The End of the Winter Trip
Well Im back in England after my almost month of traveling. Im sure all of you were waiting for the 2nd and final part of my journey. so here it is with links that I hope will take you to pictures. Enjoy!
Type your cut contents here.
Germany
So, I last time I wrote I was at Eddy's preparing to go to Berlin to meet his fiancee's family..and her. So, Eddy and I traveled there no problems. Eddy's fiancee, Franzi, and her father picked us up at the train station. Upon getting to thier house I found that the parents knew very little English and remembered very little German. Luckly Franzi's sister and brother both knew a fair amount of English. The Russ said (roos) family was very friendly however. As I would find out were also very traditional in thier German Christmas. Most of the German traditions dealt with food. One day we had some sort of stu which had dear in it, xmas eve we had potato salad, and xmas morning we had a huge breakfast. It was wonderful, and I had so many foods I had never even heard of. One of the days Eddy and Franzi took me into downtown Berlin. I had never been. I liked it. they showed me old communist buildings and such. We ended up spending most the day in the National German Historic Museum. It has so much Info..too much for one day it seemed. I also went to Brandenburg Gate. On xmas eve they opened presents. They even gave me presents. Eddy and Franzi gave me a book from the German museum, Franzi's brother gave me a bunch of German chocolate, and Franzi's parents gave me body wash, deoderant, and cookies...I wonded if the first two gifts were suposed to hit towards something. Durnig my time there though I noticed I was starting to understand most of the conversations. I was quite impressed how fast my brain was remembering its German. I still couldnt talk in it, but I could listen alright. On xmas day Franzi, Eddy, and I headed up to Stralsund, where Eddy is from. I had met his family before and knew they spoke perfect English so I was looking forward to that heh. Upon ariving at Eddy's mothers flat she offered me black tea and baileys. It was amazingly delicous haha. In Stralsund I hung out with Eddy's friends alot, all nice guys. Eddys mom also cooked a goose one night, that was a new one for me, but it was good. One night Eddy and his friends had a guys night and invited me. we went to this Medieval type place and ate plates of meat. It was wonderful, I ate so much meat that I started to sweat and feel like puking, I didnt, but man it was nice to get some fresh air after that. After all the Stralsund fun the 3 of us went back to Rostock where Eddy lives and goes to school. they had homework so I mostly relaxed, which was fine with me.
On new years eve we went to one of Eddy's friends houses. We did that game where you melt lead and put it into water and see what it looks like. They said mine looked like a donkey which meant that I would have good luck and a large inheritance. which could be good, but doesnt that mean someone has to die?...I was talking to a guy there who knew little English and with me knowing little German we found a way of going back and forth with English and German. If I didnt know the german world I would try English, sometimes he knew, and visa versa. He stopped and said to me "I like you, have this" and gave me a german military patch. I said "thank you but I cant take your army patch" he said "do not worry, it was my friends" I laughed and put it in my pocket. it was very nice of him. From there we went to the harbor. Germans have a very different way to kill the hours before the New Year. they shoot and through fireworks at eachother. I feared for my life! I luckly survived till the New Year where I also discovered that in Germany fireworks go off for about an hour and a half it was crazy. we then went into a indie music club. but I was getting sick so I headed out early. The next morning I partook in another german tradition which was to go to brunch and eat a bunch of food and drink more champaign. On the 2nd I left Eddys cause this was his first day of class again, ouch.
Pics: http://wwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051613&l=3ee26&id=25906200
Koln Germany
The trip from Rostock to Koln took forever. I finally got there however. To be honest there wasnt much in Koln. The Kolner Dom (Koln Cathedral) was inpressive on the outside, but the inside was meh...Ive seen too many cathedrals. I did enjoy seeing the Rhein river. Most of the town was for shopping so I wandered around for a bit, got food and then talked to some chinese people back at the hostel. That was really about it there. I only had one night there.
