Exploring is never boring: Nick goes adventuring, Part zwei—Friday January 29 11:15 pm

I wake up the next morning (Friday) and eat breakfast at 8:00. Bärbel is still gone on her business trip, and Richard hurries off to work after breakfast. He says he has another busy day and that I should plan on lunch and dinner on my own again. We will have breakfast at 8:00 again tomorrow morning. Since he left after breakfast this morning, I have not seen or heard from Richard or Bärbel. It is very interesting. I am truly on my own so far for the majority of the past three days. I do enjoy it, but again, I cannot wait to meet more people.

It is very hard to describe the full range of emotions I have experienced since arriving in Germany, and today brought on a full spectrum of them. From frustration to excitement to anxiety to elation to fatigue to accomplishment to amazed—I felt about anything you can imagine. It started out with me trying to connect to the internet this morning. I tried for about 30 minutes to no avail. I can connect to the Haug’s wireless internet just fine, but for some reason their modem is not connecting to the internet. I have no way of contacting either of them to ask them how to fix this, so I am still Internet-less.

I decided to alleviate my frustration by walking around some more. I had an adventure I will not soon forget. I started out walking toward the side of Hall I had not explored yesterday. I went up and around St. Michael’s Church and found some cool courtyards and overlooks of the town. I originally forgot my camera, so I had to quickly stop back by the house and grab it. I went I took pictures of the things I just visited and then began a trek down to the river. I soon found an awesome riverside park. It was a pathway that wound all along the river. Needlessly to say, it was covered in snow and absolutely gorgeous.



I followed this for about thirty minutes just a merry as can be. I looked up and saw a new shape emerging through the clouds. I had spotted a castle!! I wasn’t quite for sure what to think, so I kept walking closer. Promptly, I ran out of space on the memory card for the camera. (At this point, I thought I had forgotten my big memory card at home, but I found it in my bags later this evening.) I excitedly rushed back to the house, downloaded the pictures from my camera to the computer, cleared the memory card, and went back to further investigate my discovery.

I made it back to the place where I had previously turned around and scouted out my next best move. I wandered through the street for a few minutes looking for some sort of access point to the castle. I finally found a snow covered path that headed directly uphill. Bingo. As I trudged through the snow, random statues of different religious figures stared down at me during my ascension. At the top of the hill, the fantastic castle gates were wide open. If you know me, then you know I just HAD to investigate. I had no other choice. I couldn’t pass up on this adventure.



I wearily crossed through the threshold and constantly gazed around. I found a map of the castle, called Comburg, and a few signs greeting visitors. It turns out St. Nikolaus Church is nestled right in the heart of the castle walls, surrounded by a myriad of other buildings. I kept wandering around and found new passage ways and openings at every turn. I eventually explored them all and spent most of the time navigating the pathway that circumvents the grounds along the castle wall. It was an exhilarating experience, and I felt like an accomplished explorer.



At this point, it has been three hours since I first left the house, and my stomach was growling. On my way back down the hill, I used my explorer’s-high and rode my adventurous spirit to convince myself that I was going to stop at the bakery that I passed at the bottom of the hill. I was all set to go in and order until I actually got to the front door and looked in. A wave of uncertainty hit me, and I suddenly felt nervous to go in and engage in conversation. I kept walking past the door only to turn around 10 feet later and make another pass. I again kept going without entering the bakery because I kept psyching myself out. I went around the corner and immediately stopped. I checked to make sure no one was around and took a deep breath. This was it. I HAD to do this. I squared my shoulders and marched determinedly into the bakery. I proceeded to order, pay, and briefly converse with a woman in the bakery, and then I walked out.

I cannot describe the pure elation and overwhelming sense of victory that washed over me! It was the first time I had gone into a store to order something directly. Sure, supermarket on Thursday was a small victory, but that was pretty easy. It was just like a supermarket in the US. You go up, say hello, wait for the price to come up, hand over the money, and say goodbye. This time I actually had to TALK. I was so proud of myself. The apple turnover and sweet bread that I ordered just might have been the most delectable pastries that I have ever consumed. I mean, they were good to start out with, but the taste of victory made them all the sweeter. You have to rejoice in the small things, right? Haha I happily munched on them as I made the trek back to my side of town.

I walked back on the opposite side of the river on my return, guessing that it would put me where I wanted to go next—the supermarket again. I was right and 20 minutes later I walked through the sliding doors of Handelshof. This time I bought more water, some nutella and bread, and my first German beer to celebrate the morning’s accomplishments. I also bought this soda called Schwip Schwap. It is cola (I’m pretty sure it’s Pepsi, judging by the label) that is mixed with orange soda. I was fascinated when I saw it and had to try it. Why not continue the adventurous trend? I made my purchase and made my way back to my room.

Once back in the warmth of my room, I was reminded of my frustration at the lack of internet, but I ignored that momentarily to continue my celebration of the morning’s accomplishments by looking at the pictures I had just taken. I first tried the beer, called Haller Löwenbräu. I bought the Haalgiest Dunkleweisse version because I like dark beer (dunkel means dark). It is brewed privately in the region (hence the “Haller”) and has been brewed since 1724. It was simply amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Of course my nutella snack was delicious as well. I tried the Schwip Schwap and was pleasantly surprised. I only drank a little of it and plan to ration it as a treat.

After loading all of the pictures, I looked at the clock and saw it was almost 3. I tried to connect to the internet again and became more and more frustrated. I looked out the window and saw that it was snow furiously and opted, again, to go walk around to help my blood pressure drop from the unwanted cyber-stress. I forgot to mention that it snowed the entire time I was on my adventure through the park by the river and to the castle. I love the snow and hope it doesn’t stop anytime soon.

My afternoon walk was refreshing, although not nearly as exciting as my morning adventure. I returned home around 16:30 thoroughly exhausted. I took a nap, meaning to wake up at 17:00 and head out to the information center and ask where a good place was to eat. My body had other plans and I instead woke up at 18:30. I quickly headed out to see if the information center happened to still be open. It closed at 17:00 apparently, so I wouldn’t have made it even if I woke up when planned. I looked around for a place to eat but again became intimidated by the sheer number of options and the fact that I didn’t know where most of them were. My fear of not knowing enough German also returned, so I walked around for about 30 minutes trying to both find a suitable place to eat and work up enough courage to eat there once I found it. I caved, though, and went into the supermarket instead. I guess I can only handle so much adventure for one day. I regret not going to a restaurant now, but I am determined to go to one tomorrow night. It would be easier if I had someone to go with, but soon I will know people here. I just need classes to start, really. I am determined to go to the information center early tomorrow (Saturday) and ask for several good places to eat so I have an idea of where to go next time.

Anyway, I bought some meat, cheese, mustard, and bread and made several sandwiches back at home. Again, not being able to connect to the internet and not know where to go in town, I took a break and watched a movie while I ate. I then started on these blogs and plan to study a little German before I head to sleep. Tomorrow should be another adventurous day!