Ankunft!

Omar is here! Priscilla is coming! Jon is coming! Katie is coming! Football is coming! Wooo!

So I'm back in the U.S. and wanted to take this time to share some of my experiences upon returning. The trip back, which I took with Priscilla went very smoothly. We took the early train to Frankfurt and devised an effective plan for manuevering luggage up and down the stairs and from train to train. One of us would stand on the train, while the other handed all the luggage up from the platform. We changed trains once and arrived at the airport with plenty of time to catch our flight.

We arrived in Chicago, and were immediately annoyed with the U.S. The long line snaking through just one of four customs lines designated for U.S. citizens seemed not to be a re-entry point, but rather a daycare center. There were no less than 8 children directly in front of us and 3 behind us. Screaming, whining children. I had gotten so used to the dramatically lower number of small children in Germany that I had almost completely forgotten their over-abundance in the US.

After picking up our luggage, Priss and I then parted ways, as she lives in Chicago. I rechecked my luggage and headed to my connecting flight to Greenville-Spartanburg. I took a crowded tram to my gate area, then had to go through security again. It was, again, quite a line to wait in and I was more annoyed than ever at the ridiculous rule about removing shoes. (I had been wearing them for about 21 hours at this point. They smelled, er, not their best, and the woman at the gate made sure to announce it to the world that they didn't.)

When I heard the man behind the X-ray machine announce "bag check!" as my bag rolled through, I tried not to scream with frustration. After all, I had had over 2 hours from when my flight from Frankfurt landed and when my flight to GSP started boarding, and now I only had about 20 minutes left. The man that performed my bag check slowly unzipped my bag with gloved hands and proceeded to take out everything in my bag in the slowest fashion possible. I'm sure he was going to slow as to make sure not to break anything. Certainly it wouldn't occur to him that one might be late because of the dreaded "bag check!" call. I'm convinced 'in a timely manner' is not in his job description.

A small change cup was the culprit. Apparently everything jumbled together is hard to dechiper on an X-Ray machine. It was also the last item he pulled out of my bag. After hastily snatching my items back and ramming them into my bag (to which he replied "What time does your flight leave?" Hmmm... so maybe it had occured to him?), I took off in search of my gate. I had about 10 minutes to find it. Seems like plenty of time, until you consider the size of the O'Hare airport.

Finally, I found my gate. Of course, it was the last gate in the terminal, all the way at the end of the hall. I had about 5 minutes before they started boarding, because the flight before was delayed by a late passenger. On the plane, a rather rude air attendant announced we were 'welcomed' to our flight. Luckily, I was able to catch about 30 minutes of shut eye before arriving in GSP.

I love the GSP airport. So small and unencumbered. I simply walked off my flight, down a few stairs and met Valerie! Though one of my bags wasn't in the terminal, it was 'on it's way' and was delivered to Valerie's house the very next day. Now I've fixed up my car, spent time with family, and moved into my new apartment in Clemson. Next on the list: finding a job.

As for now, I'm thoroughly annoyed at Clemson University. They offer no help for study abroad students. It seems every person is out of the office or simply will not return my phone calls/emails. Lovely. I have to pay an extra $34 for my parking permit, as I can't transfer any credits and get the senior discount. I can't get my scholarships until I transfer my credits and show that I didn't sit on my butt all last year by not attending classes. I can't transfer credits until I get an official transcript from Germany, because Clemson doesn't take the Scheinen. I can't get a transcript until I send the Scheinen back to Germany and wait for their return. AHHHH!!

Berlin: July 27-28

Despite designating today to be the day to pack, I'll take a short break and put up some information from my short trip to Berlin.

My friend Beverly and I took the 4 hour, 74 Euro (round-trip) ICE train leaving at 7:08. It was a great train ride because I absolutely LOVE the ICE seats and "dream pillows" as I call the headrests. Plus we didn't have to change trains once.

We stayed at Meininger Hostel for 15 Euro, which included linens, towels, and an all you can eat breakfast buffet. It was very close to a U-Bahn and S-Bahn stop, so location was ideal and reception was open 24 hours. They also had a luggage room you could use after check-out at 10, which was helpful.

Walking around Berlin was great. Clear skies were the order of the day, so Beverly and I took advantage of the weather and decided to visit the Berlin Zoo and Aquariam. For a 14 Euro combination pass, we gained access to both sites. We saw everything from elephants, giraffes, monkeys, tigers, bears, goats, cattle, deer, and vultures to alligators, turtles, sharks, frogs, salamanders, and different species of ants. We didn't get to see the famous polar bear Knut, though. There were simply too many people crowded around his area. Which, I might add, was not in any type of cool environment. It was outside in the heat.

