Monday, March 9, 2009
Dachau Concentration Camp
When we decided to go to Munich, we all had a little discussion about what everyone wanted to do while we were there. On everyone's list: Dachau Concentration Camp. For me, personally, I feel that if given the opportunity, everyone should visit a concentration camp. It is such a sad, but very real, part of our world's history that people need to see. However uncomfortable and depressing it may be, I felt it was my duty to take some time out of my day and visit the camp. I may not ever get the opportunity to do so again.
Before we left for Munich, I did a little research on Dachau: how to get there, prices, hours, tours, etc. I was pretty excited to see Dachau in particular because in 8th grade I did a school project on it. It sounds stupid, but I find it pretty amazing that 7 years later I would be touring the very camp I presented to my class. The actual camp is now called the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. It is open year round, and absolutely free to enter. I loved the fact it was free. They could have very easily charged 10 Euro to enter, but they don't. This is something that people need to see, need to experience, and no one should be turned away because they cannot afford it. Entrance is free, guided tours are only 3 Euro, and audio guides are only 2 Euro. If you want to hear more detailed information on the camp you can pay the cheap fees for the tour or audio guide. If you can't afford it, you still have free and total access to the entire camp, you just have to do it on your own. I think it's great that anyone can enter through the gates and experience Dachau.
The English tours are held three times throughout the day. We decided on our train ride over that we wanted to take a guided tour. I had read some reviews online, and the writers highly recommend taking a tour because you learn a lot more from the knowledgeable guides. Our tour guide was pretty nice and really knew his stuff. We started off in the museum, the only heated part of the camp, and learned some basic stuff. He showed us a map of Europe that had all of the concentration camps, including subcamps, that existed during the Nazi reign. Standing before this giant map was pretty intense. There were probably close to 200-300 dots on the map that represented camps. In the museum we got to see a camp uniform, the patches that the prisoners had to wear, and photographs taken by SS guards. He gave us a little background information on Dachau too. Dachau was a working camp for men only; there were no women and children. The prisoners were forced to work, sometimes to their death, making things for the war, governement, etc. It was the first concentration camp in Europe and it was originally used for criminals. When Hitler took over he started using it for people who opposed his ideas and went against him. As time went on, it was being filled with criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, Jews, etc. Made for only a few thousand people, by the end of the war, it was holding over 60,000.
After we got the brief tour of the museum and a little information on Dachau, we went outside to have our tour. The first thing you see at the camp is the main gate. When it was actually up and running, Dachau only had one entrance/exit, everything else was surrounded by electric fences. Built into the iron gate entrance are the words "Arbeit Macht Frei", which means something along the lines of "work will set you free". It was kind of surreal seeing that because in my presentation in 8th grade, I remember showing a picture and telling my class about the gate. After we saw the gate, we immediately headed over to the barracks. When the U.S liberated Dachau they were forced to quarantine and eventually destroy all of the barracks because of the disease that had run rampant in them. There are no original barracks left, just the foundations remain. When the camp was made a memorial site, they built two replica barracks that are perfect copies of the original. Inside these barracks are three different rooms. The first room shows what the barracks looked like when Dachau first opened, just for criminals. Each barrack room held about 50 inmates and they slept comfortably in their own beds; an entire barrack could hold about 200 people. The next room shows what the barracks looked like once the war started. These beds were far smaller and about 80 prisoners were held in one room; full barrack capacity was now at about 300. The third room represented Dachau at the height of the war. The beds, referred to as "endless beds" didn't even look like actual beds. It was basically one giant platform that covered the length of the entire room; two more platforms were stacked above it like bunk beds. At it's population peak, a room like this in a Dachau barrack, originally meant for 50, held over 250 people; putting nearly 2,000 people in a barrack meant for 200. I remember seeing the last room, with the endless beds, and just having this total wave of sadness wash over me. The room was probably 20x20 and I couldn't even visualize over 200 people trying to sleep in that one place. You can't help but want to cry when you remind yourself that although it is hard to visualize, it did in fact happen.
After the barracks we walked by the memorials for the victims. One is a giant iron statue that shows people entangled in the electric fences and another that showed the ways the victims at Dachau were labled. Both were incredibly powerful to see. After walking by those, we made our way over to the other side of the camp. This pathway passes right in between the foundations of all of the barracks. There were hundreds of foundations left behind that stretched as far as your eye could see. At the end of the pathway was the Catholic Memorial for the victims of Dachau. Within close proximity of this memorial were the Russian Orthodox, Jewish, and Protestant Memorials. As we approached the Catholic Memorial, you could see a man kneeling infront of it with flowers. It was just a small reminder that this still affects people today, almost 65 years later.
We then made our way over the Krematorium area. This area was for guards only and totally off limits for prisoners. In order to gain access, you had to walk through a gate in the middle of the electric fence. He explained that these fences killed on contact. Along the entire length of the fence was a giant ditch. The Nazis put this here so prisoners were slowed down if running and attempting to make an escape at the fence. When trying to escape, they were either killed by guards from watch towers or by the electric fence. Our tourguide also mentioned that some people simply couldn't bear to live anymore and would try to "escape" knowing that it meant a quick death. There are no accounts, written or from survivors, that indicate that anyone ever was able to escape from Dachau.
Once we got into the Krematorium area, I got this horrible feeling, a huge pit, in my stomach. I kind of expected it though. You hear about it in all of your history classes, you read about it in books, but nothing really prepares you for seeing these things. Dachau has two crematoriums. The first was used when death tolls weren't incredibly high. As the war went on, people were dying at much higher rates from disease, starvation, the cold, abuse, etc. The single crematorium, one that was actually used in the real world for cremating one person at a time, could not handle the large numbers anymore. They were forced to build another bigger building, that housed an industrial sized crematorium. Inside this second crematorium was a gas chamber. Interestingly enough, Dachau was never considered an extermination camp. Hitler made sure that none of these camps resided in Germany. He wanted them to be in the countries that he occupied so it would be easier to transport the foreign people to them. So, knowing this, many wonder why Dachau had a gas chamber in it. The most popular theory is that since Dachau was one of the first concentration camps, it acted as a model for others. When Germans were trained to work in concentration camps, they were trained to use gas chambers, and some were trained at Dachau. With that said, survivors have reported that the gas chamber was not regularly used like at extermination camps. However, they did say that it was used on individuals or small groups on occasion. Our tour guide gave us all of this information before walking in. I really wanted to cry at this point, and I hadn't even stepped inside.
First part of the building was the gas chamber. I can't really describe a single emotion that I felt when I walked through it. It was a mixture of things: anger, sadness, frustration. How could anyone do this to a fellow human being? Above the entrance of the "shower room", was a German phrase that referred to the importance of cleanliness. I couldn't help but be so incredibly angry by the cruelty of that, the trickery of getting these people into the room. I entered into the room and sadly enough, it does look like a giant shower. There are drains in the floor and things that appear to be shower heads on the ceiling. Along one wall are these two grates that turn into a slot; this is where the poison, Zyklon B, was slipped into the room. At this point, I was feeling nauseous. Adding to the horrible emotions, were these other people in the gas chamber at the same time. These people had the audacity to act in an entirely disrepectful and disgusting manner when they were in the room. They were taking pictures of eachother standing under the shower heads like they were dying. Then they would take a group picture against a wall, all smiling with their thumbs up. I have never wanted to punch someone more in my entire life. How could anyone make light of a situation like that? How can you find anything remotely funny about the events that took place in that room? In any other circumstance, I would have gave them a HUGE piece of my mind with some choice words. However, I didn't feel right doing that. That room is a sacred place that is meant to be respected and honored, not a place to voice my anger towards these boys. I would have only added to the nonsense that was taking place. I opted to keep my mouth closed. They did, however, get quite the staredown as I exited.
