Berlin

Pictures: 1) Ulee, Eily, Mary-Jo, Me, Noel at our Italian dinner, 2) Noel, Mary-Jo, Me, Emily outside the restauarnt, 3) the arch thing, 4) on the Holocaust Memorial, 5) Me, Emily, Mary-Jo in the TV tower, 6) Emily and me in front of the TV tower, 7) Emily and me in front of the cathedral, 8) with the giraffs, 9) Mary-Jo and me with the flamingos, 10) Mary-Jo and me with the seal fountain, 11) me with the lions, 12) a pic I took in the aqarium

When I arrived in Berlin at 9:30 pm Liana met me at the station. She is the girl I was to stay with through CS. She was very nice and we walked to her flat and then sat in the kitchen talking until about midnight. She told me that the next afternoon (Friday) she would be leaving for the weekend to visit a friend in the countryside, but she would give me her keys and I could stay in her room until I left Sunday. She does have two female flat mates, but still, what trust! The next morning she got up before me for class, and then I headed out around 11:30, taking the S-bahn to the central station looking for an information point. The main station in Berlin is beyond impressive - it is absolutely huge with about five stories and glass elevators and escalators everywhere. However, due to its grandiose scale, it took me about 20 minutes to find the tourist information office. When I got there I heard two girls speaking English and waiting in line with maps to purchase (yes, they cost 1 euro). I asked where they had gotten the maps, and then started talking to them. After our purchases we talked a bit more, and found out that they were from Canada, but one had been studying in Poland and the other in Hamburg for a semester. They decided to meet in the middle (Berlin) for a few days before one flew home and the other traveled around for the summer. They had also just arrived the night before, so I asked if we could all hang out together to see the sights.

First we walked to the parliament house with the big glass dome in the middle. We could have gone inside and probably paid to walk in the glass dome, but we decided to keep moving. Next we saw the arch that represents the unity of East and West Berlin. According to one Berliner (yes, that is what they are called, along with Hamburgers and Frankfurters - not kidding!), the arch is the most important thing in all of Berlin - it is their icon. Well, we took pictures with this icon and moved on. Next we walked to the Holocaust Memorial. It looks a bit like Arlington cemetery, but instead of crosses on grass-covered hills, there are huge cement blocks of varying heights in neat rows on brick-covered rolling hills. Standing in the middle is a bit eerie and gives one the sense of being lost in a labyrinth. Inside kids were running around playing hide-and-go-seek and others were jumping from block to block across the top. I couldn’t decide if this was a good thing (like we have learned from the past and that is why today they are free to be happy and playful) or if was sort of sacrilegious to be playing in a memorial. It reminded me a bit of the new FDR memorial in DC where kids climb all over the blocks and fountains.

From there we walked past a piece of the Berlin wall and took a couple pictures (I’d forgotten to put my memory card back in my camera and thus Mary-Jo and Emily took pics for me). There was a tube station near there, so we took that to Alexanderplatz where this big glass covered piazza is (I think it might be called the Sony center or something). We had lunch there at an Australian restaurant and I had a kangaroo meat wrap. I’d never had kanga meat before, but it was really good. From there we went to the TV tower (which, in my opinion, is the real symbol of Berlin). We bought tickets to go to the top for 10 euros each, and then waited for our time slot at the Starbucks next door.

Mary-Jo, Emily, and I all got along so well - we just talked and talked and I don’t think anyone ever felt like a third wheel. We laughed about getting lost in foreign countries and having local people offering to help us, talked about the different cultures and customs we’d experienced, about Canada, America, all the places we want to go and all the places we’d been. In general, it was just really nice to spend the day with them.

At 5:10 we went to the top of the TV tower and stood in the huge ball on the top looking out the windows at the panoramic view of Berlin. I found one thing very interesting - when you looked out there were many beautiful, red roofed buildings and old churches, etc. until you got to one side where all the buildings looked relatively new, where white, and appeared like office buildings - all the same. I’m thinking this was what used to be East Berlin because so many of their buildings went to ruin during the socialist reign and had to be rebuilt after the wall came down in ‘89.

Berlin is a very politically-active city and very aware of it’s relatively recent history. There are always some sort of demonstrations going on near the arch and most of the newer architecture features a lot of glass creating a very open environment. I feel like the reason for this is to contrast with the times when the socialist government had so many secrets and when political protesters were shut up and never heard from again.

After the TV tower we walked to the main cathedral of Berlin. We paid 3 euros to get in, and it was very beautiful, though rather recently reconstructed (probably like the one in Dresden). We got to climb to the top and there we could walk around the dome on the outside and look at all the people below and got a slightly different view from the TV tower because we were lower.
I have to interrupt my blog for a moment to mention what is going on right now. I’m on a train from Berlin to Wurzburg and there is a woman sitting next to me who smells so bad I am breathing through my mouth, and she picked up the brochure telling about where this train is going and all the connecting trains at each stop etc. which had about 20 panels, and she wrote all over every single flap. Random words and numbers and symbols - even without knowing German, I know it was absolute craziness. When she would finish writing all over one flat (on top of the other words mind you) she would put the pamphlet down, and put her pen away, then three seconds later grab it again and write on another flap. When she finally filled the entire thing with scribble, she tore the whole thing up and put it in her bag. Then she started writing on another pamphlet that only had 4 flaps, so now she had nothing to write on, so she started writing on her arm and then talking to herself. It is really rather freaking me out. I can’t believe I have another 2 hours on the train…I hope she gets off before me.

