Deutschland......

Well, I have waited long enough to write this blog, but finally....here it goes...

Friday, March 16 until Saturday April 7, 2007 I travelled Europe with 100 other exchange students. It was the trip of my lifetime. There were moments that I will never forget, and others that I would like to... hehe, but all in all it was amazing and probably the highlight of my entire year here in Germany. Along the way, I kept a tour journal...I am pretty lazy so I will just type you what I wrote in there and maybe add a little commentary.

"Ain't no party like a WEST TOUR party! Cuz the WEST TOUR party don't STOOOOOOOP!!!" =)
16 March, Friday::
Meeting in Göttingen- I rode the train today with Steph and Manuel and met up with a few others along the way. Made it to Göttingen and the excitement level was very high. It is sooo cool to see everyone again!! We got some t-shirts, name tags, water bottles, etc. We were split into the East tour/West tour and then were reminded of all of the "rules" that would be in effect during the tour. East tour starts in Prague ends in Belgium....West tour the opposite...I am on the WEST tour. We had a little disco party at night but I wasn't really feeling it so I watched a movie with some of the others instead.
17 March, Saturday::
Göttingen---->Brügge- Today I had one of the most fun bus rides ever. The 50 of us on a bus can definetly provide some entertainment. Everyone was sooo excited and singing and dancing. Once we arrived in Brügge the weather was pretty crappy and it was cold because we are right on the sea. We got settled in the hostel and then went out to partyyyyy. We walked to a bar in the city and just had a great time together. If this is only the first night....this tour is going to be awesome!
18 March, Sunday::
Brügge/Brussels- Well, today we took a day trip to Brussels. Brussels is a really cool city, but I had pretty bad luck in the beginning. Some good points of the day were: eating begian waffles....yum!!! And we had a meeting with representativs from the European Union and some NGO leaders in Belgium. It was so interesting and we learned soo much.
19 March, Monday::
Brügge----->Paris- Today we spent a few hours on the bus, but not too bad...around 4 hours. We arrived in Paris and were given money to go get some food. I went with Brett(USA), Kard(Thailand), and some amigos(Mexico) to eat Döner kebabs...mmm...thoughts of Deutschland. =)
At night our Rotex told us to meet downstairs but they wouldn't tell us where we were going. We walked for a long time and then got on the underground. We got out and walked a little more. Then finally we saw it....the Eiffel Tower. It was such an amazing moment. We were all in such good spirits and just happy to be there together. It was definetly magical to see it at night...definetly worth the trip to Paris.
20 March, Tuesday::
Paris- We did some tourist things. For this day in my travel log I just wrote down some weird things that happened to me in Paris. 1) Got my purse stolen at the Eiffel Tower. 2) Had a random waiter grab my leg and bark like he was a dog. 3) Laughed at/celebrated against fate after Brett got pooped on by bird and not me, and then walked into a pole and got the breath knocked out of me. 4) Experienced sunshine, rain, and sleet all in the course of an hour.
This night we went out to a Brazilian bar...but ended up getting kicked out because we were too young...apparently they are a lot strickter in France than in Germany.
21 March, Wednesday::
Paris- Some things we saw in Paris----Arc de Triomphe: climbed up a crap load of stairs and froze our butts off. Worth it for the beautiful view of the city. Notre Dame: absolutely beautiful. I really felt something here. I lit a candle and prayed for a while. Eiffel Tower: walked up as far as we could...which is a pretty loong way. It was raining and freezing but it was definetly a must do, at least one time. Louvre: Really cool! and interesting. I wish I could've spent more time here. I saw the Mona Lisa and Venus...amazing. Moulin Rouge: Not as big/spectacular as expected, by far. But I must admit, slightly entertaining. haha.
This night we went out to the only bar in the entire city that would serve us alcohol. It was a salsa bar not too far away from the hostel. It was a pretty fun night....our latin friends definetly got their groove on and taught some of us...umm...not so coordinated dancers some moves.
