Just updated my photo links... should have all the albums from my first trip to Poland back in April all the way up to yesterday. New albums are added chronologically, so check the end of the list for the newest albums. Thank you for your attention.
The Management
P.S.: Lea also took pictures of the trip, here they are.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Kraków...
Well here we are back from another weekend rampage. This one took place in Kraków, Poland. What a FABULOUS city, just teeming with life, bursting at the seams with all kinds of people and things to do... apparently its also the city in Europe with the most bars per square km... we had a fabulous time and were really sad to leave. We got there late Friday night due to a flight delay in Köln. We stayed three nights in the Flamingo Hostel and loved every minute (except how smelly the guys in our room were, YUCK!) They had a great breakfast for free, super clean bathrooms, friendly staff, free internet, and all for $20 a night!!
Saturday was our day to explore the city. We started off at Wawel Castle, then wandered through the Jewish quarter which was really neat. We found Schindler's former factory and some remnants of the old Kraków Ghetto wall... after heading back to the castle area, we visited the "dragon's den" which sounded really cool in the description we had, but we were somewhat disappointed because it was just a walk through a manmade cave, lol. But Lea was a great travel buddy, so we had a fun time no matter what we were doing.
Next, we happened to by chance catch a bus going to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, a Kraków must-see, paid a freakin' CHEAP $1.15 for the bus and went on out there. It was really really cool! We first went down 380 steps way way down into the earth. 2.5 km of the mine is for visitors, and the mine in its entirety is so huge, that 2.5 km is only 1% of the whole thing!!! We were so hungry by the time we were done and we were lucky there was a restaurant down there. And it was sooo neat to eat that far underground. I ordered a porkchop and some pierogies, both of which were just oh-SO-tasty!! Lea ate french fries (or "chips", as I have learned to call them). Afterward we rode with a crazy crazy old Polish dude back into the city on a bus. Not just some random Polish guy, lol.
Ummm and then we hung out and saw more of the city. The town square is HUMONGOUS, allegedly the biggest in Europe and there is so much going on there. There are so many bars and restaurants and clubs in Kraków, I wish we could have stayed longer just to eat and drink in this cool city. It just has such FLAIR!
We were also smart to have gone to the Salt Mines when we did, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten it done. The original plan was to go to the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau the same day as the mines, but after spending ALL DAY Sunday traveling to Oswiecim, visiting both camps (3 km apart from one another) and traveling back on a hot, sweaty, terrible, 2-hour-long city bus ride that we would like to forget over time but unfortunately won't be able to, we finally made it back to Kraków in time to take a shower (we sweat buckets all day, it was SO HOT) and meet David, our old "tutor" from the winter semester and his friend to watch football (soccer, for the uneducated, lol... just kidding) at a local Irish pub. I was hoping for Spain to win, and they did, finally... and I'm wondering, is it wrong to support the country with the hottest players (and best looking temporary residents, if you get my drift)?... because Italy's guys were a bunch of whiney babies, ha ha ha... anyway this was the first time I had ever watched an entire professional soccer game on television... you get into it, I guess :-)
Well anyway, then we went to bed and this morning after breakfast and a strange discussion with an old Australian guy in a Switzerland shirt and an Irish womanizer, we set out to sweat through our shirts for a couple hours before catching our bus back to the airport... which came a few minutes late and really had us wondering there for a while whether we would need to find other means of transportation... but the guy finally showed up and the way there was funny because there was a younger nun sitting behind us who asked Lea to wake her up when we got to the airport, and the nun spread out over three seats and just ZONKED out... I got a picture. We just thought it was hilarious because before we left we said to each other how neat it would be to meet a nun and to see what her life is like... and we rode with one to the airport... apparently, they're people, too, just like us!!
We were happy the flight was on time and in general that we had such amazing luck with the buses and transportation we had to work with for the whole weekend. Seemed like we made good timing each time we needed to get somewhere. It is fun to travel like that, it makes it exciting and almost like a big maze each time you go someplace.
Oh yeah I guess I should mention a few things about the camps... skipped over that a tad, didn't I? Well, Auschwitz was "fancier", for lack of a better word, than we both expected... there were several two story buildings and nothing like we had really imagined... the museum there was really good and informative, plus we had a guide we got for like $2 at the shop and watched a film. The pictures I took will explain more of what we saw. When we got to Birkenau, that was when we both said that this is how we had imagined the camps looked like back then. It was just so... systematic, the way it was set up. symmetrical and efficiently laid out, one could really get a picture of what took place there over 60 years ago. I really can't put this into a description, though, so check out the pics and there will be a few words from me there. And in a way we felt blessed to be able to speak German, because there were just a lot of papers there written in German that the English descriptions just did not do justice to... we saw a lot of "Meldungen", which were requests from officers to their bosses to punish inmates... for the most ridiculous reasons too... someone was putting vegetable waste and old bones in their pockets and he was sentenced to six weeks of nights spent in the Stehzelle, which was a tiny cell not tall enough to stand in, and since he would be put in with three other people, he wouldn't be able to sit, either... they spent their nights there and were expected to work as usual each day afterward. the people got two bowls of soup a day, about 1300 calories. They worked for 12 hours each day or more, and each day they had to drag back the bodies of those who died that day. There are just so many horrific things they did and seemed to ENJOY doing to the poor prisoners, it was overwhelming. Did you know that the Nazis sold train tickets to the Jews before they were literally herded off on that train to Auschwitz? They sold them fake land, gave them fake jobs, and took all of their stuff once they got there. There was a painting of a guy who had just gotten off a deportee train and the SS man took his wedding ring right off his finger :-(. It was all just so overwhelming... but more so after the fact, I noticed... it all seems so incredibly unreal when you are there. Then it all starts to sink in.
The weekend went by soooooooooo fast and I just wish we could have stayed longer :-( A weekend really wasn't enough in this case. I will have to go back someday...
And now I am swamped with a bunch of little things I gotta do and I just gotta fit it all in somehow.................
Caitlin
Saturday was our day to explore the city. We started off at Wawel Castle, then wandered through the Jewish quarter which was really neat. We found Schindler's former factory and some remnants of the old Kraków Ghetto wall... after heading back to the castle area, we visited the "dragon's den" which sounded really cool in the description we had, but we were somewhat disappointed because it was just a walk through a manmade cave, lol. But Lea was a great travel buddy, so we had a fun time no matter what we were doing.
