Friday, November 1st, was the first day of my leave! I got
up really early, showered, signed out on leave and then left post. The
first taxi I got into, the driver had no idea what I was talking about when I
said Seoul Station, but the second taxi did. Once at Seoul Station, I got
on the express train for the airport. I got to the airport, got checked
in, went through security and got some coffee. My flight left at 10am for
Paris! I read the International Wall Street Journal and drank champagne
for the first hour (yay free booze on international flights!) I had one
of those personal TV screens so I ended up watching a lot of movies - The Heat,
Now You See Me, Iron Man 3 and Monsters University. I read a little and
tried to sleep but I was super excited and had a hard time sleeping.
There was also lots of food! For lunch there was this strange thing
on a spoon and I had wanted to beef option but they were out by the time they
got to me so I had the stuffed mushrooms. There was a trio plate of
desserts plus a plate of cheese. The stewardess was appalled that I was
drinking white wine with my cheese and brought me out red wine. The
second meal on the plane I had a shepherd's pie with lots of veggies on the
side. They also had lots of snacks throughout. I got really tired
about an hour before we were suppose to land... perfect timing, right? We
landed in Paris and I was corralled through customs (they stamped my passport
and didn't ask any questions) and then I had a few hours before my next flight.
I wandered through the shops but plopped my backpack in one seat, sat
down in the adjacent seat, and curled up over the two. Luckily I set my
alarm clock on my phone. Unluckily, I was so tired I didn't hear it and
apparently the French were blasted with music from Futurama for about 10
minutes before someone shook me awake. I got on my next flight with no
issues and slept the whole hour trip to Nuremberg. Once landed, no one
even checked my passport as I rolled through, grabbed my bag and met up with
Matt! He helped me haul my suitcase out to his car and we drove the 40ish
minutes back to Hallstadt where he lives (just outside Bamberg). He gave
me the grand tour of his apartment including my own room with a fancy air mattress
and 3 blankets (yes... I am spoiled). He made sure to point out the
strange shower that isn't completely enclosed but I had used a shower like that
before (in Ireland) so it wasn't too confusing for me. I pretty much
collapsed after that and slept.
651 Steps (0.28 miles)
Saturday, November 2nd, was my first full
day in Germany! And I was sick L I slept in (which was awesome!) and Matt made
me breakfast and coffee (he learned how to make coffee… he is one of the few
people in the army that doesn’t drink coffee!)
Matt went and showed me post and I got access to wifi so I could check
my email and assure folks that I made it safely. Afterwards, we decided to hike into Bamberg
(about a 45 minute walk… in the rain!)
Bamberg is a really quaint little place – the town hall is built in the
middle of the river. Years ago when the
peasants asked for a town hall, the lords of the land gave them the tiny slip
of land. The city builders built two
bridges on the north and sound ends of the island and built a hall larger than
the lords of Bamberg. Because it sat
lower than the churches, the lords couldn’t get the church to rally behind them
to make the peasants take it down. It’s
funny because the town hall actually extends over the island and over the river…
use what you get! Matt took me to the restaurant
for dinner where he went his first night in Germany and we had his first meal –
the Lumberjack special! It was a giant
steak covered in fried onions with fried potatoes and covered with a fried
egg. With a giant dollop of horseradish
on the side (not as strong as the horseradish from Hamtramack!) We also had Rauchbier which is a smoked beer
that tastes a lot like bacon! In a good
way! After dinner we wandered around
some more and had some more beer and then had Spaghetti ice cream – which is
ice cream made to look like spaghetti… it was actually really cool! We took a taxi back because I was exhausted!
12736 Steps (5.54 miles)
Sunday, November 3rd, was a lazy day for
us! (It’s vacation! It’s allowed!) I read most of the morning away and we
watched the show Bullshit! With Penn & Teller. (Hysterical if you haven’t gotten a chance to
see it) We also shared a sampling of
beers).
1831 Steps (0.8 miles)
Monday, November 4th, we decided to tackle
the sights in Bamberg! We drove into
town and parked in the parking structure that was the bomb shelter during
WWII. It was impressive! They could fit the whole town down there and
even had escape tunnels. We went to the
old archives/library first but they were closed L Next we went to the Dom Cathedral which was
the imperial cathedral of St. Peter and St. George – the first building was
finished in 1012 and the current building was finished in 1237. It was gorgeous and showed all the awesome
old church things! Including walking
around on dead people. Then we went to
the Rose Garden which, even in winter, was very pretty. Lots and lots of different variations of
roses. We then hiked over to St. Michael’s
Monastery which was originally built in the 1000s and rebuilt in the
1600s. Unfortunately it too was closed
for construction but it was very impressive from the outside! Then we walked through Burgerpark which was
huge! And every so often was a sculpture
or statue. And red squirrels.
