Weekend Nine: Berlin

Well hi there! It's been months since my summer abroad now and I miss Europe so much. It is comfortable to be home, but not nearly as exciting as jumping off of cliffs and eating delicious baguettes and cheese paired with great wine. In reminiscing, I realized that I never wrote about half of my weekends abroad. While I have some down time in the next month or so, I hope to recount what I can of those now "distant" adventures.

My trip to Berlin, Germany:

Metz, France to Berlin, Germany
...a very long trek

It's a tough call, but Berlin may be my favorite city I have visited. No matter what, Germany is definitely my second favorite country (second to the US of course). I experienced such a rich fusion of history and modern alternative culture while in Berlin. It is a city well worth visiting, and the people are great.

Our travels to Berlin began on Saturday morning, July 13th. Jay, Kris, Sutton, and I took a train to Berlin to meet Harry and Jarrett, who left a day early (lucky ducks!). Berlin is actually pretty darn far away from Metz, and of course there was a train delay among our transfers, so by the time we got to Berlin it was already early evening. For anyone planning travels to Germany in the future, we stayed at the Generator Hostel in Berlin, and it seemed almost brand new. The room was really nice and they gave us a few free perks for around the city. This was probably the nicest hostel we stayed at all summer. Once we checked in we walked around a few blocks in search for dinner. Berlin was a lot different than I expected, to be honest. My first impression of Germany was Munich earlier in the summer. I loved Munich, and that city was much more "traditional German" feeling, with lots of sausages, beer, and lederhosen throughout the city. (Okay yeah, traditional for a tourist not a native.) Berlin surprised me in that this city was much more modern. But whilst being more modern, Berlin also had the most historical culture to it of any city I visited this summer. Since most of the structures in Berlin were destroyed in WWII, a lot of the buildings are new with modern architectural designs to them. Tying this idea of a more forward and culturally diverse Germany in to our dinner selection that night, Berlin was more like the States where you can get pretty much any type of food you want. So ironically in Berlin we found a cafe that sold Spanish tapas and decided that it looked good. After we ate, we met with probably every other American student in Berlin that night for a bar crawl. I was very skeptical of bar crawls at the beginning of the summer, but figured it would be good to try one before the summer's end and I actually had a lot of fun! Our guide was a spectacular and super friendly drag queen and I got an inside look at the German clubbing scene. European clubbing is definitely a fun experience for someone like myself who loves to dance. It, to say the least....was a great night.

Part of the Berlin Wall that is wearing away

The next morning we woke up fairly early and went to go see part of the Berlin Wall. What I didn't expect was that the wall was just there. Just there. All throughout Berlin pieces of the wall still stand, or at least the supports from inside the cement, sticking straight up out of the ground along the sidewalk. You can see it, you can touch it, and it just keeps showing up. We'd be walking along the sidewalk with nothing there and then suddenly some pieces of cement or supports would show up again. A lot of blocks were torn down or removed, but the rest is still a disintegrating wall that is wearing away on the side of your every day road. It doesn't stand out and it isn't in any particular special place. And that's how it showed up over night. Not the cemented blocks of course, but overnight they just drew out barbed wire and metal fences and people woke up to a torn Germany. Can you imagine? Families, friends, your job, everyone separated. The piece of the wall we visited was actually preserved a little better accompanied with some memorials in a field around it. It was a quiet morning.

Long stretch of the Berlin Wall

After the Berlin Wall, we were incredibly hungry. Lucky for us, not far down the road was the Ost-West Cafe and on the menu- 'The Big American' breakfast! And it was. It was the best breakfast I think I had all summer. Sadly, and this just adds to Europeans' kinda correct stereotype (sorry, the truth hurts) of an overweight America, it was not as big as your Waffle House All Star Platter. Judge me not, hehe. But oh my goodness I still remember everything about that plate of delicious salvation. Fruit, English muffins, eggs, BACON, PEANUT BUTTER! Oh, it was too good. Have I mentioned how rare and expensive peanut butter is in Europe? I had peanut butter a total of three times this summer: our hostel in Amsterdam, a splurge at a grocery store in Switzerland, and this breakfast in Berlin. Our waiter was super friendly and light-heartedly laughed with us about how we each got one of their items on the menu with the words 'Big American' in it. Seriously, a whole menu and we narrow it down to either a choice of 'The Big American Breakfast' or 'The Big American Burger'. So exotic, cultural, and subtle of us...

Old Police Volkswagen outside the Ost-West Cafe

On the front left street light, Green Ampleman
On the far right street light, the red one

In recounting Berlin, I would like to introduce you to a little fellow named Ampleman. Ampleman was the way I learned to tell if we were in 'East' Berlin or 'West' Berlin. On normal crosswalk signs, you see either a green man walking, or a red man halted. But in East Berlin, the crosswalk lights are so much cuter! Their guy, Ampleman, wears a hat. Ampleman is one of the few symbols that East Berlin holds on to, and is now a huge souvenir. He even became a popular character in cartoons back in the '60s while Germany was split. There were Ampleman shops all over Berlin selling merchandise with the little green man on it.

