Germany Part 2

Now let's finish up Germany, shall we?

Next stop was Munich.

We had absolutely no idea what to expect from Munich. We just thought, it's one of Germany's largest cities with lots of people.. It'll entertain us.

And it did!

We were lucky enough to stay at a Marriott right in the center of the city.

It was more active and lively than any place we visited.

We dropped off our hiking bags & headed out.

Munich is full of people enjoying summer.
There were people playing bocce ball in a large park.
There were couples dancing in an open gazebo as locals played music just for fun. No tips taken.
There was a open air badmiton tournament.
Just around the corner was a band playing on stage surrounded by carnival concession stands.

It was a blast to walk around a hang out with European strangers.  

After just one day/night in Munich, we headed to our favorite city, Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

If (or should I say when?) you go to Germany, you must must MUST stop for a day or two

 in this super charming town.

First things first, we checked into another adorable and humble B & B, Kreuzerhof Hotel Garni.

When we arrived, I skimmed the board for our name and couldn't find Nelson.

Then I remembered that I made everything under my maiden name because of my passport.

Sadly, I didn't see Fausett on there because I don't look for that name anymore.

Found us!

This place was simple and charming.

There were a couple packages of gummie sheep on our pillows that said Guten Nacht (good night) on them. The little touches made it so fun!  That's our cute little B & B below.

The first thing we did in Rothenberg was walk the wall around the city.

Much of the wall is several hundred years old. Other parts had to be restored from when we bombed

 the city in WWII. We learned that over 300 houses had been destroyed in the war.

About 60% of the town is original and the other 40% was rebuilt in the same style.

When you walk on the wall you can see everything; "Christmastown", restaurants,

neighborhoods and the main clocktowers.

This is the most photographed house in Germany. And for good reason! It's adorable.

(How many times have I used the word 'adorable' so far? Well, I ain't stoppin'!)

After eating a delicious Italian meal (don't you dare judge us!), we decided to do the Night Watchman Tour.

It was fun to go throughout the town with this guy below telling us SO many stories about Rothenberg.

I'm pretty sure he was American. Too many American pop culture references and an awfully fake accent.

Did you hear me say "Christmastown" earlier? Oh yes.

There is an area of Rothenberg where Kathe Wohlfahrt keeps a Christmas village all year round.

I was in holiday heaven.

One thing we saw before leaving was a Crime and Torture Museum.

 It was so interesting to see what punishments there were for

lying to the preacher and stealing corn from a neighbor back in the day.

I spent like 5 hours there. Yeah... I guess that's kinda creepy, huh?

The next day was our last day in Germany.

We left Rothenberg ob der Tauber for Dusseldorf. It was one of the longest train rides of my life.

We finally got into Dusseldorf and we were starving. We walked around for what felt like an hour

trying to find a restaurant with an English menu posted outside.

For the first time in our entire European experience- on our very last day in Germany-

we couldn't find an English menu.

We didn't dare eat somewhere with a German-only menu because we didn't care for the food.

In what seemed a perfect coincidence, we turned the corner and found a Korean restaurant.

A Korean restaurant in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Mike and I looked at each other. Nothing had to be said. Thanks to Mike's Korean we could eat something!

So there you have it.

We absolutely LOVED Germany!

Not so much the food but definitely the country.

Germany Part I

Remember that one time Mike and I went to Europe? Yeah. I do too.

...& remember that one time we went to Germany & then posted awesome pictures of it on our blog?

Oh crap. That never happened. I swear I meant to post them right after pictures of Spain and Italy. Life is tough when you have a laptop circa 2004. I get impatient.

Despite how captivating the other countries were, our favorite part of Europe 2011 was GERMANY.

I know. I know. That's strange... but true.

We decided to see Germany the cheapest way we could for 5 days. This meant flying into the

smallest airport in the middle of nowhere, traveling from the airport to the nearest train station by

bus and then it was all trains from there!

After several hours on trains,we made it to our first stop: Fussen.  

It didn't take more than a couple bites of rarely cooked bratwurst

and warm potato salad for us to realize that these Nelsons don't love German food.

We checked into Suzanne's, our adorable B&B, and then spent the evening walking around the beautiful city.

