Switzerland, Bright Eyes in Koln, and Amsterdam
Hopefully I can get Switzerland pictures up tonight, I've been slacking big time. I think I'm starting to get senioritis half a year early.
So I went to Switzerland by myself two weekends ago. It was definitely an experience. The weather was really crappy, and I wasn't dressed appropriately at all, but I could still tell that Interlaken was beautiful. The fog covered half of the mountains (most of them I couldn't even see the tops of). I got to Switzerland Friday night (after train hopping all day because all of my trains were late). I didn't really know what to do at that point because it was 7:30 pm, I was all settled in at my hostel, but it was far too early to go to bed. So I decided to go for a walk around the town. The people were really nice; this cute old woman came up to me when I was looking at a map and said "may I help?" and then she showed me were to go. It was so sweet. I continued walking, and then all of a sudden I saw a mountain, right in front of me. And I actually jumped. interlaken is situated between two lakes in the middle of the mountains. It's also known as the extreme sports center of the world (sadly everything was too expensive for me). After that I came back to my hostel, and did something out of character. I went to a bar by myself. It wasn't too bad either. Being a 19 year old American girl in the middle of the German- speaking area of Switzerland isn't that big of a deal, I guess. I met some interesting local men and had a good time.
the next day I woke up and it was cloudy and drizzling and miserable. I walked around and realized that there were mountains everywhere. Being in the middle of the mountains actually made me feel really claustrophobic. It was cool though. Since I was by myself I didn't really know what to do, so I just walked around interlaken. I took a bus to one of the lakes and was chased by some swans and ducks. Then I went back into town and took a little tour around the city. I saw the castle of interlaken and the Japanese gardens. There is a train that takes you to the highest point in Europe from interlaken but it is very expensive (about $100), so needless to say, I didn't go on that. Especially because the weather was crappy, I knew that I wouldn't be able to see anything. After killing time all day I got on my train. I slept through my alarm on the train and almost missed my stop. Someone actually woke me up to ask me what class we were in, and that's when I realized that we were at my stop. So I ran off the train, dragging my scarf and ran down the stairs. Then I fell down the stairs. Luckily I made all of my trains. It was not a good night though.
last thursday I went to see bright eyes in Koln. Casey and I traveled all the way to Germany (ok it was only an hour and a half on the train, haha) to see him play. We had issues finding the place because everything I found online was in German, and the name of the club was also the name of a square in koln. Finally we got to the show (after walking through everyone enjoying karnival, which was awesome) and it was sold out. We were really disappointed. But we didn't give up. We tried smooth talking the bouncer and the merch guy and the ticket lady. But nothing worked. Everyone there knew what we were trying to do too, which made it more embarrassing. Finally we went outside and stood by this glass door, which we knew that if we could get in we would be able to get into the show. After standing for a little while we were pretty cold, but then we saw conor walk by. So we decided to stay by the door longer, and be sketchy. The ticket lady that we had pestered before was guarding the door and kept turning around and looking at us. conor walked by a few more times, and saw us, but I think he was too drunk to care or just didn't really care anyways. Finally this man comes out and asks us what we are doing and Casey and I start mumbling about how we came from the Netherlands and it was sold out and he's like ''ok come with me''. And he got us in for free. So that was awesome. conor played by himself with an acoustic guitar. I was excited because in the past I've seen him with the band and I'd always wanted to see him alone. And the crowd was very polite and well- behaved (except for one drunk guy behind us who kept shouting ''amsterdam'' for no apparent reason). And he did two encores. But then Casey and I had to stay up all night to make trains back to the Netherlands. Even though it's only an hour and a half train ride. All and all it was a good time. And he played motion sickness, which is one of my favorite songs of his.
then on Saturday Casey, Bruce, and I went to Amsterdam. I wanted to get some gifts for my parents that were from Holland, and we really didn't want to stay in the castle anymore. The castle gives you serious cabin fever after a few days. So we just went to Amsterdam and hung out the whole day.
tomorrow I leave for Florence. Then I go to cinque terre, Rome, piza, and Venice. I'll be back Sunday sometime. (two Sundays from now) I'm so excited to go to Italy! I'm going to eat so much. It's going to be such a change from horrible Dutch food. I'm just sad because after this I'm basically done. I have a week and a half of classes and finals. It's bittersweet. I am ready to go home though, or at least I think I will be.
