Back in Good Ol' PDX

Hey Everyone, Today is my final blog about my trip. Sorry about all the spelling errors in my last blog, I was in a rush to board the plane and typing on my phone. Anyway, I will pick up from where I left off. The Jewish Museum was fantastic and I totally recommend it!! It is huge and even though I was there for three hours I only saw about half of it. At that point though I was reaching an astronomical level of Hanger (remember that's hunger/anger) and I needed to get out of there before I murdered. Random fact, The Jewish Museum was the only place I went in all of Europe (other than the airport) that had a metal detector you had to walk through. They also made me carry my backpack on my chest. Not sure what this was supposed to prevent. I actually think it would make it easier to steal valuables... Anyway, I left the museum and made it back on the appropriate bus, sustaining myself on an apple. I was pretty tired just from being on a train all day and then walking through the museum. Back at the train station I committed one of the most egregious sins of my trip. I am ashamed to say I ate at a McDonald's. In my defense both an Austrian and a German told me to try it because it was different than in the States. The only difference I noticed was that the burger was colder and they gave me mayo for my fries instead of ketchup (I do not understand this obsession with my least favorite condiment-they put it on everything). Anyway, I apologize for the lapse in judgment. I would have done much better with a currywurst. After my "meal" I found the bus stopto take me to Tegel Airport. A couple of things to know about TXL: 1. TXL is one of the worst airports I have ever been to (it rivals Oakland). 2. If you want to spend the night atthis airport there will only be five of the most uncomfortable benches to sleep on and you will have to battle the homeless for a seat. 3. No single female should spend the night in that airport. It was the only time on my trip where I really felt like I had done something foolish and was scared for my life. 4. At first look TXL appears to be a very recycling friendly airport until you realize that the people collecting the bottles out of the trash are nOt janitors but rather the same homeless people who will be gently snoring on the bench next to you. 5. Next year TXL will no longer exist because someone in Berlin realized it was an eyesore. I have got to say. Having a flight out of a foreign city at 6am is quite a conundrum. Obviously you have to be to the airport by 4am for an international flight. I suppose you could get a hotel and sleep for a couple of hours but that seems like such a waste of money. It seems like such a better idea to find an uncomfortable bench to lay on, realize you aren't going to be able to sleep because that homeless guy is eyeing you (or sleeping with his eyes open), hug your purse to your chest and your chocolate even closer, and read 520 pages of a book to keep you awake. Yeah, that seems like a much better plan... After what seemed an eternity (9 hours) the airport opened at 4am. I met a lovely older lady named Winnie who let me put my stuff on her cart and talked to me in American English (never before had I realized what a pleasure that was). We boarded our flight to Amsterdam and I literally fell asleep before we took off and only woke up when the landing gear touched down in Amsterdam. I was a little disoriented and this is when I came to believe that I lost my luggage. This was because after I got off the plane you walk through baggage claim and then customs before you can reach the rest of the airport. I assumed everyone had to pick-up their bag and recheck it and nearly cried when the luggage track went by for the six hundreth time and my backpack full of chocolate was nowhere to be found. I went to the KLm window looking tearful only to be told that my bag had been checked all the way through to Portland! Score!! I made it to my gate and boarded my flight back to PDX. Some things to know about international flying: 1. Whenever possible it is important to ride on a plane that is less than half full because there will be whole middle aisles free for sleeping on. 2. It is also important to realize this fact before everyone else on the plane and you are just left with your window seat and the seat next to it. 3. Two seats is not really even enough to curl up in a small ball in. 4. It is disorienting to leave one country at 10:30 am and arrive the same day only one hour later. 5. Plane food never seems to get better and I am not sure a human actually makes these recipes. Does anyone actually taste that crap before making hundreds of hungry people choke it down? 6. No matter how hard you try jet lag always happens. Well I made it into PDX and got through customs with no trouble at all. I probably could have smuggled in the meat I left at Helen's with none the wiser. My baby brother picked me up and away I went. My return home has been great. My cat is huge and fat and my boyfriend has been loving and sweet. I am glad to be home and so proud of myself for going on this adventure!!! Thanks for reading! Cheers!

