MUNICH

July 12-15: Munich

Jacqueline and I arrived to Munich after almost a four-hour train from Heilbronn. We checked into our hostel, The 4You Hostel, which was about a block and a half away from the central train station. After we put down our bags, we headed back to the station and caught a train to Furstenfeldbruck, which is where Jacqueline’s relatives live. This is also the city that Jacqueline stayed in when she first arrived in Germany for her internship last summer. Her three cousins, who are a bit older, helped her move in to her dorm in Munich. This is also where her bank is, the bank she deposited her earnings from last summer. After we stopped by the bank, we walked over to the practice of her Aunt, who is a doctor. After a short wait, we were able to exchange greetings and I was able to get my allergy shot, right on time. This worked out quite perfectly, as once I was administered my shot, one of Jacqueline’s cousins happened to be in the office finishing up some paperwork for her Mom. Her cousin took us with her back to their house, after stopping by the market, and we met up with Christy and Maxy who were also excited to BBQ. Christy took us for a short walk to a nearby lake, where we took a dip to cool off before dinner. While we took a dip, many a mosquitoes took a bite and by the time we returned to the house, Jacqueline and I were covered in bites.

When we returned, the other girl cousin (I forget her name) and Maxy had started preparing for dinner, by making two kinds of salad and heating up the BBQ. We spent the evening chatting away and enjoying good food, also. This was great, because it is one thing to be traveling and sleeping in hostels and eating out all the time – it is a whole nother thing to experience the real life of people who live in these cities, or small towns in this case. Jacqueline and I caught the last train home just before midnight, and had a great night’s sleep in our new hostel.

The next morning, after breakfast at our hostel, Jacqueline and I went to the German History Museum, which really was a German Technology Museum, which needless to say Jacqueline thoroughly enjoyed, as they had many science-y things for her Chemical Engineered mind. I was happy to move on from the museum, and afterwards go walk through the English Gardens.

The English Gardens are huge and beautiful, and we settled at the Chinese Bier Garten for lunch. I had a half rotisserie chicken, which was phenomenal! After lunch, we went to the Altes Museum and then in the evening did a biergarten pub-crawl-tour.

We visited four different beer gartens, including the Hofbrauhaus (the second largest and most popular beer garden). They are famous for their “mass bier” (“massive”/large beer) and yummy food!

The next day, in order to see the sights of Munich, we decided to go on Mike’s Bike Tour, which lasted about four hours in the afternoon. We biked around and saw many town squares and sights. We went again, to the Chinese Biergarten for lunch with the tour, and also to the Isator, which is the stream/lake that flows through the English Garden. Although the water is usually pretty cold (it is nicknamed the “Ice bath”), because it was in the 90’s we jumped right in, happy for the chance to cool off. Luckily, we wore our bathing suits. However, it would have not been a problem if we didn’t, as many Germans and tourists alike will go in their undergarments. You can also find many 70+ year-old German men in the nude (quite exciting).

After the Bike tour in the afternoon, Jacqueline and I took about a ten-minute metro ride to the stop she lived at when she was in Munich last summer. Here, we got out and made the 15 minute walk to her dorm. The main door was unlocked, and she was able to show me around the area she lived. We also ran into two of the girls she was friends with when she was there! After I got a tour of the dorm, we walked another 10 minutes or so to visit her favorite ice cream place, the “best in Munich,” called “Sarelletti.” Indeed, it was delicious, especially in the hot weather. This night we did a “free” pub-crawl, from a flyer I found at our hostel. As it turns out, it wasn’t the most exciting of pub-crawls, and it was, sneakily enough, arranged by the man who owned the bar that everyone is to meet at. Therefore, everyone buys drinks while waiting for people to show up, therefore, giving the bar owner lots of business for the night. Jacqueline and I still had a fun time, of course. Our train the next morning brought us back to Heilbronn, safe & sound.

back to Germany! & the Black Forest (of Black Forest Ham!!)

July 8- 11: Stuttgart, Heilbronn and the Black Forest

Jacqueline and I had a nice few days of recovery time upon returning home from Amsterdam. This one such a great week and although I was sad to leave, it was nice to get home and sleep in a real bed and have home-cooked meals. In these few days between Amsterdam and Munich, Jacqueline and I did a lot of relaxing and touristy things. By this time, I have read probably about 17 books in my time in Europe, whether it be during train and airplane rides, or during the days in Heilbronn where we are resting and laying out. During these relaxing days, I have had great opportunities to work on my tan, as the sun is blazing until 9 pm or so.

We watching German’s victory in the semi-final (so they got 3^rd place in the World Cup) and also, sadly, we watched Spain defeat Holland for first place. Aside from that, we went shopping in town in Heilbronn one day, and then before our trip to Munich, Jacqueline, Albert and I took an overnight trip to the Black Forest.

