Feb 10-12 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Feb. 10

On Friday, we took the train to Brussels, trained to Amsterdam then tramed to our hostel (the Flying Pig Uptown). This hostel was quite different than anything we had experienced. The reception was located behind the rowdy bar of the hostel (yes, it was rowdy when we got in at noon), there was a “smoking room” which was not intended for cigarettes, and the hike up to our room was just that- a hike!

After putting our stuff in our room, Whitney and I went to the Van Gough museum. It was 14 Euros to get in, but it was definitely worth it. The paintings were beautiful and so recognizable.

We met our group back at the hostel at seven and joined the rowdy folks at the bar for a few drinks. Some braved the smoking room others went to check out the “coffee shops,” but the majority of our group headed out to dinner around 8. From there we went to a few different clubs- all playing American music, which we have gotten used to at this point. Each club also had a “smoking room” and one even sold weed! A definite culture shock.

At the Flying Pig Bar

Me, Whit, Katie, Olivia and Gina

Feb. 11

After sleeping in until 11, I leapt out of bed and ran downstairs hoping to make the free breakfast! Of course, the one day I sleep in, the one day there is free breakfast, it is over at 10:30. We ended up going to a place called Bagels  & Beans (a chain in Amsterdam). It was great! I got my first bagel in Europe and enjoyed a great coffee!

After breakfast, we went ice-skating in our shoes on the frozen canal (first time it has frozen in 15 years!), took pictures at the “I Amsterdam” sign, and toured the Anne Frank house. The Anne Frank house was my second favorite part of Amsterdam (I will explain my first later). It was so amazing to be in her house and learn more about her history and what happened during that time.

Standing on the canal!

Whit, Marlee, Nichole, me, Naomi, Kelly

Following Anne Frank’s house, we did a little shopping then saw the Red Light district, another culture shock for me. There are 200+ windows with women standing behind them in small rooms. These women ranged in looks and were often beckoning to the walker-bys. The area is quite literally lit up with red lights and it was very uncomfortable to walk through.

Now my favorite part. Every time the canal freezes (not often), there is a competition for the youth of Amsterdam. Whoever wants to can strap on their skates and compete for Emperor or Empress of Amsterdam. There is an ice skating race of about 100 yards and thousands (I am not exaggerating) of people line the streets to watch this traditional event. Whitney, Marlee, Kelly and I climbed up onto a moveable light pole and got what one could argue were the best seats in the house!

Ice Skating competition.

This night, some of us just stayed at the bar in the hostel, while others found more clubs. Now, at the Flying Pig, there is a cat that hangs out around the bar. This cat was nothing but friendly and social and we had a lovely time together the whole night. As the night was winding down, I got my phone to try to send out a few emails. Apparently Buttercup (the name we had given her) did not like being ignored and preceded to pounce on my arm and start biting me. I was obviously very frightened and jumped back from the table where I had been sitting. She began making her way around the table and attacking everyone who was in close range! A very strange way to end our night.

Whitney and I with the cat... before the attack.

Feb. 12

We got up early Sunday morning and caught the 8a.m. train back to Lugano. It was a ten hour train ride with one switch and we all just slept the entire way. A very long but very fun 10-day adventure! This weekend we are heading to Venice for Carnival, next weekend is Rome, then the weekend after that is our next ten-day already (and DAVID IS COMING!!!!).

Feb. 6-9 (London, England)

Feb. 6

Let me just start by saying that the pound (London’s currency) is horrible for Americans. I had to budget to the extreme in London, but I was still able to see and do everything that I wanted to. Figuring out how to get from the airport to the hostel proved to be much harder than we imagined. We ended up taking a 1.5-hour bus ride to a random bus station then a cab to our hostel.  Another group figured out that the train was 20 minutes and took them right to the hostel… O well, we were in London!

We stayed at the YHA hostel- a nice hostel that had way too many hidden fees (we had to pay to be members, pay for internet, and pay for breakfast)… O well, we were in London! We got in pretty late, so we went to eat a late dinner at a great little Japanese restaurant by our hostel then went to bed.

