So I can finally write this post because spring has finally arrived. It came last Thursday and has stayed for a while.
I love Berlin in the spring. It is like the city comes alive in so many ways. I feel like the inhabitants of Berlin are like bears. They hibernate all of winter and when the weather starts to get nice they come out in full force. Today it actually got up to 82 degrees.
I spent the early afternoon having brunch in a cafe with my friend. Then we went and laid in the park for the rest of the afternoon. Basically we sat there and people watched. It was so much fun. On my bike ride home there were so many people out in the cafes and on the streets. It is so great to see this city in the spring. It makes me a little sad that I am leaving here in July, but then I think of the dreadful winters and that makes it a better.
If you decide to vacation in Berlin definitely do it in June!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
I just felt like runnin!
So yesterday I ran in my first 10k race. It was a blast. My friend Amy (I work with her in Berling) ran it with me.
The race did not start until 6pm and so I had lots of time to think about it. Amy and I were going to meet at 4:30 to walk there. I needed to leave for the train at around 4pm and so the half hour before this I was a nervous wreck. I was like a kid waiting for Santa to come. The time couldn't have gone by slower. I wanted to leave and get to the race.
When we showed up there were a lot of people there. Mostly women because it was called the Frauenlauf, which means Women's Run in German. We checked in, got our free t-shirts and our gift bags. They had some cool Avon things in them. Lots of body wash, which is not exactly what I need, but oh well.
15 minutes before the race began all the ladies did a warm up. It was interesting and kind of cool seeing all these women working out. Then it was time for the race to begin. We had actually gotten pretty close to the front.
As the race went on my friend started to slow down at some points and even walked for 10 seconds at a time a few times. I didn't want to leave her so when this happened I just slowed down and waited for her to catch up.
At around the 8km marker I saw one of my students and her family. I was going to go by and give her a high 5, but she ran to me with open arms so naturally I stopped and hugged her. I have no idea if she came to see me, or if she was there for someone else and just happen to see me. It was really sweet.
My friend and I finished the race in one hour and I am very happy with that. Overall the day was a success. I am even thinking that I would like to run a half marathon in the next year. We will see.
The race did not start until 6pm and so I had lots of time to think about it. Amy and I were going to meet at 4:30 to walk there. I needed to leave for the train at around 4pm and so the half hour before this I was a nervous wreck. I was like a kid waiting for Santa to come. The time couldn't have gone by slower. I wanted to leave and get to the race.
When we showed up there were a lot of people there. Mostly women because it was called the Frauenlauf, which means Women's Run in German. We checked in, got our free t-shirts and our gift bags. They had some cool Avon things in them. Lots of body wash, which is not exactly what I need, but oh well.
15 minutes before the race began all the ladies did a warm up. It was interesting and kind of cool seeing all these women working out. Then it was time for the race to begin. We had actually gotten pretty close to the front.
As the race went on my friend started to slow down at some points and even walked for 10 seconds at a time a few times. I didn't want to leave her so when this happened I just slowed down and waited for her to catch up.
At around the 8km marker I saw one of my students and her family. I was going to go by and give her a high 5, but she ran to me with open arms so naturally I stopped and hugged her. I have no idea if she came to see me, or if she was there for someone else and just happen to see me. It was really sweet.
My friend and I finished the race in one hour and I am very happy with that. Overall the day was a success. I am even thinking that I would like to run a half marathon in the next year. We will see.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Oh Italy... my new favorite spot
I spend the last week of my vacation in Italy. Let's just say that it was amazing. I went from Venice to Florence then to Rome. It seemed like a lot of people where doing this same thing at the same time. It was as if we made a hostel family and all traveled together. This is probably why I had such a good time. Let me just give you some of the highlights from each city.
Venice
So unique, but a little smelly. Obviously, I had never seen a city like Venice before. It was all surrounded by water and very interesting. There were tons of little walkways to go through. I took a gondola ride with some people from my hostel. This gave us an amazing view from the water. Our guide was good too and quite cute.
I did almost fall into the canal once. I know what you're thinking...Where you drinking? And the answer is no. I was actually walking around the town with this Aussie named Zak. We were just walking all over the town and finding all the little alleys. One of the alleys led straight into the canal. It even had little stairs. I started to walk down them, and didn't think that they might have moss on them. Well they did, and I slipped. Luckily Zak was there to grab me or I would have been a goner. I was a little embarrassed. Oh well
Florence
My full day in Florence was one of my favorite from the entire trip. I woke up at a decent hour and wanted to take part in the bike tour the hostel had. Unfortunately, they were not doing it that day, so I just rented a bike and followed a route one of the hostel workers gave me. I got to see so much of the city that way. I went to the Dome (one of my favorite buildings in Florence) and even found a little market. Here I ended up buying a leather jacket... so cute!
