Hello again so soon. In case you didn't notice, I'm kinda treating my blog like I live my life. All or nothing. I really thought I'd learn some moderation on this trip, but that just might take a little more time. Anywho, I left off two weeks ago on a Sunday when Mary, Robert and I dropped my mom off at the airport. Afterward, being the fabulous people they are, Mary and Robert dropped me off in Cardiff, Wales on the way to their beach house in Wales. If you think way back to my workaway location in Annecy, there was a girl Jenn I was working with, and she's currently attending med school in Cardiff. I also knew Jess was visiting her that week, so I thought since I was so close, why not stop in for a visit. So Jenn welcomed Jess and I with open arms and we explored the Cardiff area. We visited the Cardiff Castle Monday and yes, I still think castles are still really cool even though I've been in Europe for three months. We went to Bathe Tuesday to see the baths of course. They are the only Roman baths in the UK in which the water was from an actual hot spring and not artificially heated. It is also the most well preserved Roman bath in the whole world. The hot spring is still active and there's a spa right next to the ruins where you can go and actually get in the water. Aside from the baths, the town itself was quite nice and Jess and I enjoyed wondering around despite the cold. Jenn had a day off Tuesday so we walked around a park nearby her house and also went to her water polo match. It's the first I'd ever seen and although it was intense, it wasn't until after the game that things started heating up. Jess and I were asked to keep score and time, so we did. The game ended in a tie, but not according to the visiting team, Bathe. After the game whistle was blown, about 5 members of the Bathe team absolutely accosted Jess and I at the score table claiming that we missed two goals they scored. I've never seen girls so aggressive about sports. After 15 minutes of shouting, the two teams agreed to disagree and Jess and I were out of the dog house. Never did I think being a score keeper could be so dangerous. That night I went with Jess, Jenn and some of her roommates to see Imogen Heap perform . It was a fantastic show! Imogen Heap was probably the second best performer I've ever seen ( the first being Ben Folds obviously) and she really knew how to keep an audience entertained during and between songs. The venue was also an old warehouse converted into a perfect venue for smaller shows. All in all, I was very impressed. The next morning, Thursday, Jess and I headed back to London where we were headed to see the HARRY POTTER WORLD PREMIER!!! Let's not get ahead of ourselves though. After a short bus ride (trains are super expensive in England), Jess and I tubed it to the hostel we were planning on staying. We didn't actually book a night, nor did we know the address or even the name for that matter. After 20 minutes of assistance from three cops and one of their iphones, we were pointed in the right direction with a hostel name and everything. After my experience with those three bobbies and Glenda and Steve in Austria, this trip has given me a whole new perspective on cops. Cops are there to help people, can you imagine? With my mind still being boggled with that epiphany, Jess and I found the hostel, which was great! A nice bar downstairs and super friendly staff! But...they were completely booked for the whole weekend. Along with 90% of all other hostels. But they helped us find an available one that was a short tube ride away. After checking into the most cramped hostel I've ever seen, Jess and I were chomping at the bit to get to Leicester Square, which was where all the HP action was happening! We made it there by 4 and waited a good hour and a half for the actors to start showing up. The next three hours passed in a blur of screaming and trying to catch a glimpse of all the famous people over the ten rows of people in front of me. I definitely saw Rupert Grint, so all the waiting and tip toe standing was totally worth it. Jess and I topped off this glorious night with a gloriously British favorite, fish and chips! It was all we thought it would be and more. Jess and I hit the sack after a night full of everything that's good in England: Harry Potter and Fish and Chips. Jess and I woke up to the nice surprise that our current hostel didn't have any beds open that evening. So we were again in search of a place to sleep. The only hostel available was the London Gay Hostel, which was boys only, so we opted for a very cheap, slightly scary hotel on the outskirts of London. In hind site, we should have booked a hostel in London at least a day in advance. But we're still alive, which is what counts. After dropping off our bags at the hotel, we did a very entertaining and educational walking tour of London that took us to all the sites I had already seen with my mom. But interestingly enough, all the info was new, which just goes to show that there's a whole lot of history in London. Jess left early the next morning for Liverpool and I stayed to just wander in London until I headed to Hamburg. I can't remember if I included this in another post, but I was invited by a guest at the finca in Mallorca to come visit her and her family in Hamburg for a week in November. So that was my next destination. I squeezed in three museums and two parks, pretty good even by my standards, on my last day in London. Here's where things get interesting. I had a flight booked for Sunday at 6:25 AM from London to Hamburg. During my wandering Saturday, I purchased a stanstead express ticket to take me from a central London station to Stanstead airport at 4:10 in the morning. I also purchased a ticket for a pub crawl that night. I thought it would just be a good idea to not sleep and go straight from the bars to my newly booked hostel to