Trying to Catch Up!

EGYPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Me, Annika, Ellen, and Esther over the Nile River.

Typical scene on the side a street in Cairo.

JUMP for the Pyramids!
We are so super!

Oldest pryamid. It is a step pyramid, the first design! The newest pyramid is over 4,000 years old, can you guess than how old this one is??
RIDING CAMELS!

Me, my camel, and the Giza Pyramids! It was the most surreal expereince of my life so far!
Me, Annika, Esther, Ellen and the Egyptian Museum! An entirley unique museum with the craziest and oldest artifacts and mummies!
Cairo at night.
Welcome to Dahab! Our Egyptian friend, Mido, helped us get a taxi and we made our way safely to our amazing hostel in this beautiful village on the Red Sea.
Our Hostel! Penguin Village.

SNORKELING! Can you believe it? We just finished snorkeling in the RED SEA in the Blue Hole.
Jump for the mongross!
Guyland! On our second snorkeling adventure to a National Park, we met many neat people and the young boy here, Guy, was quite a story teller and made up his own island community here on these rocks.
Annika, Ellen, Me, and Esther and the beautiful Red Sea.
Sunrise of Saudi Arabia and the Red Sea. Totally worth waking up at 6:00 AM on our Holiday!

Ellen and our new Australian friends, Nick and Brenton.
The most amazing meal of our time in Egypt. I had chicken kebabs with fresh grilled veggies and the most spectacular milk shake ever. I would go back to Dahab just for another shake!
Our last meal together in Egypt. It was a sad morning as we knew we were leaving this wonderful country that night.

GREECE!

Ellen and I with the view of Athens beyond us.

Our Christmas meal in our Hostel in Athens. It was a great time and a lot of socializing with our new friends from Costa Rica, France, England, and Sweden.

Athens...
SUSAN CAME TO VISIT!!!

We had the best time in Olympia checking out the old Olympic game grounds and remains. We are standing now on the old stadium/track. The shot-put competition was held here during the 2004 Olympics.

Susan and I together in some cool remains.
Susan and I near the Acropolis in Athens again.
Ellen, Susan, and I in front of the big Olympic stadium.

Swinging in Athens!
AHH!! It is much harder than it looks!!
Susan and I and the Olympic Stadium in Athens.
At the top of the Acropolis, Susan and I, were able to get a great photo of us and Athens. Also, below us is an old theater.

Susan, me, and the Mediteranean Sea.
SUSAN AND SALZBURG!!
Me, Susan, and Salzburg!
I think I can pick it up!!

CZECH REPUBLIC!!

Prague...

Beautiful canals in Prague under the St. Charles Bridge. Prague was really beautiful, I just wished the weahter would have cooperated better.
POLAND!

Krakow's Castle and ME!

Krakow...
Inside a Salt Mine I visited, the miners sculpted chapels inside from the salt and here is a sculpture of the Last Supper.
The tour guide openly invited us to lick the walls of the salt mine to make sure it was really salt. I just couldnt pass up the opportunity! They were really salty by the way!
Arbeit Macht Frei. Work will make you free. This is the entrance to the Auschwitz Concentation Camp. This camp was huge and overwhelming with its size.
BELGIUM!

Brussels Grand Square and me!

The little boy how pees into a fountain. I didn't even know this existing until I arrived in Brussels. Very regularly ONE man changes the costume on this statue and this day he was Elvis.
Bruges. A beautiful quaint city with wonderful canals and really good waffles and chocolate.

THE NETHERLANDS!!!!

Ellen and I at the Toga Party in Dronten.

Me and my Toga!
We are so pretty!

GERMANY!

I went to visit Annika in Papenburg, watching "I Am Legend" with Will Smith. Met the new group in Frankfurt and then headed back up north to Hamburg. I explored this very industrial port city by myself and just enjoyed the solitude and wonderful scene. This is me and the famous HUGE Hamburg Harbor!

HALLO!!

I can not believe it, I have been back in Salzburg for three weeks and have a 2 full weeks of school behind me. Also, I still can not believe where all I was able to go and what all I was able to do from the 14th of December until the 24th of January.

I hope that soon I will be able to fill everyone in about my travels, but for now I will put up some photos that you all can enjoy!! From Eygpt to Greece to Salzburg to Prague to Krakow to Beglium to the Netherlands to Germany and back finally to Salzburg. I hope you enjoy the photos!!

Tschuess,

Dana

While I travel...

Hello Everyone,

How is everyone? I hope everyone had the greatest Christmas and are enjoying the brand new year! I have definitely been enjoying my holiday time.

It has been a while since I have been able to update everyone about where I have been, what I have been doing, and what my next adventure will be.

Currently I am in Krakow, Poland staying at a very nice hostel hanging out with loads of new people from all over the world. Way back at the beginning of December back in Salzburg, I finished up exams and then I started my holiday travels.

December 14th around 8:00 at night, three friends and I headed out on our flights to Cairo, Egypt. We had the greatest time ever spending 3 nights in Cairo seeing the pyramids, eating Falafels, and riding Camels. We then took a 10 hour bus ride to South Sinai and ended up in Dahab for 4 nights. We spend these days snorkeling in the Red Sea, laying out by the sea enjoying our view of Saudi Arabia's mountains, watching the sun rise over those mountains, meeting more and more people from all over the world, and just relaxing. After a very short week, Ellen, Esther, Annika, and I were sad to leave but headed back up to European soil.

