Hello!
I finally have a chance to sit down and write a blog! I must say, I had the best fall break ever. I am happy to be back in Cologne though, I'm whooped. I got home with every intention of making it to class, but I fell asleep, and slept until 5. I Guess if you sleep for 5 hours in the middle of the day without budging it's a good indication that you needed that sleep. I still feel like I could sleep the whole night. I can't because I have homework to do, but you get the idea.
So I left off in Athens. Wednesday we got kind of a late start, because we were waiting for the other girls to wake up to see if they wanted to go with us. At 1 we finally decided to just go on our own. We left the apartment and walked up to the top of the hill in the neighborhood. The view was amazing, the city just sprawled out in every direction. Athens is gigantic. We were able to see Acropolis and the Parthenon from there and we got a lot of cool pictures. After leaving there, we went over to Acropolis and started at the museum there. It was pretty cool with a bunch of statues and stuff from the Greek times, and you could walk over a glass floor and see the ancient ruins. After the museum we headed up to the Acropolis which was a long and steep walk, but still really cool. The Parthenon was giant and really sweet looking, even if half of it was covered in scaffolding. We stayed up there for a while, then headed back to the apartment. When we got back we had dinner and we were going to go out, but we all just fell asleep instead!
The next morning we got up early and went out touring. First we went to the temple of Zeus at Olympus. This used to be the largest temple in Europe when it was still standing. All the museums and temples were free for us also, since we have EU student IDs. After that we went over to the original Olympic stadium from the first modern Olympics. From there we walked back to the subway and went to the National Archaeological Museum. That had a ton of reallly really old stuff in it, along with some stuff that we had learned about in our art class. After that museum we went and found a Gyro to eat, which was super yummy, and we went and checked out the Parthenon at night. And got some delicious Gelato. I had tiramasu and cheesecake flavored. We went back to Antonios and he took us to a meeting of other Couchsurfers. We tried some honey liquor that was rather interesting, and then went and ate another Gyro. We met a lot of really nice people, and I also met my first neo-conservative European, which was interesting. After that we walked around the city and saw a bunch of historical ruins all lit up, then we were exhausted so we went back home and went to bed. I had to get up early in the morning to get my flight to London.
I left Athens around 8:30 in the morning and got out to the airport around 10 or so. I had to wait around for a while because my flight was delayed. We finally got moving, and I got to London around 230 or so, Gatwick airport. The lady in customs proceeded to drill me like I was a terrorist, and couldn't understand why I was living in Germany, why I flew in to Prague first, what I was doing in Athens, why did I fly to Mykonos first, why didn't they stamp my passport there, blah blah blah. Obvioulsy I radiate international criminal. When she finally determined that I wasn't a threat to national security, I went and waited for my bags for around a half hour. Then I hopped the Gatwick express to Victoria Station, and took a cab to the Intercontinental Hotel in London. When I got there, they wouldn't let me check in, claiming that no one had informed them of my arrival. I know that's not true but whatever. They let me call the contacts that Uncle David had given me for a couple hours, but I couldn't get a hold of anyone. The lady was nice and let me store my luggage and gave me a key to the lounge where I could take a shower and chill for a little bit. After I got cleaned up and relaxed I walked over to Buckingham Palace. The Queen was in, as noted by the flag on top of the building, and there were lines of cars waiting to get in. I guess there must have been some kind of state dinner or something. After that I took the underground to Kensington on a quest for fish and chips. I found some and they were pretty good. I went back to the hotel to try and call the people again, and a new lady was there who wouldn't let me. I was frustrated because she was nasty about it, like I was some creepy football stalker. I understood though, it was just for the security of the team. They got to the hotel around 11 and I met up with Uncle David and got the situation worked out. Once she realized I wasn't trying to sneak into their hotel rooms she was very pleasant. Once that was all worked out we went out with some of the people that work for the team. We were able to bypass a line and get into this pretty cool club. It was a nice change from getting denied entrance at the one in Berlin. We stayed there for a while and then moved on to a club in the Hilton. Someone saw Harry Connick Jr. there. We ended up going to a different one after that wayyyy up in some building. We had a sweet view of London from there. It was a pretty late night, and the original plan to get up at 6 and sightsee was postponed til 8.
At 8 we did get up and get ready, then we went and toured most of London in 4 hours. We went from Buckingham Palace to Big Ben, to Westminster Abbey, to the river to check out the London Eye. Then we hopped the tube to the Tower of London, and the Tower Bridge. We took the Queens walk on the Thames to the nearest tube stop and went back to the hotel. We were cutting it close time-wise because Uncle David had to be back to the busses by 12:30 to go to the stadium. We ran back, and the stadium trip had been cancelled! I decided to relax for a while before we did sightseeing again. Around 5 I decided to head over to Harrod's, and I stopped in H&M and wound up with free boots which is a whole other story. Harrod's was AMAZING, even though I didn't go through all of it. Someday I'll go back and give Harrod's the attention it deserves. I got back to the hotel, and we decided to go over to the Patriot's hotel to visit Uncle David's friend Jimmy. After that we walked to Shepherd's Market and grabbed some dinner. I had really good fish and chips there, and also a Koelsch beer which made me happy. We met some other guys from the bucs and walked over to Buckingham Palace again. After that it was a question of whether or not to go out again. I was too tired so I decided not to.
The next morning we got up and found some tourist trap stores so I could get spoons for mom and me. Then I walked over to Picadilly circus which is like the Times Square of London. When I got back it was almost time to head over to the stadium. I got an all access pass and got to ride the busses over with the team! When we got there I got to hang out outside the locker room, go on the field, go in the coaches boxes, and I got to sit at the camera box for the whole game! It was sweet! I also got to meet Mike Alstott who was very nice, and I got some pictures of Tom Brady. All in all it was the coolest thing ever. By the end of the game I was really tired. We got back on the bus and went to the hotel, and I went and called Bobby for a little bit. Then I went down to the room with all the computers where they were and had a beer. I was too tired to go out, even though there was a party and other stuff going on. I had to get up at 4:30 in the morning to get my flight. That sucked. I ended up getting there in time, even though I was a total zombie. I got home around 11 AM and decided to take a quick nap. At 5 I woke back up. And I'm still tired. Really tired. I'm gonna be taking it easy the next couple weeks until I got to Vienna.
