Approaching the end: Amsterdam, Dublin & London

It's pretty much over, and lets be honest here, I'm not ready to go back to working and studying. Back to the work that gives me crap hours and a manager that hates me with a passion. Yeah, sounds like a blast. BUT, I am looking forward to seeing everyone, food, my own bed and a shower that I can actually shave my legs in. It's kind of difficult living out of suitcase and living with other filthy travellers for 3 months. But anyway, let's recap what I've been doing since Prague, shall we?

After we said our goodbyes in Prague, which was terribly difficult, we headed for the train station. My best friend Alex misread the ticket and we ended up RUNNING full-speed through the station and down the platform. Picture three backpackers, 50lb bags, hobbling and wheezing down the platform. Hilarious but honestly the worst thing ever. We then proceeded to experience the worst trainride of our lives. Nearly 25 hours in a cramped cab with 3 other people, 6 total with the heater broken at a steady 95 degrees... sitting... all night. I was living in hell. Finally we reached Amsterdam and climbed 5 flights of stairs to our room. Distaster of a travel day.

Amsterdam was beautiful. We did walking tours through the city and saw the Red-Light District. That was simply unreal. Women were standing in red-lit windows looking for customers and knocking on the glass trying to get our attention. It felt like a movie. After several visits to "coffeeshops" (sorry mom) and multiple chocolate waffels later we were in love with the city. It was perfect up until I got the flu. Amsterdam fun, over. I spent the next 2 days hovering over the porcelain throne wishing I would just get it over with and die.

From Amsterdam we took a short plane ride to Dublin. It might have been my favorite place next to Munich. Christmas lights, pubs, and live music everywhere. Feeling much better by then, we ate our first big meal, Irish Breakfast. Simply amazing. A fried egg, two types of puddings, a deep-fryed potato ball, sausage, ham, baked beans and toast. We went back to get more later in the trip. It really reminded me of breakfast at home, which I miss a lot. We also went to the Guinness factory and learned how to pour the perfect pint. Pretty useful information if I do say so myself. On one of the last days we went into downtown and took pictures for my friend DJ's photography project. Along the way we found some of the best street performers I've seen on the whole trip. We even sang with a group who will be heading to Wisconsin on a tour later in the year.

As of right now we are in London. It's painfully expensive but the city is beautiful and the people have been really nice. We went to the London Bridge the first day and met a extremely talkative old man who offered to give us a free tour. Generally, when someone approaches you offering to lead you around a city you say no. What's in it for them? Are you leading me down a dark alley to steal my things? Well he actually just turned out to be a really cool old guy with some time to kill. He told us all about the history of London and brought us to check out views of old buildings, bridges, the Big Ben and a Christmas market. Everything was great until DJ recieved a text from his father wishing for us to have a good time at the Florence and the Machine concert.
Wait.
What?
That isn't two days from now?
If his father wouldn't have messaged him we would have missed the last big event of our trip. Phew! We said goodbye to our tourguide and hopped on the tube to get home.
The concert was everything I could have hoped for. Even though we were in the nosebleeds of the biggest venue I've ever been to, it was still incredible. Florence Welch's voice is like liquid gold.

Today we spent more time at the Christmas market and I purchased a hand-made leather journal. Maybe I'll start actually writing again. This blog has at least minorly got me back into the habit. We plan soon to head out to dinner and maybe grab a pint or two.

Tomorrow we're going to Harry Potter Studios. I'm stoked. I'll be sure to write about it in my last and final Europe blog... which I'm not fully excited to do.

Cheers!

Adventures in Berlin and Prague

Since leaving the south I've been keeping myself busy and also adjusting to the climate change. It went from 75 and sunny to 30 and cloudy in Berlin. Go figure, I ended up feeling sick as soon as I got off the plane. The following days I slept while my friends went out and discovered the city. Bogus. After some much needed rest I finally got out to see Berlin on a free tour led by a guy who used to give them in Munich. I saw the Brandenburg Gate and some other historical sights. I don't remember much considering I was in a heavy cold-medicine haze. Feeling much better the following days I got out of the room and made some friends. I met up with Liam and Nathan, two Aussie guys that my classmate Brittany met in Spain. I also hung out with some other Aussies and some Canadians and we had a really good time. I went with Brittany to see the Berlin Wall and some local alternative street art. That was incredible. I can't even describe it. Alex met up with us later in the week. More fun/ chaos ensued.

