The Joys of Parental Visits

It's been a whirwind of a week, I must say. It's great having mom and
dad here. I'm seeing and doing so much and definitely checking things
out I never would have done otherwise.

Poor mom and dad got here on Tuesday morning and I'm delighted that I
ran into them coming from the tube as I was heading out to work. I
say poor because as I saw them walking down the street, they were
luggage-less. Good old Canada Air lost their luggage somewhere
between America and England. It turned out to be a blessing in
disguise really, because they did deliver the suitcases later that
afternoon right to the hotel. This meant that they didn't have to lug
3 suitcases around the London tube system. They will unfortunately,
have to do that tomorrow.

The first night they were here, they were quite jetlagged, so Allison
and I did our usual Tuesday night activity and headed over to Imperial
Pub for the quiz night. And... we won!! That's right, we came in
first place. On the last and final quiz of the year, we won the big
bucks (10 quid each for 5 people... not bad). We're pretty pumped.

They did their own thing Wednesday while I was at work and then we
went out for dinner with mom's friend from Wharton. We went to this
amazing and fancy French restaurant in Chelsea where the food + wine
and everythin else was really amazing. We all ate way too much. It
was my first big fancy experience in London since I've been here and I
really enjoyed it. There's also nothing like holding your own in
intellectual conversation with a group of ivy league graduate adults.
Boo-ya.

Thursday I also had to work and mom and dad again went out and about.
I forget where they went each day, but I'm sure they'll be happy to
tell you. They did at one point see the trial of the 7/7/2005 London
terrorists which was wildly exciting.

Thursday night we went out to a fancy little place you may have heard
of called Pizza Hut. Haha, actually, they're everywhere here, and
they're really not that bad, it was pretty good, I've gotta admit.
Then we went to Spam-A-Lot. It was hilarious. So over the top, and
definitely true to the movie (which if you haven't seen it, you really
should, especially if you're planning on seeing the play). The seats
were quite high and could have been a bit better, but it was still a
really good night and I really enjoyed my first bit of London theatre.

Friday was good friday and dad's birthday so I had off work (for Good
Friday, not dad's Birthday), and since it was his birthday, we had a
dad kind of day. We went to the Imperial War museum of course (my
second visit, and I still haven't seen all of the place) and tried to
go to the Ben Franklin house but it was closed for the holiday. We
went back to Leicester square to try to get some 1/2 priced tickets
for another show that night without success. They were sold out of a
lot of stuff.
At this point, what had been a nice sunny day quickly turned. It
started to rain a little bit then a giant awful hailstorm erupted over
London. While it was brief, it was certainly odd. It was probably
the worst hail storm with the biggest hail I have ever seen in my
life. And for it to happen in London... well I never! Luckily though,
it didn't last too long and didn't turn into anything bigger. In an
effort to be somewhere inside for a bit, we tried to go to the movies
that are there in Leicester Square but were apalled when we found out
they were £12.50 (yes, that's 25 dollars!). Tourist trap... Eep! So
we obviously passed.
At this point, enough time had passed that we were tired and hungry
and wanted to be inside, so we headed back to our local tube stop to
make some dinner selections.
For dinner, we went to this place on Gloucester Road near where I take
classes that I pass by everyday. It's this fancy steak house that had
really great beef. We went to an ice cream place afterwards, one that
I had been to before that has amazing italian icecream (aka gelati).
Mom and dad basically fell in love. It is pretty damn good.

Saturday was my day to sleep in. Mom and dad were going to do the Ben
Franklin house in the morning, but they generally had the same idea as
I did and slept in as well. They went down there while I chilled out
at my place and then in the early afternoon we met up at Notting Hill
to go to the Portobello Road Market with Miss Emma Bedford. The tube
was of course all messed up for the holidays, so a trip that should
have been about 3 stops from me actually ended up being about 15.
Nice.

Portobello was nice. Antiques aren't really my thing though, and it
was cold (although I really didn't think it was that bad... what's a
little snow?) I did have a nice time with Emma though. Mom and Dad I
don't think particularly enjoyed it, but I was happy to finally get
there and check it out.

After the market we decided to head to Harrod's for some tea and to
warm up a bit. Harrod's was amazing, to say the least. There is so
much nice stuff there I don't even really know what to do with myself.
It was a lot of fun to poke around and smell perfumes and sample
chocolates. Even if we did lose dad for a spell there. He got lost
somewhere in the bacon section, understandably. We ended up getting
overpriced hot chocolate and biscuits with service, but they were
still very good. The cafe had a bit of a weird atmosphere playing
club music while serving tea and crumpets to tourists complete with
little uniforms.

Harrod's did make us quite late meeting Steve in East London for
dinner, but he was cool about it. We went to this cool area in the
Bengali district called Brick Lane. Basically, it's a row of Bengali
/ Indian restaurants on this street and they all compete to get your
business. You can walk along and then pick the one you want with the
best offer. We ended up getting a really good deal and the food was
great. I don't often have Indian food, but when i do, I enjoy it. It
was a really neat experience, and not very touristy at all, so it was
nice to get off the beaten path and do something uniquely London.

On Sunday, after some debate about how bad the snow owuld be in Kent
county, we decided to hit up the National Rail Service (operating on
Easter, how delightful) and go to Chartwell House, home of Churchill.
Despite the weather, it was a nice little excursion outside of London.
I'm happy to do anything Churchill related, and it was neat to be in
the same house as him... separated by a few decades of course. It
wasn't just England that loved him, everyone all over the world did.
This man had more medals that I have hairs on my head. Mom and Dad
both really liked it, and I enjoyed the little train ride, so all in
all it was a good day. We would have gone back to that icecream place
again after dinner, but it was unfortunately closed for Easter. Mom
and dad were definitely hooked.

Monday was another museum day and started off with a snowy walk to the
national Army museum. This is kind of like the Imperial War museum,
but documents all the wars that Great Britain took part in as opposed
to the broader overview of conflict the IWM has. It was interesting
to see the British perspective on the War of Independence, although,
it wasn't nearly as Anglo-centric as i thought it would be. It gave
us a lot of credit where credit was due. It was a nice change. What
struck all of us about the musum was how hawkish the UK is. They
haven't not been at war almost ever in their history. All over the
globe they've constantly been fighting someone for something. Mom
can't decide who's a big war monger, the US or GB, but I think the
answer is fairly obvious. The US has had their share (and continues
to) of conflicts, but I really do think because of it's long history,
the UK takes the cake.
What struck me most about the whole place was the exhibit on Helmand
(Afghanistan) made by soldiers who had served there. It really hit
home with me for a variety of reasons. First, every time I see
soldier's death announcements, I always look at the place where they
came from. This time, I focused on the ages because I didn't really
know the places from the UK. They were 18, 19, 22, 21, etc etc. I
didn't grow up in the UK, but for all intents and purposes, these are
the people I grew up with, went to class with, etc. Since I've been
here, I've even met an Aussie who was on leave from Afghanistan
briefly. It didn't really mean much to me, but now I can't help but
wonder what the hell he's up to and it just feels weird. Most of all
though, as you go through the exhibit, you hear songs being played
that were selected by the soldiers for the exhibit. They weren't
crazy hippy songs marking Vietnam, or big band from the 40s or what
have you. They were songs I listen to on a regular basis that are in
my iPod and on the radio. I don't know what point I'm making. It's
just always felt so far removed, and I guess still is, but when you
walk through the little camp they have set up and see that they use
Axe bodywash and crest toothpaste, it just hit me: this is not
history, this is now, this is my generation fighting and dying. I'm
sure anyone that lived through Nam can relate to this feeling, but it
was a somber and sobering thought.