Anyway, Mary-Jo, Emily, and I didn’t get out of the church until about 7:45 p.m. and then we decided to go to the area where their hostel was to find a place to eat. This may sound easy enough, especially given the number of restaurants around there, but Emily is allergic to: nuts, gluten (which is in wheat), apples, dairy, and is a vegetarian. Thus, she can pretty much only eat potatoes, corn, rice, and vegetables. Germany is all about the bread and meat, so yes, it proved difficult. She eats a lot of Indian food, but that is pretty much the only food I don’t eat since it is all very spicy. Finally we found a place called “Asian Deli” which had meals from all different countries all over the Asian continent. Emily got veggies and rice in some sort of curry sauce. I got chicken in mango sauce with pineapple, green beans, peas, onions and rice. It was very yummy and only 4.90.

After that we went back to Liana’s flat because she texted me saying she left cake for me and I wanted to put the girls’ pictures on my computer.

When we got there I saw that Liana had left a rhubarb and strawberry crumb cake and another cake that looked like cheesecake with oranges on it but tasted like angel-food cake. Both were quite yummy. The girls left for their hostel about 12:45 and I got ready for bed.

The next day I slept in and then met Emily and Mary-Jo at the train station around 2:30 to go to the zoo. The Berlin zoo is supposed to be one of the best in the world. It was 14 euros a piece for students to go to the zoo and the aquarium, but I’m pretty sure Mary-Jo would have paid 50 - she was so excited since she had never been to a zoo before EVER! It was like watching a kid at Disneyworld. I was amazed at how many of the animals both girls had never seen before - I think I’d seen all of them at some point.

We had a good time watching the elephants, giraffes, lions, leopards, apes, monkeys, rhinos, etc. My favorite were the orangutans - they were having so much fun swinging from the ropes and ceiling of their enclosure. There was one guy who was HUGE and looked like he was wearing a Halloween costume. His fur was so long and matted into dreadlocks and really looked like some sort of cape or costume. He also carried a blanket around with him wherever he went. Everyone else deferred to him, you could tell. As Mary-Jo said, they would have to, otherwise he could just sit on them. Lol

After seeing the aquarium, it started a torrential downpour, but there was still an hour until the park closed and we still had things to see, so we kept trudging. After a bit, we seemed to be the only people left in the park. Most of the animals were under shelters, except the African penguins, the seals, and the water birds like the flamingos. We passed the kangaroos and I was saying “jump, jump” but they stayed under their covering. Mary-Jo said they wouldn’t listen to me because I’d just eaten their cousin. As we stood watching the zebras, it started to rain very hard, and they all took off under their shelter as we huddled under our 2 umbrellas. It was now almost 7 pm, so we decided to find the exit. To get back to where we’d entered we had to cross this large puddle. I walked through the grass next to it, but both girls had open toed shoes and didn’t want to go through the grass so they tried to walk along this small curb. Mary-Jo made it, but when she jumped to safety Emily lost her balance and fell into the puddle, almost on her butt, though luckily she managed to only get her feet/shoes wet. As we walked it started raining even harder (which we didn’t think was possible), and we found a little covered shelter to take refuge. We were now all drenched from under the knees down.

We finally made it to the entrance at 7:10, and the gates were all locked. There was a sign that said exit with a moon and stars on it pointing in a different direction, so we figured that must be where you could leave in the evening from, but as we walked, and walked, and walked, the exit did not appear and we started getting a bit nervous. We hadn’t seen another person in quite some time, not even zoo personnel. We discussed the possibility of living out a Night in the Zoo movie (as opposed to Night in the Museum). At long last we reached the exit and escaped. We were supposed to meet two CSers at the main train station at 7:30 to get dinner and hang out, but I had to text the girl and let her know we’d be late. When we arrived, we looked like drowned cats.

Ulee (a girl) and Noel (a guy) were from different parts of Germany, but had come into town to say goodbye to a friend of theirs who was leaving for a year long treck across Russia and the Asian continent. They’d driven 6 hours that morning just to surprise him and see him for 20 minutes before he got on the train. That is friendship right there!
They had been told about a good area for restaurants, so we drove there in Noel’s work BMW (yeah…it was pretty freaking cool - I need a job that lets me take personal trips with the company car on company gas money). We found an Italian restaurant that had a large menu and one that Emily thought she’d be able to find someone to eat on. I had a huge cheese pizza for 4.90. Emily got a dish with rice, veggies, and tomato sauce, but when they brought it, there was parmesan cheese on top, so she had to have them take it back and make a new one. I don’t understand how a person’s body could be allergic to SO many things. I would die if I couldn’t have peanut butter, or ice cream, or bread, or chocolate! Those are pretty much my favorite things ever!

Over dinner we talked about the way Germany dealt with WWII history, and how well-taught the students are about the atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis. We then talked about the Japanese kamikazes in WWII and the Japanese war mentality. Noel said he found it amazing that those who ordered the kamikazes were never persecuted for war crimes like the Nuremburg Trials persecuted the Nazis. He thought the trials were a very good lesson and way of dealing with their crimes, but that it should have extended to other WWII evil-doers. I really enjoyed talking with Noel for he reminded me a lot of my cousin Michael and as it turns out, was the same age.
After dinner we went to a Jazz bar to meet 2 other CSers, and it was really cool to hear live jazz music (since obviously they were singing in English). It made me really want to blues dance, but of course no one was blues dancing, so I didn’t get the chance. :( I was very tired, so I left at 11:45, taking the S-bahn back to Liana’s flat.

Overall, it was a really nice day and I do hope that Emily, Mary-Jo, Ulee, and Noel will come visit me in Charlotte at some point.

Today I got up at 10, got my stuff together, and left at 11 to catch the 11:37 train to Wurzburg. I wanted to go there because my Uncle Tom grew up there and said it is very beautiful. I will stay there tonight and spend the day tomorrow, then take the train in the evening to Frankfurt.

