| 4.1 - Late Nights and Tourist Sites We had the awesome chance to see Doris perform 'Die Menschliche Stimme' ('The Human Voice'), a one woman show (plus piano). We also saw her in the cheerful operetta, 'The Merry Widow', in which she played the widow herself, with a gorgeous grand entrance. Just for fun the next day we made two large snow balls with the new-fallen snow, which are probably sitting on those farmers' fields across the road from their house even now as you are reading this!! It is a little strange knowing that we are in Germany, while at the same time walking down the street and hearing English being spoken all around us - students and staff make up a large part of the town's population. Tomorrow or Saturday we head off for L'Abri in gorgeous Switzerland! Here are a few facts you might be interested in: *All public telephones in Germany are hot pink. *At shopping malls there are parking spaces reserved for mothers and kids, and some reserved just for women, that are close to the entrances just for their safety. We should have those in Canada!! *At McDonald's, since we would rather have normal water than mineral water (which everyone seems to love here), we specifically had to order 'water without gas' ("wasser ohne gas"). Of course we had to get teased for this! * A cheap haircut in Germany costs roughly $50! * If one wishes not to walk up or down the escalators in Vienna one should stand on the right hand side of the escalator in order to let others by in the pedestrian passing lane on the left - it is an unwritten rule and an obligatory curtesy everywhere in the city. * There's a little cartoon character, a mouse known as 'Diddl', who is very popular around Germany and Austria as an animated image, a doll, a magnet, a piece of jewellry, a car ornament, and any other conceivable form that can make money. Check out the Diddl Store! * We discovered lovely little places around Germany called tobaccoland. * People drive some very interesting vehicles: for example, there's the 'Smart' car; then there are the countless scooters that are everywhere! They even sell scooters at the Wal*Mart in Dortmund, Germany! Home Journals: 1.1 ~ 1.2 ~ 2.1 ~ 2.2 ~ 3.1 ~ 3.2 ~ 4.1 ~ 5.1 ~ 5.2 ~ 5.3 ~ 5.4 ~ 6.1 ~ 6.2 |
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| Bonn and Cologne! With the help of our friend, Benjamin, whose family we stayed with next, and whose family were friends with Dana's family 18 years ago, we found our way to the Beethoven House (the birthplace of the famous composer), the Beethoven statue, the world-famous Kolner Domm (Dome), and the Chocolate Factory/Museum where you gain weight just breathing! The next visit was south to Dana's aunt Doris (a real opera singer!) and cousin, Daniel, who live near Darmstadt. |
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| We are currently writing you from the quaint town of Kandern, Germany, just outside of the famous Black Forest and near the Swiss border. We've gotten a great tour of Black Forest Academy, (the English school located here for missionary kids from all over the world), from Sharon Thiessen, the lady with whom we are residing this week. |
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