A note on the ants: It was a bit disturbing when we were in the insect portion and one cage had caution tape stretched the whole area. We looked inside to see a bunch of ants. Unfortunately, we also saw several of these same ants crawling on the outside of the cage... We didn't stay long in the area.

The rest of the day was spent walking around seeing the famous sights of Berlin. We saw the Brandenburg Tor, and the Reichstag. We decided to spend some time in the grass admiring the Reichstags to rest our weary feet.

Since everyone had told us to try a Doener in Berlin, we hunted for almost an hour to find one for dinner. We finally found one, but only in the Bahnhof. It was definitely better than I've had before, but still not as amazing as everyone described. Of course, it did come from the Bahnhof. We then returned to our hostel, but were so tired that we didn't even bother to enjoy our free "welcome drink" provided in the connecting bar. Beverly and I didn't sleep well, because two other girls came in at 12:30 and were quite loud setting up their beds.

Nevertheless, we woke up the next morning ready to see more. After taking full advantage of our included breakfast, we checked out and left our heavier items in the luggage room. We headed to see Checkpoint Charlie, the Berliner Dom, the Fernseher Turm, a portion of the wall, and Schloss Charlottenburg.

Unfortunately, it cost 3 euro to see the Dom. I didn't want to pay on principle. Churches are supposed to be free. We couldn't find any huge parts of the wall, but we did see the line that runs through the city denoting where it had once stood. The Turm was highly visible from most of the city, and Schloss Charlottenburg was very pretty. We didn't go in, because our feet were killing us. After that, we headed back to get our things and took the 16:57 train back to Bamberg.

While we didn't go in the Reichstag, despite being free, because the line was incredibly long, and though we didn't pay to see the inside of the Dom, I feel this trip was productive. We were able to visit a zoo with the most species in the world, we saw all the major historical points, and even enjoyed some Starbucks and the best Doener I've tasted. I'm glad I was able to visit Germany's capital city before returning home.

As a side note: I didn't do as much as I would have, because I have a nasty infection on my big toe. It's quite disgusting and it makes walking more painful, especially in closed toe shoes. Gross, I know. But it had to be said. Oh, and pictures later.

On Leaving, or something like that

Two 6 page papers: Check
One 10 page paper: Check
Two written exams: Check
Two oral exams: Check
Berlin: Morgen früh

I'm done with this year.
I don't want to leave.
I can't wait. Very anxious.

More later.

Luzern, Switzerland: May 3-5

Ok, since I'm backtracking, I won't bore you with too many details about my trip to Luzern, Switzerland. Here are the essentials:

1. The train from Bamberg is 7 hours, and I stayed at Backpackers Lucerne.
Advertising note: This is a great hostel to stay in because they exchange money for free, the staff members are knowledgeable about the area, and so friendly! They even have a stock of coats left behind by other backpackers (all washed and clean!) which came in very useful.

2. The first day I shelled out the big bucks for a four part trip to nearby Mt. Pilatus. I first rode a boat across Lake Luzern to get on the steepest cogwheel train in the world. Once on the mountain peek, donning the hostel provided jacket (because I didn't think about it being cold on the mountain top! go me!), I hiked around and got an amazing view, despite the cloudy day. Then I took a gondola down the other side of the mountain to catch a bus back to the city.

3. It rained. A lot. I gave myself a city tour with the fairly decent tourist map and saw almost everything in half a day. I decided to cut the last day of my trip (the 6th), and the hostel had no problem with refunding the money. I walked around more on Saturday, and took the 2 pm train back to Bamberg.

4. Major points of interest: Loewendenkmal, Glacier museum, Chapel Bridge, Musegg Wall, and a myriad of small town squares with lovely architecture....like all of Europe :-) Enjoy:

Prague: July 5-8

On Thursday I added number nine to the list of different countries I've visited since I've been in Germany: the Czech Republic. For the grand total of 145 euros, I traveled to Prague with about 100 other exchange and native German students.

I must say it wasn't the best trip I've ever been on (it will take an fairly spectacular trip to beat out Portugal), but not because of the beautiful city. The only thing I could do was laugh at myself and be light hearted about everything else.

Problem 1: The bus picking us up from Bamberg was late. Now this doesn't seem like much of a dilemma, but it made us late picking up more students in the town of Erlangen. This will transform into an even larger one, as I will relate later.

(Almost) Problem 2: Silly little me had gotten so secure about not having to show anyone my passport while traveling, that I left it in my luggage bag. It was safely locked in the lower regions of the double decker bus, but not within my reach. While nothing came of it, I certainly was panicking when we actually had to stop at the Czech Republic border.

