Berlin, Germany

I'm here in Berlin writing this blog in realtime...I probably shouldn't be, though, because I'm tired (up at 2AM for the airport shuttle at 3AM), cold (it's been raining all day) and bit homesick. I think I've been traveling too much...That's me at Brandenburg Gate.

Berlin's good, fine, fantastic, fabulous...you know, the usual. Here are some pictures. Maybe I'll freshen this entry up later.

Remainder of the Wall... Me at Checkpoint Charlie







On the left is a holocaust memorial to the killed Jews...it was really moving.

More London, England

10/01/09 - 10/05/09

Ben's family and I went to a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. It's so cool - it's an exact replica on pretty much the same spot that Shakespeare would have his plays performed. Or something like that.

The show wasn't Shakespeare, though (fine with me - that gave me more of a chance to actually understand it.) It was a new play about Thomas Paine and the American Revolution. Now I know how painful it must be for Brits to hear American actors fake English accents...their American accents were awful. To top it off, about halfway through Ben and I both realized why the guy playing Thomas Jefferson sounded so familiar...he was imitating Will Ferrel doing George Bush! Somehow that just seemed blasphemous.

Ben's mom, sister and I also wandering around Chinatown while Ben was at a soccer game.

On my afternoon to myself I found the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum...awesome!! There was a wonderful "History of Medicine" exhibit. Here are some old enema tools: and doesn't this look like I was really in an OR?

London, England

10/01/09 - 10/05/09
Ben and I flew to London (only 50 minute flight from Weeze, the airport nearest us!) on Thursday afternoon to meet up with his sister and mom. His mom rented a cute little flat (that's British for apartment!) right near the center of the city.

This was my first time in London, and I have to admit that I wasn't very excited. Whenever I thought of London I would think of people with incoherent accents and bad teeth sweeping chimneys in the rain. Not exactly a place to be...

I was wrong!! London is fabulous:) The streets are filled with history and culture. Every Londoner we spoke to was extremely helpful and polite, although I had to say "excuse me?" many times because I couldn't understand them. As you walk around the city you can see shops and restaurants with stuff from all around the world. I realized that something I have been missing in Nijmegen is diversity! Yes, there are ethnic minorities in the Netherlands, but the population feels much more homogenous than in the UK or the US. (It's kinda boring to be in a place where everyone looks alike, not to mention very difficult for someone with face blindness...)

We had a great time. Ben's family was wonderful company (although it made me miss my family even more.) We went to Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abby, Big Ben, Covent Garden Market, and Trafalgar Square. It was incredible! I also made it to the Science Museum, Natural History Museum, and Hyde Park to see Princess Diana's memorial.

I even ate fish and chips!

Krakow, Poland - The Food

9/24/09 - 9/26/09

One disappointment I have to mention, though. As soon as we arrived I pulled Ben into a milk bar (remnant of Communist Poland where they would have really cheap food for the workers) and ordered pierogies. Now, anyone who knows me knows just how obsessed I am about pierogies. When they came out, they were covered in a strange white sauce. I should've been suspicious, but I eagerly took a bite...only to practically spit it out. It was AWFUL!! It was some weird sweet pierogi filled with nasty condensed milk or something...I couldn't stomach it. I had my hopes up so high that all the pierogies in Poland would be amazing.

I gave them two more tries throughout the trip (and since learned that "ruskie" meant potato and cheese, the kind I was looking for) but they didn't get too much better. (One place advertized "potatoes fried with onions" but instead I got boiled pierogies with French-fried onions...not quite the same.)

Ben didn't mess with the pierogies and stuck with KFC.

In a conversation with a Polish college student on the bus (he was wearing a Pittsburgh shirt because he studied at State College for a semester!) I got the best piece of advice - I told him about my food experiences, and he said "well, you should have known that no one would make pierogies as good as your grandma!"

So true.

Krakow, Poland

9/24/09

I've made it to the motherland! It was raining when Ben and I finally arrived in Krakow, but that didn't take away the cool feeling of knowing that my great-grandparents used to live in this exact city. I feel like a broken record, but of course the city was really quite gorgeous. There's the Wawel Castle in the middle of town, the square (Europe's largest medieval square!), and the Kazimierz section (Old Jewish quarter) which has become a sort of bohemian/trendy spot. They even still have the old-fashioned streetcars - that was what my grandfather did for a living in Pittsburgh - who knows, maybe our driver was a relative of mine!

We walked around the streets and sat in the square among the flower vendors, waiting for the 13th century church bell tower to ring. I was also introduced to these delicious pretzel things sold on all the street corners for about 30 cents each...I think they're called chruschiki.

That's me in a babushka!! Okay, or just my scarf. But still...

Operation Market Garden 65th Commemoration

The Queen (yes, Holland has a queen and she's right behind the pole under the white awning) was here in Nijmegen today, commemorating the 65th anniversary of Operation Market Garden. This was the largest airborne offensive ever to take place, and it was conducted by the British, American, Polish, Canadian and Dutch Resistance troops to try and gain control of key bridges in the Netherlands near the German border. It started off well but several mistakes meant that by the end a couple days later, the operation was unsuccessful.

I went to the site of one of those bridges where thousands of Dutch people had gathered to honor their veterans and the Allies who valiantly tried to win back their country. Many soldiers were there, dressed in their official uniforms. They also had several tanks and soldiers dressed as if they were from that era. The queen sat in a little tent and watched the commemoration. I didn't understand a lot of (or any, really) the Dutch that they spoke, but at one point they played the Star-Spangled Banner! That was really cool - I had chills.

In trying to fight to have a view of the action I also realized that Dutch people really do earn their distinction as the tallest people in the world. Gah!

Dinner at Mick's

I had my first Dutch dinner invitation! Ben and I were invited to our classmate's apartment on Friday. It was really good to chat with her (her name's Mick) and her boyfriend Mennno over scrumptuous zucchini soup and bread with blue cheese. The brownies I brought over for dessert didn't turn out very well (the mix in the Dutch grocery stores only has you add water; I didn't have very high expectations.) Good thing I had also bought these marshmallow-filled chocolate things. (See the box on the table?) Apparently (this is not a joke) these treats used to be called "Kisses from a Black Person." They've subsequently renamed them...

Their dog was really cute - she was very Americanized with her Smurf and Ernie dolls!

And I know what you're thinking...I will cut my bangs...they're out of control!