Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Things I Miss from the US
So, someone asked me what (not who) I missed from the US the other day, and I saw someone else's blog that had a similar post, so I decided to steal the idea. Plus, I figured since I haven't written in a while (and won't unless I get time during spring break), it'd be a good thing to write about. There is no particular order and it's basically just things I've thought of that I can remember right now.
1) the english language
2) cups that hold more than two sips in them
3) not having to ask for water at restaurants
4) not having to differentiate between sparking ('with bubbles') water or mineral water.
5) the price of some things
6) things being open on sundays (or at convenient hours)
7) not having to 'experience' something new every time because i don't know what most things are here (although a lot of times it's fun)
8) the sun and dry things
9) more things that i can't remember right now. maybe i'll have a list two later this semester?
Also, just finished my two tests for today and I am officially on Spring Break in Europe! Spain and Portugal, here I come!
1) the english language
2) cups that hold more than two sips in them
3) not having to ask for water at restaurants
4) not having to differentiate between sparking ('with bubbles') water or mineral water.
5) the price of some things
6) things being open on sundays (or at convenient hours)
7) not having to 'experience' something new every time because i don't know what most things are here (although a lot of times it's fun)
8) the sun and dry things
9) more things that i can't remember right now. maybe i'll have a list two later this semester?
Also, just finished my two tests for today and I am officially on Spring Break in Europe! Spain and Portugal, here I come!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Weekend Trip #5 (and Spring Break)
So earlier this week when I mentioned that I'd have to go back to Paris, I didn't think I'd be going back this soon. But, things just worked out, and, as long as I get my tickets, I will be headed there tomorrow afternoon! Hopefully I'll get to conquer the things I didn't get to last weekend!
And, on an even brighter note, spring break has (kind of) been finalized. I decided on going to Spain and Portugal, but I will be going to Italy and Greece when it gets warmer, around Easter time, for about two weekends (hopefully)! Anyway, we have the following tickets: Metz - Madrid (~1-2 days in Madrid), Madrid - Lisbon (~3ish days in Lisbon), Barcelona (~4ish days in Barcelona) - Metz. We wanted to go somewhere in between Lisbon and Barcelona, and our first choice was Seville, but turns out, the trains are full. So, we're going to try and find somewhere else to go instead for the day we were supposed to spend in Seville, but otherwise we'll be stuck (because it's such a bad thing) with an extra day in either Lisbon or Barcelona.
Edit: Didn't get tickets, so won't be in Paris this weekend. But, it gives me time to recover (since I'm sick), relax before spring break, and get dumb stuff like laundry and schoolwork done. Also gives me time to do stuff in Metz (like the Pompidou Center) and hangout with people around here.
And, on an even brighter note, spring break has (kind of) been finalized. I decided on going to Spain and Portugal, but I will be going to Italy and Greece when it gets warmer, around Easter time, for about two weekends (hopefully)! Anyway, we have the following tickets: Metz - Madrid (~1-2 days in Madrid), Madrid - Lisbon (~3ish days in Lisbon), Barcelona (~4ish days in Barcelona) - Metz. We wanted to go somewhere in between Lisbon and Barcelona, and our first choice was Seville, but turns out, the trains are full. So, we're going to try and find somewhere else to go instead for the day we were supposed to spend in Seville, but otherwise we'll be stuck (because it's such a bad thing) with an extra day in either Lisbon or Barcelona.
Edit: Didn't get tickets, so won't be in Paris this weekend. But, it gives me time to recover (since I'm sick), relax before spring break, and get dumb stuff like laundry and schoolwork done. Also gives me time to do stuff in Metz (like the Pompidou Center) and hangout with people around here.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Paris
I'm going to go ahead and start off by saying this was probably the biggest failure of a trip so far, but in a good way (well, some good ways). Not that it was a bad trip or anything, but rather that it could have much more closely lived up to its potential. I think it's partly because of what I didn't get to see (due to time and other factors), the high expectations I had for the city, as well as some random events that happened throughout the time there that probably shouldn't be included in this post.
We started out the train ride thinking of stuff to do in Paris, using a combination of guidebooks and stuff we already knew about the city. The guidebook suggested going to Chinatown during the time period of Chinese New Year and, to our pleasant surprise, the day we left happened to be Chinese New Year! Unfortunately, by the time we checked in, ate, and looked around at Sacre Coeur, it was pretty late and nobody wanted to go check it out anymore, so we decided we'd do it sometime in the next couple days (which ended up not happening).
On Friday, we took the same free tour that we took in Berlin. It was pretty good, but I think the Berlin one was better, probably because the city has a really unique history. Afterwards, we ended up eating a little, seeing the Eiffel Tower, and going out that night.
