Prague, Czech Republic

Well this post is a little delayed since we went to Prague (in the Czech Republic) last weekend, but better late than never, right? We started the weekend early- leaving Friday night around 9:00 PM. To be honest, I didn't know a lot about Prague, so I wasn't too excited about our long night of traveling. Luckily we had another sleeper train, which always makes the ride go quicker!

We arrived in Prague around 11 and we were ready to see what the town had to offer! In order to navigate our way around the city, we bought a weekend pass for Prague's "light rail" system. This ended up being an extremely easy and efficient way to navigate the city. After wondering around lost for a while (this seems to be a reoccurring thing for us) we were all sweaty and ready to shower at the hostel. Unfortunately, we couldn't check in until later, so the three of us girls had to get ready in the lobby's water closet (literally the size of a small closet). Extremely tricky, but like we kept saying, "It's just part of the experience!". Once we finished getting ready, we let our bags in the hostel's luggage room and headed to Prague's "black market".

The square in which the black market is located reminded me of a Farmer's market with all of the various booths. However, when you stop to look, the sales people whisper "Louis Vuitton" and take you into these hidden entrances. Behind the entrances there are back rooms filled with stolen high-end, designer items. It was definitely a creepy and cool experience that we definitely took advantage of (spending a little too much money!).

After a long day of shopping, we headed back to our hostel for a nap. When we opened the door, we got quite a surprise. What we thought was a "4 person, private room" ended up being a giant room with eleven beds, with only four made. A little weird, but it actually ended up working out nicely, as we had a kitchen and bathroom to ourselves. Our other "roommate" (an older middle eastern man) was sleeping by the time we got back, and left early in the morning, so we were basically alone in our rooms. He did, however, leave us a 1/2 full bottle of Vodka with the note, "Happy Drink. Bye..." a nice gesture, but we decided to play it safe, and steer clear.

Our company at the restaurant

Once we were rested and refueled, we decided to go to the restaurant next door for dinner. Not only did it have great food, but it had great company... First of all, the food. For my meal, I got potato gnochi with cabbage and sausage. It tasted just like spaetzle with sauerkraut and bratwurst mixed in-- yum! Something to try when I make it home (wink wink, mom!). Now, for the company. Turns out the Czech, mens futbol (a.k.a. soccer) team was hanging out at the restaurant after their game. Since it was a small restaurant, a large team, and we were the only other people in the restaurant, we got to talking to them. It was entertaining since they spoke very little English. One guy understood "Minnesota" and "Ohio" when we told him where we were from, but kept referring to Iowa as "farm".

Amy, Hailey and I ready to hit the town

After saying goodbye to out new friends, we decided to go out and see Prague's night life. The big attraction is "the biggest club in central Europe"-- a five story night club with each floor being a different genre of music. The interesting thing is that all of the music in the club (and the rest of Europe for that matter) is all "American" music & sung in English. I don't know if I would enjoy listening to music if I couldn't understand it, but hey, whatever floats your boat! Overall it was a very fun night with a lot of great memories!

Sunday morning we were up and at 'em early as always for our usual hostel breakfast. From there we walked around the new and old squares of Prague. They were both very pretty and the sightseeing was a great way to spend our morning before catching our train.

This adventure home was a little different as we took a bus on part of our trip instead of a train. It was a two-decker bus with roomy seats so I can't complain. Plus I can now say I have traveled Europe by "planes, trains, and automobiles"!

By the time we got home I was exhausted so I went to bed early to get ready for yet another week of camp! Just 2 short weeks and I will be home in the good 'ol USA! Sending my love to all of you back home! :)

Berlin, Germany

Brittany & I in K-Town

As another long week of camp ended, it was time for yet another trip. This time, Berlin! We began our weekend by going out in K-Town (Kaiserslautern) Friday night just Brittany and I. We explored the town’s nightlife by walking around and catching up with one another. It was nice to have some time just the two of us!  We also stopped to get my first Doner kebab! Doner is a type of lamb meat, which they use to make sandwich/wrap things with. You can get all sorts of different toppings and enjoy it however you want. It was delicious! By the time the night was done, I was dead tired, but still had to pack for the next day as we were leaving bright and early!

