NEUSCHWANSTEIN

Oli and I decided to take a little day trip, and literally were gone all day. We left at about 7:30 in the morning and got back around midnight. We made a trip south to Bavaria, to Neuschwanstein, the castle that the Disneyland castle was inspired by. The trip was a lot of fun, of course =). There were 2 castles that we checked out. The first one, the smaller castle was the castle that King Ludwig lived in while his dream castle, Neuschwanstein, was being built. Our tour guide for the smaller castle really enjoyed his job and was very informative. Sometimes he would make jokes, and I didn’t get it, but Oli later told me that a lot of his jokes were German humor, and I guess I need a little bit more time around German humor lol. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside of either of the castles, but the intricate details that showed up throughout both was amazing. It’s still crazy to me to think how they were able to construct such an intricate, yet sturdy building in those times.

After we were done with the first castle, we grabbed a bite to eat and then walked up to Neuschwanstein. We got lucky on this day, because the weather turned out great. It had been dark and cold and wet before, but it cleared up for our trip =). Neuswchanstein was a cool site to see, but it was hard to take pics from the outside, cause there were no good places to stop and get a good shot of the whole thing. Our guide for this castle wasn’t as good as our first guide, and actually, we spent less time in the bigger castle than the smaller one. We didn’t really like how you weren’t allowed to adventure out a little bit in the big castle, but hey, rules are rules I guess. Trying to get out of the castle was an adventure in itself. We kept walking and following the signs that said exit and it felt like we just kept walking and walking and eventually found ourselves in some random underground tunnel, that of course I had to stop and take a picture of.

Once we found our way out, we made our way back to the car and decided that we would drive to Munich for dinner. There was a “must go” restaurant that Oli wanted to take me to, with typical Bavarian food. Oh! Another exciting thing, I finally drove in Germany, and on the Autobahn! Hehe, needless to say it was a lot of fun and of course we got to Munich in great time =). We ate at the Hofbrauhaus. It is a famous restaurant that has been there for years and continues to display Bavarian traditions, from the food to the beer, the music and the dancing, the people both regulars and visitors. It was such a cool atmosphere to be in. There was a band and they played traditional Bavarian music and these older ladies, so cute, were dancing their little traditional Bavarian dance, it was great! Once we were done with our meal, we went and walked around Munich a little. The good weather continued through the night and walking around was awesome. I would have never imagined myself just taking a day trip to Bavaria, seeing the Bavarian Alps and then ending the day walking the streets at night in Munich. It was such a cool experience and I’m so happy that we got to take the trip.

Overall, the trip included great sights, great weather, great food, great talks, great company and just great experiences. Definitely two thumbs up and a big ol’ smile =D

the smaller castle, i forget what it was called

neuschwanstein from afar

the entrance of neuschwanstein

taking the scenery..so pretty..and love the alps behind me

yay for food and music =)

League Champs!

With a win over Sandhausen, we clinched first placed of our league. Even though we have 4 games left, we are officially the champs. We won 80-42. This has been the first game, outside of our practice games against division 2 opponents, where I felt like we played well the entire game, and dominated the entire game. Everyone on the team was playing hard and things were clicking. Sure, the offense worked and clearly by the score we didn’t have a problem scoring. But what I loved was the defense. We played tough, intense defense which led to easy buckets on the other end. I hope that we can keep up the intensity in the last few games. Sure, we’ve clinched the title, but I share the feelings as my coach, Dennis, expressed, that he wants a perfect season. And why not?? I definitely think that it is do-able. We play Kirchheim this Saturday. They are the second place team and have 3 pretty good scorers. They are the key to the team, so if we can shut them down, then we should have a pretty good shot. I know this will be a tough game for several reasons, at least I hope it will be a good game. Kirchheim is number 2 right now, so a battle between 1 and 2 should always be a good game. Second, we are trying to have a perfect season. I know that if I was playing against a team that could go undefeated, why not make them earn it? But that’s just me ;-).

Just so I can have some pics with this post, I’ll include some from a little adventure I went on with Oli and Toni. Before a training, they took me to see the castle and check out the view of Heidelberg. We went just as the sun was setting, so it was a pretty sweet view. Here are some pics =)

looking across the river, there is a pathway that is called Philosopher's Way..its a famous path that runs along the Neckar River

and this is Heidelberg and the Neckar River
Heidelberg..the sun blocks a lot of it..but you can see some of it =)

the back side of the castle in Heidelberg..i have yet to still go in it..but it looks cool from the outside..lol, kinda..don't worry dad, i'll get some pics from the inside for you ;)

found a new place to just get away..love the view..too bad its freezing to sit out and look over the city lol

Happy Birthday to me =)

Wednesday was my birthday, so my teammate, Toni, and my host sister, Aliki, helped me to make a cake, my favorite cake ever…FUNFETTI!!! It was the last box I had of it and I am sad to say I have no more, but all that is forgotten because I got to have some on my birthday!! So, we woke up Wednesday morning and had breakfast and baked the cake and of course ate, probably most of it ;-) hehe.

