I should be on trial for blog neglect.

Sorry for slacking so much these days on this blog! It's strange because as each day has gone by, I've truly felt that nothing has been happening that would be considered blog-worthy, but then all of a sudden a week practically goes by without posting and I can think of a lot I could talk about!

So here we are. It's November 2nd and the snow is BEAUTIFUL here. Lots of opportunities to be a nice neighbor and shovel. It's legitimately cold, and I am in love with the winter jacket I invested in a month ago. Sweden is definitely a winter country, no doubt about that. 

I think part of my blog neglect stemmed from a general ambivalence I was feeling last week about my time here. Yes I still feel like I learn something new every day and yes I'm having the time of my life in a foreign country, but I mean let's be serious, I've been here for two months now, times were bound to get a little slower. You adjust to your new home and so obviously no matter where you are you're bound to get bored from time to time. I wanted to convince myself that this is SWEDEN!! and STUDYING ABROAD!!! and THE TIME OF MY LIFE!!!! every single day but that just simply makes no sense! haha it's better this way: it's a more realistic way of looking at this experience. This isn't just a 4-month thrill vacation, it's a relocation and a chance to actually reside outside of my usual boundaries. Of course there will be times where life is less thrilling.

So what do we do when it gets like that? That's right, we cut off all our hair. I forgot to mention this last week, but once I returned from my trip I could not stop thinking about how badly I wanted my hair cut off. I was so sick of it. I didn't want to pay to get it cut, so for a couple days I kept on trying to convince my friends to do it, that I wouldn't be asking if I cared about them messing up, blah blah blah, but no one was brave enough. So sure enough, last Wednesday night I took matters into my own hands and started hacking away. Over the course of the next few days, Sandra and Anna evened out some parts in the back, I cut off more to give myself layers, etc., so after about a four-day hair cutting project I finally arrived at the simple 50s-looking boy haircut I currently boast. It's so awesome. I may never grow it out again. I have a feeling that the implications of this hair-cutting spree and what it truly represents about my growth as a young adult may be revealed to me in a few months' time, but at the moment I'm content with saying I was simply sick of styling it. :)

What else have I been up to? I received my first presidential election ballot to date about two weeks ago so that was exciting to send in. I love Gumpy my bike with all my heart. I just finished an 8-page paper for my master's sociology class, which concludes the course. In relation to that assignment, I have a newfound appreciation for the way classes are taught at Coe. Kevin and I ate lunch with Pam Carstens, our exchange advisor from Coe, last Thursday, and it was refreshing. He and I are also preparing for our Election Party on November 5th to show these Europeans how was party American style :) (we have now found Miller Lite AND Coors Light here!!!). I am obsessed with Scrubs at the moment. I will be going to Sicily for May Term. Oh! Duh...and November will be full of tiny little trips: 

November 7-10: Sandra, Benoit, Kevin and I will be going to Göteborg, the second largest city in Sweden

November 14-16: I want to take a little weekend trip to Gotland, the island off the east coast of Sweden, to see the gated city of Visby, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It has been described as "arguably the best-preserved medieval city in Scandinavia"...sweet!

November 19-21: I'm taking a little three-day trip to Prague in the Czech Republic...mildly worried that I haven't been able to convince anyone to join me yet, but not all that concerned if I have to go it alone in the end. 

Charlie the Eurail pass is over on November 16th, and I'm proud to say I will have used every one of the 15 train trips she offered. :)

Well I think that's all for now. I'm sad because Sunday brunch is a no-go today...the majority of our brunch bunch is still working on their papers. Just another lazy Sunday. :) 

Thinking of you all ALL the time!! Send life updates! Love you!

kt

October 28...

...and it SNOWED last night!!! Not too much, probably just about an inch, but it stuck and it gives the camping a delightful little frosted village look. Just beautiful. :)

I know I haven't posted since Friday but there's not much to report...times are pretty blissfully slow around here. And I will say that although this drastic change from my typical jam-packed life back at Coe has been wonderful on countless levels, I'm noting a slight itch to get back into a more structured lifestyle again. Haha I mean you can only redecorate your cabin so many times you know? So I'm starting yoga this Thursday and will FINALLY be joining choir today. You know, just continuing to live the dream. 

