and now for the rest of the story...

I think the best part about Scotland was the people. Did I mention that they are super friendly there? Because they are! I met more people during our short stay in Scotland than I did on any of our other excursions throughout the semester. It was great! One encounter though will forever stick out above the rest. It all began on the train ride to our hostel.....

Since we had to be up and out for our Sunday flight by 5:30 in the morning we decided to book a hostel as close to the airport as possible. And because we wanted the cheapest tickets possible, that airport wasn't exactly in Glasgow but rather in Prestwick which was a mere 30-45 minute train ride away. So after exploring Glasgow a bit, we caught a train to the airport and began the journey to find our hostel for the night.

Only a few stops after we got on, a whole group of Celtic fans loaded onto the train. (The Celtic Football Club is Glasgow's official soccer team) And of course one of the very exuberant fans sat next to us. At some point while Sierra and I were chatting, we noticed our train buddy paying close attention to everything we were saying. She kept looking over at us and smiling.

Finally after a few minutes she asked us where we were from. As soon as we said "Texas" she exploded with excitement. She started asking us all sorts of questions. She couldn't believe we were actually from Texas. Apparently there is some show called "Dallas" from the 80's that is a huge hit over there now.

Apparently the show is about some man named JR Ewing. IMBD describes it as: Popular evening 'soap-opera' style television drama. The show was set in Dallas and chronicled the exploits of wealthy Texas oil millionaires. Many of the plots revolved around shady business dealings and dysfunctional family dynamics.

So the mental image of Texans came from this JR Ewing guy


She kept asking us about cowboy hats and why we didn't talk like the people on the show. It was hilarious. Of course neither of us had ever heard of this show before so we had no clue what she was talking about.

My favorite part was when she started trying to talk like us. She would pick up on specific phrases we apparently kept saying and would way them back in a high nasally voice with her face all scrunched up. She sounded so funny. Her favorite thing to repeat was "Ohh man." She would just say it over and over again.

Her husband and his friend were a few rows down so she kept leaning over to them and bragging about how she was talking to "real live Texas people and they sound nothing like JR." Basically we just spent the whole train ride laughing. It was a blast. She kept going on an on about how she would get to tell all her friends that she met real Texas people and that the show Dallas isn't what Texas people are like.

At some point in the conversation Sierra started talking about music and the band S-Club 7 came up. I have no clue how it all started, but we ended up rolling as our new train buddy started singing one of their songs at the top of her lungs. It was a mess.

When we all got off at our stop, we were introduced to the other men (Ed and George and her name was Ann)


George on the right and Ed on the left


Ann...our new train buddy

Ann began explaining to George and Ed everything we had talked about and when the S-club conversation came up, the men broke out in laughter and began singing "Reach for the stars...." (apparently thats one of their songs) and dancing. So naturally I busted out the camera and took this lovely video. Unfortunately my camera doesn't have sound, but you can at least see the craziness happening on platform 2...



After our little dance party they started asking about our plans for the evening and decided we were going to join them in the airport restaurant/pub and they would treat us to a beer. They had to catch a plane home that night but had some time to kill so they wanted to hang out with us some more. Since we had nothing better to do as well, we decided to tag along.

Ohh man. I have never laughed so hard in my life. (ohh and for those wondering...don't worry Europe hasn't corrupted me. I had a coke, not a beer. Just thought I should clear that up) During all the laughter and crazy stories, Ed leaned over and explained that he wanted to make a trade. My beanie for his Celtic scarf. Immediately I laughed and turned this offer down. The next 2 hours basically turned into an off an on conversation about making this trade. He was determined that he wanted my beanie.

I kept asking him why in the world would be want my beanie. His reply: "when people see me wearing your beanie and ask me where it's from, I will be able to tell them that I traded my cherished Celtic scarf with a beautiful young real live Texas girl who is actually from Texas and isn't anything like the show Dallas. And how many people can say that."

