Our First Day in Dublin, Ireland 10-6-08

When I arrived back to America, I decided not to finish my blog since it was so far behind, and I could just tell people about the trip. Well, that's a lie. There is no way I can express to a million people a day how amazing this trip was for me. Because of this and the overwhelming amount of people asking me about my blog, I have decided to complete it. No matter how long it takes me. (fingers crossed) I will be pretending I am actually on the trip and writing about my day through these.

You will never believe where I slept last night. In fact, a few weeks ago, I would have never believed someone if they told me I would have to sleep here. As a poor college student, I had to get out of my comfort zone. Our flight in the morning was supposed to leave at like 8 a.m. or something, meaning we had to be at the airport around 6. Due to the lack of transportation from Verviers to Brussels this early in the morning, we had to leave home the night before. If we were going to get any sleep at all, we had to rough it on the floor... in the airport... and hope that our stuff and more importantly, ourselves, made it through the night. This is not the best part, though. The floor was ice cold and who knows what is unseen waiting for an innocent victim. Casey, one of the girls with us, and I had the bright idea of sleeping in these plastic bins nearby. When they stacked together, they gave just enough cushion to be better than the concrete. The problem was how small they were. We didn't completely fit in them, but it was better than nothing. I assume you have guessed what these bins were by now. Yes, we slept in the same bins that take a stroll through radioactive x-ray machines multiple times a day.

We didn't really have many plans for today in Dublin. We just wanted to get a feel of the city and see how the locals spend there time, basically. That night we met up with some of our friends who also were in Dublin. (We are on free travel at this point. I am traveling with my friends Haylee, Alisha, and Megan for the next two weeks.) Our goal was to eat at Weyland's Pub where "P.S. I Love You" was filmed. There was a fee to get in, and we weren't sure what that meant. Instead we ran into a guy named Barry (which is pronounced "Bar (as in the place where you drink) - ee). It's Irish. We talked for a while, and he asked us if we wanted to go eat with him. We hesitated, but there was only one of him and eight of us. Plus, one thing the students who came last year suggested was to get to know the locals. He took us to a restaraunt that ended up being really good. There was a band playing right in front of us, too!
Sleeping in the bins. We actually weren't asleep yet.

Free Day #2 in Athens (9-28-08)

The School of Athens and me and Abbe

The Olympic Pool

We enjoyed the beach so much that we wanted to go again today. The only problem was the weather. It ended up being fine. We went to see the School of Athens where Socrates taught Plato who taught Aristotle who taught Alexander the Great. We also went to the Library of Athens. I wanted to go in both of these so bad, but it is not permitted. When we left this area, we went to the 2004 Olympic Stadium. We saw the pool that Michael Phelps swam in! This area believe it of not is pretty much abandoned. Athens spent so much money to build all these stadiums, but only like 1/7 of the amount of people they expected came. They cannot afford to keep them up and pay off their debt. This means there are brand new stadiums all over Athens with no purpose but to sit. The one we went to was probably more kept up than normal, because Madonna had a concert there the night before.

Free Day #1 in Athens (9-27-08)

Before leaving Greece, we were given 2 free days to see everything else we had not gotten to see yet. The first day, Abbe, Sam, Tori, Bailey, and I decided to hit the beach. We figured it was our last chance to get a tan this year. Well a tan was not all I got. We had to take a bus from our hotel to the beach. There was just one problem. We had no idea how to pay. There was supposed to be a place beside the stop where we could buy tickets, but we never found it. We hopped on about 4 different buses without paying for them. I don't even want to think what would happen if we had gotten caught. On the bus we passed a lot of beaches. We were not sure which one to get off at, but lucky for us. There was a woman in front of us who had on a cover-up, flip flops, and a big bag. Jokingly I said, "Hey, let's follow her!" I spoke too soon. Next thing we knew, she was screaming at the man beside her. It was all Greek to me. Then she started hitting him and his bag. Instead of hitting her back, he just walked to the back of the bus to avoid the situation. None of us knew what was going on. I was mildly freaking out, thinking to myself, "We are in close coriders on a moving vehicle. What if she pulls out a gun?!" What happened next, I couldn't believe. She started walking towards me! My heart started racing. Then I realized, "Alex, you're stupid. You're standing by the door. Her stop is coming up." Well that's a joke. Apparently the 3 foot space in between her and I was not enough for her to fit through. She starts screaming at me, and then... She slapped my bare arm!!! The same anger raged in me that I would get years ago when Warren would hit me. I wanted to hit her back so bad. I had to use a great deal of self-control. What was mainly stopping me was that I sure was scared what would happen if I did hit her back. Lucky for us, her stop really was the next one. When we got off a few stops later, I had a red hand print on my arm. Go figure. When we finally got to the beach, we had a nice relaxing day. I needed it after that adventurous bus ride.

