Sad to leave Berlin, but excited to see Brussels we hop on the train and head to Belgium. The train ride was uneventful and I slept pretty much the whole time and we arrived in Brussels at about 5:45pm. We eventually found our hotel (not hostel!) and were pleased with free breakfast, our own room, our own bathroom, and other hotel like amenities. Although there wasn't air conditioning =/ That night we didn't do much, just walked around and got some waffles! They were delicious!! We ventured into the Grand Place by accident. It was quite pretty and not too crowded, so that was nice. I got myself a doner kabob (popular over there) and we just relaxed for the evening. It gets dark late there (much like Paris at like 10pm) so it throws us off a bit.
On our full day in Brussels we woke up and got breakfast, and headed out to our first stop - The Mannequin Pis - Brussels most giggled at sight, and perhaps its most famous. When we got there we had a laugh because it was the smallest little statue! It was quite overrated, but something we had to see. After that, we went to the Hotel de Ville, which is just a fancy term for Town Hall. We took a tour and learned a bit about Brussels history and saw where official meetings take place and stuff. It's cool because they still seem to do things quite old fashioned-ly. They still have a King/Queen too, although they don't have like ultimate rule.
After that, we went to the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate!! How exciting! The museum itself was just like a little history of chocolate, where it comes from, how it's made, and why it's better in Belgium. But the best part was that we got free chocolate samples! YUM! I definitely took more than you were probably supposed to, but hey - When in Belgium! We saw some guy make some chocolate stuff, which was pretty cool.
After that it was funny because we were pretty much done with everything we wanted to see and it was only 2pm. I didn't believe people at first when they said you could do Brussels in a day, but you really can! We got some French Fries because they were invented in Brussels - they tasted like most fries, but it was exciting nonetheless.
Then we shopped around a bit. We went to several souvenir shops, chocolate shops, and beer stores looking for gifts. We figured we'd buy most of our gifts in Belgium since it was our last stop. I bought A LOT of stuff and my backpack was ridiculously heavy. After I got home, my parents were amazed with how much I kept pulling out of my bag! I had about 12 beers (all but 1 were gifts) 6 boxes of chocolate, 13 shot glasses that I had collected in each city, and a lot of other little stuff. One might wonder how I managed to fit 12 beers on a plane...well, I purchased some bubble wrap and put them in my backpack, because obviously, I couldn't carry on that stuff. My backpack was pretty much all full of beer and chocolate wrapped in clothes, while I carried around in plastic shopping bags clothes and toiletries and stuff. It was quite the scene and quite heavy! But I made it back with not a single thing breaking - although, all my chocolate did melt together.
Anywho, after shopping we got some more waffles - I think I gained a million pounds on this trip despite all the walking. That night we watched the USA vs. Brazil soccer game at an Irish bar, but unfortunately they lost =( We headed back to our hostel, showered, and watched a movie that I named Bears, and then went to bed.
Our second day was spent on a day trip to Bruges. We hopped on a train at about 11 and it only took about an hour and we were there. We walked out of the train station and headed to the brewery. At the brewery we took a tour. We saw how the beer used to be made and even got a view of the city from the top. Afterward, we got a beer - it was good! I have discovered on this trip that I'm a fan of wheat beers, or hefeweizen.
After that we walked around for a bit, I got a waffle, and we headed to the Markt square. It was pretty, but we didn't do anything there. We then headed over to some other square (Burg, I think) and sat on a bench. I had to go to the bathroom, so in an effort to find a place that didn't cost money, I wandered into a church. It turned out to be the church where they supposedly have a relic containing Jesus' blood. It was this big silver statue thing, so you can't be certain. And they didn't have a bathroom.
After finally just paying for a bathroom, we headed to the park where we fell asleep for 2 hours in the grass - lol. We came all the way to Bruges to sleep? I guess so. We woke up to these guys kicking a soccer ball over our heads - a bit scary!
There wasn't much else to do, so we headed back to the station. Along the way, I got some chocolate and were back on our way to Brussels. We took it easy once we got back, and this is when I attempted to pack. It was quite the task, but I did it successfully!
