An American Girl in Germany

Monday, June 1, 2009

Hey everyone! I'm happy to say my feet are firmly back on American soil....although I think the coherent part of my brain is still somewhere over the Atlantic. Oh well...

First, I want to give a BIG thank you to Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for her great guest post last week. Like many of you, I desperately want to start using power tools, but I'm just a little bit skeered. I admire Sarah and her "Just Do It!" attitude.

Okay...so let's talk Germany. I honestly didn't have a lot of time to get out and explore, and I would have looooved to have taken more pictures, but I did grab a few I thought you'd be interested in. If the picture quality isn't top notch it's probably because I took it in the span of 5 seconds...better than nothing, right?

I basically had one day when I wasn't in a conference center, and on this day we traveled to a charming little town called Aachen. It's about an hour outside of Cologne (where I was staying).

Isn't it cute?! It was hot that day so we decided to stop into this little pub for a cold beverage. I think it's one of the few old buldings that's left in the town (since most towns and cities were flattened during WWII).


I loved this old blue and white tile.

And (being the decorating geek that I am) I was transfixed by this old painted lettering.




We then wandered down the street, and this little row of homes stopped me in my tracks. I love the blue next to the yellow, etc. So charming.


Care for a Lilien?

Or a Hortensien?

And I lagged behind my group just so I could discretely snap a photo of this menu board. If I'd had the chance I would have eaten there just so I could have stared at the menu board and flowers.
We then crossed over into Belgium so we could visit a U.S. WWII War Cemetery. It happened to be Memorial Day in the U.S. so this was especially fitting.


Isn't Belgium beautiful?! I could easily imagine myself living in a little farm house in the Belgian Countryside....where we'd eat Belgian Waffles and Belgian Chocolate...oh yes, I could just picture it :-).

It's hard to capture the vastness of the headstones in the cemetery. There were thousands. Apparently most of the soldiers laid to rest in the cemetery perished in the Battle of the Bulge.



It was truly awe inspiring.

Finally, I snapped a few photos of my hotel for you. I've noticed that in European hotels (even in nice ones) the public spaces are usually pretty grand and the guest rooms are fairly humble.

Here are a few photos of public spaces in my hotel (I really should have taken more).


Doesn't this drape look like a ballgown?

And look at its graceful little puddle! It's almost like a train on a wedding gown.

I actually ghasped when I caught a glimpse this fabulous courtyard.


Notice all of the window boxes in the photo below? They were everywhere in Germany.

And here's my little room.



Surprised at how plain it is? I was too...especially since this was a very nice hotel. It was perfectly comfortable though, and the down comforter and duvet cover were to.die.for. I wanted to sneak it out of there it was so light and cloudlike and the cover was so incredibly soft and smooth. Ahhh...

Oh, and here's a gratuitous shot of the bidet...which I was never adventurous enough to use.


And I loved this little "Do Not Disturb" sign...it could have just been the jetlag though.


It's good to be back! Thanks for your patience last week.

XO~AnNicole

6 Suburbanites Said:

~Kristen~ said...

The pictures are fabulous!!! You would never know you didn't have a lot of time to take them because they came out great! I dream about going to Germany one day. I have, however, been to Belgium, and I can tell you that you are 100% correct...it is a beautiful country! My MIL was born there and came to the US at the age of 27. All of her immediate family is still there, and they all live in a little village about an hour outside of Brussels. And yes, the waffles and the chocolate is truly to die for! They are not allowed to come here to visit unless they come bearing huge boxes of chocolate! LOLOL :-)

Tricia said...

Oh AnNicole,
Conferences or not, you are a lucky girl!
Your photos are beautiful, and make me seriously want to find a way to get to Germany. {Which happens to be the land of both mine and my husbands' ancestors}.
Your cemetary photos are quite serene and beautiful too. Of course in a very sad way. We were at Arlington Cemetary in D.C. the week before Memorial Day and we got some beautiful photos there, as we do every time.
I'm glad you're back safe and sound and loaded up with those beautiful memories.
Now back to reality.
Have a fantastic week!
*Tricia

Amanda @ Serenity Now said...

Beautiful photos! We stayed in a hotel in Munich once with fairly nice common areas, and the room was pretty "eh." Places we stayed in Austria were gorgeous all around! :) I loved the shot of the drape!!!

Tia said...

My best friend just got back from Germany and France today too! I am SO jealous.
I am like you though, it is all of those little quaint details that make my life happy happy! :o)
Have a great week!

Karla said...

Welcome Home! :)

Wow - it is gorgeous over there! The landscape...breathtaking...and I felt that way just by looking at your photos! I can only imagine how spectacular it was in person! The picture of the courtyard with the bistro tables and striped cushions was my favorite! I'll have to work on creating that look here...

Glad you had a great trip!

~Karla @ It's The Little Things...

Julia @ Hooked on Houses said...

Oh, how fun! I'm way behind on my blog reading because I missed this. What fabulous photos. I've never been there, but it makes me want to go now. Love that menu board with the flowers!