The three of us left for Prague with the addition of our Aussie friend Nathan... he had some complications with his passport and Liam had to go to Dubai without him. We reached the trainstation late in the evening and got hassled by someone trying to convert our Euros into Czech Koruna. This is obviously a scam so we walked away as fast as we could. The night got better when we ate our Thanksgiving feast. Even though we couldn't have turkey and the usual fixings, we had stir fry, mashed potatoes, green beans, meat, cheese, bread and wine. It was incredible. The Aussies were SO excited to be experiencing American Thanksgiving.

We also did a really cool pub crawl and went and saw the Castle in Prague. Apparently it's the largest in Europe.

It was SO hard saying goodbye to our Aussie friends. The last day we spent under a historical bridge eating sausages and drinking beer saying our goodbyes. I just hope it's not the last time I get to see them.

Leaving Munich and adventures in Italy

Leaving was extremely difficult. My coworkers became like a second family. My boss Dr. Peters even bought me going away presents. On the second to last day I walked my neighborhood streets one last time and said my goodbyes. I'm certain that I will be going back if not maybe living there (when I'm rich).

I arrived in Levanto Italy on the 6th and was greeted by my classmates as soon as I got off the train. The train ride was pure evil. The devil. 12 hours is far too long to be sitting with complete strangers and doing nothing. At least I got to sleep for a couple of hours. Anyway, Levanto was amazing. We were right on the beach and spent almost all of our time picking rocks and walking up to our knees in the water. The place is gorgeous. Being there also reminded me what it is like to be around people. In Munich I was more or less by myself and being with a group of almost 20 people was legitimately overwhelming.

Since then, I've been in Rome with my friends in the class. We've had so much fun, definitely too much fun. On the first day we went into Vatican City which is beyond words. We ended up getting ambushed by this sketchy lady offering to take us in to the Vatican and Sistine Chapel without waiting in the lines. We were nervous about this for sure. One of the rules for travelling abroad is to never trust someone who approaches YOU. If you approach them then it's generally safe. Regardless, the sketch lady took us to the best pizza place in Vatican City and then we were off on the tour. It turned out to be the best tour I've ever been on. We saw the gardens and sculptures surrounding the Vatican, went through the Sistine Chapel (breathtaking) and ended in front of the line for the Vatican. We walked right in without ever having to wait. We walked the entire thing from top to bottom. Literally. The basement was filled with the tombs of the first popes and we climbed 300 stairs to get to the very top. It was insane.

Today we took a stroll to the colloseum and rode a tour bus through the city. The ruins in Rome are mind-blowing.

Pizza is good, pasta is fantastic, I can actually somewhat sort of enjoy red wine now... kind of.

All for now!
Ciao!

It's been awhile, how are you?

I'm fully aware that I haven't posted anything in almost a month. Things slowed way down after Oktoberfest and I've kind of just been living here in Munich. Going to work, doing my laundry, buying groceries and watching T.V. is much less exciting than the things I was doing before, but I do have some things to share.

The weekend after Oktoberfest I went to Greffern to visit Kristi for the weekend. When I got there, our classmate Carl was in a frenzy. The "pipes" had burst in the house and it was pretty much raining through every lightbulb and every socket of the house. Apparently when they tried to fix things before, they had simply attached garden hoses for the houses water system. Some of her roommates stuff was damaged and we weren't allowed to use the lightswitch in the bathroom. The next day Kristi and I went to Stuttgarts Oktoberfest. It was really fun but the train rides to get out there and back took forever. If we wouldn't have gotten kicked out of the beer hall because of Kristi's drunk French roommate, who knows when we would have gotten back. All in all it was really fun though. We ate crepes like 3 times. That's something I'm definitely going to miss when I come back home.

In the weeks following, my classmate Mallory was in town so we got to hang out a bit. I also did Museums Night with a co-worker and that was amazing! We travelled from place to place seeing everything from a Russian library to a band playing Bob Dylan on top of the Olympia Tower. It was the best day. The only downside was that at then end of the night, the metro was closed so I had to walk quite a ways to get back to my apartment.

This past week Alex and D.J. came and visited me again. We haven't done anything too exciting, but it's just nice to be around eachother. Last night we went to the Euro Youth for their halloween party. It was really fun. We got our faces painted and watched them tap a keg of beer.

