3/12/2010

3/12/2010
10:32 am

“stop being cute and get out of my bed!”...best eavesdropped quote ever...lol- all of that aside apologies for being so behind in my writing. I'm going to use my half hour of internet time and then try to recap a bit kk brb.

11:12am Ok then, so the last thing I really talked about was trying to get to Paris ok then-

Well Greg, Nate and I made it safe to our Hostel. Figured out the metro to do so but it was super close to the station so it worked out well. Got a little nervous after walking for awhile because we thought we should have passed it by then, but no worries. The hostel (Vintage Hostel to be specific) was awesome. There was breakfast and our own bathroom with a tub shower and hot water X) on the 3rd we went on a walking exploration to the Moulin Rouge and Notre Dame...was way fun.





On the 4th we metro'd our way over to the Fiap Hostel which we determined has 'prime location' as it is across the street from :a Hospital, a Police Station, and a Mental Institution- oh and down a few blocks is a Prison...woooo....*sars* So we were the first ones to come and chill in the lobby and group by group we got to hear every-ones travel horror stories.


(weary travelers in the lobby)

Main factor never try to get out of Geneva it's nigh impossible with out spending loads of money. We did have one group call in saying they were kinda trapped in Switzerland and would be arriving late that night- this was all a little stressful. This was also Ally's travel group and she was my assigned roommate for the stay (btw Fiap has 2 person awesome rooms) but they eventually came in and all was well with the world.


(apparently I'm a super creep sometimes...this is Ally having fallen asleep reading in our awesome room)

Also dinner here has been awesome- hot food, lots of variety- awesomes.

So on the 5th we had our walking tour of Paris which was delayed by half and hour as the tour company had forgotten about us and only sent one guide for two groups-


(waiting for the tour guide at San Michael)


(although it worked out ok in the end...we got our adorably cute and quirky tour guide after a short wait)


(she told up all about the space invaders all around Europe...I remembered the one I saw in London and was extra disappointed hadn't gotten a picture...luckily I got this one by the Seine)

(did all the site seeing things)


(Eiffle tower from a distance)


(the Arc de Triomphe)


(a sweet picture of the flag)

Side Note- off to eat lunch and go to class I'll finish up later-

3/5/2010

Realized while writing in my journal I had skipped a page when i made this entry so it's a little behind the times...lol

------------------------------------------------


3/5/2010
3:35pm

To Not be eaten by Lions



(saw this written on a lock on this Bridge in Paris...it was note worthy enough)


(Picture Acquired courtesy of Nate...this is why I kept him around, to keep track of the important things for me while we traveled...lol)

3/8/2010

3/8/2010
10:15am (Paris)

I am in the LOUVRE!!!! eeeeeee!!








Notes- Fashion Design 1800-1940 the Pepin Press – Prix Magasin
V&A Nineteenth Century Fashion Detail Lucy Johnston

(I actualy got this book for my birthday when I got back...it's super cool)




Fashion since 1900- The Complete Source Book 1250 color illustrations John Peacock- Thames & Hudson

3/2/2010

March 2, 2012 (I'm guessing I meant to write 2010 lol)

1:10pm (Switzerland)



Sitting in the Train Station o.O mrrr ok so here is what went down today

-got of a train to Milan at 5:40am went from Milan to Geneva. When we purchased these train reservations we were told that it was not possible to reserve the Geneva to Paris train in Verona so we decided to wing it. This was the first scary section. Second was this: Nate, Greg and I are sharing a room- Greg already had his tickets to Geneva to wing it to Paris when he decided to stay with us instead of Rachel. We tried to get on the same train as him but could not. Fun Fact: Greg's train is later in the day then ours now. So we arrive in Geneva at 12:18 and Greg will be arriving at 16:18. We figured we'd wait here for Greg and get three train reservations to Paris instead of abandoning poor Greg. So we told him yesterday that we'd meet him at his platform in Geneva- which is #6 and currently where I am sitting. Any who we arrive in Geneva find the ticket office and a departure schedule and find a train going out at 17:17 – perfect we think. Talk to the ticket office and they don't have 3 Eurail seats left on that train- we try the 19 something or other as well as the 20 something train- all full...The man behind the counter was quite pleasant with us and looked up if we could get there via Lyon or another station- no luck. The only trains with space were leaving at 13 something so Nate and I could get to Paris but this would severely screw over Greg- who as I am remembering now, meant to jot down the hostel information/map but did not- making me the sole carrier of all the info. So eventually hearing the phrase 'you can't get to Paris today' and over terrified looks we eventually work it out that yes we can get onto the 17:17 train we just need to pay for a ticket instead of a Eurail reservation... This is getting priced out in front of of us and it's about 124 Swiss Francs per ticket. For some crazed reason Nate looks over at me and says “I got this”- I am still in bewilderment at this emergency money business- meaning I don't have to reimburse Nate. I think we discussed me footing for lunch sometime which I think sounds like a horrible trade on Nate's side, but being the poor person I am I'll accept this lol.