Trying to get from Here to There

Hey Everyone, I am exhausted so this will probably not be as funny or as long as normal. You don't have to read about my woes I jus want to remember them for some torturous reason. Yesterday morning Helen walked me and my backpack full of chocolate to the train station at hat felt like the crack of dawn. This was the first that I did not have to change trains or risk half my train being left behind in order to get to my destination. I was on a direct fast train to Berlin. Yeah, Berlin is about six hours away so my day was mostly spent sleeping and reading. Upon arrival to Berlin I not only managed to get off at the right stop (there are three that say "Berlin something", I also managed to find the baggage office and lock my bag up. The purpose of this was so that I could do a little sightseeing. I had a pretty strong desire to go to the Jewish Museum so I went to the tourism office and talk to not a very nice man who directed me to the buses. Ladies and gents, I am now such a pro qt traveling in Europe that I could find my bus and get off at the right spot without ever having been there before. I am now an expert at reading maps. I alsO was then able to walk myself through a sketchy part of town to find myself qt my desired destination. The Jewish Museum is amazing and only 5 euros so completely recommend it. Apparently my plane is boarding I will finish later. Ciao!!

Bread Museum, and the Stairway to Heaven has 764 steps

Hi friends,

Today is my last full day in Ulm, Germany.  Helen and I greeted the day by chowing down on large quanitites of bread and cheese.  This led us to the desire to know and understand bread in a more deeply personal way, so off we went to the Bread Museum.  What, a bread museum?  Yes, the Germans love their bread so much that they want the rest of us to know all about it.  In case you were curious the Germans still believe in the old food pyramid of 6-11 serving of bread a day (I love these people).  You would think I would come out of there more important bread facts but the only thing I truly came away with was those who were in the Bread Guild (kind of like the cult of people from The DaVinci Code) sat in chairs with pretzel shaped backs so people would know how important they were.  Also, there are supposed to be 9 billion people in the world by 2030.  Completely unnrelated to bread, but I think the Germans were trying to make the point of if we are going to invite that many more people to dinner we are going to have to make some more bread.  Not so fun fact, the Bread Museum does not sell bread.  They are missing out on a small fortune.

From there Helen and I went to a cafe outside of the Munster which is basically a Gothic or neo-Gothic church.  We ate delcioius cake and coffee in preparation for climbing to the top of the tallest steeple in all of Europe.  Let's just say, it did not prepare me for what was ahead.  764 stairs is about 760 more stairs than I ever really want to climb.  However, the view was breathtaking.  I could almost see Flo and Sarah's house in Austria.  And by that I mean I could sort of see the Austrian Alps through the haze of clouds.  Fun factoid: after getting married couples climb to the top of the steeple and put locks on the bars surrounding the steeple engraved with their wedding date to symbolize their eternal love.  Pretty adorable.  By the time we reached the bottom of the stairs my legs were completely jelloid.

From there Helen and I found a biergarten to sit and drink beer in, cause what else would you do?  We talked about boys and strolled through a park just enjoying a meandering afternoon.  Lovely.

Tomorrow I go on another big adventure.  I arise at the crack of dawn to go on the "fast" train to Berlin.  I will arrive around 2pm and then I get to explore and go to some more museums.  I will have until about 10pm to explore all I want and then off to the airport because my flight leaves for Amsterdam at 6am.  Egads.  It should be a lovely night of sleeping in a chair on top of my stuff.

Doesn't really matter though!  I am coming home with buckets full of chocolate and am excited to see Bryan and my friends and family again!

I love you all.  If I get a chance I will post tomorrow night and again in Amsterdam!  I will be back in the States the morning of Wednesday!!!

Ciao!

Let's Supersize that Schnitzel

Hola!

Today was a day full of too much food!  If I could figure out how to add pictures to my blog I would show you.  Let's just put it like this - my food baby (not a real baby Mom) is at least triplets!