I'll do my best to get pictures from the long two-week trip up soon! Love you all!

kt

Correction

The shirt does NOT, as previously assumed, say "Positive Attitude" underneath the mountain. Oh no my friends. It's "Positive ALtitude," which truly ups the competition in the entire game. Sorry for skewing the report. :)

Round 2

Alright folks, here's another round of your favorite game: What's Your Favorite Item from Patty's Care Package to Katie?

 

We have:

-One political cartoon expressing our opinions :)

-Six stickers of random things in Paris

-My all-time FAVORITE gray Coe sweatshirt that I, in a severe lapse of judgment, decided at the last minute to not bring to Sweden, a choice I have regretted at least once a day since I've been here.

-One package of Double-Stuf Oreos, per request of some of my friends here 

-One roll of Starbursts

-One tear-jerking narrative from the poetic Matt Mraz himself

-Two pairs of socks (one white and for running, one multi-colored and wool)

-Some reflective materials to wear while I'm biking in the pitch dark at 5pm here ("Reflective thingys for my safety" :))

-One bright orange hand towel with the friendliest ghost you ever did see embroidered on it

-A new shirt displaying a mountain with the words "Positive Attitude" scrolled beneath it

Alright so what's it going to be??? There is some stiff competition here, so be sure to choose wisely. Happy picking! :)

kt 

PS-BONUS QUESTION: Who's got the greatest mom in the world?

It has been almost a week!

Hey all!

**Skip to the summary at the bottom if the length intimidates you as much as it should!! haha**

Sorry I've been neglecting the blog. Internet stopped being so reliable once I left Vienna, so I never really had the chance to fill in the gaps until now, as I'm safe and sound in my lovely welcoming cabin in Östersund. :)

Alright let's go back to Wednesday. I spent my last day in Vienna in a very laid-back manner...it was just what I needed. Luke and I stopped and got the (apparently?) world-famous Sacher Torte in town, which is basically a heart attack in a cake. It was unbelievably delicious! Then I got to sample some of Luke's new music (all for field research for the biography I'll be writing for him :)) and then hit the streets for a last little look at the city. We all went out later that night and then the next day I was off to Berlin.

Okay. Here's where the Katie vs. Europe segment of my trip comes in. From here on out I was completely on my own. No definite plans other than Berlin for two days, Copenhagen, then home, and no travel pals. Just me, my feet, and my backpack.

So how lucky is it that I manage to make a friend on the train to Berlin who not only can offer advice for what to do in the city, but goes the extra mile and offers to show me around the city the next day?? Here I was, clueless, plan-less, and friend-less, and by a lucky chance-encounter I managed to find a filler to each of those voids in one photographer by the name of Mathias. So anyway we make plans for the next day and then once in Berlin I head off to find my hostel. And get this! In the cheap 12-person room that I reserved a bed in, not a SOUL was staying in it the first night. So no more friends to be made there, but I DID get to choose whichever bed I wanted so there was a trade-off :). Then once I got settled in I set off to fulfill one of my life goals: Go out to dinner at a real restaurant by myself without a book to read. Found a Cuban restaurant, no english spoken, had my favorite meal of the trip, and checked the experience off my list. :)

So. The next day I met Mathias at 9am and was greeted with my very own professional photography camera. Big, black, neck strap and all. I had to keep two hands on it for the entire ten hours we took on Berlin because I was so scared of breaking it! And we really took on Berlin, the touristy places and not-so touristy places. Saw the TV tour, the DDR Museum (not to be confused with Dance-Dance-Revolution...the German Democratic Republic :)), Alexander platz, the Brandenburg Gate, the Reitzdag, Checkpoint Charlie (the American checkpoint during the cold war and where the Americans and the Soviets had a stand off for 18 hours), and of course, remnants from the Berlin Wall. Off the beaten path, we came across an old tower from where they patrolled the wall and shot people who tried to cross it, an old train station that had been converted into what I thought looked like a museum of graffiti and brokenness, an occupied house with the words: Capitalism Kills, Norms, and Destroys, and all sorts of other little unknown places of interest in Berlin. By the end of the day I had taken 353 pictures of locations literally ALL OVER the city of Berlin, a feat I never would have been able to accomplish had I been meandering on my own and not with the guidance of a chance new friend. It's the encounters like that that make me wake up every morning. :)

