November 27
We had a short class this morning because we are taking a trip to Vienna for the weekend. We left the Schloss around 11:30 and took the train to Zell. From Zell we went to Salzburg but the train there was full and for some reason we couldn’t just stand on it. We tried to get to the next train for Vienna but we just missed it. We only had to wait a half hour for the next train. I watched the movie Ink on the train. Very weird.
The group split up because we are staying at 3 different hotels. We had to hustle to get to ours and then hustle to our meeting point for dinner. Dinner was an all-you-can-eat buffet. This is only the second buffet we’ve had on this trip. The food was really good but we had to hurry because it was closing not too long after we got there.
That night we tried to get out to the Christmas market but they were just closing up as we got there. We will have time to go tomorrow.
November 28
Breakfast at the hotel was good. We had eggs and bacon and nectarines. That’s a weird combination. We spent most of the day at the Christmas markets and shopping. So it wasn’t the most fun day for me. I did get to see a lot of the city and eat at a really good Japanese restaurant. We did a lot of walking and I’m really tired right now. I called home and talked to the family because I didn’t talk to them on Thanksgiving. At night we went back out to the Christmas markets again and got some hot drinks.
November 29
It was a long train ride back to the Schloss. Fortunately our longest train had electricity and I just watched heroes for about 4 hours. I was really glad that I decided to bring my computer on this trip. We got back just in time for dinner.
November 30
We only have a few days of class left. We got our review sheet for our international business final today. The end of the semester is almost here. We have finals on Thursday and Friday. I don’t actually have to have all of my homework done by then but it would feel nice.
Today was a day to work on our group projects. They are so confusing because there are 4-5 of them and with only 26 people I’m in so many different groups with so many different people. Right now everybody is freaking out about homework and finals.
December 1
December 2
Today we gave our presentations for international business. Mine was about bringing mountain dew to Austria. We also gave presentations for Studying for final, flag factory
December 3
Couldn’t sleep, final int business
December 4
Krampus, sledding, Final consumer b. Snowball fight. Goodbye laura, snowboard bindngs
December 5
I think 13 of us are going snowboarding today. We left the Schloss by 6:30, carrying all of our snowboarding gear down the hill. I wore my snowboarding boots and it was so much easier to get down the hill.
We took the bus to a second bus that took us to Kaprun.
December 6
What a strange day. Really the day started at 3 AM when I got up to start packing. My alarm went off and I couldn’t find it so it beeped for a couple minutes. My bag is the fullest it’s ever been. Until now I’ve had extra space and didn’t ever have much trouble packing. Our bus leaves at 4:30 but we’re supposed to go down to the lower parking lot at 4:15.
The bus ride was nice. We talked for about 15 minutes and then everybody fell asleep. We got to the airport in Munich by 7. Saying goodbye was sad. We’ve been traveling together for over three months now. Today is our 96th day in Europe. In that time we’ve all been together except for our separate Goethe institute stays, a week of free travel, and a couple weekend trips where a few people stayed behind. Only 5 people from the trip are not flying home today. We already said goodbye to Laura Sharer, Christine’s parents are traveling with her for a week, Amy is going to Norway and central Europe for some snowboarding, and Jake and I are going to Germany and Greece.
Amy took the subway with us to the Munchen Hauptbahnhof. She was traveling on to Frankfurt that day for her flight. We said our last goodbyes and left for our hotel in Munich.
It’s now around 9 AM and we’re very tired. Jake didn’t get any sleep at all last night and didn’t sleep on the bus either. I hadn’t gotten a full nights’ sleep in 3 days. At this point I figured out that I’d slept 15 of the past 72 hours. We got to the hotel but our rooms weren’t going to be ready until 4 PM. So now we have 7 hours to kill before we can get in a bed.
We stowed our luggage at the hotel’s luggage room and went out to look for some food. Since it’s Sunday morning most things are closed. As we walked I eyed every bench and dry spot thinking that I could take a little nap there. We found a little Turkish pizza place and tried to eat as slowly as possible. We managed to drag that out until around 11. We were too tired to keep walking around the city so we went back to the hotel.
Down by the luggage room there’s a couple pinball machines and other games. It looked like as good a place as any so I took a nap. At first I was using my jacket as a pillow but I was sleeping on some very cold tile next to a very cold concrete wall. It was too cold so I had to put my jacket on. It was very uncomfortable but I slept about three hours total. Jake couldn’t sleep so he did some homework and watched a movie or two. During this time we took turns checking to see if our room was done yet. The door was wide open but it hadn’t been cleaned yet. Thinking back I should have just gone in the room and slept even if it was dirty.
Though they said we might be able to get in our room by 1 or 2 it ended up being 4 before we finally got in. I was starting to wake up by now because I took a good nap but Jake was about ready to collapse. I was still cold from sleeping on the tile so I turned up the heat and hopped in bed. We both took hot baths and then finally got some rest.
I slept for another 4 hours until around 9 PM. We both tried to get up for dinner around 7 but we were both too lazy and tired. By 9 I was fairly awake and I did a little homework and watched stuff on my computer until 1 AM. I set my alarm for 7 and went to sleep.
December 7
Somehow I slept through most of last night. I was worried that I would be up all night but that wasn’t the case. I was very surprised when my alarm went off because I was expecting to wake up earlier than the time I’d set it for.
We were too lazy to unpack all of our stuff last night so we didn’t have much packing to do in the morning. I left Mickey’s slippers behind because my bag is a little over weight and completely full. The train station was a 20 minute walk away and we went to subway for breakfast.
Our train went through Nuremburg on our way to Leipzig. Ludwig met us at the train station in Leipzig. We took the street car to his apartment. We put our stuff down and then went out to lunch. Ludwig bought us lunch at the kebap place. He had to go to class so he gave us a map of Leipzig and we wandered around for a while. It was really cold so we spent most of the time in the Thomaskirche and a café.
Ludwig bought some pizzas for us and we ate at his place. He only asked that we help him with the dishes afterwards. He’s been too generous so we wanted to give him something back. We had some extra EUrail passes from the guys in our group so we gave them to him. They’re worth about 40 euros for each day of travel so if he went on a trip he could save a lot of money by using them.
That night we went out to a bar with Ludwig and his roommates Christina and Peter. We watched a soccer game on the TV and played some foosball, which Ludwig is pretty good at.
Ludwig let me sleep on his bed and he slept on his couch. They had an extra mattress for Jake to use.
December 8
We ate breakfast and talked for over an hour this morning. Christina asked us a lot of questions about the US and about our travels through Europe. It was good preparation for all of the questions people are going to ask when we get home.
We didn’t want to come back to Ludwig’s apartment for our luggage so we took it with us and dropped it off at Ludwig’s friend’s apartment in town. It was raining pretty hard and a car driving by went through a puddle and got Jake really wet.
Ludwig showed us the college campus and some of the old buildings in the city. He showed us the other main church and we sat down and had some Gluhwein in a teepee in the town square.
Since it was raining we left Leipzig a little earlier than we planned. An earlier train was running late so we got on right away and got to Berlin a couple hours earlier than we planned.
This was my first time really staying in a youth hostel with a bunch of random people. When I opened the door to our room there was a girl with multicolored dreadlocks spreading her clothes all over the room. She was from Israel but was traveling around Europe looking for work. There were two other people who slept there that night but I didn’t really talk to the other ones.
We took the street car out to Freidreichsplatz where there was another big Christmas market. We walked back through Berlin and saw the Brandenburger Tor and the Reichsstag building. It was a long walk back to our hotel but we made it eventually.
December 9
The hostel had a luggage room so we stored our stuff in there and went out for the day. We took the very confusing subway system to the Reichsstag building, which is the German capital building. We stopped at another Christmas market on the way there to get some food. There was a really long line to get inside the Reichsstag. The last time I was in Berlin the line was about the same and we didn’t wait that time. I didn’t know what else we would do in Berlin so we decided to just wait in line. The view from the top of the Reichsstag was really good and there was a free audio tour so we got to learn some about the city. We followed the path of the Berlin Wall past the Brandenburg Gate and found this very strange monument to the Jews who died in the Holocaust. It was a full city block of stone blocks about 4 feet wide by 8 feet long. They varied in height from a few inches to about 15 feet tall. The middle of the memorial was where all the really tall ones were and the ground around the blocks wasn’t level at all. I took a video that would explain it a lot better.
We followed the wall through Potzdammer Platz where they had a big snow tubing hill. The markings where the wall was don’t stand out too much. It’s really just a foot wide path through the street where the stones are sunk down about an inch. We went to checkpoint Charlie and thought about going in the museum there but we didn’t want to spend 10 Euros on it.
We decided to get back to the hostel, pick up our stuff, and find the next train to Dortmund. We found our hostel, which was pretty expensive. There was another Christmas market here but it was closing up.
December 10
Our flight left around 9:45 so we tried to get to the airport early. We caught a bus and made it there in plenty of time. We’re flying easyjet again. At least it isn’t Ryanair. It’s not the nicest way to fly but it’s still pretty cheap. The flight was around 3 hours.
After getting our luggage and a bus ticket, we got on the crowded bus for the next 45 minutes. I was standing the whole time, which was no fun. The ticket was only 50 cents though. The guy at the tickets office jokingly said it you would be 2000 euros.
Our hotel was called the Atlantis and it was on the busiest street in Thessaloniki. That made it easier to find and it wasn’t noisy in the rooms or anything. We rested up for a little while and then went and walked along the bayside.
December 11
Since we had already been down by the sea we decided to look around the hilltop side of the city. We saw a couple churches on the way there. We ended up going to the highest part of the old city wall and looking down over the city. We still had to figure out where we are going for the next week. So after visiting the old agora and some orthodox churches we decided to just go to Athens since that would be easiest.
December 12
The train ride from Thessaloniki to Athens is about 6 hours long. It would have been nice if we had had electricity like the German trains do. I slept some of the way and got a lot of homework done. I still have a few assignments left to finish.