I suppose I will include our last day in Paris as well because it's quite the story. So we headed to the train station with all of our bags. I had my backpack, which like I said was pretty much just full of beer and chocolate, another bag with random things I couldn't fit in my backpack, a purse full of all my shot glasses and magnets, and my orange backpack with like 2 books and other things. HEAVY! We have some trouble once we get to the train station - we need reservations to get to Paris. We tried to make the 11:15 train, but the line was so long that we had to wait for the 12:15. Our bags didn't get any lighter and we had to pay 26 Euro and they didn't have 1st class available - Lame.
We eventually made it to Paris though and we immediately stored our bags at the train station. We went to buy a metro ticket to get closer to the city's center, but the machines were so confusing! It wouldn't take our cards and therefore we needed about 12 euro in coins - NOT easy to come by. Plus, we weren't even sure we were buying the right thing.
Finally, we get it sorted out and head to the Notre Dame area to do some shopping. We got our Paris souvenirs, pashminas, and I bought a dress from H&M! I felt European. By this time we were so hot and beat we got some food and decided to just make our way back to our hotel since it was near the airport. This is when everything started to go wrong. We get our ridiculously heavy bags and make our way to RER B - the train that goes to the airport. There were so many sketchy people there, we were a little confused. First, we got on the wrong train, which usually isn't a problem, but for some reason it stopped for like 10 minutes. There was no ventilation on the train and we were so tired because we had to stand with our bags on. Then to top it off, some scary guy started smoking directly into my face! I never thought we were going to get moving, but thank God, we did. We got turned around and back to the right spot only to find that there was a problem and the trains weren't running. We waited and waited and waited, all the while more sketchy people started to build up and we had no idea what was going on! When trains DID come, there was no way we could fit because people were literally falling out of the door it was so packed!
We retreated upstairs for a bit to try and wait it out. Luckily, after about 2.5 hours after we originally arrived at the station, it cleared up and we FINALLY got headed in the right direction. And God was on our side at this point, because we ran into some Canadian ladies and their kids who were staying at our same hotel, so we just followed them through finding the shuttle. Which was a good thing because we would have never found our way on our own! Everything went smoothly after that and we finally got to throw all our bags down, shower, and relax in the AC. I thought that that moment was never going to arrive after the day we had. We passed out and woke up in the morning and went to the airport. We didn't have any issues and made it back to Dallas safely without anything breaking - a miracle!
This was by far the best trip of my life and I can't wait to go travel again! It was the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm so glad I had the chance to do it! It was quite bittersweet returning home, but I'm so glad we made it through the whole trip safely and happily! Thanks for reading!
Love,
Chelsea
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
Berlin
The train ride from Prague to Berlin was quite long, but we got a whole 6 person cabin to ourselves, so that was nice.
Once in Berlin, we got off at our stop, went the wrong direction, had to ask for directions and then turn around (this never gets old). We didn't do much that first day because we didn't get in until around 9ish, so we just relaxed at our hostel and planned our day. But this was the day we found out about Michael Jackson dying - I was shocked!
We decided to take a bike tour on our full day there - Fat Tire Bike Tours - originated in Austin! Our tour guide was named Enda - he was really funny and cool, so we had a really good time. I enjoy riding the bikes more than walking. It's funny because Fat Tire sells a shirt that says "Our Motto: Walking is stupid." I laughed.
We biked all around Berlin and it barely rained at all - yay! We saw the Neptune fountain, the difference between East and West Berlin's crosswalk lights (the East's were fancier), the TV tower, Checkpoint Charlie, where the wall used to be, fragments of the old wall, the area where Hitler's Bunker was, a big garden we rode our bikes through, and another beer garden. There, I had German sausage and the best beer I've tried yet - Edinger Hefewiesen. After the beer garden we hopped back on our bikes and visited a few more sights including, Siegessäule which is a famous victory statue, the hotel Michael Jackson dangled his baby outside of the window (ironic that we saw that the day after he died), Pariser Platz, Brandenburg Gate, Marx and Engels Platz, Museum Island, Bebelplatz (where Nazis had a big book burning event), Reichstag building and a lot more along the way. I really enjoyed it!! I think Germany has a fascinating history (although sad) and it makes it even more interesting that it happened relatively recently.
