What do I say?

My heart hurts to be leaving Europe. I need another week of country hopping. The only consolation prize in leaving is being reunited with Rikku. She will be hyper as hell but I am so looking forward to holding her again.

I got about 90 minutes of sleep before we had to get up at 5:30. I slept in my flying clothes so I was out the door quick. We met with everyone in the lobby and the hotel had packed us lunches. That was really nice of them, we had an apple, banana, 2 mini sandwiches, a yogurt, and a tea.

I weighted my suitcase again and it's about 48 pounds. I can barely pull it behind me with the broken wheel. I took the apple from the lunch and put the rest back. I just don't have any room on me to carry anything more.

We all got on the bus and Maria and I were dropped off at the Aalen train station. Our dean hugged us goodbye, she is so sweet. I was tired as hell.

Our train took us from Aalen to Stuttgart where we got off and boarded another train, each ride an hour long.

Luggage everywhere

Miles to go before I sleep

The Stuttgart train took us to the Frankfurt airport. This is where everything went to hell.

We tried to check in with our passports at these machines but were told it was too late to check it. That's bullshit because our flight didn't board for another 2.5 hours. We asked for help and were told we were in the wrong section of the airport, so we had to take a bus to Section 2. It was a 7 minute bus ride.

At Section 2 we tried to check in but again received the same "It's too late to board" message. By now Maria is anything but calm. On top of that she got 3 hours of sleep and was a mess. I was annoyed with her attitude. We talked to another employee and were directed to Delta's international security thing. I don't know what it's called but it wasn't the security point where you take off your shoes or whatever. Maria and I tried to speak with a lady but we were separated and I instead spoke with a man while she spoke to the lady. He asked me questions like "Do you have any weapons?" and "Did anyone give you anything to put in your bag". Then he asked where I was going. I said Detroit (we received our flight information with EF tours since we're still flying with them. They gave us this info two or three months ago). Things got... weird? I looked over to Maria, who was maybe 30 feet away, and she was crying. Oh shit.

Basically we were told our flight didn't exist. We were actually suppose to get on a flight to Amsterdam and the employees told us to hurry as it was leaving in 10 minutes. I had seen signs all over the place stating you must check in at least an hour before your flight, no later. I knew where this was going.

We tried checking in and were told we missed the flight. I was told to speak with another Delta employee who would have to reschedule our flight.

I found the person I needed to speak with. She asked what was going on and I explained "Hi, we're on a university trip and our professor gave us the wrong flight information." Which is true. Jami was the organizer of the Ireland trip and she was the one to give Maria and I our flight info. I kind of hate Jami.

The employees typed on the computer lots while we waited. Maria kept saying "They better fix this." And I told her to shut up. I was decently anxious and scared as it was without her crying and threatening employees. I was very nice to the lady and tried to smile to show I'm friendly damn it. This seemed like a situation where you needed to be nice in order to get what you wanted, not crying and telling them "Fix this!".

The employee rescheduled us another flight to Amsterdam, then Minneapolis. We would have to stay overnight at the airport in Minnesota since there were no direct flights to Rapid City until Friday morning. I really wanted my mom there. Maria was crying and I didn't know what I was suppose to do or say in this situation and my mom could have fixed things. But my mom wasn't there. Today, I must learn.

I agreed to this new schedule and our employee lady told us it cost $600 to change flights. Maria, bless her, pulled out our original flight information that Jami gave us last May and was rude with our employee, saying we shouldn't have to pay because it wasn't our fault and that no one had told us our flight changed. She was right though, no one had told us. The employee looked up more numbers and did more typing. Then she said that our original flight had been cancelled a few nights ago and since no one had told us we wouldn't be charged.

Calla and Maria. Good cop, bad cop.

So we got this new flight change for free! Hallelujah amen. We then had to check in at another desk to get our tickets printed and our luggage escorted away. I barely had time to say 'goodbye' and 'meet you in Rapid City' to my suitcase. Maria checked in first. She was obviously upset and this employee kept asking if she was okay. She was too pissed to answer. I said she would be fine. Maria went to scout out the next destination while I checked in then I caught up with her. Next stop was security! That went smoothly.

No it didn't, that was a joke. Nothing goes smoothly today. I tried to check in and got rejected (Maria got in fine). An employee had to check my flight info and passport, blah blah bureaucracy shit. While I was checking in I noticed that my ticket the lady had just printed me was under Maria's name. So we had 2 boarding passes for Maria. God. Damn. It. I was told to go through security anyways and I could get it changed at my gate.