The second room in the building was the much bigger crematorium. You could tell that this room and these ovens were designed for a lot of use. About 40,000 people were documented as having died at Dachau (the number is believed to be far higher). The ovens were used to dispose of their bodies. Our tour guide told us that the ovens were used so frequently that the Nazis ran out of coal a few months before Dachau's liberation. When the US soldiers liberated the camp they found a stack, in the buildings last room, of nearly 2,000 bodies. Standing in the room was such a hard moment for me. On one of the walls, was a picture of that room three days after the liberation of Dachau. The entire thing, floor to ceiling, is filled with bodies. The picture shows shocked and disgusted Dachau residents looking into the room of bodies. Many residents of Dachau tried to say that they had no idea what was taking place in the camp, that they thought conditions were bad, but had no idea that people were being murdered in mass numbers. I don't know if it was the intention, but I got a powerful message with that being the end of the tour. There was hell on earth in Dachau, and just a few hundred feet away, the people of Dachau were going about their daily lives. How could you NOT know what was going on? They were only lying to themselves when they said they had no idea. U.S soliders forced the residents of Dachau to come view the bodies, so they could see what happened when they stood idle, what happened when they did nothing. And that is the message I got out that room. When you stand there and do nothing, you are not innocent, you are just as guilty as the perpetrator. Maybe if people had stood up and helped, things would have been different. Dachau should never have happened, the whole Holocaust never should have happened.
I'm a thinker. Always have been, always will be. I analyze things until they cannot be broken down any further. My mind was racing about 600mph the entire tour. I kept on imagining what it was like to be a prisoner there. I kept trying to mentally put myself in their shoes. I think this is why Dachau may have been so powerful for me. I became engrossed in the experience and I think I got alot of it because of this. In the barracks, I just tried to imagine laying in those beds, with 200 other people around me. I would have been exhausted, hungry, and cold. How can someone not be thankful for the little things after experiencing something like this? Things I take for granted, like having my own bed, food, heat, etc., were unheard of at Dachau. When we were taking the 5 minute walk to the Krematorium area, my feet and fingers went completely numb. It was about 30 degrees out and I believe I already had a fever running; it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Everything in me wanted to complain, but then that "thinker" inside my head was like, "Hannah...are you kidding me?" How could I ever complain about being cold at Dachau? How could I, in my boots and a jacket, no matter how lightweight they were, complain about the cold? The prisoners at Dachau wore paper thin shirts, pants, and wooden clogs in the spring...and the winter. Jackets were not allowed and they could not keep their hands in the pockets for warmth. The same pathway I walked was where roll call was taken everyday. For 45 minutes, in sun, rain, wind, or snow, the prisoners were forced to line up as their numbers were called. Sure I was numb, sure I was sick, but this was nothing compared to what these poor people went through day after day. I am genuinely glad the weather was freezing. For me, it totally made the experience that much more powerful and humbling.
I don't think there is anything I could say that can fully convey my experience is a whole. My visit to Dachau was nothing short of powerful, mind-blowing, and entirely humbling. I am so glad I went. You can't help but be moved and even changed by the visit. It made me take a good look at myself, recognize the things I take for granted, and try to develop a new way of thinking. Is there one main thing I took away from my Dachau visit? Definitely. It may sound cheesy, but kindness, caring for one another, cannot be optional...we must do it. Dachau reminded me of what happens when we do not look out for eachother, when hate takes over. You cannot deny we are all different. I may look different than some, speak different than some, believe different than some, but at the end of the day I am a human being just like everyone else. That simple fact alone is reason enough to care for the person next to you. Hate gets you nowhere.
Before we left for Munich, I did a little research on Dachau: how to get there, prices, hours, tours, etc. I was pretty excited to see Dachau in particular because in 8th grade I did a school project on it. It sounds stupid, but I find it pretty amazing that 7 years later I would be touring the very camp I presented to my class. The actual camp is now called the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site. It is open year round, and absolutely free to enter. I loved the fact it was free. They could have very easily charged 10 Euro to enter, but they don't. This is something that people need to see, need to experience, and no one should be turned away because they cannot afford it. Entrance is free, guided tours are only 3 Euro, and audio guides are only 2 Euro. If you want to hear more detailed information on the camp you can pay the cheap fees for the tour or audio guide. If you can't afford it, you still have free and total access to the entire camp, you just have to do it on your own. I think it's great that anyone can enter through the gates and experience Dachau.
The English tours are held three times throughout the day. We decided on our train ride over that we wanted to take a guided tour. I had read some reviews online, and the writers highly recommend taking a tour because you learn a lot more from the knowledgeable guides. Our tour guide was pretty nice and really knew his stuff. We started off in the museum, the only heated part of the camp, and learned some basic stuff. He showed us a map of Europe that had all of the concentration camps, including subcamps, that existed during the Nazi reign. Standing before this giant map was pretty intense. There were probably close to 200-300 dots on the map that represented camps. In the museum we got to see a camp uniform, the patches that the prisoners had to wear, and photographs taken by SS guards. He gave us a little background information on Dachau too. Dachau was a working camp for men only; there were no women and children. The prisoners were forced to work, sometimes to their death, making things for the war, governement, etc. It was the first concentration camp in Europe and it was originally used for criminals. When Hitler took over he started using it for people who opposed his ideas and went against him. As time went on, it was being filled with criminals, homosexuals, gypsies, Jews, etc. Made for only a few thousand people, by the end of the war, it was holding over 60,000.
After we got the brief tour of the museum and a little information on Dachau, we went outside to have our tour. The first thing you see at the camp is the main gate. When it was actually up and running, Dachau only had one entrance/exit, everything else was surrounded by electric fences. Built into the iron gate entrance are the words "Arbeit Macht Frei", which means something along the lines of "work will set you free". It was kind of surreal seeing that because in my presentation in 8th grade, I remember showing a picture and telling my class about the gate. After we saw the gate, we immediately headed over to the barracks. When the U.S liberated Dachau they were forced to quarantine and eventually destroy all of the barracks because of the disease that had run rampant in them. There are no original barracks left, just the foundations remain. When the camp was made a memorial site, they built two replica barracks that are perfect copies of the original. Inside these barracks are three different rooms. The first room shows what the barracks looked like when Dachau first opened, just for criminals. Each barrack room held about 50 inmates and they slept comfortably in their own beds; an entire barrack could hold about 200 people. The next room shows what the barracks looked like once the war started. These beds were far smaller and about 80 prisoners were held in one room; full barrack capacity was now at about 300. The third room represented Dachau at the height of the war. The beds, referred to as "endless beds" didn't even look like actual beds. It was basically one giant platform that covered the length of the entire room; two more platforms were stacked above it like bunk beds. At it's population peak, a room like this in a Dachau barrack, originally meant for 50, held over 250 people; putting nearly 2,000 people in a barrack meant for 200. I remember seeing the last room, with the endless beds, and just having this total wave of sadness wash over me. The room was probably 20x20 and I couldn't even visualize over 200 people trying to sleep in that one place. You can't help but want to cry when you remind yourself that although it is hard to visualize, it did in fact happen.
After the barracks we walked by the memorials for the victims. One is a giant iron statue that shows people entangled in the electric fences and another that showed the ways the victims at Dachau were labled. Both were incredibly powerful to see. After walking by those, we made our way over to the other side of the camp. This pathway passes right in between the foundations of all of the barracks. There were hundreds of foundations left behind that stretched as far as your eye could see. At the end of the pathway was the Catholic Memorial for the victims of Dachau. Within close proximity of this memorial were the Russian Orthodox, Jewish, and Protestant Memorials. As we approached the Catholic Memorial, you could see a man kneeling infront of it with flowers. It was just a small reminder that this still affects people today, almost 65 years later.
We then made our way over the Krematorium area. This area was for guards only and totally off limits for prisoners. In order to gain access, you had to walk through a gate in the middle of the electric fence. He explained that these fences killed on contact. Along the entire length of the fence was a giant ditch. The Nazis put this here so prisoners were slowed down if running and attempting to make an escape at the fence. When trying to escape, they were either killed by guards from watch towers or by the electric fence. Our tourguide also mentioned that some people simply couldn't bear to live anymore and would try to "escape" knowing that it meant a quick death. There are no accounts, written or from survivors, that indicate that anyone ever was able to escape from Dachau.
