I know I suck :p

Okay so yes I am still behind, but I filled in the rest of German (except for a bit of Wednesday) and You've got the first part of the Ireland trip. I'm sorry I'm so behind, I've just been so short of time right now. Enjoy the new bits and I'll try to get more up soon. Thanks for still reading.

(Sunday)

I woke up early and started to get ready (I thought I had woken up late, but my French phone was an hour off). I went to the kitchen to get breakfast but Chris and Jude (sort for Judith) weren’t there. So I casually got ready, showered, ate breakfast and such. Then Chris and Jude showed up and we finished getting ready, hoped in the car and headed for the coast.

We got a bit lost and confused but it didn’t take us too long to find our way. We had a nice long drive through the country. Jude was asleep for almost all of it, I fell asleep for a bit in the middle (luckily Chris stayed awake). When we got there we paid for parking (which Chris and Jude didn’t expect and weren’t too happy about). Then we got out and headed for the coast. The place we went is called the {Giant something?????} and it was BEAUTIFUL!!! Absolutely amazing and gorgeous. You walk along the coast and see all the different natural features like hexagon rocks, the organ (it looks like and organ in the side of the cliff), and the red rocks (which are so bright red, especially compared to the bright blue of the ocean and green of the grass. It was really just stunning. We talked the whole way of course and took pictures. Chris discovered his inner mountain goat on the rocks and Jude and I had the pleasure of trying to follow him, it was great fun. Jude also told me the history of the cliffs. She informed me how some people will tell you crap about volcanoes and rock formations, but that’s not what really happened. What really happened was that the Irish Giant wanted to fight the Scottish Giant so he went over the ridge that connected them. He saw the Scottish giant, and he was huge, so he ran back to Ireland.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Ireland Here I Come... Eventually (Saturday)

Woke up at 5am…far too early to be moving (stupid early flight). I got up, showered, and put the last things in my bags. Then at 6am I said goodbye to Sylvia’s apartment and we headed to the train station. We caught one train, rode it for a bit, then waited and caught another train. Then we finally got to the airport. It was different set up than US airports. It was more spread out and most of the shops and restaurants are before you go through the gates. We found the Lufthansa check in desk and I got my tickets and checked my suitcase. Then Sylvia and I wandered around and found somewhere to eat breakfast (we were both super hungry by this point). We stopped at a bakery and got little Brochen sandwiches. They were pretty good. We talked about flying and I told her how in the US I don’t usually check bags anymore I just take 2 carryons. She was surprised by this because she said usually they only allow one. This is when I turned to look at my 2 carryon bags. I asked her if it would be okay, she said yes, but just to be sure I better head to my gate and make sure I have time in case I run into trouble.

So Sylvia and I said goodbye. It was really sad, I’m gonna miss her. It was so good to see her and hang out with her again, we decided we have to try to run into each other again in a few years. I’ve had so much fun with her this week it’s sad to think I may not see her for another 2 years or more. Still we had a great time together and we will stay in touch. Just a bit sad to say goodbye.

I made it through security just fine. I got to my gate and waited a bit till we boarded the plane. I had a nice window seat in a row all by myself. It was very chill. I fell asleep for the first half of the flight. I woke up for cheese sandwiches and orange juice courtesy of Lufthansa. Then I enjoyed the view of the ocean and a bit of music. My ear started hurting really bad but eventually it got better. Other than that I filled out this card for staying in/ coming to the UK. I left 2 spots blank cause I wasn’t sure what to put.

In a bit we landed and I got off the plane. I walked and walked forever till I had to go through a passport check thing and give the card I filled out. The I figured out the one blank, but the other was the address of where I was staying. I didn’t have Chris’ address, or the address’ of the hotels we were staying because I didn’t think I needed them. I hadn’t needed any of the other addresses. The lady started asking me all these questions I didn’t know the exact answers too, like how much money I had here. It was weird and she just kept angrily asking me questions. Then she let me go through and snobbily told me to be more prepared next time (pardon my language, but what a bitch). So now that I felt like a total dumb ass I had to go to the next station where apparently they took my picture (they didn’t tell me that at the time). Then I made my way to the Terminals. I didn’t know which one was right, so I asked and they took my water bottle (jerks). Then I went through security (again!). Then I made my way to the gate. I had to stop at another counter and get my ticket checked and the man ( the first nice person I’ve had contact with in this airport) showed me the picture they took at the early station. Since I didn’t know it was a photo I didn’t smile, and was pissed because of the mean lady (aka I looked horrible). The man laughed and said it looked nice (I couldn’t help but laugh, although I wish I had known and smiled).