Next, we happened to by chance catch a bus going to the Wieliczka Salt Mines, a Kraków must-see, paid a freakin' CHEAP $1.15 for the bus and went on out there. It was really really cool! We first went down 380 steps way way down into the earth. 2.5 km of the mine is for visitors, and the mine in its entirety is so huge, that 2.5 km is only 1% of the whole thing!!! We were so hungry by the time we were done and we were lucky there was a restaurant down there. And it was sooo neat to eat that far underground. I ordered a porkchop and some pierogies, both of which were just oh-SO-tasty!! Lea ate french fries (or "chips", as I have learned to call them). Afterward we rode with a crazy crazy old Polish dude back into the city on a bus. Not just some random Polish guy, lol.
Ummm and then we hung out and saw more of the city. The town square is HUMONGOUS, allegedly the biggest in Europe and there is so much going on there. There are so many bars and restaurants and clubs in Kraków, I wish we could have stayed longer just to eat and drink in this cool city. It just has such FLAIR!
We were also smart to have gone to the Salt Mines when we did, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten it done. The original plan was to go to the concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau the same day as the mines, but after spending ALL DAY Sunday traveling to Oswiecim, visiting both camps (3 km apart from one another) and traveling back on a hot, sweaty, terrible, 2-hour-long city bus ride that we would like to forget over time but unfortunately won't be able to, we finally made it back to Kraków in time to take a shower (we sweat buckets all day, it was SO HOT) and meet David, our old "tutor" from the winter semester and his friend to watch football (soccer, for the uneducated, lol... just kidding) at a local Irish pub. I was hoping for Spain to win, and they did, finally... and I'm wondering, is it wrong to support the country with the hottest players (and best looking temporary residents, if you get my drift)?... because Italy's guys were a bunch of whiney babies, ha ha ha... anyway this was the first time I had ever watched an entire professional soccer game on television... you get into it, I guess :-)
Well anyway, then we went to bed and this morning after breakfast and a strange discussion with an old Australian guy in a Switzerland shirt and an Irish womanizer, we set out to sweat through our shirts for a couple hours before catching our bus back to the airport... which came a few minutes late and really had us wondering there for a while whether we would need to find other means of transportation... but the guy finally showed up and the way there was funny because there was a younger nun sitting behind us who asked Lea to wake her up when we got to the airport, and the nun spread out over three seats and just ZONKED out... I got a picture. We just thought it was hilarious because before we left we said to each other how neat it would be to meet a nun and to see what her life is like... and we rode with one to the airport... apparently, they're people, too, just like us!!
We were happy the flight was on time and in general that we had such amazing luck with the buses and transportation we had to work with for the whole weekend. Seemed like we made good timing each time we needed to get somewhere. It is fun to travel like that, it makes it exciting and almost like a big maze each time you go someplace.
Oh yeah I guess I should mention a few things about the camps... skipped over that a tad, didn't I? Well, Auschwitz was "fancier", for lack of a better word, than we both expected... there were several two story buildings and nothing like we had really imagined... the museum there was really good and informative, plus we had a guide we got for like $2 at the shop and watched a film. The pictures I took will explain more of what we saw. When we got to Birkenau, that was when we both said that this is how we had imagined the camps looked like back then. It was just so... systematic, the way it was set up. symmetrical and efficiently laid out, one could really get a picture of what took place there over 60 years ago. I really can't put this into a description, though, so check out the pics and there will be a few words from me there. And in a way we felt blessed to be able to speak German, because there were just a lot of papers there written in German that the English descriptions just did not do justice to... we saw a lot of "Meldungen", which were requests from officers to their bosses to punish inmates... for the most ridiculous reasons too... someone was putting vegetable waste and old bones in their pockets and he was sentenced to six weeks of nights spent in the Stehzelle, which was a tiny cell not tall enough to stand in, and since he would be put in with three other people, he wouldn't be able to sit, either... they spent their nights there and were expected to work as usual each day afterward. the people got two bowls of soup a day, about 1300 calories. They worked for 12 hours each day or more, and each day they had to drag back the bodies of those who died that day. There are just so many horrific things they did and seemed to ENJOY doing to the poor prisoners, it was overwhelming. Did you know that the Nazis sold train tickets to the Jews before they were literally herded off on that train to Auschwitz? They sold them fake land, gave them fake jobs, and took all of their stuff once they got there. There was a painting of a guy who had just gotten off a deportee train and the SS man took his wedding ring right off his finger :-(. It was all just so overwhelming... but more so after the fact, I noticed... it all seems so incredibly unreal when you are there. Then it all starts to sink in.
The weekend went by soooooooooo fast and I just wish we could have stayed longer :-( A weekend really wasn't enough in this case. I will have to go back someday...
And now I am swamped with a bunch of little things I gotta do and I just gotta fit it all in somehow.................
Caitlin
Friday, June 20, 2008
Fun times
Man the last week has been fun! Been kinda busy with going-home preparations and stuff, but still managed to meet friends a lot this week and just enjoy the last few "sane" days here in Koblenz before my travel frenzy starting...today! That's right, Lea and I are going to Krákow, Poland until Monday. We are really looking forward to it... Lea is my Sangria drinking Australian mate, lol. Last night we had a lot of fun, we went to the StuBi on campus (something we needed to check off on our to-do list for stuff we had to do before we left Koblenz) and brought our own Sangria, LOL... we saw Edward (our translation prof) and I still wish we would have gotten a picture with him!!!!!!!
Here are some fun pics from yesterday, this week, and last week (click to make pics bigger if you must, lol)...
Is this "L" for Lea? ;-)
I think more or less here I was laughing about the idea of getting a picture together with Edward, LOL...
I tried on the yellow sunglasses too... they fit Lea much better I think!!
I think we did establish that it is ultimately impossible to look seductive in huge yellow sunglasses...
This week Lea and I also got to meet Juuuuulia for breakfast at the Extrablatt and I found some fab deals at H&M... I swear I'm not going to buy any more clothes before I leave!!! And Wed. night I went back to the Extrablatt for girls night (although there were a few boys, ew) and had a grand ol' time as usual. Here I am with "my Long Island":
So we get back Monday night, and Tuesday I have class and then we are going the movies... "we" equals Julia, Lea, and I. Quasi (Julia spent some time in NZ and Oz), Mate, and American Mate, LOL... we have fun together. Here is a pic of us on Lea's 20th birthday last week (yep, Extrablatt again)
And that's it for now...!
Caitlin
Here are some fun pics from yesterday, this week, and last week (click to make pics bigger if you must, lol)...
Is this "L" for Lea? ;-)
I think more or less here I was laughing about the idea of getting a picture together with Edward, LOL...
I tried on the yellow sunglasses too... they fit Lea much better I think!!
