Cochem and SMEEPS

My weekend in Germany went by in the blink of an eye, and I can't help wishing I'd stayed at least one more night. My friends/cousins there are Americans who live this hybrid German-American life that's really interesting to me. Whenever I go (which is only twice now but I have a feeling there are more visits to come) I get a little bit of the US (as in, speaking English, talking about my family, eating Jif peanut butter) and a little bit of Deutschland (eating bratwurst on brotchen, speaking teeny tiny bits of German, riding on small German roads through big German fields). I knew nothing about Germany before last summer, when I first came to visit, and let me tell you, if all you know about Germany is that they were the bad guys in World War II and that they went through all that Berlin Wall craziness, you absolutely must go! It's such a beautiful place, with huge fields and forests laid across miles of hills with little villages nestled in every few miles. There's also a ton of windmills and a pretty strict environmental policy, which I really admire. My mom and I were joking before I came to France that I should have gone for a semester in Germany to learn how to be clean and efficient...but instead I was going to France where I'd learn to drink wine every day and to always be fashionably late. I might regret that pretty soon...I'm currently on my way to becoming the Pillsbury Doughboy, and that's only because I'm not tall enough to be the Staypuft Marshmallow Man. If I'd gone to Germany, I might instead have become the Energizer Bunny!
Anyway, the best thing about this particular visit was probably that I got to meet a highly anticipated baby. The last time I saw him he was just a big baby bump, so you can imagine how pumped I was to finally meet him in person. He seemed happy enough to make my acquaintance as well, and enjoyed chewing on my sweatshirt strings. He was pretty much the cutest thing ever, but then again, so are his older brothers. These kids are destined to be heartbreakers someday.

I also was lucky enough to go to a small German town called Cochem. My cousin, Anna, had heard of an Easter Market there, and since we'd never been to one before (let alone one in Germany), we decided to go. Cochem is right on the Mosel River and tucked into this deep, beautiful valley. To get there we drove downhill for 5-10 minutes on this woodsy, windy road on which we kept passing clearly psychopathic, suicidal (or maybe superhuman) bikers. Once we got there we ate a delicious nutritious lunch of bratwurst on brotchen with fries and sauce, which was later followed by a too-big-for-me ice cream cone that I ordered because it was so darn cheap, at least in comparison to Paris prices. Let me tell you, if there's anything the Europeans do right (and there are many, many things), it's ice cream. I also bought a tiny bottle of milky pink liquor that is supposedly peach-flavored. Guess I'll find out!
After we wandered through the market and looked briefly into some shops, we walked up a big hill to the castle.
NOTE: Every worthwhile place in Europe has a castle, apparently. Unless you're in France, in which case if there isn't a castle (or a chateau), there is likely some huge and beautiful cathedral.
The view from the castle in Cochem is utterly breathtaking. Sadly I didn't bring a camera, but here's the idea-






















We were only in Cochem for a few hours, but we could have stayed for days due not only to sheer beauty but also to some pretty cool activities in the area. There was a chairlift that went up the mountain nearby, tons of vineyards and places to taste and buy wine, a 9-euro, two-hour boat tour, and of course lots of small, winding cobblestone roads to explore. The entire time we were there I felt as though we were walking through a painting or a movie scene. Especially when, up at the castle, this tiny blue VW Bug came out through the gates to drive a brand new bride and groom down the hill. Another thing about Europe- lots of weddings and wedding pictures everywhere, whether on the Seine or at the Tour Eiffel in Paris, or in a German castle in Cochem or Heidelberg.
The night after our Cochem visit, my cousins and I made Smeeps (a name coined by Zak Roser)- that's S'mores made with Marshmallow Peeps. Quite delicious, AND easy to make!

Now that I'm back from Germany, I've got to prepare for Barcelona, but all I've been thinking about is 1. how freakin' tired I am for absolutely no reason, and 2. how much I want to go to a place that is both German and French. I love both cultures (I think at some point I'm going to have to just admit to myself that I love ALL cultures), and since they're neighbors they've caused some of the surrounding territory to, well, take sides. Anna's friend Ann mentioned places in Switzerland and Belgium that have distinct German and French sides. I would absolutely love to have only a street to cross in order to cross completely into another culture...er, that is, as long as it's in a friendly, willing manner and not some sort of Berlin Wall situation. Train tickets to Switzerland are ridiculously expensive, so I'm either going to have to look into plane tickets or just wait until I'm in Europe again. Oh, and I'll be here again. I'll find a way. I just found out that one of my best friends is studying in Russia next semester...
If I post tomorrow, it'll likely be about Versailles. Otherwise, I'll update again after Barcelona!