It's Already Summer In My Mind!

My 2 roommates and myself ventured out for Fruhlingsfest on Saturday. It was about an hour away in Stuttgart (Sarah, that is where you're flying into in a few weeks!!) Fruhlingsfest is the Spring version of Oktoberfest and is slightly smaller. Honestly it reminded me a lot of the Fryeburg Fair. Same shady carnies, same crying kids and tired parents, same easy to pick-out couples who are trying to impress each other in front of their friends, but one MAJOR difference was the beer tents! Every Hofbrau Haus within a 50 mile radius set up shop.

One thing that throws you with all the beer being handed out is that back in the States, we use bars as age filters. We know that if you have a drink in your hand, in a bar, you are of an appropriate age to talk to. Here 16 year olds can order beer and it is crazy to see young teenagers getting drunk midweek or on a weekend afternoon. When do they find time to do homework?

This is only the beginning!

Owning a Dirndl would be awesome and it would guarantee me a Halloween costume for the next 10 years, but they are a little pricey. Upwards of 200 Euros pricey. They are easier to find in the Bavarian region of ermany, which is 2 - 3 hours from Aalen, but Fruhlingsfest was teeming with them!

Can you guess the common theme here?

There were so many rides that were based on American pop culture. Games centered on the Chicago Bulls or Mavericks and Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. It is so funny when I hear Amercian artists on the radio over here. It isn't like everyone over here knows what Rhianna or Eminem is saying, but they all love the songs. When J-Lo put out a CD in Spanish, I didn't listen to it b/c I had no idea what she was saying so what is so great about cd's in English?

In the beer tent there was a lady who came around with shots of Jager. The same went for a waitress with cigars!

Immediately following the shot waitress was the lady who came around with a breathalizer to check your BAC. I don't think they cared how high it was, it was supposed to be a novelty over anything else.

You can sign up for a bike and beer tour. All you do is take a seat on the wagon while they constantly serve you beer and you look at the sights. I am holding onto that idea. It may be my back-up if I don't get into grad school!

Awkward Family Photo!

What used to be the Duke of Baden-Wurtemburg's Palace, who Napoleon named a king and is now used as local government offices.

Stuttgart Gardens

This just reminded me of home. That may be an Elk or really masculine Deer. Either way it is wildlife and therefore it is Maine!

Stuttgart park. I have been so lucky. The weather over here is AWESOME. It hasn't dipped below 75 for a week and a half now. It is too bad I am nowhere near an ocean or lake. I have realized that is one thing I miss desperately from back home. You don't realize how important something is until it is gone, right? North Conway Summers cannot be beat!

Vineyards in Germany. Who would have thought?

We climbed the tower of the train station to get these pictures. Scaled the walls would be more accurate.

Nothing is cuter than baby duckies and their family!

Except of course saying the word duckies..

We also made a stop at Europa Park last Thursday! Germany's largest theme park. It is their own Disney! It's a 3 hour drive from Aalen and totally worth it. We were all up at 6 am to take this on. I went with my roommate, 2 friends from the Master's program and their 3 relatives.

I am not sure how gullible I am, but our German friend we came with told me that the satellite behind me is a life-size portrayal of what the Russians sent into space over 50 years ago. Whether it was the truth or a lie it was still a great ride!

The roller-coasters in Germany are insane. In every trip I have ever taken down to Florida's theme parks, I have never experienced anything like these! One coaster slingshots you from 0-200mph in .000001 second. No exaggeration! The one above has a 200 foot drop going 135 km an hour, which is around 85 mph. When the camera took a picture of me and my roommate, it showed us clutching our chests b/c we were both so close to having a heart attack. I am proud to say that the second time around we did the entire thing without hands!

Our first ride was one of those rides that gets you absolutely soaked so while we were waiting to ride it we analyzed closely the best seat to take in order to stay the most dry.

It really didn't matter where you sat. You were still going to get wet.

Some more than others. It became a common theme that I was always asked to sit on the outside. On all the scary roller coasters and wet rides, my partners wanted me to take the fall for them. Grown men couldn't handle it. I guess that means I am a hero.

After taking a stroll through the horror ride. It wasn't all that horrific. All the scary narration was done in German so it was like going into a haunted house blind. Except that at one point they turned the lights off and when the flickered them back on, a dummy fell from the ceiling as though he hung himself. When they reeled he dummy back up his head missed the open trap door and hit the ceiling. He should have planned ahead for that mishap before hanging himself.

There was a 20 minute 4-D animation movie about global warming. A turtle narrated it and yes it was in German, but surprisingly I knew what was going on. It's amazing how far you can get with pictures and hand motions!

This coming month is going to be crazy! I leave for Prague for 4 days this coming Friday and then am visiting an old friend in Baden-Baden and going to a German play. (We will see how much of it I understand) and then Sarah comes out for 2 weeks and onto Ireland we go!! Oh yeah, and I have a few presentations due for classes.

Probably most importantly though is that my roommate just figured out how to stream live sports games over here. So tomorrow we are watching the Bruins vs. the Canadians. The game will be at 2 am our time, but it is ladies night in town with 1 Euro daquiries so we will have something to keep us busy until then. (Those are one thing that really showcase how different Europe and America is, any drink that is supposed to be icy, just comes out like juice. Thankfully they only cost a Euro!)

Happy Easter everyone!