After spending a night in Salzburg and another in the Munich Airport, Ellen and I flew out again to our next destination, Greece. Arriving Christmas Eve, we just hung out at our hostel talking to our new British friends. We explored Athens a little Christmas morning, but were able to enjoy a very nice Christmas lunch of turkey and Greek cookies at our hostel. It was great company and very enjoyable. Then came the 26th and the best Christmas present arrived...SUSAN!! After her long flight, we dove right into exploring Athens and walked around the city. The next day Susan and I took a side trip to the small town of Olympia, several hours by bus west of Athens. We were able to spend a very relaxing time seeing the old Olympic track, learning all the ancient history of the Olympics, and taking very fun photos! We ended the night with an easy train ride back to Athens. Our last day in Athens was rather beautiful and we enjoyed the day by seeing the Acropolis, standing on a huge 'rock', and walking by the Mediterranean Sea watching crazy people swimming in the freezing cold water. After an unforgettable and unpleasant metro ride to the Airport, we left Greece behind and are unsure if we will ever return.

Luckily, once Susan and I landed in Munich, we felt much more comfortable about our surroundings and enjoyed settling in to nice beds at my host family's house. The last two days Susan was able to spend with me we tried to see everything that Salzburg has to offer. We saw the Sound of Music sites, met some people from Iowa, looked out at Salzburg from the famous fortress, tried different cafes, and even caught a Marionette show of Hansel and Gretel. Two days were not enough time, but we got done as much as we could manage. Off to Munich we went for new year's eve, met a really nice couple who just got engaged and were from Boston, and then saw loads of unorganized fireworks in the city center. We spent the new year talking to three new people we met in the city square and then caught some shut eye in the airport. It was then time to say good-bye to Susan. It was not fun to say bye, but nothing lasts forever and I will see everyone soon!!

After hanging out in Munich a while longer, I headed up to Prague. I met up with an Australian and saw the sites him. Then a friend from Salzburg was in town and we went out for a way too expensive meal at the 'Blue Bar.' Jocelyn, our new friend, Jay, and I were totally robbed at this place...they charged us FIVE US DOLLARS for TWO HANDFULS of potato chips that they had ON THE TABLE. I have to say I had to best hot chocolate there, but they ripped us off. My last day in Prague I spent with Jay and Reed, two guys from the States and then we heading to Krakow together. We arrived here in Poland this morning and saw Auschwitz and the old town today.

Soon I will be heading to Belgium and then the Netherlands for a while. It has been a crazy few weeks and I have been having LOADS of fun.

I hope everyone else is well and enjoying life WHEREVER you may be!!

Pictures will be coming sometime, but probably not before January 25th.

Spaeter!!

DANA

Wonderful Times!

This is the quarry of the Mauthausen Concentration camp. The long path that you can see is the long death road that killed many prisoners at this brutal camp.
A MONASTERY!! Who would ever guess? This is the monastery in Melk, Austria. It was very beautiful and the area was very pretty also.
A cool work of art on the side of a modern art building. Don't they look real almost? I thought they were at first!
A DODGE RAM IN VIENNA!! I didn't know they existed over here!
Vienna's Rathaus lit up at night! This is the town hall of Vienna where the christmas market was!!
At the Wiener Christkind Markt...Vienna's big Christmas market!!

Jumping outside of Schonbrun Schloss. This is such a super picture, I think!
This is me in the fountain! I am not quite sure if it was ok for me to be in there? Oops!
This is the very Baroque coffin that the great Oueen, Maria Theresia, and her husband, Francis Stephen, were lain to rest. This is in the big Hapsburg memorial building where the whole family has been laid to rest. The small coffin in front is where Maria Theresia's son, Franz Joseph II was laid to rest. He succeeded her reign.
I am just making a snow-angel in the snow! It was such a beautiful day! Hello All,

It has been awhile, but things here in Austria have been ever so good and I have been keeping busy. As another addition to my semester, our entire program got the opportunity to the great music and cultural city of Vienna November 16-20.

On our way to the great city, we made a stop at another great…Monastery. I think I have been to almost every church, cathedral, and Monastery in the entirety of Europe. Or if I haven’t yet, by the time May comes around, I probably will. We stopped in the little town of St. Florian and had a guided tour of St. Florian Monastery. We saw a lot of pictures, pretty architecture, and long hallways. The room I remember the most is the beautiful and very unique ballroom ceiling painting. There was a pony in the painting that wherever you stood in the room, the pony would always appear to be looking directly at you. This way of painting was very popular during the time of when the monastery was built.

After being at the monastery, we went to a place entirely different than a monastery. We went to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. This camp was not different that the others that were used during the late 1930’s and the early 1940’s. This camp was built by a quarry for prisoners of the camp to work at. The large stones produced here were then shipped for use to build Hitler’s large military bases. This was a very brutal camp. They had a death rode, or death steps. There was a huge long rode with over 100 steps that prisoners were packed onto with large blocks. The prisoners were so packed that if one tripped, all the others would fall down behind him like dominoes. Concentration camps were the most brutal places ever and the whole experience was very saddening.

After the Mauthausen Camp, we finally were back on the bus bound for Vienna. Our first night in Vienna, we checked into our Hotel and most of us went out to eat at a local original, Zwölf Apostelkeller. This is a restaurant or wine cellar place that makes wine. Everyone enjoyed true Austrian food of wursts, käsespätzle, cheese platters, fresh rolls, wine, and anything else that may come from Austria.

