lang and i went off on our own today to see the chateau and the gardens at versailles. i'm starting to like this place. and we've mastered the public transportations system, which means everything.
the gates in front of the chateau. we didn't want to pay to go in. it was so incredibly windy yesterday, but here's our attempt to take pictures of us. bassin et parterre de latone: the entrance to bosquet de l'encelade: some beautiful trees: the pathways throughout the gardens:
i wish you all could have been there to enjoy it with us. while you walked through, they had classical music playing. it was so peaceful. so refreshing. gardens are a beautiful thing.
tonight, we had a picnic at the eiffel tower. it was beautifully lit up against the night sky. somewhat romantic. we saw a girl cry over it, which i thought was ridiculous. i don't think anything manmade could ever move me like that.
as soon as i opened my eyes this morning, i got up and got my stuff ready to get out of the hotel from hell. lang and i left for the train station around 8 am and walked across the bridge, over the seine. i think we figured that things would be better after the hotel, but we had an extremely hard time at the train station. we didn’t have freeman here to tell us how to use the transportation stystem. an hour later, we got on the right train and made it to the metro stop by katie’s hotel in the city. as soon as we walked up the steps, out of the metro, i saw katie. i was so, so excited. i screamed for her and she started running to us. (if you knew katie, you would know that this behavior is more than normal.) i don’t know why, but when i saw her, i started to cry. i think it was a combination of the stress/frustration and the excitement of seeing her.
anyways, we snuck our way up to her room and rested for a little while.
then, we went to the local grocery store to grab some french food for lunch. we bought a baguette, some brie cheese, raspberries, champagne, chocolate desserts, and i got myself a pear. i think it was the first piece of fruit i’ve had since i’ve been in europe! i would show you a picture of our lunch in the park, but i was so hungry that i wasn’t thinking about pictures.
we wanted to spend the afternoon at luxembourg gardens and then the louvre, but we had such a difficult time trying to buy transportation passes that we missed both things. instead, we went to check out the eiffel tower.
for dinner, lang and i went across the street and got some mexican at el rancho. i think i payed about 13 euro for some nachos and water. paris is so ridiculously expensive. i hate it. i’m going to be so broke by the time i leave this city.
today wasn't so great. i already feel guilty for complaining, so i'll try to be as kind as i can, but be prepared for some complaints.
most of our class had left berlin this morning before lang and i even got up. once we did, we quickly grabbed breakfast, packed up last minute things and checked out.
this afternoon, we grabbed lunch at the thai place around the corner with the other 3 students that we're still in berlin with us.
i enjoyed my last german beer.
and then lang and i said our goodbyes and we left for the airport.
our flight to paris left at 4:40 and landed at 6:20.
our plans to stay with a friend in paris fell through a couple of days ago, so this morning we booked a hotel (more like motel) for the night.
unfortunately, we booked a night in the hotel from hell.
we were trying to save some money and didn't mind being outside of the city's center, but this hotel is a lot farther than we thought. it's not even considered to be in paris. we're in a city called draveil.
anyways, the hotel doesn't have a website, but someone who had previously stayed here left a comment with directions on how to get here from the airport.
well, because this is all we had to go from, we wrote them down and followed them.
fortunately, i was able to speak enough french to figure out how to get the bus we were looking for. so far, things were going pretty well.
but, it all went downhill from there.
lang broke her beer stein on the way down some stairs. the bus ride was extremely stressful. and then we got off on the stop we thought we needed to, but found out that we weren't even in the city where our hotel was.
when we got off the bus, we quickly realized that something was wrong. fortunately, an older man was nearby and could see that we were lost. he offered to drive us to the next city over and drop us off at our hotel.
i know all of you family members are probably worrying right now, but, i'd like to think that i'm a fairly good judge of character. he was an older man who spoke english well and constantly made sure we could see that the signs were pointing toward draveil. he also gave us his name and phone number if we need any more help.
anyways, it was the best part of our day. praise God.
after checking in, lang and i went to take the elevator to our floor. funny thing is, the elevator fits about 1 1/2 people. and the lights go out while you're on it. oh and the lights in the halls of the hotel our motion-sensored, so you have to jump around if you want to see where your room is.