You see Ed is a HUGE Celtic fan. He has been to almost every game no matter where it is and he has always had this scarf with him. He started naming all the countries it had been and explained that it was over 20 years old. Man he really wanted my beanie. I don't know who had a bigger attachment to their accessory. Me and my beanie or him and his scarf. But he was willing to trade so he could have a neat new souvenir with a fun story.

It took a LOT of convincing and I almost didn't do it. But just at the last second before they had to leave to catch their flight....I gave in. So after 2 hours of debating, I left that night watching my beanie walk away in one direction and I in the other while holding a new piece of cloth that contained quite possibly the coolest story ever.



the trade...


ohh Ed...

When we finally got to our Hostel we met yes again another person who wanted to talk our ear off. The lady that worked at the hostel talked to us for probably 30 minutes before she finally gave us the key and left us alone. And then of course our cab driver the next morning was super friendly. As soon as he heard us speak he said "the US? Ohh I love to hear the American accent." haha

So Scotland was absolutely AMAZING! From the scenery to the people, you can not ask for a better place to visit. I for sure would not mind living there! I think it's the only place I have ever been where the people wanted to hear my "accent" just as much as I wanted to hear theirs! Who knew Scotts were infatuated with the American accent.

Destination: Scotland...

It is done. My super duper gray beanie with a red and white stripe is officially walking around in London somewhere. Yes, that is right. My favorite beanie has a new owner. How could this happen you ask...

Well it all began a few weeks ago when we discovered our schedule included a 3 day weekend.....

Three day weekends are the best! Of course on 3 day weekends you have to take full advantage of this extra day, thus why the boys (Gavin, Jacob, and Geoff) went to Istanbul and Savannah and Barrett went to London. Due to the fact that I had already been to London and being the only girl going to Turkey didn't sound very appealing, I decided Sierra and I should do something adventurous!

Since I have always had a secret obsession with the Scottish accent and have always dreamed of visiting anywhere in Scotland, I convinced Sierra (didn't take much) that we should go out on a limb and see what we could come up with. Before we knew it we became the proud owners of 2 plane tickets to Glasgow, Scotland.

On the recommendation of one of our amazing AIB staffers (Stefanie), after arriving we decided to grab an hour ferry from Ardrossan to the Isle or Arran. If you are into the outdoors and love to just be in the pure presence of the Lord's glorious creation, then I suggest you put Arran on your list of places to go. It was absolutely beautiful!!

According to the lovely little pamphlet given to us by the nice man at the front desk of our hostel, the Isle is about 25 miles from top to bottom and 12 miles across. The road running around the outside of the Island is 57 miles across. Only 4,500 people populate the Island, and 3,000 of those live in the 3 big villages.

There are all sorts of interesting animals on the Island too. In our short time there, we were only able to see the red deer, a sea otter, and plenty of sheep scattered about. We are told though that you can pretty regularly see seals, badgers, red squirrels, golden eagles, hen harriers, and basking sharks and dolphins. Basically the whole island is just one big nature trail.

The ferry dropped us off in Brodick where we took a bus to our hostel in Lochranza. The 20 minute bus ride was absolutely gorgeous! Mostly the road followed the coast, but it often weaved into the country side surrounding us with beautiful mountains.

All around the mountains you could spot sheep.

Arran has lots of sheep! They aren't always fenced in either. Often our bus would come to a stop as a sheep decided to lazily cross the street. They were everywhere and not even afraid of the passing cars! They just chilled, eating their grass as our bus flew past them only a few feet away. It was insane!

The buses in Lochronza are a hoot. I would not describe them as punctual or structured. Sure there were "bus stops" but that really did not mean much. You just told the driver when to stop and there you were. When we asked him where our hostel was he told us not to worry, "I'll give you a shout out when we get there." And he did. In fact he took us right to the front door. It was great!

Our hostel turned out to be super neat! The location was fabulous! Standing in the driveway you could throw a rock and hit the wet land that fills with ocean water at high tide. Looking to the left, we were only about 150 yards from an old castle. It was perfect!

After dropping of our bags at the hostel, we set out to explore! We spent the whole afte
rnoon climbing through the castle and hiking around the area. Our hostel gave us information on a trail to take that would take us to a spot where there are normally seals. From there we were supposed to find another tail that passes the spot where red deer hang out.