Brussels Belgium
I next went to Brussels. I checked the times in my Eurail timetable book and saw there was a 1pm train. I thought "perfect" so when I get there I dont see it on the reader board. I then realized that my Eurail book was for 2006 making it useless. I asked the information desk when the next train was. sadly it wasnt for another 2 hours. so I sat... On the train ride I saw what was the most beautiful city I had ever seen. someday I will find out what city it is and explore it. It was in the south of Belgium and was in a valley. It had waterfalls all around it and a few rivers or canals running through out it. It was amazing but I couldnt get my camera out in time. EVENTUALLY I got to Brussels. Upon getting to Brussels I got very lost in their train station. I was suposed to take some bus, but I couldnt find where to get it. FINALLY I did find it. My hostel here was pretty nice. I dropped off my stuff and wandered around a little bit to get food. it was about 7 when I got there so it was too dark to do any real exploring. Back in my room I met 2 korean guys who had been traveling. They were very nice and told me some stuff to see. 2 more Koreans, girls, ended up in my room so they spoke korean for awhile while I sat there and read what I should see in the next day. Later I said we should go down to the bar in the hostel we did and joked around and I met some Australians. Aussies are everywhere. I think I met at least one in every city I was at. anyway the next day I got up and just started wandering Brussels. However, I constantly got lost. it was the only city I had ever done that in this badly. I think one problem was that the signs and people spoke either French or Flemish, both of which I know nothing in. While being lost though I discovered an English language bookstore, which had Everything is Illuminated (the book) for 2 euros. so I bought it...it ended up being my time killer. I read it in like 3 days heh great book. anyways, I saw the main square, Brussels Cathedral, other things... I wasnt a huge fan of Brussels actually. it was just a city, didnt have any charm to it. It did have the best merry-go-round ever. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen. the things you could ride were all industrial looking and scary. plus the music they had playing was just evil sounding. While there I saw a place to get my hair cut for fairly cheap. I thought I should go in, but then realized I dont know any french and so I would probably end up with a shaved head. so I didnt. I need to do that soon though, I found out last night I can put my hair in a pony tail...thats too long for kevin. ANYWAYS, the 2nd day I met a guy from New Zealand. He and I wandered around that night. when we came back there were 2 more New Zealanders in our room. so yet again I was with all people from the same place. Luckly this time I could understand them. We all went down to the bar and hung out there and again met more people...mostly Australians. The next day I left for Rotterdam.
Rotterdam Netherlands
This was mostly just a stop off before the next day, cause I had to catch an early ferry. Rotterdam was ok, had some neat areas, but for the most part was just a city again. I guess it is the worlds most used shipping port...who knows. I wandered around there for hours untill I think I had seen everything on the map the hostel gave me. So I went back and rested up, since I was sick then too. In my room I met a girl from Estonia...she was very nice...and nice looking. It was kind of wierd that it was just her and I in the room. Eventually to make things less wierd I invited her to go down to a near by bar. she accepted and we talked there. it was much easier for some reason. she told me about Estonia and how its the same size as the Netherlands yet it has a quarter less of the population. so she felt crowded there. I eventually realized I should go to bed cause I had to get up at 5am to catch my ferry. she had to get up at 5:30 herself so we both headed back and went to bed. The next morning was...painful...I got up and got my stuff ready. I had planned on taking the trams to the train station, not realizing that they dont run that early in the morning. the train station was about a mile away ...so I started walking. I caught my train to the Hook of Holland where I got on a ferry bound for Harwich England. The ferry ride was 3 hours and 40 mins long...when I got to Harwich I started up my Britrail pass. I asked the train lady if she could look up a way for me to get to Hull. She looked it up and laughed then said "you have a long day ahead of you". I had like 8 connections, and was about 6 and a half hous of traveling, JUST IN ENGLAND. Well I made it and am now back in Hull. Going to rest up and then get ready for my first test on the 19th.
