Lost in Germany

Germany wrapped up my last country for the first phase of my trip.  The second phase includes what I understand to be an incredibly intense course to get my Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate in Prague.  So, before I start class tomorrow and run out of free time, I'll knock this one out tonight.

I planned to visit Rothenburg for my last stop.  Apparently, there's a big difference between Rothenbuerg and Rothenburg.  Guess which one I went to?  Bingo.  Right around nightfall and the middle of nowhere, I realized my mistake.  I asked one of the two people on the train if there was a hotel or inn somewhere.  He barely spoke English, but managed to convey that there was one a few stops down in a little town called Selbitz.  He showed me the stop and showed me the way to an inn.  The inn was picturesque with a little restaurant, and it only cost a little more than a hostel.  As a bonus, because I warned the hostel in Rothenburg I might not make it, they didn't charge me for the missed night.  It actually turned out kinda perfect.  While it was probably the most scared I've been on my trip, it was on my bucket list to find a tiny little town no one has heard of.  After I checked in, got some pizza, and chilled in bed, everything seemed better.  I woke up the next morning and explored the village and got some really good pictures :)  Around noon, I caught a train to my original intended destination.

The inn I stayed at

I stayed in a youth hostel in Rothenburg.  Typically, this means ages 18-35.  In this case, however, they meant any age, but mostly elementary school-aged German children.  It was really loud.  The first night I wandered around the shops and took the Night Watchman tour.  He explained how Rothenburg was a very prosperous city, but hit an economic slump and couldn't upgrade the city.  Turns out, all they had to do was wait 200 years to become known as a charming medieval city and tourists started pouring in. During WW11, Nazis occupied the city, but an American general refrained from destroying the city because he had grown up with stories from his mother about her visit to Rothenburg.

I woke up with the beginnings of a cold Thursday morning (still haven't gotten over it in fact) so I forced myself to stay in bed half the day.  I ran some errands and explored the city some more and visited the torture museum.  I was soon worn out, my energy sapped by this stupid cold!  I turned in early and left for Prague the next day.

Torture museum:  Masks intended for public humiliation

Onto the next adventure!

Quirky Brussels

Brussels was…well, really the only word I could think of was "quirky."  It was a jarring mix between old and new, sophisticated and drab.  There wasn't much there that overly impressed me, but it was all pretty cool :)

My bus got in Friday night.  I generally make it a point not to be out after dark, but sometimes it can't be helped.  Luckily, my hostel was a couple minutes' walk from the metro station, which was called "Elisabeth."  Cool!  I got up the next day and just wandered around without much of an agenda.  My whole bucket list for Brussels involved food:  waffles, fries, and chocolate.  I got fries for lunch that day (don't judge, they do it there, too!).  I saw the Royal Palace and Mannekin Pis, this little statue of a boy peeing into a fountain.  Classy, right?  That night I found the LDS church to watch General Conference, which was great!  I was concerned getting back to my hostel in the dark, so I prayed and asked God to protect me, and let me tell you, God answers prayers.  An elder asked me where my hostel was, and he said he and his companion lived a few blocks from it.  They offered to walk me back :)

Belgian Frites!

Royal Palace

Sunday was a catch-up day.  I did laundry, caught up on my blog, the usual.  Then I headed back to the church for more conference.  I was able to video-chat with my mom between the sessions and grab dinner.  But yeah, that was about it for Sunday!  I met a really sweet girl in my dorm, Lin, and we got along great.

Brussels LDS Church

I thought Lin and I were going to hang out on Monday, but there was some miscommunication there.  Not surprising, though, she doesn't speak much English.  So when I got off the train, she said "bye," and I thought, "oh well." I forgot that most of the museums are closed on Monday.  So I got a waffle, I got chocolate, and asked around for things to do.  I saw an exhibit on modern life in Brussels, found an indoor place to chill (it was pretty cold) and while I was looking for the cathedral, I heard someone say hi to me.  I looked up and there were the missionaries!  They said they were going to see the Japanese and Chinese towers on the edge of the city.  I didn't really care about seeing the cathedral, I just wanted something to do, so I asked if I could tag along (it's ok if we're outside right??).  Anyway, we got some cool pictures.  After that, I met up with Lin and we went to dinner at the senior couple's apartment.  Elder and Sister Steenblik are the aunt and uncle of my friend Jonathan, whom I know from school!  

Sister Steenblik, Lin, and me :)

It was nice to relax in Brussels, but the highlight was probably the food!  The waffle was so good!  Bruges in SLC tastes exactly like it, so well done Bruges!

Belgian Waffle!

My guest blog post at "Twelve Countries"

When I was in Florence a few weeks ago, I met this awesome couple who's traveling for a year with their 1-year old baby :)  Well, a few days ago, Emily asked me to do a guest post on their blog, www.twelvecountries.com.  Go over and check it out! http://twelvecountries.com/guides-reviews/meet-elizabeth-from-elizabeth-explores/

Thank Goodness the English Speak English

After spending 4 weeks in countries where I can't read the signs and understand what people around me are saying, it was such a relief to be somewhere I could understand what's going on around me.

I took a night bus from Paris to London.  I thought I’d take a sleeping pill to sleep through the night.  Bad idea.  I didn’t take into account customs and the ferry.  So around 3:00 AM, they made us file off the bus for customs.  When I got to the desk, they told me I needed to fill out a card.  That was difficult due to my grogginess.  We got back on the bus and a half hour later, they made us get off again for the ferry.  Funny thing…on the bus from London to Brussels, they didn’t make us get off the bus at all.  A customs officer got on the bus, collected our passports, did his thing, and handed them back.  Then, instead of a ferry, we took the Euro Tunnel, which goes under the English Channel.  Lame.