Delphi (9-26-08)

The navel of the universe.

The ancient olympic track.

Today we went to Delphi which is the center of the ancient world, according to Zeus. Zeus wanted to know where the center of the world was so he let out two birds. Where they met must have been the center. He called it the navel of the universe, or Delphi. There is a rock here that is supposed to represent the navel. Apparently outis were more common then, because that is what this rock looks like. We climbed a mountain to see the ancient city. We got to see the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Treasury of the Athenians, and an ancient track probably used in the ancient Olympics. We went to an Archaeological Museum.



For lunch we had a cheese-egg pastry for an appetiser, chicken kabobs, rice, salad, and baklava. It was amazing!

Athens (9-23-08)

I did not realize I skipped this one until I just now so that's why these are out of order.

This morning we walked up to the Acropolis. We got to see the Parthenon! We also saw this olive tree that was "planted by Athena." Whatever. There was a competition between Athena and Poseidon to find out what the people were going to name their city. Athena planted an olive tree and Poseidon gave them water. The people voted. There was one more woman than men. The vote was biased, and Athena won. The women never got to vote again. Anyways, this is why Athens is called Athens.

When we left, we went to Mars Hill. This is where Paul spoke to the Athenians in Acts 17. Dr. Johnson read this passage while we were up there. It has a whole other meaning to me now.

Corinth, Mycenae, and Epidaurus (9-25-08)

The Bema. Paul was tried right here in front of it.

The Epidaurus Theatre

This morning on our way to Corinth, we stopped to see the Corinthian Canal. It was sooo deep.

I really expected more in Corinth, but all we saw was ruins. These were really neat ruins, because Paul walked here. He came to this market. We stood in front of the Bema. This was the seat of Gallio who and where Paul was brought to be tried in Acts 18. How cool is that! I stood where I know for sure Paul stood!

In Mycenae we visited the prehistoric citadel fortified by walls supposedly built by Cyclopes. This is where we saw the famous Lioness Gate. We saw more ruins here. The best part about this one is that we had the opportunity to hike up a huge hill. Yes! In real life though, it was a very beautiful view.

Epidaurus was my all time favorite part. Here we went to the best-preserved ancient theatre in all of Greece. It is famous for it's acoustics. It can hold 12,000 people. We sat on the top row, and we could hear our tour guide drop coins down in the bottom. Casey, Lauren, Elise, and Haylee Wheeler sang "It is Well." The acoustics were amazing. It was so beautiful. To make it better, they all have amazing voices. They are all a part or have been a part of Freed's chorus group. Later we all went down and sang "The Greatest Commands." It was the most beautiful singing I have ever heard. I know we touched people, because I could read it all over a couple's faces that were watching us. A random lady even videoed us a little bit.

Sometime during the day, we had an amazing lunch. We had a lasagna souffle for an appetizer, salad, lamb and potatoes for a main course, and ice cream for dessert. Mmm...