Security went fine because that's the only thing I have control over it seems and I can get in and out very quickly.

We found our gate and I tried to check in there. It took about 15 minutes. When I was done, they gave me a luggage sticker and said "This is for your friend!". That's nice and all but Maria already had a luggage sticker. I didn't. I pointed this out and it took them 5 minutes before they came back to me with a new problem. Someone checked both our bags under Maria's name and you only get 1 free bag check. I asked and they said we wouldn't have to pay for this screw up. These people printed me 2 boarding passes, one for Frankfurt to Amsterdam, and the other from Amsterdam to Minneapolis.

Guess what happened? Another mistake! They actually printed 2 boarding passes for Amsterdam to my sweet homeland and none for idiot Frankfurt! This is insane. The amount of screws up we have been having today is unbelievable. And even more crazy, not one of them is our fault.

Eventually I got my correct boarding passes. I cannot wait to get the hell out of the Frankfurt airport. It has officially replaced the Chicago o'Hare airport as my least favorite airports in the entire milky way galaxy.

We had to take a bus to our plane and we were dropped off right outside of it.

Get me out of here please.

Maria and I weren't sitting together on our flight. I felt bad for the guy who sat next to me and whoever sat next to her. We must smell awful, we need to do laundry bad. The ride was about an hour long and we got these nice little orange cookies to munch on.

Come for the cookies. Leave because everything else at this airport sucks

Then we were in Amsterdam! My layover to Europe a month ago was in Amsterdam. I recognized some things when we walked through the airport. It's crazy to think that a month ago today I was in Amsterdam, waiting for my flight to Ireland. Today I'm back in Amsterdam waiting for my flight to the USA. Where did all the time go....

We had to go through some passport checkpoint and I got stamped. Hurray for stamps! I got us some food, a couple sandwiches and a cup of fruit. We boarded the plane and Maria and I were thankfully together. But we were in the dead middle of the plane, no window seat with people on each side of us.

I watched Interstellar (nice work Nolan) and practiced my Korean.

Yo I got this, it's the first one

Redemption.

The flight was so boring. My butt hurt from all the sitting down. It was a 9 hour flight and I didn't fall asleep once. They served a lot of snacks. I had pasta and a salad for dinner.

Airplane food, what is your deal?

And then we landed in Minneapolis! God bless America, was I happy to be in the motherland. We had to go through customs and I was really anxious about that. I had to answer some questions like was I around livestock, did I bring back any fruit or meat, did I bring back any plants, blah blah. I said no to everything and had my picture taken. I don't know why. I looked so effing cute in my photo though, I looked legit like some FBI Most Wanted and it was badass. I didn't get to keep the picture, sadly.

We had to get our suitcases again. Mine was there, 1 wheel and all! I was very happy to see my suitcase. Then we said goodbye again. Maria was pulled aside because she had bought tulip bulbs in Amsterdam and had to show them (she had the certificate for US and Canadian's though, smart girl).

Maria checked some flight schedules and found one going to Aberdeen tonight. Her sister lives in Aberdeen and I guess it's close to where her parents live as well. We had to make a decision: spend the night in the airport with the possibility of getting a free hotel, or try to get on this flight to Aberdeen where Maria's sister could take us to back home before the flight to Rapid would arrive. Maria's want to fly to Aberdeen was stronger than mine to stay in the airport. We choose Aberdeen and were able to get out suitcases rerouted there. It took about 20 minutes for the employees to get it all figured out.

During all of this I've been carrying around Ian's Cool American Doritos in my bag (they wouldn't fit in my suitcase, so sad). They're all broken and that's ok. Ian still gets free Doritos.

Special appearance by fox Mulder.

We chilled for maybe three hours before it was time to board the flight to Aberdeen.

"Where is Aberdeen?" I asked Maria.

"It's on the opposite end of the state as Spearfish." Maria explained. Oh joy.

I got to see Minneapolis at night. That was alright I guess?

Peace out Minnesota

I slept on the flight. We landed in Aberdeen South Dakota at 11 and went to get our luggage. Bags came and went and we waited. And waited. I knew back in Minnesota that this would happen. Murphy's Law maybe. Our bags never showed.

