Sun King

On our free day in Uetersen two other campers staying with another family joined my host mother and i in a walk around the town, as their host parents were both working that day. First we stopped by the church that Elijah was supposed to be held in but was changed at the last minute do to some immediate renovations that had to be undertaken.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda

Then we walked along the outward streets of the town and got to see what the local German country side had to offer.  After this we took a stroll through the city center and headed back to the house for some lunch and some much needed rest.

Fffffountain

As is only appropriate for a city that celebrates roses, my host family had a beautiful garden where we spent many evenings chatting and cooling off from the unusually warm days.

With my host family

Nothing really new or interesting to report on the Elijah performance other than it was held yet again in the finest gymnasium in the region.  I had hoped to be singing in glorious space after glorious space, but I suppose I shant bite the hand that is feeding me amaing French and German food and giving me the opportunity to sing on of my favorite pieces.

You may be wondering to yourself: "Does carpet lining the floor and 1/3 of the wall help resonate sound better?" Wonder no more... for it ab.so.lutely does not

Locker room Dressing room to the stars!

That night, though, I FORCED myself once again to go out.  Much in the same way that I have FORCED myself to drink the wine in France and beer in Germany these last few weeks.  I'm a trooper, I tell ya.  Emily's host, Christina, took Mason, Ellen, Emily and I out to Hamburg for another respite from the chitlens.  I had opted out of the previous day's trip to Hamburg in order to stay home and rest so it was nice to get a taste of the city.  And by "taste" I mean our first stop was unashamedly Amercian-- BURGER KING!!! 

Poor, sad Amercians getting a free trip to Europe

How do they manage to look so cute in a Burger King! Well, Emily is giving a bit of her Jezebel eyes...

I would have shown a picture from the outside but fear for my life in doing so.  I took one but was immediately (and quite literally) hissed at from a bevy of women standing the the front.

Christina: "Oh, Joseph, don't take pictures of the prostitutes, please."
Me: "Wait, what?!"
Christina: "Yeah, they get really angry."
Me: "Okay, no more, I promise.  I just wanted a silly picture of an American restaurant for my blog but didnt realize... sorry."
Christina: "Don't put that on the internet, it wouldn't be good."
Me: "Ha ha, okay sure, 'cause they'll come after me and all."
Christina: (With the seriousness reserved only for news of death and last call at a bar) "No, really, do NOT put the pictures up at all."

Soooooo not that I really think I'll be shanked in my sleep by a German lady of the abend, but better safe than sorry?  After sucessfully avoiding a cat fight and getting a bit of greasy food in the process we went and got a couple of drinks and walked around.  Apparently the Beatles performed somewhere in the vacinity of some of the bars and they had some cool metallic statues to commemorate the occasion.

Workin' it like the girls in front of Burger King!

GET IT!

As is also the custom after a night out, everyone was super super tired and earned a much needed nap in the back seat.  Though I'm not sure how they were sleeping-- we were shooting down the autobahn at almost 120mph!!! Yaaaaay foreign speed limits!