I arrived in Stuttgart, Germany around 3 pm local time after a transatlantic flight, exploring the city of Dublin, and another international flight, with maybe 3 hours of sleep in between.
I was exhausted and, frankly, the idea of meeting people for the first time and finding things to talk about in the car did not sound like the best time. When I got through customs, though, and saw Leonie and her family standing there waiting for me, that feeling dissolved. My anticipation from earlier was back along with a newfound excitement to finally be in Germany, literally the first foreign country I took interest in (shout out to third grade Anna, who would be so amazed to know that she would have friends in that country one day.)
Leonie was part of my high school’s German exchange program and stayed with one of my best friends, Sydney, during our senior year. We’d gone to prom and a concert and lots of other things together, so I jumped at the chance to come visit her this time.
We went straight from the airport to her grandparent’s house, which had the coolest grape vine creating shade over the back patio and an amazing garden with the coolest variety of plants, especially since German backyards are typically smaller than those in the states. Her grandma gave me a tour of the whole place, and it was so great to experience her enthusiasm for it all.
I tried the most delicious potato dumplings filled with whole plums-thankfully I was warned about the pit before I started eating-and was welcomed by her grandpa who opened a bottle of champagne to celebrate my arrival to Europe. (Have I mentioned I love it here?)
The next day, after sleeping 12 hours of course, we drove to the town of Ulm which is home to the largest church tower in Germany (someone said it was the tallest in Europe, but Google did not agree.) It was something like 786 steps on multiple spiral staircases to the very top of the building known as the Ulmer Minster. Like not in a touristy sort of area below the true top of the tower, but up to a circular walkway-no more than a half-foot wide in some places-around the steeple of the church.
That night I introduced Leonie to one of the most quality teen dramas from the mid 2000’s, Gossip Girl. Between talking about the show and our own lives, we spent hours on her couch that night which made me realize how much we did not know about each other on a more personal level. It was really cool getting more of an insight into the life of someone I’ve known and kept in touch with for years.
We explored her town, Heidenheim, the next day before going to a bonfire with her and some friends. And honestly if you’ve never been to a private garden with apple trees, a weekend cottage, and super cool storage barn in the middle of Germany, you’re missing out.
Even though I missed a solid 97% of what was going on that night, it was such a fun time and I can honestly say I was never bored. I tried vegan burgers that were made of cheese, Germany is a crazy place, and Hugo which is the best prosecco in existence. We grilled out using a traditional over-the-fire hanging rack and put our food on fresh-made buns from the bakery which I ate waaaay too many of.
That morning I took 3 trains to get to Hamburg and gained a newfound appreciation for the kindness of strangers. With two suitcases and a huge backpack, I needed all the help I could get. There was one guy who had two of the same trains as me, and conveyed through a few English words, and lots of gesturing, that he could help me if I needed. I definitely was not going to say no to that.
Getting to Hamburg was such a relief and about 30 minutes after I arrived, I met up with some SAS people who were going out to Reeperbahn (Germany’s red-light district). We went to the cutest rooftop bar where I got Hugo again because I’m literally obsessed now, and it was so much better than the kind I had drank with Leonie, which was hard to believe.
We found such a cool food truck set up in the town center afterward that had the best food. I tried German beer, ya know, for the culture, but I still hated it and gave it to another girl who definitely appreciated it more than me. (;
We accidentally ended up at a gay bar at one point, which ended up being one of the best ones, of course. After that we basically bar hopped all night and ran into tons of other SAS kids. And when I say tons, I mean at least a hundred and fifty, probably more. I can’t even describe the experience of running into huge groups of other kids in random bars in Germany and knowing they were the people I’d end up getting to know and be friends with for the next four months.
The amount of people I met that night was astonishing and I made some of my close friends at that point, which was the best way to start of the trip. We bonded over trying to figure out German words, being shocked at the amount of sex clubs we saw, and finding even more new people along the way.
We ended the night at a club called Calibri which was the first night club I’ve been to like that (still mad that I was 18 my whole freshman year in Alabama where the legal age is 19 but it’s fine), and it was the best place we went by far. I’ll save some of the details but let’s just say it was a really good night, with lots of new friends and a great experience in Hamburg.
The next morning we boarded the ship, so lots more to come about that later.
Leave a Reply