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.

The Generals

I will start out giving a summary of what I've done so far, as to bring everyone up to speed on my time abroad. As part of my International Business Honors program at Clemson University, I flew to Germany on September 14, 2006. I am required to study abroad for an entire school year, and as my major is German and International trade, I naturally chose Germany as my country of choice. Arriving in Germany was quite the adventure, but made much more bearable by traveling with Katie, another friend from Clemson studying abroad in the same city for the year. It was a very long, stressful day finding our dorms and checking in with the university. At the end of the day, I was glad to have a bed to sleep in, regardless of the fact that it lacked sheets and a pillow.

Soon after arrival, classes for a three-week intensive language course began. The "Vorbereitungskurs" prepared us by giving us lessons in culture and the German language. It was also extremely helpful in meeting other exchange students, known collectively as ERASMUS students. I met people from all over the world including Australia, France, Spain, Poland, Belgium, Finland, England, Ireland, South Korea, Italy, Hungary, America, Canada... and the list goes on. It was amazing to meet people from so many different places.

First semester classes started October 16. This was an entirely new experience for me. We did not have to register for classes, as in the US. We simply picked out classes that looked interesting or relevant to our studies and attended the first session. It was difficult to choose classes, because most of them simply had a title, but no description to explain the course material. And, of course, they were in German. After many emails sent to Clemson asking if classes would transfer, I had a schedule of 6 classes, all in German and none of Monday. Most of the classes I took were for exchange students, therefore they were easier to understand. I took a German culture class, a grammar course, a class learning to write essays and read texts in German, and a business class learning etiqutte and general practices. The other two classes were for Germans. One was a Goethe literature class about the life and works of the German author Goethe, and a film class discussing popular films of all origins and times.

Classes from first semester ended at the beginning of February, and second semester classes didn't begin until mid-April. This period of times essentially served as my summer, as I won't have one when I return to the states. I traveled some, but was unable to travel as much as I wanted. Now second semester classes have begun, and I've been traveling more than ever. I'm taking 5 classes this semester. Two are in English, three in German, and none are on Thursdays or Fridays. I'm taking Current Problems in International Business, a sociology course in German, Strategic Mangament in English, another German culture course focusing on modern German history, and a literature class based on pirates as a cultural phenomenon and a literary topic. The last one just looked fun.

I suppose that's it for now. More photos and descriptions of trips will follow, but this has been an update of my general time in Germany so far. I believe it's long enough.

To Start

With starting this blog, I am merely testing out the lengths I am willing to go to supress my boredom. There is no guarantee of continuation, nor is there a guarantee of regular updates. I reserve the right to cancel my blog membership at any time, and without prior notification. With that said, I would also like to mention that I am currently studying abroad in Bamberg, Germany, and I am thoroughly enjoying gallivanting across Europe as much as possible. I am here to record my travels, as I would still like to remember them when I'm 80, with my skin folding around me in more wrinkles than a Shar-pei, and owning no less than 3 cats. I have quite a bit catching up to do, for I have already been a resident of Bamberg since September 2006, or 8 months. So, let's get started, shall we?