For this amazing weekend, I'm going to lump it all together so you can all enjoy it in the same way I did, from one moment to the next, without having to stop and click on something else. ;)
Ottobre 29th
Today was a big blur of one thing after another so I will tell you what I remember and how it went down.
-I left the house. (Am I missing anything? Tickets, passport, clothes, that's all I should need.)
-Why am I cold? (Turn back around and go get my jacket which means asking Anita for her key since I was going to leave mine there)
-Get a ticket to Ciampino airport. (a fast fingered friendly guy seemed to know his way around the ticket machine and after a blur of his hand all over the screen, it said my amount was 8 euro to take the train to Ciampino. He said all I had to do was pay, and it would print. After it printed, he then asked me for some money, I was ok with giving him 10-20 cents for finding the ticket I needed. :)
-Getting ON the right train. (I've never been to a train station to get on a train and had to find my way around the platforms and which platform had the train I wanted... after asking 5-6 people I found my platform, the most difficult part was that since I was a little early, the platform hadn't been announced yet. After I found the platform I got on the train. I asked some people on the train if this one went to Ciampino, they said no. I looked and way at the front of the platform there was a smaller train. I hopped on and asked if IT was heading for Ciampino. Yes. YAY!)
-Going through Check-in (as I'm waiting in line about 1 hour before my flight I start to get my stuff ready to check-in, I look in my passport holder for my passport and don't see it. OH SNAP. If I left it in the flat there's NO WAY I would make it back in time for my flight! God has a sense of humour, it was behind the stamps. Whew.)
-Fly/sleep. (When I land in Germany I realize I didn't do the non-EU resident check-in which means they would not have let me fly... I don't know how I missed that, or how they let me miss it... maybe I did it and it was just really easy? Whatever, I'm in Germany now.)
-Arrive at Dusseldorf-Weeze. (I am floored at how confusing it is to have NO idea what signs say or what people say. I start showing people my train ticket and they start pointing in directions and telling me where to go because almost everyone I interacted with spoke English. I got on my shuttle to the train station.)
-Realize how far away I am. (At the train station, when the train arrives, I ask a guy if this is the train for my ticket, he glances at it and says yes, so we get on the train. Then once we're on the train, he looks at my ticket again and explains to me that this is NOT the train that is taking me to Bonn, but that I have to get another train in Dusseldorf that will take me to Bonn. Dusseldorf is 1 hour away and Bonn is another hour from there...)
-Chat with Egon. (The guy that helped me sat with me and we talked about lots for the next hour, schools, languages, life, family, friends, trips, journeys, everything. About 3 or 4 stops after we got on, a guy who was asleeps woke up and asked me which stop was next but then heard the train say the stop and he realized he'd slept past his stop. As he got off and we sped past him at the wrong stop, I couldn't help but feel sorry for his completely bewildered face. Egon was very nice and very helpful and was living in Dusseldorf studying Economics and Engineering, he said he had a lot of career options with them. ;)
-Say farewell, then board my next train. (As I'm getting on my next train in Dusseldorf to Bonn, I ask a guy if this train is the right one for my ticket, he looks at it and says it does go to Bonn, but I am on the wrong train, this train is more expensive and faster. I attempt to leave the train to wait for mine and the door closes right before I can get to it. The ticket checker who was standing right next to the door asked me for my ticket, looked at it, then asked me to get off at the next stop. Cologne/ Köhn.)
-I arrive in Köhn. (I arrive and find my train to Bonn, then wait 30 minutes for it to arrive. While I wait, I have a pretzel. Yum. :)
-I arrive in Bonn. (I call Kristina to tell her I've made it but the number says it is not working, it is an invalid number. I try texting the same number, nothing. I go to the Metro Police station to see what they can do, they find Kristina AND Leslie on their data base, but cannot reach them because their phones are busy... I start planning how to stay in Bonn without them in my mind...I am 2 hours later than I previously expected to be, maybe she left. The police officer lets me use the police computer to try and find information, but the computers are REALLY slow and I think that Kristina gave me her number on skype and I must have just written it down wrong.)
- My phone rings. (The number is not saved in my phone but when I answer I hear Kristina and I swear I heard angels singing {HALLELUJIAH!!!!!}, apparently I'd forgotten to add the second to last digit in her phone number.)
