(no subject)
so i'm back from europe and have once again fallen into the post travelling depression that i always seem to get. not that i'm depressed by any means, but of course, being in europe kinda beats out being at home. europe was so fun! i spose i can give those of you who have read this far a play by play of the trip.
So after nearly 24 hours of being on planes/laying over in random cities, we landed in Amsterdam! The weather was ok. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt, but a little rainy. it was a really cool city though. The first day we basically got free time so we got settled into the hotel then went out to explore the city. We ended up going the the Rijkt museum which was really cool because they had a bunch of famous dutch paintings. for example they had Nightwatch by Rembrandt and a couple of Vermeer paintings! So that was cool. We also went to a coffeeshop which basically is code for weed shop. they literally have a menu of the weed they sell and stuff like that. very interesting. the next day we went to the ann frank house which was very cool and had a tour of the city with our guide, Nicolas. He was this guy from Paris who was super cool and was basically our bud for the trip. later that night we went to the red light district which is actually a lot different than you would imagine. the whole district is made up of a bunch of small alleyways about 4 feet wide at most with glass doors all along them that had red lights above the doorway. the prostitutes would be standing in the glass doors trying to get customers and stuff. quite the experience i would say. in amsterdam, prostitution is run by the government so they have to pay taxes on the money they make.
after the second night we left for germany. the first city we went to was heidlberg which is an old german collegetown. it was really cute. we were only there for a night though because the next day we left for munich! munich was awesome. purely by luck we were there on the day of their 849th anniversary so they were having this huge beer festival with vendors everywhere and a bunch of drunk germans running around. it was super cool. at night we went to this place called the hofbrauhaus where they serve beer by the liter! the barmaids have some major muscle and are carrying about 10 liters at a time, slam the steins down on the table and slide them down to you. we met this really drunk german guy who kept telling us that he had a body guard and cracking up at himself. it was hilarious.
the next day we made our way to venice. on the way we stopped in austria for lunch. we got to our hotel which was outside of the actual city of venice in the late afternoon so we didnt actually go into the city, but we were right on the mediterranean so we went for a swim at the beach then to dinner. the food in italy is so good! also, in europe the sun doesnt go down literally until 11 so the days are looong. oh, and we met a bunch of cool people on the trip so we basically hung out with them the whole time. there were a few people from texas, one from wyoming, one from arizona, and the rest were from california. it was cool. so the next day we went to venice. it is literally just how you would imagine it to be. the houses are all built right up to the water, there are gondolas everywhere, gelato places on every corner. i really liked it there.
the next day we headed off to switzerland. we made a stop in verona to see juliet's balcony and to have lunch. we got to switzerland in the evening so we basically ate dinner, hung out for a little then went to bed. the next day we went into the town of lucerne and went to the swiss army knife shop! it was awesome. then we went on this excursion up to the top of mt. pilatus which is about 7500 ft above sea level. we went up the mountain on a cogwheel and got to explore for a bit. we couldnt see too much from the top though because we were in a cloud. to get down, we took a gondola. not the kind in venice, but the kind they have at ski resorts. we stopped at this place halfway down the mountain where we got to do a luge. it was so much fun! although there were these big black slugs all over the place so i ran a bunch over. after that we got back to the hotel and had dinner. then me, zach, and some of our friends went on a hike around the mountain behind our hotel. it was so so beautiful. and we saw a wild hedgehog!
the next day we got up super early to take the highspeed train to paris. so early. but we got to paris fairly early afternoon so we got time to go around the city. we went up the eiffel tower which was cool and went on a boat ride on the seine river. day two in paris me and zach spent the day at the louvre. they are not kidding when they tell you it is huge. we basically walked through it with no real dwelling on paintings and stuff and it took over 3.5 hours! they said if you looked at every piece of art there for 5 seconds it would take you two weeks to get through the museum. later that night we met up with the rest of our group for a tour of monmarte which is a quieter part of town. on the way we saw the moulin rouge. its on this street where there were literally 5 sex shops in a row followed by a bunch of stripclubs etc. very interesting. haha. but montmarte was cool. we saw a couple of the places that were used in the movie amelie. then after, a bunch of us sat up on this grassy hill that overlooked the city which was more of a hippie fest. there were a ton of french kids there and fire dancers and people playing the guitar and stuff.
after paris was london. awesome city. we basically went to all the tourist and historic places including a bus tour that reminded me of the knight bus in harry potter. our bus driver drove that thing so fast and dodged people and stuff. it was nuts. we did a bunch of stuff in london though and even saw WICKED! it was awesome. and the london underground is the most amazing public transportation system in the world. i was extremely impressed and jealous that we don't have it here.
anyways. that is the basic bare bones of the trip. i guess quite meaty for "bare bones" but yea. i skipped pretty much all the random stories and probably got a couple things mixed up but all in all it was a great trip! you guys all have to go sometime!
smeen out!
