While I'm at it, I'll post the second update from England. England was definitely the highlight of my trip to Europe.
Our second full day in London was a wonderful day. It definitely made the trip worth it, and getting up at 3:30am the next morning to catch our plane back bearable.
We began with catching the Underground into town. After we got off, we found a small cafe and had an "English Breakfast". This consisted of bacon (Basically ham with lots of fat), sausage, toast, and beans. The beans were interesting, and I didn't enjoy them that much. Kayla had scrambled eggs on toast.
We then made our way to Buckingham palace. We weren't prepared for how many people decided to visit at that time as well. We found out after making our way around the monument in the middle that there was an event, a marching band from the Queen's Guard, that paraded through the streets. It was pretty cool.
We then made our way through Saint James' park toward Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. In the park, we saw tons of birds. Kayla was simply delighted and it made me happy to see her enjoying herself that much. See pictures on Kayla's facebook to see all of the interesting birds Kayla found.
We eventually came through and found Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. More testaments to the grandiose things humans can build when they put their minds to it. We then went to the Tower of London! While we decided it was too expensive to tour, we walked around it, by the water front, and then sat down in a park and played Organ Trail for awhile.
We then made our way to... 221B Baker Street! I was kinda disappointed though. They made the first floor into a museum, but have preserved the upstairs in a Victorian style. We only took a couple pictures from the opposite side of the street, then made our way to Reagent's Park.
This park was another wonderful park, and gave Kayla and I some wonderful times together. There were tons more birds, including some cute babies running around the edge of the water. To make it even better, they had paddle boats that we ended up renting and was able to get even closer to the wild life. It was a great hour of lazily paddling around the lake. Some nice people even tossed us some bread and we threw it in and got some pictures of all the seagulls swarming around us!
To make a fun day even better, and to spend the rest of the pounds we had, we went to this wonderful Italian restaurant, the Spaghetti House. We had this delicious chicken broth ravioli appetizer, a delicious bottle of Orvietto wine, and I was able to try some English beer (Which was pretty good). For the main course, I ended up getting an Italian style steak with some pretty amazing butter that melted on top of it. (Also noted, this was a great chance for me to slow down and enjoy my food a lot more. It was a pretty epic meal).
Then, I took a slightly wobbly Kayla back to the hotel on the Underground, were we watched some interesting English game shows and then passed out.
As noted above, we had to get up pretty darn early :(. Our plane left at 7:35, so we had to get to the airport (A 45 minute train trip from the middle of the city) by 6:40. Around 5 o'clock, there are barely any Underground trains running, so we had to catch a couple late night buses. Initially I imagined we would be waiting under a single light on the side of the street in the pitch black, but it ended up being pretty calm, with some nice people that helped us get on the right bus.
And that's it! I definitely want to go back to England, but would want to stay a little longer and tour the English castles. Especially the one linked with King Arthur...
Monday, July 8, 2013
Update: Castles!
So, we had a great time this weekend visiting southern Germany. The trip down was kinda hectic, and wore us out. We wanted to spend more time in Munich, but we left pretty late (As per my family) and so we got there in time to see the Glockenspiel, and that's about it. We then made our way to our Youth Hostel, took a long sight seeing tour (As my Oma firmly said, she was never lost, even if we didn't know where we were). We got there, and they were nice enough to reheat us dinner, as they had stopped serving it 2 hours prior.
Saturday was the fun day. We drove down to the small town situated between the two castles, and began our beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, and the mountains were beautiful. The castles are located in the middle of the Alps. We first took a tour at Castle Hohenschangau. This was a castle that was built in the middle of this beautiful area, and was used as a summer hunting and relaxation resort. It is where King Ludwig II grew up.
To get to the castle, we took a horse drawn carriage. It wasn't very pretty looking, as horses' don't draw very well... :P. But really, it was wonderful. The path went right next to the lake and the view just blew my mind.
The castle itself was beautiful inside. The main part of it consisted of 3 floors. The Queen's floor, the King's floor, and the children's floor. There was over 90 "Sectos", or painted pictures on the walls. They were created in a very romantic fashion. The walls were in great shape, even after 150+ years. All-in-all, definitely a place I'd love to live in.
We took a carriage back down, and then went to the bus stop. In all of our books, it said "Bus trip takes 30 minutes". In reality, it only took us 5. The twists and turns were kinda scary, but it gave us a chance to go and visit Marienbrueke, or Maria's Bridge. And the view from that bridge to the castle... gorgeous. Please see pictures posted on Kayla's facebook to see what I mean. It was situated over a waterfall, and I would have loved to go and visit the clear waters at the bottom. We didn't have enough time though :(.