Later in the day I met up with this guy named Andrew that was basically taking the same trip as I was just 4 hours earlier. He was staying at my hostel in Venice and went to Florence and Rome on the same days I was. We went to a contemporary art museum. It was definitely interesting. After this we decided to go back to his hostel, grab some wine and other friends and go Piazza Michelangelo (a hill in Florence) to watch the sun set and listen to the live music.
After dinner we all decided we didn't want to go back to our hostels, so we tried to find a place to get a drink. It became obvious that we were not going to find a place that we really liked and I had a great idea. There were all kinds of American students in Florence and I decided that I would go up to the next group of young women speaking English and ask them for a good place to go. They told us some things and we actually ended up tagging along with them. We went to this secret bar, where you had to have a special card to get in. It was secret because you are only allowed to serve alcohol in a bar until 2am, but this bar stayed open till 6am. You had to ring a door bell to get in too. The drinks were stupid cheap and it was really fun. Towards the end of the night we all went to a club and danced a bit.
I would say around 5 in the morning we started walking home and ran into some other people I met in Venice. They were looking for this secret bakery. I heard about this place earlier, but figured I couldn't find it. Well we were successful. So we had fresh baked croissants with cream filling. Then headed to bed. It was definitely a really fun day!
Rome
There is just entirely too much to say about this city.
The two big things I saw and loved were Vatican City and the Colosseum. I was blown away by the Vatican. I just couldn't believe some of the things they had and how beautiful everything was. I could have gone back another day there. I went into the Sistine Chapel and was presently surprised at the Roman statue display they had collected there. The Basilica was also so beautiful. They had a tomb for Peter the Apostles body. I just couldn't believe they had something like that.
The Colosseum was really impressive. I took a tour of it with some of my hostel family. The information that we learned was really great. It is just amazing that something that old still exists. I suggest you go there if you ever have the opportunity.
I was definitely sad to leave Italy and I know that I will go back there sometime in my life.
Venice
So unique, but a little smelly. Obviously, I had never seen a city like Venice before. It was all surrounded by water and very interesting. There were tons of little walkways to go through. I took a gondola ride with some people from my hostel. This gave us an amazing view from the water. Our guide was good too and quite cute.
I did almost fall into the canal once. I know what you're thinking...Where you drinking? And the answer is no. I was actually walking around the town with this Aussie named Zak. We were just walking all over the town and finding all the little alleys. One of the alleys led straight into the canal. It even had little stairs. I started to walk down them, and didn't think that they might have moss on them. Well they did, and I slipped. Luckily Zak was there to grab me or I would have been a goner. I was a little embarrassed. Oh well
Florence
My full day in Florence was one of my favorite from the entire trip. I woke up at a decent hour and wanted to take part in the bike tour the hostel had. Unfortunately, they were not doing it that day, so I just rented a bike and followed a route one of the hostel workers gave me. I got to see so much of the city that way. I went to the Dome (one of my favorite buildings in Florence) and even found a little market. Here I ended up buying a leather jacket... so cute!
Later in the day I met up with this guy named Andrew that was basically taking the same trip as I was just 4 hours earlier. He was staying at my hostel in Venice and went to Florence and Rome on the same days I was. We went to a contemporary art museum. It was definitely interesting. After this we decided to go back to his hostel, grab some wine and other friends and go Piazza Michelangelo (a hill in Florence) to watch the sun set and listen to the live music.
After dinner we all decided we didn't want to go back to our hostels, so we tried to find a place to get a drink. It became obvious that we were not going to find a place that we really liked and I had a great idea. There were all kinds of American students in Florence and I decided that I would go up to the next group of young women speaking English and ask them for a good place to go. They told us some things and we actually ended up tagging along with them. We went to this secret bar, where you had to have a special card to get in. It was secret because you are only allowed to serve alcohol in a bar until 2am, but this bar stayed open till 6am. You had to ring a door bell to get in too. The drinks were stupid cheap and it was really fun. Towards the end of the night we all went to a club and danced a bit.
I would say around 5 in the morning we started walking home and ran into some other people I met in Venice. They were looking for this secret bakery. I heard about this place earlier, but figured I couldn't find it. Well we were successful. So we had fresh baked croissants with cream filling. Then headed to bed. It was definitely a really fun day!
Rome
There is just entirely too much to say about this city.