I'll need to go back someday and give Germany in general more of my attention. I know it may be tough to believe but 36 hours in a country is not enough time to say you know it, regardless of how turbo you go. :) The next morning I was off to Copenhagen at 7:15am. At around noon, the train suddenly stopped and asked that everyone please exit the train while on the ferry. We could leave our belongings on the train and then resume our seats in 45 minutes when the ferry came to port. Ferry??!!! I had not the slightest CLUE that a FERRY was involved in this trip!!! It was such a pleasant surprise! I probably looked like the biggest foreigner in the world but I could not wipe my childish grin off my face throughout the whole ride for the life of me. This boat was massive and just kept going and going...it had THREE restaurants, a BEAUTY SUPPLY STORE, a liquor store, a chocolate shop, an ARCADE, a KIDS' PLAYGROUND, four viewing decks, everything. I was seriously elated.

It was a couple hours after the ferry trip that I arrived in Copenhagen, feeling refreshed and energized. And despite the fact that I still had nowhere to stay that night, I was feeling positive and excited about the city. So I immediately set off to find accommodation for the night, and soon realized how ridiculously expensive everything in Copenhagen is. The cheapest place I found was...not cheap...but it was the best deal that included a breakfast the following morning so I took it. Then once I was settled I just went out to check out the city. I've come to truly enjoy wandering. You see so much stuff when you just sort of let yourself get a smidgen lost in new places. I came across this great community art project in the square outside of city hall, for example, that consisted of thousands of white legos spread across a half-dozen tables in the shape of Copenhagen. It was called the "U-turn project" and invited everyone who came across it to build a part of what they'd like Copenhagen to look like someday. So the artists were the citizens and tourists alike. Then later I found all these black-and-white 6'X6' photos of residents of Christiana, the controversial hippie settlement on the east side of the city that I'll get to later. The pictures we gripping and so full of personality that I felt that they should be displayed somewhere where they were protected from the weather and vandals, but the artist's point was obviously to make a public statement so they were perfect right where they stood. I stopped at this awesome little diner for dinner and then basically called it a night after a feeble attempt to find live music somewhere. I was exhausted.

Back at the hotel, I figured I should take advantage of having TV, and ended up getting dragged (drug?) into this awful program for an hour and a half. It was a movie of some sort (there were never any commercials so I have no clue) that was in the format of a documentary that told the story of President Bush's assassination. There were fake interviews with his associates, potential gunmen, everyone. And it was all in English, with clearly American actors. It was absolutely nauseating to watch...I mean I'm not fan of Bush myself but I was shocked to see such an intricately hateful film out in the media. A movie about his assassination? While he's still in office?? It shook me. Not only because of how relentlessly hateful it was, but just for the mere fact that there are people who feel passionately enough in their disgust with Bush that they'll spend time making a full-length film about it. Like I've said before, it's a peculiar feeling to be in Europe at the time of such a political turning point in the States. It's a completely different perspective. There's more about this actually later in my trip.

Anyway I woke up the next morning after (!) 8 and a half hours of sleep! Went to breakfast, stole sustenance for lunch, and then headed out for a full day off seeing Copenhagen. Right from the get-go, I was one left turn away from completely scrapping my plan and going to the the famous Tivoli Garden all day (the famous Copenhagen amusement park that the Nazi's bombed during the resistance and now IS the bomb...pun intended :)), but thankfully I talked myself out of it and ended up having an extremely fulfilling day. It started off with a canal tour, which was splendidly touristy and gave me great background on the city. By mid-morning I was back on land and excited as ever to get the exploring started. I saw the famous Nyhavn canal (the one where Hans Christian Anderson lived and that has all the sail boats and multi-colored houses), the somber Little Mermaid statue, the Danish Resistance Museum (which was much more powerful than its no-entrance-fee policy suggested), that Christiana burrough I mentioned earlier, and lots and lots of pretty old buildings and canals. Copenhagen is charming.

