One of the interesting things about Europe, in general, is how blasé everyone around has become to the history surrounding them. This struck me to a lesser degree in Venice, but, coming to Verona, it hit me pretty hard. We passed the Verona Arena, an amphitheater that has been around for 2,000 years, but, you know… no biggie.
Venice. This was the place I was most excited to visit, you know, before it’s all forever underwater. I was so excited about it that I was scared to go and find out it wasn’t everything I expected to be.
After a filling breakfast buffet in Boppard, Germany at the same place we had dinner the night before, we were off to Ulm, Germany for lunch. I had not even heard of Ulm before we got here, so it was fun to visit a place I had no preconceived notions about, and I was surprised when we were sitting down in the main square for lunch at how it felt like I could have easily been in a historic city in the US if it weren’t for all of the people speaking German around me.
We grabbed lunch at a little place called Pano, where I learned that ‘brat’ just means “sandwich’, and does not necessarily mean that there will be meat on that sandwich. Apparently, I neglected to ask for the ‘wurst’, because I ordered the first brat I saw on the menu and it was just cheese, tomato, and pesto. To my surprise though, it was incredibly delicious, and I was happy I accidentally ordered it.
Still in Amsterdam
It’s an early start for a packed second day spending a little more time in the Netherlands before heading off to Germany, but I’m ready for it because I’ve finally had some solid sleep and feel fantastic!
So… I grossly underestimated the effect of jetlag. I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t sleep on the flight over to Amsterdam, but I’ve pulled all nighters and been able to make it through the next day with some energy pills and coffee. Not this time.