Afterwards, Steph and I headed back to the Checkpoint Charlie area where we read A LOT of free information about the wall and that time period. That took us about 2 hours, but we really enjoyed it. We then headed over to the Topography of Terror Museum where we read more about the holocaust and Hitler. It was creepy to see his picture. The (outdoor) museum was like in the same spot where Nazis would torture people and was home to many Nazi government buildings - creepy. We headed back to our hostel after that and just took it easy because if you can imagine, we were quite tired from a day like that!
I LOVED Berlin and really want to spend more time there some day! Germany as a whole was so cool and I definitely want to return. I would really recommend it to people - it's a really cool place!
Marx and Engels Platz (founders of communism)
TV Tower
Bebelplatz Memorial - Nazi book burning sight (It's a whole in the ground with a bunch of empty bookcases)
East side Berlin's crosswalk man
Note the one glove - Michael Jackson remembrance
Longest part of the Berlin Wall that's still standing
Brandenburg Gate
The hotel Michael Jackson held his baby from
Riding through the garden
Siegessäule
Reichstag building
That sign says I'm going into the American sector - West Berlin. The other side said I was entering the Soviet sector, a.k.a. East Berlin
Checkpoint Charlie
At Checkpoint Charlie, they put a picture of an American soldier on one side of the sign and a Soviet solider on the other to let you know that you are now entering what used to be Soviet run territory or American run territory
Me standing on either side of what used to be the Berlin Wall (they have those double lines of cobblestone all throughout the city to show where the wall used to be)
Once in Berlin, we got off at our stop, went the wrong direction, had to ask for directions and then turn around (this never gets old). We didn't do much that first day because we didn't get in until around 9ish, so we just relaxed at our hostel and planned our day. But this was the day we found out about Michael Jackson dying - I was shocked!
We decided to take a bike tour on our full day there - Fat Tire Bike Tours - originated in Austin! Our tour guide was named Enda - he was really funny and cool, so we had a really good time. I enjoy riding the bikes more than walking. It's funny because Fat Tire sells a shirt that says "Our Motto: Walking is stupid." I laughed.
We biked all around Berlin and it barely rained at all - yay! We saw the Neptune fountain, the difference between East and West Berlin's crosswalk lights (the East's were fancier), the TV tower, Checkpoint Charlie, where the wall used to be, fragments of the old wall, the area where Hitler's Bunker was, a big garden we rode our bikes through, and another beer garden. There, I had German sausage and the best beer I've tried yet - Edinger Hefewiesen. After the beer garden we hopped back on our bikes and visited a few more sights including, Siegessäule which is a famous victory statue, the hotel Michael Jackson dangled his baby outside of the window (ironic that we saw that the day after he died), Pariser Platz, Brandenburg Gate, Marx and Engels Platz, Museum Island, Bebelplatz (where Nazis had a big book burning event), Reichstag building and a lot more along the way. I really enjoyed it!! I think Germany has a fascinating history (although sad) and it makes it even more interesting that it happened relatively recently.
Afterwards, Steph and I headed back to the Checkpoint Charlie area where we read A LOT of free information about the wall and that time period. That took us about 2 hours, but we really enjoyed it. We then headed over to the Topography of Terror Museum where we read more about the holocaust and Hitler. It was creepy to see his picture. The (outdoor) museum was like in the same spot where Nazis would torture people and was home to many Nazi government buildings - creepy. We headed back to our hostel after that and just took it easy because if you can imagine, we were quite tired from a day like that!
I LOVED Berlin and really want to spend more time there some day! Germany as a whole was so cool and I definitely want to return. I would really recommend it to people - it's a really cool place!