Let me go into more detail about Christiana, because it's really an interesting place (you should wikipedia it). From what I gathered, in the early 70s a group of young people took on the abandoned storage land used for the army years back and declared it their own, calling it Christiana after the old king (?). The space provided homes for hundreds of homeless people, and over the last 37 years has developed into a community of common understanding and harmony. They denounce the Danish government and instead govern themselves, making decisions solely on unanimously-agreed opinions. (Ex: They all agreed to put up a sign as you leave the village stating, "You are now entering the EU [European Union]".) About 800 people consider themselves residents there right now, and the Danish government doesn't know what the hell to do with them. On the one hand, they have figured out a solution to some of the homelessness issues in the city, have concentrated the marijuana trafficking to one central location where it can be monitored and therefore less hazardous, and have, for the most part, remained a peaceful, community-based, and love-spreading bunch all the while. On the other hand, they have a reputation for occasionally attracting the wrong kinds of people which end up disrupting the peace on a large scale (someone was even killed in one such disturbance in 2005), and also over the years their dream has become a bit more commercialized than it originally was, as more and more tourists find out about the place and wander around through it (enter: Me). But this is not a typical tourist attraction, and the government worries when some outsiders come across the place and are completely mortified by what they see. I wasn't allowed to take pictures in there, but try to imagine it: Old run-down stone buildings that were clearly used for military purposes, all completely covered in spray painted art/graffiti. Over-grown plants lining dirts paths that at first glance just give off the appearance of being neglected, but upon closer investigation have actually been clipped into the shape of people or animals or other images. Merchant stands all over a central square (where I was incredibly disappointed to find some products "Made in Nepal"...everyone's a sell out I swear). The smells of pot and food everywhere. Clothes hanging outside cottages on a line. Dread locks mixed with leather jackets. Live music playing from somewhere. "Stray" dogs running around your feet. An entire shack dedicated to the Save Tibet cause. A bike rent and repair shop. It was really a neat little village to say the least. I'd love to go in an write an ethnography about the place someday. 

I spent quite a few hours in Christiana just walking around and people watching, and by the time I left it was about time to make my way back to the hotel to grab my stuff and prepare for my night train. On my way back, I came across a peace demonstration going on outside of city hall. There were posters and pamphlets and peace flags in all different languages all over the place. I learned that these brightly-dressed people had been sitting outside the city hall every single day since we went to war with Iraq in 2001, so 2,558 days as of Sunday. To talk with these people was refreshing; they knew that fear was the enemy of peace and that it's amazing what you can discover when you try to put yourself in the shoes of someone you think may be your enemy. But amongst the posters there was one that seemed counterintuitive: It called for a delivery of George War Bush, Dead or Alive. Dead or Alive? What's peaceful about that? 

So as you may have gathered, I have arrived back in Östersund more traveled and even more contemplative about my country and what we portray ourselves as to the rest of the world. I just mailed in my absentee ballot yesterday, and am joining most of Europe counting down the days to November 4th. 

But this blog is not about politics! Haha it's about my trip and how crazy awesome it was. I saw SO MUCH and had SO MANY wonderful experiences. I can't believe it all really happened.

But I must say I am glad to be back to the safety and comfort of my cabin and friends here in Östersund. It's truly amazing how quickly a fun-loving, smiley girl can turn lukewarm when it's Her Against the World in a foreign country. Don't get me wrong, I made friends and was obviously open to new experiences, but wow let me tell you I've never been more suspicious of the people around me in my whole life. By the time I was at the Copenhagen train station waiting for my night train back to Sweden, I had everyone pegged as a thief or worse. I mean I still grinned when I made eye contact, gave directions to people who asked for them, held the door open, ran to return a dropped wallet to a woman, said excuse me, etc., but it was insane to get into my own head and see what little faith I had in strangers by that point. I was convinced that I stood out as a target, being a woman and clearly a tourist (the backpack that was twice my size gave it away if my lack of language skills didn't), and that at any moment my safety could be in jeopardy. 

