I'm Home!

After close to twenty-four hours of flying, I officially am back in Oregon!

The flights themselves ended up going decently well. I was able to make all my connections without any delays, and the only problem I really faced was that my luggage was lost somewhere over the ocean for a day. Thankfully, it was returned to me yesterday and everything was still there!

I still cannot believe my trip is over. It honestly feels like I never left home, but more-or-less pushed the "pause" button on my life here for a little while. I will say that the jet lag has been intense and I have been getting up and going to bed at the weirdest times! I'm hoping that will die down real quick.

I guess my plan from now until my next adventure is focusing on getting into nursing school, retaking some classes, and getting my life back into order.

I can promise you right now that my adventures around the world are not over.
I'm just waiting until I have the means to start a new one.

Thank you for reading my blog while I was away. I hope you enjoyed it and got to experience a little bit of Europe by reading it and looking through my pictures.

Until next time, arrivederci!

-Ali

My LAST Day!

Well it's official; the apartment is cleaned, my bags are packed, and the twenty-four hour countdown has begun.

We all woke up early this morning, as our bodies are used to getting up for work. Pretending to still be asleep, Sydney looked over and said, "ALI IT'S SNOWING!!!," and sure enough, Graf is covered in a few inches of snow! We've been following the weather report ever since, as we were informed that they shut down the airport if the snow is looking to be a challenge. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Mr. David and Andrea are planning on being here in a few hours to do final room inspections, check out our bike equipment, and give us the last few details before we leave for the airport. I'm leaving in the first group of people, which includes all my roommates and two friends from Vilseck. Although my flight doesn't leave until close to nine, everybody else leaves around six thirty, so I'll be able to say my goodbyes to them at their gate. Ugh. But... after that, I'm on a planeeee!

I fly from Nuremberg to Munich, Munich to North Carolina, North Carolina to Arizona, and lastly, Arizona to home.

It's going to be a LOOOOONG day but I'm excited to get home to see my family and spend the last hour or so with Jenny for our 22 birthday! :)

I'll see you all soooon!

What I Have Learned.

Over the course of the past four months, my lead teacher, Aisha, has continuously asked me what I have learned from working with toddlers. As tomorrow is my last day of work, I compiled a list and plan on giving it to Aisha before she leaves. With saying that, I decided to share this list with you:

1. Never, EVER, let my child watch Avatar. I do NOT need any "blue dinosaurs" running around my house causing mayhem.
2. Take kids to the potty every five minutes. Literally.
3. If a kid is crying or yelling, copy them. It's funny.
4. Give the kids [   ] <-- that much syrup. It ends up everywhere except for their mouth.
5. Monitor the sink. Apparently the kids think it is bath time.
6. Circle time is basically impossible, but just keep singing louder and louder. They'll eventually get the hint and pay attention.
7. Hit kids in their backs with balls. It's HILARIOUS.
8. Watch out for double swinging punches.
9. "Mooooooooooooore" = "more" just in a really high pitched voice.
10. "I'm a little turkey, turkey, turkey..."
11. Kids eat everything. You literally have to keep your eyes on them at ALL TIMES.
12. Potty train at the age of zero, and carry seventeen back up outfits just in case.
13. Change the kid's diapers from the night before. It's disgusting if you don't.
14. Let the kids sleep as long as possible... or until management finds out you let them sleep past two.
15. Give your kids a shower every once in a while. Please.
16. Carry a gas mask, body suit, and gloves at all times. You never know what to expect when you change a diaper.
17. "If you run in the hall, you will fall and die." It's really no big deal.
18. And the most important thing is to have fun! It's your excuse to act like a kid again.

Here's to the last day of work!
:)

Countdowns.

Fourteen days until Christmas.
Six days left in Germany.
Six days until Jenny and I turn 22.
Four days left at the CDC.
One VERY long day of flying until I am home.


Let the countdowns begin.

:)

Cockroach.

I realize I have not written a lot about what actually goes on during Camp itself as I tend to focus more on my travels, however, I had a hilarious situation happen yesterday and I felt obligated to share it with whomever might be reading this. So, with that, my story is as follows:

Between the hours of noon and two, the CDC is scheduled to have naptime. This means that for those two hours while the kids are sleeping, us teachers get to have time to relax, read, or work on things regarding the classroom itself. My classroom, Toddler C, is situated to where there is the main gate, which leads to the front door, and an additional gate that connects my classroom with Preschool E. My lead teacher, Aisha, was sitting on one half of the class, where I took up the other to make sure we had a visual of all the kids in the room. Leaning against the gate that connects to Preschool E, I started reading my book, when suddenly, out of my peripherals, I saw three little fingers pushing a fake cockroach under the crack of the gate. I thought about just leaving it on the floor next to me, but I thought it would be WAY more funny if I pushed the cockroach back to whomever was on the other side. Pushing it back and thirty seconds later, the cockroach and the three little fingers were back, although they had moved up about a foot from the original sighting. I pushed it back, moving it to a different part of the gate. This pushing of the cockroach back and forth lasted a good five or six turns, each time having the cockroach arrive in a different part of the crack under the gate then before. Waiting for the cockroach to return back to my side, all of the sudden I see something fly over the top of my head, and realize that my unknown friend had thrown it over the gate itself. About ten seconds after the cockroach was thrown, I hear the teacher from Preschool E tell the boy to lay back down and close his eyes. It was then that my mystery friend was revealed, and I could not help to laugh at the whole thing.

I never did end up telling the teacher it was partially my fault that he was off his naptime mat, but it is moments like this that make me love the work I am doing, and is a constant reminder into why I’m here. 

Munich and Fussen!

Talking to management on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, they informed me that although we weren’t anticipating a lot of kids on Friday, that they stilled needed me to come into work just in case, and promised that I would be the first to go home if the opportunity presented itself. So with that, Friday morning rolled around and I was NOT happy about having to go in. Sydney had the opportunity to take the day off due to her mom flying into Germany, so not only did she get to spend the day however she’d like, I didn’t get to have my partner in crime with me at work. LAME!

I arrived at the CDC to find an EMPTY parking lot. Walking into the building, one of my managers looked at me and simply said, “Oh, Ali. I forgot we asked you to come in. We are way overstaffed now!”  I reminded them that I was guaranteed to be the first one to leave if that was the case, and “as they were figuring it out,” they asked me to go into our Strong Beginnings room to help cut out some reindeer for a window decoration.

An hour and nine reindeer, a sled, and a Santa later, I went back up to the front desk to figure out if I was in fact going home. To my surprise, management told me that they had already sent home half a dozen people, and they needed me to stay to cover some lunches in the afternoon. You can imagine my thoughts after they told me this.

Literally not doing a single thing but walking around to see which kids were actually there, I ended up going to the break room at about eleven thirty while they found me a “home” (classroom) to go in to. FINALLY at around one, one of my managers came into the break room and told me I could leave.

So, to sum it up, for the five hours I was there, I cut reindeer.

Getting back to my apartment, I took the extra few hours to try and be productive. This meant starting to pack up a few things, pack for the weekend, and most importantly, take a nap.

At around 5.15, Randy came to pick myself, Juliet and Michelle up to take us to the train station. I was heading toward Munich, my other roommates toward Copenhagen, Denmark.

The train ride went pretty quickly to Nuremberg, which is where I split off from the other two. Jumping onto my next train, I spent the next hour blasting Christmas music, trying not to focus on my disdain for trains.

Arriving into Munich, I met up with Sydney and her mom, Rose. We made a quick walk to the hotel they were staying at: The Marriot. You can imagine my sheer joy walking in to something other than a hostel. A hotel room has never looked so glorious.

Quickly changing my clothes, Sydney, Rose and I all jumped into a taxi and headed to this little jazz bar called Mister B’s. Walking into the bar, you could tell that we were completely out of place; everyone in the bar was definitely regulars and was gawking at the three Americans coming in.  We ended up finding some seats, and as the place was tiny and packed, we were thankful to have found them. To our delight, we happened to come on a night that there was a live band, so after ordering a drink, we got to sit back, relax and listen to this jazz band play. The band consisted of a lady singer, a younger looking guitar player, and an older man that played the saxophone. The combination of the three playing together was so fun to watch, and all the songs they played were in English, which made it even better! We ended up staying there for a few hours, and after watching three sets from the band, we decided to head back to the hotel to get some (much needed) sleep!

