The Christianville Spirit
The Spirit that Knows Love
May 29th, 2019-TCS # 641
Hallo, My Readers! That is How You say Hello in German. Well, I am Happy to be back Home after Our “PTLS Business Trip” and Be Back in My Routine and yet at The Same Time, I miss Europe and It’s Fresh Food! So, Where did We go This Time? Well, We were Sponsored (meaning PTLS Family Members invited and paid for us get there) to go to Germany. Yes, Folks! Really! Germany! The Land of My Portion of My Ancestors since I am Part German and Part Italian. Now, We unfortunately did not see Our Ancestral Stuttgart, but We did get to see a Little bit of Germany.
So, Germany, A few things that I know about it going in. Germany has a Rather Nasty History that I won’t really get in to, but I knew to be Very Careful about Mentioning it there, Just a Topic to Avoid. Unless You want to educate yourself about it, that is Okay.
Germany has a Super-Freeway System with Highways sort of like American Interstates but, Better. They say that You can drive Really Fast on Them. The Roads are called “The Autobahn”. Now, For The Record, Yes, They can drive Very Fast but, only if There is not a lot of Traffic, Construction, Weather, and Of Course, There are Certain Areas where They do have Speed Limits but, I think that is because of Cities, Towns, Construction, or Safety Reasons. It is actually Funny because There can be a Stretch of No-Speed Limit Zone and then, One comes along!
Anyway, and then The Final Thing I knew about Germany that You must try Wienerschnitzel. So, We flew from Dallas to Frankfurt, Germany. This was The First Time in Germany and that was the Most Direct Route and Most Major City in The Region of Germany that We will be in. We actually flew to Germany on Lynee Remembrance Day (LRD as I call it). Now, Yes, I did do My “Lynee Day” Observance while We were at The Airport waiting for Our Flight. We arrived in Frankfurt on Thursday Morning. By The Way, Frankfurt Airport is a Massive Airport! It is a Big Airport with 2 Terminals but, I don’t feel that It can handle all the planes arriving and having all The Gates for Them. I say that because I saw a lot of Planes sitting on the Tarmac having Busses pick up The Passengers, sort of what They did in Iceland. Us, of course, were Lucky to have our plane arrive at The Gate. For The Record, after Passing through Frankfurt Airport both Arriving and Departing, I am sad to say that I feel that Frankfurt Airport is not Very Special Needs Friendly Airport.
After We passed Customs and such, We were picked up by The Husband of The Host of This “PTLS Conference on The Road”, PTLS Member Andreas. He drove us to The Town which We were having our PTLS Event, The PTLS “Congress” as They referred to it as, The “Congress” was held in a Moderately-Sized Town, North of Cologne. Every Time I try to spell it, I have a Hard Time with It. I know, it looks and sounds like Cologne, as like The Spray perfume Goods. I course, prefer The Local way of Spelling, Köln. The Town where This Congress was held was an Even Harder Name, Leverkausen (Pronounced Lee-Ver-Koo-Sen). I digress. So, It was about a 2 Hour Drive between Frankfurt and Leverkausen via The First Thing I wanted to do on My “German Experience” List, Drive on The Autobahn. Now, in case You are wondering, We did a Speed-ups and Joyrides on The Way up there. We hit about 200 Kilometers an Hour (about 125 Miles an Hour). I have to say that It was a Weird feeling going that Fast. I wanted to make sure to Go Fast with My German Experience without Freaking My Mom out too much as well Overwhelming Myself too much. As We got closer, Andreas was told that The Hotel that We were staying at would call when The Room would be Ready, about 3 PM. So, PTLS Member Lisbeth and Andreas, The Host of The PTLS “Congress” invited us over to Their House, so We could hang out and have a Meal as They say there. Little did We know that this Meal would be a Big Meal. It actually was a Really Good Meal, We had Pasta and A Special Sauce that She made. Among Many other Things. It was Really Good! After all that, We drove over to The Hotel where We, as well as PTLS Family Members would be staying. The Hotel, to say the