Currywurst, fireworks, and relatives.

Well at long last, here is a blog about my trip to Germany. My parents are working on some blogs about their trip here, and hopefully those will be up by the end of the week.

So I left Paris on the 31st and flew to Hamburg, where my friend Paul picked me up at the airport. That night was New Years Eve, and I have to say that it was the best New Years celebration ever for me. 9 of Paul's friends came over to the house, each of them bringing some food. We talked and ate and played games and listened to music. Then at about 11:40, we went up on the roof of the building. Now in Germany, fireworks are legal for New Years Eve ONLY--and everyone buys them and everyone sets off fireworks at midnight. Even when we first got on the roof at 11:40, people were shooting off fireworks. Once midnight hit, I was surrounded by fireworks. Anywhere I looked, there were fireworks. It was a little magical for me. We toasted champagne and hugged and just watched the fireworks (and set off a few of our own). After that we went back downstairs and listened to music and danced and talked and had a lot of fun. Then later we did more fireworks and walked through the streets listening to music and wishing everyone a Happy New Year. It was an experience I'll never forget. Paul recorded some videos on the roof, and I'll have him send me one so you can see what it was like!

The next few days were very relaxed. I went to a lot of places. I went to churches in Hamburg, and the King Tut museum, and I went to an English class with Paul's younger sister, Marie. We went to Lüneburg (a town near Hamburg), and I saw my last name on a building! Then I went to Berlin for 2 days where I did 2 tours--one being a general tour of the city. We saw the Berlin Wall, Brandenburg Gate, Reichstag, former Luftwaffe Headquarters, Museum Island, the bunker where Hitler died, Bebelplatz, and more! Then the next day I went on a tour to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp north of Berlin. That was a very surreal experience. It's just difficult for me to understand the amount of hate people can have for one another.

After 2 packed days in Berlin, I headed to Neustadt am Rübenberge, home of the Hotel Scheve. My maternal great-grandmother's maiden name was Scheve, and I know a lot about my Scheve family history. In fact, there is a book that I have about the history of the family--and my name is in the book! When I discovered that the Hotel Scheve is not far from Hamburg, I knew I needed to make a trip there. During my sophomore year of high school, we had to make 100 goals and staying at the Hotel Scheve was one of my goals. Staying there was a lot of fun. When I arrived, I got a full tour of the place from Ursula, who runs the hotel with her husband, Helmut. Then I talked to Helmut and one of their sons, Henning, on the phone. Helmut and Ursula's daughter, Britta, came over with her 2 children, and we all had dinner together. The next day Britta gave me a tour of the town, and I got to see where her kids go to school. It was a really quick trip, but a lot of fun. I hope I can go back some day with my family and spend more time there and get a full history lesson of the Scheve family from Henning.

Then after 2 more days in Hamburg, it was back to Valencia, where I was greeted with some cooler weather. I ate plenty of German food in Germany including currywurst, all sorts or sausages, and I even tried sauerkraut (not my favorite!). I'm a big fan of German bread--a lot of the bread has lots of grains and seeds in it--yummy! So that's my trip to Germany--email me if you want to know more! There are pictures up--they are under the Christmas in Europe title! Also up are pictures from my family's stay in Spain! Definitely take a look!