Problem 3: We arrived so late in Prague, that we had to completely cut out lunch time from our schedule. No one had any crowns yet, so there was no way of stopping into a fast food place to get anything. Result: Me. Hungry. Not. Good.

Problem 4: After taking the most round-about way into town, we began looking for somewhere to exchange money. First place: rate wasn't good enough. Second place: even worse exchange rate than the first. Third place: Just right. But only for about 15 people. Good thing I was one of them! Fourth place: accomodated a lot more. Fifth place: It was a bank, so people could withdraw money instead of exchanging euros. It was getting a bit ridiculous, so after that everyone had to branch out on their own if they needed money. Keep in mind the sky decided pelt rain on everyone, so we were soaking wet for the rest of the day.

Problem 5: At this point we trekked over to the national museum. This isn't a real problem, per se, but it was a lot of geological items and not all information was in a language I could understand. National Museum may sound interesting, but it was more for children. Plus: Me still hungry.

Problem 6: After eating (finally food!!) at a typical Czech restaurant (with a less than friendly waiter and untimely service, but tasty food!!), John and I decided to leave. We didn't know anyone in our group as we had split up to eat, and I had a pounding headache. Unfortunately for us, our dorm wasn't even on the map! So we were, of course, lost. After walking around for an hour uphill, stopping in 2 hotels and taking a tram without a ticket (only two stops!) we finally made it back.

Problem 7: I shared a room with Amanda, and we had some American suite-mate guys who were studying at an English uni for the semester. They seemed nice enough. Until it was 1 in the morning and they were playing rap music so loud that it woke even me, the dead sleeper! For an entire hour they blasted their beats, even rapping along to some of them. How thoughtful. If that wasn't bad enough, they played it again starting at 7:30 in the morning until they left for the weekend at 9. Lovely. At least they were gone.

Here ends the laundry list of my disappointments with the Prague. Even though our city tour was canceled on Friday, we had one on Saturday (that also started half an hour late). But it was worth the wait. We had the most amusing Czech tour guide who said the funniest things while on our English tour.

What could be so great? "He even had to die in his bed because he couldn't find a mate." "This is a one way street. It is awkward and unpleasant." "This tower has not been built so high anymore." And the best? He continually said things like, "When he was king he did many things e.g. tearing down the tower." It was e.g. hilarious.

The weather was sunny the rest of the weekend, the club was somewhat entertaining (5 stories) , and the old Jewish cemetary was fascinating. I loved spending time with my British and Canadian friends, and making a few on the way. The castle was beautiful, the architecture gorgeous, and despite being unorganized, the people who set up the trip were nice.

Oh and one last problem: on the way home, we were making great time when the bus broke down! I had to pee, and the toilet on the bus was already broken. So what to do?? Well, let's just say you have to do what you have to do. After waiting for an hour for our replacement bus, we climbed aboard and finally made it back home to Bamberg.

June 22-June 25

To me, this whole weekend was one big day. On Saturday I experienced American football, European style! On Monday, I'm still paying for it. It all started Friday night...

It just so happened that the exchange program of Bamberg organized its last party of the year for last Friday. After being convinced to go out, and convincing my friend Romina myself to come out, we headed out for a less than average night.

First, the Eintritt was 3 euros. Second, I got a beer but only drank half because a friend knocked the rest over. I've done it myself, though, so I didn't say anything. Third, the music was on repeat. Seriously, we heard more than a few songs twice. Fourth, Priscilla was so upset about her lost black belt!

Well, we ended up getting home around 3:30 after taking a taxi home. I didn't mind, though, because I had a day of football to look forward to. And it turns out Priscilla's belt never left her room; she found it the next day safely strewn across her bathroom floor.

Now: World Bowl time! Erinn, Shawn (Ami) , Jenny (Brit) and I left Bamberg on the 12:20 train to Frankfurt. We were all really excited, and even met a German who has lived in Manhatten for 45 years. He happened to be very talkative, but I had to cover up my bare arms to protect myself from his occasional rains of spittal.

In true football tradition, we "train"gated with Pringles, muffins, Smiley's, and our own beverage of choice. Mine: Vodka and Coke. Erinn: Cider. Shawn: see mine. Jenny: beer. Once in Frankfurt, it started raining. But we came prepared!! We rocked our colorful, 50 cent ponchos while we walked around looking at all the booths set up outside the stadium. I even bought a home team scarf (Gooo Galaxy!) I must say, I was probably a little biased with such amazing colors as ORANGE AND PURPLE!! Woot! On that note, I also happened to meet a man from SC sporting a CLEMSON TIGER'S hat!! It just made the trip that much better.