Grecian Cruise (9-24-08)

Today was my favorite day in Greece. We spent basically the whole day on a boat while we traveled to three different islands: Poros, Hydra, and Aegina respectively. This is how I viewed Greece before I got here. I thought it would all be like Greece in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. I sure was wrong. These islands were so cute with their white and blue buildings and all the donkeys just waiting to carry you up the hill. Going to the islands was not the best part, though. The best part was the cruise around. For starters, we got a meal! And we got to eat first. That was awesome, because the people in Greece eat a late lunch. When I say late lunch, I mean that our tour guide would look at us like we were crazy when we asked, "How much longer 'til lunch? It's past 1:00!" That is still not the best part. Here it is. Are you ready for this?... We learned how to Greek dance! It was so much fun! After we were taught how, a man and two women came out and did a whole show for us. They were so good. I loved it!

First Day in Greece (9-22-08)

If I could describe this morning in one word, it would be "death." We had to wake up so early to leave Verviers by 5 so that we could catch the plane at 9. When we were walking along the train station platform, I was really scared I was going to fall in, because I am pretty positive I was falling asleep while I was walking. In the long run, this morning of death was worth it.
When we had arrived in Athens and settled into our hotel, Tori, Bailey, Abbe, and I walked around. We stopped to get a pita, or as the Greeks call them, gyros, and took them to the Temple of Zeus to have a pic-nic.

Weekend in Switzerland

Sorry that these pictures are sideways.



The group... from bottom to top: Domenik, another guide, me, Bailey, Alisha, Joseph, another guide. I don't know where Megan is.


September 19-21, 2008





This weekend was originally supposed to be booked full of classes. Part of what I love about this trip is how classes really don't matter too much. As you may have guessed, classes were cancelled! Bailey, Megan, Alisha, Joseph, and I took this opportunity to go to Interlaken, Switzerland. Hands down, this has been my favorite trip. Why you ask? Because we went paragliding! This is huge, not because of how cool that is, but because I am terrified of heights and falling. This really wasn't scary at all though. We just ran about four paces down a steep hill (Oh, and I hate running down hills.) and the wind took us. Luckily, I chose the perfect guide. He was cute, young, and had an awesome personality. His name is Domenik. He having a good personality was the best part, because it's very hard to keep a conversation while gliding with a complete stranger for 20 minutes. He even let me drive for a while. It was so cool! I really want to go skydiving now. Well anyways, after gliding over the beautiful scenery for a while, it was time to land. Landing was the best part! To land, Domenik pulled one side of the parachute really hard so we spun really fast. We were basically falling with extreme Gforce. I started getting a headache, but I was not going to be a whimp and make him stop. He kept telling me when we got off that I am a crazy girl. Apparently no one lets him spin so much. I loved it!

Normandy

September 15, 2008

A boat that the American soldiers would have traveled in through the English Channel.

A one man German bunker.

An example of what the boats and men would have to dodge.

I was standing at the shore when I took this picture. This is to give an idea of how far the American men had to run for their lives.

We had to get up at the buttcrack of dawn this morning, but it was worth it. We traveled all over northern France along the English channel to the D-day beaches. I don't remember which ones we went to or if we went to all of them, but I know we walked along Omaha Beach where Saving Private Ryan took place. These American men, who were my age, had to run along an obstacle course beach avoiding German bullets from the cliff in front of them. I walked from the edge of the water to the cliff just to get a feel for how long they had to run for their lives. It was a pretty good distance. We also went to one of the beaches that had craters and German bunkers all around it. It was really neat to go through it, but not so neat to imagine young mean being attacked by bombs that left such big craters. After all the beaches, we went to a cemetery where many of the American soldiers laid to rest.

Musee D'Orsay, Musee du Louvre, Sacre Coeur

September 9, 2008

We started today off with Musee D'Orsay. Here we saw some works of Monet, Van Gogh, etc. I saw a lot of paintings that I have seen in books before. It's always more exciting when I see something I recognize.

We also went to Musee du Louvre this morning. Since I have been here before, I went with one of my friends to do other things. (Well, after we saw some of the more famous works.) Joanna and I went to La Defense to see La Grande Arch. I have always wanted to see this building so this was very exciting. It is a large hollow box that has 1,000's of offices in it. It is like the modern l'Arc de Triomphe.

We worshipped at a local congregation. I really liked it. The preacher spoke about how even though we are across the world from each other, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ.