(a 2 Swiss Franc coin)

2/28/2010

2/28/2010
8:33 am

ok so on the 25th we did a tour of the Roman theatre ruins- way cool and then I went to the top of the Torre dei Lamberti. We walked up all 300 and some stairs and scurried down them all so we wouldn't go deaf when the bells went off at 4:30 lol






and I dragged Nate to the Cassa di Giulietta (the House of Juliet) – tee hee many young Japanese girls took our pic on the balcony- it was high-larious.


(view from the balcony)


Oh and the reason for all this running about sight seeing is due to us having a 3 day Verona card which lets us into a few select sights for free and a couple of sights for discount and the roman theatre was day 1- day 2 we toured the Coliseum (Arena) and one of the costumed guards made fun of my fast walking- I swing my arms lol.


(the Arena)

Then we spent a bit of time trying to figure out how to get to Milan which involved going to

[ 10:35 am Side Note- everyone was complaining about the 10 eurro charge for seat reservations- some people decided to wing it and not get reservations because the group that was staying in Venice for Free travel never got ticketed- I just watched the ticket taker charge them for a ticket => pry more then 10 Eurro too... and hell a day trip to Venice for 10 Eurro- awesome :D]

...involved going to the internet cafe then the train station (too busy) then back to the cafe (full) so we decided to just do it a different day and went on an adventure traveling down river to explore the boundary walls of the original Roman city. Which was way fun besides me getting kinda trapped in a youth sports park lol. We almost jumped a fence but decided that barbed wire and traffic wasn't worth saving on the walking distance but the walk was beautiful- way fun. And had a pleasant little chat along the way. Found some snails on the wall which seemed befitting seeing as at both the Roman Theatre and the Arena tours I was doodling snails- also found some shells near the walls in the Roman Theatre- way cool.


(snail I found)


(snail in the Roman Theatre)


(snail at the Arena...drawn with my foot)

Oh...don't know if I've mentioned this before but I'm falling back into my old habits of watching the ground while I walk- been picking up scarp metal blush only keeping the cool pieces and have been stringing up jewelry. Need to find some pretty string or stringer thread though- twine will only last me so long and it's a little rough on the neck...mar


(the Jewelry I made :D )

hello again

So I recently rediscovered what shelf I had thrown my journal from Europe on. I also have found myself with an abundance of free time and have been spending most of it reading books like a mad woman. I have decided to take some of my free time to continue typing up my journal from where I left off.

I'll post one journal entry at a time so as not to have the humongous entries I had before when I was posting as much as possible when I could get an internet connection.

thank you to anyone who has been waiting patiently for me to continue...I know it's been over a year now...



--------------------

2/24/2010
7:55 am (Verona)

ok It's been awhile so I'll recap after breakfast story. So I'm sitting in gorgeous Verona- love this city btw- in the dinning hall drinking coffee out of a bowl-tee hee- but I am sitting in front of a fire place so – win XD. Need to write my last anytime visit for class at 9 but it's a page, wont take long and this is nice. Big stone house- practically no electricity- crackling fires- beautiful courtyard, big open green spaces- it's so nice here mmmm roll with plum jam dipped in coffee- yum X) homework time brb

8:15 am -homework done -lol- I always like that you can tell when I was writing at breakfast-there's always jam all over those pages (not the jam spots below)

