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
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