Ready to come home!

I would like to start off by sending my condolences to the Walters family. Words can't express the loss we feel. You are in our thoughts and prayers!

Man, it is COLD over here! The high today was about 24°. The temp tonight is supposed to be 17° with a wind chill close to single digits. We are freezing to death and most people here act like it is no big deal. Today after work, we walked across the street to the big shopping area here. It was in the low 20's with a pretty good breeze blowing. I wanted to get a few pics of the area before we left. They are calling for snow tomorrow so I figured we better do it today. I expected it to be a ghost town but there was people everywhere, like it was 70° or something. I saw mothers pushing little babies in strollers. People riding bikes, from teenagers to men that looked to be in there 70's. Women walking around in shorts or mini skirts. It was just unbelievable! I don't like my kids going outside in 50° weather without a coat with a hood. I saw school kids walking around with no gloves or hats. Anyway, I did get a few pics of the area. I'm kind of glad Andrea wasn't here in this town. We are about a 2 minute walk from 100's of stores. I'm talking clothing stores that are 4 and 5 stories. It would have been ugly for real.

This is the main street for the shopping area here. And yes, cars do drive on it at times.

Same place, opposite direction

 This is just a shot of the main street. It was like city blocks with roads turning off every few 100 yards. These streets were also lined with shops. And everything has 3+ floors! We probably didn't get to see half of it this week.

A church at the end of the street

Notice the bicycles. It was 20°!!!

Look closely and you can find 2 mothers with strollers.

A parking area at one end of the main street

On the way back from our photo op, Larry and I stopped to try something he has been wanting since he got here. Fresh donuts/pastries. There are fresh bakery shops all over the place here. I guess there are 5 or more within a 2 minute walk from our hotel, and that is just in one direction.  Here is what I got.

Looks tasty. Let see whats inside,

The chocolate covered donut kind of caught me off guard. I was expecting a plain donut but it had a custard like filling. Pretty good. The long strudel looking deal was a crispy pastry with a banana slice and chocolate on the inside. Also good. The powder sugared donut had a fruity filling that I can't put my finger on. It was kind of like a really sweet raspberry, but not exactly.

We have just returned from our supper. We went to a Mexican restaurant that our coworkers had been to before. I got a double bacon burger and it was HUGE. I only had my cell phone and it was low light, but I had to snap a shot. The pic don't do it justice. I ate 3/4s of it and stopped. I really think I could have finished it, but I would have been miserable tonight. It was the closest to true American food that I've had yet.

My guess would be that it was well over a pound of meat!

Last but not least, a few shots of my room here in Ingolstadt. This room really don't even compare to the other two hotels. This one is much more economical, to be "politically correct" about it. No fridge, so we have all been putting drinks on the window sills keep them cold. They put me on the 5th floor, aka "the penthouse". It is anything but that! For the first few nights, my heater wouldn't get warm enough to keep the room warm. It was okay during the day, but I would wake up to room about 60°. Monday morning I asked for them to look at the heater. I came back to find a space heater in my room running wide open. It was like 120°! I haven't checked, but I bet all my chocolate was melted. We will fix that American ;) So heat problem solved. Then this morning, I lose the hot water in the middle of my shower. No warning, just gone! 2 minutes later, its back. I still don't know what happened there. And the bathroom, now that is something. It is a 4'x8' all plastic room with only a shower curtain separating the shower from the rest of the room. It does step down about an inch in the shower area. I joked with the guys here and told them I have a stretched port-a-potty for a bathroom. Nice!

Welcome to the Hotel Anker penthouse!

I do have a double bed while some of the others have a single and a couch.

My stretched port-a-potty! After a hot shower, everything is wet. Walls, floors, door, everything!

It is hard to tell, but there is a very small step down where the curtain is hanging. Still, the floor gets soaked. Crazy design for sure.

Here is the view from my window.

But all in all, I have had a pretty good trip. Everyone has been helpful and I have learned a lot. I think the plans are for the next guys that come over to have a full time interpreter with them at work. That will be a big plus. But even with the language barrier -with pen & paper, hands, feet, and everything else- we have always managed to figure it out. And having to do all that crazy stuff to make a point just makes the guys like you more. As long as you don't over do it -by trying to talk too much- it is pretty comical.

But with all that being said....
I'm ready to go HOME!!!!