My first Donar Kebab

Needless to say, 7 AM came around WAY too quickly! Luckily another train ride meant more sleep! It was nice to get some napping in (as the train ride was 6 hours long!) but by the time the train stopped, my body was cramped so I was ready to get out and see the town! The first sight we saw was the Berlin train station, obviously. Doesn’t sound too exciting, but the train station was HUGE! It was full of lots of shops and restaurants and was roughly 5 or 6 stories high! It was amazing! We found out on our tour that one wing of the station was supposed to have a longer ceiling, but they built it wrong. Now, when an ICE train pulls in, part of the 1^st class car has to walk outside without a ceiling! Interesting!!

Metropol Hostel

On our adventure in the train station we found that of the many restaurants was Starbucks! Brittany and I immediately ran to it as we are the coffee lovers of the group and were dying for some caffeine! After getting our dose of coffee, we were ready to find our hostel. For the weekend we stayed at Berlin Metropol Hostel which was right in town, and a nice place to stay. To be honest, I haven’t found a place that I haven’t liked and usually I’m pretty picky about hotels!

Brandenburger Tor

After checking out our new living quarters, we picked out a map and got out on the town. Unfortunately the weekend full of rain put a damper on our walking tour idea, so instead we headed for the trusty hop on, hop off bus tour. Our first stop of the tour was the Brandenburger Tor, which is a former city gate and one of the main symbols of Berlin. The sight itself was really cool, but I wish our tour guide would have given us more history on the site. This actually ended up being a reoccurring thought for me during this weekend of travel. On our bus we had a live tour guide switching between English and German. Because of this it was kind of hard to understand what he was saying, so I kept missing information. I also feel like they were more like “here is this site” instead of giving the significance behind it. Oh well, I guess that’s what the internet is for! J

Our next stop was the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, which was hauntingly cool. The museum top is full of concrete slabs, with  a museum underground. As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t get a lot of history on the site but here is what Brittany found online (thanks Brit!)

The Memorial

"The memorial consists of about 2,700 concrete slabs arranged in a grid pattern covering 19,000 square meters. The slabs are 2.38m long, 0.95m wide and vary in height from 0.2m to 4.8m. The ground slopes unevenly. Visitors are encouraged to walk between the slabs; the memorial can be entered from all sides and offers no prescribed path. It opened to the public on May 12, 2005." -http://www.sacred-destinations.com/germany/berlin-holocaust-memorial

Brittany, Joan and I at the movies!

Once we finished checking out these sights we got some stuff to eat and went shopping. I once again got Bratwurst and Sauerkraut! If I keep going at this rate I will be the fat German lady my dad was teasing me about! After this our night was winding down and we were trying to think of things to do with bad weather. I’m not sure whose idea it was, but soon we were all decided on going to a movie! We saw ‘Bad Teacher’ and although it might be lame to spend time on a movie when you’re abroad, it was a very cool experience (and also part of our Camp A homework!). The best part about the movie was that you are able to get beer at the movie theater. It’s so funny how beer pops up everywhere here and is more normal and affordable than buying pop! haha my mom & dad would’ve loved being able to have beer at the movies! J

The whole group!

After the movie we grabbed a quick drink at a restaurant in the Sony Center, which is the huge complex where the movie theater was located. By the time we were done chatting we were all exhausted and ready to call it a night!

Sunday we woke up early and got ready for another day of sightseeing. Lucky enough for us, breakfast was free at the hostel so we took full advantage! Throughout our hostel experiences it seems the typical breakfast here consists of rolls with meat and chesses, along with cereal and coffee. Enough to get us fueled up and ready for the day!