Castle Neuschwanstein was very nice to go see again, and even more beautiful then I previously remembered. A couple interesting facts, it took 17 years of building before Ludwig II could move into the castle. He only lived in the castle a total of 172 days, before he died under mysterious circumstances and construction on the castle was halted. In his bedroom, the woodwork was the most impressive by far. It took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make all of the elaborate carvings in the wood. Also, in a hidden door in the King's bedroom, was a toilet with water that came up from the water in the mountain springs by natural pressure. The toilet also was fully automatic, and would flush as soon as the King got up off of it. Impressive for this being the 1860s. Finally, the entire tour includes 375 steps, while the tour advertisements informed us that there would only be about 300.
Interesting to note, I definitely have changed since the last time I went there. I must have been in a rush or not wanted to go to the castle when I was younger (I was 17 at the time), and don't remember much of it. I definitely appreciated the artwork this time a lot more.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle. So we took plenty from the outside and of the surrounding mountains. This is definitely a place that I suggest people should visit if they ever get the chance. The serenity and nature was very nice and made the walking well worth it.
Saturday was the fun day. We drove down to the small town situated between the two castles, and began our beautiful day. The temperature was perfect, and the mountains were beautiful. The castles are located in the middle of the Alps. We first took a tour at Castle Hohenschangau. This was a castle that was built in the middle of this beautiful area, and was used as a summer hunting and relaxation resort. It is where King Ludwig II grew up.
To get to the castle, we took a horse drawn carriage. It wasn't very pretty looking, as horses' don't draw very well... :P. But really, it was wonderful. The path went right next to the lake and the view just blew my mind.
The castle itself was beautiful inside. The main part of it consisted of 3 floors. The Queen's floor, the King's floor, and the children's floor. There was over 90 "Sectos", or painted pictures on the walls. They were created in a very romantic fashion. The walls were in great shape, even after 150+ years. All-in-all, definitely a place I'd love to live in.
We took a carriage back down, and then went to the bus stop. In all of our books, it said "Bus trip takes 30 minutes". In reality, it only took us 5. The twists and turns were kinda scary, but it gave us a chance to go and visit Marienbrueke, or Maria's Bridge. And the view from that bridge to the castle... gorgeous. Please see pictures posted on Kayla's facebook to see what I mean. It was situated over a waterfall, and I would have loved to go and visit the clear waters at the bottom. We didn't have enough time though :(.
Castle Neuschwanstein was very nice to go see again, and even more beautiful then I previously remembered. A couple interesting facts, it took 17 years of building before Ludwig II could move into the castle. He only lived in the castle a total of 172 days, before he died under mysterious circumstances and construction on the castle was halted. In his bedroom, the woodwork was the most impressive by far. It took 14 wood carvers 4 years to make all of the elaborate carvings in the wood. Also, in a hidden door in the King's bedroom, was a toilet with water that came up from the water in the mountain springs by natural pressure. The toilet also was fully automatic, and would flush as soon as the King got up off of it. Impressive for this being the 1860s. Finally, the entire tour includes 375 steps, while the tour advertisements informed us that there would only be about 300.
Interesting to note, I definitely have changed since the last time I went there. I must have been in a rush or not wanted to go to the castle when I was younger (I was 17 at the time), and don't remember much of it. I definitely appreciated the artwork this time a lot more.
Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the castle. So we took plenty from the outside and of the surrounding mountains. This is definitely a place that I suggest people should visit if they ever get the chance. The serenity and nature was very nice and made the walking well worth it.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Update!: Castles!
I owe you guys an update from London, which will come with the pictures still by middle of the week. But here is our current one.
We are going to a couple castles today! First one is Castle Neuschwanstein. It's Germany's most visited castle, and the castle that inspired the Disney's castle. Its high up in a mountain, and we get to take a carriage up there!
The other one is the parents of the person for whom Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for. Castle Hohenschwangau is completely furnished, while Castle Neuschwanstein is not. That is because the person Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for died under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the building of the castle.
Hope you all have a great day!
We are going to a couple castles today! First one is Castle Neuschwanstein. It's Germany's most visited castle, and the castle that inspired the Disney's castle. Its high up in a mountain, and we get to take a carriage up there!
The other one is the parents of the person for whom Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for. Castle Hohenschwangau is completely furnished, while Castle Neuschwanstein is not. That is because the person Castle Neuschwanstein was being built for died under mysterious circumstances in the middle of the building of the castle.