Ok so (*jam*) Backtracking 20th- went to the film festival a final time and saw “Golden Slumber” with (*jam*) <--jam mmm... Nate-movie= amazing, so good and was totally picked out et random by yours truly because “Summer Wars” was sold out but amazingness ensued- Nate did laundry and I went exploring out by Potstamer Platz looking for the vintage jewelry store I had a tiny map of and stumbled across a bunch of cool stuffs-cool art work and I got some postcards and a t-shirt -very awesome and this cool bead shop call “The Tudor” very cool and I stumbled across a marionette theatre- shame it was closed though- le sigh.




(my awesome t-shirt)


(The Marionette Theatre)


(the Jewelry store)

Then booked it back for dinner- afterwords was abandoned by other peeps going to a Blue Man Group concert and I tried to find the Dali Museum alone and in the dark- was super creepy seeing as there were like no street lights and I was super lost- so came back, packed up and went to sleep at like 10, where as everyone who went to the concert went to bed after 12 and seeing as it was necessary to leave the hostel at 5:30 am XP.

Side Note: in INTS class discussing Sachsen hausen -it's still unnerving → Greg got quite a befitting picture of me there though- our tour guide was discussing the meals and the whole time I was just starving for almost the whole walk so I was picking off pieces of my roll so it's a pic of me holding a scrap of bread while squinting into the sun with a scarf tied across my head as a head band- as Greg described I looked like a gypsy- the camp was absolutely terrifying though and I think I will get that hunting feeling every time we talk about it. There was just a feeling emanating from the whole camp that is extremely hard for me to explain- Just this creepy feeling of horror that sinks into your bones.

(Was sad to discover that Greg can no longer find this picture)

12:05 pm mmm nicked bread and jam from breakfast delicious- I would be happy if I could have jam and pastry bread for lunch the rest of this trip- yum yum

5:40 pm ok so back to story...wait where was I hmmm... right- leaving at 5:30am- So Nate and I-being the cool people that we are decided that – yeah we could easily walk to the train station- we did before and we don't really want to pay for transportation. So we wake up earlier and are the first ones out of the hostel after a few blocks the clasp on Nate's bag snaps off- so I lend him my carabiner so he doesn't kill his arms carrying everything by hand instead of slung over a shoulder- we get about half way to the train station and the other clasp breaks- I pull out a hunk of cord for my “clothes line” and we tie up his bag- luckily this lasts the rest of the trek through the snow and ice- ick XP =>

so we make it to the train station figure out where our platform is and that we're in the AB section of the train (there are sections A-F) so we're chillin' around about oh- 20-30 mins before our train's suppose to leave (6:52) just chillin' eating stale bread and knock off brand snickers bars-called peanuts which were 95 eurro cents for 5 awesome deal and delicious- and it get's to be like 6:45 ish or so and we start worrying about the 10 or so other people that had the same train as us- seeing as we had- at this point seen no one else from our group. Then it was 6:50 trains here no one else- we eventually find out they were all on the other end of the platform and had to book it to our end lol – go us => we did get a bunch of “oh you finally made it” comments even though we were the first ones there – tee hee.

Train ride was pleasant we sat across from each other at a table with two German women next to us in the window seat. Most of the ride was spent sleeping and finishing “Angels and Demons” which is now being passed around as reading material so either Rob or Libby has it right now- not quite sure. We transferred at München (Munich) and got some cart side pizza in the lay over time. Train ride was Nate, Greg, Rob and I along with an Italian woman and son in a little walled in seating box- figuring out where to put everyone's luggage was quite the adventure. Felt bad for the Italians having to deal with us for so long. Train went through the lower Alps and it was absolutely gorgeous. I think Rob said he took like 200 pictures in the train crazy awesomes. Nate and I decided we'd let Rob and Greg do all the picture taking and steal from facebook later- lol.