Dresden

Pictures: 1) the meal Caroline cooked for me, 2) one of the cool houses, 3) the two of us on the bridge to the old town, 4) in the Alexander the Great courtyard, 5) Caroline on top of the wall of the courtyard, 6) the rebuilt cathedral, 7) on the top, 8) view from the top

When I arrived in the main station in Dresden, I was supposed to take a train to a subsidiary station, but that train had problems, so I had to take the tram. This was a problem because the CSer I was to stay with, Caroline, was going to meet me on the platform I was supposed to arrive on, but I would no longer be arriving there and I would be at least 15 minutes later than planned. I was quite distressed over this, especially since I hadn’t written down her number and I don’t think I’d given her mine. All she knew is that I would be wearing turquoise shorts.

I arrived at the station 20 minutes later than I should have, and then I had no idea what platform to look for her on (she knew which one my train should have come to, but I didn’t). There were about 10 platforms, so I just went up to one and looked across the rows and rows of others, searching for someone who seemed to also be searching for someone. I couldn’t see her. Finally I came back to the large foyer of the station, trying to figure out what I should do - try to find internet and look for her number? That would probably be the best bet. So, I lugged my suitcase wearily toward the doors and then I heard a girl say “Lauren?” There was Caroline, standing in front of me with a bag of groceries. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe you found me! My train was cancelled and I had to take the tram and I didn’t know which platform to meet you on!” I said, so excited, my worries finally dropping off my shoulders. “I know, they didn’t tell all of us on the platform what was going on - it just never arrived, so I thought maybe you’d catch the next one instead and since I needed groceries I went to the store and thought I’d come back and see if you were here yet. Thank goodness for your shorts, otherwise I don’t know how I would have found you!” I immediately liked her friendly smile, sincerity, and apparent joy at having me stay with her.

We walked the 10 minutes to her flat, talking excitedly the whole way, still unbelieving at our luck of finding one another (I said, as Anne of Green Gables would say, “It was Providence!”).
I really loved Caroline’s flat and her room was very large with a little fold up bed just for me. After settling in, she made us a great traditional German dinner of eggs, cooked potatoes, and creamed spinach. It was yummy!

After I finished, I took my dishes to the sink to start washing them. Caroline said, “Oh, we have a dish washer” so I said “okay” but continued to rinse my plate clean as I have always been taught to do. Caroline walked over and put her dishes straight into the machine and said, “you don’t have to do that.” I said, “Oh, sorry, umm, well with eggs it might not come off in the dishwasher.” She said, “We just got a brand new one and it is really powerful, but it’s okay, I know you guys rinse.” For some reason that just cracked me up. Caroline lived in the US for a year, on the west coast, and apparently the idea of rinsing one’s dishes clean before putting it in the washer is a purely American concept. The Germans just think of it as a waste of water.
After dinner, we took bikes and rode into the told town center (after seeing some really cool houses whose fronts were all decorated in different colors and shapes). We would stop periodically on our bike ride to take pictures with the trees and fountains - it was truly a beautiful city. In the old town, we saw the outside of the opera house and the two cathedrals, then went into the big open piazza that Alexander the Great had built for his parties which often lasted for days or weeks. You can walk around the tops of the buildings surrounding the huge courtyard, and it was very beautiful. The day was lovely, with a cool breeze, blue skies and fluffy clouds. After the courtyard thing, we went to a shopping mall to get me a nedi pot (the thing that you mix saline solution and water in and then pour it up one nostril to clear our your sinuses - yeah, it’s pretty gross sounding). I really needed one because the pollen was getting stuck in my sinuses under my right eye and my teeth were starting to hurt, which meant it was only a matter of time before I developed a sinus infection. Caroline’s roommates all swear by the nedi pot, and I’ve used it at home before, so that was our mission. It cost 14 euros, but given how much better I’ve been doing ever since, it was worth it! We also got some German chocolate and some fresh bread.

On the way home we stopped at a video store and rented “A Walk to Remember” which Caroline thought she’d never seen, and stopped by a soft-serve ice cream place that had the best soft-serve I’ve ever tasted!

When we got back, two of Caroline’s roommates were there, and all of them stood around instructing me how to use the nedi pot, but thankfully let me close the bathroom door before I actually stuck the thing in my nose. It was rather funny. Afterward I watched the movie with Caroline, who said she thought she had seen at least part of it before, but of course she loved it. She went to bed before me since she had a Spanish presentation the next morning, and I used the computer before bed.

The next morning I slept in and then checked CSing to see if anyone in the Dresden group had responded to my “does anyone want to hang out with me” post. I had one reply by a guy worked very close by saying he could meet for lunch. His name was Ingolf and we met and then walked about a mile to an authentic German beergaten restaurant. He was very nice and very talkative like me. He’d only discovered CSing a few days before and was so excited, having always thought there needed to be something like that out there. It was funny because he reminded me a lot of Tommy (especially the way he looked) and it made me chuckle because when I first met Tommy I thought he looked German. Anyway, Ingolf and I talked about his travels in the US (mostly on the west coast) and to the far east and CSing and the Dresden bridge conflict (there is a huge debate over whether this one particular bridge should be built or not) and many other things. We both got goulash soup (rationally German and sort of like vegetable beef soup), soft pretzels, and this thing for dessert called red grit with vanilla sauce (which was like smashed up red berries with vanilla sauce on top). Ingolf is 35, has a long time girlfriend, and two kids (10 and 13). He was telling me that the first time he called his little girl from America and said it was night time there when it was morning in Germany, she was so confused all day that her teacher asked her mother “What’s wrong with her today - she’s seemed so distracted and confused.” He said after that he couldn’t mention the time where he was until she was older. Lol

After we left the restaurant it started raining, but luckily I had a waterproof jacket on (as did Ingolf). However, at one point it started absolutely down pouring, and we had to take shelter under a tree (yes, in America that is the number one no-no, but here there are so many buildings around, trees aren’t the likely targets for a lightening strike). Finally we made it back to where we started near Caroline’s house - 2.5 hours later! He said it was okay though because he sets his own schedule. He showed me which tram to take to the old city, and we said goodbye. In the old city I went to the rebuilt cathedral (demolished from firebombing during WWII and not finished being rebuilt until 2005). It was very pretty inside, though it was new, and I climbed to the top where the view over Dresden was amazing. I could see the clouds all around raining, but it wasn’t raining at the time I was up there.