Once we found our standing room only spots (at only 13 euros a spot!), Meatloaf played before the game! I'm not sure how old he is, but he sounded pretty good. During the whole game, people were blowing whistles (I could never tell if it was a ref or not), waving flags and banging on drums. There weren't many Hamburg Sea Devil fans, but certainly a ton of Frankfurt Galaxy fans.

After the game (Sea Devils won, but I don't remember the score), we headed back to the train station. We had already decided to pull an all-nighter so we wouldn't have to pay for a hostel, but we met some British guys. Instead of spending a boring night on cold concrete, we headed to the Irish pub right across from the Bahnhof and spent all night chatting with our new friends. They ended up walking us to our 5:30 am train! After that, I passed out on the train, only waking up when Jenny made me change trains. I didn't get back to my room until 10 Sunday morning!

It was all worth it, but I'm still paying for it. I absolutely canNOT speak. I have completely lost my voice from all my screaming at the game; I can barely manage a whisper. I didn't care who won. I didn't care if it was a crappy call. Heck, I didn't really even pay that much attention to the actual game! I just like to scream at some football! But seriously, 13 euros for the SuperBowl equivalent of Europe? Gotta love it.

Procrastination.

Ok. Now it's better. Thanks Romsi! :-)

So, this is me, procrastinating. Who can work when they live here? What, you may ask, am I procrastinating? Well let me just tell you.

All of my final exam work. Although I have 5 weeks until the end of classes, I already feel overwhelmed. Here are my classes and the require work:

1. Soziologie im Lebenslauf. Ich muss zwei Hausarbeiten ueber ein Thema aus dem Unterricht schreiben. Gott sei Dank muss die Hausarbeit nicht lange sein und auf englisch. Aber nachdem ich ein ganzes Jahr nichts getan habe, denke ich, es ist viel.

2. Piraten als Lit Thema. Hier muss ich einfach ein Buch lesen, aber auf deutsch. In diesem Kurs muss ich eine muendliche Pruefung machen, aber ich kann sie mit 2 oder 3 andere Austauschstudenten mache, deshalb lesen wir allen das gleiche Buch: Ein Handvoll Gold von John Steinbeck. Vielleicht mache ich es einfach und lese das Buch auf englisch :-)

3. Strategic Management. Ich sage hier einfach: woe is me! Ich muss nicht nur eine mündliche Prüfung machen, sondern auch eine 10 Seiten Hausarbeit!! Der Kurs ist auf Englisch, aber... 10 Seiten will ich nicht schreiben! Grrr.

4. Current Problems in International Trade. Der ist noch ein Kurs auf englisch. Dafuer weiss ich noch nicht was ich machen soll. Ich denke es ist ein.. discussion essay. Vielleicht gibt der Lehrer uns einen Zitat und mussen wir darueber ihm reden.

5. Wortschatz und Landeskunde. Hier muss ich einfach eine normale Pruefung machen. Endlich etwas das ich kenne!

Ok, Romina: ich erwarte, dass du mich korrigierst. ;-) (THANKS!!)

Random

So this is just a random post because I'm bored, and I don't really feel like writing about my trip that came next. I just wanted to say how much fun I've been having this weekend, without even going to another country.

On Friday, a bunch of the exchange students (Wes and Jill, Beverly, Ned, Kohler, Andreas, and myself) got together to go to a little concert held in Hain Park. It was the start to a three day festival. It started raining, however, and there weren't many people there, so we all left and saved our 7 euros. Instead, we headed to Faessla, a very popular bar in Bamberg with a special every night.

I hadn't eaten all day and tried their Chili con Carne for the first time. It was really good, especially for only costing 1 euro! My kind of food :-) After a few rounds of the Mexican night special (a shot of tequila with a slice of orange covered in cinnamon and a Zwergla beer), we stopped just up the street to enjoy some of the best pizza slices in Bamberg- I was still hungry because the chili was all I'd eaten that day. Then we headed back to our dorm to enjoy movie night. We gathered in Wes' room to watch Hot Fuzz, a cop comedy from the UK. It was pretty funny and had a surprise ending- not bad at all.

Then yesterday (Saturday), the same group of people (this time with Romina, too!) gathered on our roof terrace to simply talk and hang out. It was the start of a long night, with lots of beer to go around. It ended in a pre-planned party on the ground floor of our dorm, complete with dancing and cocktails. I didn't drink much Friday or Saturday in order to save money, but it was still lots of fun! And no, I didn't dance, either haha.

Then today I made a trip with Romina to McDonald's. It's always a treat because it's technically in another city- though only a 5 minute car ride (4o minute walk). I enjoyed a cheeseburger and a Kit-Kat McFlurry to go. Yummmm.

