From Europe to Africa in America - A Sisters' Expedition

[Flossbolna]

on your great running time!!! How wonderful to beat your goal!!

Glad to have you back although I love all of your side excursions that you report on so go and just stretch it all out

Tracy

Thanks Tracy! I will try to throw in a few side excursions for you!

My daughter walked in while I was reading your tr and was very excited to hear you're from Germany....she then got all excited because she is obsessed with a German band Tokio Hotel.

Anyway...in the mind of a 15 yr old girl this all made sense. I just thought it was funny.

How funny! Tokio Hotel is extremely successful here in Germany, even I have heard of them.

Your post about reunification was very interesting. I still remember where I was when we heard that the Berlin wall fell. I was in 10th grade in my history class. I had taken German classes for 4 years and studied quite a bit about the country so it had a definite impact on me.

I am glad you enjoyed it. I am really surprised, how many people here on my TR had taken German in school.

Very informative narration of the Berlin Wall coming down !!!I would like to say I was in 10th Grade like Winkers !!But you would need to add a few 10's !!! Eurpean History is soo complex , but sooo fascinating !!

No matter what grade you were in - you are still young at heart and that is all that matters! European history is really fascinating, I nearly chose it as my major in college.

1:08 and a few seconds?!! WOW!! I am officially IMPRESSED!! Took me nearly that long to do a measly 5K!!

Thanks!! And you were much faster than that for your 5k! But I understand what you mean - my friends DH took part in the half marathon at the same event and he was unhappy with his time of 1:36 for double the distance I ran.

Your hike was beautiful. I"m sure the pictures didn't even really capture the beauty of it either. That gorge reminds me of one we saw once in the Canadian Rockies. Awesome and gorgeous, and a little bit scary with its depth and power.

I love being in the mountains, or generally any spectacular scenery. I don't know why, but I can be really wowed by landscape and love it.

I really am enjoying hearing about how much you are liking your new job and your new collegues!! IT's so great knowing you are having fun with them off the job too!! WAY TO GO!!

Yes, I had a really good start! Today my colleagues will get a banana chocolate swirl cake - sounds good, doesn't it? I am really looking forward to having a piece!

 

[nodnol]

My daughter walked in while I was reading your tr and was very excited to hear you're from Germany....she then got all excited because she is obsessed with a German band Tokio Hotel.

This is interesting, like Magdalene I seem to be too old to be fascinated by Tokio Hotel, but I read that they have many fans all over the world. I didn't really believe it, but now it seem much more likely. Good news for your daughter: the singer and his brother plan to move to the United States. Or maybe not so good news for you.

I am glad you enjoyed it. I am really surprised, how many people here on my TR had taken German in school.

I am VERY surprised by that as well. And delighted.

 

[winkers]

This is interesting, like Magdalene I seem to be too old to be fascinated by Tokio Hotel, but I read that they have many fans all over the world. I didn't really believe it, but now it seem much more likely. Good news for your daughter: the singer and his brother plan to move to the United States. Or maybe not so good news for you.



I am VERY surprised by that as well. And delighted.

Bailie will be very impressed when I tell her this little bit of information...perhaps I'll score a few "cool mom" points. She has been dying to go to one of their concerts but their tours here are few and far between and I'm not willing to fly 6 hours to take her.

I don't think as many kids are taking German now as in the past, it seems to mostly be Spanish that is offered. I had the choice of German, French or Spanish. I chose German mostly because my grandma's family is from Germany.

I think that one interesting part of American culture is that the majority of us can , within a few generations, trace back to at least 1 other country. So, while we consider ourselves American most of us also feel a connection to our ancestors home lands.

 

[Flossbolna]

I don't think as many kids are taking German now as in the past, it seems to mostly be Spanish that is offered. I had the choice of German, French or Spanish. I chose German mostly because my grandma's family is from Germany.

I think that one interesting part of American culture is that the majority of us can , within a few generations, trace back to at least 1 other country. So, while we consider ourselves American most of us also feel a connection to our ancestors home lands.

I think it makes a lot of sense to learn Spanish for American kids since it is spoken in a neighbouring country.

I remember that in our English book we had some chapters on American history and the idea of the "melting pot", it certainly is a very unique nation with so many different roots!