Switzerland rating: A-, I think it would have been an A+ if the weather was right
Happy Lodge Inn: A-, I really like this hostel. I stayed in a six person room but I was the only one that was there.
new cds (yay I finally got new cds): talking heads- remain in light, the smiths- meat is murder, the future soundtrack for America
So I went to Switzerland by myself two weekends ago. It was definitely an experience. The weather was really crappy, and I wasn't dressed appropriately at all, but I could still tell that Interlaken was beautiful. The fog covered half of the mountains (most of them I couldn't even see the tops of). I got to Switzerland Friday night (after train hopping all day because all of my trains were late). I didn't really know what to do at that point because it was 7:30 pm, I was all settled in at my hostel, but it was far too early to go to bed. So I decided to go for a walk around the town. The people were really nice; this cute old woman came up to me when I was looking at a map and said "may I help?" and then she showed me were to go. It was so sweet. I continued walking, and then all of a sudden I saw a mountain, right in front of me. And I actually jumped. interlaken is situated between two lakes in the middle of the mountains. It's also known as the extreme sports center of the world (sadly everything was too expensive for me). After that I came back to my hostel, and did something out of character. I went to a bar by myself. It wasn't too bad either. Being a 19 year old American girl in the middle of the German- speaking area of Switzerland isn't that big of a deal, I guess. I met some interesting local men and had a good time.
the next day I woke up and it was cloudy and drizzling and miserable. I walked around and realized that there were mountains everywhere. Being in the middle of the mountains actually made me feel really claustrophobic. It was cool though. Since I was by myself I didn't really know what to do, so I just walked around interlaken. I took a bus to one of the lakes and was chased by some swans and ducks. Then I went back into town and took a little tour around the city. I saw the castle of interlaken and the Japanese gardens. There is a train that takes you to the highest point in Europe from interlaken but it is very expensive (about $100), so needless to say, I didn't go on that. Especially because the weather was crappy, I knew that I wouldn't be able to see anything. After killing time all day I got on my train. I slept through my alarm on the train and almost missed my stop. Someone actually woke me up to ask me what class we were in, and that's when I realized that we were at my stop. So I ran off the train, dragging my scarf and ran down the stairs. Then I fell down the stairs. Luckily I made all of my trains. It was not a good night though.
last thursday I went to see bright eyes in Koln. Casey and I traveled all the way to Germany (ok it was only an hour and a half on the train, haha) to see him play. We had issues finding the place because everything I found online was in German, and the name of the club was also the name of a square in koln. Finally we got to the show (after walking through everyone enjoying karnival, which was awesome) and it was sold out. We were really disappointed. But we didn't give up. We tried smooth talking the bouncer and the merch guy and the ticket lady. But nothing worked. Everyone there knew what we were trying to do too, which made it more embarrassing. Finally we went outside and stood by this glass door, which we knew that if we could get in we would be able to get into the show. After standing for a little while we were pretty cold, but then we saw conor walk by. So we decided to stay by the door longer, and be sketchy. The ticket lady that we had pestered before was guarding the door and kept turning around and looking at us. conor walked by a few more times, and saw us, but I think he was too drunk to care or just didn't really care anyways. Finally this man comes out and asks us what we are doing and Casey and I start mumbling about how we came from the Netherlands and it was sold out and he's like ''ok come with me''. And he got us in for free. So that was awesome. conor played by himself with an acoustic guitar. I was excited because in the past I've seen him with the band and I'd always wanted to see him alone. And the crowd was very polite and well- behaved (except for one drunk guy behind us who kept shouting ''amsterdam'' for no apparent reason). And he did two encores. But then Casey and I had to stay up all night to make trains back to the Netherlands. Even though it's only an hour and a half train ride. All and all it was a good time. And he played motion sickness, which is one of my favorite songs of his.
then on Saturday Casey, Bruce, and I went to Amsterdam. I wanted to get some gifts for my parents that were from Holland, and we really didn't want to stay in the castle anymore. The castle gives you serious cabin fever after a few days. So we just went to Amsterdam and hung out the whole day.
tomorrow I leave for Florence. Then I go to cinque terre, Rome, piza, and Venice. I'll be back Sunday sometime. (two Sundays from now) I'm so excited to go to Italy! I'm going to eat so much. It's going to be such a change from horrible Dutch food. I'm just sad because after this I'm basically done. I have a week and a half of classes and finals. It's bittersweet. I am ready to go home though, or at least I think I will be.
Switzerland rating: A-, I think it would have been an A+ if the weather was right
Happy Lodge Inn: A-, I really like this hostel. I stayed in a six person room but I was the only one that was there.
new cds (yay I finally got new cds): talking heads- remain in light, the smiths- meat is murder, the future soundtrack for America
posted by Rachel at 7:56 AM
1 Comments:
to my homeslice: italy pictures are like crazy flashback to fastiah's class and you drooling on your paper :)
love
the tiny dancers ex speaker controler
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