Debbie and Thurston Part One

*This post is about my mom and nephew's trip to Germany. The following is their account of what we did and how they felt.*

Thurston's thoughts are written in red. 

Tuesday 6/24 left for Germany.  Flight from Spokane to Minneapolis had lots of turbulence. So bad that drinks were flying everywhere – what a mess. Otherwise not too bad. After the flight Thurston was able to meet the pilot and sit in her seat. The pilot was really nice.

Wednesday 6/25 arrived, got our luggage and no Horning family…WHAT??? They are always on time.  We waited and got concerned we were in the wrong area.  About 15 min. later here comes Alethea running but she was all alone.  The rest of the family was stuck in traffic so she bailed on them and ran all the way to the airport. Got our passes to get access to the military bases and we stayed home the rest of the day.
I went to the park and played basketball and made friends.

Thursday 6/26 ran errands since I was still getting over the jet lag.  It wasn’t too bad but I was a bit tired. We went to a farm and bought fresh milk from a vending machine. 
I was scared to try it at first because it came out of a vending machine but after trying it, it is the best milk in the world.

Friday 6/27 To a pool in Fellbach.  Warm one inside and another with a diving board.  Also, a kiddie pool and regular pool outside.  Alethea and I stayed inside most of the time in the nice warm pool with Kyla while Joslyn, Thurston and Josh went outside to the pool slide. 
I loved the slide and the diving board.  The water was very warm.

When we got home Thurston took a 4 hr nap.  I’m sure some was jet lag too.

Saturday 6/28 Off to see a castle called Schloss Lichtenstein.  We took a half hour tour – in German!! But we did have a print out in English to read as we went along.  Very interesting.
I thought the castle was unique.  I liked the swords.

We then stopped at a park to do a zip line.  It was raining outside but we went anyway and had a blast. 

 

I even went on it!  Nobody else was there so we enjoyed it.

It was hard to hold on but I did it and Uncle Josh pushed me really fast!!

Sunday 6/29 Spent the afternoon at church then went to a German restaurant.  I had the Schnitzel (thin fried pork) and Pommes Frites (french fries) – Yummy!!!  Thurston had a grilled chicken and fries – ate some of it.  I also tried Alethea’s Maultaschen (ravioli) soup – Yuck and their pastor’s Flammkuchen  (thin pizza with cream sauce, green onions and ham) – OK.

I played marbles with the kids and watched them at the park.  It is so neat to be in a different country and watch the customs.

Monday 6/30 Went to a German grocery store called Edeka.  It has two levels.  We parked in a garage and once inside used a moving escalator to go from level to level and yes with our cart..what a kick.  Also to get the cart Alethea put a Euro coin in a slot attached to the cart which is chained to each other. The cart then comes out – to get your Euro back you have to chain the cart to the other carts and the Euro comes out so you can use it over and over.  This means no deserted carts in the parking lot. I am loving these customs. I thought the escalators were really cool. 

Germans are very environmentally friendly and only use reusable bags. If you forget your bag(s) you  pay for them (they usually range from 10 cent Euro - 1.50 Euro...around 20 cents - $2 per bag!) Many locals just put their groceries (not bagged) back into their shopping cart and take them out to their car which is usually equipped with special separators in their trunk. You are responsible for bagging your own groceries and the exchange of money is not done hand-to-hand. You place your money on a little tray and the cashier will take it. Your receipt is usually thrown down on the counter and very rarely into your hands.