Total cost of this weekend: 9 euros, 40 cents. Not bad.

Trier and Luxembourg City: April 28-29

This time I was off to Trier, Germany and Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. This was my first semi-solo trip. Using my Eurail Pass I purchased for the visit with my sister, I took the 6 hour train ride to Trier. The scenery from the train ride was gorgeous, as the it followed the Mosel River up to the oldest city in Germany. At every curve or bend, an old castle or fortress overlooking the river would appear, showing a part of Germany I hadn't seen before. (Picture here is of Lux).

Once in Trier, I walked around the city a bit with my luggage, killing time until check-in time at Hilles Hostel. Once it was time to check-in, I found my hostel relatively easily. I was in a 6 bed co-ed room, and when I first arrived no one else was there. I made my bed and dropped off my bags, making sure I didn't leave anything valuable.

Then I headed back to the train station. I took the 45 minute train ride to Luxembourg City. I won't lie, I was a little scared when I first got off the train. After getting a relatively undetailed tourist map from the train station, I walked outside to find a large group of teenage hooligans making a ruckus in French. Luckily, Luxembourg has three official languages, German being one of them.

Once away from all the noise, I found Luxembourg City to be very pretty. Unfortunately everything was pretty much already closed when I got there. I didn't get to see the underground casements that once held soldiers and their supplies, but I did see The Grand-Ducal Palace and the Three Towers.

Lucky for me, I just so happened to be there on a day of city-wide celebrations! A festival of sorts was set up during the day with local merchants selling everything from handmade jewelry to carnival food. As night fell, I made my way to the main attraction. The streets were thronging with people as I passed beer stands, live bands, and mechanical, moving structures covered in small lamps of fire that were lit to create a spectacular display of dancing light.

The valley where this took place had an amazing backdrop. One could look from the plaza out onto a mountain side of flat rock. This rock was covered in strings of burning fire lamps. Rows and rows of lamps lined the mountain side. The light reflected off the small river that flowed through the valley, and the live brass band finished off the culture rich atmosphere. On this day Luxembourg City happened to wrest me of 15 Euros for a CD from one of the local bands and 20 for a pair of handmade earrings. I still think it was worth it, but perhaps it was something in the air that made me spend that much in one day...

Back in Trier the next day, I met up with Katie and Priscilla who had taken the train from Bamberg that day. Together, we toured Porta Nigra (black gate), a lasting testament to the Roman empire. Also in that vein were ruins of old Roman baths. Though there's little evidence they were ever used, they were some of the largest built in the empire.

We saw the basilica, cathedral and Walderdorf palace, as well as a Roman ampitheater with the underground rooms still in tact. It was a busy day, but worth all the walking. We then took the last train back to Bamberg, arrive around 1 am. Trier is a small city rich in history, and Luxembourg is rich in culture. I truely enjoyed this little weekend trip, and it helped me learn I'm alright with traveling by myself.

Portugal: April 3-12

Wooo Hooo! I went to Portugal! I just want to say how much I'm in love with Portugal now that I've been there. And I don't mean the "Oh, that's a great place to visit" kind of love, I mean the "Oh, I wouldn't mind packing up all my stuff right now and moving there" kind of love. I had been stuck in grey, rainy, cold Germany all winter when I went to Portugal, and it seriously pulled me out the gloomy state I had been stuck in since winter started.

It's sunny, it's happy, it's warm, it's beautiful! I went with Shawn, Priscilla, Molly (all American), and Angela (Canadian), and seriously fell in love with the country. We flew, and our first stop was the capital, Lisbon. Thank goodness we had Angela along, because she speaks Portugese!

And let me just add this little bit of amusing information: Priscilla and I almost missed our flight! We took a train to the airport in Frankfurt, but we were running to check in. When we finally found the check-in spot, the two ladies behind the counter were saying we weren't going to make it. They gave us our tickets, and we flew up the stairs to find the gate. When we arrived at security, we couldn't take our luggage on the plane due to liquids. So the security attendant directed us to baggage check in. Only, he sent us down an escalater that was only going up. After almost tripping down that, we found the stairs, dropped our luggage off and ran back up to security. Then we had to run to find our gate, and as we arrived, they were making the final boarding announcement. As soon as he saw us, the man stopped his page.

And back to Portugal. Lisbon is home to Castelo de São Jorge, or the Castle of St. George. The first fortifications date back from the 2nd Century BC. It offers a beautiful view of the city and overlooks where the Tagus River empties into the Atlantic Ocean. I have now seen both sides of the Atlantic Ocean :-)

Portugal is a country of sun and decorative tiles. The people were friendly, the cities were clean, and atmosphere was great. I simply cannot say enough about it! We did a lot of sightseeing in Lisbon, including the castle, numerous statues and monuments, and the Church of Santa Maria Maior.