Pics: http://wwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051675&l=a00a9&id=25906200
Pictures of past places can be seen here:
Nottingham/Madrid
Oslo
Type your cut contents here.
Germany
So, I last time I wrote I was at Eddy's preparing to go to Berlin to meet his fiancee's family..and her. So, Eddy and I traveled there no problems. Eddy's fiancee, Franzi, and her father picked us up at the train station. Upon getting to thier house I found that the parents knew very little English and remembered very little German. Luckly Franzi's sister and brother both knew a fair amount of English. The Russ said (roos) family was very friendly however. As I would find out were also very traditional in thier German Christmas. Most of the German traditions dealt with food. One day we had some sort of stu which had dear in it, xmas eve we had potato salad, and xmas morning we had a huge breakfast. It was wonderful, and I had so many foods I had never even heard of. One of the days Eddy and Franzi took me into downtown Berlin. I had never been. I liked it. they showed me old communist buildings and such. We ended up spending most the day in the National German Historic Museum. It has so much Info..too much for one day it seemed. I also went to Brandenburg Gate. On xmas eve they opened presents. They even gave me presents. Eddy and Franzi gave me a book from the German museum, Franzi's brother gave me a bunch of German chocolate, and Franzi's parents gave me body wash, deoderant, and cookies...I wonded if the first two gifts were suposed to hit towards something. Durnig my time there though I noticed I was starting to understand most of the conversations. I was quite impressed how fast my brain was remembering its German. I still couldnt talk in it, but I could listen alright. On xmas day Franzi, Eddy, and I headed up to Stralsund, where Eddy is from. I had met his family before and knew they spoke perfect English so I was looking forward to that heh. Upon ariving at Eddy's mothers flat she offered me black tea and baileys. It was amazingly delicous haha. In Stralsund I hung out with Eddy's friends alot, all nice guys. Eddys mom also cooked a goose one night, that was a new one for me, but it was good. One night Eddy and his friends had a guys night and invited me. we went to this Medieval type place and ate plates of meat. It was wonderful, I ate so much meat that I started to sweat and feel like puking, I didnt, but man it was nice to get some fresh air after that. After all the Stralsund fun the 3 of us went back to Rostock where Eddy lives and goes to school. they had homework so I mostly relaxed, which was fine with me.
On new years eve we went to one of Eddy's friends houses. We did that game where you melt lead and put it into water and see what it looks like. They said mine looked like a donkey which meant that I would have good luck and a large inheritance. which could be good, but doesnt that mean someone has to die?...I was talking to a guy there who knew little English and with me knowing little German we found a way of going back and forth with English and German. If I didnt know the german world I would try English, sometimes he knew, and visa versa. He stopped and said to me "I like you, have this" and gave me a german military patch. I said "thank you but I cant take your army patch" he said "do not worry, it was my friends" I laughed and put it in my pocket. it was very nice of him. From there we went to the harbor. Germans have a very different way to kill the hours before the New Year. they shoot and through fireworks at eachother. I feared for my life! I luckly survived till the New Year where I also discovered that in Germany fireworks go off for about an hour and a half it was crazy. we then went into a indie music club. but I was getting sick so I headed out early. The next morning I partook in another german tradition which was to go to brunch and eat a bunch of food and drink more champaign. On the 2nd I left Eddys cause this was his first day of class again, ouch.
Pics: http://wwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051613&l=3ee26&id=25906200
Koln Germany
The trip from Rostock to Koln took forever. I finally got there however. To be honest there wasnt much in Koln. The Kolner Dom (Koln Cathedral) was inpressive on the outside, but the inside was meh...Ive seen too many cathedrals. I did enjoy seeing the Rhein river. Most of the town was for shopping so I wandered around for a bit, got food and then talked to some chinese people back at the hostel. That was really about it there. I only had one night there.
