I now, I know. I should have been wowed by the cathedrals, especially the monstrously big one at Cologne. 
the castles,
the autobahn, the beautiful and quaint old streets and houses,
the beer.
I was...but.
The bread.
How do we keep a country running on Sara Lee, Wonder, Little Debbie, and Dunkin Donuts?
*Embarrassed pause*
I think I just discovered the secret of the universe.
You heard the one about the tourist who walks into a German bakery and asks for a loaf of bread?
Yeah, never happened. It was always two loaves or three if I could get away with it. I smuggled three loaves through customs. Everyone told me I couldn't. "Hid" one in each piece of luggage and they all made it through.
So now I am attempting to make this delicious hearty food of the gods. The problem is it takes about 12-14 days all told to make. So my sourdough starter is fermenting on the counter, and I am salivating as I type.
More on this later...
Highlights from the trip to Germany that were unrelated to bread.
Cobblestone. 
Beautiful. Hard to walk on for hours.
The castle at Krefield. A medieval castle complete with moat, turrets and a dungeon. When I walked onto the grounds, I felt for just a moment that I was a princess stepping into a dream. 
Until I had to climb the steps to the tower. I remembered I wasn't in tiptop shape. This was painfully obvious by the last set of quaint, winding irregular stairs.
The Brandenburg Gate.
The Bundestag.
The complete lack of homeless people. Ok well, I did see three. And that was three total in three major cities. But for the most part I observed a lot less fear of crime as corroborated by my amazing, wonderfully gracious native German hosts. We left cameras in our car, with no problem.
I entered a metal flying machine and was whisked away to another world. I will never be the same.
I even used a little of the German I've been working on. Ein bisschen.
And now it's a memory logged in my heart and mind forever. And if I can manage it, in my digestive system in the future. Pictures of my sourdough starter to come in a future blog.