The next day, we went to get train tickets to head back and found out that the only available tickets were for Sunday at 10:39 AM, which was a lot earlier than most of us wanted to return. I think it was partly because the lady hated us because we were tourists. With some trains (like the TGV, which is pretty much the only train that runs directly from Paris to Metz), you have to make reservations to ride the train, and they only have a set amount for Eurail pass users. You cannot find out whether or not these reservations are still available any other way (as far as I know) other than to ask the people at the counter. So, we tried to find out which trains were available for Sunday and Monday, and she flipped out. We spent most of the remaining day at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower at night, which was pretty cool. For those of you who don't know, my sophomore year, one of my roommates, Vincent, was a foreign exchange student from Paris; so, Saturday night/Monday morning, I went to his place, which was awesome because I hadn't seen him in like a year and a half. Since the train was earlier than anticipated and I still hadn't seen everything I wanted to, I woke up early to go see the Arc de Triomphe but, unfortunately, when I arrived at the train station to switch stops, I found out the line I was supposed to get on was closed. I ended up going back to Vincent's for a little while and left to meet with people before we went to the train station.
Next time I go to Paris, there are a few things I'd definitely like to check out:
Versailles
Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Champs-Elysse
Orsay Museum
Wait, so why was it bad in a good way? Well, now I have (get) to make another trip to Paris, which I can't complain about. Also, I figured out more things about planning trips and such to remember for the rest of the semester!
Weekend Picture Count: 175
Trip Picture Count: 948
PS: Watching the Super Bowl in France was really weird. French commentators + no American commercials. I'm pretty sure the commercials here the entire time were blooper reels from NFL games.
We started out the train ride thinking of stuff to do in Paris, using a combination of guidebooks and stuff we already knew about the city. The guidebook suggested going to Chinatown during the time period of Chinese New Year and, to our pleasant surprise, the day we left happened to be Chinese New Year! Unfortunately, by the time we checked in, ate, and looked around at Sacre Coeur, it was pretty late and nobody wanted to go check it out anymore, so we decided we'd do it sometime in the next couple days (which ended up not happening).
On Friday, we took the same free tour that we took in Berlin. It was pretty good, but I think the Berlin one was better, probably because the city has a really unique history. Afterwards, we ended up eating a little, seeing the Eiffel Tower, and going out that night.
The next day, we went to get train tickets to head back and found out that the only available tickets were for Sunday at 10:39 AM, which was a lot earlier than most of us wanted to return. I think it was partly because the lady hated us because we were tourists. With some trains (like the TGV, which is pretty much the only train that runs directly from Paris to Metz), you have to make reservations to ride the train, and they only have a set amount for Eurail pass users. You cannot find out whether or not these reservations are still available any other way (as far as I know) other than to ask the people at the counter. So, we tried to find out which trains were available for Sunday and Monday, and she flipped out. We spent most of the remaining day at the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower at night, which was pretty cool. For those of you who don't know, my sophomore year, one of my roommates, Vincent, was a foreign exchange student from Paris; so, Saturday night/Monday morning, I went to his place, which was awesome because I hadn't seen him in like a year and a half. Since the train was earlier than anticipated and I still hadn't seen everything I wanted to, I woke up early to go see the Arc de Triomphe but, unfortunately, when I arrived at the train station to switch stops, I found out the line I was supposed to get on was closed. I ended up going back to Vincent's for a little while and left to meet with people before we went to the train station.
Next time I go to Paris, there are a few things I'd definitely like to check out:
Versailles
Arc de Triomphe
Notre Dame
Champs-Elysse
Orsay Museum
Wait, so why was it bad in a good way? Well, now I have (get) to make another trip to Paris, which I can't complain about. Also, I figured out more things about planning trips and such to remember for the rest of the semester!
Sacre Coeur and the view from there
I'm pretty sure in order to be a cool European city, it's a requirement to have a river flowing through it...
Trees that reminded me of Hanukkah candles
Eiffel Tower during the day...
...and at night.
And the view from the second level?
The Louvre
Other cool scenes from the city
Trip Picture Count: 948
PS: Watching the Super Bowl in France was really weird. French commentators + no American commercials. I'm pretty sure the commercials here the entire time were blooper reels from NFL games.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Berlin
Sorry guys, no creative title this time - I think I've already run out of them.
We got back from Berlin at 6:30 AM Monday morning, and, I must say, it's my favorite city that I've been to so far this short semester. People there are much nicer than they are in France (and a little bit weirder - I think some dude at the mall asked me for my empty water bottle from my tray because he definitely took it), more friendly, more English-speaking, and taller (I felt short more than I ever have in France, not that that's saying much). They're also a little bit louder and rowdier, though I guess I kind of miss being able to hear other people talk wherever we are (French people are way too quiet). Also, stuff is way cheaper there than it is here in Metz (i.e. people were selling beer near our subway station for 80 eurocents, which is like one dollar) and apparently, happy hours last from like 5 PM until they feel like closing, which may explain why German people drink so much.
