- The country is about the same size of Montana, however with 82 million people and is considering one of the most densely populated countries in the world considering the amount of space.
- Despite the above, 1/3 of the country is filled with forests and woodlands
- It's in Europe
- Despite having one of the best public transportation systems in the world, they love their cars, and they should, it is home to top dogs like: BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Porsche.
- There are 300+ different types of bread
- They loooove, and I mean, loooove their beer. It's one of the cheapest places to buy beer. However, make sure you have something in mind because there are more than 1500+ brands of beer here! They of course host the largest beer festivals in the world, Oktoberfest.
- Their economy, not like the rest of Europe, is relatively strong and they are practically holding Europe up themselves..
Eh? EH? Any idea? Well, here it is... Deutschland!!! It was my first experience of being someplace central, the flight was only 6 hours and I was able to do it with relative ease to take a weekend trip. Why Deustchland, you ask? It's a super loong story, and part of the roller coaster of life here, but the friend that I am staying here with had to have a sudden emergency surgery, and a particular doctor out there is known to be the best of the best, so she went out there. Her hubby had some work obligations here for part of it, so I went to basically be there for her and keep her company. It's the least I can do, they've already hosted me for 3+ months here in Dubai and I was happy to get away.
Can I just say it was a GREAT time?! Not only did I loooooooooove and get excited about the cold, dreary, 4-seasons-in-a-day (maybe I am a true Chicagoan afterall!), but it was just nice to get out of town and have a change of scenery. Here are some things that I particularly enjoyed:
- Nature!!! Nothing like seeing hills, green, and where I was, Kiel, was right on the Balkan sea.
- Because of the rains, (which, speaking of, there was some wet snow! Snow!), the air was just sooo fresh and crisp. Loved it.
- Drinking! On! The! Streets!!! People being loud and obnoxious in public! PDA!!!
- Beer and alcohol available and accessible almost everywhere!
- Efficiency and organization! Everything was exactly on time, the buses, the doctor visits, appts! Not the Arabic "in-shallah" (god-willing) 'sometime in the next couple of hours.'
- The town Kiel is just such a small quaint typical European town. Cobblestone streets, little small boutiques and stores (darn it, although I did see a Starbucks, I didn't see too many other chains), and....
- People outside! Walking and biking!!! In Dubai, people don't really walk for pleasure and it is quite rare to see someone biking around, the streets are definitely NOT conducive for that. Anyway, there were bike stands everywhere, and although it was cold, I saw runners in shorts and again, people commuting by bike. Love it.
- Everyone takes public transportation, the well-off and the not-so-well-off. In Dubai, it's considered "lowly" to take public transportation and it was nice to see all walks of life on the buses.
Besides reading (yea! Time to pleasure read!), watching TV and movies, hanging out and lounging around with my friend and making her take walks around the hallways, what else did I do??? EAT!!!
Hehe, and yes, I need to go on a food detox now.
Anyway, I have to add this as a lesson because I REALLY felt rejuvenated and refreshed after this long weekend getaway. This is one of the reasons why I came to Dubai, to have opportunities to travel, and I made a vow to myself that every 2-3 months, I'm going to go somewhere! Watch out world!!
Lesson #19: Take advantage of the central location to the world here in Dubai, and try and get out and see something new!
Auf Wiedersehen!
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