sunday, last full day in deutchland

today was a leisurely day closer to stef's home. we slept in, and headed to bingen to wander the wine festival and window shop. i saw several more picturesque castles and churches, and enjoyed walking by the rhine river. we met up with two of her guy friends at an icecream stand, which i'm discovering are all over the place. i tried something that starts with an s- and cherry icecream, and they were yummy. then stef threw a bbq in my honor, in which her parents, sister and boyfriend, and several friends got together at her place. it was quite similar to american bbq's, actually; dad throwing meat on the grill, mom running around preparing the table, setting up extra picnic furniture on the porch, and her friends brought german style potato salad and coleslaw! more excellent food, and some beer mixed with coke. the germans are all about mixing beer with anything you can drink, i'm learning. haha, to top off the party, i busted out some country music and taught them a couple linedances and how to two step. some pictures will eventually find their way to facebook, where i'm going to add all my pictures for people to check out. they caught on quick, especially to boot scoot n'boogie because it's similar to a german club dance. i saw stefi's old recital of traditional german dancing, which was hilarious and reminded me of high school high kick teams, or whatever they're called. sleep was bittersweet, because i was tired but knew it meant i had to wake up at 4:45am and leave my dear friend, tour guide and gracious host