Anyway, moving on.

After that museum, we went down to the Docklands to go to the
Docklands Museum. As soon as you exit the tube, it feels like you're
in Boston Harbor. Everything looks the same. It's nice and new and
full of big buildings and very unlike downtown London. It was a nice
little piece of America, albeit not. I kind of miss the sky scrapers
and brick and newness of American cities. How old everything here is
can be really neat and awesome (as in awe-some), but after awhile,
everything also starts to look slightly shabby. Not that American
cities are spic and span by any means, but they do have more new
development than London. Anyway, I just really liked the area, and
the indoor shopping, and concrete square bigness of everything there.
Mom and dad really liked the museum. I thought it offered a very nice
and detailed history of the Thames in London and the history of the
Docklands and I especially enjoyed the WW2 section, but I also thought
it dragged a little bit.

If there's one conclusion we came to while Mom and Dad were visiting,
it's that the English sure know how to do museums. All of them are
excellently put together and all around really great and informative.
The best part, of course, is that they are usually free. America
really needs to work on this. I don't particularly think the museums
there are bad, by any means, but free would really be nice.

I realized two things while the 'rents were here and we were just
talking in general about life in another country. Firstly, I've lived
in London more than Boston. I of course don't mean time wise, but
just general day to day wise. I have to go to the grocery store here
and really cook every meal, there aren't 8 dining halls scattered
around campus (we don't even have a campus) that I can head to any any
given time of day. I can't walk down my street and use the nice big
cheap University laundry, I have to haul is 4x as far and pay a ton
for it. I have done the work and commuting thing in Boston, so that's
comparable, but just in general, I feel like in Boston, I remain more
in the BU bubble, which is obvious at any college, while here I'm
forced to be much more independent and just experience the day to day
fineries here more than I would in Boston. I also feel like I'm much
more aware of what's going on here in the city and country. This
obvious has a lot to do with the classes I'm taking and the fact that
I read 5 newspapers a day for work, but I really enjoy that feeling.
It's nice to walk around and make connections and be able to follow
and realyl udnerstand the nightly news and things like that.

Secondly, I realized I don't really miss anything from home. People,
obviously, and perhaps a cat, but things I don't. I thought I would
get over here and pine for insert something I eat here. That's
largely in part because the UK is like the 51st state (hah, but don't
say that to a Briton) and I can basically find everything I would want
at home here, or at least something comparable. But I was really
expecting to get here and miss a lot of things. I do miss suburbia,
but I miss that whenever I'm in a city for a long period. I don't
really care about not having easymac or things like that. I could use
some good act 2 popcorn or snyders pretzels, but I'm getting along
just fine without them. I don't really miss the way Americans do
things either, in terms of the way cities or businesses are run or
things like that. I can't of course think of any examples, but I'll
get around to it at some point.
This isn't of course to mean that I don't miss America as a whole. I
love to travel and hope to do a lot more living abroad, but home will
always be the US. It will inevitably be my final destination and
where I get married and raise a family. Fear not, I will return.
We'll see how I feel about this when I'm surrounded by people speaking
German, can't read any labels at the store and can't even ask where
the bathroom is. I can't wait (literally, no sarcasm). If you think
my blog is good now, haha, that'll be a trip.

I've been noticing something funny that I originally read in Bill
Bryson's book. People here are so apologetic. We went to a pastry
shop yesterday morning and the place was packed and getting a seat was
rather difficult. At one point, a woman started to pack her things up
to leave and another came over to her and started off saying "i'm so
sorry to pounce, it's terribly rude" and then, to my astonishment, the
first woman said "oh no problem, sorry about that" and then hustled
herself away while they both apologized to each other a few more
times. I also was just at work waiting for the elevator and when it
reached my floor, someone walked out and said "oh, i'm sorry!" I was
slightly worried that that meant they had farted or something before
leaving the enclosed space, but when I found that wasn't the case I
couldn't on earth think what they were sorry for, but I appreciated
the gesture anyway. It's a nice little British thing, and I've found
I've also gotten in the habbit. It pops up here and there.

Something that has continuously thrown me off has been the way British
people ask "how are you" This isn't a hard and fast rule, but does
happen quite often. They say 'you alright?' Which to most people
would mean 'is everything ok? something seems wrong' So the first time
someone asked me that, I got worried that something looked wrong with
me. I quickly figured it out, of course, but it still caught me off
guard. I also don't know how to answer it because it's kind of yes or
no instead of open ended. How are you always gets "fine thanks, and
yourself?" Usually I just go ' i'm well, how are you' and that seems
to work. One of those things I guess.

I just this morning noticed a sign in the kitchen about turning off
appliances and lights and things. Instead of Please Notice or Notice,
as you would normally find, it says "Polite Notice" as if to tell you
that no matter how you perceive it, in true British fashion, it's
polite. So, you know, if you ever come to the UK, just be overly
polite and act like you're imposing on everyone in everything you do
and you'll fit in just fine!

Work has been going well. I'm really enjoying my job and the people
there. It is a lot of administrative tasks, but I've never minded
that sort of stuff, and I keep my ears open and make sure I learn
something everyday. I do have to work on this portfolio and keep my
daily logs going, which has lagged behind with the parental visit.
I've got a fairly empty schedule in the coming weeks, so I will,
legitimately, do more school work. I've already started, in fact. How
'bout dem apples?

By the by, this entry was written over various lunch breaks at work
over the span of a few days, so do excuse it if it seems
chronologically incorrect.

Cheers, Kate

Images de Mon Voyage

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2246208&l=6907a&id=919676

Genève et les Alpes Françaises

This is long overdue, but I've been busy, so, um, get over it?

So my lovely little trip to Geneva and surrounding areas was delightful!
Although my flight leaving at 6am on Saturday morning meant I had to leave my dorm at 230 and I literally got no sleep that night, the trip was worth it. Plus, while I was waiting for the night bus, I saw a fox on the streets of London (which was so weird, but very cool... it ran away just before i got a picture) and also probably the more drunk person I've ever seen, complete with a very large gash to the side of the head (this scene brought to you by London: Europe's Binge Drinking Capital!).... a lovely sight.

Anyway, I finally got there and flew into a very sunny and scenic Geneva. It was so nice to have Dan come and pick me up at the airport instead of the usual bus to metro to walking to hostel.
The weekend was a lot like that. Everything was just so easy. Being in a car was so nice, and having food just sitting in the kitchen (or better yet, having it made for you) was so rare. Even eating fruitloops (how american!) for breakfast was enjoyable.