22 March, Thursday::
Paris----->Avignon- LOOOOOOONG bus ride!!!!! We spent the entire day on the bus. We arrived in Avignon and weren't able to go out because of French rules. But it was ok, I watched "Wedding Crashers" and listened to Dane Cook. Then I went to hang out with Brett and some of the guys from Mexico. Their balcony was connected to a room of some teenagers travelling from Germany. It was cool to speak a little German.
23 March, Friday::
Avignon----->Nice- Today we went to the palace of Avignon. It was probably one of the most amazing things I have seen. Unfortunately, it was hard to enjoy with the wet clothes and the shivering. But trotzdem beautiful.
The bus ride to Nice wasn't too long. We arrived in Nice around 4. Nice is AWESOME! My favorite so far. Soooo gorgeous. So, this night we wanted to party...but we are still in France, so not really possible. But Rotex got this *brilliant* and later regretable idea to allow us to buy our own alcohol and make a party on the beach. On one condition...no one gets wasted. Let's just say....now we are grounded. :S I guess the WEST TOUR party stopped for a while.
24 March, Saturday::
Nice/Monaco- I LOVE the French Riviera. Breathtaking! Up until now, France jus really wasn't doing anything for me. In fact, I really didn't like it at all. But the French redeemed themselves with this little piece of Heaven. I could live here happily.
Monaco is pretty cool too. It's just like a really really really rich area. I felt like I was a bum going there. haha. Everywhere you look Rolls Royces', yachts, and snobby people wearing golf clothing. We were hungry so we went into a "cheap looking" cafe for some food. Took one look at the menu....noticed the salads cost 40 Euros and walked right back out. We walked around for a while and saw the "Presentation of the Prince." Monaco only officially has 32 year round inhabitants. The rest are just commuters, tourists, and rich people who have 1 of their condos here.
25 March, Sunday::
Nice----->Pisa----->Florence- Pisa was cool. It was another one of those surreal, I've seen this somewhere in the movies, type moments. Some of our Brazilian guys almost got arrested for showing their butts and taking "arsch fotos." We arrived in Florence......the hostel is gorgeous. It's like a typical little Tuscan house, so cute. We all went out to the disco.......except for our Mexican guys because they decided to drink some beer on the bus earlier and forgot to throw away the cans. That doesn't fly with Rotex.
26 March, Monday::
Florence- Went around the city. Saw Statue of David and the Duomo Santa Maria. We also met up with another tour group travelling Europe and had some free time. We all realized how lucky we are to be with the Rotex that we are with. That night we had a talent show. Brett(USA), Lucas(Brazil), Steve(USA), Insi(India), and I did our own rendition of the Moulin Rouge song. I must say, it was pretty funny.
27 March, Tuesday::
Florence----->Rome- Today drove to Rome. We stopped at a gas station along the way and filled up the bus with 490 euros of Benzin. *gasp* Anyway, we arrived in Rome and finally met up with the East Tour! It was really cool to hear how everything was going for them and what they have seen and everything. I must also say....I'm soooo happy that I'm on the WEST TOUR. Well, although Rotex told us we would be allowed no party in Rome, because of the Nice incident...they decided to give us one more chance. =) We did the same type of party, buying our own alcohol and then had a party in the park. But they gave us a very stern warning that if any one person from our tour couldn't handle themself, there would be absolutely NO alcohol for the rest of the tour. Well, almost all of the East tour people got wasted and were acting totally stupid. But the good little boys and girls from the West tour behaved ourselves. Our Rotex was proud. There was a little drama and some of our guys almost got into a fight....once again...happy to be on west tour. =)
28 March, Wednesday::
Rome- Did the whole tourist thing....we saw so much in Rome. There is so much history here and so much to do, you could stay here for months and still be entertained. I really felt like I was walking in the times of Pontious Pilate and the Crusaders or something. I mean, the feeling you get when you are standing in front of the Colosseum is indescribable. We went to the Vatican museum for a little while and looked around the city. I can't believe the tour is already 1/2 over!! =( Tonight we went back to the same park we were in last night, except it was only our tour this time. We just chilled out and talked. I had a really great conversation with Lucas(Brazil) and Carlos(Mexico). Carlos lives in Mexico but he goes to school in Texas...so I call him the little "Texican." He is a really good guy and we talked so much about the problems between the US and Mexico and the cultural differences, etc. I've realized that I really underestimate people sometimes.
