http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mammoth_Hunters
Here is the book I've been reading. I just finished it, and I loved it very much. The whole series is really great.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A Swiss Adventure and Back to Italy
After waking up in Jena for the last time in a while, I hoped onto the train on Jena Paradies to go south for my first time ever. I had never been in Bavaria, and was excited. I went through Nuremburg and then got off at Augsburg. I got on a Regional Train to Buchloe and from there jumped onto a Euro City Express to Zurich. I had to sit by people on the last train, but on the other two I had my own area. I was listening to "The Mammoth Hunters" by Jean M. Auel. I started the series a long time ago and have decided to finish it, so I got the audio books. (I'm in Venice now four days later and have listened to it for every train ride the entire time and at night for a while and am still not finished, they're long books). I got off the train at Zurich Hauptbahnhof and after some initial confusion (I got out in the back of the station instead of the front) I made my way to the Hostel Biber.
I took out some Swiss Francs, they are pretty cool looking. I walked along the river and didn't have any trouble finding my way to the hostel. After settling in, I took to exploring the city. I saw the cathedrals, the Zurich See and the shops (Hermes, Tommy, Armani, etc).
I decided that Zurich was not the place I wanted to spend my time, so I chose to leave in the morning the next day instead of the afternoon. Travelling alone was boring, so I went to eat some pizza and then off to bed.
The next morning I used what I think will be the last of my German until probably April at the information counter and got the needed reservations to travel in Italy. Boarded the train and got to sit by myself the entire ride to Milan. The Swiss Alps were beautiful and I even tried to take some pictures through the window even through there is a reflection.
Upon arriving in Milan, my directional skills were put to a real test as I had to find the hostel that was not near the train station. I got my metro 2-day pass (a must for the big city and the distance our hotel was from the sites) and began my Milanese adventure. I found it without too much trouble and settled into the room. This was our first time having a room to ourselves and I was excited to not have to worry about constant security. I locked up the room after deciding I didn't need the day bag for my travels today and went to explore Milan.
I got off at the Duomo stop on the metro and was amazed with my first view of the awesome Milanese Duomo, it is one of the biggest in the world and its exterior was breath-taking.
I refrained from going inside though, wanting to save it for when I went there with Braden the next day. Thankfully, I found a nice cheap place to eat and sat down looking at my guide book and deciding what to do alone and what to wait for to do with Braden. I chose to pick my way through the streets to the fashion district and locate all the major attractions I planned to bring him to, but not visit them.
The fashion district was so cool, and I was passed by a Bently with very tinted windows...I am imagining it was Donatella Versace, because it stopped in front of her shop. It was so cool seeing these designers flagship stores where they actually live, work, and sell their goods.
I then walked over to the Castel Sfrenzco and looked at it before getting back on the metro and going back to the hotel for a nap. After that, I went back to the Milano Centrale ("Chentrale") Station to meet Braden off of his train from Basel. He was a site for sore eyes after having been alone for four days and it was really great to see him. We went to a McDonalds for some quick cheap food and headed back to the hotel to get some rest and prepare for tackling Milan the next day, his first time ever in Italy.
I took out some Swiss Francs, they are pretty cool looking. I walked along the river and didn't have any trouble finding my way to the hostel. After settling in, I took to exploring the city. I saw the cathedrals, the Zurich See and the shops (Hermes, Tommy, Armani, etc).
I decided that Zurich was not the place I wanted to spend my time, so I chose to leave in the morning the next day instead of the afternoon. Travelling alone was boring, so I went to eat some pizza and then off to bed.
The next morning I used what I think will be the last of my German until probably April at the information counter and got the needed reservations to travel in Italy. Boarded the train and got to sit by myself the entire ride to Milan. The Swiss Alps were beautiful and I even tried to take some pictures through the window even through there is a reflection.
Upon arriving in Milan, my directional skills were put to a real test as I had to find the hostel that was not near the train station. I got my metro 2-day pass (a must for the big city and the distance our hotel was from the sites) and began my Milanese adventure. I found it without too much trouble and settled into the room. This was our first time having a room to ourselves and I was excited to not have to worry about constant security. I locked up the room after deciding I didn't need the day bag for my travels today and went to explore Milan.
I got off at the Duomo stop on the metro and was amazed with my first view of the awesome Milanese Duomo, it is one of the biggest in the world and its exterior was breath-taking.
I refrained from going inside though, wanting to save it for when I went there with Braden the next day. Thankfully, I found a nice cheap place to eat and sat down looking at my guide book and deciding what to do alone and what to wait for to do with Braden. I chose to pick my way through the streets to the fashion district and locate all the major attractions I planned to bring him to, but not visit them.