Our hotel was really close to the train station but we didn’t really remember the name. We knew it started with neo. We found it without any trouble. They had free internet there so we tried to figure out our trip to Delphi
December 13
We were planning to leave the hotel around 6 in the morning but we decided to sleep in a bit and take the 10:30 bus instead of the 7:00. The bus station was about a half hour walk away, and it’s off the map that we have of Athens.
We made it to the bus in time to grab a few sandwiches and find our seats. We were confused at first because there were some girls in our seats. They didn’t know that there were assigned seat numbers on the tickets.
The bus ride took around 3 hours. When we arrived at Delphi we started walking in the direction of the ruins. Unfortunately we had to do a little off road hiking through long wet grass and down some pretty steep hills. We actually came down the hill behind the museum. The museum there was ok but I was more interested in the ruins outside.
As we were walking from the museum to the ruins we came across several cats. Most of the cats we’ve seen have run away whenever we got close to them but these ones were very friendly. I was petting one and a kitten jumped up onto my leg. Jake got some pictures. As we kept on walking we kept on seeing cats everywhere. There were probably around 30 cats living there.
Going up through the ruins was quite a hike. We climbed up the hill and saw the altar of Apollo and the amphitheater and the stadium all the way at the top. We then went all the way down the hill to see the temple of Athena and the gymnasium.
We had some really bad pizza for dinner. It probably was microwaved frozen pizza and it wasn’t even warm. We didn’t want to be hungry on the bus back so we ate as much as we could.
After getting back to the hotel we booked our hotels through the rest of our stay. We’re going to Corinth tomorrow and then to Nafplion for the two days after that, and then we’re coming back to Athens for a couple days. It’s finally sinking in that the trip is almost over. These last few days have been really tough because traveling in Greece is harder than traveling in any of the other countries we’ve been in. Part of it is that the alphabet isn’t even the same. They also don’t have many trains and use buses instead. It doesn’t have the nice train schedules that Germany, Austria, and France had.
December 14
We left our big bags at the hotel in Athens and just took our small backpacks with us for the next few days. We took the 10:30 bus to Korinthos (Corinth). We got lost on the way there because it’s at a different bus station from last time and it’s also off the map. We got there just in time. We got stuck in traffic for a while and an ambulance had to squeeze past the traffic. It wasn’t going anywhere fast though.
Our hotel is right next to the bus station in Louraki, which is close to Corinth. It’s actually really nice here, especially compared to Athens. We are only a block away from the beach. Once we put our backpacks in the hotel we went into Corinth. The bus system is really confusing here so we had to get a taxi to the ruins of old Corinth. We also stopped at the big canal that links the Aegean and Adriatic seas.
There was a nice pathway along the beach so we walked along that for a while. Then we saw a man-made waterfall and some paths leading up to it. It was under construction and I stepped in a really big puddle. We went back to the water and there was a outdoor gym there. It had a lot of the equipment that a normal gym would have but it was outside in a park.
December 15
The trip to Nafplio was nice and short. Nafplio has three castles, and we explored the one closest to our hotel first. This castle was on the peninsula right next to the town. Most of the castle had been destroyed by the Ottomans but the walls were still there. It took us a while to walk through the maze of cacti and old walls.
We went for a swim in the bay. The waves were higher than I expected. It wasn’t nearly as cold as when we went swimming at Normandy but I was still numb and tired by then end. We didn’t have any energy left after that so we went to sleep
December 16
It was nice to be in the same place for a few days. The hotel people brought us breakfast in bed. We didn’t know what time they were coming besides that it would be between 8 and 10. After our breakfast we climbed up to the biggest of the three castles. It took us about 20 minutes to get up the stairs and then we explored it for about 3 hours. It was a really big castle, and the part we could see before was mostly the stairs going up. I think there were over 1000 steps to get to the highest part of the castle. We meandered our way through so we probably climbed more steps than that.
We grabbed a gyro for a late lunch and went back to the hotel to rest. We watched a movie in the hotel until dinner time. After dinner we walked by the sea for a while and went out to the long tide break that went out into the bay. The third castle of Nafplio is actually on a small island in the bay. It was used to protect the bay from pirates. We didn’t go out to it but going out on the tide break was as close as we could get on land.
I tried to do some homework that night, and I did get a little done. I’m really hoping that I can get it all finished before I get home.
December 17
After another nice breakfast in bed we packed up and got on the bus to Athens. We had to go through Corinth, and we saw the big canal again. Once we got back into Athens the traffic was horrible so we added another half hour to our trip.
We stayed at the same hotel that we were at before because it was really cheap (12 euro a night each). We walked to the nearest subway station and bought a 24 hour pass. So far the subway is the nicest part of Athens. We’d seen a lot of the Athenian ghetto, which looks like Mexico. We went to the Acropolis station and were able to see the Parthenon at a distance. It was closed by the time we got up to it, so we’ll have to go in tomorrow. We tried to find some places that would still be open, so we went to the Olympic stadium and some gardens by the capital building.
I finished most of my homework once we got back to the hotel. It feels great to actually be done. I just have one more little thing to fix on my resume and then I’ll be completely done.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
this is what I have.
November 7
Today we went to a place where they showed us about how they made chocolate. It really wasn’t worth seeing and the chocolate was super expensive. We got out of the bus and ate our lunch in the cold November drizzle.
We visited the Cathedral, which is like any other one and then looked at a tapestry from 1070 which told the history of William the Conqueror. Then we watched a video about the making of the tapestry and then slept through the next two showings because our bus driver wasn’t going to come back until later.
November 8
I forgot to mention Frank in my last posts. Every day on my way to and from the main building I get to stop and pet Frank. Frank is a golden retriever. He lives in the backyard of a bakery and he will stand up with his front paws over his fence and let you pet him. We don’t know his real name so we named him Frank because the ottoman (which is a dog) in Beauty and the Beast was played by a guy named Frank.
Today we hopped on the bus at 9, skipping French language and culture lessons. We went in Caen, where William the conqueror’s chateau is. There is a big farmers market in Caen and we spent a good hour looking through it. Most of the touristy stuff was around the edge and then there was a ton of food stands in the center.
We briefly went into the fine art museum but honestly it was a boring one. The history of Normandy museum wasn’t that great either. We saw a bunch of rusted spearheads and some butter churns. We came back to base to eat our lunch and I took a 3 hour nap and the verandah. It was raining most of the time and it was real nice to take a nap inside.
November 9
Today we set out for St. Michaels, which is a big castle/abbey on the coast of France. It is the second biggest tourist attraction in France after Paris. We had an audio tour of the buildings. The view is great. I wish I could have been there at high and low tide. When we were there it was low tide so there is sand for miles before it reaches the ocean. When the tide is really high it covers where we parked our bus and leaves only a small road out to the castle. In the past the abbey would become an island at high tide and then would only be connected by a land bridge at low tide.
The abbey is named after the archangel Michael. Supposedly he appeared to a local bishop twice in dreams and told him to build an abbey. The abbey was started in the year 708 and has been added on to slowly over the years. The abbey has never been taken by force.
We had plenty of time to eat lunch and visit the abbey. After the visit we said goodbye to the last of our instructor from Merville-Franceville and were off to Brittany.
We arrived in Lorient at 6:00 and were quickly separated and sent off with our host families. Every student had a different family. I am staying with Christopher Hellec. He speaks decent English though he is hard to understand. Neither of his parents speak English so communication will be hard.
For dinner we had stew and then a cheese course and then a banana for desert. I showed Christopher my pictures from the trip and we played a few facebook games with each other. I went to bed a little early because I have to register for classes at 3:30 in the morning.
November 10
I woke up at 3:30 to register and I got into all the classes I wanted. Almost everybody on the trip is trying to get into managerial finance and there were only 21 spots left when I was done registering. I saved one spot in the class for Jesse.
I woke up for the second time at 7:00. Christopher’s classes start at 8:00 every day. We had yoghurt and drinkable yoghurt for breakfast with a little pastry. The French don’t do much for breakfast.
Spencer was the first one at the school so I sat and talked to him as people slowly started coming in. It was an hour before the whole group got there. I guess Spencer has his own guest house and some very good English speakers.
We did a little meet and greet with some French students and ate crescents and coffee for a couple hours. The French spend a lot of time sitting around and talking. The room we were in was too small so we couldn’t move around and talk to new people very easily. It was an awkward situation.
From our second breakfast half of us went to a German class and the other half to a Spanish class. Obviously I was in the German class. I was surprised that the students there didn’t speak very good German. Tom was astounded. They had been learning German for 6-10 years. He said that two months at the Goethe institute would have been the equivalent to how much they knew. The German teacher really didn’t have much to talk about and it was not a very good class. We talked about the 20th anniversary of the Berlin wall falling, which was the day before.
We had lunch at the school. The cafeteria is run by Sodexho, which is the same food service provider that Bethel has. The food was nowhere near as good. I guess it was really overpriced too so the French students avoid eating there.
After lunch we had a long discussion with the French students who are coming to Bethel this spring about the differences between the US and France. Then we did pretty much the same thing with an English class.
Right now I’m hoping that dinner will be soon because it is almost 8:00. We are going to play trivial pursuit in English after dinner tonight and that sounds like fun. An English foster kid who stayed or is currently staying with my family showed up tonight. She speaks fluent French so now I have a good translator.
November 11
November 16
Point du Raz
November 17
Today was my last morning in Brittany. I got all of my stuff packed up and they took me to the train station. I said goodbye to Christopher and his mom. They stuck around for a bit and when they finally left Christopher started crying and he gave Tom a hug as we left. I guess Yan feels like he has to take him on the trip to the states this spring because of this experience.
