Hey everyone. Are you excited to here about our Travels? I hope so!
Well, I let you know that we all arrived in Berlin yesterday. It was a very hectic day, but not at the same time.
After I left you, I went and got settled into my room. Our room is a bit larger, 6 girls in this room. But it is going ok. No problems yet. After we took a little time to settle in, Felecia surprised us, by taking us on a one hour boat tour on the Spree River. It was very nice. We saw a lot of buildings. We are pretty close to everything but Ka De We and the stuff next to it.
After the Spree tour, Matt and I came back to the Hostel and decided we would be food, since we hadn't eaten lunch like everyone else.
All I could think of was trying to get cheap food, so I took matt to what I thought I remembered as a cheap place to eat: Potsdamer Platz, I was wrong, I got it mixed up with Alexander Platz. Potsdamer platz is where the Sony center, Gemelde Galerie, etc. are. It is a high class place. Well, matthew and I went into the sony center and we decided to eat at the same restaurant my mother and I ate at when we were there last summer (Alex's). We each had spaghetti bolognese, with nothing to drink. The food was good, but the portions could have been more. We took a stroll around the Sony Center and we saw that there is a Cinema Star Imax Theater there, and guess what? All films showing there are in their original language! So we went and saw the new Indian Jones in English!!! I really liked it, and I think Matthew liked it too! Good Action!
After we got out from the film, we decided to walk a bit. We walked to the Brandenburger Tor (The Brandenburg Gate), on the way we stumbled upon the memorial for "The Murdered Jews of Europe." It is an interesting memorial with huge square blocks of varying heights over a wide expanse. It is very ease to lose someone in there at night of they don't stick close by.
We got to the Brandenburg gate and we saw that it was all set up for the European German Football showings. There were 3 huge screens spread out from the back of the Brandenburg gate to the Victory Column. There is a huge stage, food and beer stands as well as a huge ferris wheel 4€ per person. We did not go. However, we did walk from the back of the gate to the Victory column. Quite a walk, at least 30 mins or more.
When we got to the victory column, we found a bus, took some alternative routes and made it home.
6-25-08
Today, I woke up at 7:30, showered, and ate breakfast at 8:30. After Breakfast, we took a 3 hour tour by bus. We saw basically anything that was worth seeing in Berlin, The Berlin Wall, The Kaiser Wilhelm Gedenknis Kirche, The Sony Center, The Dom, The Reichstag, The Brandenburger Tor, etc. It was a very nice tour.
After the tour, we went to a restaurant called the 12 Apostles. It is a pizzeria and pasta place. Lunch was on Felecia, and drinks we on us. Basically, just like that night in Dresden. I had a very tasty yellow and green pasta with awesome tomato based sauce and mushrooms. Matthew had a very spicy pizza. We each had one pils to drink. Personally, I hate the Berliner Pils, I think it tastes awful.
As I was trying to feed Matthew some of my pasta, I spilled it all over his Germany T-Shirt that he was wearing for the soccer came against Germany and Turkey. He was not happy.
After lunch, We came back to the hostel, I hand washed his shirt and jeans and dried them with a hair dryer. It was my penance since I had told him not to spill on himself and then I went and did!
Finally, I had it all done and we did a bit of shopping, not much, me really, Matthew just came with, to keep me safe and keep me company.
When we were finished with shopping, we went back to the hostel to get ready to go to the Brandenburg Gate for the game. Of course, our group got going way late, so we got there and we couldn't get in at the first check point, nor the second or third. Finally, we stole through the trees of the Tier Garten and we found an opening. Matthew and I had to leave the group behind in order to do so. Too bad, but we wanted the experience.
Well we got it, we were stationed at the 3rd screen back, the one closest to the victory column. It was hot, people were pushing, people were disorderly, it took forever for the game to start. When it did, we had several mishaps, including a vendor stand collapsing from fans standing atop it! When I say people, I mean like 50 people on top of a thing the size of my kitchen, which is very small for those of you who know.
When Germany would score, people would jump up and down in joy, which to be honest, they jumped up and down on my exposed flip flop feet. It was a good time, but when we started, we had a pretty good view, and by the end we had been pushed into the view of a vendor and couldn't see much. We only stayed until half time and then we left, which was also an adventure.
We got on the subway and basically ran back to the hostel after getting out of that mess from the Brandenburg Gate.
When we got back to the Hostel, we stood in the entry way to watch the end of the Game!!! Germany won 3-2!!!!!! Yay!!!! Germany is going to the finals on Sunday!!! We are so excited, because we have watched all the games and taken part in the EM for this year. I love soccer, I wish it was America's favorite sport!
So that is what has happened to far. I hope that you are all doing well and that life is fairly simple for you. We are doing well, tomorrow, Thursday, we go to the Museum of Film and T.V. as well as Checkpoint Charlie. I am excited for the first, but I have already been to the second.
I will update tomorrow with all of our exciting news. I believe that I will have no time to upload pictures anymore. This makes me very sad, because I so want to show you all what we have been seeing in these last few days here. I will try, but I cannot guarantee anything!
Yay Germany!!!! Berlin is awesome. Hopefully tomorrow after the museums, we will try to take in the Charlottenburg and grounds and for sure the Reichstag at night!!!!
Take care everyone. We have less than a week left here!
Biss Dann
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Bye Dresden!
6-23-08 Last day Dresden!
So yesterday as I said, we took a tour of the Schloss. It was a guided tour with microphone head sets, the only different thing was the fact that they were all synced with one microphone. The tour guide wore it on the side of her face and it picked up everything. It was nice, because she was such a quiet talker that we were able to turn up the volume to hear everything she said. Of course it was all in German and sometimes we drifted in and out of what was being said. The schloss is not like one would think. Since everything in Dresden was basically destroyed, this schloss was rebuilt to house like royal items. There was a boat cleverly carved out of Ivory, The only Green Diamond of its size, little figurines, a gold china set of art that had more than likely never been used but cost as much as one palace. Can you imagine that? I was just appalled.
After the tour of pretty things, Matt, Eric, and I went to the Semper Opera House and took a tour of it. Thank god there were reduced student rates for 3:50€ per person cause otherwise it would have been 7€ a pop and the tour was not worth that. The opera building was quite impressive and when Matthew inquired as to how many singers the opera employed, the guide said 160 persons, but also mentioned with a knowing smile that they were currently looking for singer roles to be filled. lol. Nice huh? Too bad he cannot have them just yet.
After the Semper Opera tour, Matthew and I went to the Swinger palace right next door and walked through the courtyard taking silly pictures of ourselves! IT was a great time. We then went back to the Hostel till 6, doing our last tagebuchs (journals) for Felecia!
At 6, Felecia took us into the altstadt to a bar called "Planwirtschaft". However, Paula, had found a pottery barn with handmade pottery and I went in search of it. I found a few things I liked, purchased them and then I went to the Bar to meet up with everyone.
We all sat down, our waiter was quite cheerful, probably the nicest waiter I have ever had in Germany. I had a radler, some chili coconut soup, and a planters breakfast. It was way too much food I must admit, but I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I was famished. Matthew had two beers a Dunkle and then his first Guiness! He liked it I think, yay for the Irish! For dinner he had a Long noodles in a tomato sauce with jager schnitzel (bascially hunter's meat) It was tasty.
We enjoyed ourselves there for a while until the food and drink were gone and then set off in search of a jazz club that had been recommended to us by some locals. After a very long search, and Calvin being pushed into a fountain By Renee. Lol, let me just say, huge fountain, very dirty, Calvin sitting on the edge looking into its depths, Renee creeping up behind him and just giving him a slight tap on the shoulder, (she never meant for him to actually go in, it was just to bait him) however, Calvin went in back first with passport, hotel info, and money in his pockets. He was terribly good natured about it and we all took pictures of him making sad faces. It was a good time and we all laughed.