We went up to the Alps on the first day (in France) because the Sharks had a ski competition with the World Trade Organization where Mr. Shark works. Dan and his sister unfortunately didn't win (although Melanie did try to get best costume by going down in a tweety bird costume, only to find out afterwards that they had gotten rid of the category...), and I didn't ski or anything (i don't do extreme snow sports) but it was lovely to sit at a lodge in the French Alps and check the scene out. We did do a bit of sledding, but it was perhaps too much effort for the result, and I got soaked... snow everywhere. It was still pretty great though, I haven't been sledding in approximately forever. I even... get this... got a tan! It was a very lovely day and by the end of it I was quite red which soon turned into a nice tan color. Be jealous. They also served a very nice dinner with non-stop wine for all the WTO people. It was there I learned that Jason peculiarly does not eat basically any fruits or vegetables. It was a triumph of the table to get him to eat a little bit of the pineapple. He liked it, by the way.

We hit the town that night, which wasn't nothing compared to good ole London Towne but was still a lot of fun, and the beer was great. They also played Satisfaction by Benny B at the one bar place we were at which you really can't beat. I also learned a great new dance move called the grandfather clock a la Jason which no one will ever see me recreate sober. Or in public for that matter.

The next day we got up a bit later than anticipated and dawdled a little bit eating good food from the French grocery store. We then had quite a drive through some beautiful areas (the ride up to the Alps was also quite nice) around Lake Geneva to Chateau Chillon, which is a scenic little castle on Lake Geneva. The place was massive and had approximately 8 billion stairs, but we saw it all and had a good time.

Afterwards, we got the excellent news that Dan's dad was going to make dinner for everyone. Score! We still had some time, though, so we drove into Geneva and saw some of the sights, including the huge jet in the middle of the lake and some of the international organizations there (there are approximately 8 billion... it's a theme). It was drizzly and cold so it wasn't all that exciting, but from that and the night before I sort of got a sense for the city. It's very small, and very rich. There doesn't seem like there's a whole lot to do there, and I am glad I came to London instead... I would have gotten bored. Especially since I don't partake in snow sports.
We walked around a bit, and because of the big European car show that was in town, the boys were in a car mood, especially Sam, so somehow we ended up wandering around looking at people's cars (and there are plenty of nice cars in Geneva). As I was in the clear minority, I held my tongue and went along with it. Boys and their toys, I guess.

Jason, Dan and I then embarked on a journey we had attempted before, but had failed at: looking for French border guards. I was determined to get a stamp in my passport saying I had been to France, but in order to do that, you had to find someone that could stamp it. We had tried the day before, but the border posts were all empty, and everyone was just driving right through. It took some leg work to finally find a border that had people at it. Oh Europe and your non-existent loose borders. Odd, though, because Switzerland isn't in the EU, so I would think it would be stricter, but I guess not. French / Swiss are just way too chill for that.

Dinner was a nice little family affair, and Jason even ate more pineapple. Afterwards we all sat around while Sam regailed us with stories of backpacking around Europe which was a good time. I admire backpackers, but I could definitely never be one. He talked of little sleep, little showering, and very little clothes. Not particularly my thing. I also don't like the thought of constant movement. I think it's great for those into it, though.

It was a brief trip, but it was good people and good fun. It was nice to get away from London to a homey environment. I also spent very little money all weekend (thanks for all those drinks Dan and Jason and food from the Sharks) which was great. It sort of balanced out because I had spent quite a bit on the last minute plane tickets. Worth it, in my opinion. I also rememered how much I miss hanging out with Dan and Sam and walking downstairs to get some fish or cheesecake or whatever. It's a bummer I won't be living with them again. Jason, their other friend, was also a nice addition to the group and we all got on quite well and, if I do say so myself, had a lovely weekend.

The downside to the weekend was that I essentially met no locals (well, the Sharks are, I guess, but they're still more American) and didn't really do the language thing or anything like that. It was a very American weekend with some French mountains and Swiss sites, but I'm ok with that. I can check Geneva / Switzerland off the list of life accomplishments.

As an afterthought, the Swiss have the weirdest money ever. And the smallest note they have is 10 francs, which means had I stayed there longer, I would have been obnoxiously laden with coins. And I thought the EU was bad... sheesh! Seriously, just take a minute and check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swiss_franc You can't really get the same sense for how weird it is, but you do get the general idea. Way too colorful. Dan also claims he looks like the guy on the 50 note, but I didn't see one, so I just have to take his word...

Well, so that was Geneva I guess. Fairly succinct and possibly more devoid of observations than my usual trips, but oh well. I really enjoyed it, and frankly, that's all that matters :-)

Back to London Life

I don't think I've written anything about life post-Spring Break yet, so here we go.

Things seemed to have slowed down a lot. Only having class once a week and going to work the other four days really puts a damper on doing, well, anything. Work is exactly what I expected it to be. I won't say much here about it (obviously), but it's fairly mundane and frankly keeps me from exploring and seeing London in the most obnoxious fashion. Getting up every day is a drag, too.
We have to maintain a portfolio for work which mainly consists of daily logs. If anyone is interested, let me know. I can readily tell you though, they are not riveting. The portfolio also consists of two papers and some other things. It seems kind of complex, but I'm sure once I work there and have a better idea about what CAABU does, it will make more sense.
Class is good, so far. It's been fairly interesting, although I don't really see a common thread. The teacher is cool, the kind of guy that has clearly read and retained everything that there is to know. He's perhaps a little too philosophical for my liking, but I think I'll really enjoy the class. Having class only once a week is a little weird, because I feel like I forget a lot from week to week. There's no assigned textbook, just about 300 books of suggested reading to pick and choose from which I really hate because it totally destroys my motivation and makes me feel like whatever I'm doing isn't enough. I actually have been conquering the London Syndrome so far, and even took books out of the library and have even started doing some vague research for my paper topic. Woot!

I forgot to mention something I learned on my spring break trip about tourists. Someone told me that in some report (I can't remember either, so it must be legit) that they had read that Americans are the 2nd best tourists (I think Canadians took the best), and Italians were the the 2nd worst. The worst, of course, were the English. This mostly stems from the fact that all they ever do is go on vacation to get wasted and wreak havoc. It was vindicating though. Italians I think come in 2nd for being loud and obnoxious in general when traveling. Having run into many throughout my vacationing, I can see it. Just wanted to add in that nice little US news.

I'm sure most people know what facebook is, and if you don't, don't worry about it. Anyway, London / the UK has only recently gotten facebook, within the last year I guess. Therefore, all people my age spend inordinate amounts of time there and use it frequently. As I'm now in the London network (you can belong to a geographical location, as well as a school), I've noticed that even though I have no connection to really any Londoner, people are randomly requesting to be my friend, commenting on my photos and other weird stuff. Someone actually saw my photos and corrected something historical I said about something. Weird... get a life people! I'd like to think Americans are not as bad, but I'm sure they are somewhere (the high schoolers). I think they got excited about finally getting it and went a little overboard. And haven't quite gotten over it yet.