Waking up around 10:00 Saturday morning, we slowly got ready for the day. Once we had all showered, gotten dressed and put on a little makeup, we headed out into Munich. Making our way into the heart of the city, we ended up finding the Munich Residence, but were unable to tour it because the prices were a little steep. From there, we went to the Metropolitan Church of Our Lady. The cathedral was HUGE and it was absolutely beautiful. The ceilings were ridiculously high and the stained glass windows were everywhere! The three of us spent a little while just walking around admiring the building and details it contained. Walking out of the cathedral, we stumbled upon the Munich Christmas market. And for the record, I LOVE Christmas markets! The market itself was positioned along one of the busy streets in the middle of the city. All along the streets, on both sides, there were vendors and their booths, each hoping that people will stop to look at their goods. Some of the booths were selling traditional German items, lots of booths were selling food and drinks, and hundreds of booths were selling homemade creations. It was SO much fun just to walk around and look at what each booth had to offer- everything different from one another, but still so special. Syd, Rose and I spent quite a bit of time walking through the streets of the market, and eventually made our way over to Tollwood. Tollwood is situated on the ground that Oktoberfest is held, so you can imagine how big it was! It reminded me exactly of the Saturday Market in Portland!  Everything was very hippy, artsy and fun! It was similar to the normal Christmas markets, but this one sold items such as: graffiti paintings, wooden creatures, fun jewelry, and a HUGE assortment of other things. I absolutely loved it. After walking through Tollwood for a couple hours, we ended up catching the metro back to the hotel. While Rose was researching things on her computer, Sydney and I crawled into our bed and started watching TV. Unfortunately, everything but CNN was in German, so we settled for the German version of “America’s Got Talent.” Although we had no idea what they were saying, we were able to watch some of the talents and even added in our own commentary for what we thought the judges were saying.

Sydney’s alarm ended up going off at 5:30 Sunday morning, which was a horrible way to start off the day. We jumped out of bed, got dressed, and made our way back to the Hofbahnhof (train station). Taking the train two hours to Fussen, we arrived shortly after 9:00. Catching a bus, we headed toward the Neuschwanstein Castle- the castle that Disney’s Sleeping Beauty castle was inspired by. We ended up touring the actual castle, and unfortunately, because everything is original, we were not allowed to take pictures. The inside of the castle was gorgeous! Everything was designed to showcase King Ludwig II’s favorites: the color blue, swans, and a particular musician. After only spending 172 days in the castle itself, the King was accused of being mentally unstable and later found dead in a lake (murder? suicide? Nobody knows!). Because of this, the majority of the castle was left unfinished, as it still is today. We were only able to view the Hall of the Singers, the Throne Hall, Drawing Room, Study Room, Dining Room, Bedroom, and some of the servant quarters. The tour itself only lasted about forty minutes, but it was definitely worth it! Leaving Neuschwanstein, we headed back down the hill and sat next to the Alpsee for a little while. The lake was beautiful- it looked like something out of a picture! We left the lake and although we wanted to tour the Hohenschwangau castle, (the home of King Ludwig II’s parents), we were all starving! We ended up finding this small little German restaurant and it’s safe to say that I ate my weight’s worth in pizza. We decided from there that we would go ahead and head back to the train station so we could catch the early train back. Waving goodbye to the castles and the town itself, we jumped back on the train and started our journey back to Graf.

Overall, I had an amazing weekend! Sydney and her mom were so generous in inviting me to join them on their trip and I could not have been in better company! I’ll definitely have to send them a thank you note when I get home. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am thankful for my family and friends who support me in my adventures to travel the world. I am thankful for the opportunity to travel to Europe and do things I never thought I would be able to. I am thankful for the countless blessings my family and I have received. I am thankful for my friends and the crazy stuff we do together. I am thankful for having the best sisters and brothers that ANYONE could EVER ask for. I am thankful for my parents who have shown me a love that I pray to find someday.

I am thankful for SO many things this year.

To my family, I'm sorry I can't be there to celebrate this Thanksgiving with you. I hope you know I'm thinking about you all and I hope you guys have a great time at the church. Eat a whole lot of food and win some bingo for me! :)

I love you all and I'll see you in a few weeks!

And don't forget to remember WHO to be thankful to!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A Lazy Day and a Day Trip to Rothenburg.

The weekend came faster than Sydney and I had expected. We hadn't made any plans for the weekend and we were still going back and forth on what we actually wanted to do. By the time Friday came around, we decided, due to the lack of money in our bank accounts, that we would just hang out at the apartment and look into doing some day trips for Saturday and Sunday. 

With that, Friday night after work, Sydney and I prepared ourselves for what should have been an exciting night of Grey's Anatomy. Unfortunately, Grey's wasn't new, so we decided to just lay around instead. Our internet ended up working pretty well, and for the first time in a lifetime, Jenny was actually online! We spent the next three hours skyping, finally being able to catch up with one another! I think I passed out about thirty seconds after we got off the computer!

Saturday morning was the first day I actually slept in late- without waking up multiple times throughout the night. I finally got up a little after eleven and got cute for a day out in Graf. Sydney and I ended up walking to find the Outdoor Rec facility to find out some information about an upcoming snowboarding trip we were thinking about participating in. After searching for it for a good half an hour or so, we gave up and headed over to the library to check out some movies and books. Heading back to our apartment afterwards, we ended up grabbing our roommate Michelle and headed off post to check out some stores and little shops around the base itself. It turned out that a lot of the stores were closed by the time we got there, so we ended up just walking around Graf. By the time we made it back to our apartment, the only purchase I made was for some hand and foot warmers. Making some dinner, I spent the rest of the night reading a new book.

Sunday morning, we hopped out of bed, got dressed and waited for our PC Andrea to arrive at our apartment. Taking her car to Pressath, we jumped on a train and were on our way to Rothenburg. Having not really researched Rothenburg prior to our day trip, I wasn't sure what to expect when we arrived. Getting off the train, we followed the signs toward the old town and came upon the entrance to the town. Being one of Germany's most preserved Medieval Towns, the entire city is surrounded by a stone wall which was divided up by large towers. Taking the 101 stairs to the top, we were able to get a great view of the town as a whole, not to mention get some great pictures! From there, we wandered the streets, checking out a few different stores along the wall. The city itself looked like something out of a fairytale. Not only did it physically look like a charming place, it is Christmas every day! There was Christmas shops, Christmas trees, and Christmas treats in the different cafes and bakeries. After a few hours, and having spent a little more money on souvenirs and clothes than we had planned, we decided that it would be best to go back to the train station. By the time we made it back, we had literally missed the train by two minutes, which required us to wait another hour till the next one came. I used this opportunity to explore the surrounding area and take some pictures! The train ended up coming a little while later and we made our journey back to Pressath! Getting back to our apartment, we spent the rest of the night getting ready for work, reading, and comparing our new purchases with one another.

It was another great weekend in Bavaria! :)

One Month Left?!

I cannot believe I only have one month left in Germany.

To be completely honest, I'm not sure if I'm ready to come home yet. Yes, I want to get back to see my friends and family, but I'm NOT ready to be thrown into the real world again.

Being in Europe, the only thing I had to stress about was catching my trains on time, figuring out where to go, or things regarding work. Going home, I have to figure out my life: nursing school, work, applications... my future.

So here's to my last month.

And here's to you Jenny.
Happy birthday to us! :)

"Arbeit Macht Frei"

Thursday after work, we arrived to our apartment with Andrea, our boss, already there waiting for us. Changing our clothes, making a quick bite to eat, and throwing in the last few remaining items, it wasn’t long before we were loading the car and on the road toward Poland!

Sydney and I claimed the backseat, which allowed us to sprawl out a little, although that mostly meant that we were intertwining ourselves to one another. Not the most comfortable, but my knees were definitely thankful for it.