Once we got into the Krematorium area, I got this horrible feeling, a huge pit, in my stomach. I kind of expected it though. You hear about it in all of your history classes, you read about it in books, but nothing really prepares you for seeing these things. Dachau has two crematoriums. The first was used when death tolls weren't incredibly high. As the war went on, people were dying at much higher rates from disease, starvation, the cold, abuse, etc. The single crematorium, one that was actually used in the real world for cremating one person at a time, could not handle the large numbers anymore. They were forced to build another bigger building, that housed an industrial sized crematorium. Inside this second crematorium was a gas chamber. Interestingly enough, Dachau was never considered an extermination camp. Hitler made sure that none of these camps resided in Germany. He wanted them to be in the countries that he occupied so it would be easier to transport the foreign people to them. So, knowing this, many wonder why Dachau had a gas chamber in it. The most popular theory is that since Dachau was one of the first concentration camps, it acted as a model for others. When Germans were trained to work in concentration camps, they were trained to use gas chambers, and some were trained at Dachau. With that said, survivors have reported that the gas chamber was not regularly used like at extermination camps. However, they did say that it was used on individuals or small groups on occasion. Our tour guide gave us all of this information before walking in. I really wanted to cry at this point, and I hadn't even stepped inside.
First part of the building was the gas chamber. I can't really describe a single emotion that I felt when I walked through it. It was a mixture of things: anger, sadness, frustration. How could anyone do this to a fellow human being? Above the entrance of the "shower room", was a German phrase that referred to the importance of cleanliness. I couldn't help but be so incredibly angry by the cruelty of that, the trickery of getting these people into the room. I entered into the room and sadly enough, it does look like a giant shower. There are drains in the floor and things that appear to be shower heads on the ceiling. Along one wall are these two grates that turn into a slot; this is where the poison, Zyklon B, was slipped into the room. At this point, I was feeling nauseous. Adding to the horrible emotions, were these other people in the gas chamber at the same time. These people had the audacity to act in an entirely disrepectful and disgusting manner when they were in the room. They were taking pictures of eachother standing under the shower heads like they were dying. Then they would take a group picture against a wall, all smiling with their thumbs up. I have never wanted to punch someone more in my entire life. How could anyone make light of a situation like that? How can you find anything remotely funny about the events that took place in that room? In any other circumstance, I would have gave them a HUGE piece of my mind with some choice words. However, I didn't feel right doing that. That room is a sacred place that is meant to be respected and honored, not a place to voice my anger towards these boys. I would have only added to the nonsense that was taking place. I opted to keep my mouth closed. They did, however, get quite the staredown as I exited.
The second room in the building was the much bigger crematorium. You could tell that this room and these ovens were designed for a lot of use. About 40,000 people were documented as having died at Dachau (the number is believed to be far higher). The ovens were used to dispose of their bodies. Our tour guide told us that the ovens were used so frequently that the Nazis ran out of coal a few months before Dachau's liberation. When the US soldiers liberated the camp they found a stack, in the buildings last room, of nearly 2,000 bodies. Standing in the room was such a hard moment for me. On one of the walls, was a picture of that room three days after the liberation of Dachau. The entire thing, floor to ceiling, is filled with bodies. The picture shows shocked and disgusted Dachau residents looking into the room of bodies. Many residents of Dachau tried to say that they had no idea what was taking place in the camp, that they thought conditions were bad, but had no idea that people were being murdered in mass numbers. I don't know if it was the intention, but I got a powerful message with that being the end of the tour. There was hell on earth in Dachau, and just a few hundred feet away, the people of Dachau were going about their daily lives. How could you NOT know what was going on? They were only lying to themselves when they said they had no idea. U.S soliders forced the residents of Dachau to come view the bodies, so they could see what happened when they stood idle, what happened when they did nothing. And that is the message I got out that room. When you stand there and do nothing, you are not innocent, you are just as guilty as the perpetrator. Maybe if people had stood up and helped, things would have been different. Dachau should never have happened, the whole Holocaust never should have happened.
I'm a thinker. Always have been, always will be. I analyze things until they cannot be broken down any further. My mind was racing about 600mph the entire tour. I kept on imagining what it was like to be a prisoner there. I kept trying to mentally put myself in their shoes. I think this is why Dachau may have been so powerful for me. I became engrossed in the experience and I think I got alot of it because of this. In the barracks, I just tried to imagine laying in those beds, with 200 other people around me. I would have been exhausted, hungry, and cold. How can someone not be thankful for the little things after experiencing something like this? Things I take for granted, like having my own bed, food, heat, etc., were unheard of at Dachau. When we were taking the 5 minute walk to the Krematorium area, my feet and fingers went completely numb. It was about 30 degrees out and I believe I already had a fever running; it wasn't a very pleasant experience. Everything in me wanted to complain, but then that "thinker" inside my head was like, "Hannah...are you kidding me?" How could I ever complain about being cold at Dachau? How could I, in my boots and a jacket, no matter how lightweight they were, complain about the cold? The prisoners at Dachau wore paper thin shirts, pants, and wooden clogs in the spring...and the winter. Jackets were not allowed and they could not keep their hands in the pockets for warmth. The same pathway I walked was where roll call was taken everyday. For 45 minutes, in sun, rain, wind, or snow, the prisoners were forced to line up as their numbers were called. Sure I was numb, sure I was sick, but this was nothing compared to what these poor people went through day after day. I am genuinely glad the weather was freezing. For me, it totally made the experience that much more powerful and humbling.
I don't think there is anything I could say that can fully convey my experience is a whole. My visit to Dachau was nothing short of powerful, mind-blowing, and entirely humbling. I am so glad I went. You can't help but be moved and even changed by the visit. It made me take a good look at myself, recognize the things I take for granted, and try to develop a new way of thinking. Is there one main thing I took away from my Dachau visit? Definitely. It may sound cheesy, but kindness, caring for one another, cannot be optional...we must do it. Dachau reminded me of what happens when we do not look out for eachother, when hate takes over. You cannot deny we are all different. I may look different than some, speak different than some, believe different than some, but at the end of the day I am a human being just like everyone else. That simple fact alone is reason enough to care for the person next to you. Hate gets you nowhere.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Munich, or should I say...MUNCHEN
I just got back from Munich a few hours ago and I am exhausted! I had a wonderful time this weekend and I absolutely loved the homeland! Germany is definitely a lot different than any other place I have visited while I've been over here. Just having been to London the previous weekend, it was nice seeing something TOTALLY different from it. Munich was absolutely beautiful in it's own unique way.
So, where do I begin? Well, we left Barcelona around 10:25 am on Friday, and arrived in Munich around 12:30pm. The second I stepped off the plane and onto the little connector-walkway-thing-ma-jigger, the freezing cold air hit me. First thought that came to mind? Solid work Hannah, you have, yet again, managed to be totally unprepared for the weather. You think as I get older I would actually be a little more prepared. You know, actually pack appropriate winter gear? Pft. Why would I ever do that? I mean, who really wants to be warm when walking around a city in 20 degree weather for 9 hours? Did I mention I came into this weekend with a sinus infection/fever? I'm thinking there is a definite possibility my germs froze to death...it was THAT cold in Munich.
After freezing to death in the 20 foot walk from the terminal to the train station, we proceeded to buy our tickets for the S-Bahn. I can proudly say I have done my first illegal thing in another country (God, I'm SUCH a rebel!!!). Seeing as the train ticket purchasing machine was entirely in German, you can guess we had a little difficulty finding the correct ticket to buy. And yes, you guessed it, we did in fact by the wrong one. About half way through our ride to our hostel, the train people came around to check our tickets and informed us that we had bought the wrong one. The penalty? A 40 Euro fine. Hah, that's a funny joke! I would absolutely NOT pay a 40 Euro fine for a mistake, this was not an intentional violation. So we were told to make our way to another random U-Bahn stop, find the office, and plead our case. After some discussion, we were able to argue our fee down to 10 Euro. I was still pretty angry. I could have used those 10 Euro for I dont know something useful like...A JACKET!!!
About 2 hours later than expected, we arrived at our hostel. This hostel was AWESOME! I've only experienced 3 hostels in my day, but this one was definitely my favorite. It had a real cool atmosphere to it. They had a free German beer tasting at night and the rooms were actually really nice. So, we set our stuff in our room and decided to go out and look around. We grabbed some lunch and started walking around. Within about 10 minutes it became incredibly clear that I needed to purchase some gloves of some sort. I managed to find the ugliest pair of gloves in the country and bought them. Oh well, they kept my poor fingers warm. I couldn't help but laugh when I purchased them. I always manage to have the most random first purchase when I visit another country for the weekend. London: ear plugs to fend off the onslaught of Pablo's snoring. Munich: the worlds ugliest pair of gloves to prevent frostbite from being my only German souvenir.