I keep meaning to mention this, but always forget it. Everyone knows those fancy famous London phone booths. Well, they don't really exist anymore. They are still the general shape, and red, but not quite the same as people usually have in their mind. You can still find them, but only few and far between. Unlike US cities, though, there are still many phone booths around. They aren't hard to find. What's really great about them (and by great I mean bizarre), is that any one you go into, literally any one-- in the East End, South Kensington, the North, the City, wherever, they are covered in porn ads. You know the "call hot sexy red head at 29837432874 for XXX chat" with pictures of naked women with stars over their nipples and nether regions. I have no idea why this is. I'd really like to think that it's not because people frequently go in the phone booths looking for those kinds of things, but I guess this happened frequently enough that it became good business to put those ads up. Very interesting. Thanks, London...?

I definitely have become more attuned to transport now that I'm a regular on the system. First of, my monthly pass was wildly expensive. My coworkers were saying that the London Tube is the most expensive underground in Europe (and therefore, probably the world) and isn't nearly as efficient as other systems. I have never had a problem with the efficiency of the tube, although I must say that there are frequent closing and issues, they just haven't seemed to affect me. One morning, during rush hour, they shut down the main line (Piccadilly) for whatever reason, which caused a tremendous amount of problems for a lot people, and a lot of train crowding, but didn't make me late so it wasn't an issue. My main issue with the tube is a Londoner's inability to navigate the Tube station. Once on the tube, they act basically the same as anyone else... don't move into the center, stand awkwardly, don't hold on right, etc. It's the getting through big crowds and up and down stairs that people just can't handle. Much like they are unable to decide which way they would like to walk down the street, they deal with the stairs. There are even signs saying to stay left, but it is very evident that everyone prefers middle. Those going up, down, whatever, they all want the middle. Such an advanced city, you think they would have gotten that down on the oldest subway system; I guess not. Not all that surprised though.
I will say something unique about Londoners and transport though. I was on a bus the other day for a long trip to the Imperial War Museum and at one point, the bus had to squeeze through a small fork leading into a bigger street. Unfortunately, someone had parked in an inconvenient spot there, and the bus had a hell of a time accomplishing this. Someone from the bus actually offered to get off and stop traffic to help out, and although she didn't, she did make help the driver tell how much space he had between the car and himself. A passing motorcyclist also pulled over to give an outside perspective to make sure the bus got through. I don't ride buses enough to know how this would work in the US, but it was a very unique experience. It was nice to see such working together.
Speaking of motorcyclists, I do hate them. A lot. They are just annoying, especially from a pedestrian perspective. I don't feel like getting into examples, just trust me, they suck.

The Imperial War Museum was amazing, though. It was also free, which I love about London. They realize that free museums are obviously the way to go. There was so much to see, I didn't even see half of the museum even though I was there for 3.5 hours. I don't even think I saw a third of it! It was nice to go alone. I like doing touristy stuff alone because I can see what I want and for how long I want and just get much more out of it that way. I definitely want to go back with Mummy and Daddy. Who, by the way, are coming next week and I am very excited! More importantly, they are staying across the street, which is going to be awesome! Yayy!

The weather has been, for the first time since I got here, usual London weather. It has been somewhat cold, lots of wind, and rain rain rain. Only, the rain here is weird. I was in class for four hours yesterday, never left the building. In the time that I was in class, I saw rain and sun about 3 times each. It rains in spurts, is cloudy occasionally, and then is sunny. The wind is fairly constant though. There were apparently awful storms all along the coasts from some jet stream stuff. It's supposed to be better by the weekend and definitely by next week. I feel like I've definitely been spoiled by the weather so far and all over Europe. Having that one rainy icky day yesterday was an awful downer. To make it better, I realized Sunday that my umbrella was broken. I hadn't noticed because I hadn't used it since about the first week I was here. I had to buy another one, but it was fairly cheap, so it wasn't too bad. Still, very annoying.

It is spring break at BU-Boston and there are tons of kids that came here to visit friends, etc. It's nice seeing everyone, but kind of a hassle to have so many extra people using the kitchen and stuff like that. Luckily, no one is staying with me. Hosting someone is a real pain in the ass here (the rules are ridiculous, 100x worse than BU itself) and after working all day and stuff I feel like i would be too tired to really deal with someone. Most of my friends are abroad anyway, so that works. I'm surprised that so many people shelled out the dough to come visit. Most people always say they will and then never follow through on it. Nice surprise. I did some hanging out with people over the weekend, although for whatever reason, I was fairly exhausted.

I hung out with Emma on Sunday night and we had a really good time. We got a bite to eat and the place we went had WEISSBEIR! Yesss!! Straight from Bavaria. I wasn't even looking for it, but it was an amazing surprise. Better yet, the waiter was kind of incompetant and forgot to charge me for it. Nice. We also went to this comedy show which was very cheap. It wasn't amazing, but for the price, it was definitely a lot of fun and a good friend activity. The audience was really involved and it was a small setting, and we had a really good time. Our ticket also got us free admission into a club down the street. I had been there before and didn't really like it, but it was much better this time. We met two Columbians (and yes, the first thing Emma and I said was some joke about cocaine, which, oddly enough, they didn't appreciate...) and my espanol is still muy bueno. It's always good to know I've got it if I need it. Fun night, overall. Emma and I always have a good time. Something about us that we just always seem to come across silliness and fun. When put in the perspective how long I've known Emma and where and how we met and became friends, if you had told me as a junior in high school that in four years her and I would be at some club in London talking to Columbians (on a school night, no less), I actually probably would have said "Hm, sounds about right" but would still be incredulous to some extent. I need to hang out with her more, note to self.

This weekend I am off to Switzerland (Geneva) to see Dan and Sam at the Shark household (Dan's house). Dan and Sam were my neighbours at BU and Dan lives in Geneva and they are going to be there for Spring Break. The schedule includes sledding in the Alps (in France) and my own tour from a Geneva local. Should be a really great weekend. My flights are at awful times, but I think it'll be worth it!

I actually decided today, I have no idea why, but I've decided anyway, that I would really like to go to graduate school in Europe. I have no idea where, but I think I'd definitely like to spend more time living in Europe, but then get home to settle down. After the Peace Corps who knows where (c'monnnnn Ukraine!), I think a stint at LSE or Sciences PO (what's the English policy there?) would be perfecto. Maybe the dollar will be better by then. Haha, yeah right.

That should about cover it. From here on out, I'll probably be going on a lot less adventures, but will have a lot more observations about London life.

Thanks, by the way, to everyone who reads and comments and what not. Glad to know people are thinking about me and interesting in what I'm doing!

Liane's Pictures

Here are some of the pictures Liane took over break. They start with me in a red shirt. The ones before that are of her other trips.

http://bu.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2235834&l=5675d&id=924568

Praha, Česká Republika

Spring Break, Part 2!

Liane and I had an uneventful flight from Munich to Prague. The plane was very small and there were only a few other people on board, but I guess that makes sense as I can't imagine flying to Prague on a Tuesday evening is a very popular thing to do. Getting to the hostel was a bit of a pain (bus to subway then a long walk up a hill then a long walk down a hill) but we arrived in one piece. My first impressions of Prague were quite contrary to what I had been hearing about it from other people for the past weeks. It seemed dirty, empty, and full of graffiti. Basically, as though it hadn't quite recovered from that whole communism blip.

