Lake Constance – Vacation 30 Minutes Away From Home

Who knew there would be a vacation spot so close to my house. Well, duh, I know…I know. I’m living in a vacation but I mean something different from the ‘Sound of Music’ hills and old churches. My best buddy RyRy from the states is here visiting, which is AWESOME! My first friend from the states – he just happens to visit me no matter where I live which is fantastic! Nothing like a piece of home to soothe the soul. While he’s packed up with Peanut Butter and other goodies from my momma, right off the plane Toblerone snatched him up and took him to a soccer game with 7 other guys and then to the Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival) in Stuttgart. Similar to Oktoberfest but on a much smaller scale! I’ll show you a picture in the next write up!  This allowed me to have a little girls day out! 🙂

In the morning we had some of the guys over for breakfast which was large pretzels, honey mustard, and white wurst (sausage)…shown here. I lived it up with a pretzel…no wurst for me! Not my style Normally you peel the casing off the sausage which seriously creeps me out!

The girlfriends of two of the boys and I headed off to the train station for a ride to The Bodensee or also known as Lake Constance. I’ve been hearing about this from many people about how beautiful it is and of course that there is a MALL!!!!! Man, I miss those! So, off I went with a pocket full of cash to this place EVERYONE is talking about.

We arrived and immediately walked into the mall which definitely made me feel at home.  In Germany, you can normally only find malls in larger cities, everywhere else is more boutiques and plazas I suppose you could call them. I didn’t know where to look first! It was interesting for me because here I was in this mall, something familiar, but yet everything felt so unfamiliar! All the stores were names I had never heard before and the style and clothes were different. Then we came upon the motherload… H&M!!! Home!!!!! Although it was way too packed in there and too chaotic we decided to head in there and make it fun anyways. What’s a shopping trip with the girls without a weird sunglasses picture!

I realized how old I am because I was more interested in the home decor stores than anything else. Not cool! I’ll be 27 and the idea of wearing cute dresses and shoes has somehow slipped me by. Instead I’m like, “Ohhh look at this cute tablecloth!! Ohhh and this pattern would go perfect in my kitchen!” People, the day has come to admit, I’m not longer that fun girl that you all used to hang out with. I’m OLD and decrepit!

Onward we went through the mall and then outside to find a good Icecream place. Not before we went into a bookstore that had a small section for English Books! AH!!! AMAZING! For a quick moment I felt at home once again! Trust me when I say, when you are surrounded by a different language constantly…it’s everywhere, the radio, T.V., friends, restaurants….finding a book written in English is like having an old friend. Familiarity…it’s all so important when you’re far away from what you know.

Back out on the streets it looked like something out of Harry Potter. Very old buildings with just enough walking space for a herd of cows. Incredibly beautiful.

So to sum it all up we went for icecream and then down to the water for paddle boat ride. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I finally got a little color on my very glowing white skin! I just may be tan this year. Watch out folks! :-))

Now I’ll throw some pictures your way of my day and let you sit and think about how you wish you could be here doing this as well! It was SO much fun…..so much that I’m actually going back there today with my buddy RyRy and Toblerone! Should be a great time! And, since I was able to go back…MORE photos of the old buildings and cobblestone streets to come! Stay tuned!

Until next time, Readers!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The Alps in the background

Lady of Justice

Building from the year 1523