Helen and I decided to wander along the Danube (which is a river in a lot of old poetry and kind of made my heart go "pitter patter" for the days when I used to see writing as my future) and do some sightseeing.  However, the weather had different opinions and soon we were being rained straight into a brewery...oh what a shame.  FYI, I was wrong.  They do sell beers in half liters as well as whole liters.  We ate some scrumptious food and started to drink beer while we waited for Marcus - Helen's German boyfriend.

Marcus arrived and I got to share all the nitty gritty about Helen since we have been friends for more than 15 years.  I got a lot of joy out of seeing her squirm!  We had a long lunch with at least one too many beers and then had to rush off to dinner at a schnitzel house.

It's time to learn some important factoids about schnitzel because schnitzel is the backbone of Germany and Austria...at least based on my experience.

Q. First of all, what is schnitzel?
A. Schnitzel is a large piece of meat, about the size of the original pig it came from, pound into a disk that is similar to a UFO.  Then it is breaded and deep fried.  It is also normal served with a cheesy noodly dish.
Q. Why did you want to eat schnitzel?
A.  Well obviously I want to appear authentically German so, giant piece of meat it is.
Q.  What do you drink with schnizel?
A.  Beer...duh.  I thought we had been over this.  Beer goes with everything in Germany, and liters of it.
Q.  Does schnitzel make you a better driver?
A.  No.  Schnitzel causes a food coma that only has a comparable comparison in the States on Thanksgiving after the turkey makes everyone sleepy.
Q.  Will I continue being able to fit in my pants?
A.  No.  You are getting a new pair of pants made of schnitzel.
Q.  Is there anything that can make a huge piece of schnitzel taste better (not that it tastes bad) and less dry?
A.  No.  Germans think it is acceptable to use mayo like I use ketchup at home.  Yuck.  Also, ketchup here does not taste the same at all.
Q.  Should you eat schnitzel after you eat a whole pizza?
A.  Well, since all of the men at the restaurant refused to eat anything the entire before schnitzel I am guessing not.
Q.  Will you win anything for eating the biggest schnitzel?
A.  Pride and beer.  Beer, of which, you will not have room to drink one for at least five days.

Anyway, my day was full of schnitzel up to my eyeballs and then Helen, Marcus and I came home and watched Friends will drinking schnapps and apple juice (apparently apple juice is not just for kids here).

Tomorrow Helen and I may climb to the top of the tallest steeple in Europe.  Or, we might conserve our energy for processing the remaining schnitzel.

I love it here but I am missing Bryan and regular sized food.  Also, my own bed.  Tonight I get the couch.

Ciao!

Beer by the Liter, Lederhosen Everywhere, Rollercoasters, and Blisters

Hello Again!

Today was another fantastic day!!  Helen and I woke up after a long night of her snoring and me clinging to the edge of the bed to prep for our trip to Stuttgart (I finally figured out how to spell it - I think).  I met about ten of  Helen's nearest and dearest friends at the train station and we had to mad dash it to the train.  Unfortunately I lost some of my kinder chocolate along the way but the pull of beer was too strong to account for any stopping.

We rode a little more than an hour to Stuttgart for the Spring Festival (which is basically an excuse for another Oktoberfest) and along the way everyone was drinking beer...at 10:30 in the morning.  Helen and her German friends were trying to convince me that not everyone is always drinking, but based on being greeted at the train station with beer today and yesterday, I am not so sure.  Also, sidenote, they have something here that needs to become popular in the States, it is a special kind of beer where they mix it with lemonade.  For those of us who don't like beer this is a dream come true!!

