First German Experiences

After about an hour waiting for our luggage and Rafa to appear in baggage claim, we were finally reunited with Casey. It had been nearly a month since we saw him. He arrived in our "new" 2008 BMW 525d wagon! Main priority was to get Rafa, his crate and as much of our luggage as possible home. We were able to stuff all of those items (plus Genna lol) into the car for round 1 of schlepping everything to the townhouse. Molly and I waited at the airport (we did not have the mental/emotional stamina to attempt a train ride yet) but it was a welcome break from sitting. We wandered around aimlessly people watching and enjoying "The German Stare." Many Germans either hold their gaze at you, looking at your disapprovingly, or they don't look at you at all, even if you're about to collide into each other. They'll hold their path and let you get out of the way.

I don't remember much of getting home. I hadn't slept AT ALL on the plane, and really hadn't slept well for the month leading up to this adventure. Got to our new home and the girls and I passed out pretty quickly. It was COLD in the house. I woke up around 4pm and took a bath, which was lovely. Sun sets around 4:30 in the winter here, but remains dark gray through the day - so gloomy!

Casey got off work early to come pick us up. We hit the exchange to get some bed linens and other house goods (Casey had only secured our rental the day before we arrived!). And then we went to downtown Mainz for an authentic German dinner. It was delicious and fun! Name of the restaurant was Eisgrub-Brau; we shared a cozy section of the restaurant with what appeared to be an office Christmas party. They were having a great time as they drank LOTS of beer and randomly broke out into Christmas caroling. We actually enjoyed the spectacle. It was festive. But our young waiter literally shushed them when we were ordering our food! Things that do NOT happen in America! :) For our meal we had Jaegerschnitzel, Spaetzle, Saurbraten and Schweinhaxen. Hearty, stick-to-your-ribs food that's so good in this cold and damp climate. Case and I ordered a local dry Riesling - the only Riesling I'd ever had before was the ultra sweet kind which I don't like. But this was delicious and cheap! Fantatstic!

Afterwards we walked to a cute Italian restaurant, Da Vito, for some gluhwein and dessert for the girls. Our waiter was super fun with a sense of humor that reminded me a little of Robin Williams. He's a dad of 4 girls, so he enjoyed teasing Genna and Molly with is dad jokes. It was a great night to introduce us to Germany!