Saturday morning started with a big breakfast and we began a long walking tour of Hapsburg Austria. We made visits to the Imperial Palace, Capucine Vault, St. Stephen’s cathedral, and Belvedere Palace. If anyone doesn’t know about the Hapsburg Monarchy, you should read up on it. It was the monarchy of Austria that built up its empire through marriages and at one time truly had an empire on which the sun never set. We visited the large palace of the Hapsburgs lived and ruled their monarchy. The Capucine vault holds most of all of the coffins of the royal Hapsburg family. I got to see exactly where Maria Theresia is laid to rest. St. Stephen’s cathedral is a very interesting one with only one spire, we toured this cathedral also. The Belvedere Palace is a pretty palace with a wonderful view of Vienna, too.

The rest of the afternoon we went on a bus tour of Vienna around the Ringstrasse. This is the ring shaped road that circles old Vienna. We saw the social housing complexes, where the Lipazzaner Spanish Riding School is, and saw the great artist, Klimt’s artwork. Around 4:30, some of us headed to the Vienna State Opera for Tchaikovsky’s Opera, Pique Dame. We were able to experience the long line that followed getting our standing room tickets for only EURO 3.50. There are around 700 standing room places in the Vienna State Opera. Standing room tickets are just what they sound like; you stand for the entire opera performance after standing in line for an hour or so for your tickets. There were bars to lean on if you were lucky enough to get there in time to find room near one. There were also screens that printed the words in either English or German. Only for part of Pique Dame did I have room at a bar to lean against. My feet were KILLING me after the night.

This opera was definitely interesting. It was a serious modern production and ended up being almost too modern for me. It was about a guy who was in love with this lady and also wanted to know a trick to gambling. There were a few scenes that were a little surprising. For the Masquerade Ball, they had a Drag Queen show that was a little to promiscuous and disgusting for my tastes. I was definitely surprised by this rendition of this opera. My History of Music teacher laughed a little at our thoughts of this opera because in Europe and especially Vienna, liberalized and modern performances are well received and found to be normal. We also later found out that one of the reasons the opera house was so incredibly full was the fact that we attended an opera with a worldly known Tenor and the conductor is also very popular. We were told when either this Tenor actor or this conductor, who is the head of the Vienna Orchestra, perform, all tickets are sold out and people stand in line for standing tickets hours and hours in advance; sometimes with sleeping bags.

Sunday morning came early with a quick breakfast then some of us took a trip to the Hofburg Chapel to hear the infamous Vienna Boys Choir. It was an all German chapel, of course, and we weren’t able to see the boys, but they did sing wonderfully! It was a neat experience.

After the boys choir, our entire group went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum, the art history museum. This museum includes one of the world’s great painting collections. They had many of Rembrandt’s self-portraits. I don’t really remember the names of all the artists we saw, but there were many and the pictures were all very fascinating and the building of the museum itself is pretty magnificent.

After the museum, I got some bananas and apples for my lunch to go along with my bread and Nutella I had. Then, I spent the rest of the afternoon taking a wonderful nap!

After my leisure afternoon, I again went to stand in line at the Vienna State Opera for standing room tickets to see Beethoven’s Fidelio. This opera was so much more enjoyable and very traditional. It was a love story again about a woman disguising herself as a man to get her wrongly accused husband out of jail. It was a very wonderful performance. My feet were really hurting again after this opera also.

Monday morning, we all had the opportunity to visit the United Nations Headquarters Vienna. We got a tour of the facilities, saw where the large international conferences were done, and also had a talk about Public Relations for IAEA, the International Agency for Atomic Energy. When we were talking about the meetings that happen in the big hall, we learned about the translating of the conferences. Obviously not everyone knows every UN countries language, so each speakers words need to be translated. Anyone whose mother language is one of the official UN languages can be a translator, and you will always translate INTO your own language. The turn around time for the translation is a few seconds and a translator will only translate for 30 minutes at a time. The translation was my favorite part of the tour and learning that every building of the headquarters was built specifically not to cast a shadow on any of the other buildings in order to always have good light and not inhibit someone’s working progress. The shadow thing has something to do with the fact that shadows make you sleepy or something.

Monday afternoon I took a nice little nap again! But not all afternoon, I then went and explored the wonderful Wiener Christkindl Markt am Rathausplatz, Vienna’s Christmas market at the town hall. It was decorated beautifully with lights and garlands. There were many little booths and loads of Christmas decorations and gifts. It was especially pretty at night!

Tuesday, our last day in Vienna, was spent with a trip and tour of Schönbrunn. The Schönbrunner Palace was a summer home for the royal family and had hunting grounds. It has large gardens that I am sure are beautiful in summer. In the palace, the tour showed us where the famous ‘Cissi’ brushed her long hair 1,000 times per day and took very good care of her image. Outside on the grounds, Esther, Kristi, and I adventured to one of the fountains that wasn’t running anymore because of winter. We were able to take pictures inside of it. Then, we ran up this hill and made snow angels in the snow. A lot of us girls also took pictures jumping together. The picture I have is my favorite. It was wonderful!!

Before leaving Vienna, we all got lunch and then headed to another…MONASTERY!! We went to the small town of Melk. It was a very pretty town and from the huge Baroque monastery was a beautiful view of the rolling pastures and the river. The view was the best.

We then arrived back home in Salzburg around 7:00. It was really great to be back in a familiar place.

Besides my Vienna trip, I also took a trip to Munich and Dachau, where the infamous first concentration camp is. It doesn’t matter how many camps you go to, each one affects you.

