To be continued….

I am German. My grandmother was from a small town in Bavaria, Germany and my grandfather was a German in Yugoslavia (later back in Germany). And, yes, I speak German (disclaimer: brokenly). Yet, somehow, I had never been to Germany. I have family there but we’ll save that story for another post. Fun fact: if you go to the bathroom in a German gas station, the toilet will clean itself when you ‘ahem’ flush. That’s German engineering for ya! My first stop was in Sankt Goar, Loreley on the breathtaking Rhine River. This town was very, very small. BUT, there were three little castles on a hill (insert Ed Sheeran lyrics here). St. Goar is a wine town. (Score!) If you ever come across a very expensive bottle of German wine called “Eiswein”. BUY. IT. And send me some! You’ll thank me later!   This wine is made from grapes that have been frozen on the vine. It tastes like honey. Yumm! My big mistake: I didn’t buy any. Again, I was foolish. I thought that I would find some Eiswein closer to home family and could wait. I never found anymore. It was too early for “eiswein season”, and what I had in St. Goar was from last year’s harvest. Another tourist tip (besides eiswein): St. Goar is home to the World’s. Largest. (Free hanging.) Cuckoo. Clock. (It’s actually not that big). They also have cute shops of biersteins and Birkenstock (aka the world’s best sandals).

         Next stop; Munich. Something you should know: I still live with my parents. Apart from a brief month where I lived at school for 4 days out of the week, I’ve always been with my Mama. I’m not ashamed. I love my family. So, being away from them and alone did start to get a little scary for me. At this point, I had been away from my family for approximately 43,200 seconds 5 days. Something else you should know: I’m an introvert and I’m from Michigan. In Munich, I went on a bike tour with the group. And… drum roll please… the tour guide was from MICHIGAN!! When he said that, I screamed from all the way from the back of the group.  The look on people’s face. I hadn’t really talked to anyone the whole trip. Then, here I am. Screaming. Now, I don’t know how I even did it. Normally, it takes me at least 5 minutes of contemplation just to give input into a conversation. I guess, the feeling of home is a strong feeling. Strong enough to get a voice out of this 5-foot girl. Let’s throw it back to my fave bible verse: “… He will satisfy your needs in a sun scorched land…” Here, we have a different scenario. I was feeling homesick. I felt the need to go home. And God goes ahead and throws someone from my hometown in my path. Wow. God; constantly satisfying. Munich was great. I firmly believe every country/state should have their own “Biergarten”. (A biergarten is exactly what it sounds like: A big garden where you eat and drink beer.) I finished Munich with the infamous Hofbräuhaus. Here’s a tidbit of history: this beer hall is where Hitler first rallied his people. Yes, I’m a history buff. In other words, Germany was great. So great, I will come came back a few weeks later…

                                            The world’s largest free hanging cuckoo clock.

This picture doesn’t do St. Goar justice.

                               Don’t worry. I couldn’t even finish half of this 1 liter beer Radler.