29 March, Thursday::
Rome----->Venice- This morning we went to the Vatican and waited about 4 hours inside St. Peters Square to see the Pope. We finally got to see him and he greeted us!! It was so awesome....he said "Welcome to the Rotex District 1800 exchange students, " in German!!! sweet! Afterwards I went with a few others inside St. Peter's Bascillica. Wow, is all I can say. This was the highlight of my trip so far, and I'm not even Catholic. :P After that, we drove overnight on the bus to Venice. We barley slept at all...common occurance on the tour. After doing this, I honestly thought Rotex was trying to kill us with lack of sleep. haha.
30 March, Friday::
Venice- We arrived in Venice, it was raining and we froze our butts off. We made sandwich bar, just like everyday. We took a boat over to our hostel. Venice is pretty, but would've been better if the weather had cooperated. One thing about Venice will always stick out in my mind: the birds!! so many, it's ridiculous! One thing I really liked about today: We met some random teenagers on the street and talked with them for like an hour. They were generally interested in us and what we were doing. It was such a great feeling, not something you experience very often in Germany.
31 March, Saturday::
Venice----->Südtirol- We arrived in Südtirol and were welcomed by a blizzard. We were supposed to do a high ropes course, but things didn't turn out as planned. Instead, we went to an indoor swimming pool. That night we went to a little local bar/disco. It was one of the most fun nights. We really danced our butts off. The locals were a little crazy and one guy fell on top of my friend Insiyah, but otherwise it was cool. Südtirol is cool because it is in Italy, but the first language is German.
01 April, Sunday::
Südtirol----->Vienna- Arrived In Vienna just in time to go eat dinner. We went to a really interesting restaurant where they served our food in wheelbarrels and you ordered food by the centimeter. Sweet.
Rotex had us convinced that we weren't going out that night because the other group of exchange students staying in the hostel at the same time as us got in trouble and it wouldn't be fair if we just left them alone. April Fools! Well, they really got us...some people were actually starting to get mad. haha. We went to this bar called "Loco," and that it was. It was really small, and you couldn't have jammed another person in there. It was cool that we went with another group of exchange students because some people in our group got to meet friends from back home that were in the other group. The other group left 1 hour before us and were totally drunken. They were supposed to meet an hour after us the next morning but all of them were late, including their Rotex...but the Rotex punished them anyway. Once again, so thankful for my tour!!
02 April, Monday::
Vienna- Ok so here's the story for today... One of my friends on the tour, from Argentina, his name's Pancho, decided to take us on an adventure. Well, ok, his grandmother and her family lived in Vienna until she was 12 when they were chased out by Nazis and emmigrated to Argentina. Pancho had the address that his grandma had given him and she also told him that now their old apartments had been turned into a McDonalds. Interesting. So Pancho, I, and about 6 or 7 other friends decided to go searching for this McDonalds and at least get a few pictures and eat a Big Mac or something. So we search all over the city....finally we find the exact street(in a very sketchy neighboorhood), and ask everyone where the nearest McDonalds is. All of them say there is no McDonalds. Finally we found the address....there were some really old apartment buildings standing next to a strip club. Which actually makes more sense than a McDonalds. Well, Pancho was so let down and felt like he had been lied to and felt so sorry that we all came with him in search of this cool "McDonalds." We thought it was kind of funny and weren't mad at all. We went back downtown and ate at another McDonalds. haha. Later on, we saw the Hundertwasserhaus which was awesome!! He is my favorite artist, so I was really excited to see that.
That night we went out to a Billiards bar.