But was I? Was I a target? Or was it all in my head? I'd like to say it's better to be safe than sorry, and that feeling protective of my belongings, and more importantly myself, was the naturally intuitive way for a woman/single tourist/young person to go, but was it really necessary to psych myself out at all? Is it when we give in to that distrust, that fear, that peace becomes an unreachable concept and hostility becomes the norm? I don't know the answers here. But now, sitting in my warm cabin where I know I can sleep and eat and go about my business with little to no fear of the consequences, I confidently look back and think I could have fostered more positive thoughts about the strangers I encountered on my travels. Maybe I didn't need to feel any fear at all; maybe no one even noticed me. It's just incredible to see how quickly trust appears to be naivete when you're traveling by yourself, I guess. And then all of a sudden you meet an incredibly generous photographer who'll show you around the city, or a waiter who'll gladly take time off his shift to point out where to go on your map, or a homeless person who just wants to talk about the bright lights of New York who ends up making you laugh your ass off. It would have been the best if I could have put myself in the shoes of all the unknown faces that surrounded me, then I probably wouldn't have been so protective.

Well clearly this post has gone on way too long! Haha so in summary: My Paris-Amsterdam-Vienna-Berlin-Copenhagen trip was full of adventures and smiles. Pictures will all be up on facebook soon, and hopefully on the blog here too. I thought of you all while I was out and about and I hope you are all doing exceptionally well. Keep sending me updates of your lives! They're great to read! :) Love you!

kt

Vienna

Well hello again! Of course you can assume by the title of this post that I made it successfully to Vienna. It's beautiful here. As someone who appreciates music and who is finding herself  more and more engrossed in visual art, this place is just a breeding ground artistic expression. It is one of the most famous cities in the world as far as Opera is concerned, Mozart himself is known for his work here, and a person can't walk more than two blocks in town without passing a theater. They're everywhere. Not to mention, there is this vast stretch of lawn in the southwest corner of the city that is totally surrounded by museums. Appropriately enough, it's called the Museums Quartier, and it's filled with art of all types to appeal to the masses. Being in a place that embraces art as one of the most pure forms of communication is refreshing. 

But let me fill you in on what I've actually done here! True to tradition, my first couple days consisted of me hitting everything I possibly could in the city, hellbent on exploring everything. On day one, Monday, Luke took me into town, pointed out some good places to see, then went off to class. (I'm lucky to have my own personal tour agent here! :)) I should say right off the bat that although Vienna is a definite tourist city, I was pleased to see shorter lines and smaller crowds everywhere compared to my past travels. My first stop was Stephansdome, the church that was the central church to the Austrian/Hungarian empire. The inside is cavernous (typical) and surprisingly colorful (atypical). But my favorite part is the outside. The tiles on the roof of the church are patterned in every color and give off a really eye-catching effect. I guess I'm just not used to seeing so much vibrance from an old church! :)

After the church I did a fair share of strolling. I strolled through some books stores hoping to find some cheap sheet music; I strolled through Stadt Park, the city park; I strolled on down to the Belvedere which is a museum + big garden but didn't go in the museum; I strolled along this great gem of a street that was lined with canvases mounted on a fence and covered with artwork from hundreds of different artists; I strolled to another cool church in Karlsplatz that had a huge fresco on the dome that had been painted by a bunch of young monks, which was neat; then I strolled on back to the center of town to meet Luke and Russ for lunch. Ironically enough, some of the most popular food in Vienna is from Istanbul. Kebab and Felafel. (And what is it about food coming from food stands almost ALWAYS having really fun names to say?! Haha it makes eating them that much more exciting.) 