Marx and Engels Platz (founders of communism) 
TV Tower
Bebelplatz Memorial - Nazi book burning sight (It's a whole in the ground with a bunch of empty bookcases)
East side Berlin's crosswalk man
Note the one glove - Michael Jackson remembrance 
Longest part of the Berlin Wall that's still standing
Brandenburg Gate
The hotel Michael Jackson held his baby from
Riding through the garden
Siegessäule 
Reichstag building
That sign says I'm going into the American sector - West Berlin. The other side said I was entering the Soviet sector, a.k.a. East Berlin
Checkpoint Charlie
At Checkpoint Charlie, they put a picture of an American soldier on one side of the sign and a Soviet solider on the other to let you know that you are now entering what used to be Soviet run territory or American run territory
Me standing on either side of what used to be the Berlin Wall (they have those double lines of cobblestone all throughout the city to show where the wall used to be)
Praha
Once arriving in Prague we had to get some Czech koruna (their currency), which was a task in itself. It's like 1 koruna to 0.05dollars, so, 300kr is like $15. We try to buy an 18kr metro ticket, but of course we can't use our cards, so we have to find an ATM. Well, we need enough money to sustain us for 2 days, so we each pull out 2000kr. We return to buy our metro tickets, and the guy behind the desk won't take that big of a bill. This was one of the most frustrating things about being abroad - everyone always wanted small bills and coins, but the ATMs never gave you small bills! So, the guy made us go to the store and buy something in order to break up our bills and then we finally got on the metro - the whole ordeal took like 45 minutes, but luckily we made it out. And it was a good thing too, because as soon as we got down into the metro, these scary police guys came and checked out tickets to make sure we had gotten them validated! Phew!
We found our hostel (after of course walking in the wrong direction first) and got settled. It was in a really great location - right next to Old Town Square, and in walking distance of pretty much everything. We headed to the market and bought some dinner, and while we were putting our groceries away, we met some guys from Ireland - Kevin and Neil. We talked to them while we ate dinner, and then tagged along with them (and others) to a couple of bars. We peaced out early, and headed to bed.
On our second day in Prague, we decided to go on The Ultimate Tour, which took us to all the big sights, fed us a Czech lunch, took us on a boat ride, and a tram ride. Unfortunately, it rained pretty much all day. Luckily we had ponchos, and it never got as bad as it was in Munich.
We started our tour in the Museum area, headed toward Old Town Square, then to the Jewish Quarter. After that, we got on a boat and cruised along the river for a bit. We went underneath the Charles Bridge! Our tour guide was a Czech native and told us all about Prague's history in communism and its freedom. It was cool, because he had lived through a lot of Prague's history.
After the boat ride, we went back through the Jewish Quarter and Old Town Square and went and got some Czech food! I got beef goulash and dumplings. It was good. The dumplings are just like bread though. After lunch, we walked across the Charles Bridge and to the tram. We hopped on and headed to the Prague Castle, which is like the biggest in the world or something. It wasn't what I was expecting - it seemed much more modern and not so medieval, like how I usually picture castles. I don't actually know how old it is though. We went inside the church, which is in the center courtyard of the castle. It reminded me of the Notre Dame.
We took a bunch of pictures, and our tour was over, so we headed back to our hostel. I wanted to try this place called Bohemia Bagel because my friend Ilona suggested it to me (she studied in Prague). We walked there and got some delicious cheesecake and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a lot like American restaurants, which we appreciated at this point in our trip - English! After that, we went to an Irish bar and just sat and watched USA vs. Spain. I had my first Guinness (I liked it, Alex) and USA won - so it was a good night! After the game, we went home and fell asleep!
The next day, we had a little more time in Prague. We finally saw the sun, and just walked around to little shops for the beginning part of the day until we had to catch our train to Berlin. Prague is a really cool city, and I'd love to visit again when the weather isn't so ugly.
A lot of my pictures are just scenery because I tried to get my camera out quickly to avoid the rain, so I don't have as many interesting ones to post. But here are some good ones...