 

[Flossbolna]

Some might have noticed it already, Katharina and I were able to decorate our signatures with a new ticker today! Late yesterday evening we booked 3 nights at Disneyland Paris with a fantastic 40% discount for March 20-23, 2011! We will be staying at the Newport Bay Club - where we stayed in 1997! We are really excited about the trip, but also a bit sad that Katharina could not convince her DH to come along... We also already booked our flights, here in Europe prices only go up, never down, for airline tickets. So booking early really is important. We will be flying seperately, Katharina from Berlin and me from Nuremberg to Paris. But we are both flying Air France and our flights arrive and depart with 20 minutes of each other, so we should be able to find each other at the most confusing airport in the world!!

Did I mention that we really are very excited!!!!

 

[tiggrbaby]

Some might have noticed it already, Katharina and I were able to decorate our signatures with a new ticker today! Late yesterday evening we booked 3 nights at Disneyland Paris with a fantastic 40% discount for March 20-23, 2011! We will be staying at the Newport Bay Club - where we stayed in 1997! We are really excited about the trip, but also a bit sad that Katharina could not convince her DH to come along... We also already booked our flights, here in Europe prices only go up, never down, for airline tickets. So booking early really is important. We will be flying seperately, Katharina from Berlin and me from Nuremberg to Paris. But we are both flying Air France and our flights arrive and depart with 20 minutes of each other, so we should be able to find each other at the most confusing airport in the world!!

Did I mention that we really are very excited!!!!

Whoo hoo! Congrats on the new ticker and sister trip!

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love love love your new ticker!! It is very cute!

 

[All7OfUs]

Well, well, well... looky at that new ticker??!! VERY excited for you ladies!

 

[winkers]

Yay for another trip!! I'm hoping that means there will be a report!

 

[TyRy]

Some might have noticed it already, Katharina and I were able to decorate our signatures with a new ticker today! Late yesterday evening we booked 3 nights at Disneyland Paris with a fantastic 40% discount for March 20-23, 2011! We will be staying at the Newport Bay Club - where we stayed in 1997! We are really excited about the trip, but also a bit sad that Katharina could not convince her DH to come along... We also already booked our flights, here in Europe prices only go up, never down, for airline tickets. So booking early really is important. We will be flying seperately, Katharina from Berlin and me from Nuremberg to Paris. But we are both flying Air France and our flights arrive and depart with 20 minutes of each other, so we should be able to find each other at the most confusing airport in the world!!

Did I mention that we really are very excited!!!!

Congratulations on the new ticker. I hope you will do a report on DLP, so those of us who have no hope of making it there any time in the future can live vicariously through the two of you.

 

[glennbo123]

for your new trip to plan!

 

[englishrose47]

Great new Ticker !! How exciting to go to DL Paris !!!

 

[eandesmom]

Hooray for new tickers! They are such a wonderful thing to have.

I absolutely loved your update. What a wonderful race time, hike and lunch! Quark....that's what I need to try and make that Bavarian cheesecake! It looked delicious. I also enjoyed your reunification day post, I too remember the wall coming down and while what you describe is not surprising, it is fascinating and sad and I can only imagine all the emotions that day brings up for many. What a lovely DISmeet and I'm thrilled things are going so well as you re-settle in!

 

[Flossbolna]

Whoo hoo! Congrats on the new ticker and sister trip!

Thanks, we are really looking forward to this as well!

I love love love your new ticker!! It is very cute!

Thank you! I was dissappointed that I did not find any DLP tickers and then remembered that I had seen those phot tickers. And playing around with photobucket I finally came up with a design I love!

Well, well, well... looky at that new ticker??!! VERY excited for you ladies!

Yes, we are excited as well! It was a rather spontaneous decision triggered by a promotional DLP email and a grey day at work when we needed some cheering up!

Yay for another trip!! I'm hoping that means there will be a report!

I think I rather enjoy writing a TR and doing one for DLP might be fun! But nothing has been decided yet!

Congratulations on the new ticker. I hope you will do a report on DLP, so those of us who have no hope of making it there any time in the future can live vicariously through the two of you.