When I left that cathedral and went toward the other one, it started down pouring again, and I was drenched when I got inside, so, I sat and read a book for about 40 minutes while I dried off. I took the tram back to Caroline’s and met her there at 4:30. She said her presentation and other classes had gone very well, and we chatted and then had dinner of mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, oil/vinegar, fresh bread, jam, and the last of my jar of Skippy All Natural PB. She then walked me to the train station and I left for Berlin. We both wished I could have stayed longer I think, but I do so hope she comes to NC someday soon!

Prague

Pictures: 1) my food the first night (told you it looked gross!), 2) the castle and the Plataba by night, 3) the astronomical clock, 4) in the old town center, 5) with the Charles Bridge behind me, 6) Anna and Anni, 7) with my pasta

I arrived in Prague and CSer Anna met me at the station. She was so happy to have me there and it was so nice of her to meet me at the station so I wouldn’t have to figure out how to get to her place alone. She is originally from Hungry, but has been living in Prague for about 2 years now working. Her English is excellent (and that is what she has to get by on in Prague because she doesn’t know Czech) and she reads a lot (including many of my favorite books/series). We have so much in common it was great!

After dropping my stuff, we met a friend of hers, Anni, at a restarant where other CSers were gathering for an impromptu meeting. We had dinner there and I had a traditional Czech dish consisting of thin slices of beef, covered in sweet gravy, cranberries, whipped cream, and dumplings (which looked like slices of white bread but were moist and heavy). It looked disgusting but tasted great!

From there we walked all around the old city, saw the astronomical clock, and I got to see the Plataba River and the castle all lit up by night. It was very beautiful.

The next morning I slept in and Anna left me her keys so I just got some cereal and milk, watched some shows online, and then went to the city centre by tube. I walked around the center square and took pictures and then asked a group of Americans to take my picture and started talking to them. They were from Texas, Minnesota, and California. One guy majored in chemical engineering and he was there in Prague giving pub crawls for the summer then going elsewhere in Europe to do other such things. I thought that was funny. We talked for a bit (his name was Johnny B - yes, the whole thing), and I found out he was on CS too. Then I went on a free tour at 2 pm given by a guy from Missouri who was traveling around Europe living in each place for a few months giving city tours in English. For only having been in Prague for one month, he sure knew a lot about the city! I learned so much. Basically, Czech history pretty much sucks - they have been in a state of constant opression by other nations. In 1918 they gained their freedom as a nation for 20 years, and then the Nazis moved in in ‘38, and then when the Red Army came in ‘45 they thought they were free again, but the Russians changed the former democracy into a “people’s democracy” (I.e. the difference between a jacket and a straight jacket). They were under communist rule until 1989, when the Velvet Revolution took place and they peacefully separated from Russia. In ‘93 they had the Velvet Divorce in which Czechoslovakia split into two nations: the Czech Republic and Slovakia (because they were two different cultures). On the tour we also passed by the oldest Jewish cemetery in the world that is in the ghetto area of Prague (it wasn’t actually called a ghetto, but all the Jews in the city had to live there). We saw the famous Charles Bridge, got the clock’s history explained to us, and many other cool buildings.

The tour ended at 5:30 on a little manmade island on the river where parts of Mission Impossible were filmed. From there I walked to the closest tube and met Anna near her house at 6:15. She was exhausted from work and I was tired too, so we just watched a movie and then grabbed some dinner at a pub nearby.

The next day I went into the city again, walked to the castle, explored the gardens around the castle, went into the beautiful cathedral, and looked at the view over the city. In the morning I’d gone to the mall in which they had a pharmacy to buy allergy medication; however the Zyrteck made me sleepy so I came back to Anna’s flat early, bought some food at the grocery store, and read some of the novel Anna gave me until she came home. We sat around talking until we met Anni again for dinner. I had some great pasta with garlic, chicken, spinach and cream sauce.

That night Anna picked up her dad, step-mom, and step-sister from the train station at 11 pm and all 5 of us slept at her place that night. They were in town because her dad had to give a speech at a conference over the next few days. In the morning I just packed up, talked to her mom and step-sister, and then met Anna at the tube stop where she accompanied me to the train station during her lunch break.

The train to Dresden took about 2.5 hours. Will write more about Dresden soon.

