june 2014 | Wiesbaden, Germany

After a long day of travel, we are here! After a 4 hour layover in Vancouver, BC which was the nicest airport I have been in in a while, and a 9 and a half hour flight (we flew Condor, which is the "budget" airline, and we were slightly concerned that it would be miserable but the flight was great and we saved a bunch of money!) we got to Wiesbaden!

It's so pretty, and the weather was great.

We went out to dinner with Emma, who used to be Josh's upstairs neighbor, till she moved. It was great having her in Josh's building when I needed girl time,  but her new apartment is supposedly pretty swanky, so I am excited to check that one out, too! (Even if I will miss the proximity!)

After dinner, we went on a long walk, and Josh told me "none of this is out of the ordinary, look! No one is taking pictures but you. You look like a tourist!" But whatever.... I am a tourist. And it's so pretty! 

Today we are relaxing (Mom and I both woke up at 4 am) and going to a market later. Dinner is in the crock pot, and Josh has some "projects" for us to do (hanging pictures and things like that). Mom is taking a nap, but I am determined to stay up all day and beat the jet lag. We'll see. The German-USA game is Thursday night, so that's a pretty big incentive to be on local time.... and see that palace above? They are having a huge viewing there, and I really want to go (if Josh can get off work in time, they only admit the first 5,000 people). But even if I can't watch it projected onto a palace (tough life), literally every single restaurant has a tv playing the games.... you can really watch the games while just walking down the street because there are that many. It's awesome. 

(It goes without saying that we are both PSYCHED to be back with Josh! We even skyped with Dad yesterday, which is as close as this family gets to a reunion. We haven't all been together since June of 2011!)

German playground & more Fasching :)

Josh and I went on a little walk yesterday at the park near his house. It was totally an Oregon weather day, and ended up being pretty awesome. We found a park that was pretty much amazing, it even had a zip line! German parks are so much cooler then American ones.

The playground had lots of cool things-that twisty rope thing was really hard! I couldn't do it (but Josh couldn't either). And on the other side of the rocket slide was a mini rock wall.

There were also carvings:

And there were little rope courses over the stream-

Talk about things that would NEVER happen in America. I don't know why it is but in Germany there are way more things you could get hurt on in public places that would not fly in America. It's awesome, and makes me feel bad for all the American kids that get sub-par parks when these German ones are so much better and more creative... and just when I was like "this is amaazzzinnng" there was one last little suprise:

AN IN-GROUND TRAMPOLINE. These German kids really are lucky, I'm totally jealous.

All and all it was a really beautiful day and we had a great time! Then we went & walked around downtown Wiesbaden and Josh bought a pair of baby blue chinos :)


We also went out to Fasching again last night,  here are my two favorite pictures. And yes, same costume, different day, that's how Fasching rolls :) Also, I never thought Josh and I really looked that much alike till I came here. Now I think we totally look SO alike, it's crazy!

For my Mom, she really wanted a picture of us hugging :) Love ya Mom! xo

Wiesbaden, & my first European driving experience

The highlight of the day was that I drove on German highways. Good news: no one was died and no one was hurt. Bad news, it was scary! And I am pretty sure it took years off Joseph's life, since he was brave enough to drive with me (and navigate). Joseph and I drove to Ikea to look for some things -a french press, bread tin, measuring cups, curtains for Josh- but most importantly something to fill the gap between the door and the floor that lets in cold air all night long. I have been stuffing my jeans in the gap, but that makes them really cold the next morning, so I needed another solution.We found a blanket for €2 that I think will do the trick nicely, so the trip was a total success. 

Also I think that we drove by some pretty Germany country side on the way to Ikea, but I was too focused on the road so I didn't see any of it. :(

Josh went to open the front door this morning... and the door handle fell off!!

Definitely the best thing I have eaten in Germany so far!

I have no idea what this building is, but Josh's parking garage is right below it... seriously. 

I love that every other random building is totally gorgeous.