Upon arrival we made it into the tents and all ordered our first round of beers.  It is important to note a couple of things when drinking in Germany:

1.  Beer only comes in liters.  I googled it, a liter equals about 2.11 pints.
2.  Drinking is acceptable anywhere: on the train, in the park, in the bathroom - I am pretty sure they might also do it at church.
3.  If you are drinking a bottle of water while everyone else is drinking beer it will be assumed that your bottle is full of vodka and the Polizei will make you throw it away.
4.  Once you have a liter you will have another, and another, and another...
5.  After your first liter it is perfectly acceptable, nay, MANDATORY, that you stand on the bench and dance.
6.  The song "Sweet Caroline" will get stuck in your head for the rest of your life.
7.  The best decision that can be made after a couple of liters is to find a WC (bathroom).  In the WC it is important to donate your money to the woman sitting in the chair in the bathroom if you are satisfied with the quality of the bathroom.
8.  You need to lift weights if your dream is to be a barmaid.  They can lift ten steins at a time, full of beer.  I could barely lift my one with both hands!
9.  After drinking for awhile the best decision is to of course go on rollercoasters.

At the Spring Gestival it is basically like a State Fair on steroids.  There are intense rollercoasters everywhere, delicious fair food (which kicks American fair food's ass), beer, and pretty much no children (my favorite part).  Helen, her roommate Alex, and I decided that it would be best to ride some rollercoasters.  Helen did not stay long because she was in search of her boyfriend so Alex and I rode about six coasters just on our own which was so much fun.  I was so thrilled to have someone around who could speak almost better English than myself!

When we reconnected with everyone we decided to go to Stuttgart Center to eat some delicious paasta dinner.  The chef gave me my drink on the house because I was on holiday.  By this point everyone was exhausted and we all slept on the ride back to Ulm.

Tomorrow Helen and I are going to wander Ulm and possible walk to the top of the highest church steeple in Europe.  I feel a great deal of pride in the 6 billion stairs I have walked here, so what's another 650 more?  I do have more than my fair share of blisters (the last count was three) but I am taking them on as signs of how unbelievably awesome this trip has been.

Time to sleep (with earplugs - thank you Miss Snores Alot :).

I miss you guys but I am having trouble convincing myself to come home.

Ciao!

Made it to Ulm Despite the Train System, Drinks with Helenco!!!

Hi friends!

Gutentag from Ulm, Germany - my final destination before I leave!  Today has been a wonderful day.  When I woke up Sarah and I got to dink around doing laundry and trying to find the post office again.  We successfully found it thanks to Flo, but were unsuccessful at getting in the doors because the Europeans like to take hour long lunches.  I also went to a place that I would typically shy away from - the land of snow.  Florian needed to go up to the mountain and Sarah and I needed the car so we went up to the glacier with him.  We have talked about the dangers of driving in Europe, let me add some special rules fro when driving on a mountain:

1.  Make sure you are on the side the landslides are not happening on.  Apparently, during the spring that can be expected multiple times a week.
2.  A road as narrow as a goat path will still be driven on at about 80 miles per hour, despite cows and other cars.  Say your prayers.
3.  Marmots are not Mormons even though it sounds the same with Flo's thick Austrian accent.
4.  I am afraid of heights, cars and snow so when all three things combine together you can bet your bottom dollar that my heart is racing and behind my sunglasses my eyes are firmly shut.
5.  Even though there is only room for one car you will be passed if you are not going twice the suggested speed limit.
6.  Just don't get in European cars people, not unless you have a death wish.

The glacier was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.  I knew Austria was beautiful but it is completely different when it appears like you are at the top of the world.

After the glacier Sarah and I successfully mailed off our postcards.  It's about 23 euros to send 14 postcards so I hope you enjoy because my bank account is empty :).

Let's talk trains.  Never trust a train in Europe to get you where it says it is going.  When the lady on the speaker is talking for what seems like an exceptionally long time in German she is informing you that before you reach your destination only one half of the train will actually go where you want to go, and obviously it will not be the part of the train you are already on.  Luckily there is no fooling me now and those tricksy Germans did not manage to get me left behind in the wrong station.  I would like to note that it is absolutely impossible to sleep on the train because of the level of paranoia I have reached about my train getting switched on me!

Well, I made it to Ulm and Helen was even here to meet me!! I was greeted in the appropriate German way - with a beer at the train station and a "Prost" before wandering to Helen's house.  I got to eat some delicious food (again) and then we went out for a drink.  I hate the fact that smoking in bars is still legal here.  Flo actually told me it is not legal in some parts but everyone ignores the law because they don't want to lose the business.  Once again my clothes smell like smoke.

