Buon giorno

We are in Rome and it is great. Before I move on to Italy, there are a few German traditions/fashions I must share with you.
1) Bachelor parties: They take these very seriously in Germany. We saw several and it is very interesting what they make the bachelor do. The first one we saw, the bachelor was wearing this weird white paper outfit with holes cut out for his nipples to show, and he was dragging a log on a chain around his ankle. Then we saw a big group of guys in pink shirts that translated into "princess tour" 2009, and their bachelor was wearing pink tights, tutu, leotard and a tiara. It was very funny. I thought American Bachelor parties could be out of control, but I was wrong.
2)Mullets: These are still a very IN hairstyle in Germany, we saw several. I guess place is more appropriate for business in the front and party in the back than Germany with its beer gardens next to its business offices.

On our last day in Germany we took the tour to Newschwanstein castle. The views of the alps were great, but the castle itself was not that impressive. We kind of wish we had saved the €9 each and just walked around looking at the Alps. We made it back just in time to catch our overnight train to Rome. This is definitely the way to travel. Its like hotel and transportation all in one. This morning we dropped our bags at the hotel and wandered around with no specific destination and stumbled on to the Spanish Steps. Here Joe was victim of his very first tourist scandal. Some guy forced these flowers into our hands, then followed us around. So Joe decided he would give him some money to go away. I said he shouldnt, but he insisted and handed over €2. The guys put his hand out for more, so I tried to tell Joe just to get his money back and give the flowers back. Joe couldnt handle the demands of the guy, so he gave him one more euro and the guy took one of the flowers back. So Joe paid €3 for one rose bud. I guess I cant complain that he never buys me flowers any more.

When we returned to our hotel we were surprised with a free upgrade! I love Rome!
Next time I post I promise pictures. This computer here will let me link my camera, but I left the link in my room...I mean suite. Also, so about no apostrophes in this post. These computers in Europe are all weird, and the buttons are in different spots. I cant find the apostrophe and dont want to waste my paid time looking for it.
Ciao!

Guttentag from Munchen

Hello to all. We are having a wonderful time in Munich. Once we finally got here. Apparently the airport at Philadelphia was out of order, so our flight was cancelled, delayed, and finally we had to be switched to a different airline and go to Chicago. So our once 8 our flight became an 11 hour flight. We did meet a really nice German guy named "Jacob" (we call him that since his German name is really hard to pronounce, let alone spell.) He gave us some great suggestions of what to do, and even helped us buy our train tickets from the airport to town.

When we got here yesterday, we walked around and got ourselves oriented with the city. Of course we got ourselves some beer. I've even ventured into the world of dunkel bier. After a nice night of sleep we rented bikes and biked all over town. We saw Nymhenburg castle, Olympia park and the English gardens. We had some more beer and even took a nap in the grass in the garden. We also got to see a fully naked man, which was the highlight of Joe's day. We must not look too much like tourists because we've been asked for directions multiple times. I tried to explain to one nice man that I didn't speak German by saying "sprechen English". He kind of looked at me funny and walked away. Joe told me I left out the "ich" meaning I, so I basically told the guy "Speak English." Now I know why Americans have a bad rep as tourists. It's simple translation problems that make us sound demanding when we're only trying to plead ignorance.
Tonight we're headed to the Hafbrauhaus and tomorrow we hope to take a tour to see Nuschwanstein castle before heading to Rome.

We miss you all, and we'll drink one for you.

P.S. pictures aren't posting on this computer. Maybe we'll have better luck in Rome

Chiao!

Today we take off on our long awaited European vacation. The excitement is a little overwhelming. My nerves are acting up a little too. Who knew I would be nervous. My guess is the language barrier and not knowing my way around these different cities is the cause. But I can't wait! I'll see you all in 12 days. Be sure to check back and see our updates!

What a find!

Last weekend during Gallery Hop we went into my favorite Short North store, the First Avenue Consignment shop. They always have really fun stuff. During this last visit we saw this really sweet curio cabinet. I've been wanting to get one, and this one had my name all over it. So Monday we went and bought it. It's a little sparse now, but I look forward to getting many things on our trip to fill it up with.

Two more days!

Need a job?

Well today I was on the committee to hire the new 8th grade math teacher that I will work with. What an experience. I can't believe how much you can tell about a person in a 30 minute interview. I used to think "There's no way these people will get to know enough about me in 30 minutes to tell if I will be a good teacher or not." Boy was I wrong. We interviewed 6 people and from that I could tell that two would be great teachers, two would be okay, and two would be terrible. It seemed weird that I was part of the group that was determining these people's fate. They could end up in a great district like Gahanna, or in a crappy one like where I started out ( I won't district bash). I really hope our number one pick takes the job. She will be a phenomenal teacher.

Three more days!

Red, White and Boom

Today we carried on the annual tradition of sitting in Goodale park for 10 hours to watch a 28 minute fireworks show. The weather was great. There was a nice breeze all day and the sun came out occasionally to keep us warm. We had a nice tent set up this year, way better than the white trash garbage bag tent we had last year. Good food helped cap off the evening. The fireworks themselves...not a great year for Boom Central. There was some sort of technical difficulty and the first five minutes only about 8 fireworks actually went off. After they worked out the kinks it was better and the Marathon Oil Finale Show was quite spectacular.

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

Dinner with the EyeCanSees

Tonight we had Ems and Adam over for dinner. It was like one last farewell meal before Adam leaves for the bright lights of KC. Ems will follow soon behind if their condo ever sells. ( know anyone who's looking?) All I know is that although I will miss them terribly, I am excited about the new adventure they are taking on.

Also new in my life, I have the ability to text. I know, it's shocking that I did not have that capability until now. In my defense, my husband didn't even have a cell phone till last year, so I'm ahead of him at least. I can see what the alure is. It is very nice to send someone a quick note, especially when they are at work. What I still don't understand is how some of my students can send upwards of 5000 texts a month. When do they eat, or sleep, or learn math for that matter?

8 more days!