Vienna

Pictures: 1) the rathaus, 2) Eva and me in front of parliament, 3) Eva and Stephanie in front of parliament, 4) inside a cathedral the next day, 5) in the Volksgaten, 6) again, 7) at the castle rose garden, 8) with the castle

On Friday Stephanie had an early class, but she let me sleep in and then I went out when she got back at 11. First I walked to the Voksoper which is the smaller opera house. I asked about student tickets and they said to come 30 minutes beforehand and I could get the best that was left for 10 euros This was for the My Fair Lady musical. From there I took the metro to the center of the city - Stephensplatz. That is where the huge cathedral, St. Stephan’s Dom is located. I went inside that, but I just hovered near the entrance because I had a skirt that showed my knees and a sleeveless top on. No one yelled at me though, and Stephanie said later, “This is Austria, not Italy, you could have gone all the way in.” lol

After that I walked to the big opera house and asked about the opera for the next evening, which was Techovski symphony and an opera with famous singers. They said the same thing as the Volksoper - come the next day 30 minutes before and you can get whatever is left for 10 euros. However, you can also get standing seats for 3 euros. Stephanie, Eva, and I had talked about going to see that on Saturday night, so I was just gathering information. From there I walked by many of the buildings we’d walked by the night before, like the famous white horse stables, the capitol building, the rathaus, etc. I stopped for a frankfurter (hotdog in a huge bun) and ate in the park behind the national library. From there the Volksgaten was close, and I was so impressed with the flowers there! Every kind of rose imaginable was on show and they smelled so wonderful! They even had roses of a dusty purple color, which I don’t think I’d ever seen before. From there I found the metro and took it up to another place that Stephanie marked on the map for me and said had the best ice cream. I got banana, mango, and chocolate chip. :) I sat on a bench to eat, and then I laid down on it, soaking up the wonderful warm rays of sun.

At 3:15 I went back to the flat to meet Stephanie before she had to go to class at 4, but Eva answered the door. She said Steph wasn’t feeling well, so she was going to go to class for her and Stephanie was going to sleep. This way I didn’t have a time restraint for getting out the door, so I sat around checking the computer and then got ready for the musical. I had posted a message on the Vienna group asking if anyone wanted to go to the play with me, and I got a call right before I left from a guy named Marik who said he’d meet me there.

I was able to get 2 tickets for the student price of 10 euros. He was a nice man from Albania or Armenia or one of those countries, but he had lived in France and now Vienna for the past five years. We got seats in the boxes at the side of the stage where you always see the rich people sitting in the movies. I’d never sat in a box like that before, so it was pretty cool and we were quite close. Marik was in the box next to mine, and in my box there was a woman and her 2 little girls. They were so cute! The mother spoke English, having studied in Minnesota for a year, but the girls didn’t know any English yet. I so wished they did because they were such adorable little girls and I wanted to talk to them. (They were 6 and 8). I quickly found out that the musical was entirely in German with no subtitles, so thankfully I’d seen the movie and generally understood what was going on. However, I missed most of the jokes. When I really wanted to know what was said, I would ask the woman in the box with me and she would translate. Despite not knowing exactly what was being said, I still really enjoyed it. The singing, acting, and set were all wonderful.

Afterward, Marik and I wentt to the top of this nearby hill where you have a perfect view of all of Vienna lit by night. It was very pretty. After that I went back to Stephanie’s. She was feeling better and studying for the test she had on Saturday morning. Can you believe that? Class on Saturdays! She is a French and English major and her test was in French. I was so exhausted, so I took a shower, and uploaded some pics on face book, then went to bed. However, somehow it was still 1:30 by the time I got to bed. One thing is for sure though - I never have problems falling asleep anymore. I pass out almost as soon as I lay my head on the pillow.

Stephanie left me the keys the next morning, and I agreed to be back in the flat by 2:15 when she would return to let her in. I woke up at 11 and got ready slowly, which was nice. Finally, I went back to Stephansplatz and climbed to the top of St. Stephan’s Dom. From the top you can see most of Vienna; however, you can’t actually go outside on the top because of construction - only look out windows from an observation tower. That was sad. I got more ice cream on the way back (banana and chocolate this time).

I was back at the flat when Stephanie arrived home. She made a wonderful lunch of whole grain pasta with a sauce that had zucchini, mozerella, and tomatoes. We also had salad. After lunch we went to the train station so I could buy my reservation for my train to Prague on Sunday, and then we went to the palace that used to be the summer residence of the emperors. Actually going inside the palace was expensive, but we walked around the gardens, which were lovely. It reminded me aa lot of Hampton Court Palace outside London.

At 6:30 we met Eva at the big opera house and bought standing tickets for 3 euros each. The opera was in Russian, but each seat, even the standing ones, have little fold down computer screens that have the subtitles in whatever language you select. The orchestra and the opera singers were really amazing. The story was pretty good as well. We anticipated leaving early, but ended up staying for the whole three hours.

Stephanie likes ice cream as much as I do, so afterward she wanted to get some. Of course I had to get some too if we just happened to be there again. Haha I got “cookies” and strawberry this time. I had a ham, lettuce, and tomato sandwich for dinner during the break at the opera.
This morning we slept in until 10, and then Stephanie made a traditional Austrian breakfast which was sort of like pieces of pancakes that you eat with fruit compote (we had plums, but you can also use apples etc). It was really yummy! I caught a tram at noon to the train station, and now am on my way to Prague where I will stay with a girl named Anna.

Salzburg

Pictures: 1) on the lake where Maria and the children fell in, 2) on a beautiful lake, 3) singing do-re-me and jumping on the steps, 4) with Addie and Nieve by one of the Sound of Music fountains, 5) on the overlook from the modern art museum, 6) with Kasia on the fortress, 7) sound of music poses with Addie on the Mozart bridge, 8) from the fortress, 9 and 10) on the Untersberg

On the train to Salzburg I talked to two different guys on the train. The first guy was tattooed all over and when got on with a sandwich and 2 beers. He was rather amusing to talk to though - he’s been all over the world, but not to the US because he says he doesn’t think he could get in. I asked why, and he said because of things in the past they probably wouldn’t let him in. This makes me think he must have a pretty shady history. He also said he didn’t work and hasn’t for the last ten years. I asked how he got money then and he said “things here and there…not all legal.“ hahaha He seemed like a nice enough person to talk to though. After he got off, another guy got on across from me. He had the most arresting eyes and as soon as he sat down I knew he knew English somehow. We started talking and it turns out that he spent his senior year of high school in Orlando and one brother went to FSU and another went to NC State. We talked about Disney World and Florida in general and my travels and so many things and it was just a lot of fun talking to him so excitedly. The first guy didn’t speak English all that well and he was, well, weird; but I was excited to talk to a perfect stranger who spoke so well and who knew what I was talking about when I spoke of America. He got off the train after 30 minutes, and I realized that I never even got his name. It is a shame, but at the same time, sort of cool to meet someone who sort of makes your day and then they are gone, like the wind.

