The Writer's Eyes: July 2014

On Thursday we had the opportunity to do a fun run in Stuttgart called the B2 Run, where various companies in the area compile teams for a 6k race. It was super fun, we got to meet some really cool people who work in various positions at Telegartner and all the bananas and apples we could possibly want after the race :) We didn't get home until 11:30 that night, because we had to take a couple trains and buses to get to and from Stuttgart, then rode our bikes home in the dark since we left directly from work to the race. Fortunately, I have a light on my bike and it only takes a few minutes.

The race finished inside the arena

A few of the members of Team Telegartner. Our team was pretty small compared to some others- I think the largest one had over 500 people. Then again, they came from much bigger companies.

On Friday, as soon after work as we could pack up our stuff, we borrowed Reinhard and Kathe's car to drive to Strasbourg, where we were to pick up our car from the airport. After we got our car, we drove from Strasbourg to Paris and arrived at 1:30 in the morning, because it took a little longer to get the car than anticipated.

A random village we drove through

Our little Peugeot

On Saturday, we parked our car in a garage near the Arch de Triumph and did an epic walking tour around the magnificent city known as Paris. Honestly, the pictures do most of the explaining, not many words are needed. Paris is delightful. It's as carefully refined as the intricately chiseled stone, and as solid as the walls that hold in the river. It's elegant, and it knows it.

I honestly wish I was half as photogenic as the Eiffel Tower. Seriously, it looks good no matter which way you look at it.

Our walking tour took us to the Louve. The line was astronomical because the Tour de France finished on Sunday so we contented ourselves with looking around the outside of the buildings and the adjoining gardens.

Locks of love

Songs of love

Rivers of love? Ok, I'll stop :)

Notre Dame!! Enough said.

This was a random old church we were able to go inside. The stained glass inside was stunning.

Paninis for lunch!

I was so incredibly excited to be able to visit Shakespeare and Company bookstore! It was on my list of amazing bookstores around the world that I must visit. Unfortinately, no pictures were allowed inside, but suffice to say it was amazing- books stacked everywhere, rickety stairs and tall bookshelves with ladders to reach the top.

A casual Bugatti Veyron, no big deal.

After Notre Dame, we went back to the Eiffel Tower so we could hike to the top and take in all the views during sunset, then see it lit up at night. Again, the pictures rather speak for themselves.

There was no clear distinction between days 1 and 2.. they rather blurred together as the airplane took me from morning in the United States to morning in Amsterdam. On the flight, we flew over Greenland and could see icebergs floating in the water below, and arriving in Amsterdam provided views of endless farmland backed up to the beach and then the ocean. I didn't sleep at all on the plane, and we we arrived, it was 9:00 AM in the Netherlands and 11:00 PM at home. Then I had a one-hour flight from Amsterdam to Zurich where I got about half an hour of sleep. When we landed in Zurich, I got my glimpse of the greenest of green fields and sow-capped mountains and my heart melted like Swiss chocolate on a hot day. :)

I had a bit of a snaffoo at the train station because I thought I had to catch my train from the Zurich main station, when really my ticket was direct from the airport station. Luckily, the same train came an hour later. I got off the train in Yverdon (because Donneloye is so small that the train doesn't go there..in fact, when I bought my ticket the lady had no idea where it was) and waited two hours for the next bus. After the bus finally came, we took this winding road through hay fields and pastures and sunflowers to the charming little town of Donneloye. I couldn't remember where the grounds were, so I lugged all my stuff up and down a bunch of streets until I finally spied a giant tent, to my great relief. I arrived at convention hot, sweaty, tired, hungry, thirsty, and extremely happy. It was such a treat to see the looks of surprise on the faces of my Swiss family and friends. After dinner, a horde of kids young and old went and played a wild and hilarious game of soccer in some fields close by.

On Sunday we had to leave, sadly, but Lisa was able to take us as far as the Zurich train station so we only had to get a train from there to Steinenbronn. It was quite comical because she's borrowing this itty bitty Citroen and we had a TON of stuff. Four people, two gigantic suitcases, three duffel bags and two backpacks later, we were on our way to Zurich.

From there, Tyler and I hopped on a train to Stuttgart, where we thought we would have to take a bus to get to Steinenbronn. However, our host couple Reinhart and Kathe surprised us by picking us up directly from the train station. We were just getting ready to head over to the platform we needed when we heard "Tyler? Kara?" and there they were. They are a seriously cool couple. They are the kind of people who I feel like I knew super well even though I only just met them, if that makes any sense. They're like the super fun aunt and uncle you have stashed away in some exciting location.

We we arrived at the house, Reinhart wanted to know if we wanted to go get a turkish kebab, and naturally we did. The first of (sure to be many) communication errors occurred when he was explaining the kebabs and he said, "You can go with meat or without meat!" and I thought he said "With me or without me." So naturally I piped up and said, "Of course we'll go with you!" and felt rather silly when my mistake was corrected.

We ride our bikes to work in the morning and then come home for lunch because it's so close. Today was unusual because Reinhart gave us a ride in his car to and from lunch, but normally it won't be like that. Anyway, on our way back to Telegartner (where we work) Tyler and I both got in the back seat because we each thought the other was going to take the front. So we joked about how he was our chauffeur so I said, "Take us to Telegartner please!" and to which he replied, completely deadpan, "yes madam." They both have a good sense of humor and I'm looking forward to getting to know them more.