Trains, planes, and automobiles

Happy New Year!

I am back in France after a whirlwind of a vacation that was both totally awesome and way too short.

I'd like to begin this story with another story... of long long ago:

On November 27, 1987, my parents went to see the movie, Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, starring Steve Martin and John Candy. The next day I was born. It was a beautiful day.

Anyway, having heard that story a number of times, I've developed a bit of an affinity for the phrase trains, planes, and automobiles, if not for the movie itself, most assuredly for the idea of taking every means of transportation possible from one place to the next.

So, thanks to the ridiculous cost of air travel to the United States, I booked a Christmas-New Years extravaganza, which included more trains than I care to mention, one plane, and one giant bus. I also managed to ride in a couple cars, a taxi, a roller coaster simulator thingy, and a tram or two.

So, without further ado, Trains! Planes! Automobiles!

Setting the scene: December 22, in desperate need of new music for my journey, I downloaded the album Up From Below by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. (I am typically against downloading from itunes, but... I was desperate.) The song "Home" was on a free playlist I had previously downloaded, and the album's awesome opening song "40 Day Dream" became the official anthem for my jouney. Click on either song to listen while you read! (I, by the way, am obsessed with random hyperlinks. If you haven't noticed, look through my previous posts.)

On December 23rd I took a 6:45am train to Paris, in order to make a 3:30pm flight. I arrived not-so-bright but very early, around 8:30. The sun was not yet out. I did what any reasonable person would do in Paris at 9 in the morning in the freezing cold. Walked around Paris. Saw the Louvre. Saw the bazillion other tourists at the Louvre. Left the Louvre. Sat in a café. Went in some shops. Went out of some shops. Nearly died of frostbite.

I probably should have spent the extra €20 on a later train. Oh well.

I made it to CDG with time to spare. Here it comes: Planes! It was cheaper for me to fly to Frankfurt than to take a train. The plane ride was run-of-the-mill as can be, and praise be to God, I made it to the train station 30 minutes before departure. The train was the ICE, the German equivalent of the TGV, and it was also packed. There were people sitting in every seat, people making other people get out of their seats, people sitting on luggage, people napping in the aisles, people standing in the doorways, luggage lying all over the place. It was a mess, and it made me nervous. But again, praise be to God, I got off at the right stop and caught the local train to Melsungen.

I'd like to mention here that I was extraordinarily lucky, throughout this trip. Virtually none of my trains were delayed, and as such I didn't miss I single connection. Oh yeah, did I mention that trains and planes were being cancelled out the wazoo the 21st and 22nd? They were. I am knocking on wood as I write this.

Anywho, at about 9:00 pm, I arrived at Melsungen where Franziska was waiting at the station. After over 15 hours travel time, I was never so glad to see anyone.

Now, I know Franzi is reading/will read this, so I'd like to address a couple German stereotypes: Germans drink beer all the time while wearing lederhosen and praying to David Hasselhoff. Keeeding. (We drank wine and champagne, mostly wore pajamas, and went to the regular church with the hymns and the baby Jesus.)

Here's what I will say about Germany (and this is 100% a compliment): If I didn't know the Roths, I would have thought they were trying to fatten me up to cook me for New Year's dinner.

Here's what I ate: potato soup, cheese, bread, vodka-soaked fruit, bread, cheese, fish platter, lobster, star-shaped ice cream, champagne, bread, cheese, a dutch farmer's pancake, champagne, roast apple, bread, cheese, deer, pork roast, polenta (franzi's fave hehe), knoedel, red cabbage-y stuff, wine, salad, petit-fours, raspberry desert, champagne, roast apples with star-shaped ice cream, bread, cheese, salami, salmon with broccoli and peppers, rice, lemon desert, black forest cake, wine, champagne, roast apples with star-shaped ice cream, bread.

I loved every minute of it. Franziska's mom loves to cook, and I think she was glad to have three daughters to (and someone can correct my german) bemuttern. In addition to me and Franzi, her older sister Juliana was staying for the holidays.

Here's what else happened: a lot of speaking German. Here's a habit I've developed: pretending to understand languages I do not speak. Usually I could pick up a word or two that indicated the general theme of the conversation, from there I'd invent the dialogue as I saw fit. This made for an entertaining, if not completely false interpretation of the world around me.

Then, someone would explain what they were actually saying. It was kind of fun. By the end of it, I amazed everyone by answering yes or no to questions posed in German. It's all about the key words, baby.

A run down of the events: the 23rd we met some of her friends and drank a very tasty vodka fruity thing. The 24th, we slept in, and I learned that my French migraine medecine also functions as the perfect hangover cure. (Paracetamol, Caffeine, and a pinch of Codeine, how could you go wrong?) We went to the Christmas Eve service, where Mr. Roth ended up being the minister because the minister was sick. For dinner we had a platter of assorted fishes, a tradition in their family, drank real French Champagne -- it was really good -- and opened presents. The Roths in their unending hospitality had a few for me, which was a really nice surprise. And the cinnamon pecans from my family were a hit.

Christmas day we took a CAR the 1.5 hour trip to visit their oldest sister and her family at a family vacation home place. We visited with the kids who ripped through their presents then had dinner at the Centerpark, which I can only describe as a mall with lots of different restaurants, no shops, a couple small arcade-y things, a jungle gym, and a pool. We also went on a virtual roller coaster with Franziska's nephew.

The 26th we ate and hung around. Then Franzi and I went out with her friends in Kassel. When we left, the ground had frozen, and I got to slide on the ice with my heels. On accident.

The 27th we ate and hung around. We also went into Melsungen and walked around. A picture will do it more justice than I can:

The thing about Christmas in Germany, or maybe just Christmas with the Roths, was that we didn't run around like chickens with our heads cut off. Really. We just sat and talked and ate and relaxed. I won't say it was better than being home, but it came damn near close. I would have loved to be with my family and Kevin for the holidays. But, with as much running around as I tend to do, spending the holiday doing nothing was wonderful. The Roths were so hospitable and welcoming to the weird American. Plus, I got to hang out with one of my favorite people for 5 days and do nothing, who could ask for more?

I'm tired, this post will have to have a part two: too many trains to Amsterdam. For now, I'll leave you with this: