Denver Detour

While we hadn't planned to spend a night in Denver on our journey it really worked out great! By "great" I mean it really sucked the will to live from my existence. We got in to Denver International only to wait for "mechanical problems being taken care of" to "mechanical problems that cancelled our late flight to SLC. By 1:00am I was about ready to scream and strangle someone, actually a few someones, before they finally had us line up to get vouchers for hotels and new flights for today. Actually, some people won't be going home until Thursday or Friday. Lucky for us they put us up in a really nice hotel, way better than anything we had in Europe. Wait, no, it was worse and dirtier than any of our hotels on the trip. I hate dirty hotels. But, we didn't have much choice since we didn't get there until around 2:00am and I was tired and grouchy. (Actually true, ask Rach.)

So now I am sitting in the DIA, waiting for a flight to SLC so I can go home and shower and actually sleep in my B-E-D. After that, maybe I will do a final post for all my readers (all three of them, counting Mom). I know I need to finish off my epic journey with a thematically matching closure of what I learned on my journey, chances are that it wasn't what I thought I would learn when I started out though, because that's what happens to heroes who go on epic journeys.

Philadelphia Freedom, not just a great song by Elton John

My last post will probably be from the Philadelphia Airport since that's our first stop back in the states. I thought it might be appropriate to announce the winner of the European Vacation Theme Song Contest. We spent our last night in London paying tribute to one of music's finest establishment, the original Hard Rock Cafe. I had the traditional English fish and chips, Rach had fajitas (somewhat less traditional as an English meal). The judges listened to all of the songs and debated the finer merits of theme, sound, vacation related-ness, band origins, etc. and ability to appropriately set the mood for just such a trip. The entries were as follows:

Kenzie: "Vacation" by the Go-Gos

Chris: "Walt Grace's Submarine Test" by John Mayer

Annie: "Living in the Moment" by Jason Mraz

Mom: "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks (a fantastic entry related to the Olympics opening ceremony)

Grant: Some song I can't remember, but he sang it to me! by Justin Bieber or Justin Beaver which he calls him and we all know is actually much funnier.

While we appreciate all the entries, there can only be one winner.
Drum Roll Please:
"Living in the Moment" texted in by Annie!

Congratulations Annemarie, you can collect your prize as soon as I find it at the bottom of my suitcase, possibly under some dirty laundry. We have prizes for all of the entries!

All of the songs on the European vacation playlist can be seen on my phone, mostly because I am too lazy to type them in. There were some that were theme related, some were selected for their ability to appropriately match the playlist creator's mood at any given moment on the trip, for example:

"Shake it Out" by Florence & the Machine

"Holiday Road" theme song from the Vacation movies starring Chevy Chase

"Where the Streets have no Name" by U2

"Talk You Down" by The Script

"Save Yourself" by Seether

"Made in England" by Elton John

"If Ever I Leave this World Alive" by Flogging Molly

"I Might have been Queen" by TinaTurner

"Good as Gold" by The Beautiful South

"Danny Boy" by Harry Connick Jr.

"Airplane" by Indigo Girls

"All American Girl" by Melissa Ethridge

"Everything to Everyone" by Everclear, not Everclean, that's a totally different band... from a movie.

& many more.

London's Calling

We finally made to a fully English speaking country, which was really awesome. We were lucky enough to get a hotel for all three nights in a suburb of the center of London. It was actually very nice and a fair enough price for England during the olympics. We were worried we'd have to go clear up to Manchester or out to Kent. We wandered around Saturday night, plenty of fun things were going on all around the city because of the Olympics. It was the weekend so everyone seemed to be on Oxford street shopping, eating, hanging out. It was a lot like SLC during the olympics, plenty of places for people to gather.

We got up Sunday morning to go hit some museums and sites and just by accident walked onto an avenue with a bunch of people crowded up and down the street. It was about 10:30 am. The women's marathon had been last Sunday morning, I had checked the race on internet. But we were in a pretty good spot to see the men's marathon so we stuck around. They passed us at Hyde Park corner about seven minutes after the start at 11:00. They were still mostly in a pack and moving pretty fast. I think my run in London that morning had looked very similar and nearly as fast (minus the large cheering crowds, the actual speed, the official bibs, and of course the extended length they did 26.2, I did about 2 - both have "2" in it), other than that it was just the same. It was actually pretty exciting. They passed that point again later, but we had a date with Buckingham Palace and the British Museum so we missed that. We got to as many things as we had time and energy for, then we took a ride in London's Eye (big ferris wheel). It's a beautiful full view of every direction over London and goes much higher than the one we rode in Paris. We usually eat ate a big breakfast at the hotel and then found somewhere to eat a late lunch or early dinner. Other than that we were on the move all the time. Monday was about the same, and we finished up dinner, wandered down to Picadilly Circus for more shopping. There were a lot of shops with olympic gear going on sale by Monday. We were both nearly exhausted, our feet especially. But, by far, London was the most exciting destination on this trip. It was nice that it worked out to be there at the end of the games.

The Paris Marathon

We got into a Paris train station around 9:30am and managed to figure out how to get the subway to our hotel by noon. We got cleaned up and went out to find our way into the center of the city. We went to the Tower, but decided to come back in the morning before going up. We wandered around for a couple of hours. Finally we decided to get something to eat. We opted to go to the Paris Hard Rock Cafe, which worked out great, I really wanted an hamburger. (An actual hamburger, not a fake one like many local places offer.) Don't judge me! I couldn't remember where it was so we took a taxi. Apparently he didn't know where it was either, so I know we went a little out of our way. I argued with our driver that he might be "taking us for a drive" and his English was not great (nor his French) and he didn't really understand me. He had told us it would be around 10 Euros and it was double that. He said he'd only charge us ten, but I paid him the whole fare. I wasn't trying to cheat him, I just thought that we went there the long way. He had tried to get directions from several other taxi drivers before we actually got there. Totally worth it when I got my hamburger. We wandered around some more before finding our way back to the hotel. Paris is a good city for walking, especially because it is a night life city. There are lots of people out on the streets and in the parks. There's a bar or a cafe every other block and they are usually crowded before and after dinner.

Friday felt like we were running everywhere we went. It was like running a race, then pausing every few miles to stand in a line. We got up Friday and went straight to the Eiffel Tower only to stand in line for a while. We went to the top of course, the best wifi reception we've had on the whole trip was at the tower so you got those posts in real time. The tower was supposed to be dismantled after the fair in 189?, but it has been used as a telegraph connection, then radio, then television - so it has been saved several times. Now, I'm sure they make so much money from tourists that it's fate is not in question, in addition to it having the best wifi in the whole country.

When we were on the ground again, we went to the Louvre, which is the former royal palace, now a gigantic museum. There was a line, but it moved pretty quickly. We hit the big winners, The Mona Lisa (eh, she's ok), Napoleon's Coronation (which he called for himself), my favorites: the French's Lady Liberty (the cover to the Coldplay "Viva La Vida..." album if you're curious, and my personal favorite "The Wreck (rescue?) of the Medusa" and a bunch of others like the statue Winged Victory. We were lost for a while in the Greek Antiquities so we saw a lot of that. We walked through Napoleon's apartments. He had a lot of sitting rooms. Who was doing all that sitting?
What's the purpose of those chairs that are formed so three people are sitting together, but don't actually face each other? We were pretty tired by the time we left the Louvre so those are the types of questions I was working with.

From the Louvre we wandered over to the giant ferris wheel and that was fun. There is a really nice view from the top. Rachael did much better than the last time I took her on a ferris wheel. Last time she was about 5 and it was at Lagoon. I think she cried the whole time. She hardly cried at all this time, just like one or two tissues. Way to go Rach! We stopped for crepes on our way back to the hotel. They were good, but there is no crepe as good as Italian gelato.

We got up this morning and intended to get in two more things before catching the Chunnel to London. We made it easily to Saint Chapelle to look this Medieval church with enormous colored glass windows. Even without full sunlight, it's impressive. Mostly I am impressed that the windows have been in tact through so many wars. I was slow getting us to the Musee d'Orsay museum (my actual favorite) and we didn't think we'd have time to go in very far and get back to get our luggage so we went for an early lunch instead and then headed back. We made it to the train station without incident. Unless you count the British woman questioning why we were coming into the UK and threatening to keep us there all day if I didn't lose my attitude. She was the one with an attitude! Border patrol badges are not as intimidating as, say, the guys wandering the train station with AK 47s. Give me a break. Ok, I might have had a little attitude, but still.

A View from the Top

Sad

Rachael was disappointed to find out that they do not let you climb the outside pillars. I want to know what happened to the one guy whose stupidity prompted them to hang these signs.

Zinged

This morning we left early to get in line for the Eiffel Tower. On the metro had several stops to go through to get there. It was marginally crowded so when two guys in business suits left we took their seats. Just as we did an older French woman got on. After a couple more stops it was more crowded with morning commuters. I had noticed her giving us a dirty look. Then on the next stop she zinged us. She told us no one is sitting when it is crowded and we should stand up. We did! She had to reiterate her point a couple more times even though we listened the first time. When she got ready to leave she told us we could sit down even though it was still crowded. We continued to stand just in case, and by then we only had two more stops anyway. We had to wait until we got off to laugh about it, we didn't want a lecture on why we shouldn't laugh on a crowded subway. :)

Are you Afraid of Heights?

I am posting this from the top bunk of our beds on the train from Milan to Paris. Remember when I couldn't see how they could cram three bunks in one tiny berth? They can! The view from up here is really awesome if I don't hit my head looking over the side. Sweet dreams? I sincerely doubt it. They sway from up here feels like a boat.

Ques (Lines for you non-Brits)

We are currently standing in a LOOOONG line for tickets to the Uffizi & Accademia art galleries in Florence. I am typing this entry into my phone. That's how boring this line is. Also, we've decided to take up smoking in this particular line since everyone in front of us in the line already smokes. It's really working out great, I already think I am developing a hacking cough. Rach can self diagnose any other symptoms we develop before we get tickets. I really like both of these museums, but I am starting to wonder if we should just buy postcards of their most famous works and call it good. It's like running a marathon, even if the last few miles make me bleed and/or puke I will finish it just out of spite. I am already bleeding. My right ankle had a run-in with a bus door this morning and I'm pretty sure the door won. Nice camera angle, I don't now nor have I ever had cankles, it's just the angle.

"Go to the Back of the LINE!"

Today I did a short post from my phone while we were standing in a long line waiting to go into the Uffizi Gallery. We had already been in line about three hours when I noticed a nice family of four had sidled up near us in the line. I quietly leaned over to Rach and told her I knew they were butting because I knew I had seen them at least an hour or more earlier passing us in the opposite direction. I knew it was them because the mother was wearing something that did not appear to be doing her body shape any favors. I don't want to pass any judgements, but there really are some people who should not be wearing tank tops. Rach and I just giggled a bit and gave each other the look that says we are annoyed someone has not followed the rules. While I might be annoyed I won't usually take up an argument with some really tall guy and his heavy-set wife and their two children. It was a LOOOONG line and we had been in it a long time, but I wasn't going to worry about it. Turns out I didn't need to. Maybe twenty minutes later, the American guy behind us noticed they had sidled up to us near the frontish area of the line and he took issue with it loudly and publicly. The parents argued with him in Italian that they had been in line for four hours or that there were just four of them - I'm not sure which point the mom was making - but American guy would not let it drop. When he could not verbally persuade them to go to the back of the line he threatened to go get a museum employee. By then some other woman of Italian? heritage jumped into the conversation, as well as the obnoxious American girl, who smokes a lot, had to throw her two cents worth into the mix too. Rach and I just stood in the middle of it trying not to laugh. We did not get involved. We didn't need to, American guy behind us made good on his threat and went to fetch the college-aged kid who was doing his job of crowd control at the entry door. This poor kid, who didn't even really look like he could do much about it, came and kept telling the man to go to the back of the line. They really held out for a long time, the wife seemed determined to stand her ground. I felt sorry for their kids, clearly waiting to see how it would end. Then, they started to move back, but not actually turn around and go to the back of the line, they just moved back a few people behind the American guy behind us. The poor employee kept telling them to go to the back, but they didn't. They stayed right there. Then some Italian guy behind the American guy said something really rude about what a great example they were setting for their kids by teaching them to be dishonest. He said it in English, which was nice for us, but not so much for the offending family (Italian) who sort of pretended like they didn't understand any of it. I think it was the highlight of our day. The employee said he wasn't going to let them in, but we had already gone in by then so he could easily have let them in later. I never did see them during our tour, so maybe he got the police involved like he said he would. If it had turned into a fist fight, it would be a highlight of the trip. I whispered to
Rach at one point, "If it weren't so obvious I would have been making a video of it for posting, but I was afraid I would end up rolling around on the ground with "heavy set woman in tank top" for filming it. The funniest part is that the line really did seem to be ending not that far back from us, anyone who got in line even right then would only have had to wait about an hour, not three like we did.

Rome if You Want To

Yesterday was crazy! We had to make our reservations to get a train from Florence to Paris (we are bypassing the Swiss, don't tell them). In order to get the night train we wanted, we have to leave from Florence to Milan on Wednesday night and switch to a sleeper again in Milan that will take us into Paris. We are hoping for no strangers again in our berth, but who gets that lucky twice? That decision about leaving Florence Wednesday meant we had to go to Rome yesterday and we had to make it count since we just had one day. We hopped on a train and went for it. We hit the biggies, The Colosseum and The Sistine Chapel. We saw the Roman Forum from a distance and a lot of other things really quickly in passing. We went to the Colosseum first, because I knew I could find that easier on the subway. We did the audio tour with the fast stops and then we had less than an hour to make it to the Vatican before the ticket counter closed at 4:00. We made it with five minutes to spare. The Vatican museum is cool, but really, really extensive even if we weren't stopping at every single room. We hit a couple of the more impressive (recognizable) paintings and wound our way to the Sistine Chapel. Literally, they wind you through about five stories and 50 rooms on the way to the chapel. It really is AWESOME! I was dizzy after about 30 seconds of tipping my head back to look at it, (and I assume they frown on nausea in the chapel even though it's not on the signs) I can't believe Michelangelo actually stood on scaffolding for years painting one section at a time with his head tipped back. Because the paint is actually painted onto wet stucco to make it permanent, his assistants only put up the cement mixture one small square at a time. It was only as much as he could paint in a single day. If something was wrong, the stucco had to be scraped away so he could do it again. We stayed there for a long time looking at all the panels on the roof and comparing them to the Day of Judgement painting he did on the wall by the altar many years later, when he saw Christianity through a more jaded lens than he'd had when he did the ceiling. Thanks to Rick Steves of PBS fame we had our own tour guide with commentary and bad jokes on the podcasts had loaded on her phone. I wish we'd had more time in Rome, there really are some great architectural things we totally had to skip in order to make our train back to Florence. Now that I have done a trip like this on my own, there are lots of things I'll do different the next time I act as a tour guide to Europe. I would definitely brush up on my Roman history a lot better. But, I think it has gone really smoothly so far. Who's ready to join me?

Lookout! The Birds Know...

Saturday we arrived in Venice by train. Weird right, since it is an island? Venice still might be my favorite city in Italy, if only for the great crowds of people there are to watch. We made our way from the train station to San Marco (large, main square) by following the signs that are posted randomly on the corners of buildings and have arrows pointing to San Marco. You can't really get lost in Venice, you just follow the signs back to San Marco from anywhere. It can take a while if you miss a sign or two. We made it in about 30 minutes. I like that I can be so directionally challenged and still find that square. We waited in a long line first thing, to walk through the church. But, we didn't know that they don't let you take bags or backpacks in the major sites anymore so I took the bag and Rach went through. It's a really short walk with some cool artwork and several mosaics, which I've seen twice, so that was no biggie. In the line I had been trying to convince Rach that it would be such a great photo for her to buy a bag of birdseed and then start throwing it all around her so I could take a picture. She wouldn't do it. She disliked these flying rats as much as the ones in Germany. I eventually gave up. Then we toured the former palace/government building. More importantly, we got to go through the prison which is attached to the government/court system by The Bridge of Sighs. Aptly nicknamed because if you were being walked across that bridge you were headed to prison for a long time and/or going to be executed. The tiny windows were probably the last time you could see your family on the bridge several yards down the canal... sigh. (Get it?) It is such a medieval looking dungeon of a prison. They even had cells that were like a hole in the ground that they used for prisoners and when the high tide came in the holes fill with water. Talk about being trapped in a watery grave. I guess that's one way to keep prison overcrowding down. After the tour we just wandered around the square and the shops. I forgot how great the jewelry is that they have from the island of Murano (famous for its glass). Someday I am going back to Murano to train as a glass apprentice. I'm pretty sure that's my next career, right after roller derby. I think the beautiful vase, bowl, and ashtray(?) I made in my glass blowing class are definitely enough evidence that I may have overlooked that as a viable career choice. Interesting that I made the third object and am not really sure what it really turned out to be and just called it an ashtray. I feel confident I am the next Dale Chihuly, only with better hair and both of my eyes. But let's face it, he wears and cool eye patch and it's fun to imagine how he might have lost his eye in some sort of freakish glass blowing accident instead of in a car accident. I recommend you Google him and see what I mean. I also suggest if you think he might have better hair than me that you don't say as much in the comments area of the blog. :P Are you starting to wonder about the title for this entry? Don't worry, I'm getting there.

After we were about done wandering around and trying to decide if we should make our way back to the train station or not, I suggested that we sit down on some steps so I could look at the map and figure out how to get there. They don't have handy signs for finding the train station like they do for San Marco, although that is one suggestion I might make to their department of tourism. I hadn't even been sitting there for five minutes when a pigeon way up above us on the top of a column let loose on Rachael. She had pigeon crap on her head and her hand. It was funny, but not funny. Well, I didn't laugh in the moment, except maybe inside my own head. It makes me want to giggle even now, but Rach is half-asleep and it would wake her and then she'd want to know why I am laughing. I'm not sure she really sees the humor in it just yet. I made one pigeon joke today and she didn't slug me so maybe by the time we get home she will thinks it's funny. I am not saying that all birds can read minds, but let's face it - carrier pigeons are called "carrier" for a reason and I think it's abundantly clear that some birds in the plaza in Munich sent word to their Italian, bird mobster pals in Venice. The next thing you know is that there is a finely targeted "hit" out on her. None got on me. They just want to send a message, loud and clear. After we cleaned it off with some baby wipes, we knew it was time to go back on the train. It really puts a damper on your whole day when that happens. Even after all that, Venice still might be my favorite city- definitely one of my all-time best travel stories. Even better than when it happened to a stranger sitting on a bench near me in France one time. I think I gave her some help with baby wipes too.

Wasting Time in a Train Station

There isn't really a lot to do in a train station. There might be a couple of shops, a small store, maybe a cafe; that's about it unless it's in a major city and then it's like a small mall. We just killed two hours in the train station in Padova on our way to Florence. While we were reading, typing, and watching a movie there were a couple of guys playing electronic slot machines. I found myself watching them play over and over. It was weird. I wasted almost as much time as they did and I still cannot tell you how those slots worked. I don't mean electronically, I assume that's some sort of super computer throwing out random combinations on the five screen slots. I also assume the company that makes them can program the computers to only win like once every 30 days. I mean I cannot tell what combinations of fruit and/or scary faces was a winning combination. They actually did win a couple of times, but I'm pretty sure they weren't in the black. No one has ever complimented me on my superior math skills, "Wow that's a really nice set of quadratic formulas you got there." But statistically speaking, one of them was there for two hours and I know he fed a lot more in than he ever got out. I kept thinking what a huge waste of money and time that was for him. Then I realized I kept watching him play too, not just the five or six other random guys who were all watching one of them play; so, I had wasted almost as much time. I wasted two Euros on the slots too. I made a new friend in the train station. I had already seen her arguing with the bathroom attendant about why she shouldn't have to pay .60c to use the bathroom. The whole thing took place in Italian, but I feel pretty good about my ability to interpret arguments. I could especially read the attendant's eye roll that meant he had this conversation a lot, possibly repeatedly with her because she may or may not be homeless and hanging out at the train station a lot. She had been wandering around striking up random conversations with other people and then hitting them up for money. So I was less than surprised when she asked me about my iPad and introduced herself. (Fun Fact: She also told me the Italians don't like her because she is half black; later she told me she was Italian.) Followed quickly with a story about needing to take her medicine with milk and could I spare some money. I gave her a 2 Euro coin. She wandered off for a few minutes then came back and played the slots and lost immediately. Shocking right? I thought for sure she would spend it on milk (alcohol)! I also interpreted from the other argument that she might actually need to be on medication, but is not. So that's how I wasted time and money on Sunday in the train station in Padova, Italy. I just realized, that means I was essentially gambling vicariously on a Sunday. Does that make it worse? Does is take into account my "charitable" act of giving her money for "milk"? I will ask one of the priests or nuns on the street when I get to Rome and let you know.

The Midnight Train to Venice (sort of)

We are such seasoned train passengers now, it's like we've been living on the trains all our lives. We actually did on Friday night. The heavens are definitely pouring more than just rain on us. When we went to the Munich train station Friday morning we had to book reservations for the night train to Venice that night. It's not usually possible to get accommodations that don't involve sharing a berth with less than four strangers and the one bathroom with an entire car of sleeping berths. I think we got very lucky because the German man working at the English information desk, has been to and apparently liked the time he spent in Utah. All the sleeping berths were mostly full on the straight line to Venice, so he searched found us a three-man berth that included its own bathroom. All we had to do was take the train past Venice to Bologna and switch to local train that would back track to Venice at 6am. We had to be off our train at 4:30am and wait a bit, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT! No one booked the third bed in our berth so we were on our own. I only had to share my bathroom with Rach. We slept on tiny bunks, I don't even know how they could get a third bunk in there, but I'm sure they do. It's a little like sleeping in a really tiny RV. The beds aren't really comfortable, but it's better than trying to sleep in a regular train seat. Rach has tried that out a couple of times with little success. I haven't bothered since I don't really sleep that much in my own bed. Our conductor was really nice and gave us boxed breakfasts before we got off (not for free, I'm sure it was part of our first class stuff, but he didn't have to since we were the only ones getting off the train. I was a little bit unsure about spending nights on the train, but it worked out well and cost us a lot less than a hotel and saved the time between two places that would have been wasted on a train anyway. We were in a car full of what I am guessing were very wealthy American and British women on a tour group. Many of them were dressed really nice and had gigantic suitcases that they could barely lift onto the train. The tiniest, skinniest women in the group was lifting everyone's cases in for them. It was sort of funny. We were able to get some sleep, even with the cheerful,. talkative women in the car most of the night. There really was a tiny shower stall, but we didn't use it since it didn't seem to drain well.

WiFi not getting a High Five!

Sorry, the wifi in our current hotel is crummy. I have several posts ready but can't post from my phone. I will try to get them up tomorrow. We are on the train to Rome right now and the iPad is resting at the hotel. :) We are sweaty, hot, and getting tired of trains, but having a good time. The photo is from yesterday in Florence. Best part? We ate gelato for an appetizer and again after dinner. I know, hard to believe right? Totally worth it, even this morning when I felt obligated to run longer. :)

Cows and Castles

If you're checking this blog every day and disappointed I'm a slacker, I'm not. Our first hotel charged for wi-fi and I was unwilling to pay for something I can get for free by hanging out at Starbucks. (I had another joke here, but removed it.) Sadly, I was too lazy to hang out at Starbucks even though we saw one in the train station about ten times (sorry Mom). We also saw nearly every American chain of fast food within a one block radius of our hotel. (Fun Fact) I remember that most cities had a McDonald's from the last time I was here ('98), but there are so many more. I could eat every meal like fast food from home and not run out of places to eat for a week. That makes me a little bit sad. It is, however, a great campaign to make sure that other countries are gaining weight so we aren't the most obese country anymore. Isn't that like being the pudgy girl who keeps buying food for all her friends so she can finally be the "skinny" one? Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it? (Those were my pre-post musings, exciting right?)

On Friday we spent the day with cows and castles. It was a two hour train ride out to Neuschwanstein Castle, we saw lots of rolling farm land filled mainly with cows. I took some great shots out the train window from our first class accommodations. That's right, when we ride the train we are first class passengers. It's like we're royalty. If by that you expect your train car to be only slightly cleaner than the rest of the train and to have a couple more inches of space, as well as the right to your own arm rests without having to fight over it with a stranger, then that little "perk" is perfect for you. They actually make you buy Eurorail passes in advance of the trip and it will only let you buy First Class so it's pretty much the way they try to keep the obnoxious tourists away from the unwashed masses that are the locals. Ok, I don't know if they're really unwashed, I am not going to hang around with second class riders to find out. Let's just assume that it's ok for me to assume the are even though I fully admitted in my first post that I too hadn't showered. It's different when you're like us... What's the sign Alicia sent me? "I don't care what you think of me. Unless you think I am awesome. In which case, you are right!" Did you follow that serious derailment of topic onto first class seats and awesomeness when the post is titled Cows and Castles? Did you notice how I used "derailment" to refer to my thoughts as though they are on some kind of railway (or train wreck?!) The castle was pretty cool, we skipped actual tour and opted for the minibus ride to the bridge and waterfall above the castle with an awesome view. More importantly, we willingly got on a mini bus full of tourists who all wear cameras around their necks and have no concept of personal space (I prefer to have it when I ride in minibuses too, not just planes). We were packed in so tight I know there were at least four other people touching me besides Rach. I did take a picture above my head of that ride. I just kept thinking about my niece Kenzie at Disneyland and how much she would have enjoyed that ride with us. Neuschwanstein is a really impressive sight. It was the actual castle on which Walt Disney based his idea for Cinderella's at the theme park. My picture probably doesn't do it justice. What do Disneyland and Neuschwanstein have in common? Kenzie knows, and it's not the fun fact about castle designs. Incidentally, Mad Kind Ludwig commissioned the castle for himself and it's A LOT BIGGER than his father's, which is in the same area. (Insert joke as needed). Sadly, it took so long to build that he only got to live there about 170 days before he died under questionable circumstances. He practically bankrupted the country building it, so it only seems questionable that someone didn't kill him a lot sooner. We spent some more time on a bus with other tourists before we could get back to our first class train accommodations for the ride back to Munich.

