Germany, Part II: The Tourist Edition.

Previously on RootingBranches.. Oh, hell. Fancy reading/seeing it for yourself? Click here. I'll give you a few minutes. Righteo, ready for days three and four? I just know you are at the edge of your seat waiting. Or just very, very bored. Either way, enjoy!

Day Three: 
For breakfast this day we went full on German, but I suck and only took shots of the drinks and bread. Awesome start to becoming a blogger, I know. It can only go up from here.

The tea in the fancy glass is actually a traditional German tea. The glass is apparently meant to resemble a woman's hourglass form and they often come in various sizes. It tasted like a mix of Green Tea and Chai. The other is a good ol' coffee. I resembled the walking dead at this point, which is very likely why I forgot to photograph the actual food. Besides this bread basket:

For the life of me I do not remember the name of the breakfast we had, but it involved eggs, a tomato/egg mix, bagels, cheese, a baked feta thing, and salad. It was random but oh so good. The place we ate at was called Beyti, and it is actually owned by my friend Esma's cousin, therefore I highly recommend it if you are ever in the Aachen area of Germany.

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From here we get really touristy, Esma was a wonderful host/guide and surprised me with a tour of the city. It involved a double-decker bus with some rather graphic warnings (see stickers on back of the seats). I laughed too hard, but come on.. It's a decapitated human. 

Here are the non-blurry shots I got during the bus ride:

This tour also gave me the opportunity to stand in three countries at the same time. Germany, Holland and Belgium. It was surreal but - for lack of a better word - awesome. I will treasure the memories of this for a lifetime, but what truly made it magical was the company. 

It was getting somewhat late by the time the tour ended, which was actually rather sad as it meant the duration of our time together was coming to an end. Only one day was remaining. The realization of that fact coupled with the sudden shopping spree we had, made for some rather down ladies. So, we made a pit stop for food before heading home to wallow in our sadness. (Kidding, kind of.)

Esma ordered pasta with fried chicken, and I had a mozzarella, tomato and salad wrap. This may have been my favourite meal of the trip, but I could only be thinking that because I was so very hungry at this point. I think even microwave chips would tasted like gourmet food. 

We also had virgin cocktails (wildness, oh so wild), which were delicious but random. I want to say they were called "Mandarin Punch" but I can't be certain. 

And then our evening came to an end. Somewhat. We still had enough time to chop half my hair off, oh yeah, that happened. You know what's really great? Not only having a beautiful, hilarious, kind and generous friend, but having one who works some serious magic with a pair of scissors. 

Day Four:

This was by far the hardest day. Don't misunderstand, I was thrilled to be going home to my family and my most certainly missed cat, but leaving a friend who you have no idea when you'll get to see again is bloody tough. She was't feeling very well, yet still managed to be helpful and the amazing friend that she naturally is. I know I sound like a broken record when it comes to praising her, but I can't not write the truth. I wouldn't of enjoyed this trip as much as I did if it wasn't for her. At the beginning of these four days, I thought my biggest struggle would be getting home-sick. I hadn't been away for this long before, and the notion of four whole days in a different place, away from my comforts, seemed like a short lifetime. But I came to learn on this trip that when you are with a close friend, no amount of time is ever enough. 

We took some obligatory selfies in the car, before heading off to the overstuffed and hellish airport. 

She even fed me during the car journey. I may wife her up.

And then we arrived at the airport.

 After a disheartening goodbye and a gruelling 80 minute wait at the gate, (Top tip: Remember to charge your rechargeable charger if you are ever going on a flight. Phones die.) I was on a plane and ready to fly home. 

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So there you have it. My trip in a two part blogpost nutshell. 

I've been asked by countless people "Would you go again?", but I don't think that's a fair question. Germany was a beautiful country, and I would happily visit again. But I would also revisit a tent in the middle of a forest if it meant having the privilege of spending more time with my best friend. She's often my better half, and I can't thank her enough for what she's done for me over the past 5 years of friendship, let alone these four days of enjoyment. Life is certainly more fun with her in it. Thank god for the Internet. 

Thank you for reading, and I hope you stick around for any future blog posts. 

Have a wonderful day. 

- Anne x