Finally I got to gate 8 only to find there are like 7 different gate 8s (8a, 8b, etc.) and the ticket doesn’t specify. I figured I had 3 hours to waste so I would worry about it later. I found a wifi station and plugged in my computer, but the power didn’t work. So I found another station (this one worked). I got on my laptop only to discover the wifi is like $15. No thanks, I can wait. Basically so far, it just hasn’t been my day.

So I hung out in the airport for hours. I bought a smoothie and some chips. Then I looked at the time and realized my plane should have started boarding by then. I went up to a woman who worked in the airport to ask, she informed me I was an hour off…right time zone change :p. So I sat in the airport for another hour till they announced they were delaying the flight a half hour. GREAT! Now not only do I have to spend another half hour in Heathrow (4 and a half hours total at this point), but I have to find a way to tell Chris. I went to find a phone to call mom and see if she could try to contact him, but instead I found a computer set up. You could pay a few pounds for 20 minutes of internet, Perfect!!! I paid, got online, Facebook messaged Chris. He got it so no worries. Then I emailed my folks and got on the plane. Slept through the plane ride then landed got my bags and headed out.

I found Chris easily (thank goodness)! His sister was with him so I met her. Then we scurried to the car so we didn’t have to pay for parking. Then Chris and his sister gave me a driving tour of Belfast. It was brilliant!!! They showed me the big cranes and ship building area, which is where they build Titanic (yet there is no Titanic museum in Northern Ireland). I saw their opera house, arena, old buildings, etc. It was great especially because Chris and his sister had fun and interesting stories to go along with the tour. They informed me how many old buildings were being converted to offices or apartments, and many buildings were being built for offices and apartments, and if you didn’t know what a bilding was it was probably offices or apartments (they were so funny). They showed me the clock tower which according to the story is tilting because all the hookers lean against it (not because of the marshy land, lol). Chris also showed me the biggest RED brick building in Europe (i don’t know what other color the brick might be but still it was funny).

TO BE CONTINUED!!!!!

Last Day In Germany (Friday)

Sylvia got up really early to go to work at the old lady’s house again. I planned on waking up at the same time and getting all my packing done, but my bed was just too comfortable to get out of. So I slept in an extra hour and a half, it was very nice. Finally I dragged myself out of bed and started packing. I got a lot done and was weighing the suitcase as I went to make sure I didn’t go over the weight and have to pay. I also called Gusy, who was still awake at a ridiculous hour of the morning in Montana. But it was so good to talk with him.

Sylvia got back around noon and a bit later we headed to the center of Cologne. We got out of the station and walked in the direction of the chocolate museum. There was a market going on along the river bank (it was really cute). I got potatoes fritters (potatoes pancakes) they came with Apple sauce which I thought was weird, but apparently that’s how they are traditionally eaten. They were pretty good. We also tried some cheese samples at an Austrian cheese stand. The man who worked there was very enthusiastic about the cheese. He started talking to Sylvia and kept talking and talking ( I could tell Sylvia didn’t want to talk but was trying to be polite about it). On the bright side he gave us free mini Austrian cow bells ( I couldn’t help giggling when he handed me a cowbell with fringe and all, its pretty silly). We eventually escaped and continued on our way.

We made it to our intended destination (a bratwurst stand). I had asked Sylvia if we could get bratwursts for lunch since it was my last day in Germany and I hadn’t had one. We went to the stand and I got a Currywurst with a Brochen (a different kind of bratwurst with curry sauce and spice on it). Apparently they are very popular in Germany, so I tried one. Super yummy! Then Sylvia had the brilliant idea of getting dessert. We were just across the bridge from the chocolate museum which had a little café that they serve special cakes in. So we went in the museum café and had cake, mine was raspberry and Sylvia’s was chocolate. It was pretty tasty. We chatted and enjoyed our dessert for a while, then we headed back to the train station.

