Days 16 and 17

A fountain in the city center
Some of the local shops

We've definitely found our routine and settled in here in Radolfzell now. It's been a very lazy couple of days, especially since it rained all day yesterday. Therese and I did laundry and took our first trip to the Apothoteke - the pharmacy. In Germany you can't go to a grocery store or supermarket and get Tylenol or other over-the-counter drugs. You have to go to an Apothoteke, which kind of makes sense because then a professional can make sure you know what you are doing and tell you what not to cross each drug with, etc. We ventured down to the pharmancy together in order to get some hydrocortisone for Reese whose skin has a terrible rash (typical eczema) from sweat and heat. Todd did all of the talking and we managed to get some nice OTC hydrocortisone. It makes Therese a little antsy/moody, but her skin is looking much better.

Last night we went with our new-found friend Jesse to an Italian place called Il Cavallino which was really nice and had great Italian food. We had our first fish since we got to Germany and had a very Italian pizza - artichokes and olives with the pit... Reese had a hard time understanding why she wasn't allowed to eat the pit, but other than that the dinner was great. Jesse is a really nice, bright guy from California who is (unfortunately) just wrapping up his time at the CDC. He is part of a scholarship program along with 4 other Americans here that gives them 4 weeks of courses at the CDC and then puts them into internships for 2 months here in Germany. Jesse is working for a firm that does environmental engineering related to tsunamis.

Today Therese and I joined Todd's whole class (and a few other people) for lunch with his teacher at what was advertised to us as a "very German" restaurant. The teacher did drink a liter of hefeweissen with lunch, which seems very German :-). The restaurant (The Golden Eagle) was in a former house that was built in 1537. The food was very good and must have been German because it was different than the Italian food we've been eating. I experienced my first German salad bar, which had few varieties of cabbage (red and white), cucumbers, olives, and baby greens. We also had were surprised to find that the daily special was TURKEY. Therese called it pork. Either way it was delicious. I was happy to speak English with my side of the table - two Americans, a girl from Manila, a Cuban, a Bolivian, and a guy from El Salvador. It has been really fun meeting people from all over the world. We were talking about tv shows we watched when we were little, and it was nice to hear that all of us were familiar with the same programs - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers, Pee Wee's Play House. I meant to take a picture, but I felt stupid asking everyone to turn and smile...

After lunch we wandered over to the train station to buy my tickets for Friday, when Reese and I will go to Zurich to meet my dad and stepmom. I'm really excited to have them here and show them around and to visit new places with them. Hopefully the rain holds off while they are here!

After the train station, Jesse showed us what is supposed to be the best ice cream in Radolfzell as we strolled through the streets of the Marktplatz, which is when I took the pictures above. Therese is now napping while Todd and Jesse are out looking at beer... It's a nice life here :-).