But like I said, we spent a very long time looking for this jazz club and when we finally found it we saw that it was not open on mondays. Poor luck.
The group separated a bit, some going to do their own things and matthew and I went with a bunch to a Bier garten )Beer Garden).
The city landscape looked so beautiful with it lighted up at night! Matthew and I refrained for having anything more to drink, which I think is to our credit, because we were certainly pushed to from every angle. The truth is, that Matt and I just can't spend money the way the rest of them here can. They would all spend as much as they like, but matthew and I are trying to see if we can at least have some money when we come back. (mom, don't worry, I am fine for money, please do not put any in my account for me. I am more than fine, because I have been fairly frugal)! ;)
Finally about an hour later, I was cold, and people had finished their beers so we returned to the hostel. I turned in quickly and so did matthew it had been a long day for sure.
6-24-08 Berlin!!!!
Today, we got up, ate a hurried breakfast, had our rooms checked out by 9:10 and were at the train station in no time. We waited there for an hour for train. Thankfully we only had the one train today. Less stress for sure. We got here and are currently at the hostel waiting to check into our rooms. I will update later!
Biss dann!
So yesterday as I said, we took a tour of the Schloss. It was a guided tour with microphone head sets, the only different thing was the fact that they were all synced with one microphone. The tour guide wore it on the side of her face and it picked up everything. It was nice, because she was such a quiet talker that we were able to turn up the volume to hear everything she said. Of course it was all in German and sometimes we drifted in and out of what was being said. The schloss is not like one would think. Since everything in Dresden was basically destroyed, this schloss was rebuilt to house like royal items. There was a boat cleverly carved out of Ivory, The only Green Diamond of its size, little figurines, a gold china set of art that had more than likely never been used but cost as much as one palace. Can you imagine that? I was just appalled.
After the tour of pretty things, Matt, Eric, and I went to the Semper Opera House and took a tour of it. Thank god there were reduced student rates for 3:50€ per person cause otherwise it would have been 7€ a pop and the tour was not worth that. The opera building was quite impressive and when Matthew inquired as to how many singers the opera employed, the guide said 160 persons, but also mentioned with a knowing smile that they were currently looking for singer roles to be filled. lol. Nice huh? Too bad he cannot have them just yet.
After the Semper Opera tour, Matthew and I went to the Swinger palace right next door and walked through the courtyard taking silly pictures of ourselves! IT was a great time. We then went back to the Hostel till 6, doing our last tagebuchs (journals) for Felecia!
At 6, Felecia took us into the altstadt to a bar called "Planwirtschaft". However, Paula, had found a pottery barn with handmade pottery and I went in search of it. I found a few things I liked, purchased them and then I went to the Bar to meet up with everyone.
We all sat down, our waiter was quite cheerful, probably the nicest waiter I have ever had in Germany. I had a radler, some chili coconut soup, and a planters breakfast. It was way too much food I must admit, but I hadn't eaten since breakfast and I was famished. Matthew had two beers a Dunkle and then his first Guiness! He liked it I think, yay for the Irish! For dinner he had a Long noodles in a tomato sauce with jager schnitzel (bascially hunter's meat) It was tasty.
We enjoyed ourselves there for a while until the food and drink were gone and then set off in search of a jazz club that had been recommended to us by some locals. After a very long search, and Calvin being pushed into a fountain By Renee. Lol, let me just say, huge fountain, very dirty, Calvin sitting on the edge looking into its depths, Renee creeping up behind him and just giving him a slight tap on the shoulder, (she never meant for him to actually go in, it was just to bait him) however, Calvin went in back first with passport, hotel info, and money in his pockets. He was terribly good natured about it and we all took pictures of him making sad faces. It was a good time and we all laughed.
But like I said, we spent a very long time looking for this jazz club and when we finally found it we saw that it was not open on mondays. Poor luck.
The group separated a bit, some going to do their own things and matthew and I went with a bunch to a Bier garten )Beer Garden).
The city landscape looked so beautiful with it lighted up at night! Matthew and I refrained for having anything more to drink, which I think is to our credit, because we were certainly pushed to from every angle. The truth is, that Matt and I just can't spend money the way the rest of them here can. They would all spend as much as they like, but matthew and I are trying to see if we can at least have some money when we come back. (mom, don't worry, I am fine for money, please do not put any in my account for me. I am more than fine, because I have been fairly frugal)! ;)
Finally about an hour later, I was cold, and people had finished their beers so we returned to the hostel. I turned in quickly and so did matthew it had been a long day for sure.
6-24-08 Berlin!!!!
Today, we got up, ate a hurried breakfast, had our rooms checked out by 9:10 and were at the train station in no time. We waited there for an hour for train. Thankfully we only had the one train today. Less stress for sure. We got here and are currently at the hostel waiting to check into our rooms. I will update later!
Biss dann!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Dresden!!!
Hi everyone!!!!
Well, yesterday was very stressful, seeing as it was again a travel day! We all got up around 8, had breakfast, and got out to the trainstation. Our train was delayed around 10 mins yesterday. It was ridiculous, and while we only had one train exchange, we basically had to beg them to call ahead and make our other train wait for us. When we got to the Leipzig train station, we all had to book it for the train. Thankfully we all made it there safely.
After having gotten on the train, we were on it for what seemed like forever. We finally made it into the Dresden Hbf and we went to our Hostel. Our rooms in this Hostel are 2 people rooms, very nice. Since we had 11 girls and 10 boys, there was one room with jsut one person in it. I got that one person room! So nice. Each of the rooms have their own bathroom and shower! Major Score!!!
However, when we arrived at the Hostel they would not let us check in until a certain time, so they let us put our luggage in their storage room and we all went in search of lunch. It is about a 10 min walk into the inner city, and let me just tell you guys. Even though Dresden was 85% destroyed in WWII it is the coolest city building wise that I have ever been too!!! It is so completely insane with all of its gothic buildings. to try to impress upon you how destroyed Dresden was, let me just say that tehre are buildings that are still being rebuilt to this day!
We found a chinese restaraunt and thank god i9t was very tasty. I had noodles with chicken and matt had something with schezaune sauce. We both enjoyed it very much!
After lunch, we went back to the Hostel and we checked in, we got settled in, washed up a bit, etc. Because of the fact that yesterday was miserable with heat and humidity. So we were all basically sweating to kingdom come!
After the hostel, we went on a 2 hour city walking tour. Yay city tour, because they seem to be our lot in life on this trip. haha. (not really laughing)!
Anways, the man who gave the tour was a bit weird, I almost felt like becuase he knew that German was a second language for us, that we must have been deaf, because he would fix his eyes on someone and he would just go to town, almost shouting the info in your face.
We saw a lot of really awesome buildings, since they seem to grow like crabgrass here.
After the tour, we were treated to a gorgeous dinner by our program director Feleica Lucht. Basically it was our money, because we paid for the program, but it was less money out of our pockets.
We went to a lovely beir garden, which was actually really fancy. Felecia told us to oder what we wanted for food, the only thing she didn't pay for was drinks. I had a passion fruit juice and a bottle of water. For dinner, I had a very tender lamb chop with potato rosemary noodles and mixed veggies. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOODDDDD!!!!!
Matthew had a Weinerschnitzel with a ton of Hollondaise sauce, white asparagus, and huge potatoes. It was a very good night.
After dinner, we took the tram back to our hostel, and we prompty upon entering chastied by the Hostel staff to be quite. It was only 10:30 but she felt the need to tell us to be quite several times! It was ridiculous. After we got to our rooms, both matt and I showered, then we spent some time together.
After Matthew left, I spent some time reading in my book and went to sleep. It rained sometime during the night, thank god, because the temp. is down today, but still humid!
