Weekend to Bamberg, and the final days in Deutschland!

This will be my last blog update, as I leave tonight! This past weekend, most of the group and I went to a town called Bamberg. This place is famous for being in perfect condition after WWII, as well as a different type of beer. It's called "smoked" beer, but it tastes like bacon...really, it does. Not many stories from the town, other than it was absolutely bone chilling cold and we got lost finding the city center because our hostel was a ways outside of the city. By the time we got into town the first night by foot, it was pretty late and we were all tired. We found a few bars open and tried some of the smoked beer which was absolutely great. The town also hosts a town hall built in the middle of a river. The citizens built it there because it could not be controlled by the king due to the fact that the king didnt own the river. Those are some smart Bambergers. While there, we visited another Christmas market, which are famous in Germany. of course, Marburg has one too but its pretty small compared to the others I've been to. Bamberg also has a private brewery tour which we took part in, as well as ate at the brewery later in the night. Its amazing how many breweries were started and run by monks! Monday, after the weekend trip, I made a day trip to south Germany again to visit my exchange student, Simon, and his family. I must have seemed like a poor (college) kid because I ate ever last piece of food the mother made for dinner, all the rest of the desert, and a lot of snacks haha. I definitely haven't been eating enough in Marburg so coming home will be a good change.

The rest of the week so far has been full of 8a.m. classes and studying for my test yesterday. This morning, I was able to get "checked out" by the house keeper and I was given a paper to get my deposit. I went to the office but they were closed...how logical is that? They are closed on fridays and I could only get checked out of my room on a Friday...Duh, Germany. Now I have to wait 'till i get back home to do more paperwork. Fun. Anyway, my flight tomorrow is at 7:30 am. Why did I choose that time? Beyond me. That means I have to be there an hour or so before, include train transfer times, getting to Frankfurt in the first place, and eve first getting to the train station here in Marburg when the buses dont start running until later. All in all, I called for a taxi for 3:30 in the morning. Should be interesting. Besides the dust bunnies and some heavy pots and pans, All my baggage is locked and loaded.

Last night was a final party at the mexican grill, complete with karaoke, dancing and maybe even some drinking. Tonight I may possibly go to Frankfurt to send off a friend and hit up some bars with those who are staying behind. Then I come back for a few hours, and head right back to Frankfurt! The flight stops in Stockholm (again), which will be my 3rd time in IKEA International Airport. Then finally I touch down in Chicago at approximately 12:30 afternoon! Wooo hoo. I will be a bit exhausted on getting home, but I think I will just be able to relax finally. Hello couch, hello carpet (I realized today that Germans don't know what carpets are) hello personal toilet and shower, hello large quantities of food, hello tv. I have a lot to miss here in Marburg, but I definitely think it has been an all around difficult and inconvenient way of living. Shopping is hard when you get a fabric sack and your back pack...really, how am I supposed to shop for more than 3 days with those resources. Buses are difficult to get used to when you have to get places an easy carride away. Often it takes 2 hours to get from my room, to the store, and back to my room, simply because of the bus schedule. Its also great when the busdrivers go on strike suddenly, when you have to make a train in 45 minutes. I don't mean to sound negative here, I'm simple pointing out the things I wont have to deal with anymore and I can look forward to a somewhat easier lifestyle back home. Overall I enjoyed Marburg and all that it had to offer. I've learned quite a bit, and I've brought back with me indispensable experience and a whole lot of memories. Heres to you, Germany.

A quick reflection on my experience. In total, I've been to 7 new countries, as well as countless new German towns spanning the entire country. I have learned how to say "cheers" in 8 languages. I've met great friends from all corners of the Globe including China, Japan, Brazil, Italy, France, Mexico, Spain, Slovakia, and still more from all over the states and canada. I've taken at least 75 long distance train rides, 200+ bus rides to and from the city as well as to other countries, and I've walked countless miles though cities, forests, getting lost, up and down mountains, along rivers, and throughout Marburg. I read 3 long novels, cooked and ate 17 pounds of pasta, took 2135 pictures, took 5 brewery tours, watched a total of 1 hour of television not including football games, watched 6 football games, drank an estimated 200 liters of beer. Of all the things I have gained, there are some things that did get lost along the way. I am anxious to see how much weight I've lost (yes lost) due to lack of filling meals, never having eaten in between meals, and walking so frequently. Also, one of my cameras broke on day 1, I broke or lost 3 pairs of sunglasses, I wore through 4 pairs of socks and 2 pairs of jeans due to constant wearing and washing. Having limited resources takes a toll on what I do have. The first week I was here, I lost my mind but found it shortly thereafter. I'm thankful to be coming home in 1 piece. Ill be back soon enough. I'll probably be seeing you all soon as well. Thanks for reading