We then spent a day in Sintra, home to Pena National Palace built by King Fernando II, and although we weren't able to visit the Castelo dos Muoros, we viewed it's splendor from afar. Molly, Priscilla and I hiked up a long path to get better views of the city, but only were able to see the forest on the mountain. It was a good hike, however, and the woods were still pretty. Priscilla just happened to sprain her ankle on the way down... so she had to buy a brace and wear it the rest of the trip. But she lived.

From Lisbon, we took a four hour bus ride to Lagos. Lagos is, by far, my favorite city in Portugal. We had an amazing hostel that was a three bedroom house, complete with a bathroom for every room, a full kitchen, and a patio. There wasn't much sight seeing to do in Lagos, but you didn't need it when you could lay out in the Algarve.

The beaches were amazing, the sand simply brushed off your body, and the water was so much cleaner than I've seen on the other side of the Atlantic. After haggling for a group price, we took a boat trip to view the 15 beaches of the Algarve, including one called "Potato Beach." Our guide was very nice, and even allowed Shawn and Angela to jump off the boat. He thought they were crazy because the water was still very cold when we went- they were the first ones of the season to ask to jump off. He even showed us the boat taxis waiting for tourists to come down from the western-most point of Europe to be taken back to the main beach area.

The atmosphere in Lagos was very layed back. I simply cannot stress how great this trip was. We layed out on the beach every day in Lagos, and the rest of the time was spent walking around the shops, drinking wine and playing cards on our patio, and I admit: watching loads of MTV music videos. Let's just say Nelly Furtado was very popular there.

I will say that Priscilla and I attended church on Easter Sunday. The church was packed so full with tourists and Portugese alike, that the doors weren't even staying closed. Priscilla and I decided to say a prayer and leave, as the service was in Portugese and we couldn't understand any of it. We also thought we should give people standing outside a chance to get in on Easter.

I would love to someday go back to Portugal. I know exactly what city I would go to, I know exactly what hostel I would stay in, and I know exactly how much I'd hate to leave it when the time came. I love it!

Frankfurt and Benelux: March 10-17

Amsterdam and der Koelner Dom: Part Two.

Ah yes. We have reached part two of the family adventure. March 13 was my birthday, but I didn't want to celebrate when I knew I'd be taking an early train the next morning. So where else could I celebrate than the crazy city of Amsterdam? Our party took the morning train from Brussels to Amsterdam the next morning, an approximately 4 hour train ride.

At the main train station in Amsterdam there is a bike parking garage. Yes, a four-story, packed from rack to rack, bike parking garage. It was huge and over-flowing with bikes. At any rate, we took a taxi to our hostel because we had no idea where it was. When we first arrived, we dragged our luggage up an incredibly steep set of stairs. There was absolutely no way these stairs were by any means safe, especially for Amsterdam revelers.

That first night, we decided to celebrate my birthday. We all went out to dinner at a lovely Indian? restaraunt and enjoyed a beer new to me with dinner. Afterwards, we decided to check out some of the bars. Of course, we ventured into the Irish pub, called Hole in the Wall, first. We enjoyed a few rounds before venturing off to a different bar.

This time we entered a funny little bar that looked like it was made for poor college students. Ah, finally at home. Now there was even more drinking. Bets started being made about the consumption of certain illegal, yet 'tolerated', substances in Amsterdam. Of course, nothing panned out because the old married couple decided they were too tired to continue on our bar hopping adventure and retired for the night. Naturally, Travis and I continued. After all, we were both still in college.

So onward we went. We found a little jazz club to enjoy more beer in, where we're pretty sure we ended up paying twice. Eh, whatever. We almost got lost on the walk home, but I, being incredibly cheap and poor, would not allow a taxi ride. Thankfully, Travis found the way home, as I was in no shape at all to follow a map or use any kind of common sense. I also have no idea how I made it up those steep stairs and to the bathroom before...

On our first day trip out, we ventured to the Anne Frank house. It was a very sobering experience, but was interesting to see where the family had hidden, to stand where they had stood. We were even able to see original copies of Frank's diary. We were lucky to have a very short waiting time, as a later trip to Amsterdam with a friend proved that lines do indeed wrap around the building in high tourist season.

Next we walked across the city all the way to the Van Gogh Museum. I was very excited, on the inside, to see some famous paintings, but on the outside my body didn't want to show any such enthusiasm. I searched the entire musuem waiting to see Starry Night, but was sorely disappointed. Apparently, it's in New York or somewhere else. Alas, I can't have it all.

