I'll Be Home for Christmas

Hello! Well, I'm finally home and let me tell you...I won't be taking another plane ride for a really, really long time. But before I get into that, the few days before I left were pretty crazy. It started off with me finding out that I got a "C" in one of my classes. You see, the way they grade in England is much different from the States. You are graded not by your participation/a few papers/and knowledge of the reading, but by ONE yes, ONE 7 page paper at the end of the term. Okay, not bad, just do well on your paper right? WRONG. You could be the greatest writer in the world but if the Professor does not agree with your opinion (did I mention that the Professors in Europe don't think students are "educated" enough to have opinions in the first place?) then they will rip your paper to shreds...and that's what my Romanticism Professor did. Grammar (excellent), opinion (in my mind, well thought), and structure (not too bad..) still, I received a "C". One thing is for sure, after living in England and studying there for three months the one let down that I had was...well...SCHOOL! To me, the school system there teaches you HOW and WHAT to think where Caz I beleive teaches me how to write down WHAT I think and HOW what I think will look well on paper. Anyway, enough ranting...

That same day I went into town with my very good friend, Caroline Locatelli. We went shopping at H&M for some sweaters and scarves and to a cafe called the Secret Cellar. We had a great time talking about our plans for opening our own coffee shops, ex-boyfriends, religion, and what it would be like going back to Cazenovia. The next day my most lovely roommate in the world, Nikita Poland and I stayed up late and went to a hotel called Abode. It is apart of a chain owned by actor Michael Cain. Well, apparently he was supposed to be there that night so Nikita and I gabbed some of the best Pimms ever and sat in the back room outside of the dining room where everyone was seated. Even though we didn't get to see him, it was still loads of fun. The next day, Nikita, Caroline and I went back into town for some last minute presents. Before we had met up with Caroline though, Nikita and I stopped by the crepe stand near Waterstones (a.k.a Borders). The guy at the stand was British and he said something along the lines of, "Hello, what can I get you?" we told him what we wanted and as he was making ours these three little French girls came up next - suddenly, the guy started speaking French to them! We were like, ah cool! After fulfilling our order we saw that a few Spanish teens came up and asked for some crepes in broken English. The guy nodded and randomly started talking Spanish to them! The Spanish girls were more shocked than we were! Wow...a crepe man who can speak three different languages, very cool!

That night was our last night in town, we had a great time going to the Jolly Sailor and having a blast just talking and playing games. Later on, Nikita, Shanna and I went to Nikita's flat to say good-bye to our friends Rick and Erica (Illinois). I started SOBBING when I was saying good-bye to Erica. I tried to hold it in and then realized, what the heck am I doing? I've done so much with this girl!! and cried into her shoulder. Then I had to hug Rick, and he was like, "Don't cry, we've seen movies that most people have never even heard of!" which just made me cry some more. It was crazy, but I needed a good cry. Who knows when I will ever see these people again...