Although we never found the seals, and our second trail decided to hide from us, we made out own path and had a blast! At one point we found 2 deer and got withing 30 feet of them. After passing many sheep, we decided our goal would be to hug one. Yeah, umm, that didn't work out so well. We could get withing maybe 10 ft, but then they were off. And those little buggers could skedaddle. So mission hug sheep failed, but it was still a great day!

To top everything off, we got back to the hostel and met a new friend. The way hostels work is that there are normally several people to a room. And you don't necessarily know your other roommates. Some are co-ed (I personally stay away from those) while others are separated by gender.

The room Sierra and I got was a 4 person female "dorm" (as they call them) so we shared it with another older lady. She was the coolest! Her name was Lindsay. She is originally from England but has been living in Scotland for a few years and loves to travel. She normally stays in her tent but decided to check into this hostel for the week because the weather was supposed to get nasty.

This is us with our new friend the mountain woman.

I am so glad she picked the hostel so we could meet her! She had the most interesting stories! Sierra and I probably chatted with her for a good hour or two. Man this lady was hard core! She just picks a place and backpacks through. The next day she had plans to hike up one of the mountains. So cool =)

The next morning we woke up super early to catch the bus back to Brodick so we could see another castle and check out the shops. Out 2 favorites were the Arran Aromatics (where they made and sold had soaps, lotions, candles, and other bath items), and the Island Cheese Co. The Cheese place was heavenly! Oh boy!

They had a table where you could sample all the different cheeses! Of course some were AWESOME while others....well lets just say some mold should not be given the label "cheese." Just throw it away for goodness sake! Our favorite sample was the raspberry infused cranberry cheese! So we bought a block and called is breakfast and lunch! Perfection!

As we got closer to town we started losing track of time in all the cute shops and ended up arriving at our ferry just as it pulled away. Thats ok, we recovered by playing around in the town while we waited 2 more hours for the next one. I was actually glad we missed the first ferry.

When we finally made our way back to Glasgow, we just walked around the town for the rest of the day and shopped. We met so many interesting people. Scottish people are sooo friendly! I definitely want to live there!

Speaking of friendly people, I suppose this leads me into my final story from Scotland and most memorable experience so far in Europe. Where did my beanie go...

But since this thing is getting so long, I will save that story for tomorrow. =) Ohh cliff hanger! But until then you can enjoy the pretty pictures =)

Locranza Castel

Brodick Castle

the sunset was gorgeous! This doesn't even do it justice...

look...its a face

this is right outside our hostel

more pics to come later...

Lost and found...

In case you have not heard: just after my trip to Scotland my wallet decided to leave the cozy company of my bag and embark on an adventure of its own. I personally did not welcome this adventure considering my wallet contained many very important items such as my transportation pass, all my id (minus my passport thankfully), debit card, untold amounts of money, and other various items I was not to keen on losing.

The disappearances, of course, happened just in time for our week long trip to Berlin. Perfect timing? Well, I think not! That was an interesting week I must say. But thankfully my lovely group came to the rescue and at least made sure I was golden in the cash department.

While we were in Berlin, however, the wonderful staff at AIB placed a few phone calls and began the process of possibly tracking down my wallet. Here in Düsseldorf they have this lovely concept of a city wide lost and found. It is amazing! If you happen to leave something on the tram or bus there is a central location where it is all collected.

Halfway through our Berlin trip I received the most welcomed message that my wallet had in fact been found AND remarkably nothing was missing. Praise the Lord!!! They sent a letter to my host lady's house with instructions on where to go and such but since I was in Berlin, I had to wait until I got back to pick it up. That's where today comes in...

This morning I woke up bright and early ready to redeem my wallet before class. Conveniently the lost and found was located on the exact opposite side of town where I had never been but with the help of google map, the rheinbahn transportation map, and a time schedule book, I charted the perfect path to get there and back just in time for class to start at 10:15 (I even gave myself a 45 minute cushion just in case). At least that was the plan.