The group at Checkpoint Charlie

As we wanted to go back and make sure we saw everything we wanted to see, we decided to hit up the hop on hop off bus yet again. This time it took us to Checkpoint Charlie and areas of the Berlin Wall. Checkpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War. It was so cool to see a site that is such a significant symbol in history. At the checkpoint you can also pay to get all (or some) of the stamps in your passport that you used to need to get across the wall. I paid to get a few, which I’m glad I did as my passport has become my friend these past 10 weeks!

Remains of the Berlin Wall

After an exciting and busy weekend I was ready to come home and get ready for another week of camp! I also got to talk to my mom and dad on the phone, which I love!! Our phone calls make it feel like I’m just at school, but they are also getting me more and more excited to see my parents soon! Just 2 1/2 more weeks of camp and then I’m home to Minnesota and then off to ISU! I can’t believe how fast this summer has flown by! More to come later! Thinking of all of you back home! xoxo

Amsterdam, Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium

Amsterdam is all along
 the water, it's beautiful!

This weekend we had a birthday celebration for Miss Amy Kelly!  Our celebration consisted for heading to Amsterdam, Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium for the weekend.

We left Friday night for our first overnight train, which was quite the experience. The night was off to a rough start as our cab never showed up. We ended up piling in with another group, putting ten people into an eight-person cab- crammed to say the least! Since our cab came late, we missed our first train and had to catch a regional train at a different train station. THEN (yes, more transportation issues) our train stopped somewhere because we were stuck behind another train. We were freaking out because we were stuck on a train and didn’t think we’d make our transfer train in time. As soon as the train stopped, we SPRINTED to our next platform and found out that our train was 15 minutes delayed so we all let out a cry of relief and did a dorky group hug. Needless to say, we got a few stares. 

I'm definitely my mother's daughter:
I can sleep ANYWHERE!

After celebrating making it on time, it was time to “cuddle up” and sleep on the train. Luckily for me, I can sleep ANYWHERE (thanks for the skill, mom!) and sleep on every train we’ve ever gone on. This ride was even more comfortable as it was an overnight train equipped with little pods for everyone to sleep in. They also keep it dark and quiet (except for the old lady snoring in front of us). Luckily I'm used to people snoring (Dad during movies! haha)

Our names signed in the Guest
Book at the Anne Frank House.

We made it to Amsterdam around 9:45 and headed to the Anne Frank House. Our plan was to meet up with the beautiful Miss Kelsi Stevenson (who is studying abroad in Amsterdam) to see her and have her help us navigate the city. Unfortunately we were late getting to the Anne Frank house and then we had no way to communicate with each other, so we kept looking for each other with no success. Left to navigate our own way, we decided to start out with the tour of the Anne Frank House. It was such a cool tour and very moving to see real artifacts that have been preserved for so long.

Our next stop was the famous “I Amsterdam” sign. We stopped for a while and took pictures, despite the crazy weather. It was ridiculous! It would be sunny and warm one second, then dark and raining the next. Odd.

Me in the "I AMsterdam" sign

After eating lunch and doing a little shopping in Dam Square, we headed to the Red Light District. We were warned not to go at night, and boy am I glad we didn’t! The street was sketchy enough during the day!

We left Amsterdam around six, ready to go to Brussels. Unfortunately we got kicked off the train because our Eurails were not “activated”. Although this had never been a problem before, the man was very persistent and kept telling us that we had to get off the train and get them activated or he would charge us 50 euro each! Being the poor college kids we are, we chose to get off the train! Well it turns out the train station we got off at doesn’t activate them, so we had to take a bus to a different train station that would do it. After a few wrong busses, we got our tickets activated. The dumbest part about this whole thing was that the activation was a stamp that literally took a second to do. The lady at the train station even rolled her eyes when we told her and said that the man on the train took his job too seriously. By the time all was said and done we got to Brussels around 11 and had a few drinks at the hostel for Amy’s birthday. Probably not the way she wanted to celebrate, but we were waaaay to exhausted to go out!

