Presenting...the 2009 Hostie Awards

Hello to anyone who's still keeping up with this blog! So it's now been three weeks since I've been home, the culture shock has worn off, responsibility has set in, my British friends came to visit, and I've realized that there's no place like home. And I've realized that I really like American faucets that give me nice lukewarm water instead of either boiling hot or finger-numbing cold. I've also realized that American portion sizes in restaurants are way too massive. I knew this before I went abroad, but now my stomach can't handle it!

Also, I know I've fallen way behind on writing about my last few trips around the UK and Scandinavia, and I'll try to get to them when I can. But first--in case anyone cares--I present the 2009 "Hostie" Awards (copyright myself)!

Hostels were a major part of my backpacking adventures, and a major reason we had so much fun. I didn't think that way at first; our first introduction to hosteling was staying in two extremely dodgy and dirty (but dirt cheap) hostels on the outskirts of London. I was so glad when on our next trip to Paris we booked a budget hotel (I have fond memories of "Hotel Cheap Beds"). But as I got to experience better hostels, my opinion changed, and now I consider them the accommodation of choice for anyone under 30.

Why are hostels so much better than boring hotels? Aside from the price, some of the best ones offer tons of extra perks that you wouldn't get in a hotel. In Edinburgh, we stayed in a place that was more like a resort---it had a TV room, a computer room, a kitchen, a convenience store, a bar, a common area, a workout room, and spa. Lots of other hostels had games, books to read, travel advice, free breakfasts, and the chance to meet and hang out with other backpackers, which was awesome. At first I didn't like the social aspect of hostels, but we did meet some cool people on our trips from all over the world.

Of course, as awesome as hostels are, that doesn't mean there weren't drawbacks. Some people might find it difficult to sleep in bunk beds in a room with twelve strangers, or share bathrooms and showers with an entire hall, but to me it wasn't too different than dorm life in college. Tip for anyone considering hosteling: You need shower sandals, your own toiletries, and your own towel. The hostel doesn't provide anything (though you might be able to rent a towel for a fee). Also bring your own lock if you don't want to rent one. Those were my biggest mistakes the first time I stayed in a hostel!

I'd say 95% of the hostels we stayed in were at least decent, if not really nice. But the other 5% is much more memorable, so the Hostie Awards are my tribute not only to the best hostels in Europe, but the ones that were weird, bizarre, or just plain disgusting. As bad as the experience was at the time, I can laugh about it now.

Strange showers:

Honorable mention(s): Lots of showers on the Continent (especially in the Germanic countries) had showers that were more like beach showers here in the States. You'd have to press a button every half a minute or so, or else the water would shut off. Let's just say it was an unpleasant surprise every time it happened for the first time. And when we stayed in a campground (yes, a campground) in Amsterdam, we had to pay almost two Euros for 6 minutes of shower time! And, if you weren't finished before the shower turned off, you were outta luck.

Third place: The shower in "Hotel Cheap Beds" in Paris, simply because it didn't have a shower curtain. Those shameless French...

Second place: The pod showers in Freiburg, Germany. Not only were they incredibly futuristic (I mean, they were pods) but they also had a window in them directly at the level of...let's just say that I was glad the shower steamed up quickly.

And in first place: The toilet-in-the-shower and bidet in Florence, Italy. I still remember how we sent Brendan to investigate the shower situation, and when he came back he said, "I have some good news and bad news. The bad news: The toilet is inside the shower. The good news: There's a bidet!" At that point I didn't know what a bidet was, but even after I found out, I couldn't see how that could possibly be considered "good" news. And having the toilet and bidet inside the shower made things incredibly awkward (and wet and unsanitary).

Creepy hostels:

Third place: Our first two hostels in London. They weren't really creepy, just dirty and run-down. And the bathrooms lacked soap.

Second place: Inverness, Scotland. I think it was called "Tourist Hostel" (it was practically the only hostel in that town). When we got there, we found out that some guys had taken over our beds and refused to leave, so the secretary had to call the manager and threaten them to leave. They ended up camping out in the lounge. Of course, it was too much to expect that they would then wash the sheets before we slept in them. They were nice enough to Febreeze them for us, though.

First place: Darius's apartment in Rome (I can't actually remember what the real name was). Why? It was clean, had nice showers, and we had our own private room. But, despite being listed on Hostelworld as a hostel, this place was still some guy's apartment with an extra room for guests. And he had his friends working there as his "staff". Very creepy.

But on the bright side...

The best of the hostels (by objective criteria):

Honorable mention(s): The Astor hostels in London. It's a really good chain. I stayed in Astor Hyde Park and Astor Museum Inn. Of the two, Hyde Park was definitely more ritzy and better quality, and just a short walk away from Kensington Gardens. It was in a beautifully remodeled house, with a grand wooden staircase. Museum Inn had the better location, literally across the street from the British Museum. It was a little older and more cramped than Hyde Park, though.

Third place: Birmingham Central Backpackers. The rooms are cramped, but this hostel has it all: free food in the evenings, free breakfast and tea all day, a great bar, a really fun and trendy common room, a huge screen TV, and literally hundreds of DVDs you can borrow. Plus the staff was really nice and accommodating with all the luggage Lana and I had (this was the last place we stayed before flying home).

Second place: Hostel Ruthensteiner in Vienna. One of "Europe's Famous Hostels." A beautiful, beautiful place, and spotlessly clean. Also had a really pretty garden out back.

