Switzerland and Germany

I went to Lucerne, Switzerland and Munich, Germany this past weekend with my university. I never thought I would be fortunate enough to travel to all of these wonderful places while abroad, so it’s crazy to think I went there for the weekend.

 Lucerne was breathtaking. It was a bit foggy, but that added to the whole ambiance of the gorgeous lake town. Lucerne is situated in the valley of the Swiss Alps on the edge of a beautiful lake. We had a couple hours there before taking a lift to the top of the Alps. I enjoyed an Almond Americano in a coffee shop and a stroll around part of the lake. After Lucerne, we rode a tram that took us to one of the highest peaks in the Swiss Alps. When we got to the top, we had a swanky lunch prepared for us at the restaurant in the hotel. I felt like quite the VIP.

 After lunch I gazed at the mountains for a good while. The visibility was still a bit foggy, but every now and then, the clouds would move and you could get a peak of the peaks. I felt so small and insignificant, thinking about God’s creativity and ability to move the mountains. The Swiss Alps are unlike anything I’ve seen before, and I am in love with them. Switzerland is a gorgeous place, and I’d love to go back. On the tram ride down, Suzanna and I had a duet performance in honor of Rodger’s and Hammerstein’s “Sound of Music.” It was altogether fitting that we do this, considering the scenery surrounding us. It made so much sense and we sounded so good (ahem). Almost comparable to Julie Andrews…

 Munich is full of culture and beauty. A place where the people drink more beer than water. Which is crazy because their water is goood. We had a tour of the city and Saturday night we experienced dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. If you’ve ever been to Germany in Epcot at Disneyworld, the restaurant with the long tables, the band at the front with the yodelers, that’s what the Hofbrauhaus is like. They serve beer in 1 liter Steins, bratwurst, potato salad, spaetzle, pretzels, and apple strudel. The band was tooting away on their tubas, like the marionettes in the "Sound of Music," all decked out in their lederhosen and suspenders. After practically every song, everyone would stand and sing Germany's national anthem (at least, I think that's what it was) and then "cheers" to everyone. It was a fun experience, full of loud German wannabes.

 Sunday was a more solemn day. We went to Dachau, one of the first concentration camps in Germany during WWII. In middle and high school, you hear about the inhumanity and harrowing circumstances of concentration camps, but to be there and see the conditions in which these people lived was unexplainable. It was humbling to stand on the grounds. I don’t mean to sound depressing, but the truth is, it was. But I was fortunate to see it, and for that I was glad to see it.

 On the way back to Florence, we drove through Austria. I so wish we had time to get out and walk around. With mountains towering over each side of you and little towns around each turn, I felt like I was in the Prelude of, once again, "Sound of Music." I couldn’t get it out of my head the whole weekend! The wonderful thing about bus rides is the freedom to let your mind wander without having to worry about where you are going. So with that, I gazed out the window and daydreamed about Captain Von Trapp singing Edelweiss to me. Only he can remain a man while singing about a flower. Sigh, what a man.

 It was a magical and musical weekend, and I absolutely loved it.

The hillsss are aliiive

Spring Break Part 4: Paris

Paris is one of those cities I dreamt about as a little girl. When I was in middle school, the way I would fall asleep at night was imagining myself sitting at a street cafe reading. Or working for a fashion company in Paris. These ideas probably stemmed from watching Sabrina starring Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. I watched the movie at least once a month, and my father would come into the TV room, groan and say, "You're watching this again?" Then he would proceed to sit down to watch the rest with me. Mom and Dad love the movie just as much as I do, and probably fall asleep at night imagining themselves in a little cafe too.

 The first night there, we walked around the Montmartre area, where all the artists live. You get an amazing view of the city as well. Cafes are left and right, artists are selling their work. It's quintessential. We ate dinner at this amazing Creperie. There were these two young, very french-looking boys, one playing the piano and the other playing the guitar. With this being the first real experience in Paris, I mean, I was in heaven. I had their French Onion Soup, which had a thick layer of melted cheese and fresh croutons on top. uhhhh, it was so gooood. To finish, I had a chocolate crepe. Use your imagination, it was heavenly.

 Paris is just one of those places where your imagination can run wild. When we were watching the Eiffel Tower light up at night, I almost cried (But I didn't). I had imagined this moment for so long time, I was a bit overwhelmed when I was finally there. A lover might have added to the experience, but experiencing it with my friends was a happy substitute. We played "La Vie En Rose" on my ipod about seven times that day. We would get funny looks and smiles, but deep down they were happy they could hear Luis and his trumpet.