When I arrived in Salzburg, I got directions to my hostel and walked there. I was in a large six bed room with all girls. It was quite nice. There was no one in the room when I checked in a little after five, so I asked about free WiFi and found out there was a café with it nearby. I walked there with my computer and used the internet for a couple hours as I ate a dinner of egg on a bagel and brownie-cheesecake. Mmm.


From there I went to a salsa club that a couch surfer had told me about. She met me there after about an hour - her name is Kasia and she is from Poland but studying in Salzburg. I got to dance with the instructor, who was very good, his female partner, and one other guy who was also good before Kasia and her friends arrived. After they arrived we just danced with each other in a group, and then I left at 11:30.


Before bed I bought a ticket for the Sound of Music tour in the morning (at 9 am). I set my alarm for 8:15, but woke up at 8 since some of the girls in my room were being so loud. Going down to breakfast (it was 3 euros), I was sitting down when this guy said “hey, what do you call that kind of skirt? I like it when girls wear that style but I don’t know what it is called.” I laughed and said, “Umm, eyelet?” Another guy sitting at the same table where I was said something about how he was complimenting me just to have people to sit with, and I laughed and invited him to our table. His name was Patrick and the other already at the table was Richard. We talked over breakfast, and they agreed to meet me after my tour to go up to the Foretress (Kasia was going to meet me there too).


When I went back to my room I met one of my roomies, Addie. I told her about the Sound of Music tour and she said she’d thought about doing it, and I said, “Well, the guy accidently gave me two tickets last night, so if you want to come…” She agreed and we both got on with no problem. She paid me 15 of the 33 euros so it made it much cheaper. The tour drove us past the house that was actually used for the front and back façade of the house in the movie, and then we stopped at the gazebo (which I saw last time) and at the lake where Maria and the children fall in from the boat. We saw the spot from a distance and the backyard of the house there was used in the movie, but the actual house on that property was not. The gazebo used to be in that yard, but so many people were jumping over the wall to see it, they moved it to Helbrunn Palace.
The bus then took us past the abbey where Maria (the real and the movie one) were nuns. Then it drove us up into the mountains and we got out to see some views that were used in the beginning of the movie. We ended in a small town that started with an M, maybe Montsee or something like that. That is where the church they used in the wedding scene of the Sound of Music is. However, we couldn’t go inside because they were having a confirmation. I was SO bummed. The bus dropped us off at the Marybell Gardens and Addie, another girl named Nieve, and I walked around doing Sound of Music poses and taking pictures. We then walked to the bottom of this mountain and took an elevator to the top where there is a modern art museum. We didn’t go to the museum, but the view of the city and the fortress is amazing from up there. (Also, another Sound of Music scene was filmed up there). After that, Nieve went somewhere else, and Addie came with me to the Fortress funicular entrance, and we waited for Kasia and the guys from breakfast. We never saw the breakfast guys, so we went up just the three of us without them. The fortress isn’t too exciting inside, but we did get to go to the top of a watch tower and the view was really cool.

After the tower we ran into Patrick, Richard, and another guy, Mark. They went back down with us and then Kasia had to leave. The rest of us went back to the hostel. I got my computer and went to the free WiFi café and Patrick joined me a little later to get WiFi on his iPhone. At 8 we went back and all had dinner together in the hostel then Addie, Patrick and I went to the Hotel Stein which has a café on its roof (the Sound of Music guide told us to go there after dark to see the city lit up by night). We got there around 10, and a lot of the other hostel goers joined us about 10:30. By 11 we were pretty cold, so Patrick, Addie, and I walked around by the river just a little bit and then went back to the hostel. We decided to meet for breakfast the next morning at 9 and then go to the Unterberg (the mountain that Maria is on at the beginning of the film).

First, a little about my new friends. Addie just finished her freshman year of college in Michigan where she’s from. She was a very nice girl with a great smile and a happy personality. Patrick just turned 28 and is from Austin, TX, though he grew up everywhere since his dad was military. He is a very nice guy who reminds me a lot of a cross between a TA I had freshman year (who, oddly enough was also from Austin), Ryan from the OC, and one of my uncles. He is a cool guy to talk to and we became friends easily.

We met for breakfast this morning and then headed out to the Unterberg by bus. When we got to the bottom of the mountain we took a cable car up. The ride up was probably 8 minutes, but the view, suspended in the air, was freaking amazing!! (Brett would have been terrified. Lol) At the top we hiked all around (many parts were still covered in snow even though it was very warm). With the wind I was perfect in capris and a short sleeved shirt. Toward the very top we found a nice grassy area and laid down, listening to the peace, the wind, the buzzing of the bumble bees and watching the birds flying through the sky. It smelled like the mountains in NC, and somehow I felt at home. We three lied there for about 30 minutes talking occasionally and enjoying the beautiful day.

The view from up there was out of this world. We could see Salzburg, the alps of both Austria and Germany and who knows what else - all I know is that I had another one of those “this is life” moments. The three of us reflected on how sad it was to think of people who never get to see the view from the top of the mountain.