Talk to you soon!
Jess
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Mykonos and Athens
Hi all!
I'm sitting here in Athens waiting to take a walk through Ancient Greece today! But before I do that, I'll recap from Monday.
Monday basically consisted of lying on the beach. And getting an awesome suntan. And lying on the beach some more! It was great! Finally we were able to slow down for a day and just relax. We found a really gorgeous beach right by our hotel, and we walked down this cliff side path (covered with huge lizards) to get to it. The water was blue blue blue! I've never seen anything like it in my life! I wonder how polluted our water must actually be...because I could see the bottom of that water even when it was 15 feet deep! It was about 76 degrees without a cloud in the sky, it was gorgeous! The water was really flat and easy to swim in, and we swam out pretty far, but the entire time we could see everything on the bottom which was sweeeet!
After the beach, we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up, then went into the city to see the sunset. We watched the sunset from the dock at the harbor and went around looking for the restaurant that Mina had recommended for us. We were about to give up when we finally found it! I got spaghetti carbonara which was delicious, and we got a big thing of wine for 5 euro. We met some Canadians, which was cool too. At the end of the meal the waiters brought us all a free shot of Ouzo. Ouzo burns, but it was surprisingly sweet. After dinner Emily and I went in search of a cocktail, but every cocktail in Mykonos is 8 euro at least, so we gave up and bought Bacardi Breezers and an ice cream at this ice cream place.
Tuesday we were going to go to Delos, but it was 30 dollars and I really didn't want to pay that much. Delos seemed cool, but I'm not really sure what was there, so I couldn't justify spending the money. Alex ended up going and Emily and I just walked around this city for a while and took pictures. Mina drove us to her husbands office so we could drop off our luggage, and he was going to take us to our ferry at 2. She stopped at this really pretty outlook where you could see all the city and it was gorgeous! We dropped off our stuff and wandered around some gift shops. Once Alex was back we grabbed some lunch at a cafe on the water. I had a Greek salad that was really good. We went and got our luggage and Minas husband drove us to the ferry, which was actually the Titanic. It was soooo nice! We sat up on the outside part for a while and watched the Greek islands go by, and then we moved downstairs. We ended up getting a huge assignment done.
Now I guess I have to explain how I'm staying in Athens. Basically, we're doing this thing called Couch Surfing. There's a website: www.couchsurfing.org, and it has a network of people who are willing to open up their homes to you and let you stay for free. It sounds at first very creepy and very shady, but these people have had their locations and identities verified, and they have been reviewed by other couch surfers. Alex found Antonio on the website, and he's literally the king of couch surfing! He has hundreds of positive reviews from people all over the world who have stayed with him. The people that host surfers also surf themselves, and Antonio has couch surfed through Europe. It's a really cool way to see a city, because you can be shown around by a local and live the way they live. Antonio met us at the train stop and showed us back to his place. He has a cute dog named Jilda, and there are 2 other girls surfing here this week, one from Estonia, and one from Denmark. Also, there's a group of Americans coming tonight, so that should be cool! Basically his house is dedicated to couch surfing, he has a seperate room where the other two girls are staying, then in the living room two couches, a couch bed and two armchairs. It's really a neat way to help out travelers on a budget. I plan to couch surf in Vienna with Brittney, and we found a young couple our age who has agreed to host us.
So anyways, we got to Athens and got settled, and we were getting ready to go out when we realized that Em had been pickpocketed on the train here. She lost her camera and her wallet. So we spent that night getting that situation taken care of. Yesterday we got a late start, around 1, but we went for a walk up to the top of the hill where you get a great view of Acropolis. Then we went to Acropolis and went to the museum for a while. We went up and saw the Parthenon and came home around 6. Antonio made us dinner, which was really nice, and we made plans to go out to see the Parthenon at night and check out a bar. Unfortunately those plans are postponed until today, because we all ended up falling asleep around 9.
Now we're getting up and getting ready for our day today. First we're going to see the Temple of Olympia Zeus, then the Olympic stadium, and finally the National Archaeology museum. Big day ahead! Tomorrow I leave for London! I can't wait!
Jess
I'm sitting here in Athens waiting to take a walk through Ancient Greece today! But before I do that, I'll recap from Monday.
Monday basically consisted of lying on the beach. And getting an awesome suntan. And lying on the beach some more! It was great! Finally we were able to slow down for a day and just relax. We found a really gorgeous beach right by our hotel, and we walked down this cliff side path (covered with huge lizards) to get to it. The water was blue blue blue! I've never seen anything like it in my life! I wonder how polluted our water must actually be...because I could see the bottom of that water even when it was 15 feet deep! It was about 76 degrees without a cloud in the sky, it was gorgeous! The water was really flat and easy to swim in, and we swam out pretty far, but the entire time we could see everything on the bottom which was sweeeet!
After the beach, we went back to the hotel and got cleaned up, then went into the city to see the sunset. We watched the sunset from the dock at the harbor and went around looking for the restaurant that Mina had recommended for us. We were about to give up when we finally found it! I got spaghetti carbonara which was delicious, and we got a big thing of wine for 5 euro. We met some Canadians, which was cool too. At the end of the meal the waiters brought us all a free shot of Ouzo. Ouzo burns, but it was surprisingly sweet. After dinner Emily and I went in search of a cocktail, but every cocktail in Mykonos is 8 euro at least, so we gave up and bought Bacardi Breezers and an ice cream at this ice cream place.