In addition to all that, I have been working on projects for my classes, hanging out with my family, cooking christmas cookies with my family, enjoying the cold and beautiful weather when it snows, and awaiting my upcoming trips to Egypt and Greece. We also had a Thanksgiving celebration here at our college and I was able to make some Caramel Apple Pies. It was truly a taste of home.

I hope this finds everyone well and happy. I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving holiday and will have a wonderful few weeks till Christmas.

Liebe,

Dana

Week 2, Holland...

Hi Ya'll,


If you haven't already, you may want to begin reading my first week before starting this one, it will make more sense!! Hope you enjoy! I know it is a lot of reading, it was a lot of typing!

In Groningen, I met Annika on my platform!! It was so great to see her!! We quickly headed to the buses and found our way to her place. She has a really nice apartment where she has a roommate and a nice place to live. We had some sandwiches and I put some clothes into the washer and we just sat around having cappuccino and talking. We then went to her college where she had a meeting and I just used the Internet. Then, we took bikes into the city center. My bike was a little too big, and at one intersection, I kind of fell. But, I was safe and nothing happened, so don’t worry about me!!

In the city center I saw the main town hall and there was a market going on. We bought scarves and found a really cheap store which we looked around in and dreamed of all the things we could buy for so little. We also had some sweets which were really good. Before heading home, we bought groceries for the night to make lasagna.

We made it home and made the lasagna. It was super good. After a week of eating out of a loaf of bread and a jar of jam, lasagna was spectacular! We then watched some TV and I learned how to do JUMP STYLE, a way of dancing. It was so fun. Annika’s friend came over and then we all went into the city center to find some night life. We later found out Fridays are not the night to go out in Groningen. We had fun though dancing in some bars and hanging out, but then we made it back to Annika’s and we went to sleep.

Saturday morning, we woke up and took showers and then headed to Annika’s hometown, Papenburg, Germany. She only lives about an hour away from her family in Germany. I met her mom and her brother. Annika heard about my planned trip to Egypt and she got really interested in going. So, we looked up flight fares, and she decided to come too. Now we have a group of four going to Egypt in December, I am so excited!

Annika took me into her town to do some shopping and see some cool old ships and the city center. Outside of the town hall was a bunch of people. I was really curious as to what was going on. Every day I am amazed at the random traditions Germans and Austrians have…most of them revolving around a reason to drink beer. Annika said the people in front of the town hall were celebrating the birthday of a guy who turned 30 and is unmarried. So, they party and drink beer and collect money and then the guy has to sweep up the front of the town hall.

There was a big pile on the steps when we walked by!! Then, the money that they gather, they stand around and wait for a girl who is a virgin to kiss the birthday guy on the cheek or lips and then give her the money. We saw two girls about 11 years old kiss the guy and get the money. It was so interesting.

Back to Annika’s we went. We ate some really good supper of chicken and other good things. Then, we got ready and went to Annika’s friends house and I got to meet them. As they all speak German, and not all English, I got to try to listen to the conversations as best as I could and try to catch onto some. It was a really good chance for me to work on my German. After hanging around for a bit, we all headed out to the dance club. It was so fun here. I got to dance with Annika and her friends and just have a good time. We also got to try out our JUMP STYLE! That was super.

The night was late, so we headed back home then. Sunday morning, Annika and I met up with her friends again for brunch. We went to this café place with a real brunch buffet. It was so good. But, as I don’t speak very good German, one lady was a little over helpful in telling me what things were in English. She obviously didn’t know how much I knew or didn’t know, but she was definitely VERY helpful. It was just a little funny. Oh well. The way Germans eat though is they get a plate and eat it and then sit around and talk. Then they get another plate and eat, then sit and talk. They get food, eat, sit, talk and repeat for about 2 to 3 hours. It was just so crazy. Definitely not how we do buffets in the States.

After the buffet, Annika took me to the windmill in her town that used to be used to make bread. It was really neat to see how it would have worked at one time and to go to the top and see her town. We then went and got tickets to go to the Cruise Ship Manufacturing Facility.

It was so neat; I got to go to the exact place where those huge fancy cruise liner ships are made. I had no idea they were made in this little town in Northern Germany! The tour was in German, but I was able to understand most of it, and Annika was a great translator when I needed her to be. I hope to go back again to the tour when my German is even better, I will probably learn even more! The main thing I picked up was the fact that American cruise ships always have to be the biggest and the brightest and the most elaborate. The tour guide made many jokes about Americans. It is pretty neat though how this company used to make those old big wooden ships until a son came home one day and told his father they needed to use steel. The rest is history. As I understood it, the company has been in the same family since it was born.

After the tour, Annika and I went back to her place and had some supper. We then went to the movie rental place and got “Save the Last Dance 2.” We went back home and watched that in English. It is a good movie!! We then were off to bed.

Monday morning, we went into town and did some more shopping. Things are so much cheaper up north than here in Salzburg. I didn’t buy too many things, but I did find a coat for only EURO 60. I couldn’t pass up that deal; it was a 2 layer jacket that was waterproof and a really pretty teal blue. Annika also had to find herself some devil horns for her Halloween costume.

Back to her home, we made some awesome pizza and I figured out how I was getting to Dronten, Netherlands and where I was meeting up with Craig. Annika’s mom took us to the train station and we got into Groningen around 4:00. I said good-bye to Annika and then was off to Dronten. I had to stop in Zwolle and take a bus to Dronten, but I finally made it there around 5:00 Monday evening.