The next day was moving out day. I said good-bye to Mark, Jake and Ellen and climbed onto our bus unaware of the EXTREMELY long and frustrating journey ahead. When we finally got to the airport and on the plane, I immediately turned on the TV in front of me and watched three movies in a row (X-Files - I Want to Believe, Ghost Town, and Hellboy II - The Golden Army). I suggest the last two. All of a sudden, I checked to see what time it was...8:30pm...we were SUPPOSED to land thirty minutes ago! Me, my two friends named Ashley, and my friend Lindsay were all on the same flight to Syracuse that took off at 10:40. We all had these weird inclinations that we weren't going to make it on time. When we finally landed at 9:00pm we raced off of the plane, went through customs and got our luggage (which TOOK five billion years in my case). My friend Jen had a flight to Buffalo that left at the same time so when we both got our luggage we raced there together (the two Ashley's had already left and Lindsay was no where to be found). Now, my bags were really heavy (my Papa STILL has no idea how I did it) but I dragged that huge suitcase plus my over packed "bathroom" bag as well as my purse (stuffed with clothes that wouldn't fit) and my computer bag (which was full of presents). I got to the check-in point and, out of breath, I asked the guy if he could quickly check my bags. He asked me what flight I was on and I told him. After he looked up my flight and printed my ticket he told me straight off that I wasn't going to make it on time. That's when I started to cry. As he was charging me for my heavy luggage I called my mommy and told her what he had said. Mom calmed me down and reassured me that I was going to make it. I rushed over to the security check point and asked them if they could escort me to the front of the line because I had a flight to catch in 20 minutes. They looked at me like I was batty and said that everyone had the same flight to catch. I felt like bashing them in the head with my laptop. SAME FLIGHT!? Don't give me that crap...so I got in line and asked the people in front of me if I could get in front of them. One woman thought I was lying and asked me when my flight was. I said, "It's at 10:40...DO YOU WANT TO LOOK AT MY BOARDING PASS FOR PROOF!?" The husband spoke to his wife in Spanish, clearly asking her to let me get in front. I thanked them over and over again, but the people that were in front of them were even worse. They had at least 5 children all between the ages of 1 and 14 and the older kids and parents kept forgetting to take off their earrings and belts. I was like, you've GOT to be kidding me! LEARN HOW TO RIDE A FREAKIN PLANE! I asked a married couple (who had also asked to get in front because they were late for their 10:35 flight) what the time was. The lady said that it was 10:20. I was starting to freak out. I kept telling myself that I was NOT going to sleep in an airport tonight. I refused to sleep in a God-forsaken airport! I went through security as quickly as possible and threw my jacket over my arm, grabbed my purse, laptop, laptop bag (I didn't bother putting it away) and my shoes and ran like a hobo to the gate. There was a voice inside of me telling me that I didn't make it...that they had taken off...but all of a sudden, I heard my friend Ashley Langly's voice calling my name. "Ashley!" I called back. I was still sobbing! "Did I make it!" "Yes!" she called back as I got closer to the gate, "you made it!" I sobbed some more but this time it was in relief. I couldn't believe it, God was looking after me for sure. Ashley had apparently been telling the gate guy that I was coming and would be there soon (even though she had no idea where I was). He apparently said that he was going to hold the gate open until 10:30...I got there at 10:28. I gave the gate guy my ticket and sobbed the whole way down the ramp to the plane. Once I got to the door the two flight attendants looked at me with shock. I can only imagine what I looked (and smelled) like. No shoes, no make-up, tears in my eyes, and stinky arm pits. "I made it," I said to them.

Sooooooooo, I'm home (thank goodness) I felt bad that Lindsay didn't make it on time - but at least she was with her boyfriend. The whole time I was racing there I kept telling myself that I was going to be home for Christmas...and of course, I was <3

Be sure to check out my new blog "Behind the Curtain" in my profile. It will be updated soon! LOVE & PEACE!!!

Once Upon a Time...

Hello!

I saw Edward Scissorhands the ballet last Friday! *JOY* I never ever thought I would be able to see that play and well...there you have it. I was sitting at my computer last Monday doing absolutely nothing when I heard a knock at the door. It was the post man. He dropped off a few letters and a magazine. I usually put the mail that isn't mine on the kitchen table but when I noticed that the magazine did not belong to any of my roomies I decided to take it for my own. It isn't uncommon for us to get mail for people who had lived in the flats YEARS ago. When it's silly letters or bills we just give them to the warrden but any magazines we find we feel we have every right to look at. Well, I found this one particular magazine in the mail called Asos. I guess it's a magazine for a UK online fashion store. It had American actress Blake Lively (that girl from The Traveling Pants movies and Gossip Girl) anyway, it looked really cool so I skimmed through it. Finding nothing of great interest I flipped to the back to read the reviews on music and movies...that's when I saw it...EDWARD!!!??? A small add in the top right corner of the page telling me that it was playing in London until January 18th! I was so giddy that I texted my friends right away telling them that I was going to go without hesitation. Fortunately, I have awesome friends and they texted me back saying that they wanted to go too!
We had already planned on going to London for the day with a British friend of ours, Liz Kaye, so I wanted to call her and let her know that we would probably not be taking the train back with her. When I told Liz she freaked out and said that she had wanted to see that play too! I was like, "Oh Happy Day!"