Me on the boat with The Charles Bridge
Beef Goulash and Dumplings
The View from The Prague Castle
Me and Prague
I just thought this was cute
Bohemia Bagel for Lonny
We found our hostel (after of course walking in the wrong direction first) and got settled. It was in a really great location - right next to Old Town Square, and in walking distance of pretty much everything. We headed to the market and bought some dinner, and while we were putting our groceries away, we met some guys from Ireland - Kevin and Neil. We talked to them while we ate dinner, and then tagged along with them (and others) to a couple of bars. We peaced out early, and headed to bed.
On our second day in Prague, we decided to go on The Ultimate Tour, which took us to all the big sights, fed us a Czech lunch, took us on a boat ride, and a tram ride. Unfortunately, it rained pretty much all day. Luckily we had ponchos, and it never got as bad as it was in Munich.
We started our tour in the Museum area, headed toward Old Town Square, then to the Jewish Quarter. After that, we got on a boat and cruised along the river for a bit. We went underneath the Charles Bridge! Our tour guide was a Czech native and told us all about Prague's history in communism and its freedom. It was cool, because he had lived through a lot of Prague's history.
After the boat ride, we went back through the Jewish Quarter and Old Town Square and went and got some Czech food! I got beef goulash and dumplings. It was good. The dumplings are just like bread though. After lunch, we walked across the Charles Bridge and to the tram. We hopped on and headed to the Prague Castle, which is like the biggest in the world or something. It wasn't what I was expecting - it seemed much more modern and not so medieval, like how I usually picture castles. I don't actually know how old it is though. We went inside the church, which is in the center courtyard of the castle. It reminded me of the Notre Dame.
We took a bunch of pictures, and our tour was over, so we headed back to our hostel. I wanted to try this place called Bohemia Bagel because my friend Ilona suggested it to me (she studied in Prague). We walked there and got some delicious cheesecake and enjoyed the atmosphere. It was a lot like American restaurants, which we appreciated at this point in our trip - English! After that, we went to an Irish bar and just sat and watched USA vs. Spain. I had my first Guinness (I liked it, Alex) and USA won - so it was a good night! After the game, we went home and fell asleep!
The next day, we had a little more time in Prague. We finally saw the sun, and just walked around to little shops for the beginning part of the day until we had to catch our train to Berlin. Prague is a really cool city, and I'd love to visit again when the weather isn't so ugly.
A lot of my pictures are just scenery because I tried to get my camera out quickly to avoid the rain, so I don't have as many interesting ones to post. But here are some good ones...
Me on the boat with The Charles Bridge
Beef Goulash and Dumplings
The View from The Prague Castle
Me and Prague
I just thought this was cute
Bohemia Bagel for Lonny
Thursday, July 2, 2009
München
Our train ride to Munich was a little rough. We decided to not pay for a sleeper car since last time it was 72 euro, and we figured we've been able to sleep in our seats to other cities, we'll be fine. Well, this train was by far the most uncomfortable we've been on - how convenient, right? It was set up with six seats in one little cabin and it was about the size of a closet. The seats were equivalent to a bench in my book. So as you can guess the night was a bit rough; I ended up sleeping on the floor and I'd like to never know how dirty that floor actually was.
On a brighter note though - we didn't get lost on the way to our hostel!!! Perhaps it was because it was literally less than a block from the train station. We got in really early and so we did laundry!! Never have we been so excited! The hostel was really nice, so we had a little room to do laundry in. Well, we needed to wash the clothes we were wearing - so, what to do? I was dressed in my jacket and wrapped my scarf around my waist and Stephanie had a long shirt on..and we did laundry. It was great. And we showered in probably the best shower we've had yet - our day definitely started off well!