Another fun fact about where we were staying was that at about 8pm the first night, we suddenly noticed some...lovely ladies... arriving on the corners outside our hostel. First one, then two. Across the street we noticed two more walk out of this apartment complex together, and then a few more....suddenly everywhere we looked we were surrounded by very attractive women with money pouches around their waists. Basically, WE WERE STAYING ACROSS THE STREET FROM A BROTHEL, WOOOO. It was actually pretty interesting to see it all in action. They looked out for each other and I even spotted their pimp talking to a bouncer at some club a block down the street (Big guy, big money pouch around HIS waist too. Yeah, he's the one.). Every night we were there, 8pm rolled around and we got a parade.

"Work makes (you) free"
Common words found on the gates of work camps.

On a more serious note, we took two tours in Berlin. One was a Third Reich tour, and the other a tour of a Holocaust work camp. They were both educational and encouraged a lot of reflection. I can say walking through a concentration camp is not an easy or light-hearted experience. I learned a lot about the horrible living conditions in the sleeping chambers, the gross "science experiments" that were performed in places like the "Pathologie", the cruel "games" guards would play with the camp's victims, and more. It's just hard for me to even wrap my head around the facts of what took place in the not too distant past. The idea ingrained in many's heads was that literally, through working extremely hard labor, you would one day be set free for proving to do a good job. A sort of "reformatory" prison for Jews, homosexual men, gypsies, disabled persons, and other "misfits" of society. But, as history shows, that was not really the case.

Berlin Holocaust Memorial

It is not easy to tell, but the giant grey patch of blocks in the center of the picture on the right is the main Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It was specifically placed right in the center of Berlin, on many people's every day route to work, school, wherever. This was done with the intention of making the memorial a part of every day life. The designer's thoughts were that it more so could become a sort of park where people come together every day, children play, and it essentially becomes a routine piece of their lifestyle, to never forget. The gravity of the history behind the memorial, however, makes it a little hard to walk through as if you could just have a darn picnic. His main intentions though, I respect. The memorial is not something hidden away in the corner of the city, despite how many wish they could push the events that took place in to a corner of nonexistence. No, it is in the middle of the city as a constant scar and reminder to never let something like that happen again. When you walk through the memorial, the first blocks start in the ground, not raised at all. Progressively, each block gets a little bit taller as you move towards the center. If you look to your left and right, you can't tell much difference in the height. But suddenly, you find yourself in the middle of it all, the blocks towering well over your head. It is as if it says, as a society, a few people started discriminating against one group. But then a few more joined in the views, and a few more groups were outcast. In the end, each small change, when not stopped, summed up to a total situation that was out of control.

Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten)

The Third Reich tour was really interesting as well. We visited a lot more memorials and learned more history of the city and country. I especially enjoyed the few "middle fingers" placed around town pointed at Hitler. The best example was the Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) erected right in the center of Hitler's layout for a new Berlin to remind him who defeated Germany. I actually have to admit, Hitler's layout plans for Berlin as the world's capital city were actually really cool. Another example would be the location of Hitler's bunker. There may have been a small sign somewhere, but I couldn't find anything acknowledging it. His bunker is literally under a small patch of grass in the middle of a parking lot with no recognition of him anywhere so as to not give him any attention. If we hadn't been told what we were standing over, we'd have never known.

One night while in Berlin, we noticed a big movie theater. Curious as to what was showing, we went inside. To our delight, they had a full IMAX theater with movies shown in English and NO subtitles! Yipee!! Some of you may think, "what a waste, to go all the way to Berlin to watch WWZ." But you'd be wrong. I LOVE movies, and I hadn't been to a movie theater since probably January. To find a full English theater was too exciting. It was really neat- almost all of the previews were for German sodas. In my giddy state of anticipation to watch the movie, I somehow found all of the adds overly hilarious and as the previews were all still in German I had no idea what they were saying! Plus I went in not having a clue as to what WWZ was about. As I am waiting, one of the guys said, "Are you ready to see some zombies?!" And I responded, "Z is for zombies? Ahhhh!! No!" I really enjoy end-of-the-world, apocalyptic-disease movies, but I'm also a huge scardy cat.


...That night ended up in Jarrett, Harry, and I screeching and running through the Berlin S-Bahn pretending to be zombies.


Although we ate a lot of non-German food on this excursion to Germany, we did enjoy two German meals while in town. I distinctly remember one of the meals in which after much searching, we located the Berlin Hofbrauhaus. Not quite as much of the real deal as the original Hofbrauhaus Munchen we visited on the previous trip to Germany, but very well replicated with a nice band playing the whole time. We ordered the Hell Beer they serve and got sausages. I recall it being pretty expensive so that was the cheapest thing on the menu. It was a suitable end to the weekend.