Rock the Stock '09 Stockholm, Sweden

I lied in a previous post. This was the most expensive weekend of my life. A sweet little cafe visit consisting of a small sandwich and a coffee cost $18 bucks. Sweeeet

Ok, that aside, storytime. A group of 5 other close friends from Marquette and I are all studying abroad this semester. We thought it would be a shame if we went the time in europe without seeing each other so we decided to book a trip in a mutual place none of us had been before. Why Stockholm? we don't know either, but it turned out to be a great time anyway. The currency, once we got there, was exchanged to SEKs (plenty of jokes over the course of the weekend). 10 SEK equals 1 Euro so it was sort of weird paying such a high number for everything (40-80 of anything for a beer just seems like a lot) plus cost was high to begin with. After taking a bus into town from the airport, a few friends and I set off into the old part of town to explore. Walking out of the bus station it was dark....wait, what time was it? 3:30. Thats right, the sun had already set.

We walked around for a while and saw all the pretty shops, old buildings, beautiful skyline at night, and all the beautiful people walking the streets. Ever heard that Scandanavians are the most beautiful people in the world? I can confirm it. (my plane ride over, I sat in the last row, every head in front of me was blonde) So its getting late, or so we think, and we set out for a liquor store to buy some supplies for the night. Apparently, theres no such thing as an open liquor store after 6 pm. Really, though, the government closes all the L-stores to give the restaurants more business. We found an emergency liquor store (open til 7) and paid the most ive ever paid for anything alcoholic. Sheesh, I felt like I was poor. After paying for the hostel and the liquor, I was almost out of money on night 1. We went back to the hostel, met up with some more MU friends coming in, and set out to a bar. We met some nice guys there who bought us beer and talked to us until we left. Man, these Swedes love Americans. Besides the fact that were loud and dont all have blonde hair, they still treated us like royalty. We get back to the hostel again, meet with the last guy from MU to come in and chill for the rest of the night.

The morning after, we set out for what few hours of daylight we have, and simply get a hold on the city. We must have walked a few hours, walking through a swedish jungle, down the posh but empty and not so large shopping district, and then finally to the Stockholm tower. It was already dark so we decided to head back and get ready for Bandy! Bandy is a (presumably Scandanavian) game similar to hockey without pads, on a larger field, and played with a ball, that is very cultural and somewhere tourists dont go. We went. Walking in the beer tent (required for entry) the people immediately knew we didnt belong (or Definitely belonged, in our case). One guy asked us where we were from, then bought us all fan gear (like I said, they love Americans) and hung out with us, took pics, and taught us everything about the game. He talked to the president of the team and she came over and chatted with us for a long time (again, she was in love with us because we were American). Once Bandy started, the fans couldnt help but notice our Americanness and they were all talking to us. Halftime came, and our friend who bought us team hats bought us fundraiser balls (sort of a halftime split the pot type thing) to throw in the middle of the field to win the pot. What a nice guy. Later after the game we went back to the beer tent and had a great time with the fans. The rest of the night, we met a fun group of foreigners at our Hostel kitchen (so, being out of money, I resorted to free Pasta provided by the Hostel in order to stay alive) who fed us drinks and a good time. We talked for a few hours, walked around town, and really had a blast doing nothing but getting a feel for other cultures (german, italien, greek, other places...). After meeting so many older people who don't have a plan in life (which is oddly normal everywhere but the States) I feel like I have a bit of a new look on the stresses of life and what everyone thinks is "normal". On all my travels, Ive met almost no people 35 and younger who are 1. Married 2. have a job 3. stressed about life. These people aren't poor or creeps or weirdos, but rather awesome people who can say they lived a different life than most. I've learned that you don't need to live a cookie structured life to be successful, but rather do what you love, go for it, and let life happen to you.