Feb. 7

On Tuesday morning, we went to see the changing of the guards at the Buckingham palace, which was amazing! This is a tradition in London that draws a huge crowd. After watching this for about an hour, hearing them play the James Bond theme song and seeing more horses (this time with police on them, not carriages), we were off to explore London.

Changing of the guards

In front of the Buckingham Palace

We had lunch at a small Irish pub called O’Neill’s (we missed Dublin) then headed back to our hostel to get ready for High Tea! High Tea is another tradition in London. Literally you are “just” drinking tea, but we got really dressed up and went to a five star hotel to enjoy our tea and treats in their “lounge.” I chose the “Whole Rosebuds” tea (very cleansing and good for the skin according to the waiter). After tea, we were off to a show! What a London-esque day!

Getting ready to leave for high tea.

We got really cheap (17 pounds) group tickets to go see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater. This is a Broadway musical that I have been wanting to see for a while now, and what better way to experience it than in London?! The Apollo Theater was smaller than I thought it would be, so our seats were great! (There really were no bad seats). Wicked was absolutely terrific! Although my memory is not very good (and I have seen my fare share of musicals since I was really young), I’d say it is easily top 3 best musicals I have seen. The acting was great, the music was great, and the story line was GREAT! Wicked is the back-story of Wizard of Oz, and it explains how the good and bad witches came to be. It is a very clever and well done script. I even recognized some of the songs that I did not know were from Wicked. After the play, some people went out, but a few other girls and I were just too tired from our day of activities that we called it a night and took the subway (known as the underground) home (London transportation is so easy and great!).

In front of the stage at the end of the show.

Feb. 8

On Wednesday, we saw Big Ben (the big clock), the Parliament building (huge and attached to Big Ben), the London Gallery, Westminster Abby, the London Eye (The giant farris wheal), and the British Museum (where the Rosetta Stone, pieces of the Parthenon, and much much more is held). It was a packed day, but I am so glad I got to see all of these things! Outside of the London Gallery are giant lions that a lot of tourists tend to climb up and get pictures on. Needless to say, we all did this.

Countdown to the Olympics in London!

In Front of the London Gallery also.

Big Ben and a small section of Parliament.

Westminster Abby

In front of the Rosetta Stone!

Design for the 2012 Olympic Medals! (In the British Museum)

Everyone met up back at our hostel to get ready for dinner and a night of festivities. A few of us ate at a place called The Court. I had a great burger and a great beer for only 4 pounds! After this, the small group I was with lost the bigger group who could not find tables at The Court. We got on a bus to go to Camden where everyone was eventually going to meet up. After getting sufficiently lost, we found a strange cobblestone alley with a lot of different bars. We chose to go into a bar resembling a barn and were met by the sound of rock music and people having a great time. The bands playing were strange but pretty entertaining. Only later did we realize that this great time was most likely induced by hard-core drugs. Upon this realization, we promptly made our way out to try harder to find our friends. Finally we found them at the Wagon Wheal bar where more live music and fun was happening. Luckily this fun was far from drugs and we ended up having a blast!

Feb. 9

On Thursday, we went to finish our tour of London. We saw Abby Road (where the famous Beatles picture was taken), the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge and London Bridge. Unfortunately the London Bridge was not as exciting as we thought it would be… It was like any bridge you would see in America with cars driving across it and all. The Tower Bridge was more exciting and colorful and no cars were driving across it (a much better tourist attraction). We ate an early dinner at the hostel and went to bed early because our train to Amsterdam was at 6a.m.!

Tower Bridge

Abby Road picture! 

(Lots of traffic so this proved to be quite challenging.)

February 4-6 (Dublin, Ireland)

Feb. 4

The ten-day was exhausting! I am shocked by the amount of stuff I saw/did these past 9 nine days. I will start in Dublin and work my way through to Amsterdam (chronologically for those of you who are still trying to figure out my writing strategy).

First time I have seen this in Europe!