We bought the tickets for only £15.30! We had pretty good seats too! We also found a really cheap way for groups to travel around London. We bought a ticket that's simply called a Day Travelcard. Which is only valid for groups of 4 or more and it works all day on the underground, the train, and the bus! This ticket only costs £12! When we got to Victoria Station we took the underground to a place called Camden Town. It was like China Town...but better! The streets weren't as crowded and the merchandise was better. This place had a bunch of vintage shops as well as old book stores! It had a little craft area where people made jewerly and scarves (I bought some gifts while I was there)! After chilling in Camden Town we took the underground to the Angel station to get to the Sedler's Wells Theatre where Edward was playing. We got there at a descent time and bought our Edward merchandise before the crowd got any bigger.

I cannot explain to you how beautiful the play was! It was just so magical and it portrayed the story quite well. I was very, very impressed. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

On the way back home Liz wasn't feeling so hot, so we bought some crisps and water to fill her tummy (and ours of course...) when we got on the train for home, an old couple sat next to us. The wife sat next to Shanna while the husband sat next to Nikita. This old man kept falling asleep until suddenly he was out cold on Nikita's shoulder! It was the funniest thing! The old man and the wife eventually left but in their place two drunken Aussies sat. The one next to Shanna was the most obnoxious and kept putting his hand in front of her and Liz. Shanna just ignored him while Liz laughed with disbelief ("of all the places they could have sat on the train, they sit next to us!"). They too eventually left and Nikita spoke up saying, "I would've taken the old man anyday..."

We had left Canterbury at 11:21am and we didn't get back to Canterbury until 12:30am. It was the best Friday I had ever had! <3 <3 <3

Paris, J'Taime! <3

Bonjour!

Oh my goodness...Paris...what an amazing city. I didn't know what to think of it at first. I thought, "huh, maybe it's all cliche and hollywood makes it up to be this big, overly ROMANTIC city." I would just like to say that I was pleasently incorrect. Hollywood just amplifies the city's actual mood. It really is what it's all hyped up to be. Yes, it is a city for lovers but not just couples, all kinds of love. Parent and child, boyfriend and girlfriend, husband and wife and siblings, love of nature and music and God and food and...well...you get my drift yes? I am no longer curious on why so many people are inspired by this place. Anywhooooo...

My family and I took the Eurostar under the chunnel to get to Paris from London. I'm not going to lie, the trip from Canterbury to London was the trip FROM HELL. Let's talk about unnecessary panic and the number of round-a-bouts we had to take...RAWR! It was awful. Luckily, Mommy and Papa found a really nice rich man to give us his useful map! We made it to the Eurostar on time and had a safe travel there. Once we got to Paris we made our way to the hotel that Mom had booked. It was really nice (at least, I thought it was...) but Mama and Papa didn't like it. When I stated my two cents, Papa said that it was only because I had been living in hostels for 3 months. True. In my opinion, any hotel is better than a hostel. Well, after we dropped off a few things we decided to go out and explore the city. We didn't need to walk far before getting to the Arc De Triomphe! That was pretty cool! There were a lot of people on the street taking pictures of it from the sidewalk and in the middle of the road (I was eventually one of them ^^;;). After seeing the Arc, we made our way in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. When we got there, we stood on the bridge that lead to it and took some awsome pictures. It was when we got closer that the coolest event EVER happened!