Jay, Jarrett, and Harry at the Berlin Hofbrauhaus

I'm frustrated at myself now because I'm having a hard time remembering that train ride home. And the train rides were always humorous. If I remember correctly, we got to the train station early but then got split up looking for food. The Berlin train station is HUGE. Like, I'm talking 6 levels. It was very modern and two of those levels were rail platforms. To me that was mind boggling to see trains on top of trains; I've never seen anything like it. So amid all the shops and escalators and looking for anything but another McDonald's, Jay and I became separated from the rest of our group. At first I thought, "no big deal. We have over an hour." But after not finding them and not finding them all of a sudden it was maybe 10 minutes before the train was scheduled to pull out and we finally caught them searching just as frantically as us on the bottom level of the station. We slept in a couchette car with another friend from GTL we ran in to, Ari, and a stranger because the train was full.


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The Deutsche Bahn Berlin train station

Okay, scratch the maybe; looking back on it, Berlin was definitely my favorite city in Europe this summer. And Germany itself rocks! Within the Euro Zone, they have pulled their economy out of recession and back to the top. They have recreated Berlin back into a bustling city, rising to be the Bohemian scene it once was before war. And my Type-A personality is all about that German lifestyle. Everything in Germany is a machine, well oiled and step-by-step on the go, go, go. Don't even get me started on Deutsche Bahn! Germany was one of the few countries who actually accepted our Eurail pass on almost all rail lines within the country AS WELL as their inner city metro and buses. They are even hiring interns through Tech right now- a perfect ISyE opportunity! I could go on....

Too bad I only know a handful of German words. :/

Eurotrip 2013

So throughout the semester there was a video contest going on for our GTL 2000 class. Harry has been taking videos with his GoPro all summer and compiled this video of him, Jay, Kris, Jarrett, Sutton, Vishnu, Sid, John and myself for the contest. We ended up getting 2nd place for the "People's Choice" award in the contest! I think it sums up our adventures pretty darn well and I love the music behind the scenes. Just wanted to post it here for all to watch!

Weekend Ten: Marseilles

One of the places on my "To-Visit" list, I guess you could say, was southern France. Ever since I knew I was coming to France, I wanted to see the cliffs and rocky beaches. Where there's a will, there's a way, and so it worked out that my last weekend trip was able to be spent in Marseilles on the southern coast of France. (It's actually high travel season in France so we were lucky to be able to get to any beach at all, much less book the trains the day before.)

Friday afternoon we took off on another train. I have no clue as to how many trains I have been on this summer! Interestingly enough, a normal TGV reservation in second class with Eurail from Metz to Paris is a standard 9 euros; not bad. I have no idea how, but our tickets ended up being 12 euros all the way from Metz to Lyon in first class. For being the only thing available, I'd say not bad at all! It was one train all the way there, taking a little over 5 hours. We arrived around 9pm with just enough daylight to find our hotel. What should have been a 20 minute walk ended up taking almost 2 hours as we came to a confusing dilemma. We were on one side of a major highway (think spaghetti junction) and our hotel was on the other. We walked in circles for a bit wondering if our directions were right and after verifying with a man at a different hotel desk, they were. He showed us a way we could walk there: "Oh, it's easy! Just about 200m. You just go down to the intersection, turn right, and the first chance you can go left and up through the parking deck to get across." So we try that. All we see is a dark parking deck with no one around....not chancing it. So we look around some more and come up with nothing. We go back to the man, "Oh, well there is another way, yes. Much easier. You go down to the intersection, this time turn left. You see you can go under." Oh, we saw that way. That way was walking under a bunch of highway bridges in a sketchy park area, and it's 11pm by now and we have all of our luggage on us. Finally we get the man to just call us a taxi even though he thinks we are crazy for not just walking. I'd rather not risk getting mugged. He was very nice for all of his help though, and a very short taxi ride later, we made it. From what we were able to see of Lyon as we wandered around that night, it seemed very pretty. We walked along the waterway and there were a lot of nice bridges and people out late. We passed some cool art sculptures as well.

Saturday morning we woke up early and were able to figure out the metro system very easily to avoid another confusing walk back to the train station. We got Subway sandwiches (yep, they have Subway in Europe!) and hopped on the regional train to Marseilles. We ended up squeezing in to an 8-person car on the train because the other option was standing for four hours. We decided to try talking to the people in the car with us, and what started out as awkward conversation ended up being a pretty enjoyable ride. There were three people in the car around our age, so we had fun talking about what each of us are studying. I also got to practice a little bit of French this way because we switched back and forth between the two languages. It was around 1pm by the time we arrived, so we checked in first thing and then headed out to explore the city. Marseilles was gorgeous! We walked through a market and found our way to the Old Port which was close by. There we saw tons of boats and restaurants on the water. Our map we got had some walking paths marked and we decided to take the one that went by the coast line, through the Old town, and past the Cathedral. The Old town proved to be an enjoyable walk, but definitely not a walk I would take at night as it tended to be...well, older and slightly less populated. But overall it was nice and the Cathedral was pretty. When we returned to the port we searched for dinner and got giant individual pizzas and beer. It was delicious! Since it was getting dark and we were tired, we planned our next day and turned in early.