I think we did establish that it is ultimately impossible to look seductive in huge yellow sunglasses...This week Lea and I also got to meet Juuuuulia for breakfast at the Extrablatt and I found some fab deals at H&M... I swear I'm not going to buy any more clothes before I leave!!! And Wed. night I went back to the Extrablatt for girls night (although there were a few boys, ew) and had a grand ol' time as usual. Here I am with "my Long Island":
So we get back Monday night, and Tuesday I have class and then we are going the movies... "we" equals Julia, Lea, and I. Quasi (Julia spent some time in NZ and Oz), Mate, and American Mate, LOL... we have fun together. Here is a pic of us on Lea's 20th birthday last week (yep, Extrablatt again)
And that's it for now...!
Caitlin
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Belgium, ya'll got some good waffles
Hi
This weekend Jenny and I went to Brussels. Our tickets were really really cheap, from Koblenz to Brussels and back was €46, and Brussels is almost 4 hours away by train. We got to our hostel at about 8:30 after buying some surprisingly affordable food at the train station... our map indicated that the best Belgian french fries were just around the corner so we decided to go check it out... looked like what I had read previously was correct: in Belgium, they are shutting down a lot of the fry stands for health concerns. Perhaps that's a good thing, but we never found any french fries that evening... we ended up going to the 21:45 showing of M. Night Shyamalan's new film "The Happening" which I found terrifying but great at the same time. Felt bad though cuz Jenny had her eyes closed the whole time and she seemed reluctant to talk much afterward.
Saturday was pretty much our only day in the city (otherwise our tickets would have been like 4x more expensive!) so we first went to the big cathedral in Brussels, The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. A legend surrounds this cathedral that in 1370, some Jews stole some communion wafers from a chapel and stabbed them with daggers... it is said that blood flowed from the wafers, and the event is now referred to as a "miracle". There is even stained glass windows inside the cathedral depicting the event, blood and all.
After that, we walked around town a bit looking at the palace, another church, some squares, and made our way to the city's tourist center to see the famous statue of the little boy "Mannekin Pis". Legend has it that a little boy got lost and his father vowed that when he found his son, he would erect a statue in the spot depicting the boy doing whatever he was doing when he was found. Well, when they found the boy, he was peeing. So the statue is peeing, too. Someone changes the little boy's outfit a few times a month as well.
We tried Belgian waffles... those things are small pieces of heaven. You seriously do not need ANY toppings because the sugary goodness is baked right in. I have never tasted anything better in my life... not even Mexican food tops these babies... we ended up getting another one later that evening :-) We visited the main square and the chocolate museum after that which cost €4 but I thought was incredibly boring and not worth it at all. Then we walked around some more and looked everywhere for french fries again, and finally found some, and were disappointed that they were nothing to write home about after all. I don't get it... everyone seems to think that Belgian and Dutch french fries are so much better than normal ones, but I cannot taste the difference whatsoever. Maybe its the cute little fork you get to eat them with...
In town we also found the two other peeing statues, one of a dog and one of a girl called Jeanniken Pis, which was built by a restaurant owner to bring more business to his restaurant. She doesn't pee anymore though, since the restaurant closed...
We went to Mini-Europe after that, which is by the giant atom science center, called the Atomium. Mini Europe was cool but also not worth the €12,40 it cost to get in. Really really really not. We had fun taking silly pics of all the different monuments there... most of which will be on Facebook. We went searching for Belgian chocolate seashells (the Guylian ones are sold here too, the same ones you can get at Ross for $5 back home, lol) and went back to the hostel after that... made pasta for dinner in the hostel kitchen and drank half a carton of sangria, which made me nothing but lonely, depressed, and tired. We hung out in our dorm for a long time just talking to our roommates, a cute (presumably gay) guy from Argentina and a French Canadian from Quebec. I fell asleep at like 10pm while the rest kept talking and we slept til 9am this morning....
It was real knapp this morning, too, since there were less trams to the station, and we got to the tram stop at just the right time to make our train back to Germany... we stopped in Cologne to change trains and went to have lunch at Mongo's, a Mongolian buffet restaurant... it was faaaabulous... today was especially good because they also had appetizers and dessert included. At Mongo's, you choose a sauce and the waiter writes it on your little tablet, with which you go to the buffet (they call it the Food Markt (no, not a typo), which we thought was ridiculous... either all English or no English at all, we agreed), grab a bowl and fill it with as many veggies, types of meats, spices, fish, noodles, rice, anything you want. At the end, you give it to the cook who cooks it in the sauce you chose. Then they bring it to your table! It was delicious!! They have literally every type of meat you can think of, and I couldn't even tell you all of them because I'd never heard of most of them... but they had kangaroo!!
Yeah, then we went home. We were both a little disappointed by Brussels, but had a good time goofing around there anyway and we were happy to have something to do.
In other news, I think I'm leaning more toward Munich now as for where I want to work next summer... even if that may mean I'll be gone longer... it is just way cooler than Frankfurt, period! I know Frankfurt would be closer to my friends here, but hell, my friends here could come visit me (Jenny has never been to Munich!!!!!!!!!!)
In further news, next weekend Lea and I are going to Krákow... I found a free guide shop in Brussels and I picked up a neat guide to Krákow there. Gotta go to school on Tuesday though. Otherwise I doubt I'd be here right now, lol...
Cheers,
Caitlin
This weekend Jenny and I went to Brussels. Our tickets were really really cheap, from Koblenz to Brussels and back was €46, and Brussels is almost 4 hours away by train. We got to our hostel at about 8:30 after buying some surprisingly affordable food at the train station... our map indicated that the best Belgian french fries were just around the corner so we decided to go check it out... looked like what I had read previously was correct: in Belgium, they are shutting down a lot of the fry stands for health concerns. Perhaps that's a good thing, but we never found any french fries that evening... we ended up going to the 21:45 showing of M. Night Shyamalan's new film "The Happening" which I found terrifying but great at the same time. Felt bad though cuz Jenny had her eyes closed the whole time and she seemed reluctant to talk much afterward.
Saturday was pretty much our only day in the city (otherwise our tickets would have been like 4x more expensive!) so we first went to the big cathedral in Brussels, The Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula. A legend surrounds this cathedral that in 1370, some Jews stole some communion wafers from a chapel and stabbed them with daggers... it is said that blood flowed from the wafers, and the event is now referred to as a "miracle". There is even stained glass windows inside the cathedral depicting the event, blood and all.