First place: The Globetrotter Inn Edinburgh. The "resort" hostel. My only issue with this place was that it's really far from the city center, and sometimes their minibus filled up, and we were stranded out by the Firth of Forth when we wanted to be in central Edinburgh. They could definitely do with hiring some more drivers. Other than that, though, pretty awesome. I loved how each bed had a curtain for privacy, individual reading lights, and a cubby hole. You almost never get perks like that. Also, the backyard of the hostel is a beautiful beach. What could be better?

My favorite hostels (based on subjective criteria):

Honorable mention: Black Forest Hostel in Freiburg, Germany. It was rustic, but I mainly liked it because they had a ping pong table and a vineyard out back! Also I remember the beds being really comfy. Downside: Ridiculously large dorms.

Third place: House L.A. City Hostel in Fussen, Germany. It was small, homey and the staff was so nice! We also got our own private room, which was a welcome change! They also had a really good breakfast.

Second place: Lake District Backpackers Lodge in Windermere, England. Basically the most comfy, cozy and homey place I stayed anywhere in Europe. It was more like a home than a hostel, and it was the perfect chance to relax and take a breather in the Lake District.

First place: Hostel of the Sun in Naples, Italy. Not only is this a first-rate hostel (very clean, bright, and spacious) but it was a great place for us to meet people. The common room made it so easy to make friends, and we had a blast eating Napoli pizza with the other backpackers staying there. The hostel staff even ordered the pizza for us and we got a special deal! Definitely the hostel where we had the most fun!

And honorable mention for the most interesting hostel I stayed in: The Red Boat Malaran in Stockholm, Sweden. Yes, we stayed "on a boat"! The only downside to this place was their lack of secure luggage storage. Other than that, it had a beautiful sea-themed reception area and a great Scandinavian buffet breakfast. I barely felt the boat move at all as I slept at night. And there's nothing better than staying on the water in Stockholm.

So...that's it! Some of the best and worst of the places I stayed in. In general, if you're trying to book a hostel and want to guarantee basic standards of cleanliness and decency, go for HI (Hosteling International) hostels. We stayed in HI Llanberis in Wales, and it was really nice and in a beautiful rural area. But though HI hostels will always be good, they probably can't be as great as independent hostels. Since they have no minimum standards, independent hostels can be either fantastic or utterly terrible. Usually, the good ones will have their own websites, so check Google or a guidebook like Lonely Planet or Let's Go before Hostelworld (which will classify anything, no matter how sketchy, as a hostel). Also book well in advance or the good ones will be gone!

So I hope this post helps spread the joy of hosteling, and doesn't scare anyone off! ;)

Happy 223rd Birthday, America!

Well, I'm finally home! It seems fitting that I arrived back in the States just a few days before the Fourth of July. In truth, being home has been both supremely comforting and bizarre at the same time. Comforting because pretty much everything is exactly as I remembered it. I love seeing my friends and family and eating my favorite foods.

But it's bizarre because every morning I wake up thinking, "Was it all a dream? Did I actually go to those places, do those things?" Studying abroad opened up my mind and expanded my view of the world, and now familiar old Rochester, New York seems provincial by comparison.

At the same time, though, there really is no place like home. Tomorrow we're heading to what is still my favorite place on Earth, the Finger Lakes region, to celebrate the holiday. While I'm still seeing America with new eyes, being away for so long has made Independence Day even more special.

So Happy Birthday, America. And many more...

In Philadelphia on July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted for independence. As one of my heroes and our second President, John Adams, put it (his prediction two days off!):


The Second Day of July 1776, will be the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.

It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.

You will think me transported with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these States.

Yet through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.

From the musical 1776:





God bless America!

My last post in England...

It's my last day at Warwick today. Tomorrow, I leave for Birmingham for a couple days before my flight home on Tuesday. This could also potentially be my last post from England.

I have so many feelings of deja vu, especially writing this right now. It seems like only yesterday I was in my room back home. It was the night before I left for England, and I was writing my "last post" in America. Same with the packing. Lots of people in my hall left today, but all I could think of was the day I first moved in and met everybody. I was unpacking then, today I'm packing. Later I'm going out to say goodbye to my friends here. It's been a great ride. I do feel ready to go home now, though, and I'm grateful that I'm leaving at the right time.

I'm still going to continue this blog---I imagine I'll have more to say about "reverse culture shock" in a couple of days! Until then, for anyone reading...

Take care and see you on the other side of the pond! Cheers!

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good.

---Wicked

Winding down...

It's a scary thought: As of tomorrow, I will have only two weeks left in England. I'm beginning to get nervous about coming home, especially since I've done some research on reverse culture shock and apparently it can be worse than the culture shock coming in. Since I was hit pretty bad by it the first time, I can only imagine how I'm going to react going back to the States. Of course, I've been wondering about coming home for a few weeks now. I can't wait to see my family and friends again, and eat good old American food! I've been craving steak, BBQ chicken, corn on the cob, chicken parm, Schaller's burgers, Abbott's frozen custard, berries from the farmer's market, New York pizza, bagels, good microwave popcorn, s'mores, UConn's Wings Over Storrs and DP Dough...the list goes on and on.

And yet I know there will be things I'll miss about British food as well. So here goes, just a few things I'm going to miss leaving the UK (apart from my friends, which is obvious and goes without saying). I'm a foodie, so most of them will be about food. ;)

1. Tea. So long Twinings, Tetley's, and Earl Grey and hello Lipton's? I'm depressed just thinking about it. I was never a compulsive tea drinker until I came to England but now I'm a bona fide tea snob. In fact, I had some Lipton's in Sweden and I almost gagged. I know that I can find some Twinings flavors in the US, so I'll have to content myself with that. No such luck with cream teas though... :( I'll miss my scones with clotted cream and jam!

Going along with tea...