Unfortunately we missed the train Sylvia was hoping to catch, but there was another in like 20 minutes. So we sat on the steps in front of the Dome and chilled in the slight rain. It was nice. Then I walked Sylvia to her platform and came back to the Dome steps. I sat on the steps reading my book for a bit. I thought I might meet up with another German I met at the Wednesday night party and hang out for a bit, but I never heard from him. So I chilled for a bit then decided since I was at the Dome I was going to climb it. I went in and paid the 1 euro cost to climb the 358 (or something close to that) steps up to the top. It wasn’t easy, lots of stairs. Luckily you get a break if you stop to look at the bells. They also tease you because you finish one set of stairs go down a hall, and then there are more stairs. I made it to the top, and the view was absolutely beautiful and made me realize how big Cologne really is. I took some pictures and enjoyed the cool air for a bit before I headed back down. There was only one stair case for going up and coming down so everyone had to squezze past each other. It was a bit annoying and not the best design plan, but oh well. I DID IT!!!

Sylvia had told me about an area I could go shopping, but I didn’t really have space in my suitcase, so I decided not to go shopping. As Sylvia was getting on the train she asked me if I could bake a cake for the going away party we were going to that night. I said sure. I figured I could help Sylvia out considering all she did for me. Besides baking is easy…or so I thought. I got to the grocery store and found the cake mixes. Then I stood there for about 10-20 minutes wondering what any of them said. I was thinking of doing cupcakes but the only ones they had were chocolate and pink princess. So I looked at the cakes I had no idea what any of them were, but 2 looked chocolaty and one looked like lemon so I chose the other one thinking it looked like vanilla. I bought the cake mix and caught the bus back to the apartment (after all those stairs I didn’t really feel like walking).

I got back to the apartment, sat at my computer with the cake mix and began to translate what it was, what I needed and the directions. This ended up being a long and annoying process. Then I went to the kitchen to find everything I needed. This also ended up being an incredible annoying process because I didn’t know where anything was and couldn’t ask anyone. At one point during all this I called Sylvia and left her a message saying “help me!”. Nels called to get a hold of Sylvia which worked for me because a bit later I called him back and asked him for help since there was no measuring cup to be found anywhere in that kitchen, and since its in the metric system I don’t know the amounts well enough to guess it. Nels helped and eventually I found everything I needed and made the cake. I also watched Victor Victoria while I worked (it was my baking movie). After only four hours I had a broken, but frosted walnut cake. I will never bake in a foreign language I don’t know and a foreign kitchen ever again :p. I called mom and told her about my cake adventure and watching Victor Victoria.

I was frustrated but felt accomplished and Sylvia was very proud, so it all turned out okay. She came home and was very impressed because she realized she had given me a very hard task once the train went away. A bit later Nels arrived. I ate a snack cause I was hungry and we weren’t eating till the party. Then I called Gusy and talked to him for a bit while I was waiting for Sylvia and Nels, who were waiting for me (minor misunderstanding).

Anyway eventually we left for the party. We walked to Mario’s house (Mario is leaving to teach football [soccer] in Argentina for about a year I think, so it was his going away party) and went in and joined the party. There were a lot people from Sylvia’s theater group there that I met and talked to. The two most memorable were a girl who loved English and was drunk (she spoke English more when she was drunk apparently, she only told me so like 4 times). She had a strong British accent when she spoke English and talked about how she passionately wanted to move to Britain. We talked about theater and following your passions/ heart. She was nice and she said she appreciated talking to me (although who knows if she’ll remember it). The other memorable character from Sylvia’s theater group was a guy who frankly followed me around quite a bit. He spoke English but his enunciation was horrible so often I didn’t understand what he said. Still I talked to him and tried to seem polite. He is 18 and I think he was very interested in me, and I was not at all interested in him. It was kind of funny though, and a little bit weird.

When we got there Mario got us all a beer, and I drank mine (it was okay, not bad). The only problem was I didn’t really want to drink beer, I wanted to eat food. Sylvia had told me not to eat because there would be food at the party, so by the time we got there I was hungry, but I didn’t see any food. I asked Sylvia but she didn’t know and I told her not to worry about it, but a bit later in the night I had to ask again. This time Sylvia asked and I was pointed to the food (yay!). I felt better after that.