After that, we walked around town a bit looking at the palace, another church, some squares, and made our way to the city's tourist center to see the famous statue of the little boy "Mannekin Pis". Legend has it that a little boy got lost and his father vowed that when he found his son, he would erect a statue in the spot depicting the boy doing whatever he was doing when he was found. Well, when they found the boy, he was peeing. So the statue is peeing, too. Someone changes the little boy's outfit a few times a month as well.
We tried Belgian waffles... those things are small pieces of heaven. You seriously do not need ANY toppings because the sugary goodness is baked right in. I have never tasted anything better in my life... not even Mexican food tops these babies... we ended up getting another one later that evening :-) We visited the main square and the chocolate museum after that which cost €4 but I thought was incredibly boring and not worth it at all. Then we walked around some more and looked everywhere for french fries again, and finally found some, and were disappointed that they were nothing to write home about after all. I don't get it... everyone seems to think that Belgian and Dutch french fries are so much better than normal ones, but I cannot taste the difference whatsoever. Maybe its the cute little fork you get to eat them with...
In town we also found the two other peeing statues, one of a dog and one of a girl called Jeanniken Pis, which was built by a restaurant owner to bring more business to his restaurant. She doesn't pee anymore though, since the restaurant closed...
We went to Mini-Europe after that, which is by the giant atom science center, called the Atomium. Mini Europe was cool but also not worth the €12,40 it cost to get in. Really really really not. We had fun taking silly pics of all the different monuments there... most of which will be on Facebook. We went searching for Belgian chocolate seashells (the Guylian ones are sold here too, the same ones you can get at Ross for $5 back home, lol) and went back to the hostel after that... made pasta for dinner in the hostel kitchen and drank half a carton of sangria, which made me nothing but lonely, depressed, and tired. We hung out in our dorm for a long time just talking to our roommates, a cute (presumably gay) guy from Argentina and a French Canadian from Quebec. I fell asleep at like 10pm while the rest kept talking and we slept til 9am this morning....
It was real knapp this morning, too, since there were less trams to the station, and we got to the tram stop at just the right time to make our train back to Germany... we stopped in Cologne to change trains and went to have lunch at Mongo's, a Mongolian buffet restaurant... it was faaaabulous... today was especially good because they also had appetizers and dessert included. At Mongo's, you choose a sauce and the waiter writes it on your little tablet, with which you go to the buffet (they call it the Food Markt (no, not a typo), which we thought was ridiculous... either all English or no English at all, we agreed), grab a bowl and fill it with as many veggies, types of meats, spices, fish, noodles, rice, anything you want. At the end, you give it to the cook who cooks it in the sauce you chose. Then they bring it to your table! It was delicious!! They have literally every type of meat you can think of, and I couldn't even tell you all of them because I'd never heard of most of them... but they had kangaroo!!
Yeah, then we went home. We were both a little disappointed by Brussels, but had a good time goofing around there anyway and we were happy to have something to do.
In other news, I think I'm leaning more toward Munich now as for where I want to work next summer... even if that may mean I'll be gone longer... it is just way cooler than Frankfurt, period! I know Frankfurt would be closer to my friends here, but hell, my friends here could come visit me (Jenny has never been to Munich!!!!!!!!!!)
In further news, next weekend Lea and I are going to Krákow... I found a free guide shop in Brussels and I picked up a neat guide to Krákow there. Gotta go to school on Tuesday though. Otherwise I doubt I'd be here right now, lol...
Cheers,
Caitlin
Thursday, June 12, 2008
New Stuff...
Well it has been a good week... Sunday was just the worst day ever, but thank goodness its my last Sunday without something to do. I really don't know how people survive it!
Lately I've been doing a lot of research and planning for the next year. Actually I think it's dumb to plan ahead, since stuff can change SO fast, but I happen to find it dumber to not plan at all. So I've been looking for internships in Germany... there are two companies I have my eye on for next summer (starting in May), which would put me back in lovely Germany for anywhere from 2-6 or more months... depends on which company I am accepted at. Possible locations include Frankfurt and Munich. I kind of prefer Munich, since it is farther away from Koblenz... not that I hate Koblenz or anything, its just that I have spent so much time in West Germany, I'd love to spend time in South Germany. Bavaria, yay! The weather seems to be better there most of the time anyway. Plus my relatives are there. But I think I'd get paid less in Munich... pros and cons. There are plenty plenty PLENTY of internships in Germany, many more than in the United States. In Frankfurt, I'd be there 2-3 months and get paid €800, whereas in Munich €600 and be there a minimum of 6 months... that is a big difference!! So I also kind of prefer Frankfurt for the money thing...
So those types of things have been consuming my thoughts lately, along with all the CRAP on my to-do list for when I get home, including search for a job for September--April. I may end up at Publix or something, lol... flexible hours, pretty good pay... probably more than I got working at the vet in ANY case. Perhaps I'll get a job at Siemens? The outlook is good. Maybe I won't do anything but be a lazy mofo..... but I can think of at least one person who wouldn't enjoy that (besides me).
This weekend I am going to Brussels, Belgium with Jenny and since we are getting back to Cologne early Sunday afternoon, we're going to have lunch there at a Mongolian restaurant. I'm looking forward to eating french fries and Belgian waffles!!!
Caitlin
Lately I've been doing a lot of research and planning for the next year. Actually I think it's dumb to plan ahead, since stuff can change SO fast, but I happen to find it dumber to not plan at all. So I've been looking for internships in Germany... there are two companies I have my eye on for next summer (starting in May), which would put me back in lovely Germany for anywhere from 2-6 or more months... depends on which company I am accepted at. Possible locations include Frankfurt and Munich. I kind of prefer Munich, since it is farther away from Koblenz... not that I hate Koblenz or anything, its just that I have spent so much time in West Germany, I'd love to spend time in South Germany. Bavaria, yay! The weather seems to be better there most of the time anyway. Plus my relatives are there. But I think I'd get paid less in Munich... pros and cons. There are plenty plenty PLENTY of internships in Germany, many more than in the United States. In Frankfurt, I'd be there 2-3 months and get paid €800, whereas in Munich €600 and be there a minimum of 6 months... that is a big difference!! So I also kind of prefer Frankfurt for the money thing...
So those types of things have been consuming my thoughts lately, along with all the CRAP on my to-do list for when I get home, including search for a job for September--April. I may end up at Publix or something, lol... flexible hours, pretty good pay... probably more than I got working at the vet in ANY case. Perhaps I'll get a job at Siemens? The outlook is good. Maybe I won't do anything but be a lazy mofo..... but I can think of at least one person who wouldn't enjoy that (besides me).