Hope you all have a great day!
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
UPDATE: London!
We are here safely in London! Kayla and I had this sketchy flight on this sketchy airlines, Ryan Airlines (It only cost 130 Euros for round trip). Partly because it flew into London Stansted Airport, which is 50+ miles outside of actual London.
So, after queuing (That's the word for it here!) waiting at the airport security for an hour, we wandered around looking for the train station. We then took an 50 minute train ride to the middle of London! When we got to the train station, we tried to take money out from the ATM. That failed, due to my card being deactivated... Luckily we had Euros that we exchanged then had some Burger King!
Then, another hour on the Underground (which is ironically partly above ground!). When we got there, I realized that I didn't remember exactly where the hotel was from the Underground station. We walked 5 minutes the wrong way, asked someone with a heavy Russian accent where the hotel was, and found out that we went the wrong way. 15 minutes the other way and we got to our hotel!
There are issues where we should have breakfast included, but they are saying we don't have it. It's being resolved, but we had to pay for it today. Bleh. Oh well. After a good sleep, we now to get to go visit places! Stay tuned for updates!
So, after queuing (That's the word for it here!) waiting at the airport security for an hour, we wandered around looking for the train station. We then took an 50 minute train ride to the middle of London! When we got to the train station, we tried to take money out from the ATM. That failed, due to my card being deactivated... Luckily we had Euros that we exchanged then had some Burger King!
Then, another hour on the Underground (which is ironically partly above ground!). When we got there, I realized that I didn't remember exactly where the hotel was from the Underground station. We walked 5 minutes the wrong way, asked someone with a heavy Russian accent where the hotel was, and found out that we went the wrong way. 15 minutes the other way and we got to our hotel!
There are issues where we should have breakfast included, but they are saying we don't have it. It's being resolved, but we had to pay for it today. Bleh. Oh well. After a good sleep, we now to get to go visit places! Stay tuned for updates!
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Morning After
I didn't seem to fall asleep faster, with trying to pay attention to everything. It actually ended up feeling a lot like when I meditate. Instead, I realized that I clench my jaw and neck muscles. Tonight, I'm going to try to force myself to keep those relaxed and see how that helps.
As for what we are doing today, just going to go to the local train station and get some gelato with my grandma. Nice and relaxing day!
As for what we are doing today, just going to go to the local train station and get some gelato with my grandma. Nice and relaxing day!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Origins
Only a couple things to report today. Today, we went to my Grandma's home town. I was able to see back 3 generations ago. The town itself was tiny and pretty. Even more amazing was how close the Rhine river was to the town (Many gardens were flooded) due to all of the rain we've gotten.
On topic from my last post, my grandpa pointed out today that when I start trying to talk too fast in German, I stutter and mess up much more then when I take my time and think carefully on what I want to say. One day and I've already been told to slow down.
Finally, it takes forever for me to fall asleep. I'm going to start focusing on techniques that might help me fall asleep better, and if anything works, I'll report back. Normally I try to shut the world out and focus on nothing. So tonight I'm going to try to be aware of everything that's happening and go from there.
Monday, June 3, 2013
My own pace!
Its been awhile, but I could probably tie that into a point for this post today. Here's what I've been up to the past 1 and 1/2 weeks or so.
That Friday after the museum, we departed for France. We got a really good price for a hotel and round trip bus ride to and from Paris. That was probably the only good thing about the trip. When we got onto the bus, we could already tell the entire trip was going to be sketchy. It began with the fact that the bathroom on our bus was broken. Their remedy, to stop a bajillion times along the way. We suffered the constant stops, and somehow managed to get into Paris 4 hours later than the trip actually should have taken. Also, due to the uncomfortable seats (They mentioned something about them being sleep chairs), we were unable to sleep.
We bypassed the 15 euro bus tour. We felt we could explore Paris ourselves without paying this unnecessary money. So, after our late arrival at 9:30, we were left in the middle of the city, with a stern "Be here at 11:30 or else". So, we set off in search of a Cafe and then went and saw the Arc de Triomph. The amount of detail put into this monument was spectacular and there were many photo opportunities to be had down all of the streets that converged at the monument.
After that, we rushed back to the meeting spot, and arrived around 11:05. We stopped at a nearby Starbucks for some coffee, and waited until 11:20 to go out and wait for the bus. 11:30 came and went. Then 11:45. Then 12:00. Then 12:30. Finally, at 1:30, the bus arrived and picked us up. Then, they didn't even apologize or explain what happened. We just went to the hotel.
