Just to make my welcome even better, I was able to score some of Oma Nunzia’s homemade lasagna. I’m sorry, but that woman has ruined pasta for me forever. I can’t buy store bought anymore. I don’t know what she puts in her homemade recipe, other than crack of course. Honestly, its addictive. I mentioned last time that her Opa didn’t think I could handle it, that I wouldn’t be able to finish: but he knew me better this time. I finished every last drop off my numerous plates (minus licking the plate). That woman should get a Nobel prize for cooking or something. Note to self: look into that.
It was a jam packed week, but one day we managed to get ourselves to the so-called Phantasialand. Now, when saying ‘Phantasialand’ please put on a heavy German accent and really use the ‘zzzzzzzzzz’ instead of the ‘s’. Excellent. So basically what this theme park is the German version of a Cedar Point, or La Ronde. We spent the whole day, even in the rain, and managed to get on some really good rides.
We did a whole array of rides: some kid rides, some 3D moving thingy rides, some serious roller coasters, and just some rides that had us in tears laughing. Two stories: first off the drop zone. So we have this in Canada; I am familiar with it. I have done it. We go to this so called ‘drop zone’ esk ride and a) there were guys jumping out at me that just scared the crap out of me and b) the ride tricks you! Okay, so you are sitting, and all of a sudden you get BLASTED to the top. That was trick 1. So then the expected ‘drop’ happens and you think it’s all over. Trick 2. They BLAST YOU BACK UP! Oh man, it was an up and down, up and down frenzy. I was expecting one big ol’ drop. Nope. Germans just had to show off and top it all.
Second story: the world’s largest indoor all dark rollercoaster is at the park. Super cool. So Petey and I go on and we are sitting in the middle. Nice and easy, but a really great ride. Being 22, naturally my first reaction was “LETS DO IT AGAIN!”. So we did. This time Petey and I sat in the first row. Great decision. I have never laughed so hard in all my life. The smooth aspect of the ride was demolished, we were jolting side to side and literally crying laughing. To make it even better; Petey took pictures. Behold maybe THE funniest picture we have ever taken together.
All in all, it was a great day and we had a blast. To celebrate such a great day we ordered a pizza and watched some more office. Note: I ordered the four cheese pizza, which Petey was terrified of, or made her momentarily nautious (she doesn’t like cheese remember? Weirdoooo). Anyways, great day.
One of our days was also dedicated to go visit Cologne, Petey’s city in Germany! Yay! Heritage day for Petey. So we took the train which was only an hour and were off like lightning ridiculously early in the morning. We did some serious shopping (it appeared I totally forgot the weight limit on my suitcase) and went to the legendary Koln beer brewery to have some Früh beer. Talk about a great beer; no wonder she raved about it so much over the past 7 months. We also had the chance to go up the Cologne Cathedral which was gorgeous. Once again, something over 500 stairs, and when we got to the top the view was worth it as always.
Cologne Cathedral
View from the Top
At the Brewery
My lunch :)
Früh beer
I could have easily spent a few days shopping there, but both my credit card and Petey suggested otherwise. But the day wasn’t over yet, when we got back we quickly got ready to head to the gummy bear vodka festival. Are you kidding me? Yes please. Now, don’t get to crazy, the festival is really called Cranger Kirmes, however…it’s so much more fun saying gummy bear vodka festival. But seriously, this festival is enormous. Over 5 million people go every year in the 10 days the festival runs. That is a lot of Germans friends. So the stand called Steinmeister…which serves the gummy bear vodka is the main shebang. For good reason. No wonder you attract 5 million people. Duh.
We were there with a group of friends and cousins of Petey and Nunzia in addition to her aunt/uncle. The first thing we did when we arrived: beer and gummy bear vodka. Let me paint you a picture here: the shots come with an actual gummy bear in the bottom of your shot. Using a toothpick, you must stab the bear, eat him and then take the shot. To make it all the much better: yes, the vodka tastes identical to gummy bears. Where has this vodka been all my life?
So of course, since Easter my quest has been to speak German. More like imitate what they are saying to me, but really, that language is so complex. There are words with 28 letters…that is more than our alphabet. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE TO SAY!? But it is. And it sounds so damn cool. So the test came for me to order a round of gummy bear vodka shots: 4 to be precise. I got up, cleared my throat and in my best German accent asked: “Vier Gummibaerschenschnapps bitte!" (yeah that’s how you spell it…I told you the language is hard) FOUR GUMMY BEAR SHOTS PLEASE! I did it. I freaking nailed it. The guy smiled, quickly clueing in that I am not from here, and with pleasure handed me my order. A++. Of course no party is complete without jagger shots, so we brought some left over’s from my birthday shot suspenders. Too many actually. Those were quickly handed out like souvenirs and we were happy as can be.