The fashion district was so cool, and I was passed by a Bently with very tinted windows...I am imagining it was Donatella Versace, because it stopped in front of her shop. It was so cool seeing these designers flagship stores where they actually live, work, and sell their goods.
I then walked over to the Castel Sfrenzco and looked at it before getting back on the metro and going back to the hotel for a nap. After that, I went back to the Milano Centrale ("Chentrale") Station to meet Braden off of his train from Basel. He was a site for sore eyes after having been alone for four days and it was really great to see him. We went to a McDonalds for some quick cheap food and headed back to the hotel to get some rest and prepare for tackling Milan the next day, his first time ever in Italy.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Mirrors
I love this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wOZBHe3xQ&feature=related
Listen to it and love it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7wOZBHe3xQ&feature=related
Listen to it and love it.
Den Haag and a Break
The last day in Amsterdam we opted to spend in The Hague for a change of pace and to see a different part of The Netherlands. We left on the 11:11 sneltrein that took about an hour from city to city. First, I had to take a picture of a canal in Amsterdam.
We then decided the only thing we really wanted to spend money on was the Peace Palace, the home of the International Criminal Court. This is like a big deal and I didn't want to miss it. The Hague is POSH. I mean it is like very expensive looking, the stores are crazy. Tommy and crew, if you know what I mean. Any who, we were really in a laid back mood and just sat in a park looking at a pond for a while on the way to the Peace Palace. There were Canadian Geese...I thought that was cool.
While on that train, I found a song on my ipod that I didn't know I had that I now love...a lot. It's called "Mirrors" by Natalia Kills. It's only 69 cents on iTunes...so I recommend it. So, we got into The Hague and saw skyscrapers. Those are so rare in Europe it's exciting to see them. We walked around and saw some pretty buildings.
We got to the Peace Palace and looked at this cool rock garden with the World Peace Flame in the middle. Each country that is "striving" for peace donated a rock. Here it the one from the USA (it was one of the corner stones).
Here is the "World Peace Flame"
So, we went up to the guard and found out that we needed to make reservations. Sad. But, the building was really cool and I'm glad I can at least say I saw it.
We then walked slowly back home. On the way, I decided to skip Brussels to try and save some money because I didn't NEED to go there. So far it has worked. I've gone about 48 hours and only spent like 20 Euro, which is good. We ate at a McDonald's and a cheeseburger was 2.25 Euro.....CRAZY. We got back to Amsterdam and just peaced out the rest of the night. Went to the library and used some internet and walked along the canals some more. In the morning we had breakfast again at the hostel and left The Netherlands.
We started on the same train, but Braden got off in Duisburg and headed down to Lambrecht, Germany for his conference that he has to do for his scholarship and now I'm sitting in Jena. I finished "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens on the train arriving in Jena and cried to myself as I walked home. It was very sad and very good. I was really excited to watch the Glee episode...but found out it was about Justin Biber and then I was less excited...but it wasn't that bad.
My favorite thing right now is when Braden sings this (skip to 2:40):
It's really funny and makes me incredibly happy.
Today I got to have lunch with my friends from Jena, so that was good that I got to see them. I'm in the middle of doing laundry and then I'll repack. Tomorrow I set off for Zürich all by myself and then meet up with Braden in Milan on Sunday. I have to go to Augsburg tomorrow...so that's kinda fun. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the rest of the night...but it involves spending no money :)
Start the Day off Right!
This is the day I realized that I had significantly less money than I originally thought and began to freak out about how much everything was going to cost me. It kinda put a damper on the day and I'm sad about that. However, we still made the best of it and saw and learned some very cool things. Here is another fabulous canal photo of which I took many.
Well, when I woke up I thought that it was very late and that the Heineken Experience (http://www.heinekenexperience.com/AgeCheck) opened at 10...but it was at 11, so I panicked for no reason. That's kinda unlike me...but that's travelling I guess. We had breakfast again, this time I had bread with ham and cheese and it was much safer. I at first was not going to do the Heineken Experience because it was much too expensive for something I had kinda already done in Dublin for Guinness, but I didn't want to just sit on a bench for 2 hours while Braden did that because I wasn't going to go do something else that cost money, so I caved.
I'm glad I did though, because Braden had so much fun, and that made it fun for me. He really loved the experience....
...a lot.