After lunch I mosied on over to that Museums Quartier I mentioned earlier to check out the old Hofburg palace, where the Hapsburgs lived (spelling?). It was great too: Apparently, as some construction workers were digging the subway line outside of this palace many many years ago they just suddenly came across these old ancient ruins. So they just stopped and left the digging open to be seen from the street...it's kind of funny. 

I met Luke again when he was done with class and the two of us went to the Van Gogh exhibit at Albertina. It had his Self-Portrait with a Straw Hat, which is one of his most famous works, but was unfortunately missing Starry Night. Oh well. There was also this great Monet/Picasso exhibit in the basement that we checked out, along with all these ritzy rooms where exhibit opening parties are held. We enjoyed ourselves.

Alright. Still on day one. (I had a huge day my goodness!) Stay with me. On our way back to his apartment Luke and I stopped and got some bread, cheese and wine to take with us to this great park that overlooks a vineyard in the country. It was a bummer that it was so foggy, because the sunset would have been much different if it had been clearer, but hey. I still had a picnic overlooking a vineyard. Hah. :) 

Alright. Day two was a little less crazy. I met Luke when he got out of class at around noon, and after a stellar chinese buffet we made our way to.....THE FIRST ZOO IN THE WORLD!!! Oh it was such a blast. We literally spent hours there. They had giraffes and elephants and sea lions and POLAR BEARS and tigers and MONKEYS and PENGUINS!!!! and so much more. And the majority of it all was outside. Except for this one unmarked tunnel we suddenly found ourselves in that was dark and lined with tiny little lights that allowed us to catch glimpses of...yes...BATS flying all around our heads! Haha it freaked me out but it was awesome.

Right next to the zoo lies what was the summer home for those Hapsburgs I mentioned before. Apparently the Queen loved animals and nature so it was perfect. Not only is it located immediately next to the zoo, but it also boasts what seems like miles and miles of gardens and forests and paths. I couldn't get enough of it. Allegedly there's a massive hedge maze on the grounds as well, but we couldn't find it so that was a huge bummer.

Exhausted from yet again an entire afternoon of walking, we came back and crashed for a while with Luke's roommates. It wasn't until around midnight that we pulled ourselves up off the couch and went out for a drink at one of their favorite bars, then finally calling it a night.

And now today. I was supposed to be writing this in a coffee shop near the Danube River which I wanted to walk along this morning, but the weather had different plans. It poured this morning, leaving me uninterested in bringing the laptop out in case the clouds opened up again. So Luke's living room will have to do. I went on my first run in weeks today and it took me out a little to the gorgeous rolling Viennese countryside. Not bad for the first run in a while. :)

And now we're all caught up. More to come later! 

Katie

PS-Being with Luke has me thinking even more of all you Coe College nut cases. :) Hope you're all doing well.

Alright. This is ridiculously long and I apologize.

Continued from last post: Coming down from our initial adrenaline rush, we started making our way to the base of the tower. Just as we were passing through the trees along the path of this oh-too-perfect pond, paralysis stopped us in our tracks again as the entire tower suddenly lit up and started twinkling like the biggest Christmas tree in the world. I'd be lying if I said the two of us didn't literally squeal with glee at the sight of it all. :) When we were able to move again we set up camp to enjoy a little picnic dinner. Grapes, baguette, and cheese just have a better taste when you eat them under the Eiffel Tower. 

WEDNESDAY

Alright. So. I move on to Wednesday, our day of taking on Paris by foot.

