Beer and Brats...yum!

DAY 7

Guten Morgen! This morning we had to be on the bus by 8:15 to head on the road to Germany. I am a little nervous now trekking into countries where there isn't much English spoken. So far we have been lucky with London and Amsterdam where everyone speaks English. Andi taught us some German words and phrases on the bus this morning because she told us that trying a little to use the native language is appreciated by the Germans. 

For breakfast I had the mini Dutch pancakes again which were so yummy and a great way to start the day. Then it was on the bus and on our way. Even though I slept pretty well last night, I still managed to fall asleep a bit on the bus like twenty minutes into the ride and felt very refreshed after. 

On our way to our lunch stop in the German town of Boppard, we made two separate "comfort stops" to stretch, get snacks, and use the bathroom. Just like the Belgium rest stop, we had to pay to pee; .70 euro this time and .50 euro the second time. At the first one, I had to put my change in a machine, a turnstile unclicked, and I went through it to go to the bathroom. Interesting. With the .70 euro fee, we did however get a coupon for .50 euro off a purchase so I bought some Haribo gummy strawberries. Haribo is a German company (I eat them often but didn't realize they were made here) so of course I wanted to buy some. Unshockingly, they taste the same here as in America, but cost more money. Strange.

In Boppard, which is near the home of where Rhine Riesling wine is produced, but since Germany is a beer country, I had to partake. When we got to this small town, I was starving and wanted some food. And fast. I got a delicious local bratwurst and German potato salad. Yummy!! The clerks at the store didn't even speak English, that's how authentic it was. I ate it and wandered town a bit with one of the other single ladies, Connie. She is a 51 year old elementary school principal from Canada. She is super nice and we have been talking lots of celeb gossip. After lunch I wanted to explore a bit so did so solo,  but then met up with one of the other single ladies, Jenny (52 year old mom from Australia) for a little walk. Then we boarded the boat for a cruise along the Rhine river. On board, I treated myself to a local beer. I immediately got a little buzz and one of the other women, Vonda,  who is traveling with her brother, bought me another beer. Score!! I have started being more social with the ladies on the tour. Like I previously stated, everyone is super nice, but with the age difference,  and  my desire to explore independently, it's taken a while to get to know people. Two German beers in me helps me open up a bit and I was sitting with some of the ladies throughout the cruise. Since I am the age of many of their daughters, they seem to take to me a bit. (But who wouldn't?) We even discussed how none of us (me, Vonda, and Jenny) smoked weed in Amsterdam because didn't have anyone to do it with. The women both told me I should have asked them and they would have with me. Ha. If I only knew then... It's okay though. Now I do know if I want to drink a bit, I can holler on them. Who knows, maybe it will even be their treat?!?! With some German and Austrian beer halls coming up, I hope they will want to join me for a stein...or five. 

The weather on the boat cruise was amazing and it was very scenic with mountain castles and vineyards. Very cool. The hour long cruise concluded and we headed back on the bus to head to Mainz (pronounced "mines") where our hotel is for the evening. (Fun facts: the printing press was invented here in Mainz and the town itself sits on the 50 degree latitude line.) We had an hour to ourselves before dinner and I had a ton of energy so I decided to go for a run along the Rhine River. There was an awesome path along the river so I took that for an up and back. I then quickly rinsed and changed for dinner. We had a delicious dinner at the hotel and then I decided to explore the city of Mainz a bit so headed out for a post-dinner stroll around town with Jenny. She not only kept pace with me (impressive!) but we had good convo too. The town of Mainz is cute but there wasn't much to see. . Its def not a tourist town by any means; just a stopover. It was still so nice to just get out and walk off dinner on such a beautiful night.

Day one in Germany is down (and its been seven days total down already), so in the words of one of German's finest,  Heidi Klum, I bid you goodbye (for tonight) with Project Runway's tagline, Auf Wiedersehen.