Anyway, we are home now and Helen is snoring so that should make sleeping in the bed with her quiet and peaceful, just like childhood :).  Tomorrow we are off to Stuggart (spelling?) for the annual Spring version of Octoberfest.  I am getting ready for liters of beer.

Love you all!!!

Nap time, Germany's Next Top Model, General Laziness

Hello again!

Today was a day of complete and utter laziness.  These days not only happen in the States but also in Austria, and I've got to say, when they happen here it feels like vacation!  Today was an easygoing day of watching shows such as Germany's Next Top Model which is run by Heidi Klum.  Flo (who apparently has watched a lot of GNTM), stated that unlike in America, the models in Germany actually become famous if they win.  Also, they don't have to put up with Tyra Banks and neither do the viewers.  Basically, everyone is winning!

Sarah and I also attempted to go to the post office twice.  Apparently when you see a building called Gastrof Post that is not a post office but rather a restaurant.  We went to two towns in search of anyone in possession of a stamp and a mailbox and completely bombed at finding anything remotely helpful.  So those of you waiting on postcards...keep on waiting.  I've also been told that I am looking at about 30 dollars in postage, so if you do receive a postcard perhaps you would consider giving to the Skylar is Feeling Poor Foundation.  It's a worthy cause, and all donations will benefit me so you don't have to wonder where your money is going.  Heck, it might even help pay for the postcards I want to get from Southeast Asia next year!

I ate way too much food today.  I didn't think it was possible, especially based on my incessant hunger during the first half of this trip, but now I wish I had a second stomach to handle this situation.  Once I start I cannot stop.  Plus, it didn't help that Flo's dad fed me my second lunch of the day.  He is very sweet and does not speak a lick of English, or really hear anything because he is 75 and losing his hearing.  So my cries of "I'm stuffed" fell on deaf ears...literally.  Hahahaha!

We also played with Katzel (cat) a lot.  Katzel is the new kitten on the block, threatening to take Lulu's place in my heart because she is younger and cuter (basically I become a lecherous old cradle robber when it comes to kittens).  Sarah is now pretty sure that Katzel is a he and not a she though and that does knock him down a few cuteness points. 

Sarah and I really worked hard at unsuccessfully finding a post office and eating our ways through life so that of course meant we could reward ourselves with nap time.  Sarah tried to suffocate Katzel in her sleep, but I managed to rescue him from Sarah's towering bum :).

I know this does not sound like all that exciting of a day, but seriously, sometimes turning into a vegetable is the best day a girl on vacation could ask for.

Tomorrow I go up to the glacier with Sarah and Flo, hopefully send my postcards, and head to Germany to visit Helen!!!!  I am crossing my fingers that I make it to the right country and it is probably best if you do as well because we all know how well my last train trip went.

And because I cannot leave you without random factoids:

1.  Apparently everyone here owns one of those fancy espresso machines with the million buttons and the million dollar price tag.  I am officially addicted to coffee because it tastes so much better here!!
2.  The German word for squirrel is aufkatzel which I think means "of the cat".  I also could be completely making that up.  But based on the stuffed squirrel in the hallway (Austrians like to kill things and hang them on the wall), squirrels here do have bizarrely tufted ears (which really has nothing to do with cats but I thought it was weird).
3.  There is an actual limit to the amount of chocolate and cookies one can eat in a day.  I now wish I had listened to Mother Hen Florian when he was telling Sarah and I that our stomachs would hurt.
4.  Nobody owns upright refrigerators because Europeans like to buy their food fresh.
5.  It's weird to shake hands, Austrians prefer to kiss on the cheek.
6.  They don't have Netflix here.
7.  There are castles on pretty much every mountain.
8.  Austrians hate Germans.  It's a rule.
9.  Beef is not eaten here, mostly pork and chicken.
10.  Don't ever try to be a vegetarian in Austria.
11.  Dragons are real.
12.  Number 12 is not true.
13.  Or is it?

Time for bed!

Ciao!