Sunday was our beach day! We woke up fairly early and went down to the market. We spent a good while there picking out fruits and nuts to be snacks for the beach. My favorite shop had every spice imaginable. When I walked in I couldn't figure out why there was such a strong smell and then I saw that further back there were tables with burlap sacks of every spice I have ever seen and more and you could just scoop what you wanted in to a bag to be weighed. If I lived there, that's where I would get all my spices. They also had dried fruits and nuts, so we got some dried apricots and almonds. We also picked up grapes, nectarines, and a mango from some of the other fruits stands. Something else I noticed in the market but did not get to try were a lot of stands selling what looked like pita bread and marinated olives. It looked so good! They also had this really weird candy(?) that looked like an orange pretzel made out of that bendy sugar ribbon candy you see at Christmas. After the market we got on a bus and drove along the coastline until a stop where most people were getting off. Since the majority of the people on the bus seemed to like that beach, we figured it must be a good place to stop. Surprisingly, the "sand" there is just small gravel rocks, which I assume was man-made. It was interesting, cause it doesn't get all up in everything like sand would, but it leaves everything very dusty. Either way, tanning works! So we tanned and swam around enjoyed the nice weather. In the distance down the coast we saw a Ferris wheel and tents, so after a while we headed down that way. The tents were in the process of being set up for some event in the evening, but the Ferris wheel was fully functional so we rode it and were able to get a really great view over Marseilles. Afterwards, we got dinner right on the water. I got a grilled lemon chicken with risotto and enjoyed every bite. That night instead of waiting for the late bus, we ended up walking the entire way back, and it really wasn't bad at all. All I had with me was 4 euros and a towel, so I didn't have to worry. Plus, the whole way back there was a sidewalk over the beaches along the coastline, so we got a really great view of all of the cliffs and water at night.

Monday we had a half day left to explore and we wanted to make it count. We got breakfast and then headed to Old Port to find the tourist office that was listed on the map. We circled the buildings once unable to find it, and then went straight to the water where the icon was on the map. I noticed some blue umbrellas that said "office tourisme" and headed that way. Turns out they were selling some really strong smelling fish under those umbrellas, and whatever tourist office was supposed to be there was nowhere to be found. No worries though, because along the port were a few ticket offices for different boat tours. We were able to catch the next boat out to the islands. We went to Ile Ratonneau, which also had a good view of Ile d'If and the cool old Chateau on it. We climbed the rocks and trails on the island and were able to see tiny alcoves and small secluded beaches along the island, as well as some old ruins of what looked similar to the chateau across the way on the other island. Overall, it was really beautiful. It kind of felt like we were trekking through the dessert though with all the heat and rocks, and I kid you not there were a few cacti. Too soon, we had to head back down and take the boat back in to Old Port. The boat ride there and back were nice because it was about 30 minutes each way on the water, allowing for some good sight-seeing and pictures. When we got back, we got ice cream to cool us off and then ate kabobs for lunch. Finally, we grabbed our stuff from the baggage room and got on the metro back to the train station. Once more, we were on a TGV back "home". There was one change-over in Lyon, and then it was a 6 hour ride straight to Metz. I have to say, I'm not sure how it worked out, but first class was nice. Nothing super fancy, but there is a lot more leg room and no wary people to look out for. I probably slept over half the way.

And now, I am back in Metz. Back to the reality of finals and packing up my room soon and preparing for resuming normal life back in the States. I am glad that I got the chance to spend a relaxing weekend at the beach before this last push to come home. Marseilles was a gorgeous city and I hope to one day return to southern France.

10 Day Count Down!

This morning marks my 10 day count down until I come home! I have to say, I think I am ready for it. I love it here so much and I know I will miss traveling all across Europe, but my body is physically and mentally ready for a break from all the constant planning and walking and stressing over school. I am excited that I will be starting my co-op when I get back and therefore getting to take a break from school work. I went ahead and reserved my train ticket back to the Paris airport last week and it was a bitter sweet feeling. I can't wait to see my family when I get off the plane and sleep in my own bead with air conditioning and eat peanut butter and Mexican food. I will miss the amazing cheeses, breads, and pastries that are so readily available in France though. The friendships I have made here are wonderful as well, and I hope that we can all continue to hang out and seek the world together back in the States. I will make these last 10 days count as much as I can while I study for finals. My thanks goes out to my family for making this summer possible and my dreams a reality. I can not say how much it means to me to have gotten this incredible experience.

Weekend Seven: Interlaken and Grindelwald

Helloooo world! It has been way too long since my last post. Over a month actually, and that's a long time to go without writing over the summer. I guess I kind of fail at blogging. The thing is, I have been way busier than I ever thought I would be. Planning these weekend trips is an event in and of itself on top of school. Since I am behind 4 weeks, I think the best place to start is the most recent, and then work my way back as I find time to fill in the gaps. So where did I go this weekend? Switzerland!