We then walked to the Palace/Town Hall (http://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/) and had a great time there. It was originally the Town Hall, but when Napoleon took over, he put his brother in charge here in Amsterdam. He lived only 18 months and then the palace went back into Napoleon's power, but he only visited like 4 times. It's very pretty though. Here are just a few awesome pictures that show how rich it looks.
After that we didn't really know what we wanted to do, so we just walked along and went into a few souvenir shops and strolled the canals a bit more. We really just liked the feel of Amsterdam and took a lot of pictures of the canals and sat around and talked and just lived. It was a great time. We did forget to go to the Sex Museum and Cannabis College...so, maybe we experienced the wrong side of Amsterdam for people our age, but we talked about it. We decided that, to us, partying in every city is about the same, what makes it fun for me is the history of each place and what was there and how old things are, that is different everywhere and really very interesting. A club is a club, I think. Maybe we're lame, but that's fine. This was our last day in Amsterdam and we really liked it.
Well, when I woke up I thought that it was very late and that the Heineken Experience (http://www.heinekenexperience.com/AgeCheck) opened at 10...but it was at 11, so I panicked for no reason. That's kinda unlike me...but that's travelling I guess. We had breakfast again, this time I had bread with ham and cheese and it was much safer. I at first was not going to do the Heineken Experience because it was much too expensive for something I had kinda already done in Dublin for Guinness, but I didn't want to just sit on a bench for 2 hours while Braden did that because I wasn't going to go do something else that cost money, so I caved.
I'm glad I did though, because Braden had so much fun, and that made it fun for me. He really loved the experience....
...a lot.
We then walked to the Palace/Town Hall (http://www.paleisamsterdam.nl/) and had a great time there. It was originally the Town Hall, but when Napoleon took over, he put his brother in charge here in Amsterdam. He lived only 18 months and then the palace went back into Napoleon's power, but he only visited like 4 times. It's very pretty though. Here are just a few awesome pictures that show how rich it looks.
After that we didn't really know what we wanted to do, so we just walked along and went into a few souvenir shops and strolled the canals a bit more. We really just liked the feel of Amsterdam and took a lot of pictures of the canals and sat around and talked and just lived. It was a great time. We did forget to go to the Sex Museum and Cannabis College...so, maybe we experienced the wrong side of Amsterdam for people our age, but we talked about it. We decided that, to us, partying in every city is about the same, what makes it fun for me is the history of each place and what was there and how old things are, that is different everywhere and really very interesting. A club is a club, I think. Maybe we're lame, but that's fine. This was our last day in Amsterdam and we really liked it.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Our First V-Day Together
I let Braden sleep in because he had not been feeling well, but once he was up we sauntered down to the free breakfast provided by the hostel. I had terrible french toast with apricot jam...really not good, but enough to get me started on the day.
It was raining, but really not that bad, thankfully, I had my umbrella...but now Braden needed that rain coat. We slowly walked through the town, past the church in the heart of the red light district, and toward the Anne Frank Huis (house). While on our way, we ran into the Homomonument. It is a dedication to the struggle of homosexuals. Amsterdam is home to the first gay rights organization in the world. That was very cool.
After that, we found the Anne Frank house and were very moved. When reading the book and picturing what it must have been like is one thing, but actually being there and realizing this is real and did happen, it's shocking. The display there was really nice and powerful and I would highly recommend it to those coming to Amsterdam in the future. We then had a little fight about what to do next and decided to wander slowly toward the Rijeksmuseet or something like that...I know it sounds like "Rejects Museum" when you read it phonetically. This doesn't have spell check, don't hate. (Braden is currently playing solitaire). We found the palace and National Monument and bought Braden a rain jacket and the walked to the museum. It was by the Hard Rock and about a 1/2 hour walk.
This museum took a lot for Braden to enter. There was an x-ray thing and a metel detector and Braden had about 9 layers on...it was an ordeal. Once in, we saw that it was 12.50 Euro....I'M SORRY WHAT?!?! We had gone through the trouble, though...and the book said it was a must..so we did it. It was ok, and I learned some stuff about the Dutch Empire and their 17th Centuray Golden Age and saw some amazing painting by Rembrandt, but it was not worth that much. We got back onto the streets and went to lunch at an Italian place the book said was good and cheap, and it was! :) I had pizza and it tasted almost like Italy. Next, we ate at Haagen Daaz (which is actually a MN brand...but it looks Dutch) and I had some really great caramel banana ice cream with phenom whipped cream.
We found an English movie theatre and decided to come back later after a nap.
We napped, and it was glorious.
