Today, I awoke to the sound of too many military jets flying around here. However the funny thing is the difference between the sound of a military jet and a commercial airliner is not distinguishable by much...the acoustics in this place need to be fixed. Anywho, today was a day of adventure. The day started off like every day before: wake, sit, internet, sit, contemplate going back to bed, downstairs, b-fast, do something. Today, that something was a planned trip to Munich. After traveling on possibly the slowest trambillo (spanish vocab), my aunt and I finally
arrived in Augsburg after 40 minutes to yet again get on another mode of transportation...the train. It costs $40 for 2 people to go from Augsburg to Munich (Basically Arlington Hts. to Chicago) and back...crazy money! SO after waiting in line for a it we decided to just get something to eat and wander around Augburg again as I did the first day I was here. We got some food and coffee and proceeded to find our way to the city center once again. The tall left clock tower was the next mountain to conquer. You have to take a small little round about stairway to get to the top, about 70ish meters. What's really interesting about this, besides being real vintage
construction is that there are multiple pictures of the town after it was hit from an allied bomb raid. The "before and after" pictures were everywhere and you can see some of them here:
Pretty interesting stuff, but maybe the coolest thing was the guy at the top of the clock. He was this really nice older gentleman who just had a really
nice and calm persona about him. We began talking and he told me of how he left Germany for a full year...actually from June 5 until June 4 at 6 P.M. the
next year. He left for the United States and bought his own car here for cheap, lived with family, worked at two different jobs while living in places like L.A. and New York. He just got up and left and took care of business...crazy persona and a great story...I only wish I was able to do something like that, but this whole trip is a blessing in itself. Anyways, after I got home, my aunt and I were pretty tired so we relaxed a bit until my cousin Simone came over from work. We quickly decided to go to McDonalds for dinner and I drove. The thing is, the car is manual and I have NEVER driven manual before. Never...I was stepping into a situation that was completely virgin for me, driving in a foreign country, driving in a car thats the length of my body...and the minor detail of not having automatic gear shifting at my disposal. After starting fairly confidently the car died...then died again...andddd again. The drive to McDonalds is 3 minutes long...having my car stop 4 and having my family laugh at me was even better..ha. We ate, and then hoped
back in the car for some more driving lessons. I actually began getting the hang out it and by the end I had it down pretty good. Too my credit, taking away the small little things that I have to get used to that are much different from automatic driving, I feel as though I did pretty well and with a short amount of more practice I will have it down pat, but it's nice to have the help of my family by my side. In the soccer world, tomorrow is another big day with another tryout of sorts with another team. To be honest, this could be the last light of day that I see in Germany so I am hoping and praying that I go out there and just open an eye or two. Wish my luck and I will hopefully talk to you all soon.
Peace, Love, Jo Bros...
Brian
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