Guten Tag!

We made it to Germany!!! But it was quit the journey to get here....

I met Ellyn at the bus stop for the bus to take us to Heathrow Airport to pick up Adam around 11 am. Well, we got off one stop too late, but it ended up not being a big deal! Since the stop was at Heathrow, we ended up being able to take a train to the terminal 4 to meet him. These trains are so much nicer than the ones we use to get around London!

When we got to terminal 4 we had some time to kill before he was supposed to land so we were looking at the store right there. I happened to find the magazine of my dreams... it had Olly Murs on the cover as the main story, along with shorter stories about One Direction and Loveable Rogues. I had to get it! I needed something to read on the flight and the few hours we had to kill before we got on the plane!

Well, we kept waiting and waiting and watching people come out of customs but had not seen Adam yet. We were looking at what people were wearing to see if they were from Michigan... let alone America. Once we saw girls carrying Vera Bradley luggage and guys wearing sweatshirts with a sports team on it we knew the Michiganders had arrived! A few minutes we saw Adam walk out.... obviously concerned about March Madness because he had his Michigan hat on. That's another thing I love about London, they're not involved with March Madness! I'm not a basketball fan so it's perfect! Now, baseball season is starting soon and that is another story. I will be keeping up with Tigers games while I am here.

We had nothing better to do than to go to our terminal for our flight to Germany that night. We took the train to our terminal and again got excited over how nice they were! Adam didn't seem as excited but once he see's the trains in London he will understand. Once we got to our terminal we printed our tickets and were about to check in Adam's bag, but found out we were too early to check it in. So we found a Caffe Nero and got some lunch! We sat on the ground for about 3 hours waiting to check in. Adam took a nap, Ellyn was playing a game on her computer and I beat 3 levels on the game on my phone (for those of you who know how I struggle with this game you understand how big of a deal this is!).

Adam likes his new pillow!

It was finally time to check in! The first thing we did was scan our boarding pass to even be allowed near security (it is kind of like the subway in New York City... or an Oyster card in London!). Once we got through security we realized we didn't have a gate printed on our ticket and our gate wasn't on the screen. We still had some time before our plane was supposed to leave so we decided to get Adam some British things. First, we got him a Lucozade. He said he didn't mind it and that it reminded him of Sunkist! He had bought a Galaxy Caramel bar so he had part of that and liked it! We told him to get that caramel bar over a Cadbury caramel bar... we'll give him a Cadbury milk chocolate bar later. And last but not least, I gave him part of my bueno bar and his eyes literally lit up. So far he is liking the things I like in London! I just can't wait to take him to Nandos...

Anyway, I also found little dolls of One Direction and Little Mix at the airport. The funny thing about it was that there was one doll left of each member of each band. So weird! Also, they have so many high-end stores at Heathrow! Basically any designer possible, even a Harrods and Hamley's toy store!

Well, it was getting close to boarding time and our gate had still not been called. Eventually our flight got delayed and 15 minutes before our flight was supposed to leave the gate FINALLY got called. As we were boarding I began to hear a lot of people speak German and it threw me off guard. Obviously people on our flight would be German, but in my mind they were all just like me going on a holiday.

Our flight was quick and good! Once we got off the flight everything was in German. We went through customs and got another stamp in our passport! I don't understand why everyone worries about customs. The only question I got asked was if this was my first time in Germany. That was it! I got stamped in! We got Adam's luggage and then went to find some food. There was a little shop on our way out of the airport so we stopped in there to get some food. We were looking at the sandwiches  but everything was in German. Adam took 3 years of German in high school and I took 2 years, but that was a long time ago! Thankfully the more we heard it started to come back to us. The worker there thankfully spoke a little english and helped us get what we wanted. When he rang our order he asked where from the States we were from. He said he really liked LA and kind of knew where Michigan was. Before we left he put chocolate by the sandwiches we bought and said "Happy Easter." Free German chocolate!

The Bathroom area is a full hallway... say hi to Ellyn!

Bunk Beds!

We took a taxi ride to our hotel. We're pretty sure he drove us in circles for a while so he could get more money, but we didn't know how to argue with him. We made it to our hotel and it has bunk beds. So cool! The hotel is kind of like a hostel in a way because it looks more "young." I don't know how else to describe the room. It is just so different than any hotel I've been in! We were all exhausted so we went to bed right away. Adam had a reason to be tired.... he'd been on 3 planes that day! Ellyn and I had only been on 1. I guess sitting in airports is just as exhausting!