I found the Black Forest area and the small town of Titisee to resemble Lake Tahoe, but on a smaller scale.

AMSTERDAM for a WEEK = HEAVEN

July 1-7: Amsterdam

Jacqueline and I have returned to Germany safe and sound, after a wonderful and warm week in Holland. Returning to Amsterdam made me realize how much I really miss the sparkling canals and beautiful architecture. This has made me start thinking of ways to return: a Masters program at the University of Amsterdam (the same school I spent a semester at over a year ago) or perhaps employment (which is vey difficult). We will see!

A method of hospitality Jacqueline and I decided to test out was the concept of couch surfing. There is a website for this, where travelers and those offering hospitality over the world have profiles, so travelers and home owners can discuss the possibility of staying at a house/apartment for free (instead of paying for a hotel or hostel, which would come in handy for poor travelers). Jacqueline’s cousin had tried out this method in the past with nothing but success, and so Jacqueline made an account and searched for hospitality in the Netherlands. She found an apartment that was on the east side of Amsterdam, where a guy lived that was willing to let us stay at his place if we helped clean the kitchen. This seemed fair enough, so we decided to give it a try. However, when we arrived the apartment, it was so dirty that my neat-freak self could not handle it. Good thing I had reservations for a hostel, just in case!

We arrived in Amsterdam Thursday evening and found our way from our couch surfing spot to Bob’s Youth Hostel, which was located close to Dam Square. This was a great location and the rooms were spacious and clean (thank god!). We went to Pancake Bakery for dinner, which was definitely a favorite spot of mine when I was studying and took it easy our first night.

Our first full day in Amsterdam was spent at a lake that I had never before been to. This was a great afternoon of laying out, swimming in the lake (which was very refreshing since it was so hot out), and watching part of the Holland soccer match in the bar. However, the bar was so packed that it was simply miserable to sit and watch, so we missed Holland’s two goals – but that was OK since they won! That night we had plans to go to a club called Bitterzout (Bittersweet), which turned out to be kind of lame due to the lack of people. However, before we went to the club, Jacqueline and I decided to check out a nearby Irish pub. This turned out to be a good thing, as we met a new friend who offered to take us out on the canal on his boat the next day.

After lunch on Kalverstraat (the main shopping street), Jacqueline and I eventually met up with our new friend from the night before, Menco. Menco found a festive bar for the three of us so we could watch the Germany – Argentina match, per Jacqueline’s command. This was a fun game to watch and afterwards, true to his promise, Menco took us out on a canal cruise. This was phenomenal, as I had only been on one of the really touristy canal cruises that were not as fun! This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

We sailed around and parked the boat here and there when we were hungry or thirsty. Around dinnertime, we parked the boat next to the China town part of Amsterdam, a street called Zeedijk. I led us to my favorite Thai restaurant called The Bird. It was great, per usual. Afterwards, it was getting cold so we stopped by another bar for a hot chocolate and watched a bit of the Paraguay - Spain game.

After this, Menco dropped us off on the canal next to the street we were staying on to get cleaned up and changed before heading out to Leidisplein for the night. Leidisplein is one of the town square areas if Amsterdam, specifically known for its nightlife, as this is where five of the main clubs are. However, we took it easy and found a fun bar to go to that had a live band playing. Before heading home, Menco, Jacqueline and I made a pit stop at a bar that was an old favorite of Corey and mine in Amsterdam, a place we called “Sneaky Bar.” We dubbed the bar this name because it is a hole-in-the-wall establishment that is kind of eerie. Like I said though, it was a favorite, and so it was most necessary to make a stop there.

The rest of the week was a bit mellower, and I had some time to explore Amsterdam on my own while Jacqueline enjoyed her beauty sleep (I refused to sleep later than 9 am). On the 4^th of July, I started the day with a walking tour. Although I know the city well, I figured it would be a good excuse to really see everything again and be reminded of some history, too! This was great and a lot of fun, especially because I made friends with the tour guide who was an Irish guy a year or two older than me. It was nice because after the tour, while I was waiting for Jacqueline, we grabbed a drink (Fanta and a coke!) in Leidisplein and chatted for a while, before he had to take off for his next tour.

Later that afternoon, Jacqueline and I went to Beatrix Park for a BBQ. Before coming to Amsterdam, I wrote to a Dutch guy I met a few times while studying here, named Frank. Frank was the Residence Advisor to one of the dorms some of the other USC kids lived in. Frank kindly invited Jacqueline and I to a BBQ on the 4^th, as his American friend was having a little red-white-and blue celebration. After the BBQ, Jacqueline, Frank, Frank’s friend and I stopped for a hot chocolate/latte before heading home. It just so happened, also, that Frank’s friend works at the Hermitage Museum (Nieuwe Herengracht 14) in Amsterdam, a museum that Mom and recommended to me as being well known in Russia. This girl promised to put tickets at the front desk for us the next day.

