The Month of May, Part I

I literally haven't blogged in a month. The one thing that have been holding me down is simply the amount of pictures I've taken and editing them all. I will have to do the last month in parts since one, its a lot of material, and 2, I am leaving tomorrow for Berlin and Torun, Poland to visit friends.

I knew by the end of the month of May (the 25th to be exact) I would have to use up my Eurail Pass. I still had 6 days and wanted to get all I could out of it. I started planning a trip to Barcelona, Paris, Madrid and some other cities. With time constraints, my friends in those cities having finals, and me having classes, it ended up only being Barcelona and Paris. I also knew I would meet up with my brother which was, at the beginning of the month, supposed to be in Prague, but then was changed to Berlin. I also wanted to be in Eichstätt for my 21st Birthday. There was a lot of planning and it all worked out luckily.

During the first few weeks, I hiked to the mountain near Eichstätt where one could find fossils with some new foreign friends. I found myself a cool one of a plant, which now lays on my desk as a cool, natural paperweight. There were also a bunch of semester-starting parties, including a Suit Up party. My friends who watch How I Met Your Mother would have loved that one. Another cool party was when the local student bar took up the whole building it is in and made a 3-story club. The Ingolstadters came to party with, which just made it that much crazier. I abused the Pfand system and I think I made money that night instead of paying for drinks.

---The  Pfand----
Germany, being an environmental country, has adopted a Pfand system focused on the reuse and recycling of bottles and glasses. Two main examples: at a large grocery store, there will be a drink market, where you can buy a case of your favorite beverage, be it water, beer, or something else. On top of paying for the beer, you pay something like 3 Euros for the case and the bottles. Once you bring the case back, you get those 3 Euros back. In all a nice case of 20 beers at a half liter each will be 13 Euro. Super cheap. The Pfand also works in Biergartens and some bars/clubs. When you get a beer in a giant Maß or even in a half liter, you pay 1 or 2 Euro more just for the glass. You then bring it back and get your money back....or leave with it and get a cheap souvenir. Heh.
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So I had racked up a lot of Pfand coins from previous nights at this place when I had forgotten to get it back. That night, the Pfand was a Euro or two more than normal, so I would find an empty glass, bring it back, and cash in. Also, Dylan and I got a crazy good price on drinks form this one bartender and ended up paying 50 cents each. In all, it was a good night and beginning to the semester.

The next weekend, I tried to see Martin Solveig in Munich, but was rejected. I think I was wearing the wrong clothes - the club he was playing at was super chic. Well damn them, if I need to dress up super nice in order to rage. I then went with my friend elsewhere. Whatever Martin...you need to play at better, less exclusive clubs.

Classes in Germany then started getting real. I ordered a bunch of books in English that my professors recommended. All I have been doing is reading...SO MUCH reading. The best thing is practically all subjects are new. I'm learning about the history of the english language, about perception in psychology, and about the failure of the Weimar Republic. I'm learning about the revolutionary times in Latin America and the dialects of the german language (not officially signed up in this class anymore). It is fun to take a break from biology and music, but I do miss them...especially biology. I have been reading every Science that my mom brought with her when she came. Thank god I am taking psychology, because it has something to do with the brain and sometimes we go into physiological details. Oh yeah...and I'm taking all of these classes in GERMAN, if you didn't know, which tends to hurt my brain, but I'm learning a language after being introduced to it 20 months ago. The problem with getting talked at so much is my ability to understand is far greater than ability to speak and write, since I don't use the words I hear in conversation. I've realized this and have been keeping a piece of binder paper at every class where I write down words I don't know or don't use in conversation but I hear from the professor. I am trying to incorporate these words into everyday conversation which would be hard for a word like Reize, which means stimulus (from psychology). You get the idea though.

So from the 20th to the 26th of May, I made my way to Barcelona and Paris. I end in this part with the first night in Barcelona, since I only have part of Barcelona's and part of Bern's pictures edited and uploaded.

The Regiobahn (Regional Train) was perfectly on time to Munich on Friday the 20th, where I caught a train to Karlsruhe, close to the border of France. The plan was to go from Karlsruhe to Bern and form Bern to Barcelona on an overnight train. I had already paid for the mandatory reservation on that sleep train, but unfortunately I never go there. My train from Karlsruhe to Bern was 30 minutes behind schedule when the conductor announced that we weren't even going to go into Switzerland because 1) we were so late and 2) there was an accident further down the tracks.

Everyone had to get off, get on a train to Heitersheim, in the middle of nowhere, where we were then bussed to another stop, and THEN got on a train to Basel. I have no idea where I went after Heitersheim, I just followed every one else. When I got to Basel, I was still 1.5 hours form Bern, I had originally planned for a little lateness, but by the time I got to Bern, I was 2.5 hours late for my overnight train.

The bus did take us through part of the German wine country. On there and on the next train, I sat with this cool girl about my age. She was half Greek and half Swiss and spent half of her life in both countries. Ever now and again, she would get a call from her parents in Zürich, and, depending on who called, she would talk in perfect Greek or perfect Swiss german. She then would speak to me in high-german and perfect english. DAMN. I feel lazy after I meet people like this. When we got into Basel, she helped me find out what train I had to take to Bern. THANK YOU! I never even caught your name, but thanks for the help!