Now, the best part of my trip to Munich was the fact my cousin, Carina, would be meeting us there. I have only met Carina once, about two years ago, when she came to the U.S for the first time. Her flight wasn't getting in til way later and she wouldn't actually be at the hostel until 10:30. I was pretty nervous to see her again, so I decided to drink my feelings at the free beer tasting. KIDDING!!!!!!!!! (Yes, Dad...I swear I am kidding). But, I did actually go to the beer tasting to kill the time. They served little glasses of different kinds of beer. I don't really like the taste of any kind of alcohol, especially beer, but I figured I'd try because hey, I'm in Germany...they are known for their beer. None of the beers were mind-blowingly good, but I did enjoy the wheat beer to some degree. Around 10:30 I got a friendly tap on the shoulder at the bar, turned around, and there was CARINA! Wooooo! We gave eachother a big hug and I helped her check in and bring her things up to the room. We talked for a little bit and she gave me a gift; a scarf and some German candies. We were all exhausted, so we decided to go to bed after that.
That morning we got up, had breakfast, and made our way into the city center; Marienplatz. Trying to turn over a new leaf, I tried to dress as warm as humanly possible. I wore a pair of stockings under my jeans, 4 pairs of socks, boots, 2 camis, 2 sweaters, 2 cardigans, my northface, a scarf, and my heinous gloves. It pretty much could have been Halloween and I was dressed up as little Randy from a Christmas Story....ya know, the one in the huge snowsuit. Had anyone pushed me over...there would have been NO getting back up. I felt somewhat successful in my attempt to stay warm. It took about 20 minutes for me to go numb, not 2. When in Marienplatz, we saw the giant clock, the Glockenschpiel, ring and rotate on the hour. We walked around and went in some souvenir shops to get postcards, gifts, etc. I really enjoyed the city center. I felt lie I was walking around in a fairy tale, it was great. After about an hour or so of walking around, we decided we wanted to head over to the Dachau Concentration Camp. We all decided that that was something we definitely wanted to do. When we got there we decided to take a guided tour that took about 2.5 hours. I'm going to write a separate blog about the entire experience, but let me say for now, it was a powerful one.
After Dachau, we decided to head back into the city center and get some dinner. We were in Munich and everyone said you HAVE to go to the Hofbrauhaus. The Hofbrauhaus is a giant beer garden that holds about 400-500 people. We walked in and my jaw just dropped. It was a CRAZY atmosphere. You were in charge of find your own seat and hope that a waitress, dressed in full bavarian garb, would see you. There is a Bavarian band playing, and everyone is singing and chanting along. They served giant 1L mugs of beer as well as HUGE Bavarian pretzels. I know it makes me sound ridiculous...but I probably had been this excited to eat in a LONG time. Walking around for 6 hours in the snow did not help the fever at all. I was pretty much dying at dinner. I didn't think drinking a giant mug of beer would be the best decision when I had a fever and was on pain meds..so I skipped that part. The one part I did not skip out on? My meal. I ended up getting a pork roast with bread dumplings and coleslaw. DELICIOUS! I had a great time at dinner. My cousin Carina was having a great time too. We sat next to eachother and just chatted like old friends the entire time; her English is really great, I was quite proud! She recommended we get an apple strudel for desert and of course, a pretzel. We did and both were to die for. Eating at the Hofbrauhaus was quite the experience; a fun and delicious one to be exact!
After the Hofbrahaus we made our way back to the hostel. I looked and felt the living dead. Carina's friend, Ann-Christine, lives in Munich and wanted to take us out to show us the nightlife. The responsible adult in me, that usually wins over, said, "Hannah you are going to make yourself more sick..I think you should stay in and get some rest". The irresponsible side of me, that rarely comes out when it comes to clubbing, said, "Oh Hannah, you're only in Munich once, go have FUN!". I listened to the latter. We went to this club that had three different clubs within it. One club played techno, the other played pop, and the last played hip-hop. It was definitely a fun place to be, but I just really couldn't have any fun because I felt so sick. It was so bad, I ended up getting soda to drink at the bar. That should be a good indicator of how I was feeling. BUT! I'm glad I went out so I can say I at least experienced Munich nightlife.
We ended up getting in really late, getting up really early to check out, and making our way to the train station. It was really hard saying goodbye to Carina...she cries quite easily. She is actually coming to visit the U.S in June with her father and little brother, so I just tried telling her it is only 4 months. Not toooo long! I said I'd be feeling better and I would get to show her around this time! I had a great time with her this weekend. I definitely feel like I've known her for forever, even though I've only met her twice. I would definitely think of going out to visit her in Germany someday. She is a sweetheart and I am so happy that I got to spend time with her this weekend. However, I must say, she is quite the bad influence. She encouraged and laughed at my use of the word SCHIZA. Let's just say it's one of three words I know in Germany...and it's a swearword. :)
I had a fantastic time in Munich. I wish I had been feeling better because that would made my trip a LOT more enjoyable. I also wish I had more time in the city. We really only had one day to do things...but we made the most of it. I am definitely looking forward to returning to Germany some day and really taking in the sights. I loved what I saw this weekend and cannot WAIT to see more. This is going to sound like an Academy Award acceptance speech, but thank you to my wonderful Grammy who helped me out with this trip! This wouldn't have been possible without you! I LOVE YOUU!!! The return to the homeland was a success!
Please excuse any and all typos in this blog. I need to head to bed so I'm going to have to skimp on the revisions. If I'm not too busy I will post some pictures tomorrow, as well as an entry on Dachau. I love and miss you ALL! <3
P.S - The German language has the LONGEST words I have ever seen in my life! I found it humorous, so I kept my eye out for some of the longest I could I find. I have no idea what they mean, and they come from random places like buildings, signs, etc, but here are some of my favorite finds: Fahrplananderungen, Landeskrankenhilfe, anddd last but not least, Anschlussubersicht!! :)
So, where do I begin? Well, we left Barcelona around 10:25 am on Friday, and arrived in Munich around 12:30pm. The second I stepped off the plane and onto the little connector-walkway-thing-ma-jigger, the freezing cold air hit me. First thought that came to mind? Solid work Hannah, you have, yet again, managed to be totally unprepared for the weather. You think as I get older I would actually be a little more prepared. You know, actually pack appropriate winter gear? Pft. Why would I ever do that? I mean, who really wants to be warm when walking around a city in 20 degree weather for 9 hours? Did I mention I came into this weekend with a sinus infection/fever? I'm thinking there is a definite possibility my germs froze to death...it was THAT cold in Munich.
After freezing to death in the 20 foot walk from the terminal to the train station, we proceeded to buy our tickets for the S-Bahn. I can proudly say I have done my first illegal thing in another country (God, I'm SUCH a rebel!!!). Seeing as the train ticket purchasing machine was entirely in German, you can guess we had a little difficulty finding the correct ticket to buy. And yes, you guessed it, we did in fact by the wrong one. About half way through our ride to our hostel, the train people came around to check our tickets and informed us that we had bought the wrong one. The penalty? A 40 Euro fine. Hah, that's a funny joke! I would absolutely NOT pay a 40 Euro fine for a mistake, this was not an intentional violation. So we were told to make our way to another random U-Bahn stop, find the office, and plead our case. After some discussion, we were able to argue our fee down to 10 Euro. I was still pretty angry. I could have used those 10 Euro for I dont know something useful like...A JACKET!!!
About 2 hours later than expected, we arrived at our hostel. This hostel was AWESOME! I've only experienced 3 hostels in my day, but this one was definitely my favorite. It had a real cool atmosphere to it. They had a free German beer tasting at night and the rooms were actually really nice. So, we set our stuff in our room and decided to go out and look around. We grabbed some lunch and started walking around. Within about 10 minutes it became incredibly clear that I needed to purchase some gloves of some sort. I managed to find the ugliest pair of gloves in the country and bought them. Oh well, they kept my poor fingers warm. I couldn't help but laugh when I purchased them. I always manage to have the most random first purchase when I visit another country for the weekend. London: ear plugs to fend off the onslaught of Pablo's snoring. Munich: the worlds ugliest pair of gloves to prevent frostbite from being my only German souvenir.
