tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72235127791735885492024-02-18T22:36:21.720-08:00Sprechen Sie Deutsch?MKE_Gypsy_Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08184624273201508923noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223512779173588549.post-46687233383631154362011-06-20T19:46:00.000-07:002011-06-20T20:48:59.645-07:00Mother's German ExperienceAhhh these weeks have flown by all too fast and now here we are, finally arriving in the final countdown. It is incredibly heart breaking to know I will be leaving in a matter of days, so I try to avoid thinking about being 5000 miles away from the place I now refer to as another home. It isn't like I won't be back, I know I will. And the sooner the better. But until then, well, I guess I need to go home, work and finish up my college degree.<br />
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In the midst of these final weeks I had my most expectant guest arrive: my mother. My parents have never been to Germany to see this aspect of my life which is becoming more and more a huge part of who I am, so finally introducing her to my friends, host family and life here was really a great feeling. Unfortunately my dad could not make it due to work, but I know he'll get here someday. So no worries.<br />
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On June 3rd my mom arrived in Frankfurt around 7 am after her long flight via Detroit. We had a full week of traveling, people and experiences ahead of us so we of course started her entire trip with a lovely nap. And then we checked out Marburg. I'm pretty sure her favorite thing about Marburg was the chocolate shop in our old town shopping district since we spent the most time there, but she genuinely liked the town from what I gathered.. so.. success. Well minus the hike to the castle, but in all honesty, who did enjoy that...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXBrokCpK71S3IImLm3dlEY8u6knxuP-ZvPKokgCU_vopYqlwISJTXc-fimVaRu663aDFK-LsortrNDh6Dv7lJtgWKt5xq7mCV8FXQbl54aQr37xIBDqxT5R1KdRmqRu9uEvqM7ToDQoR/s1600/255664_10150328522329896_509174895_10100946_8136467_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzXBrokCpK71S3IImLm3dlEY8u6knxuP-ZvPKokgCU_vopYqlwISJTXc-fimVaRu663aDFK-LsortrNDh6Dv7lJtgWKt5xq7mCV8FXQbl54aQr37xIBDqxT5R1KdRmqRu9uEvqM7ToDQoR/s320/255664_10150328522329896_509174895_10100946_8136467_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Oh yeah.. we also checked out the huge rose garden up by the castle. I had previously only seen it in winter season so it was pretty impressive this time around. Of course my environmental mother was just more than completely enthralled by it, but hey. It was cute.<br />
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After our day in Marburg we headed off to Munich early Saturday morning. Munich is in the Southern Eastern corner of Germany (well, it basically IS the southern eastern fourth..) called Bavaria. This, people, is where the Lederhosen and Biergartens come from. Oh and that weird polka-ish brass band music too. Oh and the Mountain horn things. Ok well anyways. That is not typical Germany, it is only typical for that region. But that of course means we had to voyage the journey down and see it! I have been there once before on my first initial trip to the fatherland in 2007, however, I only spent a day or two in the city and really do not remember it well at all. A return trip was well appreciated and I was able to enjoy it more now at my age than I did when I was 17. My mom and I checked out the famous Hofbrauhaus Biergarten, the shopping district, the two towered churches, the English gardens, Neuschwanstein (Cinderella castle .. which technically is an hour south of Munich but whaaaatever..) and a bunch of other things. It was a really great time but short, so we were only able to fit a certain amount of things in. But oh well. Here we gooo..<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So, after those 20 or so pictures I believe you get the gist of it all. It truly is a romantic and beautiful region of Germany filled with tons of things to see; I'd definitely recommend it to any northern European traveler. Oh and random note, the main BMW factory is located in Munich for all those car lovers.. check it out. Seriously. Actually after this year I feel quite educated in the German auto industry after somehow stumbling upon the Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, etc factories/repair shops/ whatever. Needless to say, my first <em>real</em> car will be German. But who is really that surprised? That's what I thought. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After Munich we headed up to Hamburg on one of the most expensive/fastest/farthest distance trains in Germany. Mom was thoroughly amused by the ride.. I slept.. and read.. and slept.. yeah. But after 6 hours of riding we arrived in Hamburg to Sarah and her family. :) </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6Db3uMsAHttaeHGCkHtq3sTBcihojH5t7ZDAvqqfnkEfuN8r57F2K8Jw4KW6qT14oviIBYBvE8vbRmaXulsVXGnHTplxW1FK7pUdY9sRM7EqK4ajtkAoXJLTaYnTINWsQ8QdTwD5mu1AC/s320/584.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJuJgVL6gBKoUW7UYkQEDlTltbDGKgXWWw0ubddVVyatwU3qcUolg29tCKafZtueYrHwb3X66XD7pQOrHqMBb__BF01C7ZwyDoFzyjKGyyD-xTIofQCzIA3rHWVnLkuE8rSPRRIr8wNUYz/s320/614.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Bh4Wsh1GZ3NHQxjUYrfcK9qOpJrURR9HLdTFCKl0ScUAsKA8fmTHqWyACcma91TKeLf4aDjIGDVkFDSHCY5N54O4pjBXrHAN64KAA-JQ11SoTHVU2wmnBwPpH-yZl8RSm6QXdLZijImT/s1600/588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1Bh4Wsh1GZ3NHQxjUYrfcK9qOpJrURR9HLdTFCKl0ScUAsKA8fmTHqWyACcma91TKeLf4aDjIGDVkFDSHCY5N54O4pjBXrHAN64KAA-JQ11SoTHVU2wmnBwPpH-yZl8RSm6QXdLZijImT/s320/588.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We were only able to spend 2.5 short days with them, but they were full of people, sights and great food. The first night I introduced my mom to my host family and friends. It was a lot of people for my mom to meet at once, but apparently she handled it just fine and thoroughly enjoyed them all. The food also rocked- German BBQ. My host dad definitely knows his BBQ. All in all, the first night was definitely a success. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizOm1ijVRozzltL8gBvOXS0YftJ9wflGQU_RVkOqCOgKz18zP6hb81uTPd3dd04UQO4HdOm_aQXL1nrj8OU2TxIZOl9KK4qGRdAdJ34zeZEKUi5H7H3Ujzs1C5DZrhmVm4H0GHGQzN-91/s1600/625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhizOm1ijVRozzltL8gBvOXS0YftJ9wflGQU_RVkOqCOgKz18zP6hb81uTPd3dd04UQO4HdOm_aQXL1nrj8OU2TxIZOl9KK4qGRdAdJ34zeZEKUi5H7H3Ujzs1C5DZrhmVm4H0GHGQzN-91/s320/625.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The next morning we took my mom into the city center for some typical tourist activites. We checked out the Alster (river basin in the middle of the city), the city hall, Europa Passage shopping mall, and took a boat tour of the merchant district and harbor. I think she was pleasantly surprised by how clean and green the city is. Seriously, Hamburg is probably the cleanest city I've ever been in, minus Dubrovnik where they mop their streets. But anyway. It was a fun day packed with new sights for her, familiar sights for me. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx54FIZZOofOGAnSVLqRt_fzZzMCB3FoCMzYPeGRh-H-4A0OymQ7HmQyo7MCElhfAH8MvMR8hDeIzrvoLZ5aQ0yu4qDbj2xdOB2gV6yxao-2YFeOxz5K44x2rfHtPdm-9JnCwUfpPthUmf/s320/629.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AXTHH_jNzudXrpcLXFZfn6BICSUubNq4N0I3_6Zpt8avucoApbg2NmGMj_SVHzScNNqvjjwg5LGk292CWpFjIcq0-t2Lnzwl6DaWF2KJZPTO95_GLGzLWYyE40pkAXvrHYRHH5EjY-Mv/s320/628.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXttTMOjx_U4700g1kVr75FXsR5DkgL9X98OX13MF6XL1wRSRTqvVayLXrkySk-WRpONVN7p0dobRgJVpsmApMKxjfyCrN2jwIa7ojwAI-GdqPpQoVw3WvzPDTCW5ulCQ4O__ZnkX7MoqW/s320/636.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AYgypP1PM0RVN8ykktJ9eJqUfJLm8uUoHlwgk6_Bqg4DeCIzpeP8ZTntH9KIWeQWkQ51Xr8Bk-Ri3Fw-224fgxhuv3uwlylATnddh5nhvGbptn2mSqWspNFexYmdNY0LPCNaOH3HhyMx/s320/637.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWWAeLdplh3C6rznFZgAyojFsjXkloulfF8ehncY2DY53_ZFPLRSiIwAQAKGt1-sxDFQGw1AUUEq3IkwNqp032MwhAEKWgpQtRLuEKcNY20mlWKh18Owj7YWYCyDkWBPmLlcj2FVqGSNBU/s320/641.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMns-Vk5CswGx_FUFD6qRqEddA8B7CBTuqlrZ5TajR2Kfi3K-LIt6V90GE4sMj3xBtRyWRDxx0DM9lr727qeSvTd9SOsWfli4WJdBDA77sI1HAJhjGgszYjDk0FlHUhmJaRZH6hhIBU5E8/s320/681.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_olhoBj3k8-hS1ibIViAXXjF0znS_SuK1QF0UgSGr-wVPKvmqfu3Ve8rROYfhserfSlXtMgn683NsfXfbvlMkLty-iyN-9PszL9PUESHF73qUQDyk3ZPw-c_dVRLDchpCeqsEapexWz0m/s320/663.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0gaPJeHtVnjdJldOpn8PGom2Y4XRZG00RiPyLH0ZxM335gp4kl_oLoymzJj9hP1kQWPZ6iEKUo5TarOGG4GekvMZdXqhBSGyHo5_lZUz07LEOs3ZVCXvUt2SIRXJPl5n5NLlghG8pQsFS/s320/674.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDRAVzflhCXkvablwvk6G8l2nIphrI3EiAvzlDmQSTY9o4BY6SWDSiZV9Jj_wulzoey1CsCcjGzju8NjZ7ZDNLTq1UkFs6FOLSAosgJ9Hl6D4wpwNXnJbDWXT69xtcjM1kN7kOduIHjU9U/s320/690.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSY3ICuUdAeH-hZhMlGV1CAS2rgZeJp1QAeLwOKWjcAq070PEdpxrhC3DSk-zn8bhb3l4Gqr04L1u5rHAnvV0357pzRyXQeTSlBcnuY_szHwAtWauPMTvGdw7mXa17JgDZHWqindee9yM6/s320/694.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuV78mXvi1pdr3nJS3xdLJxFQ52sXj8iROfw4r3PBUfVtHKS3oiibte4H3JNNAuTrgooSKvKkP4t7xxAhJbzFR5b6F_64OkaB-nvaRDxJ1gK0eiOb4AiqpFNu4ltT022f-Rlr8gIAov2z/s320/700.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDKNikw-8DecwuORtDLR8VDlmvTN4O6Ox_452Lt04rYb3jWNzzMH_uE-Fq58VvrRPUvuFPRN509Ix_20A6WKbUwJ5nFSGnuEhqh67p5qa4LlmUB5o5y5zR3PzpwymfDaMAoIfRQUVzBBST/s320/708.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-B8Vh-9ii_f1-XJWh4mlMeiwnjS3Y4HP49LTHTtloKzrR-YPjBdaHflP2w4j2na_hPSNGKjcM_Yp7dTFEQVi6RSx9Q8ckyKdeEuknco8R6kA5jd1r_l4tEMi7xOxe6y_1mVcmlnBsVjjg/s320/717.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_l3CXFSDXpYA0I4SXM8Cph4e7K4_q5Us7VQYTATcFetGWXPnbxPVftX6DtgJ0XO25dtDLIx4ms91CAcQvn3DPFy8dRY4SO6wvJPzVzloAKU9Xc_SCJhECTKb3grWN51eaojFtXkz3seP/s320/733.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCKdi0qQDbCLjI-QmFtr4-ZG8s9fnHOSfnn4thnul4LYh3W0-YRxo03wakL1Fo293vidVDpPmnhz_e2rPlpqysUebNBAbKS4mIdtOEN2G16jI8jYxLu2N-QNENuSSloF380BeIVnDZImO/s1600/738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKCKdi0qQDbCLjI-QmFtr4-ZG8s9fnHOSfnn4thnul4LYh3W0-YRxo03wakL1Fo293vidVDpPmnhz_e2rPlpqysUebNBAbKS4mIdtOEN2G16jI8jYxLu2N-QNENuSSloF380BeIVnDZImO/s320/738.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Busy, busy, busy. But fun, fun, fun. As you probably can see from the pictures, the weather wasn't the absolute best conditions, but it wasn't actually raining hard until the second day when we went to the botanical gardens in the city. I'm going to take a guess and say that the gardens were my mom's favorite part of the entire city due to her love for nature and what not, but even I, a not-so-large nature enthusiast, found myself enjoying them. They had awesome green houses with plants from all around the world, large greens outside, and a Japanese garden as well. They're located right across from the University of Hamburg, so basically really close to downtown but not completely in the city yet. They're actually in affiliation with the University, which amazed my mother to no end. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="189" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-aBcOyeu2L18dGHjJticqYmYDnvt4KCsK-sJnKi5X0lthuXa24PUn9ZiCGfN4tlme4CWceC40xfpDh-S59meg9QoUg3ApzbuPytlJNFsmscZ7gqczvGyE-YNCmL2ssq2oDGx0z_JxfZ29/s320/746.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwkjuv7Mqiigkd8O7uC4JXgGGP1dFAjeweq4QFOVOlGYxl2vYK_aG8k1tZv98bhEtIU3un2hxdjN4khtk029aorVnjTBVxIvu0aWv0_fcoIMQFMTZNpovysNnRgT90sUTqeDSaYENsvm-/s320/747.JPG" width="213" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCmR-ReVA0nEtQg0KqyS226_0fTEVAcmpXklx_z7yecl3zRD1Vm1FxctaUrqb7tiul-4qdIuvWa3LEoYK2WRg3QNPNUF-Ueds2PvxGf12-62f9ST6FykDPmSatw-RDIaxZ2V5HsvnlU10/s320/748.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqCahfUSbeplw24Gx4DpgTHRQDFcK6UslTThdrdZYB_mJlDvuluLPaz6_jqTQdzKKX218eliP9yDofKpO48yaRAH9fQ76OF0qz27e6DjqYmEsIu5j3vOZQh9aJFGQAwXJi83V0J0_9N7id/s320/749.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-612pXbG_SW-RkV62WB6SrUd359BnVEARBw0geuYWFb_Dgl0486rLTTxd3GWlNCimB3IWBHuC1OZH9zbnwrNuCjznxkSkijXDjre6jIwdsvwuTIKAZ_VYazVYVGN4PnNhP_kXALFpgP33/s320/755.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjniQGIvw2QVzdWost2R7QSyYiWW3CFkgYaTSGiExaDmA9iYpn-W50v3YVsT9Bnh8ptr6hQKkq7tR_IE7kUyC330vBo2HFh0B2Zf4S9UKiKQTA1CMqTl69rkH0EzTcrG3nIYI2JUPTeBGD0/s320/761.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAsvf1y9ZfYy9DnJqTkoCDKJftCiVvDXdhIREce0Am9eOIoFupxI62lYewaAcNhqDN62c-ZhlWCicL4GSwbfGKjQQJtvo1rhQLokEsDgXjcFfDnon7ZmVTQxy2ggEq2bcFZoDroUKkft-d/s320/770.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="213" i$="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpI1h-wiDcCJkJ0o8YvTgzPajfgwAYa3PNqZrKc5yRWtN2lcsPxKcgFE3i8Tef1Iq-o20nbhceMta3O8nzammYOv-XJbAeXGCi81o-y9JE_PZfgIqi_sRf1AhwVLG9zJe8A3DyHh6rzZA1/s320/797.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So yep. After eating a traditional German lunch of noodle salads and wurst, mom and I headed back to Marburg to pack up my room and send her back to the states via Frankfurt. All in all, it was a crazy busy week but a ton of fun showing my mom around the country I've come to love and call home. She now has a glimpse into a huge part of my life which she never had before, which is an awesome feeling for me personally. Next thing to do, get my father over. But that's an adventure for another day.. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
NORWAY!<br />
<br />
Ahhhh. I swear. They say god kissed the earth, and Norway had to be where. Honestly people; it's spectacular. The mountains line each other and dip into lakes, streams and cascading waterfalls. I've never seen a more beautiful country in my life. Granted, I still have a hundred or so to see, but man. This has to be it. Everywhere you look there is beauty; it's so overwhelming I felt myself blinking about 50 times more than the average just to keep my eyes from overloading. Unfortunately the weather was less than par when I was there; about 50-60 degrees and raining all day every day.. but maybe that's a good thing. If I came away with such a beautiful impression of Norway in such terrible weather, I'm not sure I could handle the beauty in it's full mode.<br />
Norway has the highest living standard in the world, making everything ungodly expensive (although when you have such an awesome country, why wouldn't you put a price tag on it?). Drinks at the gas stations are about 10 dollars for a tiny little bottle of juice, 12 for a soda, 12 for a little ice cream.. pretty bad. You really have to mentally prepare yourself for it, but if you go in with this knowledge its not so bad. I prepared myself (and it was my last trip) so endulging was not too scary. Well, not much, anyway. When I was there I actually stayed with a previous exchange student friend from high school, Kristine, who is just awesome. And her family is so funny and adorable.. so I lucked out. I had excellent hosts in an excellent country with excellent experiences.. yep. Be jealous.<br />
<br />
When I arrived on Wednesday night to Bergen, I flew in over all the little island cities around 11 pm at night, all lit up like little paint drops on a really dark canvas. The whole country looks like a big paint stroke which flicked little paint spatters off at the end. I love it. Flying over was already an astonishing sight, so landing was even better. I would also like to put on the record that I believe I saw a whale jump while flying in.. so cool. Norway is actually one of the last countries which still go whale hunting.. big issues with the EU. But anyways.<br />
Kristine picked me up at the airport (I almost missed my flight in Frankfurt due to confusing ticket counters, security lines and far distance gates.. then had my baggage put on the wrong plane but managed to somehow arrive in one piece) and then we drove with her dad through the city at night. The whole city is lit up unlike sweden (oh my god, you can actually see the highway infront of you! Fantastic!) and perches up and down the mountain sides and the bay.. so cool. I'd love to live in one of the nice homes on the sides of the mountains overlooking a lake but I guess they're like 4 million dollars or something. So I guess dream big or marry norwegian (which is so on my to-do list). <br />
Once we arrived at Kristine's totally scandinavian and totally adorable house we basically just caught up and then passed out. I met her norwegian cat... can't say i've ever met a norwegian cat before. Pretty surreal. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7OK8AClG5gSNXqODLrVi2Q4e2S6KSlfU4gPWDqFL5XpGVx_oCrfQUYdqa9xG3vGlE2nSABwlhqZkPod-jutNIWloXgmc_qFn0-28QSPk_WpdKQvxJIeAhL0Xqkx_Wnchm_CqT2imJZtQ/s1600/024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz7OK8AClG5gSNXqODLrVi2Q4e2S6KSlfU4gPWDqFL5XpGVx_oCrfQUYdqa9xG3vGlE2nSABwlhqZkPod-jutNIWloXgmc_qFn0-28QSPk_WpdKQvxJIeAhL0Xqkx_Wnchm_CqT2imJZtQ/s320/024.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /></a></div>Aww. Anyway. The next morning we headed out in Kristine's mini cooper and headed into the city to see the sights (and her brother). The events included checking out her job at a shoe store, going to a bunch of souvenier shops, checking out the huge shipping docks (Bergen is the number one shipping port in Norway I do believe..), going to the top of one of the mountains for an over view and then getting the most amazing cinnamon bun and hot chocolate in my life. The hot chocolate was literally little pieces of milk chocolate melted into hot milk... oh god it was outstanding. I may have to go back just for that alone. Then again, I guess in such a cold and hard winter country it can't be too surprising that they are experts at comfort food. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSKWL6xQI4345-gQhU9AHqcpmUqRHxAcU24-nSx7ANIG0Oj_4yto2pPsa2LI6_lDIeOdGtDxVD9KoXUCpivST1tAx4CLidZ_cF-28SMkK018p4LqoiFvXv9B1e0Jku3iQDgB121Ys-yEAE/s320/039.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvANwgTg6Hp2q80l7p7ZgvzqirLXegvG6nUOsZwcpvEQl3tqef2CanttVIIJjUDXP6iyesofdVqIc1gZEO9Rab8tITxG_eRP189xyrfuymTGA8LXUAeTDHupxJAOmZ1BJECaLme-uql5gi/s320/059.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtMaObVmzUvRWSjc7RROWIvd9j3awUJ7kheOJqc-QdGN9rh-xcTsDhCys8zEijCQNxmmVyiN-ojRbDXpCUfBTgv_4Ilz9rgYyHpvdLY0PRuqekXFnQU148lNMIJ6W4i3bPSMmvOEhSOecV/s320/062.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ759Y01tU7nBee_yw0qg6qiLxSffNcCMOL7VkIGr3-Viyx6xdQHVEi6UYGZl_mUFb8-5_5osh11bYwkMjbUPIMTrdJgCRuQfGPirsGVOn-wJAX4g_jo7UkjNL2EY0pfpfi6nVgzUzFL6P/s320/095.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFCkUCHvw7S0sppfPxKomIE4ywcLsplhWwEsaEODrA0F6mmT-Po1OGttJ0yS3UtTgdz_d5pGa2tEYIDVSRVSt_dZO2HDwmyASxlBsW-sxmGWw3aXx9dM7bnH0xj2flRrqRzXfzql0ufzhR/s320/101.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8JvxbsqI0D2GW8q3S_sStHDXCXw83_IcAojvbfU8xhLp_B29YGqTd8pjr-T8XD2d4uAWFucO3qwnKuoMxav-OOsnpEKpQ9H8Z0FsGlyyZgx8SkIiFdSLlyq8WeY-Ms-ebZRnlkESyfl9g/s320/105.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHb_jhIFEm3EEoyvX5kIDxnwXC5zSCjlyS21fGE6Xe3EGHF6Lc8qkuqjHHNpj_QpRMWFo724Zlb_iAsdbxsZE-JdQYvHVwosMYmKiyCDwp0wba9FHGplaESVQYghSZetg6KsohwI-hhHD2/s320/137.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWuAQ_EzXTZQKvu_XaALwNjtwNHL9XtsLCtA0794fiMespFQRBADOdUHHlCB1JJHeKv9C_GBhdzXc5GtwTQUpxJesC4PfOy2XJY53z14e0dPW4F69-VVmy4KQzYYby-6OrBLuye7uBXI6m/s320/139.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZgHa2GPSM57qllOHBoab8dTbbVU_Ge92UDBJmubxsIPE0Q-7eSHuD3CQXmZOVa_X4kzKO0RuyRBdlpc0P_olilGT3nAFs4w7SPg_EEIPB81iiE44vZ_XV7ChJLy2atfsaDKvYplRLJdQx/s320/163.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCfYfSA-_kXj9_oGk_eAVW_1iygE14vngtYJbCIwE6nWRe2jzRGVqwQ8OSAxWfXDtHUtDNh1VKD4sTkZ2NTV-UtfE4FWS_Ue-TGJeirc1IUST0XhzGDKNWkFkTa9wF2lraLBHt9Qwll5bE/s320/147.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So that is a basic overview of the first day. It was pretty relaxed but full of fun. Kristine and I get along so great, so it was great just hanging out and being able to talk for hours again. She is literally one of the funniest people I've ever met, hands down. After we finished shopping and what not we met her dad for pizza at their favorite pizza place (or at least their favorite in that moment?) and had a mexican type pizza. It was the first american type pizza I've had in months and trust me, I endulged. Oh it was beautiful.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55kU-uhWmkwDCAXUdKJGgr8c6sJL2Lk0CYdCwUvXi-iciEN5DlCMQgmVAP-hcj3JT-Cz4RCK-FOOmLrrEihYbfCOPe39W427GGmFvXNoKMGg4S5V7GfW224gWjvXeIiXCqMPVnBbU1v7I/s1600/157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh55kU-uhWmkwDCAXUdKJGgr8c6sJL2Lk0CYdCwUvXi-iciEN5DlCMQgmVAP-hcj3JT-Cz4RCK-FOOmLrrEihYbfCOPe39W427GGmFvXNoKMGg4S5V7GfW224gWjvXeIiXCqMPVnBbU1v7I/s320/157.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div>Yep yep. The next day Kristine and I ventured out for a roadtrip east from Bergen to the city of Voss with her mini. Her brother has a cabin near voss in a city I can't spell (which is SO cool) and we spent the night there with Kristine and her friends. It was a pretty chill and fun time. The roads up to Voss were all right along the sides of the mountains and lakes with tiny little guard rails. I know a variety of members from my dad's side ofor a roadtrip east from Bergen to the city of Voss with her mini. Her brother has a cabin near voss in a city I can't spell (which is SO cool) and we spent the night there with Kristine and her friends. It was a pretty chill and fun time. The roads up to Voss were all right along the sides of the mountains and lakes with tiny little guard rails. I know a variety of members from my dad's side of the family who would not be fans of this, but the Norwegians are just used to it and it no longer phases them. The drive was so beautiful minus the really long tunnels through the mountains. Apparently not many Norwegians actually die in the lakes, its usually Germans and other foreigners. But yeah. Interesting fact, if you know the VOSS Water brand (long glass tube bottles, sold at world market..?) well it is supposedly made in Voss, Norway. But according to Kristine, it's made in some guys pond in his back yard. But eh. Minor difference I suppose. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuXuYpsr1eZ9dycSVUlB2X34NJFeBXHeLO_EgJBQfa14c1tFJsLAci1fISXyr1Ln-Dq7ge4OvHo4Nm63DfbQPJyk2tAIuBsRsBPXT2kIhAWveu_Si3MF3SxSDGLrGXfblLtwA3NZwhu0W-/s320/215.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4XzwT_8glnZkd9ySjXX5nilLzB4-0TfGUS6doTMzLrYCkKqbhw6dAJzULDWRK4nW36B8SCScqxcVBD3iE88NkJyN98aQEPpFC3Yhk0dodV4_46x3h_N_vLJcunm1Wa9PeN1qRTMfk3jwo/s320/198.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdevmYASTGbpdkC-DVSwCnyY1-l0WeN0ej6NCtmqPsWgPsJ99_gdQelmMq595jxDs6Ene67B0bq1f__09XR3OWBGTCpYDetBTnWei0LAZ7G5N3UQgWOuGUotziDpvhu0lwI3VFT0wzaHi/s320/232.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw3xUophSkMAoYHC5uV5j56LrppU-q7ce4Zr4G1G-9QjcfT2LToWwp6m1Eh4LsmXR8P8uT3LI1k8L_5gE3nW0fctb6rrp1NtH1Fdd7swh8KBPZaiI8mJ6d6tomxPBBv_eDZk7rJmEf7Kx1/s320/230.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xUqUDncUd_39vWRxP1IzZSMfbEOy6m1FaeRkDbwLOcEko-mkLlwcTs3kCNYuqE8Fz31Nw6wnBjI_t0kjqv18MKaMB1eFdWD4tvla1MvXQVW8cUqeQgdn7_P_r-rVCbGu5rE2u-D7Rfjg/s320/209.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidA3LfQwJTcHZZaY6FOkf8UhmGZv-vbAlFvTHLhGhUayP94tOiNOjCM_lihDYqZ6IhuJjOBaRTsw9l9jilxFWSJfvG3wekF4XfKn7DgdNPtKLf0opxB9Hqtmh0hCYHxSu5Xk98ftQvgCHk/s320/237.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj16RfrwJIwAZfeEFmzkCIC_vqJ_50zxdMPozGccsW4wyPec4yo5er-fB3KnqvEAfU0FE-PIFgF1e1kmIx9PRmj2-BQXkzLpBMYRs2ICpNF2CXNBms3SqjQF6CnuyGywPkUZm5vUUMTPakr/s320/238.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After our brief little stop in Voss we headed up to Kristine's brother's cabin in the mountains. It was so scandinavian looking, I loved it. And the views were just unreal. It was like something you only see in a Lands End catalouge or something as a backdrop outside the windows, but oh hey! they do exist. Sorry for ever doubting you Lands End, my bad. A few of her other friends also made the drive up and we spent the night just hanging out and having a good time. Wooo for Norwegian cabin life! Oh and Norwegian cabins? Flat screen Tvs. Totally the norm. Infact, Kristine was appaled with I told her that "upnorth" time usually required going back into oneself and reinventing the imagination or self entertainment. I believe the sentance was "how could you survive upnorth without a cable tv?!" Dear Wisconsin cabin life, upgrade yourself. K thanks.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj87z2j2URXrbNIovRDohnzExoH9yZGvrcpU0l1X1YmTzBo6ipeLHqRs9Q-l61GHCT3Ivq6f4t2HfOgx2jVwp4fyf-8h9rRnv3McD1yNxfQxu34foLkXEaEdutYVWqpoNx5Bp-B93X-UuxH/s320/253.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tt7sgCVrSzXc0GI7sZjS-itpyL6eGx3eglbqmIMxDbULGNwmPw7w0ZfWzzOM4muRca1wtzJ6G-Y8pij84D3z258V901vWKEwFjyJtzQzon6gZmYACwi2IHwpOHjaXVxzZH7HCga9XI11/s1600/264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_tt7sgCVrSzXc0GI7sZjS-itpyL6eGx3eglbqmIMxDbULGNwmPw7w0ZfWzzOM4muRca1wtzJ6G-Y8pij84D3z258V901vWKEwFjyJtzQzon6gZmYACwi2IHwpOHjaXVxzZH7HCga9XI11/s320/264.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> The next day we drove back, went shopping and chilled with her family. Their English in Norway is amazing due to a variety of reasons. 1, their school systems apparently are quite adequate at teaching it. 2, all their movies, tv shows, whatever are played in their original languages. Their country is too small to have everything translated other than subtitles, resulting in a large amount of english in their every day lives. It is quite fascinating actually, since most of them could fly under the radar as Americans due to their lack of an accent. But Norwegian as a language is actually also extremely beautiful. I want to learn it soooo bad. It kind of sounds like their singing, and is a softer version of German and english in one. It's really awesome. Kind of depressing that more people don't know it, or recognize it as a romance language since many, such as myself, would find themselves quite easily wooed by a Norwegian speaking to them in whispers just as an Italian man whispering sweet whatevers in a girls ear would result in love. Same effect people, same effect. I think I should start a petition to have Norwegian at my university. Then again.. well.. hmm. Again, dream big. Here are some final photos from my trip: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ8E8l3nQWvm7FxWIlzdeSfOwQixhbbco789lRo5GYaApOR_r1dD6jTt5XUl082ZUuLcSKqqGoPmjmUYeKJNIl2-fHJIAxgSakV78LlhsOV4m5bpW654defl4koHXq57WIXWzgh90LGL6l/s320/343.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUSrQQ8VS7MB7gbBOX2GvBtKTAJUrqYWywymgVdinkEQqYVx3s-tXV90jdjcqveSa68yADsQgKQkXNgkt68qIxFixYnxPFMiTeAmnQLKU4B_bPERqH4Ks3tZHd9kXMgz_qBA0Cr1drAaNl/s320/346.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAW3OiLOstGxQZgQd47UotgPlMK0QK1G3MWudiwweZDfMlp9MZHwplfOrOTpsKI0YuU3ZWZTK-RUOdCHnGVIFC1EuyDtGIoW9HyxCkGf5OBG8nAWPuwvv0k01jYra7A-8ur9hBCkXNoO7X/s320/347.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC-tGNpyWy-EoHAZE-DKv3Cp2pPXAwPTKS5vtYceYyVPyDVPnD2sjDMN4BMkxsUPVNqGGu1Qa5zKXheV9deZkFnLZNCtWdC-aiOWcyfGNosX8ZUkPvfIijFZr-SADtl2oWMVj6KBc9b_a1/s320/332.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKOhSAvXK2olkKHZJySi6DsCCAtVJ48jQ5008kuzWtsGqY7Lm79hViYyweaXM4knzyby3YJTiF_tkKxtSlwc9LeAGVZcmeIX91OPBc4b5oxPLYuESizLHGDIb3KBi0w_SBxxAl9a2WWVd_/s320/173.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy_Tw2Grcum414rjVn1NtjgS1hh8WxoJyqTRDOSdYwItiDVj-CYeP8CwdUadc_6twMt9fAFxwNhnJdRDX-g7trN0OqGEQv3F7PETRUJLtq7v65LW9wI0mLPbbdpCqHBQ_4c_n0dKVfJvWX/s320/160.JPG" t8="true" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDcUkTi0jDYbaikG6n2NglvIv2E7foLO964e5O7Tpb4P9G6rv6W_DJ3qwHc2mnOcWXV52jEClNVR8Lp-EYP3ttZ6ex1QULsrrFrHsrlKFiLovHd3tBg5r_Ymi5jW83Uw1O0re8FUw6lWv/s1600/349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqDcUkTi0jDYbaikG6n2NglvIv2E7foLO964e5O7Tpb4P9G6rv6W_DJ3qwHc2mnOcWXV52jEClNVR8Lp-EYP3ttZ6ex1QULsrrFrHsrlKFiLovHd3tBg5r_Ymi5jW83Uw1O0re8FUw6lWv/s320/349.JPG" t8="true" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So that is a basic overview of my Norwegian trip. Yes, I'm about 4 weeks late on posting this but hey. The craziness in the last weeks here has been unbelievable. I finished University and received an A in my literature class (thank the holy gods above) and am still waiting on my European Union class. I said good bye to a ton of friends here already, but still have a ton of good byes to go. My mom flew in last Friday and we spent the week traveling around Germany, then back here to pack and now she leaves tomorrow (which that travel will be a whoooole new blog). So yes. Crazy, crazy times. And now I'm off to bed so I can get her to the airport starting at 5 am tomorrow. Ahhh. Until next time people, or maybe until I'm state-side again. 8 days and counting. Dear lord.</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></div>MKE_Gypsy_Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08184624273201508923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223512779173588549.post-2746233347851616132011-05-11T03:58:00.000-07:002011-05-11T03:58:43.648-07:00LübeckLast weekend I embarked on my last trip with my program group to a northern German beach city named Luebeck. It really is a quaint little city filled with lots of fish speciality restaurants, canals, river boats and quite the intriguing shopping district. We had a lot of free time to wander the city this time compared to the last few trips, so Carissa and I took the time and indulged in some much needed shopping adventures. Ok, they weren't really needed.. but a ton of fun? After all, there are only about 5 weeks left to my travels here, so I guess I might as well get the most out of my favorite European shops as I can (which is nothing because I'm still a broke college student.. but anyways..). Here are my lovely shopping results.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="253" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRDP5kuoqNzXn1N-k7HmrE8JgnjCyz9S4yCcbE0T3duaJdwkaQMcF8p6VKkRGawPXIAQfJlYh25jAX6gyrXPstB_f6whScUiQDop4te9a3LMHrLaBDH_seVvXujbtAjDrdwmOxIfjr7sQ5/s320/128.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglAHMrHROTvOc6NPjIH1vn_RvPYiOKUcBrmrWEfsi_pi3m0qGO8z1rxLjQbUnnkvGY1Ib7szeld5tBWDOt19nDep_MctRD_B78dD-nsoZ2U2OBpkOKF-Soz3EUYpTHsPz37hSJoZOSCQbb/s320/054.JPG" width="240" /></div><br />
Isn't Nemo Lovely?! I'm quite fond of him. He even moves back and forth like a real fish. I thought it was an adequate souvenier for a beach/fishing town. As for European fashion these days, leggings with jean shirts or long shirts are definitely in. Oh and tank tops with light summery scarves. I swear, if I tried keeping up with the fashion changes as accurately as Germans would like, I'd be more broke than a door nail. They always have the newest fashions, trends, etc. and its almost fascinating how fast things come and go into their stores. I love it, not going to lie, but dang do I wish I had a job here which could afford my shopping lust. Oh well, another day I suppose. I'll just have to alternate between my couple cute outfits which I've acquired over the year. Should do the trick. Oh, just another note. The German culture tends to prefer the darker color tones of the blues, blacks, greys, browns and whites. Ok white isn't dark, but it definitely fits into their preferred color scheme. It isn't a bad thing- they do tend to usually look classy. Granted there are shirts which are pink, yellow, bright green, whatever. But if you walk through a crowd of people you're most likely to find blues and greys. Tis the way it is! But I kind of like it. At lest you usually only have 3 different types of laundry loads.. the blues, the whites and the small load of other colors, whereas back home its the pinks and reds, the blues, the blacks, the whites, the other random brights.. yeah. Woooo laundry day. I should probably get on that. But anyway. <br />
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Note to self: Get your butt to the grocery store. You've successfully eaten everything possible out of your house and have pushed back going to the store for the last 2 weeks. Your mother would not be proud of you.<br />
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Back to the point. <br />
