German Home: Landstuhl 11/24-11/27

This weekend was actually quite long, but ironically I just stayed home! It was a great, relaxing weekend, and I was able to appreciate my little German home, Landstuhl. I spend Thanksgiving day at a church service and potluck with a coworker. It was a great message and there was some good food. So it was a nice holiday overall. But nothing like being home with friends and family (and the stuffing just didn't even compare to my mom's!). Friday I saw Breaking Dawn with another coworker after we had dinner at Macaroni Grill (I had the lasagna like I usually do). It was a fun girls night out. I was pretty pleased with the movie, but some parts of it were just so cheesy! But I've learned not to expect too much from the films, so it was adequate. Saturday I wandered around Landstuhl and visited the castle overlooking the city. It was a surprisingly amazing castle. The structure had tree branches growing through the walls and some of the stone was rubbed away to reveal the sedimentary layers below. It was absolutely beautiful! I actually would rank it as my second favorite castle that I have visited in Europe, after the Prague Castle. And I was able to see the beautiful little town of Landstuhl below. I later went back in to town for the Christmas market. It was a pretty small affair, but had all the basic any Christmas market would need. I at a delicious meat-stuffed potato dumpling smothered in gravy and drank some delicious gluhbier. It is a sibling of gluhwein, a hot, mulled spicy wine. I found the gluhbier tastier, because it was not as strong as the gluhwein and still had the wonderful warming effect!

Prague 11/19-11/20

Wow, Prague. I fell in love with the city at first sight. And I can't even pinpoint what it is that makes Prague so great, but I would move there in a heart beat if the opportunity presented itself. The city just has a lively, warm vibe that is welcoming to anyone who comes to visit. And it is a mix of the best things of other cities I have visited. A day was definitely not long enough to explore the city, but we made the most of the few hours we had. We started the day with a tour of the underground city. Prague used to be about three or four kilometers lower than it is today and was subject to floods. So when a king dug a moat to protect the city, he killed two birds with one stone and used the removed dirt to raise the city. The houses and streets, which were made mostly of stone, remained bellow and were used as cellars and storage rooms. It was a neat secret to the city that was fun to stumble upon. Following that we had traditional Czech food at the Black Sun Restaurant. The three of us each had a different meal and shared, so we all were able to try a variety of delicious stick-to-your-ribs meals. After our lunch we joined in with a free tour group and saw various highlights of the city. We visited the astronomical clock and Jewish Quarter among other places. But the tour was moving to slowly, so we broke off and went to Prague Castle on our own. On the way to the castle we stumbled upon a Gloria Jean's Coffees. I was so incredibly excited, because it is some of the best coffee in the world and I haven't been to one in so long. I had a delicious chocolate macadamia nut latte that rocked my socks. We then hiked up to the castle. Prague Castle is the most beautiful castle I have ever seen, and quite possibly the most beautiful and magnificent building I have laid eyes on. It was truly breath-taking. The girls and I had a fun photo shoot in front of the castle and then headed back to the rest of the city over Charles Bridge. The bridge itself was also extraordinarily beautiful. Unfortunately we ran out of time to continue exploring and returned to the bus. I would love to return to Prague one day if I have the chance and really get to see the city. It was just a fabulous place!

Berlin 11/11-11/13

Oh joyous three-day weekend! It really worked out so well and was a great weekend in Berlin. We were able to get a ride to the city, and bought a hotel reservation at half price from a co-worker who could not use it. The bed only fit three of the five of us, so I had to sleep on the floor one night, but it was all in the good fun of traveling on a budget! Friday night (we got to Berlin around 4 p.m.; it was a seven hour drive) we walked around and found a Starbucks to warm us up. It was so cold! I purchased one of the Christmas flavor drinks and got a second free for the special they were running. But the barista made one of my drinks the wrong flavor, so I ended up with three coffees for the price of one and was able to try all of the Christmas flavors (White Chocolate Cranberry Mocha, Toffee Nut Latte and Gingerbread Latte, the best one). I was pretty excited about it. And the night just got better, because we had dinner at a MEXICAN restaurant! I was so giddy and grinning from ear to ear before my food even arrived. It has just been way to long since I've had Mexican food, and this place was really good. Not as good as the stuff from home, but delicious nonetheless. After dinner we found a man-made snow ramp and jumped on innertubes to slide down it. It was so much fun and was smack dab in a Christmas market. We capped off the night at a bar (I had the yummy Berliner beer) and met up with one of my friends from home. It was so good to see her. Saturday we went on a free walking tour of the city and saw most of the major spots in Berlin. Our tour guide was really great and gave us a lot of history about the city. She was really passionate and made everything interesting. I learned about Berlin and the Nazi party. Later we went shopping and then had soup for dinner. Saturday night we headed to Havanna, a night club on the outskirts of Berlin. It had four dance floors with salsa, merengue/bachata, reggaeton, and oldies. I was so excited to get my salsa/merengue/bachata on! I was really impressed with the salsa scene in Berlin, because a majority of the dancers were very good. It was a fun night. Sunday one of the other interns and I went to the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp. The camp was mostly empty, but had buildings with examples of the victim's everyday life at the camp. The crematorium, mass grave sites and death trench also remained in the camp. It was an eerie place, and I could not imagine being held captive there. I only had a blinking glimpse of how horrific it would have been. I am so glad that I was able to see a concentration camp while in Germany, because I think it is an essential part of visiting this country. The camps are evidence of a tragic and terrible time in history that can too easily be repeated if it is ignored, so I am glad that I was able to get a visual confirmation of just how real the Holocaust was.

Amsterdam 11/05-11/06

Amsterdam! The weekend started out rather precariously. The cab we called took forever to get to us, and when it arrived it was too small even though we specified that we needed a cab for five people. But I didn't let that deter us. We all shoved inside the cab, and I told the taxi man to go. We got to the bus about five minutes before it left and luckily found seats next to each other. The bus ride there didn't get much better. We were stuck for two hours on the freeway behind an accident, and then had to reverse to an offramp to get off the freeway. We finally made it to Amsterdam, but the bus was too tall for a bridge, and the top section was scrapped off. I seriously thought we took a chunk of bridge down, but the bus was no match for it. Once we got off the bus, things picked up. We were late for our reservation at the Anne Frank House, but they graciously let us in. I was amazed at how large the house was. It was so cool walking in the same areas that the families walked in, especially through the secret bookcase passageway. After the house we headed to the Iamsterdam letters. There were crowds of people taking pictures, so it was hard to get a decent shot, but it was still fun to check them out. And I was so excited to take a picture with the T! We spent the rest of the day walking around and exploring the city. I had some tasty pumpkin soup for dinner. The trees are changing orange and red and yellow here, and it is becoming so beautiful. I love that it is starting to look like Fall. It's such a fabulous time of year.