(beautiful pic of the Apls I stole from Rob's facebook...:D)


(trying to sleep on the train)

Got to Verona and again decided to walk to our hotel => thought we were lost for awhile but turns out we were going the right way all along- most of the streets didn't have any names so it was quite confusing => stayed in a Best Western same as Ken and Rachel- it was amazing. Tiny bathroom though which was a bit more of a problem for Nate then me- lol silly tall people. 1st night was spent wandering the streets a little- including backtracking to find my sweatshirt that I had dropped and relaxing in front of the TV watching CNN, Jordan's Crossing in Italian and the Olympics in German.


(our tiny hotel room)


(and the tiny TV we watched)

Next day ate breakfast with Ken and Rachel and wandered the streets with them. Found the hostel, found out they had scheduled us to arrive a day later then we were coming in- lol- sorted all that out. Ate an amazing “business lunch” that consisted- for me at least as there were choices- of macaroni and beef- a side of potatoes and pork with rosemary and lemon, all for 11 eurro- and the table had a karaf of red wine- which wasn't half bad.


(my wine glass and the sparkling water glass)

That night Nate picked up a bottle of cheep red wine, Rachel a bottle of sparkling white (which was delicious) and we had a chil little evening watching bad 70's dubbed TV while sipping out of the glasses from the bathroom- I do believe I had more water then wine overall but I had heard from experienced people that wine will not make you feel so good in the morning- which was true for everyone else lol ;D. we then marched the long and uphill road to the hostel and hung out in the amazingly beautiful courtyard until everyone else showed up.

2/8 - 2/19 2010

2/8/2010 London

~6:45 pm
bargle- flight got delayed from 5:05 to 6:30- and our check in time is pry going to be before we get to the hostel...lol there is a baby in the seat behind me and he grabbed my sleeve from between the seats...I looked back and he was smiling at me. We had a good little laugh. Man my back hurts though, I threw all of my books and stuff in my carry on and had to put my purse inside that bag as well due to EZJet being uncool so my bag is super heavy- ick and I had all of my heavy stuff in that bag cause I wanted to make sure my checked baggage was under the 20 k weight limit- it was 18...wish I had known earlier I would have thrown some books in it. Planes taking off- sitting here talking to Nate, and eating a dark chocolate orange I picked up at the airport- so good

-----------------------------------------


2/9/2010
9;00am (Amsterdam)



Hostel report- shoddy but fun, were at the top of 4 flights of a spiral staircase-



sucked for baggage actually- but everyone's stuff got in- 6 people in my room: Nate, Rashad, David, Kyle, Rob and me....



I know Brad, Brady, TO, Ally, Philip, and I think two other people whose names I can't recall are in the third floor room- off to eat our free breakfast- no food/trash in the rooms though- as it attracts mice

9:34
breakfast was alright...make your own processed ham and cheese melt- which was good and some toast with strawberry jam, although I accidentally put coffee creamer in my cereal...way nasty....I am no good at this reading foreign language business.

2:40
boys are all giddy over the beer shop with 940 flavors...lol



3:00
at the Anne Frank Haus-



there was supposed to be a student discount but they said it was a misprint- the adult ticket was 8 eurro but I told them I was 17 and got mine of 4 ;) - pays to be short and look young- it's nice to be someplace warm though

3:45
sitting around drinking tea ...I got Lapsang Souchong and added milk sugar and honey to it – it tastes good and smells woodsy, my exact phraseology was “ it tastes like I'm drinking the forest!” lol

4:35
just saw a sigh...”sorry we're open”
bought my Amsterdam patch and a coin purse- too many eurro cents

5:15
at the vodka museum and they have a shot glass chess set- lol- heard it's an easy chess game to loose...I wonder why...lol

(for some reason I forgot to mention that we went to the sex museum as well that day)


11:41 pm
man we are in a sketchy hotel- just saw a mouse in the lobby/dining area lol- and 2 out of our three keys don't work so well

-------------------------------------------

2/10/2010

1:15
at the Van Gogh museum- so cool- huh-Van Gogh's sunflowers were painted for Gauguin's bedroom- in order to brighten it up- only 5 remain and I've seen two XD

