Saturday, July 28th, 2007

Saturday July 28th, 2007
12:12pm Saskatoon Time
8:12pm Hamburg, Germany Time

Today has been spent driving to our new destination. We left Hamburg, Germany this morning with only slight dificulty. Mom and dad got lost on their way from picking up the rental car, so us girls were stuck hiding in our hotel room from the housekeeping ladies trying to get in, because it was after checkout time. Finally the parents returned, and we got to meet our new car. We were suppost to get a Mercedes, but then the parents decided to get a Ford Galaxy instead because we had too much luggage, and the Mercedes wouldnt have been as comfortable. I said i felt it was my fault that we didnt get to get the Mercedes because I was the one with the most luggage, and instead of an "oh no, its not your fault" like i was expecting, instead dad says, "well, it is your fault". Thanks dad. The car is super nice though. Black, shiney, smooth, and super roomy. Dad likes the 6speed on the autobahn (spelling?). Speaking of which, dad loves the lack of speed limit. Its crazy when we're going 160km/hr in the slow lane, and having people speed by like we were standing still. It didn't take dad long to hit the gas, and join the fast lane. Its nuts though. Cars just weave in and out of lanes, inches from eachother, all going over 150km/hour. Its was fun to people-watch when we were in traffic jams. We saw one lady with a hidious haircut, and i was like "SHE HAS A HITLER HAIRCUT!" Mom did the whole "sammy...thats not appropriate", while Shelby laughed for 20 minutes. She cried. Mom would make us look away when we passed because we were laughing so hard, but i told shelby to pose, while i discreatly took a picture of her in the car behind shelby. we're so sneaky.
It didnt take long for the parents to be pissed off about the maps and directions we had. They took lots of guesses about turnoffs, and luckily, up to now, they've been correct. We saw a sign that said Ausfahrt, and loved it. We think it means "exit" or something because its everywhere. Everytime we see it, the person who yells "OSH-FART" first wins. We saw a license plate that almost said Sestak ->
We stopped at a grocery store in a town called Dorstein to buy some food. I stayed in the car to protect the luggage (and read Harry Potter). Mom and dad came out with new German friends. Figures. We followed them so they could show us how to get back onto the autoban. They pulled over, and they got pictures and gave us their emails and everything. Mom gave them a Canadian flag, and they loved it. Shelby said it was the funniest thing at the grocery store when they were at the checkout. The lady working thought that if she spoke slower, and louder, with more hand movements, we'd be able to understand German. Umm. Not so much.


Saturday July 28th
4:oopm Saskatoon Time
Midnight Poperidge, Belgium Time

We drove through Gemany, then the Netherlands, and finally got to Belguim. We found our first accomodation in Poperidge, Belguim around midnight. It took us forever to find the place because very house looke exactly the same, it was all one-way, and...every house looked the same. We made arrangements to spend our first week here. We are staying in a house ontop of a travel store, so we get levels 2 and 3. Its the sweetest place. Its pretty big with big bedrooms, and lotsa bathrooms. It seems to be the thing to do to have the toilet in a separate room, then the shower in a separate room, then the sink, etc in another room. The only thing that sucked about being ontop of a store, is that we had to drag all our bags up 2 flights of narrow, winding stairs. barf.
Once we were all settled, we had a little snack, then headed to bed. I didn't get to bed until 3am. Stupid Harry Potter =)