It's an Age Six Racer kind of feeling
At last, I'm finally back from my big summer trip to Europe. It was absolutely amazing, and I am so glad that I decided to forgoe practically all fun during the school year to go on this trip.
To Europe- Woke up at the crack of dawn and took a bus ride to O'Hare. Went through tons and tons of security. Waited for plane. Unfortunately, we did not have a direct flight, so the genius that is inherent in all airlines forced us to fly from Chicago to Germany to London. I almost cried when I saw the directional map thing on the screen pass over London and keep going...for another 3 hours. About hurt half of the people on my plane because they decided it would be real sweet to take pictures when everyone, including myself, was trying to sleep. With the brightest flashes known to man, quite comparable to the new white headlights that always temporarily disorient me on the road.
London- Went through tons more security and prayed that my luggage appeared at the claim area. Did a little happy dance when it did and shortly realized afterword that I had no energy to do said happy dance. Met our thouroughly British tour leader and got on a bus for a short bus ride to Windsor, the royal city. Took way too many pictures (which seems to be a theme upon the entire trip for myself. Going through 800 pictures isn't something I thought about while I went flash happy...) Kevin, Natalie, and myself went to a pasty shop and ate yummy, yummy pasties. I felt thoroughly British. We then went to M & S so I could fulfill the lives of all the British women that I have read about in Katherine's books. Our free time was then spent browsing a few shops and searching for the elusive Eton college. It took forever, as we went down the wrong road due to the tricky British road signs, but at last I was able to walk the same streets and look at the same buildings that my beloved William, Harry, and other hot British boys haunted. After a sigh of relief, we went to our hotel to get rooms(that were un-airconditioned!) and crash after being up for way too much time.
The next days were a bit of a blur, as we bonded with our bus mates, toured London, found lots of pigeons, and broke a light at Wesley's Chapel, the oldest Methodist church ever, by singing one of our songs (this trip was an all Iowa choir and band tour.) We wandered through Picadilly Circus, ate yummy breakfasts, and ate an overpriced dinner of fish and chips (and Kevin had a nice green salad!) Phantom of the Opera was the last night of London and it was fantasmic. We shared a cab home with Kelsey and Shane. So much fun!
To France- We went on a long bus ride to the Cliffs of Dover and took a ferry over the Channel to France. The French countryside was pretty, but Paris was kind of dirty. We had our concert, and the band had their concert in the Luxembourg Gardens, which is near the area where Nat and I sat at an outdoor cafe and ate crepes! We went to the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, a bus tour (where almost everyone fell asleep for at least a little bit), a riverboat tour (where Paul decided to draw a sweet pirate that Natalie and I had to advise him to make more piratey), and ate a supper of veal and veal hoofs. Ick. Needless to say, I didn't eat a veal hoof. Notre Dame was amazingly gorgeous, as was the view from Sacre Coure. w00t to France, minus the parts that were dirty, filled with bad shops, and forced us to pay for the WC.
Italy for a day!- Venice was so HOT, but not as hot as it is here since there isn't the humidity, which is really weird since it's surrounded by water. We went on a tour, sang in St. Mark's Church (which is a basillica). Kev, Nat, and I got lost looking for a post office to stamp our passport. Natalie got really mad, Kevin got a really cool sunburn around his passport strap carrier, and I received an equally cool tan where my arm was bent holding onto my purse so the little pickpockets didn't get it. We ate lots of gelato. Amazingness times 12.
To Switzerland (my fave!)- I adored Switzerland. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had a beautiful view from our balcony. However, there was construction EVERYWHERE. We went to the Castle of Chillon, Montreaux during the jazz festival (as Kev's new shirt proclaims), and chilled in Crans Montana, our Swiss home. The Crans Montanians gave us a cool Swiss celebration where they played polka music, cool alphorns, and invited us to dance. Jamie and I danced, and she even fell onstage and broke my necklace in an attempt to break her fall. It was amazingness. As was the yummy chocolate, apple juice, and breakfasts/dinners that the hotel gave us. Kevin was at a different hotel (we were at Splendid, he was at Le Green) so he didn't get to share in our fun, but Morgan roomed with Natalie and myself, so she did instead. Poo to you Kevin.