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So Luebeck. What a cute little town! Here are some photos from miandering around the city before our shopping adventures..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFkHTbqwEcCUoEVO-3AnAVMl4sWSsmFScOrljowz8_he_wb8gIZSgYSDrYwj5cHm5T5b5zn1_QxStvfMTM8BJXey44uokGsql3MIrCPrOZQaoN3G50L0UyaMMioeazf9QjDz05n7JqnF0y/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibIM4F4iVfWNhbe0_J01-acmMvXjwwG4qxdAcgTz7j7K4F_C3bLuO8pCx8WHvMZx01P0LKJZIUYfVsyBQNYoOx54qaC0gsFtVBVo4p8BIssXJXSHtzxje4ptgu6iEV81fhZzPYD-5mldiH/s320/025.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPFEuFL6I5UP5lcy6gz8eCtVmTYWb8OuE_uaBnkGQCuD_MfS6_-dzoFvACTYFuziy4haYI_jR9GD5bksDSNeYgmv0MXuS5vs-oEDpL0nK1w02bqcJJ1NXSpZPdg0GldAHI2A7ffzzCOLw6/s320/051.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLgIZJEJzX_J4kkDTa05AVpXnXXJKqHsB-Yp9QCTwMH6KJkQj-DpSYIDulsIhyphenhyphenznqQJtyEGHEC6CNCuqsJCn98z8V48q5iP5UC5cOBxEP7g14jOKnfyR4bOSJ9Bbbwb4FTRFoMn5lXRd9e/s320/065.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPxtfSN2UCod3lKaeRmMWbobhL1qfReBqce0o26q-ABKT3FgyuV4mMmoSzmipVCDXb_S9-_NamT2lFqxjiHIgWTICK8anYuVb9mITzte-zPKx8wfmBxEqYP-aUUYZJI9QFcheOXTwwT2pn/s320/061.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlZHzGm4YipBGl2w9dawcjP9k-GjvOpcGXh8Te1y50CRj6rM8cxWiKIv81Dh2PvW861EMOlWWTAdeunr0WP42Hk5bNrBlYTELsMsba7QKdjZzIYlBYz3gdH5rjH8ePNx5xW3inaO_lzLfX/s320/067.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplFDN43J6gBw6s0QwcKaEyTP0XGrhWSmeiMNGANBR9w4x2d5sm34KhdM5-bQftFLuT_rGVpYabWUd3z3T3Za7It638GtSTufxKPNR1f2k5LFR8PX-WTeCPXrD4I8UdcjWE-gz-hkmI1cA/s320/073.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs3wTp0GnBOAlAsy1ZpRGOwgqwO6xrmG5t-6nkuijaUU5-TP56h8COmXO-2bwfnvbYKqHZYE2f87GN_xd8J6xFCarNICLPMkOpIlVnnnaaMIpjfYqD54S0X3tf16wvL4pAScaXZ9e9-iNq/s320/074.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So there is a small glimpse of Luebeck for ya. The last two photos were in a Marzipan shop which Luebeck is famous for, called Niederegger. If you want a better idea of what they offer there or what Marzipan is exactly, check out their site..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.niederegger.de/">http://www.niederegger.de/</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It's in German, but on the upper right hand corner you can switch it to english :) They can make the most realistic shapes out of Marzipan, such as the little lobsters in the photo above. Personally I'm not a huge fan of the taste of Marzipan, but I am definitely a fan of the cute things they can create! I was so close to bringing home one of those little lobsters (they practically never go bad..) but eh. A photo will do. If you're ever in Luebeck though, I definitely recommend stopping into one of the shops. Even if you're like me and don't particularly fancy the taste of Marzipan, the designs and creations are worth a glance.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The main planned event for the group was a walking tour of Luebeck and then a boat tour of the canals. Unforuntely, due to misunderstandings, our tour guide never showed up for the walking tour, leaving us with only the boat tour. Since Luebeck was such a small city and I didn't feel like I was missing out on too much, the disappointment was kept at a low regarding the tour by foot. Oh well. Carissa and I went back to the city center so she could get a dress/shirt she wanted and then we both indulged in fruit smoothies. It really wasn't a waste of an afternoon after all. The boat tour was pretty sweet and short, but I got some nice pictures of the riverboats and such. Ch-ch-check it out!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDgsg8GgEJo9fhdcB4kDip82_P2e-1gl-3vBLZtcqo7C9wep0L2-3BJmU0eiIwOsZcQ9tEpz3BAvxnxfpwBORXntX4TGtcF_fot9SQF50EGENi5dC_1xH3XkzlWVbPGEM6k4I85YcU7A8E/s320/076.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAJBlQRfF20yYjdHOT2_bcqGdbxoS6HtwOJMCVid7Y-HkSVJpo20qY2323H4EwxFkMvd1InhIaL1n8dbfBqk4FXkmrvuf9_g7ye9Aev7rbH3UK2g1pUTQUDws76MNVWYh8znVpFlTCg1LV/s320/094.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfn05n1zhfZi0s5_PBxcFu9YcI3_tfBWh-Q2SSsTa_6qy2aaHfbcQJNB0ZV3wHth_4XB_fNO5AmA9mbzFUWBCb6fS_fV_GgKGzdfHr8vkbZOPI-VmFcrYpxOEsvb61h3nmcFRKkGkSsWp/s320/101.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSY6ubpquEUmmhF6B0cVcEDAP7hbjHHaX-rXWscRNaxUqvYWeqx_WOIqVg7pnLWptcXv67agdNNsiXbSGdsVuRbvZ4ehyphenhyphen73omiavvTuN979I7eb8sd5SPg7H_mfpBMTcYjk13cJQHptY_/s320/079.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhca68zDFJXNpIq1r4-C05JP-UgpRwmR2BTvIqJU6s7HrRr7Ozg-mnDO-JNB83dt6H-Zkx5cbKfYoQhSGE5T4nUQFqXq2a2KEtRYht2l75yj9rPA0wJHAx0UxeqZkCaylm7UBf0_pR2t7b0/s320/142.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LP8dha0q4nJcxdeNCvZ77cgx4UTNlZappPlLxKJ-R4h8bY8r7TlbkqkruD_GslwWhPwURPKT8RGLvIZlJ57crOLU3QBLahaC82Kg9UbzgdtFuj50Ulob5Hwp40Dlddh3xL4tvtuOUX0G/s320/153.JPG" width="320" /></div><br />
So those are some of the sights from the tour. Not too shabby. The only downside to the tour was the guide's speech, which was all in German, and he kept saying "well of course the Americans won't know this.." as though we couldn't understand him. Helloooo some of us know exactly what you're saying all the time. Oh well. A day in the life I suppose. <br />
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After the tour, a few friends and myself headed out for Hamburg which was only a 40 minute train ride south of Luebeck. I went to dinner with the Hamburgers, hung out at a friends apartment and then Chris, Patrick, Thorben and myself went to join up with my program on the beach the next morning. The beach was in Travemuende. I didn't realize it, but I had actually been to that exact beach with my first host family back in 2007 on a weekend day trip. It was kind of an odd feeling being back there, like walking into a foggy, sandy memory. But the beach was nice (minus the intense wind) and I managed to receive some new tan lines. There is this one main hotel in Travemuende, and oh my god is it ugly. It's like the one sky scraper in the middle of a small village, just like, standing there. So out of place. Apparently the hotel is supposed to be super nice, but they could have made it more horizontal than vertical in my opinion.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB96TTUgag5aXwAeVTGslhce-nMNY3OH880-__aIIjPMJS8wEBhtPcAZZZye3DIA8l8XBcO9pVvzqIiiyknBFDKAqBi8M_qfCI3vfmB4HNJMEvDXltkpGUYf2aIuwiAKrldVjvNN25IVMo/s320/168.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLgKczdEuZHsAOumddKGMDLQJGzXD9hG9-RNGV2IkFbbuCT1Ih5SdO976R7UTUucy0B1Cg4Ztf-sjr4CDABuJ5ssNohEgZ05ERYAOehjYuDnamBTLh2pR_aQtjjPx7FSzovTVPc0vDPEEK/s320/158.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgH47TiYmQhK-Lu5r5GRLPq8eYaCx1GgeUg6ifUORzTEG3TtWhQWENWn1LD5v855ilbw0fcjtJUQO8lJGLEylLtYdr0tbBB7HQc1WukEfLbdcdVuE7GBLqaKoOnDvVC6eJf0R-TVw0Qb8D/s320/171.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUMA8IiL83HCSboZowdOOKD107cRkS7k5oSiPVDAgXhgCLSUXJiASrOixpLnOQCrvKzMUweDzMm0AhS-VxlJnD74fCXultSTbp6e7AlgRMqJ3BdmG5BLIWQqQbZrrclaJv4rwL6SFwRF0j/s320/175.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU13nt5HJQvruHkBl3yqDdlndnRAoEwtIJZrOn9KwvjaApxVLCdtjcGvaT_pouPsRH1EWdyfD0UXbhKf4RHnjl6fZJtDNL9DqC_y6DcUKombDbMSTDNJdIgV8lt6X-pxvZGZVeJTzcreTj/s320/227271_10150168467735509_525485508_7128597_1353894_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1xYjTsqMVASs5hhP19fyIBUMl3340TrF_oK0pPK88OQDS_qktewUK3PP-eh2rQjDL33IV4jfOv4RrxWRReX_eA0psLKwkcR2bX5U_Xh0_trFCh2Q9ybWGcqHV78i27C3K19vZTeJgzsUY/s320/222799_10150168467715509_525485508_7128596_8216447_n.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlby2iKhG0ZrVmqFVktU8BELSVqzO0R5cTvKFE4jY3IvYdSg5HHxTF_CTw2AbZMOLK4IOkKPaEaMWNg6p0ybQE04ffu6dSMpDKoOuLLRHyNjMZ5b_yNawYkBPCPC08WOgThJj4i5fctLA/s1600/172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwlby2iKhG0ZrVmqFVktU8BELSVqzO0R5cTvKFE4jY3IvYdSg5HHxTF_CTw2AbZMOLK4IOkKPaEaMWNg6p0ybQE04ffu6dSMpDKoOuLLRHyNjMZ5b_yNawYkBPCPC08WOgThJj4i5fctLA/s320/172.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Yep. Welcome to the beach. The baby is also in our program; we have a married couple with their 5 month old here with us. She is so adorable! And has an odd but cute obsession with bottles. Ohhh babies. <br />
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In other news, the reading is almost to a close. I'm halfway through <em>Reading Lolita in Tehran</em>, and then the final book is <em>The Shaking Woman</em> by <span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=spre04-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0812979303&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>Siri Hustvedt. I've heard from others that the Shaking Woman book is supposedly terrible, so I can't say I'm all that thrilled to be moving onto that book. Oh well. After that, I only have one essay and I'm done with that course! AHHH! I'm so excited. Well actually, that course did teach me a lot about literature that I really would never have figured out on my own, and has improved my writing by making me <span><iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=spre04-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0312429576&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>think more in deapth behind what I'm writing.. if that makes sense. Whatever. In short, I guess the course was helpful in the long run and not a waste of effort and time, which is always a relief. My other European Union course has a lot of work to be done in the next week, so I should probably wrap up this blog and get on that. Next stop on the list, Norway! I'm excited since it's been my dream vacation since what feels like forever, and I finally get to meet up with my friend from high school who was an exchange student in my grade. She's probably one of the funniest people I've ever met, so I'm pretty pumped. I'm not pumped to deal with the prices of Norway (similar yet worse than those in Sweden which I already spent enough time in this blog whining about) but it should be ok. You only live one right? Well, I'm off to do homework for class and then off to class! Until next time ladies and gents. </span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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I know I'm basically a week behind on this whole Easter thing, but forgive me; this week turned out to be full of homework, social events and royal weddings. But none the less, here we are and I am going to catch you up on my oh-so-thrilling life. Okee here we go.<br />
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Last Thursday I boarded the train to Hamburg to stay with my friend Patrick and his family for Easter. Usually when I travel to Hamburg I never have to reserve a seat; it's an option always, but why bother spending 3 extra euros when you're 80% certain you can find a seat for free? Richt. However, silly little me forgot that it was Easter weekend. Aka Travel mania. Aka a large variety of German families wanting to get a headstart back to the home city of their relatives boards a train or jumps on the autobahn all together and creates a manic traveling chaos (Basically, same as the traffic in the States over holidays, just add trains to the mixture..). So that left silly old Steph with no seat on the train and standing for 3 hours next to a family with god knows what type of food residue on their clothing, an unfamiliar odor and no teeth. Lalala happy easter. Uh. But hey, I made it to Hamburg!<br />
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Hamburg was a lot of fun.. basically just chilling, partying, bonfire-ing, shopping and eating. Oh and tanning. Yep. That basically sums up the entirety of my easter weekend. (Just a side note for all of you at home.. it was a darling 80 degrees for Easter here..) I also went with a friend to a town in northern Germany called Heide, which didn't have a ton to offer but was near the beach. The beach was cool- the water actually receeds 2 km during low tie, allowing beach-goers to walk along the bottom of the sea. I didn't do it due to my hatred of crustacions and other such creatures living among the not so inviting looking muck of which people were pushing their baby strollers through like complete idiots.. err.. ehm.. I mean, walking through it it just wasn't my cup of tea. But the beach was cool. I would definitely hit it up in the warmer months if I had the chance. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEL6MFbYn7rx6660CN7PZ-1jyzEjowMLoi054KepotBLYdSo6fFzhVWJMIPg6MjI1ValppjD7pPufbnGZwQ79cgPjImNpCQTv_Oi_-gXqka0NjA8BSQ_36DrjjOZWzDO3ZgZ57kCR5-5kr/s320/023.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCVnHVpBDdSN1BUFAXimQDsvZPsLvnghXKwmH78ZYg2xLXu3yq-C8bptUUg_2hYvf7scQeO070AZoVXe_aHzSvahnDyKBjcYk93enbmwuI9f4ROV85c6VPkFZTav-td1nyGC1LGEGQ8sJa/s320/024.JPG" width="320" /></div>Also while in northern Germany I was able to witness the extreme use of wind energy. Wind energy actually makes up 7 percent of Germany's total energy production.. how cool, right? I know I'm thoroughly jealous. That's 7 percent of their energy they don't have to rely on the Middle East for. Winners in my book. In the USA at the moment we're only attaining 2.3% of our nation's energy through wind. Yes, I'm aware of the difference in sizes between the two nations, but still! Let's kick it up a notch, USA :) Apparently there is a plan in place to have 20% of our energy be produced through wind by 2030. I suggest we get a move on. But anyways, back to Germany. As you can see, the north is just covered with these little wooshing towers. Here, have a look..<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My friend and I took the liberty to park underneath one of them, and let me tell you from a first hand witness account, they are definitely NOT loud. Not sure what all the hype is about wind farms in the US.. they're great. Ok enough plugging for new energy sources.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Back to life in Germany.. </div>Here are the usual photos of the Hamburger group..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIRyBbSZvUFE7upniWcyQ_NWaFXxOndBmJKm4qSvgjcPt8MUthWJpSDTvKPLSzu411-SY6TzMSqmTnKdTLNBnaVNtj5xZ4ydSfjZm9aQgAwh9EmabhyphenhyphenbAYZCqZnYKSwJ6quVVuGStQQxrP/s320/014.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8S3GeqKnE_e2QfH5JyGfryYYOMQnilU9FiKCZnwXw_KCiPZMqKIyNbJiibmvoZttxIpLnDOYm_3Tk6QjpU-2Xyk9qDWk1DibJxUDmYytYHw93DQLncKnU2DnT5_LJ4y0zclA49HVvCSx7/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXIsWVIG2gy0xL6pRGvlIHg9WHmW0K5oJd6almlyDabJhBnkV9jaDQBwPY9fLcgTvAq04QHUmG9lZFTeJykY9sqhrRmMhKdzulDvdqqE1RfqTx8oVfFMzpyVkJCWYfTFjg5PSTjoYKLaX/s1600/027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjXIsWVIG2gy0xL6pRGvlIHg9WHmW0K5oJd6almlyDabJhBnkV9jaDQBwPY9fLcgTvAq04QHUmG9lZFTeJykY9sqhrRmMhKdzulDvdqqE1RfqTx8oVfFMzpyVkJCWYfTFjg5PSTjoYKLaX/s320/027.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Yep. The first one is during Patrick and I's escapades in making Milkshakes, and the second couple photos were from when a group of us all went for cocktails on Easter Sunday. Gooood times. So yes. On another note..<br />
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Happy Belated Easter!!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEpbK07zCVjz5Hm49Prs_dOObY3eohyKFOpfcFrvG3XWMRX5jOI6MtEIAg4qyvbHgmDAgTQsThTfkawO22xFnF4CRtGEhiN22ti5xRDzu08s5nLxTH31qKeGxWLunITZ8yqAge60_OtOZ/s1600/035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWEpbK07zCVjz5Hm49Prs_dOObY3eohyKFOpfcFrvG3XWMRX5jOI6MtEIAg4qyvbHgmDAgTQsThTfkawO22xFnF4CRtGEhiN22ti5xRDzu08s5nLxTH31qKeGxWLunITZ8yqAge60_OtOZ/s320/035.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Ahhh my little Easter bunny from Patrick's mom. Sooo cute. Gotta love the German chocolate industry. :) The bell on his neck even rings. Classy. It's just so adorable I wonder if I'll ever bring myself to eating it... Highly Doubtable. <br />
Easter here in Germany is basically the same as back home in the States; little kids search for eggs and chocolate baskets while the adults all bring their families together in the afternoon for a lunch/dinner. The only difference I noticed was that the night before, many of the German families have bonfires in their backyards as some tradition from the church involving ghosts or sins or something. The explination to me wasn't really that clear, but oh well. The whole city smelled like one big bonfire for a few hours. But yeah, the bonfire was nice and relaxed.. nothing too special.<br />
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Oh my goodness this post is getting so long I kind of am forgetting what I all wanted to write about in here. Well I do know that one thing I wanted to do was brag about my cooking advances. Check out my cayenne pepper rubbed chicken breasts with Avocado lime salsa on top. Heck yeaaaaah I made that!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcfpTU1tx-jLpZcxx1fyn5a2EsMYDHb-9UgbZiIzke_dP5X4NtjIS6pw8pcQpvLByrHywpItalHQSDhIs2a4AWdnJnwdR3J3ZCqw6bStKIkCVOznoQtiHzK2oZ-K0xo5Dg8t5OgGqao4A/s1600/050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcfpTU1tx-jLpZcxx1fyn5a2EsMYDHb-9UgbZiIzke_dP5X4NtjIS6pw8pcQpvLByrHywpItalHQSDhIs2a4AWdnJnwdR3J3ZCqw6bStKIkCVOznoQtiHzK2oZ-K0xo5Dg8t5OgGqao4A/s320/050.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Oh it was so deliciuos. Clearly I've come a looooong way since the beginning of my L.A.A. (Living Alone Abroad) adventure began. Heck, last semester I lived off store bought tortellini, broccoli and chicken breasts with only salt and pepper. Oh and Special K. Seriously people, it was getting pretty habitual. And bland. And then all hell broke loose once tortellini was removed from my diet after it's little food poisoning stunt (it was kind of like losing a good friend..), resulting in me becoming a Marthastuart.com frequent visitor. Yes, I know. It was indeed an all time low; admittance is the first step to recovery they say. So I admitted to myself I can't cook alone and boom. Now I'm making chicken with avocados on top (I didn't even know how to cut those things, let alone put them with lime juice and call them a "salsa") and no longer tortellini dependant. Oh, it is such a liberating feeling. Gotta give the jailbird Martha some credit. That woman can teach Steph to cook! Wallah!<br />
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Oh I also made broccoli omlettes :) (for those of you who aren't aware, broccoli is, and forever will be, my guilty pleasure. At least it's not the stereotypical chocolate, right? Yay originality..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijxoMMNxWAZC1-kCQiDhyV2MHoEf_7vbpdsFd-4ea2O8fUIeMmP9fVQWZSdoRsQ3LFeVzsb8dw7-l-PaqZX4SXjJRFL27isfhrA6lm4YKqIzpjN-Sp_H9eEac_OWb5J9ypIWFUT7tCQFHD/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWUCFeYweFmENKTEq_P6_FaG5M4TlO1RwKBTHvY9m-UBJdUh7arxWW85NWE0VOVmshyphenhyphenIBaBA9WLcAtfCZAQ8XFsLxGnIFs43Szp_Z0npGdOX5fsWfk9ayK_Pr7t-wqcgnICPG6nSz6ay7/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkWUCFeYweFmENKTEq_P6_FaG5M4TlO1RwKBTHvY9m-UBJdUh7arxWW85NWE0VOVmshyphenhyphenIBaBA9WLcAtfCZAQ8XFsLxGnIFs43Szp_Z0npGdOX5fsWfk9ayK_Pr7t-wqcgnICPG6nSz6ay7/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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Ok enough Julia Childs-ing. Life otherwise is still consisting of an unusually large amount of reading (and probably will through the rest of May, sorry in advance for future blog references) but oh well. I can now see the end in sight, which is a strange feeling. I'm not ready to pack up and fly back to the place which feels more foreign to me now than here, but there are moments, I must admit, some good old Target shopping or Qdobas fast Mexican food are just screaming my name. Sure, I miss all of you back home, but it is unusually strange how fast one can adapt to not seeing certain people or places for so long. I usually don't think of home much when I'm out and about, and when I do, I always think of it as a relatively not-so-far away place. It's basically allowed me to avoid homesickness the entire year I've been here (minus the few moments, such as food poisoning, where I just wanted my mommy..) and I'm quite content here. I'm amazed at how strong friendships have grown in one year; some even overcoming friendships back home which I've been building since elementary school. It's amazing how also, you find out who your true friends are; some pushing their way back into your lives to make sure they're not forgotten while you're abroad, some just falling off the face of the map. It's that time of my life, for people to come and go, so I'm not entirely disappointed. I'm actually quite fascinated to see how my life is turning out. There is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Europe for at least another full year of my life; grad school, career, research, glorified vacation.. who knows. At the moment I feel almost in the middle of an identity crisis as to where I really "belong." Yes, I'm American, true and proud, but somehow the lifestyles here just seem to fit my mentalities and lifestyle better sometimes. I realize now that I'm always going to be torn between home and the other home, but at least in today's modern age it isn't nearly as impossible to visit as a mere 50 years ago. But yeah. Enough deep thought/ philosophical talk. Life is beautiful. <br />
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We celebrated the first of May here in Marburg at a celebration in the middle of the city square. They had a really great cover band named The Les Cloechards (check them out!!) and some great wine/champagne drink mixture. It was definitely a great time. At midnight we all sang some strange May song all together and then headed homewards. Ch-ch-check it out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8Pl-n9MhFDdkklIgiE9urkiibWXnGAhedEtzsMQhLNux0KRaPy2kJdVl-P_-TnAgF1WvNWaPvOz2YswbExGoIBcjrfJrh-Sp6hXYgqtHmgsDJbj1TF8L-z9Z-3pIxmCJ_HyY4R-A3XHg/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyk8dPcTOTiWaPZCTyMdt7OfhYP3GpQnOE0xb_WUJyJK7QI8b7jzXV8babSWboXt3UoZVmOOXe63hEbjSPKnz-qrMTyBfGL3RJHqGpk_hA9KuUIZQ01n5ShEBsA8Dk-Z-ruT1gILEDBJg/s1600/015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsyk8dPcTOTiWaPZCTyMdt7OfhYP3GpQnOE0xb_WUJyJK7QI8b7jzXV8babSWboXt3UoZVmOOXe63hEbjSPKnz-qrMTyBfGL3RJHqGpk_hA9KuUIZQ01n5ShEBsA8Dk-Z-ruT1gILEDBJg/s320/015.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3n8W90gxftJsSbo4C8RclBLkHalZppu6rLS8B8CKZngtgA1jJZVkmD7QS63VnlCvD_Mf4QDrQcyqv40l-Cb4Q1bpNe-afl9IRTeHoAMpqjNCZQJ77CwRrkLwtgF0ONoyGQ0NylmRhxFrX/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3n8W90gxftJsSbo4C8RclBLkHalZppu6rLS8B8CKZngtgA1jJZVkmD7QS63VnlCvD_Mf4QDrQcyqv40l-Cb4Q1bpNe-afl9IRTeHoAMpqjNCZQJ77CwRrkLwtgF0ONoyGQ0NylmRhxFrX/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUX_KysmFR7RWjWGgfP7bnaPUr77FDg8PvczzMyErE38WzgFuLit5y5xcXa8o2VP9y-Mv6GM1ZIFoOK4QIJV9MVcirv7irTMmDJsamD1aTc_oScmoZePZerYTQ4KpmxnflYEeAmFjT1sLE/s1600/229672_10150240899045406_623900405_9209699_6436407_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" j8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUX_KysmFR7RWjWGgfP7bnaPUr77FDg8PvczzMyErE38WzgFuLit5y5xcXa8o2VP9y-Mv6GM1ZIFoOK4QIJV9MVcirv7irTMmDJsamD1aTc_oScmoZePZerYTQ4KpmxnflYEeAmFjT1sLE/s320/229672_10150240899045406_623900405_9209699_6436407_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
Yep yep. It kind of reminded me of our hometown little celebration called "Bay Fest" back in Green Bay. Only minus the fireworks and river view. Buuuut minor details. <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=spre04-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0307276767&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
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I finally finished that book, <em>A Mercy</em> by Toni Morisson.. definitely not a favorite. It was way too strangely written and jumpy. Novels about Slavery are generally interesting to me, but this one was just.. strange. Next on the list? <em>Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books</em> by Azar Nafisi. I really find myself interested in Middle Eastern cultures, so I'm predicting that this novel will be of particular interest. Or at least I'm hoping so after that last one. Dear god. I'm amazed my eyes haven't fallen <br />
out of<iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=spre04-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0812979303&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe> my head after all this reading in the last few weeks. I've also got articles, essays, short stories, chapters of other novels and whatever else to read for my other class and this one as well. Oh crap. I just realized I have some reading to do for today's class yet. Boo. I should probably get on that. Good luck to all of you back home with finals this week or on the horizon. Summer for you has basically arrived.. yayyyy working season! haha. Alright. Well off to read my article. Tschauuu Leute.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Spring is in full bloom here. It has been actually, for about the last month. But I am definitely not complaining. The only minor complaint is the allergies it is producing with my lungs, thus hindering my morning runs. But whatever. I'd rather be coughing a little and feeling sun on my shoulders than shaking in my boots and bummed due to winter solstace. When I had left for Amsterdam about oh, two weeks ago, I knew spring was here but hadn't really seen any response from nature other than the warming of the climate. Well, on the train back to Marburg, I remember sitting in my train seat thinking "why the heck is everything so beautiful? It's just so.. green!!!!" Yep. Basically over the course of one weekend, the trees came alive, flowers sprung from the ground and Spring officially began! My backyard here at my new house is thriving with the new season. Here.. check it out.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkSj9NmWKe7npU_J731gF2Xdnug5F34t1OpXhtSWAjjUYTnyOmJCbMblAeR2VkWmfPfrCFRHpzy_1wja3ucDlez_NzPTV92p_Gbh3JWhQsNjyPBZtCaL0kknpxfC1fUUk6gUZel1ItlrRx/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBE0_9zejlPXWPm3Aj8zVeHWTc269l1z-p1_k1fcxsdezg_fy9sOmsNH4BW_yLMWpQl2ujfEbn2hGnc2pGKtnfdlhQVCxceU38DaRkpFB7o3bu6whWIudcWMhzpl0DD036y4Op1Yxd_PXX/s320/002.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtNXSjz-4z_dgMmqxiq9On5o1gjxm2MKsQjzNr5mhMq-WbrfJpNRAPzwGsgx-kJ0zxuFQGaXe9T_WUlU3HyYTboisEsTUGFFyRiPGETrKT6RzQAd9QAg138c5jtcQzB0m0f_kJGjJDnBa/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiwFq8P_EkXol99h0eNVLItoOoN5za1nKTFVC18BtxXlTrY7hfHOuw3PgQQY4vCCV5q93Nza_5UT5mLzttB6q_WV-c0s5i7yyJ0QPyvABOIRWGA0F-PlMafZQIDywj6kYBDbnBfAMfDkLA/s320/007.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnIBZ0NYJBYaZRbIFvU8we-csJLaeT4vrsO1FS1Ht8vUpbx-m9avT4c4uYT6j3GdooTFss5DOGXzL0b11sIuKKq3bRq6RqLX1aCO439p8dNXKx_s_wmfpUBVvX4KTcqZBO3y1II6mxvSw0/s320/009.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">That last photo is of the 100 kajillion steps I have to take to reach my apartment... sad thing, that is the photo from only the 1/2 way point (or possibly even a little less..) but hey. At least my bum will be nicely toned by the time I pack up and head home. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Lately I've been choosing to walk everywhere in town due to the awesome weather, such as the grocery store, class, post office, restaurants etc. Clearly the Europeans are a walking culture, so there are sidewalks and paths galore for one to choose from, making it highly convenient to stay active. Looooving it.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm starting to get back into the running swing-of-things, now that the weather is warmer and my lungs can handle it (minus spring allergies.. dang them). The new challange is overcoming the mountainous hills in which I reside.. seriously they're buggars. The air is also thinner here than at home, adding to the list of challenges. But oh well, it's at least still moderately fun. A part of me is yearning for my running route around the block at home and the local YMCA, but then I come to realize that I'm running past a castle on my daily route here, bringing the yearning to a miraculous stop. Imagine that. huh. Also, I seem to be burning/tanning way faster here than at home. I was wondering why I have been getting scortched from merely walking out the back door, and then my German friend filled me in on the fact that apparently a hole in the ozone layer has conveniently shifted itself to over central Europe. How handy. And to think I thought I would be way behind on the tanning scale when I got back to Wisconsin. ha.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">While out on my morning run today, I began to ponder life, like usual (dangerous, I know...) and came to a random conclusion about European life. Europe is all about patience. Seriously. Ok so here goes my budding theory.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Patience is a virtue in which apparently Europeans have grasped hold of. Everything here requires patience, whether it's waiting for a bus, ordering internet, waiting for your food in a restaurant, drying your clothes out on laundry lines (I had a much longer list while I was running, which is naturally fleeing my memory when I need it..) but still. So much patience!! It definitely isn't a bad thing; it's no secret that patient people usually do well in life, but holy man. Sure, patience is practiced daily all over the world, even when we are not conscious of taking part in the act. But Europeans are an entirely new breed of patience-holders. For example, Europeans can wait up to an hour sometimes at a restaurant without getting their food before they complain. In America, we'd complain after 20 minutes, sometimes less. Dryers are a hot comodity in the US and used sometimes when we only need one item of clothing dryed. Here in Germany, while many may have dryers, laundry lines are the most common practice (environment friendly) and here in my WG we don't even have one. I guess I just didn't realize how much daily patience I have been learning/practicing since I got here, but I felt the need to share this phenomena with all of you, even though it probably bored you all to tears. Eh, my bad.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well, I am off to go finish reading a feminism article for my literature class, and then off to class at 2. Nothing against feminism or feminists, but gosh darnet. Their articles would be so much easier to read if they weren't so aggressive and whiny. I feel like I'm just reading some woman's rant about how her life didn't turn out perfectly, and therefore it must be men's fault. Ick. We'll just assume it's only this one book, to avoid upsetting any feminists who may be reading this :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh and I must remind myself to get my laundry out of the washing machine. Our machine kind of.. gets stuck.. at some point during the cycle and just keeps washing itself over and over if you don't switch it to the next cycle. Kind of like a small tempremental child in our basement, only I feel the child reference isn't necessarily good since it's concerning labor. Hmm. Kind of like a crotchety-old-woman-washing-machine-with-an-attitude who no matter how many times you make sure not to put too many items in and sweet talk, always ends up resulting in the loss of a sock. Stupid thing. I'm starting to look like pippy long stalkings or whatever her name is with all these different color sock combinations. Hmpf.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Alright, so that's Marburg for today. Tschauuuu </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
The trip was pretty great, despite the lack of huge entertainment or large numbers of attractions to be seen. However in that regard it was quite relaxing and gave me time to "smell the roses" or just enjoy the scenery; a thing I rarely get to do on my extremely short weekend glimpses of famous European cities.<br />
Strasbourg is located in the part of France called the Alsace; basically the north-ish corner of France, next to Germany. The area has been relocated and traded as German or French land four times, last time being after the Second World War. The region is known for a high number of beautiful churches, castles, villages and vineyards. The main city of the Alsace region is where I went: Strasbourg. Strasbourg is the home of the European Union's Parliament building and is a city with very international roots. Due to the changing of German/French ownership of the region, the city is somehow confusing upon first glance. The houses and most things about the city appear to be an older German style, such as those seen in the south around Munich. However, sitting down at a cafe' or entering the shops, you'll be greeted with a full on French welcome. Or if not a greeting, at least a bit of French language upon asking questions. But anyways. It's amazing they even have a language, because after switching who owned them so many times (yes, I googled this.. wikipedia is my best friend..) they spoke all the following through the ages..<br />
<ul><li>Old Frankish</li>
<li>Old High German</li>
<li>Latin</li>
<li>Gallic</li>
<li>Alsatian</li>
<li>Modern French</li>
<li>Modern German</li>
</ul>Ok, maybe not that huge of a list, but still. I think personally I would find myself extremely annoyed if what felt like every year my mother language was being switched out on me. That generally is supposed to be a staple in one's life, but apparently those of the Alsace region are just special. And may possibly have needed mucho therapy. Hey now, hey now. Just a possibility, not a fact.<br />