Today we are doing a tour of the Schloss and then a few of us are going to do a tour of the Opera house.
biss Dann
Well, yesterday was very stressful, seeing as it was again a travel day! We all got up around 8, had breakfast, and got out to the trainstation. Our train was delayed around 10 mins yesterday. It was ridiculous, and while we only had one train exchange, we basically had to beg them to call ahead and make our other train wait for us. When we got to the Leipzig train station, we all had to book it for the train. Thankfully we all made it there safely.
After having gotten on the train, we were on it for what seemed like forever. We finally made it into the Dresden Hbf and we went to our Hostel. Our rooms in this Hostel are 2 people rooms, very nice. Since we had 11 girls and 10 boys, there was one room with jsut one person in it. I got that one person room! So nice. Each of the rooms have their own bathroom and shower! Major Score!!!
However, when we arrived at the Hostel they would not let us check in until a certain time, so they let us put our luggage in their storage room and we all went in search of lunch. It is about a 10 min walk into the inner city, and let me just tell you guys. Even though Dresden was 85% destroyed in WWII it is the coolest city building wise that I have ever been too!!! It is so completely insane with all of its gothic buildings. to try to impress upon you how destroyed Dresden was, let me just say that tehre are buildings that are still being rebuilt to this day!
We found a chinese restaraunt and thank god i9t was very tasty. I had noodles with chicken and matt had something with schezaune sauce. We both enjoyed it very much!
After lunch, we went back to the Hostel and we checked in, we got settled in, washed up a bit, etc. Because of the fact that yesterday was miserable with heat and humidity. So we were all basically sweating to kingdom come!
After the hostel, we went on a 2 hour city walking tour. Yay city tour, because they seem to be our lot in life on this trip. haha. (not really laughing)!
Anways, the man who gave the tour was a bit weird, I almost felt like becuase he knew that German was a second language for us, that we must have been deaf, because he would fix his eyes on someone and he would just go to town, almost shouting the info in your face.
We saw a lot of really awesome buildings, since they seem to grow like crabgrass here.
After the tour, we were treated to a gorgeous dinner by our program director Feleica Lucht. Basically it was our money, because we paid for the program, but it was less money out of our pockets.
We went to a lovely beir garden, which was actually really fancy. Felecia told us to oder what we wanted for food, the only thing she didn't pay for was drinks. I had a passion fruit juice and a bottle of water. For dinner, I had a very tender lamb chop with potato rosemary noodles and mixed veggies. IT WAS SOOOOO GOOODDDDD!!!!!
Matthew had a Weinerschnitzel with a ton of Hollondaise sauce, white asparagus, and huge potatoes. It was a very good night.
After dinner, we took the tram back to our hostel, and we prompty upon entering chastied by the Hostel staff to be quite. It was only 10:30 but she felt the need to tell us to be quite several times! It was ridiculous. After we got to our rooms, both matt and I showered, then we spent some time together.
After Matthew left, I spent some time reading in my book and went to sleep. It rained sometime during the night, thank god, because the temp. is down today, but still humid!
Today we are doing a tour of the Schloss and then a few of us are going to do a tour of the Opera house.
biss Dann
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Sorry for the delay. The last 4 days!!!
6-18-08
Today was a longer day for everyone. Today we had our last day of classes. Basically, one class was all about Mozart and listening to his "abduction" Opera, talking about his history, etc. Lol. I rocked this class out, and I am sure matt did the same thing in his class. Our teacher, Eva Lacour, likes to believe that she knows everything. However, if I do know anything, I know Mozart. Can we say thank you James Griesheimer? Yes!!!
She fought with me about Mozart not being poor at the end of his life...Ummm... Music Majors, can you help me out here. I am positive that Mozart was so broke at the end of his life! She fought with me, and I conceded that while Mozart had built up a lot of money during his lifetime, he had squandered it all away, therefore being poor!!!
lol. So anyways that was so much fun, we got to hear good music and talk about something that Matthew and I both knew bascially everything about!!! Yay, music majors united!
The other half of class with Frau Lucht was a review game of things that we would have on the test the next day through Jepordy.
After this, we had a small break in which lunch was had. Afterwards, we met at the Mayen Ost trainstation at 1:30 and headed out to a very, very, small city about 10 mins from Mayen by train called Montreal.
Montreal is very small, but has good wine, pottery, and history. When we got there, we were lead on a city tour where bascially every building was explained to us. It was one of the more boring city tours, however, it was ok. We got some nice pictures, and this is probably the smallest German city I have ever been in. It was so small, if you had closed your eyes for like a 20 second nap in a car, you would totally miss it.
After the city tour, we did a wine tasting. We sampled 56 wines and then sampled a Wine Liquor. All were very good, and we got to learn little bit about brewing wine, collection of grapes on the rhine river vineyards. Which is very difficult because the vineyards on the rhine are on steep, steep hills. Very intimidating!!!
We were also fed a pig fat spread, a cheese and onion spread, hard cheese, and bratwurst. It was very good and very enjoyable.
However, I must admit that within the first 4 mins of being there, I picked up my tiny wine glass to admire it, and my fingers were sweaty because of how hot it was. I accidentally dropped it and it shattered all of the table. (what a nice first impression, huh?) lol.
After the Weinprobe (Wine Tasting), I was determined to buy some pottery for my mother. A place in town had been reccomened to me and so I decided to take a later train by myself ( only later by an hour) and check this place out. So I walked back into the city, and when I got there, I could tell straight away this was not the pottery that I was looking for (Star Wars reference, "These aren't the droids you're looking for" , sorry geek moment).
Number 1, most of the pottery was meant for gardens, they were larger pieces, and they were extremely colorful. Meaning the whole piece was one bright color. This potter favored Bright blue and Bright red. Not a fan and nothing like the lovely pottery that my mother and I had bought in Hohr-Grenzhausen.
So...after spending 5mins there, I had to walk back to the bahnhof and wait for an hour. good thing I brought a book with. However, on the way, I decided to see if there was a bus I could take that would leave earlier. The last bus had left at 5, and it was 5:15. So this old man, (very old, walking cane, bowler hat, the whole bit) was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the Bahnhof on my own, so he walked me there. He was very nice. So he left me at the Bahnhof and I proceeded to read, and later he came back, right before my train showed up to make sure that I caught it. lol.
So I got on the train, I get home and matt is waiting for me. I seem to remember making soup, and after matt had checked his emails, he proceeded to go home for an early night. I went to bed late tonight, because the book I am reading is awesome "The Constant Princess" By Phillipa Gregory (Historical Fiction about Henry the 8ths first wife, Katherine of Arragon).
6-19-08
Today was our ending examination. I will be very honest, at school, when I have a german test, I spend quite some time studying for it. I did not study at all, I feel very confident that I aced it. It is mostly because of the fact that this test is meant for both of the classes and the advanced class basically everyone has had german for at least 6-7 years, where as like matts class, it is more like 2-3 years of German.
After the test was over, we took a group photo, one serious and one silly. It was fun, and we bid the lovely Rathaus workers goodbye. They had been so good to us, I really enjoyed them.
Matt and I made our way back home, where we proceeded to check emails, and look for jobs online. Mainly matt, because I couldn't find anything.
Afterwards, I packed for about an hour or so. I must admitt, even though I finally made up my mind that I am going to go back to Mayen after Berlin, I am still worried if I will be able to get everything home without something breaking, being confiscated, or me having to pay extra because my luggage is too heavy.
We'll have to see.