After laundry, we headed out to the Dachau concentration camp. We got an audio tour and explored the site. (We got lost on the site, I don't know how that's possible, but we managed to do it). We listened to our audio tour and learned a lot about Dachou. We went through the museum and read a lot about the holocaust. It was a lot of reading so we spent quite a bit of time in the museum. We tried to watch a 15 minute film about the camp, but due to our train ride the night before, as soon as the lights were dimmed, it was a struggle to keep my eyes open, despite the fact that I really wanted to see the film! After the film we headed to the Bunker. We saw where prisoners were held and rooms that they tortured people in. Then we walked over to the dorms. All of them had been destroyed, so they had recreated what it was like on one of the dorms, the rest were all just cement foundations. After that, we went over to the crematorium and gas chamber - creepy, I know. It was quite disturbing to see this part. I don't understand how people used to subject others to that.
At night we went to the University area and walked around. I forgot my camera at night though, so I didn't get any pictures of that area. It was pretty though.
The next day we decided to go to the Deutsches museum. It is the biggest museum about science and it was way cool! Apparently the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is modeled after Deutsches. We saw how subways are made which was one of my favorite parts because all the metro systems have fascinated me! I didn't understand how they built these massive tunnels under these huge cities, so it really interested me! We also saw boats, planes, chemistry, math, musical instrument, and lots more. We spent like 4 hours walking around - it was great.
After the museum we decided to take a bike tour of the city! A FREE bike tour, nonetheless! We headed to the famous Marienplatz where our tour was meeting and walked around a bit and then met up with our tour. Steph had a bit of trouble with the bike, but it was really fun! Our first stop was the Hofbrauhaus and learned about how Nazi's used to meet there. Then we saw some opera hall, and Odeonplatz. It was raining on us on and off but it wasn't too bad (yet). I think Germany has a really interesting history so I really enjoyed learning about everything!! After Odeonplatz, we headed to The English Gardens - the largest metropolitan park in the world. We headed to the Chinese Pagoda (beer garden) and had some Hofbrau beer. Afterward we headed to the Ice Bach, which is a river where people can surf! It was cool to watch them! It was at this point that it started to POUR on us!! We saw the rest of the sights so quickly that I don't even remember what they are. We got so soaked but it was a good laugh! I'm sad though that we didn't get the chance to experience Munich in the sun though, because it is such a cool city!!
At night, after getting into some dry clothes, we went to the Hofbrahaus to have a Bavarian dinner! The place is huge!! There were so many people!! And the beer was 2 liters! Stephanie and I both got some Bavarian original beer and lemonade mix - it's called a Radler - it was good!
We considered staying in Munich another day, but the weather was predicted to be bad all week =( I'll definitely try to make it back to Munich some day when it's not raining. But overall - an AWESOME city!
Stephanie's laundry outfit!
My laundry outfit! Haha...
"Do I smile?" "Yeah, because it's over!"
The gate to the camp, it means something like "Work will set you free"
Deutsches Museum!
Subway systems!
Yay for learning!
In Marienplatz
Me getting ready for the bike ride!
Stephanie about to take off!
In the English Gardens
The Chinese Pagoda
Making foam mustaches!
The Ice Bach
SOAKING WET!
Stephanie and her 2 liter Radler
Drinking my Radler
On a brighter note though - we didn't get lost on the way to our hostel!!! Perhaps it was because it was literally less than a block from the train station. We got in really early and so we did laundry!! Never have we been so excited! The hostel was really nice, so we had a little room to do laundry in. Well, we needed to wash the clothes we were wearing - so, what to do? I was dressed in my jacket and wrapped my scarf around my waist and Stephanie had a long shirt on..and we did laundry. It was great. And we showered in probably the best shower we've had yet - our day definitely started off well!
After laundry, we headed out to the Dachau concentration camp. We got an audio tour and explored the site. (We got lost on the site, I don't know how that's possible, but we managed to do it). We listened to our audio tour and learned a lot about Dachou. We went through the museum and read a lot about the holocaust. It was a lot of reading so we spent quite a bit of time in the museum. We tried to watch a 15 minute film about the camp, but due to our train ride the night before, as soon as the lights were dimmed, it was a struggle to keep my eyes open, despite the fact that I really wanted to see the film! After the film we headed to the Bunker. We saw where prisoners were held and rooms that they tortured people in. Then we walked over to the dorms. All of them had been destroyed, so they had recreated what it was like on one of the dorms, the rest were all just cement foundations. After that, we went over to the crematorium and gas chamber - creepy, I know. It was quite disturbing to see this part. I don't understand how people used to subject others to that.
