and don't you feel like coming home? (or, the last half of my Germany documentation)

FORWARD: I totally got bad about keeping up with this. So forgive the dates and everything being all screwy. Or the lack of description lol.

15 July 2009

"Dang. I am so behind on this."

That is the phrase I just uttered to myself.

There are several days which I need to update about, including the cruise down the Rhine and our trip to Paris!

The first thing I really need to update about is the Rhine Cruise. It was, of course, picturesque and fabulous. The Rhine itself is a very beautiful river - but you SHOULD know that. We went a museum about the bridge that allowed the allies to enter Germany during WWII and then we went to the town of Linz. Linz is really pretty, but most notably (in my book) is home to the best street musician I have ever seen sitting under a bridge playing the violin!

All in all, a rather picturesque vision of Germany on that day.

The next thing I would love to update you about is our trip to PARIS. (Love!) Now, on my life to do list "spend more time in Paris" was there, which I mentally crossed off and added "spended even MORE time in Paris!" because I love it that much. It would be really lovely to actually be able to spend more time relaxing there though instead of having to see all the big monuments.

On the first day (Thursday), we got up pretty early and headed down to the tourist station. Here we got our rail passes (Paris has the best metro system ever), maps, figured out what we wanted to do, etc. Then we hopped on the metro (did I mention how freaking awesome the metro is?) and went to the Sacre Couer Basilica. Which was beautiful, of course. On the way up we noticed a lot of vendors selling little Eiffel Tower keychains, and little light up statues of the Eiffel Tower, etc. At this point, these men meant nothing to us, but they would soon become a huge part of our Parisian lives! However, on the way back down, we were BOMBARDED by a group of men from what I can only guess was Africa who mauled us, tied strings around Caroline and my fingers, proceeded to make a bracelet and then charged us a ridiculous amount. I ended up talking him out of the ten euro he wanted from me to just give him five and ran, but somehow they convinced poor Caroline I gave him eight so she gave him eight! Sigh. I'm out five euro... but it's a moderately good story, I suppose!

After that we hopped back on the metro (bomb!) and then we stopped by for literally maybe five minutes to take a picture of the Moulin Rouge. Haha. No lie, five minutes.

THEN We located the Paris Opera House. Now, this was an incredible experience! It was GORGEOUS for one thing, only four euro entrance fee to poke around, and there is so much history there! Incredible. Pictures to come, of course.

After that, we found the Musee D'Orsay and spent the afternoon getting lost in the works of art. I really enjoyed the Degas that was there, and I do always love museums. =)

The next day - we got up and had to check out of our first hotel. Then we went to Notre Dame (carrying all our things) Also beautiful. Outside of the cathedral there are gyspy beggar women everywhere that will ask you if you speak English (they prey on American tourists!) and then hold up a card that basically will tell you they're starving, etc. Now, this would be sad if only one of them did it, but since they seem to be a coalition. Seriously - at one point we saw them congregating in the streets. COALITION.

But really - the depravity of homelessness in Paris was just heartbreaking.

Well after the Notre Dame, we found a little cafe where we went for crepes. This is the part of the story where Caroline had a smackdown with a French waiter. I mean, WWF style. Just kidding. But there was a little tiff over the tip! Haha. It was actually a little scary but we got out of it.

Then we spent the day just hanging out. We strolled down the Champs Elysee. Then we went to the Eiffel Tower that night. Now - ironically we were all speaking in British dialect (since we thought it would get us better service haha) and we met some Americans who thought we WERE British. We talked to them for awhile too! Hah!

The view from atop the Eiffel Tower is incredible. I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared going on the way up, but it turned out alright in the end. In fact, it was incred! The lights of the city are gorgeous at night.