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Anywhooooo<br />
<br />
So as mentioned, my trip was pretty relaxed. My friend and I discovered that the city of Strasbourg really doesn't have <em>that </em>much for tourists to see, meaning prime tourist destinations. My whole point of choosing the city was to go see the EU Parliament, but they were in session so access to the inside of the building/ guided tours were restricted. Bummmmmer. Fortunately you can still walk <em>around </em>the building, so we guided ourselves over the bridges and through the woods, which turned out to be a pretty gorgeous walk. Especially considering the Orangerie Botanical Gardens, which provided a variety of gorgeous flowers, lawns, and a lake. But back to the EU building. Whoever designed it knows their stuff (I guess this is kind of obvious, since they chose him to design a building for the <em>EU..). </em>Other events of the trip included a boat tour through the canals/river of the city (was really not that much to write home about.. ), some good food, great walks through the town, the Orangerie botanical garden and a little bit of French shopping. But before we go further, can I please emphasize the amazing-ness of the French cuisine? Clearly it is world renowned for being absolutely, mouth-wateringly delicious while also being eye-poppingly georgeous upon presentation. But even their simple breakfast baguettes melt in your mouth! There are pastry shops everywhere! Chocolate confesseries by the dozens! BAKERIES WITH FRENCH STUFF WAFTING BEAUTIFUL FRENCH SMELLS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!<br />
Ok. Deep breath.<br />
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Another deep breath.<br />
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ahhhhhhhhhhhhh it was SOOO good. Ok, the baked goods were. Especially my favorites: the baguettes & Macaroons. But when it comes to actual food, the french aren't bad either, just well, available at strange times. My friend and I ended up having to snack at cafe's two days in a row because we somehow missed the "lunch" time (both days we were there around 2 pm..). It is like the food industry takes an afternoon nap, leaving the tourists with their mouths drooling over lucious menus on cafe' tables, only to be told the kitchens are closed. However, darndest thing, the so called "nap time" is not easy to predict and it seemed as though any time after 11 am to 7 pm was "nap time." It became so frustrating!! Perhaps it is only Strasbourg that is this way, but man. I was getting so sick of eating only flamkuchen (a thiner version of a pizza..) due to the kitchens only having that available during this mid-day break. Seriously. No. more. But Oh well. Minor mishap. I guess due to their amazing baked goods and confesseries, I'll forgive and forget. (Well, forgetting isn't hard since while I was there I couldn't even remember to eat lunch "on time..") At least now we know how the French stay so skinny. Mystery solved people! Ok, now for some photos of the beloved baked goods :)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkB_18HOEIvMTWnHXwSZtUHafXZl01rZYExIW_ZWWPraYSvL-aygmsNytz_BC-BEtbrv7kepm9JPQG0aNjANn2r5kilXwQVbVpzWVcoBrohIBseiE_bvgGhuChB8FYF2gy50GYPIDYC0zL/s320/107.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoHO30ZI702dJ3VoQfvEaG19MFfGGRcPXie2TBhfdGvr-vf_joN0W8eG_26Nu5QFn-a4jUY0BNQ5VNkdxyOl4G9TU3OkGdlr1DGWfoZrHbsbvfPseLEpxHYRgt2CUfaRDA4qovfKogF5Bi/s320/149.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvqeNIh3xg3EzclSqDscspvCU3bCcb21-OwL0szOpYXSab7DtWrJ8EPmKCiJ1RL8CqtUmKFkxTdbbNEoIzhVsPbesDRPf41Hi-vi1ebg75mTHihCrq-A-K6WaGUWXF96u59BxfomyddlNz/s320/151.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOym8Qddem-gHbdQ9_PA66SD9yWhQB99pTlSDlDbF0brhJYlLAq-aT3jV2zMduaOH6FatwZVlwogUXhZ9d80JvZTmrwdweK3FIjJprizlf98s9FjvC5ZlF8jP9_-FCYsRKgRlNyMDiSZXC/s320/153.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUwx6G07yraJnfECpEtofa2cfq25-g47lFa0L4jr3QjBeG_WEl5xdf_YJXaiv5H6t2lo7Nfp8BRvEVnYmxNdUhRMxGvqjgQ50B6V7ub2y7QMNMTMi3GjFVZnGF8qrOHyHXX5uBHuxoSSGF/s320/250.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp-ibbd0klDhjq7nqV46ke8QfEcn9DX_N8sPHshLIcgCwvmL7Wsxi14QbM2dT0vf7DH1Fwq1kjZtN0nI9QtEcikwEhJXJE8Etsp_4eWbfUeqN-oybtWiMDrz8ANrOTUrLAHkRHMoPiKfRc/s320/247.JPG" width="240" /></div><br />
Ok, now that you're all drooling.. lets get to the things which won't make you contemplate ruining your spring diets (and thank god for mine that I was only there 3.5 days..).<br />
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Here are the photos from me wandering around the city and from the EU parliament... <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi154agFP9AQlFTXFB4En2xGwGOjolLQ71ErCkTzMXdjdy0KH_rrfLpIqFKE6vFFp5Qf8gy9CBn68azKaoaCAny5xVzG-M_q1I09m-Kkf-bWecTFTZVg9Nu4rsxRrckWaHj6wFRzSptsFhL/s320/028.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD7g5z9lGtOTqvCs55VGQFfMUkfPbqMFxDV0ufbbout-m7K4Sb8EAsrkASOhgWAjgQ56we_kdDNwhcgSb7vL_KJ2d7q6krRstdmv8SVx8tndxe_GuVMtd5gIKR6pZSMfx6zZZhnqVQt8W3/s320/065.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcNH4h0q4XNQ86yjWMCr7wupV_5HIBwNFYXqeEw2R6lCpH0IawV9bj-MIkKIBGGc-J9dcU4kjPSvtrbHhU-FLoBTGlA1oxk_mddM7PnfZwOBNgoxUILimzfVn8GmDwlYtaQ0kSHUjT3DRb/s320/229.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgSpR87b0bgDsbtBbz7DJpJ6oSsdXLIJqoRMxxSyb2J2KSNUOgn-txNc3j_Q6Mt7LX4MVo7DdHp5IuO4PiJK8Z9Rr82Fj9EvXE_zSzeaKFqyCb1Un7lkrgBn-FFUiX4IoJrJPI_g7EJ3yQ/s320/157.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110417?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGOq7ysm5fJjgE&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110417?authkey=Gv1sRgCJGOq7ysm5fJjgE&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So yes, that is Strasbourg. I definitely recommend it to those who are looking for a laid-back, relaxed vacation with yet some definite culture to be absorbed and some great scenery. I also recommend it to those in the older age groups, such as 60 and above, due to the variety of special shops and events which are geared towards their age group. For my age group it was still a pretty great destination; there are bars and clubs to be experienced if one wants to find them :) Strasbourg is really a great, unique location for a weekend getaway.. sooo.. do it! Oh and stay at hotel Dauphine :) They're great!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ok and one last random thought.. the ducks of Strasbourg (and swans) are vicious cookie ducks! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cookie Duck- <em>noun</em>. a duck which has no fear of the human race due to often feeding of bread, cookies, crackers and other human-like food items. Most often located in large cities or parks with small children found in the masses. Term coined by my mother.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyways.. These ducks/swans would not stop at anything to get their hands on some lovely baguette. Evidence?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8ZTycXbJ3o6FZw5CVG_SccDGiQgccy-n6VipdBXLtyvCsuS6IcpIn1kUpVxezl5TPhoKGftYVGMJKE8RmKUOoeO6ge0ougloQcRbRaZcon4uVxHgIY_YmeHAJqugEAaJxep_hn9eWm7m/s1600/091.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEga8ZTycXbJ3o6FZw5CVG_SccDGiQgccy-n6VipdBXLtyvCsuS6IcpIn1kUpVxezl5TPhoKGftYVGMJKE8RmKUOoeO6ge0ougloQcRbRaZcon4uVxHgIY_YmeHAJqugEAaJxep_hn9eWm7m/s320/091.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
There. Caught in the act. Duck helping himself to sandwhich. Oh it is a brutal duck eat baguette world out there folks.<br />
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Ok so. Quick update on the Marburg life. Classes are going well.. can't report back too much. I received the topic for my term paper for my class on the European Union today: The problems with the European Union and the addition of Turkey. Should be interesting. Here in Germany the Universities give usually one big paper, exam, or project for the final grade, not assignments throughout the semester which then accumulate to a grade. It's an awkward system for me personally to adjust to, but I wouldn't say it's a bad system. Just terrible for those who even slightly procrastinate, such as myself :)<br />
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Update on the reading schedule.. the book <em>206 Bones </em>by Kathy Reichs isn't actually too bad. Turns out she is the writer for the hit US television show "Bones." Surprising? Not so much. But hey. At least it is surprisingly keeping my interests :) I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a slightly gory, scientific, mystery which is an easy read. Next book on the list is <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001NLL7K2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><em>A Mercy</em> by Toni Morrison. Apparently Toni Morrison is an extremely famous American author who specializes in African American stories. Should be interesting. I'm kind of thrilled that this book is somewhat smaller than the others.. hopefully it will be a quick and enjoyable read.. but we will see.. <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0307276767&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>I dare those of you who are reading this blog and are fond of reading to read the books I'm reading for this class.. so far none have been disappointments.. especially <em>Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close</em> and then let me know what you think :) Another perspective which is American and not German could be interesting.<br />
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In other news, all of you college kids in the States should be finishing up soon. I'm clearly a month behind all of you, and jealous of the sunshine you will be enjoying (that is, if Wisconsin ever thaws out..).<br />
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Ok well enough rambling for today. I've got a class to get to. And then some quiche to conquer. Peace out homieeees.<br />
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Secondly, I am not entirely sure why, but apparently my blog has jumped to getting about 100 readers a day. And that's everyday, including the days which I'm not writing. According to my blog stats, many of you are logging in from Slovenia...? It's pretty exciting to see the numbers jump so high so randomly, but I am also kind of wondering why. Just a random thought I suppose. But if you're one of the daily one hundred who randomly stumbled upon me, shoot me a comment to let me know how this maddness is happening. I'm fascinatined. <br />
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Thirdly..People.. take my poll! It's right over there -----><br />
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Fourth, University has started! My language and culture courses have now finished and my free time at the end of the weeks to travel has been returned. I received an A in my language course, which made me extremely excited. Germans don't really give As; perfection is not as easily attained/believed in here. It isn't a bad thing, it's just truly a different system. Often, in university, it is said that if you receive an A, you are to be on the same level of knowledge as the professor. So, as you can imagine, not many As are given. My language course was slightly different; it wasn't true University. But still, I was proud of my little A, or should I say "1". The German grading scale is on a number system 1-5, 1 being excellent, 5 being failure. It basically is the same as our A-F scale. 1=A, 2=B, 3=C, 4=D, 5=F. However, in the elementary system, you can go as low as a 6, so like basically "super" fail. What a harsh beginning. Tough love I suppose. Ohhh Germans. How they crack me up. (actually, their whole grading scale changes depending on which level of school you're at.. but seriously, we're not going to go into all of that right now. Clearly one system from beginning to end isn't sensible enough... hmm..) But yes. University started. I only have three courses at the moment (such a hard life, I know!). Currently I'm taking American 21st century novels, Project Europe: Social, political, and economical aspects of European integration from the early Modern Age until today, and a German conversation course. Each class (except the conversation course) are 6 hours per week, and for me all on Monday through Wednesday. It sounds like I have way less than at home, but keep in mind I just finished 130 hours of German language course and then culture course as well. Don't worry, I'm doing the same if not a little more than at home. So far the courses don't seem too bad.. the Project Europe class was actually cancelled on the first day, so can't complain there. The novels class seems interesting enough, however just like all other english lit classes, slightly boring at the same time. I'm <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0141025182&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe>craming books into my brain for the course left and right, but at least the novels are enjoyable. I just finished thenovel <em>Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close</em> by Jonnathan Foer.. READ IT! It was <em>awesome</em>. The author really has a way with words which I've never seen before, and the book is full of random little facts about the world which are seriously fascinating. Just.. read it. Ok thanks :) The next book on the list is <em>206 Bones </em>by Kathy Reichs. To be <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B001NLL7K2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><br />
totally honest, I'm not excited to read it at all. But maybe on my next blog I'll be ranting and raving about that book and begging you all to read it. You never know. But yay for book recommendations?<br />
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Ok enough of that.<br />
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I went to the Netherlands! Friday at around 4 pm my friends and I boarded a train to the Netherlands with about five stops inbetween. Well, turns out we arrived to the most vital of those 5 stops a little late and missed our main train to Amsterdam by about 30 seconds. Due to a policy that if the train system makes you late and it is THEIR fault, they MUST give you a new train route to get you to wherever you're going. Well, by the time we arrived in Cologne and missed our train it was already 9 pm, so finding a direct train was out of the question until the next morning. So, we got a new route with about 4 new in between stops. Ughhhh. That sucked so bad. We ended up traveling for approximately 9 hours for a trip that with a car should only have taken four hours tops. We got to our hostel around 3 in the morning, and found that it was basically a total dive. In a way, I can't complain completely. It was the cheapest by far and we were the penny pinchers who weren't willing to shell out for a better place, but hot damn. Our hostel room had 20 people in it, and naturally since it <em>was</em> the Netherlands, half of them were smelling skunky and in their own little worlds.. and we'll leave it at that. Aka, I slept only about four hours the first night and we didn't go back until late Saturday night; avoidance of the hostel was key. It was also about 30 minutes south of the city of Amsterdam on the coast of the North sea. The beach was only about 100 meters from the hostel front door.. but it's cold out still, so it wasn't that great of a perk. But oh well. It worked, and I didn't have to sleep in a train station. This alone makes me consider it a success. <br />
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Saturday, after the crazy night of travels, we hazily climbed down from our full-sized matress bunk bed (lovingly known as the death trap) and scooted out of the hostel to the Keukenhof gardens. Ok now let's back up a year or so to room 521 in North Bergstrom dorms at my home university where my roommate and I were going through my "1,000 Places to see Before you Die" calendar. We came across a picture of the Keukenhof gardens and both were immediately engrossed in the idea of wandering through the tulip fields, frolicking a tad if the mood found us. I had always wanted to see the tulip fields even before I found the calendar photo, but this alone instilled a further drive in me. And now, flashing back to last weekend, it was fulfilled. I quite honestly am not entirely sure how to portray the garden in words, but I felt as though every sense in my body was alive and over whelmed. Maybe I was in a tulip a-coma? I'm not sure. Hold on, let me find a thesaurus to further assist me on this description.<br />
They were..<br />
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alluring, beauteous, exquisite, fascinating, magnificent, marvelous, ravishing, splendid, statuesque, stunning, sublime, superb, taking, impressive, lavish, drop-dead, pleasing<br />
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Hmm. Well. Still not efficient to describe how I feel about them, but maybe the photos will help. <br />
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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69VmydUBkg16FswX4O6K77PbtI7vwFbr0f2FPa7bdUcg8BtUWqLy71q2haJ0suqzV2O_GsGaaYzfNCQUiML61CX6GlMddeuMdiCNzPe1DCbIxeeBFO0-gEgpyyj_YcgiMcFH10y3ggx8V/s1600/299.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh69VmydUBkg16FswX4O6K77PbtI7vwFbr0f2FPa7bdUcg8BtUWqLy71q2haJ0suqzV2O_GsGaaYzfNCQUiML61CX6GlMddeuMdiCNzPe1DCbIxeeBFO0-gEgpyyj_YcgiMcFH10y3ggx8V/s320/299.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Ok, so I know that was a TON of photos.. but I couldn't resist. Here are the rest..<br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/StephInAmsterdam?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSDts2ZisC05AE&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/StephInAmsterdam?authkey=Gv1sRgCNSDts2ZisC05AE&feat=directlink</a><br />
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<a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110410?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrO9ZuoiomNYg&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110410?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrO9ZuoiomNYg&feat=directlink</a><br />
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(they're divided into two different albums this time)<br />
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But yeah! Those are the gardens. The one set of pictures is from the "inside" garden where there are thousands of different types of tulips and other flowers all growing in this huge glass hall. It was excellent. The park also had a windmill and petting zoo as you can see.. so it was a good time in many aspects. I added to my charm collection on my necklace there with a charm of a dutch clog..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGhDVH-SuP2N1yoCwuZjB7tBOyl40HtoLYWWDZvXgFxaFwre-HQJpOAZyTieKiInK6V_iF3hRne-ebAvR7Kx4LdJkhaeJph6TdQE1Xqh9cpxATpv1v7pHJ_xk2sJbQMKoZq-_V0IL4iU9/s1600/424.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtGhDVH-SuP2N1yoCwuZjB7tBOyl40HtoLYWWDZvXgFxaFwre-HQJpOAZyTieKiInK6V_iF3hRne-ebAvR7Kx4LdJkhaeJph6TdQE1Xqh9cpxATpv1v7pHJ_xk2sJbQMKoZq-_V0IL4iU9/s320/424.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Home is where the <em>heart </em>is, Sweden = horse, France = Eiffel tower, Netherlands = Dutch Clog<br />
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Yep. So after taking a short nap on the lawns of the gardens (totally allowed, don't worry..) we headed into the city of Amsterdam via bus and train. It was already 3 pm so we didn't have a ton of time to spend in the city, but we still managed to make a tour of Anne Frank's house. The museum there is really well set up and totally worth the 8 euro entrance fee. It was really quite gripping to stand in the place which they lived in hiding for months upon months with no sunlight, no chance to witness life going on around them, and the feeling of their lost hope. I really enjoyed the fact that musuem emphasized the life of her sister, Margot, as well. She is often forgotten in the story of Anne Frank, but she also wrote a journal and was just as great of a person as Anne; only difference, her journal was never found. The walls inside the museum are also filled with quotes from the diary which are so deep and profound. The fact that such a young girl could write and feel such extreme and heavy sentances that most adults could not put together after 40 years of knowledgable life made me really understand the extent to which she was suffering. Granted, she wasn't physically tortured or hurt until she reached the concentration camps, however, she was mentally suffering months before her capture. She actually died only one month before the ending of the camps and the release of the prisoners. She gave up on life after losing both her mother and sister to the camp. It really was a tragic story. I'm glad I went to the museum, depressing as it ended up being. I learned a lot; not necessarily facts, but I gained an insight on the situation. I definitely must say, if you're going to Amsterdam, you must go to the Anne Frank Museum. And also, stand in the line. It may seem like hours long, but it moves faster than one would think, and it also is worth the wait.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5x2UEp9I0vneA0hOOw9RX5cdhIYLUXpeq29up8nVLmy0UFCcppSfz2jT6vu7JwaY4EHet_2Jx8KKdy3aY6MU_j04Y0aRQohkO_VgjJtU8oD6AuY1S07RIsm9bNxSMCl05tSuPTzFk__g/s1600/382.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX5x2UEp9I0vneA0hOOw9RX5cdhIYLUXpeq29up8nVLmy0UFCcppSfz2jT6vu7JwaY4EHet_2Jx8KKdy3aY6MU_j04Y0aRQohkO_VgjJtU8oD6AuY1S07RIsm9bNxSMCl05tSuPTzFk__g/s320/382.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
So yes. Unfortunately, due to my extremely short experience of Amsterdam, I can't really give you all that much of a cultural synopsis or insight. I was literally in the netherlands for 29 hours due to the train mix up. However, from what I saw, there are a ton of canals, row houses, and bikes. There are literally bikes <em>everywhere. </em>Never have I ever seen so many bikes in my entire life. I really would have loved to have rented a bike (popular opportunity) if we hadn't been so short on time. It literally has to be the biker's capital of the world. Heck, my tourist tshirt has a bike on it. So clearly its a big deal. In Amsterdam if you don't have a bike, you're nothing. Nothiiiiing!! (Ok, I may be slightly dramatic, but seriously people. It's a cultural must..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqjlbi5O5w4V1b2xI3UKBpcoG0x2lSc3QtMnwHOPap2wNKQl572V6akfISjsM-MKeiGFlucxEgP1dbAAxyHxyLrz8loontpe92BMhf9frjmzZxQ3vF1pbSU8sFUf2Y7MpV36X9Sd5kkRX/s320/373.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBu0q0N3xqkah1f-aDxoX-H3t1kILKQwJxyxDSZY4WOsH_EB2X1QBeGRJweT58Vn1I3HvTvdq7KI3sUL79grYqKQE1VgBdFYCq0pcbft2lW5TeTmgGqhA3XYQRjcZSQ988Vkrdeig9YTL2/s320/376.JPG" width="320" /></div><br />
They also have a lot of canal boats, or like mini yacht things to go down the canals. It was mostly men I saw driving them, which made me wonder if there is an underlying "my boat is bigger than your boat" personality complex with the Dutch. Hmm. I did see some coffee shops throughout the city (this is were the famous legalized marijuana is sold in the Netherlands). I did not embrace that part of the culture because as we all know, drug free is the way to be! Alright! Yeah! Anyway. But hey. I saw them, so I can at least say I witnessed the culture from afar. The only thing I did not see of the typical "Amsterdam Experience" was the red light district due to me being there during the daylight hours.. but ok, let's be real.. I do not believe that the red light district would necessarily be something there to meet my, 20 year old American girl's, entertainment needs. Enough said! Ok so now that we're done with all that awkward crap.. here are the photos! <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhog2WG7tcdBIapwTEHn8kv-A3llPr_ul_rLGmzzAr5Hp99ZgUZ7I4g7NaPlRLHn54JZHm08MYqMV_DU9el-zgJ4EoT_IUPwN4_XrXZ0zKtg_K_vp9PRbyoAC8TOba-Hasxii-ilo8oTYTw/s320/401.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqOeUxtCUWsoMxVxwWxMSrys0IA5S_RzsxrQSq6iShlW8Sw0Inosn9a60V0E1mNmTbQZywk2s7RG-hmAXSUVQxKcxd80JUz-Xt5ds6Ptg_3MHn83ixRpsBgh8Tocr3DVZu2xUofjRd4liB/s320/315.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgclH4xP5tEKTgO0b64KD6pG8UCMLJB3Or2AER14alIWd8KNUM_aaRMOX9xT4okR3ZFh00JWjU8C2zqW83pFJ_s7nAjfD7SJ5eZpLLX2U5upUeEyBdGtGrJqfvijMsh-vuNqjF6UBbIJkUI/s320/320.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfO3HxVcowsRV7jF3Mb-GuiwxU3pvDDIt73qZv4HjUlw041pp8NgEEUCcjk9Oksxnr_TTwkQnSSnSA6xgMnXpHRScKwR894YXQqHEJLQexoUsuqg5zJT1c4qoiyDXNmhRjfN7zRFKSdYbe/s320/327.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gt6CXLppEIyR0TsyblWkygZaBVIyw9xT-7KQ9afZ756gKODJ-CZvmv8p9ZJrN6dYfuSVDpA8H7-vGR_cvBiG0PK6ZUGUlS9l-oTgU0V_5T0oq9Vkmcr69ftqNjg3uA7n6N1n9hamn4ah/s320/333.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT_HD_JwxAss3x4oMIntAaKfJImtjmOUQLNeN9aw5k_xyNoiFSa2g3uBcod5G0TIM5QWz0-sDFW8u8H6Tcl80GBSRUaKGbXYNQEmef4y-bI9NY4xLj3KR7X0pIlYaPPMXEbjjuEHJEaAyj/s320/350.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKqnnESE1jrTjDhxfgGZgT_IdB0OUUbmkWqDvXAuRm99xxYtH7y30bXbPAQix7GPqZE0a1jtki7di5DR-tSHFvVLFvSG-AcMX55QtwlQ9EG_pxrAG-j-FfV4t2ptKq0sw9kKbIKXILlUL6/s320/356.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcMGvuSBZBPH5ylazwp8OeULflbn1H0YL_tJ6mxwO-JK4H8ZAFuPhcQkRasuiX8eFlMfsDvuMEBAU9UoWQJli85oVmnSWHGKtcc8LSqjap8FnRQ90B4PUF4XN0sBjIf-BXz5fcIbxTqpFC/s320/361.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4BGA-LLLpnA9EP98SHaadw1_w-aY4xSY1Qix2gn62wwB53O8CZaHjPnalgfYhLzEK5hRfv2hxRucmtQL5o_87U54Kv2GydvBWwQ5lRsC-R8fw96_rEQEgCrYxn1OhontjyuXMR1CoARE5/s320/365.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQbDJiUVCKz4qJn0iz5a7Vc2KXzXG7p0jjOFS0WXpRhbpASi7Bz0WtaaaOfX5MisymKYGIYdynF-z04-e8DHIvL8KfBLOF6SF2u4GBrnNbMIuiORiGzLM4Kcgou9G2G-ziY4KpvZt43wvs/s320/355.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiov3TEPIcG-p_ULJmwr12MgRpAKc2ih5Z0Rld_6RsXj4jBGsHj32XhvGCVGOyQz6-AIvqMnCjQ8mhufsdDA7yrMBR4zDPW7r18CLt6o7isqng97rOdqQm1Cotx_0q7Nm_uiDqmod0-vDSz/s320/377.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2llV14rPWBnsqJbSk67DfC_9IFoHCThH80LzcIMvAyAryIDsy8R3_w273nb1lfHV0vV2cq0zraoPsu6uJeQYqSZg1gRu6CR1fK2PNl8bojMjIEpu4PqMQGWKB-oLlvIeqdn5pQhme92bx/s320/383.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwP7fZsYyZsc4_jI6InayziobTmwH43pdPs-zgG3t3Ujrb9fG4HWSCnEzi0veGJ3ZbnoTznSmXnJdQqIt9M4Hue8Ntx1o_8UdVWXHvbJfkKGr_vHakSNHxskNTa_WsgHguCdBi3lb-lfSB/s320/218086_1328601937590_1307191127_31014955_7163524_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9MztWMSBfmhXLu8BgbA8jI2OSk3FsH8cjO0k5HA_9-oC-lyvekh1ZilI6_4yXvmV8bzgfSn2IcERRFrLBoMHSMhNt8IJbpr5AwMhrgko7S4jPhupBp7cLDYIKxzY9qLTp2Y_RaZdUV27L/s320/215866_1328600297549_1307191127_31014941_2564474_n.jpg" width="240" /></div><br />
Well, there you have it folks. The update for the Netherlands. Tomorrow I'm headed off to Strasbourg, France to see the EU Parliament and whatever else there is in the near by surroundings. Until next time..<br />
<br />
<em>Wherever you go, go with all your heart</em><br />
-Confucius<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<br />
In a brief update of my life before I tell you about my recent trips...<br />
<br />
I have no life.<br />
<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Well, I do, it's just consumed by reading book after book for my upcoming "Real" university class: America's 21st Century Novels. Granted, the books aren't terrible and do have some good meanings behind them in theory (one is even being made into a movie) but it's getting slightly exhausting to have to read six novels (and by novels, I mean books with a couple hundred pages or so) in seven days. The story is, our tutor for this class kind of forgot to mention that we should read the books <em>before</em> the course begins, not during the course until last Thursday. Well, last Friday I got on a bus to Dresden with little time to read, leaving me with 7 days and 6 novels (I have now successfully completed one..) and basically no sleep. Tis but the life of the college student I suppose. The book I already finished is <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B000EGF0QE&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><em>Lipstick Jungle</em> by Candace Bushnell (same author as <em>Sex and the City</em>, infact same story line even..) and have now moved forward to the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Incredibly-Close-Jonathan-Safran/dp/0141025182?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0141025182" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> By Jonathan Safran Foer. <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0141025182" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" />They're both really quite opposite books; the Lipstick Jungle is the usual sex and the city storyline; successful women conquering New York and being fashionable and wanted all at the same time.. blah blah blah. The other I have not really gotten far enough into to provide a thorough synopsis, but I believe the book is about a boy who's father dies in 9/11 and is trying to solve a mystery of a key which he finds in his father's posessions. Should be interesting. I'll let you all know how this all pans out. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Extremely-Incredibly-Close-Jonathan-Safran/dp/0141025182?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969" imageanchor="1" target="_blank"><img alt="Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" src="http://ws.amazon.com/widgets/q?MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=0141025182&tag=widgetsamazon-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=bil&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0141025182" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Ok so now to the interesting stuff.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Last weekend I went to Dresden!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dresden is a large city in former East Germany, right near the Czech Border. I had always wanted to visit the city due to prior knowledge of the Dresden bombings from various classes, but the one time I was supposed to go, it didn't work out, and well, yep! But now I've successfully made it to Dresden, and I can assure you, the wait was totally worth it. Let me catch you all up quick on the history of the city so I don't lose you all later. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Dresden is the capital of Sachsen, a East German state. It has held a fair share of fortresses, monarchies and whatever other royal things throughout the years, and up to World War II was a large industrial city. It was known as the "Florence of the Elbe" (Elbe is the river it is built around) and was a large baroque capital. During World War II, Dresden was heavily bombed through a series of raids by the United States due to the declaration of the city as a major rail transportation and comunication center with high Nazi war effort support. Between 23,000 and 25,000 people were killed in the bombings (the total number is not sure). After Dresden was bombed, 95% of the city was entirely destroyed. Seriously people, it was a mess. An area of approximately 50 km was just completely obiverated. Once the war ended, Germany began to repair the city and put buildings back together piece by piece (literally) into the gorgeous city which stands there today. There are actually some buildings, such as the Frauenkirche (Church of our Lady) which were built back out of the rubble with their original bricks. The Frauenkirche is hands down the most beautiful church I have ever seen in my life. If you ever find yourself in Dresden, take a second to go look inside. Moving away from the history of the city, other really awesome tourist-y things to do would be check out the World's Most Beautiful Dairy Store (totally did that.. helloooo, I'm from Wisconsin! Totally was all over that..), the alternative bar and pub area of the city, the markt platz, the large shopping mall which was just recently opened, the nearby sachsenishe Schweiz (a naturesque place where one can go rock climbing, see terrific views, grab a bratwurst, etc.) or any of the amazing palaces/fortresses/castles surrounding or in the city. I would definitely say that if you're going to make a trip to Germany, you should probably include Dresden in your travel plans, just like you would Munich or Berlin. Dresden is by far better than Berlin in my opinion, and coming close to Munich on the culture scale as well. I can't say I have too many funny stories to share from my trip this time; it was just a relaxing little weekend get away with my program group. The weather was amazing- 75 degrees plus and sunny (I was thoroughly sunburnt upon my arrival back in Marburg..) and I must admit I laughed a little to myself when I heard it snowed in Green Bay :) I think I'm going to die next winter after experiencing such a short and calm one this year. Oh well, worry about that later.