Allemagne

My parents arrived in Wiesbaden, Germany this past weekend, so I arranged to meet them there and visit them for a weekend. We explored Wiesbaden on Saturday and spent Sunday in Frankfurt. For pictures and some narration, go here (Facebook link):
Weekend in Germany

Other comments:
- Saturday would have been a better experience if my nose hadn't decided to be stupid and drippy all day. Even stranger, the problem was mainly with one nostril and the next day, it was completely gone. What could cause that? Mainly, I'm relieved that it was a one-shot deal.
- Apparently, I'm a mind reader. I had brought presents for my parents that I bought in Strasbourg from the same store. For my mom (a belated Mother's Day gift), I got CDs of Edith Piaf ("La vie en rose"); for my dad (a combined Father's Day and birthday gift), I got a model of a 1950s Citroen gangster-type car. As it turns out, there's a movie coming out about Edith Piaf, and my mom is very enthusiastic about seeing it; as for my dad (as I explain in the Facebook album above), we saw the exact same car in the Wiesbaden car show as the model that I bought for him as a gift. I couldn't have planned that better if I tried.
- Being in a country whose language is completely alien to you is a frightening experience. In purchasing my S-bahn ticket from Frankfurt to Wiesbaden, I had to use a machine which had language options for the screen but not for the physical buttons that had to be pushed to select the appropriate ticket (and there were at least 10 options, all in German). Another person who was getting a ticket and knew some English (and a little German) helped me, but even she didn't know for certain if I had bought the right thing. But for the S-bahn and the bus, your tickets generally aren't checked, so it ended up not mattering.
- I was expecting most Germans to know English. At least in Wiesbaden, that's a bad assumption. For lunch, I was able to use my French to help us communicate with the waiter. But otherwise, it was very similar to Alsace; if people speak any English, it's typically very rudimentary. The only exceptions were our hotel's receptionists, who spoke fluent English. Thankfully.
- Cider (apflewien) in Germany is not what it is in the States. First of all, by default, it contains alcohol (although that can be true in the US too, if you're ordering it in a bar). Furthermore, it tastes more like a beer than like apples. I found out later that you can get sweet apflewien, which more closely resembles what I had wanted. Oh well.

In addition, I have a few more pictures of Strasbourg if you're interested:

Strasbourg - Week Three

I'll be going to Switzerland with my class on Wednesday, hanging out with a friend for the weekend, and coming back on Sunday. And somehow, in the next two weeks (because I'm not going to get much of anything done this week), I have to start and finish two 10-15 page papers and make 3 presentations. Yeah, I'm screwed.