1:45- oooo Toulouse Latrec painting- Man I wish I felt better- I think I'm dehydrated, a Gauguin- Gauguin's portrait of Vincent painting sunflowers- I remember looking this one up for my paper...you really can see a lot of the canvas, a few Monets and an Edouard Manet, a Picasso- ooo this one by Jan Slvijters is interesting- two Women Embracing- quite a few- Emile Bernard's a gorgeous mirror done by him though ooo and Odilion Redon's The Buddha is quite nice as well, hmmm is James Abbott Mac Neill Whistler the same Whistler I know?....ooooo-Seurat

4:25
sitting in the station waiting to validate our Eurail passes-



walked though the Red Light district to get here and found out the other group's hostel isn't just near the Red Light District...it's in the middle of it lol- had to pay my first 50 cents for the Loo today though...doing pretty good about finding free bathrooms though...stupid railway stations trying to takes my moneys X)

5:25
at Sarah's Pancake House awaiting my bacon and pineapple pancake- sounded yummy- and they have this like raisin sauce here that's thicker then molasses but soooooo very tasty


----------------------------------


2/11/2010

6:40am
pancake was delicious- went down to the Red Light District last night with the boys- it certainly was an experience- and then we chilled around at the girls hotel while they smoked...air was pretty clean though so I think I'm good...lol- sitting on the train after walking 25 minutes to the station...my shoulders are killing me...bargle- I'm kinda starting to feel like I have too much stuff- ah well I can carry it all up 5 flights of spiral staircase (73 steps to be exact) so I should be fine anywhere else we go....we'll see...ah I should tell you the major stories of the weekend- I think I forgot to mention them earlier-

day one- Rob leaves his computer bag on the tram- after checking in and he has tried calling them he goes out to chase down the tram...from what we were told he got on one and explained his predicament and this tram sped along and dropped him off at the stop that should be just ahead of the tram we all were on- Rob got on our tram just as the ticket taker was looking through his bag- later that night a couple of the guys went to walk around the block- came back in saying they just ran from a drug dealer trying to sell them cocaine...

Day 2- Rashad got in a small altercation after the pub crawl- apparently (I was asleep for this) he came in around 1 or so and was telling Nate he beat this guy up- in the morning I and the rest of the room were told he was lost and asked this guy for directions and the guy punched him in the jaw...they exchanged a couple of blows and Rashad walked away

(at least they didn't forget about me while they were all out on the pub crawl :D )


7:26
accident up the line- they'll be a delay, good thing we got on the early train- at least we're warm

8:02
finally got moving...hope the other guys caught their train

9:22
looking out the window at the country side....it really does look a lot similar to Wisconsin here...I get why the Germans settled there now...lol

--------------------------------------------------

2/12/2010

8:37 am (Berlin)


sitting eating breakfast and making a pack lunch- this hostel rocks- dinner was real food too. XD super snowy out though and apparently we're going to watch part of a movie they are showing on the Brandenburg gate- like literally on it...a screen outdoors and everything.



The kick off for the film festival- wonder what movie we're watching- all I know is that it's silent- fun fun

9:15
oh man's we're going to see Metropolis with the original score played by an orchestra

2:30
wow- I am standing on top of where Hitlers bunker is and where he committed suicide...

2/13/2010

8:20am
saw metropolis last night- David and I were the only ones from our group that stayed till the bitter end-



Nate made it half way though and I was trying to translate what was going on- seeing as it was in German- ah well. David really liked it and I enjoyed the experience...it was great- just freezing. Mein gut- will it ever stop snowing out?- bargle. Nate didn't come down for breakfast- he doesn't have film so that's pry why- I think I might pack him a lunch if he doesn't show

3:45
standing in line to try and get tickets for the film festival- shutter Island is sold out but I want to try and get tickets for The Illusionist (same peeps as The triplets of Belvile) and Summer Wars (same peeps as The Girl Who Lept Through Time) I'd also like to see Uchu Show E Yokoso (same peeps as Tekenkinkreet) but it's playing on the day we leave so depending on my travel plans I might catch it...although fun story we might take a day trip up to Denmark on Wednesday for kicks and giggles...lol

