Until two months ago Mr. Meena and I had primarily only taken two types of trips: the day trip and the loooong trip (remember that time we traveled over 2000 miles in 10 days?). While day trips to nearby towns like Bamberg are easy (I only have to take my purse), the longer trips in Germany usually require us to load up two suitcases and the bird (and pray for enough space on the train). I was afraid of the […]
Worms, Germany: Proof That Smaller Cities Can Be Full of History, Too.
One of the most interesting things about Worms, Germany, is that the Diet of Worms was held there. The Diet was an assembly held in 1521 that addressed Martin Luther’s revolutionary works (such as ‘The 95 Theses’, ‘On the Papacy at Rome’, and ‘On the Freedom of a Christian’, to name a few). After being questioned by the assembly and given a day to consider his response, Luther gave his famous “Here I Stand” speech that resulted in his excommunication […]
Visiting Karlsruhe, Germany.
Visiting Karlsruhe was the driving force behind our three city weekend tour (see our first stop in Mannheim). Mr. Meena has been excited for several months about a new American Western film called ‘The Hateful Eight’. It’s special because the producer used 70 mm film and cinematography equipment from the 1960s called Ultra Panavision. Due to the equipment used and the wider than usual screen image (2.76:1 aspect ratio as opposed to 1.33:1), this is a film that must be […]
What It’s like to Lose a Job You Love.
Experiencing job loss has become a common situation for many people. It’s not always a bad situation; some people are freed from jobs that they despised and use the loss to start doing something more meaningful with their lives. This post is not for those people. This is for the people that counted themselves lucky to be employed where they were. I was unemployed for ten months after I finished grad school before I found a job at a drinking […]
Lunch Break in Mannheim, Germany.
Mannheim was a convenient layover on our weekend train journey to Karlsruhe. We had just enough time for lunch, so we decided to head to one of the coolest lunch spots in the city. Enter the Fernmedleturm Tower – a telecommunication tower that stands over 700 feet tall. It was built in the 1970s and sits on the banks of the Neckar river. We took the lift up to the Skyline restaurant, which is a revolving restaurant that sits at 400 […]
American Food According to Germany.
I often wander around my local German supermarkets struggling to remember what the German words are for the foods I need. I stand in the aisles trying to use my translator app on words that don’t always translate and usually end up confused. But every once in a while I’ll see a food with “American” splattered across the packaging and I’ve just got to try it. Not only do I miss American food items that we can’t find in Germany, […]
Does Having Agoraphobia Mean You Miss out on Life?
When you move somewhere for a set amount of time it’s typical to have a strong desire to explore the area constantly. We’ve only got 13 months in Germany so of course we want to make the most of it. At the same time, I have some intense anxiety issues that hold me back from making this experience all that it can be. In the first few weeks that we lived here I kept thinking that this opportunity should have […]
The 9 Worst Things About Neuschwanstein Castle.
Note: This post has become quite popular lately and I feel that it is necessary to state that this is my opinion. I’m sharing it on my blog because there isn’t very much negative information out there about Neuschwanstein Castle and I think that people should have both sides of the story when planning a visit. If this castle is near and dear to your heart, perhaps you should skip this post (because I will not be bothering with any […]
Lupus Arthritis Stole My Wedding Ring.
My fingers started swelling for the first time about two and a half months ago. I didn’t really notice at first – I just thought the cold German weather was to blame for my hands being slightly red and uncomfortable. After a long winter day in Munich, Mr. Meena and I returned to our hotel room and I attempted to take off my wedding band. It was a ten minute long struggle of twisting and turning the ring while grimacing […]
The 6 Best Things About Our Trip to Stuttgart.
Like most of our journeys, this one started at the train station. Instead of purchasing our usual Bavarian regional train ticket we bought the Quer-durchs-Land one that lets us travel anywhere in Germany for a flat rate. Although there are 16 German states we’ve only managed to visit the one that we live in so far (aside from when we’ve flown in and out of Frankfurt). This was our first trip to Baden-Württemberg and it was fitting that we were […]