The End of 2010

Last week capped off one of the strangest travel weeks I've had.  It went a little something like this...bus from Italy to Germany to ski in Austria for three days back to Italy on a bus only to wake up the next morning and drive to the airport and take a plane back to a different part of Germany for New Years.  A crazy week...but probably appropriate for the end of a crazy year that had me bouncing from North Carolina to Quincy to Italy.  Here's how the last week was spent...

"Working" on the Slopes
The first leg of last week's travels was a "business" trip.  I chaperoned a three day ski trip to Germany/Austria.  (Our accommodations were in Germany, but the skiing was in Austria).  I spent one full day and two half days at Ehrwald, a ski resort just near the Western Austrian/German border.  I had high expectations for Austrian skiing, but turns out, I like the Italian places we've been better.  Ehrwald was much smaller than some of the Italian resorts and since it was Christmas week, it was fairly crowded.  A nice dusting of snow on Tuesday night helped with conditions, but by the end of Wednesday and Thursday, they were less than desirable.  I did have to sit in the mid-mountain restaurant as the chaperone there for a good part of Wednesday, but I managed to get an afternoon shift so that I was skiing the best runs in the morning.  I didn't get to explore much of the mountain while skiing because I had a group of kids who were determined to only stay on the easiest trails for three days.  I've reasoned that I'm fairly adept at ski chaperoning and waiting for kids to come down the mountain.  When people ask me where I learned such skills, I tell them I spent many years waiting for my sister to make her way down the slopes, no exposed skin and all.

 

Happy 2011!
After a fun-filled three days with middle and high school students, it was time to head back to Germany.  The hub and I planned to spend NYE in Heidelberg, Germany with our friends Johnny and Mimi who we met in North Carolina.  The whole idea behind living in Europe was to be stationed with them in Heidelberg, but clearly, that backfired. 

Heidelberg is a lovely little town in Central Germany.  It's fairly Americanized, thanks in part to the military presence and a large international university.  To get to the downtown area, we hopped on a trolley similar to (although far more efficient, modern and clean) the green line.  The main streets downtown are lined with all types of stores and restaurants, which was a welcome change from the streets of Italy.  We were able to eat ribs, chicken wings, and all sorts of nasty American food.  It was delicious.

We also met up with another military couple who came from North Carolina and live nearby in Germany.  The wife is Brazilian and brought her Brazilian friend who was visiting.  Turns out, I learned a whole lot about New Year's in Brazil and not so much about New Year's in Germany.  December in Brazil is summer time, so party goers pack the beaches for a raucous party.  My Brazilian friends tell me it's pretty crazy and they were laughing at the lack of people celebrating in Germany.  They also helped me with some Portuguese...Feliz Anno Novo!  One of the girls had never been to Europe and rarely experienced cold weather.  She marveled at the snow outside (she'd never seen it before), being able to see her breath (she called it breathing fire) and winter clothes (she borrowed everything she was wearing).  I also asked them about the only Brazilian I know...Gisele.  They said she's very highly regarded in her home country.  When I asked them about Tom Brady, they said that he's just Gisele's husband, or her baby's daddy.  I tried to tell them otherwise without much success.

Ringing in 2011 with the Brazilians!

At midnight, we were standing on the Old Bridge downtown over the Neckar River.  Unlike at home, there was no countdown or planned fireworks show.  The mass of people decided when it was midnight themselves and just lit off a slew of their own fireworks.  I actually thought I might get hit with one since it was commonplace to just light them in a massive crowd as you can see here...

One thing I did learn about German New Year festivities is that they are called Silvester Parties.  Every restaurant and bar in town had a sign for the Silvester Party.  I saw it at the first place we went (it said, "Silvester Party, Entry Free") and I thought it was nice of the Silvester's to let us in to their party.  At the next place we went, I saw it again and thought Wow, these Silvester's sure are having one hell of a party here in town.  Turns out, everyone has a Silvester Party and like Chinese food restaurants at home that have special New Year's menus, German restaurants had Silvester menus.

On New Year's Day, we ventured out on the town again and visited the Heidelberg Castle, a structure high above the town with great views.  I'm not sure of the significance of the Castle, but it was destroyed by the French and is in the process of being rebuilt.  Ironically, the intact section of the castle is home to an expensive French restaurant...

View of the city from the Heidelberg Castle

The other highlight of our trip was visiting with Selma, Johnny and Mimi's bulldog puppy.  Someone in this household whose name is not Lisa has wanted a bulldog puppy for years and I've managed to avoid getting one every time.  I'm just not much of a dog person and having grown up with the amazing and immortal Jennifer the cat, I just can't be bothered by all the hassle that dogs are.  As you can see, Selma was kinda cute and may have softened my heart just a little...

How can you say no to a face like this?

On our way to the airport on Sunday, we stopped by Ramstein Air Force Base.  Hearing that they have great facilities, we decided to check it out.  Not only do these great facilities include a shopping mall, they also have a Chili's!  An American Chili's!  With American menus and American servers and American portion sizes!  In all our excitement, we ordered way too much food and didn't need to eat for the rest of the day!  Oh how I miss terrible American food!

Hoping 2011 brings more opportunities to travel....and also a chance to travel back to Quincy!