Under my sister's recommendation, we did a free walking tour (http://www.neweuropetours.eu/) of the city, and it was awesome. It was partly because Berlin is a really interesting city (with a lot of history) to begin with, but also because our tour guide, Taylor, was funny (and Australian). It lasted about 3.5 hours, but it didn't feel like that at all. Definitely recommend it to anyone who decides to go to Berlin, and I'm probably gonna try it again in another city where they have the tours. I also recommend visiting Olympiastadion (the German Olympic Stadium from the Berlin Olympics in 1936) during the daytime, because we went at night and it was creepy as heck. There was nobody there, really dark, and we didn't get to go inside; judging from Wikipedia, it would have been awesome.
Anyway, the part you guys care about - here are some pictures:
There are three things to see here:
First of all, this is the train station.
After we left the train station...
I guess when your car is as long as it is wide, it doesn't really matter how you park.
Welcome to the German language. I think this says car dealership or something of the sort because it was outside of a Toyota dealership, but I could easily be wrong.
I also loved the advertising in Germany. Most walls were covered in posters. Some made sense.
Some didn't.
Cool pictures in the city -
The next day we explored the East Side Gallery - it was a piece of the wall that was left up (around a mile long). At some point (I think 2009), they invited a bunch of artists (and different types of artists) to come paint on what was left of the wall and named it the east side gallery. It's also kinda cool that the first person was Indian.
This is how they sell ice cream in the mall (1 euro per scoop). It tasted as good as it looks.
Holocaust Memorial (with snow on top).
And finally, each side of what's left of the Berlin wall. They still look pretty different today.
We got back from Berlin at 6:30 AM Monday morning, and, I must say, it's my favorite city that I've been to so far this short semester. People there are much nicer than they are in France (and a little bit weirder - I think some dude at the mall asked me for my empty water bottle from my tray because he definitely took it), more friendly, more English-speaking, and taller (I felt short more than I ever have in France, not that that's saying much). They're also a little bit louder and rowdier, though I guess I kind of miss being able to hear other people talk wherever we are (French people are way too quiet). Also, stuff is way cheaper there than it is here in Metz (i.e. people were selling beer near our subway station for 80 eurocents, which is like one dollar) and apparently, happy hours last from like 5 PM until they feel like closing, which may explain why German people drink so much.
Under my sister's recommendation, we did a free walking tour (http://www.neweuropetours.eu/) of the city, and it was awesome. It was partly because Berlin is a really interesting city (with a lot of history) to begin with, but also because our tour guide, Taylor, was funny (and Australian). It lasted about 3.5 hours, but it didn't feel like that at all. Definitely recommend it to anyone who decides to go to Berlin, and I'm probably gonna try it again in another city where they have the tours. I also recommend visiting Olympiastadion (the German Olympic Stadium from the Berlin Olympics in 1936) during the daytime, because we went at night and it was creepy as heck. There was nobody there, really dark, and we didn't get to go inside; judging from Wikipedia, it would have been awesome.
Anyway, the part you guys care about - here are some pictures:
There are three things to see here:
First of all, this is the train station.
Second of all, this is STILL the train station (it basically is a mall with a train station attached).
Third, in case you missed it in picture above, there were American stores!
Welcome to the German language. I think this says car dealership or something of the sort because it was outside of a Toyota dealership, but I could easily be wrong.
I also loved the advertising in Germany. Most walls were covered in posters. Some made sense.
Cool pictures in the city -
Pictures from the tour:
This picture is really cool because the painting in the back is the exact same size as the one on the ground (yeah, that's not a fountain. it's a picture). The back depicts the ideals of communism, where people are working together and everyone is happy, whereas the one on the ground is a picture from an uprising against communism at this location (zoomed in pictures below).
There were a bunch of buildings (like this one) that were built a while ago, then got bombed a bunch of times (WWI), rebuilt, got bombed a bunch more (WWII), and rebuilt again. Also, if I remember correctly, Einstein taught here.
The following was my favorite quote from the wall, although a bunch of them were good.
U.S. Embassy! Plus a bear in the window that looks like the Statue of Liberty. They had a bunch of these laying around across the city, each of them unique. They apparently signify world peace.
Holocaust Memorial (with snow on top).
And finally, each side of what's left of the Berlin wall. They still look pretty different today.
Weekend Picture Count: 238
Trip Picture Count: 773
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