The next day, we took it easy with sight seeing, walked around, and got ready for the IceBar. Since Stockholm is the hometown of Absolute Vodka, we found out they have a bar made of ice, sponsored by Absolute (of course we had to "taste the culture" so we had to do it). We booked a time and took the 5 minute trek to this amazingly cold, amazingly icy bar. We were given large coats and gloves because once you get into the completely ice room, youre locked in for 40 minutes and get to enjoy your time with the rest of your eskimo friends. Included in the experience, we all got a drink of wonderful absolute. The chairs, walls, bar, even our cups were made of ice. The room is kept at a warm -4 Celsius so nothing melts. Later, we found a Soviet Bar (I think everyone there was a communist) where we finished the night. The next morning, we all left for the airport, said our goodbyes, and called it an end to an Absolut-ly amazing weekend. The Swedish SEK burned holes in my pockets, but I found ways around it and I've also learned that things come with a price and you can't always get around it. Despite how cold it was there as well, I think it reminded me how spoiled I have been with great weather in travels and in Germany as well. Chicago, Milwaukee, I'm comin home to bitter cold soon enough.

Thinking about it, I am looking forward to coming home, but I know I will be missing the culture, people, and ability to travel so easily. Europe has taught me a load of life lessons, how to relax, and how to get things done. I keep the saying "If you want things done correctly, do them yourself" close to heart after all these experiences.

Apparently they continue having Holidays while I'm abroad and I didn't realize it was time to Give Thanks already. Happy Thanksgiving to all! I have a lot to be thankful for, but theres too much to list. Know that I'm thankful for you reading this. Until next time.

Espania

This past weekend I took a plane over to Spain to visit my buddy Lucas in Madrid. Of course, some other friends are studying in Spain, but 6 hours away in Sunny San Sebastian. As soon as I arrived in Madrid, Lucas met me at the exit, too me back to the Casa, and showed me around town. Madrid was a little different than anywhere else I'd ever been, probably because on a Thursday at 4, there were tons of people walking around...don't these people work?? Actually, no. Alot of people are unemployed because the benefits are so good. Besides, it was the tail end of siesta, so everyone who did work was taking their time to get back. Who would have thought it logical to take a nap in the middle of the day, especially around midday when the restaurants should be getting a huge rush? Doesn't matter, everyone just takes a break to nap, mostly because of the night time schedule.

That Thursday, conveniently, was my buddy Lucas' birthday. That afternoon, we did a little sight seeing where we got yelled at by some street performers...actually Spiderman, for taking a picture but not paying. He got mad and wouldnt look at me anymore :( . Also we did some cookin Spanish style, went to a cafe and had a pitcher of Sangria Spanish style, and made plans with some people for the night.

The bars were pretty crowded, but only late in the night. We started out at 11:30, which isn't even close to when Spaniards head out. The bar at this time was slow, and we had the whole place to our party for a while. A few really expensive beers later, and we were off to a massive 7 story club in downtown Madrid. Lucky for the birthday boy, as well as the other 25 people, Lucas knew a worker, got us all in for free (otherwise expensive), got free drink tickets (mucho deniro!) and managed to get a VIP lounge and a few bottles of champagne (just about 500 bucks of champagne to be exact) all thanks to our marketing buddy who advertises for the club. Not a bad night. 4:30 Came by (wayyyy early for Spanish standards) and we called it a night.

The next day, we woke up at 3 pm (typical for unemployed spaniards like ourselves) and got a text nagging that we should come to San Sebastian. Yea right... actually, Lucas and I didn't even let 30 seconds go by before we came up with the idea to just ignore the text, and show up in San Sebastian anyway. That would have to be an early night due to a 6 hour train or bus ride there. I fell asleep to a bootlegged version of The Hangover and woke up at 6 so we could get an early move on. We played it by ear when we got to the station (I had my Eurail pass, Lucas had a will to be spontaneous as well) so we got out tickets and were actually a whole 10 minutes early before the train left. Saweeeet. All we could do was hope our friends would be home! We snagged their address from a friend, and prayed they didn't take a day trip elsewhere.