Francheska and Life were also at the party so we hung out with them. There was also a t-shirt that everyone was signing for Mario. I signed it too, I wrote, “Bye! <3 Amber (American)”. I think he will find it funny and this way he’ll realize who it was that signed it (aka that American girl Sylvia brought that one time). When it got late I started to get tired, and since I knew I had to be up at 5am the nest morning I wanted to get at least a few hours of sleep. I mentioned this to Sylvia and she said we would leave soon. About an hour, and two more “we’ll leave in just a few minutes”, and we actually left. (I know I shouldn’t complain because I am guilty of this too, but usually I’m not affecting the less than three hours of sleep someone is hoping to get) We said goodbyes and headed to Life’s house and he gave us a ride back to Sylvia’s apartment. Then Sylvia, Nels and I got ready for bed. I said goodbye to Nels since he wasn’t going to wake up before I left in the morning. Then Sylvia and I went to bed to enjoy our 2 hours of sleep.

Roman Museum (Thursday)

Sylvia said she would wake me up today, but apparently she forgot about that. So once I woke up Sylvia and Nels were pretty much done eating. Nels ran to get more bread, and then I ate lunch. We hung out for a while then Sylvia went to work. I decided since I was running out of time in Germany I decided if I wanted to go to the Roman museum it had to be today. I was all ready to go and Nels was just sitting on the couch. I asked him if he wanted to go, but he said he was going to stay and read the newspaper for a while. I felt a bit weird just leaving him there, but I’m sure Sylvia has done it before so I grabbed the spare keys and headed out.

I knew my way to the city center pretty well by this point so I had no trouble taking the train there. I got off and made my way to the Roman museum. I paid to get in and wandered about. I saw a lot of really old artifacts from the Romans and a lot of archeological stuff like fossils. It was pretty cool. I think the best was the Roman stuff like the statues, tiles, jewelry and stuff like that. It was very interesting. After the museum I went into the Dome gift shop and got a little souvenir (I hadn’t really bought anything for me that was German and cool). So after that I just headed back to the train station. I got off the train and stopped in Sylvia’s apartment.

Then I left and hoped on a bus. I got off and walked to Sylvia’s work. I had mentioned maybe visiting, but I thought just showing up would be a fun surprise. I just sat down at one of the café tables. After a bit Sylvia came up and said hi. She was busy working so she couldn’t sit down and talk. I ordered another spaghetti ice cream with a bunch of fruit on it. It was very tasty, not as good as the first one but still very good. I sat and read my book for a bit. Then I said goodbye to Sylvia and headed for the bus station. I had to wait a bit but I caught the next bus and went back to the apartment. I just hung out, made phone calls and went online for a bit.

Then Sylvia got back. She got out early this time and had stopped at the grocery store. She made dinner. Then we ate (it was very good, chicken with bacon wrapped around it and veggie rice). Then we decided to watch a movie. We were a bit indecisive, but eventually we ended up with Marie Antoinette with Kirsten Dunce (who was in the last movie I watched, so my movie themes went: 2 with Scarlet Johansen, the second had tennis in it, so then 2 tennis movies, the second had Kirsten Dunce, so then 2 Kirsten Dunce. It wasn’t intentional, but kinda funny). It was pretty good, the pace of it was a bit odd, but the movie was beautiful and done well. They focused on some weird moments, but overall I liked it. By then it was pretty late so we headed to bed.

Korean TV/ Attack Worm (Wednesday August 11)

Sylvia and I woke up early and got ready. We had trouble deciding what to wear because we needed to look nice today. We were going to go to a chateau (kind of like Versailles but smaller) that is south of Cologne but easy to get to by train. We got all dressed up, did our makeup and such because we were going to be on TV (well maybe). You see we were going to meet Sylvia’s friend who is a model in Korea, but she was in Germany to film for a Korean TV show. The show was on a fashion network that was doing a show on models showing different cities and what was fashionable there and stuff like that. She had lived in Cologne before she moved to Korea so she spoke fluent German, and so they sent her there. So since we were going to be hanging out with her (and they were filming everything she did while in Germany) we knew we would be filmed. We know that they may not use the footage that we were in, but it was still cool to think that we would be on Korea TV (although I wish I looked better for it, but oh well what can you do).

