Goldene Rose Dinkelsbühl

... usual stocks and irons plus a slew of masks to shame and neck violins to lock quarreling spouses or friends together. There was also an impressive collection of signets pressed in wax for contracts.

We knew enough to stop in the town square when we saw several tour groups huddled around their guides. Every hour, the clock chimes and the windows open to show the councilor chugging a giant tankard of wine. The square is also full of vendors roasting ...

Guten tag from Germany!

We've been all over Europe, to random places like Bosnia and Slovakia, but we've never managed to make it to Germany. So here we are!

We flew through Iceland, and landed in Frankfurt yesterday. We picked up our very cute Smart Car convertible, and drove out west to the famous Romantic Road. This is a 220 mile long stretch of road running south that is dotted with castles and medieval towns. We stayed the night in ...

... waiting to go souvenir shopping until now, so I wouldn’t have to cart around the **** all week. It was a good plan. We, yes Erin actually bought some STUFF, took full advantage of the many streets of shops, and the Rick Steves recommended gift shop behind the town hall was a good bargain; we both bought fancy beer steins and other odds and ends there. Erin even got a FREE (1.40E value) painted map of town, after the proprietor asked her if she was doing the ...

... be great.

Since today is Sunday, nothing was open until 5 PM. It was a ghost town all day long, and now its just starting to come alive. My stomachache is finally gone...really happy about that.
I've finally been sleeping through the night

Not looking forward to any more long bus rides, but I think there is one later this week. I'll be able to use the internet ...

... beautiful, made of 10 different woods of this area. We got to wear slippers over our shoes to protect the floors.

Back to the sportsplex for lunch. We both had wieners of different kinds and French fries, all delicious. The band had left and the kids were now playing their soccer games. We bought 4 wrapped tickets for the draw but didn’t win anything.

Being well fed we are off to the next town. What a great day so far ...

... be almost an entire day, because the bus broke down twice.

Then, there was a rockslide...so we got to the hotel at night, crashed and left again for our service project yesterday.
We had to pull huge plants out of the ground because they were killing hte indiginous ones.

Then more traffic and more bus.

Now Im in a podunk hotel with no internet..except a weird cafe slash casino.

losing service. more later!

So, today is the big day, only 2 hours left and my family is going to drive me to Frankfurt and then my flight to Bangkok via Dubai is leaving at 10p.m. (Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!)
But as I'm still not packed and really excited I'm not goint to write that much, only that I'm really looking forward to the trip and hope to tell you guys many nice and interesting stories :)
So, here you soon from Bangkok!!
Adios :)

Marta

On Sunday we worked on our case study in the morning, and basically did the whole thing. it was hard to make the powerpoint coz they didn't have powerpoint but had openoffice instead, and the whole thing was in german. it went ok tho.

we presented the case to Johan Fitz, it went well.

after we had a wine tasting, and all got a bit loose. but in a civilised way. the best wine was the Eis Wein. This one can only ...

... of the wall and walked along the wall before descending into the town to browse the many shops. There were some interesting and neat things to see, but there were a lot of tourists also. I heard almost as much English spoken as I did German.

However, the trip was worth it. This was on town I was interested in seeing, and I am planning on a return trip sometime to take the Watchman night tour of the town for an English guided tour.

By the time we get to our hotel in Dinkelsbuhl after our Rhine River trip, it is dinner time. We have some dinner at the hotel, explore our room, then go out for a nightime tour of the town. We get to learn about the culture in Germany. What particularly sticks out is the German adage: "Beer Is Food." When the water was polluted and there wasn't much food, they can certainly trust the beer.