Germany – Part 1

While Mary is napping I thought I would blog a bit about how our vacation is going so far. We’ve been in Lübeck, Germany for about two days now. It’s a bit rainy outside today, which is why we’re not walking around right now.

We got off the plane in Hamburg at around noon on Thursday. Maybe a little after. Took off from Chicago (O’Hare) around 7:30 PM on Wednesday. Accounting for local time and a layover of about an hour in Switzerland, we were travelling for about 12 hours or so. It’s funny how the nighttime only lasts about 4 hours when you are flying straight through it. Mary slept on the plane, I watched three movies. (The Adjustment Bureau should have been better, Cedar Rapids was actually quite good, and No Strings Attached was just something to keep me sane for the last few hours of the trip.)

Mary’s friend Kristie met us at the airport, and drove us to her apartment in Lübeck. She very nicely has allowed us to sleep in her bed and basically have her apartment to ourselves while she stays with her boyfriend, Basti (Sebastian). They’ve all been really hospitable.

So, after a quick shower and teeth-brush, we went to a small town near Ratzeburg (the name of which I have forgotten, if I ever knew it well enough to repeat) to have a cookout with Kristie’s parents in their beautiful garden. They were very nice, and made sure I had plenty to eat and drink. Coincidentally – or rather, subsequently, I have discovered a new beer to call one of my favorites – Hefeweizen, which is a type of wheat beer (weissbier). It is cloudy, creamy, and delicious.

 

Here is a video of a robot doing a nice pour of a bottle of such a beer.

After the car ride back to Lübeck (during which I drifted in and out of consciousness), Mary and I went immediately to bed. On Friday, we had a great time walking around the city center, and seeing the wonderful old architecture that can only be found in places as old as this one. We ate dinner at a restaurant called The Jazz Café. I had Spargel mit schnitzel (asparagus with schnitzel) accompanied with a few more glasses of Hefeweissen (seriously SO good).

  

When we had finished dinner – which we had with Kristie – we went back to the apartment to have some more drinks. Basti joined us, and we eventually walked down the street to the “KostBar” and had a few more. After ugly face competitions, we went home and slept until noon.

  

I understand jet lag now. It is an unruly beast.

So our plan was today to go to Hamburg and look around, but since it is raining a bit, we decided to stay in Lübeck and wait it out. We might walk around a bit more, since it is a beautiful city, and maybe do some shopping. Monday we will visit Berlin, and then it is off to Basel, Switzerland to visit Debbie. I am sure I will post more as it happens.

There are more pictures on Facebook, if you are among the lucky, lucky few who can count themselves among my Facebook friends.