Greece, Day 1: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

11 APRIL 2014

From the start, this impromptu trip was shined upon by the heavens.  Our original plan had been to take a 10 am train from Stuttgart, which would put us in Baden-Baden at around 11:20, then we would still have a 15-minute cab ride from the train station to the airport (Baden-Baden is a smaller airport than even Stuttgart...hence why RyanAir flies from there).  Since our flight would depart at 12:40 pmm in this scenario, everything would be cut quite close.  That would have made for a very high-strung Meg.

But, thankfully, fate intervened.  The kids did not go to school that day (Tim was ill, and Caro took what we call a "mental health day" in the Gallimore household).  This meant we could take a 9 am train out of Stuttgart, making for a much more relaxed timeline.

And it all went off without a hitch.  George had the short end of the stick in that he had custody of our shared, giant suitcase, while I only had my backpack.  What a gentleman.

We arrived at the airport just before 11 am, checked our bag, cleared security (George set off the alarm on account of his belt...), then had about an hour to kill before our flight started boarding.  The Baden-Baden airport has a decent cafe and outdoor seating area, so we drank coffee and sat in the sun while we waited.  There are much worse ways to spend a Friday morning.

George and I had another lucky happening; for no apparent reason, RyanAir had given us "Priority Boarding," so we were some of the first people on the plane.  AND our seats were toward the front, which made getting on and off the plane a breeze.

I also just want to say, for the record, that my RyanAir experience was much more pleasant than I expected.  You hear a lot of horror stories about flying with them, but, based off of this trip, that reputation may not be deserved.  It's certainly not a luxury experience by any means, but when you look at their prices, how much can you really expect?  The service was friendly, and we made it from Point A to Point B on time.  That's all anyone really needs.

The one thing I will make note of is that if you are not a resident of the EU, regardless of if you are checking a bag or not, make sure you queue up at the desk and get your passport checked and boarding pass stamped.  For whatever reason, RyanAir likes to check non-EU passports twice (like Santa...hehehe).  They'll do it as you are boarding the plane as well, but you will be denied access if you don't also have a stamp from the check-in people too.  Yet another reason I was happy we arrived early.

We landed in Thessaloniki at about 4:15 pm, picked up our bag, then went to the Sixt desk to pick up our car.  That was an annoyingly long process, with us signing our lives away to the car and GPS (mostly the GPS).  Also, George thought that the guy couldn't figure out how to say "Meghann" or "Gallimore" as he referred to me as "the lady" throughout the entire process.  Apparently "George" is a bit more straight-forward.

We finally hit the road at about 6:15 in a light blue Chevy Spark that had clearly seen some better days.  There was a dent or scratch on nearly every part of the body.  Which of course, could only work in our favor; we didn't have to put on kid gloves to handle the car, or be QUITE as cautious about what roads we took.

It was just under a two-hour drive to Litochoro (according to the GPS...I think we made it in an hour fifteen...).  And even a drive that brief (in Meghann & George terms...) was enough to show us the insanity that is driving in Greece.  People cut each other off, speed, drift across lanes, ride in between lanes...it's absolute madness.  We also were confused as to why the GPS kept beeping randomly.  At first we thought it was a warning when another car was too close, as it was happening constantly.  However, we later realized that it went off whenever we exceeded the rather arbitrary speed limits.

Once we arrived in Litochoro, we began the fun task of negotiating through the labyrinth of one-way and very narrow streets of the town to find our hotel.  The GPS was already proving itsel fto be worthless and we ended up asking a very nice local woman for directions.

Despite the difficulties in finding the hotel, the Villa Pantheon ended up being worth the extra effort, and was one of our favorite hotels when we compared them all.  We were upgraded from a double room to a master suite, complete with a fireplace, living room, and kitchenette.  Not to mention, a MASSIVE balcony that had spectacular views of Mount Olympus and the sea.  Greece was already off to an incredible start.

By this point, we were both starving (or, in George's words "a bit peckish"), so we walked five minutes into the town centre to find some food.  There were a surprising amount of options for such a small place, but we had our minds made up for us when a lady from one of them came out and essentially shoved us inside.  There we tried our first Greek beer, Mythos.  It was nice; not quite German but still very drinkable (It reminded me of Corona, but George disagrees).  We split a Greek salad, George had a meatball thing, and I had veal. Both were delicious.  The chef, who had taken a liking to George on account of him being British (even changing the channel of the tv in the restaurant to the BBC news...) gave us a free feta cheese croissant thing, which was actually outstanding.  My mouth is watering at the thought.