This weekend I am going to Brussels, Belgium with Jenny and since we are getting back to Cologne early Sunday afternoon, we're going to have lunch there at a Mongolian restaurant. I'm looking forward to eating french fries and Belgian waffles!!!
Caitlin
Sunday, June 8, 2008
100th Post!!! It's been one wild ride
This my 100th post! I've been keeping this blog since March 29, 2007. I must admit that I'm impressed at how consistent I've been with it.
They say when you get home is when it first hits you, all that you have seen and experienced. I hope that's true... of course I don't know if I could handle it. It may completely knock me over.
Here's a pic of the door at home where Mom has been sticking all of my postcards from the last year:
There are only a few missing since I'd gone to a few more places since she took this pic... and Luxembourg may never make it up there since I lost the postcard somewhere. Oh well. Maybe I'll make my own postcard from a picture I took, lol...
It's going to be sad coming home. It's a lot of work, a lot of change... moving. I have a feeling that moving back home will be more of a shock to me than moving here. I am going to have to leave all of my friends I met here... Rike, Jenny, the Annas, Liane, Julia, Lea the Aussie... and so many more. Fortunately enough I have all of these memories to take with me. All of my friends, all of my experiences here have made this trip unforgettable!
I hope I can just fall back into my other life. Yeah, my other life. If I can just go back to it as the other me, that is, as soon as I set foot in the United States, my home, something will change inside to make me not forget everything that happened in Europe, not forget everyone I met, no... but change to where I can keep the experiences isolated somehow. Of course I want to use the knowledge and experience gained here in my "other" life as well, but I just think trying to hold on to too much of "this" life will make things unnecessarily painful in the "other" one. I'm just scared of how the person I've become will fit back into the life that has changed, as I have changed since I've been away.
So I guess it'll be like coming here... just doing it. Just jumping in and moving forward each day, hopefully not falling down, hopefully not skinning my knees up too badly. And as time goes by, things will be ok.
Cheers,
Cait
P.S. I got new shoes yesterday and I painted my toenails for the first time since I've been here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They say when you get home is when it first hits you, all that you have seen and experienced. I hope that's true... of course I don't know if I could handle it. It may completely knock me over.
Here's a pic of the door at home where Mom has been sticking all of my postcards from the last year:
There are only a few missing since I'd gone to a few more places since she took this pic... and Luxembourg may never make it up there since I lost the postcard somewhere. Oh well. Maybe I'll make my own postcard from a picture I took, lol...It's going to be sad coming home. It's a lot of work, a lot of change... moving. I have a feeling that moving back home will be more of a shock to me than moving here. I am going to have to leave all of my friends I met here... Rike, Jenny, the Annas, Liane, Julia, Lea the Aussie... and so many more. Fortunately enough I have all of these memories to take with me. All of my friends, all of my experiences here have made this trip unforgettable!
I hope I can just fall back into my other life. Yeah, my other life. If I can just go back to it as the other me, that is, as soon as I set foot in the United States, my home, something will change inside to make me not forget everything that happened in Europe, not forget everyone I met, no... but change to where I can keep the experiences isolated somehow. Of course I want to use the knowledge and experience gained here in my "other" life as well, but I just think trying to hold on to too much of "this" life will make things unnecessarily painful in the "other" one. I'm just scared of how the person I've become will fit back into the life that has changed, as I have changed since I've been away.
So I guess it'll be like coming here... just doing it. Just jumping in and moving forward each day, hopefully not falling down, hopefully not skinning my knees up too badly. And as time goes by, things will be ok.
Cheers,
Cait
P.S. I got new shoes yesterday and I painted my toenails for the first time since I've been here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, June 6, 2008
Starting the Moving Process
I've started packing. Everything's off my walls, I've got a "free stuff box" for things I am not taking home with me, and I've found new owners for my tabletop fan, microwave, and toaster so far.
It was tough taking down the stuff from my walls. It was symbolic in a way. I have a box full of memorabilia now... but now that the room looks more empty, it feels less like mine and therefore it may be easier to move out.
It was tough taking down the stuff from my walls. It was symbolic in a way. I have a box full of memorabilia now... but now that the room looks more empty, it feels less like mine and therefore it may be easier to move out.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Stopping to Think
I'm taking a break from my evening of researching dinosaurs, extinct shark species, and watching Mickey Mouse cartoons on YouTube to post this simple fact.
81 of my currently 96 Facebook photo albums are related to my travels.
Only fifteen albums are record of my normal life. I have been here longer than I thought. Once I get home, I will have spent 11 out of the last twelve months overseas. I'm surviving better than I expected I would. I don't think I'm going to have much to say when I go home... heck, I've been talking the whole time through my blog and pictures.
What a wild ride it has been! It's not over yet!! I feel so blessed to be here and am looking forward to the next 49 days :-) Note: I would not have this count if my mother did not update me daily.
For those of you Facebookless, which I doubt many are, the following trips are coming up:
June 13-15: Brussels, Belgium
June 20-23: Kraków, Poland
June 25-July 7: Various locations in Spain, including Barcelona, feat. Viktor
July 9-12: Dresden, Germany
July 13-15 will be spent moving out/in with the Australian for the last 4 nights in Koblenz before going to stay in Ingolstadt until the 23rd when I fly out of München to Ft. Myers... homeward.
Okay, going to bed...
Cait
81 of my currently 96 Facebook photo albums are related to my travels.
Only fifteen albums are record of my normal life. I have been here longer than I thought. Once I get home, I will have spent 11 out of the last twelve months overseas. I'm surviving better than I expected I would. I don't think I'm going to have much to say when I go home... heck, I've been talking the whole time through my blog and pictures.
What a wild ride it has been! It's not over yet!! I feel so blessed to be here and am looking forward to the next 49 days :-) Note: I would not have this count if my mother did not update me daily.
For those of you Facebookless, which I doubt many are, the following trips are coming up:
June 13-15: Brussels, Belgium
June 20-23: Kraków, Poland
June 25-July 7: Various locations in Spain, including Barcelona, feat. Viktor
July 9-12: Dresden, Germany
July 13-15 will be spent moving out/in with the Australian for the last 4 nights in Koblenz before going to stay in Ingolstadt until the 23rd when I fly out of München to Ft. Myers... homeward.
Okay, going to bed...
Cait
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Also Relevant...
Ok, I must apologize to the general audience (aka Mommy) for my depressing previous entry...
Sure, I am allowed to feel down sometimes. And I do. Sometimes. But the song was really negative.