November 18
We went to the Louvre today. We were there for almost two hours. Paul got all the way there before he realized that he forgot his museum pass. He had to go all the way back on the subway to get it. The people at the entrance didn’t even glance over at our passes as we went in, so maybe he didn’t have to go back for his.
We saw the Mona Lisa of course. Spencer and I made up commentaries some of the paintings we passed. There were some more interesting paintings here than there were at the museum we went to yesterday.
There is a street that goes straight from the Louvre to the Arch de Triumph. We walked this street and ate at a burger place on the way. Our group split up and some of us went shopping and the rest went right to the Arch. I didn’t want to shop so I went to the Arch right away. Our passes let us go all the way to the top and there’s a nice view of the Eifel Tower from the top.
After the arch we decided to take the subway to a modern art museum which had some interesting parts but wasn’t that great. We ran into another group of Bethel students here and chatted for a little bit. We had actually ran into them on the way to the arch as well.
There are some major soccer games going on tonight. Algeria won the first one and France won the second one. The Algerians made a bunch of noise and set off some flares. They were still driving around the city honking their horns at 2 in the morning.
November 19
Today is our long day of travel from Paris to Prague. We left our hotel at 8:00. Not much to say besides I read my book, watched some movies, and did a little homework on the way. We went through Frankfurt and Dresden on the way. We had about 50 minutes in Dresden so we looked around a little. It’s a very nice and modern city. It’s a nice contrast from Paris.
We took a bus from the train station to our hotel. It’s the same bus we will be using these few days and it will drive us all the way back to Mittersill. The hotel is a 4 star, but I wouldn’t call it luxurious. A lot of people are sharing double beds or sleeping on fold out chairs or couches. I’m rooming with Kenny and Dan Chang in the highest room in the hotel. Climbing 79 steps with my luggage wasn’t fun but it’s a nice room.
November 20
The original plan was to leave at 7 for our day but after so many hours of traveling, Tom let us sleep in a bit. The bus ride to the glass blowing factory was longer than I thought it would be. It was around 2 hours long. The glassblowing factory wasn’t really that great. They didn’t even know we were coming. The glassblowing wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen many times at the Renaissance festival. We ate lunch at a place where we could see some glassblowing, but it wasn’t set up very well.
The afternoon was spent at the Skoda factory, which was a bit of a letdown. It was a lot like the Opel tour we went on only the tour guide wasn’t as good. Really this day could have been cut out of the trip.
November 21
This morning we had a tour of Prague. Our tour guide Fredrick is a good guy. I think he’s a communist and he has some serious discussions with Tom during the tour. After our tour and lunch we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. We looked around the city a little more and went to the Tesco.
For dinner we had a little buffet dinner on a boat. We went down the river for about 45 minutes and then came back up. The food wasn’t fantastic but it was fine. We walked around some more after the boat ride and I was starting to get tired. I went back to my room and finished my book. I guess I’ll have to start a new one on the way to the Schloss tomorrow.
November 22
We took our bus all the way to the Schloss today. It took somewhere around 6 hours. I slept some of the way and watched a movie. I must be getting used to traveling around because it was a really easy ride. We stopped at a truck stop diner for lunch. It felt really American only they had Austrian food.
When we got to the Schloss we all went back to our old rooms. It was almost like being home. We hooked up the projector in the classroom and watched “Away We Go”. It was a nice relaxing night after so much moving around.
November 23
We had class as usual but then we had some time to relax. I needed some time to do nothing after traveling so much. We watched “In Bruges” on the big screen.
November 24
We had a tour of the Nordica/Blizzard ski factory that is in Mittersill. I couldn’t hear the tour guide very well because it was in factory. It was really interesting how them make all of the designs for the skis and how different the wood was for each kind of ski. They don’t make any snowboards here, only skis.
November 25
Norm came and talked to us again. He rambles on an on so I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention. He’s a geneticist who’s been working for the UN for decades. We went to his house after dinner and had some time to chat. He had each one of us introduce ourselves. It’s weird when people talked about themselves because by this time I know them pretty well.
We watched the first episode of Band of Brothers which is really long. It’s a good thing we didn’t have class the next day. Some people want to watch the whole Band of Brothers series but I don’t think we’ll have time. I watched the whole thing back in Germany at the Goethe.
November 26
No class today because it’s thanksgiving. I got to sleep in and then do some reading for class and take a nap. Thanksgiving dinner was great. Tom found some turkeys at the supermarket and they cooked them up at the Schloss. We had mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy. We all sat at one big long table.
That night we played sardines with all of the lights off in the Schloss. It was more fun scaring people than looking for the people that were hiding. We finished off the night with a dance party in the auditorium. Lots of fun.
Today we went to a place where they showed us about how they made chocolate. It really wasn’t worth seeing and the chocolate was super expensive. We got out of the bus and ate our lunch in the cold November drizzle.
We visited the Cathedral, which is like any other one and then looked at a tapestry from 1070 which told the history of William the Conqueror. Then we watched a video about the making of the tapestry and then slept through the next two showings because our bus driver wasn’t going to come back until later.
November 8
I forgot to mention Frank in my last posts. Every day on my way to and from the main building I get to stop and pet Frank. Frank is a golden retriever. He lives in the backyard of a bakery and he will stand up with his front paws over his fence and let you pet him. We don’t know his real name so we named him Frank because the ottoman (which is a dog) in Beauty and the Beast was played by a guy named Frank.
Today we hopped on the bus at 9, skipping French language and culture lessons. We went in Caen, where William the conqueror’s chateau is. There is a big farmers market in Caen and we spent a good hour looking through it. Most of the touristy stuff was around the edge and then there was a ton of food stands in the center.
We briefly went into the fine art museum but honestly it was a boring one. The history of Normandy museum wasn’t that great either. We saw a bunch of rusted spearheads and some butter churns. We came back to base to eat our lunch and I took a 3 hour nap and the verandah. It was raining most of the time and it was real nice to take a nap inside.
November 9
Today we set out for St. Michaels, which is a big castle/abbey on the coast of France. It is the second biggest tourist attraction in France after Paris. We had an audio tour of the buildings. The view is great. I wish I could have been there at high and low tide. When we were there it was low tide so there is sand for miles before it reaches the ocean. When the tide is really high it covers where we parked our bus and leaves only a small road out to the castle. In the past the abbey would become an island at high tide and then would only be connected by a land bridge at low tide.
The abbey is named after the archangel Michael. Supposedly he appeared to a local bishop twice in dreams and told him to build an abbey. The abbey was started in the year 708 and has been added on to slowly over the years. The abbey has never been taken by force.
We had plenty of time to eat lunch and visit the abbey. After the visit we said goodbye to the last of our instructor from Merville-Franceville and were off to Brittany.
We arrived in Lorient at 6:00 and were quickly separated and sent off with our host families. Every student had a different family. I am staying with Christopher Hellec. He speaks decent English though he is hard to understand. Neither of his parents speak English so communication will be hard.
For dinner we had stew and then a cheese course and then a banana for desert. I showed Christopher my pictures from the trip and we played a few facebook games with each other. I went to bed a little early because I have to register for classes at 3:30 in the morning.
November 10
I woke up at 3:30 to register and I got into all the classes I wanted. Almost everybody on the trip is trying to get into managerial finance and there were only 21 spots left when I was done registering. I saved one spot in the class for Jesse.
I woke up for the second time at 7:00. Christopher’s classes start at 8:00 every day. We had yoghurt and drinkable yoghurt for breakfast with a little pastry. The French don’t do much for breakfast.
Spencer was the first one at the school so I sat and talked to him as people slowly started coming in. It was an hour before the whole group got there. I guess Spencer has his own guest house and some very good English speakers.
We did a little meet and greet with some French students and ate crescents and coffee for a couple hours. The French spend a lot of time sitting around and talking. The room we were in was too small so we couldn’t move around and talk to new people very easily. It was an awkward situation.
From our second breakfast half of us went to a German class and the other half to a Spanish class. Obviously I was in the German class. I was surprised that the students there didn’t speak very good German. Tom was astounded. They had been learning German for 6-10 years. He said that two months at the Goethe institute would have been the equivalent to how much they knew. The German teacher really didn’t have much to talk about and it was not a very good class. We talked about the 20th anniversary of the Berlin wall falling, which was the day before.
We had lunch at the school. The cafeteria is run by Sodexho, which is the same food service provider that Bethel has. The food was nowhere near as good. I guess it was really overpriced too so the French students avoid eating there.
After lunch we had a long discussion with the French students who are coming to Bethel this spring about the differences between the US and France. Then we did pretty much the same thing with an English class.
Right now I’m hoping that dinner will be soon because it is almost 8:00. We are going to play trivial pursuit in English after dinner tonight and that sounds like fun. An English foster kid who stayed or is currently staying with my family showed up tonight. She speaks fluent French so now I have a good translator.
November 11
November 16
Point du Raz
November 17
Today was my last morning in Brittany. I got all of my stuff packed up and they took me to the train station. I said goodbye to Christopher and his mom. They stuck around for a bit and when they finally left Christopher started crying and he gave Tom a hug as we left. I guess Yan feels like he has to take him on the trip to the states this spring because of this experience.
November 18
We went to the Louvre today. We were there for almost two hours. Paul got all the way there before he realized that he forgot his museum pass. He had to go all the way back on the subway to get it. The people at the entrance didn’t even glance over at our passes as we went in, so maybe he didn’t have to go back for his.
We saw the Mona Lisa of course. Spencer and I made up commentaries some of the paintings we passed. There were some more interesting paintings here than there were at the museum we went to yesterday.
There is a street that goes straight from the Louvre to the Arch de Triumph. We walked this street and ate at a burger place on the way. Our group split up and some of us went shopping and the rest went right to the Arch. I didn’t want to shop so I went to the Arch right away. Our passes let us go all the way to the top and there’s a nice view of the Eifel Tower from the top.