We only had a two day weekend this time, so we decided to use it for an adrenaline and nature rush. Friday we left straight after class for the train station. It was an easy ride over to Interlaken, just a few change-overs and no seat reservations necessary. We arrived around 11pm and took a bus 30 minutes up the mountains into Grindelwald where our hostel was. It was pretty much pitch black and deserted, but not scary at all. Switzerland felt like one of the safest places I have ever visited. Because we arrived in the dark, we had no idea what beauty awaited us. As soon as I stepped out to greet the day Saturday morning, this was the first view I saw:

Morning view of the mountains.
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Pretty great way to start the day! Bright shining early we were on the trains by 7:10am back down to the valley where Interlaken is located. We grabbed some bread and coffee from the local grocery store because we were up too early for our hostel's free breakfast. Then we were greeted at the train station at 8am by a guide from Outdoor Interlaken, the group we booked our day's activities through. He drove us to their place where we were fitted for wetsuits, jackets, helmets, and shoes- pretty legit. We then had about an hour bus ride up the mountain towards the canyons. It was super exciting changing in to our wetsuits on the side of the road too....in the cold mountain rain. Our group of six was lead in to the canyons by two guides along with three other people around our age (all originally from the states as well). The descent began with a repel down in to the canyon. The rest was just a rush of icy, intense canyoning in Canoyn Grimsel. Two hours of climbing, sliding down rocks, and jumping off cliffs in to the icy water. It was great! There is actually a link here to a youtube video of our experience. (Well, mostly of Harry's, but we all did the same stuff and weren't about to each pay for a video so we just split one.)

Suiting up for canyoning Grimsel.
Interlaken, Switzerland

When we got back in the buses, we were FREEZING! I am not sure if I have ever been more cold. Perfect day to forget my towel too, meaning I had to dry off with my spare shirt. I walked around for the next three hours in a wet shirt. By this time, it was around 2pm and we were starving. Outdoor Interlaken gave us sandwiches, but we went back to the grocery store for more bread and cheese and just took a break for a few hours. At 4pm we met with a guide from Alpin Raft who drove us up the mountain back towards Gridelwald where we stared death in the face and said, "You know what, I payed a lot of money to meet you today. Please don't let me die." 

Me realizing that I am falling 85 meters!
Canyon swing at Interlaken, Switzerland

And then we suited up and jumped 85 meters off a cliff to our near deaths. It was amazing!!!!! Basically, I was excited and a little nervous, but the fear didn't set in till after I had made the jump. Then it was instantaneous (as shown by my lovely face). I expected for the jump to be more outward and a earlier swing, really just to feel like a big leap with a few butterflies. I even attempted a Spiderman pose and was planning on smiling at the camera guy, but instead it felt like, "Oh...oh oh oh I am actually falling right now! Holy crap!" So rather than a jump, it was a straight free fall and then closer to the bottom I swung through. The swing was actually the best part because you just fly through the canyon. It was too fun! (Here is a link to that video as well.)

Eiger Mountain
Interlaken, Switzerland

So....after all of that, anything else seems a little dull in comparison doesn't it? We were dead tired by the end of the day and crashed as soon as we got back to the hostel. We were able to get a 6 bed room for the 6 of us, meaning no strangers to bunk with. The place we stayed at felt just like summer camp. Bunk beds, cabins, woods, turning off the lights but still telling stories as we fell asleep. Pretty cute. Morning came and we got our free breakfast from the hostel. There was plenty of Gruyere, a wonderful type of swiss cheese, to satisfy my tummy. We spent the rest of the day hiking through the mountains in Grindelwald. The views were impressive and simply breath-taking. The Eiger mountain had my attention all day. Hiking up through the mountain was great, but knowing our group, it was only expected that we got lost on the way down. We ended up walking down to where we made the canyon jump the day before and then proceeded to walk all the way to the base of the mountain, across part of the valley, and back up to the train station. Whoops! Props to our navigation skills. Before we got back on the trains home, we made sure to buy some classic Swiss army knives. I can now say that I own my first pocket knife! Yay!

We left on a train at 4pm, and with two connection changes, we were supposed to make it back to Metz around 10pm Sunday night. The French however, thought that that would be too easy. So instead, they decided to cancel our connecting train to Strasbourg, leaving us with no other connections that night in to Metz. With class in the morning and no money to spare, we get to Strasbourg via a later train (all our following connections could not be made at this point) and stood up for ourselves at the station. Who knew that if you actually walk in with a plan and complain, you could come out with a free hotel and breakfast as compensation? We were able to get nice individual hotel rooms for free for the night, a voucher for breakfast at the station in the morning, and the first train back to Metz in the morning. It turned out to be a fun night eating Chinese food and enjoying a nicer room than the one I have at Lafayette. We made it back in the morning and, as usual, dropped our stuff, cleaned up a bit, and headed to class. This life is crazy!

