Mood:
happyNow Playing: I Got A Woman by Ray Charles
Well, it certainly has been awhile since I've updated, a month in fact. I've kept busy in that time and have had some snazzy times. Once again, I'll do my best to keep my thoughts in chronological order, but it doesn't always work out that way.
Memorial Day was uneventful, I'm pretty sure I worked. But either on that weekend or the one after it, I took a trip out to my Grandmom's to see Aunt Amy and Jackie. It's been 11 months since I've seen them so it was very good to hang out. They got me a few gifts as a thank you for letting them stay with me last year. They gave me three new pieces for my Coca Cola collection, as well as a stack of these sweet Muppet cups. Grandmom also ended up being in a giving mood, as she distributed several things of Grandpop's to us. I got a really cool Lionel trains pocetwatch that he never got around to using, and one of his old belt buckles. The belt buckle has a trolley on it, and I'm planning on mounting it on a piece of wood with a little platform anove it. On the platform I'll put a piece of track and put a HO scale trolley with a postcard above that. It'll be a cool project to work on later this summer.
The following weekend, my cousins and I went buffing. Eleven out of the fourteen of us went. It was Dan, Joe, Jeff, Ken, Chelle, Megan, Michael, Matt, Tim, Rachel, and me on this particular trip and we had an amazing time. We met and Aunt Cathy and Uncle John's and walked down to Mitchell from there. We probably spent at least an hour at Mitchell, having a blast as usual. From there, we hiked up the hill on Morrell Ave to catch the 66 at Frankford. Septa recently brought back trackless trolleys, using brand new ones, on the 66 line, but we ended up on a regular bus. We took that to Burger King for lunch, and then walked over to the Gregg St Loop, where I was able to snap a few shots of everyone in front of a bus. We had another hike after that to Holy Family, where we waited for the 84 bus. While waiting there, the new trackless trolley went by a few times, and we got some good shots of that. Also while waiting there, Aunt Elaine was driving by and saw us, and she made a U-Turn in the middle of the street and blocked a lane of traffic to stop and talk to us. It was pretty funny. Once the 84 finally showed up, we took it to Franklin Mills and went to Dave & Buster's to celebrate the twins' 10th birthday with Grandmom, Mom, Dad, Uncle Matt, Aunt Joanne, and Aunt Eileen. It was a blast.
That actually reminded me that a couple of days before that was the Camp-In party, at the Dave and Buster's in Center City. There was a fajita buffet, need I say more? We had a cool time there, and I kicked some serious butt on the trivia game (as I also did with the family later that weekend).
After an agonizingly long week after those fun events, I tagged along with the Crowes to head up to Connecticut. Dave, the guy who lived at the Hive for a month or two a couple of summers ago, was marrying his longtime girlfriend Jess. It was an outdoor wedding and quite nice. It was a beautiful sunny day, and then as soon as everyone was inside for the reception, it began to pour like crazy. So timing worked out well.
I returned from that trip on Monday the 9th in the afternoon. I chatted with Abby for an hour as I finished up packing, and then Dad picked me up. I spent the night at my parents' place, and then left for the airport the next day. My plane left a bit late, but I still made good time once I arrived in London. After taking a Mercedes bus to terminal 5 (I landed at 4) I was pleased to find REAL FANTA!!!!!!! I freaked out and immediately bought a bottle and a bag (weird) of Pringles to go with it. It was flavoricious. It was at this point when my old thoughts of moving to Europe came flooding back.
Shortly thereafter, with Fanta in hand, I boarded my flight to Dusseldorf. I saved a bit of Fanta, thinking Germany wouldn't have it, so Abby could taste it. As fate would have it, Germany does indeed have real Fanta, and I drank about half of their supply. Anywho, I arrived in Dusseldorf super early. So I gathered my luggage, and waited. Being supremely impatient, and knowing just how early I was, I decided to look for the Sky Train, which is how Abby would be arriving. As I walked up to the Sky Train exit, who should be coming down the escalator but my lovely Abby. This is probably one of the happiest moments ever. It was wonderful to see her again. We walked around in circles for awhile before stowing my luggage and grabbing abite to eat at the airport. We then caught a train into downtown Dusseldorf and Abby found perhaps the coolest bar I had ever been to so we could enjoy an Alt Bier. After our bier, we wandered a bit, got lost, and then finally found the hauptbahnoff. We took a train and the Sky Train back to the flughafen, retrieved my luggage, got back on the Sky Train, and then caught a train to Bonn. During this ride, I fell asleep and drooled on Abby and myself, but this pales in comparison to the young ladies who drank too much and vomited all over the floor downstairs (it was a double-decker train).