Lucky for us, our new friend came through with her promise and Jacqueline and I got in for free to the museum the next morning. We saw some great pieces from Picasso, Kandinsky and Matisse. Jacqueline and I spent the remainder of the day wandering the city, picnic-ing at Museumplein (the grassy area between The Van Gogh and Rijks Museum), and then finished with a nice dinner at a small café.

After dinner, Jacqueline and I decided to have a mellow night and to stop by one of the bars we used to have student parties at while I was here. This supposed mellow night turned out to be a bit more exciting, as this bar happened to be a stop on one of Amsterdam’s pub-crawls, and about seven minutes after we arrived a group of about 60 kids barged in. We felt obligated to join, since it seemed to be a matter of fate. J

Let’s see, I hope I covered all my days correctly, but here we are already on July 6, our last day. Again, Jacqueline slept in while I took off for the day to wander around. First thing, I went to FOAM, which is a photography museum I visited a few times while abroad here. They had a really nice exhibit of photos by Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin and then a smaller room with work by Simon Wald-Lasowski. I had never seen these artist’s work before, so this was a nice way to spend my morning.

After the museum, I continued to wander around and found myself in one of the town square areas called Rembrandtplein, when my phone rang. My blast from the past was emphasized even more as I talked to my friend that also studied in Amsterdam, Corey. We chatted about what I had done so far, how weird it was to be back, and how wonderful Amsterdam is! The nostalgia of the situation was very nice. I then took a stroll down to Leidisplein, where there are a lot of souvenir shops, and stocked up on my Amsterdam garb. And a jersey for the night’s quarterfinal game, Amsterdam vs. Uruguay.

While I was gone for the afternoon, Jacqueline made friends with the newest addition to our hostel room, a girl named Beatrice from Brazil. She was not meeting her friend until the next day, so we invited her out with us. The plan was to go to Museumplein and meet up with Frank and his friends to watch the game. There was going to be a huge screen set up for the viewing. Having no idea what to expect, we headed over. Unfortunately, we were unable to find Frank, but that did not stop us from having a great time. It was a little rough at first, as the whole square was packed with young folks that pushed through the crowd without minding if you were standing there, but eventually things settled down when the game started.

At halftime, a lot of the people shifted around, whether to find food, drink, or a restroom, so the three of us girls made our way toward the front, finding a place that we had a great view from. From this spot, we also made friends with the surrounding viewers, mostly because I was wearing a Holland jersey and orange lei. Apparently I looked Dutch and friendly, because people started talking to me in Dutch. Multiple times I had to awkwardly apologize and smile by saying “Sorry, uh, what?” and then they’d be surprised, and say something like “ohhh English…. They would then ask me where I was from, and let me tell you, Dutch boys are really interested in California girls. “ohhhh Caliiiiforrrniaaaa,” was usually the response I would get (and then a slew of follow-up questions). As you can guess, we made friends at the game (!). The game was really exciting, and with each of Holland’s goals madness erupted in the crowd, with people jumping up and down, screaming, and throwing their beer everywhere. This was classic. After the game we went to a nearby bar with some of our new friends, before heading home.

Click the following link to get the full effect of how Museumplein was the night of Holland’s victory (on YouTube): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOyOYUHXlaE

The next morning I slowly packed my bag, sad that it was already time to leave. We had our standard hostel breakfast: one hard-boiled egg and two pieces of bread – that’s what I call gourmet! And took off for the airport. Four hours later (train to airport, plane ride, and train from Stuttgart to Weinsberg), we were finally home, and once again, ready for a snack and then a nap!

Summer 2010: Trip 1 to Barcelona

June 26-29 2010: Barcelona

Jacqueline and I just arrived home from our first trip: Barcelona! A few days prior to our trip, the still-jet-lagged-Jacqueline woke up in the wee hours of the morning and explored the idea of “Blind Booking” on German Wings, a German airline. Basically, you pick a genre of city: beach, party, western or eastern metropolitan, etc. and it is more or less a raffle for your vacation spot, for the price of 40 euro round trip (a bargin!). There are about 5-7 choices of various cities throughout Europe in each of these categories. Next, you put in the dates you’re interested in and then the amount of people in the party and enter your credit card information. The next webpage will give you your trip’s confirmation, and let you know where you will be going out of the 5-7 locations listed in each category. Jacqueline did this when I was sleeping and she was bored, and woke me up by screaming: “We’re going to Barcelona!!!” This was phenomenal, as I spent a week in Barcelona last year with five friends from Amsterdam and absolutely loved it.

