Sooo much has happened since my last blog! I apologize but the internet latley has been few and far between. Right now I'm writing this sitting in the middle of a parking lot on Carolyn's friends laptop (in Valencia Spain too I might add). A little random but it's the only area around their house that recieves and internet connection. But before I dive into Spain I will backtrack a little bit and finish our final week in Germany.
Let's just say by the end of my two month stay, Germany felt like home! Regardless of the fact that I can't speak the language I was still using all the common conversation German phrases ( I swear you can get by pretending to speak german by only using the words genaoux (spelled wrong but meaning exactly) Ah so (ah yes), and yaya (which can mean kiss my ass when said correctly). My last week in Germany was spent with family in Dortmund. I picked Carolyn up at the Frankfurt airport (at 6am gah) and then we took the most round-about, but cheapest, trip up to see our aunt Giesela (actually our second aunt) our second cousin Lara, and our honorary extended family that came with them including our new cousin Rahieme. Dortmund was not the most extrodinary city to explore but the people made it amazing. Over the course of four days we...made a trip out to a small old german town, spent a day by the lake, watched the sex in the city movie in German! went shopping, went to the market, had family dinners and spent the day in Aunt Giesela's grade two classroom! The kids were adorable and asked for our autographs at the end of the day. I think they may have had the distorted idea that we were someone famouse but nevertheless, cute kids. Once again I have never met such kind and generous people...family who we had never met before first of all agree to take us in but then also completley re-arrange their lives to spend time with us and pay for everything! It was very hard to leave...but eventually we did and made our way down to Stuttgart.
Segway...on our trip down to Stuttgart we decided to do some reconnecting with our German roots so we went to Sankt Sebastian, a tiny little town on the Rhine river. Here is where Carolyn and I's great Opa is buried (although we couldnt find his grave anywhere and trust me we looked), and where our grandparents were married. The town itself is a tiny hiccup...2,000 population, one church, one beirgarten (of course) and one bakery. The church was the highlight of this trip...it was actually quite incredible to stand in the place where our grandparents were married some 55 years ago. It's a beautiful little church too that literlly is placed right beside the river. It took 6 trains and two buses to literally visit the middle of nowhere but it was incredible. After we took the pretty scenic train down the Rhine river...man was that amazing. Really bright green hills, vineyards, a winding river and a little town and castle approximatley every 5 minutes. I had a serious case of castle snobbery by the end of Germany...I saw 43 castles in two months.
Spain is so different. I think I would have less culture shock going from Canada to Spain then Germany to Spain. I don't even want to think about the number of times I said danke instea of gracias. But Spain is wonderful. Carolyn and I spent two nights in Barcelona, in the hostel penthouse since Carolyn has connections apperently! Two days in Barcelona was too fast. It is such a busy, ecclectic, diverse, beautiful city...I can see why people visit and never leave. In Barcelona we went on a pubcrawl, laid on the beach, did a bike tour, ate paella and sangreia and wandered the streets. For me the bike tour was the highlight...It was four hours and tok us all over the city, to the University area, the poorer area, the prostitute street, all the main plazas (and the not well known ones ), the gothic quarter, the churches, castles, fountains, parks and all of Dalis works. Dali is mindblowing..Ive seen a lot of churches lately but nothing even comes close to his church in Barcelona...its surreal. The bike tour was also not for those bikers who are faint of heart! Started easy enough but by the end your biking in heavy traffic with crazy Spanish drivers.
After Barcelona we bussed down to Valencia...a more southern metropolis beach town. Were staying with two of Carolyns friends from softball Becky and Jen. Really really nice girls. Here we've done a combination of lying on the beach and partying. People here are CRAZY! Nuts. No one goes out to party before two in the morning...clubs are open until 8:00am. Last night we ate dinner and started getting ready at 1:00, we were ate the club by 2:30, in by 3:00....we left there at 5:00 and went to a new club until 6:00! We got home at about 6:30am..which in all actuality for Spanish clubbing is considered a early night. Crazy crazy people here. I'm not cut out for it, but for one night it was fun. Other then that I have a cold and we have three more days in Spain until Italy!
Love and miss you all...keep sending me your life updates!
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