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here are the usual photos!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMqXgvzvtVfA2jtIM4zPm4DVhIvLQ92dvThi_sT10LNCYNE1ZmypIZkrsIACvd20xqiZUiGLkzRpgaNTpgl0PyOPaSV6mk-gjtyuT2TczOxoaQDL347KXujUrXTc-FxbnaPG1syMB9Xmpv/s320/035.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfpnf9noHiSi1_-eEaDxrybCO5Xen9Fbr8IaSozP4CRg5byYQ-m_gEgQza5rRYHL3UpmEbI6MzoXWtddcQeX6flXcWK3MwHLkqR4fdgzDRMtf-8aAp2VxvADL9V6YI8KbRcKILGsTLuxb1/s320/066.JPG" width="240" /></div> World's Most Beautiful Dairy Store! ^^<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQuFPgQFAFIOjAdbeFvOy8OqZLMetrlwrMg74PU08d7ogTsPToOQb-vh-cbF2Oodz6oW3hK-9vGSePsPfQwEr3nCvF00PF8T8q1t-C3RdpMhE040Wy-7VgKCVf0Hen7r3t34Y52Klwflr/s1600/068.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEQuFPgQFAFIOjAdbeFvOy8OqZLMetrlwrMg74PU08d7ogTsPToOQb-vh-cbF2Oodz6oW3hK-9vGSePsPfQwEr3nCvF00PF8T8q1t-C3RdpMhE040Wy-7VgKCVf0Hen7r3t34Y52Klwflr/s320/068.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Filled with substantially stinky cheese which one should not leave in their hostel room for two days, thus allowing others to assume there is a dead animal inhabitant somewhere within.. (yes.. not one of my brightest moments..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyN89DNRZzZ5aaY6OKJl6UMxnM4eVONAKY03tI1JRBon1JG94ypyz7fVx5DD_BRAFwDDrRzepXfj8U36CA0l_kc-Jy_vKdmR5V2QxgT-XAMlnPyFLQhfzaRNXZpqebv-4D8WV7pXEcKPpv/s320/110.JPG" width="240" /></div> Frauenkirche, Church of our Lady- destroyed in WWII bombings and then rebuilt from the rubble. The darker bricks are the original ones which they were able to spare despite the bombings, fire and other weather elements. Isn't it gorgeous? <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbXT7dZZYWLbb3fCIboy04jer1W8DjNLDWz35hOlu8FxBpz-5_7uZyOREoJcozPZifl7JVO0vMbFhe4P7jqReoV8o2HVnNgnT_daQb9ILq3l4O8rHBhUHECiq4uAy2XMZw-lhOpY3xUXxb/s320/102.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3TEXRFnGYdHlV_vGP3sGWhlQf0sZZYb0uzCxlsydAjhbkHza-Fqhbdz7SdQKlPh9xp90gOMPpbOdLKaXIizyRVGkjxVF6gIemK2F9UI_HrYtF3HCSDt4vL_06KfDfp8pJkhO1EXIxCg3K/s320/122.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYhrrynGZ82Uu7J7f3hyphenhyphenHPfgQdrqS4xdVPKuZj0plb-SxYzbH5WDylqv8los3aOndMHhgXX7vKvasxPl1kUNgHvlagEZwfBafYSfLHH-uFYk-yP_1YhirhItJvkq9nxgjEjznXPnEK5Zu4/s320/143.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqc_lUDOC-fpevLEFluLtgb4zgrs7_iVh3N5iBNlGF-qWO1DxAuo6wV3UC8uWA7bga1Kw7rc7WSNlbqd16OvA_D8Pkja013Uwkz94lNKcaX95Sppga-iLoUup2t6I931raLPIdrg-cR_-S/s320/219.JPG" width="240" /></div> Courtyard of the Dresden Palace<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18pdRGXFJFiQQ_WJGrlo4U_gKMOc09BNZsz8NE0swLqrHXzMHHkvpnF4k66z3kDt8j1bMdeC3Lgw2er25rVUlNzi7qSBZnTGfBQt40JZAwXrWDwTsOHikkDTzjiavALP4TTz2pKEELv1K/s1600/229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18pdRGXFJFiQQ_WJGrlo4U_gKMOc09BNZsz8NE0swLqrHXzMHHkvpnF4k66z3kDt8j1bMdeC3Lgw2er25rVUlNzi7qSBZnTGfBQt40JZAwXrWDwTsOHikkDTzjiavALP4TTz2pKEELv1K/s320/229.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> A palace right outside of Dresden which I pretty lamely cannot remember the name of. However, I do remember that it was only a summer palace.. (dear lord..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiMUwvz5lj4Q_O8j2ZYSx9wK57Q4n-RphiL70iSRQNwyDZWrdV9PLYeQpvMxt_GULT5wfvcn5esNtvWOofeqDeVs2o_Z6iSPPXbl2NPV_3XTb-ZEyh95ka5e17i7qDML2bQPH2ARntrUw-/s320/265.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPhJinXscabOxq47kHc0DLNRxM5ngpKSREzPSIdTn6a8JNXvtewgBTNNfbXlhU775-mQB23p36bMkTA7NhigeVw4YkC1LPeNunsuciIcWRJKG_5XnccgXFcWPBWB96xj4ourXzttHAktB/s320/304.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhafRxi32_9Z5tQlRp7QUG3okt-DyfJvmr2xwOkYqNjB6mL6IBsic0hwAucezdGvRT30FZ5hZuWGA9RtW5aP4MT_oAbSCekh5Q5Dqd5tFHVE7tJ_0dq1x3Ks85apFL5og9IwGaIEQOAqHx/s320/338.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOOmarHSiM0qhXi-kml84c_uplc3XbQEN9k3faQLc39kGO5QPgsOqfWay_5FLT3weGIhyJTmBgiE-tKh43EetnYrhWCECxH3E-CLjtJSwDOuqeD1PBdN5dOJTV69FPIgCOJqx_GP4cf5_/s1600/347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipOOmarHSiM0qhXi-kml84c_uplc3XbQEN9k3faQLc39kGO5QPgsOqfWay_5FLT3weGIhyJTmBgiE-tKh43EetnYrhWCECxH3E-CLjtJSwDOuqeD1PBdN5dOJTV69FPIgCOJqx_GP4cf5_/s320/347.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Sachsinish Schweiz (Sachsen Switzerland).. an area with sandstone hills which people can hike on, enjoy the view, etc. etc. Many romantic writers came here in the early 19th century to gain inspiration about beauty in nature apparently. Yay for fun facts!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4sAqyPHr8OWTgAbhg6jRpbvo3TxaszclzkY-xy711yy0G9eQ407dEFlBTLW2ks_iQ7gqIIe3jHume47hyphenhyphend6MwZgxUtA2u44M26o0peOS_zSFTLJb2XvXPoM-macD35TYJwogZlwXZPEMe/s320/393.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAWoGUktyW52sypCQ7n6TwS4wPOXeC_C7M0yIDhdj8jci_9A_H91nv7KrtNq50rngdyQ7gqtonDS8y5MWiAJRXbwcMVmNoN2oq-gZseqa2PR0myNjtMUCk44D83MKmIvJbFwPz8Mexm8Bc/s320/417.JPG" width="240" /> <img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29KFhuWXpvSOpqUCEhTclzNy0jGPhUxD9vKPvYvXR17BBfhl8XvTSp5To5bYWHurBSNdiCDQ0Dy-gNCSTXVivrYP5lj8nsIpheCD-gErb3rR80l0cTutzWgxq7T9i8cUox_8S8G0QMSUa/s320/418.JPG" width="320" /></div> Views from a fortress which we visited.. ^^<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUwaV2lciyFg1hkxC5cCxruHJZWFkod9ihj_FnadMu6roAV-49TY3oarJYQSqq9DAWd9tWA-L0PuEXemSovfyfRvdOQMnRIdgkjvgm6Sa_5KvgaidSP8NCVjpnSjafaMcfHq7PduSWBcc/s1600/364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqUwaV2lciyFg1hkxC5cCxruHJZWFkod9ihj_FnadMu6roAV-49TY3oarJYQSqq9DAWd9tWA-L0PuEXemSovfyfRvdOQMnRIdgkjvgm6Sa_5KvgaidSP8NCVjpnSjafaMcfHq7PduSWBcc/s320/364.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> View of the river from Sunday when I took a nice two hour nap on the grass with my friends in the sunshine :) <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtS6TGFmytKvofI_LX21fBoF2nvRxfmRwdt2pOts3GFPZK_lRd_8qeiYtP2Im_Dtb5W35wwXkIcxmSw1Gfd6ESb7AJq7nGRJzYC290TV6NNeNPeZZpEWNHENU-AxVjmoM3CTgSou8muT7y/s1600/436.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtS6TGFmytKvofI_LX21fBoF2nvRxfmRwdt2pOts3GFPZK_lRd_8qeiYtP2Im_Dtb5W35wwXkIcxmSw1Gfd6ESb7AJq7nGRJzYC290TV6NNeNPeZZpEWNHENU-AxVjmoM3CTgSou8muT7y/s320/436.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Half of our program group.. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Y3peoRgB6kiFUqrl5fegBbX12MCNj52ysmAxl3XhFT9iZaHAXKDvZJOmEzlLRTrt4ZOY32NpqCD0g-6XS6PD6eG_ct6h4eh-1CPncS-LpuQLG554mdlGgjyQGx-wxwGgzO5Kw7W_hFuX/s1600/249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Y3peoRgB6kiFUqrl5fegBbX12MCNj52ysmAxl3XhFT9iZaHAXKDvZJOmEzlLRTrt4ZOY32NpqCD0g-6XS6PD6eG_ct6h4eh-1CPncS-LpuQLG554mdlGgjyQGx-wxwGgzO5Kw7W_hFuX/s320/249.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> Yes.. and as always.. here's the link to the rest of the pictures!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110404?authkey=Gv1sRgCKbb9v7o5uiEVA&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110404?authkey=Gv1sRgCKbb9v7o5uiEVA&feat=directlink</a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Yayyyy picture links! So yes. In total, Dresden was a success. Unfortunately it lead into an extremely stressful week, but after Friday most of the stress will be over and I can thoroughly enjoy my trip to Amsterdam! :) I'm so excited to go see the tulip fields in bloom, you have no idea. OH before I forget, I made Chili last week and it was a huge success. I am extremely proud of it; I did not get another version or round of food poisoning, it tasted the way it was supposed to AND it fed me for four days :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6XlmMQHLw00ZaBixya4xUlS917aqTekEXfTJUSEv0BGjSmkziijNZ2BiUijXH2i6cUer6qmWZ7GRGARTWDD4VWYVfBbqdvkcxZKbsxSapr6RaBrDFaXO3igoh7nHczR9vmIoN3AGI8osT/s320/001.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi72EvadwVisoJSTUMq22AvItFAH4kEC7IsDH5vnLCGVdk3pmjlXHgovtpaMFcXkGacv-NYtZWDk43Hk53bkqZkj-3ZnKUBTHOc_v0mYnneNtL-SqY_XQhNSJfqDVZQAozfqL3TGf2t1LcY/s320/068.JPG" width="320" /></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I know you're all jealous. So yes, with a final closing note... Mexican food restaurants in Germany (or at least in Dresden) serve chimichangas as burritos and they are filled with ham. okee Miss you all!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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After much thought of how to catch you all up on my last 3 or so weeks of life, I'm still debating if it is thoroughly possible. To make the food poisoning part quite brief and without much detail, Tortellini is no longer a friend but a terrible, terrible enemy of which I have disbonded my trust and reliance on. Aka.. I was sick for 10 hours and eventually had to go to the doctor clinic thing to get an IV to put fluids back in me. Definitely not a fun time, but I survived. Damn you tortellini, damn you.<br />
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On March 11th I took a quick weekend trip with two of my friends from my program here (Lizzie and Beth) to Dubrovnik, Croatia. If you're doing a "Where the heck is Croatia?" moment, don't worry, I got your back. It's kind of smack in the middle between Italy and Greece, right on the Mediterranean Sea. Aka, it's a beautiful country half taken over by the bottom of the alps and then additionally by the beaches of the Mediterranean sea. Dubrovnik is a city on a penninsula branching out into the Mediterranean, and a city which literally radiates history and culture into your bones. I was kind of disappointed that my time there was so limited; the beaches, old city, people, and country's history could take weeks to fully capture the true essence of it all. But, I'm glad I got at least a glimpse. For those of you who weren't aware, Croatia was in the middle of a war between 1991 and 1992 in which the city of Dubrovnik was literally bombed, shelled and beaten to pieces. The people, government and economy are still recovering today and many have extremely deep and terrifying experiences to share. Our hostel owners told us one of their stories, how their son was in a concrete cell, 10 feet X 10 feet, no water, no electricity, no natural light, no friends.. etc. for six months. Also, he lost eight friends in the war. The people who invaded and basically destroyed Croatia were the Yugoslavians, who during the time were full of chaos and issues. I definitely recommend googling the topic- it's quite fascinating. <br />
Before the war, Croatia was a huge tourist destination, and now it is finally coming back to it's full potential. During the summer cruise ships totaling approximately 15,000 visitors a day dock at the city for shopping and what not. It is literally crazy, but I can see why it is on the cruise destinations list. <br />
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As for my events, we spent a large time walking along the coast, enjoying the stone beach (better than no beach I suppose..), wandering around the old city, climbing the wall around the old city, and just absorbing the culture. It was about 70 degrees while we were there, which was amazing and definitely waranted flip flops! Random note, but a large part of Croatian is seafood. And by seafood, I mean the kindwhich is still looking at you..<br />
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Here are some of my favorite photos from the trip..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiblXuO9-w0bhmCuFC1YPlOYUO0I-Ymz7QYadSjFCUzi33YnRMbYak8vZYxsKD4OBmY7EThc1sGWXCVuDw0mxjnDgec7OjW-vh9rcn02bGY49nZfgyrcYcv7EL_zQTVjYBw5OE86mMp6znz/s320/024.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUyzehYyvMvz6mh72RywKuc_Y7uT8ZDLXoatHcSMLJZAHwQLILQM5j-FLeAeVoIyrWH_QzFT00oMgjJvOctmdiMQuVRkM3W8Vri2Rd70p09hjVG6xs0d6bnrmoUP6qL0jF81rkcQgNqpy/s320/066.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuGn0AMJ83lHbG96yr-QfT5a15_EIgaDoR_naQE-ntZFqh408c4H7xtAKZhC7AAGPt1CeKf_WSHvCKGo3EKU7CnzQsEZt70aPeOZOouI_gu9EduQw6LCKRAGViT6Gwu6eiNFHhSHpOLPVT/s320/085.JPG" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEULaRGMEuJJKPccGqBC7aPWYOx1p7ySTBxkfDctW-M9AdBFfxDR0LDiftzADypGhntGe03bBUrHMhMd-ZN3tYPPyz9jrUaAFkRutnY_0mQwQoloni7NPXZ9vO60keZMI4u_J2_g9iPis/s1600/180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFEULaRGMEuJJKPccGqBC7aPWYOx1p7ySTBxkfDctW-M9AdBFfxDR0LDiftzADypGhntGe03bBUrHMhMd-ZN3tYPPyz9jrUaAFkRutnY_0mQwQoloni7NPXZ9vO60keZMI4u_J2_g9iPis/s320/180.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110313?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbGt7us7ILTPA&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110313?authkey=Gv1sRgCIbGt7us7ILTPA&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There's the link to more pictures. I actually recommend looking at them this time; There are some pretty awesome. Croatia is freaking breathtaking. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And for the last bit of news, I have a new apartment! I moved out of the old one about two weeks ago (yes, I'm really behind on this whole blogging thing) and am now living in a WG with four german roommates. A WG is basically just a student apartment. It's not rented through the university, in fact it's just the first floor of a normal house (a family with two boys are living above us) but we're all students/just graduated students living here. It's pretty awesome, and my german is improving immensely. However I must admit it was strange going from living completely alone to living with four roommates. Oh well, it wasn't a negative change at least. The only negative change was that there are approximately 50 steps and further uphill walking to get to my apartment from the bus stop, because I live in the hills (literally on the side of one). But, the views from here are gorgeous. I can watch the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening from my window; it just goes from one corner to the other. Also, the neighborhood I live in is quite, well, wealthy.. so I can see some extremely nice houses and cars on my daily walks up and down the hills of Marbach. I have a new address now, so if anyone needs it let me know. Here's a brief glimpse of my new place..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxW2Vm9B_t11oLMEcjWx_3pB453RSYx7EVzDpCgs2DRg2a5ce02cGsYjnK1-5StysxTUWQ_3KGybIy_95yYaoFmXmVwoNM41mMkbcSwS8qHDNZGKGrQQSqLvq-y9tyOQud3ICTwj9MSueg/s320/048.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU-KtVh10FX1HSJdrquC7ctOeRiUvw3YfQlyIibFVBkIpYiMPQMSu6P6T1w8QbpuyuZ5xSYSWxvvbFzMdHEmZNJvsQ4e6BxsXNJ5N2C1-c68TriCFSGqBMaRvRapQcXt7nYURykBZJjME9/s320/066.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXH9AjEkSm5JWfVduzeorVqdNyJTrGR2JeWXYWlsslg00JlA52jx-Vs4n-viAe_W4SyjWbPh20cxU_K-7YgduZqIcp5IEwe57QPAmA_9yvkhp0tVrDxWfdemVffJZptbVeEPnE-zwK7KKz/s320/075.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFXLoIYhd_N-N3pvloXX3MduERiMwsve7_4I9xW6kzBcXZiWpyRfDa6aDmVn6ebwCJo20A9um8LB7xf_yYDhLSRTyMOE2WxjDXvtU1JEfRMvjlHkLERQJrBUnKdjjlQZJ_NRBSaExS3dz/s320/069.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sooo there you have it folks. I should be updating about my trip to Dresden last weekend in the next couple days, and then be able to keep blogging again at a regular basis. I just found out on friday that I have to read 6 full novels by next Monday, have a presentation due thursday, a test thursday and another test Friday, so this week is getting a little exhausting. Oh well. Amsterdam Friday!!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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... kind of.. <br />
<br />
So anyways.<br />
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Two weekends ago now, my program began and we all headed off for the customary beginning group trip to Berlin. I wasn't as pumped as I was last time for our little escapade, but I guess it's just because I've done all the tours and sight seeing twice already (now three times) but it was alright. We actually went to Potsdam this time, which is like the rich suburb of Berlin (although it is technically a different city) across a river. It's beautiful! The houses are huge for German houses, all really elegant architecture and some are even quite modern. There are adorable shopping districts such as the Dutch Quarter within Potsdam as well, drawing my extra attention therein. Another tourist plus when it comes to Potsdam is the location of 16 palaces within the city. One of which was used for the Potsdam conference in which Germany was divided into four different sectors after WWII. Here is that palace:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDC6T1p04XcY5COz9tzBa6BoOiyvE_odxpAkIWPVlyu1BuUNgplWcn1AEeYehZhjme4i6Nd2n5QVs5oPJhndvw1AdComIXPzKuyAKDqetaA8wtHwK6y9fspP5Ox7jwhvqonErnEQLU9ZdB/s320/009.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pov0CJTJV61GMH8PxUxzaWoA4TxEXvuJ0AJweLIVedFZhsdp_d6PvGHd4VkRqefUvbSnBw0gtY4NH4TE9EfShnLAqLRYxWltTfvCHXpjHw5EqKq3jyI5-F-Fw-o42GSr2vh5k7ryEj35/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxKLfqzUrGS7VZdF1fqbjphSzm1wYujWaMf67nmdWGfORbmGbQb-3f6vBNTRDjiMchhdEQMLSU9wPHXy9heORNRXa1Vqlb6-oYQNidfJh3TCm-uM8RerJkROwpv4t8tXIxgZwGBaBUuTA/s1600/003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKxKLfqzUrGS7VZdF1fqbjphSzm1wYujWaMf67nmdWGfORbmGbQb-3f6vBNTRDjiMchhdEQMLSU9wPHXy9heORNRXa1Vqlb6-oYQNidfJh3TCm-uM8RerJkROwpv4t8tXIxgZwGBaBUuTA/s320/003.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>The other main "to see" palace in Potsdam is the summer palace of Frederick the Great of Prussia. His castle was by far way cooler than the one above, however, we were merely on a walking/bus tour of Potsdam and only were able to view the outside. Apparently, Frederick the Great was very fascinated by fruits and growing seasons. In the gardens of the palace there are 6 terraces which were once covered by orange and apple trees; bearing fruit in back to back seasons. Frederick wanted to push the limits of fruit growers during that age and would pay farmers a reward if they could bring him apples in March and such. He was quite the little fruit scientist, and his gardens show it.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SZf06mBU2lAqlsUmoabtzM9wrAgY6T1A8rKeuvASTgHfPCE75Ci61RmZxsO6WTdQAddExo93Esy3M3nAfKf96kUFduIsAuFA1Lm4xZbX9wQcyjeoPockAh9b7WSFgUoWaxUT_dg8H5d0/s320/049.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihKEe6YxYqG7zOoWgGyKWqVgAgrq89GixuOD_4EqgJIw6LBvUI0PBODV-wIVG4P_igg7SzSkKatDH2IRJFBB2zuWAvGOrMvMDgpj9t-c_zCyV3S6TqahthiTSgBILskLv8rdk8VcQoficM/s320/050.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj64XamhoiB0-T5bkV-q8zGcgKijiCbwbc-7mgEiyvmpTExvGEONGoSc-9iO40YihxEgtmGZBUSG_CkKTMO2jApgH0S4nptnjvytYmCbXc7tCFEBq_Xs7oMenJEOVL1ZFGvKcHjO0RawXeg/s320/069.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMWiR1Kn-8ztIfZDtbzM5NbhdQ4C0a2abDR7EVkkfLv_vAH8mb6_VvDEaM7NG5el6HRSLd5OX_azGeQ1LjagZnby752I05fSajSosQlRSmHrPaY46ujozMCFGLEhHXI19xc73ocu4xiQvs/s320/070.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAVPtbyCrypgDuScAKK8yW62Ph4HcDb54QF941YrL1aKSD4sC2YjDp7_y_9efTm2nMEVXlzHLZSuBP0zurtMelo8FOUJConqqfqijodovprhqlspBGv5lPhGe9kOwDpERmayCXO7Jih8h/s1600/093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbAVPtbyCrypgDuScAKK8yW62Ph4HcDb54QF941YrL1aKSD4sC2YjDp7_y_9efTm2nMEVXlzHLZSuBP0zurtMelo8FOUJConqqfqijodovprhqlspBGv5lPhGe9kOwDpERmayCXO7Jih8h/s320/093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The last picture shows the six terraces leading up to the palace. Another additional note to the agricultural sciences, Frederick the Great was known as the man who brought the potatoe to Prussia/Germany so people leave potatoes on his gravestone in rememberance. This fact isn't actually true but hey, let people dream.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjb6twOxYgsnTt7x1_WgsWnYjjK6hT8W3gBPOK83oy_buDoBpehe8qTeoNHEfqcDFSadBHu9YVlEVlNcRVtK0LuBzeudeGuLKk-jM6AWG0gMpReLNf32JPCK4tr0FkYbfaji_1P6YdjVCB/s1600/076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjb6twOxYgsnTt7x1_WgsWnYjjK6hT8W3gBPOK83oy_buDoBpehe8qTeoNHEfqcDFSadBHu9YVlEVlNcRVtK0LuBzeudeGuLKk-jM6AWG0gMpReLNf32JPCK4tr0FkYbfaji_1P6YdjVCB/s320/076.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
The day after our Potsdam tour we did our usual walking tour of Berlin. Unfortunately, our tour was lead by the same guide to the same places, using the same stories and even jokes. It was quite boring but yet the weather was gorgeous so you couldn't help but just enjoy it. The tour was about three hours, and I didn't take all that many photos since well, I have them all already! I managed to take a few though.. Here we gooooo..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqaaCshNdpt2vRNlfxgvEpnTcqbtGKbSHXf25jACvHq-tLnnJdqIZjWel2a8vG3R3sDzSuNq56WwYmoyxH7xdIFvrdcMLifEQA-9WR_LVsjpy36yaiFhMYULAOws3-Kzub49WxMUpvKrG/s1600/160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqaaCshNdpt2vRNlfxgvEpnTcqbtGKbSHXf25jACvHq-tLnnJdqIZjWel2a8vG3R3sDzSuNq56WwYmoyxH7xdIFvrdcMLifEQA-9WR_LVsjpy36yaiFhMYULAOws3-Kzub49WxMUpvKrG/s320/160.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iwMievzYmwCdlzLyZLjf3l_8tkn0_wK0mxxlif8XN02UZedmv3i3wM0A6XnC-uVwk7Yt9Jfi75yLzuEf1sYeEKxbMHTkgje4Lzijyc02QvaLhEAH1rZP4kikU2JSzxJXYs7lOkRXr6q5/s1600/141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6iwMievzYmwCdlzLyZLjf3l_8tkn0_wK0mxxlif8XN02UZedmv3i3wM0A6XnC-uVwk7Yt9Jfi75yLzuEf1sYeEKxbMHTkgje4Lzijyc02QvaLhEAH1rZP4kikU2JSzxJXYs7lOkRXr6q5/s320/141.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWSKh6WkkRvha-9FhQK4WOwEESPhWafpD3Ibudd4HmflmJL_z92Rw2MtuJn72_2bhUgsGQJqNVt3q1FyG4j1gOenkV87IYJcbfFzOgryonSdIUyR6g27PrMXftAZKsXpxx4_-4n4D_RAA/s320/168.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JZJmJUZ4mkjwnXVR6vlnqXQ70PxrOImIet6I2tjVnRpNA4or40BnODOYI8UCk7IVeNvlBpjdDBtjq2veg5GyBdByY3Bzy9HIc6rIcu9w_9hk6_b1aJMNzzRD2EyoOXJ06Fhi2cIdazJf/s1600/111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2JZJmJUZ4mkjwnXVR6vlnqXQ70PxrOImIet6I2tjVnRpNA4or40BnODOYI8UCk7IVeNvlBpjdDBtjq2veg5GyBdByY3Bzy9HIc6rIcu9w_9hk6_b1aJMNzzRD2EyoOXJ06Fhi2cIdazJf/s320/111.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFF5fgrEYP51k6q-bC60DLkPAUmdjsHZam28X9TIkTZnJKLhjrR64SbgV96xlVWQXUAAN1w9WgNk6JlG9OcpYpnKRkLWA_Q7d0SBotqQrZlVlaj8kHQ98DyjC-8nHDolb6HygH_b7Orru4/s1600/171.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFF5fgrEYP51k6q-bC60DLkPAUmdjsHZam28X9TIkTZnJKLhjrR64SbgV96xlVWQXUAAN1w9WgNk6JlG9OcpYpnKRkLWA_Q7d0SBotqQrZlVlaj8kHQ98DyjC-8nHDolb6HygH_b7Orru4/s320/171.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">My personal highlight of the trip was actually quite a simple excursion to the Ritter Sport chocolate store and museum. Ritter sport is the amazing german chocolate (also sold in the states, especially at Woodmans..) which is in a square with solid color wrapping. It's absolutely mouth watering. This coming from me, a person who prior to this trip to Germany was completely disinterested in chocolate, clearly means something. The store had every flavor of chocolate imaginable for only 80 cents per bar (a huge bargain considering they're almost $3.00 in the USA..) and cute little knick-knacks with the logo attached. The upstairs had a museum about how the chocolate was made and packaged, which one would think would be boring, but my friends and I actually thoroughly enjoyed. Also, one could make their own dreamy chocolate combination; right when you walk in there was a counter with about 50 different flavors, nuggets, and smorsels waiting to be added to your white, dark, milk or whatever other chocolate base you wished. I didn't create my own since my idea of a dream chocolate bar was already a best seller in their store: chocolate with strawberry filling and crispy things like you'd find in a crunch bar. Don't doubt it until you try it.. it's absolutely delicious. Then again, what about German chocolate isn't?</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwgyUAAiSAfJWXG21abuu0utv8Ci2QPynySzo3CZAqT1qKafTaSfHctXSbK8503TxlDnzp_cxmgljM_HFtz-TbjDEspgj_lbc-VZqfZJUFbrs2rGXaOugDmm_S88eW-vsUCRdl2n9WO7rq/s320/188.JPG" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFu5wM0V9MQigm9kIt8ui80f9xT98YOjhtAoUjcDTqKfWqdvJwZj5ut53SMBNW5oEm_T2wY8hTv4Aq_aGxu7K-QAPikSv8ydqMH2GXeqnhUGet3yqHRGvJnT628wUQSVdmIWQ3ZdrP-XY/s1600/179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWFu5wM0V9MQigm9kIt8ui80f9xT98YOjhtAoUjcDTqKfWqdvJwZj5ut53SMBNW5oEm_T2wY8hTv4Aq_aGxu7K-QAPikSv8ydqMH2GXeqnhUGet3yqHRGvJnT628wUQSVdmIWQ3ZdrP-XY/s320/179.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-OxPcXwmmlVmKTRLNbFNZW-1zcrgPXbCYe3tZb9zSHxWmVBHQ25s_-eJkEXD4issCHsc9oP5jy1ZOr6YhWWqcS3eBxtLJc3GoprXpQ9cLFq4pPRpL28omZTRW9PnkGCB1mQDjlxCS9YAI/s320/173.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4DKi09q8o62O1zti858s2zJQUZPhGJOuHbxeWrxnMA5YFPyX7ItU1JIV6ZN_cp_dFEvZtBXBO9zU9yzhziLFVGGt7mcYvRzzOz1ec4BV7o2VWosmAQOPiOPeUgHQqi_sc6KBZfJ9X9OFy/s320/192.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ray7deZgsTlkB3LgGdbR7mF3oz5AzDUo6ZCZ9qMWDSJLbHFCMKMMibA6UdPxCiOSjlT-WHr00RRGLLOkeHRkUyRo4UdeT2z1c4kkWEMjpTbGwBgboKDpM2rZKCXdS76Ju8ZjqX-9e6JY/s320/207.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivt1-BK4YtocAdiwXzbppd20J8yMMEjlOHPcdJ1VrW00RZSPjsP0J0TTOxXxX54mJYX8POk0arfM4EzWbIE61aEN7UYe_QEj9d5a_4Ppxt_lrO0YPTJgJzP-ufhkyiCKnlkZr-K7EWNl6Z/s320/183095_10150094545925509_525485508_6605210_5612657_n.jpg" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The last day in Berlin, on a more depressing note than chocolate, we toured a prison of the prior KGB. It was in a forbidden zone of Berlin, so many citizens were not even aware it existed until the wall fell. The torture, interrogation and emotional draining that occured in that place just pulls at your heart the moment you walk through the gate. It made my skin crawl in a strange way which I have only felt at a few other select memorial sites, one being a concentration camp. You must remember, the torture and such endured in this prison only occured at maximum 70-ish years ago. The stories of some of those held within the prison are just mind boggling; some were interrogated for 72 hours straight with only one question repedidly over and over. They would be questioned until they were too exhausted to fight back and would confess to whatever would allow them to sleep. After the Eastern German government took over in the mid 1950s, torture was not as intense as under the Soveit control (physically) but the psychological abuse they instilled would personally have killed me within a week. The prisoners were left alone, no noise or interaction to the outside world other than interrogation sessions. They were watched through holes in the wall and were forbidden to sit from 6 am to 10 pm, and were only allowed to sleep on their backs, arms on their sides, palms down. If they rolled in their sleep, they were awoken and told to return to position. Seriously. It was hell. And everything was a secret. You had no idea where you were, neither did your family. You just vanished. Often, people were picked up in cars labeled as grocery cars or fish delivery wagons. The extent of security and secrecy they went to was ridiculous. If you want to know more, just ask. I feel like if I kept rambling though, we'd be here way too long and it'd turn into my Portugal post all over again..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAcTNm69Br7Oqg4RNjMltdP9L-c_djEFrIPgQnL_EAmmGAkdF7zYRHBgMLmwRzKkFZok_JNjbdJinGQ38Y4dDd5dHmkq0if5L20tQ-IFAaHITyN0__5I5z-RqkJFImh86acCYJ0QAD01h/s320/221.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqE1eGCrveltmm-0J00h8uf0IeTIkUG4qUViSkzkOvWFkMJdwF7hzJfPOyWoigy2z6znvIzS9MVwYlc6ZtSBEQy1Upb-MSJ9XSerbhjpJOXkAeiy5sQ9LTRgBy6Z8H3rX1XeFykohM4B9V/s320/224.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlk_SgiBnikPYvnWvm92-MANWmEOK5pWnJHwPuZ_pVsx0-dT7hyphenhyphen4ZSM1JVh7WSWSOTSRRJyMhYa4_Ru7Gg2gW4Uvu-f0PHLcEQx8CWoMKElMhIEYr29UZXaQgYw9wG3pa3Hmb75iq3w_9o/s320/216.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhf2VQUTfYcv_32EnRSq67_QyfY_kdguIlWAAhpu_XUbOS3RGE5V_P53znVUsyxLhbUfJUrcOlfk6lYj7FD6MMAk5vp5OkJQkz75X0cecgg3tqMt1ArpzlagaNlDyhlaiZuyNnK50ufMrk8/s320/214.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So yep. That basically tied up Berlin in a nutshell. Granted there were more social events and such, but those stories can wait for another day. Here are the rest of my photos if you want to check them out..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110301?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmbop2Y1azzWA&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110301?authkey=Gv1sRgCOmbop2Y1azzWA&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And now for Karnival! This last weekend was Karnival (time before lent.. just like Mardi Gras in New Orleans..). The city of Cologne, about 3 hours north-west of Marburg holds the biggest celebration in Germany every year, involving parades, drinking, music, costumes, bratwurst stands, etc. The ultimate German party ordeal. My friend Alie from back home came over for the weekend and we took the train Sunday morning with a few others from my program right into the heart of Cologne. I was shocked at how crazy the celebrations were- the parade was ridiculous! It was never ending! There was candy being chucked at intense force, drunk people in costumes (many men in snow white costumes.. I must admit I felt as though the Karnival somewhat raped my image of Disney characters..) and tulips everywhere. It was awesome. My friends and I had made our own masks the night before so we would have something to dress up in, and I must admit, they turned out pretty nifty!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj822aArfcxxZGB1xsaJZ2t4pAQNTE-1ccMzMjILiIbLxeBS3010iDdpDzrp_i72ZkpsS4LVmYA5RlbsLVrdbQ8fvPW8MkpCtzYnhcRyShlsJgyNqP6ObPPqmIdQLwEwHZ6ngUTVvgrASrF/s1600/196927_10150098540050509_525485508_6647496_1132909_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj822aArfcxxZGB1xsaJZ2t4pAQNTE-1ccMzMjILiIbLxeBS3010iDdpDzrp_i72ZkpsS4LVmYA5RlbsLVrdbQ8fvPW8MkpCtzYnhcRyShlsJgyNqP6ObPPqmIdQLwEwHZ6ngUTVvgrASrF/s320/196927_10150098540050509_525485508_6647496_1132909_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here are some pictures from the cologne celebrations..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW-XNm2ORM244z-AFsWwoibwbWtIrebeVgI9K6Ha7xsbcIqo-RvciwQCQgq4d35cLOEG3KB7iCzZt4MqtxsBK_rVs6b64QYV7S-su31M2vDgGkEttnHmjx6m781xPqbM20vbxxen4t0D47/s320/026.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZDX8vmAO9BZxdcj0NHGwCCsyCEyVVN95_V6mcNpBDLg7gvnjGY71I7NBnyUvyp-OvOekQrFJNnnRGwgqW5uTyK1OKmtIe2LVDNIcGvWmyeWZSejUJXtWC6NJDwzz2JmAlGnhyphenhyphenaXUwdga/s320/085.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLcUXg_l-i1ewqkpWKIdmT_Fw6-3Elqy1LhUU23dP0RSsM3ZkCN46Z5oTwtn1qpa3IbnA5QVqkPVqKV1KSyHSoEX-pq-nYfpTkmiRAMCZ8tgmUShcE5gwW0uG2cud2ksdvkJQoGG3J3kb5/s320/041.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrI1owod8zoKfOem3Stvnmn0v1flLTkmAEuvkm6ypPXJ6qKuvL5tpY9chvIai2iggkkxUX0rtE6EJNxWRI-XeBWS5_qtzN6GGSTba65bwg6ORmDdKT0JlzorM2c50npbI78M2EL-YOGsI/s320/075.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLFEu8wU0XoAgTcHLqUOtAQ0KcNapY-dUjTBV1254XdEcrbsLY5eIMAQRKav7_RI4w3aCzoD2saJvEIc3c9Xq1tQyHdTFTcLD5RCElh_p3qv07smtHqf-3r8ln73HUECkIgBSvz7g-24tj/s320/070.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjURwQkrfgYkteBLpofY6s163iZ-SsLTWArQQ9JG7aThwzyY-XEL4-a6-4g0FZ_Ilp5qjgfieHYkl68yd-k3PoIssCU_NWREEvBVAGQW5flMwRA2loc3m7UqY3dwkqrBpW1N6zF9TPv407/s320/088.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We went back to Marburg that same night, and then Monday was Rosenmontag, or "Rose Monday." Aka, another reason to have another parade and drink in the streets! (Ok, sarcasm people, sarcasm..) but yes. I had class in the morning from 9-1, so our class decided to dress up. I was a pirate. I must admit, I was quite fond of my costume :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV4nvXowKecnulGO-s8TKPBp3zkCzT3Hq7Ys6YRjy1JhKYe7IVjjuEw3muqyxoxL8ceyaGyg-6NNiTixaYKxQ-34ORYE0g8kkVTui_7ljiZL-psfxZ8QUdbmt-Qy56IRThXtQpMNjIh9uj/s320/095.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4uPt0b9wArc7tPb3IaZq25XpizP2x2H2gNVgzsInq0XpokxeXF_LXwkl1dAUN7fW1VNJklaA_Ddv9Eap3UyYUeuOgV5AANEcxUkBgTmIQdrvrkyCLUwCiTp96L50w7Xa95FUWTFculsNb/s320/091.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjczy1gXjDutxjJg5GSTLsgZYOzLZVI6OobEvSszTLXUPrE-oRryTyH5G90qNFHGMDD7JujdrKpCulPY7oKByTHnmUYUxIOKpUY9yvI633D91suRwJakt6cs_7DMIS5qfsmmbdN2mC1pw1-/s320/IMG_3536.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And before you ask, no, the guy in the background did not voluntarily choose his costume :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">After class we headed into town where there was a decently sized parade. During lent, they sometimes play jokes on people. If you are familiar with the Berliner doughnut (basically a jelly filled round doughnut) those are extremely popular during the days before lent. However, sometimes, you will get one filled with mustard as merely a good hearted joke. It happens; one can't really complain. It is merely tradition. Also, candy is thrown from the floats to the children. However, sometimes, the people on the floats will throw joke items to older children or adults. During my parade experience I was thrown what I thought to be a box of chocolates; turns out it was a pregnancy test. But hey. All in good fun. My friends and I had a good laugh and then pocketed it for a later birthday gag gift. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimiUudAlvb4o7lUKEGL9upEbfuRC0o0aedoXuCfleeh2MKZ-kFFKnsf22RzhR076Y74_NeEheZ3gcY2fZrflke0VCXG1ei0UNA_Cq6D5kDc5SO2uPCnNkmxdYXVIymhja1mIqEARETo2oi/s320/199166_10150098543500509_525485508_6647607_3103515_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuD0VH6_xqtjvHqJQV78z4-BxNp4lClMrOkDj3o6ef9VmQtiK6pvd4r_iLV29HxygP2js4xH0MSH2w82uir21NZUjvIpQdbuZ9KxJdQm6wGHRStcGAux4Mb4qUZa3g9jb9IhfLlQ_YavXj/s320/110.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYQneODkvzvfymsWqnpV89eb7HMoUJrkJzu9tdeVQ5tuUfTy7XDsG3JZa9wTR9mQvyc8ce-ChIrimCfPMOI87vQY_kpKR42_4ojcWAFhPVJbgDkjXRf3afMBpEC7LcBKQrvFlTUtD476u/s320/100.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglUuRxVZ-aWR5f07lq4r8kSeRqA0eNB6B0N5JmA7_eHWmpoQUxU-pgvxQXvslPU9V2ve32u-xJwOKPgr0jJIEYLzWCon_TjumwrkWu6nk_dEuX6T8ykQC1lLVH6bjWteUwwEtwzb5KWmWW/s320/109.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Further Karnival Photos..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110307?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrGot-KjaiFzQE&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110307?authkey=Gv1sRgCOrGot-KjaiFzQE&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So yes. Happy Karnival everyone :) </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Carissa and I flew into Lisbon in the early afternoon on Sunday, Feb. 13th to find slight rain through the clouds. We had heard that it was supposed to be rain the entire week we were there so we came prepared, but were still somehow bummed by the weather. Luckily and unluckily, weather in Portugal is completely unpredictable. The sun may be shining bright, no clouds in the sky with a gentle breeze and then the next moment a total downpour resembling a monsoon may hit you smack in the face. On Sunday, even though we had some of the predicted rain, it turned out to be sunny by the afternoon and for a moment I even convinced myself I was slightly sunburnt. For a moment, that is. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaqXz6liXmTt4p8vdW5ci3fpM2-KXOR2HqQVzEwi-El4HdDcNbjaPPgBS3C6my76wt6pBot-VX62m-ywuaQaij67oZvOq88OO00Fjf7p3J9NZwrDxw8yB3h-rcDM50LnU1i6w99vU9zvM/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaqXz6liXmTt4p8vdW5ci3fpM2-KXOR2HqQVzEwi-El4HdDcNbjaPPgBS3C6my76wt6pBot-VX62m-ywuaQaij67oZvOq88OO00Fjf7p3J9NZwrDxw8yB3h-rcDM50LnU1i6w99vU9zvM/s320/007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Upon arriving, we headed straight to our hostel, YES! Hostel, right in the center of Lisbon. If you ever find yourself in Lisbon, you must, must, MUST stay at YES! Hostel. It is by far the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in; clean, friendly staff, nice computers, awesome lounge, and it radiates amazing people. They also offer an authentic portuguese dinner right in the hostel every night... but we'll get to all that later. <br />