We then woke up, had some dinner at the hostel, and found out that we both got Orientation Leader positions for next summer!!! So exciting!! We're waiting now to hear about April... (UPDATE: SHE GOT IT!!) We had some time to kill so walked to Centrall Station to find out when I can leave for Brussels on Thursday. On the way to the theatre, Braden doubted my directional skills...not a good idea. We got to the theatre and saw Black Swan meeting some very nice people in line waiting for the tickets. The movie was great. I really loved it. It was a little scary at times, but mostly amazing. We walked home in the dark along the beautiful canals and had a great ending to our first Valentine's Day ever being in the same state.
It was raining, but really not that bad, thankfully, I had my umbrella...but now Braden needed that rain coat. We slowly walked through the town, past the church in the heart of the red light district, and toward the Anne Frank Huis (house). While on our way, we ran into the Homomonument. It is a dedication to the struggle of homosexuals. Amsterdam is home to the first gay rights organization in the world. That was very cool.
After that, we found the Anne Frank house and were very moved. When reading the book and picturing what it must have been like is one thing, but actually being there and realizing this is real and did happen, it's shocking. The display there was really nice and powerful and I would highly recommend it to those coming to Amsterdam in the future. We then had a little fight about what to do next and decided to wander slowly toward the Rijeksmuseet or something like that...I know it sounds like "Rejects Museum" when you read it phonetically. This doesn't have spell check, don't hate. (Braden is currently playing solitaire). We found the palace and National Monument and bought Braden a rain jacket and the walked to the museum. It was by the Hard Rock and about a 1/2 hour walk.
The National Monument
The two towers in the distance are the Rijksmuseum
This museum took a lot for Braden to enter. There was an x-ray thing and a metel detector and Braden had about 9 layers on...it was an ordeal. Once in, we saw that it was 12.50 Euro....I'M SORRY WHAT?!?! We had gone through the trouble, though...and the book said it was a must..so we did it. It was ok, and I learned some stuff about the Dutch Empire and their 17th Centuray Golden Age and saw some amazing painting by Rembrandt, but it was not worth that much. We got back onto the streets and went to lunch at an Italian place the book said was good and cheap, and it was! :) I had pizza and it tasted almost like Italy. Next, we ate at Haagen Daaz (which is actually a MN brand...but it looks Dutch) and I had some really great caramel banana ice cream with phenom whipped cream.
We found an English movie theatre and decided to come back later after a nap.
We napped, and it was glorious.
We then woke up, had some dinner at the hostel, and found out that we both got Orientation Leader positions for next summer!!! So exciting!! We're waiting now to hear about April... (UPDATE: SHE GOT IT!!) We had some time to kill so walked to Centrall Station to find out when I can leave for Brussels on Thursday. On the way to the theatre, Braden doubted my directional skills...not a good idea. We got to the theatre and saw Black Swan meeting some very nice people in line waiting for the tickets. The movie was great. I really loved it. It was a little scary at times, but mostly amazing. We walked home in the dark along the beautiful canals and had a great ending to our first Valentine's Day ever being in the same state.
And so it Begins...
The date was February 13, 2011 and Braden was sick. Perfect. Well, in any case we needed to get over to the Erfurt Hbf and fast in order to catch the train with the least amount of connections to Amsterdam...but we had just enough time to do Farmville :) Except, Braden thought we didn't and ended up running around and throwing a tantrum, so we left.
I think we did pretty good! We got onto the strassenbahn (street tram) and made our way to Hbf. I was about to stamp my ticket for the train when a woman jumped up from her seat and said that I didn't need to stamp mine because she had a month pass good for two people. Also, I'd never been checked in Erfurt, so I thought it'd be fine. And then...lo and behold...we were checked, and the Kontroliers checked her ticket and said that all was well! She then preceded to talk with us the rest of the ride and said that our German was very good. I love when they lie to me like that. She was a wonderful way to say goodbye to Thuringen and Germany.
Then we hopped onto the train after getting our tickets stamped and rode to Frankfurt (which, as you all know is my least favorite city in Germany). We got there just fine, and while there had some fruit and Starbucks and McDonald's. Finally, after some reservation confusion on the train to Amsterdam, we had our seats (with a table!) and we were really on our way. We played go fish, 20 questions, old maid, etc and listened to some Gaga and four hours later arrived in Amsterdam!!
While on the train going through the Netherlands, we noticed something we thought to be only a myth...the country really is flooding...there is water everywhere and we were amazed to see all sorts of flooded things: roofs, playgrounds, parking lots, boats, really anything you can think of that can retain water, was. It's because about 30% of the country is below sea level and they are constantly having to build dykes and such to guide the water toward the ocean and off their land. The things you learn...