And I didn't want it all either. I simply wanted to sleep away the rest of the day, due to the night before. So we all went back to our hostel. There, Travis and I slept for the rest of the day and night, while Scott and Anna went out for dinner and a little time on their own. I just enjoyed the darkness and the sleep.

We had to leave the next morning. On our train ride back to Frankfurt, we stopped in Cologne to see the famous Koelner Dom. It's a beautiful cathedral right outside the main train station. The treasury holds an impressive collection of items including a thorn from the crown of Jesus and a nail from his cross. The view from the tower is worth the incredible number of stairs spiraling around and around, offering little breaks and no hand rail. Once we were firmly back on solid ground, Travis noted how his legs kept shaking on their own. "I feel like Thumper!" he declared, thus earning him the same nickname.

That was our last adventure for the week. We took the train back to Frankfurt and checked into the same hotel for their last night in Europe. In the morning, we said goodbyes. I boarded a train headed for Bamberg, and they took tram to the airport. I had a great time, but realized how much I missed America when they left.

Alas, I lament not being able to include everything about this trip. Like the bathroom incident on the train, the bathroom incident in Frankfurt, and the funny Irish guys we met on the way to get Pizza. At any rate, that was our trip! Fun, adventureful, and comical!

Frankfurt and Benelux: March 10-17

Part One: Frankfurt and Belgium

For my first real trip in Europe, complete with hostels and tourist maps, I was joined by my sister, brother-in-law, and his brother. This was Anna and Scott's first trip to Europe, while Travis had already studied abroad in Germany.

On March 10, I met the trio in Frankfurt at our hotel. It was nice to stay in an actual hotel, rather than a hostel, because we got little chocolates on our pillows. The first day I was surprised by how not tired my sister Anna was. Apparently, she was hopped up on Coke.

While in Frankfurt, we opted to walk rather than take the S-Bahn. Anna loved how clean it was, and I loved being with Anna and Scott when they had their first Doner Kebab! And that's just an experience everyone should have. I'm sure they'll never be the same again, thanks to Travis and me.

We saw the stock market bull and bear statues, the old opera house, and the Goethe House. It was interesting to see how the two Europe-newbies frantically bickered over map directions, while the old-timers just sat back and watched. After all, what's wrong with walking an hour in the wrong direction? It's an adventure!

Onward! Next we traveled to Brussels, Belgium. Belgium has three official languages: Dutch, French, and German, and Brussels is the headquaters to the EU and NATO. Not surprisingly, it's often called the capital of Europe. Grand Place, built as a merchant market in the 13th century, serves as the city center, and is a beautiful display of architecture. The Royal Palace and Brussels Park are also must-sees.

As a day trip, we traveled to Ghent, a mere 35 minute train ride. There, we met up with Liselot, a friend of mine who I met while studying in Bamberg. It was great to see a friendly face and also to have a personal tour guide to show us her hometown. Despite having a hurt knee, she still didn't mind giving us a walking tour in English. Ghent is a small, but beautiful city situated on the Graslei and Korenlei Rivers.

We saw numerous churchs and great views along the rivers. St. Bavo's Cathedral holds the famous Adoration of the Mystic Lamb painted by Jan and Huber van Eyck in 1432. The architecture varies from Gothic to Renaissance, and the progression of time can be seen from views on the rivers.

After a long day, we settled down in a quaint pub for some authentic Belgian beer. I opted for a light Chiquita banana beer, Anna branched out for an Orval (though not to her liking), and the Thompson brothers went for the trappist beers, made by monks, and in different strengths: regular, double, and triple. At the end of the day, I was sad to leave Liselot, but we had more traveling in Brussels.

Our last day in Brussels was perhaps my favorite. After all, it involved food! After a recommendation from our helpful hostel owner, we hiked over to Place du Grand Sablon, home to the famous chocolatier, Pierre Marcolini. Anna and I split an amazing piece of chocolate cake with a surprisingly refreshing fruity center. It was nothing short of divine.

After purchasing a gift for my chocoholic mother, we ventured to try the best fries in the city. It was a long walk, but was rewared with tasty fries and curry ketchup. They did not parallel the quality of our fine chocolate, yet were still better than any fast food joint you'll ever encounter. After all, people were lurking around outside waiting for it to open.

That, my little curious ones, was the first part of our week-long trip. Unfortunately, I'm not including everything fun (trying to eat at Pizza Hut to no avail, the prolific presence of blisters on Scott's feet, or our somewhat hectic taxi ride), but there's more to come. After all, we went to Amsterdam next, and who doesn't come back with a story from there?

