I give up

I´ve been waiting to post because we are having a big problem with windows on our laptop (Joern needs to buy Windows- it´s that simple!) But, our laptop is the only computer with a card reader, so without a card reader, I can´t get pictures off my camera. And, our weekend was so cool, I really want to include pictures.

The weekend´s greatness really started on Thursday. Joern´s work day followed the Wuerttemberg Wine Trail! While driving to one customer, I saw a sign for the Rolf Willy winery. It is a funny coincidence, because two weeks ago, we were turned on to Rolf Willy´s wines at a tasting in our grocery store. Of course, I got all excited, and Joern decided it would be a good idea to stop there! Rolf Willy is a pretty major wine producer in this area, and had a tasting room set up. When we walked in, this guy gave us 2 glasses, pointed to a bunch of wines on a table, and said, "try whatever you want!" After trying some, Joern had to continue working after all, we decided to buy some. While Joern was paying, he called me over, and told me the guy (that I thought was completely lacking in personality) was Rolf Willy! It was so cool! Of course, even he had to admit that he isn´t good at the sales end of the business, and that his son is in charge of sales for the company. It was just so awesome and unexpected!

Friday was another great day. My friend Erica, from high school, was in Germany all last week for a training. Unfortunately, Germany is slightly larger than CT, and so, I had to wait for the weekend to visit here. Erica was in Garmisch- Partenkirchen, a small town nestled in the Bavarian Alps. Erica´s husband and ADORABLE daughter came down on Thursday, so Joern and I met up with all of them for an overnight in the Alps! Garmisch is a beautiful town, and is only about 3 hours from us, but it is a completely different world! Friday night, we went out to dinner, which was really nice. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel, enjoyed some wine and apple martinis :) The hotel, the Edelweiss Lodge (Armed Forces recreation hotel,) was INCREDIBLE, and the price was great!

On Saturday, we tried to go up the Zugspitze, the highest point in Germany. Turns out that getting up the top was highway robery, it was over $40 just to go up to the top to see the view! So, we decided to drive into Austria, and try from there. Too bad, it was the same price. In the end, we decided to drive back to Garmisch, and explore the town. Garmisch is one of those typical German story- book towns. It was really cute, and we got to have a great lunch!

The rest of the afternoon was just spent hanging out with Erica, Ben, and Alex. It was so wonderful to be able to hang out with them. I really have a kindred spirit in Erica, and it´s so nice to be reunited with this spirit. And of course, since her little one is the CUTEST little girl in the world, it´s always wonderful to spend time with her!

On our way out of Garmisch, we decided to call my friend Mandy, who was also in Garmisch for the weekend. We got ahold of her and met up at a restaurant for drinks. It was so much fun, it was hard to pull ourselves away at 11, but we had to because it was so late and we had to drive home!! Of course, on the drive home, we were plagued with super-thick fog, and could only drive 35 mph. So much for the autobahn!!

We made it back by 2:30 and went to sleep right away! What a great weekend! I can´t wait to see Erica again!