After packing, I meet Matthew and his host Brother Felix at 1:30 for a tour of the Genovevaburg in the heart of Mayen . The Genovevaburg is basically a museum now, but not like you would think. It has many levels. Mayen is the biggest place in Germany for roofing. Mayen has a roofing school and people who want to have their houses roofed come to Mayen to have them do it. So back in the day, people dug under the burg to get stone slabs which they split and make into roofing tiles, the lowest underground, rock surfaced, cold level of the museum is basically detailing how this process goes, its history, a activated ride, stuff about WWII and how this was a bomb shelter for everyone in Mayen, etc. The other levels were like.... I am not even sure, one had to do with geography, and the make up of the land, etc. It was interesting. Felix works there, so he gave us an unofficial tour and we learned a lot.
After the tour, we went back home, where I took pictures of Matt's house, him and his host family. Afterwards, I went home to finish packing and to get ready for my dinner with my host family.
I chose to wear my flower print, long, layered skirt with my new jacket and a white tank top.
Marianna, Ecky, and Tobi took us to the Mendig Vulkan Bauerei (Mendig Volcano Brewery) to have dinner. I had a onion weinerschnitzel and then a bowl of Spaghetti ice cream ( no not actual spaghetti, the ice cream is put through a machine to make the ice cream come out in strands like spaghetti noodles. Rest assured, not actual spaghetti ice cream. It was very nice, because it was their treat to us.
After dinner and pictures, they drove us into Mayen to the Genovevaburg where the Burgfest spieles are going on (basically city festival plays). Tonight, we had been generously given tickets to go see "My Fair Lady" auf Deutsch. (meaning in German, I had though all the dialog would be in German and the songs in English, nope it was all in German. So the play, takes place in the Genovevaburg courtyard, set up with risers with backs and a set. The first half was wonderful. Eliza Doolittle was the best Eliza Doolittle I have ever seen. She was so spunky. So we made it through the first act, which is the best in my opinion. We had our intermission and it started to rain. Now the courtyard is open air. The show, meaning the second act opened and continued to go on in the rain for at least 15-20 mins, before it became obvious that this rain was not going to stop and the actors were getting drenched, as well as the set furniture and costumes. lol.
They really did a good job going on though. Lol. Everyone in the audience was under umbrellas and rain coats, lol and the show just kept going on. I was laughing out loud, because it was just so funny. I felt so bad for the poor actors, but they were real troppers, they kept it up until the man came on stage and said that there was too much rain to go on. I think everyone was pretty happy that they finally stopped, because they would have kept going and we woudl have stayed and been miserable. lol.
Well after this, food was provided, like this little pasta salad, hot tomato soup in cones, salmon puffs, fish and rice, the courses just kept on coming, what else....curry wurst and bread, cheese, olives, and red peppers on a stick, and finally I believe desert puffs came out. Matthew and I had at least 3 each. Plus the drinks were all free. we had champagne, wine, etc. It was lovely. We stood at standing tables in the first floor of the Burg museum and at and chatted with german people who had been at the show. Finally at midnight when it finished raining, Matthew and I packed up for the night and went home. Matthew walked me home and I went to sleep right away.
6-20-08
Today was a long day. I woke up at 5:50, went and ate a quick breakfast, then decided to hurriedly jump in the shower. Ecky took the girls and I with our baggage to the train station. Out train arrived at 7:29 with the rest of our group except for Matt Fleming. Remember how I told you earlier on that our first weekend a kid missed the train with us to Salzburg, yea, that was Matt. Apparently he has missed several trains on this trip, I believe this was his 4th. lol.
So of course Matt Fleming jokes ensued for the rest of the trip to Jena. We had 7 train exchanges on our way to Jena. Which basically just sucked, because we have 22 people, most with all of their luggage. It was rushed, crabby, and frustrating. Basically we spent most of the day on the Train. when we arrived in Jena there was confusion. We were all taken to the Hostel by cab, well our cab misunderstood and took us to the university. We realized basically immediately that we were not at a hostel and we got back on the road to where we needed to go.
After getting to the hostel we settled in. I getting the only three person room on our floor, everyone else had to stay in 10 person rooms. lol. yay, score!!!
We got settled in a little bit, and then matthew and I went in search of food before our city tour. Matthew got French fries and a beer, I had various potatoes things and a peach.
We then proceeded to the city tour. This tour had to be the most boring tour I have ever been on, the woman was American who had been living in Germany for many years, and the tour was in German. lol!!!
After the awful tour (just because it was truly boring) we went to a restaurant where I proceeded to have a strawberry daqueri that could not have been a daqueri because it was basically just crushed ice and strawberry flavoring. it was more like a liquor slushie. lol.
They had a grilled food bar, and Matthew and I both decided to part take, the food was good. There was freshly cut pineapple and watermelon, various grilled meats, salad, bread, and rice pudding bups with strawberry. So tasty!!!
Matthew and I finally decided to head for home and we waited for our bus for 20 mins and proceeded to watch a bachelor's party take place. Basically the groom was dressed in a white disinfected body suit and was having eggs thrown at him, people would pay money for the eggs, people would throw and later in the night, that money was bar money. lol. It was fun to watch.
The bus came and we went back to the Hostel. When there, I showered, looked at pictures, read in my book, and went to sleep. Long day, people were crabby all day, and sleep was really needed!
6-21-08
Today, I woke up at 7:59, had a light breakfast, and got dressed and ready for the day.
The beginning of today was terribly sobering. We went to the concentration came in Weimar "Buchenwald." I have been to a concentration camp previously, Dachau, but I was 16 when I went there and I couldn't truly grasp the horror of it all.
We watched a video on Buchenwald with English subtitles, it had pictures, accounts of people in the camp who had survived, etc. It was hard to watch. We were then given audios guides and cards to show us what buildings corresponded with what numbers on our audio guide tour. Matthew and I went through the big gates at Buchenwald and headed for the first building we saw. This building turned out to be the Crematorium.... All I can say is... The crying for me, started in this building. The trip was very different than my trip to Dachau. I did not understand at Dachau, I tried, but I didn't understand. Today, having seen movies, read books, met people, etc from this time, I was hit with the full effect of it and wept bitterly for every man, woman, and child who suffered and died through this period our history.
We went through what we could in the time we had, saw pictures (horrible, horrible pictures), read letters from a U.S. solider to his wife, etc. It was very hard.
When we were turning our audio guides back in, a few of our group were huddled together crying and from there on I was pretty much crying for a good hour. There just are not words to express all the emotions.
(It was very dark, but necessary, because we cannot forget it, we must not forget it, it happened and many people died for nothing but one man's ambitions).
The bus was quiet on our ride into Weimar. When in Weimar, we went to a restaurant where I had a tureen of potato soup with sausage and matty had a very tasty noodle and marinara pasta.
Afterwards, we found an internet cafe to quickly check our mails and had a hot cocoa and beer.
At 3 we had a city tour of Weimar. Now Weimar is a fantastic place for cultural history. You have Goethe, Schiller, List, Bach, etc. It was amazing. this tour was 2 hours long, but it was so wonderful, I was not bored at all and I took lots of pictures!!!
When the tour was finished, we all packed back on the bus to go back to Jena. At the Hostel we just chilled for a while, I read my book until 7 and then a group of us walked into Jena for dinner. We ended up settling on a tropical food restaurant called Mango. When I order, I was going for cheap, so I picked one of the cheaper things, which was Thailand veggies and noodles. I had no clue what to expect. I got it, and It was phenomenal. Hot, but the sauce was a spicy coconut cream sauce. It was soooooo good!!! I think everyone really enjoy their food.
After dinner, we walked home, waited for John while he used a pay phone, and now I am writing to you lovely people!!!
Tomorrow we leave at 10:15 or so for Dresden. My mommy has looked up some things about it for Matthew and I, so I am going to try to check that stuff out if I can.
I hope you are all doing well. I will hopefully update again tomorrow after our day in Dresden!!!
Biss Dann!