I had a map of how to get to Craig’s, but it was a little tricky to figure out at first. After my first attempt failed, I found the right way and made it to Craig’s place on the CAH (Christelijke Agrarische Hogeschool) campus. He goes to an International Agriculture College. There are 130 or so international students and many more Dutch students all studying livestock management, food science, and rural development. Shortly after I met up with Craig, I met some of the other Americans from UW-Platteville who were also studying at this college.

I met Liz, Noah, Chris, Jodi, and also Jenni. They asked me how long I was going to be in Dronten and I told them I didn’t have any plans till the next Monday. They said I was welcome to stay with them in Dronten and then travel with them to Dortmund, Germany that weekend. I was totally thrilled and so happy!! Needless to say, I spent the last week there in the Netherlands with everyone.

I had a great time. Monday night I got to help all the Americans carve pumpkins for their party on Halloween night and then go to their campus pub 6- (six minus). I got to meet people from all over there; from Poland, France, Turkey, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain and other places I don’t remember. I also learned how they hand out beer in a very unique way. They have things long boards that are a meter long and they have holders for 13 beers. So, someone would go up and get a meter of beer for EURO 10 and everyone would drink up that meter before a new person went and got a new one. It was a really new way of distributing beer.

Craig was nice enough to go stay with other friends, and he lent me his bed for the entire week. It was super. He even made me a great egg, ham, and cheese sandwich for breakfast Tuesday morning. I just chilled around at the apartments Tuesday. I also then went into town with the guys to get some things to grill out. So, Tuesday night we made a BBQ out of a little charcoal grill and made brats and hamburgers. It was the best meat I have had since I got to Europe…just a good ole real hamburger on the grill!! After standing around the grill all night, we finally made it inside and watched the great movie, EuroTrip. I had never seen this movie and now I realize some of the great misconceptions people have about Europe and traveling.

Wednesday was a great day to sleep in. When I woke up, I went into town with the guys and they got some great Halloween costumes for the rest of the parties that week. We chilled all afternoon and then I went to Dutch lessons with Liz and Noah that evening. It is so neat how similar Dutch and German are. I don’t know any Dutch, but I was helping Liz out! Pronouncing words is just half of it, and that is so close between the two languages. But, I did learn some Dutch words like how to say Thank You and Please and I don’t know.

Everyone was eventually dressed and we were off to 6- again. Craig was a Pirate, Noah was an Indian, Chris was a Referee, Liz was Daisy Duke, and I wore shorts under a big shirt of Craig’s. I let everyone come up with their own ideas as to what I was. We all had a great time dancing the night away! I met some more of the people from the college and had a good time with Liz dancing all over the place! At the end of the night, I even met some Dutch guys. They were really fun and Liz and I had a super time dancing and chilling with them. After 6- closed, we headed out and hung out with the Dutch guys for awhile at Liz’s place. It is amazing to me just how many typicality’s there are for Dutch guys and Dutch people in general. They are all their own breed! That night I was locked out of Craig’s house, so I crashed on a mattress on Liz’s floor. The next morning I got up and went on my way to Amsterdam.

I was able to explore Amsterdam for a few hours by myself and see many different sites. It was a really crisp, breezy, fall day; but it was nice out. I had no idea, but Amsterdam is such a nice city. It is literally a city on the water; a Venice up north. There are canals everywhere and ‘love’ bridges and nice places just to stroll by at. I just walked around seeing the old buildings and boats and harbors. I also checked out a big street market where any tourist can find their heart’s desire of typical Holland and Netherlands apparel and souvenirs. I also was near where Rembrandt lived and then sat around in the famous and busy Damrak square.

Around 3:00 I was able to go on another free walking tour of the great city of Amsterdam. I had to meet Liz and Craig and Noah at the train station around 5, so I didn’t get to hear the full tour, but I still learned a lot. They tour began by going through the old town. Surprisingly, the old town consists of the Red Light District. This Red Light District has been a part of the city since the very beginning when sailors needed someone or something to pleasure them.

The Red Light District is full of women who are just running a business like any store keeper or business person. There are a lot of rules that go along with this business and it is highly regulated. There is the minimum age of 18 and Pimps are Illegal. However, there is no maximum age, and the oldest lady is 73. She is said to be very experienced! Besides that, the Red Light District really is not the place one should specifically go to see when they go to Amsterdam.

After meeting up with the others, we all just walked around and I bought some really good fresh fries and they bought some souvenirs. We were able to go see where Anne Frank lived and her family’s secret hideout, The Annex. It was almost closing time and we all didn’t want to pay for the tour, so we just got a pamphlet and saw the outside. It was still pretty amazing to see. We walked around some more then headed back to Dronten for a good night of sleep.

Friday came before I knew it! I was so tired; I slept in through most of the morning. After I got myself going, I went into town to do some shopping. There are a lot of cheap stores in Dronten, and I found some really good deals on things I needed that they didn’t have in Salzburg, or were super expensive. I also picked up some food for goulash that night.

Later in the afternoon, I was able to go to the discount store again for their once a month sale. The first Friday of every month, they have an hour where everything in a back building of this discount store for free. So, instead of paying for souvenirs; I got some children’s books in Dutch and some Dutch music. I also got a little wooden shoe! It was super that I didn’t have to pay for any of it!