2. Biscuits. Yes, I can't wait to eat chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies again, but there's nothing more comforting than having tea and (digestive) biscuits with friends.

3. Chocolate. While there's lots of great local chocolate back home (like Andy's) the mass-produced stuff is pretty lame. I mean, come on, Hershey's? By federal regulations it's classified as "chocolate flavored candy" since it doesn't have enough actual chocolate in it. I'm going to bring back lots of Cadbury and Galaxy bars to tide me over...

4. Pubs. I'll have to find a British/Irish themed pub somewhere (or else how will I get Guinness?) And the food is delicious, especially Yorkshire pudding and Sunday roast. And although I can't say I liked British beef or mince very much, the lamb and ham was great.

5. Public transportation. I like to joke about how bad transport is here (the trains always being late, etc) but at least it exists. Unlike back home, where it's almost impossible to live without a car.

6. The wry British humor. I wonder if it will be strange to go home to a country where most people are genuine instead of sarcastic...

7. Cheese. Yes, it deserves its own category. I've grown quite fond of English cheddar, and I'll have to frequent the cheese section at Wegman's more when I get home. I now know that there are more types of cheese than mozzarella and Monterey jack!

8. The beautiful countryside, history, seeing castles everywhere. Suddenly colonial Williamsburg seems a little less old.

Most importantly, everybody at Warwick, Westwood, the Chaplaincy...but it's too sad to think about that (yet).

And what can't I wait for in America? Cruising in my car, playing country music at full blast, and watching the fireworks on the Fourth of July. I think I'll have a new perspective on being patriotic this year.

How will I cope? I'll let you know in a few weeks. In the meantime, I want to savor every minute here.

Herefordshire: Host UK and Meeting my British relatives for the first time!

I've been to Herefordshire twice now, and I've almost come to consider it my "second" second home here in England. Not only do my relatives live there, but it reminds me so much of my real home, particularly the Finger Lakes region of New York State. It's England's most rural county, with picturesque black-and-white villages of Tudor-era timber-framed houses dotting the countryside. A signature feature of the Herefordshire countryside are fields of yellow oil seed plants. They're also famous for their cider production.


(Photo courtesy of Google Images)

My first visit was with a great charity program called Host UK, which allows international students to stay with hosts for a weekend and get a taste of British home life. I visited the small town of Leominster and stayed with a very nice older lady, a widow, who had already hosted seventeen other students! She was also well-traveled in her own right, and made me want to make cruising my mode of travel! Friday night we went to a dinner held by the town's Twinning society; Leominster is twinned with Saverne in France and this was a charity event to raise money for their trip to Saverne later this summer. I met many of her friends here and at the Methodist church on Sunday, which was very nice. She also showed me some quaint English villages like Eardisland and Weobley.



Saturday we went out to the Elan Valley in Wales, which was spectacular. It was my first proper trip into Wales, and I enjoyed seeing Welsh on all of the road signs. The valley itself is in the county of Powys, and is significant because of its man-made dams and reservoirs that provide water for southern Wales and the city of Birmingham (England's second largest city and the butt of many accent jokes--ask me to do a Brummie accent sometime). The water travels 73 miles by aqueduct underground, an amazing feat of engineering.



Apart from the Isle of Mull in Scotland, the scenery of Wales was the most otherworldly I've seen so far. We were driving, so I couldn't get a great picture of it, but just imagine hills and hills of pure green stretching for miles, with no signs of civilization and sheep as the only living creatures in sight. I now understand why the famous Welsh novel is called How Green Was My Valley. I was blinded by the green! Here's a picture from Google:



Finally, on Sunday after church we had a nice Sunday roast and watched a bit of British comedy ('Allo 'Allo!), which was nice because I don't have a TV. It was a relaxing way to end a fun weekend with a nice host.

My next trip to Hereford was to meet my British relatives (NOT my "ancestors," as some of my Focus friends joked). It was so wonderful to meet them. At first I didn't realize just how closely related we were. Basically, they are the children, grand-children, and great-grandchildren of my great-uncle, making us third cousins. My great-grandfather, Tom Hopkins, grew up in Liverpool. His father was an overseer at the docks, and was killed in an accident when Tom was a young boy. His mother died of grief just months later. Tom and his three brothers were put in an orphanage, which apparently was a terrible place (I imagine like something out of Oliver Twist). When Tom got the chance, at age fifteen or so, he ran away and joined the Merchant Marines. He had lots of adventures, even sailing down the Amazon River. He also fought in the First World War. When he was in his early twenties, his ship docked in New York City and he fell in love with a German immigrant girl. So even though his contract wasn't up, he "jumped ship" in the dead of night and snuck into New York City. Yes, I am descended from an illegal immigrant. Or at least, that's the family legend. I have my doubts. Tom's name is listed on Ellis Island records. Either way, the rest is history: he opened up a gas station, had some kids (my grandpa), who had kids (my dad), who had me.

But what about his brothers, who were left behind in England? I always wondered about them, and I knew that the English side of the family had come to visit before I was born. But I didn't know much about them. I do now! I learned that Tom's younger brother William joined the Navy after he got out of the orphanage. He had a daughter , Pauline, and she and her husband Bill had children and grandchildren, and I got to meet most of them. I stayed with Pauline and Bill and it was so nice to talk to them (and watch Eurovision together).

I learned that Tom always kept in touch with his brothers through letters. This was before Skype chat! He left England in 1920; he didn't get the chance to go back until 1970. That's fifty years before he saw his brothers again, and think of the changes that had taken place since then! It's incredible to think about, but at least they were all reunited before they died. William and his wife visited the family in Long Island as well.