--------------------------------------------

2/14/2010
9:25 am
last night was fun...hung out with Nate after Dinner- and he got all antsy and I got to watch him go through some martial arts forms- very cool- lol- he was complaining about there not being enough room to do some of his favorite stuff lol. We met a guy from southern German though...i think his name was Phillip. Then we found out there was a party going on in like every other room- so we hung out in Nate's room- watching peeps drink- then they watched Lost while I sketched- I got some mad sketching compulsion though- I had to draw but I had fun- did this crazy collage thing of stuff that was in front of me.
Happy Valentines Day world :)

11:20
just realized that Nate sounds exactly like Jon Gelleta- Laughs the same and everything- love it- lol

2:20
sitting in the cinemax going to see Wasteland....no idea what it's about- Greg informed me- Documentary- and there is an artist making stuff out of a waste heap...sounds fun

-----------------------------------------------------

2/15/2010
12:23 pm
Movie was awesome- internet is still down though XP drew a bunch on the tour yesterday- I think Nate's ear turned out the best...lol especially cause most of the shading was done on a train lol. Had our first rehearsal this morning- that was fun. Then I did my laundry and like a good geek got Laundry Day stuck in my head- lol just chillin- being board and waiting for peeps to do something

2:35- look up Cristo and Jeanne- Claude

-----------------------------------------------------

2/18/2010
10ish
well it certainly has been awhile since I wrote...hmmm what's gone on. You know, not too much....just been chilling around with people- and went to the Film Hous on a tour- the first room was filled with mirrors it was so insanely cool

11ish
the rest of the museum was cool as well but I could have spent all day in that mirror room. Tuesday night was really fun though, sat around in Nate's room with the other “outcasts”....the art people and such...they were all drinking good German beer- which is nasty- Nate claimed is as his goal for the trip to fix this problem of me not liking beer but I highly doubt he'll be very successful-lol. But we all had a real heart to heart, philosophical and epically awesome conversation- few favorite moments from the night were: Nate and I were chillin' while the boys were out on a beer run (btw our group has practically bought out the corner markets beer supply XP) and Nate said something about it being really peaceful right then and I said it was just the calm before the storm when all the boys would come traipsing back with their beer- 4 seconds later the boys came filling in through the door ROFL.

The other fun moment came from Josh, who was in bed starring at the ceiling when he blurts out “the ceiling doesn't have any bumps on it- how are we supposed to tell it isn't a wall?” lol which resulted in an entertaining conversation about it being a wall and we were flying/floating- super fun. Oh while I was in the TV lounge this morning some German boys were watching dubbed Malcolm in the Middle....it's so weird to hear actors I recognize with a different voice and in a different language.

Currently watching CNN waiting for theatre class to get done- plan is to get tickets today- and maybe hit up the Dali museum also tonight is Thursday so museum island has 4 out of their 5 museums at free admission tonight- w00t. Been watching the Olympics like every night...the snow boarders certainly were having a rough night last night- lol just ate “Fruit of the Forest” flavored yogurt mmmmm...getting better at my fast sketching abilities...so happy- still lifes are fun and all but I'm enjoying being able to draw people- the one detailed piece I've got is of sleeping people but I don't expect anyone here to sit still long enough for me to do more then scribble sketch them-lol

12:48
mar got this crazy hurting pain in my lower rib

(while getting lost trying to get to museum island we found all of these snowmen)


8:50
mans- in the old museum they had a “Greek” exhibit and a plaque with all of the different types of stones and marbles label as to what and where they were- way cool-
Museum notes----
Louis Corinth-1918-parties of armor in the studio
Adolph Menzel-the Iron Rolling Mill (Modern Cyclopes) 1875
oh craps I was obviously standing too close to the art- I think I just set off an alarm- o.O
William Hanilton-1976-From Shakespeare's the Tempest
Arnold Bockiln (with o umlot) -self portrait with death playing the fiddle
Renoir-Cezanne-Manet-Rodin-Gauguin-Monet-DeGas
Arnold Brocklin- Landscape with castle ruins
Christopher Rohlfs- summer and Landscape near Weimar
Curt Herrmann- Belvedere Palace near Weimar

--------------------------------

2/19/2010
2:45-



at the concentration camp tour and there is just something extremely unnerving about seeing a toppled over snowman in the center court of the camp...
at Sachsenhausen