Today was a longer day for everyone. Today we had our last day of classes. Basically, one class was all about Mozart and listening to his "abduction" Opera, talking about his history, etc. Lol. I rocked this class out, and I am sure matt did the same thing in his class. Our teacher, Eva Lacour, likes to believe that she knows everything. However, if I do know anything, I know Mozart. Can we say thank you James Griesheimer? Yes!!!
She fought with me about Mozart not being poor at the end of his life...Ummm... Music Majors, can you help me out here. I am positive that Mozart was so broke at the end of his life! She fought with me, and I conceded that while Mozart had built up a lot of money during his lifetime, he had squandered it all away, therefore being poor!!!
lol. So anyways that was so much fun, we got to hear good music and talk about something that Matthew and I both knew bascially everything about!!! Yay, music majors united!
The other half of class with Frau Lucht was a review game of things that we would have on the test the next day through Jepordy.
After this, we had a small break in which lunch was had. Afterwards, we met at the Mayen Ost trainstation at 1:30 and headed out to a very, very, small city about 10 mins from Mayen by train called Montreal.
Montreal is very small, but has good wine, pottery, and history. When we got there, we were lead on a city tour where bascially every building was explained to us. It was one of the more boring city tours, however, it was ok. We got some nice pictures, and this is probably the smallest German city I have ever been in. It was so small, if you had closed your eyes for like a 20 second nap in a car, you would totally miss it.
After the city tour, we did a wine tasting. We sampled 56 wines and then sampled a Wine Liquor. All were very good, and we got to learn little bit about brewing wine, collection of grapes on the rhine river vineyards. Which is very difficult because the vineyards on the rhine are on steep, steep hills. Very intimidating!!!
We were also fed a pig fat spread, a cheese and onion spread, hard cheese, and bratwurst. It was very good and very enjoyable.
However, I must admit that within the first 4 mins of being there, I picked up my tiny wine glass to admire it, and my fingers were sweaty because of how hot it was. I accidentally dropped it and it shattered all of the table. (what a nice first impression, huh?) lol.
After the Weinprobe (Wine Tasting), I was determined to buy some pottery for my mother. A place in town had been reccomened to me and so I decided to take a later train by myself ( only later by an hour) and check this place out. So I walked back into the city, and when I got there, I could tell straight away this was not the pottery that I was looking for (Star Wars reference, "These aren't the droids you're looking for" , sorry geek moment).
Number 1, most of the pottery was meant for gardens, they were larger pieces, and they were extremely colorful. Meaning the whole piece was one bright color. This potter favored Bright blue and Bright red. Not a fan and nothing like the lovely pottery that my mother and I had bought in Hohr-Grenzhausen.
So...after spending 5mins there, I had to walk back to the bahnhof and wait for an hour. good thing I brought a book with. However, on the way, I decided to see if there was a bus I could take that would leave earlier. The last bus had left at 5, and it was 5:15. So this old man, (very old, walking cane, bowler hat, the whole bit) was worried that I wouldn't be able to find the Bahnhof on my own, so he walked me there. He was very nice. So he left me at the Bahnhof and I proceeded to read, and later he came back, right before my train showed up to make sure that I caught it. lol.
So I got on the train, I get home and matt is waiting for me. I seem to remember making soup, and after matt had checked his emails, he proceeded to go home for an early night. I went to bed late tonight, because the book I am reading is awesome "The Constant Princess" By Phillipa Gregory (Historical Fiction about Henry the 8ths first wife, Katherine of Arragon).
6-19-08
Today was our ending examination. I will be very honest, at school, when I have a german test, I spend quite some time studying for it. I did not study at all, I feel very confident that I aced it. It is mostly because of the fact that this test is meant for both of the classes and the advanced class basically everyone has had german for at least 6-7 years, where as like matts class, it is more like 2-3 years of German.
After the test was over, we took a group photo, one serious and one silly. It was fun, and we bid the lovely Rathaus workers goodbye. They had been so good to us, I really enjoyed them.
Matt and I made our way back home, where we proceeded to check emails, and look for jobs online. Mainly matt, because I couldn't find anything.
Afterwards, I packed for about an hour or so. I must admitt, even though I finally made up my mind that I am going to go back to Mayen after Berlin, I am still worried if I will be able to get everything home without something breaking, being confiscated, or me having to pay extra because my luggage is too heavy.
We'll have to see.
After packing, I meet Matthew and his host Brother Felix at 1:30 for a tour of the Genovevaburg in the heart of Mayen . The Genovevaburg is basically a museum now, but not like you would think. It has many levels. Mayen is the biggest place in Germany for roofing. Mayen has a roofing school and people who want to have their houses roofed come to Mayen to have them do it. So back in the day, people dug under the burg to get stone slabs which they split and make into roofing tiles, the lowest underground, rock surfaced, cold level of the museum is basically detailing how this process goes, its history, a activated ride, stuff about WWII and how this was a bomb shelter for everyone in Mayen, etc. The other levels were like.... I am not even sure, one had to do with geography, and the make up of the land, etc. It was interesting. Felix works there, so he gave us an unofficial tour and we learned a lot.
After the tour, we went back home, where I took pictures of Matt's house, him and his host family. Afterwards, I went home to finish packing and to get ready for my dinner with my host family.
I chose to wear my flower print, long, layered skirt with my new jacket and a white tank top.
Marianna, Ecky, and Tobi took us to the Mendig Vulkan Bauerei (Mendig Volcano Brewery) to have dinner. I had a onion weinerschnitzel and then a bowl of Spaghetti ice cream ( no not actual spaghetti, the ice cream is put through a machine to make the ice cream come out in strands like spaghetti noodles. Rest assured, not actual spaghetti ice cream. It was very nice, because it was their treat to us.
After dinner and pictures, they drove us into Mayen to the Genovevaburg where the Burgfest spieles are going on (basically city festival plays). Tonight, we had been generously given tickets to go see "My Fair Lady" auf Deutsch. (meaning in German, I had though all the dialog would be in German and the songs in English, nope it was all in German. So the play, takes place in the Genovevaburg courtyard, set up with risers with backs and a set. The first half was wonderful. Eliza Doolittle was the best Eliza Doolittle I have ever seen. She was so spunky. So we made it through the first act, which is the best in my opinion. We had our intermission and it started to rain. Now the courtyard is open air. The show, meaning the second act opened and continued to go on in the rain for at least 15-20 mins, before it became obvious that this rain was not going to stop and the actors were getting drenched, as well as the set furniture and costumes. lol.
They really did a good job going on though. Lol. Everyone in the audience was under umbrellas and rain coats, lol and the show just kept going on. I was laughing out loud, because it was just so funny. I felt so bad for the poor actors, but they were real troppers, they kept it up until the man came on stage and said that there was too much rain to go on. I think everyone was pretty happy that they finally stopped, because they would have kept going and we woudl have stayed and been miserable. lol.
Well after this, food was provided, like this little pasta salad, hot tomato soup in cones, salmon puffs, fish and rice, the courses just kept on coming, what else....curry wurst and bread, cheese, olives, and red peppers on a stick, and finally I believe desert puffs came out. Matthew and I had at least 3 each. Plus the drinks were all free. we had champagne, wine, etc. It was lovely. We stood at standing tables in the first floor of the Burg museum and at and chatted with german people who had been at the show. Finally at midnight when it finished raining, Matthew and I packed up for the night and went home. Matthew walked me home and I went to sleep right away.
6-20-08
Today was a long day. I woke up at 5:50, went and ate a quick breakfast, then decided to hurriedly jump in the shower. Ecky took the girls and I with our baggage to the train station. Out train arrived at 7:29 with the rest of our group except for Matt Fleming. Remember how I told you earlier on that our first weekend a kid missed the train with us to Salzburg, yea, that was Matt. Apparently he has missed several trains on this trip, I believe this was his 4th. lol.