Maria was very pissed off and we waited for a Delta employee to show up. Her sister Cassie was there. She's a cool chick. She and I both told Maria to shut up because she was being a bitch. I'm upset of course, but I don't know. I feel like I've already lost today's battle and I'm on the ground being kicked over and over again. To not have my suitcase there was just another kick in the already bruised shins.

The employees tracked down our bags and said they were currently in Rapid City. We would get them on our way by tomorrow.

We went to Cassie's place and that girl is a sweetheart. She did our laundry, gave me some clothes to wear, and made up an air mattress for me. I fell asleep easily. It was midnight Aberdeen time, seven in the morning German time.

I should end the blog here but I want this to be my last post so we'll keep it going.

At 5 it was time to get up. I got to shower. My exterior has improved but my interior hasn't changed since last night. Maria decided we would be getting home around 1 in the afternoon today. She promised me last night that we would be back before the flight to Rapid City would have gotten us back (which was 10 am). That was the reason why I agreed to go to Aberdeen. Instead of cleansing breathes, I just imagine Rikku at this point.

We left at 6 and went to Caribou Coffee. Cassie bought us drinks. She has done too much and is very kind. This Caribou Coffee had a chalkboard with people to write on. I picked up some chalk.

The light at the end of all this

Then we drove to Dupree South Dakota. I hated the ride. It was three hours and I'm anxious the entire time. It was a dirt road to her family's farm and it had been raining a lot the past few days so it was very muddy and slippery. It was like driving on icy roads. I get major anxiety driving on icy roads and was borderline having a panic attack in the backseat. It sounds ridiculous but it was rough on me.

But we got to the farm! Maria's mom greeted us with an eggbake breakfast and coffee. The food was good. We chilled for an hour or so there and I met her dad too. Her family is all very nice. My family is still cooler though.

Since Maria lives on a farm, they have chickens! I ran around with the chickens like a lil country bumpkin.

Sorry for eating your eggs this morning.

Then her mom drove us three girls to Rapid. Maria was super chatty the whole way. I'm really happy she got to see her family (I keep telling myself how happy I am for her. If I don't my temper about getting home so late will get me).

We got to Rapid and it was the first time I recognized a familiar road since May 18th. Maria forgot our luggage stickers (I just don't know anymore. I can't deal with her). We went in the Rapid City airport and talked to a Delta employee. He asked some questions, then went to the luggage room and got our suitcases. I'm so happy to have my suitcase back.

Then we drove to my house. I was feeling either really car sick or anxious. I can't tell the difference anymore.

I got home around 2. Rikku and Bruno were in the yard watching us pull up. Maria gave me a hug goodbye which felt stupid because we'll still see each other all summer. She and I are still buddies. Then they left. I went into the yard and said hello to the dogs and hugged them both.

'You look familiar...'

'Oh, Miss Calla! Welcome home!'

REFLECTION!

For the last month I've been trying to find an answer to the question I knew I would be hearing a lot when I get back. "How was your trip?"

And what do I say? So much happened it seems it will be hard to answer. When people ask "How was it?" I'll think about seeing the Berlin Wall, the Norwegian waffles that were so delicious, and Van Gogh's paintings and letters. I'll think about Tom our tour guide in Ireland and Karin our tour guide in Germany. I'll think about Tom reading us Ulysses and Karin giving us pretzels and candy. I'll think about hanging out with Maria, Kaitlyn, and Mia in our hotel room and ordering pizza. I'll think about hanging out with Maria and Todd in our hotel room and drinking vodka. I'll think about the beach in Ireland where I picked up rocks for my family and the hostels having such great wifi. And when they ask I'll remember the Viking Ship Museum and the Book of Kells.

I'll remember walking through Ireland and listening to the street musicians and how fantastic they were. I'll remember how sweet the air smelled in Norway and how calming it was. I'll remember eating stroopwafles in Amsterdam and it bringing me back to eating them as a child. I'll remember seeing the fireflies in the dark woods of the Black Forest at night.

And people will ask about the trip and I'll remember the taxi ride to our hostel in Norway. I'll remember arguing with Maria over what time to leave Amsterdam. I'll remember being in the Frankfurt airport, just trying to come home. I'll remember my mom putting money in my account and trying not to cry.

I'll think about the heat in Berlin and Maria getting sick. I'll think about almost throwing up at the helicopter plant. I'll think about how dizzy I get after riding on the trains and ferry.