Putting into consideration the inconvenience of our hostel’s location, we didn’t get into the city and settled at a breakfast place (yes, A Petit Dejuner, for you Will Ferrel/SNL enthusiasts J) until around 11:30am. Full of crepes, baguettes, and coffee, we strolled along to the Jardin de Champs Mars, the vast garden at the base of the good ol Eiffel Tower. We dinked around in the garden for a while, just people watching and taking dorky pictures on the map of the EU at her feet. Having had our full of Katie and Stacey Europe Domination pictures, we started making our way to Notre Dame Cathedral. This was a long walk but it was expected to be as such, since all we really wanted was to look around the city and soak it all up. So we took our time. After about an hour of strolling we finally arrived to Notre Dame, its imposing front façade greeting us opposite of a tiny channel off the river Seine. It just looks so powerful; I don’t know how else to describe it. Well either way the magic stopped at the front door. Immediately upon walking in to the church, you realize that it is no longer the sacred place it once was. It’s beautiful and detailed and cavernous and huge, but the appeal of tourist dollars has somewhere along the way trumped the importance of keeping the church a sacred place. In was jam-packed with people shouting and taking pictures, and each chapel which lined the outside of the nave was complete with a request for money. I felt the opposite of at peace there.

Luckily for us the Louvre was up next on the itinerary, where we were bound to be inspired at. The museum is appropriately located right on the Seine, and is no joke longer than a football field. It took us what seemed like forever to get to the entrance after first coming up to the back of it! But finally turning that corner and beholding the famous pyramid settled within the courtyard of one of the most well-known museums in the world was so amazing. And once we were finally in, my heart couldn’t keep up with my eyes. I wanted to see everything. We came after-hours so we wouldn’t have to pay as much, which limited our time to about three hours. So, disappointedly, I sat down and did the responsible thing to prioritize what I had to see. In three hours I saw a whole hallway of paintings from Italy, France, and Spain from the 13^th through the 16^th centuries, and a handful of Ancient Roman and Egyptian sculptures. (Mind you, there are at least six “hallways” in the whole place, along with four floors of other galleries. A whole day there will be well spent next time I’m in Paris. J) I did well, too, I only cried three times. The first time was just because I happened to catch a glimpse of the vast courtyard/garden/pyramid from inside the museum, and the bright pink and blue sunset over a city that you should feel so lucky to see would have moved anyone to tears. So lay off. The other two times were instigated by two separate post-crucifixion paintings. I had never seen either of them before. They were each created by completely separate artists at completely separate time periods, and yet the overwhelming sadness that gripped Jesus’ friends and admirers in each had never been so touching to me. The first one didn’t even need to show Mary Magdalene’s face to portray how broken she was at Jesus’ death; she was depicted from the back, kneeling with her arms raised and head thrown back to him on the cross. And the later one threw bawling children into the mix. A low blow. Two plump little angels, one staring at the crucified Jesus and one holding his wounded hand and staring at me, had tears streaming down their faces like toddlers get when they throw tantrums. It wasn’t even fair…they were so real and vivid. I got choked up here and there at other points throughout the museum when I sat down and allowed myself to fully appreciate every detail of the paintings I was beholding. A passionate artist poured his heart into every stroke, every blend in every square inch of these paintings, some of which were literally ten feet tall and twenty feet long. How could that concept not move a person? Long story short, the Louvre was most certainly a highlight of the trip.

When it was time to leave, Stacey and I made our way back to our good old girlfriend, the Eiffel Tower, for one more hurrah with her. We paid for third-floor tickets, and within ten minutes were standing on a platform that provided us with a full view of the city of Paris. I was glad we waited to go up top because we could look out and see everything we’d been able to visit in the last two days. It was a powerful spectacle. Confirming every cliché that Paris has about being the city of love, a couple got engaged while we were standing up there. Certainly in anticipation for moments such as that, the tower’s tourist center has a bar advertising champagne right up there on the top. J

We called it a night after that and headed back to the hotel, exhausted from walking everywhere that day. The plan was that we’d get up the next day, head to the train station to get our tickets to Amsterdam, go check out the Sacre Coeur Cathedral and maybe the Moulin Rouge, then hop on our train to Amsterdam around 6pm. It was a perfectly planned day.