The hostel more than made up for these impressions. This was by far the nicest hostel in Europe. It was nicer than a lot of hotels, I'd be willing to bet. It was very modern, very clean, very fancy, and nice and quiet. The staff were wicked helpful and it was overall quite cheap. The best part was that we payed for a room with 10 beds, but alas, it was 1/2 empty the entire time we were there which was conducive to sleeping well. Overall, I was extremely impressed and if you ever go to Prague on a budget, go there. It's slightly out of the way, but worth every extra minute on the tram. Score one for Prague. The best part about it, though, was that it was called the Czech Inn. I'm daft and it took me awhile to get it, but I'll leave it to my dutiful readers to see if they can figure it out.

We took it easy that night due to our raucous evening the night before and just went out to grab a bite to eat. The next morning we were up vaguely bright and early and hit the town. My impressions of Prague were much changed in the day light hours and even more so when we got into the main part of the city. It was indeed a breathtaking place and except for some smattering of graffiti, no one would have ever guessed this place had such a tumultuous recent history. The Czech people either know how to really get their act together, or in the 4 years of CR being in the EU, there has been a lot of progress. I opt for both.

Of course, the first order of business for the day was to find the tucked away museum of communism. It was wonderful. Busts of Lenin and Stalin abounded as well as extolling the many horrors of life under communism and how the big bad Russians invaded and almost broke the will of a proud people with an impressive history. It couldn't have been more anti-Communist, and I loved it. Not only that, but the whole place also had a very anti-Russian tinge to it. Can't blame them, obviously. It also did the transition from Russians as heroes that liberated Czechoslovakia from the Nazi evils to villains that once more forced the Czech people to bear the yoke of a foreign regime. "Twice the Russians tanks were greeted with tears in the streets of Prague. Both times the tanks were the same, but the tears were not." There was also a video detailing the history of the attempted revolts in Prague from 1968 to the Velvet Revolution in 1989 which was touching and sad. Gave one a "damn the man" feeling.

Fun fact: Prague spent millions on a 3+ story and some inordinate tonnage statue of Stalin following his death (you know, because the people weren't hungry or poor or anything), and it was only standing for a few years when Kruschev presided over The Thaw and de-Stalinization and the Prague people promptly blew the statue up. Oh the efficiencies of the system.

I also got some killer postcards and affirmed my belief in the capitalist democratic system (like I needed it).

Following that, we trekked down the famous St. Wencelas square (where all the famous Prague Spring and Velvet Revolution footage is from) up to the infamous "MUZEUM" Well, yes, it may have it's own subway stop and may be an overarching feature in the main city landscape but I must say, this museum was a trip, to say the least. Even though it boasted on its facade to be the Museum of Bohemian History, it indeed was a natural history museum and by Bohemian history, they meant rocks and pottery. It did have a redeeming quality of having a "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" exhibit that basically included shoes from all over the world from all different periods mingled amongst a pirate ship, a prehistoric landscape, outer space, the Olympics, and a World War 2 setup. I can't really explain this any better, but believe me, it was bizarre and wonderful all at once.

That night we had big plans to go out and about but somehow somewhere along the line they fell by the wayside. Liane wanted to nap so Steve and I went down to the bar to hang out and Steve had every intention of working on his Mock Trial packet for his summer job, which I thought was cute. We got some beers and at some point i mentioned to Steve that he ought to try Absinthe at some point while we were there (it's illegal in most of the rest of Europe, although the stuff they have there is not real Absinthe, it's a watered down version of its hallucinogenic cousin) and despite his every intention of doing his work, he promptly got up to the bar and ordered a B52 (1/3 absinthe, 1/3 Baileys, and 1/3 Kahlua, I think). The bartender (who was seriously bordering on bat-poop crazy) insisted that I have one too, and even poured one out which pissed me off. I firmly abstained. No absinthe for me, thank you very much. Steve had his shot or whatever it was (which the crazy bartender tried failingly to light on fire to really make it badass) and then amazingly continued to his work. With equal randomness as his first trek to the bar, he got up randomly again and had the already poured second drink. This was a mistake. Within minutes I think it would be safe to say that Steve was drunk. And yet he valiantly continued working on his trial packet. That's dedication folks. I don't know how productive he was, though... Anyway, we also got into a nice little chat with our Northern Irish roommates who were quite amusing. He was kind enough to buy us a BMW (a drink consisting of baileys, Malibu, and....?) As the night wore on, an Aussie became interested in Steve and I (more me, obviously) and we had drinks I don't remember the name of and Steve got progressively more and more drunk and I remained on a surprisingly even keel. The Aussie turned out to be a dick (the Aussies, as it turns out are surpassed in uncouthness only by the English. Say what you will, but the Irish have consistently proven to be genial, nice, and friendly people without nasty side effects-- besides liver disease), but on an upside, he did have his drinks put on our tab and payed me 500 crowns, which was about 400 more than his drinks were worth. This, happily, ended up paying for most of our tab, which turned out to be quite expensive. Happy coincidence! Anyway, blah blah blah, an interesting and multicultural night in.

The next morning, I passed on following the agenda of the other two for the day because my ankle was in bad shape and I didn't feel like doing an inordinate amount of walking. I struck out on my own and had a very pleasant day seeing all the sights of Prague. I went up first to the castle which was not exactly what I was expecting. I suppose I was expecting more of a palace, which is what it looks like from afar, but it is indeed more of a castle. But not even that really. It's more of a castle grounds with a bunch of different buildings from different eras stuck together. There were two different churches, a row of quaint old shops, a tower that was once a jail, some random buildings used as museums, all of which collectively created a facade that looked like a castle / palace. I did learn a lot about the history of Bohemia there and was surprised (yes, this is rather ignorant of me) to find that Prague and the surrounding area actually has a very vibrant and lengthy history that goes back hundreds of years. Bohemia was actually the center of a lot going on in Europe (Prague was actually the capital of the Holy Roman Empire for years) and other interesting things. I guess because of the recent history of the country, I just as soon assume that it was always a bit downtrodden. Serves me right I guess.

Basically, what I've learned about Europe is that no matter where you go, big or small, everything is old and has an amazing history. This is so far from how things are in the US it's mind boggling. If you were to go to Philadelphia, yes, you would find a lot of history, but it would only be focusing on the United States and stretch roughly back to the 1700s. This is not the case for a place like, say, Des Moines, or Helena. Anywhere you go in Europe, you can find hundreds of years of history and in any given place there are bound to be multiple famous, well accomplished people hailing from that area. It's amazing sometimes and I often find that I don't even know where to begin. It's a shame really because I feel that unless I live in a place for a very extended period of time, I will never be able to really truly grasp all that has happened there. This is contrary to a place again like Philadelphia where a few class field trips just about covered it.

I digress. Following Prague Castle (which was actually up a very very big hill, which I was not expecting at all... maps don't show hills), I went a bit to St. Nicholas's Church, the other very famous building in Prague. I have to admit, my many different trips to Europe and the travelling that I have so far done here have somewhat dulled me to churches and cathedrals and I can't count below 1000000 how many figures/paintings/statues/sculptures I have seen of Jesus on the cross. I know this sounds spoiled and it probably is, but it's the truth. However, St. Nick's was an exception. Breathtaking probably doesn't even begin to describe it. The place is modest in size but big on beauty. So much shiny stuff a crow would just go mad! I put pictures up of it, but they're not that great. I wanted to see it with my own eyes not through a camera lens. (i've found, anyway, that all the nicest stuff can't be captured in pictures anyway, or, you're not allowed to have flash photography and it's all in semi-darkness and the pictures turn out terribly). It was definitely a great thing to see. It definitely gave a boost to the cathedral viewing experience.