How can I think that the adventure is coming to a close when it has barely begun! These last 8 months have opened so many doors to me and allowed me to make many changes, take many risks, see, do, and explore... I've gotten so much experience and my German has improved ten-fold at that... yes, I have to go back to school when I get home, but it is almost over and I get giddy thinking at the possibilities learning this language has afforded me... I can work in Europe! My skills are sought after! And how valuable it is to learn that one's own country and language is NOT the center of the universe!
Get out, people, we must get OUT... it's dangerous to stay home!
Sure, I am allowed to feel down sometimes. And I do. Sometimes. But the song was really negative.
How can I think that the adventure is coming to a close when it has barely begun! These last 8 months have opened so many doors to me and allowed me to make many changes, take many risks, see, do, and explore... I've gotten so much experience and my German has improved ten-fold at that... yes, I have to go back to school when I get home, but it is almost over and I get giddy thinking at the possibilities learning this language has afforded me... I can work in Europe! My skills are sought after! And how valuable it is to learn that one's own country and language is NOT the center of the universe!
Get out, people, we must get OUT... it's dangerous to stay home!
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Relevant
Well, I was listening to the radio today and heard a song that seems pretty relevant to my life in a way, at this point... reflects some thoughts going through my head as my time here draws to a close...
Here's the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZy2xq1DTNo
And the lyrics:
Here's the video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZy2xq1DTNo
And the lyrics:
Honestly, what will become of me?
Don't like reality
It's way too clear to me
But really life is dandy
We are what we don't see
Miss everything daydreaming
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end?
Traveling, I only stop at exits
Wondering if I'll stay
Young and restless
Living this way I stress less
I want to pull away when the dream dies
The pain sets in and I don't cry
I only feel gravity and I wonder why
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end?
And the dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon
So that they could die...
Flames to dust
Lovers to friends
Why do all good things come to an end?
When the dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune
Hoping it would come soon
And the sun was wondering if it should stay away for a day
Til the feeling went away
And the sky was falling and the clouds were dropping
And the rainfall forgot how to bring salvation
The dogs were barking at the new moon
Whistling a new tune hoping it would come soon
So that they could die
Picture Links
Ok, I just posted album links from late April onward... under "Summer 2008" to the left... hopefully Facebook does not change these links... if you would like to see pics from a different trip, sign up for Facebook and add me as a friend (if we are friends) or leave me a comment so I can send you the public link to the Facebook albums.
Cheers,
Cait
Cheers,
Cait
London (and All the Pounds I Lost There)
Wow! What a fantastic weekend!! I went to visit Anna in London on Friday. She's an au pair there for an uppity uppity British family with quite the pistol for a daughter. Buttttt the mom, Anji, is cool, she ordered us pizza on Friday night from Papa John's (tastes the same!) and Anna and I went to Croydon (on the 403!) to see Sex and the City. I really liked the movie, even though I'd never seen the show. The Flowers (last name of Anna's host fam.) have THE CUTEST CAT! His name is Tobey Juan, lol... he was so skiddish and friendly at the same time... here's a pic of us together [for Blogspot users: click on the pics to make them BIGGER]:
It's a shame, really, he's a lot cuter in person and if I were a cat, I would leave everything I know to be with him.
Saturday was a really busy day!! First we took the bus ("403, to, WEST Croydon!") to the train station and then bought a day ticket for the transport system and took the train to London Victoria station... man, transportation is mondo efficient in London. We went to the London Eye first, that's the biggest ferris wheel in the world and it costs $31 to ride it for 30 minutes. But it was absolutely brilliant! Here's a pic of it from across the Thames river:
Afterward we took the tube ("Stand on the right!") to St. James' Park where there are is a diverse multitude of large and small birds: pigeons, swans, gray geese, and HUGE white pelicans. We walked through the park, although my fascination with the large white pelicans prevented that from happening very quickly, and wound up at Buckingham Palace, where people were beginning to crowd for something... we found out that there was going to be a parade in rehearsal for the Queen's birthday two weeks from then. We stayed for like 40 minutes until it started, it was neat! Saw a bunch of those fuzzy-headed guards, too!
We had a 2-for-1 ticket coupon for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, so we headed there, next. We waited in line for about an hour and then the place was sooo packed, it was hard to get pictures because everyone would push you out of the way to get there first. It was definitely neat, though, and there was a haunted house like at Halloween Horror Nights in the basement, that we were supposed to pay $6 extra for, but the guy was like "you know what, go ahead!"... I think it was because we are sooooo cute! See?
After that we were in search of food. And as shocking as this may sound, I consumed fish for the second time since being in Europe... I had to try "fish and chips"... it didn't taste any different than the fish Dad used to fry back in the day, and the french fries were mediocre as well. Not sure what the English are all abuzz about this for... anyway for dessert we had an Oreo + Toffee McFlurry... and then went to find the Platform 9 ³/4... and I went to Hogwarts for a while.
We then checked out the Piccadilly Circus, which is mainly a building with a bunch of HUGE screens on it. We ate donuts that cost $2.70 each, and then took the Tube to Oxford street, where we went to the giant store, Primark, which is like Penney's in Ireland... it was sooo cheap. I actually bought a few things that I ended up taking back, but found a shirt for $4. I really wanted these brown leather flip flops buuuuuuut... they didn't have my size.
By then I was running out of money for the day, anyway, since I only brought 60 pounds with me and left the rest at home. It sure does go fast in London, geez. I also was lucky enough to find a banana lying in the street... I could not believe my luck and immediately picked it up and took it home, although I wasn't the lucky one able to consume it...
Sunday was also a busy day. We went to the Camden Market, where no one is allowed to take pictures apparently, of anything. The market is sooo cool and so much stuff is overpriced, but we found a store where there was a lot of really cheap (even in dollars!) stuff. The "food court" at the Camden Market is CRAZY... all sorts of ethnic foods and everyone is trying to get you to buy theirs... I bought Indian food... wasn't too impressed, but it was ok. Anna and I split a giant donut for dessert:
And I bargained with a really tough Asian lady for the most amazing handbag in the entire world... it's hand-stitched "quilt" style with a ton of different fabrics and is totally rad... I only got it for a pound cheaper than what she wanted for it, but I'm still proud of that because that lady was TOUGH as nails!!
Then we headed to the Imperial War Museum, where we saw about an eighth of what they had to offer... we saw the Children's Perspective exhibit, where we walked through a war bunker and a really neat replica of a house from those days, and talked to an older lady about what it was like to have lived in a prefab. We also visited the Holocaust exhibit, where we were a bit hesitant to speak German to each other, for obvious reasons. The Holocaust, though not the only instance where people were ruthlessly racist and killing other people, is significant in how systematic and efficient and swift the Nazis wiped out all of those people. Six million people... that had never been seen in history before at such a magnitude. That's what makes it so hard for people to wrap their minds around it.