Our cue to leave came when the place was invaded by, I kid you not, about thirty members of a single family.  All the tables started getting pushed together, and it was very loud, and we stood out as the non-Greeks.  So, we waddled back to the hotel and went to bed.  Already, it was an excellent adventure.

****I promise this will be the ONLY Greece post without photos.  I didn't really think about my camera on this first day, but I went shutter crazy the rest of the time we were there.  It won't always be just text.

Christmas in Germany

Germany, as a whole, gets really into Christmas.  "Weinachtsmarkts" or "Christkindl" markets are in nearly every city, in varying sizes.  Even little Kornwestheim, which is a branch of Ludwigsburg, which is 15 minutes away from Stuttgart and it's massive Christmas market, puts together their own tiny version for a weekend.  Even the Grinch himself would have a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit in this country.  You would have to work very hard to stay grumpy at this time of year.

Especially considering the fact that the "Gluhwein", which is essentially a warm spiced wine (I guess we would call it mead?) is served about every ten paces, regardless of the size of the Christmas market.  It's good (the apple version is my favorite), but it also packs a punch (which, if you're like me, you may not realize until it's too late...).  They also serve something that could maybe go in the same family as eggnog, but it's pretty gross.  Egg liquor is not a thing that should exist.  However, it's almost pure alcohol, so if a fast drunk is what you're looking for, or if you have an exceptional tolerance, that may be just the thing to order.

Anyway, the best part of all the booths at these Christmas markets is to look up at the roofs.  They're decorated so extravagantly, and most of them are extremely creative.  It's quite clear that a lot of the vendors spend a great deal of time thinking through their decorations during the year (or maybe they just reuse the same ideas over and over again...I have no context for comparison).  They are mostly selling knick-knack type items, winter gear, food, and alcohol.  I haven't bought anything other than Gluhwein, but everything smells amazing so I would assume the food is also decent.  I'm sure I'll find out eventually about that element, but probably won't buy anything that can't immediately be ingested.  I'm not one for scarves or ornaments, and I would question my ability to pack or ship anything home from here in such a manner that it would arrive in one piece.

Speaking of home, I am actually ecstatic about the fact that I will be going home for the holidays.  My grandfather was meant to visit, and then we were going to travel through Italy, and while I am disappointed that that has had to be postponed for health reasons, it is actually a huge relief to be headed home for a bit.  I really thought I could handle being away for Christmas...I've never had issues with homesickness in the past, but there's just something about being gone for this time of year that was really, really bumming me out.  My family is pretty close, and we've always made Christmas special, and I think missing out on that for the first time in 23 years is just something I am not ready for yet.  It also would have been pretty lonely once all my friends left for their homes.  And I'm sure Nicole and the kids would have been really nice and mostly willing to include me, but I wouldn't have wanted to intrude on their Christmas.  It will be so good to see my family and friends and dogs and cats and just be back in the states for a bit.  I do like a lot of elements to life in Germany, but it still hasn't succeeded in passing by New Zealand or home.

Although, as far as Christmas at home goes, I could be playing off nostalgia a bit.  My parents, siblings and I may want to kill each other after thirty-six hours together.  Though in this case, I severely doubt it.  We weren't expecting to all be together again for another seven to nine months, so this two weeks is an unexpected gift, and I think we will take full advantage of it.  Plus, it means I'll get to visit the lovely Chicago Christkindl market and compare it to a real German one.  I'll try to be unbiased, but that's unlikely.  So I'll take photos and then you can compare them yourselves.

So, here follows a few photos from the various Christmas markets.  I'll probably keep adding onto them...I've been forgetting to take pictures a lot lately, and as a result, my photography skills are not quite as good as they once were.

One of the Christmas trees for the Stuttgart market

The Nutcracker in Stuttgart.  I'll let the photo speak for itself.

The Ludwigsburg market.  It's the favorite of my family.  But as an American, I must admit to being impressed by the sheer size and gaudiness of the Stuttgart one.

Ludwigsburg does have its own charm though...

This is What Happens When You're Living Rather than Traveling

Let me apologize for taking AGES to update this.  The problem with traveling all the time is that I usually have more to say than I can fit into one post.  And also that there's not usually any free time (or I'm just too lazy to make time...) for me to go into as great of detail as I could.  But, hey, there has to be some elements left for me to bore you all with once I return to the states.

Anyway, the GOOD thing about traveling all the time (besides, the obvious of, well, traveling all the time), is that it creates very natural, narrative-type entries for this.

Which means that while spending the past month and a half staying put in Stuttgart has been at least as enjoyable as traveling (and sometimes more so), it doesn't necessarily lend itself to neat, tidy, ordered, or even particularly fascinating posts.  I guess it's time for me to recruit those writing skills that I spent four years and thousands of dollars honing.  