After the arch we decided to take the subway to a modern art museum which had some interesting parts but wasn’t that great. We ran into another group of Bethel students here and chatted for a little bit. We had actually ran into them on the way to the arch as well.
There are some major soccer games going on tonight. Algeria won the first one and France won the second one. The Algerians made a bunch of noise and set off some flares. They were still driving around the city honking their horns at 2 in the morning.
November 19
Today is our long day of travel from Paris to Prague. We left our hotel at 8:00. Not much to say besides I read my book, watched some movies, and did a little homework on the way. We went through Frankfurt and Dresden on the way. We had about 50 minutes in Dresden so we looked around a little. It’s a very nice and modern city. It’s a nice contrast from Paris.
We took a bus from the train station to our hotel. It’s the same bus we will be using these few days and it will drive us all the way back to Mittersill. The hotel is a 4 star, but I wouldn’t call it luxurious. A lot of people are sharing double beds or sleeping on fold out chairs or couches. I’m rooming with Kenny and Dan Chang in the highest room in the hotel. Climbing 79 steps with my luggage wasn’t fun but it’s a nice room.
November 20
The original plan was to leave at 7 for our day but after so many hours of traveling, Tom let us sleep in a bit. The bus ride to the glass blowing factory was longer than I thought it would be. It was around 2 hours long. The glassblowing factory wasn’t really that great. They didn’t even know we were coming. The glassblowing wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen many times at the Renaissance festival. We ate lunch at a place where we could see some glassblowing, but it wasn’t set up very well.
The afternoon was spent at the Skoda factory, which was a bit of a letdown. It was a lot like the Opel tour we went on only the tour guide wasn’t as good. Really this day could have been cut out of the trip.
November 21
This morning we had a tour of Prague. Our tour guide Fredrick is a good guy. I think he’s a communist and he has some serious discussions with Tom during the tour. After our tour and lunch we had the rest of the day to do whatever we wanted. We looked around the city a little more and went to the Tesco.
For dinner we had a little buffet dinner on a boat. We went down the river for about 45 minutes and then came back up. The food wasn’t fantastic but it was fine. We walked around some more after the boat ride and I was starting to get tired. I went back to my room and finished my book. I guess I’ll have to start a new one on the way to the Schloss tomorrow.
November 22
We took our bus all the way to the Schloss today. It took somewhere around 6 hours. I slept some of the way and watched a movie. I must be getting used to traveling around because it was a really easy ride. We stopped at a truck stop diner for lunch. It felt really American only they had Austrian food.
When we got to the Schloss we all went back to our old rooms. It was almost like being home. We hooked up the projector in the classroom and watched “Away We Go”. It was a nice relaxing night after so much moving around.
November 23
We had class as usual but then we had some time to relax. I needed some time to do nothing after traveling so much. We watched “In Bruges” on the big screen.
November 24
We had a tour of the Nordica/Blizzard ski factory that is in Mittersill. I couldn’t hear the tour guide very well because it was in factory. It was really interesting how them make all of the designs for the skis and how different the wood was for each kind of ski. They don’t make any snowboards here, only skis.
November 25
Norm came and talked to us again. He rambles on an on so I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention. He’s a geneticist who’s been working for the UN for decades. We went to his house after dinner and had some time to chat. He had each one of us introduce ourselves. It’s weird when people talked about themselves because by this time I know them pretty well.
We watched the first episode of Band of Brothers which is really long. It’s a good thing we didn’t have class the next day. Some people want to watch the whole Band of Brothers series but I don’t think we’ll have time. I watched the whole thing back in Germany at the Goethe.
November 26
No class today because it’s thanksgiving. I got to sleep in and then do some reading for class and take a nap. Thanksgiving dinner was great. Tom found some turkeys at the supermarket and they cooked them up at the Schloss. We had mashed potatoes and stuffing and gravy. We all sat at one big long table.
That night we played sardines with all of the lights off in the Schloss. It was more fun scaring people than looking for the people that were hiding. We finished off the night with a dance party in the auditorium. Lots of fun.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Now in France, trying to catch up on journaling
October 22
Our tests were due at noon, so after breakfast I finished mine up. It was for our International business class. I finally did my German test with Tom today and it went really well. We did a tour of the Guinness brewery and I bought a Guinness Rugby shirt for myself. We went to a pub that night and there were some people doing Irish dances.
October 23
We left our hotel by 5 in the morning because our flight left at 7. Our cab driver was very lively and he gave us some advice about what to do the next time we come to Ireland. For the next 9 days I’ll be with Jesse, Spencer, and Jake. We ran into Erik at the airport because his flight left at about the same time.
The flight didn’t feel long at all because I was sleeping the whole time. We arrived in Milan around 10 in the morning. We had to get bus tickets from the airport to the center of Milan because the airport is a long ways from the city center.
We couldn’t find the street that led to our hotel but a man walked up to us and asked us where we were going and gave us directions. We didn’t even have to ask him, he just knew that we were lost. The hotel wasn’t very far from the train station. It was on the fourth floor of the building and the elevator was so small that only two of us at a time could fit with our bags.
The manager was really nice and spoke English. He gave us a map and pointed out all of the places that we could go. One thing that is strange about Italy is that the people at the hotel hold onto your key for you. It’s nice that you don’t have to worry about carrying it around.
I realize that I’m writing a lot more now that we’re in Italy than I was at other places. I think that’s because I don’t have any homework to drag me down.
Once we had gotten settled I took a little nap and then we went out to eat. We ate at a little street café. We didn’t know that there’s almost always a flat service fee whenever you eat at a restaurant, but we had heard that eating in Italy is expensive. We visited a few stores and then went to the Duomo. I think it is the third biggest cathedral in the world.
We ate at the embassy for dinner. We’ve started to call McDonalds the embassy because it’s American and you are never more than 5 blocks away from one at any time. In fact there are two almost facing each other in front of the main train station.
We watched a little IT Crowd before going to bed a little early. It was really nice to get a full night’s sleep after such an early morning.
October 24
Our second day in Milan we slept in and got up to get our train reservations for the next day. We went to the train station but the system was more complicated than we thought and the lines were really long. We didn’t have our Eurail passes with us at the time so we didn’t want to risk waiting in line forever and maybe needing them.
The all day subway pass was only 3 Euro so we bought one of those each. We could have easily figured the ticket machine by ourselves but some gypsy followed us around and insisted on pushing all of the buttons herself. Then one of the people that worked at the subway came over and helped us. We had the machine set to English so we were having no problems. I guess we just looked helpless and the gypsy wanted our money.
We took the subway to the castle of Milan. It was huge, and was much more fortress-like than most of the other ones we visited. There we also about 20 cats playing in the moats inside and outside the castle. When we left the castle through another exit we found a little Celtic renaissance festival. There were people dressed up and they had little tents and they were selling things.
After the castle we walked around and found some authentic Italian brick oven pizza. It was very good and it was in a big oval shape.
Fortunately that night when we got back to the hotel the manager reminded us that it was daylight savings time. If he hadn’t told us we would have gotten to the train station an hour early and we would have been very confused.
October 25
Today we got up and paid for our hotel. It was a little less than 35 Euro a night each. The train ride to Bologna was 2 hours long and I just read my book the whole way there. When we got to Bologna we got lost because the streets are not labeled very well and the directions we had were a little confusing. Jake asked some policemen and they gave us directions to our hotel. Jake had to ask another person once we got closer to the hotel but eventually we got there.
Our room wasn’t quite ready so we had to wait in the lobby for a while. Me and Spencer made a run to McDonalds and bought some food for everybody. We wandered around the city for a while but there really isn’t much to see here. We found a big park with a fountain but the fountain was all dried up and sad looking. Once we had rested up at the park and visited the basilica (5th largest church in the world, it was originally going to be bigger than the others but it was scaled down so as not to be greater than those in the Vatican) and then napped at the hotel until dinner time.
Dinner was at a little restaurant not far from the hotel. The waiter and waitress both spoke English and the waiter probably was actually the manager or owner of the place. He joked with us and complained about us not knowing what anything on the menu was.
There was nothing to do after dinner so we went to the main town plaza and sat by the fountain. There were some fire jugglers who actually weren’t very good. They kept on dropping things but it was fun anyway.
October 26
We didn’t really know what to do today so we started working on a consumer behavior assignment where we had to watch people in stores. We had to do it sometime during free travel and we didn’t want to do it in Florence or Rome.
Once we finished the observation part of the assignment we walked around the city some more. Today was a very relaxed day. That night we went out to eat at a bar. They have a deal where you buy a drink and then you get to eat all the food you want. The food isn’t fantastic, but it was only 6 Euro so it was only a little more expensive than McDonalds would have been.
October 27
Our trip to Florence was probably our shortest trip during our free travel. When we got to Florence we were walking to our hotel and ran into Tom and Cheryl at an internet café. Jesse spotted Cheryl as he walked by.
Our hotel rooms are small but they’ll be ok. We explored the side of the river that our hotel was on and sat by the river for a while. We saw where the statue of David originally was, and there were some more sculptures there too.
We went to dinner with Erik and Tyler, who were staying at the youth hostel not far from our hotel. We went to the hostel and used their steam room, sauna, and pool.
October 28
We met up with Erik and Tyler and took the train to Cique Terra, which is by Pisa on the coast. We met up with Laura Christine and Stefanie at Cique Terra. Unfortunately they had to carry all of their luggage with them. A lot of train stations have lockers where you can stash stuff but not this one.
I forgot my swimsuit so I ran into one of the nearby stores and bought a Speedo. Don’t worry; nobody got a picture of me in it. We went from town to town on the train and went cliff jumping at one of them. Stefanie said that my legs were so white that they looked like flashlights in the water.
By the time we went to all 5 of the cities on the coast it was getting late and it was dark. Tyler was the only one who went to see the tower of Pisa. I didn’t think it would be worth it at night. I guess I’ll have to come back to Italy later in life.