The two big things I saw and loved were Vatican City and the Colosseum. I was blown away by the Vatican. I just couldn't believe some of the things they had and how beautiful everything was. I could have gone back another day there. I went into the Sistine Chapel and was presently surprised at the Roman statue display they had collected there. The Basilica was also so beautiful. They had a tomb for Peter the Apostles body. I just couldn't believe they had something like that.
The Colosseum was really impressive. I took a tour of it with some of my hostel family. The information that we learned was really great. It is just amazing that something that old still exists. I suggest you go there if you ever have the opportunity.
I was definitely sad to leave Italy and I know that I will go back there sometime in my life.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Italy
So I have been in Italy now for 5 days. I love it here. The people are so friendly and there are loads of fun things to do. The weather has been pretty good as well.
I dont have much time to blog, but I just want to say that Italy is definitely worth the trip. It is amazing here and I hope everyone gets a chance to see it in there life.
I will post more in the future. Hope everyone is doing good!
I dont have much time to blog, but I just want to say that Italy is definitely worth the trip. It is amazing here and I hope everyone gets a chance to see it in there life.
I will post more in the future. Hope everyone is doing good!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Amsterdam, Antwerp... and a little Belgium
I am not in Italy and have a few minutes so I thought I would update.
On Tuesday evening my friend Amy and I took a night bus to Amsterdam. That was our first mistake. The bus so quite uncomfortable and we tried to lay every which way to get confortable. It was impossible. We arrived in Amsterdam just after 5am. We really had no idea where we were going, or if the public transportation would get us there. So we ended up just taking a taxi to our hotel. We got lucky that morning the hotel had a free room and let us check in at 6am. So we ended up getting a few hours sleep before heading out on the town.
Can I just say I love Amsterdam. It is beautiful. I love the buildings and canals. I love how friendly everyone is. The only thing I do not love about the city is that it has a lot of tourist, especially Americans and Brits. It's like everyone goes there.
The first night we were there we ended up in this little bar that had lots of old pictures on the walls. It was a bar that had been frequented by gays and sailors back in the day. It was really pretty chill and the bartender was super nice.
The highlight of our second day was the pancakes. They were so delicious. In the words of Austin Power as Goldmember... "Would you like a shmoke und a pancake?" I loved them. I could eat them everyday.
We spent the weekend in Antwerp, and that was our second mistake. We only needed a day there, but spent two days. I think we saw everything there was to see in the first day we were there. It was a small town, that had good shopping and lots of Jewish people. They were everywhere. They wore these fur round hats on their heads. It was interesting. I think our hotel was right across the street from a synagogue. I would say the highlight of that trip was the Dutch sailors we met on Saturday night in the Irish pub. Also the Italian man we met who owned an Italian restuarant there. He was so funny and very nice.
The Dutch sailors had the best accent and they were funny. I could tell they wanted to come talk to us because they kept looking at us and one of them kept inching over. It was actually quite funny to see them do this. Men crack me up. Then after i went to the bar to buy a drink and talked to one of their friends, they finally got the courage up to come and talk to us.
Now I am in Italy and very interested in seeing Venice. Look for more updates.
On Tuesday evening my friend Amy and I took a night bus to Amsterdam. That was our first mistake. The bus so quite uncomfortable and we tried to lay every which way to get confortable. It was impossible. We arrived in Amsterdam just after 5am. We really had no idea where we were going, or if the public transportation would get us there. So we ended up just taking a taxi to our hotel. We got lucky that morning the hotel had a free room and let us check in at 6am. So we ended up getting a few hours sleep before heading out on the town.
Can I just say I love Amsterdam. It is beautiful. I love the buildings and canals. I love how friendly everyone is. The only thing I do not love about the city is that it has a lot of tourist, especially Americans and Brits. It's like everyone goes there.
The first night we were there we ended up in this little bar that had lots of old pictures on the walls. It was a bar that had been frequented by gays and sailors back in the day. It was really pretty chill and the bartender was super nice.
The highlight of our second day was the pancakes. They were so delicious. In the words of Austin Power as Goldmember... "Would you like a shmoke und a pancake?" I loved them. I could eat them everyday.
We spent the weekend in Antwerp, and that was our second mistake. We only needed a day there, but spent two days. I think we saw everything there was to see in the first day we were there. It was a small town, that had good shopping and lots of Jewish people. They were everywhere. They wore these fur round hats on their heads. It was interesting. I think our hotel was right across the street from a synagogue. I would say the highlight of that trip was the Dutch sailors we met on Saturday night in the Irish pub. Also the Italian man we met who owned an Italian restuarant there. He was so funny and very nice.
