Hallo Germany & Friends






*more pictures at the bottom of the post*

Germany
After our flight from Madrid, we arrived in Dusseldorf. First step was hitting up an arrivals lounge for free
lunch and a German beer! After we confirmed and picked up our rental car, we headed to our friend
Christopher’s house in Viersen, Germany. It was great seeing Christopher and Anja again, over a month
had gone by since we all were boating together in Lago di Garda, Italy.


We relaxed our first night at Christopher’s, since we had a 5 hour bus ride from Alcala la Real to Madrid,
then a red-eye flight to Dusseldorf--we were beat! The next day we decided to get outside, Lindsey and
I saw Eifel National Park was only 2 hours away, so we took a beautiful drive to the nature area, walked
around and enjoyed lunch outdoors.


Later that evening our German friends  invited us to a music festival in the town square. A great evening
together, we enjoyed drinks with Christopher, Anja and Simone. Simone’s sister opened a cooking studio
where friends can learn to cook a meal together in a professional kitchen, luckily it also had prime
location for the festival. We enjoyed a couple drinks on the patio and chatted about our travels.
The next day Simone planned a barbecue at her house. We needed groceries and found out the hard
way that German grocery stores are not open on Sundays. Well…not exactly a problem, Simone helped
us kill two birds with one stone--She took us shopping in nearby Venlo, Netherlands--where grocery
stores ARE open on Sundays! After returning to Viersen, we started preparing a great dinner and got to
dine with everyone outside on the patio at Simone’s! It was a wonderful evening. We spent time not only
with Simone, Michael, Christopher and Anja, but also their cool kids; Michael Jr., Sophia, Julia and Stella.
What a nice evening!  
Lindsey and I also got to see Christopher and Anja’s new house under construction. It is a big project,
they are taking an existing house down to the studs and customizing it to their needs. When complete,
it will be beautiful--they said we will have to visit again to see it when complete. (Twist our arms ;))
We enjoyed our time in Viersen so much! It was so nice to see everyone and have some relaxed time
to enjoy. We took a couple days on our own and took a road trip to Paris and Brugge, Belgium. (We will
do a separate write up of those days). After returning to Germany from our road trips, we were lucky to
stay again with our German friends Tanja and Alexander in the nearby town of Monchengladbach,
Germany
Tanja and Alexander planned a welcome dinner for us at a castle our first night. It was great to see
everyone: Tanja, Alexander, Elisa, Anna and Max--Tanja’s mom even joined us! She hadn’t seen me
(Ryan) since 2000 and she said I was half my size! :)
Anna is a Senior in high school and over the weekend, their school put on a charity fundraiser. It was a
neat afternoon festival--completely student-led. Everything, from waffles, to spray painting graffiti, to a
flash-mob dance team, to an escape room were all planned by the students!


Lindsey and I enjoyed a waffle from the 5th graders, and laughed as they worked their assembly line of
batter and toppings into the waffle machines. To drink we had a beer! Yes, a beer at an afternoon school
event--in the high school. They were small beers...and remember the drinking age is 16 in Germany!
Everything was very relaxed, and it was a realization for the both of us how there are stark differences in
drinking culture. After lunch we visited Anna in her Senior project, a resale store. Naturally our ears
perked up when we heard “resale store;” we are both jonesing for some Goodwill shopping! When we get
back, that will be our first stop ;). Anna and her friends put on a secondhand shop in one of the
classrooms to reduce the amount of waste that fast-fashion causes. I found a winter coat, which is
perfect, since I did not have one for Iceland.


We spent the last couple days relaxing and getting ready for our train to Interlaken to begin our Swiss
adventure in the Alps. Saying goodbye to Tanja and Alexander at the train station left us with mixed
emotions--sad to leave all our friends in Germany, but excited for our next destination! Tchuss to
Deutschland for now!


More to come,
Linds and Ryan


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