Now, the best part of my trip to Munich was the fact my cousin, Carina, would be meeting us there. I have only met Carina once, about two years ago, when she came to the U.S for the first time. Her flight wasn't getting in til way later and she wouldn't actually be at the hostel until 10:30. I was pretty nervous to see her again, so I decided to drink my feelings at the free beer tasting. KIDDING!!!!!!!!! (Yes, Dad...I swear I am kidding). But, I did actually go to the beer tasting to kill the time. They served little glasses of different kinds of beer. I don't really like the taste of any kind of alcohol, especially beer, but I figured I'd try because hey, I'm in Germany...they are known for their beer. None of the beers were mind-blowingly good, but I did enjoy the wheat beer to some degree. Around 10:30 I got a friendly tap on the shoulder at the bar, turned around, and there was CARINA! Wooooo! We gave eachother a big hug and I helped her check in and bring her things up to the room. We talked for a little bit and she gave me a gift; a scarf and some German candies. We were all exhausted, so we decided to go to bed after that.
That morning we got up, had breakfast, and made our way into the city center; Marienplatz. Trying to turn over a new leaf, I tried to dress as warm as humanly possible. I wore a pair of stockings under my jeans, 4 pairs of socks, boots, 2 camis, 2 sweaters, 2 cardigans, my northface, a scarf, and my heinous gloves. It pretty much could have been Halloween and I was dressed up as little Randy from a Christmas Story....ya know, the one in the huge snowsuit. Had anyone pushed me over...there would have been NO getting back up. I felt somewhat successful in my attempt to stay warm. It took about 20 minutes for me to go numb, not 2. When in Marienplatz, we saw the giant clock, the Glockenschpiel, ring and rotate on the hour. We walked around and went in some souvenir shops to get postcards, gifts, etc. I really enjoyed the city center. I felt lie I was walking around in a fairy tale, it was great. After about an hour or so of walking around, we decided we wanted to head over to the Dachau Concentration Camp. We all decided that that was something we definitely wanted to do. When we got there we decided to take a guided tour that took about 2.5 hours. I'm going to write a separate blog about the entire experience, but let me say for now, it was a powerful one.
After Dachau, we decided to head back into the city center and get some dinner. We were in Munich and everyone said you HAVE to go to the Hofbrauhaus. The Hofbrauhaus is a giant beer garden that holds about 400-500 people. We walked in and my jaw just dropped. It was a CRAZY atmosphere. You were in charge of find your own seat and hope that a waitress, dressed in full bavarian garb, would see you. There is a Bavarian band playing, and everyone is singing and chanting along. They served giant 1L mugs of beer as well as HUGE Bavarian pretzels. I know it makes me sound ridiculous...but I probably had been this excited to eat in a LONG time. Walking around for 6 hours in the snow did not help the fever at all. I was pretty much dying at dinner. I didn't think drinking a giant mug of beer would be the best decision when I had a fever and was on pain meds..so I skipped that part. The one part I did not skip out on? My meal. I ended up getting a pork roast with bread dumplings and coleslaw. DELICIOUS! I had a great time at dinner. My cousin Carina was having a great time too. We sat next to eachother and just chatted like old friends the entire time; her English is really great, I was quite proud! She recommended we get an apple strudel for desert and of course, a pretzel. We did and both were to die for. Eating at the Hofbrauhaus was quite the experience; a fun and delicious one to be exact!
After the Hofbrahaus we made our way back to the hostel. I looked and felt the living dead. Carina's friend, Ann-Christine, lives in Munich and wanted to take us out to show us the nightlife. The responsible adult in me, that usually wins over, said, "Hannah you are going to make yourself more sick..I think you should stay in and get some rest". The irresponsible side of me, that rarely comes out when it comes to clubbing, said, "Oh Hannah, you're only in Munich once, go have FUN!". I listened to the latter. We went to this club that had three different clubs within it. One club played techno, the other played pop, and the last played hip-hop. It was definitely a fun place to be, but I just really couldn't have any fun because I felt so sick. It was so bad, I ended up getting soda to drink at the bar. That should be a good indicator of how I was feeling. BUT! I'm glad I went out so I can say I at least experienced Munich nightlife.
We ended up getting in really late, getting up really early to check out, and making our way to the train station. It was really hard saying goodbye to Carina...she cries quite easily. She is actually coming to visit the U.S in June with her father and little brother, so I just tried telling her it is only 4 months. Not toooo long! I said I'd be feeling better and I would get to show her around this time! I had a great time with her this weekend. I definitely feel like I've known her for forever, even though I've only met her twice. I would definitely think of going out to visit her in Germany someday. She is a sweetheart and I am so happy that I got to spend time with her this weekend. However, I must say, she is quite the bad influence. She encouraged and laughed at my use of the word SCHIZA. Let's just say it's one of three words I know in Germany...and it's a swearword. :)
I had a fantastic time in Munich. I wish I had been feeling better because that would made my trip a LOT more enjoyable. I also wish I had more time in the city. We really only had one day to do things...but we made the most of it. I am definitely looking forward to returning to Germany some day and really taking in the sights. I loved what I saw this weekend and cannot WAIT to see more. This is going to sound like an Academy Award acceptance speech, but thank you to my wonderful Grammy who helped me out with this trip! This wouldn't have been possible without you! I LOVE YOUU!!! The return to the homeland was a success!
Please excuse any and all typos in this blog. I need to head to bed so I'm going to have to skimp on the revisions. If I'm not too busy I will post some pictures tomorrow, as well as an entry on Dachau. I love and miss you ALL! <3
P.S - The German language has the LONGEST words I have ever seen in my life! I found it humorous, so I kept my eye out for some of the longest I could I find. I have no idea what they mean, and they come from random places like buildings, signs, etc, but here are some of my favorite finds: Fahrplananderungen, Landeskrankenhilfe, anddd last but not least, Anschlussubersicht!! :)
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
idiots.
I need to get this off my chest...Let me just say, I am studying abroad with approximately 500 complete and total idiots. Why my words of hostility? Let me explain. About two weeks ago we had a project/presentation due for Psych. It involved you and your group members writing things called "Critical Incidents", assembling them all into a catalog, and presenting them to the class. Not a huge deal. Most groups had 6 people in there group which worked out nicely because you needed 6 critical incidents complete. My group had 5 members so I offered to be the person in the group to do two. They were due/we had to present them on February 19th. My group didn't really know how to format their critical incidents, not to mention our teacher is a tough grader, so I decided to get my critical incidents done in the beginning of February to have my teacher look over them. I figured if I had them done early she'd look them over, I could make any changes she suggested, and then send it as a rough guide for the rest of my group members. So about 3 weeks before the due date, I wrote both of my critical incidents. It probably took about an hour max. Really easy assignment. A few days later, I sent them to our teacher to have her look over them, she gave me a feedback, and I sent them to the rest of my group members. I made the catalog when all of my group members e-mailed me their critical incidents and then I made a powerpoint for our presentation. We presented everything the next day and I was pretty excited because I thought it went really well. I felt like she liked it. Wooo! Done with this project...no more stress. Or so I thought...
There are 3 different sessions of this Psych class I'm taking. Mine is on T/TH's and the other two are on M/W's. ALL of them are taught by the same teacher. Carly, who is in a different section of the class, had her critical incidents presentation the Monday after my Thursday presentation. CEA is really strict about having phones go off in class, so mine is almost always off. I was walking to my Macro class, during the time of Carly's Psych class, and decided to turn on my phone quick to see if I had any missed calls or texts. As I'm walking into my Macro class, I see I had gotten a text from Carly that said, "OMG Hannah. Someone copied and is presenting your critical incident word for word." AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I proceeded to pretty much have a panic attack. That Macro class was the longest hour and a half of my life. All I could think about is how strict this teacher is and how she can't stand the majority of the CEA students. It would make her DAY to fail someone for plagiarism. After class, I sprinted back to my room to talk to Carly. A girl had my same critical incident, word for word, with only the name of the character and the nummerical order of my answers changed. SERIOUSLY?! I'd like to know this girl's train of thought. I assume it's something along the lines of..."Wow, I put this project off til the last second. What am I going to do? Ahhh yes, let's copy a fellow Psych student's project. Even though I know we will both be handing it in to the same teacher." In the words of SNL....I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?!