pick up my bags and then to the train station. So, at around 7:30 PM Saturday I headed out from my centrally located hostel to the first pub, a mere two minute walk away. I'll fast forward to 2:30 AM when I find myself in a very loud and headache inducing disco tech in South London. When I planned my journey to the airport, it was under the assumption the pub crawl would not venture beyond a five minute walking radius. I was now out of walking distance to my hostel with no bus/tube ticket. I thankfully found a couple of fellow pub crawlers that were heading in the direction of the hostel and I slipped onto the bus with them. The bus stopped right outside me hostel and that was a good sign. I ran up to gather my things and then was back outside, looking for the nearest bus stop where I could catch a bus to the train station. I was picked up by an out of service bus that offered to take me to the station because he was heading there to park his bus. A little risky? Yes. Did I care at that point? No. Did I make it to the train station in good time and still alive? Yes. I still have faith in the good of mankind. Anyway, I got on my 4:10 train promptly only to wait for an HOUR at the station due to construction. That put me at the airport at 6 and at the check in desk at 6:15, at which point my gate had closed and my night/morning had officially gone down the tubes. After a short stint of tears and frustration, I composed myself enough to approach the Ryanair ticket desk to ask for the next flight to Hamburg. Not till tomorrow. This was getting better and better . They did have a flight leaving at 8 for Bremen, a short 2 hour bus ride from Hamburg. So I handed over the extra 100 pounds to transfer to a later flight that wasn't even taking me to where I needed to go. At this point, I was pretty much in a pit of dispair and self pity at having to pay for the 27 pound train to not get me to the airport in time, the 100 airline fee, AND the train ticket I knew I'd have to get to Hamburg. I was pretty pissed at the world at this point. I decided a chocolate muffin and mocha latte would solve my problems but it merely put me to sleep at the terminal. I was awoken by a man asking if I wanted to board the flight. I looked up confused and saw the last few people walking through gate and to the plane. I almost missed my second flight to Germany. The man who woke me up happened to be in the British army and was going back to his base in Germany. He told me he was also going in the Hamburg direction and that I could follow him there. He was an absolute godsend considering my mind was in no state to navigate a new country's train system. He was very nice and just what I needed after a really rough morning. It's people like that who remind me someone is really watching out for me up there. After we parted ways, I got to Eva's apartment in Hamburg with no problems and really had quite the welcoming committee. Her four kids were very excited to see me and it was really nice seeing some familiar faces in a foreign land. I spent the week attending some of Eva's yoga classes, picking up the kids from school and trying to entertain them the best I could with the language barrier. They treated me as one of the family and I couldn't be happier with the experience. It gave me a glimpse of what my parents life must have been like when my brothers and I were all younger and all I have to say is I have so much respect for parents as a whole. You have a different appreciation for all that they do when you're an outside party as opposed to being one of the children. Just the daily routines require so much energy, patience, and selflessness that are unfathomable to me at this age. On top of the usual weekly activities, the family went out of their way to show me a good time in Hamburg. We went to the miniature train museum one night and that really was a wonderland! I've never seen so many miniature things in my life and it's really quite amazing to see it all. They also took me to a theater show in the outskirts on Hamburg in which the singing and dancing made up for the complete lack of understanding the German. The two oldest kids and I went to "The Dom" with their dad, Martin. "The Dom" is just like our state fair but is set up for a month during the winter, spring and summer. It's also much cleaner, there are no farm animals, no traffic nightmares, and the rides last a lot longer. It's basically the state fair, but better. The kids and I had a blast and I think Martin enjoyed himself as well. The culmination of the whole stay was Eva's Birthday party on Saturday at which at least 60 people attended and there was food for more than 100 people. There was singstar, dancing, beer and wine;The recipe for any successful party. There are so many other things I could say about my stay, but I'll keep it short and say that they showed me the best time in Hamburg I could have possibly had and I'm so thankful for their hospitality! So we've finally reached this past Monday, where I did one last bike ride around Hamburg and really soaked it up before I was on a bus to Berlin. Which is where I sit typing right now. I'm staying in a really sweet, centrally located hostel in Berlin and have already had a great time my first day here. I did a free walking tour and met up with two Australians in the tour group and hung out with them all afternoon. I then headed back to the hostel in the now freezing cold and took a very hot shower to try and shake off the cold. One of my roommates and I had a drink, during which I convinced her to accompany me on a pub crawl for my birthday tomorrow. So all in all, I had a very productive day, seeing lots, learning lots, and finding at least one person to keep me company on my birthday. But now I'm very tired and I promise I'll write before I fly out Friday. Good night!
Katie
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