The Romantic Road, joy, and Kalifornien

It seems like every time I try to write another blog post, I completely forget anything and everything I did during the past week-good thing a lot happened this weekend!

We went to a monastery this weekend in Bronnbach, which isn't that far, and we can travel to for free with our semester passes, which was cool! Another really funny experience was being on the train with this group of German men on their way to a soccer game that they all get together a couple times a year to play. They were drinking wine and sparkling wine, and talking to us, and when they got out a new bottle, they got out cups to share with Annika, who was sitting with the three in the picture (she's the arm on the green bag) and Brian, Haleigh and I who were sitting with Tony, a member of their group. Keep in mind that this is at 9am or so. Only in Europe.

The monastery is literally one of three things in the town. There is also a restaurant/bar

and a hotel. There are probably a few houses for the people who work at these places, but there is nothing else. We saw about six cars in the parking lot of the monastery and were joking that this was the high season, and when we saw a car driving, that it was rush hour. Poor Bronnbach, all we did was joke about how little it is! But really, if you don't wave the train down at the station, it doesn't stop because no one goes there, and you have to tell them to stop for Bronnback when on the train. It is very pretty though! The monastery is, naturally, very old and very beautiful. Out tour guide took us through the monastery and although we didn't see any real monks (or fake monks, for that matter), we learned about what their lives looked like back in the day. Very simple, as one might imagine, and very interesting. I thought it was a great tour, probably the best of the trip, but that's not saying much, really (we'll get into Wuertzburg later).

After our tour, we went to Wertheim, which is a(nother) beautiful city on a river (the Tauber) where we walked through the city, saw the beautiful church to the right, and then divided up into groups- one went to the castle/mountain, one went to the glass museum, and one went to a Jewish memorial. I know, you're all expecting me to have gone to the Jewish memorial but I'm zigging when you think I'm going to zag! I went to the glass museum! See how spontaneous I am. Not that I didn't want to go to the Jewish memorial, but the glass museum was also super interesting-sounding, and I was really glad I went. The guy there was really funny, and spoke in German but threw in English when he could (he was explaining it had been a while since he had been in school learning English so he was rusty, which was funny). We were able to watch him, and Mike, a guy in our group, got to make a glass pig! It was really interesting.

Three of us, after the tour of the museum, decided to climb to to the top of the Berg where there was a pretty view, and although it was steep, it was totally worth it- it was so quiet on the top! We laid down on some benches/the grass, and had quiet time. We didn't speak, it didn't need to be spoiled with words, and eventually, lulled by the faint sounds of the city below, and the whisper of a breeze in the trees, fell asleep for a short time. It was a wonderful time, with no hustling of getting to trains or trying to get all I can out of a city, but just enjoying it.

We went back to Bronnbach later that day and ate dinner at the one (you think I'm kidding) restaurant in the town, and ate a sub-par meal, but in great company, so it was definitely worth it. The best part of being on trips like these is the laughter. Our language professor, a fairly proper German man, on a school sponsored trip, in a different language, told us this joke at the train stop that had us cracking up for a long time. He started off by telling us that he knew a joke, but that it wasn't necessarily appropriate, but being the 20-somethings (well, almost) that we are, we encouraged him to tell it anyway: "A little boy comes home from school and complains that cigarette prices have gone up, and, a little worried, his mother inquires about when he began smoking "oh, around the first time I had sex" he replies. "When did you start having sex?!" asks his mother "oh I don't remember, I was really drunk". "

While this joke alone might not strike you as hilarious, our graduate student assistant, Eric, piped up and said "that wasn't a joke, that was Herr Doerr's childhood" and that made it all the funnier to us. Maybe you had to be there...

The next day we headed to Wuertzburg, and got the worst tour perhaps ever of some castle. Okay, by "some castle

" I mean the Residence, which is very pretty, but we had a terrible tour and thus, were unable to fully appreciate the beauty and history of it. After, we had some free time and decided to get some lunch, then wandered around the city, appreciating the music festival happening. We stopped on the main bridge for a while and then decided to climb to the top of the Festung

Marienberg- the Marienberg Fortress, which Herr Doerr had said we wouldn't have enough time for, but being the way we are, we decided to try it anyway. We totally dominated that fortress! It was a beautiful view of the river and the city, and we sat there and looked, and absorbed, and talked and looked for a while, which was very enjoyable. My friend Annika snapped this picture

of all of us watching below, and it just might be my favorite picture of the trip. From L-R: Anne, Me, Brian, Haleigh, Dan, Melissa, Megan. I swear this isn't green screen, although it looks fake!

My friend Becca asked me the other day "what has been joyful about your experience so far?" and I thought I'd share my answer here. The answer is a lot. Joy comes in the small experiences for me: meeting new people; being able to communicate with a real live German successfully, navigating a foreign place with no knowledge of public transportation; walking through the city on my way to class in the morning before the hustle and bustle, watching the sky, smelling the fresh air and listening to my iPod; seeing beautiful places; climbing a monstrosity of a big hill and then relaxing in the quiet and spending some time with God; travelling with friends on trains; taking walks with no destination.

I am so thankful to be here, and to be able to experience this.

Today, as in a few minutes ago, I went to the grocery store (German-style, I only got 5 things and will be back in two days) and as I walked back, down Hauptstrasse alone, I saw a bookstore I have seen before but never have gone into. I stepped in, and took a look around, breathing in the smell of a bookstore, and after taking a few minutes to look at the "foreign" books, wandered deeper in and found myself in the travel section. As I was about to turn away, a book caught my eye. The picture caught my eye really: a picture of poppies. Poppies. It was a travel book on California, and being me, I picked it up, flipped through it and was about to put it down when Sacramento caught my eye. Reading through their recommended places to eat, visit and see made me smile (and want some Tower cornmeal pancakes). I left the bookstore and continued down Hauptstrasse, and what should I hear as I was about to turn down my street? A German street musician, foot tapping out the tambourine, playing the guitar and singing his heart out. What was he singing? Hotel California.

California was calling me today!