to go get the rental car, which luckily, was close to our apartment. We got all the paperwork signed and ready, and the lady handed us the keys to our car. The Polo wasn't available, so they gave us another car instead.
"Here are the keys. It's a Mini Cooper."
WHAT.
Now those who know me well know that I was fairly obsessed with Minis for a few years around the first time I went to Europe. I finally gave up with my obsession because I knew I would probably never get one. But now I FINALLY had the chance to drive one! Not only was it a Mini, but it was a convertible. Too bad it wasn't really the time of the year for that, or else we really would have put the top down!
Here's the beaut! Yeah, I know it's not a very good picture of it. But isn't it cute?
So after we got everything packed in and ready to go, I was behind the wheel. Except I was SO NERVOUS. I was mostly terrified because I wasn't 100% comfortable with my abilities to get going on a hill before rolling back and hitting someone. You know what I'm talking about.
As we got the GPS up and running (those things are lifesavers!) I turned out onto the road down towards the middle of the city thinking I was already on the route that the GPS was going to pick. I didn't want to do this because I knew that I could avoid the cities on the path down there. I also knew that I would be okay if I just got to an open road. Then I came to a pretty busy intersection on a hill. Except this intersection didn't really have a light on our side, and I didn't know what to do. Then I killed the car.
TWICE.
I told you I was scared of rolling back, didn't I? Luckily, Germans are pretty patient drivers and no one was honking at me yet. After I finally started up the car and was ready to go, I looked to my left and no one was coming, so I just made a right-hand turn. I knew that in Germany, you can't make right turns on a red. But the way that the intersection was set up, I didn't know if the light applied to me. It's hard to explain, but the street I was on was just a little up the street from the light, but close enough that it could have been part of it. I'm getting confused just writing this, and I'm sure you're even more confused reading it. Well, welcome to European streets!
Obviously, a right-hand turn was the wrong thing to do because someone honked at me and Mark said, "YOU JUST RAN A RED LIGHT AND ALMOST HIT THAT GIRL."
Mark and Todd convinced me to pull over and let Todd drive. By this time, my nerves were pretty much shot. I was thankful, but also concerned that Todd wouldn't know what he was doing on the road (like I'm one to talk!). So we took off down the road with Todd at the wheel, Mark navigating the GPS, and me in the back seat.
Yeah. I'm not proud of my driving incident over here, but I had to tell the story. Just don't tell anyone else about it. I'm a good driver, I promise!
Anyway, so we continued down the road. We went through Stuttgart and found ourselves on open road. Not just any open road though, we were on "the" Autobahn.
It was such a fun drive, and Todd was having a lot of fun driving the Mini and watching the cars fly by us. The trip through southern Germany was lovely. We saw a few castle ruins and some beautiful towns.
Not a very good picture either, but that's a castle.
We made it to Switzerland!
After about five hours or so, we made it to Grindelwald and to the Stettlers' house. It was dark, so we ate a fabulous dinner that they had prepared for us and visited until it was time to go to bed.
The next morning, we planned to take a cable car up to a mountain top that was just behind the Stettlers' house. In the winter, the lift is used for skiiers, since Grindelwald is such a popular place to go skiing. So we took the First lift up to see some amazing views of the Alps.
On the way to the top.
Even though it was mostly cloudy, it still looked amazing. I took about a thousand pictures. I could never get sick of the Alps!
Old Mark and me at the top.
Yes, there were people paragliding from the top! I got cold just looking at them. Brrr!
At the top of First, there's a restaurant. So after looking around and taking pictures for a little while, we went and got some soup and hot chocolate.
After we had been in there a little while, we came out again and some of the clouds had cleared off. So of course, I took a gazillion more pictures!
Look closely, you can see Grindelwald.
So after we marveled for a little while longer, we walked down to the zip line because Todd wanted to ride it.
I was too busy taking pictures with Todd's camera and I didn't get any of his pictures before he left. Luckily, Daniel sent me some. Thanks, Daniel!
Todd said it was fun. The zip line goes so fast! It only took him 45 seconds to get down to the next station. We hopped in a gondola and met him at the next stop. From there, we decided to hike down to the Stettlers' house.
I believe this is the Wetterhorn with the flag of Bern.
Our walk down to the Stettlers' house was amazing. The sun came out and it was such a nice walk. We had fun talking with them and seeing the amazing scenery. When we came here a few months ago with my family, we also walked down a trail by the mountains. Luckily, Grindelwald and the Alps have tons of trails, and it was fun to be able to experience a new one. If I lived there, I would certainly go hiking every day! So amazingly beautiful.
I was so surprised at how green it was, especially for late October. Even though most of the leaves on the trees seem to be gone, it was still gorgeous.
The Stettlers are so nice and patient with us. I think I was doing the same thing as I was by the Hohenzollern castle; taking a picture, walking about 50 feet, then taking more pictures. It is one of those places where you feel like everywhere you look there is an amazing picture, and every second you could take a picture and have a masterpiece.
After we walked down a ways, we cut through a field to get to the Stettlers' house. There were cows grazing there, but they certainly didn't seem to mind.
This is near the Stettlers' house. If you look between the two mountains, you can see a glacier.
Okay, okay. Just one more cow picture. ;)
After we got back to the Stettlers' house, we chatted for a while out on their deck and enjoyed the sun. Then we had another fabulous dinner. After that we looked at some vacation photos, chatted some more and enjoyed their company.
The next morning, we woke up to rain and threats of snow. We decided to head out a little early before any chance of the roads being bad, so we said goodbye to the Stettlers. As usual, we had such a great time and they are such nice hosts. They always make us feel like family and go above and beyond to make us feel comfortable. Thanks again for a great weekend, Stettlers!
I love Switzerland. We love Switzerland. I could never get sick of that place. The people in Switzerland take such good care of their country and their environment, and they are really considerate of others. I really think that is such an admirable thing. I think Grindelwald is amazing. It is a rather big ski resort, and there are quite a few houses. There are plenty of cows and even more visitors. Yet, it is really well preserved and you really feel like you are in the mountains. That always amazes me. Even with the amount of people that live and visit there and with all the cows, it just looks perfect and idyllic. The Swiss really care for their surroundings and it makes Switzerland such a great place to visit.
On the way back, we had more fun driving on the Autobahn. Todd even sped up a little bit so we could have more of a real "Autobahn" experience. Don't worry, we only went about 100 mph. (By Autobahn standards, that's really not that fast). It was fun. Mark took some videos and he mashed them together in this video. He won't admit it, but he's rather proud of it. Haha! It is just some videos and pictures of our trip down to Switzerland in the Mini. Enjoy!
The song on this video is "Autobahn" by a late 70s/early 80s German electronic band called Kraftwerk. All the sound effects in the video (honking, engine sounds, passing sounds) are part of the song. Mark and Todd's favorite part of the video is at the end where a car happens to pass us just as the song goes, "VRRROOMM!" It's priceless.
By the way, did you know that we have less than three weeks left here? We are most definitely sad about it. :(