03 April, Tuesday::
Vienna----->Budapest- Side note: Today is my sister's birthday. Anyway, we arrived in Budapest around 3. Right when we got to the hostel we were waiting outside and actually talked with some of the locals, which is always cool. Their English was so incredibly bad, which was actually, in my mind, refreshing. We went in the city for a while, which was gorgeous. I really like Budapest. I had to give my presentation about the Matthias Church and the Fischereibastei, I didn't do too bad.
Let me just comment on how far out of a language Hungarian is. Wow.
We went out to eat pizza. The some of us went to a disco called "The School Club." It was really sketchy. But we girls got in for free and the guys had to pay like the equivalent of 5 euros. On the way home, I saw my first real live prostitute...it was kind of scary.
04 April, Wednesday::
Budapest- Budapest is beautiful, I love the "Eastern European" feel. We all went to a "healing bath" today. Amazing. There were a lot of different baths and saunas and it was sooo relaxing, after we were all so calm and chilled. During free time today I went with Lucas, Dan(USA), Tim(USA), Insiyah, and Steph into a marketplace. Then the girls and I split off from the guys to get some real shopping done. I bought 3 pairs of shoes, a pullover, an undershirt, 2 t-shirts, a pin, and postcards for under 35 euros. Not bad at all. At night we stayed in the hostel, after that healing bath there was no way any of us could move out of the hostel, and a few of us played "circle of death".
05 April, Thursday::
Budapest----->Prague- I awoke in Prague to the sound of outrageous laughter, which really wasn't anything new. But I regained my frame of reference and noticed that every single person on the bus was staring out the back window. So I did the same. Our bus driver, Kai(basically the most bad ass person alive) was trying to parallel park the huge bus as a majority of the boys were lifting up a car and moving it further backwards. Only on EuropaTour....
After that adventure, we got in the hostel. It was awesome...the best one. We had basically the entire thing to ourselves and there was a courtyard in the middle and some of our boys had a house. I wasn't feeling good at all today but I decided to go out at night anyway because, hey, it's Euro Tour, and I only live once. Wrong choice. The club we went to was the "biggest in eastern Europe," but we really didn't believe it considering the Czech Republic is in "Central Europe," but whatever, it was still REALLY big(5 stories high). I ordered a Sprite and sat down to chill with Daniel(Mexico), Carlos(Texico), and Arturo(Mexico). Daniel was like falling asleep he was so tired, and I felt sooooooooo sick. I just layed my head down and tried to stop the spinning. I don't really remember the night that much, but I just remember freezing and shaking, but I was sweating. A couple of the guys noticed something was wrong and came over and stayed with me, they helped so much. They got the Rotex and one of the Rotex guys took me in a taxi back to the hostel. I took some medicine and went to sleep under 3 blankets.
06 April, Friday::
Prague- I felt a little better in the morning. Enough to function well at least. We were sightseeing all day. We saw the castle, Wensclas Platz, and the Charles Bridge. We also went to the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square. In free time I was with Insiyah, Steph, Pancho, Lucas, and Steve. We saw some Hare Krishnas dancing/chanting in the town square. Some of the guys bought some Absynthe and we headed back to the hostel. We went out to the same place for dinner again tonight. We had our "Last Supper." Later we had our "Last Party." It was sooooo fun. We really know how to have a great time together. It's nights like those that I wouldn't trade for the world. Loving life, living in the moment, sharing it with amazing people who you never would've met under any other circumstances.
07 April, Saturday::
Prague----->Göttingen- SADDEST DAY EVER!!! My roomates and I forgot to set an alarm so another girl woke us up like 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave. Good thing we have super fast packing skills. We got all of our stuff on the bus and headed out. We stopped first in Dresden to leave the first group behind. It was soooo sad. =( We had just experienced soo much together and made some great friends. So many people were crying. Our next stop was Erfut. We had our last sandwich bar and we said goodbye to Carlos and Christina. Finally, we made it to Göttingen, somehow Dresden was sadder. I think it was because in Dresden it was only our tour. I'm soo happy with the way our tour turned out. I was so sad to think that I met these great people and we shared these few great moments together and I may never see them again. But I am trying to look at it on the bright side, now I have friends scattered around the whole world....and hey, I love to travel! =)