our room's the best part. i would try to describe it, but i don't think it would do it justice. let's just say we were surprised when there wasn't a body in the tub. oh and we're sleeping with our clothes on tonight, on top of the covers. and the toilet sounds like it's going to suck you down when you flush it. and only one of our lights works. and the mattresses don't budge.
oh, and i forgot to mention that we're in the ghetto of all ghettos. we walked around the corner to grab food, which every place was the equivalent of a mcdonald's. let's just say lang and i wanted to walk back while it was still light outside.
i think i'll stop now.
sorry again for the complaining.
i know i should be grateful for being in europe. i am. i just had a hard time remembering that today.
oh and if you'd like, you should read lang's blog. she's a bit more descriptive and dramatic than i.
went downstairs to have my professor check my final project. made a few corrections and then handed it in.
then went with lang to a nearby laundromat. tried to figure out how to read instructions in german. bought detergent when i didn't need it; i meant to pay for the wash instead. and then put my detergent in the wrong place. i put it in where the fabric softener goes, so it didn't enter my wash cycle until the end.
then, went back to the hotel and packed up everything.
at 3 pm, the group went out for our last meal together. we went to a beer garden on the outskirts of the city. everything was in german. and most everything had meat. after some confusion, lang and i were able to order a sandwich with tomato, cheese and cucumber and a cheese and onion pizza.
then, some of us walked around a beautiful wooded area. the most peaceful part of the day.
later tonight, some of the girls went across the street to grab some italian food for allie's birthday.
now, i'm just trying to figure out where the heck lang and i will stay in paris. everything is so so expensive.
pray for our day of travel tomorrow. that it would go smoothly. and that we would have peace.
mosaic tours is a non-profit organization that leads tours to the sachsenhausen concentration camp memorial. we heard about them through fat tire bike tours, who they're partnered with.
half of the group decided to spend today, one of our last days in berlin, experiencing this part of germany's history.
the tour lasted from 10 am to 4 pm. it was somewhat long and overwhelming, but i am so glad i went. i think i just need more time to sit with things like that. and process those truths.
i don't really have words for what i experienced today, but check out the mosaic tours online to learn about this particular camp. they have a great history overview.
tonight, we had another group dinner. this time it was much fancier. we dined at berliner fernsehturm. it's inside the t.v. tower, overlooking all of berlin. while you eat, the restaurant rotates, so your view is always changing. it was beautiful.
most of today was spent working on my final project, so i don't have any photo adventures to share with you all.
after spending hours looking at photos and editing the ones i needed for my project, i needed a break from the camera.
other than that, lang and i grabbed some lunch with blakley at vöner, a vegan restaurant. we had some döner kebab's made with seitan and a basket of vegan chili cheese fries.
the group went out tonight for one of our last dinners together. we ate at dolores. the food was amazing. i've missed mexican. and the coolest part: their to go utensils were made of wood.
after dinner, most of the group went to dr. pong. we all had a lot of fun playing round robin ping pong. and got to hang out with our fat tire friends.
everyone was telling me to check out potsdam while i was in berlin, and now i know why.
potsdam, one of berlin's neighboring cities, is beautiful.
lang, amanda and i decided to take another fat tire bike tour with blakley. this time we did a day trip, which was about 10 miles. and i decided to give james brown a chance this time. blakley took us through the historical parts, the countryside and downtown. all of it was equally photo-worthy.
this trip was a little interesting though, because we had to take our bikes onto the train and ride that to postdam. first, we visited some of the old palaces, where the prussian rulers spent their summers.
this is the new palace. the largest of palaces. built by friedrick the great. surrounding the palaces were beautiful gardens and other elaborate buildings. another stop was the sanssouci palace. this is where friedrick the great lived. around the palace were fields of flowers. i think i had more fun photographing them, rather than the building. glienicke bridge. potsdam lies in former east germany, but right over this bridge is where west berlin begins. i don't know what it is about old doors and windows, but they always catch my eye. if anyone should ever get the chance to visit potsdam, you should. and touring anywhere is always better by bicycle.