Me on the bus tour of Brussels

After sleeping in a very odd hostel (with “mats” to sleep on) we decided to wake up early and see Brussels. And for us, of course, that meant another bus tour! Although the bus was cold and it was gloomy weather, it was still a good way to get around in the city. The one place we stopped was at the statue of the peeing boy in the town square. I guess the story behind the statue is that there was once a bomb in the middle of the town and a little boy walked by and peed on it, destroying the fuse and saving the town. They now have this funny little statue and dress it up on special occasions.

To end our day we sampled some Belgian chocolate and had Belgian waffles at a local restaurant. Our waffles were covered in vanilla and chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce and caramel sauce, fruit and whipped cream! It was DELICIOUS and definitely a good way to end a long weekend!

This weekend we’re headed off to Berlin, which should be a good time! And even more exciting, I am OFFICIALLY caught up on all of my blog entries! As you’ve probably noticed, I did not post these as the weekends passed, but I decided half way through the summer to do it. It has been a long and exhausting project (I think I’m developing carpal tunnel) but I will be happy to have it in the future! J

Interesting things about Europe

One interesting thing I have noticed while in Europe is the fact that you have to pay to use the restroom in public areas. Actually, scratch that- it's not a restroom or a bathroom, it's a water closet (WC). Our first experience with the WC was on our way to Munich. Brittany & I to use the WC in the train station. At first we couldn't get it to work because it was broken. But go figure, we didn't know. Apparently there was a sign that said "out of order" but I guess that's what you get when you can't read German! After navigating our way to the other gate we each had to pay ,50 cent to get in the gate to go to the bathroom. Apparently they usually have people or cameras monitoring ot make sure you pay and don't try to cut in line without paying. I guess this is just part of experience that makes it fun! And it certainly was fun-ny, especially at 7 in the morning!

Another thing I have noticed while in Europe is that dogs go EVERYWHERE with people! The first time I noticed this was at the Frankfurt airport where people were just strolling through the terminals with dogs. At first I thought it was a little weird, but I just shook it off. Now I’ve been seeing them everywhere! In the streets, at the train station, etc! And most of the time the dogs are off their leash, but walk along their owners just fine- it’s kind of cool!

The last thing I've noticed about Europeans, and Germans in particular, is that they like to stare. A lot of times when we’re on the train we notice people staring. I’m not sure if it’s because we’re loud or if we’re speaking English, but it seems that everyone is always staring. Even when you pass people on the street, they stare at you. And unlike the US where you make eye contact with someone and they smile at you, Germans just stare. I guess that’s just part of the culture… Hmmm.

Christmas in July!

Last week we were told that us camp counselors had to attend a mandatory mid-summer meeting, or so we were told. It turns out that when we got to the meeting place, our directors had planned a big party for us called “Christmas in July”. The room was complete with Christmas lights, decorations and even a tree with presents under it! After eating a HUGE meal that was donated to us, we chatted briefly with some of the people running the centers and then we played a game.

The game was “Christmas Song Remix” where each group was given a Christmas song to “remix”. My group got Jingle Bells and this is what we came up with:

(Sung to the tune of Jingle Bells- obviously)

“Running down the halls,

Stop come back and walk.

Positive redirection,

Let’s sit down and talk.

Throwing snack on the ground,

that means you’re all done.

It’s not what we expected,

but we’re having fun! Hey!

Jingle Bells, our uniform smells,

But we’re here anyway.

A kid threw up and lost his shoe,

and another got away- HEY!

Jingle bells, our uniform smells,

But we’re here anyway.

Oh what fun it is to run

on the playground everyday!”

Not so bad for only having five minutes! After performing our songs to the rest of the group, the directors judged us “American Idol Style”. Our group took a close second to “Aaron the Camp A Counselor” sung to “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”.