We left the Montarina on February 4, taking a bus to the airport at 6 in the morning then flying out of Milan. Apparently getting to the airport two hours early is not expected in Europe… We got to our hostel in Dublin late Saturday afternoon and checked in. The hostel (Ashfield House) was so small we had to take turns bringing our stuff in. Deciding not to spend more time in the hostel than we had to, we left to get a late lunch at a very cool, multi-floor Irish pub. We happened to be in Dublin during a rugby tournament weekend and watched Italy vs. France while eating lunch. Unfortunately, Ireland ended up losing the next day, but we enjoyed watching the games with such rowdy fans!

Ashfield House

After exploring the town of Dublin for a while, we went to meet up with everyone at one group’s apartment. After everyone had caught up (being apart for more than a couple hours brings an astonishing amount of stories), we left for the Temple Bar area (the most popular bar strip in Dublin). We decided to brave the crowds and went in Temple Bar itself (the most popular bar in Dublin). We pushed our way to the front of the crowd, right in front of the band that was playing. This was easily one of my favorite nights yet in Europe. The two-person band was unbelievably talented and played mostly American, recognizable songs that everyone was singing along to.

Temple Bar area

Feb. 5

After enjoying a free breakfast at our hostel, we made our way to the free walking tour (free is a key word for us these days). We happened to run into our tour guide on the way to the meeting spot (which proved to be in a very different direction than we were heading, so I’m glad we ran into him!). We learned a lot about Ireland and Dublin’s history, saw the original structure of the Dublin castle, and learned that the people of Dublin love Obama (mostly because he is not Bush).

Castle

In front of the castle with Kelly and Whit

We took a quick break from our tour to grab lunch (the most amazing Kabob sandwhich I have ever had) then back out in the cold we went. We saw Trinity College, the Trinity library, the Chester Beatty library, the parliament building, and lots and lots of horse-drawn carriages!

Parliament building

Sunday afternoon, we went to tour the Guinness Factory. It was really interesting to learn all about how the beer was made, why it is different than other beers, and we got to try some! Our beer tasting was in the “gravity bar,” which was a bar on top of the factory with huge windows instead of walls that looked out over all of Dublin.

Gravity Bar

After some more exploring of Dublin on our own (shopping, listening to street music and wandering), we went to watch the Super Bowl at one of the only bars that was open on a Sunday night. This was a terrible experience. The waitress clearly did not want to be working and did not like Americans. After searching our purses (still not sure why), making us move tables, and forcing us to buy drinks or leave, we decided the Super Bowl was not worth it and left. During all this commotion, Whitney had left to walk one of our friends home and said she would be back in 15 minutes. An hour later, when everyone was trying to head out, she still wasn’t back. Naturally, I thought the worst and was panicking. A few girls stayed behind with me to wait for her, and during this time, one girl accidentally knocked over the glass she had been drinking out of. The waitress then officially kicked us out, and as we were walking out, Whitney showed up! (The girl she had walked home had gotten really upset over something, so she had been consoling her). Long story short (but not really), this night was not nearly as fun as the first night in Dublin!

Feb. 6

On Monday, Whitney, Kelly and I went to visit Kilmainham Goal (the old jail in Dublin). Getting there was an adventure on its own. We decided to jump on a bus that looked like it was heading out of the city (the jail was just outside the city)… needless to say, this was not our best decision. We soon realized this was not going to take us to the jail, and we hopped off. Two miles later, and lots of stopping to ask for directions, we found the jail. Quick side note- for those of you who know how bad my direction sense is, you will be happy to know that I have gotten much smarter and my direction sense is better than most on this trip. We got a tour of the jail and heard many different stories about prisoners, the history of the jail and facts about the different parts of the jail.

The jail

After some souvenir shopping (I got some Claddagh earrings and a present for you Dad!), we hopped on a bus (the right one!) and headed off to the airport to catch our plane to London. Stay tuned for the rest of the trip! I have to go eat lunch and head off to our new class (7 chapters due by Wednesday already! The class hasn’t even started!).