Our three days in Barcelona were full of great weather, beautiful beach visits, and lots of water to avoid dehydration. Although we noticed the hot weather in Heilbronn, it was confirmed when it was also in the high 90s in Barcelona that Europe in general was having a massive heat wave. We first arrived and eventually made it to Las Ramblas, which is the “main drag” of Barcelona. I contacted a friend of mine that I met last time in Barcelona, named Dean, who offered to put us up for our few nights in his friend’s apartment, where he also lives. Although it was called an apartment, it was indeed a mini hostel, as there were 10 bunk beds inside, some of which were rented on a night-to-night basis by the friends of the people who lived there. In this case, Jacqueline and I chose to stay here, as the others living here full time were young and fun – and also in charge of the bar crawl that took place in the evenings on Monday-Saturday. Because of their hospitality, we were also guaranteed a good time in the evenings.

And indeed this was true. After spending the afternoon at the beach (about a twenty minute walk from the apartment), and having a nap (since we had gotten very little sleep before our departure), we followed Dean and the others to the first stop on the Bar Crawl. For those of you who don’t know, a Bar crawl is run by maybe 10-15 young people who take a group of paying tourists/visitors to 4 or 5 different bars around the city, each with an appealing drink-special menu, and then to a club to conclude the night. It is dubbed a bar crawl, from the implication that one might enjoy the drink specials to such a high degree that they would need to crawl to the next bar, unable to walk. You can use your imagination, but most of the kids end up having a great time, as Jacqueline and I did. Just for the record and clarification, Jacqueline and I had no such problem walking from place to place.

Something that may surprise you is that as opposed to the States where young people go out at 10 pm or so and return home after the bars close at 2:00 am… in Europe, and Barcelona especially, the clubs do not fill up until 3:00 am, if that. Needless to say, all of us in the apartment appreciated being able to sleep in through the morning. Once Jacqueline and I woke up (finally), we grabbed a snack and a few bottles of cold water (it was almost 90 degrees!) and headed to the beach. A friend of mine that just graduated from Chico University that I met in Mexico during Spring Break happened to be traveling in Barcelona at this time as well, and so we decided to meet up with us for lunch at Heaven. Heaven is not the actual name of this establishment, but the five companions I had while visiting Barcelona last year during our study abroad in Amsterdam dubbed this place as “Heaven.” This was because of its wonderful location, right on the boardwalk with a great beach view. In addition, instead of only having normal table and chairs, there were bed-like cushions to sit/lay/lounge on for as long as you like – while enjoying lunch and sangria, of course.

Jacqueline and I ventured back to Heaven for a late lunch the next day also. Along with some more beach and some shopping, as well as wandering the streets (day and night!), we had a fabulous time. Our second night, one of the girls who is from Sweden visiting for the summer working the Bar crawl took us out to a bar her friend worked at and then to a club called Opium. Our final night we went on the Bar Crawl again, and made friends with people from all over the world: the States, Australia, Germany and England. Jacqueline and I had intended to make it home on the earlier side, since we had to get up at 7:00 am to get the bus to the airport and then our flight. Just to clarify, when I say “earlier side,” I mean more like 1:30 am or 2:00 instead of 4:30 am (Sorry, Mom!). However, it seems our intentions misled us, and we were sadly not in bed at this “intended” time. Thus, the morning was rather rough. However, we got to the bus, which took us to the airport. Our flight left on time, and we arrived back in Stuttgart safe and sound. Needless to say we had a great nap once we returned to the house!

June 30, 2010: Heilbronn

Two days to recuperate from Barcelona before Amsterdam was well needed. After a great nap yesterday afternoon and an even better night’s sleep, Jacqueline and I woke up this morning excited and ready to pack for Amsterdam. After lounging, taking care of laundry, and reading a bit while waiting for our clothes to dry, I decided some exercise was needed and took a jog through the fields and vineyards, as I have a few times already (so I kind of know my way around, surprisingly enough). We will look forward to another home made and wonderful dinner, and J. and I secretly hoped Little Albert wouldn’t convince us to go out, as rest would probably do us good.

Summer 2010 in Europe with Jacqueline!

June 20/21, 2010

What an exciting morning (and an eventful Father’s Day for Dad…) that led up to United flight 900: San Francisco to Frankfurt. I was supposed to leave John Wayne Airport at 10:37 am in order to arrive in SF and head to the international terminal well before United flight 900 at 2:00 pm. Well, my flight (SNA to SFO) got delayed, and because Dad checked me in at United’s 1K Line (VIP!), him and Mom were able to get through security with me, take me to the Red Carpet Room (Lounge waiting area for these VIP individuals), and worry with me as I watched the screen for two hours (because of course, we were at the airport extra early). Eventually the airport got word of the status of the flight, and it turned out to be scheduled to leave at 11:40 am…which was great, but made us all stressed because that means I had about an hour to get from my entrance gate to the international terminal. After a great Father’s Day breakfast in the Red Carpet Room (we had a nice dinner the night before to make up for the lack of elegance the next morning!), M&D hugged me good-bye and left me to finish waiting for my flight. I was finally in the air by 12:00 noon, a little concerned but ready for a stressful flight and hour lay over..knowing I would be fine when I was sitting in 19G on United Flight 900, service to Frankfurt.