The Eiffel Tower was BLUE. A great blue too and there was a circle of stars in front of it...very spiritual looking for sure. We explored the skirt of the tower for a few moments before we realized that it was SPARKLING! I had remembered my friends telling me that it had done this so we raced out from under it to see the top. Wow! It was so beautiful there are no words to discribe it! After the sparkles had ended we realized that we were chilly and decided to indulge in some hot chocolat. Later on that night (almost 9pm to be exact) we realized that we were starving and ate at an Italian pizza place called Roma. It was Italian but Frenchly owned...is that possible? Anyway, I wanted to order our meal for us because I would be able to use the very little French that I remembered from school and still get us our dinner without any conflict with a language barrier. BUT my parents had a strange fascination with ordering our food before I could do it...IN ENGLISH! Oh, silly parents. Through-out the trip Lily would push me in front or kick me to order before they did, but this was to no evail.

The next day we decided to go to Notre Dame. It was excellent! The inside was absolutly beautiful and reminded me of the Disney movie (yes, yes, go ahead and laugh). You weren't aloud to take pictures but pretty much everyone did anyway...I only took 3 but was good not to take anymore than that. The only downside to Notre Dame was the loonies living outside. There was this one guy who grunted loudly at Mom for no apparent reason and this other young guy dressed in a old man mask touching her back for a long period of time. She didn't do anything about it because she thought it was ME! Yeah...it was pretty creepy. We were also very fortunate to see Varsailles that day too! It was raining cats and dogs when we went but luckily we were inside the whole time looking at the palace. It was such a beautiful place to be and I wish it wasn't raining so that we could see the gardens without drowning! That night we went on the metro to the Moulin Rouge. At first we couldn't find it and I think Papa was getting a little anxious but I was determined to find it! Eventually we did and it was so worth the confusion! I would someday like to see a show just to say that I did...maybe someday soon. Eventually we made it back to the Eiffel Tower and went to the lst floor. After exploring the tower for the last time we made our way to a little crepe stand to eat some chocolate crepes! MMMM! They were just divine!

I could get into the discussion of the Eurostar breaking down on us on our way back from Cailis...but that's far too depressing. I'll end it on a better note:

Paris was wonderful! I don't think I will ever be the same again after being in such a lobely city! I enjoyed every minute of it and I'm glad that I was able to experience it with my family! <3 Oh Paris, J'Taime!

Windsor Castle! Jolly Good!

Hey!

I went to Windsor Castle on Friday! It was pretty neat...chilly out...but neat. I got one of the portable audio tour guides and followed the little numbered landmarks around like the tourist I am. It was cool to see Mary Louise's doll house and...well...interesting to see Prince Charles's baby pictures and toys. Yes, they have a whole room dedicated to the Prince Charles. I don't know, I guess because he's still alive it was a little weird looking at his old things - like I was rumaging through his closet or something. Anyway, a lot of the students had no idea that he and Diana had divorced the year before she died. I was like, where have you been the past 10 years!? That's why there was a controversy!! Oh my goodness.

We all wanted to see the changing of the guard but that was an epic fail. They had started 10 mins or so before we could even get there. It wasn't worth the running we probably would have done. Instead, Christina, Nikita and I had our own little encounter with a guard. He was standing outside near the exit of the castle and Christina was like, "I want my picture with him! But I'm afraid he'll yell at me..." she had already been called out by a woman in a gift shop and a lady in the chapel for whatever reason we have no idea. Anyway, I told her that she shouldn't worry and Nikita pointed out that he probably got asked all of the time. Well, she asked him and he said, "Sure." Simple as that apparently. ^^ I was anxious to see my family all day so Windsor was a little rushed but it was a lot of fun none the less.

My Lagan Love (DUBLIN)

ello!

I just got back from DUBLIN! Wow, what can i say? It was the most amazing city! It reminded me a lot of Edinburgh, Scotland (although Edinburgh was much smaller).