October 29
This was our last full day in Florence. We went and saw the real David early in the morning. It wasn’t really worth the ten Euro to get in. The museum didn’t have much besides David. We went to the markets where they sell tourist junk and ran into Jen, Betsy, and Christy. I didn’t even know they were in Italy. We made plans to meet up for dinner that night. We wandered around the city some more and went to the far side of the river. There is a big garden there and we walked through it for a couple hours. We ran into those three girls again by accident. We talked to them a little and went our separate ways
After walking through the garden we went to the river and then went to find some lunch. We were wandering towards an overlook of the city when we saw Jen Betsy and Christy eating at a café. So that was the third time we saw them that day without planning it.
The overlook was nice and we met up with all the people that were in Florence that night. There were 11 of us out of 26 on the trip. We tried to watch the sunset but it was cloudy and there was an awful violin player whose violin was way out of tune. He kept playing the first 12 notes of ode to joy and then playing some random notes. A random guy walking by came and tuned his violin for him but he still couldn’t play anything.
The group of us took a long walk to what Erik said was the best Gelato in Florence. It was good but probably not worth the long walk. The 11 of us ate dinner together at a place Tom recommended. I had veal for the first time. It wasn’t all that unusual.
October 30
We left for Rome in the morning. Rome was my city to book a hotel for so I had to guide us once we got there. I would say that I got us to our hotel with less trouble than the other guys had. The directions were really easy though. We stayed at the fountain terrace hostel which was the cheapest place we stayed for free travel at 15 euro a night each. It was also the most run down place we stayed. There was only one outlet in the room and the wiring wasn’t run through the wall, it was just a cable running out of the wall and onto the floor. The bathrooms were down the hall and none of them had soap or any way to dry your hands.
We met up with Anna, Kay, and Kelsey at the Trevi fountain and ate lunch with them there. We picked up some pizza and went to the Pantheon. The pantheon was smaller than I thought it would be. I didn’t know that it was just one big room.
We wanted to save some sights for the next day so we went to the Spanish steps for a while and then wandered over towards the Vatican. We sat in front of St Peter’s Basilica as the sun set. After a while we walked around and found some dinner.
October 31
We slept in a bit more than we planned but still got to the Coliseum and Roman Forum by noon or so. The Coliseum was huge and a fun site to see. I wish there had been better displays about the history of the place though. We bought our tickets at the forum because the lines there are about one quarter as long as they are at the Coliseum. The forum wasn’t really very interesting. There wasn’t any information about what was where or what happened there. Maybe we should have taken a tour.
Jesse wasn’t feeling so good so he went back to the hotel to rest. Spencer, Jake, and I took the subway to the Vatican. The subway system in Rome is really weird because it only has two lines. The Vatican museum was huge. It’s a big maze that takes hours to walk through. I could see people taking the whole day to get through the museum. Guess who we ran into randomly here, those three girls we saw three times in Florence.
The final room of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. We couldn’t take pictures in Chapel but I snuck a few anyway. They’re all blurry or zoomed out too far. Jake got caught trying to take a picture and the guard tried to make him leave. Jake was able to get back in though.
We went inside St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s huge. It is a lot bigger than any of the other churches we went to. There was a mass going on, so we listened in for twenty minutes or so while we walked through the basilica.
November 1
We didn’t have to wake up too early for our flight. We left around 8 and took a taxi to the airport. Only Ryanair and Ezjet fly out of this airport that we went to. They are the two cheapest airlines in Europe. The airport looked like some temporary buildings stuck together and all the departure gates were in the same room.
The flight went fine. Flying Ezjet is much better than Ryanair. It’s just much less stressful because they don’t worry about weight and size limits for luggage. When we got to Paris it was drizzling. We had to take a bus to the subway. The subways in Paris are awful for hauling your luggage through. There are several flights of steps to go up and down every time you transfer trains and you have to go through those one way gates which are fine for people but incredibly hard when bringing a suitcase through.
When we got out of the subway we went the wrong way and had to ask for directions. We asked at a little bakery and everybody in the bakery tried to help us out. It turns out that the subway station we left was within sight of our hotel.
It was still raining so we ate lunch at a diner right next to the hotel. We started seeing the rest of the group come up from the subway as we ate. They give you bread with every meal here but I ordered a hamburger and it came without a bun. I tried to use the French bread on the table to make a bun but it didn’t work well. The good news is that ketchup is free again and you don’t have to pay 10 or 50 cents for a packet like you have to in Italy.
Our tests were due at noon, so after breakfast I finished mine up. It was for our International business class. I finally did my German test with Tom today and it went really well. We did a tour of the Guinness brewery and I bought a Guinness Rugby shirt for myself. We went to a pub that night and there were some people doing Irish dances.
October 23
We left our hotel by 5 in the morning because our flight left at 7. Our cab driver was very lively and he gave us some advice about what to do the next time we come to Ireland. For the next 9 days I’ll be with Jesse, Spencer, and Jake. We ran into Erik at the airport because his flight left at about the same time.
The flight didn’t feel long at all because I was sleeping the whole time. We arrived in Milan around 10 in the morning. We had to get bus tickets from the airport to the center of Milan because the airport is a long ways from the city center.
We couldn’t find the street that led to our hotel but a man walked up to us and asked us where we were going and gave us directions. We didn’t even have to ask him, he just knew that we were lost. The hotel wasn’t very far from the train station. It was on the fourth floor of the building and the elevator was so small that only two of us at a time could fit with our bags.
The manager was really nice and spoke English. He gave us a map and pointed out all of the places that we could go. One thing that is strange about Italy is that the people at the hotel hold onto your key for you. It’s nice that you don’t have to worry about carrying it around.
I realize that I’m writing a lot more now that we’re in Italy than I was at other places. I think that’s because I don’t have any homework to drag me down.
Once we had gotten settled I took a little nap and then we went out to eat. We ate at a little street café. We didn’t know that there’s almost always a flat service fee whenever you eat at a restaurant, but we had heard that eating in Italy is expensive. We visited a few stores and then went to the Duomo. I think it is the third biggest cathedral in the world.
We ate at the embassy for dinner. We’ve started to call McDonalds the embassy because it’s American and you are never more than 5 blocks away from one at any time. In fact there are two almost facing each other in front of the main train station.
We watched a little IT Crowd before going to bed a little early. It was really nice to get a full night’s sleep after such an early morning.
October 24
Our second day in Milan we slept in and got up to get our train reservations for the next day. We went to the train station but the system was more complicated than we thought and the lines were really long. We didn’t have our Eurail passes with us at the time so we didn’t want to risk waiting in line forever and maybe needing them.
The all day subway pass was only 3 Euro so we bought one of those each. We could have easily figured the ticket machine by ourselves but some gypsy followed us around and insisted on pushing all of the buttons herself. Then one of the people that worked at the subway came over and helped us. We had the machine set to English so we were having no problems. I guess we just looked helpless and the gypsy wanted our money.
We took the subway to the castle of Milan. It was huge, and was much more fortress-like than most of the other ones we visited. There we also about 20 cats playing in the moats inside and outside the castle. When we left the castle through another exit we found a little Celtic renaissance festival. There were people dressed up and they had little tents and they were selling things.
After the castle we walked around and found some authentic Italian brick oven pizza. It was very good and it was in a big oval shape.
Fortunately that night when we got back to the hotel the manager reminded us that it was daylight savings time. If he hadn’t told us we would have gotten to the train station an hour early and we would have been very confused.
October 25
Today we got up and paid for our hotel. It was a little less than 35 Euro a night each. The train ride to Bologna was 2 hours long and I just read my book the whole way there. When we got to Bologna we got lost because the streets are not labeled very well and the directions we had were a little confusing. Jake asked some policemen and they gave us directions to our hotel. Jake had to ask another person once we got closer to the hotel but eventually we got there.
Our room wasn’t quite ready so we had to wait in the lobby for a while. Me and Spencer made a run to McDonalds and bought some food for everybody. We wandered around the city for a while but there really isn’t much to see here. We found a big park with a fountain but the fountain was all dried up and sad looking. Once we had rested up at the park and visited the basilica (5th largest church in the world, it was originally going to be bigger than the others but it was scaled down so as not to be greater than those in the Vatican) and then napped at the hotel until dinner time.
Dinner was at a little restaurant not far from the hotel. The waiter and waitress both spoke English and the waiter probably was actually the manager or owner of the place. He joked with us and complained about us not knowing what anything on the menu was.
There was nothing to do after dinner so we went to the main town plaza and sat by the fountain. There were some fire jugglers who actually weren’t very good. They kept on dropping things but it was fun anyway.
October 26
We didn’t really know what to do today so we started working on a consumer behavior assignment where we had to watch people in stores. We had to do it sometime during free travel and we didn’t want to do it in Florence or Rome.
Once we finished the observation part of the assignment we walked around the city some more. Today was a very relaxed day. That night we went out to eat at a bar. They have a deal where you buy a drink and then you get to eat all the food you want. The food isn’t fantastic, but it was only 6 Euro so it was only a little more expensive than McDonalds would have been.
October 27
Our trip to Florence was probably our shortest trip during our free travel. When we got to Florence we were walking to our hotel and ran into Tom and Cheryl at an internet café. Jesse spotted Cheryl as he walked by.
Our hotel rooms are small but they’ll be ok. We explored the side of the river that our hotel was on and sat by the river for a while. We saw where the statue of David originally was, and there were some more sculptures there too.
We went to dinner with Erik and Tyler, who were staying at the youth hostel not far from our hotel. We went to the hostel and used their steam room, sauna, and pool.
October 28
We met up with Erik and Tyler and took the train to Cique Terra, which is by Pisa on the coast. We met up with Laura Christine and Stefanie at Cique Terra. Unfortunately they had to carry all of their luggage with them. A lot of train stations have lockers where you can stash stuff but not this one.
