Welcome Back NYE!

Published on Jan. 1, 2005 in Germany

A long flight, where I slept for seven of the nine hours!!

So, here is the recap.  On the night of the 31st we all left for Heidelberg.  Now, for those of you who don't know, Heidelberg is the epitome of a cheerful little German town.  We walked around for a few hours, but our mission was not in Heidelberg: Fankfurt, here we came!

After returning to the train, we started to drink the wine that was purchased earlier.  I guess the only way to describe this wine is as follows:

Mix one part Shiraz with one part cooking wine.  Add some gin.

It was so gross.  The five of us could hardly drink one bottle, so it ended up being a waste.  Upon arriving in Frankfurt we immediatly went to the Irish bar accross the street from the train station.  Why would we do this?  Well, our flight left the next morning at 10:00am, so there was no way we were going to sleep.  And since it was New Years Eve, walking would likely be difficult.  We had our drinks, drank our Guinness, and somehow got challenged by some Army Girls at pool.  Well, the deal was, if we lost, we had to buy them drinks.  If they lost, they would do ANYTHING we wanted.  The only problem is, I don't think any of knew if we wanted to lose or win...  Well, we lost, thankfully.  Somebody sank the 8 ball.

Around 12:00 we went to one of the big bridges.  In Frankfurt, fireworks are certainly legal.  The only issue I had was when a bunch of drunk people launched fireworks from a bridge.  You can imagine fireworks zooming by in every direction.  It was great.

Around 6:00am we said good'bye to Carson's friend, and to Ben as well (he was going back to Spain).  Casey, Carson and myself went to the airport, ate some amazing Mccie D's, and fell asleep in the play structure.  All was great, and I was in a blissfull sleep, until these annoying kids came running into the structure screaming "this is mine this is mine."  Well, there are three passed out hung over people in the top part of this play structure, so go yell somewhere else.  That was a nightmare.

Eventually the three of us wandered to the gate, checked in, and boarded.  I was very lucky, happily sleeping almost the entire way.  It was like a teleportttttteeeerrrrrr.

This trip was just too much fun.  Casey was a blast to go with, Ben was awsome to see -- and we met so many amazing people.  I am not staying in contact or showing my appreciation as much as I should, but hopefully they will always know how much better they made our trip.



Oh, It Is Christmas Eve!

Published on Dec. 23, 2004 in Germany

 Hi everybody! I didn't quite realize it but today is Christmas eve. I hope my family won't be too mad at me:) We are at a wonderful internet cafe -- one euro a minute. Casey is doing whatever to my left and the host guy is to my right listening to Ricky Martin. Too funny. So yesterday we woke up, packed, and left our bags in the main office. I made another wonderful breakfast -- eggs, yogurt, a chocolate cookie and bacon. Yum, the eggs and bacon inside this flat piece of bread thing. I wandered through the residential district, saw a few churches, and wandered into the Stilles museum. Just a little wierd, but because of an event in there I think I am going to start playing chess again. Then I wandered around the corner and went into the Neve Synagoge -- well, actually I went INTO the real Synagoge, and since I don't really look too Jewish got kicked out. Yea, they were like in fast German "get the heck out of here, you aren't Jewish, bloody American tourist." Well, at least that is something along the lines of what I think they said. When I went into the museum it was amazing. I had not idea the Synagoge was that big, and it was quite a moving experience. I spent about 2 1/2 or so hours there -- first seeing the history behind the Synagoge and then viewing the history of the children who came out of the second world war -- very sad. It was like "her parents were brought to [a camp] and murdered" for every child. Next I wandered along the river, across the Liebknechtbr (almost falling since it snowed and everything froze over last night) and across the water. Saw the Palace of the Republik (under construction), the Marstall (old stables) and had some lady give me a German newspaper. "What am I supposed to do with this?" She made me take it regardless. Chatted with her co-worker whose brother is in NY City -- No, that is nowhere near me. I wandered over the Unter den Linen and saw several of the university buildings, then continued to the American Embassy. Well, the Embassy was like Fort Knox (I mean, big walls everywhere and so forth) and they wouldn't even let me in. Yea, oh well. I then wandered to Checkpoint Charlie (yet not into the museum) and then further to the Jewish Museum. I spent a few more hours wandering around the horribly amazing museum. The architecture was amazing, it made me want to throw up. The paths between exhibits were confusing and disorienting -- all paths seemed to lead up or down but the floor was level (I think). My one most memorable experience was walking to the Holocaust Tower, which I thought was an exhibit. This scary German guy opened the door (the lights were off) and I walked in, well, outside. Little did I know that it was just a concrete tower, and since it was snowing, cold and dark it hit home. Only a small light at the top could be seen, not really even a light just a line of light. Sirens were going in the background of the city -- I had a glimpse of what it would have felt like. I then wandered across the city to the Gate and met Casey -- had a coffee and we took the train back to the apartment. Drank some wine, played some cards, watched some German TV, and fell asleep. An overall long yet powerful day. So, Checkpoint Charlie here I come!