Emily and Jen had been heckling me for a while (since they knew I was coming to Madrid) to come for a day trip. I sort of wrote it off because of the distance but this was it, Lucas and me on a train ride to (we forgot to check the weather) Hopefully beautiful San Sebastian. We got off the train to 68 degree weather, sunny, and cloudless. 3 blocks down the river, and still less than 2 blocks from the beach, we found their apartment and pushed the buzzer.

No answer. Hmmm. Luckily Lucas has a Spanish network, gave em' a ring, and got a hold. "Hey Im pretty sure were outside your door right now" And then we hear screams from 3 stories up and a whole lot of hustle bustle comin down the stairs. Shhhhh, you're going to wake the sleeping Spaniards at 2 p.m. Probably the coolest surprise, I might say.

That night we took a sunset trip up a mountain, walked around town, ate some genuine (cheap) Spanish food (Hamburgers haha). Of course, a typical spanish night wouldn't be complete unless we went out at 1 a.m. I got pretty tired fast...to the point where I couldn't even stand up without my eyes closing, so I went back early (2 am) for a night siesta. 5 a.m. comes rolling in and I get a wake up call. Of course, I say, its only 5 a.m. We actually ended up takin' a walk, and then takin' a little dip in the ocean (lets say it was really really cold) with nobody else on the beach. Oh no, I forgot my bathing suit! Did I mention was a nude beach? We may have taken advantage of the fact that nobody was out, but still a rush of adrenaline none the less.

The next morning we went to the train station to check the times back. Hmm, maybe we should have booked right when we got there... We ended up finding a bus station nearby that wasn't expensive, but more than $0 considering I had my Eurail pass to use for free. Oh well, thats the cost of being rediculously spontaneous haha. I was glad we got the bus though, because the landscape is phenomenal! Absolutely the best bus ride I've ever been on, and certainly the most scenic place outside of the US so far. We got back at around midnight, and headed off to bed. The next morning, I said goodbye to Lucas (not too sad, I'll see him in 4 days anyway) and got on my way to the Aeropuerto. Back in Marburg isnt so bad, just a little colder (17 degrees...CELCIUS), a few less beaches (we have big rain puddles), and decent views (as opposed to looking off cliffs at a cove, I get a view of a big hill with bare trees).

Espania may have been the prettiest place I've seen yet. The weather may have helped that decision quite a bit. Madrid wasnt the best city for sightseeing but certainly a cultural hotspot. San Sebastian, on the other hand, was a dream come true and was worth the 12 hours of travel.

On top of great memories, I may or may not be fluent in Spanish now....let's lean on the side of not, but definitely picked up some new vocab. Hasta luego, amigos.

THE Birthday

As some of you may know, I turned 21 recently. Perhaps you'd like to hear a bit about it. Either way, I'm going to tell you :) I don't have much to tell because, well, I think you can put together what 21'st birthdays usually entail.

The Wednesday night of November the 4th was a quiet one and I wasn't planning on a huge get together, or even really planing on drinking, for that matter. I eventually mentioned that it was my birthday to a few guys and told them to come over for a few drinks. Word got out quick and a few hours later, 30 or so people were hangin out in my kitchen drinkin' brews, singing songs, Prosting, and havin' a ball. Lets just say a few hours later it was time to go to bed and the next day reminded me of the good times from the night before. The only downside was that I was a little to "tired the next day to make the usually spontaneous weekend plans for the weekend, which is the reason I didn't have anything to write about recently. The weekend was boring, with nothing to do, and nowhere to travel, but I did get ahead on some homework.

A few days into the week, I believe this past Wednesday, I was fortunate enough to come across a bike in the garbage. Bikes here are like holy grails, they are impossible to find the way I did, extremely expensive used(no cheaper than $150 for a rusty piece of crap 20 or more years old) and pretty much for the lottery winners, new ($300 and waaaayyyyy more). so anyway, I found the bike in a garbage pile and saw that the owner of the apartment (behind the pile) was moving out so I asked if the bike was being thrown away. He said it was all mine if I could get the lock off and fix it...and he didn't know I had to carry it 15 blocks uphill either. Hell, what were the chances he was actually getting rid of the bike. A few trips to the all purpose store for tools, I simply hacksawed the lock off, and ALMOST fixed the chain. I'm hopin' to sell it but I'm not getting too excited yet. I have 17 days of cold (apparently constant rain) left and thats if I can even find the time to attempt to fix it. Long story short, I hope to fix it, ride it for a few days, and sell it for some 100 bucks or so.