Following St. Nick's (no, no santa), I walked through a bit of the town and over the Charles Bridge. This was not just a regular bridge. Like everything else in Prague, it was old, fancy, and well taken care of. There were people all over it and lots of touristy stands with paintings you might find along Central Park. The views were fantastic though and it was just another one of those things that one would normally take for granted (it's just a bridge), but on second look, I just had to think, man, it's so great that a city like this with such regular fancy things exists.

I was getting a little tired post bridge so I sat down in front of the Symphony Hall that was playing over loud speakers situated out front some classical music. The sun was shining brightly and it was a generally pleasant day (more nice weather!) and it was nice to just have a sit and check the scene out. The classical music added a very nice touch. Prague definitely knows how to present itself.

I headed over to the Jewish Quarter afterwards which wasn't all that spectacular. It, like the rest of the city, was very pretty with great architecture and it's unique Prague style, but I don't really understand the jewish part of it. It had a few synagogues, but barring that, it really wasn't much different from the rest of the city. It is interesting in that it is apparently the one wholly Jewish place that Hitler left more or less untouched. No one really knows why. Ok, I'm sure there are plenty of people who know why, but I am not one of them.

Luckily, after a walk down a little side street, I ended up where I intended which was the Old Town Square. Of course, on the way, I passed something that wildly piqued my interest called the "Sex Machine Museum" I did not go in, but did pick up a brochure in case anyone doubted me that such a place existed. Basically it was a museum dedicated to collecting sex toys / machines from the past couple centuries. There were a few examples in the brochure and I can only imagine what the rest of the place was like. Only in Europe.

Old Town Square was nice and it had the famous astronomical clock (which I didn't really understand, but it looked complicated and important) and Old Tyn Church. I headed into the church and I must say, after St. Nicks, it was a little lacking. Still quite nice obviously, but could have been better.

Travelling for the day by myself was a very nice change of pace. I took how long I wanted at places, went down whatever street I fancied, sat whenever I felt like it, and didn't have to have polite discussions about conceding to go wherever the other person wanted. Furthermore, and most importantly, I didn't spend an unnecessary amount on food. Why they insisted on doing this every day all day I don't understand. I got by on breakfast and dinner that day. I did not starve, I was not that hungry. 3 meals a day at 10+ a pop just isn't necessary. Being on vacation is not an excuse for lavish behaviour. It is an excuse to see and do, not eat. Maybe I'm just a far more seasoned traveler (yes, indeed, I am) to have realized this. Yes, I am being prissy, but this pissed me off.

Following that, I hung out at the hostel for a bit chatting with the Irish lad while I waited for Steve and Liane (who were quite late). We then just had a little dinner there and hung out for a bit. We decided that we should actually go out that night and our friend from BU who had previously done a semester in Dresden and had been to Prague suggested this 5 story club to us in the centre of town. We went there, and annoyingly got there 10 minutes after the entrance price went up about 4 dollars (which, needless to say, the other two just shrugged off). Inters tingly, coat check was free, but she did put a tip jar right in front of us before we walked away and basically told us to leave a tip. This also happened at the bar. It was extremely obnoxious.

As a side note, I've noticed that Prague is all about nickel and diming. Steve was ridiculously excited when he found out what the exchange rate into Czech Crowns was and how much food, etc was there. What he didn't realize is that (like the rest of Europe), it's impossible to get a free glass of water, they bring bread to the table without asking then charge you for it, service is terrible, and tips still expected. Furthermore, yes, on paper, the exchange rate is great. 17 Crowns to one dollar. But everything there is in the 100s of Crowns. Exchanging things mentally to figure out the price was a severe pain in the ass and it quickly became evident that no, things really weren't all that cheaper. Cheaper than the Euro and pound, but definitely no less (and in some cases more expensive) than anything in the US. Although, it did lead to a great joke about "dropping crowns like King Edward VIII" by Steve that had me giggling for a good 20 minutes and periodically throughout the trip.

Anyway, so we finally went out and we notice that the place was fairly empty, which made sense for the early hour, but the place in general was fairly cool. First, I should mention that throughout the day, there was apparently a large tour group of high schoolers from Italy in Prague that were all over the city. Welllll, they all found their way into the same club we were in. The over 18s were in a serious minority that night (unless, of course, you count the chaperons) and we were one of few people with actual drinks in our hand. They were everywhere. Another bizarre night of clubbing in Central Europe. Such is our luck. We did just hang out on our own and we had a nice little heart to heart amongst the disgusting haze of cigarette smoke prevalent all over Prague. (you never know how much you appreciate smoke free areas until you aren't in one)

Unfortunately, Liane and I had to get up at 4 am to check out and get out. That was crap to say the least, but we managed. The flight back from Munich to London was a bit of an adventure. It started off alright, but apparently Stansted (the airport we flew into) was experiencing 50mph winds which obviously led to a bit bumpy landing. It made Steve and Liane rather pale and Steve had to get out his barf bag and Liane looked like she was on the verge. I wasn't enjoying it either, more because I feared for my safety as opposed to my stomach. We landed fine, and I actually found myself thinking "hehe, that was kind of fun" My compatriots did not share my sentiment.

Overall, I'm extremely glad I made it to Prague. It was definitely worth checking out and different enough from the rest of Europe to feel like I was really going places. Furthermore, it was the first country I had gone to on this trip that I hadn't already been to, which is always exciting.

For all my avid fans that are wondering about the Pepsi situation, I am here to tell you that all of Europe has been taken over by Coke. I saw various pepsi signs throughout my travels, but the product turned out to be elusive. And no, I'm not that into pepsi, and I've been fine without it, but it is a curiosity.

Being a tourist is hard. It's about a billion times more walking than I do in any other day and it's a lot of planning. I said outright to Liane and Steve that it makes me appreciate what my mom did when planning and executing these trips just so much more. She's a serious wonderwoman. Thanks, mom. :-)

On that tribute, I must conclude
-Kate

Bayern Munchen

Spring Break update!! I know you've all been waiting with bated breath, so I shan't keep you waiting.

Last Saturday (the 22nd), Liane, Steve and I, set off on our Central European journey. Getting to the airports here is a pain in the ass as I've already discussed, but we made it one piece. The EasyJet flight (a budget airline in Europe) was actually really nice. Smooth and quiet and quick. We got to pick our own seats so we all sat together. The only bummer was that I lost my phone on the flight, it came out of my pocket. To make a long story short, I did end up getting it back when I returned to London, which was totally awesome!

When we arrived in Munich, we took the Subway (S-bahn / U-bahn) into town and our Hostel was right across the street from one of the big stations which was really nice. Travel is very tiring, so we decided to take it easy that night and just hang out at the hostel. This proved to be a huge mistake, but more on that later. Instead, we just got some beer (which was cheap and good) at the Hostel bar and then called it a night. Actually, no, first we had a midnight munchie run at McDonalds where I had a few fries and steve downed a Big Mac in appx 6 seconds along with his McDonald's beer (brand unknown, but it was awful). Then we called it a night.