least, needed a Little Renovation. But, I digress. That Night, My Mom and I were so Tired, We went to Sleep early to catch up on Our Sleep before Everything kicked off. On Friday, the Host again, invited us to Breakfast. We thought that We would be going to a Breakfast Place because The Breakfast at The Hotel was a Bit Expensive but, She took us over to Her House to make Breakfast. She is One of Those Hosts that will cook you More Food than You need while spoiling You at The Same Time. I really felt Loved, I will tell you that! Later in The Day while We were waiting for PTLS Family Members to show up, My Mom and I took a Nice Walk around The City Center as well as The Nature Trail nearby The Hotel. After Everyone started Showing Up, We all walked to The City Center Shopping Mall down the street to a Biergarten. This was something in My “German Experience” List that was in The Back of My Head, along with The Wienerschnitzel. It was something I wanted to try, but try not to Make a Big Deal about it. If I did, then My Anxiety would go up. Now, No, I did not have any Beer but, I saw what German Beer looks like! It was kinda Fascinating! I am not an Alcohol Drinker, I would rather not drink, So I had a Soda instead. After that, We walked back towards The Hotel for Dinner. The Owner of The Restaurant, according to Host Lisbeth, says that She understands Those with Special Needs, Therefore She would be able to handle a Group like Us. After Looking on The Menu, I found that They had Wienerschnitzel there. I was a bit Tired though by Then, due to getting a little Overheated during The Walk that My Mom and I did earlier. It was a Bit Warm during The Day (like Over 70) but, Cool at Night. So, I ordered a Smaller Version of The Wienerschnitzel. I remember from Watching People like Anthony Bourdain try it, It was a Big Dish. It almost helped at The People around were having The Wienerschitzel as well. The Next Day, Saturday was The “Congress” Day. Both My Mom and I got to speak there. It is always Inspiring to Me as well as PTLS Family Members, to Meet them in Person. Each PTLS Family Member that I met, helped give me Insight into How The Children was treated, the Help They get, and Life in Germany. We met PTLS Family Members also from Belgium and The Netherlands (or Holland). Of Course, One Highlight among The PTLS Family Members was a Mom who does a lot of Traveling with Her Family, Another was to spend Special Time with PTLS Member, Nathalie Foppen because We have known each other for 10 Years! It warmed My Heart that At This “Congress”, that There was a lot of PTLS T-Shirts, PTLS Pins, and PTLS Green Wristbands. It really was Awesome. I am Always Honored to get to Meet PTLS Family Members that I have known online for a Long Time. Not Only, Myself knowing Each Other but, Also Each Other knowing Me. Not Only, do I get to Visit a New Country but, also Going there with Purpose, not just to go there. There is Something to be said about Traveling for Fun and Traveling for Purpose. And, Yes, It is Perfectly okay, to Travel with Purpose, like a “Congress” and Sightsee at The Same Time. Doing it all in 3 days, with most at the congress can be hard to make a lot of time to sightsee. Speaking of that, That Evening, Us and Some PTLS Family Members took the Train down to Köln to do a little Sightseeing on Our Way to have Dinner. After We arrived the Köln Train Station, We were Greeted with a Very Tall Church, The Köln Cathedral. If You ever visit Cologne (Köln), You must check that Out! PTLS Family Member, Nathalie, who is Very much a Travel Nerd like I am, where Trying to guess when The Cathedral was Built...both of Our Guesses were Wrong. It was Built in The Year 900. Yes, Really, Folks! The Year Nine-Hundred! surviving Both World Wars and Many Things in between! Another Fascinating Part of Europe! We actually got to go Inside The Cathedral for a Bit. They happened to be having a Saturday Service in Latin. I will tell you, It was at times, chilling to hear The Sound from The Organ high above The Ground! On a Personal Note, My Mom lit a Candle for Grandma Honey and I did one for Lynee. So, Grandma Honey and Lynee have been marked in Köln, Deutschland (Germany).