I arrived in London early Tuesday morning.  I went to my hostel and hung out there for a while.  Just getting to the hostel on the Tube cost me over $5, so I decided to only walk in London the first two days.  Bad idea.  I totally overdid myself.  I took off to catch a walking tour.  I didn’t catch it.  So I grabbed some lunch and headed to the park and watched the changing of the guard.  Spending the night on a bus is exhausting so I spent the day reading in the park.  It was a very sunny, unLondon-like day.  I did go on the later walking tour, and we saw Buckingham palace, Big Ben, Henry VIII’s residence, parliament, and Westminster Abbey. 

Sunset on my walk home

I woke up really tired on Wednesday, but decided to go check out Portobello Road.  It was so cool…lots of antique sewing machines, telephones, sports equipment, cameras, and so much steampunk jewelry!  Steampunk jewelry has been so hard to find in Utah, and when I do, it’s pretty expensive.  But here, it was pretty cheap!  I’ve been in want/need of a compass on this trip.  I get lost easily and look like an idiot when I try to figure out which way I need to walk when looking at a map (no mountains in the east to give me a reference point).  So I asked around for a compass, and I found one on a necklace.  It’s really helpful!  I wear it almost every day now.  I was physically exhausted so I decided to go back to my hostel and spend the day in my bed, which really helped.  I slept and watched TV, and fell asleep around 8:00 PM.  I woke up to a phone call from my cousin around 9:30 PM.  He had no idea I was in Europe, and it was really great to talk to him!  Surprisingly, I was still able to sleep great that night.

I felt much better on Thursday, so I spent the day exploring the city.  I gave in and bought a day pass for the Tube.  I saw Piccadilly Circus, Tate Modern, St. Peter’s, and I ate fish ‘n’ chips!  They were delicious!  I really enjoyed Tate Modern.  I met up with Cameron and we went to Chinatown and saw the London Eye.  We were on our way to see the London Bridge, but got sidetracked by a church, which turned out to be the church Shakespeare is buried.  We went to Institute that night, where Paul Cardall gave a fireside.  I should have been socializing, but wasn’t really in the mood.  I did talk to my friend Tom, who I know from a single’s ward in SLC, but he now lives in London. I got to go on a double-decker bus!

Piccadilly Circus

London Eye

Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross :D

I was planning on taking a train to Brussels, but the only one was the EuroStar, which was almost $200.  No thanks.  Luckily I found a bus for about $50.

Perusing Paris

This is embarrassing…I just got drawn into this dumb TV show…Suburgatory.  It was on in the hostel kitchen as I was eating a snack and, well, you can imagine the rest.

Paris definitely had its pros and cons.  The biggest con, I think, was that Paris is dirty.  There's trash everywhere and I saw a guy peeing in a tunnel…gross.  And the hostel I stayed in was probably the worst I've been in, but, as I kept reminding myself, I got what I paid for…and I didn't pay very much ;)

BUT…I met some amazing people in my hostel.  The girls in my dorm were gems, well, at least two of them were.  The 4th was a little psycho.  I spent most of my time in Paris with these girls, Suzie (from England), Bree (from California), and Bree's friend, Jordan.  Not to mention my friend from Utah/California, Cameron.  The food was also amazing…although my waistline doesn't agree.

I got in Thursday afternoon, met Bree, Jordan, and Matthias, and we set out to explore the city.  We walked along the Seine and saw Notre Dame, Musee d'Orsay, a lot of bridges, and finally, the Eiffel Tower.  We were starving, so we found a restaurant with a view of the tower, and I didn't have to give up my first-born to eat there.  I think I got lucky the entire time I was in Paris, because not once did I come across a snooty waiter.  All the people who served me were very friendly!  After dinner, we walked back to the hostel…we didn't realize the metro was available for so cheap…and we were exhausted.

Friday morning, Bree, Jordan and I met up with Cameron at the Louvre.  We took the same route we had the night before, but we would occasionally stop and relax.  We ran into Matthias in McDonalds (crazy, right?) and we saw the Arc de Triumphe.  While walking back down the Champs-Elysee, I saw a gated area leading to Abercrombie and Fitch and I had to check it out.  There was an amazingly chiseled man outside the store (I'm pretty sure he was photoshopped) and the store itself was like stepping into a 5-star hotel.  We found a crepe place for dinner and it was amazing.  We had a lot of fun talking to the man making the crepes.  He speaks 8 languages!  We met up with Susie and found a spot on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower to watch the sunset and watch the lights go on.  It was a perfect night :)

Inside of Abercrombie and Fitch!

We decided to go to Versailles on Saturday.  Cameron was feeling sick, so he didn't join us.  We picked up some food on the way to eat in the gardens.  Versailles was beautiful, but it was a little hard to enjoy while imagining the peasants that were starving while it was being built.  Not to mention, I also did not feel very well.  It took 4 weeks to really hit, but my body was starting to feel the exhaustion of living on the road.   We took a nap in Marie Antoinette's village.

Sunday I met Cameron at church, although I did get lost and somehow end up under the Louvre on the way.  But I eventually made it!  After church, Cameron and I grabbed lunch at a Turkish restaurant and then wandered around.  We found Victor Hugo's house!  Unfortunately it was closed :(  I still wasn't feeling great, so I spent the rest of the day resting.

The LDS church in Paris

Victor Hugo's house

For my last day in Paris, I visited Notre Dame, the Sainte Chappelle, and the Sacre Coeur.  All were very beautiful!  I walked back to the hostel (such a long walk!) and had dinner with Susie at another crepe place.  I caught a bus to London that night.  It was a mistake taking a sleeping pill before we left, though.  They made us get off the bus for customs, and then again for the ferry.