An eternity later (ok, 10 hours, one calendar day, two “True Blood” books, and only three hours of sleep later…) I landed in Germany where I deplaned, went through customs, and grabbed my checked bag in a matter of 30 minutes or so. Jacqueline’s cousin, Albert, found me once I exited the baggage claim area, right as planned, and we had about an hour or so to wait for Jacqueline to walk out into the same area. We grabbed a cappuccino and chatted while waiting, and eventually made our way back over to collect Jacqueline. We had about an hour and a half drive to Weinsberg, a town close to Heilbronn and Stuttgart (from opposite directions). Once arriving, we brought our bags inside and up the top room of the building (with help from Albert!), and then inside the main flat area where we were greeted by Albert’s “Oma” (Grandma) and “Opa” (Grandpa), who live in the flat next door, and greeted also by a late lunch of soup and chicken. Having been up all night, a nap was called for next, and so we had a great one up until about dinnertime.

I returned back down to the main flat to meet Albert’s Dad & Mom, with warm smiles and German greetings (Albert, and his sister, Evelyn who is currently in school in the South of Germany, are the only two in the family to speak English). Both Albert and Jacqueline were patient and helpful during dinner to translate the German I could not understand or the English his parents were not familiar with. We were served a German chicken dish with mashed potatoes, which was kind of a chicken stew: it was delicious. The beverage was red wine, straight from the vineyards of the town, Weinsberg. Of course, “Weinsberg” means “vineyard” in German. After the main course, “Tanta Katia” (Aunt Katie) brought out her delicious dessert surprise (a favorite of Jacqueline’s), a homemade tiramisu. Phenomenal! After dinner and visiting outside for a while, and after a short German lesson, I was happy to get upstairs to bed.

June 22-25, 2010

Today we both woke up around 6:30am and so by 6:45am we headed to the downstairs flat for breakfast. Coffee, orange juice, a piece of toast, and HOMEMADE Apricot Jam (Mom – I wish I could send you some email, it’s great!) held us over while we read, showered, and eventually took a walk into town (about a ten minute walk to a small town) to get some shampoo, conditioner, and look around. The town we went to was definitely small, as we didn’t want to walk the miles to Heilbronn, but we were able to grab lunch at a Doner place, which was great. After wandering a little bit on the way home, we found our way back, specifically back to bed, for an afternoon nap!

After our nap, we headed down stairs where the rest of the family would be after being at work for most of the day, and to dinner with Aunt Katie, Uncle Albert, and “little” Albert (what we would call “Albert Jr.” in the States, as he is 27).

I quickly learned that I would be having a ton of wonderful German and Russian food during the days here. Oma cooks during the day and serves Opa, Jacqueline and I lunch, and sometimes Uncle or Little Albert if they stop home from work. Along with the chicken stew I mentioned, we’ve had Berenike (sp?? –little pot sticker-like things with meat inside), Borsch (vegetable stew), and a few other dishes, including Rabbit Stew (the rabbit was fresh, which, as you can imagine, means that Opa took the liberty of slaughtering it so Oma could cook it – WHOA!).

Besides the wonderful food and kind company from my temporary German family, we have also been enjoying the festive trips to the biergartens (beer gardens) for the World Cup games. These trips to the biergartens were especially fun because it was packed with cheering Germans. Also, Albert’s friends often brought face paint, so we were able to join the festivities by painting the German colors on our cheeks. After the game one night, we went out to a club in Heilbronn where all the young people were celebrating Germany’s victory.

My birthday and Prague!

June 4, 2009 was a day full of exciting beginnings and ends. Firstly (and most importantly!), it was the start of the twenty-first year of my life! It was also the beginning of Corey’s and my summer. However, it was the end of my parent’s trip to Amsterdam, yet the beginning of their week in the most romantic city of the world, Paris. Now, to say June 4, 2009 was the beginning of Corey and my summer might make it seem like the day was as relaxing as one would envision summer to be. On the contrary, however, on this day I had to turn in a final project paper that amounted to twenty-two pages with an appendix of seven. Corey, on the other hand, had one final and two papers due that pages amounted well over my feeble twenty-two. However, by four in the afternoon we had both checked CIEE Amsterdam Program and schooling off of our lists of accomplishments. While we scrambled to clean our rooms and check out, we also had to make a run around attempting (and failing) to sell back my school books, and to get some links removed from the beautiful watch Corey gave me as a birthday present. After a nice birthday dinner on the 3rd with my parents and Corey, he surprised me with the softest Pooh Bear stuffed animal I could have ever imagined, and a fabulous Fossil watch. I guess all those times per day I have been asking Corey what time it was for the past almost-three months helped him to realize a piece of jewelry I was in dire need of.