My Bad

Published on Dec. 22, 2004 in Germany

 That last post was on the 23rd, not 24th. Oops.

Equador, Alcatraz and Commies

Published on Dec. 21, 2004 in Germany

 So we are in Berlin now, and we have taken many interesting roads since my last post. Let me fill you up to date... The morning we left Bern Fabbiene, Sabina, Stefi, Leoni, Casey and myself took a long stroll throughout the city. Overlooking parts of the lightly frosted houses created a sublime picturesque wonderland. My kids should grow up in Bern. After walking we hiked down near the river and had coffee at a little coffee shop. Now this is a how coffee shops should be ... big blue sofas with delux beverages. The coffee comes out with water, which makes sense since caffeine dehydrates you. After discussing the perplexities of Bern we meandered back to Fabienne's to get our bags. A few bottles of wine remained and we made our way to the station. At the station we bought our tickets and said our timely goodbye -- three kisses for each person. Concluding Bern was four beautiful and amazing females (all in relationships, but regardless) waving goodbye. Looking back over Bern one could almost see a glow of hospitality. From Sabina being gracious with her home, Sabrina doing our laundry (!!!), Fabienne and crew with the cheese fondue, Manual fixing my Swiss watch, Sabrina again fixing Casey's leg, many people buying us drinks when we didn't have any francs, Ric buying chestnuts for me to try and all with the warmest goodbyes -- there must be something in the water that brews kindess. I will be back! I would love to drink some more of that water! On the train Casey and I swapped stories of family adventures, and I'm pretty sure I fell asleep. We almost finished off our crummy bread and water that we had left outside to stay cool for three days. We arrived at the Basel train station and took bus 50 to the airport. Arriving a few hours early we found our way in line and waited for check-in. Security was lax, especially considering Casey almost accidently totally walked through the passport control. We arrived at our wing, which was 100% deserted, and I fell asleep. Awoken later by a big German sitting near me (the entire bench shook) we boarded the plan, in the rear, and left for Berlin. Arriving at Berlin a few hours later we picked up our luggage and headed towards the S-Baun. While waiting on line 9 the airport express left on line 7. We frantically ran around finding the next correct train, found the one we needed to take, and jumped on. While riding the train I saw a New Zealand patch and inquired where this particular couple was from. "Dresdin" -- perfect! We chatted for a few minutes, I got their email address (living in London and maybe can help us out finding a cheap*er hostel). We got off the stop in Berlin (East side, Shoenhauser Allee or something like that) yet here is where the fun starts. We walked for about half an hour on the right hand side of the tracks, where the numbers were getting larger. Unfortunately the hostel was on the other side, right next to the station -- so we had to walk half an hour back. Oops. The name of our hostel is Alcatraz. Oh crap. I don't think realism is something this hostel should have gone for, but it did. Behind a big wooden door and then through another semi-gate into a small room was the office where a tired German took only cash for our 12euro a night crappy dorm beds. But all is not lost! The rooms are quiet, the staff is decent, and there is a kitchen. We fell asleep quickly. In the morning we stumbled to a grocery store and came back. I made eggs and bacon bits in this bread thing. Decent, considering I have had very little cooked food so far. Well, we ate and then walked around for hours and hours. I showed Casey a few of the things I knew about while in Berlin last summer. Eventually we were freezing and got coffee, at Starbucks. Hush. I read a little about Berlin and Casey finished writing in his journal. To finish off our day in Berlin we talked to three girls from Equador. Low and behold, I ended up showing them a remaining part of the berlin wall, then we all went to dinner. Six hours later we said goodbye, and my head hurt from speaking so much bloody Spanish! I would continue more about our dinner, but I have one minute left before my price goes up more. So, our Equadorian friends: it was a pleasure getting to know you. To our notintrouble.com readers: it is a pleasure hopefully keeping you entertained! Adios!