The hotel was even sketchier. It was supposed to a 4 star hotel. There was paint flecking off the door, the shower barely worked, and there was barely enough room for us to fit 3 mattresses and our luggage. But I won't complain about it too much. It was a place to rest our heads.
We then began our adventure. We had a conveniently placed Metro station right outside our hotel. We go down, and find out that we can explore Paris via Metro for only 3.45 euro a person. Not bad. So off to the Eiffel Tower we went! To avoid 2 transfers, we got off about 10 blocks from the tower. The path to the tower led us to this huge park that lined up in front of the tower. We decided that our time was too short, and we didn't want to wait 3 hours in line to go up the tower, so we took some candid photos in the park with the tower in the background, then headed off to the Lourve!
And... it was closed. This major attraction closed at 5pm... and we arrived at 5:10. So, we ran off to Notre Dame! And was it majestic. It keeps baffling me that people, many hundreds of years ago, with tools that we now consider completely primitive, built and painted these amazing structures. What confuses me even more is that we don't really have anything like it at all in America or that no one builds something like that now. We have access to tools that would enable us to do these wonders in much less time and for a lot less cost, but no one seems interested in doing it.
And... that's where Kayla, Melanie, and I's night ended. We were all worn out from the long bus ride and the running around, and we decided to call it a night. In the morning, we would be off to the palace of Versailles. (Also, lame note... I lent my camera to Jennifer to get pictures from this really tall tower in the middle of Paris at sunset... and on the train ride home, someone stole it from her pocket x.x)
Our final stop in Paris was the Palace of Versailles. We had 2 hours to explore it, and we waited in line for an hour to see it. Except for the fact that we would have needed to spend 5 hours to decently explore it and the gardens (It is said that it took 45 minute to walk from the palace to the far side of the garden alone), I think it was worth it. I'll post all the pictures we took on our rushed tour of the palace so that you can see what I would fail to explain. Another prime example of a great work of art that has become history.
That's pretty much it for our Paris trip. We got back to Nuremberg at 2am, waited in the rain to get picked up, then crammed in a tiny car and drove back. All in all, I don't regret the trip to Paris, but I definitely want to go back when I have a lot more time/money.
And, other than helping my mom move in, the rest of the time so far these past 2 weeks has been spent relaxing. We went to a couple water parks, and that's the highlight of that. I can now go into one of the two things I've been dwelling on some in the free time I had.
My own pace. I have to go at my own pace. And, unfortunately, it seems to be a lot slower than most other people's pace. My first example that comes to mind was the museum trip. By myself, I probably could have spent 3 or 4 hours in there. But with a group of 5 people, everyone wanted to go faster. I wasn't annoyed, since I know that I could have gone at my own pace, but I didn't want to leave people waiting. Therefore, I went much faster than I would have liked. Because of that, I didn't get as much out of the museum as I wanted.
Other examples would be playing video games with other people. When playing with other people, or even just being watched, I feel rushed. Most of the time it happens without me realizing. I get yelled at because I'm half the map behind everyone, or that I'm exploring some place that everyone else overlooked, and the party decided to engage some monsters and then died without me.
And this increasing of pace has slowly seeped into my entire life. I'm horrible at reading books now, because I rush through them. I have to consciously think about reading slowly for me to actually take in all everything that's happening. I move and do thinks a lot more rushed as well, and it leads to me running into things and knocking things over that I should have easily noticed. And worst is when I need to search for something. I will search for the lost object with such haste that I will often overlook it when it is in plain sight.
In conclusion, I am enjoying my trip immensely over here in Germany. I'm getting to see a lot of art, and learn a little about the history that has shaped the world as it is now. As for exploring my consciousness, I'm going to be working on slowing down the pace of my life. I want to live my life my way, and to make the most of it. Bumbling around and rushing things that I would feel more comfortable doing at a slower pace will lead to frustration and accidents.
That Friday after the museum, we departed for France. We got a really good price for a hotel and round trip bus ride to and from Paris. That was probably the only good thing about the trip. When we got onto the bus, we could already tell the entire trip was going to be sketchy. It began with the fact that the bathroom on our bus was broken. Their remedy, to stop a bajillion times along the way. We suffered the constant stops, and somehow managed to get into Paris 4 hours later than the trip actually should have taken. Also, due to the uncomfortable seats (They mentioned something about them being sleep chairs), we were unable to sleep.