So of course Matt Fleming jokes ensued for the rest of the trip to Jena. We had 7 train exchanges on our way to Jena. Which basically just sucked, because we have 22 people, most with all of their luggage. It was rushed, crabby, and frustrating. Basically we spent most of the day on the Train. when we arrived in Jena there was confusion. We were all taken to the Hostel by cab, well our cab misunderstood and took us to the university. We realized basically immediately that we were not at a hostel and we got back on the road to where we needed to go.
After getting to the hostel we settled in. I getting the only three person room on our floor, everyone else had to stay in 10 person rooms. lol. yay, score!!!
We got settled in a little bit, and then matthew and I went in search of food before our city tour. Matthew got French fries and a beer, I had various potatoes things and a peach.
We then proceeded to the city tour. This tour had to be the most boring tour I have ever been on, the woman was American who had been living in Germany for many years, and the tour was in German. lol!!!
After the awful tour (just because it was truly boring) we went to a restaurant where I proceeded to have a strawberry daqueri that could not have been a daqueri because it was basically just crushed ice and strawberry flavoring. it was more like a liquor slushie. lol.
They had a grilled food bar, and Matthew and I both decided to part take, the food was good. There was freshly cut pineapple and watermelon, various grilled meats, salad, bread, and rice pudding bups with strawberry. So tasty!!!
Matthew and I finally decided to head for home and we waited for our bus for 20 mins and proceeded to watch a bachelor's party take place. Basically the groom was dressed in a white disinfected body suit and was having eggs thrown at him, people would pay money for the eggs, people would throw and later in the night, that money was bar money. lol. It was fun to watch.
The bus came and we went back to the Hostel. When there, I showered, looked at pictures, read in my book, and went to sleep. Long day, people were crabby all day, and sleep was really needed!
6-21-08
Today, I woke up at 7:59, had a light breakfast, and got dressed and ready for the day.
The beginning of today was terribly sobering. We went to the concentration came in Weimar "Buchenwald." I have been to a concentration camp previously, Dachau, but I was 16 when I went there and I couldn't truly grasp the horror of it all.
We watched a video on Buchenwald with English subtitles, it had pictures, accounts of people in the camp who had survived, etc. It was hard to watch. We were then given audios guides and cards to show us what buildings corresponded with what numbers on our audio guide tour. Matthew and I went through the big gates at Buchenwald and headed for the first building we saw. This building turned out to be the Crematorium.... All I can say is... The crying for me, started in this building. The trip was very different than my trip to Dachau. I did not understand at Dachau, I tried, but I didn't understand. Today, having seen movies, read books, met people, etc from this time, I was hit with the full effect of it and wept bitterly for every man, woman, and child who suffered and died through this period our history.
We went through what we could in the time we had, saw pictures (horrible, horrible pictures), read letters from a U.S. solider to his wife, etc. It was very hard.
When we were turning our audio guides back in, a few of our group were huddled together crying and from there on I was pretty much crying for a good hour. There just are not words to express all the emotions.
(It was very dark, but necessary, because we cannot forget it, we must not forget it, it happened and many people died for nothing but one man's ambitions).
The bus was quiet on our ride into Weimar. When in Weimar, we went to a restaurant where I had a tureen of potato soup with sausage and matty had a very tasty noodle and marinara pasta.
Afterwards, we found an internet cafe to quickly check our mails and had a hot cocoa and beer.
At 3 we had a city tour of Weimar. Now Weimar is a fantastic place for cultural history. You have Goethe, Schiller, List, Bach, etc. It was amazing. this tour was 2 hours long, but it was so wonderful, I was not bored at all and I took lots of pictures!!!
When the tour was finished, we all packed back on the bus to go back to Jena. At the Hostel we just chilled for a while, I read my book until 7 and then a group of us walked into Jena for dinner. We ended up settling on a tropical food restaurant called Mango. When I order, I was going for cheap, so I picked one of the cheaper things, which was Thailand veggies and noodles. I had no clue what to expect. I got it, and It was phenomenal. Hot, but the sauce was a spicy coconut cream sauce. It was soooooo good!!! I think everyone really enjoy their food.
After dinner, we walked home, waited for John while he used a pay phone, and now I am writing to you lovely people!!!
Tomorrow we leave at 10:15 or so for Dresden. My mommy has looked up some things about it for Matthew and I, so I am going to try to check that stuff out if I can.
I hope you are all doing well. I will hopefully update again tomorrow after our day in Dresden!!!
Biss Dann!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Birthday and Friends!!!!
Well, as most of you know, yesterday was my 21st birthday! And.....drumroll..... It was wonderful!
Matthew really went all out on spoiling me. I am so blessed! When I got to class yesterday, Matthew was waiting for me, very nicely dressed, with a small bouquet of coral roses. As the day proceeded, he gave me one huge bar of chocolate. Later, he gave me another huge bar of chocolate accompanied with a bottle of wine. His host mother also gave me a small parcel of chocolates and a Germany flag for my birthday. hehe. My host family gave me nothing for my family but happy birthday wishes. Oh well, it wasn't as if I expected anything.
After class, Matthew and I went out to dinner at a very nice, but inexpensive Italian Restaurant on the Marktplatz. I had a 4 cheese pasta that was very much to my liking and Matthew had a pizza that was not to his liking, but he was very happy that I was satisfied.
After dinner, we went back to my house to get ready for the Germany vs. Austria soccer game for the euro-cup! We got all decked out in German face paint, flags, t-shirts, etc. We looked pretty awesome!!!
Everyone had met at Mambo ( A Bar in Town) at 7:30 to get seats for the game. When we arrived fashionably late, there were not many seats to be had, so for the first half of the game, I sat on Matthew's lap and eventually one girl left and I took her chair. Everyone was set that since it was my birthday, I could't buy my own drinks! So Ihad four drinks, to placate the masses, and I did not pay for a single one!
Well Germany won, 1 to 0, and we went up and down the streets yelling and waving our flags as the Germans drove by in their cars in a victory parade through the town. I am pretty sure that the car caravan went through Mayen 4 times. It was fantastic. Everyone had huge flags and were honking their horns. Everyone was ecstatic to have Germany win!!!! We were too!!!
After all the excitement, Matthew tucked me in for the night, and I had a very pleasant nights sleep!
6-17-08
Today, after classes, Matthew and I went to Cologne to visit tow friends of mine. One who is studying at the Cologne University ( Christof) and the other Ricardo who is staying with friends in Germany because he has a break from his Uni in London.
We got there at about 2:30 this afternoon, they picked us up and we traveled around a bit. We stopped and got something at a cafe and chatted, then we went to a bier garden and chatted, then we went grocery shopping and Ricardo and I made real Kasespatzle without the help of my dear ingreident Maggi. I also made a fine salad of random lettuces, tomatoes, onions, and a salad dressing that I picked up from Germany when I was here last summer!
All in all it was tons of fun to see them again!!!
Mathew and I had to be back in time for the train to Mayen Ost, the last train of the night was leaving at 8:30, the next one would not leave until 3:30 am. So we rushed to the station. Said our goodbyes and made it home at about 10:19 pm.
It was a nice day and I am so thankful to have had the chance to see my friends again!
Tomorrow will be a busy day with class, a wine tasting, shopping for pottery, and then a party for our program head!
Hope you are all doing well and Mathew and I are looking forward to the rest of the week!
Biss Dann!
Matthew really went all out on spoiling me. I am so blessed! When I got to class yesterday, Matthew was waiting for me, very nicely dressed, with a small bouquet of coral roses. As the day proceeded, he gave me one huge bar of chocolate. Later, he gave me another huge bar of chocolate accompanied with a bottle of wine. His host mother also gave me a small parcel of chocolates and a Germany flag for my birthday. hehe. My host family gave me nothing for my family but happy birthday wishes. Oh well, it wasn't as if I expected anything.
