Mmm, brötchen

Food and drink.

Those are two of my favorite things about Germany.

I am now in love with rhabarber kuchen (rhubarb cake) and apfelschorle (carbonated apple juice-ish).

For some reason, I crave rhubarb all the time. I never used to like it. I remember trying it for the first time at some theatre gathering and hating it. Now, I can't get enough of it. Perhaps the Germans make it better.

For breakfast I have brötchen (bread rolls) or slices of bread with butter, cheese, meat, or rhubarb strawberry marmalade. There are different types of cheese and meats and spreads. For being someone that never used to eat breakfast, I now can't imagine a day without it. I hope this is something that continues when I return back to the states.

Our visit to Naumburg was really sweet. First off, I felt like I was at Hogwarts because the hallways lining the courtyard looked a lot like the hallways in HP. Anyway, it sucked that we couldn't take pictures inside the cathedral because it was really beautiful inside. I understood why we couldn't but it was still something I would have liked to physically take with me. I was very surprised at all the graffiti I saw on the sides of sidewalk walls having something to do with Nazi's. I felt a little weird about that and it made me realize that our trip to Buchenwald is not far away.

I remember the Holocaust being something that really affected me while learning about it in middle school and especially in high school. Life is Beautiful and Schindler's List are two of my favorite movies because they show the holocaust from different perspectives. I remember crying when I visited the Holocaust museum we have in Houston back in 6th grade. It is something that I studied and really took an interest in while growing up.

So I have no idea how I'm going to contain myself when the time comes to visit Buchenwald.

I just finished reading Night by Elie Wiesel. I read it in a day and half, one, because it is a short book and two, because it was such a gripping tale much like the one told by Anne Frank. The book ended with the Elie's father dying in the concentration camp in Buchenwald. All of these true stories seemed like distant tales to me. It will be quite an experience to be standing where it all happened. It will definitely be an unforgettable experience.

I made a trip to the post office today so be expecting letters and post cards from me soon.