Anyways, as soon as I met them I could tell they were family. I don't know if I just imagined it, but they were so funny and friendly and loving I felt like I'd known them all my life. They reminded me so much of how it is when the whole Hopkins family gets together. They're "kindred spirits" to our family on the other side of the Atlantic. Visiting them also made me feel like I have more concrete ties to England. It's one thing to know intellectually that you have English ancestry (well, Irish really) but it's another to actually see where you came from. Of course, they live in Hereford now, so I didn't get to see Liverpool, the Hopkins family hometown. But I want to now, just to have that genealogical connection.

Saturday afternoon we went to visit Hereford Cathedral, which was a cool Gothic Anglican church that houses the famous Mappa Mundi, a fourteenth-century map of the world. The known world at least---I didn't see Rochester, NY anywhere! ;) It was a strange map, half mythological and half real. The British Isles were tucked in the bottom left-hand corner of the map, with Hereford prominently displayed but faint since so many people had rubbed it through the years. I also found Rome, but it was difficult to make out too much more, since the map was inaccurately labeled. And I didn't know that a giant sea serpent lived in the middle of the Mediterranean! It was a cool map, though, made out of calfskin. It's the largest medieval map in the world!



Sunday we went to Symonds Yat in the Forest of Dean, and saw the Wye Valley from a scenic overlook called Symonds Yat Rock. It was breathtaking scenery:



For once, the weather cooperated and it didn't start raining until we had taken all of our pictures! ;) The kids (who were adorable, by the way) had a blast jumping in all of the puddles. Good thing they were wearing wellies! Ha ha...

We ended the day by eating a delicious Sunday roast in a local historic pub, in literally the middle of nowhere. We were surrounded by farmland, and that's the way I like it. All too soon I had to leave and catch the train back to Warwick, and I teared up as I left. It was so wonderful getting to meet my "British family," and I hope I can go back and visit again someday. Or maybe they'll visit the US again! I'm going to miss them!

Group photo:


Fun facts about pronunciation: Hereford is pronounced "Hair-eh-ford," as in "In Hartford, Hereford, and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen" (from My Fair Lady). Leominster, even more strangely, is pronounced "Lem-ster" and Weobley is pronounced "Web-ley." Just when I thought I had Gloucester, Worcester, and Leicester down!

Last stop Vienna

By the time we reached Vienna, we had been traveling almost nonstop for a week and a half, taking train journeys that often lasted over six or seven hours. Needless to say, we were beat! The heat didn't help, either. The first day there, we stumbled around the city bleary eyed. Ironically, we got there on the day of a city-wide marathon, which closed off several streets and forced us to take detours, walking even more. It also meant that the city center was packed!



Still, even that didn't detract from Vienna's architectural and natural beauty. It really is a lovely city--though we joked that it was probably too nice for us! The Neo-classical buildings and public parks and gardens gave it an upper-class atmosphere.

How classy is Vienna? This is their Rathaus, or City Hall!


My favorite part of Vienna were the State Apartments in the Hofburg Palace, the Habsburg seat of power for hundreds of years. In the State Apartments we learned about Emperor Franz Joseph I and his larger-than-life wife Elisabeth, called Sissi. Franz Joseph, by all accounts, was a good guy, a ruler who actually cared about his people. He worked extremely hard, getting up at four in the morning and spending several hours a day hearing the grievances of ordinary people who sought an audience with him. The only slightly creepy/weird part about it was that he required them to dress in the national costume of their region when they came to visit him! He also lived quite simply, sleeping in a plain bed. His apartments were classy rather than Versailles-level opulent. His wife, on the other hand...

It's no surprise that Sissi was Ludwig's cousin (yes, that Ludwig). They came from the same messed up, dysfunctional family, and she too had a sad end. I quite admire her. She was a woman who had an arranged marriage foisted upon her as a young girl, grew to love her husband (and he adored her) but felt trapped by the stuffy Viennese court. So she went traveling, took up causes like Hungarian rights, entertained everyone by her fashion sense, and didn't care about what people thought of her when she took part in athletics or sports. She even head a gym and exercise room in her royal apartments! Despite her independent streak, though, she had some major problems with her children. She loved her daughter born in Hungary, but never got along well with her son, even though they were both anti-monarch and anti-establishment. When he killed himself, she almost went mad with grief. Her last years were spent in deep depression, and she was finally assassinated at the age of 60 by an Italian anarchist while on holiday in Geneva. Apparently it had nothing to do with her--he just wanted to kill royalty. Sad, sad story.

I want this dress though!



After that, we had a true Viennese experience: drinking coffee in a high-class coffee house, complete with chandeliers and a live pianist playing next to our table. It was the most expensive coffee I've ever had, but it was worth it. It was a double shot of expresso topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Mmm...later that day I had an Eiskaffee, which is basically iced coffee. It was delicious, and I don't even like iced coffee! But there was a downside with the coffee. You see, coffee had never affected me much. I could drink a latte or cappuccino or mocha late at night and still sleep like a baby. But that was before I experienced strong Viennese coffee. By mid-morning, I was literally shaking! By mid-afternoon, my caffeine high had past and I crashed. I was walking around Vienna trying (and failing) to keep my eyes open! It would have been humorous if it wasn't happening to me.