February 2

Happy February! Today in Lugano, there are two feet of snow on the ground. Some may say this is exciting and fun, but all it means for me is that I have now slipped and fallen twice, it is absolutely freezing out, and I can’t work out outside. To sum it up, I am not a fan of the snow or the cold. Hurry up warm weather!

Snow on palm trees!

Today also brings one midterm (in Italian) and one final (in Consumer Behavior). Hopefully these go well and I can enjoy a nice, relaxing ten-day vacation around Europe. 

Jan. 26-29

Thursday

This weekend we got Friday classes off, so we got to leave for Tuscany (an area that Florence is in, not its own city I found out after an embarrassing status update) on Thursday afternoon. I am getting more comfortable with changing trains, missing trains, sleeping when I can on trains, etc. which is nice. Upon arrival in Florence, Italy, our group (14 of us) went to eat at a restaurant called Osteria Gatto. It was a family style dinner with more than enough food and wine for 15 euro (the first of too much money spent this weekend). After dinner, we went to a club called Astor. This was where I first learned how creepy Italian guys are. We all stuck together though, and made it through our first night clubbing in Italy.

Everyone but Marlee (Near the Ponte Vecchio)

After the club, Whitney and I were supposed to go back to Marlee’s friends apartment to sleep. After an unsuccessful attempt at finding Marlee, we ended up going back to where the rest of our group was staying (a hotel room for 14 of us that slept six). We ended up sleeping on a very uncomfortable floor, and (believe it or not) getting a pretty horrible night’s sleep.

Friday

This was our day of touring Florence. We went inside and to the top of the Duomo (engineered by Brunelleschi), saw the David (MUCH larger than I was expecting) and other artwork at the Accademia, and toured the Uffizi Gallery (thanks to my fifth grade teacher Mr. Daum, I recognized a lot of the paintings which was pretty cool!). After that we went to the famous bridge in Florence (Ponte Vecchio). Ashvin (one of the guys on our trip) fell for one of the Italian men trying to sell things, and he paid 10 Euro to get a caricature done which was pretty funny (and surprisingly good).

On top of the Duomo

Replica of the David 

(I'm the tiny person staring to give you a reference of size!)

Sitting on the Ponte Vecchio

Friday night we got pizza for dinner and just hung out in the hotel for a while. Then we went to a very American bar where literally everyone was a study abroad student, so that was fun but not a very culturally inclined decision. That night, I came home early due to exhaustion. I had the room key, but not the key to get into the building so I had to get creative with getting into the hotel. I found the restaurant connected to the hotel, and got them to get me in so I’m glad that worked out because I would have had to wait outside the hotel for everyone to get back! I got ¼ of a king size bed that night, so a huge improvement from Thursday night.

Saturday

Saturday consisted of shopping and a wine tour (two things I love, so I knew this would be a great day!). In Florence, there is a leather market and lots of street vendors, so we had a blast (even the boys found some good stuff). I got a scarf and a red satchel.

The wine tour started at two when we met outside the train station and got bussed through Tuscany with a lady giving us some tips and facts along the way. Our first stop was a small town outside Florence with amazing views. We were only here for about 15 minutes taking pictures and walking around before we were off to our second and final destination, a castle. This castle was not only in a beautiful location, but it was PRIVATELY owned and the owners lived there year round! We got a tour of the castle and the wine cellars, and ended our day with a wine tasting in a building next to the castle. The wine was called Chianti (which only comes from Florence), and it was amazing. We tried two different Chiantis, then we tried an after-dinner holy wine with biscotti to dip in it. This wine was very strong, but delicious as well.