There was some confusion before we left though. The day before we left we thought that Southern Ireland was a part of the UK...LIES!! Poor Christina kept telling us that Dublin took the pound and not the Euro...until we found out for sure last Thursday. Luckily, we found out just in time. We got to Dublin at around 1:30pm on Friday and took an Airlink bus from the airport to the city. At first, we were a little lost, one thing that I've noticed about Europe is that their signage is a little iffy and most of the time things aren't marked at all. After a very very very very brief freak out we found out the bridge that we were supposed to cross. Once we got to the right street, we started to realize that the place our hostel was in was...well...REALLY cool! It was a place called Temple Bar, and it was like the Theatre District of the city. They had small film and photo colleges inside as well as gift shops, museums, pubs, an Urban Outfitters, record and thrift stores! It was def the place to stay for a bunch of 20 year old students. The hostel that we stayed in was called Barnacles (suggested by my lovely cousin!). They were very nice and extremely helpful.
Our hostel room was really cute but kinda tiny. It was a six bed room and we shared it the first two nights with a kind French lady traveling by herself. The first night we explored Temple Bar and ate a REAL restaurant meal at the HardRock Cafe. It was so nice to eat warm, filling food and Shanna was glad to finally eat at a place that sold both veggie and meaty things, I thought that she would faint after taking a huge bite of her burger ^____^ she misses meat.
After eating, we went to Urban Outfitters and killed loads of time before taking a nice long walk, then crashing in our hostel.

The next day we got up at around 9:00am and ate our free toast and tea breakfast in the public kitchen. Boy was it fabulous...toast never tasted so good. We then left the hostel and made our way to the Guiness Factory. It was a long but comfortable walk. We always knew we were headed in the right direction because once in awhile we could smell the distinct smell of Guiness in the air. It was pretty cool; but the factory was in the ghetto in Dublin so I'm glad we went early in the morning. The back streets were really cool though and there was a place where you could take a ride with some ponies. Nikita was so excited to finally pet some ponies she didn't want to wash her hands afterwards haha! After looking through the gift shop and through some of the factory we went back to Temple Bar and ate lunch. The place we went to was a little market right outside of the photo museum. It had a bunch a things like chicken, crepes, cheese and Indian food. One place had a bunch of dead pheasents and ducks hanging by their necks ouside the tent! I ate some AMAZING Indian food, I swear I will never be able to get anything that good ever again.

After going to the photo museum (which was a little lame) we went to Trinity College! It was so cool! I wanted to go see the book of Kells but no one else wante dto spend the money! I said that I would go alone if I had to...and I did! Everyone was so nice to wait for me! It really was the coolest thing! I love old stuff. I also got to see the old Library of Trinity College. Okay...so you know the library in Beauty and the Beast? Yep, I saw that. It was so majestic I almost cried! BOOKS EVERYWHERE! It was then that we stopped at the Molly Malone statue for Nikita and then we made our way to the statue of Oscar Wilde in the park. Oscar Wilde was full of himself, for sure, but it was all most in a cool way. He wasn't afraid to be an ass and he wasn't afraid to say it either. Even though that would be a major turn off, I respect him. He was cool...like the Fanz.
That night, we ate dinner at a place called Half Moon. It sold toasties, paninis, and crepes. It was so cute and cheap! We had a great time taking goofy pictures and eating our yummy affordable food. The waiter I think had a crush on us because he gave us a couple of free nutella crepes with ice cream! It was so good! All of a sudden we all had second stomachs!

The next day, Mandi, Shanna, Nikita and I took a small bus tour to Wicklow and Glendough. Caroline went to Galway for the day by herself. As we travelled through the mountains we stopped at different places to take pictures like various lakes and farm land. It was so beautiful and amazing no words can describe it! There were three really cute boys sitting behind me on the bus too ^___^ hehe. Oh, before I forget, Nikita and I had to use the bathroom REALLY bad so on one of our stops we had to go into a really creepy forest and rough it! I hadn't done anything like that since Girl Scouts! Anyway, while Nikita was peeing she yelled out to me while I was going. I didn't hear what she said the first time so I yelled back. "What!?" I said. "I said I found a SKELLINTON!" it was the skellinton of a deer apparently...creeppyyy.

