only one more day..

 Last night Oma and I made a quick Starbucks trip! Wearing a Guy Harvey t-shirt and Toms I realized how American I looked! I have only seen one other person with Toms here and she was from America as well! 

Since the past couple of days we have had great weather, the streets are always full with people and sometimes it can be hard to find a table outside of the restaurants! 

Today we went to Karstadt (which is kind of like a Belks or JC Pennys) and look around a little bit. The second floor had a candy and chocolate section! There was a whole aisle full of Haribo gummies! But the chocolates where my favorite to look at!

This afternoon we went to a visit a friend. Her house looked like it was taken from a magazine! Her style is Shabby Chic from the time you walk in the door to the very back of her garden! Everything looked like it had never been touched and the carpet had never been walked on! She assured us however that her husband can make himself very comfortable on the couch to watch tv or just hang out! 

This was probably my last kaffee und kuchen here in Germany! We had an apple cake and coffee outside in her garden!

Oma loved the colors of these flowers, so we had to snap a quick picture!  

 Ever since I went to a garden show a few months ago with my mom, I have had a thing for succulents! I just love them and can not wait to get home to check on mine! I have seen alot of them around Germany, I even tried to buy some to take home, but Oma wouldn't let me!

Sunday Brunch

Sunday morning we had brunch at Wittekindshof! It was buffet style and had everything you could imagine for breakfast! My favorite part about the food has been all the different kinds of bread! 

all of my favorites..

Today in Dortmund the weather is in the high 60's and it is sunny! Some are complaining about the weather being to warm, but I think it is perfect, especially compared to the hot temperatures back home! The past couple of days have been spent visiting with family and friends! I went out this morning to do a little last minute shopping while Oma and Tanta Anneliese went to the grocery store!

 Oma and I liked this building because of the music notes on the side and the church in the back ground! 

You never know what you will come across when walking through town! This guy on the piano was awesome! He needs to make his way to a talent show or something on t.v. 

This has been my favorite store! It is called Primark and has three stories of great stuff! Lets just say it is a good thing I do not live with in walking distance to this store back home, I would be broke all the time!

This has been my favorite meal since I discovered it a few days ago! A euro pita, it comes with onions but of course I just like it plain!

A little Zumba outside never hurt anyone, but the guy in the back was still working on learning his moves!

Rolf brought us another torte today! For some reason he always knows exactly what I like!

Not to toot my own horn, but I brought Tanta Anneliese some flowers today! They were very pretty if I do say so myself.

 

Karlheinz picked us up and took us to a park that over looks Dortmund. It has lasted through several wars and has three statues of people from Germany's history! It was such a nice view!  

 After we had dinner at their house, I felt so bad that I hadn't put a picture with Christel up yet, so I made her take one with me! And then we got out the old photo albums! This was my favorite, Jordan and Glenn about 20 years ago.

Rhine River

Dusseldorf is just a little drive up the autobahn! We headed out bright and early this morning to go see the Rhine River! We walked down the river path and then had lunch at an Asian restaurant.

 Another real life statue, she just stood there! I don't think I would ever be able to stand that still without talking!

 

It's crazy how you can be so close to WIFI but then so far away! 

 There is a Starbucks right around the corner from where we are staying, and it is crazy to think tonight was the first time I headed that way! It tasted just as good as it does back home, except they didn't know my name when I walked in the door.

just around town!

The last couple of days we have been resting up for our last weekend here! It's hard to believe we have been here for two weeks already! This time next week we will be on that air plane headed home! Oma and I did a little strolling around town today and yesterday. We visited a long friend of Oma's last night and had dinner with some relatives tonight! Tomorrow we are headed to the Rhine River! 

Oma worked in this building for several years when she lived here. It use to be some sort of sandwich/soda shop! Now it is a cell phone store. Everything in Germany has changed since the last time Oma was here! They are currently doing some construction right outside our window since Germany recently converted to mainly underground transportation instead of the street cars!

Karstadt is a huge department store here in Germany! It has everything you could ever need! It is several stories high and has a couple buildings scattered around the city! I believe Oma said that my cousin Barbel worked here when she was younger as well.

 Living statues have always been my favorite; drop a little money in their jar and they will move!

 This one is for Becky and Kimberly! There is an apple store right under our apartment! I would get you a souvenir from here, but I don't think anything from there was in my spending budget for y'all!  

 A little rain while shopping never hurt anyone! That just meant we had to find a good store to spend some extra time in! 

Once upon a time..

Over the weekend we stayed with Karlheinz and Krystal! They live in a refurbished castle in Dortmund. This property is private and includes a park, tennis courts, and a pretty court yard in the middle. The park has many huge trees that our as old as the castle!

The castle is to the left in this picture and the houses are on the right. The houses are refurbished from the old horse stables from along time ago. I can't remember how old it exactly is, but I do know the castle dates back to the 1300's! 

It has been three days and about 300 pictures later that I'm finally getting to my blog! Over the weekend we have been to the zoo, watched the winning soccer game, and you guessed it more shopping! I'll just show you my favorites from the weekend! 

 

  

Monkey see, monkey do! 

This one above was our favorite! Even though it was raining he put on a show! He carried his blanket around and played peek a boo with us! 

And the monkey below came right up to the window, ready for his close up!

 
Anyone who knows me, knows I love a good petting zoo!

Latter that night was the game! Dortmund played Berlin and won the game 5 to 2! Of course we had to dress up for the game as well; they had EVERYTHING you could imagine in black and yellow!