"Rund um Marburg"

In comparison to yesterday, today lasted a lifetime but was so much fun. Woke up around 6 and went to the start of the tour. We ate breakfast and looked over the maps and questions that were involved within the race. Because I couldn't understand half of what was asked, it was my job to look for the signs on the right side of the road that signaled your entrance into the villages and write down the first letter of each word. We were not given clear directions but a map with distinct roads (and no street names) we had to take in order to get a stamp on the page. There were also questions, like a scavenger hunt, within most of the villages and small driving tasks that you want to do well on to have better points (for example, driving a certain distance within an allotted amount of time or perfect parallel parking). The overall contest consisted of two separate groups, tourists (antique, slower cars: this was us) and speeders (faster cars with different requirements). We drove around today in the family's 71 Volkswagen Kaffer. Our time started at exactly 9:21 and we stopped to eat lunch around 1. I took the picture above as the contestants before us were leaving to start their day and thought it was adorable as the kid would wave the German flag as each car left. The first half of the tour was very long and because of my not understanding, I mostly ended up looking out of the window and daydreaming. I had a vegetable soup and a roll for lunch and, as each contestant is required to spend an hour minimum at lunch, we were able to walk around and look at some of the other antique cars. Inside of the building (which was a ford dealership, ha), there was an old timey scooter, so Franzie and I went inside to look at it. Franzie insisted that I get my picture in it, so I waited until a little boy got out of the scooter. He finally did so I rushed over and jumped in the scooter real quick seeing as I wouldn't be in there long. I looked back, however and the kid was pushing me in the scooter, mad that I had taken his toy. He aimed to push me into the pole, but finally his father stepped in and moved me back. I was so shocked and embarrassed I didn't know what to do, but thankfully Franzie got the picture...Before I knew it, we were off again but came back to the meeting point around 5, as this was the shorter half. Champagne was given to all contestants at the finish as we walked around and looked at more of the cars and talked with other drivers. We went home to freshened up and take the Kaffer back and then headed back to the meeting point for the awards and buffet. Franzie, her parents, and I all sat and talked throughout the night and the buffet was DELICIOUS. They had veggie sticks, pasta salad, wiener schnitzel, chicken, roast, rice, potatoes, cooked veggies, more meat, bread, and more potatoes. I haven't eaten that much in the whole time i've been here, but I couldn't help it! For dessert the only thing I recognized was fruit salad, which was nice to eat after such a ginormous dinner. We waited for some time and talked until the awards started, which we did not win (BOOOOOO), but thats ok because it was a fun day! By 9:00 we were all exhausted after the awards and headed home, showered, and went to bed: exhausted.