Weekend Three: London and Amsterdam

Sorry for the delay in posting about my weekend excursion to London and Amsterdam! It has been difficult finding the time to write here. I started this post last Wednesday morning when I returned but was pulled away and haven't gotten back to it until now. But here is what I started plus the rest added on now:

Journey from Metz (blue star) to London to Amsterdam and back!

"Home" again! My home away from home at least. Every weekend away feels like a month-long journey, and each first shower back in my own room feels like the best shower of my life. I have never felt so dirty as I do when I ride the overnight trains. It is also crazy to think that I arrived back to Lafayette at 9:30am this morning, yet in 48 hours I will be packing to leave AGAIN! No complaints, I love this! But, it is kinda crazy.

I thoroughly enjoyed our 4-day break. And really it was longer- I had half of Friday, all of Saturday through Tuesday, and part of Wednesday off. So much happened this weekend. I just like writing down everything I can remember so that I can try and live through it again in the future. Sorry if the length of this one bores you!

For starters, there is that little part of GTL called...hmmm....oh yeah, school! It really has been a struggle to keep up with all of my work and studying while also walking everywhere, planning everything, and traveling over any moment I don't have class. Friday I had my first test of the semester in statistics, my hardest class. It took two hours and I had to bolt to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station as soon as I was finished. Hard to focus like that, but it went alright I suppose. And instead of writing it all down, how 'bout I just give a break down of what it took to get to London this weekend:

• bus to Metz Ville train station
• train from Metz Ville to Luxembourg
• bus from Luxembourg to Frankfurt Hahn Airport
• taxi from Luxembourg to Frankfurt Hahn Airport
• plane from Frankfurt Hahn Airport to London Stansted Airport
• bus from London Stansted Airport to Liverpool Street Station
• walk from Liverpool Street Station to St. Christopher's Inn Hostel

Yep!

And the scratch-through was only a minor tragedy in my wallet. Our TGV train (the fast kind, remember), which we paid for and reserved ended up arriving to Luxembourg over 15 minutes late. This is rare in Europe and was totally unexpected, causing us to miss the connecting bus we payed for. As a result we had to catch a taxi all the way from Luxembourg to the Frankfurt Hahn Airport. We were lucky to get the driver we did though. He was self-employed, and therefore was able to offer us a rate much lower than any of the other drivers. Peter was his name, and truly God must have sent him to help us. He saw our situation and from a driver's perspective, offered us a ride at a very reduced price. The drive took almost an hour and a half, and you know he had to drive all the way back. Three hours out of his day plus gas, over dinner hours, and while it was expensive to us, he really did give us the cheapest ride possible. Also, I enjoyed his gospel music that he invited us to jam out to the whole way there. "Je suis Christian." "Je suis Christian aussi!" is all it took to connect with the man. Also, I don't even want to talk about it, but more fees ensued with Ryanair once we arrived at the airport due to failed group communication. And with Ryanair, there is no room for slip-ups. That's how they make their money.

Long story somewhat shorter, we made it to London!!! The English part of my blood was loving those Fish n' chips and British accents. Our group of 4 met up with another group of 5, and the 9 of us (math!) enjoyed Saturday and Sunday exploring London. We had a special surprise Saturday morning, which was getting to see a practice-round parade in preparation for the Queen's birthday coming up. We listened to the band practice different marches and then watched as the horses and band and artillery all marched down the street towards Buckingham Palace.

Me on the white horse statue

After that, I don't know why, but we were all pretty amused with this white statue of a horse so we climbed on it for a good 15 minutes. Then we headed to the National Gallery where we proceeded to climb on lion statues. The gallery was awesome for two reasons: it was free, and it had great art. Unfortunately, we barely got to spend any time inside- and it was huge! But what I did get to see, I enjoyed. When we came out, we were surprised to find a Turkish protest forming. Full fledged red flags waving and chanting. Really not the sort of thing you want to get pulled in to whilst in another country, even if it is peaceful. We steered away and looked for lunch where we got some pretty decent fish and chips for cheap. After lunch we headed to the Thames River.

River Thames and Big Ben in the background

On the way we passed Big Ben! More Turkish protesting was going on down there though, so we took pictures from the other side of the street. Continuing onward we walked along London bridge and got some praline peanuts from some street vendors.  Down by the river was a lot going on! Street performers were doing magic shows and playing music, there was a comedy show and a beer garden, as well as all of the other tourist attractions. Our group decided to take a boat tour down the Thames where we passed under London and Tower Bridge. I personally prefer any sort of tours we can take because you get a lot of history along with them. After the tour down the river, Harry, Jay, and I kept walking along the River Thames and exploring while the rest of our friends took a ride in the London Eye. For dinner we ended up at some Asian restaurant...not really food specific to London, but hey, I like me some Pad Thai.