I didn't particularly like that hostel. It was extremely crowded, loud, and boisterous. It was a good location with a good staff, but in my opinion, the whole point of a hostel is to sleep, and I found that a near impossibility here. Whether people were coming in and out, leaving early, packing, SNORING (ok guys, you snore, especially after you've been drinking, and you know you do, so why not be courteous and do something about it-- sleep on your back, breathe-right strips, anything--instead of making everyone else in the room suffer!?) and the like. Also, there were skylights and the light shone in very early. Furthermore, my bed (and my bed only) didn't have a blanket, so it was a chilly night. But other than that, the place was fairly clean and the security was good, so it wasn't the worst. Luckily, we were moving hostels the next day due to a change in price and availability for the three of us.

The next hostel was two doors down from the one we stayed in the first night which was awesome. This one was much quieter, with more space and more privacy (except in the showers but that was easily fixed by taking the first or last stall so no one walked by you). It was definitely not a party hostel so most people were asleep early and stayed asleep, which was awesome. No snoring either :-) Double bonus that there was a really cute Aussie in the room. Liane and Steve were convinced he was crushing on me. I'm not so sure.

So, our first day in Munich consisted of doing our own little walking tour from a guide book we had brought. It took us up to all the Pinokatechs (Painting museums) and because of my serious dislike of modern art (And Steve's), we only went to the one with old traditional paintings. It was nice, I do like art, although everything was in German and there was no audio guide, so it was a bit rough to figure out what we were looking at, although we did catch some famous artists which is always cool. We kept walking around in the general area and our guide book told us of all the old Nazi relics that were once in Munich. Needless to say, they were long gone at this point. They even unpaved the granite square where Hitler used to hold rallies and put in grass. I completely understand why they do this, but it is unfortunate. We were going to see the balcony where the 1938 Munich conference (where they gave Czechoslovakia to Hitler) took place, but we never got around to it.

That afternoon, we went to the Englisch Garten which is this huge garden in the North-east of the city and was absolutely beautiful with various streams and pathways. It was a gorgeous day, so we definitely lucked out. Everyone was out and about and we didn't even need a coat (we had to take them back to the hostel at one point because it was too warm to carry them!). The Englisch Garten was a lot of fun. Hofbrauhaus has a few stands near the Chinese Pavilion with tons of benches. Everyone was out there eating pretzels (breze) and drinking beer (bier) and just generally enjoying the Sunday afternoon. Steve got the litre of bier (the special kind they only make during Lent, it's made extra strong to make up for the fact that it's Lent) and I stuck to my pint+ of Weissbier (my new favourite bier). Liane abstained. The breze I got was about as big as my head, if not bigger and I split it with steve (who needless to say got fairly buzzed after his litre... on a Sunday afternoon, tsk tsk). It was delicious, although I had much better later on in the trip.
A thing about Munich (and apparently all of Germany) that could stand to change is that everything is closed on Sundays. All the pharmacies (Apotheke), most cafes, etc are closed. Not cool, Germany. Get with the times. You're a secular country last time I checked.
We actually had dinner at the Hofbrauhaus. It was late-ish, but still had all the charm. The Bayern Munchen vs Hamburg soccer game was that day so the place was packed and we unfortunately had to take a seat in the back areas. They had also run out of some of the food, but I still got some really good sausages, ein breze und ein Weissbier. Very delicious. German food + Kate Seif = Win. I did discover though that "weiner" apparently means Vienna in German. I'd be lying if I didn't say that was a big disappointment.

Following dinner, we decided to head out on the town. We were sorely mistaken when we thought Munich would be like other European cities. We wandered about, asked at the hostel, couldn't find a single thing. Munich's night life, not so much. London has definitely spoiled us. Munich doesn't even have a night transportation system. (What?!) So we hung out in the hostel bar where we met two German guys (one for Hamburg, one for Munich) that we struck up a convo with. It is always funny when Europeans try to explain to Americans the US elections and US policies. I got into a semi-argument with this guy (not really, because I ignored him after 2 seconds) about Hillary's policies amongst other things. He also made fun of the way Americans talk. I realized later that when arguing with Germans, basically anyone else has the ultimate trump card when it comes to political discussions (can anyone guess what it is?!), but I refrained from ever using it. He was also pissed that in 2001 he wanted to go to America, but they wouldn't let him go without finger prints. If that's going to piss you off, don't let terrorists through your country. Duh. Steve claims he was trying to hit on me and just doing a very bad job at it (I disagree, but if he's right, gross). Liane was engrossed in a conversation with two American boys studying in Europe on vacation. It was an OK night, could have been better.

Monday we started the day off by heading to the Marienplatz and seeing the Glockenspiel. I had seen it before and vaguely remembered the gist of it. But it was much more funny to see it with friends. The whole thing was kind of a joke and we spent the rest of the trip randomly referring to it and the distant "caw" of the Cuckoo and anytime there was something to celebrate about, we said "the plague is over!" and spun around in slow jerky circles. Seriously. But we saw it, along with the packed Marienplatz. We also were able to find a nice pastry shop which had delectable treats. Very very good. Another point for German cuisine.
That afternoon we went to the Residenz which is basically the Palace where the Bavarian kings lived. It was really beautiful (as most palaces are). We had an audio tour, but it was extremely long winded and mostly about the art of the place as opposed to the history. It took us quite a while to get through it. We headed next door to the Treasury afterwards which is full of crowns and jewels and other neat things from Bavarian history.
I realized that next time I go to a place I need to learn more about it's basic history so things make more sense whilst there. I got the general idea, though. Overall, admissions were really cheap in Germany, which was great. Europe in general actually believes in the idea that students should get discounts. Score one for Europe... America, take a hint.

We left the central town that day and found ourselves a very nice Italian restaurant decently priced. It of course took forever because service all over Europe is just painfully slow. Also, about 1/2 way through our meal, a couple walks in with a dog and sits down next to us. Yup, that's right, there was a dog 2 feet away from me in a restaurant as I ate. Mmmm.