Our Apartment 

After we were finished singing our hearts out, we found out that the packages under the tree were from us! When we were told earlier this summer to provide “emergency contact information” it turns out they used it to contact our parents to send us gifts! I got a present from my mom & dad and from my sister & BJ! It was such a nice surprise and getting stuff from home definitely put a smile on my face, so thank you!! J Amy and I were also surprised to see that we were the only ones who got gifts from our center! It was so nice of them to think of us and make it such a special night!

This was such a perfect ending to a tough and tiring week of camp, so thank you to all of our directors! This was such a fun idea and definitely boosted our group’s morale! 

Salzburg, Austria: Where the hills are alive with The Sound of Music

This weekend I accomplished yet another life goal: going to Salzburg, Austria for The Sound of Music Tour! It was an amazing weekend and definitely something I will never forget!

Friday night after camp we quickly packed and headed to the Macaroni Grill on base for dinner! Brittany, Joan, Amy and I went and it was a nice way to relax and catch up after a long week of camp! Then Saturday morning we left bright and early and got to Salzburg around noon.

On the train we ended up sitting by four other Camp A girls who were living and working at a different base and who were also traveling to Salzburg.  They, however, are doing a fifteen-week camp, and have already been in Germany for TEN weeks.  As fun as that would be, I’m glad I’m only here for ten.  Upon arrival, we checked into the hostel, which was surprisingly nice and very close to the meeting spot for the tour.

All of us Camp A girls
 on the Sound of Music Tour

If you don’t like the Sound of Music or have never seen it, I would stop here, as the rest of my blog will be filled with information and sights from the movie! Ok… now that I have my true Sound of Music fans reading, I will continue! The tour itself was four hours long and was worth every euro spent! They take you around Salzburg in a giant tour bus and give facts about the city and the movie along the way. They even played music from the movie, but more of that later!

Our first stop of the tour was the Salzach Lake where Maria and the children fall out of the canoe. We got to see Leopold’s Crown Palace, which is what they used to shoot all of the balcony/lake scenes from. An interesting fact about this is that they shot all of the terrace/patio scenes facing the house at one location, and all of the ones facing the lake at this location. Then, they just edited them together- cool, huh?

I also learned a lot about the real Von Trapp family. For instance, the way they got famous is quite different than the movie. In reality, the captain had invested all of his family’s money into a friend’s bank, that eventually crashed. When this happened the family went bankrupt and resorted to renting out rooms in their house for money. In one instance they had an opera singer staying upstairs who thought their singing (that was done for fun) was really good and that they should go professional. And the rest, they say, is history.

On the way to our second stop we drove past Nonnberg Abbey the Abbey where Maria is from, and also the location where she gets off the bus and sings, “I Have Confidence” (my favorite song!). Then we arrived at our second stop, the world famous Gazebo. Apparently you used to be able to go into the gazebo until an 80-year-old lady got a little too excited about dancing and broke through the glass… Bummer. This gazebo was actually just used as a background and in the song, “Something Good”, but the dancing for “16 going on 17” was filmed in a different gazebo made larger for the dance.
The entire time we were at the gazebo I kept thinking of my dad as “16 going on 17” was “our song”. I kept thinking of all of the times I used to make him dance with me or hold my hand as I leapt around pretending to be Leisel. Thanks for the memories dad, you’re the best! J I even took a picture pretending my dad was there as he would have loved it! Miss you dad!

Pretending my Dad was with me!

Doing the "Weeee" like in the movie

After driving around the city and seeing different scenes for the introduction of the film, it was time for a scenic view of Salzburg. Although it was not the mountain Joan and I were expecting (we wanted to run up the hills and sing “The Hills are Alive”) the view was still breathtaking! The water was bright blue and the whole town was surrounded by mountains- a place I’ll never forget!

Our fourth stop of the day was a longer break where we had time to view the church in Mondsee where they filmed the wedding in the movie. In reality, Maria and the Captain got married in Maria’s Abbey, but they used this church in the movie for some reason. During our break we had time to see the church, shop, and have some Apple Strudel (some of my favorite things).