Wednesday was also the first day back to training from out little holiday. I had talked to one of my coaches, Oli, and he mentioned a club where every Wednesday night a band, Me and the Heat, plays. I love music, and live music is always fun, so I put it out there to my team that anyone who wanted to come out was more than welcome to. Most of the team came out and it was a lot of fun. We left after training and made our way to the club. The band was great and I think the girls that went had fun. I know my coaches had fun, cause I could see them dancing and singing away to some of the songs they knew. I know I enjoyed myself a lot. It was a really nice and chill way to celebrate my birthday.

isn't it just sooo beautiful!! and smiles of course =)

and the creators =)

me and the heat..they were fun =)

Lisa, Hellen, me, and Katja out at Session

Angie trying to hide, Freidi, Katja, Toni, and Hellen posted at Session

Cologne Pics

Hellen, Pauli, and me enjoying the Karneval action

Betty and Angie came to hang out!! yay yay yay
my first try of currywurst..it was pretty scrumcious! i mean, its no mom's curry, but it'll do ;-)

a couple of my new friends..once Hellen took this pic, I proceeded to sit and have a good 5 minute conversation with them..so very nice =)

disco boys..some more friends..altough they didn't really have a chance to say no..i jumped in front of them and yelled.."picture!" lol

Bonn/Cologne Trip

Last weekend we had the weekend off from ball. I took a trip with one of my teammates, Hellen, to Bonn and Cologne. It was Karneval weekend, so there was going to be lots of fun things going on =). We first went to Bonn. I know a couple of the guys on the Bonn team, EJ and Frazier, so we were going to watch them play. We took a train up to Bonn Friday night and just chilled at Frazier’s house for the night. The next day we walked into downtown Bonn and walked around the shops there. It was nice just to walk and talk and take pictures and just hang out. Saturday night, we went to the game. A friend I met from my tryout in December, Angie, came to the game and sat with us. It was so good to see her and hang out since I hadn’t seen her since the tryout. She is playing ball in Dorsten, which is about an hour and a half north of Bonn, but she was in town for the Karneval and to visit a couple other girls we tried out with. After the game, Bonn won, all of the crowd went on to the floor and formed a massive train, spiraling around the floor. At first, we were sitting in our seats and saying, oh, that’s fun and it’s Karneval, so people were in costumes and just having a great time. Then, Angie suggested that we go into the crowd, and of course, we did J. We first started on the outskirts of the court, then I lead the way to the middle of the court where EJ and Frazier were. It was sooo much fun. When we got into the middle, all of a sudden everyone sat down and the music stopped. Then music started again and everyone got up and jumped around and man, it was so much fun. It was even funnier because we had no idea what was going on and were just going along with what everyone else was doing. Another exciting thing about the game was that I got to see EJ’s mom. I haven’t seen her in a really long time, and she happen to be there the same time I was there, it was great.

Sunday, we made our way to Cologne. We were going to stay with a friend of one of our coaches, Pauli. He was really nice and even let us know where and what we should go see on Sunday, just to look around and enjoy the town. After we put our bags at Pauli’s place, Hellen and I went back into Cologne and there was a parade going. It was a parade with the different schools and kids around. It was a lot of fun to watch them, and it was a good warm up for Monday. On Monday would be the big Karneval parade, a lot bigger. Once the parade was done, we just walked around, where ever we chose to go. Eventually, we found ourselves far away from the train station and where we had seen the parade. We were just talking about any and everything that came to mind. We even had a mini German lesson, going over colors and parts of the body, hehe, it was great. Monday, we got up and had breakfast with Pauli, then got ready to go to the parade. We didn’t bring any costumes, but Pauli had an elk costume, it was fabulous and I couldn’t help but laugh. However, on this day, since it was Karneval, it was the normal thing to be dressed up in a costume, so Hellen and I were the outcasts. Once we got into downtown, the parade was about to start and her and I watched it while Pauli met up with some of his friends. Everyone in the parade had bags and bags of candy and flowers and just a bunch of goodies. As a part of the crowd, you had to yell “KAMILLE” (that spelling is so very wrong!). Anyways, you yell this and the people in the parade throw candy and things into the crowd and it’s a free-for-all to try and get everything. Hellen and I were speaking English, clearly, and we could see people in the crowd staring at us, trying to listen to what we were saying and seeing if they could understand, it was humorous. A couple people even joined the conversation and we made some friends J. Later at night, Angie and Betty, another girl from the tryout, came out to Cologne to hang out with us. It was cool to see them and hang with them for a bit too.

We left Tuesday morning to make our way back to Heidelberg. Tuesday was Heidelberg’s day for a parade and Karneval and I wanted to be able to join in that fun as well! Overall, Hellen and my weekend was great. We got to hang out and just chill. I got to see some friends from home and I made some new friends along the way.

So, I can only post 5 pics with each post..so here are the pics from Bonn:

lol, a little shopping in Bonn anyone??

the beginning of the spiral o' fun =)

Angie and me before we went down to the madness behind us =)

Frazier and me

Me and EJ