This upcoming week is my last in Munich. It's really sad because I've gotten so comfortable here. It's literally become like a second home. It will still be good to move around and see something new and exciting again. On the 5th I leave for Levanto wich is very exciting. I get to meet up with my classmates and hopefully see some warmer weather.

Also, I bought myself a rather expensive Christmas gift. No one gets to see it until my return. You should probably be worried. =P

Oktoberfest

Oh yes, it was glorious. Alex, D.J., and Kristi all came down to celebrate with me and it was honestly the most fun I've had. They all showed up on Friday (even though D.J. missed his first train) and I brought them to their apartment. They lived with two German students named Marcus and Marcus. When they asked if we wanted to go play a drinking game in the park we were excited to go. It was intense. The midwesterners were put to shame very quickly. On Saturday, I had booked a Beer Challenge Tour that ended up being both fun and kind of informational. We went to some of the big beer gardens and learned a German drinking song. The tour ended with Oktoberfest which is where we stayed most of the night. We met some really interesting people and had a blast. On Sunday Kristi left and I actually convinced Alex and D.J. to stay another couple of days. So on Monday the three of us went to Dachau. That was a serious experience. I really can't even put it into words. If you want to hear about it you're just going to have to go for yourself.

That was my extended weekend in a nutshell. I actually plan to visit Kristi this weekend in her little German village and possibly make it to the Oktoberfest in Stuttgart. For now, I could use the relaxation. The past 4 days have flown by and I'm a little exhausted.

Sorry this is really condensed. We did so much in such a short amount of time. But it was honestly the greatest. I'm going to miss Alex and D.J. but I'll get to see them again in a month.

Tschüs!

Miss me?

Yeah, It's been awhile. I guess I'm just keeping myself busy. I visited the Neuschwanstein Castle on Friday. That was sweet (other than the 2 mile climb up a mountain.) The views were amazing and the castle was super cool. I learned a lot of history and also met some awesome people. Sunday I went to the English Garden. Most likely my favorite place in Munich. It's the largest in the world so it took me the better part of a day to walk it. Rivers and huge open fields, ducks, dogs, little kids. Pretty much everything I love. It really reminded me of home. Most of Europe is buildings and streets so it was nice to get back to some nature. I needed some fresh air in my life. There's even a lake that you can rent boats on.

Work has been going well. I'm now working with a woman from Latvia. She's really nice and is a important museum worker in her country. My research is coming along as well. I may start writing next week.

Other than that, nothing to really tell. I guess I'm finally settled in to my surroundings.

Also, Alex, D.J., and Kristi are coming to visit me this weekend. I'm more than excited. I've already booked a Beer Challenge tour and have a mental list of things I can't wait to do with them. It will definitely be the highlight of my month.

This is a picture of the institute now and back in the 40s when it was turned into the Central Collecting Point for artwork after the plunder of the Nazis.

I'm an utterly boring person...

Yep. The truth. Today I went to work, came home, skyped, did some laundry, and now I'm in bed. When did I become this old person? I might have to start taking Fridays off just so I can go out an do something. I might check out the thrift store in town. But don't worry, I wont go crazy or anything.

On the other hand, Saturday was not an old person day for me. It was the first day of Oktoberfest! I left the house at 11:30 and walked through the pouring rain to get there. I did it. It was glorious. Although I didn't go to any beer tents, I followed the parade route into the carnival area and had a few at one of the smaller vendors. It actually wasn't too expensive. I met a really cool couple from Oregon who knew a lot about the Twin Cities and Wisconsin. The husband was a big Vikings fan. They've even been to Spooner, WI which was insane to me. I have a ton of friends from that tiny town.
Consequentially, I spent most of my Sunday napping in my room. You tell yourself that you're doing a great job at pacing yourself... but you're not even close. Just stop, go home early. German beer is both delicious and deadly. But I do have to say (now that I'm feeling better) it was totally worth it. Also, the sausages at Oktoberfest are TO DIE FOR. Served on a baguette. But sauerkraut was no where to be found. I was puzzled.

Anyway, I think that's really all that's happened in the past couple of days. I can tell you that I am unbelievably excited for my friends from class to come and visit me in Munich.

How long have I been in Munich?