When we left church, we rode a funicular to the top of Montemartre to see Sacre Coeur. We didn't actually go in as a group like we always do. We more so just walked around and enjoyed the scenery. We could see all of Paris from the top. We also got amazing crepes and then went pretty much across the city in search of Pizza Hut. We found it and greatly appreciated. We ended up being 30 minutes late for curfew, but it was ok. We had one of the instructors with us.

St. Chapelle, Notre Dame

September 13, 2008

Heart of skulls in the Catacomes.

Car of the future.

Shopping in Paris.

If any day on this trip was my favorite, it would be today. I went shopping in Paris!!! I already love shopping, so to shop in Paris was like a dream come true. Before this part, we went as a group to see St. Chapelle and Notre Dame. The only one we got to go in was St. Chapelle. It was a very small church, but very colorful. It's stain glass represented different books of the Bible. This church is said to have had the Crown of Thorns and a sliver of the Cross.

When we left, we had the rest of the day free. Bailey and I roamed all around. We started off in the Shakespearean Bookstore. This is the oldest English bookstore in like all of Europe, I think. We then went to the Catacomes. This was an experience, a very creepy one. This is where all the bodies were buried when the Black Plague hit. There are also some bodies from the French Revolution, I believe. All of Europe is very artsy, so apparently they had to be that way down there, or maybe they had to be for their sanity. Sometimes we would find bones stacked in shapes like hearts or in patterns. There were also places where it looked like people had stolen bones. Who would do that? Weird!

When we left the Catacomes is when we started shopping. Literally, we shopped 'til we dropped. I got a lot of good deals including boots for 20 euro. My favorite buy is a plaid pea coat that I bought on the Champs l'Elysee, the most famous shopping street in all of Paris.

Versailles, etc.

September 12, 2008


The balloon dog.

Michael Jackson

This is me in a mirror in the Hall of Mirrors.

One of the places in Paris that I was most excited about visiting was Versailles. A few years ago, I went to Paris and did not get to go to Versailles because of how far away it is from the city. This is really why I was so excited. Well, so much for my excitement. It was a very big let down. There was some modern balloon artist that had his works displayed all over the palace. When I say balloon art, I mean anything from a metallic balloon dog to a porcelain Michael Jackson. ALL OVER THE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE!!! We were very bitter about this. Not only was this depressing, but also, the gardens were as pretty as my back yard. Apparently once Spring is over, they don't even try to keep the gardens up. The Hall of Mirrors was cool, though. Well except for the gigantic, blue, metal balloon at one end. I did like remembering the history. This was where King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette lived before they were beheaded.


When we left Versailles, we had free time around the city. I went with a few of my friends on one of the boat tours around the River Seine. Once again, a let down. A few years ago, I took this tour and it was amazing. First of all, we bought the tickets for the wrong boat company. I was unaware there was more than one. To make matters worse, the Pope was at Notre Dame, so we did not even get to ride the whole river!


Well after this, we walked around some more. We ran into some other people from our group. I went with them to go watch the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night. We sat there for so long waiting for it, but it was so worth it. We had so much fun just goofing around and doing what girls do best, take jumping pictures!


To continue today's journey, we met up with some more of our group and went to the top of l'Arc de Triomphe again. All of the sudden, we all were overwhelmed with a huge burst of energy. We were running and jumping and just being college kids in Europe. "It's always fun until someone gets hurt." That is how I would describe tonight. Well, Aaron jumped straight up. He was right in front of me, and at the same time, I jumped straight forwards. I kicked the back of his heel with my pinky toe. It has been a few weeks, and I am still not sure what happened. Something definitely did, because it still feels weird. It was swollen and purple for a while. I thought I had jammed it, but now I think it's broken. It doesn't really matter, because you can't do anything for a broken pinky toe. It just makes for a good story.

First Day in Paris

These are all the girls in our trip.

This is from the top of l'Arc de Triomphe.