After that, We walked towards The Old Town of Köln, not before losing track of My Sightseeing Buddy, Nathalie a Few Times! Eventually, We walked with Our Arms wrapped around so I wouldn’t lose track of Her! It was a trick that I learned while I was in Spain walking around The Touristy Area of Puerta Del Sol, when Our Friend and Translator, Marta wrapped her Arms rung around My Mom and I. Once We got to The Old Town, We had a Nice Dinner while People Watching as well as looking at The Rhein River. The People Watching was quite entertaining considering We passed a Bachelorette Party and a Bachelor’s Night. We actually, was weird as it sounds My Mom had Authentic Italian Pizza and I had Pasta with Truffles. Both of which were Very Good. Both Italian and German Ancestors would be Proud!
On Sunday Morning, We had Breakfast at The Hotel and Said Goodbye to Everyone. After that, Host Lisbeth and Andreas took us on One Last Adventure! So, I am sure that I have mentioned about How fascinated I am with Europe. In Fact, I wrote a Newsletter about It. Read My Newsletter about My Fascination with Europe (Refer to Newsletter 506)the-christianville-spirit-my_13.html So, I will help you with The Link, It may be faster for You. This is also, A Blip explaining about This but, the Last Thing on My “German Experience” List was to Cross a Schengen Border, something that I have Always Wanted to Do but, was Never Close enough to do so. Luckily though, In My Geographic Knowledge, I knew that The Netherlands was not Very Far, maybe an Hour or Less to drive from Köln to The Netherlands. Now, Considering also that We had drive back to Frankfurt to Our Hotel at The Airport, It did not make sense to Drive to The Netherlands (or Holland) and then, back 2 Hours to Frankfurt, adding another Hour from The Netherlands, so 3 Hours. Now, Anything who knows me, Knows that I like to go on Sunday Drives, just to See Places and Look at The Road Signs. Of Course, I figured that It was only an Hour to The Netherlands, so Why not?! Lisbeth and Andreas agreed. Although, It took them a bit of Time to understand why I was doing. So, The Blip from The Newsletter about Europe that I wrote that Explains The Reason.
Here is The Blip
This is something that for Most of The World is most likely The Craziest Idea but If You see a Map of Europe, You would understand why. It is something called Schengen. As In The Schengen Agreement. What is that? Well, It is basically an Agreement named after a Town called Schengen in Luxembourg that is literally a stones throw from France and Germany. That is All! Just Kidding! There is much more! The Best Thing (or Worst thing to some people) is the fact that You can Freely Travel between Countries (in Europe, They refer to them as “Members States”) without having to Stop at The Border Crossing and Have Your Passport Ready. You just drive across The Border and Continue on, that is as long You follow the Rules in Imports and Exports.
So, Basically, I wanted to know what crossing a Schengen Border feels like. To an American, When You consider the Context of What You are doing when You are crossing an International Border like that is Amazing. For a Road Geek and Geography Nerd like Myself, Even More! Because not only is The Road changing but, The Language of The Road Signs and Language of The Country, The National Flag, and The National Capitol among Many Other Things. So, We drove to The First Town in The Netherlands after leaving Germany, a Town called Venlo, The Netherlands (Holland). To Explain This Town, It is a Perfect Mix of Old and Modern. While We were having Lunch, We overlooked a Pond where Two Water-polo Matches were Happening. People seemed Very Friendly and The Town had a Very Quaint Feeling to it. After a Nice Lunch while watching The Water-Polo Matches, We walked around The Town a bit before Driving back into Germany and on to Frankfurt. We also did a Few Speed-Ups and Joyrides on The Autobahn, It made The drive back feel not as Long. German Time, that is What I will call it. 2 Hours feel like an Hour and 45 Mins. in German Time. and, Finally, We ended Our Trip staying at a Hotel in a Building at The Airport that I can describe as a Cruise Ship shaped Glass Boat. All in all, It was an Awesome Trip, a Learning Experience, and Of Course, It was My Honour to come over to Germany to Meet PTLS Family Members. That is something that I love doing! It is Always Good to to Spread Awareness and Learn about New Cultures!
Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Expand The Mind, Learn about Different Cultures!
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