After that excursion, Jodi, Liz and Noah took me out to the campus farm so I could see some animals! It was so nice. I got to see their milking parlor that is a double 8 herring bone that has been altered to have a different angle for the cows to stand at, so more can fit. It is such a tiny area for 8 cows. But, animals here are just not as big as those in the states. I also saw their sheep and calves and the milking cows. I believe they milk around 70 to 90 cows, I can’t remember very well right now! It was just way great to see the cows! I wished I could have seen them milking and even done some myself, but we had to get back to make some goulash and get ready for another Halloween party.

We made a huge pot of goulash and Jodi had made some delicious cheesecake. I was so stuffed. Everyone was read again, so we headed over to a campus building where the party was to be held. I didn’t dress up this night; I just wore some clothes I had yet to wear on the trip! It wasn’t a huge party, but it was still fun. We stood around and talked and watched the crazy Spaniards be crazy. They really go wild when they party…and they really can not hold their alcohol.

Three Dutch guys had shown up at some time and they were dressed as Dutch Farmers. It was great. They all 3 wore wooden shoes, blue coveralls (it’s a Dutch thing), and then a red handkerchief around their necks. They were superbly dressed! We all just got talking with them and it was so nice! I got to talk about cows and agriculture and those things rather than Mozart and German and History. They were all really nice guys and super to talk to. I think some of them are going to go to the states someday, too.

So, the night was over and we all went home to go to sleep in order to get up and ready to leave in the morning. We all were ready to go and got on our train and made our way to Dortmund, Germany. We were so lucky when we got there that a city festival was going on. We walked around for a really long time and saw amazing food and lots of little handiworks. There were pretzels, brats, potato pancakes, more brats, fresh fries, steaks, and wine and beer. There were tents of people with wooden bowls, potpourri, hand-made baskets, and pens everywhere with calves, goats, chickens, or donkeys. We all ate way too much because it was all so darn good and you just walked around smelling these amazing smells and no one could resist.

We didn’t have much else to do Saturday night, so we went shopping for other things to do. Earlier this week I had asked about prices to get my hair done with color. It was going to cost me an arm and a leg for half of what I wanted to get done. So, I needed my hair done because of my awful roots, and we had nothing else better to do, Liz, Noah, and I bought hair dyeing stuff. Back at our amazing hotel rooms, we went to work!! I did Noah’s full head with blond, Jodi did Liz’s hair in blond highlights, and if you look at the pictures, you will find I now have short, RED hair!

It is something totally new and exciting and I really like this adventure! Oh, and it will come out in 2 months of washings.

So, that was our excitement for the night. We were all dead tired, so we went to bed. Sunday morning, because we were in Germany, there was nothing to do. We walked around the town and then found the festival again. It was starting to open when we got there. So, we walked around again and I bought some really good bread spread and the most amazing Butter Streusel. I was hoping for some French fries, but they hadn’t opened when it was time to leave.

A little before 12, I said good-bye to Craig, Liz, Noah, Jodi, and Chris. They were back to the Netherlands to begin classes again in Dronten then next morning. And I found a train and its connections to Salzburg only a half hour after they left. It was a long ride, but I finally made it home to Salzburg around 9:30 Sunday night the 4th of November.

I had an amazing trip through Northern Europe. I hope to visit Eva again and see the rest of Berlin. I can’t wait to go to Egypt with Annika and then party at the Prom in Dronten in January. I learned so much and I feel like a true traveling champion! I am back at classes here in Salzburg and it is going to be super hard to stay focused for the last 5 weeks of class. I have 3 more days left on my rail pass that I have to use this weekend, so I have another adventure lurking behind the corner! Also, with my college, I will be heading to Vienna in less than 2 weeks, too. I can’t believe I have been over her for over 2 months and time is flying faster and faster as the semester goes on! It is crazy to think, but before I know it, I am going to be flying back home to the States. Wow, I don’t want to think that far ahead…time shouldn’t fly THAT FAST!!

Well, I hope everyone is good and ya’ll enjoy my descriptions of my adventures through Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Holland. I had an unforgettable time and I can’t wait to go traveling again sometime!! I have so many places I need to see yet!

I hope all of you are safe and happy and enjoying whatever you may be doing!

Tschuss!

Dana


Annika and I outside of the City Hall in Groningen!


Wooden shoes everywhere!! Truly a trademark of Holland!
Me on the steps of the city hall in Groningen!

Manning an old wooden ship in Papenburg. I would make the cutest captain...don't you think?

At the place where they make these amazing cruise ships. It was so interesting and our tour guide was so funny!

More wooden shoes. Don't they look good on me? I think so!

House of Anne Frank and where her family's hideout, The Secret Annex, was! Liz and I posing!
More wooden shoes, it is just amazing how they are everywhere!!

The Double-8 herring-bone like parlor at the campus farm of CAH.

Me, wearing boots finally, and chilling with the calves!! I totally didn't realize how much I missed cows and animals!! They also had sheep at the farm and pigs and chickens which I didn't see.
A meter of beer. A unique way of selling beer at Bar 6- in Dronten.

All dressed up for Halloween! We had a sheep, witch, Daisy Duke, and Pirate-Argh!!

In Dortmund, Germany. Just posing in this little car with Craig!

Partying with the Dutch guys, Mishel, Tom, and Douwe, and Jodi and Liz! We had so much fun!

Noah with blonde hair, me with RED hair, and Liz with blond highlights...we had a whole beauty parlor in our Hotel in Dortmund!

Week 1, Traveling with Esther

Esther and her friend, Eva!

The Hotel where Micheal Jackson held his child outside over the balcony. This is in Berlin!