This semester has taught me a very important concept about plans. They are made to be broken. And of course like most transportation adventures this semester, things didn't exactly go as "planned."

I was able to catch my first train right on time but that train quickly changed status from "on time" to "slightly late." And "slightly late" means that I only "slightly" missed my connecting bus to the lost and found. Lovely.

But it gets better. The stop where I was to get off and catch the 834 bus just so happened to be under construction. There are 9 different stops around the area and after jogging to each one to find where my 834 bus would pick me up, of course, it's the only one that has a big x through it.

The construction people however were so kind to write a little message explaining where the new location was. Only one problem....I can't read German! That's ok though, I just decided to stand in the middle of all the stops and watch for my bus and then run to wherever it decided to stop. Problem solved. =)

Only 20 minutes off schedule, no big deal. When I got to the stop closest to my destination I pulled out my lovely scribble of the google map I looked up the night before and began to decipher which direction I should take. According to google I was to turn right and it would be across the street a block or so away. Problem: to my right a block or so away happened to be a bridge crossing the Rhein. Way to go google.

As I stood there at my bus stop thoroughly confused trying to collect my barrings, I just so happened to look over my shoulder and glance at the big blue sign attached to the fence I had been standing next to. You guessed it. I had been standing next to the building the whole time.

The building was kinda shady, but the words matched the name in my letter. I followed the signs and enter the building. The entrance lead to a long white hallway with a bunch of cold metal doors. The sign giving directions made absolutely no since. After starring at it for a few minutes I noticed a man had joined me and had a different looking letter in his hands and had the same confused look but I decided to see if he could help anyway.

After studying my letter (which by the way is in german) for a bit he handed it back and in very broken English simply stated, "I not know." And thus began my 30 minute scavenger hunt for a door that did not exist.

I checked all the floors multiple times and found nothing. Every time I passed the entrance there was always a new person with a letter and a confused look on their face. It was quite entertaining. Several times I passed that first man in the stairwell. We just laughed and kept looking for our destinations.

To get a mental picture you need to envision an old brick building that looks deserted. Long white hallways with big closed metal doors and dirty (used to be white) tile floors. The far end of the building is a big glass wall with the lone stair case in a pretty big hollow room. The only sounds are those of your footsteps echoing in the empty hallways. Now place a few people wondering around trying to find something and not succeeding, only passing each other in the stairwell. Speed up the video and put circus music behind it and ta da! my morning.

After talking to many different people, the only one I ran across that couldn't speak English was that only one that actually helped. He took me outside and the pointed to where my destination was. Apparently this place was in the basement of the building. Of course inside there is not a set of stairs leading there so you have to go around to the other side of the building, through the parking lot that goes to the lower level and there in that most hidden corner you will find a door and apparently thats the lost and found. Gee, why didn't I think of that!

Finally I was there! With my letter and passport in hand, I was ready to pick up my wallet. The nice man behind the counter retrieved my treasure from the vault, pulled it out of the folder and said "10 euro." Since I had lost my wallet shortly after returning from Scotland, I only had British pounds. My debit card was blocked as soon as I realized it was missing, and the few travelers checks I had were also canceled thus the blank stare he recieved.

Once I explained my story he said all was good and that I could just take my British pounds and exchange them at the bank. He kept my travelers check and what change I had, gave me my wallet with the pounds and gave me directions to the bank.

The directions I received: "Over there..." (he did that extend the arm and point straight thing curving to the left when his arm fully extended) What does that mean? How am I supposed to use a hand gesture for directions when the bearings of the employee is questionable in the first place due to their current location in a building with no windows. Does he even know where the street is?

Following his "over there..." directions the best I could, I wound at a construction site with fencing everywhere and thus began my hour long search for this "bank." Several times I stopped for directions. My favorite directions were from the lady who asked if I had fire for her. (she was wanting to smoke a cigarette) I said " no, but I do have a question for you." She laughed at my response and explained that I was on the wrong street and that it was on a street parallel to where we were. She pointed me in a direction and sent me on my way.