The next day we went to see the castles!

Neuschwanstein Castle and Hohenschwangau Castle.

If you have an extra 20 minutes in your day and you're really bored... read those links.

The history is fascinating! (The Disney castle was inspired by the Neuschwanstein.)

Incredibly gorgeous views... everywhere.

It would be our luck that it started raining the second we get out of the castle and
have a 30 minute walk downhill. 

We were sad to leave Fussen but we were on to the next city. This picture was taken approximately 5 minutes before the most depressing thing happened.

I LOST OUR CAMERA.

I left it at the train station in Fussen and didn't realize it until we were 45 minutes out.

Tears were pouring down my face. I couldn't believe I had been so careless. All the pictures we had taken in Europe over the past 2 weeks were gone and I couldn't have been more frustrated with myself. Mike somehow convinced me to get off at the next stop, catch a train going back to Fussen and at least check

to see if it was sitting there.

AND IT WAS! (Obviously... I'm sure everyone figured that out already.)

For some reason our camera was still sitting back at the train station.

I immediately prayed & thanked Heavenly Father because, hello!

He is the reason I left Europe with pictures.



Wow. I'm lucky to be married to such a positive person.

He didn't worry once. He trusted the honesty of those Germans.

I must have trust issues though. I thought there was no way humanly possible for my camera to sit at a

train station for nearly 2 hours, untouched, unharmed, un-stolen.

Okay, I swear I won't leave the next few posts witha sad/negative vibe. I've been doing that too much lately.

that irks me.

Just 2 minutes ago I spoke with someone who does not understand

a specific word in the English language: literally.

This has got to be my all-time BIGGEST pet peeve.

People using the word "literally" in the wrong context.

Some examples for you:

"It literally blew my mind."

Did it really? Your mind looks completely intact to me, minus the fact that you have no clue

what literally means.

"I was literally shocked when he said that."

Did he get you with a lightning bolt? or a taser?

“The world is literally her oyster.”
(A quote from Sarah Palin's spokeswoman)

Really?

This is abuse.
Abuse of a grammatical nature and I'm sick of it! Sick of it, people!

my new job.

Things I've learned/observed from my 2 weeks in a law firm:

1. People are always walking at an uncomfortably fast pace. They don't nessacarily have somewhere to be either.
2. There are secretaries, legal assistants and paralegals. They all need help with their workload. Yay?
3. Most attorneys don't have a special title like "Doctor" or "Professor". Some deserve the title of "Diva" .
4. People go out to eat lunch. Every single day. That can't be healthy.
5. Company parties are awesome. Three words: spare no expense.
6. This is not Marriott. I am not supposed to build friendships with clients. I am to be professional and short. I learned this the hard way when I responded to someone with, "Yeah, absolutely!" instead of "Yes."
Senior partner = not diggin' Alyssa because Alyssa = friendly. Apparently, that needs to change.
7. Billing bites. 3,000 Bills sent out monthly. All done by yours truly.
8. Runners and receptionists are business best friends. My runners are already looking out for me.
9. There are no mistakes allowed. Not even teeny tiny "oopsies".
10. There are more high heels around this place than a drag party.
11. This place is a real life Suits  (ya know, the USA television series. What? You don't watch it? You need to. Oh, you need to.) with all the beautiful people, intelligence and power.

So there's a lot of stress involved with this job. LOTS.

Like I've told some people though... I just need to grow some thick skin

and it'll be more than worth it!

best sport ever. FOOTBALL.

BREAKING NEWS:

BYU football practice was delayed nearly two hours today after a player reported finding an unknown white powdery substance on the practice field. The head coach immediately suspended practice while police were called to investigate .

After a complete analysis experts determined that the white substance unknown to players was the GOAL LINE.
...Practice resumed after a special agent decided the team was unlikely to encounter the substance again.

Bahahaha!

A little harsh? Maybe.

A friend posted that on Facebook today and I laughed. Thought I'd pass it on.

Cougar friends, it's okay. You can laugh too.

I'm pretty bummed that Mikey and I couldn't get cheap student or MUSS tickets for this season.

Instead, I will be watching the game tonight from the comfort of my own couch (in jammies).
Go Utah!!!