eis, hünden und zigarettes! or for you guys: ice cream, dogs and cigarettes!

so i forgot to mention this yesterday - everyone here in deutschland has a small dog, and the small dogs go with you everywhere. seriously, everywhere. in the stores (grocery and small shops and the mall too) and then inside restaurant (they sit underneath the tables). it is so cute! i have to have a dog when i get home. i sent a postcard home to bonnie telling her that we are going to have to have a little talk, when i get back, about something... ie: me having a puppy! the next thing is ice cream, only over here they refer to it as 'eis' = ice. and there are eis cafes all over, almost like starbucks in america. one on every corner and in the middle of the blocks too. its good as well! the best ice cream i have found so far. the lines for these ice cafes are so long, or every table is jam packed. that is all they do over here. and they feed it to the dogs too, which i cant imagine to be good for the dogs. then there is smoking, everyone here smokes. there is no such thing as a no-smoking section (dad - you would be so happy). little kids smoke. little kids holding a cigarette in one hand, ice cream in the other and the dogs leash is wrapped around one of their wrists. trust me, i have the pictures as proof!!
yesterday stephe asks me if i would like to see the biggest bell in the world. so i said sure, why not! so we travel about 20 mins away through miles and miles of vineyards and we end up in this small village named: bad dürfheim. i dont know what it means, but i look around for this huge bell right? all i see is a huge ass barrel! oh, barrel - not bell. i see, that makes much more sense now that i think about it. why would there be a bell in the middle of the wine country. come to find out that my uncle rudolph made barrels for his profession, and then moved on to actually making the wine. so that is why we are drinking wine for breakfast, lunch and dinner... :) anyway, it was a nice trip to another village. i really love germany, it is so nice and slow paced. i really feel like i am on holiday! if i would have gone to italy and spain with the girls, it would have been rushed and fast paced - this is a nice change.
stephe keeps telling me that i need to lose weight. thanks stephe for pointing out the obvious. so when i eat something that she wouldnt eat, she tells me that it makes me 'wide'. then persits on me eating potatoes, sausage and loaves of bread. i try and tell her that i am full, not hungry anymore. she says ''no, eat, eat...'' ugh. make sense. so i eat an apple for breakfast and then a small lunch (lunch is the biggest meal of the day here) and i get yelled at (not really 'yelled' at) for not eating enough. i cant win!! :)
oh, here - you will enjoy this story: ryan and i were walking by this statue a few days ago and he points out that it is martin luther. oh, great. martin luther king? i ask. uh, no retard.... martin luther as in martin luther founder of the luthern church. www.luther.de i am so smart sometimes that i wonder why i am still in college! he was thoroughly impressed with my vast knowledge of history...