That night was dress up night and I rocked out in my red
dress. It was fun with good food, wine
and dancing!
18539 Steps (8.06 miles)
Tuesday, November 5th, we decided to go into Nuremberg. We got up early and bought a ticket for the
train, took the train from Hallstadt to Bamberg and then Bamberg to
Nuremberg. At the train station in
Bamberg we picked up some pastries (and coffee for me!) We wandered around Nuremberg for a bit (we
were lost but Matt assured me we weren’t…)
We, of course, went to the library.
Yes, they use Dewey. Then we went
up to the Kaiserburg (Imperial Castle) which was one of the most important
imperial castles for the Holy Roman Empire.
Apparently, I did not know much about the Holy Roman Empire! There was a huge interactive history section
where I learned a ton about the ins and outs of the Empire which was fascinating. Plus – giant castle! Afterwards, we were starving so we found a
place for lunch. We started with Glühwein
which is a spiced hot wine which really warms your cockels. Then we had beer and preztels and other
German yummies. We then wandered through
Nuremberg just taking in the sights.
Around the base of one of the cathedrals was a whole group of people in
Guy Fawkes masks who said they were a Occupy group. We also went to the Lego store (which was
awesome!) They had a whole wall of
organized by color pieces… We then
wandered outside the city walls to a movie theater called the Roxie which was
showing Ender’s Game in English! It was
awesome to be able to see the movie so soon after it came out! And in the correct language! Afterwards, we caught the train back to
Bamberg and then to Hallstadt.
18045 Steps (7.85 miles)
Wednesday, November 6th, was another bum
day which are important for vacations!
Lots more reading and tv show watching.
We went into Bamberg for dinner where I had some amazing schnitzel! Then we went and sampled a bunch of the local
beers (when in Germany!) It was a great
laid back day!
16857 Steps (7.33 miles)
Thursday, November 7th, we went back into
Nuremberg via the train. Our first stop
of the day was to go to the Documentation Center Nazi and Nazi Party Rally
Grounds. It was incredibly interesting
learning about the Nazis and WWII from the German point of view. It was scary and terrifying - they did so much with propaganda and it is
amazing how history can repeat itself over and over. Afterwards we went back into the city center
and grabbed lunch (brats and sauerkraut and bread rolls!) Then we went to the Febohaus City Museum
which was in an old merchant’s house (Late Renaissance style) which went
through hundreds of years of history as you went through the house. Germans really do have their audio guides
down to an art form. For dinner we went
to this amazing steak house and then caught the train back to Hallstadt.
12377 Steps (5.38 miles)
Friday, November 8th, was my last full day
in Germany L We
got up in the morning and decided that even though it was raining, we were going
for a run! We ran out to the Seehof
Palace and Park which was an old summer residence for the Bamberg prince
bishops. Matt swore that it was a 10k
run to the place but it was maybe… maybe 4 miles. I told him he needs to stop believing his
soldiers when it comes to distances!
For dinner I just pointed at something on the menu and ended up with
this awesome pork dish were they had fried the skin so it was like crackling
and there were potato dumplings and a rich sauce. I was basically in food heaven!
16887 Steps (7.34 miles)
Saturday, November 9th/ Sunday,
November 10th, I rolled out of bed, showered and made sure all my stuff was
packed up. We gathered my bags down to the car and then swung through a
bakery to get some pastries and coffee to sustain us for the drive. We
got to the airport in really good time (actually, before the Air France counter
was open) but I got all checked in. It was sad to leave Matt, so I
wandered through the airport a bit looking at all the wierd things to buy
before settling down with my kindle to read. My first flight was
relatively uneventful, I read and napped.
I didn’t have a ton of time in Paris – enough time to check my email,
use the facilities and walk leisurely to my next flight. The long flight went ok – my tv moniter didn’t
work so no staying up all night watching movies L The steward was upset but I told him it was
no big deal. I read for a bit and
napped. The food was fun just like the
first flight. There was an appetizer of
pineapple, spinach and foie gras (which I don’t think I had ever had
before!) For lunch I had a polenta with
cheese and mushrooms. For breakfast I
had a fruit thingy which was sweet and sugary and woke me up! I landed just fine in Seoul, customs still refused
to stamp my passport, got my luggage and caught the subway back to post. I was instantly hit with the horrible smell of
Korea as soon as I got off the plane… ugh… Once on post, I went and signed
in. It was maybe 10am so I went to work
and checked my email and then went to my hash running group (not to run, just
to hang out so I could stay up long enough to reset my body’s clock) We ended up getting pizza afterwards and I
watched a New Zealander get into a fight with a Russian. Korea is very strange sometimes…
2866 Steps (1.25 miles)
17874 Steps (7.77 miles)
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