Enough

Ok, enough of this "catching up" thing. I'm already bored with it and want to talk about my new travels. So if you're interested in things I did last semester, check out my friend's blog: http://priscillawojtowicz.blogspot.com/. I'm positive I'm in more than enough blogs there. In particular, you might want to look at these links listed under 2006:

Nuernberg
Rammstein Air Base
Halloween in Bamberg

Well now wasn't that easy? Let's speed ahead to the visit of my sister, brother-in-law, and his brother. That was an adventure.

Neuschwanstein: December 3, 2006

You know that famous Disney castle? You know, the silhoutted one at the beginning of every film, the Sleeping Beauty castle? Well, I've seen the real one. The one built by a real German king as a manifestation of his illusions of grandeur.

And grand it is. Not many castles can top this fairy-tale structure built on the lower border of Bavaria, Germany by King Ludwig II. Construction began in 1869, and the inside was never fully finished. I traveled with Priscilla, Agneta, and Josh to visit this amazing castle built on an even more stunning backdrop.

After being on the train for over 5 hours, we took a bus to the base of the mountain where Neuschwanstein is situated. From there, we hiked up to the castle, getting gorgeous views of the nearby lake, the Alps, and another, less spectacular castle also built by King Ludwig II.

As December is not tourist season, we hardly had to wait for our tour of the castle. (We saw the poles for directing tourists during peak season. It was worse than Six Flags on Labor Day!) On said tour, we learned that a few days after King Ludwig was informed he had been declared mentally unstable, and that he would no longer be king, he was found dead, accompanied with the physician who had declared him mentally unstable. Yes... perhaps mentally unstable was a sound diagnosis.

Then we left the castle and walked to Marienbruecke, a bridge that offers exceptional photos of Neuschwanstein Schloss and the surrounding landscape. The views were postcard-worthy and definitely worth the extra hike.

After visiting the castle, we all walked around the nearby town of Fuessen, but didn't stay long as we needed to catch a very long train back to Bamberg. Well, I would offer more details, but quite frankly, I can't remember much other than it was a fun, long day trip with some really good people!

Oktoberfest: September 30, 2006

Who can be in Germany for just one year and not go to Oktoberfest? Despite my preconcieved notions about this huge festival in Munich, I was not prepared by any means for what I encountered. The train ride there was the start of a very interesting, very long day.

A large group of ERASMUS students took a Regional Bahn train from Bamberg to Munich. Now, Regional Bahns are much slower than InterCity Express (ICE) trains, which means that we were on the train for roughly four hours. Of course, the poor college students did this to save money. The closer we got to Munich, the more revelers were piling onto the train. And the Germans came prepared to feast.

One particular group of Germans, bedecked in Dirndls and Lederhosen, of course, was equipped with small kegs of beer to drink from (meaning 5 liters), glasses from which to drink said beer, and rolls, salami, and cheese to make a tasty snack. And radishes. Yes, radishes. An entire bunch of radishes to snack on. Interesting.

Once we arrived in Munich, we decided to break up into smaller groups. Mine consisted of about 6 people. We also really had no idea which way to go. Luckily, there were thousands of people to lead us, so we just followed the crowd. As we got near the actual grounds, we started seeing people passed out along the rode. This, we all thought, was hilarious. Until we realized that there were people passed out everywhere. We arrived at 2 pm, and there were hundreds of people lying on curbs, in the grass, on steps, anywhere they could find to pass out.

There were traditional German clothes, pretzels, tourists everywhere, and cookie hearts to be worn around your neck proclaiming things like "Ich liebe dich". Not to the mention the beer, and lots of it. We did not arrive early enough to obtain a seat in one of the many tents crammed with hundreds of Germans and tourists alike. One could not even stand for longer than 5 seconds without getting rammed in the back by a waitress carrying no less than 10 liters of beers in steins to thirsty festival goers.

Once we were able to order our own liter of beer, we found a curb to sit on, across from a hill covered in people sleeping off their morning beers. Amusingly enough, two guys from Amsterdam sat next to us. One was so excited to meet Americans that he exclaimed, "I've been looking for you all day!" The other grumbled about how Germany "sucks" and the girls don't shave their armpits. How amusing. They subsequently passed out about half an hour later.

After a while, two members of our group went back for another beer and the rest of us stayed planted on the curb. It was an entirely different experience because I expected to be sitting in a beer tent, chatting it up with new people who just happened to be sitting next to me. Although I was still chatting with new people, I was outside on a curb overlooking hundreds of drunk or already passed out people. There were too many people for my taste, but I'm definitely glad I was able to attend such a famous event.