Sept. 11, 2008

This morning before we took off, I was very impatient. I wanted to be in Paris. Well it didn't take very long before we were there, only a couple hour train ride.
First thing we did when we got into Paris was go see none other than the Eiffel Tower. We went to an area that apparently not many people know about, because we got an awesome view with hardly any people in it. After a few photo opportunities, we went to l'Arc de Triomphe. This is my favorite building in Paris situated on the best shopping rode ever! Not only did we go see it, we went inside it! The view from the top is amazing. You can see everything from anywhere you looked.
After this, we were all kinda on our own. A whole bunch of us decided to go to the Latin Quarter, and I sure am glad we did. I got escargot, steak, and an amazing whip cream and cherry desert all for 12 euro. It was an amazing deal. I also got try one of my friend's muscles. They were really good as well.

Dachau

September 7, 2008

Today we went to a concentration camp. We walked on the same ground prisoners were killed on years ago. It was a very moving day. We walked all through the camp and went into rooms such as the crematoriums and gas chambers. Since this was Sunday, we had worship in a chapel on the grounds. I don't really know how to describe worship today. It was short but very deep. With death all around us, we couldn't help but worship Jesus completely just like we should everyday.

Budapest, Hungary

September 6, 2008

During our week in Austria/Germany, we had one free day to go wherever. Bailey, Haylee, Megan, Tori, Lauren, Amy, Cory, Casey, Shelly, and I decided to take the night train on the 5th and be in Budapest, Hungary on the 6th. The night's sleep was not actually that bad. Yes, I was sitting straight up in a chair, but it was 7 hours of bliss. Around 9 we arrived, and we immediately realized that Hungary was not a first world country. A few minutes later, we were greeted by the tourist information guy dressed in a t-shirt in a small dirty office within the train station. He informed us that Hungary was not on the euro. We all had to take out money, but it was not a big deal. Hungary is so cheap.
We really did not have big plans for Budapest. We just knew we wanted to go see a museum and shop, because it is so cheap. Let me just tell you, we walked all over town. It was a great experience though and we found an art museum. The museum had an Egyptian room for a limited time. This exhibit had a real mummy and a page from the Book of the Dead! The musuem also held Hungarian art which is what I was really looking for.
When we left the museum, we decided to find out about the trains before we went shopping. Who knew that underneath the train station was a cheap market?! I ended up only buying some blush, because I was out and the cheap kind looked good. We were cut short from our shopping, because we lost the map. We had to have a map to get back to the other train station, the international one. That was an ordeal. Never fret. We found another one.
We had no idea how long it would take us to walk back so we were booking it. There was a little stand set up so we decided to look since we didn't get much shopping time. I bought some really cute earrings. Next thing we knew, we were kicking tale to get back to the station so we didn't have to stay the night there.
Once we got back in Germany, we had a pretty long layover. We ended up running into quite a few people from the rest of our group. Clay and Rebecca had a huge bottle of carbonated water and were kicking it around. We, college students, decided what better way to make it flat and entertain ourselves than to kick it in a huge circle! A few people had close calls with the huge flying water bottle. (If I can add videos, I will.) We did this until the security guards walked by. They didn't say anything. Them being there was enough. We decided to go stand by our platform.
Today was a good day.

Vienna, Austria

Sept. 5, 2008

The next few blogs will probably be short and sweet b/c I am trying to catch up on them. It is hard to write them while we are away from Belgium.

Today we went to the Hapsburg Palace in Vienna. Luckily we got to take a guided tour in English. This was where Marie Antoinette grew up.

When we left, I went with Lauren Jenkins, Tori Orr, Amy Cable, and Kayt to look around Vienna. We didn't see much, but I did get a sausage from Vienna, which I consider a Vienna sausage.

We then went back to Salzburg again to a Sound of Music marionette. It was such a neat experience.

Neuschwanstein Castle

September 4

Today was one of those days when we travel for a million hours to see something for one. It was worth it though. We visited Neuschwanstein Castle built by King Ludwig II in like the 19th century or so. This king was obsessed with building castles and spending lots of money for it. This particular castle is supposed to look like a medieval fairytale castle. A lot of people believe that Cinderella's castle is formed after this one. Looking around inside, I can see a lot of Disney movies, like the stairs from Beauty and the Beast, a huge painting of Bambi, and maybe the Swan Princess. I don't really know about those. I am kinda assuming. I heard that Walt Disney did get a lot of his ideas from here though.