So we took the train to meet them in the main train station. They were late but eventually we found them. There were three of them, Sylvia’s friend, a camera girl, and a photography/ sound girl. They tech girls were very nice and Sylvia’s friend was really cool. WE all got on the train and headed for the chateau. When we got there it was raining so we headed straight into the building for the tour. They told them they couldn’t film in the building only in the gardens. So the camera girl sat out and the rest of us went on the tour (the photography girl and I had to get electronic audio tours so we could hear the tour in English instead of German). The tour was really cool and very informative. The chateau was absolutely beautiful, every inch was decorated with paintings statues and fine detail. The audio thing also gave a lot of information about the different rooms (such as ballroom, bedrooms, greeting rooms, bathing rooms, etc.), how they were used, explained the decoration and gave some extra random historical info (like that they had tick traps that were tubes with holes in them that had wool with sheep's blood on it and adhesive inside. They would roll the tubes in their hair or wigs to get rid of the tics, but no one would know). It was really cool (even though our tour was completely different than the spoken one we all really enjoyed it.

After the tour we went out toward the gardens. We had a little snack on our way and then got ready for filming. They began filming and Sylvia’s friend spoke in Korean giving introductions of where she was and what she was doing there. Then she introduced us and they talked about Sylvia’s outfit (cause she’s so fashionable). Sylvia joked she would become famous in Korea now. We walked, talked and hung out with them filming everything we did as we went. It was kinda weird but cool (I felt a bit third wheel since Sylvia and her friend are best friends and were so tight and had all this stuff to talk about, and people to talk about that I knew nothing about). Overall it was an interesting experience, plus now I can say I was filmed for Korean TV. They filmed a bit more of Sylvia’s friend talking about the building and stuff in Korean and took some pictures.

Once the filming was done we all headed for the train station. We all headed back to the city. Then we parted ways. Sylvia was sad to see her friend go, but I think she was really just happy to see her. So after she left Sylvia and I went to go have lunch somewhere that we could get traditional German food. We found a place that looked very traditional and had a cool atmosphere (and that was still serving lunch) so we went in there.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Failed Vintage Shopping (Tuesday August 10)

Nels was over so they slept in. I woke up a bit before they did and went on the computer for a bit. Then they got up and we all had lunch together. We all chilled for a bit and enjoyed the afternoon. Then Sylvia had to go to work so we said goodbye to her and she left. Nels and I got ready and caught the train into town.

Nels was going to take me to a vintage store that I had seen a few nights before. We got off the train and started walking toward the shop. Nels mentioned another cool shop, so we took a detour to a shop on a side street. I went in and checked it out. The stuff was really cool, but then I looked at the price tag and realized that it was also really expensive. So I left and didn’t buy anything there. We headed to the vintage store and went in to look around. I soon realized that almost all of it was American stuff and thus I didn’t want anything from there. Nels did find some shorts though (and asked if I could loan him the 10 euros to buy them). So I did and he did. Then we headed toward the next train station (though we had to go back after a block or so when Nels realized he forgot his jacket, but after that we were on our way). WE got back to that area and looked around a bit. Nels said there were other vintage stores nearby so we poked our head into those, and I looked around one a bit, but I didn’t find anything. (Also I didn’t really feel like shopping anymore) So Nels got me back onto the train and I headed back to Sylvia’s.

I got to her apartment and just relaxed a bit. Called some people, went online, etc. Pretty much was a lazy bum. Then Sylvia came back. She chilled for a bit before making dinner. Then we sat down and ate. It was very good of course. After that we curled up on the couch and watch Wimbledon. Sylvia loved the movie and wanted to watch it and I had never seen it so we put it in. It was super romantic and cheesy, a total chic flick (and I loved every minute of it!). I sometimes get in a chic flick mood and I guess I was in one that night because I very much enjoyed the sappy cheesiness. (It was also weird though because the last movie we watched had tennis in it). Anyway we both enjoyed it and felt warm fuzzy afterward. Then we went to bed to get some much needed sleep