In addition to coffee, the other Viennese treat I tried was weinerschnitzel. The best way I can think of to describe it is that it looked like a fish fry and tasted like chicken (even though it's really made of veal or pork). It was cut impossibly thin and fried to greasy perfection. We had it with Austrian style potato salad, which is quite different than the regular American variety. I think it uses a special vinegar-based sauce rather than mayo. It was delicious. :) We ate it in this hole-in-the-wall place outside in a courtyard in some back alley, where we were attacked by mosquitoes and surrounded by chain-smoking locals. Oh, Vienna and your lack of public smoking bans...I don't understand why Europeans think Americans are so unhealthy. It's a bit rich coming from people who sit out in cafes smoking and eating pastries all day! But Vienna was beautiful enough to compensate, and we stayed in a "World Famous" hostel, Hostel Ruthensteiner. This place was the hostel equivalent of a 5-star hotel.

Unfortunately, we didn't plan ahead and bring proper attire so we didn't get to see any opera in the cheap "seats" (AKA standing room). The closest we got to famous music was walking around a park with statues dedicated to different composers (including Mozart, who found fame and fortune in Vienna). We did, however, go on a backstage tour of the famous Burgtheater, which is Austria's National Theater for plays and was created in 1741 by Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa. It's one of the most famous theaters in the German-speaking world. Sadly, parts of the theater were destroyed during World War II and by a later fire. The two grand side entrances have been preserved, however, and the artwork on the ceiling is magnificent (worth the neck strain). Finally, Diep and I decided to be totally cheesy and sat down on the plush maroon seats in one of the boxes. Someday I hope I can come back to Vienna when I'm older and better able to enjoy the city's charms...sigh...



And that's it! That was the end of our trip, and the end of my month-long sojourn as a vagabond! I'm not going to lie; it was nice coming back to Warwick and sleeping in the same bed for more than two nights in a row. I've become addicted to travel, but Warwick is my "anti-drug"! Of course that doesn't mean my wanderlust has been cured... ;)

My favorite park, the Volksgarten (People's Garden):

Fussen, Germany: Neuschwanstein, real life fairy tale

In real life fairy tales don't work out so well. They end with the idealistic but eccentric king spending his family's fortune on building his dream castle, being deposed by his advisers because of the aforementioned castle, and ending up face down in a lake. The story of "Mad" King Ludwig of Bavaria is really a sad one. Ludwig was not crazy. As our entertaining tour guide acknowledged, "The difference between crazy and eccentric is...money!" Even so, he wasn't insane. He just wanted to live in a world out of his books, so he built a castle dedicated to friend and favorite composer Richard Wagner. A castle that would be the inspiration behind Disney World's Cinderella Castle. Neuschwanstein.

That's the main reason tourists visit the small Bavarian town of Fussen, at the very end of the rail line and out in the middle of the Bavarian Alps. It was a sleepy little town, but it had beautiful architecture. Best of all, it felt real and genuine, like real people actually lived and worked there. It also had the typical charm of Germany's most stereotypical region. When I told a German friend I was going to Bavaria, he rolled his eyes and told me that Bavaria wasn't the "real" Germany. He, of course, is from the north. I actually like Bavaria. We trekked through quaint farmland and forest (a shame most of the trees were still bare) to get to Neuschwanstein.



First, though, we visited Ludwig's childhood home, Hohenschwangau. It was a hunting lodge/summer palace for the royal family. Ludwig loved coming here because it allowed him to escape into nature, away from his duties in Munich. The castle was built on medieval foundations, but the decorations inside were thoroughly nineteenth century, with "modern" facilities like an elevator. My favorite was Ludwig's bedroom: stars were painted on the ceiling above his bed. He also had a telescope and window where we could look out and watch the progress made building Neuschwanstein. He decided to build his own castle just up the mountain from Hohenschwangau.



When we went into Neuschwanstein, we weren't sure what to expect. It isn't a proper "castle" at all; it's rubbish on defense. But it is a fantasy lover's dream come true. The inside was...interesting. At first it seemed quite normal---a bit gaudy and dark, but no wackier than Versailles or Windsor. The throne room, Singer's Hall, and hand-carved wooden bed that took ten years to complete were opulent. But nothing too strange.



Until the cave. Yes, that's not a typo. Lana and I couldn't believe when we heard the tour guide announce, as if it were nothing, "The next room is a man-made cave with stalagmites and a waterfall, modeled after a scene from one of Wagner's operas." Like every castle has a cave in the middle of it. We couldn't stop laughing, I hope we didn't offend anyone! I think this is when Lana really started to like Ludwig...;) And of course the cave was totally cheesy but I loved it. On the non-cheesy side, there was also a conservatory with plants growing. A running motif throughout the castle were images of swans. Despite looking back to the past, though, Ludwig was a proponent of new-fangled inventions like electricity and running water.

Finally, we got a view of the castle from the bridge over the river:



I can see why he liked this area, it was so peaceful. Ludwig's greatest tragedy, I think, was being born a king instead of a poet or artist. He wasn't suited to rule, and that was his downfall. Even more tragically, he only lived in his masterpiece for 180 days before he died, and even though he didn't want it put on display, the first tourists visited just weeks later. It's worth remembering, in fairness to Ludwig, that he didn't use state funds to build the castle, and was popular amongst the people. And for those advisers who bemoaned his profligate spending, perhaps Ludwig can have the last laugh in the end: from the thousands of tourists who come every year, Neuschwanstein has paid for itself hundreds of times over.



We're all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.
---Oscar Wilde

Climbing every mountain in Lucerne, Switzerland

What I thought would be a tiny town tucked into the Swiss Alps was instead a bustling city on the edge of a massive, pristine lake. But oh, what a view to wake up to every morning!

Mt. Pilatus in the distance:


The city itself was fun, with typical Swiss goodies like cheese and chocolate around every corner. The architecture was wonderful too---there was a great medieval section of town with towers that we climbed up to get a better view of the city. Most of the buildings also had beautiful paintings on them. My favorite landmarks, though, were the wooden bridges dating from the fourteenth century, the Kapellbrucke and the Spreuerbrucke (with a creepy death theme).