After getting through the logistics of my birthday present and turning in our keys, we said goodbye to Amsterdam and hello to Prague. After an hour and a half flight with four other students from Amsterdam, we obtained some monopoly money (also known as Czech crowns) and made it to our hotel, the Courtyard Marriot. After checking-in and getting some snacks from the lobby store, Corey and I got settled in our room while the first half of Sex and the City, The Movie played on my laptop. After a much needed good nights sleep, in the morning of June 5 we enjoyed the most amazing breakfast set up either of us had seen in months: made-to-order waffles, eggs, and omelets, along with a sandwich bar, bacon and sausage, a fruit bar, pastry bar, and about six different types of juice and cereal, with actual cold milk. (For those of you who don’t know, usually in Europe the milk available with breakfast is luke-warm, unrefrigerated, and…unpleasant). We enjoyed a breakfast made for Kings, and then left the hotel to walk around Old Town Prague and the Charles Bridge before the walking tour we planned to go on at 2 pm.
Because I have been to Prague once other time, last summer actually on a different school abroad program, I soon recognized the old stomping ground I had once spent a week on, and led Corey around to the Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square, The Charles Bridge, John Lennon Wall (which had disappointing additions and changes since my last viewing) and a few other areas, including the strip I stayed on last time, where I rediscovered an amazing Thai restaurant for later.

Note: The John Lennon wall is supposed to be a tribute to Mr. Lennon himself, and therefore is a stretch of wall that people can freely graffiti and create masterpieces on. Last summer when I was here, I could honestly say the wall was one of the most spectacular things I have ever seen, with beautiful designs including writing, like a large peace sign with the word “imagine” inside, as well as cute sayings like “Love is Free,” “Revolution,” “Make love as Much as Possible,” etcetera. However, when I returned to the wall a week later before I left Prague, I found the wall in disturbing remains, as someone had come sometime in the past week and drawn thing and large white stick figures across all of the beautiful graffiti, only leaving the “imagine” peace sign. Now returning, the wall looks like more of a graffiti mess than a tribune with inspirational and meaningful messages. The only part that remains how I left it was the “imagine” peace sign, which now even has a strange black face in-between the lines and word, which significantly decrease my love for it. Sad.

A little before 2 pm Corey and I grabbed a quick Starbucks drink (it’s okay, we haven’t had it in weeks!) before meeting up with our walking tour guide. After three and a half hours, and a stop into Bohemian Bagel (a wonderful bagel sandwich shop that I had wanted to return to anyway), we were both exhausted, but had a much greater knowledge of the architecture and city, and a new appreciation for the area we would be staying in for the weekend. After the walking tour, we took another loop around the Old Town and Charles Bridge, and into some stores along the way, before making it back to Noi, the Thai place I mentioned earlier. After a delicious dinner for two with a preset menu including an appetizer with a few different options, three small entrée choices, and a dessert chocolate fondue with fruit- yum! Also, the thing about Prague is that many beers are brewed here, thus, not imported, thus, beer is cheaper than water! So we also both enjoyed a brew for the pity equivalent of something like two dollars. Whoa!
After dinner we returned to the hotel briefly to change before heading out for part two of the walking tour, also known as a “Pub Crawl.” While the name might make it seem like there is crawling involved, both Corey and I kept only our feet on the ground (obviously), but I guess the name is to suggest some people might be crawling home from enjoying so many beverages throughout the night! Ha! We stopped into four different bars Prague is known for, and while in line to pay and get in, we met some guys who were doing a summer program in Rome- the place we are off to on Monday! So, we were able to make some friends, get some travel suggestions, and ideas for our daily itineraries by the end of the night. Quite the success!

Saturday morning started beautifully as the previous one, with an amazing breakfast, conveniently included in the great-deal-hotel-package we (by we I really mean I) had found online. After lounging around gaining the energy the previous night stole from us, we eventually made our way our to explore Day 2 in Prague. We went to a “Music Bar” restaurant recommended by the hotel, Infiniti, for an early dinner, and enjoyed a soup, Caesar salad, and Asian chicken and rice dish, along with some wine. After dinner, we walked through the nearby shopping center and decided it would be nice to relax a bit more (as if we hadn’t relaxed enough already that day!) and see a movie! Neither of us had seen a movie in theatres in months, so we decided this was a great idea. After checking times and languages, we decided on “I Love You, Man.” This turned out to be a great and entertaining choice, for the movie was funny and we got finished with perfect timing to grab a coffee and go get ready for the night.