Part of the Castle (Castello del Trebbio)

Me, Whit and Marlee at the wine tasting part of the tour

When we got back to the hotel, we all napped for a few hours before going to Gatto again for our final Florence dinner. We went to Gatto at nine, and the owner told us to come back at ten so we could all be seated together. At ten, we waited an hour before we were finally seated and got food around midnight. As you can imagine, we were all starving and grumpy but the great meal made us feel much better… so good in fact that I did not go to sleep Saturday night…

After Gatto, we went to a club called Twice. We skipped to the front of the line (I was probably mistaken for a super star). We danced for so long that by the time we went to the bar to ask for water, the bar tender told us the club was closing. Six of us decided to walk to the Piazza Michelangelo (a court yard overlooking Florence which holds a replica of the David) to watch the sun rise. We went back to the hotel to get snacks and a blanket, and off we went. Three miles later, we were standing in the freezing cold, huddled under the blanket, waiting for a sun that would never come (no sun, just light… Stupid clouds). It was a pretty spectacular view though.

Whit, Miles, Marlee, Jacob, me and Ashvin 

At the Piazza Michelangelo waiting for the sun to rise.

View while watching the "sunrise"

After arriving back at the hotel to a dumbfounded 8 people just waking up, we all showered, changed and made our way to Pisa, Italy to see the leaning tower of Pisa. We missed our first train, got one an hour later, then missed our train back. A stressful and anxious morning to say the least. The leaning tower of Pisa was exactly what I was expecting, but pretty cool to take the classic touristy pictures with it. We paid 8 Euro to reserve a different train, and we eventually made it back to Lugano where I slept for 12 hours.

On Thursday, we have our final presentation in our Consumer Behavior class, then we are done with that class- so strange how quickly these classes go. Italian we have for three more weeks, but our midterm is also on Thursday. On Saturday, we are leaving for our first ten-day. We will be going to Dublin, London and Amsterdam. I am seriously on the trip of a lifetime.

Jan. 20-22

Jan. 20

A great first weekend out of Switzerland! On Friday afternoon, we left the beautiful Lugano at 2:15 heading to Zurich, Switzerland to catch a train from there to Munich, Germany. The train ride to Zurich was pretty painless because the train was basically empty other than us so we got to spread out. The train rides after that were tighter and pretty uncomfortable. In Zurich, we had a one-hour layover so we decided to get dinner in the city. Our hunger took precedent over our cultural side and we chose a Chinese restaurant.

We arrived in Munich around 10:45pm. After checking in at Wambat hostel (MUCH nicer than Balmer’s), we decided to explore the city. Regardless of the fact that no one knew anything about Munich, everyone (about 35 of us on this trip) seemed to have a different opinion about the direction in which we should start walking. We split up into small groups, walked around for a couple hours, and ended up at the bar right next to our hostel.

Jan. 21

Saturday began with an all you can eat breakfast (and coffee!) before our walking tour around Munich. It was below freezing and snowing. But I came prepared with hand-warmers, my giant parka, underamour, hat, gloves, three pairs of wool socks…. And boots that were most assuredly NOT waterproof. So although I did learn a lot about Germany’s history and saw a lot of amazing buildings, my feet were soaking wet and well on their way to frost bite.

What I thought was going to be a warm outfit...

Two things that stood out to me during the tour were the Neues Rathaus (the new town hall) where the beautiful building had a show built right in the middle where figurines danced around twice a day, telling a few different stories to music. This was awesome to watch, and cool to see this beautiful, old building. The second stand out part of our tour was the Hofbrauhaus. This beer hall has existed since 1944, and we learned all about its history- they are famous, too, for their 1-liter beers.

The figurines in the Neues Rathaus

After the tour, four of us (Whitney, me, Kelly and Valerie) went to get a hot lunch and warm up. After lunch came some good old fashion shopping. We explored the shops for a few hours before returning to the hostel to get ready for the night activities.

The beer challenge we signed up for started at six. We went to three bars (including the Hofbrauhaus and the bar we went to Friday night). Although we were kicked out of one bar for being too loud (not sure what they were expecting with 35 college kids at one bar), we had a great night and are continuing to grow closer.

Jan. 22

Sunday started off with a giant cup of Starbuck’s coffee! A very exciting find for me since the only coffee I have found so far is tiny shots of espresso… The Europeans know nothing about sipping and enjoying coffee for an extended amount of time!

Starbucks!

