Spring Break Part 1

Who Say's You Can't Be 3 Places at Once...East Side Gallery, Berlin Wall Germany

      Ciao, Bonjour, Hallo, Hola, Begroeting! First off, let me start by saying, sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I decided to stay in Florence the past three weekends so there was not much to write about (other than the mass amount of food I consumed). However, one thing I finally got around to was climbing 463 steps to the top of the Duomo. I can check that off my tourist in Florence list √√√.  After my three weeks off from traveling, I traveled more of Europe than I could imagine in just 10 days during my spring break. I’ve decided that because this is going to be such a long post, I am going to write this post in two parts. So brace yourself, this is going to be a long one.

463 steps later...Meg and I at the top of the Duomo

First German Beer and Pretzel

Over spring break I got to travel to five different countries in just 10 days (hence all the ways to say hello at the beginning of this post). Megan, Katherine, and I decided to book our spring break trip though a bus tour group called Bus2Alps. This was the same tour group that we traveled to Switzerland with in the past. The trip was called the Western Loop. After my last exam Thursday, I couldn’t have been more ready for a break. Thursday night we loaded the bus with 138 other students and headed to our first destination, Berlin, Germany. Originally, the bus ride was suppose to be 12 hours through the night, which is a lot considering there was only enough leg room for a small child, however, our bus ride quickly became a 16 hour bus ride once the bus in front of us got a flat tire. This also caused us to arrive to Berlin 5 hours late, which was disappointing. When we finally got off the bus I could not have been more tired, happy, excited, and exhausted. With only three hours of sleep, we ran to get ready for our tour of the city. I knew very little about Berlin and it was very interesting to learn about the history of the city and the role Berlin had in WWII. On the tour we were taken to the Jewish WWII Memorial, the city square (where we got to see the hotel that Michael Jackson played Lion King with his baby), the bunker where Hitler stayed/died, a part of the Berlin wall, and more. After, the tour Megan and I ran into a group of students that were also on the Western Loop. We were all were looking for a place to eat so we decided that we should stick together (mostly because I was the only one with the 3G and Google maps to get us back to the hostel). We all stumbled upon an authentic German restaurant where we experienced our first German beers, pretzels, and sausages. After that night we decided that we should all stick together for the remainder of the trip…one of the kids went as far as to name us “The Wolf Pack” aka “The WP” (which by habit is what I will be referring to the group as in the rest of this post). That night, the group was exhausted. The only thing on all of our minds was sleep, and that is exactly what we did.

 Berlin City Center

Jewish Memorial

Meg and I at the East Berlin Gallery

            The next day we meet up with The WP and took a subway to the Berlin Wall East Gallery. This was the part of the wall where commissioned artists were hired to paint murals on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The artwork was amazing! After walking the mile long stretch of artwork, The WP decided to sign the Berlin Wall to “make our mark”. After, we decided to go to the Jewish Memorial Museum, underneath the Jewish Memorial. It was very eye opening, and put in to perspective just how many lives were affected during WW2. After the memorial, The WP went to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner. This was a stereotypical “authentic” German restaurant that included, stereotypical German food, German dresses, pretzels, music, and liter sized mugs of beer. Megan’s 21^st Birthday was the next day so we made sure to let everyone in the restaurant know that it was Meg’s Birthday.  

Signing the Berlin Wall

Sydney and I at the Hofrauhaus

Meg's Bus Celebration

That night we were told to load up the bus at 11:30pm so that we could leave at 12:00am (aka Meg’s 21’st Birthday). Because we were going to be on a bus for her big night, I was determined to make sure that she had the best bus birthday that anyone could ever had. After dinner, Drew and I, a member of the Wolf Pack set off to find Meg a “Birthday Cake”. This was no easy task at 10pm. We finally stumbled upon a Dunkin Donuts and decided that was the best we were going to find. I got Meg a vanilla muffin with vanilla frosting and green sprinkles on top (sounds like a cupcake to me). Also, before we went to the Hofbrauhaus I was able to sneak off and find a bottle of Champaign, balloons, birthday candles, and party horns. I secretly handed them out to all the people on the bus (that were willing to participate) and told them to “go crazy” when the clock struck 12. Surprisingly, everyone was just as excited as I was to make Meg’s Birthday special. At 11:59pm everyone counted down to her birthday then went crazy. Balloons ere flying, people were cheering, music was playing (thanks to the bus driver), people we dancing, horns were blowing, Meg popped her bottle of Champaign and blew out her candles. It may not have been an average 21’st but it was defiantly one for the books. After the short festivities occurred we settled in and set of for Amsterdam.

