Saturday and Sunday 02.06-03.06

Saturday was our last day/morning in Berlin. We walked around in the morning to finish up a few presentations, but I didn't actually have time for that. I was taking a different train than the others so I could go and see Tatjana in Karlsruhe! :D
I got on my train, found a seat, watched a movie, wrote some journals and just relaxed. I ended up sitting with a dad and his two daughters. Across from us was an adorable little boy, mom and dad. He was super cute.
The train ride was about 5 hours long. I got to Karlsruhe at 6 and Tati was waiting for me at the track. It was so awesome to see her! We got on a street train, and headed to her apartment. We started to catch up on our 10 minute ride to her place. Once we got to her apartment, I met her boyfriend and we all talked. I got connected to the internet and skyped with mom and dad. They were glad to hear I was in Karlsruhe safe and sound, and they got to see Tati!
We left a little bit after that for dinner. First we stopped and got bubble tea. It is the hot thing here in Germany. They even sell it at McDonald's now! I got a strawberry smoothie which was awesome! We walked around with our bubble tea. Tati took us past the "must see' thing in Karlsruhe. They have a nice little castle/palace/thing.

From there we walked to Vapiano's where we had dinner. It is an italian chain restaurant. And it is sooooo cooool! When you walk in you get a credit card type thing. Then you go up to a counter where you order your food and they make it right there in front of you. I had pasta and chicken in a creamy pesto sauce with tomatoes, peppers, and spinach. It was super delicious. It totally hit the spot.

After dinner we walked home, had a drink, and tried to figure out where to go on Sunday. It was between France or Switzerland. I know, be jealous :)  We then curled up on Tati's bed for a couple episodes of Big Bang Theory. Back at GV a lot of my friends watch that show, and I've seen maybe 2 episodes before. But after watching it with Tati, I am hooked. I may or may not have fallen asleep during the second episode, but in my defense I had had a long day.

Sunday we got up late, maybe around 9:30 or 10. It was nice to sleep in and be a little lazy. Because we got up so late we decided to go to France because it was only an hour drive versus Switzerland which was at least 3 hours away and the weather wasn't supposed to be that great. So off to Strasbourg, France we went!
On the drive there we listened to some Lady Gaga :)
It's cool. Tati speaks German, English and Russian. Her boyfriend speaks French and English. So the common language between them is English, so all they speak is English. Tati is actually hoping to study in Canada this next school year. It is difficult for them to be in Germany or France because one of them is always lost in translation, so they want to live in an English speaking country.
Anyway. France is Tati's boyfriend's, Remi, native country. The two of them have been to Strasbourg before, especially Remi so I had a built in tour guide :)
One of the first things we did was go inside the cathedral. Dang, was it pretty in there. I love old churches.

The last two pictures are of the huge clock inside the cathedral. It was a pretty big deal. We stayed until 1 hoping that the little figurines would do something at the top of the hour, but nothing really happened. It just dinged and one moved. Poop.
From there we went to go find some lunch. This area of France at least has some pretty awesome Flamkuchen. It is similar to a pizza but on a much thinner crust. I got one that was overloaded with cheese, onions and bacon. I couldn't finish it. I made Remi and Tati do that :)
After lunch we had to walk around a little cause we were so stinking full.

How much more gorgeous could this place be? It's crazy pretty!
There was a little fair going on in one area. There were cows, pigs and sheep. A guy was shaving the sheep right in front of us, until it started to pour rain! The poor sheep was half shaved! They looked funny. We were close enough to the cows to pet them :) There was a little booth for wine tasting too. Remi grabbed us each a glass of a Pinot Grigio. It was so good! We decided we had to pick up a bottle of some kind of wine before we headed home.
Random I know, but in Strasbourg they drink tap water! Their water is one of the things they are very proud of! There were even water fountains!

We took a boat tour through the town. Each person got their own headset and you could pick the language you listened to. I picked the German one for kids. I understood about 95% of what was said. Tati and Remi learned things about the city and the buildings and such while I was listening to a Pirate tell crazy stories. I didn't mind though. It kept me thoroughly entertained :)
After the boat ride we dashed to the car and headed home. On the way to the car we found a little market open and bought some wine. In the car Tati and I both fell asleep. We were wiped out, all three of us. We went home, had a simple dinner, had some wine, and watched more Big Bang Theory. We went to bed kind of early. It had been a long day. We were all wiped out and needed to get up kind of early the next day.

Happy: being with Tati! I missed her!
Crappy: all the rain

Lots of love from Germany!!