The first few days of Germany

Well we’re here and safe. As I write we’re driving about 115mph in a mini van on the Autobahn, and its raining. We’re on our way to Austria. Jon and I are driving in a car with his 2 cousin’s Benjamin and Daniel and his grandmother, who we call Oma. It’s funny, most of the music on the radio over here is American music.

We arrived in the middle of the night Sunday – our time - and it was around six in the morning on Monday here! Jon and I only got about an hour of sleep on the plane so we were tired. From the airport we drove to Jon’s cousin’s house in Friedberg, where we had a breakfast of fresh, delicious rolls and lunch meat. We were all a bit delirious but we couldn’t get into our hotel till around 11:00am so we spent some time there talking. We went to our hotel as soon as we could and got about 3 hours of sleep. Then we drove to Bad Orb (another city) to pick up Oma. We ate dinner at a Greek restaurant in Bad Orb. It was us, Oma and good friends of Oma’s. Jon and I both had Wiener Schnitzel (pounded pork, breaded and fried), I liked it. It was so strange having dinner and seeing elderly people drinking beer and then taking shots after dinner; Even a young kid (about 7 years old) at the table next to us was drinking wine and had a shot after dinner (Instead of after dinner mints they have after dinner shots, haha). Benjamin & Daniel said it’s not normal for kids that young to drink over here. The official drinking age is 16. Monday night after dropping Oma off at Robert & Connie’s (Jon’s cousin’s parents) we went back to our hotel to finally get a good night sleep.

Tuesday (yesterday) we had breakfast at our hotel and then went to Robert & Connie’s. We went with everyone to see an old Roman fort that was built back in 48 AD. We stopped at a McDonald’s for lunch and saw some US troops. It was nice to hear someone who speaks English. The McDonalds had things we don’t have in the states, along with the normal stuff; and it had a McCafé. On our way back we stopped and walked around the city of Friedberg (where Jon’s cousin’s live). There were so many old buildings and cobblestone streets. I bought a pair of slippers and Jon got a video game :). They have bakery’s everywhere over here! And the bread is delicious :). Last night we ordered pizza for dinner. I think that was the best pizza I’ve ever had. Each person gets an individual pizza that’s about twice the size of a Pizza Hut personal pan. Pepperoni over here means peppers, and pepperoni is called salami. I almost got peppers on my pizza because I ordered pepperoni.

I’m learning a few German words. I know how to say thank you “danke” and yes “ja” and no “nein”. Oma loves to talk our ears off in German and doesn’t realize Jon and I have no idea what she’s saying :). We just nod our heads and smile :).Benjamin, Daniel, Robert & Connie all speak pretty good English so we can communicate. Robert and Connie amaze me! They are both blind. They have all kinds of gadgets that talk to them or help them. Connie cleans and cooks and does dishes and everything!!

As I said earlier, right now we’re on our way to Austria where we’ll be staying for the next 2 days. It’s about a 5 hour drive. We’re going to the Alps and to see an old castle. Robert, Connie, Daniel, Benjamin and Oma all came with us. Jon caught a cold of some sort so he has a sore throat and runny nose and I’ve been having stomach problems. It doesn’t help that we’re still not caught up on sleep. So we could use prayer for health and continued safety. I’ll try to post again in a day or two.

It's now Thursday afternoon and this is the first chance I got to use internet and post this. I don't have time now to tell about the rest of the day yesterday after I left off. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get a chance.

Check out these cool things I can do with a German keyboard! Üüü Ääää ÖÖööö ßßßßß-jon

Here is a picture of us in front of the Roman Fort:

Here I am in front of an old Castle in the city of Friedberg:

This is Jon at a McDonalds: