German Civil Cermony

So!!!!!! The big day came and went and it all seems like a dream. I had an amazing weekend that was far more special then I could have imagined. I went into the weekend with no expectations, which made it all the more intense.

On Friday Jane and her friends gave me a very fun and unforgettable 'bachelorette' party. We hit the wine fest, the KGB Russian vodka bar, and Shooter Stars, a place for taking shots. Although it sounds like I got trashed, I was just a bit buzzed in a very good way. I got to wear a princess tiara and got a lot of attention from the very friendly Freiburgers. Another highlight was the bowl of honig vodka we shared and free rose flavored vodka wedding shots.

On Saturday Jane accompanied me to the incompetent German hair dresser who put my hair in the German version of a 'french twist' (nothing like a french twist). I only had to get Jane to tell her I did not want a giant poof of hair in the middle of my head once. Then as Jane and I arrived at her dorm, pling a bobby pin fell and half of my hair fell down. Luckily, Jane pinned it back up with no problem and it looked better than before.

I managed to put make up on myself (this is a VERY BIG deal for motor skill challenged and half blind me) and it looked pretty good. Then we got picked up by my next door neighbors and off to the town hall.

The building is beautiful and old and so so nice. Jan and I had no idea where to go and wandered around aimlessly for a while, then finally found the correct room. We waited some more and then entered a beautiful old hall. The town official talked for a long time about I'm not sure what, but Jan tells me that it was very appropriate. We were the 500th couple married in Freiburg this year on the auspicious 7/7/07 date. I of course do not believe in any of this luck stuff and think that all of the attention to the date is sort of tacky, but secretly my subconcious has persuaded my more cynical cynical consciousness (if that makes any sense) that it is sort of cool.

We walked out of the wedding hall to some song that I thought was the German national anthem but it turns out it was a wedding congratulations type of song. (Silly me, I forgot that Germans really aren't that into displays of national pride).

Then to the outdoors where rice and flowers were showered upon us. It was a big surprise for me. Especially because a large amount of rice made it's way into my cleavage and hair do and stayed there, somewhat uncomfortably, for the rest of the day.

We drank some champagne in the town hall court yard then headed to the Sun, a wonderful restaurant.

Oooooo, there's so much more to say, but I am going to have to save it for tomorrow because I'm about to pass out.

But here are some photos for your viewing pleasure (they're actually at the top because I don't know how to put them at the bottom)

The frontal view shows us sitting waiting for our officiant. The back view shows Jane in position as official translator. She did an excellent job!!