On a sadder note, we visited the Dachau concentration camp on Sunday. I knew very little about this horrific time in history, so I learned a lot. Dachau was one of the first concentration camps and it was the only one to last all 12 years of Nazi rule.

The original entrance to the concentration camp: "work brings freedom"

After Dachau, we went back to Munich and explored the city for a few more hours before we had to catch our train home. We saw a very impressive band (piano, violin, flute and cello), a painter creating an amazing painting, and an all-girl group of street performers dancing for a small crowd. We ate chocolate covered fruit and enjoyed a day without snow.

A very successful, entertaining and fun weekend overall! 

Jan. 13- 15

Jan. 13

Where to begin! I suppose I will start at the beginning and work my way through this crazy day. Friday afternoon we left on the bus for Interlaken. About ten miles outside of Interlaken we got stuck in traffic for an hour because someone got in an accident on the crazy mountain roads of Switzerland. So upon arrival at the hostel (Balmer’s), we had 15 minutes to check in (44 of us), find our room, change into winter clothes, and make it to the train station where we would catch our bus to night sledding. Somehow we managed to make it, and we were on our way to a night of fun….

Our hostel.

When we were dropped off at the bottom of the mountain, a gondola took us to the top. This ride was freezing and kind of scary/cool!  We were so high up and fog was surrounding us. We had one tiny light that constantly was going out, so it was dark too.

At the top of the mountain, we were treated to a great meal of cheese fondue with bread and potatoes. 44 loud Americans in a restaurant was not exactly what the waiters wanted/liked. So after winning the waiters over with our charm and kindness (this didn’t really happen because apparently Germans don’t like Americans no matter what we do), we went to find our sleds…

A young man named Sam attempted to give us instructions, but most of us couldn’t hear him, so we just grabbed our sleds and followed the crowd. The instructions must have gone something like this: helmets and headlamps are advised, do not put more than one person on the sled unless you want to go at warp speed down the Alps, heal in on the right to turn right (because this slope is very curvy), and wear snow pants and other such warm attire.

Whitney and I (and the rest of our crew) clearly missed such instruction because we did not have helmets or headlamps, we got one sled to share, we had no idea how to steer our sled, and Whitney was wearing yoga pants and sneakers (I at least had warm clothes on). What came next was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.

As we sat in our sled and pushed off onto what looked like a slight decline, we slowly picked up speed until we were around 40mph. We proceeded to bail off the sled because we had no idea where to go (the little lights that were supposed to “guide” you around the course were hardly visible with the intense fog) or how to stop. One wrong turn off the path and we would be sent careening down the face of the Alps, most assuredly to our death. Needless to say, we made it down to the beginning with only a few bumps and bruises. Whitney, having been brave enough to take the front seat in our sled, was one giant snow ball- from her eyelashes to her sneakers, there was not one dry spot on her. It was an experience to say the least.

Jan. 14

Saturday was a much more relaxing day. A few people chose to go paragliding, but I am very afraid of heights, so I chose to watch this adventure and not participate. When everyone was done with that, we had lunch at a little restaurant next to our hostel. I had a burger that tasted like no burger I have had before- definitely not an American burger. After exploring the town and picking up a few souvenirs, we went back to the hostel to get ready for dinner and dancing.

Where the paragliders took off (top of the mountain).

We went to a very cool Irish Pub for dinner. With good food and company, it was a great way to start the evening. After dinner, we went to a small club in our hostel and continued to bond and enjoy being in Interlaken. I actually recognized an Italian song that came on (from the Coyote Ugly bar), so that was pretty cool. Our bus driver happened to be at the bar too, so that was kind of awkward watching him drink the day before he had to drive us back down the crazy roads.

Jan. 15

The drive back took forever because apparently it is custom for bus drivers to take 10-20 minute breaks every hour. The sleep arrangement was pretty uncomfortable at the hostel, so I did not get much sleep this weekend, and I think I may be catching a cold, so I am going to bed early tonight (and no class until 1:30 tomorrow!). Next weekend we go to Munich, Germany! Should be more to do there than extreme sports.