Outside the Church

Inside the Church

Apple Strudel!

After our break we re-boarded the bus for a long ride including a short video and a quick sing along session! They played a lot of the songs from the movie as we drove around and encouraged the bus to sing along! Joan and I definitely didn’t hold back and let the bus hear our own rendition of many songs! I think the older gentleman across the aisle was glad we did as he started joining in. He knew all of the words to all of the songs, but his wife chose not to sing along. It reminded me of how my parents would be if they were on the tour as my dad LOVES the movie and my mom likes it, but not as much as we do! As she says, “I like it once a year, not once a week!” haha.

Joan & I were definitely 2 of the
most excited people on the bus!

Our final stop on the tour was the Mirabell Gardens where several scenes from “Do-Re-Mi” are shot. We walked around the fountains, the steps, and the ivy-covered archways trying to re-enact the movie and got a lot of funny pictures out of it.

Once the tour was over we were ready to re-fuel with some dinner. We stopped at a small Italian restaurant in Salzburg where they make three dishes everyday and those are your only choices. The workers barely spoke English so it was another struggle to communicate- always entertaining. We decided to end our night with a few drinks back at the hostel and then it was time for bed!

Sunday was my only disappointment of the trip so far. Our plan was to wake up early and to go Eagle’s Nest which was built as a place for Hitler to vacation and work from. It is on the top of one of the Swiss Alps and is supposed to have an amazing view. However, they never mention how long it takes to get up there so we only got about half way up by the time we had to turn around and catch our train. Oh well- if this is the only disappointment so far, I’ll take it! Especially since I got over it pretty quickly!

A view on our way to Eagle's Nest

Well this blog post has definitely been LONG ENOUGH! So I’ll call it quits! Tschuss! (a.k.a See ya! in German)

A Day Trip to Trier, Germany

As our weekend plans for Switzerland fell through, we decided to do a day trip to Trier, Germany and spend the rest of the weekend hanging out in the apartment. Friday night we hung out in the apartment and made breakfast for dinner! We had a feast of pancakes and home made fried potatoes! Yumm! It was a nice way to hangout with friends and relax after a long day of work!

Trier, Germany

Saturday we left on the 10am train for Trier, which is the oldest city in Germany. When we got there we found the tourist building and made plans to do yet another hop on, hop off tour. These have become our “go to” way of seeing the city as they are usually pretty cheap and provide you with a good view of the city you are visiting.

Before embarking on our tour for the day we stopped at the local Biergarten for lunch. I got a cup of French Onion soup and a beer, which reminded me of a lunch my mom would love! It turns out that ordering a beer at a restaurant is a lot cheaper than ordering a pop or water as another girl got that and mine was cheaper. Another thing that is interesting about German dining is the fact that when you pay, they do your change right in front of you as soon as you hand it to them. It’s actually pretty nice!

Brittany and I at the Biergarten

After fueling our bodies for sightseeing, it was time to hop on the bus! A lot of the city is old Roman ruins like Roman baths and Colosseums where they used to battle each other and animals. The tour said that if you stand in the middle of the collosseum and light a match, the sound can be heard all around the arena! It was cool to see but there wasn’t a lot of time to “hop off” so we just rode around and took pictures. 

Looking like true tourists!

Since Saturday proved to be such beautiful weather we took advantage of it and walked through town. The town square is filled with lots of people, lots of shops, and lots of ice cream! There was seriously an ice cream store every 2 buildings (Leah- you would've been in heaven!). So we decided to do just that: walk around, shop, and eat ice cream! To top off the perfect weekend we grabbed some beer for the train ride home! What a day!

Sunday we hung out on base and my roommate Joan & I went to get coffee. The walk was a good workout, a good time to chat & I even ended up getting a little tan! It was the perfect way to end a great and relaxing weekend!