The Dutch sailors had the best accent and they were funny. I could tell they wanted to come talk to us because they kept looking at us and one of them kept inching over. It was actually quite funny to see them do this. Men crack me up. Then after i went to the bar to buy a drink and talked to one of their friends, they finally got the courage up to come and talk to us.
Now I am in Italy and very interested in seeing Venice. Look for more updates.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Boo to Time Change
So our clocks just changed last weekend and I just do not understand why we have to do it. It just ruins my whole day on Monday. I was so exhausted, that when the kids were at lunch I laid down on my couch and took a nap.
Although I was tired, the day turned out to be pretty good and quite productive. After work I went to pick up some last minute things for my trip. By the time I got home it was after 6 but I made myself go out for a run even though I really didn't want to. I am running in a 10k in May and I know I will not have any more time this week or next week to run, so I had to do it tonight. I ran for just over 4 miles and did it in about 34 minutes. I was really quite impressed with that. I really think I am going to be able to do this run. I was a little nervous when I signed up for it, but now I am feeling better about it.
After my run, I came back to the house and packed for my Spring Break trip. Then I cleaned my flat. I really do not like to go out of town with a messy place.
I leave tomorrow and will not be back for 12 days. Hopefully I will be able to post some things about my trip. I am really looking forward to seeing Italy. It is definitely a place that I have wanted to go for a long time.
Although I was tired, the day turned out to be pretty good and quite productive. After work I went to pick up some last minute things for my trip. By the time I got home it was after 6 but I made myself go out for a run even though I really didn't want to. I am running in a 10k in May and I know I will not have any more time this week or next week to run, so I had to do it tonight. I ran for just over 4 miles and did it in about 34 minutes. I was really quite impressed with that. I really think I am going to be able to do this run. I was a little nervous when I signed up for it, but now I am feeling better about it.
After my run, I came back to the house and packed for my Spring Break trip. Then I cleaned my flat. I really do not like to go out of town with a messy place.
I leave tomorrow and will not be back for 12 days. Hopefully I will be able to post some things about my trip. I am really looking forward to seeing Italy. It is definitely a place that I have wanted to go for a long time.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
A little something about nothing
So I have not written in a long time. I just don't really have a lot going on right now, besides the usual.
I did book my Spring Break trip. This is the last big trip I will be taking before I move home because this is my last big break from school. It will be quite a full 2 weeks. I am going from Berlin to Amsterdam to Antwerp, Belgium, to Venice to Florence and then to Rome. It is going to be quite the journey. I think I will be quite exhausted after this. The first two places my friend Amy is coming with me. The Italy part of the trip will be me on my own. I am really looking forward to seeing all these places.
So hopefully, I will have more posts and pictures in the future from my travels.
I miss you all, and I hope things are going well!
I did book my Spring Break trip. This is the last big trip I will be taking before I move home because this is my last big break from school. It will be quite a full 2 weeks. I am going from Berlin to Amsterdam to Antwerp, Belgium, to Venice to Florence and then to Rome. It is going to be quite the journey. I think I will be quite exhausted after this. The first two places my friend Amy is coming with me. The Italy part of the trip will be me on my own. I am really looking forward to seeing all these places.
So hopefully, I will have more posts and pictures in the future from my travels.
I miss you all, and I hope things are going well!
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Vienna
Vienna is a cool city, but I think I am not having as good of time as I could. I am just tired and not really into traveling right now. I know shocker, right? I think skiing was enough for me this week. Plus, the food here is messing with my system.
There are some pretty cool things here, but I am just unmotivated to really push myself to go hard. They have a few beautiful palaces here. That would be my favorite thing so far.
I was in a room all by myself the first night, which was nice. Now I am with 5 other American students that are studying in Florence. They were full of questions about Germany and what not. They also make me laugh because they are so young and it shows. Aww to be young again. NOT!
Like I said before, I have no desire to do anything today, I might just walk around a bit then take a nap. We will see.
There are some pretty cool things here, but I am just unmotivated to really push myself to go hard. They have a few beautiful palaces here. That would be my favorite thing so far.
I was in a room all by myself the first night, which was nice. Now I am with 5 other American students that are studying in Florence. They were full of questions about Germany and what not. They also make me laugh because they are so young and it shows. Aww to be young again. NOT!
Like I said before, I have no desire to do anything today, I might just walk around a bit then take a nap. We will see.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Skiing in Germany
So last weekend I went skiing in the center part of Germany. A friend of mine´s dad has a cabin and nine of us stayed there. It was quite an adventure.
