This One's For You, Dad

I know I've been seriously missing in action for awhile. Life started happening at superspeed all of a sudden and it looks like its not going to stop for awhile, which means I better start savoring this whole thing before I wake up and its May 20th and I'm flying back to NJ.

First of all, Germany was epic. We took a rickety little 2-foot-long plane to Cologne, a trip that lasted maybe 50 minutes. We were greeted by Cassandra's 2nd or 3rd cousin Hans-George, who was about 40 and spoke perfect English. He threw our stuff in his Cadillac (yep) and I jumped in the back seat, right next to a Yankees hat (yep). Then the fun really started.

I had always heard of the autobahn. I never, ever expected to be on the autobahn. All I can say is thank God i could not do the math to conver kilometers-per-hour to miles-per-hour while we were in the car, I would have passed out. Not only that, but Hans-George recently had his license suspended for... speeding on the autobahn.

We walked into a little cottage in the German country side to meet Uncle Hans and Tanta Erna, who were about 207 and spoke almost no English. Cassandra was a champ and jumped into perfect German conversation; I got used to what would become my favorite activity of the week, making people believe you are listening and understanding while you're actually just sleeping with your eyes open.

Throughout the weekend we met every relative from every branch of Cassandra's family tree; anyone under the age of 50 spoke perfect English and couldn't wait to talk about all things pop culture (mostly Amy Winehouse). The weekend went something like this:

- Hans took us to explore some old church (and bought us pastries after!)
- Wolfgang took us into Cologne where we went to the tallest cathedral in Europe and toured a chocolate factory/museum (the best thing that's ever happened to me)
- Uncle Deiter took us to the 65th Anniversary party, which was EXACTLY like any 65th Anniversary in America would be. It was a brunch in a room at a cute racetrack that could have been Monmouth Park. One branch of the family got up and singing traditional German folk songs, which Cassandra and I immediately joined in on as her relatives bought us rounds of "Kolsch", beer made in Cologne.
- Regina and Wolfgang took us to the coolest night club in Cologne, a place called Nacht Flug (Night Flight). We basically just stared the whole time because it was too cool for us. German people are GORGEOUS, all of them. And great dancers.
- And every one, every single person we met, made us eat HEAPS AND HEAPS OF MEAT.

Which is where the title of this post comes in. This one is for you, Dad, because the entire trip all I did was think about how much you would LOVE Germany. We ate between three and five meals every day, which were all basically heaps of sausage or pork or veal covered in the most delicious sauces I've ever tasted, served with giant heaps of potatoes and deliciously fresh vegetables, huge hunks of bread, butter, cheese, and BEER. And for dessert, Dad? What would they have? Giant piles of baked apples covered in vanilla sauce. Or, alternatively, giant dishes of sweetened strawberries covered in vanilla sauce. Dad, this place was made for you. Every two hours I was served your favorite meal in life.

All in all, Germany was nothing short of incredible. What a cool country that I never in a million years expected to be cool. People there just love life. They are all having the best time ever all the time. Eating, drinking, singing, smiling. They're seriously awesome, and I'm so glad we got such an authentic experience.

Upon return from Germany, I had a couple of days of class before my Villanova roommates arrived for their spring break. Becky and Maura got here Saturday morning, and so the past five days have been busy busy busy with sightseeing and reuniting. We did all the touristy stuff, met up with all Villanova kids studying in London this semester, saw a cool concert Monday (Girl Talk-- a dj who just spins on stage and everyone just dances on stage with him, its like a rave), saw Prince Phillip getting out of a helicopter, ate dinner in the crypts of an old church, introduced them to the madness of my british friends (James had on more eye makeup than Becky, I think they were entertained), and didn't sleep AT ALL.

And I am literally finishing this, packing, and going to catch my train to Paris. I'll get there around 7:30 and head straight to the musee d'orsay, which has free student nights on Thursdays (if I can manage to make it there at all, seeing as I know absolutely zero French). I can't wait to hang out with Sinead and see her Parisian life. When I return, I have friends in from New Jersey for a few days (not staying here, thank God), then Sinead and an NJ friend are in for St. Pat's, and then I go to Dublin overnight from the 18-19th, and then, thank God, have a week break before April. Whew.

Alright, well, croissants await. More updates soon!