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Right after arriving we decided to take one of the two free walking tours of the city offered through our hostel. Carissa and I joined with about 8 other hostel residents and hiked through the old and only part of the city left standing after the terrible earth quake/ tsunami of 1755 (bet a lot of you didn't know that happened, did you? The earthquake was the strongest ever recorded in Europes history and could be felt to the carribean!) called Alphama. There we saw old houses which have been there since the early 1700s, a church which took 400 years to finish, and the beach/shoreline. The people in Alphama are of the lower class and aren't huge fans of tourists, although they don't say it. However, a four year old child threw a huge piece of concrete rock at our heads from a balcony which could have killed us, so I guess they somehow do say it. Oh well; it was rather interesting seeing the "back streets and real life" of Lisbon. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieYsvjgDcoI7NwVEJHXhNHfK_3J6jh93qe6KXmmoZGOSzu8_xk-sjmRtLQeq4GjQAGPyuW2o70Pbd9AbebEXGxwQK30AbuXYeToe-obBJsykN4TA854aRu_3obb_9UQhIQRTDANk8nV8TI/s320/030.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMf-znSJR5wwBui5LALViyxx-RCX6adYOnwmmIQ32hVCRVpkmvjNTHa455_2XMSienCEWi865YfS5lRIP5CufFs_ZJHzKWBfir95WfDF_MwMcsABUT0mauTCG5UXfgk7G0rCHjJW-SUS7W/s320/150.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxmhYymmRpKnUJMCLJ7UMNLzdSteZ28YbR49MQwRKROIprUxdLdkdrMnuPxgVy6RUgttL1WyqPdKyAXBKyrEanBpw51TjD8VguyCMQwkC-tz_-e-V9_Rq6XzGN5UESa03l3LXT61yoDXn-/s320/179.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzjNRauQVgXf8BmnzUmSaT4we7zelBi_MkZvncLrgeoD1cST0G3X75Vd6U-M_NRjWsW36eKPuBdj3ddXN7f49U-s6F_P7oVD32otM-e06uu3jMTORpcA5h10ZecD4GKq6jXYxQ614-n2hW/s320/240.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGvFBIxONe3HHK-Ey-KT5Cb28J1FLTH2DUzY2ulqKZ5MroZIZ5Rqa0WdtGcJWIBLSOx7T2b6SOiV8F_B0qONDLoG6YAxrPE35ARGPfJ-EBOBffqPMLPyidPqonR2r94tZY9v__kUJXCRS-/s320/206.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAkVeTCYT-8gfaNiqMKl0KXr-9ThE2I-6cqvGM_cW3wD3F2awu-4gR2z49tvbUs4I964bUw_N_NPODjK6mx2pl8VULDOJLAQ_keweqtPb1QXQkeZchb81lI99k3HvhDFjUqIyc5DCXJ8FJ/s320/224.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Clearly it's gorgeous. Before I keep rambling, if you want to see the rest of my photos and quit reading here, this is the link which you are looking for..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/Portugal?authkey=Gv1sRgCILbt5Wo37LrQg&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/Portugal?authkey=Gv1sRgCILbt5Wo37LrQg&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ok so back to life in Portugal. The second day (since the first day we just bummed around after the walking tour..) we bought a day card for 12 euros which allowed us to travel around the small penninsula of which Lisbon is located. We first boarded a local train to Sintra, a town about 30 minutes out of the main city area. On the way out of Lisbon I witnessed the effect of "old money, no new money." Portugal is one of the poorest European nations today, and has been for quite some time. After the money of exploration and trade died down, and the effect of a dictatorship and lack of proper taxation processes were felt, the country has had a difficult time reclaiming their past wealth. So, as a result of this issue, much of Portugal is covered in beautiful buildings which are merely lacking the necessary upkeep or face lift required to make the country comparable to France or Germany. However, this lack of money has also resulted in large, hideous apartment buildings in desperate need of a coat of paint surrounding the city. These apartment complexes were built by cheap contractors who knew the living space was in high demand, but took advantage of the lack of necessity for upkeep. It's quite the eye sore. Going out of the city center for about the surrounding 10 miles can be rather depressing; it reminded of me a poorer part of Mexico or Jamaica. There are broken windows, grungy apartment complexes, litter in the streets, homeless people, etc. However, this is really only on the outskirts of Lisbon. So do not fear; the country still has great potential. Just don't chill out in the outskirts of Lisbon. It's a big enough city to hang out in the "in-skirts" sooo.. yeah. Do not fear!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyways, back to Sintra. In Sintra we boarded a tourist bus which took us to an old castle built by the African Moors which is basically in ruins and just an outlining wall today. Carissa and I enjoyed ourselves on the path up to the castle, but did not want to pay 5 euros to see the inside of the walls, which would just be the same as the outside. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTnN1nRGpHkhKbcYO7bReNkaHCm7F7WGxYmmjEuETMKJ9A-nABhYTjIouM0IEZRFzzD-zXhSOEMk9brqMZDxSlj-T6aTcOaFehos3531SIPyatY7pLEE2GLdljeMmrqRD55epQnzYsUz4/s320/305.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3mhLz0cxp93XyRxxCaO4bc7V0dJFfjLuOEMG3_eBrkwiRDZ8D5eT6q96Ft7BJRcdYDXsMr7QxjFk2F9TDuk4iXnH9lotzeTerJEBoFEEtRmcBuY3AcU1REXVClaeUgaFqKUO4A229kdw0/s320/299.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibuuzRR7dUNh0_ofUyU72FDWCKK715ynATNt79GY-B1zooSzc7JJJ5ys02nYPyRqkKAiiTBXgUqd_cIYD8gooQ46RVHb25OdxcMMcxp-GLlcn3LG2EzVbFGjDVrPdmHD6t-8mJ4Wa6M8Tt/s320/311.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaHRQiI0fCbkXFxM88KrAkq9qtQVGnobuM2yw4L7gei5Kbo6dXumfngw_c1Mo-Ufi0YRB3c0EQMNhg0IPxjNqml2FmN-_HJ3CeXcfZqpfM83G_0xk4L4jQDG12ohESrQJ_fZzqJuPzhZ8b/s320/325.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5s0_OUs8Wp6PYhQjh1hjfjdCemwUibuv77bOiLvjzFsFdT0_KaHOCWWz1R4sMS-X1s2QtUCq1fkU204A_35OK3xUX655S54v12TSo2qmQz85AzpDeoFrGcCdcCbpC5ol8djslfBEy2EI/s320/340.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdmgwB5kDkztpiJROIOfoumj1Jd-M4LCdLdm0UE1N-KkwnEtKo251prwiVJWB9sHGsN_mp2MDKEKy20i4_sAdyUpJIvEZpPeZ7RRHixIIVRq8JtWXNdRSSzhr1SMQyCNLS__qIXU1vvJZh/s320/344.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After the castle (which was the last dry point of the day) we boarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace. The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job. However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautifulboarded the bus again to venture up to our next stop- the Moors' Palace. The palace, just like the rest of Portugal, was in need of a serious paint job. However, other than that, I do believe it is one of the most beautiful castle's I have ever visited. We paid the 9 Euros to go inside the castle, which ended up being completely worth it (unfortunately, no photos allowed..).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixUzwVGhOM6bdGofZy97OzwmFGzH1ViFrnHbuiH8emlDKQf-Sgnj5SdgTJUBuRi1O16uDCx_mL-7Fu4LADJiZDifGQDiNJU-JoCc3RuehoCvzrgh-GDLujsuvMsf3PSKcRT18AMz38nH6_/s320/365.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiDH7FYRTpvrVTKLr8SUHFe3WW7EapRIymdaPypLJRa2HZdUJr1bu_BZqvcnMRJ_oL6jSdyDSjaBzxRqzPeD6tmO_X5TRoUNKdhRGxHxXw5i4mchbc7b_UYY2BBdYzTcy0_JjeiCSzugC5/s320/388.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRqF5OBFmFycNyoZn0uOcTJCUfdoFie-X0V1KLFjEgN2vHo3QarFuV5UoW05XMVWj6m5MT5OJM9s_2vLwPic7Nj7D6V2H2_MWBg_1wqazBGdY06tsF9b89al4HIRyCgpu7Smqi0x1yNAug/s320/397.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdDjq4QYSKHUyWwKnKjfhDqTAPkS6EOK__MMSMcgjisolhPFi_oYwIYCzh3yqi4MgkTudeXA7CHjv8Ba2JSaNNMctSVRzQLwuU4eul2qn7zhnRjDkQNo51cTJFOqVU-CHvbMeCA_rxKYc5/s320/374.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2vNnUtFnz3iUqIQ0ZJ9b2dQXz4VRRwqOMb77fBDfz1LHwe6dCT8Dms58vQzLqTpiKj63Xn3FZnJRaZT0-Y73-qoYilLpf2hKpI36xbicOrWVlxyiUpY6stL99vebrGX6luAu84RuHIJ5M/s320/418.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzBzIGxNku3XEFNgPNDs8rixyg6WO3KTQLqzk4J-5tH0hq9g-TRkqW5ZM_aT_1GF1R2LBwaX_osFf6A72fNxAQw5KR8jhv4zirhWV_7ol5FBk9ePr4DL3VmubZANvwWRmMilxmV7CTXx7-/s320/383.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The rain really started picking up at the palace, so we kind of had to leave a little sooner than we would have originally wished. Oh well- rain happens. Unfortunately it happened while I was wearing ballerinas and a light coat prepared for the sun shiny day which had greeted us in the morning with temperatures in the high 50s, but you know. Rain happens.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After the palace (I know, it's after this, after that, after another thing in Portugal.. bear with me folks!) we got on another bus which drove us about an hour away to the most western point in Europe, Cabo Da Roca. The bus ride was hands down the closest I've ever come to motion sickness in my life; I know many that would not have whole-stomach survived the trip. Portuguese bus drivers are ungodly ridiculous. Curving road on the side of a cliff with other cars zooming by? Ok lets go 70 miles an hour! Don't mind the lack of guard rails which could prevent a bus from flying us all into the pearly gates above, just gun it! Also, they only stop at a bus stop for about .5 seconds. So if you even think about running to catch a bus in Portugal, I wish you the best of luck, because you'll just be running after it. No wonder they're all so skinny.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Cabo Da Roca was met at the point of the day in which I was just losing enthusiasm with the weather, my outfit, and life itself. You know, just one of <em>those </em>moments. I was cold, my shoes were soaked, and my umbrella was being a pain in some particular region of the body in which many would refer to as a scandal. We got off the bus in a literal last second decision (we had been previously contemplating just calling it a day due to our wet and miserable states, but then realized you're only in Portugal once, and this could be one of those stories you would tell your grandkids about..) only to discover the bus to pick us up would not return for another hour and 45 minutes. At this moment I do believe I declared to some god or another "Fack* my life." But anywho, life clearly went on. So, shaking, shivering, and mumbling infamous curse words under my breath, I began to wander through the terrential downpour and hurricane force winds to the cliff. Just my luck, about 10 meters away from the bus stop, a gust of wind grabbed my umbrella, threw it inside out, twisted it in a circle, and spat out the result: snapped supports. Aka my umbrella of five years and 13 countries died. In accurate accordance to the mood I was in, and the appropriate elevation of anger upon this discovery (folks, I was in a hurricane, in cold February temperatures, ballerina shoes, and left without an umbrella) I found it somehow appropriate to throw a small tantrum in the parking lot of the park. After throwing my umbrella to the ground, stamping on it with all my anger and throwing it five feet, I immediately felt relieved. After retrieving the remains of said umbrella, I wandered out to the coast and ended up enjoying myself and laughing with Carissa while taking photos of cliffs. Yep. One of <em>those</em> days. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIp3HMhXJ-UAVDFmp7bU3Ov1y8a89v6Og9BcXESQw9KoXmFehRC2DM2hMe2EXeMEYi2GswAoxAkq1vl7TGKX3NejaDOAZwSIAZm56DpzXccDJNUEt7clllz9h69WOKvWpjctz3rzOLuogz/s320/427.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicHrznLZSxeYR4iUVmDLr7kmvNpeWXOx-phlNClnHFxUtNxfHwIaMPBwBRHvqZ3xExEYBoHcvf29m2LGrJy8gowmGYEw6AbofrgAXnYO7_2yPN4GVeYUb-jE8Yzfy0yt7ZvdAztnEF82ly/s320/433.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9DmGsbASwelBDayG8m6wRi7QZyR9PtDUFKfIshN5urA5d4TB6M-oaNBairhOov8qn-vFH_5J-rP_4hnNhv4ZqRW7UMR0c_-stVpg2-SvJYqD5fpSVlJmCRW1N8MQ4yZryY7zCw1U4rTjG/s320/428.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbaQ9kSIWhy78WcwUzlRCQImwAzHhQdcRPnAIqYHsGa1LR_4WVaoe-10TYwZWggXZYNTzoJJwLTLgEVFSbZjipy1fcTZO0Mr-Qix7s2_SexN1csEtALnDcII-MHsU4Tk7EDmCsgUo-HQ8d/s320/453.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKkb7lq4n2Jg-YQBrZ87x3Vxlq7iwcZ6LdaAqqax8QdGi0xLG5Oh2XoiSAPUAB5Ysitte9fGNcxP8VE6h3cYa01mCIKN0ypSbrbOWhLzmCwga9PqS_wfgp9wGB3nq3WUp2fz0D81seT70B/s320/445.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJtuKg0yEER0xqpqUzRdIwwr2qRUIW5hFQGGaP7WWgQSIIBMfoGpbd2KtLcGBSM8OMcFitxhixpEgAOIaWPMvm0QMfja0vG-3co4oSiH5YgM43qiAbxikzlkt1BvoJPt3KFIA7sTkeret/s320/459.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGA1bsNUpaiFhE8_gAwgrhZ_MqMVmaqOuyBaNnKrbBs-QrzCbSa33u4KgzKBsXx_FKA5iO39f0oH0Au6J8OYVvd_vmFWGPqj-FRPZPOL54L5ij0yqZLCq29bL_VRwqiec5G6sExG7IHKFD/s320/454.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0RMfgAm7qHdzHEuiamd3xUMavqUXCshNM8Yo3weOMkE3MIza0s6MpyF1Y8mK9fbMvet7BTceTJJFQkr2hyphenhyphenp0tEVWJx4OwbaZTF_fblzUJpU-VE1-Kn4EJ_GsmDnKJh7h8-d2vKOxtjMZ/s320/471.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VSXzP7PSVoTHPeYgXHccFfRng9kBNmv7AtEDHVFTgSLile74-0yLuIVUk6N7naYFO3v22gugsvNMcVMlycGzGfMuO0Qe_QgZQ0-BsbyGgoLMQtpjMAJ8LsD7p3ewVdfPSLKYyb1Hs4r2/s320/180801_499405955508_525485508_6520133_853970_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhs6M8GlJFxh-TihOdZnwG2zFnRreV2sg27i5jjDUIUDRGUX4XErL3FA50BbtWs05CjlQYho8riUAyTaExILfemKHYBpZGO80DXY-I4keSP6aZZhv4PTTgRLba4nJeWYShaj7za-Xh_vws/s320/llg.bmp" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37HTXSmL4xBAS67UAv4M_6f4SfDXhlBsvnVwTRLP50q68vBJOuBUiUxHgVLXCjgylRtj5QOLpx-3g4WRnmpif7uJWlDpPB89K5l6eOk8EujV0SXP5epZf7r6oudBeFnytoSC3SShaqtOb/s1600/lvff.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37HTXSmL4xBAS67UAv4M_6f4SfDXhlBsvnVwTRLP50q68vBJOuBUiUxHgVLXCjgylRtj5QOLpx-3g4WRnmpif7uJWlDpPB89K5l6eOk8EujV0SXP5epZf7r6oudBeFnytoSC3SShaqtOb/s320/lvff.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There you have it folks. Cabo Da Roca.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And the unfortunate death of the Umbrella. May it rest in peace in a Portuguese Landfill in the sky.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh also, it was valentines day that day... the only sign of the commerical holiday was red and pink balloons in their local pizza hut. Go figure.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Holy man this post is getting long. My bad.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After we got back from our little penninsula adventure, we just passed out. End of story.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tuessday, we did another walking tour. However, this time, it was of the other side of the city; the city destroyed by the earthquake. You can definitely tell the difference in architecture and such; it may not be "modern" but it is definitely not old. Kind of hard to explain. The city, after it was destroyed, was conveniently rebuilt in a block with 8 streets going north south, and 8 going east to west. That way, everything was quite simple and finding things would not be as complicated as it was in the city prior to the earthquake. My hostel was in this little 8X8 block, so I felt pretty special. We went over the history and effects of the earth quake, saw some of the main sites and a great over view of the city. If you stay at Yes! Hostel, as I previously advised, definitely go on their free walking tours!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQnmp5vibCOKQ6rZRHNW-Zo_rZM3ihYNEsskZenZUKgYfynhbkSLkLhnDVMN8mDeP6m_lDLmdyepuZVFoMpoIOwpPKWOLx9TCEv_GL3i8YvvQ_US0GIAaYwhcG-ipKeVhu1SlR-IhGMRgH/s320/484.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGQZEVAmfcK-Y_Wg1WNAQosOmpUEbR2wYtaLOr_BJB2bbWaqST86ufsQ7MqA-pdpTkum-cxiyVj2ry6qmUexre2ZTachsGtpl982Qj-cW8lwOQkmmRuXnmWnClJ-JnYk9nUNA9AvFsKfvP/s320/048.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgna9wKIsPeeXasVEQnQ-TP5zqEmZjTKSnRBJ5Zcw90wubSHcZuMsLLpU9sQ1mnxAGQ8rHtgCKLQiFbJaBF_ubS6o79dDnp7CNIP0LMdNjjqi2Tp0aFIIHj6gPomUdSA7j0riW3F8wfS-sO/s320/495.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTXf5VTgf0InZ3ha4nlKJTDFhxn64J0kZss7vr1tKOiR32QrkaALl3A7OYVl2IYOAwTTfvjXjOQ3_R_XKG_1UXiV4MtLnZBPLsrZii2H5J_TEK3CtddWPTnPIYvMhDhtH14orQf5G3ELjU/s320/523.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvJSQVjPo6cWwMVU2doluw3PI7vk9oOscfQnwapRfHJYf-aSdCQ_xlxSxynqsCSLFGa_Z1sIO-udvLasV8NDOqspNaxHT0-QtHHe08esARnDDKt6Z5Tgt2DUNc2ZRDkrv1tj6DkC6Hw8CR/s320/476.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEierZA7FfC7pXLm2CZHAMm7t_Aq2UJZcZJOK3An6DRhwclfL6Lh1qQtAXJENLFVMxbNnJsT5tLF2BpjnH98jjQfCAz9r4p2b5G31pJjnfVBax79OKxAG1YRL-H4H53plg9QT3s47N150bf_/s320/534.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4ReHGxcJ7-xnQGolROMJpliV4jo_PX_chJlu4Tl93rNiBD-GoPDafpWSKQC79Se1rf3YpGy36ChieFcylTD6Eso3BcG8pNZuiHbCcNr0FNNZpoda6Dt1Kmcy_ZSD2lDGmZdtf4CMEykb-/s320/537.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia0w_92G57BGk7FkmvQkNDUSse0GPGdWLnldsX_6PxOFt43oDM2dg7_fq9LkGHyAnOt8K97zc64EJ_IRSeWpR08mvadTEdxACOQHBtEtQinvsMSnVzgyuX_gfpKhSpQp_JIpoIu7J13t25/s320/544.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh0pZ8kc7O84b7Ki7CbOIXNW8qIs3o1_ZIBM4mSb_rw8SCPyeqywbDjfb2mE1bdREcP3VY84JckEbDrBkg0MNjNLOvGYf6Xww8q0OzljPr1Q-5p3Xz5EI9sWBb4M09iQfNdC8W4XwFeqaY/s320/551.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEif1GYBv6VTztLNaRTtNMAn6Vo10qc-QqZVRm-srwvOSKV_dymzE3LD3nr3Um0ohbFRtNEmD9YYuc4FO4pyS_KJGGkaYEbkrgaD9WhzngF7yLxWqkMIx9c6gUr7jiPlDvt-CJakUj3M3xNw/s320/546.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ahhh you all just need to go to Portugal. Like seriously. It's just unreal. Looking through all my photos makes me just want to jump on a plane and fly back to the custard-filled, tounge r-rolling and windy coasts of a country. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On our last full day, Carissa, a friend from the hostel and I went to a really nice suburb of Lisbon called Belém. It was only about 30 minutes by tram, and had quite a few attractions right within a small area. Quite convenient. We went to see the botanical gardens (had to sit and wait for a small monsoon to pass for a few minutes, but afterwards the weather was bearable), a monistary, some huge monument to the Portuguese explorers, and a castle. The one castle was literally sitting in the sea which I found pretty darn sweet.. and also wondered who was blamed when the sea level rose to engulf the bottom of the castle. Hmm.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwJ6RGuI9HDy3l3kbH2pBnRmoSsGhLbWDEFla82OZerB7PYd5G9vrOSMGEqrpu49_kc5oD3zprDzXzwkMFq53NrcUMdXYjyEw6z1OBSoUCOzhJWeC-tz2tWmEQSbViHyf2ZaYq89xWHrsW/s320/594.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFSQHgVY4H9OsTgWTLgiPJvoHSEenmgVYxe8gqwiwyOi0vqaYuAqsci5edOCzzh5JMFVoWmEZvW2BhugYqSXhyphenhyphenlbBwWA7G4mhsH89fGhqaLcTDprJLqT2BagCIcal29Ya2jXsDSY8UJq3p/s320/597.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS9A5PfOTv15Zhft7SvdblcpzqgQfezuAGML62d1shLKakB3DYrBBS02zMF6SWXn2r2tjtwkEcpWmoDIbDWaDx9VgrWpS2MlHi58FQYaGtQpyEo3e1izi2Q2Q-fQaN-KtCM4qgeZJqSzF-/s320/603.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg30i4NxIllxraj3hCaE_CGfuu9c4WBccwDiPQJCtdynNNggqKOnDWRWv94te2dnH2IumqTMZqNwYWQoocmlRbYB8rSCc6MeWnRTAMDC_KfTtv0YDaewtHnTeOoAKi8AVK3emCJ1Baes7nJ/s320/618.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSIigAfxN_OCLw46g_CT2_6_AqinmK7zi_NxXTz963gmGUYqto5OmMpkZLww6JmYR1iBfNrEwZ3zC2JtCHi3v5K43NJtguJv8F-7qtsDmEFFN469RGmFgRlG1czHfNIJTKfPRixPjstfUb/s320/620.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigKFOTNXzMQq2NJ06yt7q0U_WQso3v2K5FXVjN4OzBuCc35iNER7cAyW-c_btj5nzNkFJyhmmUqSpeBw6WlWb5hhHaiQmtaWypJJaA0Nk13nrLZDjuvMIRsEYvLG23sI9m2Tx91HgSbt8B/s320/646.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_DJ6I6XVbwJSal3GoFfk_In-MHHplmMjgKy8W3A0taJKgtYPe3yZzd5TGz__6myVUxPdsbLj6Ir2FSTmt9MhhQSHP8EBiNUechQu2mpZ746MkcCau5mh9oQ4PARzdpC2ZFYTv6QZVUT_b/s320/635.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pyslnJsPlDHnv3UZsCKtZrS_-hRo5WRQikahMOcL-Ocnc97XclVEqQjMjn_VsmwyFcTPS9sYJLonOlwV2hsLGcoidWQsuGeyLlCb4vjNXQ9ckWbhWVsxUMXh3BCA-4kLAc-StT3bDgiY/s320/682.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxnAhHvVJGvQhrSZeokU3YXsv4KT2ls3Yfw27ZjYNS96D0lalmatCkjxRxo7YOKzYsLR0P0CPWwYYPiz2MtLofIdE8marvwbO2k02wDZZHW0XoodKtfCm0xTtM9Elgw9lEYVWt992H-GxR/s320/699.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQM_rrUWhVoTbw56ittcPf2l_egRxM9vCue6gua5V1pkyOhiI-8JyEes2AEOJqFMnXgvq2GcPdkTSS67B6bFcl2bs55ZfI01xUtGMxLioRP1OdrQgXxBVN7EjNaKWeKFMXaLX1L1mPfi-/s320/717.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuIR0ReoI9dOAmmlhwIY0LMqKbuSIddywW_bDRE-DikQpYItKuAcIK2k_4dj6VPFITQ-jatPPn1fbHAyh_TjpnsTcGsLhB_UoX7tgJrAJfnqGDMggpQ1rJI94eqTGt7kj2XflO8gfwrNMq/s320/747.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5SLO78Ne3-2x0AWlH3aT7nyfIgeXsEttM_W2-Nx93-vy6WY6hkpvNaFcxNQPcEEgSW-2LX_PO1XNEVN2g38ivA0aSu-x2J1KJu8ZELJf13Zgr_ThlOryAr1F2PSj5Ch9HNEa_DuSvuUV/s320/749.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The last photo with my messed up face is merely due to the extreme force of winds. I'm serious people. Hurricane force. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also in Belem there's a small pastry shop which sells the Portuguese special pastry, pastel de nata. However, the special element about this pastry shop is that it not only was the original store which started making the pastry (basically a little cup with custard type filling) but that there is a secret ingredient. Only four men know the secret ingredient, and they are never allowed to converse with one another; aka no one knows the entire recipe. At one point a bunch of Italians opened a lab to figure out the secret ingredient. However, they must have been paid off to keep their findings a secret, because from one day to the next this rival lab just closed and disappeared. Anyway, in my opinion, the secret ingredient is just extra egg. Silly portuguese. Carissa and I ordered one each for 90 cents at this chatoic shop... they were delicious but I kind of found the ones sold at a not-so-special shop around the corner from our hostel to be even more tasty. Oh well. Still delicious.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySIGlx2peodSrxEmONzrrNjsYvhT0M4GJGWJ8eytBj3KVg1pTFhHUWYYI3jJ6iKLpVxWK_3QLLJqqHylh47LdKDLWt7QcW-138nc2QIfCV-eRMHzy-Bq8y9wguWXb6iHD4BxE27r2qLUr/s320/750.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMrVCoYSJwEguN2iEL2zg0Z4y-IS0mQtSLXnJ1RScOay-9YyEEaDPZULRbqduwQvReD_juQeWYgP23qaH9X_JuavNOfX2UkivhoxjesDTKJ7nJ3V3v8sQc3wULQs36IHQ9YJqKAzcRI_Tp/s320/752.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGeSihbK-zGf2Iicyvi2f-YCogRDGORBz7utZWq5fuVXt4KC07EpOgmNtc2_2rphUzTcV9Sp9SEDZTKkqG4lm-B34wFpmprJYZOvjPBA9-Cgr_8TUclz2eipP0lWOzkQkH659D6ZagXYL/s1600/754.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinGeSihbK-zGf2Iicyvi2f-YCogRDGORBz7utZWq5fuVXt4KC07EpOgmNtc2_2rphUzTcV9Sp9SEDZTKkqG4lm-B34wFpmprJYZOvjPBA9-Cgr_8TUclz2eipP0lWOzkQkH659D6ZagXYL/s320/754.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Speaking of food... our hostel offered an authentic portuguese three course meal for a cheap price, made by one of the locals. Of course Carissa and I decided to attempt it- cheap = good. Authentic = good. Win win. However, upon actually finding out what we were eating, well, it was much more of an adventure. The starter soup was a pumpkin base with carrots, potatoes, beans, and cabbage. That was pretty darn good. The main course however, was basically all the parts of a pig, some blood sausage, cabbage, beans, bread and rice all mixed together. Needless to say, it was interesting. Granted it wasn't nearly as daring to eat as if I were to go to Singapore and eat a sheep's brain, but still. Pretty sure I saw a pig's snout in one of the ladels she attempted to put on my plate. Daring, I know. But actually it was quite good- I just ended up avoiding questionable pig pieces and the blood sausage. I did quite well for myself :) Desert was just fruit covered in a chocolate sauce, nothing special.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGSdnHWs0EM4gFWx6i8CWf25KMvDnqsXWCahwvk8aAYZ6DBKGNKPpDZ62Gl3r3_zR4lK0AWsPpnoVCKQ0NioV76WP5K6wXdeC5h_DYEG6kBYXg0JTMe7CL-SL8PdgLIRStrQ7psYXDIwzJ/s320/588.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggDG_KMH3v5IxRApekBYOsrgUbt1cqDTz8h1I2oM9JYpwbClDt7EKJOPYd17dRNFzB9dQ8nr89zswHNYIe2mCj-rPQMIrnsf2xe0rFgAwKK92Co2a3U2t1Uh-5HV3XUoKaV7EKmIsTtyre/s320/592.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">There it is folks. Oh my god this post is so damn long. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh before I forget to mention, sangria is delicious!!!!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Anyway, after all that info.. all I have left to talk about is my birthday celebrations. Basically, I just hung out and drank with some friends at the cheap hostel bar and brought in my birthday. My actual birthday I spent on a plane and train back to Marburg, but oh well. At least the celebration of bringing my birthday in was fun due to the awesome people I met at the hostel :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8FYC2TQHNbVyJB676jPZrMCwbNq0x_RfF7OR3I82OsedwP5rytFZOXZeujVALrpMEfUuNMIsmiIh6YoG8UE4kxVIrxloTT6ycO1QEwgajRviKG97vbihjmzue30FP4Wspz8gMdB85KOj5/s320/758.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbPDLFfLnqjcoB90s7fvcJiVlF1JLV9UExJFucI0wQtHHXKWiO8Rsc5v5wYWFsG-jMvZ8X_LuexV11wVBi5-kIDgoVKp611tFsuUayTIULO8E5Rjn2Ist6U34hubSfLGbn0IQOvcapI1hL/s320/768.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoe2yOgBrs7yjRrEhbChpdCaVgBSosl127l2_nBoCdpOQvSd-A5xJ9o6H2OdU81TVTAvEG3WQ1HV0-_ZgfQz3hC0kFOBY3LXtWl_APWNQIo05Ua55i2jZihJCUHbBP4F5p82BYLYaLeyPi/s320/763.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEwc1qKXvBUqZTt6sv1V2c4QghjVi_FTM88XJCEL1EW142sCOzDnFk8PKRw0M9VfoI7w6FCgQqOD6Pf3Dnco2M4jlOuyVRiGb1CWqy5AOhtPP8hGNLY-qUXTiClLB_P8aHXuxIvsHtA58G/s320/776.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBrRAy7WKmr6WQRrWoll5nPJ_kBo6Na9TaWzcas3UtvxDJQSAjcOBFhZ9PU7DXhvRRGuwpdpkbxQZBMh94ybCejmNAhzS_PvIk0iZ-4Myyz4HJOkt8WVE_7ftJC8kTGe8RpkwtuFEktU0/s1600/777.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaBrRAy7WKmr6WQRrWoll5nPJ_kBo6Na9TaWzcas3UtvxDJQSAjcOBFhZ9PU7DXhvRRGuwpdpkbxQZBMh94ybCejmNAhzS_PvIk0iZ-4Myyz4HJOkt8WVE_7ftJC8kTGe8RpkwtuFEktU0/s320/777.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Birthday breakfast for champions :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Once arriving home to Marburg my girlfriends and I celebrated again with a quick little cake and chat at my friend Nichola's house across the street..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3iecrllxj-BkAtalTe_NuA97XTnpSKzqwbCcISwuWsUNc-9AZV9E0Y1h2V8JMy31Y51jbLKBGxA3uc8WRoI3obsNHXZXfYsVZs5RMrbvL5JVlaPyUsHXVR4HGbpyGuyLp09ddkcp86Gx/s1600/779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3iecrllxj-BkAtalTe_NuA97XTnpSKzqwbCcISwuWsUNc-9AZV9E0Y1h2V8JMy31Y51jbLKBGxA3uc8WRoI3obsNHXZXfYsVZs5RMrbvL5JVlaPyUsHXVR4HGbpyGuyLp09ddkcp86Gx/s320/779.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8mpliKkgY2j6fSEjA0HdR9YOZmYrzzV7VRFcgrXv_SlB-rQCN42ajj94WIN6ORIIvr8Em2WkmlbEf_HNAWKFclD3IyVBfa60WvVmO8DBpIlLzIcgInmn6VzyJMdEcuYcHzlH_Qj6WKsG/s1600/783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8mpliKkgY2j6fSEjA0HdR9YOZmYrzzV7VRFcgrXv_SlB-rQCN42ajj94WIN6ORIIvr8Em2WkmlbEf_HNAWKFclD3IyVBfa60WvVmO8DBpIlLzIcgInmn6VzyJMdEcuYcHzlH_Qj6WKsG/s320/783.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and BOOM longest post done :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'll post a reviewed post of Portugal and my interesting culture facts tomorrow or something. BED. </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Not a ton has happened since the superbowl celebrations, but let me tell you, the weather here in Marburg? Phenomenal! We are averaging currently at about 50 degrees for temperatures, even though some days our expected highs are only around 37. It truly feels like spring here, which I am completely content with. I feel like dealing with winter here makes the time pass more slowly and make me more aggitated since I don't want to go out and explore as much.. so yay! Spring! I've been going on walks every day, and I swear I got sunburnt one day this week. It wasn't that hard to accomplish after walking around for about 5 miles under the clear blue skies. I could definitely get used to this.<br />
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In other news, it just hit me today that I really only have about 4 months left here. That sounds like soooo long to some of you I'm sure, but oh my gosh. That is like, nothing!! Where has this year gone?! I am trying to plan my final little trips, and I'm coming to the conclusion I just don't have enough time to do everything that I want to do! ahhh!! When I left the states after Christmas I was like oh, no big deal, I've got 5 months to do all this stuff I want to do. Well, a month has gone by, and tomorrow I'm leaving for Portugal, then to Hamburg for my birthday, then Berlin for culture class, then language class/culture class for six weeks, then normal class, and then... home. Oh my god. I am so not ready for this whirl wind of a tour to be over. I guess I'll just have to come back and do another study abroad! haha I think my dad just had a heart attack. But yeah. It's ending waaaay too fast!! <br />
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Lisbon tomorrow! 4 am train to the airport! I'm pumped!!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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WEEEEEEEEEEE ARE THE CHAAAAMPIONS MY FRIEEEEENDS!!! <br />
(cue Queen- We are the Champions)<br />
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The Packers won the Superbowl! We are world champions! MY HOME TEAM! Oh my goodness, was I excited. I woke up this afternoon with a sore throat due to excessive screaming, wearing green and gold from head to toe and the biggest smile on my face. Today, folks, is a great day to be a Packers fan. Especially a Packer fan with their hometown roots in none other than the almighty Green Bay, Wisconsin. <br />