The irony of the situation was that 10 minutes before (thinking about how I've found several bikes in the garbage) I was realizing how rare it is for someone to throw away a bike in Germany due to its' high worth. Honestly, creeped me out when I saw it laying in the trash heap.

Moral of this story...just think about how unlikely it would be to find a million bucks in a dumpster...and the next one you pass will probably be overflowing. Ha, actually, don't write off a good looking possibility, even if it's laying in a garage pile and looks a little too broken to fix. I'll let you know if I can sell it. Out

Luxembourge, Bruxelles, AmsterDamn, what a weekend!

I will first apologize for past spelling errors, as well as for those to come. I usually crank these blogs out right before bed, in a not so attentive manner. That said, amsterDAM, what a weekend.

Thursday morning came rolling in and I realized I needed to use a few travel days with my Eurail pass. 7 Euros of phone calls, a class, and a bit of packing later, I was about to embark on the journey of a lifetime. By Thursday afternoon, I was on a train to the sweetest, most spontaneous, most expensive, ridiculous, beautiful weekend Ive ever had. First stop, a 3 hour train ride to Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Stepping off the train in the night alone was intimidating, but I had full confidence that my hand-drawn map would get me to the hostel. As soon as I got a few kilometers from the train station, all neon lights and crowds disappeared and only the glow of distant lights on the castles, churches, and cliff sides lit the town. The sight took my breath away. Walking in the dark down a winding road was a little scary at first, but I realized that a few locals were out cleaning up after the Thursday night bar mess. By some miracle (my map was quite inaccurate compared to the real map) I arrived at the hostel, and ran into my first surprise. Totally confused (and having done no research, I had no clue what language to expect) the manager spoke French. I had to dig deep into my brain, as French hasn't come out of my mouth in a few years. Of course, he spoke English to me to save me the trouble of taking 20 minutes to get it all out. Actually, it wouldn't have mattered much, as the locals speak Luxembourgian, a mix of French, German, and Dutch. Almost everyone in the town speaks all 3, its quite amazing. 5 minutes later I was in the cleanest room I've ever seen, sleeping next to a friendly hostel-goer. The next morning I set off to the walk of beauty/pain. Seeing the cites during the day made me appreciate how old place really is. After visiting a crypt, the old towne, the new town, and pretty much walking around the city 2 times, walking a total of at least 10 miles up and down hills and cliff sides, it was time to catch the next train to Bruxelles, Belgium.

3 hours later, I stepped out of one of 6 main train stations in the city of Bruxelles. My map making skills may have been good, but I wasn't prepared for 6 stations. Of course, with my luck, I got off at the wrong one. A group of guys about my age were kind enough (in terribly broken English) to show me towards the direction. After walking for a while, I decided to ask a local shop keeper. He explained that it was an hours walk to the street I was looking for. He did, however, help me find a Metro, and cut my hour walk into a 15 minute train ride. I finally found the hostel (after asking 5 more people where the confusing street was located). Also a very nice, cozy place. Straight to bed for me! The next morning, I took full advantage of free coffee, and heard a few people speaking English. I asked where they were from (The states but studying in Italy), got into a nice conversation about travels, and was asked to join them on their day excursion. Being alone, I figured it better to travel with friends. What a good choice that was. After a Belgian Waffle, a tour of the Belgian Chocolate shop, a walk around the city, barrels of fun on the Belgian Brewery tour (the last brewery in business in the city. The tasting was fantastic), and plenty of laughs, pictures, and fun trips to the bar later, I had to part ways from my new friends and head to Amsterdam for the remainder of the weekend.

Yet another 3 hour train ride later, I arrive in the hustle and bustle of downtown A'dam. No chance on getting lost here; my hostel, as I would soon find out, was located DIRECTLY in the core of the Red light district. Having no prior knowledge of this, laughing was the only thing that I could do. This did lead to the problem that the hostel was completely for baked tourists, and the management made sure not to clean, or as a matter of fact, take any care of the place. The bathroom was horrendous, the room smelled, and there were some already-baked tourists chilling on the floor in the room. I locked all my goods in the locker, and set out to explore.

