|
August 27, 2012 2:55 pm Hi everyone, greetings from Germany! The adventure has been just that so far. It started by me nearly missing my flight in Atlanta. When I got to the gate the gal asked if I was Kimberly Jensen to which I replied. She said they were about to pull my luggage. I still had 15 min to departure so I didn't understand the urgency, non the less I made it. We had engine trouble leaving so after sitting on the Tarmac for nearly an hour they took us back to the gate where we sat for another hour. We got under way about 2 hours late. Not much sleeping for me on the plane, I was pretty anxious to get there. After Adriana and Bella picked me up we went downtown Stuttgart and walked about the shopping area. If you're from Denver it is similar to the 16th street mall. Then I had my first German bier... Yum! It was just after midnight when I got to finally lay down. Not for long though as we were up at ten to six to drive over to Luzern Switzerland. What a beautiful place. We did the full tour which included a ferry ride around the lake, a ride on "the worlds steepest cogg rail, gondola ride down and then a ride back to town on the bus. best 100 bucks I ever spent. The views were incredible, I've attached a few for you to see. They were having a mountain man marathon, these crazy people ran/hiked/ crawled from the base to the top . It had to be at least 85 degrees on top of the mountain so you know what it was like on the way up. We started to head down the mountain to late so we didn't get to do the rope course like I wanted but we did do the toboggan ride which was fun. Remo the ride operator was mighty cute.... Thank you Remo! Haha. By the time we got home it was after 1030 and we pretty much collapsed. Back up at 530 to catch a train to Munchen (Munich). After 3 hours and 3 trains we finally made it. We only had 20 minutes to get from the main train station to the bike rental place for our bike tour so we hoofed it like no other. It had to be the hottest day of the year so before we even got on the bikes I was nice and sticky. The tour itself was great, it is a wonderful way to see any city plus you get some of the history from the entertaining tour guide. We went through the main city park (English Gardens I think) and they have a nudist section. Luckily I only saw one wrinkly butt. Ewwwweeeee. All the locals hang out there like we do on the beach, they built a man made water park if you will that provides a lazy river you can float down. They also have a "German" surf spot that is a lot like the wave house (stationary wave). It was pretty neat to watch them. Best part of the bike tour was the bier (beer) garden stop. Yum! We finished the day frolicking in the fountain on the way back to the train station. It was a much needed cool down before boarding the train for our three hour journey back. W got back to the house at 11 and I think Adriana and I stayed up until 1 or so trying to call and Skype peeps. Monday was a much needed day of rest and relaxation. I think I slept until almost 1130....whoa... Don't know the last time I slept past 9. Guess I really needed it. Today (Tuesday) I'm flying solo to Dresden where I will have my first hostel experience. I'm a little nervous but what are you going to do.... Have to start somewhere. Signing off for now... Write to you soon! August 27, 2012 2:57 pm Hallo..... Here I sit on a train to Amsterdam. A bit stressed because I'm going to miss my connecting train in Dusseldorf. Hopefully I'm not stuck here for hours, I'm operating on 4 hours of sleep. Those that know me know that is not enough!! ;0). I think I last left you on my way to Dresden. The hostel was great, not as scary as I was left believing after seeing the movie...haha. The first night I bunked with a real nice kid from S Korea. The second I shared with a couple. It was a bit of a learning curve on my first foreign solo trip. Made the mistake of not mapping out my course so I really just ended up wandering around aimlessly. I only got to see one of the sights on my list. I did however see pleny of beautiful architecture which I had a good time oohing and ahhing over. Did a little bit of people watching too, that in itself was a real sight. I also got to see and hear three real good thunderstorms while I was there. Most people would pout about that but being the loon that I am I actually enjoyed it. The best was the boomer around 6am on Wed. It was really neat to wake up to the smell of rain and the sounds of the storm. A few shots from Dresden: Got back from there early Thursday and had some time to relax before Adriana and I set off for Brussels Belgium on Friday. Adriana booked a bed and breakfast and i was really impressed by the place. It was more like an apartment complete with a kitchen, a separate bedroom and a terrace to enjoy the rain from. I think the host may have had a crush on one of us because he was exceptionally accommodating. We were able to see all of the sights we had on our list including the statue of the little boy. If you don't know what that is look it up. On our way to see the little girl peeing ( a statue erected for equality) we went thru a really neat area filled with shops, bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Along the way we met two women from Maine who are now living in Amsterdam. I got their contact information and I will be in touch during my stay in Amsterdam. What are the chances of that! Anyway in that little "happy" district there was one spot where all these guys lined the streets trying to lure people into the restaurants. I received