Germany

This past weekend I was lucky enough to go to Stuttgart, Germany. This wasn't a typical travel weekend like my weekends in the past of exploring Europe - this trip was very special because I got to meet some family members who I haven't seen in over 15 years! It was basically like meeting them for the first time. With the help of my parents and my Grandma, we were able to arrange a weekend visit to get to know each other! They are cousins of my Dad who live only a short four hours from Paris, so how could I not go?!

So it was pretty crazy. Getting off a train in a whole new country not knowing who I'm even looking for is sort of nerve-racking. But everything was great. I knew I'd like them when immediately after finding each other, they had tears in their eyes, happy to meet me. I was immediately treated like family.

That evening we went back to their home and had dinner together, catching up on basically my entire life, sharing stories of our families, showing pictures, and struggling through the language barriers with both English and German (as they kept forgetting I don' know German).

 the street they live on 

So they had a perfect day planned on Saturday... lots of exploring and showing me around the city! We started by seeing where other cousins and my great grandmother used to live, which was really unbelievable to see. I still can't really believe I even have family that lives in Germany. But next we went to this castle (or schlosse, which I learned is castle in german) in the next town called Ludwigsburg.

This was huge and beautiful. We didn't go inside but we explored within the castle walls where we saw about 5 or 6 different brides having their wedding pictures taken. They also took me to this beautiful spot on top of a hill which allowed us to have an amazing view of the rolling hills of Germany. 

Annemarie and I

For lunch they took me to their favorite Chinese restaurant YUM and more family stories were told! After lunch we did more exploring of the city, where they would tell me random facts and stories. 

They told me they have to show me the cakes in a certain restaurant because they're just like my Grandma's. I almost thought my Oma made these! 

'

Horrible picture but just to show that Stuttgart had so many beautiful car dealerships. Home of the Porsche. This is Porsche museum. There were Audi dealers, Mercedes Benz and more. Everywhere.

A square in town where Frank Sinatra once sang!

intersection right by their house!

don't know what these are but they look cool!

of course

Later in the evening we went to this big fest called Spring Fest, (they called it German Fest, and that's exactly what it was). It was basically a huge carnival with lots of beer and guys wearing lederhosen. We basically just sat and people watched for hours. It was great. Unfortunately I wasn't sneaky enough to capture a pic of anyone's outfit. 

So of course I had beer and sausage at this fest while watching how normal German people my age are. Interesting. After the fest we returned home for a cup of coffee and conversation before bed. And then the next morning it was time to leave. 

So yeah pretty cool, huh. I never even thought I'd be in Germany, let alone meet family I barely knew anything about! I learned so much and it was really really awesome. Such a unique experience that I'll never forget!!

Last but not least: it's cool to be a Wiener in Germany.