Perhaps Josh is right in wanting things to be a little more planned out, as is evident from this Saturday.
We didn't decide what we were going to do for the day until around 11:00am. I know, I know, late start. This is another one of those instances where Josh and I are different. I am definitely a procrastinator, and he is decidedly NOT.
ANYWAY, we decide to take an hour-long drive (technically against our car rental agreement - don't tell) and drove to Silz to go to the "Wild und Wanderpark." It seems there are wildparks everywhere around here. They're basically nature parks, and a lot of them have animals, like deer, birds, etc. The drive was absolutely gorgeous - thru the mountains, up and down twisty-windy roads. All the motorcyclists were out, and it made me think of my parents.
We get to the wildpark, and then Josh asks, "Do we have any Euro?" ummmm.....No. And here we come to another difference between my husband and I. I guess it goes with the planning aspect, but I don't really think about all possible angles of a situation. I just run in with my head down, and assume everything will work out all right. Josh likes to be aware of ALL angles of a situation, and be ready to face all angles at once. So, we didn't have any money to get in - and Europe is NOT plastic-friendly. HAVE CASH AT ALL TIMES!!!!
Luckily the lady at the counter spoke English, and directed us to the nearest cash machine - 2 towns over, and 7km away. My bad.
So, let's fast forward thru some negative conversations that went on in the car on the way to get cash (such as...."why didn't you plan on this" and "it's not my fault!!").
We paid 6 euro each to get into what is a glorified petting zoo. Now, the location was gorgeous, and it was a nice, hour-long walk thru the woods. But how many goats & deer do we need to see??
Next, I had "planned" for us to go to the wine region, and go to a winery that I found online. Meanwhile, it's getting quite hot in the car. It's only about 72 outside (which is awesome), but after walking around in the sun, looking at deer, I'm hot. And the car a/c is not the best thing ever. So, Courtney is starting to get cranky. THANKFULLY, we're going to a winery, and I can get a drink. :) This is one thing Josh and I have in common - our love of wine.
Now, the drive thru the vineyards is awesome. I've never seen so many vineyards, ever.
We finally make it to the winery town of Pleisweiler-Oberhofen. Now, let me explain something to you, that many Americans may not know. Germans have "quiet-time" every day from the hours of 1pm-3pm, from 10pm on, all Sundays, and all Holidays. Basically, it's like a German siesta time. Wellllllll, it's 3:pm when we get to this town, but still no shops are open. There are wine bars/wineries along the entire street, both sides, and NOTHING IS OPEN!!!!! We go from door to door, looking like tourist alcoholics, looking for any open wine bar. All of them open at 5pm, except one, which opens at 4pm. Not being ones to be defeated so easily, we walk around until 3:40, at which point we just decide to wait in the car. Because Courtney is hot, and tired, and cranky. (and there's Josh, being energetic, upbeat, and not understanding why the heck Courtney is sweating so damn much)
FINALLY IT'S 4PM!!!!! WOOHOO!!!! The bar doors open, and a woman who looks exactly like my grandmother is staring at us. And she speaks not one lick of English. And the only German I know is how to say, "Nice weather today, isn't it?". There are no menus, no signs anywhere, nothing. So we leave.
We go to the wine region of Germany, and have not one drop of wine. Depressing.
On our way back, we decide to stop in at the Irish pub in Landstuhl, and the Thai restaurant in Ramstein for dinner. Are we culturally diverse, or what?
Quick note on the Thai restaurant. This is really really really excellent, authentic Thai. The service is not the best, and you never really know if you're going to get the correct order, but it's fantastic. Now, there is a little table inside the restaurant, filled with little caddies of soy sauce, chili paste, and sriracha sauce. This is another thing Josh and I have in common - the love of spicy. So, we pick up one of the caddies, and put it on our table. It wasn't until we walked out of the restaurant & Josh read the receipt that we found out WE PAID $5 FLIPPING DOLLARS FOR "DIVERSE SPICES"!!!!!!!!! We used a grand total of 2 tablespoons of chili sauce, and we were charged $5. What the hell....
So, our lessons for the day:
1) wildparks are not necessarily as cool as they sound
2) German establishments will not be open when you want them to be
3) every old lady in Germany looks like my grandmother
4) don't pick up the jar of chili sauce in the Thai restaurant
5) remember - sometimes it's okay to listen to your husband and plan things out a little more. however, he must also remember that I'll probably forget all of the lessons learned by next weekend.
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