On La Deutche Vita

I finally settled into an internet cafe yesterday with the intention of finally catching up on all of the pictures and posting I've gotten behind on over the last few weeks that I haven't been able to find internet.

So, I got myself comfy, pulled out all of my various cords and cds and paraphernalia to upload pictures... and discovered that the fear of every traveller had come true. Unless by some stroke of luck what I'm looking for is on some other CD buried deep in my suitcase that I just haven't unearthed yet (after all, there's no telling exactly WHAT'S down there at this point), I'm pretty sure that all of my pictures from the latter half of my time in Austria and all of my time visiting my lovely friend Miriam in Southern Germany are completely gone. Anyone who's travelled knows that horrible, stomach-clenching feeling as you clear your camera contents onto a CD and pray to the God of sightseeing posterity that everything transferred while you press that terrifying delete button with trepidation. Well... apparently I had no such luck. Which means, I'm sorry to say, that I have no pictures to show you in this post.

After my singing sojourn in Salzburg I caught a train to Vienna, which I've been to once before as a 5 year old, but one of my only memories of the city involves me feeding pigeons with my big brother in the main square in a navy jumper sewn by my mother. IF I had my pictures, I would show you the one I took as I hunted out that square, because apparently my trip is about chasing down the Ghosts of Janis Past across Europe. My guidebook said that if New York is the Big Apple, Vienna would probably be the Big Wedding Cake. And I quite agree. It's frothy, frilly, prissy, pristine, and decadent in a very reserved, Sunday parlor sort of way. I played in fountains and listened to impromptu concerts and drank Viennese Roast with due diligence. I don't have many other brilliant thoughts on the subject, especially as I'm mourning the loss of photographic aids, but it was a lovely way to spend a few days.

More exciting though, was that after Vienna I caught a (frustratingly delayed) train to Germany, to go visit my wonderful Miriam, who I lived with in DC two years ago. By the way, as a random note... just because a conductor is in a uniform does NOT necessarily mean that he is in ANY way competent, or really has any clue what he is talking about whatsoever. Therefore, if you attempt to get on a train, being pretty well sure that this is indeed the train you're supposed to be on, and a train conductor tells you not to get on, do not be at ALL surprised when after the train then leaves the station he tells you that in fact that WAS the train you should have been on, and why on earth didn't you board the thing when you had a chance. Grr.

At any rate, eventually I made it to Miriam, and the next few days were lovely. I took so many pictures of her beautiful town and of the two of us together, and I'm really missing them now. It's amazing how easily after so much time two people can so quickly just pick up where they left off. Within minutes we were driving on the autobahn, listening to an old cd mix we'd made while we were all living together, and suddenly I was back in Washington, driving through Georgetown on my way to go eat a burger at Five Guys, instead of on my way to Stuttgart to go eat spetsle. We laughed and chatted and ate lots of junk food and watched girly movies and looked at pictures and called friends and waxed nostalgic, and for a few lovely days nothing at all had changed.

We also quickly discovered that Mir is a horrible tour guide, and her wonderful parents took over the task of showing me around Germany, and so we spent hours driving through back roads looking at castles in the distance and mountains rolling past us, in search of the best views, and now I'm sorry to say that all of their hard work has nothing to show for it, photographically speaking. I guess you'll have to take my word for it that Germany is lovely.

My primary pastime during the week, though, was filtering out my favorite words in German. Mir helped me string them all together into what would end up being I think the best compliment someone would ever be able to receive, and I'm pretty sure if a boy ever approaches me with this line I will more than likely be putty on the floor.

Ihre Hüften sind hübsch wie Kokosnüsse, tschüs!

Which means something like... your hips are pretty like coconuts, bye!

But trust me, it's really fun to say. :)