Finally, we took the cable car back down the mountain and caught the bus back into Salzburg. From there Patrick and I went to the train station and caught the train to Vienna where I will stay with a couch surfer for three nights (Patrick will continue on to Prague).

Overall I loved Salzburg (even though I’d been there before). I had so much fun with all my new friends in that beautiful city.

Now I am in Vienna with my couchsurfing host Stephanie and her friend Eva and we are using the internet in the Starbucks. We walked around the city as it was getting dark and the buildings were all so beautfiul lit up! Tomorrow night I'm going to go see "My Fair Lady" at the opera house. I'm so excited!!

Munich on Monday

Monday was a nice day.  We were going to go to the castle, but the weather was overcast with a prediction of rain, so instead Kate and I got up and watched 'Step Up 2' and then took the puppy with us and headed out.  First we went to the post office and I sent a package of souviners home and then we took the tube to a palace that is in Munich.  When we got off the rail we went the wrong direction for 20 minutes, then turned around and saw the palace behind us.  haha  It was a  nice walk though.  We wanted to go inside the palace but dogs weren't allowed, so we went to the gardens behind which were very beautiful and reminded me of Hampton Court Palace.  There were clouds overhead but no rain at that point.  After walking through the woods for some time, we turned back and took the light rail to the tube station.  When we got to the tube station, our train pulled up and so many people got off, and we were the first ones on, but the doors still closed on us.  Thank goodness Kira (the puppy) got on first, and the doors closed on Kate and myself.  I held them open and Kate got in, then the man behind me was helping to hold them and I got in and then he forced his way in, but no one else made it.  It was quite scary!

At the next stop the man got off, and it was just the 2 of us and the dog in the carriage.  We were just talking when all of a sudden the tube stopped before it got to the next stop.  It was dark all around outside the train and there was no one else that we could see in the whole train.  Kate was getting very scared, and then we heard another train approaching and it sounded as though it would descend upon us.  Kate was absolutely terrified, thinking it would crash into us.  At last it passed by us on another track that we couldn't see in the dark.  Ours still wasn't moving so Kate pressed the alarm button, but no good was done.  Then, a minute later, we saw the train driver walk by on the opposite side of the train (there must have been a walkway there).  I guess he went to the other end and then the train started up again and we began driving in the direction we had come from.  Well, when we got to the next stop, we got off right away.  Kate's heart was still beating wildly as we got on the next train.  

Then, we had to take the light rail again and while on it, holding Kira in our laps we found 3 ticks on her!  Kate was so grossed out (she hates bugs) so I had to get them off of her.  When we finally got back home I found another on her, but this one was already biting her, so I had to pull it out with tweezers.  Ew.  Then we made hot cocoa after the hard day, opened somebags of chips, and watched 'Honey' - a dance movie with Jessica Alba.  

Now I am chilling out in Kate's flat with Kira as she is getting her hair cut.  When she returns I will take a train to Salzburg where I will stay for 2 nights then go on to Vienna.  

Pictures soon!

In Munich

Pictures: 1) the surfers on the river in the gardens, 2) in the Englisher Gartens, 3) Kate, Basti, and the puppy (Kira)

I arrived in Munich and got to my hostel, ate, and got ready for bed.  I felt very bad from my

 cold, so I slept well.  The next morning I sat in the hostel watching some online shows until 2 when I left to walk to the Marienplatz to meet a couch surfer Susanne.  I met her at 2:30 and got cold medicine on the way.  She was so great!!  We had such a lovely day, just walking to the Englisher Gardens and through the city, talking, eating, sitting and talking more!  We were together until 9 pm, but it felt like no time at all!  We had so much in common!  Susanne works in the media organizing events and other PR type roles.  She is 25 and we just talked and I feel so sad that we don’t live in the same city because we were like twin souls!

At 9 she took me to meet my host for thee next 3 nights, Kate, and her boyfriend Sebastian.  We all sat around in Burger King and talked.  

I liked Kate and Basti (as he’s called) so much right off the bat.  As the four of us sat there

 chatting, a crazy drunk old man came up to me, and took my hat off of my suitcase and put it on his head and started speaking German to us and Basti was trying to humor him, but he was really creepy.  Finally, he put the hat on Susanne’s head and fell over me, and I had to push him off, and then he wandered away.  They were all saying “What a welcome to Germany!”  I was

 surprised because Germany seems so much more civil and clean then Greece or Italy and this is the first experience I’ve ever had like this. Lol 

 

I stayed on an air mattress in Kate’s one bedroom apartment, and her little dog, Kitra, is SO sweet and cute and in the middle of the night she came and laid her head on my feet and it was just so adorable.  Kate has so many of the same DVDs that I do and I knew we would be good friends.  Unfortunately she had to work today as well, so I met another CSer named Theresa at 10 am and we went to the Hof Garten which was a very pretty garden and sat and chatted.  She is also in the media and works for a teen tabloid sort of magazine.  She has met the stars of High School Musical, Twilight (I nearly had a coronary when I heard that!), Miley Cirus, and many more.  She said Robert Pattenson from Twilight was very cool and nice but that the girl (I forget her name) was snooty and always rolling her eyes and such.  She said the High School Musical stars were not very smart or very nice either.  It was really interesting to hear about all these stars and what they were like in person.  She said she’d much rather meet people like the Dali Lama and old people with real world experience, and I agreed (though don’t get me wrong, I’d LOVE to meet Robert Pattenson haha).  We also went to this spot in the Englisher Gatens where a sort of natural wave is made and people surf on it and we watched them for a while which was really cool. 