We bypassed the 15 euro bus tour. We felt we could explore Paris ourselves without paying this unnecessary money. So, after our late arrival at 9:30, we were left in the middle of the city, with a stern "Be here at 11:30 or else". So, we set off in search of a Cafe and then went and saw the Arc de Triomph. The amount of detail put into this monument was spectacular and there were many photo opportunities to be had down all of the streets that converged at the monument.
After that, we rushed back to the meeting spot, and arrived around 11:05. We stopped at a nearby Starbucks for some coffee, and waited until 11:20 to go out and wait for the bus. 11:30 came and went. Then 11:45. Then 12:00. Then 12:30. Finally, at 1:30, the bus arrived and picked us up. Then, they didn't even apologize or explain what happened. We just went to the hotel.
The hotel was even sketchier. It was supposed to a 4 star hotel. There was paint flecking off the door, the shower barely worked, and there was barely enough room for us to fit 3 mattresses and our luggage. But I won't complain about it too much. It was a place to rest our heads.
We then began our adventure. We had a conveniently placed Metro station right outside our hotel. We go down, and find out that we can explore Paris via Metro for only 3.45 euro a person. Not bad. So off to the Eiffel Tower we went! To avoid 2 transfers, we got off about 10 blocks from the tower. The path to the tower led us to this huge park that lined up in front of the tower. We decided that our time was too short, and we didn't want to wait 3 hours in line to go up the tower, so we took some candid photos in the park with the tower in the background, then headed off to the Lourve!
And... it was closed. This major attraction closed at 5pm... and we arrived at 5:10. So, we ran off to Notre Dame! And was it majestic. It keeps baffling me that people, many hundreds of years ago, with tools that we now consider completely primitive, built and painted these amazing structures. What confuses me even more is that we don't really have anything like it at all in America or that no one builds something like that now. We have access to tools that would enable us to do these wonders in much less time and for a lot less cost, but no one seems interested in doing it.
And... that's where Kayla, Melanie, and I's night ended. We were all worn out from the long bus ride and the running around, and we decided to call it a night. In the morning, we would be off to the palace of Versailles. (Also, lame note... I lent my camera to Jennifer to get pictures from this really tall tower in the middle of Paris at sunset... and on the train ride home, someone stole it from her pocket x.x)
Our final stop in Paris was the Palace of Versailles. We had 2 hours to explore it, and we waited in line for an hour to see it. Except for the fact that we would have needed to spend 5 hours to decently explore it and the gardens (It is said that it took 45 minute to walk from the palace to the far side of the garden alone), I think it was worth it. I'll post all the pictures we took on our rushed tour of the palace so that you can see what I would fail to explain. Another prime example of a great work of art that has become history.
That's pretty much it for our Paris trip. We got back to Nuremberg at 2am, waited in the rain to get picked up, then crammed in a tiny car and drove back. All in all, I don't regret the trip to Paris, but I definitely want to go back when I have a lot more time/money.
And, other than helping my mom move in, the rest of the time so far these past 2 weeks has been spent relaxing. We went to a couple water parks, and that's the highlight of that. I can now go into one of the two things I've been dwelling on some in the free time I had.
My own pace. I have to go at my own pace. And, unfortunately, it seems to be a lot slower than most other people's pace. My first example that comes to mind was the museum trip. By myself, I probably could have spent 3 or 4 hours in there. But with a group of 5 people, everyone wanted to go faster. I wasn't annoyed, since I know that I could have gone at my own pace, but I didn't want to leave people waiting. Therefore, I went much faster than I would have liked. Because of that, I didn't get as much out of the museum as I wanted.
Other examples would be playing video games with other people. When playing with other people, or even just being watched, I feel rushed. Most of the time it happens without me realizing. I get yelled at because I'm half the map behind everyone, or that I'm exploring some place that everyone else overlooked, and the party decided to engage some monsters and then died without me.
And this increasing of pace has slowly seeped into my entire life. I'm horrible at reading books now, because I rush through them. I have to consciously think about reading slowly for me to actually take in all everything that's happening. I move and do thinks a lot more rushed as well, and it leads to me running into things and knocking things over that I should have easily noticed. And worst is when I need to search for something. I will search for the lost object with such haste that I will often overlook it when it is in plain sight.
In conclusion, I am enjoying my trip immensely over here in Germany. I'm getting to see a lot of art, and learn a little about the history that has shaped the world as it is now. As for exploring my consciousness, I'm going to be working on slowing down the pace of my life. I want to live my life my way, and to make the most of it. Bumbling around and rushing things that I would feel more comfortable doing at a slower pace will lead to frustration and accidents.
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