Eagle's Nest and Salt Mine

September 3

So I thought that the Königsee mountains were the most beautiful, but they have a competition. This morning we went to Hitler's Eagle's Nest. The nest is a restaurant now so we really didn't get a good tour of it. We did however travel up the elevator that was used then, not by Hitler, because he is claustrophobic. I am okay with not seeing the nest, though. The mountains surrounding us were beautiful. We climbed to the very tip top, which was really like a big bluff on top of the mountain. For those of you who don't know, I am terrified of heights so this was a big feat. When we got down, I climbed through a little cave like thing where the rocks had fallen around and then hiked around. If I could go back there, I would for sure.
When we left the nest, we headed to a salt mine. We had to wear these space outfits, and traveled through it on a little train. There was a whole lot of information about mining salt. It was neat, but the best part was the slide. Every time we went down a level, we rode down a huge wooden slide! And we could pack as many people on one ride as we wanted! After we completed the tour, our guide gave us little packets of salt from the mine as souvenirs.

Königsee and Salzburg

September 2

Today we traveled to the most beautiful place in the world! We rode in a cute little boat down the Königsee. All along the river (which is the cleanest river in Germany), we saw different mountains with different stories behind them. There was a grouping of mountains that looked like a witch upside down on her broom. There was another grouping of mountains that was supposed to represent a king and his family. Supposedly this king and his family sinned and God turned them into stone. One area was called Echowand. The tour guide stopped the boat and played his trumpet towards the cliff. It echoed back so it was almost like he was playing a duet. It was so cool! We docked at St. Bartholomä peninsula so we could walk around, eat, and enjoy the scenery. Words cannot describe the beauty there! We had the water on one side, and the mountains on the other. Bailey and I walked up into the mountains, but not for long. We are pretty sure we heard a rattlesnake.
After walking around for a while, we left and headed to Salzburg, Austria to spend the afternoon there. I especially loved this, because this was where part of the Sound of Music was filmed! We ran through the Mirabelle Gardens and the tunnel of vines singing "Do, Re, Me...!" I know the Austrians were judging us. haha. Apparently that movie is not that big there.
Bailey and I then went to Mozart's birthplace. We stood in the room where he was born! Some of his violins and locks of hair were in there too.

This is where the adventure begins:
Bailey and I decided to head back to Germany to where we were staying. We got to the train station. Both of us found which platform and what time to be there, so it was not a matter of being wrong or confused. We got on the train and rode and rode and rode. We were supposed to get off at Frailassing which should have been about a 7 minute train ride. We had thought that it was taking so long, because we were stopping about every 2 minutes at other stations and waiting what seemed like 5 minutes at each one. Well, about 40 minutes later, we were getting concerned that we were not heading towards our destination. Luckily, the guy beside us (who was pretty cute) spoke English. We started to ask him if we would stop in Frailassing, but the problem was that we didn't know where we were staying. All we knew was that it started with an "F"! So I asked him if we were stopping in a place that started with an "F." What else was I supposed to do?! He stared at us, so I started to explain it's location saying that it is on the boarder of Austria and Germany and right outside Salzburg. He didn't know what Germany was, so I asked, "Deutschland?" I don't think I have ever seen someone's eyes get that big! We were certainly not heading towards Germany. We were going deeper and deeper into Austria! He told us to get off at the next stop, which looked like Beef Stroganoff. I realize that is not the actual name, but I figured, how many train stations looked like Beef Stroganoff?! When we got off and saw that a Fraillassing train was coming up, we were so extremely excited!!! We even videoed the experience. If I can figure out how to put it on this blog, I will. From the way everything worked out in the beginning, we believe that they must have changed the train. Since we don't speak German, we were unaware. The moral of the story is: Knowing German in Germany is a good idea.