So after nearly 24 hours of being on planes/laying over in random cities, we landed in Amsterdam! The weather was ok. It was warm enough to wear a t-shirt, but a little rainy. it was a really cool city though. The first day we basically got free time so we got settled into the hotel then went out to explore the city. We ended up going the the Rijkt museum which was really cool because they had a bunch of famous dutch paintings. for example they had Nightwatch by Rembrandt and a couple of Vermeer paintings! So that was cool. We also went to a coffeeshop which basically is code for weed shop. they literally have a menu of the weed they sell and stuff like that. very interesting. the next day we went to the ann frank house which was very cool and had a tour of the city with our guide, Nicolas. He was this guy from Paris who was super cool and was basically our bud for the trip. later that night we went to the red light district which is actually a lot different than you would imagine. the whole district is made up of a bunch of small alleyways about 4 feet wide at most with glass doors all along them that had red lights above the doorway. the prostitutes would be standing in the glass doors trying to get customers and stuff. quite the experience i would say. in amsterdam, prostitution is run by the government so they have to pay taxes on the money they make.
after the second night we left for germany. the first city we went to was heidlberg which is an old german collegetown. it was really cute. we were only there for a night though because the next day we left for munich! munich was awesome. purely by luck we were there on the day of their 849th anniversary so they were having this huge beer festival with vendors everywhere and a bunch of drunk germans running around. it was super cool. at night we went to this place called the hofbrauhaus where they serve beer by the liter! the barmaids have some major muscle and are carrying about 10 liters at a time, slam the steins down on the table and slide them down to you. we met this really drunk german guy who kept telling us that he had a body guard and cracking up at himself. it was hilarious.
the next day we made our way to venice. on the way we stopped in austria for lunch. we got to our hotel which was outside of the actual city of venice in the late afternoon so we didnt actually go into the city, but we were right on the mediterranean so we went for a swim at the beach then to dinner. the food in italy is so good! also, in europe the sun doesnt go down literally until 11 so the days are looong. oh, and we met a bunch of cool people on the trip so we basically hung out with them the whole time. there were a few people from texas, one from wyoming, one from arizona, and the rest were from california. it was cool. so the next day we went to venice. it is literally just how you would imagine it to be. the houses are all built right up to the water, there are gondolas everywhere, gelato places on every corner. i really liked it there.
the next day we headed off to switzerland. we made a stop in verona to see juliet's balcony and to have lunch. we got to switzerland in the evening so we basically ate dinner, hung out for a little then went to bed. the next day we went into the town of lucerne and went to the swiss army knife shop! it was awesome. then we went on this excursion up to the top of mt. pilatus which is about 7500 ft above sea level. we went up the mountain on a cogwheel and got to explore for a bit. we couldnt see too much from the top though because we were in a cloud. to get down, we took a gondola. not the kind in venice, but the kind they have at ski resorts. we stopped at this place halfway down the mountain where we got to do a luge. it was so much fun! although there were these big black slugs all over the place so i ran a bunch over. after that we got back to the hotel and had dinner. then me, zach, and some of our friends went on a hike around the mountain behind our hotel. it was so so beautiful. and we saw a wild hedgehog!
the next day we got up super early to take the highspeed train to paris. so early. but we got to paris fairly early afternoon so we got time to go around the city. we went up the eiffel tower which was cool and went on a boat ride on the seine river. day two in paris me and zach spent the day at the louvre. they are not kidding when they tell you it is huge. we basically walked through it with no real dwelling on paintings and stuff and it took over 3.5 hours! they said if you looked at every piece of art there for 5 seconds it would take you two weeks to get through the museum. later that night we met up with the rest of our group for a tour of monmarte which is a quieter part of town. on the way we saw the moulin rouge. its on this street where there were literally 5 sex shops in a row followed by a bunch of stripclubs etc. very interesting. haha. but montmarte was cool. we saw a couple of the places that were used in the movie amelie. then after, a bunch of us sat up on this grassy hill that overlooked the city which was more of a hippie fest. there were a ton of french kids there and fire dancers and people playing the guitar and stuff.
after paris was london. awesome city. we basically went to all the tourist and historic places including a bus tour that reminded me of the knight bus in harry potter. our bus driver drove that thing so fast and dodged people and stuff. it was nuts. we did a bunch of stuff in london though and even saw WICKED! it was awesome. and the london underground is the most amazing public transportation system in the world. i was extremely impressed and jealous that we don't have it here.
anyways. that is the basic bare bones of the trip. i guess quite meaty for "bare bones" but yea. i skipped pretty much all the random stories and probably got a couple things mixed up but all in all it was a great trip! you guys all have to go sometime!
smeen out!