Next we went to Harrod's giant department store, where we saw the Diana and Dodi memorial and the Egyptian escalator hall, walked through the Food Halls (just a really expensive grocery store), and browsed greeting cards. Trafalgar Square was next, where we discovered a big screen showing Romeo and Juliet (opera/orchestra version), which had consequently packed the square. Here I am with King Tut:
We went to the evening service at Westminster Abbey... I saw Isaac Newton's grave!! It normally costs $20 to get into the Abbey (but all the national museums are FREE!?) so we figured going for the service was the best way to see it without losing too many pounds. I was at a loss for words... I think one of the first things I said while in the church was "who the hell is that?"... not exactly pious, I know, but the service was centered on a guy named William Cowper, and the whole 45 minute service included three hymns, some readings, and poems by that dude... his picture was on the front of the program. The service was also soooo boring!! The Abbey has that weird church smell that makes me want to throw up, and I remember sitting there and looking at my watch and being SO surprised that only 15 minutes had passed. Time slowed down. On TV, the Westminster Abbey looks so much bigger...don't get me wrong, the place is HUGE, but I guess when the streets surrounding it are covered in people, it looks like a much bigger venue... here's a pic of me in front of the Abbey after the service.
After that we went over to London Tower and the Tower Bridge (which I, stupidly, had always though was the London Bridge... why isn't there a song about Tower Bridge, if that's the famous one!?) and walked around there for a bit... we had been soooo lucky the entire weekend that it did not rain a DROP on either day... here I am at the Tower Bridge
We were both staaarving so we headed to London Victoria station and ate at McDonald's, lol... I have never been so excited to see a McDonald's in my life... we were so hungry... the guys at the counter were funny and when I told them (after they asked me) where I was from, they had all kinds of questions about McDonald's in the USA... they were amazed that the cheeseburgers only cost 60 cents and that the double cheeseburger is on the dollar menu... it was really funny. I even told them that I would get as many free refills on my Sprite Zero as I wanted, and proceeded to ask if I brought my cup back, if he would give me more... he said yes, ha ha!! Anyway, in keeping with the pattern of absolute irony that was this weekend, I ordered my first Big Mac EVER at the London Victoria McDonald's...
On Monday, we went back into London and, after checking to see if Primark had restocked the shoes I wanted, to no avail, went to the London Dungeon... we had a two for one coupon for that as well and it was really neat! It was a scary place and I got "picked on" by the actors a lot. When our group was getting "tried" and "condemned for heinous crimes", I was picked out by the actor and I had to stand on the podium thing and they said that I was guilty of dancing naked and would only be allowed to go free if I plead insanity, which I did, lol... and somehow I was always the first one to leave the different rooms in the Dungeon and so I was the one the actors all jumped out at to scare when we entered a different room. The whole place was superbly well done, even down to the smells. There were two rides and at the end was a drop ride because we were all to be hanged, lol...
Afterward we ate greasy pizza next door at a seedy place called "Fantastic Chicken", but only because it was cheap (a 7" pizza with two toppings for $4) and then headed to Croydon to see if THAT Primark had the shoes I wanted, which they didn't, but they did have the Florida t-shirt the other one didn't have in my size. So, I achieved one of my mini goals for my trips around Europe: find a Florida t-shirt. YEAH!
Then I took the train to Gatwick and met these CRAZY Irish guys while waiting at the gate. At Gatwick everyone waits in the same area until their boarding and gate number is announced. I was trying to read my magazine and eat my Turkish Delight and the guy next to me kept looking over and commenting, like "what is she eating, lads?" and "what is she reading?"... I looked over and said I was eating Turkish Delight, but I shouldn't have said anything because the crazy one took it as an invitation to talk to me for the next 40 minutes. He was SO annoying and kept taking my magazine and telling me his mom was German, then his dad was, and then his mom was Spanish... he also had eaten a lime a few minutes prior to talking to me, so the whole time he was talking to me he smelled like LIME... gross. And he kept just getting too close for comfort so I had to tell him to stop touching me. Creepy. I got offer after offer to go to Dublin with them, that'd I'd definitely be in the top three most beautiful girls in Ireland, to which I said that certainly isn't saying much about the other women in Ireland, ha ha... anyway he was sooo annoying but it made for this funny story and I finally got a gate number so I had an excuse to leave...
Then the flight was delayed 40 minutes or so, AFTER we had already boarded. Apparently there was bad weather. But how lucky I was that finally the bad weather started as soon as I left. Sweet!
So now I am home and today I have school (hence why I am even here). I had a faaaabulous time with the best tour guide EVER, and although London ate up my money, everything we did was awesome and I loved every minute of it!
BANANA!
Caitlin
It's a shame, really, he's a lot cuter in person and if I were a cat, I would leave everything I know to be with him.Saturday was a really busy day!! First we took the bus ("403, to, WEST Croydon!") to the train station and then bought a day ticket for the transport system and took the train to London Victoria station... man, transportation is mondo efficient in London. We went to the London Eye first, that's the biggest ferris wheel in the world and it costs $31 to ride it for 30 minutes. But it was absolutely brilliant! Here's a pic of it from across the Thames river:
Afterward we took the tube ("Stand on the right!") to St. James' Park where there are is a diverse multitude of large and small birds: pigeons, swans, gray geese, and HUGE white pelicans. We walked through the park, although my fascination with the large white pelicans prevented that from happening very quickly, and wound up at Buckingham Palace, where people were beginning to crowd for something... we found out that there was going to be a parade in rehearsal for the Queen's birthday two weeks from then. We stayed for like 40 minutes until it started, it was neat! Saw a bunch of those fuzzy-headed guards, too!
We had a 2-for-1 ticket coupon for Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum, so we headed there, next. We waited in line for about an hour and then the place was sooo packed, it was hard to get pictures because everyone would push you out of the way to get there first. It was definitely neat, though, and there was a haunted house like at Halloween Horror Nights in the basement, that we were supposed to pay $6 extra for, but the guy was like "you know what, go ahead!"... I think it was because we are sooooo cute! See?
After that we were in search of food. And as shocking as this may sound, I consumed fish for the second time since being in Europe... I had to try "fish and chips"... it didn't taste any different than the fish Dad used to fry back in the day, and the french fries were mediocre as well. Not sure what the English are all abuzz about this for... anyway for dessert we had an Oreo + Toffee McFlurry... and then went to find the Platform 9 ³/4... and I went to Hogwarts for a while.