We got back at 5:00pm and were extremely hungery! We stopped and got some last minute presents and then went to the grocery store to pick up some noodles and garlic bread for dinner. It was then that we crashed really hard and were ready to leave the next day. We were going to miss Dublin, it had been so kind to us. :(

Stonehenge, Oxford, Bath, and Halloween! ^^

Wow...sorry for the update retardedness...

Okay, so last weekend our whole class plus some people from Canada went to the places listed above! (except Halloween of course). It was hosted by a company called European Friends and it was a lovely 2 day trip...somewhat...The first place they took us to was Oxford, and it was pretty amazing! A lot of Harry Potter stuff was there like the Great Hall and The Library. It was where J.R.R Tolkien and C.S. Lewis taught and where Helena Bonham Carter went to school. I wish we could have stayed longer because there were a lot of other little shops and places to see! They took us around to a couple of other little towns in Cotswald that didn't really have anything to do with...well...anything. They were extremely kawaii but we didn't really walk through them as long/short (it depended on the town) as we wanted.

That night, we stayed in a Holiday Inn, which was amazing! It was so nice to stay in a hotel for once instead of a hostel. Nikita, Caroline, Shanna and I shared a room. It was so funny because as soon as we got there we turned the television on and watched random British gameshows and a UK version of Funniest Home Videos. We don't have TV in our flats so it was crazy how we went for the TV as soon as we saw it hahaha. We went to the local grocery store and bought microwavable food. When we got to the "public" kitchen we found out that the microwave was broken...figures...so, Erica came up and told us that the kitchen for the resteraunt in the hotel would take our food and microwave it for us! Yay! It took awhile but we finally got all of our food and went to our room to eat Indian food, mac & cheese, tomato soup and tea MMMMM! I felt bad for Christina and Mandi. They ordered Chinese and it took forever for it to come!


The next day, European Friends took us to Bath! It rained a little bit but not that bad really. It was livable. We had a fun time looking through all of the little shops and at all of the oldish bulidings! We wanted to go look at the Roman Baths but we didn't have enough money! Oh well. There were mixed reviews from our friends who went so we were okay with it in the end. After Bath, Friends took us to the one and only Stonehenge! It was so amazing! It was so mysterious and erie! There were black birds hanging all over it like creepers which made it even more interesting. Bahar, Caroline and Nikita were thinking of jumping the fence (aka small rope close to the ground) so that they could run up and touch Stonehenge (which wasn't aloud!). Buuutttt, Sanders told Bahar that she would get into trouble and get his students in trouble as well. She tried to argue with him saying that her ancesters were the druids but he didn't give in...she pouted her face and called him a kill joy. It was pretty funny.

Friday was Halloween! It was great! I was a zombie student! I bought some make-up at the local Halloween shop in Canters. Nikita was a vampire and I did her make-up as well as my friends Mark (fellow zombie) and Jake* (the Joker). That morning I got up early and made myself some eggs and toast while listening to Halloween music. Then I watch some Disney Halloween on youtube (my family would know what I speak of). Later that night we had a party in one of the flats and afterwards went to the Jolly Sailor for some chair dancing, wine spilling, candy munching fun! hehe. We decided that since it was a successful Halloween we should go to the local Kabab eatery and get chips and pizza. MMMM! Everyone else scattered afterwards but Nikita and I went back to my flat and watched SCREAM. It was great fun!

Ich Liebe Dich, Berlin

Hey!