Taking the autobahn allowed us to get to the border of Germany and Poland pretty fast. I think I dozed off a time or two, but even so, it only took a few hours. Stopping for gas once, we crossed the border and were welcomed to Poland with a huge car accident on their version of the autobahn. Because European highways don’t have shoulders, or extra lanes down the sides, they have to close down the entire highway until they are able to remove the debris from the affected area. This means that you could be waiting for hours upon hours depending on the severity of the accident. With the car completely off, and with cars as far as we could see in both directions, we were preparing ourselves for the long wait that was sure to happen. After about ten minutes, we started noticing that the majoring of cars around us were reversing and going back the direction they came. We deliberated for about three minutes, and then followed suit. As you can imagine, it is quite terrifying going the wrong way down a one-way highway, especially when it is coming straight off the autobahn. Needless-to-say, we were able to find the nearest exit, and followed the line up of other cars down some back roads until we found the on ramp directly following the location of the accident. Thankfully, this little detour only took about ten minutes, and with less than an hour to go until we arrived at our hostel, we spent the time looking out the windows at Poland itself. My first impression was that it looked a lot like Budapest in the sense that it was really run down, dirty, and ill kept. There were vacant buildings, graffiti, broken windows and trash lining the streets. Not the greatest part of town I suppose.

Driving into Wroclaw, the city itself looked WAY better than what we had seen driving in. The buildings, restaurants and streets themselves were maintained and definitely gave off the city-scene. Additionally, people were EVERYWHERE! Although it was a little past midnight, it seemed as though the entire population were dressed and on their way to go somewhere. Unfortunately, this also meant that there was NO parking close to the hostel. We found out later that the following day was Poland’s Independence Day, which meant that everyone had the day off from work, so we assumed they were going out to celebrate.

Eventually finding a parking spot a few blocks down, we carried our stuff to the hostel and were thankful to get inside as the temperature was FREEZING.  The woman at the reception desk informed us that they never received our confirmation or reservation. Thankfully, she was able to find us a spot in a ten-bed room, as we were only staying for the night. Carrying our stuff upstairs, it wasn’t long until we were all in bed and fast asleep.

Getting up early Friday, we packed our bags, grabbed a quick drink from Starbucks (yum!), and were back in the car to finish the three-hour drive to Krakow. Thankfully, the time went by quickly and we were able to locate our hostel without a problem. Checking in, the woman at the reception told us that once again, they never received our confirmation. Explaining that this exact situation had happened the night before in their sister hostel, the woman was able to give us a four person room for the same price as the ten-bed room and apologized for the situation.

Dropping our bags off in our room, changing our clothes, and eating a quick packet of Ramen, we walked to the Main Square (about a ten minute walk from our hostel) and were able to join in an English speaking walking tour. The tour itself took about three hours to complete, but it was able to show us the Jewish area of Krakow called Kazimierz. Maggie, our tour guide, a native to Poland majoring in Jewish studies, was a wealth of information for the Jewish quarter itself. She took us to multiple synagogues, a memorial to the Polish Jews that were killed in the Holocaust, Schindler’s Factory and filming site, and a multitude of other fascinating areas.

At the completion of the tour, it was 3.2 degrees Celsius- right around freezing, and boy did it feel like it! It honestly felt like we were at the beginning stages of hypothermia. And on top of that, the sun was long gone, so we were trying to find our way home in the dark. Thanks to my photographic memory and great directional skills (seriously), we made it back to our hostel without a problem.

We spent the rest of the night trying to get warm, as the shower did not provide any hot water. I slept in multiple layers, under four blankets, and next to the window that doesn’t close all the way and the broken heater- clearly an ideal night of sleep.

Waking up early this morning, we layered our clothes on, packed some PB&J’s for lunch, and were on our way to Auschwitz. Having made it to the camp ten minutes after it had opened, we were thankful to have avoided major crowds.

Entering Auschwitz I, we were greeted by the entrance gate, which was inscribed with the words “Arbeit Macht Frei,”or in English, “Work will set you free.” These were the same words imprinted on the entrance gate to Dachau concentration camp in Munich. 

From there, we were able to view the large number of barracks, national memorials, crematorium, gas chambers, warehouses and observation towers. Although some of the buildings were vacant or unable to be toured, we were able to get a sense for what actually happened during the operation of the camp. Each block had a specific purpose, each designated for the torture, the medical experiments, or the death of the victims themselves.

One area of the camp was the most memorable to me: Block 5: Material Evidence. Entering the block, or barrack, we moved from room to room seeing items that prisoners had brought with them upon their arrival to the camp: a case full of glasses, Jewish prayer cloths, a room full of crutches, back braces, and prosthetic limbs, shoes, luggage, brushes, dishes, etc. I think seeing these things affected me the most because it showcased the fact that these people really thought that they were being lead to safety; they brought all of their belongings thinking they would live. None of them had any idea that once they exited the train, they would be lead directly to the gas chambers to die. They had no idea.

In 1941, Auschwitz I became too small for the visions that the Nazis had created. Thus they created Auschwitz II: Birkenau. Making the 3 km drive to Birkenau, we were welcomed by the huge guard tower, and three sets of railroad tracks that lead directly into the camp itself. There are truly no words to describe the vastness of this camp. As far as you could see in every direction there was a barrack, observation tower, or barbed wire fencing; it was truly overwhelming. Walking down the railroad tracks, we entered the main gate, or “Death Gate” as it was called. Greeted by fields and fields of barracks, or the foundation lines of where they once stood, we were able to tour both the women and children’s area, and then that of the men’s. Moving on from the barrack lines, we were able to see what is left of the four crematoriums, as the Nazi’s used dynamite to try and hide the evidence toward the end of the war. 

Walking through the camp, we were also able to see the kitchens, showers, washrooms, and warehouses. Furthermore, we were able to go inside some of the remaining gas chambers and crematoriums, which was the most prominent way of mass murders within Birkenau. The ashes of these victims were dumped in a grass field or nearby lake. The lake was actually described as having grey water because of the high volume of ashes deposited within the water itself. We were able to see both the field and the lake, and yes, the water is still grey.

We concluded the tour of Birkenau by walking along the edge of the camp where Auschwitz was meant to be extended. This extension, known as “Mexico” among the SS guards and Nazi party, housed many women in the barracks that had actually been completed, or provided an area for the women to stand until room in the crematorium or gas chambers was freed for space. Thankfully, this area was never completed, as it would have created more than sixty-four additional barracks. It was destroyed upon liberation of the camp.

Walking along the paths, through the barracks, next to the lake, gas chambers and crematoriums, and just through the entrance of the camps itself, it felt like I was literally walking through a mass grave. With saying that, I was. It is said that in Auschwitz II alone, 1.1 million people died. 1.1 million.

After seeing three concentration camps throughout my duration in Europe, including the most deadly and big, I cannot help to feel a strong hate toward those under Nazi dictatorship, and mostly for Hitler himself. In my opinion, he was one HELL of a coward for committing suicide at the end of the war. But, I will leave my venting on that subject for a different time.

I am so unbelievably thankful to have had the opportunity to visit Auschwitz. If anybody has the opportunity sometime in his or her life, it is something that EVERYONE should experience. I cannot stress this enough.

I do want to highlight the fact that I am merely touching on the experience I had while I was at Auschwitz and Auschwitz II. The camps themselves are honestly indescribable, and words do not do justice to the things I saw while I was there, or the reality of what actually took place there. Look through the pictures I posted on Facebook, and please remember that this is just a SMALL look into Auschwitz and Auschwitz II and the brutalities that took place there. 

A Lazy Weekend in Grafenwohr.

After ten straight weeks of traveling, a completed Eurail, and having gone the entire trip without a single day of sleeping in, a lazy weekend is exactly what I needed. 

The week went by so unbelievably slow that by the time Friday got here, I was EXHAUSTED! And as much as I wanted to crawl into bed with a movie, we decided that we should go out and celebrate our first weekend without being on a train. So with that, we all got cute and headed out for a night on the town with some friends from work. 

Saturday was the most unproductive day I think I have ever had. I woke up decently early, showered, did my laundry, ate some breakfast, and by the time that was all complete, I was too tired to continue on with my motivation. Crawling back into bed, I did not end up moving for the rest of the day, unless it was to get some food or use the restroom. Like I said, lazy.

I woke up Sunday with the urge to get my life in order, and with that, a ridiculous amount of motivation. This meant: looking up every nursing school in the Portland area, writing out the application dates on my calendar, emailing my adviser, applying to different schools, renewing my CNA licenses, planning out which classes to take winter term, printing out applications, and a variety of other things. I became so overwhelmed by everything- it's crazy how much I have shut out the real world being over here in Europe. Thankfully, by the time I went to bed, I felt a little accomplished.