After class, Matthew and I went out to dinner at a very nice, but inexpensive Italian Restaurant on the Marktplatz. I had a 4 cheese pasta that was very much to my liking and Matthew had a pizza that was not to his liking, but he was very happy that I was satisfied.
After dinner, we went back to my house to get ready for the Germany vs. Austria soccer game for the euro-cup! We got all decked out in German face paint, flags, t-shirts, etc. We looked pretty awesome!!!
Everyone had met at Mambo ( A Bar in Town) at 7:30 to get seats for the game. When we arrived fashionably late, there were not many seats to be had, so for the first half of the game, I sat on Matthew's lap and eventually one girl left and I took her chair. Everyone was set that since it was my birthday, I could't buy my own drinks! So Ihad four drinks, to placate the masses, and I did not pay for a single one!
Well Germany won, 1 to 0, and we went up and down the streets yelling and waving our flags as the Germans drove by in their cars in a victory parade through the town. I am pretty sure that the car caravan went through Mayen 4 times. It was fantastic. Everyone had huge flags and were honking their horns. Everyone was ecstatic to have Germany win!!!! We were too!!!
After all the excitement, Matthew tucked me in for the night, and I had a very pleasant nights sleep!
6-17-08
Today, after classes, Matthew and I went to Cologne to visit tow friends of mine. One who is studying at the Cologne University ( Christof) and the other Ricardo who is staying with friends in Germany because he has a break from his Uni in London.
We got there at about 2:30 this afternoon, they picked us up and we traveled around a bit. We stopped and got something at a cafe and chatted, then we went to a bier garden and chatted, then we went grocery shopping and Ricardo and I made real Kasespatzle without the help of my dear ingreident Maggi. I also made a fine salad of random lettuces, tomatoes, onions, and a salad dressing that I picked up from Germany when I was here last summer!
All in all it was tons of fun to see them again!!!
Mathew and I had to be back in time for the train to Mayen Ost, the last train of the night was leaving at 8:30, the next one would not leave until 3:30 am. So we rushed to the station. Said our goodbyes and made it home at about 10:19 pm.
It was a nice day and I am so thankful to have had the chance to see my friends again!
Tomorrow will be a busy day with class, a wine tasting, shopping for pottery, and then a party for our program head!
Hope you are all doing well and Mathew and I are looking forward to the rest of the week!
Biss Dann!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Regensburg Photos!!!!
Michael, Matthew, and Emily and the ceiling of the side chapel!
The Side Chapel!
Michael and Matthew in a side chapel of a larger church! ... I know the name, but I forget.
Matthew and Michael in an entryway of the castle!
A Brass or so Dog guarding an entrance to the castle!
I believe this is a building that is a part of the castle.
A Hotel that I believe Michael told us was quite old.
Inside the Regensburg Dom
The Regensburg Dom! It is big, but not as big as the Kölner Dom. Still beautiful though!
Matthew and Michael in Regensburg
Michael and Matthew on the stone bridge looking back!
Judith, Michael, Matthew, and Emily at Latino!
Matt and Michael at Walle Halle
Peace Dudes! Emily, Matthew, and Michael at Walle Halle!
A real painting of someone the Michael is distantly related to (cool huh?) it's in their living room!
Michael the tour guide!Matthew and I got home safely yesterday, and I am very happy that we had no hitches along the way. When we woke up yesterday, we showered, ate a light breakfast, packed, and headed up to pick Judith up to have lunch.
Lunch went by way too quickly and we had to rush to catch our train. I almost cried when we had to say goodbye to Michael. It was so nice to see him!
We came home, unpacked, and I talked with my mommy for a while on the phone.
Today is my 21st Birthday, though, it doesn't feel like it, and I am a bit homesick.
I hope today will go well. Biss Dann
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Besuchen wir Regensburg!
Hello happy smiling friends and family. It is currently quite late here, but this is my time to update the blog, since my blogging time after now will not be so much.
6-12-08
Matthew and I had class today and basically spent the entire day on the train from 1:30 till like 7:30. It was a long time. Michael came and picked us up at the Train station. It was so nice to see him. He must be going through a longer hair phase now too, because his hair has gotten much longer since the last time we saw him.
Michael took us around Regensburg with the car, just giving us a taste for the city. We then headed off to his house, where we met his parents, Gabbi and Peter. They are both very nice and sweet, and I think that they enjoy us, especially me, because apparently I must be funny, because Peter is always laughing at me. Good naturedly of course, hehe, he is so sweet.
We were welcomed with a lovely dinner of Steaks, potatoes, and salad. It was nice to have some home cooking. After dinner, we went upstairs to Michael's room, where we stayed and talked for some time until we went to sleep.
6-13-08
Today we woke up... around 9 I would say. Michael came up to get us at about 10. Then we all proceeded to sit and talk for an hour or so before going down to eat breakfast.
At about noon we decided to head downstairs for breakfast. It was of course a typical Bavarian breakfast with hard rolls, cold meats, big pretzels, jams, spreadable meat (yup, kinda like spam), and very tasty juices made in this Regensburg area, orange juice and passions fruit, and then a mixed vitamin juice with like 20 different fruits.
After breakfast, we all showered and then dicked around on the computer with Michael for a time. when we were finished, like 2:30 pm we got going into town. Micahel showed us all around Regensburg. We went and saw two churches that were attached to each other. Michael has not been in these churches since his grandfathers funeral in one of them. He then showed us a huge palace that is bigger than Buckingham Palace in London. We did not go into it, because the tour cost like 9€ per person and Matthew and I felt that that was just a bit much for students to be paying.
We kept on walking through the city and saw several prominent buildings from the outside. I am not sure that we actually saw from the inside besides the two churches and then the Regensburg Dom. It is basically the equivalent of the Cologne Dom for Bavaria or at least for Regensburg. It is not as big as the Kölner Dom, but it was still pretty nice.
We also walked the old stone bridge, which for Regensburg is a treasure. It is quite old, and it gives a nice view of the very, very, dirty Danube.
We also saw a punk rock band and fest, which was interesting and was gathering a lot of punk and goth Germans. The band was pretty bad and was either from the states or from England. Either was their accent was not pronounced enough to make a definite decision.
After this, Matthew and I were starving, so we went to eat at an Italian Restaurant called Von Tito. Matthew had a huge pizza, I had a very rich four cheese pasta, and Michael had a very tasty tortellini mushroom pasta.
The food was so rich, that I got an upset stomach, so instead of taking rolaids, Michael made me, Matthew, and himself drink a shot of Ramonzotti which is supposed to be good for digestion.
Later we went and got an ice cream cone from a Gelatieria (Italian ice cream) for dessert!
We then went and met Michael's girlfriend Judith at the cinemax to go and see the movie "Nie Weider Sex mit dem Ex", Translating to "No More sex with the ex". this film is actually the U.S's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Go figure huh? Apparently in Europe and so forth they change the names instead of simply translating them for marketing purposes.
the film was very funny and I am pretty sure that we all enjoyed it. It was my third time in a German theater and Matthew's first.
Afterwards we went to a bar called "Latino" Where we each had at least one drink and we chatted with Michael and Judith. It was a nice place, the music was fun to listen to and the atmosphere was good for talking; the only thing was that it was extremely hot!!!
I should mention that Michael and his family were generous enough to treat for dinner, Ice Cream, the movie, and drinks afterwards today. Matthew and I did not have to pay for anything today and while Michael may not think much of it, we are so very thankful to him and his family for doing this for us. We are poor college students and their treating us really helped us enjoy this weekend! Thank you for being so sweet, lovely, and generous to us!