At night we went to the University area and walked around. I forgot my camera at night though, so I didn't get any pictures of that area. It was pretty though.
The next day we decided to go to the Deutsches museum. It is the biggest museum about science and it was way cool! Apparently the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago is modeled after Deutsches. We saw how subways are made which was one of my favorite parts because all the metro systems have fascinated me! I didn't understand how they built these massive tunnels under these huge cities, so it really interested me! We also saw boats, planes, chemistry, math, musical instrument, and lots more. We spent like 4 hours walking around - it was great.
After the museum we decided to take a bike tour of the city! A FREE bike tour, nonetheless! We headed to the famous Marienplatz where our tour was meeting and walked around a bit and then met up with our tour. Steph had a bit of trouble with the bike, but it was really fun! Our first stop was the Hofbrauhaus and learned about how Nazi's used to meet there. Then we saw some opera hall, and Odeonplatz. It was raining on us on and off but it wasn't too bad (yet). I think Germany has a really interesting history so I really enjoyed learning about everything!! After Odeonplatz, we headed to The English Gardens - the largest metropolitan park in the world. We headed to the Chinese Pagoda (beer garden) and had some Hofbrau beer. Afterward we headed to the Ice Bach, which is a river where people can surf! It was cool to watch them! It was at this point that it started to POUR on us!! We saw the rest of the sights so quickly that I don't even remember what they are. We got so soaked but it was a good laugh! I'm sad though that we didn't get the chance to experience Munich in the sun though, because it is such a cool city!!
At night, after getting into some dry clothes, we went to the Hofbrahaus to have a Bavarian dinner! The place is huge!! There were so many people!! And the beer was 2 liters! Stephanie and I both got some Bavarian original beer and lemonade mix - it's called a Radler - it was good!
We considered staying in Munich another day, but the weather was predicted to be bad all week =( I'll definitely try to make it back to Munich some day when it's not raining. But overall - an AWESOME city!
Stephanie's laundry outfit!
My laundry outfit! Haha...
"Do I smile?" "Yeah, because it's over!"
The gate to the camp, it means something like "Work will set you free"
Deutsches Museum!
Subway systems!
Yay for learning!
In Marienplatz
Me getting ready for the bike ride!
Stephanie about to take off!
In the English Gardens
The Chinese Pagoda
Making foam mustaches!
The Ice Bach
SOAKING WET! 
Stephanie and her 2 liter Radler
Drinking my Radler
Florence
So, I'm going to try to make these posts shorter and a quicker read!
Florence seems like such a long time ago, but it was such a cool city!! It was definitely our favorite place in Italy.
We got there mid day and found our hostel (after of course getting lost - but it wasn't our fault! My lets go book had the hostel in the wrong spot on the map!! Luckily we had our phone and called and eventually got there!) After we got settled we headed to the Duomo. It's like the third biggest Dome in the world (next to the Vatican and some other dome in London). We climbed about 500 steps to the top and could see all of Florence!! It was so awesome! And the weather was perfect! We sat up there for quite a while and took lots of pictures! The city just gives off an awesome vibe - similar to the one we got while in Interlaken, but not as quaint.
While in Florence we had the best gelato ever!! It was at a little place called Grom. I can't even explain how good it was, you just have to trust me. If you ever go to Florence, you must try it!
We saw Piazza Della Signoria which has a bunch of replicas of famous sculptures like Michelangelo's David.
Our second day in Florence started off with the Academia which houses the real David. It's crazy how big he actually is! He's like 14 feet tall! Definitely a cool sight to see! You can't take pictures in there, but don't worry, I snuck a few ;)
After we ate the most delicious lunch we've ever made, we went to this famous shopping plaza called Piazzle San Lorenzo. It's made up of all these little stands selling purses, pashminas, and other little trinkets. We stayed there for a bit and had fun looking at all of the stands and just taking in the atmosphere.
