Sam Explores Germany & Switzerland Pt 3

Sun. Aug 30/09

-MS. FORGETFUL-
I asked Sergey to knock on my door when he was leaving, as I was worried I would miss the breakfast in the morning. I fumbled around my bag and realized that I had not re-packed my pjs into my knapsack. I was pretty frustrated with myself. I forced myself to change into outdoor clothes so that when Sergey woke me up, I didn't shock him! I also wrote on my hand to ask him for the directions for the hotel where they were having the breakfast. I fell asleep around 5amish and Sergey knocked on my door at 7 something. I decided to just get ready to leave and realized I had forgotten to ask him for the directions even though I had written it on my hand.

While I pondered my stupidity, I walked back to the castle to turn in both our sets of keys. It was a nice walk and the air was crisp. Then I walked back the way I semi-remembered us driving. Luckily for me, as soon as I turned the corner at the end, I recognized the way back to the hotel. I was in front of the hotel at 9:15amish and breakfast wasn't until 10:30am. I sat outside and waited. I saw Dave's uncle taking a morning walk and the hotel owner let me sit inside while I waited. I listened to music and waited. Eventually everyone came downstairs. Tobi and Diana walked by and said good morning...haha my first thought was actually..."crap, how do I say good morning again in German?" then I realized that they had said in English! I laughed a bit and said good morning back. I was barely functional on two hours of sleep.

It was nice to see most of the guests again as we sat down together for breakfast. I sat with Matt and Cynthia and they were going to be picked up by one of the colleagues to be driven to Nina & Dave's apartment in Frankfurt. After breakfast I rode in the car with Nina, her father and mother. We went to pick up their belongings at the castle and take down the signs at the parking lot. Nina's dad is a professor at the university and he was very knowledgable of the grounds so he drove around to the best places to take pictures.

-BILLEBECK-

I talked to Nina's parents as she slept in the car. They decided it would be nice to pick up some cake and desserts in Billebeck. Nina's dad pointed out the monastery and took me into the sandstone-built church, which was very lovely. We chose a few slices of cake and then headed back to their home. The cakes were delicious and one of them had gooseberries, which I really enjoyed. Nina's parents are great! They didn't know the translation for it in English right away and so they asked around to find out. I really like them. They told me to feel at home like I was one of their kids. I really hope to see them again.

-DAVE'S PARENTS' PLACE-

Once we arrived at their beautiful home, we all took naps. We were all pretty exhausted. When I woke up, I found Dave downstairs. We chatted about stuff and caught up. I'm really glad that I was able to see and spend time with them. Nina woke up shortly after that. The plan was to drop by Dave's parents and on the way, they would buy Curry Wurst for me to try. Curry Wurst is very interesting and you all must try it when you visit. I took a picture of it so you can see :)

Dave's parents' place is beautiful as well. Miriam and Adam were there too and we got to see pictures of Dave when he was a kid. Adam also told us about being a blood plasma donor. Just hearing about it makes me want to donate blood even more. He's done it more than 50 times already! I had a really nice time meeting both families. It is quite obvious that they are all close and love each other dearly. It made me miss my family a bit too. When we left Miriam and Adam said goodbye since I would not see them before they left for Australia. I will be seeing Dave's parents again tomorrow as they have invited us for dinner.

-I ALMOST WORE THE BOXERS!-

Haha remember my pajama predicament? Well I asked Dave and Nina if I could borrow a t-shirt and Dave said they could lend me a shirt and boxers hahaa. In the end, Nina's mom lent me a nightgown :D I slept in Nina's brother's room. It was very comfortable and I had a really good night of sleep.

Please forward to those I missed. Do you guys actually have time to read all of this? I should just post it on my blog and send you the link, eh?

-Sam ^__^

p.s. I forgot to mention that at the end of Dave and Nina's wedding, people could give donations which would be given to a charity. Yes, I forget a lot of things, don't I?