After grabbing lunch at a little restaurant, we went to the Marienplatz again and met with a free tour group at 1 pm.  (Which a CSer was leading and had told me about).  The tour was three hours, and really good!  I learned a lot about what the buildings meant, saw the Hofbrauhaus (home of beer), saw some Hitler headquarters, and many more things.  Theresa had to leave the tour at 3 to go home and get ready to babysit, but she said she too was learning a lot (since she is not originally from Munich).  She hopes to study some in the US, so I really hope she comes.  I told her that UNC has a great journalism program (and that is what she does) so who knows, maybe she’ll end up in Chapel Hill for a semester! 

At the end of the tour I hung out with the guide and some of the others on tour at the Hofbrauhaus and we chatted for a long time.  Specifically I talked to a guy from Atlanta and a girl from Canada until almost 7 pm when I met back up with Kate and Basti.  The guys name was Justin and the girl was Catherine and I told them all about couch surfing and they are planning on joining.  I told them about some of my experiences and then I told Catherine all about Italy and Greece since she was on her way there next.  She was like “thank you so much - I am so excited about Santorini now and couch surfing!” 

Kate, Basti and I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and then Basti drove us back to her apartment.  Now we are both using the computer, and playing with Kira (the puppy) intermittently.  We may watch a dancing movie tonight, but we have to get up early because we’re going on a tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle tomorrow (the famous “Sleeping Beauty” castle that the one in Disney is based on).  My Aunt Coleen raved about this castle, so I am so excited.  It is only 25 euros for students with Eurorail passes, and 35 for adults and you get transportation there and a guided tour and it’s an 8 hour trip all together.  I’m so excited, but we have to be at the train station at 9:15. Ick. 

I have had such a WONDERFUL time in Germany so far, even though I have a cold (though it is getting better!).  

Last day in Venice

Pictures: 1) on the ferry looking toward Venice on the way to Murano, 2) murano glass structure in Murano, 3) on the ferry

Yesterday I went back to Venice from Padova. I planned to go to Murano, Burano, and another island. On my way to the ferry port, I stopped in the old Jewish ghetto. This was started in 1516 when over 3,000 Jews moved to Venice where they were allowed to lend money for interest; however, to keep tabs on them, the ruler at the time forced them to live in a certain section which locked from midnight to dawn each day. The word used to describe the area was “geto” which was translated to “ghetto” by the Jews who found the original word hard to pronounce. From what I saw, they weren’t living in bad conditions like during the Holocaust, but it was the origination of the word ghetto.

I reached the ferry and during the ride over to Murano, I felt pretty good (because there are no allergens in the water). However, once I got there, my allergies got worse than ever and I was sneezing and blowing my nose nonstop. I watched a glass maker for a while, which was pretty neat, and then I walked around looking in all the shops. I thought since that is where the glass is actually made that it would be cheaper than in Venice proper, but no - it was definitely more expensive, so I didn’t buy anything except some rather disappointing gelato (it tasted like ice cream and the cone was like cardboard). Finally, my allergies were so bad I was just sick of being there, so I took the ferry back to Venice. I returned to San Marco’s square so I could bring back the watch I’d bought the day before because it wasn’t working. They replaced it for me without hassle, thank goodness.

I then took another ferry back to the train station and caught a 5:30 train back to Padova. Tiziano said he was going swimming after work, so wouldn’t be home until about 9:30. I decided to make dinner for us and walked down the road to the grocery store to buy the ingredients for potato soup. I bought the following for a little less than 5 euros: one large banana (for me), one onion, 4 huge potatoes, 2 stalks of celery, 2 carrots, one pint (or was it a liter? - anyway about 1.5 liters I think)of milk, and a box of chicken bullion cubes. It was actually pretty funny trying to find the chicken bullion cubes. I asked a woman in the store if she spoke English and luckily she did. I tried to describe what I needed, but they clearly aren’t called chicken bullion cubes in Italy. She went with me to a man who worked there and tried to translate what I was describing. She said, “So it’s chicken?” and I said “No, they’re little cubes that smell salty and are sort of yellow and you put it in water and it makes broth…” and all of a sudden her face lit up and she realized what I meant. Haha Their chicken bullion cubes are a little more brown and a little bigger, but otherwise I guess they’re about the same.

I got back to the apartment and I caught up on my online shows as I started to prepare the soup. It takes SO long to cut up 4 huge potatoes, the celery, the carrots, eand the onion all without a chopper. At one point Carissa (who was ballroom team captain at UNC) called me on skype and I talked to her as I chopped. Since she was talking through her computer to, I could turn my webcam on so she could see me - and watch me cry over the onions. Haha

It was finally done at 10:30 when Tiziano walked in (an hour late). He’d already eaten, but he had a little bit. I had two bowls - my throat had been hurting badly all day from constant sneezing and the warm soup helped. We jarred up the rest and put it in the fridge.
Before bed I took 2 benadryl, which helped some I guess, but I still wore up several times to blow my nose. By morning, I realized that perhaps I actually have a cold that just masked itself under my allergies. I still can’t be completely sure since my eyes were itching like crazy and the sneezing seemed brought on by the air, but given that my snot is no longer just clear, I’m probably a bit sick.

I slept until 10, took a shower, and then got ready to leave. I booked a hostel for Munich tonight (only 16 euros and includes breakfast and a free tour) and I’ll stay with a CSer the next 2 or 3 nights (her name is Katharina and she also loves to dance).

I met Tiziano near the train station at 1 pm and we got lunch at a sandwich shop before I caught my train at 1:49. Now I’m writing this on the train as I speed through the alps. I should arrive in Munich in a little over 3 hours from this point - the total was 6.5 hours. I have been dozing on and off, but now there are some women in my car who are chatting away in some other language and it is a bit harder to nap.