Just got back from Germany today! wow, first I would like to say that getting to and from Germany is hard work...REALLY HARD WORK and yes...there is a HUGE language barrier. When people say, 'Oh yes, well, everyone is Germany speaks English...' don't believe them. T-T That was seriously the only problem that we had in Berlin. People could speak English but not very well. It was very awkward and not what we were expecting at all. On our part, we would say "danke" for "thank you" and "Kein Deutscher" for "no German" when people started speaking to us and "Morgan" for "Morning!" but that was all we really knew. So many people kept telling us that many of the signs were in English as well...that was also wrong. Many of the signs (and menus in restaurants for that matter) were not in English. I don't think it would have been as hard if Caroline and I weren't vegetarian and Nikta wasn't vegan, so it was kind of difficult to eat anywhere that wasn't a Dunkin Donuts or a McDonalds. So, with that out of the way...I will explain Germany! ^_^

We arrived in Hamburg, Germany Thursday night/Friday morning. We wanted to visit Shanna's very nice and helpful friend Julie, who was residing there because of school. When we got there (1:00am) we found out that she had to go to school the next day, so we all decided to get up with her. She brought us to the U-bahn (the Tube in Germany) and told us what stop we needed to get off on so that we could take and bus to Berlin. We got at the bus station, had some MickyDs and got on the 11:30am bus to Berlin. It was a smooth bus ride...that took 3 hours... >_< nevertheless we had a great time reading, talking, eating cookies and sleeping. When we finally got to Berlin we tried desperately to figure out where our hostel, BaxPax was. It was crazy because at first we thought that we were staying in the ghetto of Berlin. There was SO MUCH GRAFFITI and punkers that we felt extremely intimidated. It would only be the next day before we discovered that Berlin was like that EVERYWHERE!! Anyway, after we finally found BaxPax we found an amazing vegetarian diner (the only place with an english menu!) on our street called Yellow Sunshine. It was so amazing! When we got back to our hostel we found that we were sharing a huge room with 16 other people, most of them boys. We didn't mind this because there were enough bathrooms to spare and everyone kept to themselves. The only funny thing was that these guys slept in their underwear (teehee). It might be a European thing...it might not...whatever reason these guys were almost naked, no doubt about that.

The very next day, Nikita and I pulled out a map and figured out the walking distance to the center of Berlin. Shanna had found an add in our map that told us about a free tour that started at Brandenburg Gate. We walked a good 30 mins to get to the main part of Berlin, put the city was ahead of Canterbury when it came to fall time so it was a lovely walk indeed. We took the free tour (we found out that it was the same company Nikita and I encountered in Edinburgh) and had a splendid time. We saw what was left of the Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie, Hitler's Bunker, The National Memorial of the Murdered Jews of Europe (whew!), and other neat things. It was so beautiful and haunting. Later that afternoon we made an effort to go to a place called Freidrichshain. We had to take the U-bahn to get there. Professor Sanders gave me a list of all these very neat vegan/vegetarian restaurants that were supposedly in this area. We were too late to catch the nifty thrift shops near there but the food places were still open! We got our dessert to go from a CUTE place called *Cupcake* and got to pizza at an Italian restaurant where you could write your name on the wall. It was MMMMMMMM GOOOOOOD food.

The next day (Sunday), all four of us got up early and went to Brandenberg Gate to meet up for another tour that would take us to Sachsenhausen. The nerve center and model for all of the concentration camps (particularly Auschwitz). This was a very disturbing experience. We were almost going to go to Poland for the day and see Aushwitz instead but decided that time would not be on our side. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm glad we didn't go to Aushwitz...Sachsenhausen was bad enough. Our tour guide was pretty good about telling us the stories and the history of the first ever WWII concentration camp. It was so sad. I cried a few times and the other girls were just depressed. When we got out of there Shanna admitted to me that she would have not been able to handle Auschwitz, I agreed with her.

Here is a link to Wikipedia's description in more detail...mind you it doesn't do it much justice though.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachsenhausen_concentration_camp

When we were done for the day, we took a bus back to Julie's in Hamburg and stayed for the night again. The next day, we came home. It was such a thrilling experinece being in Berlin! I would not have given up for anything. <3