- Hugs of relief. (She comes to get me from the station and she tells me all about how she had tried to call earlier but that I had accidently given her the wrong country code, 039 instead of 0039, and that finally she went to a payphone and saw the country code for Italy had two zeros and tried it and it worked and she had been setting up alternate plans for finding me incase it didn't work, just like I was setting up alternate plans for staying the night, but it all worked out and we found each other and it was dramatic and an experience... Thanks God!!!)
- Go to my German home. (We took a train back to the house and I got to meet the family, Philip, John, Christiana, and Götz. Götz had his daughter, her husband, and their baby, Elias there as well. A full house. We had dinner, cheese crepes, salad, and some yummy apple wine. We also had some great conversations about medicine, music, politics, and the future...)
- Time to relax. (We spent the rest of the night resting, watching youtube, watching news online, and just chatting and catching up, I was tuckered out.)
**side note- I like Germany a LOT more than I thought I would, so much greenery and history together, and friends too... :D
Ottobre 30, 2010
This morning I woke after a phenomenal night's sleep and went to wake the 'Sleeping Beauties'. After a quick hullabaloo canek canek knock, we lounged for a little while watching TV online. The girls introduced me to 'surfthechannel.com' and now I can watch Glee across the pond. YAY!
At about 11am we left for the station to head to Köhn to see the Dom, the amazing cathedral that was the only building to survive through World War II because the bombers used the Dom as a reference point on where to drop their bombs, so they needed to keep it around for future drops. I've decided to dedicate an entire facebook photo album to my Germany Trip, I'll post some of my favorites here... but not all 65 of them. ;) We looked around the Dom and saw many beautiful things, modern artist's renditions of stained glass, beautiful gothic 'colour' that had faded, arches and spires that went for miles... We didn't get to see the relics of the 3 magi because they were having confession at the time and that part of the church was closed. Maybe one day I'll be able to come on Epiphany and see the actual relics displayed.
After the Dom, we went to H&M to do some buying(shopping but with the intent to purchase, not to browse). I bought a sweet/awesome scarf that also doubles as a piece of art. It is a pixelated white with silouhettes of trees in black... it's not too heavy and it's got black, white, and grey... I love it, always to remind me of the time I spent in a country with beautiful trees. Kristina bought a couple of cool fedoras and a pin to make them look super stylish. Leslie bought some turquoise shoes, and a hat, as well as a cool wool jacket.
Then we hurried down the Rhein, to the amazing Lindt chocolate factory/museum (It was only a little like Willy Wonka's) before it closed. We saw how chocolate is made, old adverts for Lindt chocolate, and different types of chocolates from around the world. Lindt is a Swiss chocolate that prides itself on its quality. Their theory is that even in tough times, if people can't afford chocolate as a luxury, they should at least be buying the best chocolate. Let me tell you, it was DANG good chocolate. Everyone gets a free chocolate piece when they buy their ticket into the museum. There was even a rainforest habitat in the museum showing people how cacao trees grow. After our tour, we all split a 'Double Chocolat Duo Gateau' (cake), and we all got a drink. My hot chocolate with hazelnut and whipped cream was likely the most absolutely, delicious, savory beverage that has ever passed my lips. It was like heaven in my mouth! We were so taken with our surrounding environments, the river, the food, the drinks, the friends... we weren't able to make it to the chocolate shop before it closed, but we decided we could make a return trip.
Then we walked along the bridge over the Rhein and saw all the locks where lovers bind a lock to the bridge and then throw the key over into the river to signify of their everlasting love... (group 'awww'...)
We then took the train back to Bonn for dinner with the Ger-family. I'd never had pumpkin soup, but DANG that was DELICIOUS! I got the recipe from Christiana, my Ger-mom. Maybe I'll try it in Rome if they have the ingredients... Then I did my best to get the girls to work on their project that is due on in 3 days... yeah, that went over SUPER well... ;)
Ottobre 31, 2010
This morning we woke late again, nice refreshing sleep in. We lazed around for several hours finishing catching me up on Glee and watching some youtube news and videos. I introduced the girls to Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog... we watched the first episode, I love it. Eventually we headed downstairs for some solid foods. Good coffee in Germany too... well at least at the Ger-home I was in. :) I had some oats and milk, there's a word for the oats specifically and it's a popular breakfast item. I also had a bit of bread and nutella/a spanish version of nutella that was very creamy and delicious.