Lichtenstein- Had an hour lunch break here. We had a picnic with the supplies we had bought in Switzerland at the grocery store. Then, Kev, Nat, Kelsey, Jamie, Sarah, Paul, Kyle, Morgan, and myself all went souvineer shopping. Kelsey and I bought some sweet patches that we're going to sew onto bags to make ourselves look like the world class travelers that we are. Then it was back to the bus for another fun bus ride.
Austria- On the way here, Paul and Joel stole my iPod and criticized almost all of the music on it. Do you hear me Katherine?!? Supposedly, they will be sending me a list of music I should be listening to instead. Anyway, that didn't stop them from listening to it for the 2 hours of our transfer.
I wouldn't mind living here either. We stayed at the Menthoff, a cute little hotel that a nice family, who gave us yummy food and yummier desserts, owned. They also had horse stables next to the hotel, where world class horses lived. We had our concert in a gorgeous church that dates back to the 1300s. The band had their concert on the green in the pavillion, so Natalie and I actually went to all of this one. It was nice, but the grass was a little wet, which was icky. Some big time shopping went on here, especially at the Swarovski Crystal House, where I dropped way too much money, but I don't think I regret it. I also bought a pair of pink pair of pants with German writing, which means I have no idea what it says. Could be dangerous. All in all, I loved Austria, minus the pool incident with Kayla and Jamie. Stupid name buttons.
Germany- Yeah for Rothenburg, the city surrounded by a wall! Kayla and I tried to braid Paul's hair on the bus, but it didn't work, so we put it up in tons of tiny pony tails. It was cute until he started taking them out. We yelled to no avail. We went to Dachau to sing and it was absolutely amazing. There were no dry eyes on this day. Jamie and I wandered around together and felt depressed as a pair. Our sad departure took us to Rothenburg, the last city on the trip. Nat and I roomed with Jamie, who is like my long lost sister. We had a fun dinner with Kevin, Nicholas (the IAM answer to my Dakotah!), James, and Kyle. Kevin, Natalie, and I went on the night watchman's tour, which was not worth the 4 euro, but fun nonetheless. The next day brought about a trip to the post office for Kevin to mail some stuff. On the way back, we found an amazing shop where I bought purses and a shirt. Natalie was angry that I picked up a purse she wanted, but I totally had it first, and she just about supported the entire purse industry on the trip anyway with the amount of bags she brought home, so it was fair. We also went to a neat little music store where Kevin found Beauty and the Beast in German, and I bought The Sound of Music in English and German for Alyssa. We did a lot of little shopping in the cute stores and ate lunch in a little bakery standing up. We went to the Wohlfart Christmas store and Teddyland, where I took pictures of me with a giant Nutcracker and a giant teddy bear. On this day, the band had their concert (that we didn't have to go to, but did because of miscommunication.) We also had our last vocal concert, which was sad. Natalie and I bought some pretty perfume, and Jamie helped me pick out a pair of Birkenstocks for myself and my mom, though we never found the cool shoe store that people were getting the fantasmic tennis shoes from. That night was spent packing and trying to stay up all night, but failing miserably.
To Home- We woke up at the crack of dawn again to go to Frankfurt to the airport. I have never been through security as much as that airport, it was ridiculous. We sat for a long while in the airport waiting for our plane, where I took even more picutres of people. I sat by Rachel on the plane, and we had some spontaneous dance parties to the amusement of everyone around us. The plane ride brought some sleep, some bad food, and lots of fun. At O'Hare, we went through more security and purchased some food from McDonald's (an orange drink for me!) after waiting practically an hour for our luggage to come. We said goodbye to Simone, who left Chicago instead of going back to Iowa. I love her, she was so nice all the time to everyone. I sat by Jamie on the ride home, it was sad, but we picked out our anthem for the summer (Temperature, if you were wondering...I'm still wondering why it was that song, I think it was because of the sweet choreography we planned with it.) Kevin, Natalie, and our Papi were dropped off in Iowa City and everyone else went to Grinnell. I'm glad I spent the extra time on the bus because I got to say goodbye to everyone in Grinnell. I met Jamie's parents, and I'm going to try to visit her before I go to college since she'll be at Central. Joel and Paul told me I was their favorite Ottumwan, which earned them major kudos from me. I have 3 weeks to go visit them before they leave for school. Hopefully I can find someone to road trip with me. Are you up for it Kevin?
So all in all, I had a fantasmic trip, and I wish more people could have gone with me. I only have a sliver of summer left before everyone leaves, so call me. I'd like to fill my days with things other than babysitting and working.