I'll think about the bog bodies and taking all the pictures of them. I'll remember the Poison Gardens and having so much fun and taking a billion photos of the plants and their description signs. I'll think about the Anatomical Museum and how we couldn't take photos there, but if I could I would have taken many.

I'll remember being in Ireland when gay marriage was legalized, and being in Berlin when the Champion League Final was being held there.

When people ask about the trip I'll remember the baby sheep and how they cute they were. I'll remember our horse carriage ride. I'll remember the pigeons in Amsterdam climbing all over people. How the only thing I missed back home was Rikku and the thought of her kept my spirits up.

I'll remember how impressed I was by the robots at Mercedes, BMW, and Audi. How exciting the Guinness factory was. How boring the Titanic museum was.

I'll think about the guy from Finland we met on the train. I'll remember singing Uptown Funk with him.

And how much laughing there was with Todd.

I'll think about Kaitlyn and Mia and how much fun it was to be with each of them.

And I'll think about Maria. How we even each other out, her strengths being my weaknesses and vice versa. How angry she made me. How absolutely caring, kind, and generous she was to me. How we've already begun planning Europe Part 2 (hello Southern and Eastern Europe).

I'll think about myself because I have a touch of narcissism and I kinda love myself. I learned a lot. But I'm still Calla. This trip changed me but at the same time it didn't. When people ask about the trip I'll want to direct them to this blog because there's just too much to say on the matter. And when they ask I hope they never find this blog because I'm still a private person. I'll remember how each night I would take the time to write about the events I had that day. How tired I was some nights that I fell asleep at the kindle. How excited I was to journal some days that I would type events before midday came. I'll think about how thankful I am that I got to go to Europe for a month, and how glad I am that I did this.

I don't know what to say when people will ask. It's almost overwhelming. It was an entire month of adventures and was exhausting and exhilarating and amazing and scary and wonderful. It was quite possible the best month of my life. When people ask, I will tell them just that.

Belfast Northern Ireland, May 28th

Edinburgh Scotland, May 30th

Oslo Norway, June 1st

Stockholm Sweden, June 3rd

Stuttgart Germany, June 11th

Amsterdam Netherlands, June 12th

Auf wiedersehen, goodnight

The alarm was set for seven but we slept until nine. I haven't gotten to "sleep in" in a while, it was nice.

Today was a beautiful day with sun shining and no wind. The hotel serves breakfast until 10:30 so we were able to get something to eat.

There's a bus that runs on the hour from our hotel to downtown. We missed the bus at 10, hung out for an hour, then watched the 11 bus leave as well. Damn. I didn't want to wait another hour so Todd, Maria, and I walked to town. It was maybe an hour walk. Looking up at the hills and mountains, we could see the watch tower we climbed last night.

You can see the top of the tower above the tree lines

We ended up outside the grocery store so we went in for airplane snacks. We couldn't find any decent snacks. It was all junk food or foods you need to cook.

Have a coke with your buddy Edeljoker

I bought another Kinder Egg and a bag of those chocolate wafers we got on the bus a couple days back.

Then we walked around Aalen! Every Thursday morning Aalen has an open market and we got to see the end of it. We bought some little red berries to snack on then decided to find a post office. We found one because we're smart. I bought a postcard to send to my dad.

'Weather's here. Wish you were beautiful. Love, Calla'

Then I bought stamps for all the postcards I've been carrying around. Maria bought a postcard for Christin and I wrote on it and thanked her for being so kind and showing us around Berlin. All the stamps cost less then 7 euros.

We saw some people walking around with Chinese to-go boxes and got jealous so we found a Chinese restaurant. Maria and I shared a noodle box.

Lunch

We wandered around more, trying to kill time. We had to been somewhere at 3. Every now and then we would bump into someone from our Aalen group. We stopped for donuts, then we stopped for beers.

Oh great, beer. My favorite...

Finally it was 3 and we met with out group near the bus station. We got on a bus! It took us to a mining museum. I have no idea what the museum was called. It's my last day and who cares. But apparently this mine has really pure air because they have people with asthma come in for a few hours to help their breathing.

Once the tour started, they gave us a hard helmet and a cape. I was loving it.

This town needs a hero.

While I struggled to get my bag on over my cape, everyone else put their capes and helmets on and got on a mine carts. It was a sea of indistinguishable people wearing orange capes and white hard hats.