In the evening we all hung out in the bar at the bottom of our hostel which ended up being a really cool place. We were staying at St. Christopher's Inn and Hostel and I liked it. They had a neat break-out room/lounge and good lockers you could rent during the day even after you've checked out. I would recommend it to anyone traveling to London in the near future. The thing about hostels though, is that most of the time your experience is more dependent on the people you are rooming with than the hostel itself. For example, the hostel we stayed in was alright (for a hostel). The other people in our room....were interesting. There were 6 British guys in their mid-30s on a week-long bachelor party rooming with us. One of the guys I met, Sebastian, was pretty nice. However, I have to say no, I did not appreciate coming back to the room and finding a mostly naked drunk man passed out in the middle of the floor covered in his own vomit. But hey, give me a bed and free coffee in the morning and I'll stay almost anywhere.

Sunday we walked along Tower Bridge and visited Shakespeare's Globe and London Tower. Fun fact about London Bridge: it's ugly. London Bridge is actually a small grey, nothing-special-to-it bridge across the Thames. When you look it up on google images, the fancy bridge that pops up is actually Tower Bridge! Just a little ways further down the river from London Bridge is the impressive Tower Bridge, and we walked along it toward Shakespeare's Globe. The Globe was pretty neat, but unfortunately we did not have the time or money to watch a play. If I understood correctly though, it has been renovated using the same materials that it would have originally been made with. After that, we spent the rest of our time in London at London Tower. I could have spent an entire day there! We were taken on a tour by this awesome guide who told us all of the old history about the buildings we were seeing. I got to look at the Bloody Tower where many medieval murderous events took place. We saw Traitor's Gate where prisoners were taken in to the Tower of London before they were executed. We even saw the crown jewels! The coronation crown that they use for the coronation of every new queen was in there! Not to mention other cool artifacts like armor and swords.

Tower Bridge

So in a very large nutshell, that was London. On to Amsterdam!

Swedish meatballs and mousse on the cruise!

What better way to get to Amsterdam than by ferry across the English Channel? "No better way at all, Holly!" That's what we thought, but turns out the answer is: by cruise!! From London we took a bus to Harwich. Then we booked a 'ferry' to take us from Harwich to Hook of Holland, Netherlands overnight. Travelling by night kills two birds with one stone: transportation and a place to sleep, all while allowing for more daytime in the cities you visit. Technically, we did take a ferry, because it had a car port under the deck. But it was actually a cruise for the rest of the passengers who were already on board. Deck 9 was where it was at: casino tables, restaurants, gift shops, video game room, and basketball court. Oh yeah, and a cinema on board that was playing Iron Man 3. No big deal! It was a great surprise, but also made us not want to sleep at all. The sleep we did get was good too since we had our own room for the 4 of us with a nice shower. Totally worth it.

Monday morning rolls around and bright and early we pull in to the harbor. It was a short train ride then bus in to Amsterdam. We checked in to our hostel, the Flying Pig, and then went out exploring. Bikes were everywhere! Crossing the road was incredibly confusing because there is a pedestrian lane, bike lane, car lane, and tram lane. Also, I didn't realize that Amsterdam has a lot of cool waterways and bridges running through the city. We saw the Van Gough museum, which was interesting. I liked his art and got to see the famous sunflowers. However, I think there were 4 levels, and for paintings it was a little much for me to focus on. After that we got sandwiches for lunch. Mine had some sort of olives in it that were really good! From there we decided to take a sneak peak of the red light district. All I can say is....no I really don't have much to say about that. In case you didn't know how it works there (I didn't know), you literally window shop for hookers. Like, rows of glass cubicles with girls in each one all along the street. Dinner we just ate burgers at a cafe.

Surprisingly, Amsterdam really doesn't have much going for it if you aren't there for the "coffee shops" or hookers. Tuesday we had a lot of time to kill, so we were able to visit the Heineken museum. That was probably my favorite part of my trip to Amsterdam. The tour of the museum explained how Heineken got started, the brewing process, and of course, included beer samples.

There was also this funny motion simulated ride inside where you pretend to go through the process of being brewed. Educational! (...joke) One section of the museum that I found cool was showing old and new Heineken commercials from different countries. After the museum, we headed to the big park that was next to our hostel, grabbed some baguettes, meats, and cheeses from a supermarket along the way, and had a picnic in the grass by the lake. It was so wonderfully sunny and warm that we fell asleep there for hours. After being on the move so much, I really enjoyed taking a moment to relax. And with that, we woke up and headed to our couchette which brought us back, with beds thank goodness, to Metz by Monday morning. Just in time for a shower and class again! Gotta get used to that. The one thing I wish we had been able to see in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank House. It was a ways out from where we were staying though, and we heard the line gets hours long.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my 4-day weekend trip to London and Amsterdam! It was a lot to fit in, but well worth it.