I honestly can't even remember anymore. Two weeks I think. I both feel like I've been here forever and feel like it is going by really fast. It's really odd.I started my job on Monday. There are parts of it I love and parts that I could do without. But that's every job. I basically go through boxes of photographs of artworks and pick out the ones taken by Franz Roh. I then plug these photos into the computer. There will soon be an online database of all of these. That's the part that isn't the greatest. But honestly, it's still better than the jobs I've had back home. At least I get my own desk where I can listen to music and look at art. haha. When I'm not doing that I'm digging through the huge library trying to find books in english about my topic for my paper. I also get to follow around Dr. Christian Fuhrmeister while he talked about recovered degenerate art. I'm pretty sure he's my favorite person in Germany. I don't think I've met anyone THAT intelligent... it's like shock and awe everyday. haha.

I also moved into my apartment las night. The move didn't go so well. When I got off the U-Bahn it started to pour... I wasn't sure where her apartment was on the street and of course, last house on the last block. Sweet. During this time, the strap on my purse broke as well. So picture me, DRENCHED, carrying my purse in my arms like a small child, a huge backpack on my back, pouting in the middle of a German suburban street. Priceless I'm sure. My roommate is so nice though. Sandra had a real cotton towel ready for my when I got the apartment. real. cotton. I've been using this strange fabric comparable to a sham-wow for the last two weeks. Real. Cotton. Towel. It's the small things.
The apartment is tiny, but literally the cutest place I've ever seen. Tonight, I actually get to go grocery shopping so I can make my own food. Best day ever. For real.

This is a shot of ONE FLOOR of the photo collection here. It's pretty intense.

Tag drei in München, Deutschland!

As I predicted, things got a lot better. Although I still miss my friends but I am no longer hating Munich. What can I say, I can be a little dramatic. That first day was quite a shock.

That night, I decided to go to the bar. What else was I going to do? After a few I got up the courage to talk to some strangers. Best decision ever. I first met a Canadian couple and I played cards with them for like 3 hours. Unfortunately they had to leave for Paris that night. I told them everything I know about where they were going and they shared some things about Germany. It was really nice to talk to someone who generally wanted to have a conversation. After that I stayed at the bar and met a couple of English kids who were on vacation. They were hilarious.

Yesterday I had my meeting with the Photothek director to talk about my internship. He was super bland and twitchy. After a while though I was getting him to laugh and I was generally excited for the project. The place is massive. The photos they have are somewhere around 800,000 and they have even more books in the library. I should have no problem finding the stuff I need for my research. Even better, the building was a former Third Reich administration building. The library... is Hitler's library kept in the same condition as it was then. I freaked out. He also showed me the collection of Third Reich photos... the only ones in EXISTENCE of Hitler and artworks sanctioned by Hitler. It's still blowing my mind. I cant wait to get started on Monday!

Last night I met one of my new roommates who's name was Kasper... yes... like the friendly ghost. He's been traveling Europe for 7 months. Insane. Him and I went down for drinks and met up with our two other roommates. One from China and the other from Thailand. We also met a couple from Hamburg. I was so much fun. Probably too much fun. haha.

I'm just about to leave to take a free walking tour of the city. Excited. There will be pictures up as soon as I find an internet cafe that takes memory cards or when my mother mails me my USB cable. Either way it's going to be a little while. Sorry about it. Tschau!

First Day in Munich

It has not been the easiest. Last night I got in and the room was completely empty. No roommates, no one to talk to, nothing. I woke up at about 11 and 3 boys burst into the room with luggage. They are 18, on a Euro Trip, Belgian, and my new roommates. Great. Nothing is better than peeling drunk European children off the floor when I get home from my internship.

This morning I woke up early, tiptoed around the room for fear of waking up my new roomies and having an awkward conversation while they're in their tiny European undies. I walked around, looking for a place to grab breakfast. Not much luck so I resorted to McDonalds. I will say, Germany has some pretty intense coffee. So I was pretty stoked about that. I proceeded to find the museum that I will be working at. After several trips to the ticket kiosk, tourist center, and front desk of my hostel, I thought I had figured it all out. Nope. The metro is completely different from the one in Paris. I wont get into the details but it really doesn't make any sense.

Finally reaching my museum I was greeted by the man at the desk. He doesn't speak a lick of English. After awkwardly asking where I should go, if Ralf Peters is in, or if he knows anything about an internship he just replies "The exhibit is free." Thanks bro.

And so I sit here by myself, in a room covered in boys clothes.

