Being Better

Wow, it's been a while since I've updated. Most of the time I've been away traveling with my parents. Some of the time was because I was busy with Thomas. And now- Now it's mostly because I have nothing happy to report.

Tuesday I took my parents to the train station in Stuttgart and saw them off on their way home. I thought I would then go hang out with my Sweetie- Thomas. But he didn't respond to my calls. Over and over again. I was really getting worried, because that's not like him. Turns out while I was seeing my parents off, Thomas was being rushed to the hospital for weird heart rhythms. At one point his pulse was over 200 beats per minute. Crazy. So now the boy just needs rest, and less stress. Unfortunately this is not to be.

He still lives with his ex because it's hard to have an apartment on your own in Germany. It's really expensive. He's found a new apartment which he will be moving into at the beginning of August. So I've been understanding. Except since she showed up at the hospital while I was there with Thomas- she's kind of lost it. She actually went onto his Kwick (kind of like myspace in Germany) website and has been deleting my messages to him, and sent me a message- written by her, but under his profile- saying:

"Hello Tiffi...
I'm sorry we must cancel the conetion between us because the relaconship to my girlfriend its too importend and i love her!

So please delet my phonenumber and please dont try to call me!

Take care!"

Ha! Like I would really believe that was him to begin with. This chick is seriously out of her mind. First- that doesn't sound like him. Second- he can't stand her. Third- he never makes that many grammatical mistakes.

Unfortunately he left his iphone on the u-bahn on Tuesday when he was heading home from the hospital. (dumbass). So I can't even call him. It's all very stressful and horrible. But I will be the better woman here. (because I'm already the bigger one ;-) ) and I will not break her into a thousand little pieces as I would like to do. *Sigh* It's not easy being better than others.

Aachen in a Nut Shell

Aachen was awesome and the family was so incredible! I was picked up at the train station by Ursula (the mom) and when I went to their house I was warmly greeted by Dietmar (the dad), and Simon (the son). I helped Ursula make dinner and after a small incident with the salad dressing measuring cup (read- balsamic vinegar all over the floor) we had a really lovely meal. Simon then took me to meet up with Nick (the daughter) at a pub in Aachen. Her friends were really super nice. I really liked them. But here's the thing- out of 8- only 2 knew she was a girl. Which makes me what to ask things like: um.. which public toliet do you use? But I just couldn't bring myself to ask. We hung out and had a great time.

Friday was May 1st which is like our labor day- but with more alcohol. :D I walked around the city with Nick, and her friends Ester and Moe. We walked through the park, to the Cathedral, Town Hall, and stopped to have a beer by some old Roman ruins. Later we hung out in Moe's garden, drank more beer, then played foosball. (we determined I was a jinx and whoever's team I was placed on was bound to lose.) I ate dinner with the family then played some more foosball. Then went on a walk with Nick and Moe.

Saturday I walked into the city with Ursula in the morning, then I was left on my own to explore. I found a miniture for my collection, and bought pressies for my helpful hosts. :D I walked back to the house and (extremely tiredly)- crawled into bed for a nap. After my nap I went for a motorcycle ride with Dietmar through the Netherlands, into Belgium. We visited Ursula at her horse show practice. She and her sweet horse Travli ( I think I spelled that wrong) are participating in a horseshow where handicapped kids get to ride the horses and put on a show. It looked really cool. Afterwards Dietmar and I climbed back on the bike and winded our way through Belgium back to Germany. It was a gorgeous day. I would like to point out though- that I've never ridden a motorcycle like this before. And there was a time when I was looking into the back of Dietmar's shiny dark red helmet and seeing the reflection of my eyes staring back at me. I remember thinking: "Hmmm so this is what petrified terror looks like. hm." But really, he was a really great driver- I think this issue has more to do with the inexperienced passanger. :-) After the ride I met up with Nick again and we went to a friend of her's b-day party. It was really fun. I taught all the Germans how to play beer pong. (Very educational). :D And at 4am I dragged myself home. :D

Sunday I woke up early because I wanted to eat breakfast with the family and hand out pressies before Ursula drove me back to the train station so I could get back to Dusseldorf and ride back home with Dorothee and the girls. All and all- a great trip.

Okay, I know this post magically appeared as being posted Monday- but that's because I want to add other posts with cool info I learned. :D

Spontanety is the spice of life- Use liberally.

Sicily was a trip beyond my wildest expectations. From just before the plane was to set down on the island of Sicily, my trip began to stand on it's head. Orignally I had planned to go to Palermo and just hang out, shop, go to the beach and see the sights. But all that changed.

The storm which had been raging for quite some time in Palermo still hadn't quieted and the plane which was scheduled to go to Palermo just before us, had been re-routed to Catatina- which is on the other side of the island. The turbulance was horrible and it was because of this that I heard the couple behind me speaking with American accents. I struck up a conversation with them and it turns out - long story short- that they are friends of one of my friends. Strange how small the world is really. So Andy and Erin invited me to come with them. Their plan was to take the 3 1/2 hour train from Palermo to Milazzo that afternoon, then stay at a b&b that night. Getting up early the next day to take the ferry which would take then to the island of Vulcano which has an inactive Volcano on it. So that's just what I did. The photos are currently loaded onto flickr, and I'm working on the video. Enjoy! I know I did. :)

All the news fit to print

I'm back from Vienna. I flew there Friday afternoon and came back this morning. It was great fun. I really enjoyed it. Soon I will be posting pictures, probably tomorrow since it takes a day to upload them.

Here's what I saw:

Naschmarkt

Schloss Schoenbrunn

Stephansdom

Hundertwasserhaus

Spanische Hofreitschule

Hofburg

Wien Operhaus

Mozarthaus

And many random parts of town as I became lost. :)

That's about it. I was really tired each night and my feet were killing me. I'm just happy that this time when I took the plane to my destination I didn't have as much trouble getting back. (Thank God!)

FYI- If I don't have your address, I won't send postcards. If you send me your post address I will then decide how much I like you, then I may or may not send a postcard.

Bis Spaeter!

Oh, and one more note, as of today I have been in Germany for 5 months. Phew, and Dad didn't think I would make it this long. Well, I'm not in danger of missing him TOO much. Because even from the other side of the ocean he still has the ability to annoy the heck out of me. Cheers!

Good News

Pictures are now up and labelled from Cologne and Düsseldorf. I will get Dresden's up tomorrow and work on the videos from all three cities. Work Work Work.

Oh, and I'm now back in Filderstadt!
Woo Hoo!