Tuesday we were going to go to Delos, but it was 30 dollars and I really didn't want to pay that much. Delos seemed cool, but I'm not really sure what was there, so I couldn't justify spending the money. Alex ended up going and Emily and I just walked around this city for a while and took pictures. Mina drove us to her husbands office so we could drop off our luggage, and he was going to take us to our ferry at 2. She stopped at this really pretty outlook where you could see all the city and it was gorgeous! We dropped off our stuff and wandered around some gift shops. Once Alex was back we grabbed some lunch at a cafe on the water. I had a Greek salad that was really good. We went and got our luggage and Minas husband drove us to the ferry, which was actually the Titanic. It was soooo nice! We sat up on the outside part for a while and watched the Greek islands go by, and then we moved downstairs. We ended up getting a huge assignment done.
Now I guess I have to explain how I'm staying in Athens. Basically, we're doing this thing called Couch Surfing. There's a website: www.couchsurfing.org, and it has a network of people who are willing to open up their homes to you and let you stay for free. It sounds at first very creepy and very shady, but these people have had their locations and identities verified, and they have been reviewed by other couch surfers. Alex found Antonio on the website, and he's literally the king of couch surfing! He has hundreds of positive reviews from people all over the world who have stayed with him. The people that host surfers also surf themselves, and Antonio has couch surfed through Europe. It's a really cool way to see a city, because you can be shown around by a local and live the way they live. Antonio met us at the train stop and showed us back to his place. He has a cute dog named Jilda, and there are 2 other girls surfing here this week, one from Estonia, and one from Denmark. Also, there's a group of Americans coming tonight, so that should be cool! Basically his house is dedicated to couch surfing, he has a seperate room where the other two girls are staying, then in the living room two couches, a couch bed and two armchairs. It's really a neat way to help out travelers on a budget. I plan to couch surf in Vienna with Brittney, and we found a young couple our age who has agreed to host us.
So anyways, we got to Athens and got settled, and we were getting ready to go out when we realized that Em had been pickpocketed on the train here. She lost her camera and her wallet. So we spent that night getting that situation taken care of. Yesterday we got a late start, around 1, but we went for a walk up to the top of the hill where you get a great view of Acropolis. Then we went to Acropolis and went to the museum for a while. We went up and saw the Parthenon and came home around 6. Antonio made us dinner, which was really nice, and we made plans to go out to see the Parthenon at night and check out a bar. Unfortunately those plans are postponed until today, because we all ended up falling asleep around 9.
Now we're getting up and getting ready for our day today. First we're going to see the Temple of Olympia Zeus, then the Olympic stadium, and finally the National Archaeology museum. Big day ahead! Tomorrow I leave for London! I can't wait!
Jess
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Berlin and Mykonos
Wow! So I wanted to blog last week again, but I got a little lazy and decided not to :-(. Tuesday night when I was done blogging we all got ready and went and saw a beatboxing play called Klasse Klasse. It was cute, the people wore these weirdo masks and played out high school stereotypes which is always funny. After the show I went home and watched Mean Girls with Christine and Jakob. I love that movie.
Wednesday we went to the Jewish Museum, and we had a really good tour guide who spoke German at a normal speed so we could all understand her. The museum was huge, so we missed a lot of it, but it was still really cool. After the Jewish Museum we went to Kudamm because Ashley and Emily wanted to get their noses pierced. We hopped on the Bahn and saw the Gedaechniskirche, then went to the tattoo shop. When we walked in it was really nice and clean so they were happy about that but still nervous. I didn't get mine done, so don't worry! In the end, they looked really good! After that we went to the mall and I ate some deeeeelish chicken friend rice. We were cooking dinner on Thursday, so we went to the grocery store to get stuff for that. Afterwards we went to dinner at the same place as Sunday because it was our professor Laurel's birthday. We had some wine and veal with veggies that was really good, and for dessert we had the best Tiramasu ever. After dinner we decided to go out for a drink, and we ended up meeting this group of kids from Israel who were in Berlin on vacation. We got their facebook information, and they were really nice.
Thursday we took a bus trip to Potsdam which would have been lovely if I wasn't so tired. Oh and the fact that it was cold and rainy didn't help. Apparently it's always cold and rainy in Berlin, at least every day that we were there. We did get to see the cute castle-thing where the Potsdam Conference was held, which was really cool, but unfortunately we didn't get to go into it. After that we went to some other palace thing, but I wasn't paying too much attention because I was soaked and cold and tired, and my brain simply wasn't processing German that day. I definitely fell asleep on the bus ride home. I really wanted to take a nap before I started cooking my penne with vodka for dinner, but I'm glad I didn't since the whole experience turned into a disaster. First off, I had bought stewed tomatoes instead of diced, so I had to dice all of them. Then, I was upset because there are no italian style Redpack tomatoes in Germany, so I knew right away that this stuff wasn't going to taste right. Then, when I went to cover the tomatoes with plastic wrap, I spilled them all over myself, Brittney, and the floor. It was a huuuuuge mess. There was nothing left to salvage for my sauce, so we had to send a bunch of people to the store. Meanwhile, we through our tomato sauced clothes into the bathtub with a handy little packet of Tide that Jess C. had. Then the other girls threw their laundry in too, and we had a big laundry party in the bathroom that involved make shift spin cycles and tons of fun. After cleaning the clothes, we cleaned the kitchen up, and started to make the sauce again. This time we had diced tomatoes but they weren't italian style and still didn't taste right, so my sauce was kinda gross. Oh well. The boys made beer brats, and that made up for my failed attempt at pasta. Our professors came over for dinner and it was really nice. We had really great cookies that Christine and Korie made too. After dinner we watched some youtube with the professors, and then I decided to go out. We went and hung out with the boys for a while, and then went to this bar in an illegaly occupied bombed out world war 2 building which was really cool! It didn't have any windows because they were...bombed out! We didn't stay there for that long, and I didn't have a drink there at all because it was a little sketchy, but it was still really cool looking. It was on the top floor and looked out over east Berlin. I guess now it's home to a bunch of artists.