 

THURSDAY

But as it goes with traveling, nothing ever goes perfectly according to plan. The day started off with us learning that there were no tickets to Amsterdam left at ALL that day. We’d have to wait until the next morning. Alright. So we had already booked the hostel in Amsterdam and wouldn’t be able to cancel it at this point, fine. Not cool. But honestly there are worse places to get stuck for an extra day in right? Stacey and I made the best of it: Neither of us are the kind of girls who could ever justify planning a chill day in a foreign country, since every second we have in a new place we want to maximize on. So, in the long run, an extra day dedicated to nothingness ended up being a bit of a gift for us! We took our time getting in to a new (and much better…) hostel for the night and then making our way to Sacre Coeur. I had been told that Sacre Coeur was much different than Notre Dame, and was pleased to find that I agreed; as opposed to Notre Dame this cathedral not only boasted a welcoming sloping lawn where visitors all just rested and enjoyed the view of the city, but it also had managed to preserve its sanctity over years of being a tourist hot spot. I wasn’t allowed in until I put my jacket on over my tank top and no talking or photography was allowed inside the church. And so it actually felt like I was entering a holy place when I got there. So everyone should see Notre Dame before Sacre Coeur when they visit Paris, because that order will make you appreciate it that much more. J

We meandered around through the district surrounding the cathedral when we’d seen enough of the church. The area was called Montmatre and exploring its streets might have played a big role in improving my opinion of Paris up until that point. I definitely appreciate Paris for what it has to offer in beautiful sights, vibrant history, and lively culture; but I really can’t say I love it. Being in that outside district was nice because I got to see a side of Paris that just wasn’t trying so hard, if that makes sense. So much of the other areas we saw in Paris were so showy and phony and this district was more natural. Not even a Starbucks in sight.

So anyway, after seeing the Moulin Rouge in the Montmatre area we took the metro to Champs Elysees, the big busy street that embodies the showy and phony Paris I was just describing. It’s pretty awesome high-paced people watching I tell you. J Stacey needed to get her Sephora fix and I felt like playing around with expensive makeup, so we ended up spending almost an hour in the carnival that is Sephora. I enjoyed myself a bit too much, however, and managed to shatter one of the biggest and most expensive bottles of perfume they had there. I just couldn’t help but laugh at the Sephora Gods’ clever way of paying me back for my silent judgments of the place throughout my visit; oh karma. J 

We basically said our goodbyes to Paris after another hour or so out in the city, and went to bed exhausted and ready for a full day of traveling to Amsterdam in the morning.

 

FRIDAY

I’ll spare the details of the day up until 7pm that night. In summary, we traveled from Paris to Amsterdam and it took us all day. 

Anyway at around 7:00 we met up with Stacey’s friend Neala and her group of engineering students she was traveling with, along with two of their friends from home in Canada as well. It was refreshing to be in a big group and meet new people again. Since it was so late when we all finally settled down for dinner, we ended up staying out and going to a bunch of different bars until the wee hours of the night. I was shocked to find  that there were no cover charges anywhere…it was really nice to say the least. Not to mention, Neala’s business credit card covered the cost of our accommodations for the night so that was the right price there too.

 

SATURDAY:

The next day Stacey and I went to the Anne Frank museum, which was chilling. Whoever was the brains behind that museum was a genius; it’s set up for the visitor to follow along the building (it is in the actual secret annex from the diary) in a specific order, all the while reading excerpts from the diary that correlate to the items on display. Seeing it all definitely reestablished my profound respect for everything Anne Frank wrote in her diary; it’s hard to imagine such a young girl with such gripping intuition.

 Amsterdam is an awesome city to just wander around in. There are trams running along all the major roads but for the most part everyone else bikes or walks. There are very few cars. So we spent the bulk of the rest of our afternoon doing just that, which was just what all the other tourists were doing too. In our wanderings I got to see a lively break dance show a square and either a protest or a photo shoot (couldn’t really tell), eat a delicious falafel, and look around in an impressive little hole-in-the-wall local art shop. If anyone would like any more details of my time in Amsterdam, please feel free to ask me personally. :) 

SUNDAY 

I’m writing this now on my train to Vienna. I separated from Stacey and left this morning at 10:30am. There were some issues with my last train, but I’ll be meeting Luke Viertel in Vienna at 11:30pm if everything corrects itself.

So until I get Internet again…miss you all!

Katie