This week has been going pretty well. Due to Veteran's Day, we have Friday off of work. This means that not only is it a four-day week, Thursday is also a "training holiday." A training holiday basically means that every solider gets the day off, which for us, is fantastic because that may mean we have less kids at the CDC. Since tomorrow is Thursday, I guess we'll find out!

This weekend we have planned to go to Auschwitz in Poland. I have been looking forward to this trip since we discussed it months ago. As some of you already know, going to Auschwitz is the number one thing on my life Bucket List, so you can imagine my excitement. And yes, I do plan on taking as many pictures as my memory card will hold, as to share this experience with all of you!

Berlinnn.

Another weekend of traveling has come to an end!

Packing our bags Thursday night, we were ready to go right after work ended on Friday. Randy saved us a taxi ride and dropped us off at Pressath, and with five minutes to spare, we caught the train and were on our way to Berlin! Only having to make one connection on our journey, we arrived in Berlin around midnight. Catching the tram from the train station to Kottbusser Tor, we quickly found our hostel, checked in, and passed out for the night.  

Saturday morning we woke up around 7:00, got dressed, ate the bagels we had packed the night before, and were on our way to the tram station to make our way into town for a free walking tour that we were previously recommended. Getting lost a few times along the way, we eventually made it to the pick up sight for the tour itself. Realizing we had arrived almost an hour early, we decided to kill time by walking around the area. We soon noticed we were literally right next to the zoo, so we decided to just go check out the prices and see if we could see any animals from the gate.

Walking up to the entrance of the zoo, three or four elephants greeted us and with that, we were in line buying our tickets. The Berlin Zoo itself is actually the oldest zoo in Germany, having opened in 1841. Allowing ourselves two hours to walk through the zoo, we were able to see a lot of the animals, and I was truly impressed in how active they all were. I guess I am used to the Oregon Zoo in which the animals just lay there and don’t move much at all. I think my favorites were the cats- they had lions, jaguars, leopards, a tiger, and several other bobcat looking things. The penguins were a lot of fun to play with, and the hippos put on quite a show for us too, which was pretty awesome! Another great thing about the zoo was that the cages, for lack of a better word, were almost non-existent for a lot of the animals. Although there was fencing, it was so small and provided such a large space, that the animals didn’t appear to look trapped. Furthermore, we were able to watch the butchers… caterers… chefs…?, prepare each of the animal’s meals from fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats. Pretty fancy if you ask me!

Leaving the zoo, we made our way back to the pick up sight to catch the 12:30 tour. A small group of people had already gathered, and after waiting a few minutes, we were back on the tram on our way to the actual starting point of the tour. Getting off the tram, we took a quick walk, turned a corner, and were completed surrounded by hundreds of people taking pictures, participating in tours, selling things, and people just passing through. We ended up having to stand in line for a few minutes to collect a number, which designated which tour guide we would be following. 

The tour itself lasted a little less than four hours. Although it was long, our tour guide Leen was AMAZING! She was the most passionate tour guide we have had while being in Europe, and was also a History major, so she was able to give us an extensive amount of information that surrounded Berlin’s history. A lot of the background information given was regarding World War II, the Nazi regime, and the repercussions of Hitler’s dictatorship- all the things I love most about history. It truly made me rediscover my passion for history itself and made me want to start taking some history classes again… but we’ll see about that.

After the tour ended, we were taken to a pub that offered discounted beer, food, and held a sign up sheet for the Halloween Pub Crawl that would be taking place that night. Meeting the other group of Camp Adventure’s (that live in Vilseck) at the pub, we quickly decided that the Pub Crawl was a must! Signing up, we spent the journey back to our hostel trying to come up with some sort of costume to wear.

Making a quick bite to eat, Top Ramen of course, we changed into our outfits, put on some make up, and tried to navigate our way to the starting bar. Sydney ended up going as a zebra, Juliet went as a mouse, and I was a black cat. Easy, yet still pretty cute! Finding the seven other Camp A’s, we had the best time catching up, getting our faces painted, and just enjoying Halloween together.

The pub-crawl took us to five different bars before it ended at one of the bigger clubs. The bars themselves were pretty fun, although we only stayed at each one for forty-five minutes or so. Getting to the club, we were left in a large room that was playing old school music: I Love Rock n Roll, 7 Nation Army, Walking on Sunshine, etc. We ended up dancing the night away until we were too tired to continue. We, thankfully, made our way back to our hostel without getting lost, and we all passed out before we even changed out of our clothes.

Sunday morning we hopped up, took one of the earlier trains, and spent the rest of the day at our apartment in Graf. I was SO thankful to get back home earlier in the day, which allowed me to unpack, shower, do my laundry, watch some movies, and get into bed at a decent time. It was lovely.

Overall, Berlin was a BLAST! I had SUCH a great time meeting up with our friends from Vilseck, and am in love with the history that the city encompasses. Unfortunately, Berlin marked the last trip on my Eurail, which means that I can no longer travel distances. It’s quite bittersweet, but I will be thankful to not have to spend thirty-seven years on a train each weekend.

To my delight, we have nothing planned this weekend. It is going to be a wonderful break from the constant traveling that we have been doing since we got here. I definitely plan on sleeping in Saturday morning, which will the first time doing so since I have been here. You can imagine my excitement in that alone!

The following weekend, the weekend of Veteran’s day, I plan on going to Auschwitz- the most prominent concentration camp in Europe. Although it is not going to be the happiest weekend, it is the number one thing on my life bucket list, and I cannot wait to see it. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures so you can share in my experience there if you so choose. 

The CRAZIEST weekend EVER!

 Friday came quicker than expected, and before I knew it, Sydney, Juliet and I were heading to Interlaken, Switzerland… roughly a fourteen-hour train ride. Unfortunately, because there were normal train connections available, they did not offer a City Night Light train, which are the ones with the sleepers. This basically meant, that we would be making our connections throughout the night as we made our way south.

Arriving at Frankfurt at around one in the morning, we accidently ran into another Camp Adventure group from Ansbach. To our delight, they were heading to Switzerland as well, although not to Interlaken. Hearing about their travels and camp experience so far, we were able to kill an hour before our next train left.

Piling onto the train, we were all freezing and exhausted. We threw our bags onto the overhead racks, and layered up our clothes to wait out the cold on the train itself. Catching what little sleep we could, a trainman came and woke us up telling us to go into a compartment, as it should be warmer. Grabbing our bags, we found the closest compartment, which turned out to be just as cold. Figuring that was as good as it was going to get, we ended up using our towels as blankets. By about four in the morning, Sydney and I were ice cubes, and decided to go find out what was going on with the heaters. We came across another trainman, who enthusiastically informed us that they were only heating the front half of the train. He encouraged us to move further along to find some open seats in the warmer area. You can imagine how happy we were to hear that we had suffered hours in the freezing cold, when there were actually heaters working not far from where we had been. Ugh.

After what seemed like a lifetime, we finally arrived at Interlaken Ost Bahnhof. Walking out of the train station, the small town of Interlaken was situated at the base of the Swiss Alps; no matter which direction we turned, the mountains dominated the town. It was FREEZING! Asking a Swiss man for directions to our hostel, we quickly found it and were greeted by a very enthusiastic man. Although we were unable to actually check into our room, we were able to use the luggage room, lockers, and bathrooms, which allowed for us to layer clothes on.

Finding the hostel worker man again, we explained to him that we would only be in Switzerland for the night, and that we wanted to go bungee jumping and canyoning before we left. He generously offered to call the major company that held these events and find out any information he could. After a quick phone call, he said that we were all set to do both, beginning with bungee jumping and directly after, going into the glaciers to go canyoning. Furthermore, the company offered to pick us up from our hostel and drive us to base camp. So, with two hours or so to kill, Juliet, Sydney and I took a quick tour of the city, stopped by the supermarket to grab some food for the evening, and did a little souvenir shopping.

Getting back to the hostel, we grabbed our backpacks, towels, camera, water, and Francs, and waiting outside for the van to pick us up. Now at this point, you would naturally assume that you would be freaking out and rethinking your decision to go. I, however, was singing, dancing, and getting all psyched to go. 