So finally, we were going to have a night on the town. There's a specific place we were told to go near Ostbanhof called Kultfabrik (don't ask?) that was a huge collection of clubs. We headed over, found it fairly easily and the weirdness ensued.
First of all, this place wasn't just like a neighbourhood where there happened to be a lot of clubs. Oh no, it was every club in Munich in one designated area. On busier nights (weekend) you apparently even have to pay entry. It was extremely reminiscent of a fair. There were places for lockers to put your stuff, little food shops here and there. And row after row of club. In our case, row after row of closed clubs. I would have loved to see that place in its prime. The concept was extremely interesting and we definitely regret not going out that Saturday to see it. Anyway, we stumbled into the first place we heard music and it was this really nice club with a big bar, very trendy, lots of lights. One problem, it was completely empty. We got coupons for a free drink (which turned out to be a bottle of cheap champagne) and so we sat and waited to see if other people would come. The bartender said that usually the place gets going later. We requested a song, danced to it, finished our drinks, then realized that being in a club by yourself is probably the lamest thing you can do, and headed out. We found what was basically the only other club open and were pleasantly surprised to find people!
They did card me, which, um, what? If Liane doesn't get carded, I shouldn't be, seriously. Anyway, the music was good, if not straying towards the 80s (as is usually the case in Europe). They played Mambo #5 and it actually reminded me of Grandma and I boogied for the rest of her night in her honour. I know she would be happy, someone feel free to tell her that. Most importantly, the drinks were cheap and delicious. Apparently whilst in the process of getting carded, someone saw that I was from PA and later his friend came up to me, a Jersey boy and said something in German. Which I thought was stupid because he was from Jersey, knew I was from PA and I can only imagine what it was he said. Hopefully nothing lewd, but I'll just pretend it was something nice. Anyway, I hung out with him for awhile and discovered he was stationed in Germany with the US Army (oh yes folks, they always seem to find me, and I couldn't be happier about that..... loves it!) doing some engineering training or something. He kind of had the same sarcastic personality as me which was enjoyable (i.e. sarcastic). Here's something novel though that Europeans need to catch up on: he bought me drinks. Yes that's right, it does happen somewhere in the world. American guys (and to some extent Australians) know that it's just courteous if you're chatting up a girl to buy her a damn drink. Thank goodness there is still some club etiquette somewhere in the world.
Anyway, to make a long story short, perhaps he bought me one too many drinks (although I did delegate some to Steve) and somehow the night ended in a blur of some taxi ride, me apparently being hilarious and loud, but not sloppy!, and then somehow bed.

The next morning could have been better. We had to wake up early in time to check out, and Steve left early in order to catch his flight (he had a different one from us). We were extremely slow going out of the hostel (I was unable to eat any breakfast for seemingly unknown reasons...) but once Liane and I hit the fresh air it was go!

We headed back to Marienplatz just to see if we could find some touristy thing to do and get lunch. I had a delicious bowl of tomato soup at a cafe that really helped my condition. Liane had a crazy ice cream concoction (that was this place's specialty). Germany knows what it's doing when it comes to food.

Before I continue, you should know that the transportation system in Germany is very nice and also, we had thought, somewhat free. No one punched tickets before they walked on no one really bought tickets and there was in general no check on this. We hopped on the bandwagon and we, too, rode for free. This turned out to be a bad idea. It, for whatever reason, didn't exactly occur to us that most people would probably have monthly passes. We were also (legitimately) confused as to how to use the tickets (you buy one, get it stamped in the entrance machines once, then hold onto it until it is no longer valid). Had we understood all that, we probably wouldn't have tried to cheat the system. Well, yes, it came back to bite Liane and I in the ass. In what was an extremely embarrassing moment, as we were riding the tram, on the stop before we were to get off, plain clothed people hopped on and promptly asked to see tickets. Obviously, we did not have one, and fining commenced. I was vaguely pleased to note that there definitely other German people who didn't have tickets. I think the guy thought we were just naive tourists (As opposed to wily, cheap tourists) and fined us 1/2 the amount (20 euro each). It sucked, but we kind of deserved it. Lesson learned and believe you me, we bought tickets from then on. It actually turns out that for how much we rode it for free that the 20 Euro was not a terrible deal. Ohhh well. :-/ Sorry, Munich. They did make us miss our stop though. Poop.
When we finally got off the tram, we wandered back to where we originally intended and saw the Bavarian Parliament (although you can't really go into it) and finally saw that damn perpetual river wave (that people were actually surfing on!) that we had been searching for for days. It was neat. Liane and I then stumbled across the Bavaria museum which was full of art (mostly sculptures) really well preserved from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. There were also about 3million statues/statuettes of St. George and the dragon which puzzled us as we thought St. George was the patron Saint of England. Apparently, as I learned when I got back, he's the patron Saint of about 20 nations (not Germany) and he's kind of a big deal in general. Still couldn't figure out why so popular in Germany though.

We headed back to the Marienplatz area and Liane wanted to check out this place called Viktualnmarkt (food market) that turned out to be a great find. It was full of stalls with the freshest looking fruits, piles of meat and cheese and every other goodie you could imagine. There was a shop devoted entirely to honey and I saw some soap bars that said "Seife" on them. That, along with the general atmosphere made me feel just somewhat at "home" I know I'm not 100% German, and it spans back quite a few generations, but I just like Germany a lot. It fits right.
Unfortunately, we had just eaten, but we resolved to go back there on Friday for lunch.

At that point, it was pretty much time to collect our things and head to the airport.

Unfortunately, our flight back to Munich on Friday left Prague at about 715, which meant 4 am wake up call. Ick. When we got to the airport, we were insanely tired and had to take a nap on the benches, which actually wasn't that bad, and made me feel like a bona fide traveller. The nap was a great idea, and we might not have survived without it. It was also raining and very cold as soon as we got in (only bit of bad weather!), so we kind of slept through that and it was better when we woke up and headed to the city.

We went to the Viktualnmarkt for lunch and I got a delicious meat sandwich (that's right, just how I like it, no condiments, no frills, just give me the good stuff), a breze, and a giant juicy pickle, all at separate stalls and all for a great price. Mmmm. Perfect lunch.

We had planned on going to the Nymphenburg palace, but discovered that it closed earlier than we had thought, and it was a bit far away, so we decided to go to BMW Welt (World) instead. The place is a serious architectural masterpiece and full of BMWs, obviously. We went on the plant tour (yes, girls touring a car factory), which wasn't necessarily our thing, but was really interesting all the same. It was also neat to see the sea of robots working in tandem and doing their thing.

We actually ran into Steve at the BMW place and poked around there for a little bit more then headed right next door to see Olympic Park. It was dark and we couldn't see much, and frankly, at this point, it really is just two stadiums.

At that point, we headed back to the airport to conclude our journey. The lines were ridiculously long, so good thing we got there early.

I did notice that compared to London, the people in Germany are soo nice (although, being nicer than a Londoner isn't exactly a feat). Very helpful, all with great English and just generally more pleasant. It was a nice change of pace. I also noticed, more importantly for my future, that German is a very hard language. Because English is a Germanic language, you can kind of get the idea if you really dissect the word, but pronunciation is certainly another matter. Also, they do this thing wher They Randomly capitalize some of Their letters. What is up with that? I will be glad when I finally figure out the rhyme and reason behind this. Despite that, it did make me very excited to be in Berlin this summer. It will be difficult, but it will clearly also kick ass. How can I not like the land of beer, pretzels, meat, and Haribo (the gummy worm / bear company!)?

In general, Euros are a better deal. As I said, museum admissions were cheaper, various this and that were cheaper, although food is not. In general, food was obnoxious. Liane and Steve had no problem dropping money on food all the time, but it really pissed me off. You don't need to spend 15 dollars at every meal, that's disgusting. Neither of them really paid attention to me about that throughout the entire trip and I was generally forced to spend far more money that necessary throughout the week. It actually really pissed me off and was a constant point of contention. I always lost though, which was fabulous.

This concludes my Munich adventure. I will write more about Prague after a typing break *phew* Perhaps tomorrow.

-Kate

Spring Break Photos

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Blog update hopefully coming later today.