Our first day there we walked around part of the lake, and even dipped our feet in. The sun was shining, it was hot out, and the breeze from the water made it feel like summer. Being around water makes me happy, for some reason. And did I mention the Alps in the background? ;)

It was so surreal to actually see them. I'd grown up on movies like the Sound of Music (ok, so that's the Austrian Alps, but same range!) The best part was going up them by cable car the second day. It was incredible how different the weather was up there. Down in town it was summer; on the top of Mount Pilatus it was freezing cold winter, with many of the trails covered by snow! The cable car journey took us up three legs, passing over ski trails and forests of evergreens. As we ascended higher and higher, the mist clouded our view and at one point we couldn't see anything!



When we reached the top, though, we got the most spectacular view of the rest of the Alps. My freshman Walden class randomly came to mind: experiencing the sublime in nature lifts up our souls with both terror and wonder. Mt. Pilatus was the very definition of sublime: "Of things in nature and art: Affecting the mind with a sense of overwhelming grandeur or irresistible power; calculated to inspire awe, deep reverence, or lofty emotion, by reason of its beauty, vastness, or grandeur." Thanks, OED. I suppose that's as good as a description as any for the view that left me speechless. The air itself made me heady: it was so fresh and pure, the oxygen like a drug. I would have happily lived up there if I could.





We were even treated to a performance on the alphorn, a traditional Swiss instrument (it sounded like a muted trumpet). My favorite trail up there was the Dragon Path, so named because according to legend dragons once lived there. Another legend is how Mt. Pilatus got its name. Apparently Pontius Pilate is buried somewhere up there...maybe the dragons got him.

But of course, as with all high places, we had to come down. Once we got back into town, we looked up at the peak and it seemed unreal that we had ever actually been up there. And that's how I remember it now: the highest to Heaven I've ever been, but even though we didn't want to, we had to leave Lucerne that afternoon. We had a train to catch.

Freiburg and Triberg, Germany: The Black Forest

I had wanted to visit Germany's Black Forest ever since I heard the Grimm Brother's fairy tales as a kid. And I wasn't disappointed! It was Germany at its most stereotypical (lederhosen, etc.) and yet most charming. We were in the fairy tale!

We made the city of Freiburg our home base, as the "gateway" to the forest. This was the first of many misjudgments I made on this trip about the size of the places we were going to visit. In my mind I had conceived of Freiburg as a small town, when really it was a small city! It was a unique one, though, in that it had maintained some of its medieval traditions. Walking around the city I noticed that there were frescoes painted on the sidewalk in front of shops: these pictures actually represented what the shop sold. For example, a shoe store had a picture of a shoe out front. Another cool feature of the city were its crystal-clean open gutters (or "mini canals," as I call them) that ran down the streets of the city. As my guide book cheesily points out, they're literal "tourist traps"! Ha ha. They were holdovers from the Middle Ages when they were used for transport, water for animals, preventing fires, and cooling down the city.



Freiburg has maintained its medieval past in its Munster (German for minster) as well. It's a great Gothic cathedral, unique in that the people of Freiburg themselves owned it and not the Church. Its amazing tower also survived bombing raids during World War II. Freiburg also had awesome wall murals showing seems from Church and German history on many of their historic buildings.



We got there bright and early at 6 AM after taking the overnight train from Amsterdam. After getting virtually no sleep in the "reclining seats", we decided the best thing to do until the hostel let us in was to take a hike up a massive hill! So we did, and we got great views of the city and forest in the distance. We even climbed a scenic viewpoint tower at the top, which was difficult for me, given my fear of heights!

The next day we went deeper into the forest by taking the train to the little town of Triberg. Fun fact: Freiburg is pronounced "Fry-burg" and Triburg is pronounced "Tree-burg". German is hard. ;)

Triberg is famous for its dueling cuckoo clocks; two of them claim to be the biggest in the world. Even though one is clearly bigger by measurement...anyways, we hiked out to the biggest biggest cuckoo clock in the world and arrived just in time to see the bird pop out! Perfect timing!



Another biggest: we saw (and climbed up) Germany's largest waterfall. Now, it was no Niagara Falls by any means, but it was still cool. At one point were we able to get close enough to get sprayed by the mist, which was refreshing on a hot day! We hiked a few trails around the waterfall, and the Black Forest was dense and dark, as advertised. But no trails of bread crumbs leading to a witch's house, unfortunately.





This was also my first taste of authentic German cuisine, which I loved--up to a point. Wurst and schnitzel is so hearty that I had to take a break from it after a few days! We also tried a Radler and Black Forest cake (yum). And I confirmed that I still do not like sauerkraut.

Amsterdam. Enough said?

Our next stop was Amsterdam, where we saw many canals, Dutch artwork at the Rijksmusuem, the Anne Frank Huis, and...lots and lots of "coffee shops". Oddly enough, no real coffee houses though. And no, we didn't do anything. Though I think we might have been affected by secondhand pot smoke, because half way through the day we started to feel lethargic and dazed.



But that might have been because we walked a lot the day before trying to find our "hostel", which actually turned out to be a campground on the outskirts of the city! But it worked out. Our A-frame was nice and snug, and it was fun camping for a change. We hit a warm spell around this time, too, so the weather was perfect. We evens saw some shaggy cows in the woods around the campground!





Like Bruges, Amsterdam had a carnival, with the highest swings ride that I've ever seen! And lots of good fair food.