I forgot my swimsuit so I ran into one of the nearby stores and bought a Speedo. Don’t worry; nobody got a picture of me in it. We went from town to town on the train and went cliff jumping at one of them. Stefanie said that my legs were so white that they looked like flashlights in the water.
By the time we went to all 5 of the cities on the coast it was getting late and it was dark. Tyler was the only one who went to see the tower of Pisa. I didn’t think it would be worth it at night. I guess I’ll have to come back to Italy later in life.
October 29
This was our last full day in Florence. We went and saw the real David early in the morning. It wasn’t really worth the ten Euro to get in. The museum didn’t have much besides David. We went to the markets where they sell tourist junk and ran into Jen, Betsy, and Christy. I didn’t even know they were in Italy. We made plans to meet up for dinner that night. We wandered around the city some more and went to the far side of the river. There is a big garden there and we walked through it for a couple hours. We ran into those three girls again by accident. We talked to them a little and went our separate ways
After walking through the garden we went to the river and then went to find some lunch. We were wandering towards an overlook of the city when we saw Jen Betsy and Christy eating at a café. So that was the third time we saw them that day without planning it.
The overlook was nice and we met up with all the people that were in Florence that night. There were 11 of us out of 26 on the trip. We tried to watch the sunset but it was cloudy and there was an awful violin player whose violin was way out of tune. He kept playing the first 12 notes of ode to joy and then playing some random notes. A random guy walking by came and tuned his violin for him but he still couldn’t play anything.
The group of us took a long walk to what Erik said was the best Gelato in Florence. It was good but probably not worth the long walk. The 11 of us ate dinner together at a place Tom recommended. I had veal for the first time. It wasn’t all that unusual.
October 30
We left for Rome in the morning. Rome was my city to book a hotel for so I had to guide us once we got there. I would say that I got us to our hotel with less trouble than the other guys had. The directions were really easy though. We stayed at the fountain terrace hostel which was the cheapest place we stayed for free travel at 15 euro a night each. It was also the most run down place we stayed. There was only one outlet in the room and the wiring wasn’t run through the wall, it was just a cable running out of the wall and onto the floor. The bathrooms were down the hall and none of them had soap or any way to dry your hands.
We met up with Anna, Kay, and Kelsey at the Trevi fountain and ate lunch with them there. We picked up some pizza and went to the Pantheon. The pantheon was smaller than I thought it would be. I didn’t know that it was just one big room.
We wanted to save some sights for the next day so we went to the Spanish steps for a while and then wandered over towards the Vatican. We sat in front of St Peter’s Basilica as the sun set. After a while we walked around and found some dinner.
October 31
We slept in a bit more than we planned but still got to the Coliseum and Roman Forum by noon or so. The Coliseum was huge and a fun site to see. I wish there had been better displays about the history of the place though. We bought our tickets at the forum because the lines there are about one quarter as long as they are at the Coliseum. The forum wasn’t really very interesting. There wasn’t any information about what was where or what happened there. Maybe we should have taken a tour.
Jesse wasn’t feeling so good so he went back to the hotel to rest. Spencer, Jake, and I took the subway to the Vatican. The subway system in Rome is really weird because it only has two lines. The Vatican museum was huge. It’s a big maze that takes hours to walk through. I could see people taking the whole day to get through the museum. Guess who we ran into randomly here, those three girls we saw three times in Florence.
The final room of the museum is the Sistine Chapel. We couldn’t take pictures in Chapel but I snuck a few anyway. They’re all blurry or zoomed out too far. Jake got caught trying to take a picture and the guard tried to make him leave. Jake was able to get back in though.
We went inside St. Peter’s Basilica. It’s huge. It is a lot bigger than any of the other churches we went to. There was a mass going on, so we listened in for twenty minutes or so while we walked through the basilica.
November 1
We didn’t have to wake up too early for our flight. We left around 8 and took a taxi to the airport. Only Ryanair and Ezjet fly out of this airport that we went to. They are the two cheapest airlines in Europe. The airport looked like some temporary buildings stuck together and all the departure gates were in the same room.
The flight went fine. Flying Ezjet is much better than Ryanair. It’s just much less stressful because they don’t worry about weight and size limits for luggage. When we got to Paris it was drizzling. We had to take a bus to the subway. The subways in Paris are awful for hauling your luggage through. There are several flights of steps to go up and down every time you transfer trains and you have to go through those one way gates which are fine for people but incredibly hard when bringing a suitcase through.
When we got out of the subway we went the wrong way and had to ask for directions. We asked at a little bakery and everybody in the bakery tried to help us out. It turns out that the subway station we left was within sight of our hotel.
It was still raining so we ate lunch at a diner right next to the hotel. We started seeing the rest of the group come up from the subway as we ate. They give you bread with every meal here but I ordered a hamburger and it came without a bun. I tried to use the French bread on the table to make a bun but it didn’t work well. The good news is that ketchup is free again and you don’t have to pay 10 or 50 cents for a packet like you have to in Italy.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
A long time without internet!
October 10
Today we leave for London. We took a bus to the Salzburg airport. Our flight left at 5 and we got to England in two hours. The time zone is different, so I am now 6 hours off from Minnesota time. Once we got to the airport we took a bus for two hours to get into the center of London, where our hotel was. We didn’t have a chance to eat dinner until around 1030.
October 11
It was Sunday so we went to church in the morning. We went to a mega church at the Dominion. The music was great; it was like being at a rock concert. The preacher was from Singapore and a bit strange.
camden
October 12
We went to see the Camden market in London today. It was really packed and I didn’t want to stay long. We also saw Wicked, which was a really good show. I’d probably go see it again sometime.
October 13
I saw Avenue Q, which is a comedy show, with a few friends. I don’t remember what else we did. The show was funny but Wicked was much better.
October 16
Today we had a test for consumer behavior. I think it went ok, but it probably won’t be my best test of the year. Everybody was really nervous because this was the first test of the semester.
October 17
I woke up late and took the bus down to what we thought would be a nice beach but it was more of a shipyard. We walked through the mall there and got some food before taking another bus ride to the real beach. We took some pictures and walked on the beach for a little bit. There was a rugby match in town so we went and saw that. It was Edinburgh against Ulster and Edinburgh won. It was fun to watch a real Rugby game. Jake, Kelsey, and I had to try to explain the rules to everyone.
After the game we got back to the hostel in time to get some dessert, but no real food. We went to Wannaburger for some food and walked around town a bit.
October 18
Today we went to church at a small Baptist church. The pastor was American but he was away on vacation this week. There were probably 35 people there total and about 15 of them were from our group.
We grabbed a little lunch at Tesco, which is a cheap convenience store, because we were all running out of pounds.
October 19
Our taxis left the hotel at 6:15 in the morning. Our flight left at 8:20 to Ireland. It was a short flight, but then we had a 3 hour train ride from Dublin to Galway. Once we got there I did a little homework and relaxed a bit. We had class outside today. It was cold and uncomfortable but not too long. After we had class we were supposed to ask people on the street what they thought of Ireland being part of the EU and using the Euro. We got some mixed results but everybody said that everything costs more now that they are using the Euro.
October 20
Today we tried to have class in a mall but we got kicked out by security. We found a place right next to a fountain in the park to finish class. I had a lot of homework to catch up on so a lot of my time was taken up by that.
October 21
We were leaving Galway at 1000 so I got up a little early and went out to the bay for a little walk. I did a little shopping as well. The train ride was another three hours back to Dublin. Our hotel rooms are huge here. We had class inside my room. All of us fit inside fine but only 3 of us are sleeping here. We went to a really fancy restaurant. I took a peek at the bill and it was 543 Euro. That’s about $800. I guess it all fits in the budget but I doubt we’ll being going to more places like that. We have a take home test due tomorrow so I had to put an hour or so into that.
Today we leave for London. We took a bus to the Salzburg airport. Our flight left at 5 and we got to England in two hours. The time zone is different, so I am now 6 hours off from Minnesota time. Once we got to the airport we took a bus for two hours to get into the center of London, where our hotel was. We didn’t have a chance to eat dinner until around 1030.
October 11
It was Sunday so we went to church in the morning. We went to a mega church at the Dominion. The music was great; it was like being at a rock concert. The preacher was from Singapore and a bit strange.
camden
October 12
We went to see the Camden market in London today. It was really packed and I didn’t want to stay long. We also saw Wicked, which was a really good show. I’d probably go see it again sometime.
October 13
I saw Avenue Q, which is a comedy show, with a few friends. I don’t remember what else we did. The show was funny but Wicked was much better.
October 16
Today we had a test for consumer behavior. I think it went ok, but it probably won’t be my best test of the year. Everybody was really nervous because this was the first test of the semester.
October 17
I woke up late and took the bus down to what we thought would be a nice beach but it was more of a shipyard. We walked through the mall there and got some food before taking another bus ride to the real beach. We took some pictures and walked on the beach for a little bit. There was a rugby match in town so we went and saw that. It was Edinburgh against Ulster and Edinburgh won. It was fun to watch a real Rugby game. Jake, Kelsey, and I had to try to explain the rules to everyone.
After the game we got back to the hostel in time to get some dessert, but no real food. We went to Wannaburger for some food and walked around town a bit.
October 18
Today we went to church at a small Baptist church. The pastor was American but he was away on vacation this week. There were probably 35 people there total and about 15 of them were from our group.
We grabbed a little lunch at Tesco, which is a cheap convenience store, because we were all running out of pounds.
October 19
Our taxis left the hotel at 6:15 in the morning. Our flight left at 8:20 to Ireland. It was a short flight, but then we had a 3 hour train ride from Dublin to Galway. Once we got there I did a little homework and relaxed a bit. We had class outside today. It was cold and uncomfortable but not too long. After we had class we were supposed to ask people on the street what they thought of Ireland being part of the EU and using the Euro. We got some mixed results but everybody said that everything costs more now that they are using the Euro.