Now I am sure that somewhere in the city of Düsseldorf there is a bank on some street that happens to be parallel to the one we were on, but not anywhere near where I was. I walked up and down the next 3 streets that were "parallel" and found nothing! I must have covered every street withing a 3/4 a mile (at least) radius of the lost and found building and found nothing. The sad part is that I really could have just left without paying the 10 euros because all they held as ransom was my travelers checks that were now void because I canceled them and the 14 cents from my change purse. It was tempting...

Finally after many wrong directions, I found some random bank and got probably the worst exchange rate ever so I could pay this silly 10 euro bill.

When I got back to the lost and found place and walked in, the man threw his hands up in the air and breathed out a long relieved sigh. Apparently they figured out that they really held nothing of value and assumed I wasn't returning. I told them of my travels and we laughed for a bit.

What a day! So now I have my lovely wallet back. It only cost me 10 euros to find it, but its back. And....I was only 1 1/2 hours late to class =)

So if you ever lose something in Düsseldorf Germany, call me. I am now a pro with the lost and found thing and know not only how to get there, but how to get anywhere in that whole area because I walked it over several times =)

I title this one…RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

When things do not go as planned, life gets interesting.

Here’s the story…

A few weeks ago Geoff, Jacob, Savannah and I decided to use up the last few days of our eurorail to take a trip to Marseilles.

The day started out like every other day here in Düsseldorf. The sun choked out by the clouds, the air crisp, and the birds signing their lovely morning melody. But heading out, I was a wee bit late.

Instead of class as normal, we were to meet one of the AIB staff at the HBF (the main train station) to go on a class trip to Neuss to visit the Museumsinsel Hombroich. Then Jacob, Savannah, Geoff and I were going to leave the group a bit earlier to catch a train to begin our journey to Marseilles. Well, that was the plan.

Our field trip to Museumsinsel Hombroich was pretty neat. We got to see all sort of things. Basically it is a playground for architects, combining nature and art. There are buildings and sculptures scattered everywhere. Of course the weather didn’t cooperate so that was kind of a bummer. But with umbrellas in hand, we survived.

After lunch is when the real adventure begins however. You see, we were supposed to catch a bus that would take us to a train that would take us to the Neuss HBF where we would catch another train that would take us to the Düsseldorf HBF where we would begin our journey to Marseilles (which involved changing trains a few times). Sounds simple enough, right? The catch was that if we missed our train in Düsseldorf, we wouldn’t get to go.

Well to make a long story short, our bus ride that was supposed to only last 6 minutes took 34 minutes. Meaning, we missed our train to the Neuss HBF. Trying not to panic, we found a Taxi and hopped in. At this point our Marseilles train was scheduled to leave in 30 minutes. No problem right? Except, the taxi driver told us that where we needed to go was 30 minutes away. YIKES!!

As soon as the Düsseldorf HBF was in sight, we threw money to the taxi driver and began sprinting with our heavy backpacks as fast as we could to our gate which of course had to be on the complete opposite end.

The gate we needed was 16. At around gate 13 I started noticing my vision was slowly fading and I wasn’t exactly breathing right (thank you asthma). After a quick stumbling blackout, I decided to use a quick walk instead of a sprint.

At the final stair case to gate 16 I regained courage and ran up the stairs just in time to see Savs, Geoff, and Jacob hanging out of the door yelling my name. After diving into the train, the doors closed and we were on our way.

Apparently Geoff had been the first one to the train and had just barely caught the door before it closed and held if for Jacob and Savs. Then they held the door until the last minute when I arrived. Thanks guys! We just barely made out trip!

Marseilles was amazing! We mainly just walked around and enjoyed the town. We also took a 3 ½ hour boat tour to the cliffs and such. It was beautiful.

The crew (jacob, savs, geoff)


This is mostly how you can find her =)





The classic whoop!


beautiful Savs on our boat tour


love orange boats =)


harbor





jacob likes being on top of the world...

This past weekend Sierra and I got to go to Scotland. Details on that soon to come...