You have to be a complete moron to think you are going to get away with that. How do I think this happened? I have my theories. I had my critical incidents done well before the due date and mailed them to my other group members. I know that the girl who copied me lives with one of my group members. This means that the copier had access to my example I sent my group members (the same exact one that just so happened to be copied). So two possible things happened. My group member knowingly gave her friend the critical incident to copy. The girl procrastinated...maybe it was a help-a-sister-out-type-deal. However, that doesn't seem all that logical to me. Why would my group member help her friend plagiarize with something from her own group? If she was caught, not only would this girl be in trouble, that means our group would be penalized too. It is far easier to track down who helped this girl plagiarize if the work comes from the "helper's" own group. Giving her other material, from say the internet, would have had my group member likely in the clear. You can't really trace it back to anyone specific, so just the plagiarizer would be in trouble. So why someone would help someone plagiarize with there own material, is beyond me. Second scenario I've come up with, the one I like to believe is true, is that my group member gave her friend my critical incident for the same reason I sent it to my group; to have an example to work off of. Then I think the girl must have gotten lazy and went behind my group members back and just copied the whole thing, with some minor changes of course. Either way...I'm not a happy camper.
I don't really need this added stress in my life right now. The teacher did notice the plagiarism, as well as others cases in the other classes. She right off the bat knew that I wasn't involved because of how early I had mine done. So thankfully, shes on my side. I also have old emails, Word document dates saved, and drafts that I can use as evidence if it comes to that. Hopefully this girl just fesses up, because if not I'll probably get dragged into the Dean's Office to defend myself. Which I have no problem doing, but I really have better ways to spend my time than sitting and figuring this all out with the dean, my teacher, and this girl. If it comes to that, I already know what I will be saying. I'll start by asking her what my name is. I have no idea who this girl is, I have never seen her in my life, bottomline, we don't know eachother. She probably won't know my name. Why exactly would I help someone I don't even know, someone who doesn't even know my name, plagiarize? I also have to prepare for the possibility that she has seen my name on Facebook. That works just fine as well. I'll still ask her my name...you can bet money she won't pronounce it right. Again, you think if I helped someone plagiarize they would at least know how to say my name. I think that right there might put her in a little hole. Hopefully, if she hasn't already, she'll just fess up and get this over with.
Thankfully, I have other things up my sleeve to defend myself with if the simple doesn't work. I also have the teacher in my corner which helps ALOT. I just hope this ordeal doesn't affect my grade at all. It's been about a week and a half since this all transpired and we get back our grades for it tomorrow. So I guess we'll be seeing how things work out. Worst comes to worst, I have to go defend myself at the Dean's. I'm confident I'll be fine. Until this is all behind me, I am stressed out like nobody's business. Oh well.
In other academic news...I got a 96 on my first Spanish Test (pure luck...I really don't know what I'm doing), a B+ on my Sport and Culture Mid-Term (I plan on trying to argue up to an A- because I don't think I should have been docked on one of my short answers), and I took my Macro mid-term today. Let's just say, no exaggerations, I probably did something that rhymes with SCHMAILED :)
Other than the huge test I have to study for tomorrow, the 1,9635 pages of reading I have to do, and the fact I think I'm getting a sinus infection, I'm doing real well!!! I'll be sureeeeee to let everyone know how this all ends up. Love and miss you all! <3
There are 3 different sessions of this Psych class I'm taking. Mine is on T/TH's and the other two are on M/W's. ALL of them are taught by the same teacher. Carly, who is in a different section of the class, had her critical incidents presentation the Monday after my Thursday presentation. CEA is really strict about having phones go off in class, so mine is almost always off. I was walking to my Macro class, during the time of Carly's Psych class, and decided to turn on my phone quick to see if I had any missed calls or texts. As I'm walking into my Macro class, I see I had gotten a text from Carly that said, "OMG Hannah. Someone copied and is presenting your critical incident word for word." AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I proceeded to pretty much have a panic attack. That Macro class was the longest hour and a half of my life. All I could think about is how strict this teacher is and how she can't stand the majority of the CEA students. It would make her DAY to fail someone for plagiarism. After class, I sprinted back to my room to talk to Carly. A girl had my same critical incident, word for word, with only the name of the character and the nummerical order of my answers changed. SERIOUSLY?! I'd like to know this girl's train of thought. I assume it's something along the lines of..."Wow, I put this project off til the last second. What am I going to do? Ahhh yes, let's copy a fellow Psych student's project. Even though I know we will both be handing it in to the same teacher." In the words of SNL....I mean, REALLY?!?!?!?!
You have to be a complete moron to think you are going to get away with that. How do I think this happened? I have my theories. I had my critical incidents done well before the due date and mailed them to my other group members. I know that the girl who copied me lives with one of my group members. This means that the copier had access to my example I sent my group members (the same exact one that just so happened to be copied). So two possible things happened. My group member knowingly gave her friend the critical incident to copy. The girl procrastinated...maybe it was a help-a-sister-out-type-deal. However, that doesn't seem all that logical to me. Why would my group member help her friend plagiarize with something from her own group? If she was caught, not only would this girl be in trouble, that means our group would be penalized too. It is far easier to track down who helped this girl plagiarize if the work comes from the "helper's" own group. Giving her other material, from say the internet, would have had my group member likely in the clear. You can't really trace it back to anyone specific, so just the plagiarizer would be in trouble. So why someone would help someone plagiarize with there own material, is beyond me. Second scenario I've come up with, the one I like to believe is true, is that my group member gave her friend my critical incident for the same reason I sent it to my group; to have an example to work off of. Then I think the girl must have gotten lazy and went behind my group members back and just copied the whole thing, with some minor changes of course. Either way...I'm not a happy camper.
I don't really need this added stress in my life right now. The teacher did notice the plagiarism, as well as others cases in the other classes. She right off the bat knew that I wasn't involved because of how early I had mine done. So thankfully, shes on my side. I also have old emails, Word document dates saved, and drafts that I can use as evidence if it comes to that. Hopefully this girl just fesses up, because if not I'll probably get dragged into the Dean's Office to defend myself. Which I have no problem doing, but I really have better ways to spend my time than sitting and figuring this all out with the dean, my teacher, and this girl. If it comes to that, I already know what I will be saying. I'll start by asking her what my name is. I have no idea who this girl is, I have never seen her in my life, bottomline, we don't know eachother. She probably won't know my name. Why exactly would I help someone I don't even know, someone who doesn't even know my name, plagiarize? I also have to prepare for the possibility that she has seen my name on Facebook. That works just fine as well. I'll still ask her my name...you can bet money she won't pronounce it right. Again, you think if I helped someone plagiarize they would at least know how to say my name. I think that right there might put her in a little hole. Hopefully, if she hasn't already, she'll just fess up and get this over with.
Thankfully, I have other things up my sleeve to defend myself with if the simple doesn't work. I also have the teacher in my corner which helps ALOT. I just hope this ordeal doesn't affect my grade at all. It's been about a week and a half since this all transpired and we get back our grades for it tomorrow. So I guess we'll be seeing how things work out. Worst comes to worst, I have to go defend myself at the Dean's. I'm confident I'll be fine. Until this is all behind me, I am stressed out like nobody's business. Oh well.
In other academic news...I got a 96 on my first Spanish Test (pure luck...I really don't know what I'm doing), a B+ on my Sport and Culture Mid-Term (I plan on trying to argue up to an A- because I don't think I should have been docked on one of my short answers), and I took my Macro mid-term today. Let's just say, no exaggerations, I probably did something that rhymes with SCHMAILED :)
Other than the huge test I have to study for tomorrow, the 1,9635 pages of reading I have to do, and the fact I think I'm getting a sinus infection, I'm doing real well!!! I'll be sureeeeee to let everyone know how this all ends up. Love and miss you all! <3
Monday, March 2, 2009
I am in love with London.
I am alive! My biggest fears about this weekend were not arriving in London and not making it back to Barcelona. GOOD NEWS! I did both successfully! Our flight left at 8:55pm at the Barcelona Airport on Thursday, and we arrived in London at about 10:55pm. We flew into Gatwick which is about an hour and twenty minute drive outside of London. We decided we were gonna take a train into Victoria Station, which is in the center of London, and then take the tube to our hostel. The train ticket cost 16 pounds...that should have been a good indicator of how expensive our weekend would be.