We took a train to Versailles on the last day in France. We walked through the Palace first, but every window we came to we just had to look outside at the grounds. We could not wait to walk around the gardens. The grounds are huge! And everything is so perfectly kept. Every bush trimmed, every garden bed weeded. I absolutely loved Versailles. Rowers were rowing in the lake. Ever imagine having rowing practice at Versailles? You can also rent bikes and explore the vastness and beauty of the gardens. We're poor, so we were content just sitting by the water enjoying the beauty that surrounded us. I could've spent all day there. Unfortunately we had to depart for Florence that night. But we took advantage of every minute in Paris soaked up the magic of it all.

 Laurel made an awesome video that sums up our trip. It was a wonderful break, and I was blessed to experience it with such good friends.
 

Spring Break Part 3: Amsterdam

Amsterdam was unexpectedly one of my favorite cities we visited over Spring Break. The only things I envisioned in Amsterdam was weed everywhere and the Red Light District. Yes, those are definitely prevalent there, but Amsterdam has a lot to offer.

 First of all, the canals are quaint, adorable, and everywhere. You know what else is everywhere? Bikes. It is quite the biking town. The houses on the canals are adorable. There are cheese shops, pancake houses, and cute little souvenir shops with wooden shoes hanging from the ceiling. We found an awesome hole-in-the-wall pancake place in an old canal house called Pannenkoekenhuis. We walked up a steep narrow set of stairs to an upstairs room with about seven tables. The guy making the pancakes was right there in the room with us. They could only make two pancakes at a time because one, their griddle isn’t that big and two, the pancakes are huge. I order an apple and bacon pancake, which had strips of bacon cooked right into the pancake. The salty and sweet combo was divine. I’m so glad Cara found the restaurant looking on bunches of blogs of places to eat in Amsterdam. Blogs are so informational!

 We experienced the Heineken Experience, which is the tour of the brewery. If you’ve ever been to the Hershey Chocolate Factory in Pennsylvania, it was like that only with beer. We experienced the whole beer making processing, partook in a tasting, and learned about the history. It was a lot of fun. After the tour, we went on a little canal ride at night to see all of the adorable canal houses from the canal perspective. So fun!

 We also went to Anne Frank’s house when her family was in hiding. It was surreal to stand where she stood, and looked through the same sunroof she did.

 I chose to opt out of the Red Light District tour. We walked through part of it one morning, and even at ten o’clock in the morning it gave me an upset stomach and a cold feeling all over my body. After talking with some people who went on the tour, I was even more heartbroken than ever. I heard things like, “I have so much more respect for these girls now. They actually choose to do this.” “The police are on their side if something goes to court.” “They have emergency buttons by their beds in case something bad happens.” “They do this so they can afford an education.” This is what people learn on their tour. The fact that the tours are even selling prostitution to the tourists makes me sick. All of the information given may very well be true, and the prostitutes may have a choice to chose that occupation, but does that mean they want to do it? Do they want to sell their bodies for even a portion of their lifetime? These women pay money to stand in a window for hours at a time so they can get fast money because this industry is encouraging buyers to come from all over the world to buy women’s bodies. It is repulsive and wrong, and I don’t care if Amsterdam tries to make it classy. It reopened my eyes to the disturbing world of the sex industry, and many people are blinded by the flashiness of red lights.

 It’s a stark reality, but the truth is, it’s everywhere, not just Amsterdam. So despite to tragedy of the human condition, there are sights of God’s beauty everywhere. Amsterdam is a beautiful city filled with beautiful people. God’s creativity is so obvious in Europe, and sometimes I forget that He created the world for His children, so that we may experience glimpses of heaven on earth.

Spring Break Part 2: Berlin

The next stop on my spring break trip was Berlin. Let me tell ya, the history there is upfront and personal. We were fortunate to have a walking tour in each city, but Berlin’s tour was exceptionally interesting. It’s crazy to think how recent all the history is also. We walked where Hitler walked, where the border crossing was (Checkpoint Charlie), saw where artists painted freedom-statement murals on the East Side of the Berlin Wall. History is fascinating (I am my mother’s daughter), so it was incredible to experience Berlin after learning about it in World History since middle school.

 We arrived in Berlin on St. Patrick’s Day, so there were some festivities at the awesome hostel bar, Belushi’s. I ate a Kraut Burger, which was nom nom worthy. I did a couple Giada DiLaurentis “mmmm’s” when I ate it. There were two guys singing some live music. Naturally we joined in singing at the top of our lungs when they played “Ho Hey” and “Wonderwall.” Seriously, every hostel we stayed in was legit. If you ever go to Amsterdam, Berlin, or Paris, stay at St. Christopher’s Inn. They’ve got great rooms, good food, and nice staff.