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. It shows all the differences in people, shapes and sizes. Also, if you were to walk through the blocks, you would eventually have them overpowering you and be walking on uneven ground. This was to show how Jews were just overtaken and the rode was always unpredictable. The Berlin wall.

Check-Point Charlie-a main checkpoint into Berlin from the West where people were stopped and checked for the right papers, passports, and visas.

Hello everyone,

I just finished my 2 week travel break. It was great fun and here are all the details about my adventures beginning with my first week traveling with Esther, my roomie!

No one really could have guessed it, but Esther and me traveling together causes unfortunate circumstances. It all began even before our trip started. Each one of us, Esther and I, bought a Eurail pass on the very same day. We knew our parents sent them to Austria on the very same day. Esther’s pass came one day, but mine didn’t. Two days before we were supposed to leave, my pass was still not here in Salzburg. The day before traveling…still not here. I talked to my host parents and my host mom was saying how she got a rail pass. I was told numerous times that I could not buy a rail pass here, nor could I have the company send one to me here. On the Friday before we left, I went to go check with the travel agent about tickets to get back to Salzburg in order to see if my pass would come on Monday. They were super expensive. Before I left the travel agency, however, I asked her about rail passes. They had them! And I could buy one…here!! It was so exciting…I bought my rail pass and our trip was back in order again!

Esther and I left Saturday morning around 6:00 am. It was a little bit of an early morning, but by the end of the day we would be in Gieβen, Germany with Esther’s friend Eva. Our trip was going super. We had four or five connections, but the day was moving by really fast. Then, while I was in the bathroom, Esther had a revelation. I came back to my seat to find her telling me that she had left HER rail pass at home in Salzburg. I started laughing. It was just hilarious that I had almost completely stopped most of our travels, and now the situation had switched. It was clear we would not be getting to go to Paris. This was the plan when I didn’t have mine too (skip Paris and hope my pass came before heading to Hamburg or Berlin). Both Esther and I decided that we were not supposed to go to Paris on our trip. Obviously God is trying to tell us something!!

We made it to Gieβen, Germany and we met up with Esther’s friend, Eva. We made it to her place and got settled in. We then had to decide how we were going to get Esther’s rail pass. I decided I would use my rail pass and go back to Salzburg and get her’s for her. So we looked up train connections and planned our next days after I got her pass. We decided we were off to Berlin after getting Esther’s pass. So, after being on the Internet all afternoon, Eva made a huge supper of really good spaghetti. It was super. Then we got ready and went out on the town for a few hours!! We went to a little place called HAARLEM. It is just a basement pub/dance club. We had a good time chilling and dancing until we were all too tired and then we went back to Eva’s to sleep till late Sunday morning.

Not much in open anywhere in Europe on Sundays. So, we decided to try practice our German skills and we went to Ratatouille! It was such a great and funny film. I didn’t understand all of it, but I could follow what was happening. I was really impressed with how well I actually followed though! After the movie, we hung out and chilled and then Eva made us some eggs and egg roll things for supper. After eating, it was time for me to pack up and head back to Salzburg. I took a train to Frankfurt, and then got on my night train to Salzburg. It was a long night, and I got in a little later than planned, but I eventually made it to my house in Salzburg. I literally found Esther’s pass, ate a little cake for breakfast, and then was out the door again to catch my next train back to Frankfurt.

Because we had a change in plans, we of course missed our train to Paris and our train from Paris to Hamburg. And then, in Frankfurt, I got in off my train, found Esther, but then we had to validate her rail pass before we could use it on the train to Berlin. So, we missed our first train to Berlin and finally validated Esther’s pass, we got on the next one! We made it into Berlin, and found our Hostel. We walked around a little before heading back to watch a movie with our roommate and then calling it a night.

The next morning, Tuesday, we slept in to refuel our bodies, and then we were out on the town to learn all the history and great things Berlin had to offer. We also found out they have free walking tours of the city that last 4 hours long. We headed to check those out.

The tour turned out to be the best thing we could have done in Berlin. We got to see all the cool buildings of parliament and embassies and the Brandenburg Gate. We learned that the first settlers of Berlin were fishermen and found this swamp area and made it their landing spot. This swamp turned into Berlin. The city’s name, Berlin, means ‘swamp’ in those first settlers native language! We also learned other cool facts like this and saw the Berlin wall, Check-point Charlie, Hitler’s Bunker, and the Holocaust Memorial. Berlin is FULL of history and things to see. I wish we had more time that one day to explore it all. After the tour we went back to the hostel and watched another little movie and met some other roomies from Holland. They totally made fun of our accents and how we said names of towns in the Netherlands.

And, I also…CUT MY HAIR!! Right down from our hostel was a place advertising EURO 15 hair cuts. I was so excited, it was the cheapest I had seen since getting to Europe, and I was in dire need of a hair cut. So, earlier that morning I had made an appointment, and that night I got my hair cut off. You can see in the photos how much of my hair was cut off. It was so much fun! It is especially fun now to come back to Salzburg and surprise everyone here, too.

After getting my hair cut, we chilled around the hostel and then we went exploring again. I was hoping to go up into this round globe thing that is on top of a congress building, but when we got there, it was closed. I thought I had heard the tour guide say it was open till midnight, but it was only open till 10 pm. That stunk, but Berlin was so pretty at night anyways. Back to the hostel, we grabbed some food at the local grocery store quickly, and then we went to bed.