I'd tell you how many coffee shops there were, but you'd never believe me. The district, Halloween night, was absolutely crazy. Only a few people dressed up, I'm sure 90% of the folks were high. The streets were crowded, the smoke was gloomin, and the red light ladies were dressed in their finest pieces of lingerie. After a long night of checking out the streets, it was time for a long night of restless sleep. One tourist decided to have a sleepover with a random woman, and they talked and "slept" loudly all night. Thanks bud. The next day, after the rude guest left, the rest of the not-high people in the room had something to talk about and get the convo going. I met a nice guy from Australia, and another from Brazil. The Brazilian and I decided to tour the city together. The torture museum was a real hit...ha...and the rest of the day we spent roaming the town, eating some nice chinese dinner (cheapest food you could find) and walking through the red-lights once again. That night was much better sleep.

The next day, I found my way over to the Anne Frank museum where one actually gets to walk through the the entire house and hiding place where the Frank's stayed for over 2 years. The tour was very emotional and I found it hard to keep from tearing, especially when in Anne's bedroom and crossing through the bookcase. The museum was one of the best experiences I've had. Next, a walk around town, and a very happy sight; the Heineken Brewery! Of course I took the tour, I'm glad you doubted me. This place was incredible; clean facility, very informing, state of the art technology in terms of tour material, and of course, beer tasting. Halfway through, there is a "learn to taste" area. I got to pour all the beers and "top them off", and after answering the trivia question correctly (what two ingredients add flavour to beer) I was awarded a few extra glasses. Not a bad prize. Through the tour, I met a few more Americans, and ended up having some beers with them as well. There was even a theme ride inside the brewery. At the end, the bar was incredibly well decorated, and the atmosphere was fantastic. Again, it was time to leave, and the 6 hour trip back home to Marburg was a long and tiring train ride.

Although expensive, the weekend was the best I may have ever had in terms of learning to deal with a budget, learning how to live like a bum (maybe 2 meals a day if I was lucky), meet new people no matter how odd they may seem, take care of myself, and learning how to let loose and live spontaneously. Ultimately, after making 6 trains, finding the hostels from hand-drawn maps, and somehow coming out alive after a weekend of non-stop action and travel, I have learned a valuable lesson in life:

Life is full of responsibility, deadlines and bill payments, but don't get caught up in the stresses and don't take for granted the things that are there for you right now. Rather, live in the now, enjoy your life while you have this day' of course take responsibility, meet your deadlines, and pay your bills, but there may not always be tomorrow to discover yourself, meet friends, or explore the world. Take this moment to smile.

Looking back in hindsight, everything turns out OK. However it happened, however you thought it would happen, your'e hear now, your'e alive, and your fine. As I heard Bob Marley 1000 times this weekend walking in and around coffee shops, I stress this; Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing, is gonna be alright.

Next weekend: Up in the air, but quite possibly Bern, Switzerland and Venice, Italy
Stay tuned my friends, and once again, thank you for reading.

Hamburg

The longest consecutive train ride so far was a 4 and a half hour trip on our way to Hamburg. Some people in our group took it upon themselves to bring a few beers along, and get smashed upon arrival. I decided to wait until later to enjoy the bars.

After stepping off the train, who would of guessed that the air smelled like hamburgers. The people in the town are called Hamburgers, but im talkin giant beef hamburgers. Of course the real meat hamburgers come from the good ol US of A, but it was funny to smell them. The town was hoppin at 8 at night, but we would later find out how deserted the city really was.

A 10 minute walk to the hostel wasnt bad, but once we got to the hostel, there was nothing, no restaurant, no bars, no nothin anywhere within a 30 minute walk from the hostel. We did find the center, square block, with a few restaurants, but all the action is outside of the city.

The first night we arrived, a group of guys and I took a train out to the famous bar and redlight district. Oddly, one cannot carry glass bottles on the street, and after we visited a liquor store, they happily poured our vodka into a used water bottle. A little sketchy? Perhaps. The night was full of clubbing and barring, and quite a bit of walking. 8 o'clock rolls in, and we find our hostel, conveniently we're the first in line for 8 am breakfast. A nice full day sleep and I had the energy to do about anything...not really, the night before took a lot out of me. The second night, a group of us walked around town for a bit, but called it an early night, had dinner at the hostel, and relaxed. The other half of the group took saturday night to do a re-peat of our friday night, so we didnt get to see them until Sunday morning breakfast.