The van pulled up, and an Australian man rolled down the window and said, “you three look like you’re ready to go jump off a cliff!” And with that, we piled into the van, picked up a few more brave souls, and made our way up the mountain to the (real life, named for the company) North Face.

Making it up to the top of the mountain, we were read the disclaimer and basically had to sign our life away. Watching several people from our overall group canyon jump, Sydney and I were going back and forth on whether or not we actually wanted to bungee jump, or switch over to do the canyon jump. Asking the mountain lady, she informed us that there is only four places in the world that you can actually canyon jump, Switzerland being one of them. With that new information, our minds were made up and we were getting strapped into our harnesses.

I volunteered to be the first one out of the three of us to make the actual jump. Showing no fear, I let the mountain man double check the tightness of my harness, posed for a few pictures, and walked to the edge of the platform. Looking over the side, the bungee line began to pull me closer and closer to the edge. Instead of being pulled off the platform, I told Sydney to give me a quick countdown and I made the jump.

Describing the feeling of the free fall is something I cannot put into words. It is one of those things that you have to physically experience it to completely understand. I will say, however, that my mind went blank. I kept trying to take a breath in, but the air wasn’t going into my lungs. I screamed- a lot. And for those three seconds, it was the most surreal feeling I have ever had. The rope eventually caught my weight, which allowed me to swing like a pendulum until I came to a stop. If you haven’t seen my facebook pictures of the event, I would DEFINITELY recommend it! They turned out awesome! Furthermore, I think I have made canyon jumping apart of my bucket list, as I would like to make the remaining three jumps, where ever they are at in the world.

Watching Sydney, Juliet, and the final couple jump, we made our way back to the van to wait for the others as they finished their drinks in the bar. I’m not sure if it was adrenaline shock, or car sickness, but I got super sick on the way back to base camp. I literally thought I was going to have to ask the people to pull the van over so I could throw up, which thankfully, never actually happened. When we actually got back, I was seriously contemplating whether or not I would be able to go through with the canyoning.

Waiting until the last possible minute, I manned up, put on three layers of wetsuit, and jumped back into the van to head to the glacier. Parking the van down the hill, we were required to hike about ten or fifteen minutes into the glacier to our starting point. I took up the caboose, as I was still unsure whether or not I would need to vomit.

Arriving at the starting point, Hannah went over the correct ways to jump, slide, and repel down the rocks. After his quick explanation, we were taken to the edge of the glacier, and made our first jump into the four degree Celsius water. BRR!

The canyoning experience itself was definitely… different. Not only was it freezing, but also it was something I NEVER thought I would do. The entire trip lasted about two hours, which was actually cut an hour and a half short because it was so cold and getting dark. Again, if you haven’t checked out my facebook pictures, I would get on that!

We made our way back to base camp, stripped off our wetsuits, and were offered drinks, bread and cheese while our pictures were being moved to CDs. I was still feeling VERY sick, so I pretty much posted up on a bench and waited until it was time to go.

Getting back to the hostel, I got ready for bed and was basically asleep by the time Sydney and Juliet got out of the shower at 7:30 PM. I was woken up later; I’m not quite sure what time it was, by three Indian men who would be sharing our room with us for the night. Making eye contact with them, I decided that would be a good enough hello, rolled over, and went back to bed.

Sydney woke me up around 8:00, asking if I felt up to going on a quick hike before heading back to the train station. I sat up enough to discover an AWFUL headache. Sending my regards to her and Juliet, and I laid back down with the hopes of going back to bed.

Wrong. The Indian men flipped on the lights and started getting ready for the day. This normally wouldn’t have bothered me, but one of the guys sprayed some cologne and I swear I became asphyxiated to it. I can still smell it in my nose. That was enough to get me up, dressed, packed and waiting in the lobby until Syd and Juliet returned.

Walking to the train station, we arrived a little early, and were able to find a small store to buy some breakfast. Although I hadn’t eaten much, I bought myself a baguette, and was thankful to get it down without feeling nauseated. Sydney and Juliet ended up going back into the store to buy some more food for the train when our train pulled up to the platform. Grabbing ALL of our bags, I poked my head into the store, told the girls the train was there, and made my way outside. Sydney came, so the two of us waited in front of the door for Juliet to come and get her stuff. She never came. The train lady said that they had to leave, and that the doors would be closing. Sydney and I jumped onto the train, and despite our attempt at an explanation, the train lady signaled to the conductor that we were ready to leave. Juliet came out right as the doors closed and the train started to roll away.

Thankfully, she had her phone, Eurail, and passport with her in her purse, which meant that she would be fine catching the next train out. We arrived in Basal about two hours later, and after checking the train times, we decided to go ahead without Juliet, which she was fine with.

We ended up arriving into Pressath around 8:00 PM, called the taxi, and were thankful to make it home earlier enough to get some stuff done before we had to get ready for work. Unfortunately, Sydney and I made it all the way upstairs before realizing that Juliet had our house key. With no other option, we made camp outside our door, and planned to wait until after eleven when our other roommates would be home. Needless-to-say, we eventually made it inside, showered, unpacked, and went straight to bed without getting anything else done.

Overall, although I was FREEZING most of the time and got sick, Interlaken was EPIC, and I think the pictures showcase that pretty well.

Halfway Through!?

It occurred to me today that I have not really written anything about how Camp itself is going, and since today marks the halfway point, I figured it’d be a perfect opportunity to write about it. So this post is dedicated to just that.

To be completely honest, I hated Camp the first two weeks. I was under a completely different impression coming here than what reality actually presented itself as. Although I loved working alongside Sydney, the staff was very stand offish, and did not really go out of their way to really talk or get to know me, and the kids themselves seemed to be uncontrollable. Furthermore, camp never really explained that we would be worked as “teachers,” or “leads” at a day care. I guess I just envisioned it being a lot like Guam, which turned out to be completely the opposite.

After about the third week, I finally began to see a change with the staff. Everyone was way more talkative, and actually seemed like they appreciated my company. I think it helped that by that time, we had a general idea of how “camp” worked, and had a designated classroom that we would spend the majority of the time in, which allowed for us to get to know the kids.

As of now, I’m having a great time. I work primarily in Toddler C, or one of the three infant rooms, and although I originally thought I would enjoy working with the preschoolers or kindergarteners, I am SO glad I get to work with the little ones. The two main staff in Toddler C, besides me, is Miss Aisha and Mr. Michael. Miss Aisha is hilarious! Her and I go back and forth just singing and dancing, and both just try and have a good time throughout the day. She’s also my favorite because she doesn’t take any excuses from the kids and holds each one accountable for their actions. I definitely have tremendous respect for her. Mr. Michael is twenty-four, and him and I give each other the hardest time. He’s a really nice guy and is super funny, so I always love working with him. Sydney and I are hoping to hang out with him sometime after our Eurails expire in a few weeks, so I guess we’ll see.

Overall, every day is different- some days are good whereas some days are REALLY bad. You never know what to expect but at least one point during the day, one of the kids will do something really cute, and make your day a little bit better.

I’m definitely going to miss a lot of these kids when it comes time to head home. One little boy has a special place in my heart, and I’m half tempted to put him in my bag and run home. (I would never actually do that, although the thought has crossed my mind a time or two.)

Anyway, to end this post, I thought I would give you an idea of how I spend my Monday through Fridays.

My Daily Schedule:

8.00-9.00: Wash hands, breakfast, clean up, wash hands and faces
9.00-9.30: Circle time: songs, story time, practicing colors, numbers and letters, Diaper changes (The WORST part of the day)
9.30-10.00: Art
10-11.15: Outside play
11.15-11.30: Wash hands, hang up coats, get ready for lunch, diaper changes
11.30-12.00: Lunch
12.00-2.00: NAP TIME! (The BEST part of the day!)
2.00-3.00: Quiet activities, diaper changes
3.00-3.30: Wash hands, snack time, wash hands
3.30-4.00: Diapers, get coats on, clean up the room
4.00-5.00: Outside play
5:00: FREEDOM!
 

…Sounds pretty glorious, huh? 

Budaaa.

Getting off work on Friday, our train wasn’t scheduled to leave until around 8:00, so it allowed for us to shower, pack and eat some dinner before we had to be at our train station. It was SO much better having our train leave a little later than feeling rushed as we have the entire time we have been here.

