It is Pentecost Sunday, I assume both here as well as the States, and it is a holiday that also goes through Monday, so shops will also be closed tomorrow, except for specialty tourist areas.
I hate waking up tired, even though I get enough sleep. That was definitely how the day began. I had a delicious breakfast at the hotel's restaurant of rolls and toast with strawberry marmalade and a chocolate hazelnut spread, a hard-boiled egg, and a glass of milk. Random, but the milk over here tastes more like cream than milk, and NO I did not accidentally pour a glass of cream. There was a jug of milk by the cereal. It just tastes better than at home!
It was also one of those mornings where I couldn't decide what I wanted to wear and tried on a million different outfit combinations. Such problems did not occur when my suitcase was lost. I was disappointed to find out that we were no longer taking a train to Mainz like our itinerary said, since it would have been my first time to ride an actual train. We took the bus as usual along the Rhein river, and Lothar told us great stories about the various castles along the river front.
Problem is, now I don't remember the stories!
Mainz was actually a lot of fun, sight-seeing-wise, and we got to sing in the cathedral there. I love how we always end up attracting small crowds. :)
We then had lunch on our own, and I waited in line FOREVER at a little corner-fast-food-cafe thing, which I got some kind of pizza wrap thing. I don't know for sure what all it was, but it was delicious and about a third bigger than a Chipotle burrito, therefore I could not finish. I still had room for gelato, though. Somehow.
I ordered the Nr. 19, which was the same with extra meat.
This was huge. And I love MO State.
The Kebap Haus that everyone was eating at.
I <3 gelato
Don't eat my gelato, Susan!
After all the fun, it's back on the bus because we are going to Butzbach. We had a gracious welcome and speech by the town's mayor, along with guided tours and gifts from the local museum of calendars and general pictures of the city. He even asked Dr. Webb to sign the town's honored guest book! I think we are famous here? Maybe?
Learned a lot of fun things about the town, including that they still have much of the Roman wall around the city. Elvis Presley and the lieder poet Goethe also both had girlfriends in this town. It is known throughout Germany as the "Little Versailles" of Germany. It really is beautiful here, and it was great to be on a walking tour instead of another bus ride. I was sad that my camera died before I got to the 'Rose church' where they pay homage to Elizabeth of Hungary. Don't remember all of the story, but it sounded like the legend that Disney got the beginning of Beauty and the Beast from.
I love hearts!
The museum of the town.
Dr. Webb signing the honored guests book.
Butzbach had a lot of shoemakers, so a large part of museum was devoted to the trade.
The first victims of kristallnacht in Butzbach. If I recall correctly, the wife died here outside the store, and the husband was shipped off to a concentration camp but survived. Amazing and chilling to be near this history.
We had a long concert tonight. And by long, I mean that the concert was stopped about four times to present awards and gifts to each other, since this was a joint concert with their community choir. Also, the Germans are very green, and generally do not use air-conditioning. This was the first time I got sweaty in a concert, which makes sense since I was on my feet under hot lights for nearly three hours. The best part? My bug bites had some kind of allergic reaction, so my foot started swelling in the concert, even though I had been fine the WHOLE DAY walking around Boppard, Mainz, and even the guided tour of Butzbach.
My cute heart shaped venom from the bug bite pre-swelling.
After we got back to the hotel, my foot was so swollen and in pain I couldn't put weight on it, even though I had iced it during the reception at a restaurant. Bentley, one of our burly basses, had to carry me up the stairs to my hotel room, gave me freezer packs from Mirko, our bus driver, and found some benedril to give me. No, I did not take pictures of my fat foot. It was disgusting, and this I was too high on benedril to make sense of having a giant's foot. The benedril conked me out. The end of day five!
A funny pic of me trying to keep my foot warm while icing it.
Also, a funny I forgot to add: At the church in Butzbach, Dr. Webb went into a WC, then he thought it was a pull-cord to flush the toilet. He pulled it and it turned on a REALLY loud alarm. Apparently it's what the disabled or elderly members pull when they have a fall or hurt themselves in the bathroom. Silly Webb.
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