I know it's just one day in the grand scheme of things. I also know that when I look back on this trip, I will not remember that I was lonely, missed my friends, or had an overall shitty day. It will be the highlights, which have so far been pretty damn good. The days following will be better and I'll be bummed to leave Munich.

Sorry if this post wasn't all rainbows and butterflies.

Off to Munich Tomorrow

Well, since I have some time to kill (aka I'm waiting for my laundry to dry) I thought I would update this. Tomorrow I leave my little safety net that is Paris. It was like I substituted my group for my friends back home. Now I have to leave them too. It's a weird concept. I've never been REALLY on my own before.

As you've probably seen, a couple of classmates and I went to the Louvre which was insane. It's honestly beyond words. So much awesome. Yesterday we went to Père Lachiase cemetery which is the largest in Europe. But really. Massive. We saw Jim Morrison, Oscar Wilde and others. It was a lot cooler than I originally thought it would be. Glad I went.

Well that's all for now. I'm exhausted. Train-bound to Munich tomorrow morning.

First Day in Europe: France

Jesus, we've finally made it. After traveling for about 15 hours we made it to our hostel in the heart of Paris. You can actually see the Eiffel Tower right from the terrace on the roof. It's crazy that it's one of the most iconic structures in the world and now it's essentially in my back yard. Our hostel is beautiful. The Luxembourg Park outside is even more gorgeous. It all seems surreal. It's like I've walked straight into the postcards I'm writing.

Yesterday (9/6) was the longest day of my life. I didn't sleep for what had to have been 36 hours. If you know anything about me you know that I do poorly on little sleep. At the end of the night, before we went to bed, Alex, Sean and I went for what was supposed to be a short walk. We ended up walking past the Louvre on the south end of the city and made the decision that we would go to the Eiffel Tower. This walk took about an hour and a half. When we tried to return we got ridiculously lost. We walked and walked and walked until I thought my legs were going to break apart beneath me. It was awful.

We've walked so much and taken SO many stairs (it's 5 flights up to my room alone). But in general, it always seems to be worth it. I get to do and see things that I never thought I would. LSo far this experience has been incredible. And I'm only finishing up my first full day in Paris. I can't wait until I get to Germany. I'll try to post again in a couple of days. Au revoir.

17 Hours?

Well I'm officially packed and ready to go. My entire life crammed into a large backpack. Tomorrow at 4 I will be on a plane to Paris. Where did my summer even go? What a blur. I feel like it was just a month ago when I asked Alex how he would feel about going to Europe for school. So weird. Right now I'm excited, nervous, and exhausted. I'm sure I'll do another update when I get there. For now, wish me luck! Also, here's a picture of Alex when him and I skype eachother. Yeah, that's a face mask... so beautiful.

9 Days: Having a Panic Attack

I'm not going to lie. I've been looking at life slightly different now that the countdown to leave is in the single digits. I'm going to miss my roommates and my family so much. And I know it will go by fast but I'm pretty freaked out about being that far away. It's totally normal to be nervous, I know. I'm just going to have to tough through it. In the meantime I'll be making zucchini bread with Jamie, working, and trying to make some good memories before I leave. It's crunch time. Tschüss.    

21 Days to Go: Packing

Another big day today. Packed everything but some clothes and my major necessities. Every time I pack up my things I feel like the room no longer belongs to me. It was a lot harder moving from home and out of the dorms. At least with this I know I'll be coming back and I'm leaving for something amazing. I also made plans for the going away party which I'm super excited for. My best friend Bug has a surprise which is going to be the highlight of everyone's night. It's on Saturday the 25th either at my friend Jo's or my friend Mike's. It depends if I want to spend a day or two cleaning mold...

More updates later.

27 Days until I leave!

With less than a month left I figure I'd better get a start on this blog business so that everyone can see what I'm up to. I leave September 5th and I plan to have a going away party on the 25th. Other than buying a backpack and packing my things I'm pretty ready. I'll be in France for about a week, then Munich where I have my internship, followed by two weeks in Italy. I'll spend the last month of my trip traveling with Alex to wherever we want. We're thinking Amsterdam, Rome, and Ireland. I can't believe how soon it is. It's honestly surreal.

Anyway, I've recently made a playlist of things I've been listening to... if you're at all interested.

http://8tracks.com/nicole_pederson/i-m-going-to-europe

More details and pictures to come once I start packing up. =]