When we first arrived at Centraal Station, the first thing that comes to mind is water. Amsterdam is filled with water. Take time to look at this Google map of the city, and you'll see it is filled with canals:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=shelter+city+hostel+amsterdam+nl&aq=&sll=52.399905,4.892349&sspn=0.039382,0.110378&ie=UTF8&hq=shelter+city+hostel&hnear=Amsterdam,+North+Holland,+The+Netherlands&ll=52.367896,4.898529&spn=0.019705,0.055189&z=14
On the map it looks confusing, but in real life it is even worse (but 10x more beautiful).
We wandered around for a while before we found our Christian hostel "Shelter City". It feels very safe here and we like it very much. After unloading we started to walk around the city aimlessly until we decided we might as well start the Hard Rock tour of Europe off with going to one right off the bat. In order to get to this Hard Rock, we needed to go through the infamous Red Light District. Our hostel is right in the heart of it, but the more we walked around the more interesting it became. It is amazing what is allowed to be displayed!
It's all very different from home, but also something that is fun to experience. It was not the easiest to find, but I think I did a pretty good job only having glanced at it on the map before we went searching for it.
Upon arrival we found we'd have to wait for a while, which was fine. We sat at the bar and relaxed after a lot of walking. When we got a table the service wasn't great, but the food and drink (as usual) was very good. After getting my Hurricane glass we headed home, totally wiped out.
We left the Hard Rock and saw a King Charels spaniel that looked just like Isabella. I was then informed on the lore involving a thumb print...pretty interesting stuff. Braden also managed to find owl figurines in a store window. He never ceases to amaze me. We made it back safely to the hostel (Braden really needed to go to the bathroom), showered up, and went to bed.
Things we forgot:
Me:
My 4GB Memory Stick...I'm stuck with the 1GB (but I have my exteral hard drive)
Braden:
Rain Jacket (predictions of rain for that day in Amsterdam)
Nook Light
Then we hopped onto the train after getting our tickets stamped and rode to Frankfurt (which, as you all know is my least favorite city in Germany). We got there just fine, and while there had some fruit and Starbucks and McDonald's. Finally, after some reservation confusion on the train to Amsterdam, we had our seats (with a table!) and we were really on our way. We played go fish, 20 questions, old maid, etc and listened to some Gaga and four hours later arrived in Amsterdam!!
While on the train going through the Netherlands, we noticed something we thought to be only a myth...the country really is flooding...there is water everywhere and we were amazed to see all sorts of flooded things: roofs, playgrounds, parking lots, boats, really anything you can think of that can retain water, was. It's because about 30% of the country is below sea level and they are constantly having to build dykes and such to guide the water toward the ocean and off their land. The things you learn...
When we first arrived at Centraal Station, the first thing that comes to mind is water. Amsterdam is filled with water. Take time to look at this Google map of the city, and you'll see it is filled with canals:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=shelter+city+hostel+amsterdam+nl&aq=&sll=52.399905,4.892349&sspn=0.039382,0.110378&ie=UTF8&hq=shelter+city+hostel&hnear=Amsterdam,+North+Holland,+The+Netherlands&ll=52.367896,4.898529&spn=0.019705,0.055189&z=14
On the map it looks confusing, but in real life it is even worse (but 10x more beautiful).
We wandered around for a while before we found our Christian hostel "Shelter City". It feels very safe here and we like it very much. After unloading we started to walk around the city aimlessly until we decided we might as well start the Hard Rock tour of Europe off with going to one right off the bat. In order to get to this Hard Rock, we needed to go through the infamous Red Light District. Our hostel is right in the heart of it, but the more we walked around the more interesting it became. It is amazing what is allowed to be displayed!
It's all very different from home, but also something that is fun to experience. It was not the easiest to find, but I think I did a pretty good job only having glanced at it on the map before we went searching for it.
Upon arrival we found we'd have to wait for a while, which was fine. We sat at the bar and relaxed after a lot of walking. When we got a table the service wasn't great, but the food and drink (as usual) was very good. After getting my Hurricane glass we headed home, totally wiped out.
We left the Hard Rock and saw a King Charels spaniel that looked just like Isabella. I was then informed on the lore involving a thumb print...pretty interesting stuff. Braden also managed to find owl figurines in a store window. He never ceases to amaze me. We made it back safely to the hostel (Braden really needed to go to the bathroom), showered up, and went to bed.
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