Day 5 & Home

As I type this, I am finally in NW Arkansas....I do not have jetlag and feel very rested. Amazing after being awake for 24 hours before finally getting to sleep in my own bed last night!

The last day of my trip to Germany was a very relaxed one. We had hoped to visit the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz, but time just ran out before we could make it across the river.

This was the day that we had to return the BMW Convertible. We were very sad and drove it all around town until about 5 minutes before it was due back. We savored every minute for as long as we could....I don't think there was a road in Weisbaden that we didn't drive down at least 2x.

Lunch was at a cafe on top of a big hill that overlooked the city. It was very peaceful and beautiful. The weather was nice and we were able to sit outside. The perfect spot for reflection and peace.

After lunch and returning the rental car, we went to downtown Weisbaden and shopped for several hours which was a lot of fun. I got to see a Apotheke (Pharmacy), department stores, boutiques and several grocery stores.

Being in the grocery industry, market visits are a priority to me so that I can see what innovative products they sell and product mix on the shelf. I was impressed with the variety of pastas, meats (sausages mostly), and Organic items. The 1 thing that really left an impression on me was that the eggs were out of refridgeration! In fact, there were 2 varieties: 1) in a carton sitting on a shelf in the dairy and 2) individual eggs in a large basket will chicken coop "dirt" still on the outer shell! Now, I used to work for a cheese company and understand that Kraft Singles can sit out of refridgeration for 10 days and still be okay, but I also know that it's not real cheese. Eggs on the other hand are a completely different story....Needless to say, if I lived over in Germany, I wouldn't buy the eggs....

The other big change that I saw in the grocery stores were that there were no grocery bags. Europeans force the carbon footprint by not providing plastic or paper sacks for customers. If you want a grocery bag, you have to bring it yourself...and you cannot take the grocery cart out to your car in most stores. A perfect example of this was a grocery store in the basement of a department store (cannot remember the name of it to save my life). The store was very high-end and the groceries were at a premium price and offering. YOu had to carry whatever you purchased...as American's we are spoiled by conveniences such as shopping carts in the parking lot.

That night, Heather and I enjoyed looking back through all of the pictures and talking about our favorite moments. There was something in each day that stood out to us - each having a different experience - but what a blessing to have a good friend to share a trip like this with! H and I have traveled many places together and always seem to have the same idea: see as much as you can in all the time that you have. We travel well together because of this same philosophy, but we have 2 completely different viewpoints of our experiences...and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am richer because of her friendship.

All of our pictures are still being sorted. I have posted most of them on Facebook, so if you have a FB account be sure to check them out. I am still trying to decide how I want to post them to this blog....if anyone has a suggestion or recommendation, please let me know.