To Europe- Woke up at the crack of dawn and took a bus ride to O'Hare. Went through tons and tons of security. Waited for plane. Unfortunately, we did not have a direct flight, so the genius that is inherent in all airlines forced us to fly from Chicago to Germany to London. I almost cried when I saw the directional map thing on the screen pass over London and keep going...for another 3 hours. About hurt half of the people on my plane because they decided it would be real sweet to take pictures when everyone, including myself, was trying to sleep. With the brightest flashes known to man, quite comparable to the new white headlights that always temporarily disorient me on the road.
London- Went through tons more security and prayed that my luggage appeared at the claim area. Did a little happy dance when it did and shortly realized afterword that I had no energy to do said happy dance. Met our thouroughly British tour leader and got on a bus for a short bus ride to Windsor, the royal city. Took way too many pictures (which seems to be a theme upon the entire trip for myself. Going through 800 pictures isn't something I thought about while I went flash happy...) Kevin, Natalie, and myself went to a pasty shop and ate yummy, yummy pasties. I felt thoroughly British. We then went to M & S so I could fulfill the lives of all the British women that I have read about in Katherine's books. Our free time was then spent browsing a few shops and searching for the elusive Eton college. It took forever, as we went down the wrong road due to the tricky British road signs, but at last I was able to walk the same streets and look at the same buildings that my beloved William, Harry, and other hot British boys haunted. After a sigh of relief, we went to our hotel to get rooms(that were un-airconditioned!) and crash after being up for way too much time.
The next days were a bit of a blur, as we bonded with our bus mates, toured London, found lots of pigeons, and broke a light at Wesley's Chapel, the oldest Methodist church ever, by singing one of our songs (this trip was an all Iowa choir and band tour.) We wandered through Picadilly Circus, ate yummy breakfasts, and ate an overpriced dinner of fish and chips (and Kevin had a nice green salad!) Phantom of the Opera was the last night of London and it was fantasmic. We shared a cab home with Kelsey and Shane. So much fun!
To France- We went on a long bus ride to the Cliffs of Dover and took a ferry over the Channel to France. The French countryside was pretty, but Paris was kind of dirty. We had our concert, and the band had their concert in the Luxembourg Gardens, which is near the area where Nat and I sat at an outdoor cafe and ate crepes! We went to the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, a bus tour (where almost everyone fell asleep for at least a little bit), a riverboat tour (where Paul decided to draw a sweet pirate that Natalie and I had to advise him to make more piratey), and ate a supper of veal and veal hoofs. Ick. Needless to say, I didn't eat a veal hoof. Notre Dame was amazingly gorgeous, as was the view from Sacre Coure. w00t to France, minus the parts that were dirty, filled with bad shops, and forced us to pay for the WC.
Italy for a day!- Venice was so HOT, but not as hot as it is here since there isn't the humidity, which is really weird since it's surrounded by water. We went on a tour, sang in St. Mark's Church (which is a basillica). Kev, Nat, and I got lost looking for a post office to stamp our passport. Natalie got really mad, Kevin got a really cool sunburn around his passport strap carrier, and I received an equally cool tan where my arm was bent holding onto my purse so the little pickpockets didn't get it. We ate lots of gelato. Amazingness times 12.
To Switzerland (my fave!)- I adored Switzerland. It was absolutely gorgeous. We had a beautiful view from our balcony. However, there was construction EVERYWHERE. We went to the Castle of Chillon, Montreaux during the jazz festival (as Kev's new shirt proclaims), and chilled in Crans Montana, our Swiss home. The Crans Montanians gave us a cool Swiss celebration where they played polka music, cool alphorns, and invited us to dance. Jamie and I danced, and she even fell onstage and broke my necklace in an attempt to break her fall. It was amazingness. As was the yummy chocolate, apple juice, and breakfasts/dinners that the hotel gave us. Kevin was at a different hotel (we were at Splendid, he was at Le Green) so he didn't get to share in our fun, but Morgan roomed with Natalie and myself, so she did instead. Poo to you Kevin.
Lichtenstein- Had an hour lunch break here. We had a picnic with the supplies we had bought in Switzerland at the grocery store. Then, Kev, Nat, Kelsey, Jamie, Sarah, Paul, Kyle, Morgan, and myself all went souvineer shopping. Kelsey and I bought some sweet patches that we're going to sew onto bags to make ourselves look like the world class travelers that we are. Then it was back to the bus for another fun bus ride.