We arrived at our hostel at about 12:45. By the time we checked in and got to our room it was about 1:15am. We had originally booked for a 6 person mixed dorm. Luckily, they moved us to a four person mixed dorm, so we were only with one person we didn't know; Pablo. Our dear friend Pablo, from Argentina, had quite the snoring problem. I don't mean like a little snore-snore here and there. I mean a snoring problem of EPIC proportions. The poor guy sounded like he couldn't breathe. My bunk was on top of his bed and whenever he would snore the whole bed would shake. I wish I was exaggerating. Let's just say I slept 2 hours the first night. I am sad to say my first purchase in London was a set of ear plugs...
Everyone else "woke" up...I sat up, around 9am. We got a free breakfast. Breakfast meaning...toast and juice. I had 8 slices. Hah! Then we showered in the hostel locker room where I proceeded to scald my skin for the sake of hygiene. There was no adjustment for the temperature of the shower. It's safe to say it was probably 2,000 degrees. After we finished getting ready we made plans for the day. We decided it would be a good idea to pay for a bus tour. We found this tour group called "The Big Bus Company" and they offered a hop-on & hop-off bus tour. It cost 22 pounds but we thought that that was a reasonable price because the tube prices are through the ROOF! One single trip costs 4 pounds. With the distance between all the sights we wanted to see, we figure that would cost us a ridiculous amount of money. Not to mention, the bus tour ticket was valid for 48 hours, so we got to use it all weekend. The ticket also included a free river cruise on the Thames. In retrospect, it was definitely a good decision. There was no getting lost and we saved ourselves a LOT of money that would have been spent on transportation.
I was only expecting to see a few things in the city. It's a huge city and everything is spread out. I was so wrong! It was me, Carly, Jessica, and Rachel on the first day, and we were on a MISSION! We knocked almost everything off of our "Must-See" list on the first day. Day 1, we saw: The Somerset House, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Margarets Church, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. I may be forgetting something...I don't think so though. Anyway, everything was so BEAUTIFUL! It sounds cheesy but it was surreal walking around and looking at these things you've only seen in pictures your entire life. My personal favorite was Big Ben. It is so...regal, for lack of a better word. The whole design of it is intricate and so beautiful, I was just in awe of it the entire time. I probably took ten million pictures of it. Connected to it is the House of Parliament and together they were just absolutely beautiful. I also enjoyed the London Eye, which is one of the highest observation tower/ride thingers in the world. It was great because you just got to see all of London. Not to mention it is right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and you get to see a great view of them from hundreds of feet in the air.
We walked around for about 6 hours the first day. We got back to the hostel and decided to go grab some dinner. London is supposed to have some of the best Indian and Thai food so we really wanted to find a place to have some. We found this little restaurant that served Indian food we decided to eat there. I had never had Indian food before and I am game to try anything, so I was pretty excited. I got Lamb Passanda and this egg and rice mixture. SO SO SO GOOD! One of the best meals I have had in a long time. The fact we're making our own meals here probably doesn't help any...but honestly, the meal was SO delicious! We ordered this little desert that was a ball of vanilla ice cream coated in toasted nuts with raspberry sauce on top. I was in heaven. Definitely one of the best deserts I've ever had...and I'm usually not a huge desert fan. After the meal we decided to head back to the hostel and get a good nights sleep. Earphones in hand (actually, ear), I had a solid nights sleep. Except for the occasional stir of Pablo, I didn't wake up too many times.
The next morning I had my 8 slices of toast an apple juice, showered, and we were OFF! We wanted to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards but they didn't do it that day. Apparently in their winter season, or off season, they only do the change every other day. Oh well! Buckingham Palace was AWESOME! The decorations were so elaborate; everything was covered in gold-leaf paint. I also really enjoyed seeing the guards with their huge FUZZY hats. Buckingham Palace was our last stop on our list of things to do. We decided to head over to Oxford Street which is known for its great shopping. First store, Primark, was heaven on earth. One of the cheapest stores I've ever been in...with GREAT clothes! I could have easily spent $100-$200 in there. Unfortuneately, I had to hold back. I got a sweater, a dress, and a shirt for 24 pounds. A GREAT DEAL!...or so I thought. A few stores later I saw a sign that said the current exchange rates. For every pound I spent in London, I was actually paying $1.57 in U.S money. SERIOUSLY?!?! I wanted to vomit. Everyone else continued shopping but I decided it would probably be best to stop, for my debit cards sake.
We headed back to our hostel around 4 to try to find some tickets for a show. We decided we wanted to see the show "Dirty Dancing". We asked the box office for the cheapest ones and the guy said, "62 pounds!". Haha, that's a funny joke. Let's just say the show didn't happen. Then we walked around London trying to find a place to eat. After some walking around and looking we found this little Thai restaurant. Again, I've never tried Thai food so I was pretty excited. This was hands down my favorite meal of my study abroad experience. Carly and I shared this appetizer platter. It had chicken wings filled with Thai pork, fish cakes, spring rolls, chicken wrapped and seasons in this leaf thinger, and some salad concoction. It also came with all of these Thai dipping sauces. It was SO SO GOOD! I don't know exactly what I ordered for my main meal because I couldn't pronounce the name if I tried. I basically got this beef-egg-veggie-sauce noodle plate thinger-ma-jigger. It was so good, I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END! Those of you who know me, know I inhale my food like a vaccuum when I eat. This was so good, I literally tried to eat only 2 or 3 noodles at a time. It lasted me a solid 25 minutes and I seriously contemplated ordering another plate. I opted not to. I blame it on the pound to U.S dollar exchange rate.
After that we walked around and tried to find a little cafe to have some dessert and drinks at. While we were ordering Carly proceeded to accidently light her menu on fire with the candle on the table. When I say light on fire...I literally mean the menu was engulfed in flames. That was a rather embarassing/hilarious experience. HAH! New menus in hand, I ended up getting this ice cream dessert with hot chocolate. Sadly, both weren't very good. I don't think the person at the expresso machine knew how to make real hot chocolate. Mine just tasted like heated up water with a little chocolate powder in it. I should have gone back there and shown him my Mojoz skillzzz. Oh well! It was fun to just go out and sit at a cafe and talk for a bit. After that, we went back to the hostel, packed up our stuff for checkout in the morning, and went to sleep. Again, the ear plugs did their job nicely.
Check-out at the hostel was at 10am and our flight didn't leave til 4:55pm, so that was a slight problem. We checked out and decided to go find a "traditional English breakfast". After about a ten minute walk, we found a place that served them for relatively cheap. We ate there and it was delicious, but I must say my father's "Truck Driver Breakfasts" are better. We had to kill time so we sat in the cafe and talked for about an hour or so. Then we had to take the huge trek to Gatwick airport. We decided to take a bus this time because it was about 10 pounds cheaper. Random funny story: We were standing in line to get our tickets at the bus station. This random man who barely spoken any English kind of skipped everyone in the line to get to the window. He was quite obviously stressed out, like he was going to miss his bus or something, so no one was really mad that he had skipped everyone. Then there was this one lady who acted like he had literally robbed her for all she was worth. The line was still moving pretty swiftly and she was going to be at a counter in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. Still, the crazy lady felt the need to be yelling at him. At one point she screamed, "There's a BLOODY QUEUE here! Get back there!". I almost peed my pants...they really do speak the way you think the would. Anyway, this woman provided some brief entertainment with her British tirade of this poor man. BLOODY BRITS! :)
We got to the airpot with time to spare. We decided to get some dinner and wait around for them to post our gate number. The flight ended up leaving early and we got back to Barcelona around 8:15. We took the train/metro back into the city and then walked back to our residencia. I was exhausted. I certainly need to rest up this week because I do this all again this weekend with Munich. Anyway, I had a fantastic time in London. I would definitely like to go back someday. I think it would be a great place to go during the spring and summer when it's a little bit warmer. After this trip, I can't help but think how incredibly I lucky am to be having this experience. Not many people are going to be able to see all the places I am in their lifetime. I really am blessed. I could say it again a million times, for the rest of my life, and it still wouldn't be enough: Thank you, thank you, thankkkk youuuu, to everyone who has helped me out with this trip. I love and miss you ALL! <3
We arrived at our hostel at about 12:45. By the time we checked in and got to our room it was about 1:15am. We had originally booked for a 6 person mixed dorm. Luckily, they moved us to a four person mixed dorm, so we were only with one person we didn't know; Pablo. Our dear friend Pablo, from Argentina, had quite the snoring problem. I don't mean like a little snore-snore here and there. I mean a snoring problem of EPIC proportions. The poor guy sounded like he couldn't breathe. My bunk was on top of his bed and whenever he would snore the whole bed would shake. I wish I was exaggerating. Let's just say I slept 2 hours the first night. I am sad to say my first purchase in London was a set of ear plugs...