"Maria," I yelled. "I can't find you!"

A person in a white hard hat and orange cape popped their head up. "I'm here!" Maria called back. I joined her and the married couple in their cart.

We then rode the mine carts into the caves! It was fun and got dark and cold. It was maybe 10 degrees Celsius.

Hi ho, it's off to work we go.

The caves were neat and every picture I tried to take on the cart was blurry. When it stopped we got out and watched a video about miners back in Aalen's olden times. I didn't pay attention and instead pretended I was watching a horror movie about miners being eaten by other miners who now dwell in the caves, feasting on the sweet flesh of spelunkers like myself. That was exciting.

It was our entire group and some random father and his two kids, a teen daughter and maybe 10 year old son. Our miner tour guide showed us things and had the little boy do demonstrations because he seemed to like it. Again, I didn't pay attention. But I was having all the fun with Maria and Todd. Todd was a little too tall and kept hitting his head on the caves ceiling. The sound of our hard hats hitting the cave made a cute POP! sound. That POP! sound is almost always followed by a swear word.

The mines had mannequins made up to look like miners. It was sorta campy but every now and then you would turn a corner and see one down a longer dark path and it was scare the poop out of you.

Please don't eat me

At one point our tour guide turned all the lights off to show us how dark it is. I bonked Maria on the hard hat head and she thought it was Todd and punched him. We were having all the laughs.

Selfie time.

Our tour lady turned the lights back on.

Surprise, every time is selfie time

The little boy got increasingly more annoying. He kept shining flashlights in people's eyes on purpose. People were starting to whisper complaints about him. I waited for him to shine the light in my eyes....

We then walked down a long hallway.

I'll mention this hallway later. Back to the little shithead. He was being annoying and I snapped and told him to be quiet. It was one of those moments where everyone can just feel the tension. Where was this little dickhead's father?

"Cleansing breathes." Maria told me and I did them. Despite being a popular hangout among the asthma survivors, the cleansing breathes in the cave only mildly helped. I ended up staying at the back of the group and the kid was put in front. I hate children.

We saw more cave things and watched another cave movie but I wasn't having fun at this point. I wanted to be done. After 90 minutes in the caves we got back on the cave cart and went out into the sunshine.

We got back on the bus and drove to our restaurant where we would be having the farewell dinner. Everyone had a change of nice clothes on them and I changed in the bathroom. I was wearing my red and white dress I bought in Scotland.

"You clean up nice" said everyone.

We then had to fill out an evaluation of the Aalen program. It was questions like "what did you like/dislike" and "what suggestions do you have". I said I liked the people. Everyone was awesome. I said I didn't like not having any time in Munich and our hotel being so far away from the city.

We had time to kill before dinner so Maria and I had an impromptu photo shoot outside.

Then we had a big group photo. Everyone was so lovely on this trip. I remember recalling last week how we did not have one single asshole among us (as soon as I said it I realized I'm the asshole of the trip). We sat down for dinner in a room with a big table.

On the menu tonight was meat, meat, meat, and green noodles with mushrooms and a colorful salad. I got the pasta (shocking, I know).

Everyone was having lots of conversations and I sat with Todd and Maria on one side and a group of girls on my other side. The girl next to me seemed drunk because she was loud and so funny. Everyone either had a beer or glass of wine but me. I was drinking non carbonated water.

We had an appetizer of french onion soup and I forgot to take a picture. There were big onions in the soup so I ate around them.

The girl next to me who was super funny said she had a minor panic attack in the cave hallway. I didn't even notice. We talked about that. What she was saying about how she felt in that hallway was interesting. She felt like they were never getting out of the hall and she had to hold someone's hand because feeling another person made it better. For the third time on this European vacation, I'm so happy I don't have any claustrophobia.

Then it was main course time! The staff brought out trout, veal wienerschnitzel, erzguben pot (which is like a dish of tenderloins and scrambled eggs and goodies). I waited for my pasta. And waited. Another girl (the girl who sometimes hangs out with Maria, Todd, and I. I yelled at her for being a loud American that one day. She's kind of annoying. She's like a human chihuahua or something) had her pasta already. The staff tried giving me the weinerschnitzel and I was like "No I ordered pasta!"

Someone was asked "Are you sure you ordered pasta?"

I said I was pretty damn sure. Turns out the girl eating her pasta was eating my fucking pasta and she had ordered the wienerschnitzel.