We finished eating then we headed back to Köhn to try and see some fun sites we didn't make it to the day before. First we went back to the chocolate museum to make it to the gift shop where I bought a cheap crunchy/caramelly/deliciously chocolately bar and a Christmas ornament filled with 'bon bons' for my Ger-family thanking them for their hospitality. After more chocolate we headed to the Dom to see if we could see the relics a little more closer in their display... Sunday was a bad day to try that.
We went to Carpe Noctum there in Bonn but Leslie and I didn't get in free because we weren't in costume... [clearly our Halloween dressing was more advanced than what we were surrounded by]. We danced and had some to drink but danced mostly... there was some intense fire hazard-ness happening on the dance floor. Some girl started being rude to Kristina and pushing her/ dancing into her... so there was some pushing, pinching, and bumping.... we claimed our spot on the floor and kept it until we left. Fun music lots of techno, some old POP songs, but when Kristina asked the DJ to play Gaga (we'd been singing it earlier) he gave her a pitying look and shook his head slowly. BUT! We had lots of fun anyway! We eventually headed back to the house all hot and sweaty, but glad for the fun night.
NOVEMBRE 1, 2010
By girls... I looked at my ticket and found out we were actually early, the next train was the one I wanted. I'd just switch in Köhn, no problem though. So we ran for nothing, well we got a bit of an exercise in I guess. ;) So I took the train to Köhn, switched, headed to Dusseldorf, found my train to the Weeze bus stop, got on the bus after waiting at the stop for 45 min talking with a friendly Spanish girl from France and a friendly German guy going to France who happened to play Magic. We also were all leaving early in the morning and had the intention of staying in the same hostel (the airport), it was a really cheap hostel, but the beds weren't very accomodating... We arrived at the airport at just about 00.00 in the morning. Then we talked for a while, I read some. I slept under some stairs and woke up about every hour to roll over and the last time I woke up, there was a random man sleeping on top of me..............he'd slung a hammock on the stairs and was sleeping over me more or less.
(I guess here is where I'd start the next day)
Novembre 2, 2010
So 3 hours of sleep, not bad not good, but meh... We went through check'in and security together and waited for their flight to be called at about 06.00 then we said our farewells and then I went to stand in the wrong line for 30 minutes to board my plane. I slept most of the flight... landed at about 09.30 and grabbed the bus to the termini. Class starts at 10.30 but I should be able to make that...right? Well the bus didn't leave for the termini until 10... we got to termini at about 10.40 and by the time I got from the train to class (I had to buy a pass since my OCT pass had just expired, but I figured I'd buy it and then Raffa could just pay me back since she usually buys it, I'd just tell her when she got back from London) I was a good 30 minutes late. HOWEVER, my trip did make for good conversation practice... after class when I got home I opened to door to Diletta! She and Iacopo had come down instead of the family going to London and she was just about to leave. I walked in my room, put my stuff down, found my pay on the desk and then saw my new Novembre metro/bus pass... so I figured I'd sell the other one to a friend who hadn't bought one yet for a little less, that way I'm not out 18 euros. I went to go pick up Nic and his friend Adriano from Adriano's apartment in Piazza Verbano. We went to the park and played futbol, I got scored on a couple times but also made some nice shots and passes... we played on the see-saw, my weight was more than sufficient to hold them both up... then we headed back because Adri had futbol practice. We did some homework then had dinner (Both Grandmothers were visiting and cooking and it was fun and delicious! I miss MY Grandma. <3 ) We then watched the first Lord of the Rings movie while the parents went to a show, lots of fun, Nic likes it a lot... (I've got him hooked. ;) After that super awesome, but long movie, I was drained and ready for bed... oh my sweet bed, with it's new down comfortor, new pillowcases, pillows, sheets, and refreshed mattress... it calls to me like a siren to a sailor...
My head hits the pillow and I'm out faster than you can say Liederhosen wearing Wienerschnizel.
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