In Hamburg lies a fish market. Its famous, its big, its next to the famous port, and ITS EARLY. Having rested the whole day before, getting up at 5 (or 6? the time change threw us all off) wasnt hard. A quick trip door to door thanks to a city bus, and we were in the heart of a hectic, loud, free-for-all to buy fish. Guys standing on crates, yelling prices, people crowding and pushing for fish. Those Germans gotta have their fish. The rest of the day was pretty lazy, due to a layover between hostel check out and train departure. The ride home was spent sleeping, and not quite as loud and eventful/drunk as the first ride for some people, probably due to the fact that most people had 3 hours of sleep or less the night before.

Overall a very expensive weekend, the sun only come out the last 15 minutes before we left, so quite a depressing weekend in terms of weather. Perhaps Hamburg isnt my favorite place.

Weekends:
Amsterdam Okt 30-Nov 1 ??? Not for sure yet
????? Nov 6-8
Spain Nov 12-16
Stockholm Nov 19-22

Minding the Gap in London

Since I've never been to England before, and I had 2 mates studying in London, I figured I'd take a trip over to the City for a few days and check it out. Oh what a weekend!

Ive heard it before, but London is the most expensive place I've been for sure. Paris comes in at a close 2nd. In lamens terms, a beer costs about 5-10 dollars depending on if you buy it in the grocery store or at a pub. Theres the background, here the full story:

Going to London was going to be my first time flying Ryanair...and the last. As "cheap" as you can get tickets, taxes, inconvenience, and transportation to and from the neverlands makes up for the cost. The company conveniently flies out of airports 1-2 hours away from the actual city, causing a bit of a fee and a hell of a long time to get to where you want to go. After an hour train ride into Frankfurt, a 2 hour bus ride to the airport, 3 hour layover, 1 hour flight, 1 hour bus ride, and 30 minute walk later, I finally met with my friends in The City in London. Enough of transportation...for now.

Arriving at 3 am left me tired, but didnt stop me from conversing and culturing myself to London until 6. Saturday was an early (mind the bedtime) start to the day at 1, sight seeing, lunching, and sometimes riding the Underground. Apparently construction closes the underground down every weekend and you may be forced to walk a great distance to your destination. We made it to Big Red (as my friend Shannon would call it), the clock tower as the sun was getting lower for some nice shots. Hitting up all the main sites such as Big Ben, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, The Queens Palace, except for London Bridge was probably a good way to spend the day, although actually visiting each place for an extensive amount of time would require a full vacation. Saturday night was absolutely fun, meeting friends, and testing out the London cider drink.

Sunday afternoon and lots of stories later, we found our way to Trafalgar Square, one of the most beautiful views of the city. Lucky enough for us, there was a beautiful sunset over the skyline and plenty of the city could be viewed from the steps of the Museum from high ground. At night, we found a sports bar and watched some american football, met some bar buddies, and had a good last night on the town. Waking up at 6:30 am monday was a drag, but pretty certain when we had 4 alarms set to wake us up. Another underground ride, hour bus ride, 1 hr plane ride, 2 hour bus ride, 1 hour train ride, and 15 minute busride later, I finally made it close to my dorm. Sadly, my class started at 6:00 p.m. and it was 5:45 so I didnt even make it to my bedroom before the 2 hour class. Exhausted yet content, the weekend was finally complete by 8:30 when I fell into my bed, and thought back on all the events that happened over the previous 4 days.


If theres one thing I learned is absolutely true from all the events of the last week, it is that there is no way to plan your life, no way to even guess what will happen in the coming week. Just trust that it will work out, and it will somehow work out in the end.

Tuesday, I had a German Speaking Test, which I nailed, and a Terrorism Class, not so much how to be a terrorist, but to discuss the ethics, strategy, and philosophical meaning of terrorism. The discussion I am in with one other American met in a cafe. We spoke for 2 hours over the meaning and definition of Terrorism. Who would of thought it would be so interesting.

Today; Wednesday consisted of conversation class in German, playing a board game to learn vocab, and cooking the biggest omelette I've ever eaten. Today was a good day.

This weekend: Hamburg, Germany
Possibilities for the following (Halloween) weekend: Poland, France, only life will tell.