Our train ride from Pressath to Munich went pretty quick and we arrived in Munich where we met with up with: Darcey, Brittany, Jessica, Tanisha and Missy- the girls from Vilseck. Sydney, Juliet and I had paid the extra Euros to have a sleeper train, while the rest of our group went to the back of the train to find their chairs. Although it does cost a little more, and I feel like I’m going to die in those claustrophobic little compartments, the sleepers are worth the money in that it means we don’t have to try and sleep sitting up.

Finding our sleeper, Juliet opened the door to find a man changing. After he embarrassingly told us to give him a moment, we were eventually given the signal that he was decent, and he was very welcoming when we returned. He introduced himself as Jarik, which apparently translates to George in English. I believe he was on a business trip, and had a full on mullet. Nice guy though.

Before long, the other two men who would be joining us in the sleeper arrived. They made it very clear, vocally, that they did not want to talk to any of us, and that they just wanted to go to sleep. So with that, we all finished getting ready for bed, and passed out.

At around 7.00 in the morning, the trainman came and woke us up, saying that he had breakfast ready for us- definitely not what we have been accustomed to. Quickly changing, and gathering our belongings, he returned with croissants, orange juice and coffee.

We arrived in Budapest a little after eight, and began our walk to our hostel. On the way, we found McDonalds and decided to head on in to find some breakfast. To our surprise, they actually served breakfast food, which is the first place that had a breakfast anything remotely similar to that of the U.S. I ordered two McMuffins and it has been the best thing I have purchased while being on this trip. They were delicious!

Finding our hostel, we weren’t able to actually go into our rooms yet since it was still early, so we dropped our stuff off in the luggage holding room. Quickly changing our clothes, the nine of us headed out to explore the city.

My initial reaction to Budapest was that it was really run down. The buildings hadn’t been maintained, whereas everywhere we have been have taken pride in maintaining their city. On top of that, it smelled like death and there was trash and construction everywhere. Not the greatest first impression.

We ended up coming across a Hop On Hop Off tour, so after talking to the guys, they were able to give us tickets at a discounted price. I think it helps when you’re traveling in a huge group of girls.

Due to the fact that it was about 10 degrees Celsius, the bus had put down the plastic on its windows. Although I was grateful because it kept the wind out, it did not allow for very good pictures to be taken, so that was kind of lame.  

The bus ended up taking us through Pest and then over to Buda. And until this trip, I thought it was just one city, but it turns out it is two. Buda is full of hills whereas Pest is completely flat, so their trick for deciphering where you’re at is by looking around.

To be completely honest, the tour itself was not the greatest. It didn’t make a lot of stops, so we only had a few seconds to really see something before we were driving past. We did end up getting off at the Citadel, which provided an awesome view of the cities from atop Gellert Hill. It was there that we were provided with a free lunch, and I am pleased to report that I tried some sort of Hungarian soup… and actually LIKED it! I was thankful too because it helped warm me up!

The next stop we were able to jump off at was at the Halaszbastya, or Fisherman’s Fortress. Although we didn’t have time to tour the inside because of a wedding taking place, we were able to walk around and see it in its enormity. It was beautiful! I’m still blown away by the elaborate architectural designs and intricate patterns that were showcased on the exterior. My pictures truly don’t do it justice. From one of the sides of the castle, we were able to see a perfect view of Orszaghaz, or Parliament! All I could think about was the movie “V for Vendetta.” It was awesome to see!  

At the completion of the tour, we decided to go check out one of the most famous bathhouses in Hungary. Now, Randy talks about going to spas and baths ALL the time, so Sydney and I were definitely anxious to see what was so great about them. Well, neither of us had packed our swimming suits for this trip, so we ended up having to RENT them from the bathhouse. I do not even want to begin talking about how disgusting the mere thought of it is, but we did it.

The bath was outside, and it was a HUGE natural warm spring. Thankfully, it didn’t smell of sulfur, but because the air outside was freezing, we decided to check out the baths that were inside another building to try and warm up. My favorite bath was 38 degrees Celcuis, but it did smell a bit like sulfur so we didn’t stay in it for too long. Going back outside, we hung out for a little while talking, until we got too cold and decided to leave.

Making our way back to our hostel, the rest of the girls decided to go back to McDonald’s for dinner, where I stayed back and enjoyed my always faithful PB&J. I have no recollection of falling asleep, other than waking up to find my glasses carving themselves into the sides of my nose. It was however, one of the best nights of sleep I have had since I have been here, so I am extremely thankful.

We woke up this morning and had a little breakfast at our hostel. Packing up our belongings, we made our way to the train station and began our long journey home. I’m currently sitting on the train driving somewhere in Austria on our way to Germany. Austria itself is quite beautiful; it is full of endless hills, the Swiss Alps, and countless lakes and rivers. We have about an hour left on this train before we arrive in Weiden, where we then transfer to another train to make it back to Pressath.

Our new roommate comes tonight, and despite all of us being extremely tired from all of our traveling, we’re excited to meet the new edition to our little Graf family. I’ll have to write again soon and let you know how everything goes with that!  

Overall, Budapest was not that impressive for me. I’m not sure if it would have been better had we been given more time to really explore and enjoy it, or maybe if we had traveled in a little smaller of a group, or maybe it was just the fact that it looked so rundown. Regardless, it ranks down with Salzburg on my list of trips. Oh well.

We have two weekends left on our Eurails, so we have been going back and forth deciding where we would like to go. We’ve thrown out the ideas of going to Berlin, Amsterdam or back to Prague. Although Berlin is in Germany, you cannot make it there with just a Bavarian pass, so it turns out to be pretty pricey. I’d love to go to Amsterdam, but it is crazy expensive! And Prague was just epic all around, so we’ll see what we actually end up doing.

I think I might try and take a quick nap, or maybe watch some Ghost Adventures episodes that I rented from the library.

I’ll write again soon!  

Love at First Sight.

So, I’m in love with Venice.

Walking out of the train station in Venice, it was love at first sight. The train station sat right on the edge of the water, so we were instantly introduced to the Grand Canal. The water was sky blue, warm, and GORGEOUS! Because no vehicles are allowed inside the city, and because the city sits on water, the major form of transportation would be waterbuses and water taxis.  

Taking a waterbus to our hostel, it reminded me of a very small ferry. The front half was open, which allowed for people (me) to look out onto the Canal, as well as it allowed for the entrance and exit to the bus itself. The bus also had a covered area, which had seats identical to that of a bus.

After checking into our hostel, we were given keys to our room. Walking upstairs, the hostel looked exactly as I had always pictured one. The huge metal door slid open, and there was a ton of old metal bunk beds lining the walls and throughout the center of the room. I honestly think the building was an old factory at some point that had been converted. It was all concrete, metal and it was freezing. Changing our clothes and situating our stuff in the lockers, we left the hostel on our way to Piazza San Marco.

Catching the waterbus, we were able to see a lot of shoreline of Venice, which was awesome! Following the crowds once we arrived, we turned the corner and ran into Doge’s Palace, the former home of 120 doges that ruled Venice from 697 to 1797. The structure itself was amazing. Everything was so intricately made, carved, or designed. Moving on from the Palace, we were able to see the Basilica San Marco, the most dominating feature in Piazza San Marco. The Basilica was beautiful! Domes, columns, arches and mosaics made up the exterior of the building.  The Torre dell’Orologio was next, a Renaissance-style clock tower. The Campanile followed, which stands at 323 feet. As a former lighthouse, watchtower and torture chamber, the tower over shadows the Piazza. Other things we were able to see was: the Piazzetta, a mini square that fronts the lagoon, the Columns of San Marco and san Teodoro, the Piazezetta dei Leoncini, the Giardinetti Reali, and other amazing buildings and cafes.

Leaving the Piazza San Marco, we headed toward Ponte di Rialto, the major bridge connecting San Marco to San Polo and San Croce, or the upper districts of Venice. The bridge itself was full of street vendors, artists, and gondoliers asking for business. Moving over the bridge, under my directions (which for whatever reason, are AMAZING in Europe- I have people to vouch for me), we headed toward Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari. Although a lot of the churches had been closed for the evening, we still had a really good time just walking through and admiring the architecture. Grabbing some gelato and a slice of pizza, we continued our journey through the city toward Campo Santa Margherita, a square in the district of Dorsodoro. This was by far the largest Campo that we had seen so far, which was due to a project in the 1800s, which filled in the canals to enlarge the space. It was here that we piled into a gondola, and began our water tour of the city and Grand Canal! Our gondolier was a really nice guy who, for our enjoyment, would occasionally sing in between giving us information about Venice and the different buildings and bridges we came across while on our tour. I still cannot get over the fact that I rode on a gondola in Italy. How cool is that?!