The next day was the day we spent at the Louvre. MY GOD THAT MUSEUM IS HUGE. We all split up in the morning when we got there and met up one more time and then met up when we were done. I was kind of moody all day, so it was lucky we were split up. However, I did get cheered up by this one thought - I realized how much HISTORY I was standing in. Not just the history of art but the history of HUMANITY. It was really an incredible realization. Sometimes I think I just get so excited to know that I'm a part of this huge long story that just keeps on going. Incredible.

"and then the surrealists said, 'no I'm melting!'" - Kate.

22 July 2009

I am literally the worst at logging things ever. Let's see - what have I done since I got back from Paris? A whole lot is what!

Well, we had an entire week of class for one thing. We went to go see a Variety show/Cabaret in Cologne too. It was interesting, but I felt like it was just a small community theatre thing. But at the same time - that's interesting to me because that's where I myself am at in life right now - community theatre. So that was pretty cool.

But the big thing that we did was that this past weekend we all went to Berlin. Well, I would say that we took the train to Berlin but in reality, THEY took a train to Berlin and I took a different train (or two trains...) to Berlin.

What had actually happened was that I got on the wrong train and went to Dusseldorf instead. Yes, you read that right. I got on the wrong train and went to Dusseldorf instead. WHAT? Luckily, I met up with them in the train station and we made it to the show on time.

Qi was really excellent! It was basically like Cirque du Soleil with... ice and a pool and chandaleir and... Germans. Haha. It was really good though!

I loved Berlin! We took an awesome free tour, and it was just so interesting with all the history about Berlin. They architecture there is also to die for. Though, I think I feel that way because it was just so effective. Things like the Jewish Museum or the Holocaust Memorial are just so damn effective.

We also went on a pub crawl in Berlin. too much fun!

27 July 2009

Happy Birthday Brian and Jamie!

"Hi I'm Mrs. Caroline Alt-Delete!" (pause) "But my husband's name would be Control and I don't know if I'd like that..."
- Caroline

ADDED AFTER I GOT HOME:

Well, after the weekend in Berlin we had yet another week of class, but on Thursday we (the theatre five and Kate) headed up to Ghent for the street theatre festival there. It was actually pretty awesome. There was a puppet show thing that was pretty cool, but what I really loved was this circus act we saw called "ComeBack". It was pretty awesome, no lie!

That night though was an adventure. We went to go find our hostel, but when we got the address we could not locate anything that looked like a hostel. We went back to the Marriot where Kate was staying and then we were in formed by the concierge that our hostel was in fact... on a boat. WHAT?! Haha, so we ended up staying on a boat hostel in Ghent. Pretty cool, but also pretty confusing.

And then the next day when we woke up, Caleb and I headed off to Brussels. I can't lie and say that this wasn't totally my favorite weekend of the trip. Essentially, we just wandered around the city, ate some tasty Thai food, discussed our new life plan for hours (I even came to accept it as reality for a little while hah.), ate in many parks, and read to eachother. It really was a lovely, relaxing weekend. (Oh, we also stayed at the Best Western - best part!)

And then we had finals (which went well) and I came home.

And here I am. I have so many mixed feelings about being home. Like, I'm happy. I'm happy to be able to use my phone again, to be able to talk to my friends, use the internet (without much difficulty), and to be in the south where everyone speaks to me in English, but there are a few things I miss: doner kebab! 70 cent ice cream, trains, spending my time with Caleb (that's just true. I miss him.), my new friends (especially Danielle!), the excitement of just BEING in Europe, being able to legally order alcoholic beverages.

Ah, but school starts back soon. So we shall see where my next adventure takes me. I'm pretty content with my life right now, truth be told, and I'm just hoping it lasts into the semester. I'm excited about assistant teaching tap class, auditioning for the spring (I just have a really good feeling! if nothing comes of it, then c'est la vie, but I just really feel good), directing class (I know it'll be hard work, but I'm still pumped!), getting back to acting class, and just getting back to working on theatre things in general. I'm excited to see my friends, to go to parties, and to have my entire shoe collection in my grasp again!

=) So that's that. Love you kids.