living out of a bag

Well its been a while since I've updated.  I am trying to think of the best way to talk about the places I've been lately without boring you too much so I am just going to list the cities and what I thought of them.  Berlin was awesome, really wish I was there longer.  There were tons of things to do and it was really easy to get around, not to mention that the people were also pretty nice.  Met some guys from the southwest of Germany who I hung out in the hostel bar with for a bit. They were cool and told me how I shouldn't go to Munich.  I should have listened to them because Munich was kind of a downer.  My hostel, like the city, was kind of worn down.  Berlin was a modern city built in conjunction with the older parts while Munich was like an odd town that just doesn't seem to have changed.  Seemed like a tourist trap to me but who knows. Maybe it would have been better if I had been with someone else because it seemed like the only things to do were get really drunk and eat a lot.  I tried to do some things but it was rainy and expensive so I ended my nights early and hung out at the bar in the hostel or watched German MTV at the hotel.  

I happily left Munich for Vienna even though doing so was hard.  Literally almost missed my train by jumping on while the doors were closing.  I got my foot stuck in the door and had to be helped up because my huge backpack was holding me down. The train ride to Vienna was amazing because I went through the mountains but it started raining and by the time I got to Vienna it was cold and rainy.  That kept up the whole time I was there but Vienna had a lot of museums and indoor things for me to do so even though I got soaked, I did dry off while walking around.  Did lots of stuff in Vienna, the museum of modern art was pretty cool, but St. Stephan's catacombs was the weirdest most interesting part.  I also ate tuna pizza which I don't recommend.  I think Vienna would have been a lot better had it not been raining the whole time but I still had a good two days there.  

Milan was my next stop.  The hotel was really nice but the city wasn't my favorite. There wasn't a lot to do there, it was expensive, the people seemed overly annoyed by everything, and it was still raining.  Best parts were watching the Champion's League final at a bar with a bunch of guys and the police.  The waiter and I became friends, ate some pizza, and Manchester United won an amazing game. Other than that going to the top of the Duomo, I think the first church or something, was awesome.  Probably not the safest thing but it had the best views of the city, plus the whole church was beautiful.  While  I love fashion and Milan is the fashion capital of the world, the shopping was boring.  Same shops you can find in any major city just more compact.  I ate gelato, had a panini, and wore lots of black.  Milan had its good moments but just didn't seem to pick up from them.

Left Milan this morning for Bern.  Missed my train, got on one an hour later that dropped me off in some small town in Switzerland and caught another one to Bern.  The rain is gone and the train ride was amazing, better than going through Austria to Italy.  The Mountains were never ending with huge lakes and cute houses and villages in between.  Bern is amazing.  Its like a make believe town where everyone is smiling and walking around or riding bikes.  Its such a small city that you can walk from one end to the other in fifteen minutes or so.  But so far I've gone to Albert Einstein's house, walked around, and hung out at a cafes, and went to two pretty neat art museums.  It rained today but got sunny. I was asked if I was a professional photographer which was weird and some other odd things have happened too but its been a good laugh. If you ever have a chance to go to Bern, do it.  This place is like a breath of fresh air from all the huge grey cities that I've been in lately. Plus my hostel has laundry facilities so I did my laundry for the first time in...two weeks? ha, sorry. 

I am getting eager to get back to Dublin and even more so to get back to KC/Chicago.  It will be nice to stop living out of a bag and have a roommates that aren't lame.  Paris is next, then Madrid, and lastly Barcelona to visit Vern.  Hopefully I'll have the internet for the rest of my time so that I can update this more often.  This post was hard! phew!

Pictures aren't uploading so the next post will be just pictures, hopefully up tomorrow.

sitz!

I left my hostel super early this morning (4:45 AM) to catch a plane to Berlin. Everything went rather smoothly and despite a language barrier between my taxi driver and I, made it to my hotel.  Going from hostel life to hotel life is like night and day. In the hostel I shared a joint room with like 13 other girls and it was hot and sticky and in the hotel I have AC a bed plus a couch to myself, plus they brought me candy and fruit. 

After taking a long shower and loving that there was a hair dryer to use I ventured out, got my ticket for Munich, and headed to the Tiergarten which is a huge park.  I went the wrong way when I got off the train but that ended up being alright because I found myself on the University of Berlin campus.  Just to let you know especially for any young girls planning on traveling to Berlin, the boys are very very good looking.  Anyhoo, after taking a pleasant detour I found my way back and at the entrance of the park.  

Berlin is filled with people riding their bikes and this was especially true for the park.  There were beautiful ponds with weeping willows hanging over them and huge trees, it was like being in a forest preserve but prettier. The paths were lined with benches and oil lamps and ducks and ducklings were swimming in the water.  Also I knew there was a Zoo in the park somewhere but I didn't know it would be so open.  Walking along the water I saw llamas, tons of wild birds, and goats.  Pretty random group of animals but it was pretty cool.  

Then magically I came upon a beer garden so I stopped in and got a rather large heffenwisen and a bretzel (pretzel).  The weather was perfect for my little adventure in the park being sunny but not too hot.  After the park I got off a stop early to see and walk more and came across part of the Berlin Wall, pretty weird stuff especially with all the new developments around it and then some of the leftovers from the Wall days.  But I ended my night with dinner at this really cool Italian place.  I know,  I know, you're asking why didn't I eat German food? Well every place I went by didn't speak English and I wasn't feeling too adventurous, but tomorrow I swear I am going to find sausage and sauerkraut and all that comes with it.  Its weird, 'sitz' and 'plotz' aren't getting me too far.  Thanks a lot Bradley. Just kidding! Actually I am quite proud of myself for figuring out the subway system, haven't gotten on a wrong train yet (knock on wood). Oh man, I almost forgot, when I was on the subway these guys came around to check the tickets but they weren't wearing official uniforms, instead they were wearing jeans, a jeans jacket and one of the guys was wearing a huge American flag shirt but he was clearly German. They looked nuts and it blew my mind that they had matching jeans and jean jackets as their uniform.  But anyhoo, tomorrow I leave this lovely hotel room for a hostel but I think it might be kind of nice/funny. The website looks like it should be interesting check it out. But here are some leftover London pictures and first day Berlin ones.

Loyola girls in London, Carey and Laura

Bridge to the Tate Modern and a cute older couple.

Tate Modern

Tower of London which I didn't end up going in.  It cost 15 pounds and while it does house the Royal Jewels, I opted out and spent that money on a nice dinner.

My tube stop while I was staying at the hostel in London.

Natural History Museum that was across the street from my hostel which is huge and takes up a full city block, maybe more.

My hostel.

Early morning train to Stansted. Bye London.

Hotel room #1.

View from hotel window #1: Cute.

Hotel view #2: Err, 1980?

Tiergarten.

Llamas.

Baby ducks!

Berlin is magic and doesn't abide by what we think are normal rules.  Instead it seems like no one works and they ride bikes and hang out in beer gardens drinking and eating.  If only I knew German, I might join them. Something I don't agree with though is the whole bring your dog on the subway bit.  I love dogs but really? They don't belong on the subway seat next to you especially when they're huge and mean.

Not sure exactly but around the park and the University.

Part of Berlin Wall with new area surrounding it.  This is actually a really bizarre area. There is a huge new subway stop underneath it and a theater inside and what not, a Ritz Carlton across the street and tons of tourist stuff with these broken bits of the wall in the middle and in addition a group of people on a hunger strike for some reason I think involving the war in Iraq. I don't know but I feel like Berlin is a series of situations just like this one.