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The Suerbowl started at 5:30 PM Standard Central time Sunday evening, which put the start time here in Germany at 12:30 AM on Monday morning. Superbowl Monday anyone? Many were surprised to hear I was going to stay awake into the early morning hours over a sporting event (Especially those who have known me to sleep through a variety of games in my past.. I must admit, sometimes my fan qualities are quite embarassing.. ) But you had to be kidding yourself if you thought I wouldn't go through thick and thin to watch this game live. THIS IS MY TEAM. MY CITY. MY PEOPLE. MY LOVES. I was wide awake, twitching actually, by the beginning of the game. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj76HfqkGf9uTqv7QqOQbvKvpEEMtUiRTTZYyBmcffX1VAHSlPdQqJtY6stazx_aaQ9ab21AcdNph9O0EpZj_tbSaBbToYay4tJmgP5G_oMBMiEja2OvQWADFV5tcnBkQh4C8CbjFsBkL4g/s320/181721_493563565508_525485508_6442276_5365476_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8j_Bi8qe-aj-IZW2xDnt-2GmY92iMOfhShsK4QGB04OKMgFI0QdrUfoXmuncOaVf02HHQN3rls7NydjEn51QpxDlNfyVSYfDspCJ6cwfRMxs_-kJPsuFbWsCXCEQxXUDXDGnucouLwQR/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQhGAtBeLM7Lpw6r7AfwLm25SU4ChJHTLcqLVPTPiwIFOPJ80WiR_6Ny40RkKB1LVBklZX80FNbdySe9RRAoPkO28ilcjIh1ckihvTzeJFiCT9XQqmCkV5Q1cIXHchLQAl0uQLv5GtXlz/s1600/007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYQhGAtBeLM7Lpw6r7AfwLm25SU4ChJHTLcqLVPTPiwIFOPJ80WiR_6Ny40RkKB1LVBklZX80FNbdySe9RRAoPkO28ilcjIh1ckihvTzeJFiCT9XQqmCkV5Q1cIXHchLQAl0uQLv5GtXlz/s320/007.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
For the festivities, my friends and I found ourselves at a local Mexican bar here in Marburg. I know, it's kind of a boggling thought, but whatever works, right? They had a mexican food buffet for the game which we all took advantage of (German Beer and Nachos.. sounds like the ultimate Superbowl package to me..) and settled in for the game. By the beginning of the game we discovered that Carissa (From Waukesha, WI) and I were probably some of the most die-hards in our section of the bar quite quickly, but hey. There were some good sports in there willing to scream with us. Tense moments in the game has us freaking out, I mean it was 3 am our time, the time alone had our emotions all over the place. But it was an amazing game. When it came down to the final moments of the game, with about 1 minute left on the clock and the other team only 6 points, one touch down, away from beating us, I don't think Carissa and I even breathed. And then they thew the interception. We took a sigh, a momentary calculation to realize we had won, and then flew out of our chairs screaming, shaking, and celebrating loud enough to make sure our team heard us all the way from our little Marburg. It was a crazy evening. The late night partiers at the bar (who I am quite sure had no idea how the game worked or who the packers even were) were celebrating with us, taking shots on their own, screaming PACKERS BABY PACKERS *add German accent* and dancing. It was amazing. I felt such a strong pull towards home, it was unreal. I almost cried at one point, but ehmm well, didn't I guess? Watching everyone in Green Bay celebrate the win on the news sites this morning made me feel a slight tinge of homesickness, but it may just be the envy of them being there in the amazing atmosphere of the epic win. Here are some photos of the night.. and congrats Green Bay. Home is where the heart is, and my heart is DEFINITELY home with my team today <3<br />
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<em><span class="body"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">"Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.</span></span> " - Vince Lombardi</em><br />
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Welcome Home Lombardi Trophy, Welcome Home. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNzZlkA_i_SiPyiIKbYx9SA6eNtTiObaLTPaO_eoVrKlj7eWxrzdkgzmkj0l_FVA6A5L4MyoPGVI-Cn3BShrqLgrj1blcF-K0wu2eMSy538MvPlHS_NxYLdMdYnN0E7iiXE_WhVBogN4EJ/s320/166797_493563350508_525485508_6442271_2365496_n.jpg" width="240" /><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjioa7vOc77jT-kg4txi5-iwHT5C4ZOjc8YzpzTXGYkupH6aLmc5MlpEWICDDNUe9qBtf-eKtGDaChqfvynC560Ts9_Iqf3oxJfTN-ZBhwP0WypglqokvojqA_Q5FJ056kGg04xtx3zZTAW/s320/181982_493566335508_525485508_6442329_3546580_n.jpg" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh48eaby6Qo1X1Ou84Nd9ZBLcuP4TtpgEI98zYjtEWFK5uplSL_AFu8s_0hvriTDoP0lA1GGr4_liFQrZSRn5J63PIRJseIWrZDnSAqzp-JUGgY7NQU9dCQfntdiqjjomp8Ppk4GxTlK9o/s320/180383_493565515508_525485508_6442326_7814919_n.jpg" width="320" /><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8bLo5Vwhyphenhyphen-SkLukw1Kyxaj8qHDMQOLM8FCqXxXF6oz-qoqx3UW2DZbE7N_XKKA-FJttcQGCkqcOH9DzcpRngg2Xj0m6JC_gnjgPQIkuO2EgkHKtFL8768CtzeaqfYdaYvM9goW_05hmS-/s320/181962_493566425508_525485508_6442333_1067486_n.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
One additional note- the last time the Packers won the Superbowl? I was in Kindergarten. It's definitely their turn to shine :)<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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So... I think you all got the idea that Nichola and I spent the majority of our time wandering around the city without a real destination on the first day. We managed to stumble upon the palace and parliament building, but also other awesome places like the National Cathedral and well.. tons of other buildings. Here are some of those pictures.. The National Cathedral is the huge red chuch you'll see. <br />
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These were all generally taken in the main downtown square of Stockholm. In the summer there is a beautiful garden covering the main little center square, but clearly, we weren't there in Summer. Oh well. As you can see from the one advertisment, Sweden bears no shame or restrictions in advertisement. Another example of this :<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6sddTXiJEq6-dzaxk6PerIiPk2zLSaxsejf9dbYUjx8k9ib6RBMlwRJU8b_Uk-tLMCPX1vdvyNHIwtVaPZMkanm1htUNG-ip0TgVv4-6azj-GrRlohIJ_zgZkcGSYDkgNtLf7x70bGoZ/s1600/274.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic6sddTXiJEq6-dzaxk6PerIiPk2zLSaxsejf9dbYUjx8k9ib6RBMlwRJU8b_Uk-tLMCPX1vdvyNHIwtVaPZMkanm1htUNG-ip0TgVv4-6azj-GrRlohIJ_zgZkcGSYDkgNtLf7x70bGoZ/s320/274.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Yep. Granted, I have no idea what the sign is saying, but I kind of have a general idea? I find it so strange that they're so open about things like advertisement when there are SO many small children living in the city. Seriously, they're everywhere. Then again, I guess it is just part of their culture; I guess it may not always be bad to hide things from your kids? Eh. Speaking of Children though, Stockholm has an extremely young age base. There were small children all over! There were tons of schools, parks, childrens shops and playgrounds. Nichola and I saw a lot of them out on ice rinks during what appeared to be their recess. Imagine that.. in Sweden, instead of playing on a playground for recess, you go ice skating. No wonder they're so good at Ice sports. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRXh0uzmEPPxdUj89nFZLx_2fYuJp8vbnqAXQ6h_cWx7UcO19cQfcqM6uRLhzSUUrmIh4Y4S6GFRWs_hOXbIrQER6BW4wH06oS69H6nx3ucCSCNgGq46qjcvQlOPnMsCFxfCgR9FEDtN7p/s320/166.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEV4M7U8xhvm9aPwT589BTVsnVDEh7qHyxCE_ACclETxzZIs6W6AOZP-noOT7La5-C_el_J2GiN3O-WVbAofd1knU9kizMwEpPZ-myJgafoXQ3Us8GOEqQsEvd49Qg7e3eYgrJ0dZ4_qj-/s320/167.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyDvfnDGnTO7aLlqk-_HAG6aTuP6l03mTL6KX8nfWkc4NovEk0hz6BVxOddLHTdZVvANtjRgQ6tzYSuQzjPPuXJuGy60xpWd1YSgCGV9dWW2nEbglHXKdtZCeUvd9MbZ48gL7JswD3YTe/s1600/168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCyDvfnDGnTO7aLlqk-_HAG6aTuP6l03mTL6KX8nfWkc4NovEk0hz6BVxOddLHTdZVvANtjRgQ6tzYSuQzjPPuXJuGy60xpWd1YSgCGV9dWW2nEbglHXKdtZCeUvd9MbZ48gL7JswD3YTe/s320/168.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Awww. The two boys actually laid there arguing over what I presumed to be who's fault it was for about 5 minutes. At least they were wearing helmets? <br />
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While staying with our host, I learned quite a bit from him about the Swedish culture... Here are some bullet points for you..<br />
<ul><li>Recently, 10 seats in the Swedish Parliament have been awarded to the racist party of Sweden. They are racist against immigration into their country and to other cultures influencing their traidtional Swedish culture. This is quite the controversy in the nation at the moment, and is also making other nations in Europe nervous, since it is one of the first European nation's to have a racist party active in government since World War II. Ahh!</li>
<li>Swedes love their coffee and cafe's; there are at least 10 per street. However, there is only one Starbucks in the entire country, and it's located in their Stockholm International Airport. </li>
<li>Sweden, in general, is quite lifeless after dark. Their people tend to just go home from work and hibernate in their apartments; they are not big on a night life. </li>
<li>Swedish people, when they see a friend on the street, will generally ignore them or pretend they don't know them. (This is information from my host, so I can't be 100% positive on that one, but ehmm sure?) They don't accept friendships easily, they generally just have friendships since they were little and then stick to them. They make acquaintances, but not deep friendships. Again, this is just what our host told us. </li>
<li>There are not that many homeless/beggars in Sweden. I'm guessing the artic cold has held an effect on this, but Nichola and I did not see a single one during our entire visit. It was strange since here in Germany, even in the smallest of cities, you will find them with their cup and tolken dog asking for money.</li>
</ul>That's the majority of random Swedish culture facts for you... I must admit, I can't think of any others right now. <br />
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Also while I was in Stockholm, we managed to hit up the original IKEA store. I am a huge fan of IKEA in general, however, in my home state, we don't even have one since we don't have a city large enough for one. Our closest IKEA stores are in Chicago and Minneapolis. Tragic. But anyways. Nichola and I went there with the knowledge of cheap Swedish meatballs and the intent to visit the original store. It was actually a nice little get away from the downtown; IKEA is located just outside of the city, and offers a bus (With FREE wifi!!) to the store every hour. We caught the bus, got to the store, ate some meatballs (for only $3 .. the cheapest thing in their entire country, I swear..) ran around the store, bought a cinnamon roll, and then headed back to the apartment. Good times, good times.<br />
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That basically wraps it up for this trip. Granted, there were other stories and such I've forgotten, but maybe they'll show up randomly in my blog at a different time. Lisbon, Portugal is next on the destination list; Sunday the 13th, here I come! I'm pretty excited for that trip- I've never really experienced a Spanish-type culture before (I know Portugal isn't Spanish, but, well, close enough!). <br />
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Also, I would just like to note. My mom is reading this book, <iframe align="left" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=widgetsamazon-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=0380713802&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="align: left; height: 245px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 5px; width: 131px;"></iframe><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Neither-Here-nor-There-Travels/dp/0380713802?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Neither Here nor There: Travels in Europe</a> by Bill Bryson, and aparently it's pretty hilarious. She keeps reading me exerpts from the book, and basically it's all about his adventures in Europe. We laugh our butts of reading it, so I figured I would share it with you guys, since, well, why not? Especially if you enjoy reading about European cultures and norms.. he has quite the commical way of explaining them. Although he is kind of harsh on the German culture. But it was written 20 years ago, so ehm, I guess things have changed a little. However some is till relevant. Nevertheless, still recommend it :) <br />
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Adios folks! Oh, and before I completely end with Sweden, side note, don't depend on them for a sense of direction :) <img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0380713802" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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My friend Nichola and I left for the airport around 3:30 pm on Sunday for our flight at 9 pm. We had to take a train and then a bus to the airport, then our flight, and then another bus from the Skavsta airport to the main train station in Stockholm, and then a Taxi to our host's apartment. It was quite the ordeal and we didn't actually reach the apartment until around 1 am on Monday, but oh well. We were ready for an adventure!<br />
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Starting at 8 am on Monday we began the ultimate walking tour of Stockholm, guided by none other than ourselves. Stockholm is actually comprised of 14 separate islands, of which we managed to hit five. Here is a map to show you how it looks.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2kRkoM5Zs5zz5iQjwFs_yhTlXL3DLxw1SkVRPi5MGasRLEO_2JbWu3vIptXpRvdQV7MIODQ3FC_6qaQu9QhafoorTGRKpHuD42g1iQoSQDgTzjk0bBsL1PYEkeH8wSkqqBhFqJyFAT8y/s1600/079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE2kRkoM5Zs5zz5iQjwFs_yhTlXL3DLxw1SkVRPi5MGasRLEO_2JbWu3vIptXpRvdQV7MIODQ3FC_6qaQu9QhafoorTGRKpHuD42g1iQoSQDgTzjk0bBsL1PYEkeH8wSkqqBhFqJyFAT8y/s320/079.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>Ok so now that we covered that, Stockholm is a really really really Old city. I mean parts of it were Medieval. So there is tons of history to be absorbed there, and the sights are gorgeous. The Swedish people are truly a kind and welcoming culture (probably the most welcoming of my trips thus far) and are extremely skilled in English. Although, side note, don't ask them for directions to the tourism office, because they'll send you in circles for about three hours no matter how many of them you ask, and eventually you'll just have to give up and wander to the City hall for tourist information. Anyways. Back to the city. The streets are kind of a mixture of cobblestone and almost brick-like things, but you can't really tell the difference between cobblestone and ice.. so.. oh well. They don't actually salt their sidewalks and such during the winter months; they accumulate far too much snow and ice to have a stable salt supply on hand. Instead, they use sand. There are sandboxes outside of all the shops, and at moments you feel like you're walking on a beach instead of the streets of Stockholm (granted that feeling only lasts a milisecond until you realize you are no where near warm and can't feel your face). The temperatures while I was there were around 35, and we had two days of sun which apparently is just unreal. Their headlines of their newspapers will be "It will be sunny today!!" if the sun is expected to even show for merely than 10 minutes. I guess in the winter it is only true blue, sunny skies about one day out of the month. The rest is just cloudy and dreary. So yay for us, we somehow got two! Talk about luck. The sunshine was great, but the wind could be brutal since we were right on the water throughout the entire city, which lead to major glove and hat usage. Here are some photos from the old medieval island of the city (now mostly cute little shops and restaurants) called Gamlastan. It was the halfway point to a lot of our destinations, so I actually spent quite a bit of time there..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2VTVPRPopniYezRhp7MW4xVOP_9pMn-1R-f2bbxSOoxvfDjNgJiGjDeRBq9nW8UHCpRM1pAHOR2qoq-v4J6FKst8cRpFSPsUJU9AmHl8a8AYoMvQOMp4S_UfstAMAbGAr4N7hbiYh_i_/s320/025.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi62Sl5XGjZPxy245IKVnCT7JU2Y2Nex9rt_0_yqmPi2b2XNUW4LxEFKODkcYFXvDZ0eUFSWkDE4Cb99UgByWboyAxCl-9dAfyksMcDp2UQupbkCp7_lvL6_-_C2Ab1A7alQ7cd9PFnwpQD/s320/033.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh53GRnKHKWbbbgY-LDkivo9l4J4UfmrdNDI5a9fuJ6Jft72WGsVW8KjayvQdVw-JLL8L-3L73bk29LlIjnsiwo9x9QOzmS7fVZkBEj1SJ6kG_p7TI47ayR4D6iz4YbCEGfNatkUyEWgpH/s320/034.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiDuaDIb5e_DQm4E6BdQo7d0SeaHeGlTntYRicI6qVJiaWCWP1QAsDbFK9Sb9II1qMaxolRTJKB_oh7uaBQ9VmMqLDb936xClA9GivFQEPKI9azk3sLT1WhmS5Qz9qOn2K3qQUl8wO3FhS/s320/040.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The National Parliament Building and Royal Palace are both also located on that island, not too far from most of the shops. My friend and I basically just stumbled upon them without really trying to locate them. According to our host for the weekend, the Swedish people aren't really a fan of their Royal Family, because they aren't really truly Swedish (The queen is Brazilian and German, the Prince, who just married the Princess, was a commoner and just a mere fitness trainer) so it is quite the controversy. But apparently Norway's monarchy is apparently in more of a scandal, however, beacuse their crowned prince just married a stripper. Anywho. The palace isn't all that stunning from the outside, but it suffices. The parliament building is then directly across the street from it. How convenient. The royal family has no real official power over the country, they are just more a symbol of tradition and something to make their postage stamps adequate. Here are what the buildings look like..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">National Parliament Buildings..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP49lfd6__GG13SeXBPBXp1y9aKvq_GB0G4tLHiLTVLV4TrbWULG1BKZHwWA5xk14Go9ZqY8fHwU8DNa46Mnb67mfjR1_a5kYmauG7ThJR_iSByQV_0FQ-PAg6u8k4v0g9Gt5ByduOmkDK/s320/081.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4kUhF-O43rz8GFusADpn5lIf3fwwl8U4Q3dohu1hkYfr1gZn23jU42SxOTDpfpiqBgNKIBWfXQ23xX0MN8i7cGXEfc0V0ElzbzXLuZnuJQymqye8fVbtgD38nsOw7OBsaaHLS75gXyAe/s320/060.JPG" width="240" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dSbof-FDhegb9PULkExx2OQHv5J2kMZmx2uWhB6z411T-tlr6qZ1N1NPZTM64BzrZf_a6rEupIF3_fuYj5-Zfj4J3Yz7FU1qOhCfdRBxorgfElMdU_QFAbIerxLfktW-hxGVH3nj7BIo/s1600/070.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5dSbof-FDhegb9PULkExx2OQHv5J2kMZmx2uWhB6z411T-tlr6qZ1N1NPZTM64BzrZf_a6rEupIF3_fuYj5-Zfj4J3Yz7FU1qOhCfdRBxorgfElMdU_QFAbIerxLfktW-hxGVH3nj7BIo/s320/070.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Royal Palace</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBZrnG10qMVhhF7mIhttAg0uE1jPu-gtOM0uwiMHZEK5J46G4wIARFEYu4pG_JMnp-9nUfNlBNk2jDkLXqJKOovp6lK6G94-mN_DfhaBidgrVqCu0wfeBdMrPuOdWNFRsghocdvnNu7TGO/s320/057.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0bWZgGLzb6xfVcTm5H6SI3oewSNYGn3OG9-xf7LKxXyGxtAB8YKRZa3qTNgpE8HXrTskwAK6aEtgyoaK_LowhPmGa9Ru_lHHHZoqWNpLF2svTZ9g3BS6Ibc2SESEG_ao7e7hoXck5roLR/s320/087.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6COWm0ZC1W8MiKdGwPlmld7JTD0pa979AIoE7QUz6ZQLKNcHpxq9hDmJusf30CQQQE6r1gzUQs-G5_DgnzE1cdHAVA65IKeZsrN715OEAR_P_t24o_phEYD46v8TaAUva36H_GXhR5BJc/s320/089.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56Wp-97_lNgM78McMTrdDuHTpyaN63Dn7Jios2TvxQt2Ce7K470CX9qwBI807VLzYHZ-PPDbAIsZ4DO5HEMZOwiYlu_3CUWVDkV_9jHHXNkVkK6ewjB7ui5fd1Ms_Bxn-wlB_owipoAC7/s320/093.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div>Yep. As I said, not the most impressive looking Palace, but I guess it gets the job done. They give their guard a nice little heating pad to stand on during the cold winter months. How sweet.<br />
<br />
I'm starting to realize I've collected far too much information for this trip to be merely one blog post, so hence the part one. I'll keep writing until I have to leave to meet my new roommates for a movie at 8 pm :)<br />
<br />
As far as Stockholm goes for a trip destination, I would say if you're out of college with a stable income and are willing to spend a little more money in an expensive city, go for it. However, if you are a college student on a limited budget, DO NOT GO TO STOCKHOLM. Or Sweden, or Scandinavia for that matter. It is ungodly expensive. Like seriously. I could barely afford to feed myself, much less pay entry fees for museums and other things with the hope of coming back to Germany and affording to feed and clothe myself ever again. To put it in perspective, if one wanted to eat a cheap version of Chinese food without anything special, it would be around $20 per person, minimum. And that is just chinese. When you try to eat at authentic Swedish restaurants, you're looking at anywhere from $30 a plate or up. Drinks in bars and clubs are at least $10 each, so scratch out the idea of kicking a few drinks back at the end of the day. Coffee is about $5 per cup, at a cheap cafe'. I mean it folks, Stockholm was not cheap. My friend Nichola and I lived off apples purchased at a grocery store and 7/11 Hotdogs. It was not glorious. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhn57qo_Xjtoon723UNx_bg7R2AoYYKr89eL3ffjr0KtYwe4CDeDJz6ydz9emUP_2xgCel_Lw5tRwyLTSOlj_-TrTkHwJF7ETfQOuyPI5cEiBBMwV8e9S2IEOK0m2zfkxUwaQu_FfvlX8/s1600/166832_587212925454_202306456_33068618_1071089_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwhn57qo_Xjtoon723UNx_bg7R2AoYYKr89eL3ffjr0KtYwe4CDeDJz6ydz9emUP_2xgCel_Lw5tRwyLTSOlj_-TrTkHwJF7ETfQOuyPI5cEiBBMwV8e9S2IEOK0m2zfkxUwaQu_FfvlX8/s320/166832_587212925454_202306456_33068618_1071089_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>See what I mean? ha. Anyways. Although the expenses part of the trip wasn't the best, I would still say I am glad I went. It is truly a beautiful city, probably even more beautiful in the summer, with a really interesting culture to be observed. It is also a easy city to walk around in- a lot of things are central enough to only need a good pair of tennis shoes to reach, no bus pass needed (or suggested, they're about $4 per trip, one way..). I guess in all, it was an adventure which I can tell my kids someday. One of those "I walked 20 miles, uphill, in the snow, in Stockholm, just to find the Jewish Museum after only eating an apple in the last 48 hours" stories. :) <br />
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Speaking of the Jewish Museum, Nichola and I really couldn't afford a ton of museums, nor are all of them open during convenient times, so we chose to walk clear across town on our second day to the Jewish Museum. It was super small, only two rooms, but they had some good information on the Jewish history in Sweden. I was not aware that Sweden did not prosecute their Jews during the Second World War, in fact, they sent buses in to save them from concentration camps. The buses they sent were called the "White Buses" and were sent to concentration camps throughout Germany. They literally took back all the scandinanvian Jews from the camps to Sweden, and ended up saving approximately 8,000 lives. Too bad they couldn't save them all :( But on the other side of things, Sweden was the first country to fund the beginning of racial profiling research. So I guess their slate isn't completely clean. In total, I learned quite a bit about the Jewish history which was cool.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcbJ2cOGteLbIcUtM_1gDwIqsfgSJ68dqyoO9sGUFTXe6eh_RmE8jXoLYHvD8ACphhDoDCLHK0KaMCnTsQcm3sIe7NK77itkr_QKlmDHHkRyLWgth79eMaqX96GepodqwkNqfrYVJOlBjS/s320/355.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi97xSyQUEypL4JIxSTaO3jVDzap558dmsenm_LWblTMMbaX3y5bJ6VkRKb_AXJ1v_e0gu2thA87dfJiiUBZjs0c0Zhb3vVAj_TJjqBq9MFS29XTaogabV8aEEyuUgpsiXoJuxnUEkCCNZ7/s320/333.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSR5HjY1uaoxyjymCeAwl2I4gNwgDudb6J-zCIuIMA6dO0tzaFaR8IC0b7ISf9GPr42-q7KL_sY8nVqT3IjXyRtFxjyV55a3gK0llrqEpM-enkial2ybrR2FE3qx73PH4lYuCcm-msodXR/s1600/349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSR5HjY1uaoxyjymCeAwl2I4gNwgDudb6J-zCIuIMA6dO0tzaFaR8IC0b7ISf9GPr42-q7KL_sY8nVqT3IjXyRtFxjyV55a3gK0llrqEpM-enkial2ybrR2FE3qx73PH4lYuCcm-msodXR/s320/349.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
Another place we visited was the City Hall, although it truthfully wasn't one of our planned destinations. We had tried to find the tourism office in order to buy a pass for students for the transportation and museums our entire first day in Stockholm, however all the Swedish citizens which we asked kept sending us in all different directions all over the city. Unfortunately, we didn't find it until the last night we were in Stockholm, but on the plus side, the extra walking just let us see more of the city than we probably would have otherwise. We found out we could buy the pass at the city hall, however, it ended up not being worth the money for the little time we had left in the city, plus we didn't need the transportation; walking was suiting us just fine. The city hall was gorgeous though, especially the views from out front on the water. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeUhzFRXlAarjmAaZq6kXNjmH5ubJSTwQtunX_KC4lJBFhQFwr3sHhxEC-7pm1gXAo0_438sYST7afSwCz_OVOZEj1a6sx1bLNO54O-Nll_Dchgr0_JYmjWGwVAu_-NEXhsFNSr3cx8zV-/s320/182.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPYurhLMx6bQse75ejVYNTAL7eeXJBe5aVy4KX-wLYW_fr6Yiog_bmr2BPF9p1YZHhLmX1Pjohca5jgm8HgXs9CCMx3PEaDandeGs6xtYp36Is-LrZhCgoffGIswtfg-Mld_H6KWRwDCOg/s320/185.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9weJQLPCuf-csj02xqcQKQ2BmV9t3tw7wUnM_56kYzmdXaqj4TGhbM_VrSP6HkAmHeCzcxXi2HYZLvSTidwiVT7vEwVszgnmHxNjYYgPi9lrybG7s3PWGNzqfGRAyP5uigTsENTPH8Hg/s320/192.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFDRA6UWmlfMyRGpuQ6B4rYDbqqOwbl27-wm3as38PQhSN1it4B6vw6PaPE2yGxUibXH-VZW2stwXmkLqNs4PZpk6zr5ZpiQGZziX4SiretDg-pCOapWz0N4FA-lJIhkxnu2MdB6v1fxgy/s320/211.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNV2hyphenhyphenKteyb9Q3cQvRf3LO2DBg6y3M2VbBefSp1I3Wn5qUj3HfByY7giTP2swE_6v9shL9ei-lLx0vma36AvBunM6hzX8dWhASTIjBgnD8UaNbF2aW1f2C8Hair_pfapUo7Vv2WjOB1JbP/s320/200.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAOAoGhapjlvraUBki5pvJQtWUmUtEiaLSDfrvblRieC6_oSIx7NWlNuk_Za_1GyjQ_0OK6hz7MRNh0mMiFCd_Yvi_xUozxuq8dvYopxq4JpemY7sRF8FGq_ySVa6NnrTB6D1Qol1pKpSS/s320/202.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDj3WiMfZbNJO07k9LN1mQmaX3wIXBTdhaRKM6Qgt0NF0tHI5tFz70Bm0SAqVTZqn5Ud18sZrj4KGARLITgW0tYedGdnjcRi60TyVqanCwTRdzacfVc8FrfT6UKiM37HMUHBbtYX6rdZH/s1600/197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtDj3WiMfZbNJO07k9LN1mQmaX3wIXBTdhaRKM6Qgt0NF0tHI5tFz70Bm0SAqVTZqn5Ud18sZrj4KGARLITgW0tYedGdnjcRi60TyVqanCwTRdzacfVc8FrfT6UKiM37HMUHBbtYX6rdZH/s320/197.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Personally, I found the views quite gorgeous. Although, at one point, there are some steps leading down into the water with no guard rail or anything- it's quite dangerous. Especially since there are gigantic ice chunks floating around everywhere, ensuring a freezing body of water below. Interesting how safety standards are different in other countries. In the USA people would freak out and write their city mayors about it I'm sure. And this is on the front steps of their own City Hall. It's a different world out there people, I'm telling ya. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3vCoOoWmMYAfXTe4Dk7GbVM4dKO-p_ECY7ACCGfQ9WLrfbd8MynVYl96O9QabZQJjJFM5F6XSEbhtrFWWN8Q6RM0Y1l2gGsvK5O_HtJp2BS37nW75RKf9QpyouKGUNBTKdyyuQH5a3IT/s1600/198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr3vCoOoWmMYAfXTe4Dk7GbVM4dKO-p_ECY7ACCGfQ9WLrfbd8MynVYl96O9QabZQJjJFM5F6XSEbhtrFWWN8Q6RM0Y1l2gGsvK5O_HtJp2BS37nW75RKf9QpyouKGUNBTKdyyuQH5a3IT/s320/198.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Well, I am going to wrap this up here for today. I will continue on tomorrow. As for right now, I'm going to meet my new house mates at the movies tonight to see Virgin Suicides. I know it's a quite popular book in the States, and I think I even read it, but I seriously can't remember anything about it. Hopefully it's not super scary or something. Also, here is the link to the rest of my photos from the trip, if you would like to just not wait for the remainder of my post and look at them now :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110203?authkey=Gv1sRgCLiUjpTYzarQFw&feat=directlink">https://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20110203?authkey=Gv1sRgCLiUjpTYzarQFw&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Also, I'll try and figure out how to put a youtube video of Stockholm on here tomorrow which would give you a real feel for the city. So yep. Until tomorrow! </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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In other news, I've been doing a ton of walking. My friend Nichola and I got tired of sitting around our apartments and being lazy, so we deicded to go walking every day; usually new paths and new distnaces every day. On Thursday we clocked in around 10 miles minimum, the others always around 3 or 4. And after our walks, we're always off walking around town for errands and such, so my legs are definitely feeling the burn these days. These are some photos I took of the town during our adventures..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZLACyW1lQKCZgLBc8mIWIu5yiIvQ-1W3Yx9VU_OShHikXDoFbx83Y92OeZ4yrTpOIgEJ_2BC92YRmALafgyAOar0zwAopgw2gcZgD8WmwH1IGZLAex-ksZzPobeHwzWYI017wxuIbz604/s320/005.JPG" width="320" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyjiUaeoPNSGsZ_QeoaXnVbwtmupuaT0yctJLbrHuEKVMAbiwntcvHh4BLX0oT9a5f3SF3rebebVqtRrkKH3xvwNEJULb3yJ6W8POJx1tISpzLVNfSB7ZuYb4yAvLFOEfBnWEoAVxsF6O/s1600/009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHyjiUaeoPNSGsZ_QeoaXnVbwtmupuaT0yctJLbrHuEKVMAbiwntcvHh4BLX0oT9a5f3SF3rebebVqtRrkKH3xvwNEJULb3yJ6W8POJx1tISpzLVNfSB7ZuYb4yAvLFOEfBnWEoAVxsF6O/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bfovfbxnLBvPlC4u5hKuT-Tzj-Bz76sd4ELuBgCuMAQ4tIVE92U_UWEN0IA4iRUcbIFNhEDDW7mPaQbdKFFUb5jKATlWSfmPx26jy8sG4HFMyulCsSQOw5ZhOA_jRm_c9Oi2z9KQvgVO/s1600/010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7bfovfbxnLBvPlC4u5hKuT-Tzj-Bz76sd4ELuBgCuMAQ4tIVE92U_UWEN0IA4iRUcbIFNhEDDW7mPaQbdKFFUb5jKATlWSfmPx26jy8sG4HFMyulCsSQOw5ZhOA_jRm_c9Oi2z9KQvgVO/s320/010.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWsOXF4rJ2ub8xEnaXXAkFJKcr9BvNrWxidLUVrRrKSMscZEge1uzoEWPxBm5TVEUhg3CI_mR3XV_eV52dKj07HxCJUbJxXqH9ZZZqJ2FL-WzDJJsRWBKP7FR8_YU1zbQh_44ANm5H8uL/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeWsOXF4rJ2ub8xEnaXXAkFJKcr9BvNrWxidLUVrRrKSMscZEge1uzoEWPxBm5TVEUhg3CI_mR3XV_eV52dKj07HxCJUbJxXqH9ZZZqJ2FL-WzDJJsRWBKP7FR8_YU1zbQh_44ANm5H8uL/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXxxa45qydLobyukZ4Br4-u5k3-gDXUVRR3tNb0BjbY5sskcy_x_hyawR2bH37qyN6eI7pTIArIbFuDhd-NpZQtm8nZjA5hz4grX9GHrMUnHyRPYCjaJJbnnJNIB5pOxSNJU6L1JqXa3n/s1600/014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVXxxa45qydLobyukZ4Br4-u5k3-gDXUVRR3tNb0BjbY5sskcy_x_hyawR2bH37qyN6eI7pTIArIbFuDhd-NpZQtm8nZjA5hz4grX9GHrMUnHyRPYCjaJJbnnJNIB5pOxSNJU6L1JqXa3n/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
Those are all views of my town, and the bird graffiti says something to the effect of "I love colors" "I detest Uniforms." The sport fields are my university's sport fields for the teams, but our program really doesn't use them. The one time I went for volleyball we played in a building near there, but otherwise we're never there. The castle there is the center of town, and I never truly get over how gorgeous it is. Tomorrow Nichola and I are off to Sweden. I'm so excited! I've never been anywhere in Scandinavia before, so this will be a totally new experience. I also have no knowledge what-so-ever of the swedish language, so I'm sure that element will also be exciting and a new challenge. So yep. Until Wednesday!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<ul><li><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;">Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England -</span><span style="color: #990000;">but only in tropical fish stores.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">California has issued at least 6 drivers licenses to people named Jesus Christ.</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">In India, people are legally allowed to marry a dog.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: black;">The Hawaiian Alphabet only contains 12 letters: a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p and w. Every word ends with a vowel</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">There is a city called Rome on every continent.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Portuguese fishermen paint eyes on their boats. They hope that the eyes see where the fish are.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">It is illegal to be a prostitute in Siena, Italy, if your name is Mary.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">It is a criminal offence to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Iceland is the world's oldest functioning democracy.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Between the two World War's, France was controlled by forty different governments.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Dublin is home of the Fairy Investigation Society.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">People in Siberia often buy milk frozen on a stick.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">The national flag of Italy was designed by Napoleon Bonaparte.</span></span></li>
