Hello Again!
Today was another fantastic day!! Helen and I woke up after a long night of her snoring and me clinging to the edge of the bed to prep for our trip to Stuttgart (I finally figured out how to spell it - I think). I met about ten of Helen's nearest and dearest friends at the train station and we had to mad dash it to the train. Unfortunately I lost some of my kinder chocolate along the way but the pull of beer was too strong to account for any stopping.
We rode a little more than an hour to Stuttgart for the Spring Festival (which is basically an excuse for another Oktoberfest) and along the way everyone was drinking beer...at 10:30 in the morning. Helen and her German friends were trying to convince me that not everyone is always drinking, but based on being greeted at the train station with beer today and yesterday, I am not so sure. Also, sidenote, they have something here that needs to become popular in the States, it is a special kind of beer where they mix it with lemonade. For those of us who don't like beer this is a dream come true!!
Upon arrival we made it into the tents and all ordered our first round of beers. It is important to note a couple of things when drinking in Germany:
1. Beer only comes in liters. I googled it, a liter equals about 2.11 pints.
2. Drinking is acceptable anywhere: on the train, in the park, in the bathroom - I am pretty sure they might also do it at church.
3. If you are drinking a bottle of water while everyone else is drinking beer it will be assumed that your bottle is full of vodka and the Polizei will make you throw it away.
4. Once you have a liter you will have another, and another, and another...
5. After your first liter it is perfectly acceptable, nay, MANDATORY, that you stand on the bench and dance.
6. The song "Sweet Caroline" will get stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
7. The best decision that can be made after a couple of liters is to find a WC (bathroom). In the WC it is important to donate your money to the woman sitting in the chair in the bathroom if you are satisfied with the quality of the bathroom.
8. You need to lift weights if your dream is to be a barmaid. They can lift ten steins at a time, full of beer. I could barely lift my one with both hands!
9. After drinking for awhile the best decision is to of course go on rollercoasters.
At the Spring Gestival it is basically like a State Fair on steroids. There are intense rollercoasters everywhere, delicious fair food (which kicks American fair food's ass), beer, and pretty much no children (my favorite part). Helen, her roommate Alex, and I decided that it would be best to ride some rollercoasters. Helen did not stay long because she was in search of her boyfriend so Alex and I rode about six coasters just on our own which was so much fun. I was so thrilled to have someone around who could speak almost better English than myself!
When we reconnected with everyone we decided to go to Stuttgart Center to eat some delicious paasta dinner. The chef gave me my drink on the house because I was on holiday. By this point everyone was exhausted and we all slept on the ride back to Ulm.
Tomorrow Helen and I are going to wander Ulm and possible walk to the top of the highest church steeple in Europe. I feel a great deal of pride in the 6 billion stairs I have walked here, so what's another 650 more? I do have more than my fair share of blisters (the last count was three) but I am taking them on as signs of how unbelievably awesome this trip has been.
Time to sleep (with earplugs - thank you Miss Snores Alot :).
I miss you guys but I am having trouble convincing myself to come home.
Ciao!
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