First of all there were 4 of us traveling in a Golf and we had loads of crap. So my friend Sarah and I ended up in the back seat with most of our luggage on our laps. It´s ok, it kept us warm.
One of the guys we traveled with was not a very polite guy. He thought that we understood no German and talked about us. Quickly he found out that my friend understood more then he thought. I had some trouble, but I understood when he was speaking about me. I think my friend got into a few fights with him, it was kind of funny.
The rest of the people were quite pleasant. There were 3 guys and 6 girls, 3 Americans and the rest German. The weekend went fairly well. We skied for three days, which was just enough time, if not more then enough. The mountain didn´t have too many runs, so I tried to get good at the ones that were there.
The first day, I went down the back side of the mountain and fell off the side into a snow bank. I was fine, but the snow was so deep I had the hardest time getting out. Plus, I couldn´t stop laughing and that made it hard as well.
By the third day, I was doing some runs through the trees and trying some easy jumps, I will be ready for skiing in the States again.
The last night we were there, we all played a few drinking games. One that I introduced to the group was Speed Quarters. Now since we are in Germany, we didn´t have quarters, so we used 20 cent pieces. It was so much fun. All the people got really into it and we had a wonderful time.
The day we came home, Sarah and I went to Dropkick Murphys concert. She is from Boston, so she loves this group. It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of concerts I went to when I was in highschool. This big guy even picked me up and put me on his shoulder so I could see better.
I have pictures of my trip and concert, but I am not in Vienna, so I will upload them when I get back.
Hope everyone is doing well!
First of all there were 4 of us traveling in a Golf and we had loads of crap. So my friend Sarah and I ended up in the back seat with most of our luggage on our laps. It´s ok, it kept us warm.
One of the guys we traveled with was not a very polite guy. He thought that we understood no German and talked about us. Quickly he found out that my friend understood more then he thought. I had some trouble, but I understood when he was speaking about me. I think my friend got into a few fights with him, it was kind of funny.
The rest of the people were quite pleasant. There were 3 guys and 6 girls, 3 Americans and the rest German. The weekend went fairly well. We skied for three days, which was just enough time, if not more then enough. The mountain didn´t have too many runs, so I tried to get good at the ones that were there.
The first day, I went down the back side of the mountain and fell off the side into a snow bank. I was fine, but the snow was so deep I had the hardest time getting out. Plus, I couldn´t stop laughing and that made it hard as well.
By the third day, I was doing some runs through the trees and trying some easy jumps, I will be ready for skiing in the States again.
The last night we were there, we all played a few drinking games. One that I introduced to the group was Speed Quarters. Now since we are in Germany, we didn´t have quarters, so we used 20 cent pieces. It was so much fun. All the people got really into it and we had a wonderful time.
The day we came home, Sarah and I went to Dropkick Murphys concert. She is from Boston, so she loves this group. It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of concerts I went to when I was in highschool. This big guy even picked me up and put me on his shoulder so I could see better.
I have pictures of my trip and concert, but I am not in Vienna, so I will upload them when I get back.
Hope everyone is doing well!
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Fashion Week turn Frozen Week
So this week is Winter Fashion Week in Berlin. No I am not fabulous enough to have an invite to a show, but I find it interesting that I now live in a city that has Fashion Week.
I remember when I was graduating college, my friend and I talked about moving away to another city. A city like New York of Chicago but it never went further then words. Now I am living in a city that is trending enough to have Fashion Week. Yes, I am a bit jealous that I was not invited to any parties, but to be honest it is too cold for me anyways. This weekend is the coldest weekend in Berlin so far (at least that I have experienced).
However, there is one positive thing about today anyways... the sun was out! I know what you must be thinking... so what the sun came out. But you really don't understand. Before today I have only seen the sun for 5 minutes since I got back from Christmas Break. I don't think that is healthy. I actually just sat at my window today and soaked in the sun, it was amazing.
Now if we could just get rid of the snow/ice, then I could start riding my bike to work again.
I remember when I was graduating college, my friend and I talked about moving away to another city. A city like New York of Chicago but it never went further then words. Now I am living in a city that is trending enough to have Fashion Week. Yes, I am a bit jealous that I was not invited to any parties, but to be honest it is too cold for me anyways. This weekend is the coldest weekend in Berlin so far (at least that I have experienced).
However, there is one positive thing about today anyways... the sun was out! I know what you must be thinking... so what the sun came out. But you really don't understand. Before today I have only seen the sun for 5 minutes since I got back from Christmas Break. I don't think that is healthy. I actually just sat at my window today and soaked in the sun, it was amazing.
Now if we could just get rid of the snow/ice, then I could start riding my bike to work again.
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