After returning to the hotel room for a quick rest before the night ahead of us, we ventured to Prague’s O2 Arena for a Europe’s whitest and largest music festival. Corey, dressed in white soccer shorts, a white tee, and a white headband escorted myself, dressed in a white tube top cut off, a white skirt, and fuzzy white boot covers with blue accent coloring in my bathing suit top and eye makeup. We made quite the white, “under water” themed team. We arrived at the O2 Arena, and walked through the metal detectors, slyly smuggling in a flask of Jager. We were set! After exploring the arena and stage area, we eventually found some supplies to fulfill our night’s desires. By an hour later, we truly felt like one with the music and were entranced by the lights projected from the stage. This truly was an once-in-a-lifetime experience, for the night was perfect and it was as if we were in a dreamland and floating in a sea of white clouds.

Sunday morning we were able to sleep in a bit, and catch the end of the breakfast offered by the hotel. Because we were up late and exhausted, a nap followed breakfast we eventually made it out early afternoon to check out Prague Castle. The weather seemed beautiful in the morning when we passed the large glass doors in the lobby, but by now the sun was hidden and the raindrops had come. This, however, did not stop us as we still ventured to the Castle’s metro stop and made it almost perfectly-dryly to the Castle. We decided the “short self-guided tour” would be sufficient, and we were able to see a large cathedral and three other areas of the castle. After the castle we tried to find a fondue restaurant to continue our fondue-date-in-every-country tradition, but we were unfortunately unable to find one. (Fortunately we had that dessert fondue the first night, which we will have to count in this case.) Later, we returned to the Music Bar for another meal, and then returned to the theatre for another film, this time, “State of Play.” As the movie concluded around 9 pm, we decided that since we were off to Rome the next day we should call it a night, pack up, upload the trip’s pictures on the computer, and get a good night’s sleep. And so we did!

The morning of June 8 we checked out of the Marriot at 7:30 am, enjoyed our last buffet-breakfast made for Kings, and headed to the airport. After a bit of a struggle trying to figure out where to go and which terminal Wizzair flew from, we eventually got checked in and through security, exchanged our extra monopoly money, and said goodbye to the Czech Republic.
Corey and I arrived in Rome around noon, and ventured to our bed & breakfast, Downtown Accommodations, in the city centre about 30 minutes from the airport.

And May Begins...

Each year on April 30th, the Dutch citizens of the beautiful country of the Netherlands celebrate their dear Queens birthday, dubbed as, “Queen’s Day.” As Holland’s national color is Orange, on this day you can see the straats and grachts (streets and canals) as a sea of orange shirts, face paint, and wigs…and beer, of course. The festivities actually begin the night before, dubbed “King’s Night,” when stages were set up around the large town square areas, like Rembrandtplein, Leisidsplein, and along some of the canals: Herengracht and Prinsengracht.
By the time Corey and I were finally on our way out Queen’s Day morning to meet up with friends, Corey in his Van Persy soccer jersey and myself with an orange tank slowing under a white one, it was just before noon. The sidewalks were already filled with orange-wearers, the streets lined with mini garage sales, and there was already drunken debauchery chanted in the far distance. The two of us headed straight to Prinsengracht, a canal on the West end of the center, and with all the people and festivities, we had a lovely walk, passing food stands and house windows with signs selling drinks being made in the kitchens. We finally made it to the dorms on Prinsengracht, where we met up with some of our clan of friends: Alex, Evan, Andrew, and about five of Andrew’s friends from Bermuda. We spent a beautiful sun-filled afternoon roaming the canals and picking up (and quickly putting back down) the really great items people were selling on the side of the road (I hope you picked up on my sarcasm). There were also many street performers, including the DJs on mini stages, but also small children playing single instruments- like one small boy probably around 10 in a tuxedo playing his violin! Aw! As the afternoon progressed, Corey’s parents and sister arrived home from the Tulip Fields, and so we ventured to go meet up with them, well, he did- I had to figure out my flight for the next day, since my itinerary to Vienna was cancelled for some unknown reason.

After two days of stress, forty euro used on my phone, and a few extra euro spent, my new initerary was: Friday-Sunday Vienna with Alex, Sunday morning fly to Berlin and meet up with Corey and his family, and taking a train home Tuesday afternoon with Corey. This turned out to be a great decision! And really a blessing in disguise that my flights were randomly canceled. But we’ll get to that in a few minutes.

After I figured out my travel plans, I met back up with Corey and his family for an early dinner before the supposed concert in Museumplein at nine. One crabby waiter later, Corey and I discovered that the concert had been moved up since other acts had cancelled due to an attack/supposed attach on the Queen (when really it was just some crazy Dutch man driving drunk through a crowd after the Queen’s double decker bus had already passed, and killing himself and four others- or something). At this point, we hung around his parent’s hotel trying to work out more stuff for the weekend, before returning home rather late, considering the fact I had a 9am flight the next morning. After slicing my index finger open when a glass broke as I was doing the dishes, I finally managed to get to bed with just enough time to get a solid four hours of sleep before my next adventure.

