Our goal for the past weekend was to have a low key weekend, considering the past few weekends have been packed full of events. The only thing we had planned was going to a performance of STOMP! on Sunday (or so we thought! :)) in Austria that we had purchased tickets for and Brian's Poker Game with his colleague's on Sunday evening. Other than that, our weekend was completely open... So, Friday night was spent at home, with some of our favorite items from the Farmer's Market for dinner, reruns of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and a viewing of the movie, "The Tillman Story"... Very low key! :) Saturday morning we awoke to a bright, sunny day... So, our first thought was to take a walk down by the lake to take advantage of the gorgeous weather... We headed out for our walk with Brian's camera in tow. We spent the next couple of hours wandering around and exploring little nooks and crannies. We eventually stopped at the Strandbad (our local beach) to stroll around and soak up the sunshine... Well, actually I strolled around while Brian took pictures! :)
After our carefree morning of wandering aimlessly around the area, we headed home. Our plan was to head to the grocery store to pick up the necessary supplies for the dinner we were planning... Roasted vegetable lasagna... YUM!! :) Well, upon walking into the door of our house, we heard our friend, Maciek, call down to us from his apartment upstairs... He informed us that our friend, Thorsten, was desperately trying to get ahold of us... He had plans to pick us up for STOMP! at 2... Now, remember, we thought the performance was on Sunday! :) I told Maciek that Thorsten must be confused as the performance was the following day... But, Maciek was determined that Thorsten said the performance was that afternoon... At which point, I ran into our apartment to check the email Thorsten had sent me when he purchased the tickets... And, sure enough, our tickets were for Saturday at 4 p.m.... Yikes!!! (Before I go any further, let me explain the "mishap"... Originally we were trying to buy tickets for the Sunday performances, but at the last minute, Thorsten found cheaper tickets for the Saturday afternoon performance and purchased those instead... He sent me the information in an email, which I did read... But, for some reason, I couldn't get Sunday out of my head... That was the problem! :) Needless to say, I felt like a complete jackass when I realized my mistake!! So, please tell me that other people have done this at one time or another?! :))We then asked Maciek what time Thorsten said he was going to be there, and we were told again that he was coming at 2 to pick us up... We looked at the clock and realized we literally had 15 minutes to get ready... Whoa!! Needless to say, we managed to get ourselves ready by the time Thorsten arrived at our house that afternoon, but it was definitely a little chaotic! :)
After all of that confusion, we ended up arriving at the Festspielhaus on time and the show was absolutely amazing!! Afterwards, we ran into some friends and joined them for a drink in the lounge... At which point, all of the dancers arrived in the lounge for dinner (they were scheduled for another performance at 8 p.m.)... So, we got to "hang out" with the dancers after the show (I don't know if "hang out" is the correct word... We actually looked more like groupies as we proceeded to stare at them as they sat at their table eating! :) We would have approached them, but they had alot of security and assistants around them... Also, being that Brian is much more shy than I am, he often gets uncomfortable when I go up to random strangers and engage them in conversation, which I tend to do alot! So, I opted to keep my mouth shut and stare from a distance! :))... Either way, it turned out to be a great Saturday... Definitely spontaneous! :) And, to top it off, we ended up not having to make dinner when we got home... Maciek took care of that and cooked up a delicious fish dinner for all of us that evening! Yum!! What a great neighbor he is!! :)
Our Sunday ended up being just as hectic... We decided to head to Salem on Sunday afternoon to check out their Fasnet parade... The parade was quite fun (as they all typically are! :)) and we enjoyed spending the afternoon participating in this fun festival while taking advantage of another beautiful, sunny day!! (Although, there was one thing that Brian and I realized during this parade... As much as we've grown to love the German culture, the one thing we will NEVER grow accustomed to is their lack of personal space or, even worse, how they behave in crowds... It's simply atrocious!! As much as I hate to say this, I would compare their behavior in crowds to that of animals... Their behavior is so far from that of a civilized human being!! It's absolutely ridiculous!!)
After the parade, we ran back to the train (literally! :)) so that we could get Brian back in time for his Poker game... Meanwhile, I hung out at home and enjoyed a nice, quiet, relaxing evening of calling home and watching an episode of Bones! :)
So, all in all, our plans for a relaxing evening didn't actually pan out, but in the end, even with all the random chaos, we had a fun-filled weekend! :) Who knows... Maybe next weekend will be a little more low-key? But, then again, knowing us... I highly doubt it! ;)
The beginning of our walk on Saturday morning.... Look at that sunshine! :)
The Strandbad...
Since we wander down to the Strandbad on a pretty regular basis, we thought it fitting to get a photo of us there! :)
At one point, I started to get a little antsy while waiting for Brian to take pictures... So, being that there was so much wide open green space tempting me, I opted to do a few cartwheels! :) Looks like all of those years of dance, cheerleading, and gymnastics paid off... Thanks Mom and Dad! :)
Brian taking pictures of his shadow... :)
I enjoyed soaking up the sun and the view while Brian took pictures... :)
As I sat there, I realized that we would be moving back to the U.S. in a few more months, and it made me realize how much I'm going to miss it here... So, at that point, I think I was trying to imprint every last detail (from the view to the smell to the sounds) into my brain! :)
The view from the trail by our house... Gorgeous!!
More views from the trail...
It's definitely a beautiful area to live in!! :)
A view of the beach by our house...
The STOMP! stage...
Brian managed to get one picture of the performance... Although, it's rather fuzzy as we couldn't use the flash! :)
Brian and I after the performance... I have to admit, we cleaned up pretty well in only 15 minutes! :)
A couple of the groups walking in the Salem parade were wearing costumes we've never seen before... Some of them were pretty impressive, while others were just a little bit creepy! :)
I love the brightly colored chickens, but these chickens were rather creepy!!
Two characters having a conversation about where to put the shredded paper... Some poor spectator got it in their hair! :)
This hexen was playing with this little boy (who had actually finished walking in the parade as a hexen himself)! :)
A unicorn...
Can't say I've ever seen anything like this before!! Some of the characters were carrying ladders and they would lean them up against a house, and then climb up and enter through the window... Craziness!! The two women in this house were actually trying to close the window in an effort to keep this character out!! :)
He made it inside! :)
We've never seen this costume in any other parades... They called themselves the Brotessers (Bread eaters)! :)
Baa, Baa, Black Sheep?? :)
The Seegockel... Still my favorite! :)
Another unfortunate spectator! :)
This poor girl (you can't really see her laying on this board) was grabbed by this group of carpenters, where they proceeded to shove handfuls of sawdust down her pant legs... I can't even imagine how uncomfortable that must be!!
They released her, and as soon as she stood up, the sawdust started pouring out of her pantlegs! :)
These characters carry a plant (as seen above) that they will wipe on you as they walk by... It leaves behind a big mess of lint-like fuzzy pieces that are very difficult to get off!!
This was the first time we've seen the dragon costume... Very cute! :)
This is a cool shot...
This "hexen" finished walking in the parade and then decided to stay and watch... Here he is with his mask off and resting on his back.
One of my new favorites!
This was our first time seeing this costume, which is part of an Uberlingen group... Very cute! :)