</span></span></ul><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="color: black;">Ok, so some of them were funny, others just facts, but I found them kind of cool. Today I am going for a walk in the mild version of sunshine that we have today, and then later I am going to check out a new apartment! The girl who I am currently renting from is coming back in the end of March, so I need to find a new apartment to move into by then. This one that I found looks pretty nice, but we will have to see. <br />
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Random, but, attention all women readers.. please read <span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Outlander-Diana-Gabaldon/dp/0385319959?ie=UTF8&tag=widgetsamazon-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">Outlander</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=widgetsamazon-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=0385319959" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px !important; padding-left: 0px !important; padding-right: 0px !important; padding-top: 0px !important;" width="1" /> by Diana Gabaldon. I have been reading the series for about a month now and they are probably the best books if not in a long time, ever, read. Seriously. I have told some of you to read them before but.. I must re-emphasize this now. DO IT! haha. Especially if you have a long plane ride coming up.. The one I was reading made my 8 hour flight feel like 4 :) I think if I set this up right, you can just click on the name of the book where I wrote it and you can read the summary of the book or whatever. but read it. seriously. I just finished reading mine for 2 hours and felt the need to share their amazing-ness with the world. Read!!!</span><br />
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<span>Ok enough of that. Im off on my walk and then to the new apartment. Tschuesss!</span><br />
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First off, for all of you NOT from my hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin... our NFL team, the amazing Green Bay Packers (don't let anyone fool you, we are clearly the best in the league, <em>always</em>) is going to the Superbowl. Heck yes much? I am so excited! But it figures that the year they finally make it into the Superbowl, I am half way around the world. I had tried to watch the NFC championship game here (game to decide if they would make it into the Superbowl) but unfortunately there were no streaming sites which I could appropriately access. Boo. But I was able to constantly refresh the score on an ESPN ticker, so I was kind of in on the action. The game started at 9 pm my time here, so by the time the fourth quarter came around, I was way past exhausted. I went to bed with about 8 minutes left in the game (we were up 14-0 at that point, so I figured I was safe to pass out) and didn't have time to check the final score before leaving to catch my train the next morning. Upon arriving in the train station, out of the corner of my eye I caught an image of a green and gold something tackling a blue and orange something else. My neck almost snapped due to the extreme swiveling of my head to the image. The headline read "Packers Out, Bears in, Bears to Win Superbowl." I felt my heart fall to my toes, roll out of my body and get kicked and trompeled on by the masses passing through the train station. Apparently, the German news papers had got it wrong, but at that moment I wasn't aware. After seeing the paper, I threw myself into the International News section of the news papers, rustling through USA news, New York Times, etc. They were all only advertising the game as occuring, no outcomes. I must admit, I probably looked pretty darn strung out, but hell, you would be too if you thought the Chicago Bears were going to the Superbowl instead of your hometown team. It's the bears. Lets be real. They suck. After seriously 15 minutes of running around, frantically searching for a different newspaper which would prove the other wrong, I found a small clip of a paper (seriously, one printed page) with a minor corner dedicated to the score. Packers 21- Bears 14. Relief flooded through me like the bursting of the Hoover Dam, and I almost melted to the floor. And then excitement started pulsing through me like an electric shock, and all the intensities of my emotions left me with the goofiest, large-as-life smile on my face for a good portion of the morning. So, in 2 weeks, you can bet your bum I will be completely devoted and zoned-in on whatever media device is providing me game updates. After all, following the packers is like following a religion; one must be utterly devoted! Go pack go! I"ll be rooting from so far away, but hey, you know what they say; Distance makes the heart grow fonder! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxZ3fGUeg2rLLHE-OAG6i3lo00wZEypaqC2iAACzrf7MVaSnRzl3GRAterPuLf2Ptx_a1uqeGvR4GcqJPAlVfjPQW3beRLyHpBRffWLDvMkP2sKIvKUw-6wePqaC8Dzxcwbh8GRAIf4Iv/s1600/SkyBox_Green_Bay_Packers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmxZ3fGUeg2rLLHE-OAG6i3lo00wZEypaqC2iAACzrf7MVaSnRzl3GRAterPuLf2Ptx_a1uqeGvR4GcqJPAlVfjPQW3beRLyHpBRffWLDvMkP2sKIvKUw-6wePqaC8Dzxcwbh8GRAIf4Iv/s320/SkyBox_Green_Bay_Packers.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
In other news, the rest of my week in Hamburg was pretty fun. The cocktails on Friday with my host siblings, their cousin and our friend were hilarious, and ridiculously cheap! Margaritas were two for four euros, decently sized, and far too delicious. Needless to say, the night was full of good laughs and memories. The bar was named Einstein, and if you are ever in Hamburg, I highly recommend it. It is a super classy restaurant/bar with reasonably priced food and amazingly priced cocktails. Love, love, loved it!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO3p6G0hsSASgDQ9p-JSdUOphEtdQLOIZR8FSdMWP4P1y5uFf1_Efs9255j0sx7z-m7YYwrb__SEcH-jRshciQ67iVRmDGn86R97ze-KXkHdZXK8HUIKalmnYk__yL2TkhOVg7qifFTTX/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDO3p6G0hsSASgDQ9p-JSdUOphEtdQLOIZR8FSdMWP4P1y5uFf1_Efs9255j0sx7z-m7YYwrb__SEcH-jRshciQ67iVRmDGn86R97ze-KXkHdZXK8HUIKalmnYk__yL2TkhOVg7qifFTTX/s320/017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wArjm7qt3ca23pW6BWWdFDqCCMCd23AepFuJcVT7KQt3I0B19tb2_R4MhlNU-rC31Y9xG6SBRb3CHIw-9layI2w-lGfpjFPvBaKTHTk7EGnP7Gm2G6hltAEbW6WoUKSB-gxRPbLFfAra/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wArjm7qt3ca23pW6BWWdFDqCCMCd23AepFuJcVT7KQt3I0B19tb2_R4MhlNU-rC31Y9xG6SBRb3CHIw-9layI2w-lGfpjFPvBaKTHTk7EGnP7Gm2G6hltAEbW6WoUKSB-gxRPbLFfAra/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFXoeQLDeyPWbbc4VFCKuUkhGSr0P9WgatL4ZQ9paUKFflmzMiaqnCVG1_AyvJP8ggptHzqvufdCh8l2FtPzKWd0-2vwg9sS9_KHz1zD9lxdPHrRB9CAV59hPBSF-SEkcgrJKLQfC0Uprl/s1600/011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFXoeQLDeyPWbbc4VFCKuUkhGSr0P9WgatL4ZQ9paUKFflmzMiaqnCVG1_AyvJP8ggptHzqvufdCh8l2FtPzKWd0-2vwg9sS9_KHz1zD9lxdPHrRB9CAV59hPBSF-SEkcgrJKLQfC0Uprl/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>This last picture is a shot which Sarah and our friend Chirstina took.. it is called Sambuca. It tastes basically like peppermint schnopps, but they have coffee beans in it. I thought it was so weird, but it turns out, it is quite common. Instructions are as follows: take said shot and then chew said beans to rid oneself of the imminent intensitiy of taste. Interesting tradition, isn't it?<br />
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Saturday I spent sleeping off my margaritas and then skyping a bit. In the evening, Chris and I met some friends of ours at a local restaurant for cocktails (yes, it is a common Friday and Saturday night activity) and some food. Our one friend brought her dog, which is a concept which I am not sure I will ever grow completely accustomed to. Here in Germany, one can bring their dog in stores, restaurants, public events, etc., unless there is a sign on the door saying "no dogs." Clearly, this is quite different in the USA; animals stay outdoors unless at a petshop or your own family home. It boggled my mind when the waitress came over with a bowl for the dog as normal procedure. My dad would have a heart attack. But I guess, in another aspect, their dogs seem far more behaved here. I guess since they have different laws, they probably have to train them to make them more calm in public situations, whereas we just have to train ours not to eat the leg of our couch or the crotch out of our grandma's Girdels. It's a whole different world over here folks, and I love it. But no cocktail dates for awhile now; I'll be sticking to Cafes'... <br />
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I ended up coming home early on Monday morning, and now I am back in Marburg watching the weather have it's usual temper tantrums out my window. Today it can't seem to choose between rain, partly cloudy, or sleet. Joy. And to think I woke up early to go for a walk this morning. I think it is time to curl up with a good book and eventually unpack my suitcase (it is still sitting here.. only a few articles have been retrieved for wearing purposes). Sweden Sunday!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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After a brief overnight stay in Marburg, I bought a ticket, jumped on a train and am now in Hamburg visiting with friends for the week and slowly re-emersing myself into the culture. I went for Chinese food the other night. I was pretty skeptical; I mean Chinese food can kind of be sketchy in the States, and now here I am in Germany where if the menu was confusing at home, now it has turned into a full out guessing game. But turns out, Chinese is amazing here.. especially the sweet and sour chicken. I don't know if in the states its ever like this, but here they serve you a breaded type chicken thing with the sauce on the side, and you kind of.. mix it all together. But the chicken is in like huge filets. It's so good. Oh my god. And turns out way less sketchy than Subway. Yes, I mean the sandwhich shop, not the public transport system. Although same goes for both I suppose. <br />
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As for travel adventures, I am starting to meddle them all out. I mean, clearly, there are far too many places on my wish list to see compared to my realistic bank funds and time tables. But, next weekend, don't bother trying to skype me, seeing as I'll be chilling (quite literally, since I'm much closer to the Arctic circle than generally appreciated this time of year..) in Stockholm, Sweden. It was a spontaneous choice- I saw the round trip flight for 40 euros online, called my friend Nichola from Texas, checked my schedule (oh gosh- it's completely free!), checked hers, consulted, and then booked. So, we are now going to Stockholm for 3 days. After some further research we have decided to hit up some museums, local bars, cafe's and their music scene (maybe...). Turns out Stockholm has a large music scene that I was until this week quite unaware of, but it will probably be something unique to check out. Or it will result in one of those stories that I will write about later in life in some sarcastic, half-fiction, one-quarter elaboration and one-quarter fact novel about my travels in Europe as a college student. I envision something about crowd surfing in stockholm, or some relatively similar catchy chapter theme. Ok, I am getting ahead of myself. <br />
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No photos for this blog post unfortunately- My camera battery is close to dead and the charger is sitting in Marburg. Additionally, I really haven't done much than chill and come off jet lag this week. Now my big task for the day is about to commence: I am off to the grocery store down the street to get some quality German Lipton Peach Iced Tea. You have no idea how badly I've been craving it. Later tonight I am going for cocktails with my host family, the Fuchs. Well, the kids anyways. And only two of them. And their cousin. Ah. Whatever. Until next time! Oh and dear mom- have you seen my umbrella?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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After getting on the autobahn with our quaint little rental car (chris crashed his the week before.. so we had to compromise) everything seemed in order; yes it was snowing, but people could still go about at a decent pace, and the lanes seemed to be at least decently plowed. However, after about 2 hours into our drive (and after extreme issues with our windshield fluid which I won't get into..) everything just became crazy, snow filled, and maximum of 25 mph. On the autobahn. That's right. The fastest highway in the world. Yep. Ok now please allow me to rant.<br />
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The autobahn, is truly, quite awesome, provided there is quite awesome weather. And no construction. But as far as construction goes, I'm pretty sure that's crappy everywhere you go. But anyways. When there is unfortunate weather conditions, the autobahn seems quite unethical to me. At home, our highways come with an exit ramp at least every 5 miles, if not less, especially in cities. Here, one can go miles and miles and miles and a few more kilimeters, and then maybe another mile.. pass a truck stop.. and then another mile and WHOA you can MAYBE join onto another autobahn.. aka traffic sits. and sits. and sits. With no where to go. At. All. People here can be stuck in traffic for hours upon hours, especially if they shut down a lane on the highway because some stupid truck driver was going too fast for conditions and spun out, resulting in him crossing the median and closing down the entire highway for jack forking his truck, facing the wrong direction in the opposing lane. Not to say I've experienced that.. (sarcasm..). Luckily I was in the lane he started off in, resulting in far less (but yet still existing) traffic. The other lane, however, was at a standstill. For the next about 50 kilometers, or however many miles. It was literally crazy. And then the other highways trying to merge to that highway were bogged up, which bogged up other highways, and well, can anyone say domino effect? So, dear Germany, please invest in exit ramps. and more salt. That is all :) Not that it generally effects me, since I'm only in a car once a month or so, if I'm lucky.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn1Dw-u3jm1ruIa68oLqBj59Z1CYj85oL1KXZ2eQxZowt2lmWs9AWIxbjdFKicCMFiA4atKU05uSuxkH3aUZY9pnDHlhSz3JwGGtTSdmcrV23JHTgN_Udrpdq4vuc1mv0BYYkLiyg3NQl0/s320/006.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" n4="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilBGycwpBdrhw4IC4TWBrm9N3xMtzeqVb_KncVOdgD3S4Cl-5A71px8Jxw_3gMpIwBIeN-4cZHBwKhVDlITi7ES4ESxDRgirX4LZdhHvfcYq-Fi3EEPZp5_NU3MlzwutrZVSA3IFjpMHDS/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /></div>I didn't get a picture of the traffic jams.. but they generally look like this..<br />
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<img alt="Flughäfen teilweise geschlossen, Züge umgeleitet, Autobahnen blockiert (dapd)" height="398" src="http://estb.msn.com/i/CF/47FDDE7DDAEA703BE1DF3B25F46C.jpg" width="598" /><br />
Ok. Enough about the roads. <br />
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On friday I sat around finishing a paper for my politics class here, and then went to a soccer game with my host sister Sarah Fuchs, her boyfriend and her boyfriend's friend. It was SO incredibly cold. I believe the temperature was -9, but, in honor of the frozen tundra which I must represent everywhere I go, I stood outside for the full 2 hours of playing, half time, and pre-game warm ups. We were freezing despite our many layers, but we were better than most German fans who were lacking appropriate winter feet wear. Soccer fans are crazy dedicated here. Many of them drove all day from Southern Germany to Hamburg (Northern Germany) just to watch this game, and then were going to turn around and go back home. Gas is even more expensive here than at home, and after my little rant over the autobahn during crappy winter weather, it is yet another base for my theory that soccer fans are crazy. The stadiums are set up so that all the fans for one team sit in one section, and the fans for the other team sit in the other. Basically, so they don't end up killing each other. This isn't an exaggeration either. I personally witnessed a 70 year old man in the row infront of me punch a 30 year old in the face TWICE because of spilling a few drops of beer on his jacket. And also, the 70 year old's best friend proceeded to get in a verbal fight with another younger fan which resulted in the breaking of a stadium chair and the younger guy practically pummeling his girlfriend to try and strangle the 70 year old. It was crazy. If a fan from the other team would have made the mistake of coming into our section, they would legit have beaten the crap out of them. It was extreme. Yet amazing. Don't think that you can't just go to a game and not care who wins, you can totally do that. It's just the soccer clubs that have the crazy dedicated fans, and if they find out you're a tourist and have no idea whats going on, they usually teach you the team songs and provide an awesome experience for you. The soccer club of Sarah's boyfriend was around us and now I know the songs from Kaisers Lautern, and witnessed them illegally setting off a firework smoke bomb thing in the stadium at the beginning of the game.. it was pretty rockin. Unfortunately we lost. But hey. Great experience. <br />
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Saturday we had Thanksgiving dinner at the Fuch's house. It was soooo good. We had turkey, mashed potatoes with bacon and cheese, green bean casserole, stuffing, gravy and apple pie. My host mom and Sarah made the turkey the day before and cooked it in a Dutch Oven thing starting before I got there, which was awesome because I was honestly terrified of the damn thing. So yay. I may have improved my cooking skills, but let's be real here. Thanksgiving turkey? yeah.. ha. anyways. Sarah and I made the potatoes and green bean casserole, our friend Christina brought the pie, Tania brought the gluehwein (a hot wine served at christmas time here..) and it was quite the fest. Although they were all super skeptical of the stuffing. I swear they thought it was made of vomit or something. Oh well. More for me :)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Weren't they cute :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After dinner we went to the Christmas market downtown, which was gorgeous. The snow even added to the effectt and gave the whole market a cute, warm Christmas feeling. I love going to Christmas markets here at night; they're in every town and basically are places where you can buy little knick-knacks like ornaments, christmas stars, cookies with your name written on them, candies, sugar covered nuts, lots of food, and gluehwein. Gluehwein is HUGE here with the christmas markets. Each city has their own cups for the Gluehwein, which are like little collectable coffee mugs. I have about 5 now from this year alone. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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It was quite the fun weekend. Definitely recommend Christmas markets to anyone who is travelling to Europe during the Christmas season. They're in basically every large city across Europe, and in all cities in Germany. Definitely a great experience, especially if you're under the influence of Gluehwein :)<br />
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Well folks. Tomorrow I'm off to Budapest until Tuesday. I'm pretty stoked- we're going to the baths in the city center which are suuuper warm all year long, and are basically spas for the entire day sunday. I'm not that thrilled that coming back our train doesn't leave the airport until 10:30 and isn't getting to Marburg until 6 am wed. morning, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. Just another adventure to add to the list; maybe one of those stories I can tell my kids in the future to convince them their mother was once easy-going and not a stickler or something. That is if I stop hating kids anytime soon. <div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></div>MKE_Gypsy_Womanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08184624273201508923noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7223512779173588549.post-13558793653534466512010-11-30T08:27:00.000-08:002010-11-30T08:27:46.905-08:00Ils manget un Baguette (they eat a baguette)... and other French adventuresSo I know I'm quite lacking in the update department, but my life has been rather hectic since I returned from my AMAZING trip to Paris on the 22nd. The school semester is coming to a close, so I have a final paper and finance exam to study for, which are clouding up most of my possible blog time. I know it is nothing compared to the work load I would usually have at home, but, trust me people, Finance is confusing in English; I dare you to try it in a foreign country. But everything is coming together nicely; well, for the most part. Also a friend of mine was in a car accident this past Tuesday and broke his sternum, so I've been preoccupied with helping him out on the road to recovery. But back to the main focus of this post..<br />
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Paris!<br />
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I must admit, before this year I had close to no interest in going to Paris what-so-ever. I always assumed it to be just talked-up, that the glitz and glamour would potentially choke me and that it would have a strange smell (i believe I heard somewhere that every street in Paris has been peed on, so give me a break on that thought..). However, I was pleasantly surpised to find that Paris is all it's cracked up to be, and only smells mildly while standing over road grates.<br />
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I went to Paris with my friend Carissa from the program, and we stayed with a highschool friend of her's in his apartment. The apartment was pretty central to paris; right next to a metro station. We took the fast train from Frankfurt to Paris (and rode the entire way there next to a cat...yeah...) and met him at the trainstation around 9 pm Thursday night. We obviously did nothing real great on Thursday; just sat around and talked in the extremely small yet extremely expensive apartment where he lived. I mean seriously, his entire apartment fits in like mine in and my parents bedrooms. The place was small. But SO CUTE! His one bathroom only fit a toilet.. it was like a little nook in the wall where someone decided to hide the toilet. The sink is in a different room, which was always confusing at 3 in the morning. However, the apartment was adorable and decorated accurately so the space was played up to it's fullest potential. Housing in Paris is ridiculously expensive. Tom (the guy we stayed with) was telilng us that in one section of paris, the property goes for 250,000 euros per square meter. In case you didn't catch that, it was per SQUARE METER.. dear god. I guess when it comes to buying property in Europe, as your personal realator, i advise you to go for somewhere like Croatia or the boonies in Hungary and avoid Paris like the plague :) Or at least the inner city part.<br />
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On our first full day in Paris we managed to find our way to a really huge shopping mall with all the super expensive name brands and things with price tags that made me want to run 6 meters in the opposite direction. I found myself hoping there was no "you breathe on it, you buy it" policy. But they hadawesome christmas tree display in the middle of the store..<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWQ57M7amdzP8Oeyfm-_du_LYoz647KNpAiakYgRAuXqOv6WrOdsmmySPcmz_zGYx6GmJg035h8B3iTNsKfBz_Oi4xnIk8UQ41DP1deyF9uR4X912yCYOfZwUvpJisMpd3AOqrHDApelC/s1600/017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrWQ57M7amdzP8Oeyfm-_du_LYoz647KNpAiakYgRAuXqOv6WrOdsmmySPcmz_zGYx6GmJg035h8B3iTNsKfBz_Oi4xnIk8UQ41DP1deyF9uR4X912yCYOfZwUvpJisMpd3AOqrHDApelC/s320/017.JPG" width="240" /></a></div> I was pretty darn excited about that tree. It actually reminded me of the tree in Chicago at the Macy's or whatever.. so yay warm thoughts of home. Ok anyways, after the tree we went to the Louvre art museum. This was probably the number one "want-to-see" on my list for this trip, and I was slightly disappointed. however, the disappointment was largely my own fault. The museum itself is gorgeous; huge windows, grandeur architecture, beautiful lawns, tall pillars, soaring cielings and beautiful crafted floors everywhere. Outside we saw the glass pyramid entrance into the Louvre which was surrounded by fountains, also gorgeous. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv8eP3HA1blsGZfo3MoC3nrUzancriKHqLDAhyphenhyphenRm4htQxXw7mqoOgxRrmwGcnHQPae0qsxYnRb3OpZGsES4nQoIYqlT1sMoK_diTRk1H6C4tIRM11Q_YCaASn6NyQuHOwe7cT4-F8ZyTo9/s320/082.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaunmXUtOW5mSPONOleKeaUpporJmWS8fHQ3982piViv2xZ3CcDOKAIVd7Ic1LVjJkZPteQxWCspmtPELKtU3S0g0OaP9Z3jeU4eLZCcT60ppvYUxK-C-YFnP1ToDXGawlu4QPjdpJYshx/s320/150.JPG" width="240" /></div><br />
Yes the building itself didn't disappoint me, and neither did the majority of the art we saw (althought I'm not real partial to the kinds and queens and jesus paintings; they just don't do it for me apparently), and I found myself surprised at how many paintings I saw which I had to memorize for my prior AP European history class back in highschool. It was like taking a walk down memory lane, only I was minorly twigging out like a kid in a FAO Schwarz store. "Oh my god it's that one painting from the renaissance! Oh my god it's the painting with the huge nose that I got wrong on that one test! Oh my god ITS THE MONA LISA!!!" Yes, I'm aware of my nerd status. And I'm proud. But yes. Art is cool. Accept it. <br />
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Those were just a few of the favorites. The disappointment actually stemmed from my inability to find the impressionism paintings. You know, Monet and such. I'm a big fan of the impressionism era, and I epically failed at finding it. I actually had my main intention of seeing those paintings alone, but I guess sometimse life sends you curve balls. I still enjoyed the museum, especially the fact we got in free pretending to be German citizens, and I totally recommend people to take at <em>least</em> a few hours if you ever find yourself in Paris to check out the art of the ages.<br />
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We ended up spending basically all of Friday in the art museum, so we went out to dinner afterwards at an authentic French restaurant. I had some type of French mushroom mac and cheese.. it was decent. I'm not entirely sure how I felt about the meal in honesty, but i ate it. Tom had rabbit (delicious surprisingly) and his girlfriend had salmon. French food is delicious, but let me tell you. Don't just assume that since you're in France everything on the menu must be simply deletible and amazing. Enough said.<br />
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The next day we spent basically just wandering around the city and seeing all the major sites; the Eiffel Tower, Champs Elysees, Arc de Triomphe, the river walk along the Seine river and the tunnel where Princess Diana crashed. FYI, the Eiffel Tower is seriously huge in person. And brown. I previously thought it was black, but, eh. Those French sure are tricky tricky.<br />
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We ended up at the Arc de Triomphe last, around 9:30 pm, and decided to climb to the top since it was free for EU student citizens (ha..) and see the city of lights from above. It was probably the best decision we made the entire trip; the view was amazing. I managed to get a few good photos..<br />
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On Sunday the weather was rather gloomy and rainy, so we decided to take the 30 minute train ride to Versailles (right outside of Paris) and see the palace. I love love <em>loved</em> it. Of course i'm a total history nerd and was soaking up all the atmosphere; picturing Marie Antionette running around the palace the entire time, and the storming of the gates by angry French citizens during the French Revolution. But don't worry, the palace was really beautiful and interesting for non-history nerds as well. It was a pity that we went in November and not in the summer, because although the palace is huge, the gardens are like 10 times as large and gorgeous. Oh well. Maybe another time in life. But anyways, the palace was awesome and adorned in gold, mirrors and huuuuge paintings of the monarchies over the ages. I especially loved the hall of mirrors. There were huge chandelliers every couple feet, and mirrors lining the walls the entire length of the hall. It felt so bright and alive with light within the hall, and I couldn't help but just stand in awe for a few moments, realizing the history that once danced its way across the very same mirrors. It was a sentimental moment, alright?<br />
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I added a picture from the macaroon shop in there... we had some macaroons thanks to Tom, and oh my god they were SO good. Basically, they have a hard outer shell, kind of like the consistancy of an egg shell, only not THAT hard, but then a super soft and creamy inside with sweet flavors such as berries, apple, vanilla, almond, etc. They're so good, but so expensive. I believe they cost something like 25 euros for 15 macaroons. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5PyPEriPKgseafRowJgFeMlPLgkDvh5zf4M8QtKTcI9Zy7TBKHi-_xe9XzC1aDytRmLzjBivLcNjww6CZVchLKUhl43V2ge9PIBJF9cw3duv96b4qoVb9lvT6oMoXglrrUllOTcwBYQbC/s320/691.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJ7zLenVhVdI2YjJUP9gOO0BbDw9Y8CmAtGcWb_C7G2PchDAJMNsbniHDEam2ql0snLxTaMDzfQSM0MHGk1kSRluPP1WO7L43gFt7Jphysao9BkKdU0xwPDjXSOSDuTHzM5XUMfMvRAlWv/s320/695.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Actually, i think it might just be this store which is so expensive, but they are famous for having the best macaroons in Paris :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I know this post is getting super long, but bear with me!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">After Versailles we found a cute little french restaurant, again, and I ate beef bourguignon. For any of you who are familiar with the movie Julie & Julia, you may be just as excited about this as I was. Especially you, mother. It was sooo good! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihT04bkPAmbs5o02NK-lY7LEF5nrl8D7aIkqMimh_Qc2lvrNWPqVebrnqf1nuDs5EzoagDImPNj6CmhdgAA3rv7LYv7hL0KvBEoHX3m9rimDzz5CUbNf7RC4EQ0ahIN4OhEYYkCEHan0-/s1600/707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiihT04bkPAmbs5o02NK-lY7LEF5nrl8D7aIkqMimh_Qc2lvrNWPqVebrnqf1nuDs5EzoagDImPNj6CmhdgAA3rv7LYv7hL0KvBEoHX3m9rimDzz5CUbNf7RC4EQ0ahIN4OhEYYkCEHan0-/s320/707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
My last exciting tour in Paris was of the Notre Dame Cathedral. We went around 6 pm on Sunday night, right in the time of mass. I found myself in awe of the beauty of the mass (it was all in french, so the songs and whatever they were saying just sounded like beauty rolling off their tounges) and of the cathedral. It's really quite huge with tall cielings and a few (i can't remember the english word..) colorful glass window things. I lit a candle for my grandparents and a friend, which was also a cool experience. Here are some photos from within the church, during mass (yeah, I know, crazy that they let us still take pictures.. again, crazy frenchmen..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFYu1RBh1I6cEkvz4fJU70cadoVP1mAEkQGTESzX1x7EupdZRMRE1rat5NZsmejXf71JzSuFj_rVQehR7IZ2IEOBphaLOID275DPilQHQhR16liewKuqiR7KNvHxFvkuvwZli8OBcgqUUN/s320/709.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4LSwUpAy6mCqxYnBRDYR8wCGyd0SGBDio41R9Bs0Gp26sMn-Qvxx1_IvYeU2_sRyMtjo9IHSX7fCm_psLEglNdmgpBQwYG9RZ9Bnc-lybfbcmXUXvMuJqFR89UyN1YNJfnEFpx-CipPu7/s320/716.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZrcjIKtQXd4WgURQ3jsGjINR7Jmp1rfHXNQKsHRNCMgkrwzH7RQTR3880vGDIDcCqVFjyOR5HnXTQ8ObJu-hAE7OLy_WLhxg0HhsTMcgtLzNdgZ748v1g6SrZdVbEALn9Il-scecPODXk/s320/719.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlCCRbPNjuzUAkt79TMUNrFHqthLQeWz-DZP2xBwa_oYeHXVuDwsgoo9rJ0-R8YJPbO1GwiywOTUfMHD0QH_O_jK-a46NAAGQv1kEN3yHYQJYcfvypZK6eS9evyrRnS79YxdWLBwJQemD2/s320/737.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPqhy3WzwVit-qtXkl6yarvwmgXQtMnnL-pZ2GH-Jeq-Vir0QYo2VxKlJe7cWEZn6wz13Sj5AOpoTmaqUYrV3MLZLw-qLjJ4Tt_AliBWSX2n5XdPrbiKhnlnCKxfKe3qHBfw4kYlaP3TLI/s320/750.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig5i6tPWHM2tppRxRR9ONr25IdEuRhd-aYcNTL_uSBUTaRbuD0sdrvYJYyyQE2IpGifQ_9WBmO4QhYD4pd4MDGTYtboVkETqAGqiQcbdH8uybLTKk5km4fH2awZm0k5CX3x-kD6qjvXdNJ/s320/801.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcDSkv-TZImbxpbEx9GKDZ0zu3Zqi6bt6lwY1425ZQNd1YDDXdumAc33kVHEF0z27T2MtvtPMVBHbyZsHtrE2A50m-X5NNqJRL8wlBDD7L4-SezXVs3LgLlNtiKfslRCkU_dO6Jel0ZZR/s320/819.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFb0b7ts51focoQtVsr_UKGZamOEyDXe3NABQKvwNL0DCbpoyyPmWpsQcfQlCL_yj2We06gTAjovroRee1vUgholVK7eTgnONcrdb-x-KnplkjhtGMs4lAsewMkUSXKEmjmvOs4eqB9iVC/s320/850.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghqsmqoCPcZjSXFFLbLbAxcekyBGukwNQUzuD1EwP0EQXy7DREYWnz3NgOIGpC8aD9ZLFKhzu912qq8PcZk4m0bo046GNJxXVDiZAqukPD6OJlaexNEsP_KhJD8S2wTzhTcCHS28ssZSLy/s320/846.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ_sRViMRKkG8zfLvyDOWD0L1jtK8vidwjQx7AZNW-7F8LArbdDJ0yKai9EnKC4Tc9opRsdO7c4OEpwxMLiMDej2hihBCr5JphrMj5TZfY7LN8d4mMOuO0U_GqHA81RnJfhmFZdjmN7IDw/s320/154855_455126095508_525485508_5823345_5843875_n.jpg" width="320" /></div><br />