"Sorry Calla!" She said to me.

"Why would you eat it if you ordered the wiener?" I asked in horror.

Anyways, they gave me my partially eaten green noodle dish and a salad. I was the only one to order the pasta.

Salad

Partially eaten pasta

The pasta was alright. It had these red balls on it, I'm not sure what spice it was. But when I bite into them my mouth was full of this really nasty flavor. I had to eat around the red balls.

Todd asked me with a smirk how the pasta was.

"It would have been better if it wasn't partially eaten." I mumbled so the girl wouldn't hear me. Maria, Todd and I had a good laugh over that. Todd said this is karma for all the times we made fun of her. Maybe it is.

"But why do I have to bear the brunt of it?" I asked. We had a good laugh over that. Us three together is just the sound of laughter. And inappropriate jokes and making fun of people.

Our German school people gave us gifts. We got an Aalen University mug and a postcard book with German recipes inside.

Danke!

Then we had dessert! Maria and I shared a serving of fried apple rings, pudding, and ice cream. The apple part was whatever but the pudding was very good.

Fried apple rings

Then we said goodbye to Karin. Our bus took us back to the hotel, by now it was 9:30.

We gave Austin a hug goodbye outside the hotel. So many goodbyes tonight!

Maria and I went up to the room and packed. I'm getting anxiety. I was worried about all my souvenirs not fitting in my suitcase. I decided to leave all my toiletries behind (they're all cheap, travel stuff), as well as my rain jacket. I'll wear my heaviest jeans and my flannel on the plane. Everything fit. My suitcase weights 45.9 pounds.

Maria and I chilled. She invited Todd over and the three of us hung out, watching funny youtube videos and German television. He lives in another state and won't be flying back with the main group. Around 2 a.m., Todd had to leave. We hugged goodbye. It was a bit of a bummer. He said he was glad he met us and would like if we could stay friends and see each other again. Maria agreed.

Maria went to sleep after Todd left. She was sad. I'm glad she's asleep because that girl doesn't do well on little sleep. I, however, will manage. It's 3:30 and we have to leave in 2 hours. This seems like a good end to today's post.

The Black Forest

Oh dear lord I felt like a pile of human trash this morning. Slept good though.

Maria woke we up at 6 am because we had to be on the bus at 7. I contemplated getting sick but fought through it. I wore what I wore last night because I've already established I'm human trash. Breakfast was yogurt and fruit.

See you again in an hour.

We got on the bus and I sat with the same 3 chatty people I seem to be hanging out with this trip. I think that's neat. We had the four of us in Ireland and now it's the four of us in Germany. Anyways, they were a lot more quiet today. Maria and Todd slept and I typed up yesterdays adventures. Even with them shutting up the bus ride wasn't good. It's hard to be mad because I'm kinda in love with myself but I really didn't make good choices last night. I ate German mac and cheese for dinner and drank the most alcohol I've had this whole trip, easily. At the risk of not sounding like a lady, I'll consider it a win if I don't shit my pants and vomit on my shirt on the bus this morning.

Karin our tour lady has been so kind. She gave us pretzels since we had to get up so early. I saved mine for a day when I make good choices.

After 2 hours of being on the bus I was in danger of throwing up. We were at our destination, thank the gods. We were at Airbus Helicopters, where helicopters are made! We had to hand over our phones and cameras and were given headphones to listen to our tour guide.

I was shaking and dizzy and the lines to the toilet were long. Maria let Karin and our BHSU dean know I was on a downhill slope. They asked me if I wanted to sit this out and I said no. I really wanted to see this and wasn't going to miss out. They were really nice but concerned.

We started our tour by going into a very tiny room and looking at displays of different helicopter rotors. It was very crowded and no one stood near me. Can't imagine why. We then walked through where they build helicopter and plane doors. They're much more intricate then I imagined since the doors have control over the air pressure.

Then we walked around and looked at helicopters! I enjoyed it and walking around made me feel better. The group didn't like it. The entire place wasn't really tour friendly. The productions lines at Mercedes and BMW were exciting but here there were people building stuff. I really really wished my dad had been there. Our tour guide was a little monotone (he used to write the manuals for helicopters). Having my dad there would have been way more exciting!

I was feeling way better. At the end of the tour they had pictures of their helicopters in use. There were a little under 100 pictures and someone spotted a picture taken from South Dakota. That was neat! The tour was about two hours long.