several marriage proposals and God only knows what other proposals that I couldn't understand. It was quite entertaining. Brussels is a directional nightmare even for those whom pride themselves on directional ability. The streets run every which way but straight and I'm pretty sure the maps are backwards. None the less we did manage to get back to home base with little frustration. Thank God for Adriana being there with me, even though it was her first time there she was quite the go getter. I would have been overwhelmed the second I got off the plane. I've never seen a busier or more chaotic airport. Here are some pics of Brussels: This next pic shows a ceiling that was done with the wings of Japanese Beatles. VERY cool. We got home really late last night and I was up at 515 to catch my train to Amsterdam. I is sleepy, but I'm happy to report I only had to wait an hour for the net train to Amsterdam after missing the first. I suppose that's it for now. I'm going to send another email with pictures from Munich because I was told those did not come thru. My best to you all, talk to you soon! September 5, 2012 10:51 am Hard to believe its my last week of vacation. Here I sit on my bed in London thinking how in the hell am I going to make it thru four more days of walking, sightseeing and sweating. Haha. Really though this has been more then I could have ever imagined. I've seen and experienced so much joy and excitement and wonder in the last two weeks, I don't know why I waited so long to take this trip. I think I last left you on my way to Amsterdam. I had a bit of trouble finding the bed and breakfast initially and after about an hour of dragging my suitcase around on cobblestone I bit the bullet and made the phone call. Turns out I'd past it twice and I had to head back towards the train station. When I got there I was a bit taken aback by the place. It was some guys house and I literally had a just a bed to sit on. To make things a bit stranger there was no lock on my bedroom door. After freshening up I set out for a little sight seeing and I have to say I've never seen anything like it. I pretty much went into panic mode and I was back in the room at 730 to stay. I didn't realize that the place I was staying was on the edge of the red light district. I saw enough "shifty eyes" and scantly clad ho's to last a lifetime. After talking with my girlfriend for about an hour in a half I decided to sit on the front porch for a little while to observe. I'm really glad I did that because the vibe was a lot different than it was earlier in the evening. There were people walking around, music and lots of others out enjoying the beautiful night. I decided that I would make it a point to get out the next night. I set out really early the next morning and was able to see all the sights I wanted to see on the first day. After resting for a little bit I took a stroll around the infamous red light district. I found a little bar and sat on the patio for a few hours just people watching and drinking some yummy Amstel. I did meet some Brits that were mighty entertaining... Did i mention they were mighty intoxicated? All the while I was thinking I really wish I had someone to share the experience of Amsterdam with. Next time I go there I surely want a road dawg to travel with. On my final morning the host I was staying with offered me a boat ride around the canals on his boat. It was a great way to end my time in Amsterdam. After returning from there I had a day or so to relax before Adriana and I set off for Paris. I'm not sure if it's because I was tired or just had too high of expectations but Paris has been the least favorite part of my trip. Don't get me wrong it was beautiful but I just didn't get the same fulfillment that I had from from the other cities I've visited. We did do a night bike tour the first night and that was tons of fun. I volunteered to be the ass of the group which basically meant I would ride in the back of the pack to make sure everyone stayed together. I actually thought I might be killed. The guide told us he wanted us to ride in one big pack and basically take up the road. We were riding in a bike & bus lane but the taxi cabs just thought they owned the place. We had one guy that basically just laid on his horn and was extremely close to my back tire trying to intimidate me. Having the power of selective hearing I was able to deal with the horn but when he started revving his engine and getting a little too close for comfort the curse words started flying. I guess I pissed him off because at the next "exit" he served out and served back in breaking up our pack. He did actually hit the back tire of our guides bike. Funny enough he did that right in front of the police so needless to say he got a talking to. As we rode by....."Merci" was repeated several times. As a special treat the bike tour included a short boat ride and our tour guide brought along a few bottles of wine for us to enjoy. It was a great opportunity to chat with some of the other people on the tour and we met a lot of really neat people. We ended up going for dinner or really a midnight snack with a few people afterwards. The next day we went to the Eiffel tower, Noter Dame and the Sacre Couer. I was very moved by the feeling of being inside that establishment. It was truly spectacular. Later in the evening we went to the Moulin Rouge for a few pictures. We were going to watch the show but decided the $130 it would of cost was much better spent eating or shopping. So we had a bit of a photo shoot and headed back to the hotel. |
|
|