Friday night we had a whole day to ourselves. So Friday I basically just stayed in. I sat around and just relaxed in the apartment alllll day long. Then Friday night we went to the symphony. We all got dressed up and it was really nice. I'm not sure if I'm a symphony kind of person, but it was still cool. After the symphony we went home and changed and made plans to meet my friend Firat who lives in Berlin. I met him over the summer at my friend Paul's house. We met him at the Bahnof Zoo, and then walked over to this club that we were on the list for. Unfortunately the doorman didn't think we were good enough for this club and he quickly turned us away. I think his reasoning was that our group consisted of Me, Firat, Andrew, and Hoss, which means I was the only girl, so maybe if we had more girls with us we would have gotten in. Reason number two could have been that Hoss has a shaved head. He's a swimmer of some sort, so at home it makes a lot of sense. In Berlin I guess it makes him look like a neo-nazi. So anyways, we weren't able to get into that club. We decided to go back to the apartments and hang out, then go out to an east Berlin club really late. We went and hung out for a while, then we got hungry so Firat and I went and got Doeners and met up with his 3 friends at Friedrichstrasse. We all went back to the boys apartment to hang out more, but I couldn't make it any later (it was already 3 or 4!) so I went back to my apartment and went to bed. We had to get up early Saturday morning to leave anyway.
Saturday entailed a long trip back to Cologne, and I wasn't feeling well anyway. I slept a little bit on the train, which was good. I got back to my house and immediately started packing for Mykonos! I had to leave my house at 1:52 in the morning for my 5:20 flight. The airport is right near my house, but no buses run that late at night, so I had to take the kvb bahn to the S-Bahn, and it ended up taking an hour to get there because the bahns only run once an hour. I tried to get a little sleep before I left, which I didn't really, but that's okay. I got everything together, and had to take line 9 into Deutz (so pretty much downtown), then switch and wait for the S-bahn for 40 minutes, then take that back out towards my house and the airport. Once I got there, we got checked in then went and took a nap til it was time to board. The flight was empty! I got a little bit of sleep which was nice. Mykonos airport was smaller than the South Hills Village...actually it was about the size of the Alpine Club with a runway. It was TEEEENY! I'm surprised our plane was even able to land there! When we got to the airport, Mina, our bed nd breakfast owner, came to pick us up! She was so nice. Our bed and breakfast is right near the water and there's a bus every half hour to take you into the main part of Mykonos, only about a 5 mintute ride. We got settled in to our room, which has two balconies and a sea view. Mina gave us some maps and stuff, and then we walked down to the beach. The water was cold, but it was still only 10:30 Am or so! We hung out there for a little while and took pictures, then went and changed to catch the bus to the city. The city is gorgeous, all the buildings are white and look like a square cake! The main part of town is pedestrian only, so we walked around there for a few hours. We went and saw "Little Venice" where the buildings are built straight on the water, and we saw the Mykonos Windmills. The city is really easy to get lost in, cuz the streets are all narrow and there are no street names! After walking around the city, me and Emily decided to go back to the beach, because at this point it was really warm out. We went swimming for an hour and a half or so, then came back and got showered and ready for dinner. I got some pictures uploaded onto my facebook, then we went and ate at this nice restaurant on the water, that was really reasonably priced. The food was amazing too! After dinner we wanted to go Greek dancing at this place nearby, but when we went and looked there wasn't really anyone there, so we decided to just come back and get a good night's sleep. Today is going to be a beach day, and we're just gonna relax and swim all day. We're going to a beach that's supposed to be one of the prettiest on the island! After that, we're going to try and see the sunset in Little Venice, and maybe check out some of the nightlife that Mykonos is renowned for. I love Greece so far!
Jess
Wednesday we went to the Jewish Museum, and we had a really good tour guide who spoke German at a normal speed so we could all understand her. The museum was huge, so we missed a lot of it, but it was still really cool. After the Jewish Museum we went to Kudamm because Ashley and Emily wanted to get their noses pierced. We hopped on the Bahn and saw the Gedaechniskirche, then went to the tattoo shop. When we walked in it was really nice and clean so they were happy about that but still nervous. I didn't get mine done, so don't worry! In the end, they looked really good! After that we went to the mall and I ate some deeeeelish chicken friend rice. We were cooking dinner on Thursday, so we went to the grocery store to get stuff for that. Afterwards we went to dinner at the same place as Sunday because it was our professor Laurel's birthday. We had some wine and veal with veggies that was really good, and for dessert we had the best Tiramasu ever. After dinner we decided to go out for a drink, and we ended up meeting this group of kids from Israel who were in Berlin on vacation. We got their facebook information, and they were really nice.
