Fall Break

I thought Oktoberfest deserved it's own post, but it really was just the kick off to my Fall Break. Friday was Oktoberest, Saturday and Sunday Anne and I hung out and explored Heidelberg, on Monday, Aaron and Tom and I signed up for classes, and chilled in Heidelberg, and then on Tuesday I began my trek to England.

Saturday morning found me very well-rested, as I let myself sleep in. I checked my email, my facebook, read a book, and enjoyed the solitude, but after I got a little bored of being alone, I talked to Anne, and we decided to go adventure! We walked to Bismarkplatz, and just took a random S-Bahn. We didn't pay too much attention to where it was going, we just decided to see where it took us. Handschuhsheim is where it ended up taking us- the oldest part of Heidelberg (as Frau Dr. Heckmann will tell you with pride, it is something like 600 years older than Heidelberg). We hopped off at a random stop, and began walking, just looking around and stumbled upon a cute little cafe where we ate such delicious Pfannkuchen (kinda like crepes, but stuffed with spinach and cheese) and Käse spätzel. We wandered around the rest of Heidelberg and ended up at Aaron's for pizza (delivery- very exciting!)

Sunday Anne and I went to church and made a delicious (and classy, since we listened to Ella Fitzgerald) breakfast of pancakes, and chilled, enjoying a nice lazy Sunday. Finding eggs in Heidelberg on a Sunday, as well as a holiday, proved difficult, but we found a place in the Hauptbahnhof open, and while waiting for the bus outside of the Hbf, met a lady and her cute kid who showed his knowledge of the German language by shouting "Eier! Eier!" at us, pointing at the eggs in my hands. He was so cute, and every time we thought he'd forgotten, because he was looking at the buses, he'd whip around pointing at my hands- "Eier!" It thoroughly amused us.

Tuesday I got up really early (3am), walked to the Hbf (it was so early no buses or S-bahns were running, so I walked) to catch my train that would take me to the Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) where I took a plane to Amsterdam, and then a plane to London Heathrow and then a coach (British English for bus) to Nottingham. After waiting in the bus station in Nottingham for a few hours because Joanna and I couldn't get a hold of each other, I prevailed upon the kindness of a nice man in the Nottingham public transportation office who, after hearing me ramble about 16 hours of traveling and and asking about an internet cafe, allowed me to use his phone and call Joanna.

England was fine, but I definitely missed Germany. Joanna and I had a lot of fun exploring, and enjoying each other's company, and remembering what it was like to see each other every day when waking up (hello, head to foot in a twin bed!)! We went to a wine tasting put on by the

Wine and Spirits Club of the University of Nottingham, walked to a cute town called Beeston, ate delicious pastries, shopped and laughed. We went to the Goose Fair, something we had been told we could not miss, it was so awesome and make sure to see it. What was it? A carnival with English accents and an abundance of hot mushy peas (with or without mint sauce- your choice!) It was cool, but definitely not what we were expecting! The morning I left England, Joanna and I had a wonderful breakfast at a lovely (see how I just picked up the lingo? pip, pip cheerio!) teahouse in Nottingham. It was so picturesque, so naturally, I took a picture (I'm a tourist for a reason, right?)

Getting home from England was a nightmare. It was komplett furchtbar (completely terrible). I missed my plane to Amsterdam (and thus my plane home) and ended up buying a direct (which was nice, but not something I had planned on doing!) Lufthansa flight and another train ticket once I got to Frankfurt. It was definitely a learning experience, and I was so, so thankful to be home. England does not gefällt mich. I realized, through this trip, just how much I love

Germany. I love the language, the warm embrace of familiarity, and very importantly: the efficiency of the Germans (which is not rivaled even a little bit by the English). It was good to be home!