Lederhosen thrown in with some gray suits and kilts

"Das ist nicht hier."
"Was?!"
"Das ist nicht hier."
"Wo ist das?"
"120 km da.(pointing west). Es gibt ein Bus in 5 minuten. Verstehst du?"
"Ja. Ich denke."
"There's a bus leaving in 5 minutes at bus stop 22. You might want to run."

So that was the conversation I had with a guy at the information desk. It was here that I realized how I had stupidly skimmed over the little parenthesis next to the name of my airport. Apparently there's a big difference between Frankfurt airport and Frankfurt(Hahn) airport. An hour and a half difference to be exact. But by the grace of God, I was able to make it to bus and had no trouble making my flight to Scotland. No need to panic Mom.

So I made my way to Scotland to see some old friends. I met Aaron at the airport and we headed back to Paisley where he and Matt had been doing a study abroad for the past 4 months.
Wednesday, we headed up to Glasgow which is a great place for shopping. So as 3 handsome young men in a city full of stores galore, we did what any guy would do and saw a movie. It had been raining most of the day so it was a good choice. We got back to Paisley and Matt made us some chicken casserole. It was pretty much amazing. Afterwards we headed to the student center and watched the Chelsea vs. Barcelona football(soccer) game.
Thursday, we took a train out to Stirling and saw a castle and other cool things. What we were really interested in was seeing the William Wallace memorial. We had to wait for a bus to take us there and by the time we arrived, it was technically closed.

But there was a nice old man at the counter and I asked if there was any way we could go up into the memorial. He gave us 20 min and that was all we needed. We got back and stopped for some dinner where I had my first taste of fried haggis which was really good.

Friday, we made our way to Edinburgh. Saw the castle and got some souvenirs which of course included kilts. Then we climbed Arthur's seat which gave us an amazing view of the city. The weather had been really beautiful all day but just as we reached the top, we were greeted with a sudden downpour and really intense winds. It was actually pretty cool.

Saturday, we went to a local pub to watch the Rangers vs. the Celtics (Scottish soccer teams) and then went to a live local soccer game. Our team didn't win but it was still a lot of fun. We got back to their flat and had a quick bite to eat before I had to leave to catch my plane back to Germany.

So imagine a ridiculously beautiful day. Perfect temperature, few clouds in the sky. Just Beautiful. Got it? K, now imagine that you were invited by a few Germans to go a bike ride through the forest on this beautiful day. Sounds pretty good right? Ok, now imagine you’re riding along in the middle of woods, haven’t seen a town for miles (or kilometers since we’re in Europe) and you suddenly come upon a huge festival with several hundred people, possibly thousands, all grilling, dancing, and celebrating. That, my friend, is what Germany is all about.

So Friday was the 1st of May and here in Germany, they call it the Erste der Mai which is a holiday something like our Labor Day. I’m not exactly sure of the history behind it but neither did many of the Germans we asked so it’s ok. Apparently, the common theme is for people to take a day off, go out in the woods, and eat and drink and be merry. And that we did.

Chandler and I were invited by some Germans to go on this bike adventure. We weren’t sure how long we’d be gone or where we were going but they promised it would be fun. And that it was. We left around 11 in the morning and made our way first to a town called Babenhausen, which has a really beautiful old church. From there, we continued into the wilderness on a bike trail leading to a city called Herrenberg. I must note that this city was about 20 Km(12.5 miles) away. It was somewhere in this 20Km that we stumbled upon the fest. It had a name but I can’t remember what it was. I bet you think this is where we stopped for the rest of the day but no. As much as I would have liked to stayed, we were only there long enough to enjoy a juicy steak sandwich and rest our legs before continuing our journey. We made our way to Herrenberg but to get there we came down a huge hill. Coming down was a lot of fun but none of us had much interest in trying to go back up it, so we had to consult the map for a bit and found a different trail that would bring us back to Tubingen. The new trail stayed more along the roads but it gave spectacular views of valleys and fields filled with flowers.

We eventually decided to stop for dinner and found a nice field with some trees for shade. One of the Germans pulled out a small Picnic grill which was basically a tin foil box filled with coals. So we had our small grill and it’s a good thing they brought the Americans along because they weren’t having the best luck getting the coals to stay lit. Chandler was able to get it going and somehow I ended up nominated as the grill master for the evening. We had weisswurst and potatoes, pretzels and some little breaded cheese things, a big loaf of bread and even potato salad. We actually brought more food than we could finish off. It was quite the feast.

With our stomachs filled, we mounted our bikes once more and continued our ride. We made our way back to Tubingen with the sun setting behind us. Chandler and I parted ways with the Germans and made it back to our rooms completely exhausted by around 10 or so. I think the total length of the trip was somewhere between 40-45Km (25-28miles).

Short video later but for now some pics here(the last 7 are from the ride):
http://picasaweb.google.com/theinvisible77/Germany03#

And on another note, I'm going to Scotland today. Awesome.