So, today, finally, finally, finally Beowulf died. I am overjoyed. All semester, all he does is talk, talk, talk, and occasionally slay things. And then talk some more. There really is something to be said for the strong silent types. I detest a hero who can't kill things without making pointless moralizing speeches before, after, and during ( Read more... )

21 Aug: Left Haarlem for Amsterdam in the morning. Found the hostel, which was surprisingly laid back for a drug-free, alcohol-free, smoke-free Christian youth hostel with nightly Bible studies. "It's all cool," the receptionist said to me as I checked in. "You can come, try to convert us all to your beliefs if you want." Now, while this ( Read more... )

20 Aug: spent most of the day travelling from Beligium to Holland, which mainly consisted of sitting on the train, reading Sense and Sensibility on my part. My motives for staying in Haarlem were simple: 1) I was tired and needed a place to sleep, and 2) the very few decent and cheap places in Amsterdam were full. But getting from the Haarlem ( Read more... )

Well...that was where the train was going to, actually. I was originally planning to go see the Viking ships at Roskilde, but I got to the train station and, alas, there was no train listed. But the train to Helsingør was leaving in 5 minutes, so I jumped aboard, to see the castle of Hamlet fame. Though it has no actual connection to the play, ( Read more... )

Went from Rotheburg to Berlin by train, which took most of the 13th. Arrived at around 6 in the evening, and went to the KaDeWe--biggest department store in the world, or so they claim--in search of 1) a pen and 2) dinner ( Read more... )

Left Salzburg in the morning, went back to Munich. Went to Schloss Nymphenburg. Saw Ludwig I's Gallery of Beauties. Lola Montez: striking but not beautiful. He'd have been better off marrying the shoemaker's daughter, who was really quite fetching ( Read more... )

I am afraid that there is not much to amuse oneself with in Munich, unless one has a burning desire to see the most boring palace in all of Europe. I spent about 20 minutes happily exploring room after room of gilded ceilings and rococo ornamentation, but after that, it was merely room after room of velvet and splendor, with no map, no guide, and ( Read more... )

I am quite fed of with the two forms of the second person singular in this language, and therefore have decided to give up trying to figure out to whom I say "Sie" (formal) and to whom I say "du" (informal). Consequently, I will just pick one and stick to it. But which one? At first, I was just going to call everyone "Sie," because no one would ( Read more... )

When I got off the train in Zurich, my parents were there to meet me, which was a nice surprise, since I thought I would have to hunt down their hotel and figure out how to get there. Spent the rest of the day there, enjoying the luxuries my parents were able to afford--like those little bars of soap that hotels give you. And a room that one does ( Read more... )

Last day in Venice (6 August): Decided to quit trying to be frugal and just blow a lot of money. So I cruised up and down the Grand Canal to Piazza San Marco, and went to the Correr Museum. It was not exactly on the top of my list of sightseeing priorities, but since it was included with the admission to the Doge's Palace, I decided I might was ( Read more... )