Brussels Belgium
I next went to Brussels. I checked the times in my Eurail timetable book and saw there was a 1pm train. I thought "perfect" so when I get there I dont see it on the reader board. I then realized that my Eurail book was for 2006 making it useless. I asked the information desk when the next train was. sadly it wasnt for another 2 hours. so I sat... On the train ride I saw what was the most beautiful city I had ever seen. someday I will find out what city it is and explore it. It was in the south of Belgium and was in a valley. It had waterfalls all around it and a few rivers or canals running through out it. It was amazing but I couldnt get my camera out in time. EVENTUALLY I got to Brussels. Upon getting to Brussels I got very lost in their train station. I was suposed to take some bus, but I couldnt find where to get it. FINALLY I did find it. My hostel here was pretty nice. I dropped off my stuff and wandered around a little bit to get food. it was about 7 when I got there so it was too dark to do any real exploring. Back in my room I met 2 korean guys who had been traveling. They were very nice and told me some stuff to see. 2 more Koreans, girls, ended up in my room so they spoke korean for awhile while I sat there and read what I should see in the next day. Later I said we should go down to the bar in the hostel we did and joked around and I met some Australians. Aussies are everywhere. I think I met at least one in every city I was at. anyway the next day I got up and just started wandering Brussels. However, I constantly got lost. it was the only city I had ever done that in this badly. I think one problem was that the signs and people spoke either French or Flemish, both of which I know nothing in. While being lost though I discovered an English language bookstore, which had Everything is Illuminated (the book) for 2 euros. so I bought it...it ended up being my time killer. I read it in like 3 days heh great book. anyways, I saw the main square, Brussels Cathedral, other things... I wasnt a huge fan of Brussels actually. it was just a city, didnt have any charm to it. It did have the best merry-go-round ever. It was the scariest thing I had ever seen. the things you could ride were all industrial looking and scary. plus the music they had playing was just evil sounding. While there I saw a place to get my hair cut for fairly cheap. I thought I should go in, but then realized I dont know any french and so I would probably end up with a shaved head. so I didnt. I need to do that soon though, I found out last night I can put my hair in a pony tail...thats too long for kevin. ANYWAYS, the 2nd day I met a guy from New Zealand. He and I wandered around that night. when we came back there were 2 more New Zealanders in our room. so yet again I was with all people from the same place. Luckly this time I could understand them. We all went down to the bar and hung out there and again met more people...mostly Australians. The next day I left for Rotterdam.
Rotterdam Netherlands
This was mostly just a stop off before the next day, cause I had to catch an early ferry. Rotterdam was ok, had some neat areas, but for the most part was just a city again. I guess it is the worlds most used shipping port...who knows. I wandered around there for hours untill I think I had seen everything on the map the hostel gave me. So I went back and rested up, since I was sick then too. In my room I met a girl from Estonia...she was very nice...and nice looking. It was kind of wierd that it was just her and I in the room. Eventually to make things less wierd I invited her to go down to a near by bar. she accepted and we talked there. it was much easier for some reason. she told me about Estonia and how its the same size as the Netherlands yet it has a quarter less of the population. so she felt crowded there. I eventually realized I should go to bed cause I had to get up at 5am to catch my ferry. she had to get up at 5:30 herself so we both headed back and went to bed. The next morning was...painful...I got up and got my stuff ready. I had planned on taking the trams to the train station, not realizing that they dont run that early in the morning. the train station was about a mile away ...so I started walking. I caught my train to the Hook of Holland where I got on a ferry bound for Harwich England. The ferry ride was 3 hours and 40 mins long...when I got to Harwich I started up my Britrail pass. I asked the train lady if she could look up a way for me to get to Hull. She looked it up and laughed then said "you have a long day ahead of you". I had like 8 connections, and was about 6 and a half hous of traveling, JUST IN ENGLAND. Well I made it and am now back in Hull. Going to rest up and then get ready for my first test on the 19th.
Pics: http://wwu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2051675&l=a00a9&id=25906200
Pictures of past places can be seen here:
Nottingham/Madrid
Oslo