Thursday we took a bus trip to Potsdam which would have been lovely if I wasn't so tired. Oh and the fact that it was cold and rainy didn't help. Apparently it's always cold and rainy in Berlin, at least every day that we were there. We did get to see the cute castle-thing where the Potsdam Conference was held, which was really cool, but unfortunately we didn't get to go into it. After that we went to some other palace thing, but I wasn't paying too much attention because I was soaked and cold and tired, and my brain simply wasn't processing German that day. I definitely fell asleep on the bus ride home. I really wanted to take a nap before I started cooking my penne with vodka for dinner, but I'm glad I didn't since the whole experience turned into a disaster. First off, I had bought stewed tomatoes instead of diced, so I had to dice all of them. Then, I was upset because there are no italian style Redpack tomatoes in Germany, so I knew right away that this stuff wasn't going to taste right. Then, when I went to cover the tomatoes with plastic wrap, I spilled them all over myself, Brittney, and the floor. It was a huuuuuge mess. There was nothing left to salvage for my sauce, so we had to send a bunch of people to the store. Meanwhile, we through our tomato sauced clothes into the bathtub with a handy little packet of Tide that Jess C. had. Then the other girls threw their laundry in too, and we had a big laundry party in the bathroom that involved make shift spin cycles and tons of fun. After cleaning the clothes, we cleaned the kitchen up, and started to make the sauce again. This time we had diced tomatoes but they weren't italian style and still didn't taste right, so my sauce was kinda gross. Oh well. The boys made beer brats, and that made up for my failed attempt at pasta. Our professors came over for dinner and it was really nice. We had really great cookies that Christine and Korie made too. After dinner we watched some youtube with the professors, and then I decided to go out. We went and hung out with the boys for a while, and then went to this bar in an illegaly occupied bombed out world war 2 building which was really cool! It didn't have any windows because they were...bombed out! We didn't stay there for that long, and I didn't have a drink there at all because it was a little sketchy, but it was still really cool looking. It was on the top floor and looked out over east Berlin. I guess now it's home to a bunch of artists.
Friday night we had a whole day to ourselves. So Friday I basically just stayed in. I sat around and just relaxed in the apartment alllll day long. Then Friday night we went to the symphony. We all got dressed up and it was really nice. I'm not sure if I'm a symphony kind of person, but it was still cool. After the symphony we went home and changed and made plans to meet my friend Firat who lives in Berlin. I met him over the summer at my friend Paul's house. We met him at the Bahnof Zoo, and then walked over to this club that we were on the list for. Unfortunately the doorman didn't think we were good enough for this club and he quickly turned us away. I think his reasoning was that our group consisted of Me, Firat, Andrew, and Hoss, which means I was the only girl, so maybe if we had more girls with us we would have gotten in. Reason number two could have been that Hoss has a shaved head. He's a swimmer of some sort, so at home it makes a lot of sense. In Berlin I guess it makes him look like a neo-nazi. So anyways, we weren't able to get into that club. We decided to go back to the apartments and hang out, then go out to an east Berlin club really late. We went and hung out for a while, then we got hungry so Firat and I went and got Doeners and met up with his 3 friends at Friedrichstrasse. We all went back to the boys apartment to hang out more, but I couldn't make it any later (it was already 3 or 4!) so I went back to my apartment and went to bed. We had to get up early Saturday morning to leave anyway.
Saturday entailed a long trip back to Cologne, and I wasn't feeling well anyway. I slept a little bit on the train, which was good. I got back to my house and immediately started packing for Mykonos! I had to leave my house at 1:52 in the morning for my 5:20 flight. The airport is right near my house, but no buses run that late at night, so I had to take the kvb bahn to the S-Bahn, and it ended up taking an hour to get there because the bahns only run once an hour. I tried to get a little sleep before I left, which I didn't really, but that's okay. I got everything together, and had to take line 9 into Deutz (so pretty much downtown), then switch and wait for the S-bahn for 40 minutes, then take that back out towards my house and the airport. Once I got there, we got checked in then went and took a nap til it was time to board. The flight was empty! I got a little bit of sleep which was nice. Mykonos airport was smaller than the South Hills Village...actually it was about the size of the Alpine Club with a runway. It was TEEEENY! I'm surprised our plane was even able to land there! When we got to the airport, Mina, our bed nd breakfast owner, came to pick us up! She was so nice. Our bed and breakfast is right near the water and there's a bus every half hour to take you into the main part of Mykonos, only about a 5 mintute ride. We got settled in to our room, which has two balconies and a sea view. Mina gave us some maps and stuff, and then we walked down to the beach. The water was cold, but it was still only 10:30 Am or so! We hung out there for a little while and took pictures, then went and changed to catch the bus to the city. The city is gorgeous, all the buildings are white and look like a square cake! The main part of town is pedestrian only, so we walked around there for a few hours. We went and saw "Little Venice" where the buildings are built straight on the water, and we saw the Mykonos Windmills. The city is really easy to get lost in, cuz the streets are all narrow and there are no street names! After walking around the city, me and Emily decided to go back to the beach, because at this point it was really warm out. We went swimming for an hour and a half or so, then came back and got showered and ready for dinner. I got some pictures uploaded onto my facebook, then we went and ate at this nice restaurant on the water, that was really reasonably priced. The food was amazing too! After dinner we wanted to go Greek dancing at this place nearby, but when we went and looked there wasn't really anyone there, so we decided to just come back and get a good night's sleep. Today is going to be a beach day, and we're just gonna relax and swim all day. We're going to a beach that's supposed to be one of the prettiest on the island! After that, we're going to try and see the sunset in Little Venice, and maybe check out some of the nightlife that Mykonos is renowned for. I love Greece so far!
Jess
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Weekend and Berlin
Hello!
So I've been pretty busy since I last blogged. Thursday night after dinner my host sister told me that someone she knew had some hockey tickets for free, so she asked me if I wanted to go! Obviously I was totally excited, so we made plans to do that. I slept in on Friday and basically hung around the house most of the day and talked to my host parents, then I got ready for the game. I was so excited to get there I accidentally left an hour earlier than I was supposed to! I didn't realize it til I was halfway to the arena, so I just decided to go anyway. I went to the kiosk across the road and grabbed a beer, then I sat on the lawn in front of the arena and had a little beer picnic while I waited to meet Yvonne (my host sister). When she got there we went in and realized our seats were great! We were 10 rows off the ice on the side where they shoot twice! The game was a lot of fun, and the Koelner Haie ended up winning 4-2. Also, they played Wolfsburg, which was cool cuz that's who we played when I went to the soccer game too. After the game we went to the Capitol and had a drink and some pizza, then headed home.