After drinks, it was quite late, so we decided to head home. By the time we got in bed, I believe it was 2 AM.
6-14-08
Today, Matthew and I woke up at 10, showered, ate another lovely Breakfast, and headed into town. However, Michael had many problems today with his back. I am sure he either pinched a nerve or he pulled a muscle because he was hurting all day.
Since Matthew and I have done the hard core tourist things up until now, we decided to just spend today relaxing!!!
We spent basically the entire day clothes shopping. this resulted in my buying a jacket and a pink top (they are both very cute and European, My clothing shopping will end there, but I was lucky that I got my items on sale).
Later, at around 5 pm we went and picked up Judith and proceeded to go to Valle Halle. It is modeled after the Acropolis in Greece. It is huge, marble, and cool!!! The view from the top was beautiful and Matthew and I were so excited about how much we are going to tease Davin about it when we get back to the states!!! ( Davin, we loves you!!! ;) )
We spent about 30 mins there, dropped Judith back off home so she could keep studying for her examinations, and went home for dinner.
For dinner tonight we had Schweinebraten and Knödel. Basically pig steak and huge potato dumplings, as well as salad and beer. For dessert, Gabbi had made us a strawberry cake. It was delicious and we loved it!!!!
After dinner, Matthew, Michael, and I sampled a few different types of liquor that Michael's father let us try. They were quite potent, and I only tried 3.
We then proceeded to watch some of the Russia vs. Greece soccer game for the Euro cup. Russia won. 1 to 0.
It was fun to watch, Matthew and I both really like Soccer!
Then, Matthew and I showed Michael redonkulous videos on Youtube. For the end of the night, Michael and Matthew played a Resident Evil Game on Michael's Wii and I blogged for quite some time, for over an hour.
Tomorrow, we plan to see a few churches and meet up with Judith at a running Sushi bar in town before we have to get on the train back to Mayen around 2-ish.
We hope that you are all doing well and taking care.
I will try to post pictures as soon as I get back tomorrow, if not, then sorry. I will try to get them up real soon!
Much love, Biss Dann!
6-12-08
Matthew and I had class today and basically spent the entire day on the train from 1:30 till like 7:30. It was a long time. Michael came and picked us up at the Train station. It was so nice to see him. He must be going through a longer hair phase now too, because his hair has gotten much longer since the last time we saw him.
Michael took us around Regensburg with the car, just giving us a taste for the city. We then headed off to his house, where we met his parents, Gabbi and Peter. They are both very nice and sweet, and I think that they enjoy us, especially me, because apparently I must be funny, because Peter is always laughing at me. Good naturedly of course, hehe, he is so sweet.
We were welcomed with a lovely dinner of Steaks, potatoes, and salad. It was nice to have some home cooking. After dinner, we went upstairs to Michael's room, where we stayed and talked for some time until we went to sleep.
6-13-08
Today we woke up... around 9 I would say. Michael came up to get us at about 10. Then we all proceeded to sit and talk for an hour or so before going down to eat breakfast.
At about noon we decided to head downstairs for breakfast. It was of course a typical Bavarian breakfast with hard rolls, cold meats, big pretzels, jams, spreadable meat (yup, kinda like spam), and very tasty juices made in this Regensburg area, orange juice and passions fruit, and then a mixed vitamin juice with like 20 different fruits.
After breakfast, we all showered and then dicked around on the computer with Michael for a time. when we were finished, like 2:30 pm we got going into town. Micahel showed us all around Regensburg. We went and saw two churches that were attached to each other. Michael has not been in these churches since his grandfathers funeral in one of them. He then showed us a huge palace that is bigger than Buckingham Palace in London. We did not go into it, because the tour cost like 9€ per person and Matthew and I felt that that was just a bit much for students to be paying.
We kept on walking through the city and saw several prominent buildings from the outside. I am not sure that we actually saw from the inside besides the two churches and then the Regensburg Dom. It is basically the equivalent of the Cologne Dom for Bavaria or at least for Regensburg. It is not as big as the Kölner Dom, but it was still pretty nice.
We also walked the old stone bridge, which for Regensburg is a treasure. It is quite old, and it gives a nice view of the very, very, dirty Danube.
We also saw a punk rock band and fest, which was interesting and was gathering a lot of punk and goth Germans. The band was pretty bad and was either from the states or from England. Either was their accent was not pronounced enough to make a definite decision.
After this, Matthew and I were starving, so we went to eat at an Italian Restaurant called Von Tito. Matthew had a huge pizza, I had a very rich four cheese pasta, and Michael had a very tasty tortellini mushroom pasta.
The food was so rich, that I got an upset stomach, so instead of taking rolaids, Michael made me, Matthew, and himself drink a shot of Ramonzotti which is supposed to be good for digestion.
Later we went and got an ice cream cone from a Gelatieria (Italian ice cream) for dessert!
We then went and met Michael's girlfriend Judith at the cinemax to go and see the movie "Nie Weider Sex mit dem Ex", Translating to "No More sex with the ex". this film is actually the U.S's "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". Go figure huh? Apparently in Europe and so forth they change the names instead of simply translating them for marketing purposes.
the film was very funny and I am pretty sure that we all enjoyed it. It was my third time in a German theater and Matthew's first.
Afterwards we went to a bar called "Latino" Where we each had at least one drink and we chatted with Michael and Judith. It was a nice place, the music was fun to listen to and the atmosphere was good for talking; the only thing was that it was extremely hot!!!
I should mention that Michael and his family were generous enough to treat for dinner, Ice Cream, the movie, and drinks afterwards today. Matthew and I did not have to pay for anything today and while Michael may not think much of it, we are so very thankful to him and his family for doing this for us. We are poor college students and their treating us really helped us enjoy this weekend! Thank you for being so sweet, lovely, and generous to us!
After drinks, it was quite late, so we decided to head home. By the time we got in bed, I believe it was 2 AM.
6-14-08
Today, Matthew and I woke up at 10, showered, ate another lovely Breakfast, and headed into town. However, Michael had many problems today with his back. I am sure he either pinched a nerve or he pulled a muscle because he was hurting all day.
Since Matthew and I have done the hard core tourist things up until now, we decided to just spend today relaxing!!!
We spent basically the entire day clothes shopping. this resulted in my buying a jacket and a pink top (they are both very cute and European, My clothing shopping will end there, but I was lucky that I got my items on sale).
Later, at around 5 pm we went and picked up Judith and proceeded to go to Valle Halle. It is modeled after the Acropolis in Greece. It is huge, marble, and cool!!! The view from the top was beautiful and Matthew and I were so excited about how much we are going to tease Davin about it when we get back to the states!!! ( Davin, we loves you!!! ;) )
We spent about 30 mins there, dropped Judith back off home so she could keep studying for her examinations, and went home for dinner.
For dinner tonight we had Schweinebraten and Knödel. Basically pig steak and huge potato dumplings, as well as salad and beer. For dessert, Gabbi had made us a strawberry cake. It was delicious and we loved it!!!!
After dinner, Matthew, Michael, and I sampled a few different types of liquor that Michael's father let us try. They were quite potent, and I only tried 3.
We then proceeded to watch some of the Russia vs. Greece soccer game for the Euro cup. Russia won. 1 to 0.
It was fun to watch, Matthew and I both really like Soccer!
Then, Matthew and I showed Michael redonkulous videos on Youtube. For the end of the night, Michael and Matthew played a Resident Evil Game on Michael's Wii and I blogged for quite some time, for over an hour.
Tomorrow, we plan to see a few churches and meet up with Judith at a running Sushi bar in town before we have to get on the train back to Mayen around 2-ish.
We hope that you are all doing well and taking care.
I will try to post pictures as soon as I get back tomorrow, if not, then sorry. I will try to get them up real soon!
Much love, Biss Dann!
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