Thank you - and it's great to know that we would already have you and Winkers as readers for a potential report! It could be fun to write one with a view to an audience who does not know DLP...

for your new trip to plan!

Great new Ticker !! How exciting to go to DL Paris !!!

Thanks!! We are really looking forward to it!!

Hooray for new tickers! They are such a wonderful thing to have.

I absolutely loved your update. What a wonderful race time, hike and lunch! Quark....that's what I need to try and make that Bavarian cheesecake! It looked delicious. I also enjoyed your reunification day post, I too remember the wall coming down and while what you describe is not surprising, it is fascinating and sad and I can only imagine all the emotions that day brings up for many. What a lovely DISmeet and I'm thrilled things are going so well as you re-settle in!

I agree, it is just nice to know when you get to be at Disney the next time and then those tickers can be quite pretty as well!

I was thinking of you and Glenn when I took that picture! I wonder wether you will find quark to make the cheesecake! I am gald that you enjoy all my little non-TR-stories! I always enjoy what you are writing about what you and your family are up to as well!

Thinking back, the late 80's and early 90's were a really intersting time - with the end of the cold war there was so much optimism how the world would now be a better place...

 

[jenbear123]

You're new ticker is so cool! How did you do that?! PARIS?!?! I'm so excited for you!!! I've never been to Disneyland Paris nor do I know much about it. That's a trip report I won't be missing out on!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Wow!!!! GREAT job on your race!!! That is an excellent time! I'm still making myself run 20 minutes straight, and haven't been consistent lately in the running due to junky weather, a busy life and sickness. However, each time I have run, I have done the 20 - so I feel like I haven't regressed too much. I should really sign up for a 5k to motivate myself. And someday I'll conquer that 10k as well!

I'm so happy to hear that things are lining up so nicely in Nuermberg. Moving is never easy, but it certainly makes it more enjoyable when you have great colleges and a good job to look forward to everyday.

LOVE those pictures from your hike - so beautiful. The little town reminds me so much of Epcot.

I did see that ticker, what a good looking one it is!!

ETA: I can't believe it's been 20 years since the Wall either...wow!

 

[Flossbolna]

You're new ticker is so cool! How did you do that?! PARIS?!?! I'm so excited for you!!! I've never been to Disneyland Paris nor do I know much about it. That's a trip report I won't be missing out on!

I made it on photobucket.

1. First I cropped some pictures into squares.

2. Then when you edit a photo, there is an option called "EZ Collage". When you choose that, you will be transfered to something called FotoFlexer and you can choose a layout. I chose the 5 squares and then selected the photos I cropped previously.

3. Using the edit function of photobucket I added the letters for the title (under the tab Decorate)

4. I then had to resize the resulting picture by using the edit function of photobucket to the size of 500x100.

5. Then I had to save it to my harddrive.

6. At ************** take the option of creating a photo ticker. There you upload the picture and then add in all the other details for the ticker and here it is!

I hope this helps!

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow!!!! GREAT job on your race!!! That is an excellent time! I'm still making myself run 20 minutes straight, and haven't been consistent lately in the running due to junky weather, a busy life and sickness. However, each time I have run, I have done the 20 - so I feel like I haven't regressed too much. I should really sign up for a 5k to motivate myself. And someday I'll conquer that 10k as well!

Having signed up to the race really is a great motivation to keep training! I think 20 minutes of running is already a great acchievement. I started out with 15 minutes runs at first and gradually increased my time. I realized recently that now my standard running time suddenly has increased to 45 minutes while a few years ago, 30 minutes really were my long runs!

I'm so happy to hear that things are lining up so nicely in Nuermberg. Moving is never easy, but it certainly makes it more enjoyable when you have great colleges and a good job to look forward to everyday.

Yes it is! I think it is similar for you, from what you mention it seems like everything in NYC is very much falling into place and I am sure that this must help a lot with having to find new friends while missing the old and especially missing family living close by.

LOVE those pictures from your hike - so beautiful. The little town reminds me so much of Epcot.

Yes, that's very much the style of Germany in Epcot and I think that's why some Germans don't like the German pavillion: it shows only a very small part of Germany. But it still is very pretty!

I did see that ticker, what a good looking one it is!!