Saturday I packed my bags for Berlin and Yvonne dyed my hair (it needed it bad). After dinner I went downtown to meet some friends, but no one showed up! I went to the internet cafe and got online, and Andrew said he'd come meet me. When he got there we talked to Hoss, who was at a little get together at his German friend's apartment, so we went there for a while. Luckily the persons house was right close to mine, so I could walk home instead of waiting on the Bahn.
Sunday we got up early and met at the train station to go to Berlin. It was a 5 hour train ride or so. We met Frank, the program director, in Berlin, and he took us to our hostel. Instead of staying in a hostel room, we have two huge apartments! The girls in one, and the boys upstairs. These apartments are sweeet! Ours is holding 10 girls, it has two bathrooms, and one has a gigantic tub. Both bathrooms have showers, and there hasn't been any fights over showering yet, and with 10 girls I consider that quite the accomplishment haha. We have a giant kitchen and living/dining area and really the whole place is just nice. After we got our beds made up and everything unpacked we went to eat at this Italian restaurant. We had 3 kinds of pasta and 4 kinds of pizza (I ate tuna pizza). Sunday night was pretty low key.
On Monday we took a walking tour of the city for 3 hours. We got to see a lot of cool places, but it was pouring rain the whole day, plus it was freezing! Oh, and my camera died, so I have no pictures of anything. After the tour we went and got coffee to warm up. Emily and I decided we needed boots, scarves, and gloves. We took a walk on Friedrichstrasse, but everything was too expensive, so we figured out how to get to Kurfuerstendamm. In Kurfuerstendamm we walked around for 2 hours. We couldn't find anything affordable that we liked, and we only had a little bit of time left! Finally when we were getting ready to give up, we both found the same pair of boots that we liked for 29 euro. We just decided to get the same ones. At home when we were getting ready for dinner I realized that my one boot was way too small, and I had accidentally gotten two different sized boots. I was bummed, but forgot about it when we got to dinner and I realized they had Heyl Wine there. Of course I took pictures and got a glass. After dinner we went and got beer and some jagermeister and we all had a little party together. It was a good time, we ended up singing and dancing all night.
Today we woke up and we had a 1 hour tour of the Reichstag. It was neat, but I wasn't too interested, since I don't know anything about German government. The building is pretty though, and has a great view from the roof. After the tour, we decided we wanted to go to Checkpoint Charlie. There was a giant black raincloud hovering over us, but we decided to go anyway. It poured for about 5 minutes, and by the time we were done with lunch it was gorgeous outside, but a little chilly. We met a funny guard that stamps your passport, but I sadly didn't bring my passport to Berlin. I did get to touch a piece of the wall though. I was a little exhausted and wanted to exchange my boots, so I decided to head back towards the apartment while the others went to the wall. I picked up my boots and headed back to Kurfuerstendamm. I walked around Bahnhof Zooilogischer Garten for a little, then exchanged my boots. I took the S-bahn to the Strasse des 17. Juni and walked to the Siegessaeule, then all the way down to the Brandenburg gate, and finally back to the hostel. Basically I went for a 2 hour walk in Berlin by myself, not counting all the walking I had done earlier. Now I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go eat with the others, and tonight we're going to see a beatbox play! Should be fun! Talk to you soon!
Jess
So I've been pretty busy since I last blogged. Thursday night after dinner my host sister told me that someone she knew had some hockey tickets for free, so she asked me if I wanted to go! Obviously I was totally excited, so we made plans to do that. I slept in on Friday and basically hung around the house most of the day and talked to my host parents, then I got ready for the game. I was so excited to get there I accidentally left an hour earlier than I was supposed to! I didn't realize it til I was halfway to the arena, so I just decided to go anyway. I went to the kiosk across the road and grabbed a beer, then I sat on the lawn in front of the arena and had a little beer picnic while I waited to meet Yvonne (my host sister). When she got there we went in and realized our seats were great! We were 10 rows off the ice on the side where they shoot twice! The game was a lot of fun, and the Koelner Haie ended up winning 4-2. Also, they played Wolfsburg, which was cool cuz that's who we played when I went to the soccer game too. After the game we went to the Capitol and had a drink and some pizza, then headed home.
Saturday I packed my bags for Berlin and Yvonne dyed my hair (it needed it bad). After dinner I went downtown to meet some friends, but no one showed up! I went to the internet cafe and got online, and Andrew said he'd come meet me. When he got there we talked to Hoss, who was at a little get together at his German friend's apartment, so we went there for a while. Luckily the persons house was right close to mine, so I could walk home instead of waiting on the Bahn.
Sunday we got up early and met at the train station to go to Berlin. It was a 5 hour train ride or so. We met Frank, the program director, in Berlin, and he took us to our hostel. Instead of staying in a hostel room, we have two huge apartments! The girls in one, and the boys upstairs. These apartments are sweeet! Ours is holding 10 girls, it has two bathrooms, and one has a gigantic tub. Both bathrooms have showers, and there hasn't been any fights over showering yet, and with 10 girls I consider that quite the accomplishment haha. We have a giant kitchen and living/dining area and really the whole place is just nice. After we got our beds made up and everything unpacked we went to eat at this Italian restaurant. We had 3 kinds of pasta and 4 kinds of pizza (I ate tuna pizza). Sunday night was pretty low key.
On Monday we took a walking tour of the city for 3 hours. We got to see a lot of cool places, but it was pouring rain the whole day, plus it was freezing! Oh, and my camera died, so I have no pictures of anything. After the tour we went and got coffee to warm up. Emily and I decided we needed boots, scarves, and gloves. We took a walk on Friedrichstrasse, but everything was too expensive, so we figured out how to get to Kurfuerstendamm. In Kurfuerstendamm we walked around for 2 hours. We couldn't find anything affordable that we liked, and we only had a little bit of time left! Finally when we were getting ready to give up, we both found the same pair of boots that we liked for 29 euro. We just decided to get the same ones. At home when we were getting ready for dinner I realized that my one boot was way too small, and I had accidentally gotten two different sized boots. I was bummed, but forgot about it when we got to dinner and I realized they had Heyl Wine there. Of course I took pictures and got a glass. After dinner we went and got beer and some jagermeister and we all had a little party together. It was a good time, we ended up singing and dancing all night.