So yep. That was basically the entirety of my trip to Paris. Oh wait. I ate a baguette..<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkynLJrAHLUA33y3og4aIiNI-lSNv-ROHMmAwq3rVFeqdVU7FzSXz4aGcgp6cogtmKvMb-DvVsYaD44CIcaoqAT7nJMdah27X8jMqn6WZUIemB5SHCwKwEzSycGUXtLYCN7ZIqmTSJhsi/s1600/443.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" ox="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQkynLJrAHLUA33y3og4aIiNI-lSNv-ROHMmAwq3rVFeqdVU7FzSXz4aGcgp6cogtmKvMb-DvVsYaD44CIcaoqAT7nJMdah27X8jMqn6WZUIemB5SHCwKwEzSycGUXtLYCN7ZIqmTSJhsi/s320/443.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ok well I'm off to dinner at a friends house. I leave Thursday for Thanksgiving in Hamburg, and then I'm back for my exam and then... Budapest! It seems so strange; it's been months since I planned that trip but yet now it's here, and it feels like close to no time has passed... crazy how life works. See you all in 16 days!</div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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Friday we left Marburg around 2 pm and arrived in Essen at 5 pm. We took a brief moment to drop our stuff at our hostel (which was in the middle of nowhere.. relatively anyways..) and then went back to the city where we had a night bus tour. That was actually pretty cool. We were able to see the skyline of Essen from the city hall, and I got some pretty legit photos. The guide was older and didn't completely understand the usage of English slang, so instead of using the word "like" all the time, he used the word "just", which gave the tour an interesting spin. But whatever. It happens.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOm7bgW2_8fWq0Qrswo7M2hrpHHXlG2KV0G7cxz9FgyHsVeZlSK77WHkbOB-X4YqVAh8NzBDIYLJpxBYbC7JJZeiTuSHEB-YQZ1djy77YMZYljHpv9ZVFJrSTYAaZovxpz85yq1U3OUEbj/s320/014.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIl-___L5J3-poSXjYoZBDsj60JHOzvbQfwDXciP5dLjhLVOxOvrqWXGKkEA5coDTpYt9M62FsKDDXqAhSngDKVGyH7enPDmUO1snSNxqGu9af0wnu7ZBhP0niiisW5cMr_VD-mWWFY5vg/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdfIG8Lw4Y9-dgcWA2izvI9enxG4EUniprH_IO1ZRNaSBdiouk1VkmswNouZhWIMTm4zT5sQyrEZiZupmAvUjPZhZvzJOui3N25jpiP-zn1iBRZb-izKc-Snew7361hy5TrRsuWjdt4r0h/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEvjn4uFUf6yoozBAIQfI51f81K03Yueb8x7h39IK_TaJdSrjrShxOivqUswwZHtH3pXBPKZsZTxOjRyyE25Q-k5zS3f7BPMzSe-UgeXigfAL2w8w_bn6SyHof4fquFh_TYO7HoOqn9dx/s320/004.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZgjvHghP5pIM-8M7WKPMdJITSEjoJwtGCDeI61rb9pS7SBNlM3ftuaKT2FkFF20FBLnTXwKachtxD6smpsQVn6u8JnOI0kW2GTqRiBqmmyUVFJVa_UO1CcxFLEv0_ZUiVMbX0m56NQNHu/s320/002.JPG" width="320" /></div><br />
So yep. Those are my attempts at night skyline photos. They aren't really all that great in their small sizes on here, so if you want to see all the pictures or these in larger form, click here... (yes, I am aware I sound like a spam add..)<br />
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101114?authkey=Gv1sRgCIDm5pb5w_LXigE&feat=directlink">http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101114?authkey=Gv1sRgCIDm5pb5w_LXigE&feat=directlink</a><br />
<br />
Basically, the city of Essen was created around the Krupp Steel Factory which was started there in the.. oh... I believe late 1800s? or maybe during the Industrial revolution? Ok, I'm sorry for the lack of reliable facts, but, at least I remembered the name of the company? It was for a long period of time the largest steel productor in the world. The city grew around the factory, and industries soon began finding their way into this area. Because of solider's resting points in the middle ages, there are 3 large cities where are all linked together in this area as the "industrial capital." The area is called the Ruhrgebein (at least I think? I'd google but.. it's froze..) and this area is the industry area. So, basically, we toured a ton of factories and coal mines, which were also highly prevelent in this area. And by highly I mean 600,000 workers at one point. It was the beginning of the industrial revolution in Germany, so there is a ton of history in this region. However, the region was not "beautiful" until about 20 years ago, when they started closing coal mines and building new "Green" areas. It apparently used to be quite the rugged little town. We toured the Zollverein mill, which was one of the larget coal pit production places in the world at one point. The museum was really modern and quite interesting, and our tour guide was pretty great, so I'd have to say that was my favorite tour. Here's some of those photos.. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5t4t3rvHPc1_Rd8zULxkw-i2VpAxjgrw8aK3rOKwFH0790FBNI2U8AVyIbdzu_bzJrHIybqNJFh-tMW9fhyYzeaK-rKZE6nbB2FN2n_tE6SGKsWd_IcAciHEtAPcLLlIdg1w4rb6kFVb/s320/211.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4eiSmbWQumGCy02IzfyxknnCE5fvZVZIRRZPMcLxoroPkUh8zLJ5rq9MUUGxcXBaq3OlosbozAOnmY-dGujSEbpONwVgQktem3TZCBNA-U_hS9-0u9rwin7Z2nIZvnwjm9hbexhiN3KZq/s320/192.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUkO8-Dd3c_ftvJ2Vd2-4UWru2eHhazOouTp6PEnauc0oB3gVSCvmb6RQGSZOo1-zcYdvy-l5vap4MrPVw1UEsAiEnZwAZ-zMRikhLNM6HQ98ynglCcjHdHpqOVWSO0Sd-MX7bRjliXtb-/s320/190.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiclLFpNpdMHG5DZxmZXHGPwWgsbav-NZ4RhP3jpwGWW0v3I_FKgJokc5rFOcAhrVfAwS21iFoDaQeJMD8JLQNQ3Pa0e_ygXx6FlDdmEoAyUMaXQU6wgbz7iZdcMSO3LDNwMOdEPNuxcBT/s320/166.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEishXUL1NjPFvhITtW2YmWbxHy6wWvRwGs56bXiZe8SsAHIxGpLsMiszjfK5lTskc-iOi3qkh6l1RJt14ciGDw5dXKypVbgiSpg7UK5Jz03nhg46q_oghqchd9mbWkY3EJkKZicWahirBiv/s320/157.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj20rM6tmrhSf2P_uEUglzjMTJj25Gtje6UqEAXxJ5k3MZmia55PFb4ZUW18eiZ-NNWIgQXeil30NubSjf-RFo_8wGmaRURmHQ4XQ63kc4wP3EN1fvbe8YzcAEM9nzlFPfrWrvDHiiil-WK/s320/152.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2uv2orqCJND2dQkMNSSuSETqFpt6Nt47CMbp2BZBBGNFQvy-oE-p5fvViFl1h4uExFEjGno40U_hT0S6ehZ7ieye-OC3mhCkBJVi4t-Wc23xz1DwFImVBxCQPH3CNp-oH7puuGawm9N5K/s320/148.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">If you're looking at my photos on picasa, they're the first set of pictures involving mining equipment. The second set of mine photos was taken in an actual mine, which we crawled around for about an hour on Sunday. I would royally suck at being a coal miner; i am not a fan of being a hunchback and would probably let it be known to whoever was working near me. Oh and not to mention, i'm not a fan of working in the dark and wet, I like to breathe clean air, and no matter how many weight training sessions I sign up for, theres no way I could hold those tools for full 8 hour shifts. Just 30 seconds was exhausting! The life of a miner was not easy, but it paid well. Today, however, it is no longer one of the better paying jobs in Germany. Times change I guess. Our tour guide for the coal mine tour was so cute, oh my god. I wanted to take her home with me and adopt her. Her name was Hildegard (yes, so authentic german; although I took to calling her "Hildie my Homie") and she only could speak English through reading the words off a page she had someone previously prepare for her. Otherwise her English sentances were "Come to me now, Come to me" and "Yes, yes, you understand? yes?" ooooooh how I loved her. Here's that mine..</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ULqPj1HG7TMr7xkfsbGO7nUepvEfnwqQ_J2o5reL0gn-rKu1v1_-3ZnmP70M74SEhJB1xQeKqz6f7IBAIA8rCLeHB0UEpEWm6JDIYzCQhIiveNA-U9ebxI5Zwd_eK6Aw9Jyp8NsNBz8-/s320/339.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqefxajKEY3HoZg7_Ebfq_nvQgZoCtdnlC0wvZsQoycont-gIjqVjYTY4jJZ4uXU3kDeWPl8PAYPQbp1X4u9v1QsWeyspYDvLJzPlv4JJsW-wgSOvxeSbNd5A_EWx3Uc3-OQDjgvCHUgt9/s320/326.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibHbsAdLe08WxUgUY_HE4A4mejgkZ8JTkkKotkyYB8PupX4vG2vvlDJKKkeYUs2g3ZwujwPFm4U9HGxweR6damOGUFXX2Luje23W8MF-5ff3BClkhjshgU3RPBvAE7s9XO9ynoNybvfDi0/s320/358.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUtfp9LkIGVssmqHHV4PAQVdK_AQeqGn_vkqg8L9C1tQyiq09ZHPHk57KFQTTGk-LK8kqeW-DmQLpNcJUAImW18R_R90_rEu3i6V513nNmSlulzbaEqbidOln0gNI91p-ovGsz2acJMv0D/s320/353.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidlmiWENyuoi1xWK7VCDkT4zEv9q83kQjx_6K25S39X-jZeELV1Wj6Sh0aadPRbYQ3HPsgkuQC3GE6qr1SYTePEWU_UVpGH4s4qeUmawd3nlG8LhQhK0KkPhdUowvNM8o5zYp0Xn8DEgAK/s320/357.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh58LNEksaiHawhU4_3ywW1SB0DBVKoDpfd7xsb7QCHQweXGwRTI6rz9y5bLUhT3hT3Wv-z0fFB_2m769z0t2BnemhDlEzul3hHogF7phWwuzTDHSQeA4Sus99AlcAhNUKD_4XPOtZOF4ll/s320/347.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBkIXCRSvaqJw6HtkiKbNOiAO_JJNPGFnPKvptouVXzLglmoGx5ojigjILCIL7ApEwHEOyKRsG6CvLr1JMKEyBmatSWo3I6UplDNuByweOrurzDxxpeXouFSguM4PoVRbUsLp9-AlxsNe6/s320/344.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk5z5QWPYZCmiYGB40MWPan7CYKYfl50Prw7vU72otywVmuv9vijAYe-TD1dJCSWMzdR3WEynHTnYjJ6OppuUx6DDSyZkOBwZODVz9B4ut05w_NmnG7L0ZriQCUWHHIXA94JqgpQ5L-4YJ/s320/321.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB_st-q43NEev-U8tppiBBKM_5GoltaLE1vJslnOehtRxxkBa7UlszJELQubn_cjUftd0I47OmC_mLwBfPw0QRylcRHuCD6G7X1iZFl5mYsx9dd6MaPnEUrPf4QHhe2lhVN2wNi8eyro45/s320/313.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmE5gh28e8MZxoFuOJUdgyXYIoxgXNpWX34offo7pjl3zYroFqabH9C6YnjbD8SDi2b5bKjSN7ANikah9BWdveEmXdXzOapTfqFQEOQUDcW57fsID3OOEkUZBq7EL0k2JaBYYYeU2B_jFs/s320/296.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz6MFM-iBxapEpCCzTKDttqLL96lLhHYYjQZ1MEfUdL4IUFAHUfdvc7VpGLj2tEX7VB0qjSyOaw-p6gHzsS7SLTAOGxYXviFsFSakgJRlwAXDXg0hwJvjPh3j1Gcnpu09IasAjRURzJxVE/s320/303.JPG" width="320" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Don't let the photos fool you; it was not that exciting of a tour. Had it not been for Hildie, all hope for that tour would have been lost. In addition to those coal mines, we visited a factory which made weapons during WWII. Unfortunately, I can't really remember the name of it. Apparently they had 2,000 prisoners of war working in the broiler rooms and melting down steel and coal and such during times of war. Our tour guide told us about how in one situation, during a bombing of the city, some prisoners of war were chained to the... melting.. things... because they didn't want the production to stop, but had those workers ran for their lives, it would have. Luckily, no bombs fell on that factory. But I still found the story interesting. Life really had to suck for them. But then again, I guess it was better than going to the concentration camp near by: Buchenwald. The 2,000 workers at the plant were actually taken from there to work in the factory instead</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs4qv8F8_1xW8pxNHmPfoIIyUv4SmOhREXgjVzf-7vh9l6fllnVLBZLYYfWnT11njoy4NttYvRErzqQz_M7cvstd6pP9dHlSg96CXaQqHTKtA4XBbm3A3W4Ao-ZNi7dTE1LUkwwW3TCKHN/s320/270.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNiJoEzqtdTGnwNzXNPWVzvjNjBPrscKX5idCGRQ0KxtCgfT_s8WlWxQBovMv6Vpcl1FfsxbJ2YZITGqKUuIfDiaeb03CP3IrE-IjmotSmnw1fqngFHkGMnD9-GqKc_80Pqgym715b25AF/s320/267.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0C9Fq5I4LDf62jh9JeBPMoumkiQGLBiTldpmyB0X12uXIC0cHpVzW3h6q7d5JGBu9v4He_55wh3uVzNTnYqSpSxcSWpud5jaszNRAl7K_yEJ-gyq4d5OmlEkUJT4UQF16Ni2_sumgs5NP/s320/263.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQqLDaPYx_03VnRO3PljX6m8fos6tAVGa4OCyuI33PDDJQBlbKMLF6ukVQOxmvvFsW5ThVocRTsmK3yYeJDYUBymEJQoB6uddyCT99u3XCo7k3viL7o94ZejZn6JACW8UBp0nQyrn2oBU7/s320/260.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>And here are some photos of the factory in the above ground part. Today it is used as a hall for events and such. The day we were there, they were hosting a marathon (which further instated my possible goal of running a half marathon..). <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJO5l9bW3SdTHNSVca-zEn88bFirb4xms8ASrH70uMY81EBuB6uojrPEHknPZn28ERV9SoA99WeXWZbeRLOOJkRV1mbOMGAl8FlYc04MkpBkZHy5WEEBbeh9bqbEA68Hfxmm_xSXlDXKZ1/s320/237.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nTLmsIQCtkvjSlroFY8FtU_FRzoV2BbElXpXxWr-6ZoyDxC4qdtKAsXowZplE7JzAS3c-NzE22rdpFLS-ZloN_b_EZSxFMRoLSge3ElAeKU9Tlsm_4vKmntDNQpgjaUzZ5NBJyfKbo7S/s320/232.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5TdTYkZ_hy_WO326K3z6LcoAM6KTAKRDHRV-0skWweN2_kqMJ26FFJGhMxEHFluHKAQWNi_lkxwoK0FDu22qukSs8KyoRTTZ_kOCDifgUdgB9v465-FxHgmCeVZAMY-E3cYQFntJ_ECWH/s320/243.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv0tD6mPrj5GLKtIYzfNzRpsV4fXv9yjF02fiifqo5pQE82ZYTBzF_-rPX4GlhfAe1K6Whd-rsDw2nY0ODJHbKoAmt33aGlgKGUS8xPSRTc0_HDkEEPAh2Z8ap4qnHwJYx21ktHnyppkQ-/s320/238.JPG" width="240" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVfcAWsyKUINALgJZTpl8aUy5lKo_W_EIsNYbpaqZ70gNAgqR3jhd9vDs6Loo2KetFf5va8FqfTVBzSTuHMNyPEUdB0TaSurfVUCmmr8RtxohHsQfZRd_xEjmrvqDif0zO8UkmxCu5uP0A/s320/255.JPG" width="240" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8cHuB2K3qIALvssfg9kVWZJBnGS0tasHVAgBZU_7twGGcmP9bYWFjUjDj1F8yLCbloHmNpnj8iVN5gzTPzGhB9aij_w4wLajHxospvBCFZi7fo1TTdlq2qXzcxinQg_duma2TVIYUQKuI/s320/251.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuuZ4q8mzPwZYfDVefUSXpberjNmbMvZACDLWCjaBIJUfZ1rbmsWpxoRNLLIAvVYSoQG1FgAvreVQ14eWh8zR2uuj7NouiAKk6RIt1A5AoyyYe6RADi6xXDXCcHeHOU2zgxxJ8Aw-Uec4/s320/246.JPG" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m9Ep6BxT0gSOPva2Cx1_Jpro1FIfDFpAPYWfF-JreMCIKTVxrQFkDcdo64qr_umd9yUSm3NraQQYAkIniYEofeS3aiie6TZs0HJAJ2v_tFOocunD7wgXDsZEQB52QkcSIK83IUPNhSpv/s1600/245.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5m9Ep6BxT0gSOPva2Cx1_Jpro1FIfDFpAPYWfF-JreMCIKTVxrQFkDcdo64qr_umd9yUSm3NraQQYAkIniYEofeS3aiie6TZs0HJAJ2v_tFOocunD7wgXDsZEQB52QkcSIK83IUPNhSpv/s320/245.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
I added the clock photo just to show you all that there are still various elements of the original factory left in place. Personally, I did not find this to be the most beautiful event hall I've ever seen. Yet it did have a strange industrial beauty to it. And since the area is famous for their industrial history, I guess I can understand why they would choose to further emphasize it by serving cocktail weenies and displaying nude paintings for an evening, or by filling it with sand and preforming a biblical play. You know, the arts meet history. Eh.<br />
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The most exciting thing for me this weekend (please don't hold your breath; its rather lame) was finding a book store. It was like Barnes and Noble, only ... German. But i was in love. You have no idea how much I miss Barnes and Noble. I've been going through withdrawls like crazy, and just finished my last english book about a week ago. So, I took advantage of the situation and attacked the book store with a vengance. I bought myself a German novel, which I fully intend to finish before I'm home for Christmas. This is quite the goal, you see, because it's 575 pages. All in German. Yeah. If I truly accomplish this, someone better give me a cookie. Although, I was pleasantly surprised that when I started reading it, it wasn't as hard as I imagined it to be. This made me quite thrilled on various levels, because it was a new way for me to realize my german actually HAS improved (quite tremendously since the day I first stepped off the plane and couldn't even order french fries alone..) and I can follow the story line without really having to think that hard. Ok, maybe I'm just a nerd, but this was seriously awesome. The book I bought is a fiction novel called "Die Buecherdiebin" and it follows a girl who steals books during the time of world war 2. Apparently she survives the bombing of her city, and witnesses the treatment of jews around her during the times. I thought the connection to German history might be interesting, so that was how I came upon this choice. Be excited for me, ok? Thank you.<br />
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In other news, I leave for Paris Thursday and have officially began learning French via Rosetta stone last Wednesday. No, I do not expect to know french by the time I go to Paris. I'm actually learning it because it is a business language, and I'm kind of interested in having more than just English and German under my belt. Again with the nerd thing, but hey. Languages are my thing.<br />
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As for classes, Finance is confusing no matter what language you take it in, and my US reproductive health policy class is interesting and thought provoking as usual. I have a huge paper due in a few weeks in that class (which I have yet to have actually thoroughly started) so I'm trying to squeeze typing times into my extremely hectic schedule. Other than that, the life of classes is quite dull.<br />
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So folks, to wrap up this post, if you are planning on visiting me in Germany, or wish to explore the country at some point of your life, you might as well skip essen. The word Essen in German translates as "Food" or "To eat." Don't let it trick you. McDonalds was probably some of the best food offered. So there is literally no reason to go to Essen. Just scratch it off your to do list, especially in rainy, cold November. Oh and another life lesson: don't eat at Mr. Chicken. Don't ask, just trust me. It won't end good.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyEf_txovDtZ_NcpHNcYP3s0J-pe6KYB3TFOnjcYWsnetSciSGOgGxJ1Z3r1u9brc4h7G_PON58eCVaEmW438g5HuxHPJke087TVrrv0gAi5weKGafxstCtv7hVF5ZL0lvmZJgK7NpR8Rm/s320/010.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_wEgZwIaZIAPyHEFCed_e9LVkwmrdkRxhv_GPA5im2WaV-oi_sTMDUBtwl_w3zgRhTymU7fMvroElSH5o9ROQiOFXHKtlBuh9LWH9vQShjTZgFRlteJHtCHWx92blD1a1auSTXMwU5kmL/s320/009.JPG" width="320" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLg4qCNLZ1SY2OOeBaBrHhvykUAyI2SbZiqIKCzKOUUO2hIkPirlS3xrNrOq9FCbc6858_bUpOZFu4t1cd69xyx2-lqMgYP7FcFYd5XGgBpDWkXCqo-BNmMbvzh1vgJcK3T2gXLAGUYXDJ/s1600/012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLg4qCNLZ1SY2OOeBaBrHhvykUAyI2SbZiqIKCzKOUUO2hIkPirlS3xrNrOq9FCbc6858_bUpOZFu4t1cd69xyx2-lqMgYP7FcFYd5XGgBpDWkXCqo-BNmMbvzh1vgJcK3T2gXLAGUYXDJ/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /></a></div> Ok, so I know that this post was lame, but i seriously felt the need to share this accomplishment with the world. Now i'm off to Frankfurt for the day; hopefully I'll have something interesting to write home about then.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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It was cold for basically all of October, yet the first few days of November have been in the 50s, so I'm not sure how to describe this weather to you. But one thing I have realized, the cold here is completely different than the cold in Wisconsin. I used to think we were all so tough and macho, surviving winter after winter of the -35 degrees, -50 degree windchill. Yeah, yeah, frozen tundra blah blah. We're so tough.. well folks. Have you ever felt a WET cold? It is an entirely different feeling. At approximately 30 degrees, I am shaking in my layers and layers of clothes, because the cold literally settles into your bones. I don't even want to feel how Russia is in winter. No wonder they chug vodka. It's your only saving faith in this wet cold crap. But lately it hasn't been bad, so cross your fingers that somehow we make it through the next month and a half without me having to deal with it again. Ok, thank you :)<br />
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Happy Halloween! I know it's late, but, I've been sick for about 2 weeks with a stupid bacterial infection in my lungs, so, give me a break. I was in Hamburg over this past weekend (despite illness.. I had not yet been to a doctor at that point) to celebrate the holiday with my usual friends, along with a girl from my program which I brought with me. Halloween is definitely not a huge holiday here; almost no one celebrates. Ok, some little kids go around trick or treating, but by some, I mean an extremely small number, and it is no where near as glorified here as in the States. It was kind of a strange experience. Teenagers or young adults sometimes have halloween parties, but other than that, there really are no huge celebrations. My friend Patrick had the Halloween Party last weekend. I went as a Pirate, Chris as a Zombie, Sarah fuchs (my host sister from before) went as Cat Woman, and my friend from my program here (Carissa) went as a hippie. We had a ton of fun trying to make our costumes and then at the party itself. Definitely a unique Halloween experience.<br />
(the picture where I am not dressed as a pirate, that's my host brother, Timo, next to me, after Sarah finished making him into a zombie.. really freaking scary..)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9wwQl0Q_UyZE17-eVowhZDJjfZ0K2w0WUS7L2r-JGuSpMJOe5DW0j-pUZr7bPqEZ_hkssngtadcSLMfF9GlFaCM6n9HN2wRLXIjZj_BKxIHPHh2oOhF_xdRSd_BXNQqIPyRVyPNpGV6tT/s320/71505_1674757545836_1144371586_1882200_4112055_n.jpg" width="240" /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHds4d6KDfglk8efMb7D5IzwWjoBEnQgGvhIZRS2OsSRqYzL_gDEZEL8VE6_2MnMeoqB5y-MoBn7E5ZAFoE3KQMJJnoQNYExmMUj_2P0LN62wblOeqWl3PakSzqmNdB7jtQh-JvZJwALoQ/s1600/128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHds4d6KDfglk8efMb7D5IzwWjoBEnQgGvhIZRS2OsSRqYzL_gDEZEL8VE6_2MnMeoqB5y-MoBn7E5ZAFoE3KQMJJnoQNYExmMUj_2P0LN62wblOeqWl3PakSzqmNdB7jtQh-JvZJwALoQ/s320/128.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTjLBTl4KLGK1lkhsc-ARANEl-LbUwWxB5EgoCXZUNB1LFT4kJRLyUmDgRVObVjLjj6t8gj1WSn1rPUIwi3qyeG8F2MrAgrmh_szE3sDPFkTSx3kwCPkq_t8pPwEClKMN3QKFjyU_7SUsH/s320/129.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgef8p2UqAvr7xfGADNfb0Tt1vG9LS0bjP2IevA3ncmuJH4Gt9Nkq2I6UR8e_VpvugnLnNDUWYlvOGb-zQbnRqG_ixR3dJzfVxi7n0ey7u1hRo3_jv9bJPP9FNK3sU97fzYPnLfZo5WsFvH/s320/131.JPG" width="320" /></div><br />
We didn't actually take any pictures at the party itself; we decided for the safety of our cameras just to leave them in a locked room with our jackets for the evening. Another side note about Halloween here, most think that the costumes for adults should be scary. Ok, clearly, not all think this, but yeah. It's a common theme. This amused me since at home we all know that young adult costumes are generally quite scandelous or at least funny. Just a new cultural theory I suppose. Ohhh the holidays. Have to love them!<br />
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Also in the spirit of Halloween, my host family, carissa and I all carved pumpkins together. This is also an extremely American tradition, but they had so much fun doing it; even my host mom Heike made a pumpkin. Hers was actually the best by far.. but the whole thing was so fun :) And they all turned out so cute!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Oh weren't they cute! The other activites of the Hamburg weekend involved going to an "all-american" restaurant. I had a chicken burger; oh it was so dang good. But I must admit, there were quite a few things you wouldn't really find on a typical American menu, like corn on the cob, but hey. It was cute. And delicious. So can't complain.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">We also spent a day showing Carissa around Hamburg, and on one evening found ourselves at a gay bar for cheap cocktails. No, we didn't know it was a gay bar; it was one of those "live and learn" experiences. We figured it out after our only guy friend in the group had his back rubbed by the waiter and when they called it "ladies night" for us girls who were there.. yeahhhh. I love my random experiences. I should really write a novel.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So yes, as you can probably see in most of the pictures, I was sick (still slight am, but now I'm on the mend) with a bacterial infection in my lungs. It sounds way worse than it is, but basically I sounded like Richard Simons for 2 weeks and coughed every 30 seconds. It was kind of repulsing, but eh. No one can judge; we've all been ill and Richard Simons sound alikes at least once in our lives. right? no? Just me? alright. Well. Don't be too jealous. Anyways. I went to the doctor Tuesday and he prescribed me some antibiotics (for those pharmacy friends, the Z-PAK!! haha) and then i slept for the next 2 days. I really wouldn't have bothered writing this, except I have to tell you all about the medicine packages here. They all have brail on them! It's so fascinating! I know that Marburg has an extremely large blind population due to a blind school here, but I asked my friends in Hamburg and apparently all pharmacutical packaging comes with brail. It's so cool. I tried taking a picture, so hopefully you can see it..</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWQFVTG7cK0cf7zNRaRZgxKAVD1KNoNPQ6REBOGra_XYr6mugvTUgOBXJqlkEnBExtotidyh14zw4dxGA0RXjRNmDBmuG4uS0vanwpf6V0hMFJ7lwD9b6ZN4qZISYPTE1qaEuEhdaUiUWh/s320/012.JPG" width="320" /><img border="0" height="240" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6IfAdX-GohjLMpciKYAv1Gh2jwOtANfTT70l-FrFAN_jfBZ1yvrETlBfGj0gJVH4JWTQIpeCw5Rr8QWTB3YluIi0PQREQ9k5lixVx2liGHCUvCIWs7y4muSPhYtB6A31SN827kK-gsRu6/s320/011.JPG" width="320" /></div><br />
Ok maybe I'm just a nerd, but i thought that was so cool!! <br />
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Other than those events of the past weekend, and my doctors visit, my life has been rather dull this week. This weekend is the last weekend free before my mad month and a half of traveling begins. I'm hoping my immune system will be amazing after this week of recovering, or at least strong enough to carry me through this next month or so. I plan on spending the weekend grocery shopping, cleaning the apartment, catching myself up on my dvd collection, and maybe attempting to make this thing called an apple sauce cake. I really suck at baking here though, so don't hold high hopes for me. Although, I must say, my cooking skills have improved immensely over these last 2 months. Just yesterday I made an amazing Cream of Broccoli soup. So, maybe there is hope. However, there is no brown sugar in Germany, so baking is always an interesting adventure. Well, I'm off to meet my friend Senta for dinner at a local place in the Oberstadt. That is, after I find my damn Umbrella..<br />
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Oh and here is the link for all of the halloween weekend photos..<br />
<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101031?authkey=Gv1sRgCM72yrDvqoTirgE&feat=directlink">http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101031?authkey=Gv1sRgCM72yrDvqoTirgE&feat=directlink</a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1G4tIKu6ELdPbUTW5Pq0GFQmIzVKaesBtMKKXBg9jAydTKn6dvNz3H_HNke5opaGNfAB4boL_nNQ0aahPYt9hHau9iVcYtAZ023_0ZljItVQEiSeopF5PxnqovWzo6-QzWT5yCjIHqQCN/s1600/034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1G4tIKu6ELdPbUTW5Pq0GFQmIzVKaesBtMKKXBg9jAydTKn6dvNz3H_HNke5opaGNfAB4boL_nNQ0aahPYt9hHau9iVcYtAZ023_0ZljItVQEiSeopF5PxnqovWzo6-QzWT5yCjIHqQCN/s320/034.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbioMoDJSSjcIOIsZ-9x3VJuXF2eWb2ABiKFC1Mgu1-TdWtIFl9w-ymzi_d53GLnXwUsqwYZkUwBZW9hbVcfgR2sSmG4JRMjbaE1j_IR-443eAm0SJYu0GApE10DAh-eub568OVkyEFOz0/s1600/046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbioMoDJSSjcIOIsZ-9x3VJuXF2eWb2ABiKFC1Mgu1-TdWtIFl9w-ymzi_d53GLnXwUsqwYZkUwBZW9hbVcfgR2sSmG4JRMjbaE1j_IR-443eAm0SJYu0GApE10DAh-eub568OVkyEFOz0/s320/046.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxCSupqB5_fHLe9tBPHK-pvwMKPGUAojgKazzPdeRG-GtSKxxsADW4xdDS_7ihx5K3N0vke0L5udBR1pU8pf5soBWKFPi4RnEEOCo8XFo6WQM6P2_XnwzvHBDt5ebxhm78xb0nG2OagxX/s1600/058.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoxCSupqB5_fHLe9tBPHK-pvwMKPGUAojgKazzPdeRG-GtSKxxsADW4xdDS_7ihx5K3N0vke0L5udBR1pU8pf5soBWKFPi4RnEEOCo8XFo6WQM6P2_XnwzvHBDt5ebxhm78xb0nG2OagxX/s320/058.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9chAq4rd1nqm0Mw9gwq037q-yzRasn-DAsSTLf14e1FS7-YsthCcfhpl9RX-TesTuEUHa6KlK0DGcqLsoJ0L7MCvcUg3-fgirSkdwI2_VI2oFYFrnb_oFEesU8ZUjPapSWpnn4n77DyxP/s1600/020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9chAq4rd1nqm0Mw9gwq037q-yzRasn-DAsSTLf14e1FS7-YsthCcfhpl9RX-TesTuEUHa6KlK0DGcqLsoJ0L7MCvcUg3-fgirSkdwI2_VI2oFYFrnb_oFEesU8ZUjPapSWpnn4n77DyxP/s320/020.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here are the rest of the photos :</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101018?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuG77PR-r7qswE&feat=directlink">http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101018?authkey=Gv1sRgCOuG77PR-r7qswE&feat=directlink</a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">On Wednesdays I only have class until 12, so Nichola, Christina, Kayte and myself (my girlfriends from here) took a random train to Heidelberg with our free student passes for the day. It was about a 1.5 hour train ride in total to reach Heidelberg, and once we got there we found the weather to be absolutely freezing, windy, foggy and raining. Absolute crap for seeing any of the city. We still wandered around a bit and eventually got some Chinese food, then made the trek back home to Marburg. Basically it was a waste of a trip, but in reality we probably wouldn't have done anything at home in Marburg either, and it was free, so eh.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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The main travel of this blog section, however, was Prague, Czech Republic. I was there only about 2 years ago in the summer with my family and a school group, however we were given Prague as the destination to our blind booking trip. A blind booking is where you pay for a flight without knowing your eventual destination and then once you pay you are given a destination. We got Prague and yep. I can say that Prague is a city in which you really only need to visit once in your life, but I'm not saying it was a terrible trip. I went with 5 of my girlfriends from my program here and we stayed in a small hostel right in the old city of Prague. The Czech People really are not hospitable to English speaking people however. They're extremely rude (not all, but majority) so it was kind of frustrating. Our Taxi driver was cursing at us in Czech because we weren't getting out of his cab fast enough and wanted to use a coupon that HIS company gave us to use. Whatever. Strange people. But yes. We did everything for free; basically walking around and taking photos of the city. I finally saw a wall which is a tribute to John Lenon. The story goes that when John Lenon was killed, people would draw tributes to him on this wall and then the police would paint over them. However, the next morning the tributes would be back up again. So eventually they just stopped covering them up and now this huge wall of tributes stands there. It kind of reminded me of the paintings on the Berlin Wall. Also, I liked the "lock bridge" right next to the wall; couples come to this bridge and put locks on the bridge representing their love for each other and then throw the locks into the river. It's so cute!!! I'm running late for dinner, so here is the link to all the photos:<br />
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<a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101023?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6EpaGvjqTgqgE&feat=directlink">http://picasaweb.google.com/113919949355390501172/20101023?authkey=Gv1sRgCM6EpaGvjqTgqgE&feat=directlink</a><br />
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The flights there and back were only an hour, but it was a 2 hour train ride to the airport. Clearly, with being such a cheap flight, it wasn't the nicest air travel in my life, but it worked. The landings were all kind of rough, but eh. Can't complain I suppose. Well I'm off folks. 6 weeks until I see you all again.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript">
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