At the completion of our gondola ride, we were dropped back off at Campo Santa Margherita, and from there we headed out to find some dinner! We found this small restaurant, which seemed to be pretty popular among other Venetians and tourists. I, of course, ordered Spaghetti alla Bolognese, or spaghetti with meat sauce. My roommates however, ordered these seafood dishes. Apparently they were delicious, however Sydney and Juliet ordered Pasta con il Nero di Seppia, spaghetti with cuttlefish, where they used the ink from the fish to dye the noodles. It was the creepiest thing I had ever seen, but it was hilarious as it dyed their mouth completely black.

Once we had finished eating, we then headed to find the church of San Barnaba- the church where Harrison Ford destroyed the floor in ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.’ Unfortunately, the church was closed, but it was still pretty cool to see! I think that is something my entire family would have liked to have seen!

Making our way back to the Grand Canal, the coldness crept in and it got FREEZING! We were beyond thankful to get back on the waterbus and hide from the wind in the covered area of the bus itself. It ended up taking us around forty minutes to get back to our hostel, although I slept for the majority of it. We all ended up passing out as soon as we got back, only to have to wake up five hours later to catch our train to Verona.

I’m currently sitting on the train from Verona to Munich. We should be arriving in about thirty-five minutes, where we have at least one more train to catch. We’re hoping that Randy will be in Weiden, so we can avoid another train and the cost of a taxi, but we’ll see.

Looking back at this weekend, it has definitely become my favorite. I loved everything about Italy, and could really see myself living there someday. Although Rome was beautiful, I left a piece of my heart in Venice. I’m not sure if it was because of the sheer beauty of the area, the lack of cars, the beautiful canals and waterways, or just the sunshine, but I adore it.

I’m hoping that I’ll be able to return to Venice before I have to leave in December, and if not, it’ll give me a good excuse to come back some other time in my life.

When in Rome...

Let me begin by saying that the first twenty-four hours of our trip have probably been crazier than any of our other trips combined.

Randy dropped us off at Freihung yesterday after work, and we were so thankful that there was a train heading to Nuremberg, as our original tickets were leaving from Pegnitz. The first stop was to Vilseck, where two of our friends from Camp Adventure, Brittany and Jessica, got on the train! We were able to hang out with them until we arrived in Nuremberg, which was pretty fun to see them. Arriving in Nuremberg, we had a few minutes to switch to our next train to Munich.

This is when things got interesting. First off, when we got on the train, we realized that the majority of the seats were reserved. Fearing we’d have a repeat of Paris, we found some seats that weren’t taken yet, appeared normal, and hoped that the people wouldn’t show up. Well, they did. Which meant that we had to stand, or wait for the seats to clear out again. Jessica and Nicole got kicked out of their seats first, and they disappeared to another wagon. Sydney, Brittany and I were next, so we just stood by the luggage rack in the hallway. Last was Juliet, who then joined us in the hall. Some man saw us standing in the hall, and gave us his seat reservation ticket, which allowed Sydney to take his seat. So, long story short, it ended up being Juliet, Brittany and myself, all standing in the hallway in-between wagons. Although this sounds awful, our ride was only going to be another hour or so, so we decided to just suck it up and wait, thinking we’d get there soon enough. As we’re going, the train hit something on the tracks, and it made the LOUDEST noise. Everyone in the wagons looked down the hallway at me, thinking I did something. I stood there shaking my head with my arms up in the air signaling to the fact that I had nothing to do with the noise. Arriving at the next stop, Ingolstadt, the train cleared out decently well, so I snagged the seat across from Sydney. Not long after, a lady gets on the intercom and starts speaking quickly in German. Looking around at the people’s faces, we realized that something was wrong. In half a second, literally, everyone was on their feet grabbing their stuff and running toward the exit. Sydney and I kept looking around, trying to ask people what was going on. Finally, this woman stated that we did in fact hit something on the tracks, and that we needed to transfer to another train to get to Munich. With no more of an explanation, we grabbed our stuff, and hoped that the other girls would follow the crowd to the next train.

We all piled onto the next train, and it was unbelievably claustrophobic. Thankfully, Brittany had gotten a call from Jessica stating that her and Nicole had made it somewhere on the train. We began talking to some individuals around us, and we overheard that it would take over an hour to get into Munich… and our overnight train to Florence left in twenty-five minutes from then. As soon as we heard that, Sydney, Juliet and myself took off down the train to find a conductor to ask to contact our train in Munich and delay it until we arrived. Eventually, we made it to the last wagon, and found a (very handsome) guy who worked for the train. He informed us that all the overnight trains out of Munich were being delayed until our train arrived in the station. Praise God! The three of us made our way back down the wagons to relocate Brittany, who started making calls to the other girls. These two women, who spoke broken English, were extremely nice and were trying to help us in any way possible, since they knew we were cutting it close to missing our next train. We started talking to them and asked if they knew what had happened on our last train. Apparently, the woman on the intercom informed the passengers that someone had jumped in front of the train. Like, WHAT?!

We hit a body.

I felt the bump under my feet.

Making it into Munich, the three of us girls were the first ones off the train, and we took off SPRINTING to our next platform. I honestly haven’t run that fast in a while. Our sprinting paid off, and we made it onto our overnight train! Thank the LORD that they were able to delay our train! Finding our sleepers, we walked into the compartment to find two walls with bunk beds, each of which were stacked three beds high. You can imagine how claustrophobic I became then. We dropped our bags on our beds, and ended up walking down the wagons to unexpectedly run into our friend Darcey. We were able to talk to her for a little which was really fun since we hadn’t seen her in a while. Returning to our sleepers, I ended up in the middle of the three beds. I opened the window, put in my iPod, and didn’t move after I laid down. Although I was on the verge of having a panic attack because it was so small and there were six people in that little room, I was so thankful to have a bed to sleep on instead of trying to sleep sitting up.

Waking up at six, the four of us grabbed our stuff and hoped off the train in Florence. We had time to meet up with the other group from Vilseck, as we both had time to kill before our connections. Before long, we said our goodbyes and took off for our trains. Thankfully, the train from Florence to Rome didn’t take long, and before we knew it we were on our way to our hostel.

Our hostel ended up being just down the street from the train station, which was awesome because we all have two bags plus our purses. We weren’t able to check into our room until after three, so we changed our clothes in the bathroom, and left our luggage in their luggage area. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at their free breakfast and made our way outside to find some stuff.

We ended up walking and finding the Coliseum. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go inside as the line would have taken around four hours, but it was beautiful regardless! The entire time I was there, I was thinking about how much I wished my dad were there to see it with me. Like Dachau, it was one of those things where you could close your eyes and envision exactly what happened there. The stone had started to break down in some areas, so you could see into the arena itself. Additionally, you could see some of the entrances to the arena itself. How many gladiators do you think have walked through those gates? How many took on lions for the entertainment of thousands? How many people had died there? It was so surreal but so unbelievably fascinating. Dad, you would have loved it!