October 20
Today we tried to have class in a mall but we got kicked out by security. We found a place right next to a fountain in the park to finish class. I had a lot of homework to catch up on so a lot of my time was taken up by that.
October 21
We were leaving Galway at 1000 so I got up a little early and went out to the bay for a little walk. I did a little shopping as well. The train ride was another three hours back to Dublin. Our hotel rooms are huge here. We had class inside my room. All of us fit inside fine but only 3 of us are sleeping here. We went to a really fancy restaurant. I took a peek at the bill and it was 543 Euro. That’s about $800. I guess it all fits in the budget but I doubt we’ll being going to more places like that. We have a take home test due tomorrow so I had to put an hour or so into that.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
October
October 2
Right after class I went and cleaned my room because we were leaving the country for the weekend. We used our Eurail passes to get us to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Slovenia is in Eastern Europe, and borders Austria to the east. They are the only Eastern European country to use the Euro, so we didn't have to exchange currency. It was about a 5-6 hour train ride there and many of us are feeling sick. Jesse stayed back at the Schloss for the weekend.
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, and is pretty modern. The GDP per capita in Slovenia is about half of what it is in the US. Just about everything was a little cheaper here than in Austria or Germany. We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant as a big group. With 28 people it took forever to get our food. The first night most people just went to sleep, but Jake, Peter, and I went up to the castle and looked down at the city lights.
October 3
After sleeping in a bit, a group of us went up to the castle. It was locked the night before so we couldn’t actually get in. It wasn’t much of a hike compared to the hike to the castle at Mittersill. It was still pretty tough for Kay who is done with crutches but still has a heavy boot.
I was tired so I took a long nap and got up in time for dinner. We split up into groups of 4 and tried to go to different restaurants. It’s much easier this way than eating together in a huge group. Three groups ended up at the same restaurant, but we sat separately.
October 4
As soon as we woke up it was time to get back on the train for Austria. I was feeling a little sick throughout most of the day and especially once I got back to the Schloss. It’s just some cold/flu symptoms that I should get over in a couple days. Once I got my reading done for class I went to bed and got a nice night of sleep.
October 8
We had a special speaker come in today and he talked for a very long time. It was interesting, but it was almost 2 by the time he was done. We usually get done with class by 12. He talked about the history of genetically engineered food and about how the bible relates to business and the economy. His name was John Hodges, and he worked for the UN for a long time.
October 9
Today was our last day of class. I was supposed to have my German test today, but I was an hour late. Nobody else that was supposed to go today showed up, so I didn’t even have to go. Tom got some grading done, and I get to put it off a little longer.
Right after class I went and cleaned my room because we were leaving the country for the weekend. We used our Eurail passes to get us to Ljubljana, Slovenia. Slovenia is in Eastern Europe, and borders Austria to the east. They are the only Eastern European country to use the Euro, so we didn't have to exchange currency. It was about a 5-6 hour train ride there and many of us are feeling sick. Jesse stayed back at the Schloss for the weekend.
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia, and is pretty modern. The GDP per capita in Slovenia is about half of what it is in the US. Just about everything was a little cheaper here than in Austria or Germany. We ate at a really good Mexican restaurant as a big group. With 28 people it took forever to get our food. The first night most people just went to sleep, but Jake, Peter, and I went up to the castle and looked down at the city lights.
October 3
After sleeping in a bit, a group of us went up to the castle. It was locked the night before so we couldn’t actually get in. It wasn’t much of a hike compared to the hike to the castle at Mittersill. It was still pretty tough for Kay who is done with crutches but still has a heavy boot.
I was tired so I took a long nap and got up in time for dinner. We split up into groups of 4 and tried to go to different restaurants. It’s much easier this way than eating together in a huge group. Three groups ended up at the same restaurant, but we sat separately.
October 4
As soon as we woke up it was time to get back on the train for Austria. I was feeling a little sick throughout most of the day and especially once I got back to the Schloss. It’s just some cold/flu symptoms that I should get over in a couple days. Once I got my reading done for class I went to bed and got a nice night of sleep.
October 8
We had a special speaker come in today and he talked for a very long time. It was interesting, but it was almost 2 by the time he was done. We usually get done with class by 12. He talked about the history of genetically engineered food and about how the bible relates to business and the economy. His name was John Hodges, and he worked for the UN for a long time.
October 9
Today was our last day of class. I was supposed to have my German test today, but I was an hour late. Nobody else that was supposed to go today showed up, so I didn’t even have to go. Tom got some grading done, and I get to put it off a little longer.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Austria...Australia?
September 19
I slept in quite a bit even though I had taken a long nap the day before. I made some quesadillas for lunch/breakfast. We went to a different Discothek for a little while.
September 20
Nothing
September 21
Nothing
September 22
Tom was in town today, I think he was just on the way to pick up his wife at some airport. There was another open air concert with a couple of guys playing guitar. We watched them for a little while and then went to the farewell party at the Goethe Institut. We had a good time partying and dancing some more.
September 23
Today was our last day of classes here. Most of the class showed up late and with hangovers. During the first half of the day we went over the different prepositions that go with certain verbs IE 'I am waiting for some one' is the English way, but in German you say ' I am waiting on someone'. After our break, we signed our class photos and got email addresses. We went to the town square to get some coffee at a cafe. We sat and talked for the rest of the class time. The one person who didn't show up for class was at the market buying fruit, so he hung out with us at the cafe.
September 24
Today we got up at 630 and ate our last breakfast in Schwaebisch Hall. We had to get to the train station by 730. It was a long train ride going through Nuremburg and Munich, which were both a ways out of the way. We got to Salzburg and Tom's directions were awful. We asked at a different hotel and they told us the wrong place. When we go to the wrong place we asked a woman and she knew right where it was and took us most of the way there.
September 25
Today we slept in late because we had gotten up early the last few days. We had breakfast at the hotel and packed up all of our stuff. Jesse, Spencer, Jake, Kay, Paul, Eric, and I went to the castle hohensalz. There was a great view from the top.
We got back to the hotel in time to buy some energy drinks at the nearest Spar and get our stuff on the bus. I was about one minute and thirty seconds late and Tom said that he almost left without me. I guess we really have to be on time down to the minute.
The drive to Mittersill was really nice, and it really reminded me of Switzerland. Most of the time we were driving through a valley with a river running through it. The bus brought us almost all the way to the top of the hill where the Schloss is. (Schloss means castle or palace in German) We got into our rooms and ate our first dinner at the Schloss. Dinner was good, we had spaghetti and some garlic soup which some people though might have been alfredo sauce but we weren't sure. That night we got a short introduction to the history of the schloss, and we shared stories about our adventures in Germany.
Jesse got the key to the sound room in our little auditorium/classroom and we worked with it for a couple hours, getting sound and video from a laptop to come up on the projector. We also figured out how to get the light system working so we can do some disco dancing up there.
September 26
Breakfast was mostly the same as our breakfasts in Schwaebisch Hall, with the addition of hard boiled eggs. We took the train to Zell am See today. I was here in spring of 2005 for a German class trip. I was also in Salzburg on that same trip. We went skiing there in 2005 and I didn't get to see much of the city. Today we walked about a third of the way around the lake before we had too turn back. Some groups made it all the way around the lake but we took our time eating and walking. Jesse, Jake, Mark, Dan Chang, and I all jumped in the lake. It was cold, but not so cold that you couldn't get used to it.
We went shopping briefly after getting back to Mittersill, picking up some snacks and some clothes. Today was our first chance to hike up the hill to the Schloss. When you look at the pictures I've put up then you can see that its a bit of a hike from the town to the schloss. I only took one short break on my way up, so I was winded and sweating by the time we got to the top.
Jesse set up the Bethel homecoming game on the projector, but it was really choppy. We're really hoping we can get tomorrow's Vikings game to work better. It's just a matter of how fast the internet is.
September 27
This morning we had a little church service where Dan Chang played some guitar and Spencer played piano. Then they hooked up a little podcast for us to listen to. A couple on vacation joined us for our little service. There is only one real church in town and its a catholic one. There is also a house church but it usually only could handle 10-15 people and our group would just be too big. I'm glad we didn't go all the way down the hill for church.
We took a bus from the train station over a few towns to the highest waterfall in Europe. I think that means that it's the highest in elevation, not the highest fall. It was a good three hour hike, and my group only went two thirds of the way up. Some others went all the way to the top but they really had to hurry. We ate our sack lunches on the rocks by the river and it was a really nice way to spend the day. Tom came up after us and also go the the two thirds point. He's in pretty good shape.
This time coming up the hill I took the easier path, which is not as steep but more slippery. I prefer the steep one. Tom slipped and fell down part of the “easy” path yesterday, its a good thing he didn't get hurt. Some trees kept him from falling all the way down.
The vikings game was put up on the projector, but it was in Danish so it wasn't the best. We had a fair bit of homework to do tonight, mostly reading.
I slept in quite a bit even though I had taken a long nap the day before. I made some quesadillas for lunch/breakfast. We went to a different Discothek for a little while.
September 20
Nothing
September 21
Nothing
September 22
Tom was in town today, I think he was just on the way to pick up his wife at some airport. There was another open air concert with a couple of guys playing guitar. We watched them for a little while and then went to the farewell party at the Goethe Institut. We had a good time partying and dancing some more.
September 23
Today was our last day of classes here. Most of the class showed up late and with hangovers. During the first half of the day we went over the different prepositions that go with certain verbs IE 'I am waiting for some one' is the English way, but in German you say ' I am waiting on someone'. After our break, we signed our class photos and got email addresses. We went to the town square to get some coffee at a cafe. We sat and talked for the rest of the class time. The one person who didn't show up for class was at the market buying fruit, so he hung out with us at the cafe.