Austria- On the way here, Paul and Joel stole my iPod and criticized almost all of the music on it. Do you hear me Katherine?!? Supposedly, they will be sending me a list of music I should be listening to instead. Anyway, that didn't stop them from listening to it for the 2 hours of our transfer.
I wouldn't mind living here either. We stayed at the Menthoff, a cute little hotel that a nice family, who gave us yummy food and yummier desserts, owned. They also had horse stables next to the hotel, where world class horses lived. We had our concert in a gorgeous church that dates back to the 1300s. The band had their concert on the green in the pavillion, so Natalie and I actually went to all of this one. It was nice, but the grass was a little wet, which was icky. Some big time shopping went on here, especially at the Swarovski Crystal House, where I dropped way too much money, but I don't think I regret it. I also bought a pair of pink pair of pants with German writing, which means I have no idea what it says. Could be dangerous. All in all, I loved Austria, minus the pool incident with Kayla and Jamie. Stupid name buttons.
Germany- Yeah for Rothenburg, the city surrounded by a wall! Kayla and I tried to braid Paul's hair on the bus, but it didn't work, so we put it up in tons of tiny pony tails. It was cute until he started taking them out. We yelled to no avail. We went to Dachau to sing and it was absolutely amazing. There were no dry eyes on this day. Jamie and I wandered around together and felt depressed as a pair. Our sad departure took us to Rothenburg, the last city on the trip. Nat and I roomed with Jamie, who is like my long lost sister. We had a fun dinner with Kevin, Nicholas (the IAM answer to my Dakotah!), James, and Kyle. Kevin, Natalie, and I went on the night watchman's tour, which was not worth the 4 euro, but fun nonetheless. The next day brought about a trip to the post office for Kevin to mail some stuff. On the way back, we found an amazing shop where I bought purses and a shirt. Natalie was angry that I picked up a purse she wanted, but I totally had it first, and she just about supported the entire purse industry on the trip anyway with the amount of bags she brought home, so it was fair. We also went to a neat little music store where Kevin found Beauty and the Beast in German, and I bought The Sound of Music in English and German for Alyssa. We did a lot of little shopping in the cute stores and ate lunch in a little bakery standing up. We went to the Wohlfart Christmas store and Teddyland, where I took pictures of me with a giant Nutcracker and a giant teddy bear. On this day, the band had their concert (that we didn't have to go to, but did because of miscommunication.) We also had our last vocal concert, which was sad. Natalie and I bought some pretty perfume, and Jamie helped me pick out a pair of Birkenstocks for myself and my mom, though we never found the cool shoe store that people were getting the fantasmic tennis shoes from. That night was spent packing and trying to stay up all night, but failing miserably.
To Home- We woke up at the crack of dawn again to go to Frankfurt to the airport. I have never been through security as much as that airport, it was ridiculous. We sat for a long while in the airport waiting for our plane, where I took even more picutres of people. I sat by Rachel on the plane, and we had some spontaneous dance parties to the amusement of everyone around us. The plane ride brought some sleep, some bad food, and lots of fun. At O'Hare, we went through more security and purchased some food from McDonald's (an orange drink for me!) after waiting practically an hour for our luggage to come. We said goodbye to Simone, who left Chicago instead of going back to Iowa. I love her, she was so nice all the time to everyone. I sat by Jamie on the ride home, it was sad, but we picked out our anthem for the summer (Temperature, if you were wondering...I'm still wondering why it was that song, I think it was because of the sweet choreography we planned with it.) Kevin, Natalie, and our Papi were dropped off in Iowa City and everyone else went to Grinnell. I'm glad I spent the extra time on the bus because I got to say goodbye to everyone in Grinnell. I met Jamie's parents, and I'm going to try to visit her before I go to college since she'll be at Central. Joel and Paul told me I was their favorite Ottumwan, which earned them major kudos from me. I have 3 weeks to go visit them before they leave for school. Hopefully I can find someone to road trip with me. Are you up for it Kevin?
So all in all, I had a fantasmic trip, and I wish more people could have gone with me. I only have a sliver of summer left before everyone leaves, so call me. I'd like to fill my days with things other than babysitting and working.