Well, again, Esther and I together…equals disaster. We were going to wake up around 5:30 and take showers and get ready and be to our train by 6:55. We woke up at 6:40. My alarm never saved the time!!! So, I quickly jumped out of bed, got Esther up and we quickly through our stuff together, took off our bedding, checked out, and ran to the train station.

We had to take an inner-city tram to the main train station and quickly got on the first one we saw. We got to the main train station and I told Esther which track to go to and I said we had to run because we only had 1 minute. So, off the train I ran and quickly got down to the train and looked behind me…ESHTER WAS NOT THERE. I ran up the stairs again, looked down to see Esther at the far end where NOTHING was and I watched as our train to Copenhagen pulled away. It was so sad.

Somehow Esther didn’t remember the track I had just told her and she didn’t see where I had gone, so she didn’t get down to the train in time. We were so close.

So, we had to make brand new connections and wait around for another hour and then get on a longer train and finally after way too long of a train trip, we made it to Copenhagen. Now in Copenhagen, we had to find our hostel. The buses were messed up and the directions to the hostel were not very clear. So, we walked around a bit and finally asked a bus driver if he went to this one street. We had to pay FOUR DOLLARS for a ten minute ride on the bus. We got off and then walked the wrong way and after walking around FOREVER, we finally made it to our hostel which cost us WAY TOO MUCH MONEY. Both Esther and I were pretty much so frustrated and annoyed with traveling and money and we were drained.

Thankfully there was free Internet to use, so we used that for awhile and just hung around. I didn’t want to waste any more time, so I wanted to go out and see the city a little. Esther just wanted to go to bed. She went to be and I went out for a really nice walk around the streets of Copenhagen. It was a fresh night, a little chilly, but really nice. I found a little lake area and walked around that for awhile. I eventually went back to the hostel and wrote in my journal and then also headed to bed. Tomorrow was a new day, and I had hoped it would be a much better day.

Luckily, the next day was so much better. We woke up early and got showered, locked up our luggage, and headed to the train station. We were going to Malmo, Sweden!! We found a train and headed to a brand new country. We got to this small city and walked around all morning. It was so nice. We saw harbors with big boats and a Finnish cruise Ship, saw a big windmill, and the tallest building in Sweden. Lets just say the tall building was anything but impressive…it looked like one of our silos at home which you can see everywhere!! It was so tiny looking and not tall at all!!

We also so a real open air fish market. It was really little shanties that people were selling huge whole fresh fish at. Then, we walked into this garden area and took a lot of photos. We found a lot of good places for ‘senior pictures.’ It was a lot of fun chilling and enjoying the nice fall day. Malmo was so pretty. With nothing else to see, we headed back to the train station to go back to Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen, we wandered around the city of a million bikes and saw some cool statues, old buildings, twisted sculptures, lots of water and ships again, and then we made it to the Mermaid. We saw the infamous Mermaid that sits on a rock in one of the harbors. It really is interesting. It is nothing huge or really fancy, but it really is meaningful I believe for those of Denmark and Copenhagen. We had nothing else to see and got some ice cream then headed back to the hostel. We picked up our luggage and went towards the train station. We still had a lot of time to kill, so we just sat in this one area watching some musicians perform and talked till it was time to catch our trains.

We found our trains and I found my compartment. I had the entire compartment to myself and I was alone the whole night. I wrote in my journal and read my book and was able to have a full area to stretch out and sleep. I woke up in time to change trains and around 11:30 I made it into Groningen, Netherlands to start my second week!

It was a very exhausting and crazy week, but Esther and I had such a blast and saw many things and had a lot of fun.

I hope you enjoy all of my adventures, I know there is a lot to read though!

Later,

Dana

Memorial for the book burnings that were done in Berlin outside of the Humboldt University. Over 20,000 books were burned. The memorial here is a place below the street with enough shelves that would hold 20,000 books.

Brandenburg Gate at night, a symbol of Berlin.

The Turning Torso...the tallest building in Sweden!

The open air fish market in Malmo, Sweden.

The Mermaid at the Harbor in Copenhagen, Denmark.

BEFORE AFTER

Traveling

Hello everyone,

Right now I have just finished going to four different countries in 24 hours!! I was in Sweden yesterday morning, Denmark yesterday evening, in Germany all last night and this morning, and then I made it into the Netherlands this morning, too!! I never knew it was really possible!!

I am currently on my two week break from my college. I have been to GieSen, Germany to visit my roommate's friend, Eva, back to Salzburg to pick up Esther's rail pass she forgot (I know, I cant believe it either), stayed in Berlin for two nights, went to Copenhagen and toured this city and Malmo, Sweden, and I went back through Germany to meet up with Annika here in Groningen, Netherlands. I was unable to go to Paris as Esther needed her rail pass.

I have seen so much and learned a lot too in Berlin about Germany's history. It is so great to be out traveling and seeing all this. I knew I wanted to travel, but until you really start going places, you dont realize just how much there is out there to see and do. I would not have guessed two years ago that I would be going all over the place in Europe and beyond! I just can't believe myself all that I am expereincing here!

Well, I just wanted to update everyone on my status here in Europe. I will be staying with Annika until Monday then I will be visiting another friend, Craig. I am not sure where I will end my two weeks, but I think I will check out Amsterdam and/or Brussels before heading back to Salzburg by November 5.

Hope all is well wherever you may be and I will tell you more about my adventures when I get back into Salzburg. I will also be posting pictures of everything I have seen!

Later,

Dana