Today we woke up and we had a 1 hour tour of the Reichstag. It was neat, but I wasn't too interested, since I don't know anything about German government. The building is pretty though, and has a great view from the roof. After the tour, we decided we wanted to go to Checkpoint Charlie. There was a giant black raincloud hovering over us, but we decided to go anyway. It poured for about 5 minutes, and by the time we were done with lunch it was gorgeous outside, but a little chilly. We met a funny guard that stamps your passport, but I sadly didn't bring my passport to Berlin. I did get to touch a piece of the wall though. I was a little exhausted and wanted to exchange my boots, so I decided to head back towards the apartment while the others went to the wall. I picked up my boots and headed back to Kurfuerstendamm. I walked around Bahnhof Zooilogischer Garten for a little, then exchanged my boots. I took the S-bahn to the Strasse des 17. Juni and walked to the Siegessaeule, then all the way down to the Brandenburg gate, and finally back to the hostel. Basically I went for a 2 hour walk in Berlin by myself, not counting all the walking I had done earlier. Now I'm exhausted. I'm getting ready to go eat with the others, and tonight we're going to see a beatbox play! Should be fun! Talk to you soon!
Jess
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Thursday the 8th
Hello all,
I just got done with classes and midterms today! Woo hoo! Now I'm getting ready to embark on a 2 and a half week break!! Sooooo excited. Anyways, this week basically consisted of a whole lot of studying for finals. Monday I was completely exhausted from the weekend, and I basically was like a zombie all through class. After class I ran home and got a 1 hour nap. After that we had a dinner for the host families, but my family wasn't able to make it, that was ok thought because a few others couldn't make it either. It was still fun though, I had a beer and some cake and it was deeeelicious!
I got to sleep in on Tuesday which was greatly needed, and we went and visited the Cologne city museum, so I didn't have any real class on Tuesday which was cool! We also went and visited a pretty church, I can't remember what it was called but the inside looked like a Candy Cane and I liked that. After that we went to Kim Phuc (I laugh at the name everyday), and we had delicious fried rice. Then I went home and took a nap and proceeded to study the rest of the night.
Wednesday I had 2 finals, both of which were really tough and hurt my brain. After my second final I really needed to calm down so we went to the grocery store and got 35 cent beer and drank that. It was delicious and necessary. I came home after that, napped, and studied yet again.
Today was the last final, and it wasn't nearly as painful as the other two. After the final we went to the little cafe by the school and I had a coffee, a hot chocolate, and some french fries. And I was completely wound up haha. After the cafe we went to Art History, which is a pretty fun class, and I was excited because we got to talk about the Duomo in Florence, which I've been to. I was very excited about this, so I announced it proudly to the class. Turns out lots of Americans have been there. Oh well, it was exciting nonetheless.
After class I had to go look at a church in Appelhofplatz for my Art History project. Of course I pick the church that's completely under construction and hidden by scaffolding. Oh well. I picked up line 3 in Appelhofplatz and took it over to Deutz, since it's on the way to my house (I'm on line 9 which goes right through Deutz). I went there because that's where their hockey arena is, Lanxess Arena. I got some pictures of that, and walked around for a good 20 minutes until I finally found the fanshop. There I got a present for Bobby which hopefully he'll like. I jumped back on the Bahn and here I am! I'm gonna take it easy for a while, and hopefully go out the next few nights before Berlin.
So Sunday morning we're headed off to Berlin! We're staying at the Helter Skelter hostel, which I find ironic, because we were just talking about the Manson murders the other day. The hostel is right smack in the middle of Berlin, which I think is really cool. All the girls are staying in the big apartment and the boys in a smaller apartment. Here's the link to the hostel:
http://www.helterskelterhostel.de
The week should be a lot of fun, there's stuff planned everyday like a visit to the Reichstag, and a day trip to Potsdam. I'm so excited! I love when we're all on excursions together cuz we're such a fun group, and now we all get to be together for a week! I think we're gonna cool one night too because there's a kitchen in our apartment.
After Berlin I come back to Cologne to pack for Greece! I'm gonna attempt to conquer the famous German Laundromat at some point so that I have clean clothes for when I get there haha. I leave for Greece a week from Sunday, flying into Mykonos early in the morning. We'll be in Mykono's until Tuesday, then we head to Athens. After Athens I'm flying to London to meet Uncle David for the Bucs game on Sunday. I'm ditching school on Monday (shh!) and flying back home!
So that's basically how the next couple weeks are going to unfold! I'm bringing my laptop to Berlin and Greece, so I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot!
Jess
I just got done with classes and midterms today! Woo hoo! Now I'm getting ready to embark on a 2 and a half week break!! Sooooo excited. Anyways, this week basically consisted of a whole lot of studying for finals. Monday I was completely exhausted from the weekend, and I basically was like a zombie all through class. After class I ran home and got a 1 hour nap. After that we had a dinner for the host families, but my family wasn't able to make it, that was ok thought because a few others couldn't make it either. It was still fun though, I had a beer and some cake and it was deeeelicious!
I got to sleep in on Tuesday which was greatly needed, and we went and visited the Cologne city museum, so I didn't have any real class on Tuesday which was cool! We also went and visited a pretty church, I can't remember what it was called but the inside looked like a Candy Cane and I liked that. After that we went to Kim Phuc (I laugh at the name everyday), and we had delicious fried rice. Then I went home and took a nap and proceeded to study the rest of the night.