Our favorite part about Florence was just walking around. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, and the buildings are quite tall so it's fairly shaded everywhere you go, making the weather perfect. We walked along the river and Florence's most famous bridge, got more gelato, and just soaked it all up before we had to leave on our night train to Munich.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Florence and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Italy!!!
Me climbing the stairs at the Duomo! So many steps!
The awesome view!
Me on top of the Duomo
Stephanie and me on top of the Duomo!
Yay! The Duomo from outside!
Outside of Grom! Best Gelato ever!
My sneaky picture of the David statue!
In Piazzle Della Signoria - Do you see me?
The delicious paninis we made! They were so good we HAD to take a picture!
Hookem' at Piazzle San Lorenzo
Florence old Bridge
Florence seems like such a long time ago, but it was such a cool city!! It was definitely our favorite place in Italy.
We got there mid day and found our hostel (after of course getting lost - but it wasn't our fault! My lets go book had the hostel in the wrong spot on the map!! Luckily we had our phone and called and eventually got there!) After we got settled we headed to the Duomo. It's like the third biggest Dome in the world (next to the Vatican and some other dome in London). We climbed about 500 steps to the top and could see all of Florence!! It was so awesome! And the weather was perfect! We sat up there for quite a while and took lots of pictures! The city just gives off an awesome vibe - similar to the one we got while in Interlaken, but not as quaint.
While in Florence we had the best gelato ever!! It was at a little place called Grom. I can't even explain how good it was, you just have to trust me. If you ever go to Florence, you must try it!
We saw Piazza Della Signoria which has a bunch of replicas of famous sculptures like Michelangelo's David.
Our second day in Florence started off with the Academia which houses the real David. It's crazy how big he actually is! He's like 14 feet tall! Definitely a cool sight to see! You can't take pictures in there, but don't worry, I snuck a few ;)
After we ate the most delicious lunch we've ever made, we went to this famous shopping plaza called Piazzle San Lorenzo. It's made up of all these little stands selling purses, pashminas, and other little trinkets. We stayed there for a bit and had fun looking at all of the stands and just taking in the atmosphere.
Our favorite part about Florence was just walking around. We really enjoyed the atmosphere, and the buildings are quite tall so it's fairly shaded everywhere you go, making the weather perfect. We walked along the river and Florence's most famous bridge, got more gelato, and just soaked it all up before we had to leave on our night train to Munich.
We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Florence and I would definitely recommend it to anyone going to Italy!!!
Me climbing the stairs at the Duomo! So many steps!
The awesome view!
Me on top of the Duomo
Stephanie and me on top of the Duomo!
Yay! The Duomo from outside!
Outside of Grom! Best Gelato ever!
My sneaky picture of the David statue!
In Piazzle Della Signoria - Do you see me?
The delicious paninis we made! They were so good we HAD to take a picture!
Hookem' at Piazzle San Lorenzo
Florence old Bridge
Home safe!
We made it home safely!!
We got back yesterday and through customs smoothly! I'm going to work on getting the rest of our posts up and hopefully some pictures soon!
Love,
Chelsea
We got back yesterday and through customs smoothly! I'm going to work on getting the rest of our posts up and hopefully some pictures soon!
Love,
Chelsea
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Doing Well!
We are currently in Berlin, and we're planning our day for tomorrow! Everything is going amazingly and we're having the time of our lives!! We can't believe this trip is coming to an end in less than a week - we're definitely not ready to go back to normal life - we're having too much fun! Our eyes have been opened to so many new cultures, ways of life, people, foods, and so much more! We hope to never forget this experience and are hoping that the things we've seen and learned here will stay with us forever. It's bittersweet to come home on Wednesday, but hopefully this won't be the end of our traveling!
More city updates to come soon! Florence, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Brussels, and Bruges. You'll get to read all about it!
Love,
me
More city updates to come soon! Florence, Munich, Prague, Berlin, Brussels, and Bruges. You'll get to read all about it!
Love,
me
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