First Semester Travel Break

So I know the world of my blog never got caught up with England. In order to prevent that same situation this is how this post is going to work: I journaled all but the last 3 days (when I was with Caitlin in the Netherlands). I am going to choose 3 "sentences" (in quotes because I write horrible run-ons all the time) straight out of my journal that I think sum up the day. I will also post 2 pictures from the day. Each day will be labeled with the day number and the city I spent the majority of the time in/slept in.

31/10/10
Day 1: Geneva, Switzerland
We were given food and champagne and people were taking pictures of us like the paparazzi until we were actually on the plane. I walked across to the super fancy stores and decided I could be happy with a Rolex, but only if it has diamonds in place of the numbers. After dinner I went to my hostel and ate crunchy M&Ms and watched the Simpson's Treehouse of Horror in French.




1/11/10
Day 2: Lausanne, Switzerland
Got to Lausanne, put my luggage away, then spent 7 hours walking around the town. A man kissed up my arm. For dinner I had fresh backed bread and cheese, no complaints.




2/11/10
Day 3: Zermatt, Switzerland
Right now, I am in Zermatt at a restaurant about to eat cheese fondue in the Swiss Alps, if I could see the Matterhorn like would be perfect. Straight up out of Heidi. I walked around town just trying to take everything in, and it is just beyond precious.




3/11/10
Day 4: Zermatt --> Zurich, Switzerland
This morning when I woke up the sky was crystal clear and the Matterhorn was breath-taking and perfect. I miss my sketchy cabin of men in the Alps. Today was a little step back into the westernized world for me, which is fine, but not as charming.




4/11/10
Day 5: Zurich, Switzerland
I walked through the streets on my own and saw St. Peter's Church which has the biggest clock face in all of Europe, it was not very exciting. If I ever own a zoo I think it would be cool to have regional restaurants, like have an Outback Steakhouse by the kangaroos. I am sorry tastebuds, you will never have another Christmas season like this one.




5/11/10
Day 6: Karlsruhe, Germany
I felt like a badass, I was also petrified. When I realized my train had left and the next one to Karlsruhe-West was in an hour and I was about to pee my pants I searched for an ATM. Imagine rowing along in a little rowboat when BAM a 5 star luxury cruiseship pulls up an says "aw, you look tired, let me take care of you!"




6/11/10
Day 7: Frankfurt, Germany
The first thing that greeted me in the Frankfurt train station was a T-Rex and Velociraptor replica duo. I realized you can only shop for cheap if you like cheap things. I guess there was a car company having a ball because there were pretty lights and a red carpet and TV camera crews.




7/11/10
Day 8: Luxembourg
I have perfected "train picnics" to an art. Lots of castles on hills tat actually reminded me of when I was 5 and just when I would want to see it "Train". It was rainy and there are lots of hills, but it is gorgeous and the perfect mix on old and new.




8/11/10
Day 9: Luxembourg
I tried very hard to get to the modern art museum, but I could not for the life of my figure out how to get there. This possibly may be my favorite European city (after Copenhagen). One thing that is fun is you put tap water in a water bottle and after 20 minutes of walking around outside it is ice cold and nice to drink.




9/11/10
Day 10: Brussels, Belgium
I legitimately cannot understand why the name of a city changes in different languages, wherever I go I am Julia, even if you say it in a different language. To make myself feel better I pretended that it was my huge house and all the people working in the hotel were my servants. Je voudrais un streak-frites si vous plait.




10/11/10
Day 11: Brussels --> Bruges --> Brussels, Belgium
I was smitten with Bruges. I got chocolates and frites with mayonaise, and was fat and happy. The television was mocking me.




11/11/10 - 14/11/10
Days 12 - 15: Leiden and Amsterdam, The Netherlands
I do not have journal entries for these days, but they were fabulous. I stayed with Caitlin who was the greatest host I could have asked for. We spent all day Friday in Amsterdam and saw Anne Franks House, the Redlight District, and the "Heineken Experience". I ate all sorts of AMAZING things and learned way more than I would have if I had tried to do the city alone. Last night I took a night train (that I was on for 17 hours) but I got a free upgrade from normal chairs to a cabin with fold down beds, which was very nice and although cramped I slept very well and I was not robbed.