ALLEMANGE

So this weekend, I went to Germany. I feel so weird typing that, almost-- like going to Germany is hardly a big deal. But it kind of felt that way when the car ride was only three hours long and required no customs whatsoever. We went for an awesome open market in a city called Freiburg. The market is this huge thing where artisans opens booths included handmade things like food, candles, toys, soaps, wooden carvings, etc...

We left from Cuvat around noon, and passed through the border into Switzerland the same way you pass through a pay toll in the US, except there wasn't a fee. We drove through Switzerland for a while which I must say was one of the prettiest car rides I've ever taken, (I LOVE Swiss houses) and then we passed through the German border (again, easiest thing ever). Fun fact: there is no speed limit on German highways meaning you can go as fast as you want. So we got to Freiburg, fairly quickly after that.

We first went to the hotel and checked out our room. My host dad speaks German so it was like my first day in France all over again -- me standing there understanding nothing :P After we went up the room which was decorated so nicely I took a picture:

 Although believe it or not- the bathrooms are in a different room down the hallway. First hotel I've ever been in where the bathroom wasn't right there in the room. Yay cultural differences! :D
After we walked down to the place where the market was passing by buildings like this:

 And the prettiest McDonald's I've ever seen:

We finally got there, and it was really crowded. It was so strange hearing German everywhere, and seeing it everywhere. I even saw my last name BECK on multiple stores and it made me happy. We squeezed through the crowds and I got to see real hand crafted wooden statues and smell amazing sausages and even tried some BREZEL which was by far the most amazing pretzel I've ever eaten. I also had warm fruit juice which was delicious and got to keep the cup. I finally got around to buying a coat, and bought some presents for my parents. After, we walked around a bit, returned to the hotel to relax and watch some German TV, and then went back out for dinner. It took us ages to find a restaurant as all the others were literally full. We almost went to McDonalds, until we found one that had open tables. It was really pretty, and loud, and they kept playing old American songs, and I almost felt like I was back in America, especially when they handed me a HUGE glass of water. I had gotten so used to the small glasses in France, I was almost overjoyed to not finish my water in one gulp, haha. After that we went back to the hotel and slept.

The next day was pretty short, we woke up, and went downstairs to a huge brunch. There was sausage, ham, eggs, mushrooms, yoghurt, cereal, brezel, bread, everything. After we returned to the market, bought some gingerbread cookies for Christmas, and then headed back to the car to go home.

I can't really describe such a cool place this was, and how great it was just being there, so here are some pictures:

(^ This photo is dedicated to Mark Stewart)

Other than that- things are going well. I love my school, my host family, my house, my city, and Christmas vacation is just two weeks away!!

I'll update again soon~

À bientôt!