Thank you, I had so much fun, making this ticker!

ETA: I can't believe it's been 20 years since the Wall either...wow!

It shows how old we are!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Our plan was to return to the World Showcase after dinner and see a bit more of it while waiting for Illuminations.

We walked over to Epcot from the Boardwalk and said goodbye to this lovely place with this picture:

Our mission for this evening was to see Illuminations and to continue touring the World Showcase.

When we got to the World Showcase the weather was still rather on the cold and rainy side and I was afraid that they might cancel Illuminations. So I asked a CM which was standing at a roped off area between France and the UK about this. She told us that Illuminations is very rarely cancelled for weather and that we ought to be fine that evening. She then said that the area behind her rope was reserved access, but she had a few passes she could hand out to people to get access to this area. I really wanted to be in a different spot for the show so I politely declined. But it was a nice offer! I think I read about a similar experience in another TR, so maybe it makes sense to engage the CMs at those roped off areas in a conversation, you might never know whether you might not get some magic!

We continued around the WS counterclockwise and I think we picked up some souvenirs for Katharina's DH at the American pavilion, a pencil and a bookmark according to my notes. I think so too, but it is strange that we have no pictures of it...

In Italy we really enjoyed the evening atmosphere there, but otherwise did not find very much to interest us. I liked the sweets though:

And then it was off to Germany! So Katharina could get her first impression of her home country as interpreted by Disney! We did go on a thorough tour of the shops and inspected the merchandise for its authenticity – and we had a lot of fun with that as well! So here it is: Katharina's and Magdalene's ultimate shopping guide to Epcot's Germany:

This is Katharina modeling a ladies' t-shirt which is supposed to look like the upper part of a German “Dirndl” - the traditional dress in southern Germany:

Not really the best picture of me ever... The t-shirt would have been very tempting, but fortunately I own a real Dirndl.

(Please, everyone, request that Katharina should post a picture of her wearing her Dirndl!!!)

We found this very funny! And laughed even more when we found the men's counterpart:

This is a more generic Bavarian t-shirt (light blue and white are the colours of the Bavarian flag and it can be either two stripes or those rhombi):

We realized that German beer must have a certain popularity as can be seen by the variety of “beer-t-shirts”:

But lets not forget that we are still in WDW:

Of course German confectionary items can be recommended as well:

Perhaps not these ones – even though they are very common and hence very authentic, they are also rather basic. I think my generation always thinks of their grandmothers when they see these cookies, it's the small luxury the war-generation would feel comfortable to afford because it was still a very affordable product:

This however is a much more luxurious product and one that had its origin in the city I now live in:

You can even get the Nuremberg gingerbread in these lovely tin boxes:

Those last two products are available here in Nuremberg all year around, in the rest of Germany only for Christmas (even though the season starts in late September).

Of course Haribo, the inventor of the gummy-bear has to make an appearance as well. Here we feature the licorice wheels – in German: Lakritzschnecken (not wheels, but snails btw):

Please note that there are other European countries much more famous for their licorice products than Germany, for example Finland. So to me licorice is not really typical German.

But then we found something that doesn't belong: Mozartkugeln!!!! Those small chocolates are produced in Austria and they are named after an Austrian composer. While Austrians speak German, Austria should not be confused with Germany (won't get into the juicy details of European history on this). So they should not be there! And I don't like them, they involve marzipan, so that's another reason for not selling them:

I like them, they have marzipan inside!

We also were highly amused that the counter in the candy shop sold rice crispy treats! Remember that Katharina just found out about this delicacy a few days before? They are absolutely unauthentic!!!

We were impressed with the very high quality of the glass Christmas ornaments, but did not take any pictures. Katharina, however when she spotted these:

Small lace ornaments – they are produced in the Eastern areas of Germany. And Katharina was really happy to finally find something that represented some German culture that wasn't from Bavaria.

Then we saw some Germany souvenir t-shirts:

This one we really liked:

It even had a sticker with a translation on it – in case anyone wonders: it says “Hello and have a good time!”