 The last night we had the traditional German food, bratwurst, sauerkraut, potatoes, and Apple Strudel. Have I made you drool yet? Cause I just did. I love being able to try all of this traditional food in these countries. If only I had a job that required travelling and eating food. I could be the next female Anthony Bourdain. Only without the foul language and cigarettes. But I think I’d have to be able to come up with more descriptive words other than “AMAZING” and “SO GOOD.” I’ll work on it.

East Side Gallery

    

The Holocaust Memorial

The Holocaust Memorial

Spring Break Part 1: Prague

The next couple blog posts will be a series since I went to four different countries, all with distinct culture and character. I have to say that this has been one of my greatest, most fun, most memorable spring break. Not just because of the places I went, but the people who made it memorable. I went to countries I have been dreaming about travelling to since I was ten. This blog is helping me solidify my disbelief that I actually went to these places. Let me tell you about the first stop on my trip, Prague.

On the Old Stone Bridge

It’s kind of sad when the best way to describe a country like Prague to an American is to say it reminded you of Disney World. It’s sad, but true. Prague was like a fairytale land. The first day we toured the Olde and New Town.The "Prague-ians" had begun setting up the Easter Market that weekend, so it was even more colorful than usual. It was bitterly cold, so we convinced ourselves that a Starbucks cup was an essential accessory to our coat and hat wardrobe. I missed my White Chocolate Mocha since being in Europe. So even the coffee tasted like a fairtale in Prague.

Czech food is very much like German food: heavy, hearty, and starchy. We got lunch at the Czech Kitchen where I had Goulash soup, dumplings, some kind of meat roast, and the most interesting tasting spinach I have ever tried. I’m known in several places as the “garbage disposal” (I can eat almost anything), but I had to leave the spinach where it belonged, in a real garbage disposal.

I loved just walking around the beautiful city, eating Turtlenecks (a cinnamon sugared dough cooked on a spit over a fire), feasting on Kielbasa from a market vendor, and drinking hot wine (like mulled cider, only it’s WINE. So good).

Went to the John Lennon wall. Took about 55 profile picture worthy photos, wrote some lyrics on the wall, and gave peace a chance.

We toured the Prague Castle complex, which had a lot of places to discover, considering it’s the biggest castle complex in the world. It’s not what you would think as a castle, though. It’s more like a little town resting on a hill overlooking Prague. It has a bunch of different office buildings, a gorgeous cathedral, a quaint little side street, some gift shops and cafes, and hot wine. Reminded me of Disney World. Tried some more hot wine there to keep our fingers warm, and enjoyed the beauty that is Prague.

Turtlenecks! So yummy

Lots of street performers on the Old Stone Bridge

The Lennon Wall

Oh Suz...

Inside the cathedral at Prague Castle

Kate Update

It’s been midterm week here, and I leave for my spring break trip tomorrow. Not to be the one to talk about the weather, but it was rained 8 days consecutively without stopping. I haven’t seen a dove bring an olive branch to my window yet, but I am hopeful it will come soon. The Arno River was looking rough when I walked along it yesterday. On the positive side, because it’s been raining so much, it gave me no choice but to put my sorry little bum in the library to study for midterms. Contrary to popular belief, I actually did put the “study” in “study abroad” this week. I just finished my last midterm today, which means SPRING BREAK STARTS TODAY.

Lookin a little rough, Arno. This was the only part of the day that was sunny.

 Because the weather has not been the most ideal, the past weeks mainly involved staying in Florence, going to class, getting free fries Friday at The Oil Shop, walking through the markets, and drinking tea.

 Oh wait! Two Saturdays ago, we went to Fiorentina vs. Chievo soccer game. It was incredibly fun to experience and watch. I may or may not have enjoyed watching the little boys behind us more. They were so cute cheering and yelling, just like their father next to them. Obviously, you probably had to be there to enjoy what I’m trying to explain. All in all, the soccer game was so much fun and Italian soccer is the bomb dot com.

 If you’re wondering where I’m going for spring break, then you’re in the right place. I leave for Prague tomorrow night. We will stay there for a couple days then take the trek up to Berlin where we’ll stay for a couple of days. Then we travel to Amsterdam, and lastly end in Paris. If you think that’s a lot of travelling, then you’re right. I will have travelled through 7 countries and I don’t even know how many miles that is. But I am soooo stoked and I can’t wait to tell you all more about it when I get back. If you have any suggestions on places to go or things to do in those countries, let me know!