Everyone else "woke" up...I sat up, around 9am. We got a free breakfast. Breakfast meaning...toast and juice. I had 8 slices. Hah! Then we showered in the hostel locker room where I proceeded to scald my skin for the sake of hygiene. There was no adjustment for the temperature of the shower. It's safe to say it was probably 2,000 degrees. After we finished getting ready we made plans for the day. We decided it would be a good idea to pay for a bus tour. We found this tour group called "The Big Bus Company" and they offered a hop-on & hop-off bus tour. It cost 22 pounds but we thought that that was a reasonable price because the tube prices are through the ROOF! One single trip costs 4 pounds. With the distance between all the sights we wanted to see, we figure that would cost us a ridiculous amount of money. Not to mention, the bus tour ticket was valid for 48 hours, so we got to use it all weekend. The ticket also included a free river cruise on the Thames. In retrospect, it was definitely a good decision. There was no getting lost and we saved ourselves a LOT of money that would have been spent on transportation.
I was only expecting to see a few things in the city. It's a huge city and everything is spread out. I was so wrong! It was me, Carly, Jessica, and Rachel on the first day, and we were on a MISSION! We knocked almost everything off of our "Must-See" list on the first day. Day 1, we saw: The Somerset House, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. Margarets Church, St. Paul's Cathedral, London Eye, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. I may be forgetting something...I don't think so though. Anyway, everything was so BEAUTIFUL! It sounds cheesy but it was surreal walking around and looking at these things you've only seen in pictures your entire life. My personal favorite was Big Ben. It is so...regal, for lack of a better word. The whole design of it is intricate and so beautiful, I was just in awe of it the entire time. I probably took ten million pictures of it. Connected to it is the House of Parliament and together they were just absolutely beautiful. I also enjoyed the London Eye, which is one of the highest observation tower/ride thingers in the world. It was great because you just got to see all of London. Not to mention it is right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament and you get to see a great view of them from hundreds of feet in the air.
We walked around for about 6 hours the first day. We got back to the hostel and decided to go grab some dinner. London is supposed to have some of the best Indian and Thai food so we really wanted to find a place to have some. We found this little restaurant that served Indian food we decided to eat there. I had never had Indian food before and I am game to try anything, so I was pretty excited. I got Lamb Passanda and this egg and rice mixture. SO SO SO GOOD! One of the best meals I have had in a long time. The fact we're making our own meals here probably doesn't help any...but honestly, the meal was SO delicious! We ordered this little desert that was a ball of vanilla ice cream coated in toasted nuts with raspberry sauce on top. I was in heaven. Definitely one of the best deserts I've ever had...and I'm usually not a huge desert fan. After the meal we decided to head back to the hostel and get a good nights sleep. Earphones in hand (actually, ear), I had a solid nights sleep. Except for the occasional stir of Pablo, I didn't wake up too many times.
The next morning I had my 8 slices of toast an apple juice, showered, and we were OFF! We wanted to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards but they didn't do it that day. Apparently in their winter season, or off season, they only do the change every other day. Oh well! Buckingham Palace was AWESOME! The decorations were so elaborate; everything was covered in gold-leaf paint. I also really enjoyed seeing the guards with their huge FUZZY hats. Buckingham Palace was our last stop on our list of things to do. We decided to head over to Oxford Street which is known for its great shopping. First store, Primark, was heaven on earth. One of the cheapest stores I've ever been in...with GREAT clothes! I could have easily spent $100-$200 in there. Unfortuneately, I had to hold back. I got a sweater, a dress, and a shirt for 24 pounds. A GREAT DEAL!...or so I thought. A few stores later I saw a sign that said the current exchange rates. For every pound I spent in London, I was actually paying $1.57 in U.S money. SERIOUSLY?!?! I wanted to vomit. Everyone else continued shopping but I decided it would probably be best to stop, for my debit cards sake.
We headed back to our hostel around 4 to try to find some tickets for a show. We decided we wanted to see the show "Dirty Dancing". We asked the box office for the cheapest ones and the guy said, "62 pounds!". Haha, that's a funny joke. Let's just say the show didn't happen. Then we walked around London trying to find a place to eat. After some walking around and looking we found this little Thai restaurant. Again, I've never tried Thai food so I was pretty excited. This was hands down my favorite meal of my study abroad experience. Carly and I shared this appetizer platter. It had chicken wings filled with Thai pork, fish cakes, spring rolls, chicken wrapped and seasons in this leaf thinger, and some salad concoction. It also came with all of these Thai dipping sauces. It was SO SO GOOD! I don't know exactly what I ordered for my main meal because I couldn't pronounce the name if I tried. I basically got this beef-egg-veggie-sauce noodle plate thinger-ma-jigger. It was so good, I DIDN'T WANT IT TO END! Those of you who know me, know I inhale my food like a vaccuum when I eat. This was so good, I literally tried to eat only 2 or 3 noodles at a time. It lasted me a solid 25 minutes and I seriously contemplated ordering another plate. I opted not to. I blame it on the pound to U.S dollar exchange rate.
After that we walked around and tried to find a little cafe to have some dessert and drinks at. While we were ordering Carly proceeded to accidently light her menu on fire with the candle on the table. When I say light on fire...I literally mean the menu was engulfed in flames. That was a rather embarassing/hilarious experience. HAH! New menus in hand, I ended up getting this ice cream dessert with hot chocolate. Sadly, both weren't very good. I don't think the person at the expresso machine knew how to make real hot chocolate. Mine just tasted like heated up water with a little chocolate powder in it. I should have gone back there and shown him my Mojoz skillzzz. Oh well! It was fun to just go out and sit at a cafe and talk for a bit. After that, we went back to the hostel, packed up our stuff for checkout in the morning, and went to sleep. Again, the ear plugs did their job nicely.
Check-out at the hostel was at 10am and our flight didn't leave til 4:55pm, so that was a slight problem. We checked out and decided to go find a "traditional English breakfast". After about a ten minute walk, we found a place that served them for relatively cheap. We ate there and it was delicious, but I must say my father's "Truck Driver Breakfasts" are better. We had to kill time so we sat in the cafe and talked for about an hour or so. Then we had to take the huge trek to Gatwick airport. We decided to take a bus this time because it was about 10 pounds cheaper. Random funny story: We were standing in line to get our tickets at the bus station. This random man who barely spoken any English kind of skipped everyone in the line to get to the window. He was quite obviously stressed out, like he was going to miss his bus or something, so no one was really mad that he had skipped everyone. Then there was this one lady who acted like he had literally robbed her for all she was worth. The line was still moving pretty swiftly and she was going to be at a counter in a matter of 2 or 3 minutes. Still, the crazy lady felt the need to be yelling at him. At one point she screamed, "There's a BLOODY QUEUE here! Get back there!". I almost peed my pants...they really do speak the way you think the would. Anyway, this woman provided some brief entertainment with her British tirade of this poor man. BLOODY BRITS! :)
We got to the airpot with time to spare. We decided to get some dinner and wait around for them to post our gate number. The flight ended up leaving early and we got back to Barcelona around 8:15. We took the train/metro back into the city and then walked back to our residencia. I was exhausted. I certainly need to rest up this week because I do this all again this weekend with Munich. Anyway, I had a fantastic time in London. I would definitely like to go back someday. I think it would be a great place to go during the spring and summer when it's a little bit warmer. After this trip, I can't help but think how incredibly I lucky am to be having this experience. Not many people are going to be able to see all the places I am in their lifetime. I really am blessed. I could say it again a million times, for the rest of my life, and it still wouldn't be enough: Thank you, thank you, thankkkk youuuu, to everyone who has helped me out with this trip. I love and miss you ALL! <3
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