Back on the bus, I fell asleep. I woke up to Maria shaking me because it was time to visit Audi.

Audi ready for us?

We took no time in stopping for lunch. Audi has a big cafeteria place with excellent foods. They were making fresh pasta in front of us. I got a salad, grilled chicken, fries, and a mini chocolate muffin for 10.60 euros.

See you in 24 hours.

The chicken was delicious. It had butter sauce that normally I don't like but this was so good. Everyone loved their food.

People kept asking how I was feeling and that's embarrassing. I did feel a lot better. I don't think it was the drinking that made me sick. This has mac and cheese written all over it.

Around 1 we went on our tour. It was a lot like Mercedes and BMW. I liked it slightly less than the other two but I might just be getting burnt out on watching things get built. There wasn't anything that really stood out here. Their bathrooms were smaller than both other car places but still very nice.

Audi S1 Sportback 2.0 TFSI quarttro, 6-Gang (at the cheap price of 38,130 euros!)

It was around 4 when we left Audi. On the bus everyone was asleep. I got bored and ate my breakfast pretzel.

There was traffic so it took longer to get back, but we arrived at our hotel around 6:30. Before we could all part we had to go to the lobby and talk about tomorrow's farewell dinner and leaving Thursday morning. It was kind of sad. I don't want to leave Europe. The organizers wanted to make sure Maria and I knew what we were doing Thursday morning. You're goddamn right we did.

After we all left on that happy note, Maria, Todd, and I went to the bar. We got spaghetti for dinner and I forgot to take a picture. The married couple joined us (they're Maria's friends) and we hung out.

Around 8 Maria, Todd, and I left to go for a hike. I had been hearing rumors of a tower on the hill. Going up the path I found this ginger slug fella.

Are you poisonous?

Then I found a lot more. They're neat!

The hike was fun. Maria asked "Are there rattlesnakes out here?" in regards to the heavily wooded area we were in.

"No, just Nazis." I answered. "They hide in the forests."

It was kind of a long walk. We had fun and laughed lots.

Follow me!

Eventually we found the watch tower! Then we had to climb that.

Bloody hell.

It was good exercise and totally worth it. You could see all of Aalen from here.

I stayed to watch the sunset and the other two hung out with me but they weren't that into it.

Goodbye sun

I wanted to stay until it got dark out and then we could look at Aalen at night and wouldn't that be pretty? The other two got bored so we got off the tower and went over to a little park. They had swings there.

Loves it

Maria was being a stinker and wanted to leave. I think she wasn't feeling well. I refused to leave and we waited a little while for her to feel better. Then we climbed the watch tower again! It wasn't quite pitch black out like I wanted but it was still a great view of the city.

It was a little windy and chilly. The other two were wearing t-shirts while I had on a flannel long sleeve. They were cold and ready to leave. So we left.

Once we got into the trees it was very dark and we had to be careful not to trip and break our faces. It was also a little spooky. A Nazi could come out from the bushes and grab one of us any second.

Welcome to the Black Forest please watch your step.

We did see fireflies! Or lightning bugs, I'm not sure what they're called. They were like little fairies floating through the woods. It was so magical. Then I remembered what Tom our tour guide in Ireland said about fairies being evil. These Nazi fairies suddenly seemed not so nice.

Walking back in the dark was fun in the way that being scared is kind of fun. It's too dark to see anything clearly, obviously, but every now and then you would walk by a bush and you would hear something move. Or something would fly by overhead. I heard and saw bats.

Every now and then the sounds would spook someone and then that person would scare the hell out of the other two. Good times. We made in back to the road path and followed that to our hotel.

We got back around 11. I took a bath, then journaled. A giant ass moth flew into the room and I tried to kill it but then it went into the bathroom so I shut the door and hoped it found it's way into the toilet.

Maria (who had been off hanging out with Todd and the married couple) came back and took a shower. The walls are pretty thin so I head her go "What the-OH MY GOD" and she ran out of the bathroom. I had forgotten about Mothra. She was freaking out so I had to kill it. The moth settled and I grabbed some tissues and slowly made my way to grab it. Inches away from grabbing Mothra, it took flight. I screamed and ran. Maria copied.

That sucker was big. Maria texted one of the guys to come over and kill it.

I went to bed around 1:30.

Ginger slug count: 16