I am in Germany, I AM IN GERMANY! Amazing. I opened the shades on our windows and it was sunny gorgeous. I quickly got dressed so I could get some breakfast and go out and explore Homberg. When I got down to breakfast there was a fabulous spread of breads, spreads, cold cuts, fruit, etc. I was having trouble telling the lady working that I did not want coffee, just water, and a fellow in the corner piped in and told her what I was saying. That fellow is Max, a friend of Sara and Chris' who met while he was also a German student studying at NDSU who had also come to Homberg for the wedding. So I met Max and had breakfast. After a quick bowl of cereal I ventured out onto the smalltown streets of Homberg. The town is beautiful. Most of the houses are traditional German style, cobblestone streets, and a small castle up on the highest hill. I walked around taking photos of letters and colors for a while before heading back to get ready for Sara and Christoph's wedding. I wore my navy blue dress with white birds on it to match the tattoos that Sara and Christoph got together when they first started dating. Max drove Katie, Elise and I out to The Mill where the wedding was held. The Mill is tucked into the woods with the creek running alongside the building, and the building were all traditional and covered with ivy. The inn/hotel is attached to the old mill building, and across the driveway is the restaurant. The entire wedding group arrived and I met Christoph and Sara's German friends. Nate Jacobson also arrived just in time. The mill where the ceremony was held is literally an old German mill. We were in a small shed-like area with exposed wooded floor, walls, and ceiling. There was a small doile cover table where Sara and Christoph would sit with the administrator to literally go over the entire business side of a German marriage. Sara walked up into the space and she is so beautiful. Christoph was also looking very shnazzy. They sat down together to start the all German ceremony with just a little bit of English from the administrator. Instead of an "I do." it is a "Ya", and after signing a few legal documents, finally became a married couple. We all went down and out to congratulate the newlyweds, and take pictures. The photographers came and took photos of the couple and family for a half hour, which costs 250 Euro just for the half hour. When the half hour was over we all went in to eat lunch which started with tomatoe basil soup, and was followed by a salad and the main course of pork bits in a gravy with mushrooms, onions, broccoli with a side of egg/dough noodles. The room was cosy and perfect for the occasion. Apparently this area was where Little Red Ridinghood was written, so there were old paintings portraiting little red. It is interesting too that flat water is not served. Everywhere we go sparkling water is served. Last and by far not least, dessert. There were 6, I tried 4. I tried a mousse cheesecake with a cake bottom, a chocolate poppyseed, a hazelnut bar, and a strawberry current mousse cake. On top of that the waitresses brought out coffees and hot chocolates of which I had a hot chocolate. I couldn't finish the hot chocolate, but it was very rich and delicious. After a bit we rolled ourselves out and back into Max's tiny rental car to go back to the hotel. The other friends of the couple: Stephy, Jan, Gunner, Marcus, Daniel, Stephen checked into our hotel and then Gunner, Gunner's fiancé, Jan, Max, Stephen, Katie, Elise and I went to the city center to sit at a cafe to have a beer, before going on a tour of the massive belltower of the church. While having our beers Max and Jan got into a few debates about various things such as the difference between bees and wasps...hornets, bumblebees, American football vs. German football vs. Australian football...fascinating stuff. The rest of the group got up to the center and we started the tour up the belltower. We climbed the stairs up to a room with the bell mechanisms and the weight needed to be cranked back up so the guide asked whoever had the most cake to come crank, and everyone pointed right at me, sad, so I got to crank the weight back up. The tour took us into the room where the bells hang and we got to hear 2 of them chiming the hour, which was very loud. We got to walk out on the top and got an amazing view of Homberg and the surrounding towns. Last, we climbed up to the living quarters of the bell-keeper and his family (which is no longer in use.) Luckily our guide spoke English fairly well, and he told us that at one time the bell-keeper lived up there with his wife and 11 children, and we heard a lot about the bucket used to haul there food and s*** up a down, and other various things they did to get rid of waste...excellent. When we got down we hung out for a bit with those who skipped out on the tour to stay at the cafe, and then went back to the hotel to get ready for the evenings festivities. Changed back into my dress and off to the reception at Christoph's Dad's. Everything looked amazing, like a little vintage outdoor fairytale. A green and white tent extended from the patio with a buffet table set up underneath. There was a man grilling pork chops with different marinades, vegetarian kabobs, and of course, huge wursts. I tried a bit of everything, and everything was tasty. Everyone mingled, ate, and wrote in the couples guest book. I got to talk most of the night with Julie, Jan, Max, Anthony, Elise, Sara, and Chris. By the end of the evening we had discussed politics and hunting, danced, and I was able to open one bottle of beer with the bottle of another. Sara and Bob had a dance and Sara and Chris had their first dance. Also by the end of the night Elise was not allowed near glass, because everything she touched she broke. Around 1:30-2 one of the neighbors must have called about the music, because Claudia shut everything down. We said our goodnights/goodbyes, and walked back to the hotel and went to sleep.