Rock Climbing, Castles, and Beautiful Scenery...

Good morning everyone! I was so excited about the events of yesterday, that I couldn't wait to start blogging today! Well, actually, to be honest, I had to get up super early this morning so that I could let the maintenance man into the apartment, so that he could check out our moldy wall in the kitchen... lovely! I assumed, or had hoped, that he would actually attempt to fix it today, but I was wrong. He came in, took some pictures of it, moved a tool up and down the wall until it beeped, mumbled something in German that didn't sound very good, and then packed his stuff up and started to head on out. Now, being that I don't speak German and he doesn't speak very much English, I had a difficult time understanding what he was trying to tell me before he left... The only thing I completely understood, was when I asked him how bad it was, he replied with "Very Bad!!" (which isn't exactly what I was hoping to hear! :)) ... and then he told me something in German, pointed to a name on a piece of paper, shook his head, and then rolled his eyes and said "Germany"... And then he left. Now, I'm not sure about you, but from that short amount of conversation (if you could call that a conversation), I'm going to assume that what I was thinking was correct all along... Things don't move very quickly here in Germany, and I'm thinking that this wall isn't going to get repaired for quite some time! I guess for them, having mold growing in your kitchen, isn't that big of a deal... Needless to say, Brian and I are not very pleased with the customer service we've been dealing with here in Germany... They might have a beautiful country, but their customer service needs alot of help!! I'm attaching a picture of the kitchen wall to the end of this blog so you can see for yourselves...

Well, on a good note, I had a great time rock climbing with Maike yesterday! We climbed for about 3 hours and it was so great to be back in the gym!! Plus, I found that Maike enjoys rock climbing as much as I do, so we're making plans to do it at least once a week... yay! After we went rock climbing, we went to have lunch. It was a beautiful day and we sat outside at a small cafe... We were in a small village and the streets were all cobblestone and the flowers were all in bloom, and at that point I realized how lucky I am to be able to have this opportunity! I mean, I am able to travel around a beautiful country and learn about the culture for two years... And as often as I complain about being homesick and some of the weird cultural differences we're dealing with, I do really appreciate the fact that I can be over here enjoying this adventure with Brian. :)

So, anyways, after lunch, Maike said that she wanted to show me her favorite place in this area. We hiked through the woods for about a mile and then came across the ruins of an old castle that was built in the 1300's. Now, me being the history buff, I was instantly in awe of this place! It was a pretty cool experience to walk through the ruins of this castle, and of course, I went picture crazy! I mean, you don't get too many opportunities like this in the U.S. (unless you're at Disney World), so I took quite a few pictures! :) However, the best part, was when we hiked up to the top of the castle and saw the view... The view was of Lake Bodensee, the Swiss Alps, and all of the small German towns which are dotted across the landscape... Absolutely gorgeous! And, since it was a beautiful day outside, we were able to see all of the sailboats on Lake Bodensee... Let's just say, it was quite an experience! :)

After we returned home, I got an even bigger surprise though... Brian was able to get all of the necessary information to the cell phone company, and he got me a cell phone! (I have a pretty great husband! :)) And it's not just any cell phone... I am now the proud owner of a brand new IPhone!! Yay! :) Unfortunately I can't make international calls on it (we're still waiting for our landline to get installed... shocking! :)) but at least I have a phone with internet access... pretty cool! :) After the initial excitement about the phone subsided, Brian then informed me that we would be getting our gym membership tonight and we're supposed to be getting our car on Thursday... woohoo! Yesterday must've been my lucky day! :)

Well, on that note, I'd better get this posted and head on out... I have to go get my picture taken so that I can go get my Visa tomorrow...otherwise, I'll get booted out of the country in November. Apparently, you can only stay in a country for three months without a visa... Anything longer than that requires a visa. Well, wish me luck... I'm not quite sure how I'm going to communicate with the shop owner that I need to get my picture taken for a visa.... Should be interesting... it always is! :) I hope you're all having a great day! Miss you!

The view from the top of the castle... It was gorgeous!!

Maike and I

Looking through a walkway of the castle...

A view from the cafe where we had lunch.

Walking up to the castle

Standing on the inside of the castle...

Now, looking at this picture of the kitchen wall, how long do you think it would take to get this fixed in the U.S.? The yellow is where the water leaked... If you look closely you can see the mold... It's all of those small black dots that are all over the wall... Isn't that something you all want in your kitchen?? :)