This one we did not consider to be very stylish, but it appears to be a popular style in WDW:

The next two we thought were rather questionable:

You see, Germany has a problem with its history – a wrong sense of German nationalism was one of the reasons for both world wars. Especially the Nazis really exploited it. When being proud of your own country changes into feeling superior over all other countries and therefore giving you the perceived right to invade your neighbours in order to claim ground for the expansion of the German race, things have gone really wrong. This is the reason why a lot of Germans have difficulty in showing national symbols, there is this fear of getting on a slippery slope. I think many people feel that it is a bit like for someone with an alcohol problem who really can't drink any alcohol – many feel that Germans need to stay away from any public display of affection for their nation. And therefore those political right-wing groups who claim that Hitler was great and that the death of 6 million jews is a lie are the ones who try to reclaim all these symbols. And the gothic font used for these t-shirts is one of the symbols, which here in Germany are associated with the Nazis. So, if you buy a t-shirt like this, don’t bring it to Germany, if people don’t recognize you as a tourist, they might be sceptical about your political views a be very reserved towards you.

I know that's a long explanation for two t-shirts...

And this also concludes our visit to Germany.

Continued here

 

[Flossbolna]

We continued on to China where we admired some pretty teapots and thought that the new CS restaurant looked rather nice, very modern:

Next stop: Norway, another shop to explore!

We had fun here figuring out that the food products they sold here were also from the other Scandinavian countries!

Here is Sweden:

(These you can get for 3 $ at IKEA in Germany!)

Then Denmark:

And finally Finland:

Our Finnish exchange student introduced us to them and they are delicious!!

But then we realized that the Norway shop really represents all of Scandinavia – actually in true Scandinavian fashion. In Berlin they even share one embassy complex.

I also really liked the Helly Hansen jackets they sold there, well at least the look of them, not the price!

We had a look at the Schoolbread in the bakery and thought about getting one. But we were still stuffed from dinner. And this is another trip when I haven't managed to try this DIS-delicacy!

We had a brief look inside Mexico, mainly looking for a restroom. I was directed to the San Angel Inn restroom and had to walk through a side room of the restaurant. I would be really annoyed if I was seated there, tiny room, no view, but people walk through on the way to the restroom...

Then it was 10 to 9pm, time to find a spot for Illuminations. For me there is only one area to watch it from: The area between the two shops on Showcase Plaza, where you arrive at World Showcase from Future World. In January I have always found a spot there at the last minute. Actually once, it was roped off for a special party, so better check before. It has a slight slope down, so you can see pretty well from further back. I read once on another board where there are a lot of real Epcot-fans hanging out, that this is the main focal point for which the show is designed. And if you are quick once it is over, you can beat the crowds to the busses if you can move fast.

I was driving Katharina a bit (slightly more than a bit, you stopped just in time before getting me really annoyed) (well you see, I know you good enough to know when to stop!) mad trying to pick the perfect spot in that area, but finally we settled down for a few minutes, sitting on one of the ponchos I had brought and our fleece jacket, because the ground was rather wet. Of course when the show started everyone started to get up. But I had experienced it in the past, when everyone was sitting down as well. The show was good. I am not a huge fan, I love the fireworks part, but could do without the globe. But I must say that the music is growing on me! I think I liked it and I remember that it was not easy to get the music out of my head.

Since we can move fast, that's what we did after it had ended. We speed walked to the bus stop where a bus was waiting when we arrived, jumped onto it and briefly afterwards the bus started moving. We even got seats. However, these were in the last row and we were sitting in front of the air conditioning. I can't recommend these seats! Our backs were leaning against a hot furnace while we got cold air blasted at our heads. Not pleasant! But we were happy that we could sit after our long day!! I had complete forgotten about that. But you’re right, I think for the rest of the trip I tried to move not too far to the back of the busses because of this experience. Ah yes, I remember your fear of the hot/cold seats now! I think we were actually standing and some nice gentlemen offered us their seats, that's how we got them. So afterwards you wanted to find a standing space further towards the front (of course somewhere where people could walk past us!) so that we would not be offered these seats again! I think we had some unpleasant vicinity to the A/C on the bus from DHS to the Contemporary as well!

Back at AKL we got some tea for our refillable mugs and went to bed in order to go to a new rope drop the next morning!

Next: Chapter 21: We thought Florida was warm!!