After leaving the Coliseum, we jumped on a bus tour and were able to see some other really awesome monuments. We ended up hoping off at the Vatican so we could get some pictures. Walking up to Vatican City itself, we were ambushed by all these peddlers and tour guides asking for business. We ended up getting swayed into attending a free introduction to one of the Vatican City tours. The tour guide’s name was Mateo, and he was HILARIOUS! As we’re standing there listening to his intro, our friend Mikey (from the Vilseck group) walked up and hit me in the ribs. Apparently he had done the bus tour and got talked into attending the introduction as well. How crazy is that?! At the end of the introduction, we decided to pay the money to tour the inside of the Vatican, which also included a tour of the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Church. (As a side note, did you know that Vatican is it’s own separate country? They have all their own resources, besides water, which they bring in from Rome.) The Vatican was gorgeous! We toured two of the museums inside, got to see the outside of the Pope’s apartment, learn about all the history to the artifacts inside, and learn a lot about the history of the Vatican itself. Moving on with the tour, we then went into the Sistine Chapel. This is something my mom would have loved! The Chapel itself did not allow photography or any type of photo taking, as it is a holy place as well as it has its own copyright. Furthermore, because it is holy, we were not allowed to speak. The Chapel itself was not as big as I imagined, but Michelangelo’s artwork is breathtaking. One wall of the chapel displays pictures representing stories from the Old Testament, whereas the opposing wall represents the New Testament. Across the ceiling, the paintings showcase the creation of the world. It is said that Michelangelo only made one mistake during the painting of the Chapel, and it was just that he made some figures too small to see from the ground below. When Michelangelo died, two other painters took over to finish his work, under the direction of the Pope. In spite to the Pope, the two artists drew themselves into some of the scenes. For example, the two men can be seen sitting on the end of the Last Dinner scene. Pretty clever I’d say. Leaving the chapel, we then moved onto St. Peter’s Church, which was the most beautiful church we have seen yet. There was actually a service in session when we walked in, so we were able to sit in the back and watch as they gave their sermon. The alter itself was unreal, and the detailing of the decorations was mind blowing. Overall, the tour was definitely worth the money!

Leaving there, we took the bus to the Pantheon, and were able to tour the inside of that as well. The Pantheon is considered one of the most dangerous buildings in Italy because it has a huge circle cut out on the dome ceiling, which still stands from its original creation. Because the circle is open, the floor of the Pantheon has drainage holes. That alone is pretty cool in my opinion.

Moving on from there, we went and grabbed some Italian food at this small restaurant. We all ordered pizza and pasta of course! It was delicious and SO fresh! Once we finished eating dinner, we then went and got some gelato. I mean, we had to, right?

We ended up walking to the famous Trevi Fountain, where we each took part in the tradition of throwing one to three coins over your shoulder into the fountain itself. The first coin represents that you’ll return to the city, the second represents that you’ll find love, and the third represents that you’ll find marriage. I threw three.

Our final sightseeing stop was a walk to the Spanish Steps, which were created in the 1700’s. The steps were created to connect one area to another, so it was pretty populated with people. We ended up sitting there for a while before leaving to head back to our hostel for the night.

I’m currently sitting on the train on our way to Venice! Rumor has it that since it’s Sunday, a lot of the city will be closed. I guess we’ll see how much of it is actually open, as we have a few things planned out that we would like to see. We do hope to head to some of the islands in the lagoon, and I cannot wait to touch the Adriatic Sea.

Italy is turning out to be nothing short of amazing.

An Unplanned Weekend.

As I said in my last post, we were leaving our weekend plans up to Sydney since it was her birthday weekend. Unfortunately with her being so sick, we weren't able to plan anything in time to reserve seats on a train. So with that, we came up with some ideas and decided to just go with the flow.

Friday night after work, Sydney and I made the executive decision that in order to make up for her lame birthday, we needed to celebrate properly.  Getting cute, we made our way down to a Latino bar called “Yanni’s.” Walking in, the place wasn’t very packed so we were quickly able to find a table. We ordered a few drinks, and spent the next hour or so creeping on the other people who were there.  Unfortunately, it never got to be super fun, so we didn’t stay there for a very long time. Making our way back toward base, we stopped at another bar along the way called “Afterlife.” To my delight, it just so happened to be “Swagger Friday,” so naturally I was in love. The place was pretty busy and some of the guys there were REALLY good at dancing. I had so much fun just watching them dance, but eventually I made it out on the dance floor as well. We stayed there for quite a while, although by the end of the night, we were kind of pushed off to the side. It was the first time I’ve ever really felt out of place, but I had a good time never the less. Our last stop along the way was at a bar called “Ed’s.” We walked in, made it to the other side of the place, and instantly turned around to leave. It was honestly the strangest assortment of people I have ever seen. I think it would have been better had it have been more crowded, but we weren’t feeling it. We ended up heading back to our apartment after leaving there.

Saturday morning, Sydney and I woke up pretty early and caught a train back to Munich for our second round at Oktoberfest. Arriving in Munich, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, bought ourselves a few beers (or Smirnoff Ice’s for me) and followed the lederhosen toward the fest. Making our way through the main entrance, there was at least double the amount of people there then we when we originally went. There was no opportunity to really veer off, so Sydney and I followed the crowd, and ended up on the other side of the fair grounds before we really had the option of stopping. We found a spot in the shade to hang out for a little while and it wasn’t long before we attracted a friend. This guy was absolutely hilarious. He was from Italy and spoke pretty broken English. We talked to him for a little while, and soon after he looks at me and tried to go in for a kiss. Pushing him off, he started licking/biting my back. I looked at Sydney and we both got out of there real quick. Turns out that he had asked if he could kiss Sydney, and she told him to kiss me instead. I’ll definitely have to get her back for that one. We ended up walking to a beer tent, and stood in line for about forty-five minutes waiting to get inside. The security guards weren’t letting anyone in, and kept pushing the crowd back behind the caution tape. Some guy came up and started “proasting” (cheers) to the crowd, so Sydney and I hit our glasses with his beer stein. He, Bradley, was a really nice guy, and even tried to pay the security guard 40 euro to let us in. Unfortunately it didn’t work, although we appreciated his attempt. Not long after that, a German guy came up and started pointing to another entrance and saying who-knows-what. We ended up following his pointing, and found our way to another entrance on the side of the tent. Although it was also caution taped off, we made our way to the front of the line and waited for an opportune moment to ask to get in. With perfect timing, a drunk guy came outside and was resisted the security guards. The security guard who was watching our entrance turned to help handcuff the guy, so Sydney and I quickly darted under the tape and made our way inside. SUCCESS! We ended up finding Bradley again and talked with him for a little while. In the matter of about fifteen minutes, I went from being his friend, to his “girlfriend” to his little sister. Awkward. Bradley ended up leaving, but he helped introduce us to a group of guys from England- Nick, Chris, Warren, and Matthew. They turned out to be awesome! We ended up hanging out with them for the next few hours and it was really nice that they spoke English too, so our conversations were really easy and they were absolutely hilarious. Naturally, the guy who was interested in me smelled AWFUL, so we had to make a quick escape, although Sydney did make it out with one of the guy’s number. By the time we made it through the crowds to get back to the train station, we realized there was no possible way to make the train back home. Thankfully, I knew that my friend Chris (the one I’ve gone on a few dates with) was at Oktoberfest as well, so we ended up meeting up with him. Hanging out for a little while, Chris was able to check the train times on his iPhone. Making our way to the train station, we caught the first train to Nuremberg that we could find. It was FULL of drunken people. And of course, it wasn’t an ICE train, which meant that it was going to make every possible stop along the way from Munich to Nuremberg. Long story short, it ended up taking us around three hours to get to Nuremberg, when it usually will only take about an hour. Chris checked his phone again, and realized that we missed our train to Amberg by just a few minutes. We were coming to terms with the fact that we would have to stay the night in the train station until the next train came at 0600, when all of the sudden we look up at one of the platforms, and the train to Amberg had been delayed by ten minutes. We all took off sprinting and by the grace of God, we made it onto the train! We arrived into Amberg around one in the morning, and Chris, being the great guy that he is, allowed Sydney and I to crash at his house until the morning, in which he would drive us back to Graf. Sydney and I were SO thankful.

Sunday morning, Chris drove us back home and Sydney and I both went straight into our rooms and passed out. We slept the majority of the day, which was MUCH needed. I ended up waking up sometime in the afternoon, made some Mac-N-Cheese, and fell back asleep for a few more hours afterwards. Eventually, I got up and Sydney and Nicole decided they wanted to fill our bike tires with air. We ended up having to walk our bikes down to the gas station next to the PX and Commissary- about a twenty-minute walk from our apartment. Filling up our tires, we made it back home in about seven minutes. Yay for bikes! I ended up falling asleep not long after getting home, and could have been happier that I had a day to just relax.

This weekend we’re heading to Italy! We have our hostels booked, our train reservations made, and a tentative schedule to ensure we see everything we want to! We’re spending all day on Saturday in Rome, and then all day on Sunday in Venice. I am SO unbelievably excited. I’m counting down the days! I hope work goes by quickly this week… doubtful, but I'm too excited to care!