At 9:20 the next morning Alex and I were safely and easily loaded on to tour flight to Vienna. Phew. After all that everything worked out and we were on our way. Upon our arrival to Vienna, we took a shuttle bus from the airport and had about a ten minute walk to our hostel- Wombats- where we were able to drop off our luggage and pick up a map. We ventured to the museum area and had a leisurely lunch at a classic Austrian-cuisine restaurant. After relaxing and eating interesting food for a while, we walked around, and stumbled upon some sort of protest against Communism- or something. We walked around the Old Town area next, and got tickets for the Orchestra that night. We eventually made it back to our hostel to get ready for the evening, and eventually headed to the Orchestra after checking out the hostel bar and a quick bite from a local Shoarma stand. The Orchestra lasted two hours and was a really fun experience. It was great to hear the notes of famous composers and to hear the few opera singers and see the dancers. After the concert, we headed to an area called the Bermuda Triangle, an area supposidly famous for fun bars. Although I did not find this place any more exotic than a line of a few bars in Amsterdam, we found a cozy spot and hung out for a few hours before making our way back for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday was a long day, and by the time it was over I was ready for Berlin. Alex and I spent the day exploring, we picked up our Sensation White Music Festival tickets, and by ten in the evening we were wearing all white and ready to start on our late night adventure.

Sunday morning at 9:15 am I was on a flight to Berlin. I arrived around 11 am, and by the time I made it to The Circus hostel it was a little after noon. After a quick shower and a nice breakfast at the restaurant next door, Corey and I headed out to meet up with his parents and his sister, Stacy. With some sightseeing on the way, we joined Corey’s family for lunch before heading out to Berlin’s German Historical Museum. After a few hours here, Corey, his dad and I grabbed a snack from Starbucks and went to the Jewish History Museum. We only had about two hours, but were able to enjoy the museum (even though the employees at the ticket office said it was practically impossible to get anything done in the amount of time we had). After this museum, we retuned our respective hotels & hostels and rested for a bit before heading out to dinner, to a nice and cozy German-Italian restaurant a short tram ride away. After a family-style dinner of salad and pizza, we returned, I checked into my room at the Circus Hostel, and went to bed.
Before the departure of Corey’s parents and sister Monday morning, we all met up for breakfast nice and early- before 8 am! After this, it was just Corey and I for the next day, and we fully explored Berlin and decided to hold off on intellectual-filled activities and to shop a little bit- and shop we did! In a massive mall close to Alexanderplatz, Corey was able to find a nice short sleeve white button up and a pair of dark not-so-baggy jeans. I was not able to find anything until later, where the trusted (and beloved) store, Promod, provided me with a few dress options. After our purchases we went on an adventure to try to find a Fondue restaurant the hostel recommended for us. We scrambled through side streets and eventually found the “Fire Fondue” (or something like that) restaurant we had a reservation at.

Our first impression of this restaurant was much different than the actual experience we had. While the restaurant was cute and dimly lit with candles, the menu was entirely in German and the young lady who sat us seemed to speak no English. Remaining optimistic, we tried to decipher the menu, but we soon realized the task ahead of us was practically impossible. However, somehow everything always works out for the best for Corey and I, and a few minutes after blankly staring at the German-filled language a young man came up to the table, partially pulled out one of the chairs across from us, and asked if he could take a seat. Relived, both Corey & I said “yes” simotaneously, and a few seconds later our new friend was walking us through every item on the menu. Eventually we agreed upon one cheese and one meat fondue, the cheese being a brie-base with a few other types of cheese (completely avoiding gorgonzola), and a meat fondue that included an array of choices. Served with these options came a salad for each, a tray of sauces, and little potato balls, or something. We were advised to not only enjoy the cheese and bread combination, but to cook a piece of meat and mix that with the cheese. Delicious! Our waiter also kindly recommended his red wine of choice, and decided we were worthy of a “prize,” probably for being such wonderful people and a cute, young couple (or something) and he brought us a complimentary glass of champagne. Corey and I decided that the three-hour dinner had been the best date ever, and so we declined the invitation from our waiter to join him to “hit up some clubs,” because we decided it could not get much better.

Tuesday morning we checked out of our hostel and stored our luggage in the basement, before heading off to Pergamon museum. After seeing the Ishtar Gates of Babylon and a few other exciting pieces, we left and walked through the Museum Isle, where we were able to take scenic pictures. Next, we attempted to go to the top of the dome of the government building for a view of the city, but sadly failed when the wait was over an hour. Instead, we decided that it would be fun to go to the Zoo, for this Zoo was said to have the largest amount of different animals worldwide. Because our train wasn’t until after four, we enjoyed the Zoo for a few hours (and some rain drizzles!) and were able to see kangaroos, zebras, sea lions, and polar bears (!), among other species. After a decent lunch at the Zoo, we returned to the Circus Hostel one last time to retrieve our luggage, and then headed to the train station where we were on our way back to Amsterdam, just a six hour train ride away.