The bus ride through the country was nice even though I knew I wasn't going to make it. The scenery, light summer rain, and a FULL rainbow over the vineyards made me think my irish luck wouldn't run out and I would make the train. It did  run out and I didn't make it.

I got into Bern around 11 pm and went to the first hotel I saw. Looking back, I could have found a hostel or a cheaper hotel, but at that moment I was done searching for anything, exhausted, and didn't care about money. I went to the reception, explained my story, and the guy took off 40 Euro from my room rate. I spent about $80 that night in what I think is my first time in a hotel/hostel room alone. Again, didn't care about money at that point. I got a well-deserved Swiss beer from the mini-fridge and went on the internet. I saw there was a train at 12:34 to Barcelona. I woke up early, trying to make the most of this set-back, and walked around Bern for 2 hours. As I was searching for my camera a long-ago-written list of things to do in Europe fell out. One of the 5 things was to go to Bern and swim in the Aare River. I didn't swim in it because no one else was, but I did scratch off Bern form the list.

The start of the tour around Bern was disappointing, simply because I was upset, tired, and in a shitty mood from the happenings of the previous day. I kept thinking - cool another european city, nice architecture, nice people good food, anything new? Then, as if Mother nature heard the question, I saw in the distance those bones of the Earth - the Alps. They were huge, their outlines fading into puffy clouds. In fact, I am now on the train to Geneve and I can still see them in the distance. Then my mood changed. Here are some pictures of my short walk around the city:

I forgot Bern was the capital and Switzerland goes by its Latin name, Helvetica.

Everyone seemed rich.

Always construction in Europe these days

The Aare River 

Just like germany, dogs can read that they must wait outside!

I got back to my hotel, checked out, and went to the train station across the street. I couldn't get reservations in Bern for the french TGV trains that I needed to take to Barcelona, so I caught an earlier train to Geneve, where there was a french ticket office.

That line about luck running out shouldn't have been said. In Geneve, I wen to the ticket office and got my waiting-number - 161. They were on number 142. I cursed a lot in my mind. I only had 50 minutes to get a reservation and get through security. I walked to the courtesy computer and it said I couldn't buy tickets because I was too late and kindly asked me to go to the counter. I waited. 143. 144. 145, and so on. Finally my number was called. I told a quick version of my story to the lady and she cooked up some reservations for me. For one of the trains I would have had to pay 90 Euro and she waived it, making the Deutsche Bahn (German Train System) look really bad compared to the Swiss.

Why I love Switzerland right now:

1. Their trains are to-the-second on-time
2. They are nice and waive large fees for poor students (hotels and trains)
3. It's !@#$ing beautiful! Lausanne was probably the prettiest town I've ever seen.

Now I am on a TGV train to Montpellier, where I then take another one to Figueres, right across the border in Spain. The name of the ticket controller that just passed by me is Yoda. Do the French have a sense of humor or what? At least his parents do.

The French countryside is riddled with green rolling hills which lead to green-covered mountains which are topped with white bare rock, some times cliffs, sometimes castles, and sometimes windmills. Other than that, all I saw were vineyards. Do the french people only eat grapes and drink wine? I shall find out in a few days. I am on my last train now from Figueres to Barcelona. Before we go further, let's do a rundown of how screwed up my plans became because of one accident.

Original Plan:
3 Trains
Arrive at 10 am on the 21st

Actual:
9 Trains, 1 Bus
Arrived at 11 pm on the 21st

In all, I was not that late. At least the hostel I booked still gets my business.

The last train was awesome, in the old definition. I saw the Mediterranean I think for the first time. The train followed the coast the whole time. The cypress trees, ocean, and hills reminded me of home. We then got to the Pyrenees around sunset. I never knew they were so large - I though the were more like the Appalachians. We eventually went through them using a tunnel and am now I'm a half hour from my destination. Emma texted me and we got our plans ready for tonight. Will, Emma, and Mia are the three people I'll be meeting in Barcelona. I'm pretty stoked.

Once in Barcelona, I took the very easy metro system to my hostel and checked in. 12 euro a night. As I was getting settled, one of my room mates introduced himself. He had a german accent, so after 2 sentences in English, I switched to German. My room mates were all German punk, really cool people. On my way to Will's apartment, I picked up some champagne for Emma's birthday. The security at his place is crazy, so I had to walk in, pass his security card through a gate on the other side of the complex and then Will could get in.

Will, Emma, and I (Mia was out on the town) sat in Will's kitchen and talked until the wee hours of the morning, catching up and such. It was nice seeing friends after 2 days of not seeing anyone I knew, which is a long time if you've ever had that happen.

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Since it is late and I go to Berlin tomorrow, I shall stop here. The next post, Part II, should contain the rest of my trip to Barcelona and Paris, my trip to see Daniel in Berlin, my hike to a Roman Fort, Nick's visit and Neuschwanstein Schloss, and my upcoming trip to Berlin and hopefully Poland.