September 24
Today we got up at 630 and ate our last breakfast in Schwaebisch Hall. We had to get to the train station by 730. It was a long train ride going through Nuremburg and Munich, which were both a ways out of the way. We got to Salzburg and Tom's directions were awful. We asked at a different hotel and they told us the wrong place. When we go to the wrong place we asked a woman and she knew right where it was and took us most of the way there.
September 25
Today we slept in late because we had gotten up early the last few days. We had breakfast at the hotel and packed up all of our stuff. Jesse, Spencer, Jake, Kay, Paul, Eric, and I went to the castle hohensalz. There was a great view from the top.
We got back to the hotel in time to buy some energy drinks at the nearest Spar and get our stuff on the bus. I was about one minute and thirty seconds late and Tom said that he almost left without me. I guess we really have to be on time down to the minute.
The drive to Mittersill was really nice, and it really reminded me of Switzerland. Most of the time we were driving through a valley with a river running through it. The bus brought us almost all the way to the top of the hill where the Schloss is. (Schloss means castle or palace in German) We got into our rooms and ate our first dinner at the Schloss. Dinner was good, we had spaghetti and some garlic soup which some people though might have been alfredo sauce but we weren't sure. That night we got a short introduction to the history of the schloss, and we shared stories about our adventures in Germany.
Jesse got the key to the sound room in our little auditorium/classroom and we worked with it for a couple hours, getting sound and video from a laptop to come up on the projector. We also figured out how to get the light system working so we can do some disco dancing up there.
September 26
Breakfast was mostly the same as our breakfasts in Schwaebisch Hall, with the addition of hard boiled eggs. We took the train to Zell am See today. I was here in spring of 2005 for a German class trip. I was also in Salzburg on that same trip. We went skiing there in 2005 and I didn't get to see much of the city. Today we walked about a third of the way around the lake before we had too turn back. Some groups made it all the way around the lake but we took our time eating and walking. Jesse, Jake, Mark, Dan Chang, and I all jumped in the lake. It was cold, but not so cold that you couldn't get used to it.
We went shopping briefly after getting back to Mittersill, picking up some snacks and some clothes. Today was our first chance to hike up the hill to the Schloss. When you look at the pictures I've put up then you can see that its a bit of a hike from the town to the schloss. I only took one short break on my way up, so I was winded and sweating by the time we got to the top.
Jesse set up the Bethel homecoming game on the projector, but it was really choppy. We're really hoping we can get tomorrow's Vikings game to work better. It's just a matter of how fast the internet is.
September 27
This morning we had a little church service where Dan Chang played some guitar and Spencer played piano. Then they hooked up a little podcast for us to listen to. A couple on vacation joined us for our little service. There is only one real church in town and its a catholic one. There is also a house church but it usually only could handle 10-15 people and our group would just be too big. I'm glad we didn't go all the way down the hill for church.
We took a bus from the train station over a few towns to the highest waterfall in Europe. I think that means that it's the highest in elevation, not the highest fall. It was a good three hour hike, and my group only went two thirds of the way up. Some others went all the way to the top but they really had to hurry. We ate our sack lunches on the rocks by the river and it was a really nice way to spend the day. Tom came up after us and also go the the two thirds point. He's in pretty good shape.
This time coming up the hill I took the easier path, which is not as steep but more slippery. I prefer the steep one. Tom slipped and fell down part of the “easy” path yesterday, its a good thing he didn't get hurt. Some trees kept him from falling all the way down.
The vikings game was put up on the projector, but it was in Danish so it wasn't the best. We had a fair bit of homework to do tonight, mostly reading.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
A whole week in one post.
September 12
This was our big day in Switzerland. Jake and Spencer went out skydiving and I think Anika and Laura did too. The rest of us took a bus to a train that brought us up into the mountains a bit and then we hiked. I took a ton of pictures. For most of the way, the hike was a wide paved path through a valley between two mountains. Basejumpers would jump off of one of the cliffs and you could always hear their parachutes opening up.
After a couple hours, the group split into two and half of us went back. I went on ahead for another couple hours. I'm grad I did because then I got to get up real close to the second waterfall. The hiking started to get a little tougher after the waterfall. The path was now dirt and steadily uphill. We still had a long ways to walk back so 4 of us turned back. Only Jesse, Mickey, and Paul kept going. They eventually got all the way up to a glacier.
I think it was on their way back from the glacier that they crossed over one of the little bridges over the river. Paul was still on the bridge when they all heard a cracking noise. Part of the glacier must have cracked and let a bunch of water out because it flooded the river and swept away the bridge that they had just crossed.
It was about an hour and a half walk down the mountain back to the train station. We were pretty hungry but the prices in Switzerland are horrible. I eventually paid for two cheeseburgers at McDonalds for about $5.
When we finally got back to our hotel, Jake and Spencer were back from their skydiving. We hung out at the hotel for a while until Mickey, Jesse, and Paul got back. They really were starving because it was about 10 o'clock by then. We found them some food and went to sleep.
September 13
We were all exhausted after yesterday's hike so we slept in some and got ready for our 6.5 hour train ride back to Schwaebisch Hall. We picked up some Ok brand energy drinks for the ride. Our route back was really confusing and we had to take the S bahn at one point. That was a really bumpy and noisy ride.
We got back to Schwaebisch Hall just in time for the 7:00 bells. We had a little time to do some homework and recuperate and then get ready for our last full week of classes.
September 14
Second to last Monday of German class.
September 15
Tuesday... nothing.
September 16
Not too much happened today, it was standard weekday. Me and Jesse watched two episodes of the Colony together.
September 17
My class had another test today. I think it could have gone better, but we're not graded by bethel according to these tests. I don't know how we're going to be graded though, or if its taken pass/fail. Since it's Thursday, we went to the grocery store for lunch and they had Hawaiian pizza, which was the best one yet. This is probably the last day for pizza at the grocery store because we will be leaving early next Thursday.
September 18
The weekend is finally here. I was so tired that I took a 3 hour nap right after class. I made some brats for dinner and relaxed in my room until about 8:00 where we went to check out the party at the Goethe Pub. We played a little foosball and some cards, but then everybody was leaving so we left too. We walked around for a little while and considered going out to some discothek, but we didn't know where it was or where to find a taxi. Kelsey and Anna went back to go to sleep.
We ran into some Brazilian guys that we knew from the Goethe Institut who were going to the discothek outside of town. They convinced us to go and we jumped in some taxis and went. We had a great time dancing at the disco until about 3 in the morning and then we left. One of the girls we came with was outside and still very drunk so we took her back to her place. She kept on talking to us but she switched between German, Spanish, and English so none of us could understand more than 2/3 of what she was saying. I think she tried to use a fake ID to get into the club and they called the police. Anyway, she was real thankful that we helped her get back to her place.
This was our big day in Switzerland. Jake and Spencer went out skydiving and I think Anika and Laura did too. The rest of us took a bus to a train that brought us up into the mountains a bit and then we hiked. I took a ton of pictures. For most of the way, the hike was a wide paved path through a valley between two mountains. Basejumpers would jump off of one of the cliffs and you could always hear their parachutes opening up.
After a couple hours, the group split into two and half of us went back. I went on ahead for another couple hours. I'm grad I did because then I got to get up real close to the second waterfall. The hiking started to get a little tougher after the waterfall. The path was now dirt and steadily uphill. We still had a long ways to walk back so 4 of us turned back. Only Jesse, Mickey, and Paul kept going. They eventually got all the way up to a glacier.
I think it was on their way back from the glacier that they crossed over one of the little bridges over the river. Paul was still on the bridge when they all heard a cracking noise. Part of the glacier must have cracked and let a bunch of water out because it flooded the river and swept away the bridge that they had just crossed.
It was about an hour and a half walk down the mountain back to the train station. We were pretty hungry but the prices in Switzerland are horrible. I eventually paid for two cheeseburgers at McDonalds for about $5.
When we finally got back to our hotel, Jake and Spencer were back from their skydiving. We hung out at the hotel for a while until Mickey, Jesse, and Paul got back. They really were starving because it was about 10 o'clock by then. We found them some food and went to sleep.
September 13
We were all exhausted after yesterday's hike so we slept in some and got ready for our 6.5 hour train ride back to Schwaebisch Hall. We picked up some Ok brand energy drinks for the ride. Our route back was really confusing and we had to take the S bahn at one point. That was a really bumpy and noisy ride.
We got back to Schwaebisch Hall just in time for the 7:00 bells. We had a little time to do some homework and recuperate and then get ready for our last full week of classes.
September 14
Second to last Monday of German class.
September 15
Tuesday... nothing.
September 16
Not too much happened today, it was standard weekday. Me and Jesse watched two episodes of the Colony together.
September 17
My class had another test today. I think it could have gone better, but we're not graded by bethel according to these tests. I don't know how we're going to be graded though, or if its taken pass/fail. Since it's Thursday, we went to the grocery store for lunch and they had Hawaiian pizza, which was the best one yet. This is probably the last day for pizza at the grocery store because we will be leaving early next Thursday.
September 18
The weekend is finally here. I was so tired that I took a 3 hour nap right after class. I made some brats for dinner and relaxed in my room until about 8:00 where we went to check out the party at the Goethe Pub. We played a little foosball and some cards, but then everybody was leaving so we left too. We walked around for a little while and considered going out to some discothek, but we didn't know where it was or where to find a taxi. Kelsey and Anna went back to go to sleep.
We ran into some Brazilian guys that we knew from the Goethe Institut who were going to the discothek outside of town. They convinced us to go and we jumped in some taxis and went. We had a great time dancing at the disco until about 3 in the morning and then we left. One of the girls we came with was outside and still very drunk so we took her back to her place. She kept on talking to us but she switched between German, Spanish, and English so none of us could understand more than 2/3 of what she was saying. I think she tried to use a fake ID to get into the club and they called the police. Anyway, she was real thankful that we helped her get back to her place.
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