Barf Bags

Remember when I flew home from the AP Reading and was really sick on the flight from Daytona Beach... Good times! I had a similar experience in the plane from Montreal to Munich. The best part is, we hadn't even left the ground before I had to ask our flight attendant (Guillermo, who is German, not Italian) for more bags. He was nice enough to bring me three more. I must have looked really bad. Seriously, the best service I've ever had on a flight. He was prepared to bring me anything, especially tea, because he kept offering it to me. I might be "sick" before more of my flights if I am going to get that kind of service. I took photos of the bags for you to enjoy. The clean ones, not the other ones... I didn't think of it or I would have. Once the drugs stayed down and my head stopped pounding it went away and the rest of the flight was a real pleasure. By pleasure I mean long, boring, and after about three hours there were about 60-70 people all sitting too close to my personal space. Luckily for them I had something for that too. ...Good times!

Not a Watery Grave, but Close

Our first day was an adventure in sleep depravity. We dropped our luggage off at the hotel. It was small, clean, and located about four blocks from the Central Train Station in Munich. We navigated our first day on the trains without any major mishaps. Our first stop was Dauchau Concentration Camp. It's a very quiet, somber tour. Some important historical facts to note were that it was actually the first of such camps and became the model for all the other camps. I'm not sure model is the right word since it implies a positive connotation. It was the only camp that operated for the entire 12 years of the Nazi reign. It held mainly political prisoners and was advertised as a "work camp" in local press at the time. It was made to hold around 6000 prisoners. By 1941-42 it held many more. When camps began being cleared as the Allies took more and more territory, other camps shipped some prisoners there. When the Americans got into Dachau there were over 35,000 prisoners. Dauchau was never used as a gassing station, but 1000's died there from overwork, disease, starvation, etc. It seems like a huge camp until you think about the larger number and then it's obvious that they must have been packed into barracks 3-4 to a bunk or more. The memorial has a large sculpture that looks like barbed wire, but seen at the right angle also looks like human appendages. There is one tomb, similar to the unknown soldier in D.C., with the remains of one political prisoner in honor of all who died in the camp. We walked around the whole camp, including the monuments erected by four main religious groups (Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, and Russian Orthodox) done because so many of the political prisoners held in Dauchau were held on charges equivalent to "crimes against the state," or speaking out against the Nazi regime, many of them were religious leaders. I recommend you look at the website to see the camp and memorials. I also recommend it because the one phone we remembered to take with us was the one without an SD card - so there are no photos. If the camp were the Junior Prom and one of my staffers came back with that lame excuse, I'd tear into them! ;) "The prom only happens once a year! It's not like we can recreate it!"

When we got back to Munich, we went to Marienplatz which is the center of town and includes tons of shops, outdoor market, and plenty of places to get a stein of beer and a traditional German meal (sausage and potatoes). We went for a less coronary-causing meal of smoothies and sandwich/salad. I know, boring right? Rach doesn't even like hot dogs at home, were you really expecting she'd be gorging herself on bratwurst and sauerkraut for every meal in Germany? It is a really nice part of the city because the main areas are hemmed in by several historic churches and buildings. We were too late to hear/see the Rathaus clock toll, it has some moving figures and "animation" certain times of the day. Mostly, it's a great place to watch people - and there are tons of them. All the shops close around 7:00 and mainly restaurants and beer halls are open at night. We walked around for a couple of hours. We had to take a few small detours because Rach didn't like walking through the flocks of pigeons (flying rats). I think we were definitely in a sleep-depraved stupor most of the night. We were starving, but too lazy to figure out what to eat. I mentioned that we did pretty well on our train navigation all day, a success of nearly epic proportions. Our one failure was that when we came out for the last time, we were on the wrong street and got turned around and had to backtrack around the block before we recognized where we were going. That tiny mistake put us about three extra blocks in our walk back to the hotel, a delay that kept us four blocks from said hotel just as it started to rain. Not a light sprinkling either, it was a full-on down pour that hit fast and very, very wet. We were soaked through by time we got to the hotel. Anyone up for a wet t-shirt contest? Our hotel was on a street with at least three questionable establishments where that might have been appropriate. I'm pretty sure there was a clear winner. There's a song to go with that by The Beautiful South; an awesome Irish group, but you'd have to find the song for yourself. ;)We left a long, drippy trail all through the hotel. I had spent the whole day wishing I could take a shower, but that wasn't what I had in mind. (I realize how easy and obvious that joke was, but couldn't pass it up.)

