Familiarity. The Muchen Bahnhof. Many memories were made here which I will never forget. Thank the Lord we made it in one piece. A multitude of problems could have occurred on our trip, in which they did not. And for that, I thank God. At that point, we only had to travel a short distance to Amberg, where I would fully be relieved. But, in the meantime, we had to purchase our tickets. We had 40 minutes until our train left. Perfect timing. We boarded a typical German train and re-traced our steps back through Regensburg and forward on to Amberg. The ticket we bought was the Bayern pass, which was the only ticket we had ever purchased for traveling within Bavaria. As the lady came around checking tickets, she brought to our attention that this ticket was no good. Blasted! We have heard this response before. I had completely forgotten that the ticket would not be effective until 9:00 a.m. She made us buy separate one-way tickets to Amberg which were quite pricy. To tell you the honest truth, I could have really cared less because I was so thrilled we were almost to our final destination. But Andrew was TORKED. We all know how Andrew’s moods go and it was a high degree. His moods are a zillion times worse than mine. He has anger issues. I at least try to be slightly courteous to others when I am in a mood. I become even more sarcastic than I already am. But oh man. I did not want to become an accelerant to his anger so I excused myself to use the restroom and returned at my own leisure. If that was the worst thing that had happened to us on our little jaunt south and back north, I was a-o-k with that. We went through Regensburg where Andrew and I both longingly stared out of the window at the station which we departed the train countless times. Regensburg had become our home, our group had become our family, and “Old School Sista” had become our Guardian Angel. Andrew really wanted to stop there or at least go back within the next couple of days. To be blunt, I did not. I knew it was never going to be the same and I wasn’t about to pretend that it would be. I did not want to re-visit the sadness of our last day, which would continue to haunt me. I developed a particular feeling in the pit of my stomach which is unsettling. As the train began to slowly accelerate toward Amberg, my heartbreak remained but a blanket of relief slowly sheathed me. Amberg. As Andrew and I would quote from Dumb and Dumber.. “We’re there!”
We entered the station and slumped onto the bench. I hadn’t showered in 3-4 days, I was famished, and tired.. but I didn’t care because “WE WERE THERE!!” I looked straight forward and it was a sign from God: R-O-O-T-B-E-E-R. I couldn’t believe it. I marched my hiney straight into that store and bought myself a can. I noticed some computers and I figured I should probably check my e-mail to see if Kelley had said anything. German keyboards are stupid. At one point, I accidentally turned on the caps locks and hadn’t the faintest idea on how to take if off. I felt like an idiot. I finally resulted in beckoning Andrew for his help. I felt like I was just learning how to type. I had my two pointer fingers erected with the rest of my fingers formed in a fist. I stared at the keyboard and was searching for the letters and symbol I needed… typing at a record speed of 5 words per minutes. I not only felt like an idiot, but I looked like one too. I got the information I needed and let Andrew have his turn. I bee-lined for my seat at our bench and it wasn’t 2 seconds before Andrew came out asking where the “@” was. Chuckles. I called Kelley and no answer. Andrew then whipped out his computer to play Free Cell and I retrieved my book for its second time through. It wasn’t after I had read a dozen pages and whhabang! Kelley appeared out of thin air. I just stared blankly at her because #1 I had never gotten a hold of her to tell her we arrived and 2. I hadn’t seen a person I recognized in ages. Yah! She then took us to her homey apartment where I took a shower and she made us a feast of FRENCH TOAST. Yes. I said French Toast! Not only French toast, but bacon, eggs, strawberries AND Nesquik chocolate milk (Which is the second next best thing next to Rootbeer). Holy Moly. We felt like royalty and ate like champs. We were basically exhausted and to top it off, now full. Andrew and I picked a movie to watch and got comfortable. I am notorious for falling asleep during movies and this situation wasn’t any different. I watched about 2 minutes of the movie before my eye lids fell down in exhaustion. Later that afternoon, we were introduced to Arthur and Emma (2 of the neighbor kids), rode bikes, played FIRE, and visited the coolest playground EVER. I haven’t ridden a bike in eons. I had a popsicle in one hand while attempting to steer with the other. I was getting awfully close to the fence and out of habit I started to peddle backwards because we were moving slowly. Well.. I had not yet discovered that peddling backwards is the brake. Wham! Fence! Whoopsie. Nicole apparently cannot ride a bike anymore. Chuckles. It was funny.
I now must explain this game “FIRE”. From what I am told, this ridiculous game is derived straight from the imaginations of Kelley and her sister when they were children. You are riding a bike. Once a car comes, you need to maneuver your bike to a fence, hold onto the fence with one hand, stretch your other arm toward the sky, and stick your feet straight out. Other than your buns, no body part can touch the bike. If any part of your body is touching the bike while the car passes, you get burned… hence the name “FIRE.” Strike 1. 3 strikes and you are out! I do not know why, but for some reason putting my body in that position gives me a cramp in my hips!! Pain. But it entertained us for quite some time. And at this playground, Andrew and I had the same, if not more fun than the kids did. Emma and I took off our shoes and played in the water while Arthur and Andrew scooped dirt. And then at another stop, there was this giant pyramid shaped structure that is strung together. You are able to climb from the top and throughout this jungle gym, they have small platforms which resemble miniature trampolines. F.U.N. Shortly after return, we ate some BBQ at Orr Central with Jerry. Mmmm. BBQ & French Toast in the same day. My stomach was about to explode. The rest of the night was filled with relaxation and eventually sleep. The sleep part was exciting because I was in a bed where I didn’t have to worry about anyone jacking my stuff. Sweet dreams were sure to come.
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