The museum was interesting, and I liked their Rembrandts and Vermeers. But it was a bit of a rip off because the museum was undergoing reconstruction so most of it was closed off. We only saw a handful of rooms containing the famous stuff. And yet they still charged us a full price ticket, without mentioning the closures until we got inside! Bad form...



The Anne Frank Huis was an interesting place to see, and busy; we stood in line for about an hour to get in. As sad as it was, I felt it was someplace that I had to see. They had preserved Anne's room exactly as she had left it, with cut out pictures on the wall of movie stars and actors. On the wall of her parent's room were marks showing the children's heights as they grew. Finally, after the tour of the house there were exhibits about making sure that horrors like the Holocaust can never happen again.



After that, we did more sightseeing both around what I consider the "nice" and arty part of town, and the seedy part of town. We paid an obligatory visit to the Red Light district, but it was during the day and a bit of let-down after all of the stories I had heard about how shocking it was supposed to be. The coffee houses were more annoying than anything, to be honest. It was a rude awakening going from a place like Bruges to a metropolitan jungle like Amsterdam. On the upside, we found a couple awesome food places: Walk to Wok for cheap and yet freshly made right in front of you Asian takeout and a smoothie place. Amsterdam was also comforting because everyone spoke English--it really is less stressful when you have some way to communicate!

Eurotrip first stop: Bruges, Belgium

Our last trip during the month-long "Spring Break" between spring and summer terms started off in Belgium. Once again I fell asleep on the Eurostar, but when I woke up I immediately knew we weren't in England anymore. The landscape and houses looked so different! Bruges was a great place to see some traditional Flemish architecture. It's such a "medieval" city, with great canals. The churches were also quite different in style to ones I'd seen before. I loved every minute of the short time we spent there, it was such a nice place to be.







And of course, I have to mention the food...delicious! Our first night there I had a warm stew with leeks, carrots, potatoes, and chicken. It made up for all of the junk food I ate the next day! Bruges is known for its chocolate, so we basically went around all day eating pralines (which are like bonbons). Chocolate stores are Bruges' Starbucks; they're on every corner. They're also known for Belgian waffles (surprisingly enough!) and French fries smothered in mayonnaise. Yes, mayo. I decided to be a local and tried some. It was...not as bad as you'd think. The mayo tasted a bit different than American mayo, which was a good thing! But they put way too much on, I started to feel sick by the end of it! I got the fries at a carnival in the town square. We saw the Low Countries at just the right time for carnivals, as you'll see in my next post.



Oh, and I saw an old-fashioned working windmill by the river!

London with Cliff

A completely random note: Last night I had a dream that I was in Wegmans. It looks like Tesco's inferiority has finally gotten to me! It's not like Wegmans is the number1 supermarket in the United States or anything like that!

Anyways, I had a great time with Cliff when he came to visit a few weeks ago! Seeing his reaction to London made me laugh, but it also reminded me of my first time seeing the city. This time around I was like, "Big Ben? Whatever..." but re-reading my first blog entry on London I can see that I was as excited as he was! And there's so much to do that I still saw so many things that I hadn't before. Also, after having navigated the city on my own (sometimes with unintentionally amusing results, as Cliff wrote about in his blog), I now feel much more confident that I actually know the city. Not to mention that the weather was much better! The long, wet, and gray English winter turned into a gorgeous, green English spring. Our hostel was right next to Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, so we in the right place for springtime flowers. Of course, I think Cliff was more interested in the posh cars... ;) Our hostel was really nice as well, the Astor chain does a good job.



Our first day was spent sightseeing. The highlight for me was the Palm Sunday service in Westminster Abbey. Not only was it an impressive church (we saw several tombs of famous kings) but the High Church Anglican service was extraordinary. They even had soloists and a full choir sing the Gospel reading!



The next day we got out of the city and went to see Windsor Castle, the oldest occupied castle in the world. Sadly the Queen was not there (or maybe happily, since had she been there we wouldn't have been allowed in) but we did see magnificent state rooms that rivaled Versailles in opulence. They also had Queen Mary's doll house, which is far from a child's toy. It was huge, and even had working electricity and running water! The town of Windsor itself is lovely and quaint, right next to the Thames. Eton College is also right down the road from the castle.



We also saw lots of London's museums. Even though I'd already been there a couple of times by that point, you can't miss the British museum so I took Cliff there and even saw a couple of new things myself! We also caught the Natural History Museum, which was cool--dinosaur bones and giant whales hanging from the ceiling and all that. A creepy little museum Cliff wanted to see was the Hunterian Museum, which was really cool. Hunter was an eighteenth century surgeon who liked to collect specimens and preserve them in jars. Some of them looked like aliens! Cool!

Finally, the last day we saw Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, which looked much nicer this time with all the flowers blooming then the desolate place it was in the winter. Some of the gems we found were the Peter Pan statue and Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain. Her monument wasn't what I expected; it was modern and simple, but still really nice.





I can't wait to go and return the favor by visiting Cliff in Sweden in a few weeks! Watch out, Scandinavia... ;)

Naples, Sorrento, and Pompeii

Our last stop in Italy was the Amalfi Coast. It was so much warmer here compared to Venice, and much crazier. I'm glad we started the trip in peaceful Venice and ended in "real Italy" Naples.