Impending Doom?

Most nights, I lie awake from around 2:30-4:30. It's when I "like" to do most of my big idea planning (aka: worrying). Not last night. I am proud to say that for what might be the first time in my life I slept through my planning time and my alarm. Sadly for Rachael, that means she is going to be trapped for what amounts to 24 hours sitting next to me unshowered. I woke up when Mom sent the text to tell me they were in my driveway at 4:15am at to pick me up for a 6:34am flight. Even at my fastest, I cannot shower and dress in 15 minutes. I opted to dress, even though I've never actually seen a sign at the airport that reads: "No Shirt, No Pants, NO SERVICE" I thought it best not to take my chances. I already feel sorry for the person at the security scanning screen, that can't be a pretty picture. Sleeping through an alarm, it's a bad omen right? I read a lot of literature and I'm pretty sure if that happens before a long, important journey- perhaps even an epic journey, the main character is in for a rough ride. That's what I was thinking about when I zipped up my suitcase and ran out to the car.

It gets worse. We made it to the airport fine (fine-ish, I'm pretty sure Dad was swerving on purpose when I was putting on my eyeliner and mascara). We made it to the correct terminal eventually, it was 1, not the one by where we exited the car. We waited in the long line for security and were greeted by a cheerful TSA officer, (not sarcasm, he was actually smiling at 5:45am, so those customer service trainings are really paying off with that guy) although, cheerful at 5:45 is mostly just annoying, another bad sign. We plopped down at our gate and had 15 minutes to spare. I went to the restroom just as they began boarding our flight. Seems perfect, right? It was a bloody mess, not in the British sense of the word. I blew my nose and immediately got an actual bloody nose. (You were worried what I was going to say, weren't you? As if!) I suddenly regretted my wardrobe choice: white shirt, white jacket, not because it didn't look good, it did. It would not look good with blood dripped all over it. In case you have lost the thread of this entry, remember what I said about bad omens? Blood on your hands, on your clothing, on your face- that's like a crime scene. No good can come from that. I think actual blood of any kind at the beginning of the novel is definitely symbolism or some sort of foreshadowing. Good thing I packed bandaids. I'm pretty sure if this is my epic journey and the hero (me) is going on some kind of quest for fortune, fame, wealth, etc. etc. etc., that I am going to be facing more than just a trio of sirens wooing me into a rocky, watery grave. There will be blood. Oh yes, there will be blood. (Should I really be making jokes about watery graves before we cross the ocean? Yes, jokes before are ok. Jokes after, not ok. Unless they make for a good story among family and friends.) Plus, the irony involved in this story makes it a fantastic topic for literary discussion You know me, I'm all about the learning experience, if the story teaches irony better than a lame song from the '90s, you must use it. Think of the children. So, I stood in a stall with toilet paper up my nose for like ten minutes, waiting for it to stop. Once it seemed under control I was walking back to Rachael when they actually called our name to board the flight. That's never happened to me before. Okay once, but I doubted they were about to upgrade us to first class. I think anytime I am not upgraded to first class is always a bad omen.

You'll be glad to know I made it out of the SL airport without any stains on my clothing. That is really lucky for me, I'm pretty sure they don't have an Ann Taylor store in the Denver airport. I can't say the same for my character, it may have already been in question if I am going on an epic journey. Epic heroes usually have some fatal flaw that will ultimately be part of their downfall. As this is just the beginning of our journey though, I guess you'll have to wait and see. On a side note, the epic hero always has a plucky sidekick to get them out of jams and little scrapes. Do you think Rachael really knew what she signed up for? Think of all the short guys that are lost in the journey in "Lord of the Rings." All that blood and walking for a lousy ring?

PS: Any typos are the fault of my plucky sidekick. Why bring a sidekick if not to blame them for my punctuation and typing errors?