But, enough rambling! (see, I'm already losing out on order).  As a result of me spending all my money for the months (and then some...I can only justify so many trips to the ATM pulling money from my American accounts...) in Paris and Strasbourg, I've spent the past month or so exploring Stuttgart.  And by exploring, I mostly mean going out to eat, for coffee, and drinking(this is Germany, after all).  And, to be honest, that stability has been nice.  It's also been great to have finally established a couple of different groups of friends to spend time with.  I adore the family I am living and working for, but, as I've said before, having a group of peers is essential to maintaining sanity.  Especially in the beginning, being here made me long for college, when there was always someone who you could find to give you attention at any time of day (except from between 6-8 am...and sometimes even then).  

But, getting back to business, it's just been lovely to have friends.  There are two groups which I tend to circulate between.  One I've met through Laura, as she's been kind enough to include me in outings with her friends.  They're mostly all other Americans who are also in Germans as au pairs (they all also mostly have, or have had, German boyfriends.  Must have missed the memo on that one...).  And then the other group I also met through a girl named Laura (not confusing at all...).  She's a grad student from the UK, and somehow managed to build up a group of "misfits" (as I so kindly like to describe it...).  There's her, me, a British guy named George, a Croatian girl named Sara, a French guy named Adrien, and a German girl named Martina.  They're all students, aside from George, who teaches English.

I like spending time with both groups, but at the risk of sounding snooty, it can sometimes be a bit more refreshing to not spend all my free time with au pairs.  Because when you get a group of au pairs together, the conversation tends to gravitate toward talk (i.e. complaints) about the family and the hazards of being an au pair.  It devolves into a complaint fest, where everyone tries to one-up the other on who has it worse.  It's really great conversation, and I always come off as snotty since I don't have a reason to complain.  As far as being an au pair goes, I have nothing to complain about.  I am in as ideal of a situation as I possibly could be, and have nothing negative to say about my family.  But that being said, it can be nice to just be silly and hang out with a bunch of girls my own age who are from my country.  No one makes fun of my accent (as George and Laura like to do...because obviously Brits say things "correctly" and Americans are just wrong...), and when I say particularly American things ("This Christmas market isn't as good, it's too small."  "I can't believe they made me give exact change, I'm paying THEM for something."), it doesn't come off as weird.  Though I'm definitely also not on the same page as most of them when it comes to German men.  I will admit that they do tend to be quite nice-looking, but, at the risk of fulfilling stereotypes(but there is some truth in all of them...I frequently am the loud American, particularly once alcohol is involved...), I find their humor to be lacking.  Sarcasm is not a German trait.  Not that ALL of them are not funny; just I personally haven't met a German guy who had me in fits of laughter.

With the other group, the conversation tends to be a bit more varied.  I think between the six of us, we've been to nearly every major city on the globe.  As usual, I tend to bring up the rear when it comes to travel experience, but that's not an issue in my mind.  It gives me an even bigger pool of people from whom I can get insider advice on where to travel, and what to see and do once I'm there.  Plus, Chicago, LA, and New Zealand are usually flashy enough to keep me above water as far as street cred is concerned.

Anyway, I've been having a lot of fun getting to know my way around the city (I probably only get lost every other time now) and checking out the cafes and nightlife.  I still think French coffee is better, but it's also more expensive, so it may balance out.  I've yet to find a club that I enjoy in Stuttgart (but it's hard to find a club I enjoy period...), but the bars are a lot of fun.  My personal favorite is called "Tequila Bar."  You get a free shot of tequila with every beer you order.  It's such a good deal (there's the recent college graduate showing again). 

I hope I didn't bore you all too much!  Here's a few photos of day-to-day life just so you all have some visuals to what has been going on.  I'll be writing another post shortly about the "Weinachtmarkts" that are EVERYWHERE in Germany.  Basically, it looks like Santa Claus vomited all over most of Germany at this time of year.  

This is Lina.  She is a Cocker Spaniel mix.  We go on lots of walks.

One of the randomly pretty spots we go through in Kornwestheim.

And another.

Schlossplatz.  It's the most beautiful spot in Stuttgart.  It's all decked out in Christmas now.

The group out on a Friday night.  

Hedgehogs are all over the place in Germany.  They call them "Eagles".  Which is particularly bizarre considering what an eagle is in English.

German 'spaghetti' ice cream.  It is delicious.  Though strawberry sauce in Germany is more like jam than the syrupy version that we have in the states.