Last week...

...or something like that. So my vow to post more often didn't happen But that's because not much happened at the beginning of the week, per usual, and everything happened at the end of the week and by Saturday (or one could say Sunday as it was 1 in the morning) I was too tired to write out all my adventures. So where to start...

Nothing much happened the first of the week because Marie worked and I lazed about, enjoying reading The Chronicles of Narnia because I hadn't read them before. (I'm still finishing, I don't know why it's taking me so long...) And then Thursday came around and Marie was invited to go out to dinner with some members of her ward. We went to a nice little Italian restaurant where I could only read some of the words because they were so similar to French. However, after asking over and over again what things were, I settled for a Pizza calzone, which was delicious (and the word that looks like pepperoni in German doesn't really mean pepperoni but in fact actual peppers). Pizza in Germany is different because they use salami instead of pepperoni, however, it didn't taste as bad as I thought it would, in fact, I really kinda like it... We spent three hours out to dinner, only spending about thirty minutes actually eating. In Europe the dinner table is a place for conversation. At restaurants the customer is not pushed out the door as soon as they finish eating. Waiters leave you alone until your glass is empty and they ask if you want more (and they actually ask because refills are NOT free--which is how they make their money). And such was the case Thursday night. And unfortunately I was left out of all conversation. Not by choice, but because I was sitting in just the wrong spot to be able to participate and I'm not a military wife, nor am I pregnant--for the military life and being pregnant were the topics of conversation in the two groups that separated around me. So I just sat there, trying to listen but not getting much. However, the dinner was great. However before dinner Marie and I went into downtown Bamberg to go do some more shopping so I could get souvenirs for myself to put in my wonderfully new curio cabinet! (yay!)

Friday rolled around and started out to be sunny so Marie and I decided to go to the swimming pool (I forget the German word...schwimbat? something that sounds like that, at least to me). We were going to go back to Nurnberg and Palm beach but things happened to prevent us from going so we settled on the Bamberg swimming hole. And of course by the time we arrived the weather decided to cool down a lot and threaten rain. We stayed for about and hour and a half just soaking in the freezing cold water before the really black clouds decided to hang out over the pool. Then we went to dinner at a Greek place near post. The food was great! I ordered Gyro, at my sister's preference. Gyro is pork. They seem to like pork over there. The meat was perfectly seasoned and was enhanced by the sauce that they used. I have no idea what it was, but it was good! I didn't take a picture because I forgot the camera :( sorry. At the Greek restaurant they give you complimentary shots. The first glass they gave us smelled of black licorice. My sister told me they would be offended if we left the glasses full on the table so she took her napkin and soaked up her drink and put it in her purse. I just dumped mine in my large empty glass. Unfortunately they brought us a second shot when they brought our check. It was red. The lady made it sound like it was alcohol free so my sister went to try it. She sniffed it and said it didn't smell like alcohol but when she got her lip to the cup she could feel the alcohol burning in her mouth. I just laughed at her because I figured it was alcohol and not a fruitdrink. So to wash out the taste of that drink from my sister's mouth we went and got some ice cream. Just a cone with a single scoop. My sister got her favorite--it's a vanilla ice cream with chocolate pieces in it--and I got what would be my favorite--Amaretto with just the perfect blend of chocolate and cherry, delicious! And then it started to rain so we went back to post and stayed inside. Besides, we needed to get to bed early because the next day was going to be a big one!

So Saturday, August 23, 2008, I was able to travel to 11 countries in nine hours. On foot. That's right. I went to a horror house in Italy,

raced in fast cars in France, climbed the matterhorn in Switzerland and then raced in bobsleds across the Alps,

made a telephone call in England, associated with Pirates in Scandanavia, launched into space from Russia, and then danced in the rain in Spain!
So, as you can tell, I ended up in a theme park after a long five hour drive on a tour bus. I had a great time, though! Marie and I got to do just about everything we wanted because we broke away from the youth group Marie was supposed to be supervising. (They waited around for ages just trying to decide which bathroom they wanted to use first.) I had lots of fun. Here are more pictures of just silly things Marie and I did:

(<--- That's a Gyro in a pita pocket)