Oh, Naples. I've been SO looking forward to this post. What can I say about Naples, truly the nuttiest city I've ever been to in my life?? Don't get me wrong, I loved it--and feared for my life. I didn't think a city that did not have any traffic laws could function in the world. I was wrong. We took a taxi ride to the airport---the Superman ride at Six Flags is a little less frightening. Our driver was either terrible at driving or extremely good. He zipped in and out of rows of cars (I won't call them lanes, since Naples doesn't use them). But we made it there alive! It's just as scary to be a pedestrian. There are no such things as "crosswalks" or "lights." To cross the street you book it and hope the cars stop. Seriously, there is no other way of getting past the endless stream of cars. And it wasn't just cars! My first view of Naples from the subway was a moped driving on the sidewalk!! They were everywhere, and people would stop in front of fruit and vegetable stands on their mopeds as if it was a drive-through! A side note: The funniest thing I saw in Naples was a cashier at a store smoking right in front of a "No Smoking" sign. Oh, Naples. On the upside, it had great pizza. ;)

View from our hostel (which was one of the best hostels I've been in, we met tons of cool people):


As exhilarating as Naples was, it was nice to get out and see Pompeii. I didn't know exactly how to approach Pompeii. The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was a horrific tragedy that killed thousands of people. And yet today it's treated as a macabre tourist attraction. My guidebook even implies that it was a good thing, because it perfectly preserved a city and allowed us insights into life in ancient Rome! I'm not so sure, though. When I visited the Archaeological Museum in Naples, and learned more about the victims (and saw their bodies) it made me see the human element behind it.



Still, the city was fascinating. It struck me how similar people back then were to us today. They scribbled graffiti (some of it hilarious) on the walls, they had a nice and a seedy part of town (with brothels, as well), and had shops and bakeries, a bath house, and stadiums (all right, so we don't force gladiators to fight animals to the death). Apart from the mansions, the bath house was my favorite place. It was so well preserved, it was impossible to tell whether we were looking at in in 79 or 2009 AD. I was also surprised by how big Pompeii was--certainly larger than some modern day small towns. Seeing Mt. Vesuvius in the distance was eerie.






From there, we went on to Sorrento, a nice vacation town on the coast. I tried some of their famous limoncello (which was disgusting), we browsed the shops, and sat and looked out at the Bay of Naples.



A great way to end the trip.

When in Rome...

...be absolutely amazed!? I remember staring at the remains of an ancient Roman wall and saying, without even thinking, "This is an OLD city." I mean, it wasn't my proudest moment. Lana cracked up hysterically at the time, and still teases me about it. But Rome has that kind of effect on people. It just has so much history.

Ok, so most of the city is busy and loud and modern and metropolitan. And we did stay in what was essentially some guy's apartment that he turned into a "hostel." But around every corner in Rome would be a fountain, or a monument, or obelisk, or ruin, that would just remind me how much culture this city has. And how much excitement! It was a real city, bustling all the time (I remember getting accosted by some Australian guy on the street trying to persuade us to go on a bar crawl)!

Day 1: The Vatican

Well, given that I don't personally know the Pope, we didn't really get to go inside Vatican City. But we did see the Vatican Museums and St. Peter's Basilica. The museum was one of the best museums I've been in, rivaling the Louvre. They had so many ancient treasures that they put some of them in the basement, on the way to the bathrooms!! It was definitely worth the 2 hour wait outside.

The main attraction was of course the Sistine Chapel, and the entire museum led up to it. It was quite crowded, so we had to walk through the rooms in a line. They had beautiful statues, frescoes, paintings, tapestries, a whole room filled with maps...and some things I had never seen before, like early Christian art on tombstones. We all had a good laugh about how leaves were retroactively added on some of the naked statues to make them more "decent." We also saw the private chambers of the Renaissance popes, with Raphael's huge masterpiece "School of Athens" covering the walls. But after a few hours I could tell people were beginning to get antsy. By the time we got to the modern art, all we could think was, "Let's see the Sistine Chapel already!" And it was amazing when we did, although I got a serious neck ache from craning to see it all. It was darker than I expected inside, probably to preserve it. And despite the curator's pleas for silence, it was filled with people and so there was lots of talking. But I barely heard them. There was just so much more up on that ceiling than my eye could ever take in!

Afterwards, we hurried over to St. Peter's Square to try to beat the rain. The line for the basilica was much shorter, and we got in quickly, right while Mass was going on. At first I didn't realize that, though, since it was so big I couldn't see the altar or congregation! All I heard was the choir singing, and as I gazed up at the dome, and saw the rays of sunlight shining through the windows, I really, deeply felt the presence of God. And--I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it--I started crying. It's so hard to try to describe in words what came over me. As a Catholic, I think part of the reason I was so deeply affected was knowing that this church has been a place of pilgrimage for hundreds of years. I wasn't only there as a tourist, but as a pilgrim. I was standing in the largest church in the world, so large in fact that I got lost in it and had to work to find my friends! But I was glad for the time alone with God in that holy place.



Day 2: Even more ancient things

More queuing for the Colosseum--and in the freezing cold! Once we got in, I was a bit surprised how overgrown it was. I mean, I knew it was in ruins, but according to Brendan the upkeep hasn't been too good over the years. Still, I could imagine what it looked like in its heyday (thanks to the magic of Hollywood).



From there, we saw the Palatine Hill, which was lovely. The sun came out, and we explored the ruins of the emperor Augustus's palace and frolicked through the gardens and green grass. According to legend, this is also where Romulus founded the city.



Then we climbed down and saw the Roman Forum, which was cool even if I didn't know what everything was! One of the most striking ruins was the Temple of Saturn. Seeing the remains of what was once the greatest civilization on Earth...well, shows the limits of worldly power...



Day 3: More sightseeing, which I won't talk about since this post is already too long, and the Villa Borghese, which was a beautiful park and a nice get-away from the city, with a great view to boot.

Finally, before I left, I threw a coin over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain...to ensure my return to Rome.