  

"a" is for Allie

Meg, Katherine, and I attempting
to take a picture in front of the sign

At 8:30am we arrive in Amsterdam. The bus driver opened the doors and all of Meg’s balloons few out into the street, where little kids went crazy trying to chase them. Our tour was at 10’oclock, so we quickly dropped off our things, got ready, ate breakfast and went on our tour. Before arriving to Amsterdam I knew about nothing other than the “coffee shops” and the Red Light District. During the tour we learned about how Amsterdam had more canals and bridges than Venice, why the houses were leaning, abou the history of Amsterdam, and about the Anne Frank house. After, we adventured to the i.a.m.s.t.e.r.d.a.m. sign to take our typical tourist picture. Let me tell you, getting on top of those letters is harder than it looks. You had to jump and climb on to slippery metal letters, but we managed to get on top. That night, we had the “brilliant” idea to celebrate Meg’s 21’st in the Red Light District…Never. Again. The Red Light District is not all that it is cracked up to be. Although it is considered the safest city in the Netherlands, it still gives you the creeps walking though the dark and eerie town surrounding a giant church. The idea of celebrating in the RLD was short lived and we quickly adventured elsewhere. After numerous attempts to find a fun bar to celebrate in, we gave up and decided to wander some more. At the end of the night we ended up at the i.a.m.s.t.e.r.d.a.m sign once again, this time, it was completely empty…and when life hands you a completely empty i.a.m.s.t.e.r.d.a.m sign, you make sure you jump on top of it and take a picture. So we did.

A Few Members of The WP on top of the "a.m"

Reenactment of The Struggle to Get on Top

Red Light District During the Day

Student Artists Paint Apartment Streets

Me on top of the i.a.m.s.t.e.r.d.a.m sign at night

The Slanted Houses of Amsterdam

One of the Amsterdam Canals

The Anne Frank House

        The next morning, we woke up extremely early to be the first in line to tour the Anne Frank House. Being able to tour the house that I have read/learned about so many times in school was extremely enlightening and inspiring. It really put into perspective all that I had learned about in the past. I would recommend this tour to anyone who goes, no matter how long the line. After, we decided to lighten the mood by eating the stereotypical food of the Netherlands…. pancakes. However, the pancakes in Amsterdam are not your typical American pancakes. They are more like crepes with anything you can imagine inside of them. Over spring break, Meg and I decided to adopt the mindset of, “Hey we’re only in each country for a few days, so we have to eat all of the stereotypical foods of each country and can’t say no” and that is exactly what we did…and I have no regrets. If there is ever a time in your life that you’re going to gain weight, it better be when you’re abroad right?! That being said, my pancake was filled with bananas and whip cream and “drizzled” with chocolate…Yes, I finished the whole thing….Yes, it was in less than 5 minutes…No, I have no regrets. After we stuffed ourselves, we went to the Heineken house for our beer tour of the factory. It was there I discovered that Heineken is to Europe as Budweiser is to America. After the Heineken tour, we took a free Heineken boat tour around the canals of Amsterdam, and then explored more of the city. That night, Meg, Katherine, and 2 other girls form The WP decided to take a guided tour of the RLD. This was much more informational and entertaining than the night before. We were able to learn how to RDL was established, why it is legal, how it works, and we got to see things I wish to never see again. Once the tour was over, we decided to turn in early because we had to leave at 7am to go to Brussels and Paris the next morning.

            So because this post was somewhat long and dry, I decided I will share with you one of the clumsiest moments I had experienced that night. That night on the walk home to our hostel I had one of the clumsiest moments of my life. In order to cross the street you have to quickly cross a bike path, a street, and tram tracks. Right after a car passed we quickly ran across the bike path, and little did I realize, the tram tracks are slightly higher than the bike path and road. I run, trip, and fall face first on the tram tracks…My phone goes flying, I go rolling and end up on my stomach with my feel over my head like a scorpion.  Keep in mind; I am still lying on top of tram tracks. At this point I know all of my friends had just witnessed me completely eat it, however, instead of anyone asking, “Are you alright?!”, my roommates, that are dying of laughter start YELLING at me to get up! Not, “Oh my gosh! Are you okay! Let me help you!”, No their response was more like, “GET UP!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? HAHAHA!!! ” Struggling to move, holding back tears, yet laughing so hard, I panic to get up thinking a tram in coming to squish me…I jump up, and frantically run across the street. Once I get to the other side I look around, and there is not a car or tram in sight… all that panic for nothing. That incident still is talked about and laughed about to this day.

            So this is where I will conclude part one of my spring break blog. As always, I learned many things this half of the spring break trip. The first thing I learned is that when traveling with a bus company across Europe, plan for the worse. Expect minimal legroom, many dumb movies, unexpected delays, and when traveling…. bring LOTS OF DRAMIMINE! I also learned that no matter where you are when you turn 21, you can always have an awesome birthday celebration, and a muffin will work just fine as a cupcake.. Also, when life hands you the food that is custom to the country, you don’t pass it up, your diet can always start tomorrow. Lastly, when you walk across tram tracks in Amsterdam, watch out for the raised tram tracks, because you will trip and fall and your roommates will laugh at you and not ask if you are okay. So that is all for now! I will try to write my next blog post by the end of the week! Sorry for the wait! I will try be more consistent from here on out. Hope you had a great Easter weekend!