...Now time for me to go join the girls in the red light district....cause I'm broke. :P

Weekend Two: Prague

This past weekend's destination was Prague! Even though we only had a two-day weekend, it feels as if we were gone for a week. I arrived back to my dorm Monday morning at around 10am, just in time to take a much needed shower and make it to my 11:30 CS class.

Center Square
Prague, Czech Republic

So Friday after class got out, we were in a crunch. We had three hours to print any study material for the trains, pack, cook and eat dinner, and take the bus downtown to the train station to board the first of many, many trains this weekend. Trying to be more conservative this trip, we only packed one major bag for the three of us, and then my backpack full of snacks and homework. This way at least one person could always be "posting" the bags. We boarded our first train at 7:30pm Friday night that took us from Metz to Strasbourg. Once at the Strasbourg station, we found a convenience shop and got some pastries and red bulls for the morning. This turned out to be a good idea because it was a long night. From Strasbourg we changed over to a train (more like a small shuttle) that took us to Offenburg. Then it was a quick change on to the night train that would take us the long stretch across Germany from Offenberg all the way to Prague in the Czech Republic. For this train we had gotten reservations for sleeperette seats. Our impression was that a sleeperette was between the luxury of a couchette(beds on the trains) and normal train seats, meaning we would be sleeping in seats, but there would be a good amount of recline. I still am not sure whether what we were in was a true sleeperette or not....Basically, we spent the night in a Harry Potter style car that had 6 seats in it, and only an inch of recline per seat. There was another young girl we met in our car as well who was very nice, and at a stop later in the night, we picked up another man. So, 5 out of 6 seats taken and no real difference from a normal upright seat....picture people playing tetris while trying to sleep. It was a rough night. Oh man, not to mention the car was super hot so we were feeling crazy gross in the morning. BUT, it was an experience, right?!

14 hours later and we arrived in Prague! All I kept thinking was, I could have taken a plane to China for that amount of travel! Prague was an impressive city and we got there early in the morning for a full day of exploring. Courtesy of Google Maps...just take a look at how far we decided to travel, just for the weekend:

Metz, France to Prague, Czech Republic

Yeah....

Prague Castle

But it was so worth it! Some expert travelers might say to avoid touristy sites, but honestly, I enjoy all the old historic beauties that tourists go to see for a reason. Prague Castle was just astounding. I have never witnessed anything like it before. And Charles Bridge was so terrifically eerie at night with the statues of old saints on the backdrop of the water.

Charles Bridge

We visited the Old Town and New Town, and just wandered from street to street, enjoying the view. We also were incredibly sore from the train ride over and got excited at a sign for a 9 euro massage. But, as with anything like that, there was a lot of fine print and it wasn't worth it.

The food was, of course, delicious. Each time our group goes to a different city, we decide to all try something local or authentic from that area, from the beer to the main dish. Therefore, in following our rule, we each tried the Budweiser Budvar. It goes like this: in what is now the Czech Republic, back in Bohemian times, there was a town named Budweis. In this town, the German-speaking Czechs brewed a beer that they  correspondingly named Budweiser. Near, but not exactly, this same time, a Budweiser beer showed up in America. So, there are apparently two Budweisers, not really the same thing, and the Czech's claim to be the first to have invented it. At least I think that's about right. Along with the beer, we tried the Czech goulash, and later on the roast duck. I have never had roast duck before, and just like last week with the rabbit, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed it far more than the rabbit and it came with some tasty pickled cabbage. Simply delicious. And yet again, the main square was lined with food stands where on Saturday, we tried their sausages and Sunday, their ham. Sunday was pretty miserable though. It was raining and freezing cold, and we got the ham and ate it while standing up, huddled together in a circle like a bunch of hobos. But hey, it was something!

Before we left, we went shopping. Seeing as the weather is not letting up and I have been forced to wear the same two pairs of pants almost every day for a week on end, we needed some more appropriate clothing for this cold weather. (Don't blame me for not realizing we're at about the same degree North as Ontario, Canada! It supposedly hits 90 F here in the summers.) Anywho, we quickly learned that all the clothes in Europe are too pricey, cause they actually dress well here all the time and care about their clothes more than I do. Sorry for still being slightly tom-boyish. The irony then, was that the only store we found that we could afford was New Yorker. So, we went shopping at New Yorker in Prague. Judge me not for buying cheap sweatpants and skinny jeans, for I am comfortable.

The train ride back was slightly better I guess. At least this time we had the car all to ourselves and the window would open and let cool air in. Still, I would not recommend traveling overnight by train unless by couchette. Actually, I would still say if you're young, do it once just to do it! It is an experience, all being miserable and tired and gross together. Gotta go through it once in life.

Sorry that this post is so delayed and fairly rushed through. It has been insanely busy this week as first tests are approaching (as in, my first one is tomorrow and I have no idea what I am doing >.< ) For an update on what is coming up, I leave tomorrow for a crazy adventure that involves buses, trains, planes, the underground, AND a ferry. Literally, all of the above. Destination: London then Amsterdam. Duration: Friday - Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning. Can't wait!