We then checked out the Piccadilly Circus, which is mainly a building with a bunch of HUGE screens on it. We ate donuts that cost $2.70 each, and then took the Tube to Oxford street, where we went to the giant store, Primark, which is like Penney's in Ireland... it was sooo cheap. I actually bought a few things that I ended up taking back, but found a shirt for $4. I really wanted these brown leather flip flops buuuuuuut... they didn't have my size.
By then I was running out of money for the day, anyway, since I only brought 60 pounds with me and left the rest at home. It sure does go fast in London, geez. I also was lucky enough to find a banana lying in the street... I could not believe my luck and immediately picked it up and took it home, although I wasn't the lucky one able to consume it...
Sunday was also a busy day. We went to the Camden Market, where no one is allowed to take pictures apparently, of anything. The market is sooo cool and so much stuff is overpriced, but we found a store where there was a lot of really cheap (even in dollars!) stuff. The "food court" at the Camden Market is CRAZY... all sorts of ethnic foods and everyone is trying to get you to buy theirs... I bought Indian food... wasn't too impressed, but it was ok. Anna and I split a giant donut for dessert:
And I bargained with a really tough Asian lady for the most amazing handbag in the entire world... it's hand-stitched "quilt" style with a ton of different fabrics and is totally rad... I only got it for a pound cheaper than what she wanted for it, but I'm still proud of that because that lady was TOUGH as nails!!
Then we headed to the Imperial War Museum, where we saw about an eighth of what they had to offer... we saw the Children's Perspective exhibit, where we walked through a war bunker and a really neat replica of a house from those days, and talked to an older lady about what it was like to have lived in a prefab. We also visited the Holocaust exhibit, where we were a bit hesitant to speak German to each other, for obvious reasons. The Holocaust, though not the only instance where people were ruthlessly racist and killing other people, is significant in how systematic and efficient and swift the Nazis wiped out all of those people. Six million people... that had never been seen in history before at such a magnitude. That's what makes it so hard for people to wrap their minds around it.
Next we went to Harrod's giant department store, where we saw the Diana and Dodi memorial and the Egyptian escalator hall, walked through the Food Halls (just a really expensive grocery store), and browsed greeting cards. Trafalgar Square was next, where we discovered a big screen showing Romeo and Juliet (opera/orchestra version), which had consequently packed the square. Here I am with King Tut:
We went to the evening service at Westminster Abbey... I saw Isaac Newton's grave!! It normally costs $20 to get into the Abbey (but all the national museums are FREE!?) so we figured going for the service was the best way to see it without losing too many pounds. I was at a loss for words... I think one of the first things I said while in the church was "who the hell is that?"... not exactly pious, I know, but the service was centered on a guy named William Cowper, and the whole 45 minute service included three hymns, some readings, and poems by that dude... his picture was on the front of the program. The service was also soooo boring!! The Abbey has that weird church smell that makes me want to throw up, and I remember sitting there and looking at my watch and being SO surprised that only 15 minutes had passed. Time slowed down. On TV, the Westminster Abbey looks so much bigger...don't get me wrong, the place is HUGE, but I guess when the streets surrounding it are covered in people, it looks like a much bigger venue... here's a pic of me in front of the Abbey after the service.
After that we went over to London Tower and the Tower Bridge (which I, stupidly, had always though was the London Bridge... why isn't there a song about Tower Bridge, if that's the famous one!?) and walked around there for a bit... we had been soooo lucky the entire weekend that it did not rain a DROP on either day... here I am at the Tower Bridge
We were both staaarving so we headed to London Victoria station and ate at McDonald's, lol... I have never been so excited to see a McDonald's in my life... we were so hungry... the guys at the counter were funny and when I told them (after they asked me) where I was from, they had all kinds of questions about McDonald's in the USA... they were amazed that the cheeseburgers only cost 60 cents and that the double cheeseburger is on the dollar menu... it was really funny. I even told them that I would get as many free refills on my Sprite Zero as I wanted, and proceeded to ask if I brought my cup back, if he would give me more... he said yes, ha ha!! Anyway, in keeping with the pattern of absolute irony that was this weekend, I ordered my first Big Mac EVER at the London Victoria McDonald's...
On Monday, we went back into London and, after checking to see if Primark had restocked the shoes I wanted, to no avail, went to the London Dungeon... we had a two for one coupon for that as well and it was really neat! It was a scary place and I got "picked on" by the actors a lot. When our group was getting "tried" and "condemned for heinous crimes", I was picked out by the actor and I had to stand on the podium thing and they said that I was guilty of dancing naked and would only be allowed to go free if I plead insanity, which I did, lol... and somehow I was always the first one to leave the different rooms in the Dungeon and so I was the one the actors all jumped out at to scare when we entered a different room. The whole place was superbly well done, even down to the smells. There were two rides and at the end was a drop ride because we were all to be hanged, lol...
Afterward we ate greasy pizza next door at a seedy place called "Fantastic Chicken", but only because it was cheap (a 7" pizza with two toppings for $4) and then headed to Croydon to see if THAT Primark had the shoes I wanted, which they didn't, but they did have the Florida t-shirt the other one didn't have in my size. So, I achieved one of my mini goals for my trips around Europe: find a Florida t-shirt. YEAH!
Then I took the train to Gatwick and met these CRAZY Irish guys while waiting at the gate. At Gatwick everyone waits in the same area until their boarding and gate number is announced. I was trying to read my magazine and eat my Turkish Delight and the guy next to me kept looking over and commenting, like "what is she eating, lads?" and "what is she reading?"... I looked over and said I was eating Turkish Delight, but I shouldn't have said anything because the crazy one took it as an invitation to talk to me for the next 40 minutes. He was SO annoying and kept taking my magazine and telling me his mom was German, then his dad was, and then his mom was Spanish... he also had eaten a lime a few minutes prior to talking to me, so the whole time he was talking to me he smelled like LIME... gross. And he kept just getting too close for comfort so I had to tell him to stop touching me. Creepy. I got offer after offer to go to Dublin with them, that'd I'd definitely be in the top three most beautiful girls in Ireland, to which I said that certainly isn't saying much about the other women in Ireland, ha ha... anyway he was sooo annoying but it made for this funny story and I finally got a gate number so I had an excuse to leave...
Then the flight was delayed 40 minutes or so, AFTER we had already boarded. Apparently there was bad weather. But how lucky I was that finally the bad weather started as soon as I left. Sweet!
So now I am home and today I have school (hence why I am even here). I had a faaaabulous time with the best tour guide EVER, and although London ate up my money, everything we did was awesome and I loved every minute of it!
BANANA!
Caitlin
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