After all of that (and a bus ride) we arrived at 42 Donatusstr, our final destination. I was greeted by Conny and Linnea, and then we got some Thai food take out. That's right, my first dinner in Germany was Thai. 
It was grand. The next day (Thursday), Abby had to work where she was accosted by a freaky, purple-haired midget, and I got to spend the day with Linnea. At this point I also briefly met Abby's cousin Steve before he headed to work, as well as his good friend Dale and Dale's partner Jim. Dale and Jim both work at Virginia Tech and are super cool. We played with Linnea all day, it was great. She is absolutely adorable, and here is proof: Linnea talks on the phone.
The following day, Abby and I went into the center of Bonn for some culture and French German Fries. The Germans put mayo and ketchup on their fries and it is FANtastic. I can't begin to describe how badly I yearn for these fries everyday now. We wandered about in Bonn, enjoyed our fries, and eventually made our way home.
The next day we took a trip into Bad Godesberg, a town on the skirts of Bonn that has a lot of Middle Eastern flavor. It was great, you can't find places like this in the states. Here I tried my first Döner. It was fantastic. There is no way to describe it, so just go to Germany and get one. Now. We also picked up some goods for our Italian feast that we were to cook the next day.
By this time, most of the house had caught little Linnea's cold, and we were suffering a bit there. But, being the troopers that we are, later that day we took a trip to Köln (Cologne). It was a wise choice. We got to hang out with Steve, Dale, and Jim and see all kinds of sights. We went to the Kölner Dom (Cathedral) and climbed all 509 steps of the gargantuan South Tower. We saw the gay district and the greatest invention ever: Bier Bike. I wish such a thing were possible here. Steve, out of the kindess of his heart, treated us to a nice Italian dinner, and we eventually headed back home, via the Autobahn. I'm pretty sure it was on this night that Abby and I watched The Producers, which was hysterical.
As for Sunday, we laid low a little bit, as we were feeling the effects of the cold pretty good. Abby and I made some sauce from scratch with some pasta, bread, and salad. We're not sure if it was good, as our senses of smell and taste were virtually useless. Even as our condition worsened, Abby showed her tremendous dedication and made it into the UNU the next day for her (unpaid) job. I spent the day with everyone else, as we walked into Bad Godesberg to the Haribo facotry and store. Haribo are the originators of Gummi Bears, and they have a supermarket of candy. It was sweet. Get it? Sweet? I didn't even intend that, that pun just happened. How organic. After the candy, we took Linnea to the playground where the pebbles were more exciting than the playground equipment.
Tuesday was my last full day in Germany. Conny and Steve, being as great as they are, convinced Abby not to go into work as she was still a bit sick and it was my last day. We took the extra time to go back into Bonn. We got more fries, this time with fried onions on them. My mouth is watering at the thought of them. We also enjoyed another döner. And Fanta, of course. We saw Beehtoven's house, and checked out the Münster Basilica. Abby was horrified to realize that we hadn't had any bier since the first day, so we promptly found an outdoor table and had two dunkel biers a piece. Oh the sweet, sweet nectar that is dunkel bier. If only I could have it everyday. It was amazing. And if you were wondering, the answer is yes, Abby's and my relationship revolves around food and drink. Speaking of food, Steve grilled some steaks that night, which were great. Conny made some potatoes and asparagus to go with it, which were also wonderful. Who would've ever thought I'd eat and enjoy asparagus?
After dinner, Abby and I went for a walk in the Rheinaue, where we took some wonderful photos and had a love-filled evening of being the cutest couple there is. I love how much fun Abby and I always have, it's great.
The next morning, we said our sad goodbyes at the bus stop. I took the bus into Bonn, from where I caught a train into Düsseldorf. After over 22 hours of being awake and travelling, I finally crashed in the spare room at my parents' house.
The trip was amazing. I'd love to go back, and would love to live in Europe. It just seems like they do most things better over there. Granted, some bills would be higher, but I think it would be worth it. I can't wait to see more of the world with Abby. She is truly making the most of her time in Germany as in the next four weekends she'll travel to Stockholm, Berlin, Prague, and Dresden. After that, she'll be one week removed from coming home! I can't wait to hear about all of her trips and I can't wait to see her at JFK on July 29th.
Well, I suppose I ought to fix some dinner. I'm sure the next update will be chock full of Disco Camp and hopefully some news on my show. So keep on rocking on in the interim, and because I know you're reading this, Abby: I love you!
Peace & Love