The next morning it was time for the parade so we got up obscenely early and headed downtown to meet Petey’s Oma Elisabeth and some other family members. Now this isn’t any parade; they tossed out candy, roses, beer, popcorn, and I even got a collectors beer plaque. Insane. Tons of people, blaring music from the floats and in general just a really neat experience. Luckily, it was perfect weather too, so we caught what would be some of our last rays of European sunshine. Boo.
Being busy bees, that night was Oma Nunzia’s 75th birthday! Cute! We went over to their place for some pre-dinner? Yeah, coffee, cake, and champagne. Oh yes, nice and early. So they kept pouring and we kept chatting. Started with wine, continued with Prosecco, and ended with this insane Italian mixed drink think they made. Orange and fizzy, but pure alcohol it seemed. Insane. So clearly, everyone was smiley and happy when it came time to go to the restaurant for dinner.
The group had about 20 people and we took up a table the length of Texas. Impressive crowd to say the least. It was so cool though to see all her family at one table. The mix of German, Italian and Petey’s American accent in English, with a slice of Canadian on the side was superb.
The troublesome trio that night included myself, Petey and Oma Elisabeth; she is a quick one that oma. So Petey and I somehow got wind that there was a wedding down the hall. Wedding crashers anyone? No really though, we totally went to check it out. We get down the hall walk in and BAM. The bridge & groom having their dance. Omg, omg omg omg….slowly back away, a little faster……RUN! Needless to say we were in tears laughing in the bathroom and still thinking about it makes me laugh. We were so close…
The Sunday we spent the day with family, as a kind of ‘happy trips back to north America’ gathering. We were able to show the fam our pictures from glacier rafting and bungee jumping, and well, we ate a ton. It was a fantastic experience to be in a family atmosphere like that. The kind of family I have back in Canada; loud, busy, full of food, drinks and best of all laughter. I can only imagine how hard it was for Petey to say bye to the fam. I’m pretty sure she had seen the more in the past 8 months than in the past few years. Crazy to think of. They were wonderful and invited me back anytime and of course I extended the invitation to Canada. Petey thinks they might show up any day now…
When we got back to Nunzia’s place we had to pack. Now what did I say about packing…I hate it. I had to pack all the stuff I bought in Cologne into my one suitcase, and make sure it didn’t weigh more than 23kg. Ha. Good luck. Somehow both Petey and I did it, and funny enough she had to send home a box of about 16kg. She felt my pain of sending boxes…finally. Our last night was spent packing, watching the office and recapping our favorite moments from the past 8 months. Of course we barely got any sleep since we were getting up super early so we could get Petey to the airport on time. She would be leaving at 11:30am and I would be taking the train at 8pm that night to get back to Paris for my flight.
Where the hell did 8 months go?
The ride to the airport is about 30 minutes, so in case of traffic we gave ourselves an hour to get there. We would leave at 730ish to get there with almost 3 hours for her flight. Excellent. Of course, since it was our last day together: things went a bit wrong for the worse. We were stuck in traffic for over 2 hours. Yes friends, wayyyy too long. Petey is in the back seat with me almost hyperventilating while I’m trying to be funny, get her mind of it while deep down laughing cause THIS WOULD HAPPEN TO US. We got to the airport after 9:30am, and we dashed in. Luckily there was no waiting really, her bag was way over but she wasn’t charged a fine and we had time to get breakfast. Karma was on our side again.
Where was our last meal? McDs. Oh boy: however, the plus: they had excellent breakfast.
Saying bye to Petey felt like a joke. I had literally been with the girl everyday for the past 8 months and not talking for over a 24 hour span was rare. In fact, exceedingly rare. We knew each other to a tee and both tried to hold back the tears. My buddy was going back to the USA (much better than being on the other side of the world), but I still wouldn’t see her for about a month. A MONTH!? What was I supposed to do with my days….who would I tell my funny stories to? Who else would have the patience to listen? It was going to be hard adjusting. That was guaranteed.
We were judged hardcore as she cried going through security and sobbed like a child waiting for her plane. I did the classic wave from a distance and then….she gave me the look. Shit. I forgot to grab the umbrella from her backpack that she made me promise I would take from her so she didn’t have to bring it. I forgot. Shock. And there she was…holding the damn umbrella.
Nunzia and I walked back to the car…until she realized she forgot where she parked the car. Excellent. Nothing like a good game of car finding in the AIRPORT PARKING LOT. No worries, we had this. Yeah, not at all. We must have searched for almost an hour but then…we found her. The ride back to her place was 30 minutes. Too funny.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur. We went and sent Petey’s package to the USA, shopped a little (of course, I wasn’t allowed to buy anything) and we had some dinner before I would be leaving for my quest to Paris.
We got the train station with tons of time to spare and I thanked every god that I sent one suitcase home. This mother red weighed a TON. Then my backpack and computer bag. I was in for a hell of a night.
Petey had left that morning and now so was I. Probably the strangest feeling I have ever had.
A huge hug and a big ol Canadian wave I was off on my first train.
Hasta la Vista baby
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