Wednesday I had 2 finals, both of which were really tough and hurt my brain. After my second final I really needed to calm down so we went to the grocery store and got 35 cent beer and drank that. It was delicious and necessary. I came home after that, napped, and studied yet again.
Today was the last final, and it wasn't nearly as painful as the other two. After the final we went to the little cafe by the school and I had a coffee, a hot chocolate, and some french fries. And I was completely wound up haha. After the cafe we went to Art History, which is a pretty fun class, and I was excited because we got to talk about the Duomo in Florence, which I've been to. I was very excited about this, so I announced it proudly to the class. Turns out lots of Americans have been there. Oh well, it was exciting nonetheless.
After class I had to go look at a church in Appelhofplatz for my Art History project. Of course I pick the church that's completely under construction and hidden by scaffolding. Oh well. I picked up line 3 in Appelhofplatz and took it over to Deutz, since it's on the way to my house (I'm on line 9 which goes right through Deutz). I went there because that's where their hockey arena is, Lanxess Arena. I got some pictures of that, and walked around for a good 20 minutes until I finally found the fanshop. There I got a present for Bobby which hopefully he'll like. I jumped back on the Bahn and here I am! I'm gonna take it easy for a while, and hopefully go out the next few nights before Berlin.
So Sunday morning we're headed off to Berlin! We're staying at the Helter Skelter hostel, which I find ironic, because we were just talking about the Manson murders the other day. The hostel is right smack in the middle of Berlin, which I think is really cool. All the girls are staying in the big apartment and the boys in a smaller apartment. Here's the link to the hostel:
http://www.helterskelterhostel.de
The week should be a lot of fun, there's stuff planned everyday like a visit to the Reichstag, and a day trip to Potsdam. I'm so excited! I love when we're all on excursions together cuz we're such a fun group, and now we all get to be together for a week! I think we're gonna cool one night too because there's a kitchen in our apartment.
After Berlin I come back to Cologne to pack for Greece! I'm gonna attempt to conquer the famous German Laundromat at some point so that I have clean clothes for when I get there haha. I leave for Greece a week from Sunday, flying into Mykonos early in the morning. We'll be in Mykono's until Tuesday, then we head to Athens. After Athens I'm flying to London to meet Uncle David for the Bucs game on Sunday. I'm ditching school on Monday (shh!) and flying back home!
So that's basically how the next couple weeks are going to unfold! I'm bringing my laptop to Berlin and Greece, so I'm sure I'll be blogging a lot!
Jess
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Weekend in Amsterdam
Hi all!
So I just got back from my weekend in Amsterdam! It was quite interesting to say the least. That city is a rough place! I don't know what my assumptions were before I went, but I can say I was surprised. Once you get out on the outskirts, it's a gorgeous European city, but the city center is a disturbing place with all the drugs and hookers around. That being said, I LOVED Amsterdam!
I know it sounds a little strange to love a disturbing place, but I just felt like the whole place was just interesting in a creepy gritty sort of way. I knew there would be hookers, and I knew they would be in windows, but I didn't realize how close you are to them, how many there are, and that people actually do...purchase them! It was really strange watching men come out of the little rooms. The overall aura of the city is just different. I can't really explain it...it's really touristy, but it attracts a certain kind of tourist - namely young guys that wanna get baked and buy hookers. So that was kinda weird.
Either way, Amsterdam has some great museums and stuff, so we went to go see the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank museum on Saturday. It was really interesting. I really liked the Anne Frank museum, because, like most people, I've read the book. So it was cool to actually be in the rooms that they were hiding in...it was really creepy and really sad too.
Most of the time we just wandered the streets and looked at the pretty canals, and went into little shops. It was a really good time. Our hostel, the Flying Pig, was really nice. It was tucked away on this little street that's full of shops, and it has a really cool environment. I really like hostels to begin with, cuz I think sharing a room with 10 strangers is cool for some reason. This hostel was definitely sweet, probably my number 2 hostel that I've stayed in.
I'd love to definitely go back to Amsterdam sometime, but I'd have to do it within the next 10 years, because I can't see myself enjoying a place like that when I'm in my thirties. For now, it was a really good time!
So I just got back from my weekend in Amsterdam! It was quite interesting to say the least. That city is a rough place! I don't know what my assumptions were before I went, but I can say I was surprised. Once you get out on the outskirts, it's a gorgeous European city, but the city center is a disturbing place with all the drugs and hookers around. That being said, I LOVED Amsterdam!
I know it sounds a little strange to love a disturbing place, but I just felt like the whole place was just interesting in a creepy gritty sort of way. I knew there would be hookers, and I knew they would be in windows, but I didn't realize how close you are to them, how many there are, and that people actually do...purchase them! It was really strange watching men come out of the little rooms. The overall aura of the city is just different. I can't really explain it...it's really touristy, but it attracts a certain kind of tourist - namely young guys that wanna get baked and buy hookers. So that was kinda weird.
Either way, Amsterdam has some great museums and stuff, so we went to go see the Van Gogh museum and the Anne Frank museum on Saturday. It was really interesting. I really liked the Anne Frank museum, because, like most people, I've read the book. So it was cool to actually be in the rooms that they were hiding in...it was really creepy and really sad too.
Most of the time we just wandered the streets and looked at the pretty canals, and went into little shops. It was a really good time. Our hostel, the Flying Pig, was really nice. It was tucked away on this little street that's full of shops, and it has a really cool environment. I really like hostels to begin with, cuz I think sharing a room with 10 strangers is cool for some reason. This hostel was definitely sweet, probably my number 2 hostel that I've stayed in.
I'd love to definitely go back to Amsterdam sometime, but I'd have to do it within the next 10 years, because I can't see myself enjoying a place like that when I'm in my thirties. For now, it was a really good time!
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