Anxiety vs. Anticipation

Happy Saturday! It has been a lazy morning here in the Daxon household. Coffee and eggs, smoked salmon, and chives. A fat, funny baby. Later, some Out and About Time. Tomorrow we'll worship, cheer the Netherlands on to victory, and say a final goodbye to Arthur. The weekend should be restfully busy.

Each day brings us closer to our departure and, honestly, I'm anxious. In an effort to quell the Knot in my stomach, I've decided to write a series of posts on the top five things I'm looking forward to in Germany (in no particular order).

"Beer turns thurst into a beautiful thing..."

-old German saying

1. Bier
When we first visited Germany in 2012, I was not a beer-lover. Six weeks later and I was ashamed of my previous self. Guys, there's beer and then there's beer. Don't hate, but a Bud shall never again touch my lips. As I'm sure you know, beer is everywhere in Germany. There are approximately 1,250 breweries in Germany producing about 5,000 brands of beer. The German brewery Weihenstephaner is the oldest in the world, dating back to 1040. That's 26 years before the Norman conquest, 452 years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue, and 736 years before the United States declared its independence. So, old. The atmosphere of beer culture is fantastic. A tall, cold one is best consumed in a biergarten. Imagine cobblestones, picnic tables, the best wurst you've ever had, polka music, and, you guessed it, beer. (For those of you who live in the DC area, there's a great biergarten on H street). It's communal, al fresco, and so relaxing. You know the classic stereotype of Germans? Beer-drinking, sausage-eating, pretzel-indulging? They're actually true. Personally, my favorite type of beer is the ubiquitous weissbier. There's nothing quite like sitting down to a tall, chilled glass of thick, golden goodness. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the hoppy adventures ahead.

Up next...

On winding countryside drives, surviving the autobahn, and this thing called rapeseed.