Berlin!

Mother Nature sure provided me with the most stressful trip I've taken yet! A friend and I were scheduled to fly out of Cologne on Thursday. My commute to the airport is composed of three hours, including 2 buses, 1 tram, and 2 trains. After arriving at the airport, going through security, and getting on the plane, it is announced that the airport crew is clearing the runway due to the "large" amount of snowfall. After another three hours of us sitting on the plane, we were told that we needed to exit the plane. We got back into the airport, only to be told that our flight as been canceled because the airport is closed for the rest of the night. We waited in a extremely long ( and I mean LONG) customer service line for 3 hours, and we only made it halfway. Then we had the genius idea to use a public computer and attempt to change our flight to tomorrow. The only thing that went right that day, was that our new flight was only a full 24 hours later. So we headed back to Cologne, and after 13 hours of traveling and waiting, we were finally back at my apartment. The next day, we headed back and did the same thing over again...except this time we finally made it to Berlin. (( Newsflash, my travel buddy was informed a few minutes ago that all of the airports in Cologne are shut down today due to massive snow storms...so hopefully I will be able to make it back to Cologne tomorrow...the amount of snow we are getting is a normal amount for Minnesota, but Germany is so unprepared that only a few inches could shut down the airport )) After our 24 hours of travel, we were exhausted! We met up with our friend, Alex, who is studying in Berlin and let us stay at his place while we're here. We ate at a brauhaus for dinner, walked through a few Christmas markets, and called it a night. Saturday, we did a lot of the main sightseeing trips. We saw the Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag, the Jewish Memorial, Humboldt University, a gigantic mall that is very comparable to the MOA, we walked along sections of The Berlin Wall, walked through more Christmas Markets, and went out to dinner. We met up with another group of our friends from Cologne who drove there. We ate at a really good Brasilian steak house, hung out at their apartment, and called it a night again. Today was extra cold; keep in mind that Europe has a fairly mild climate...it was below zero FARENHEIT today!! It was ridiculously cold and my body isn't used to that type of cold yet, so we had to make frequent stops in stores and shops just to warm our hands and feet. Today we saw Checkpoint Charlie, a few Christmas Markets, a flea market, and the bunker where Hitler lived and died. Berlin is a city full of history and background that I have absolutely loved being here. It is also a huge city, and I can say now that I enjoy the "smallness" of Cologne! You can still experience the difference between the East and West sides of Berlin and its amazing to me that all of that stuff happened only twenty years ago. I need everyone to say a little prayer for me tonight that I make it back to Cologne on time...its a real problem if I don't because Clayton flies in about 4 hours after me, so if he gets there and my flight is delayed, its a problem! I hope all are having a wonderful Christmas season! :) And I apologize for no pictures, I'm writing this on my friend's computer!

The studying has begun...

These past few weeks have been pretty "uneventful". Don't get me wrong, I have had my fair share of fun and have still managed to see my friends a lot...but unfortunately, I've needed to start studying. In the past two weeks, I've made at least 7 trips to the library and have spent most weekend days studying all day! Luckily, I have been able to convince people that we should go to the Cologne Christmas markets, so we've been going to them at least 2-3 times a week. They are just wonderful!

The tradition is to get a mug of Gluhwein (hot, mulled wine) and a typical German snack (my favorite is Reibekuchen, which is essentially a deep-fried potato/onion pancake) On the bright side, I'm almost done...once Tuesday rolls around, I'll be able to take my 2 oral exams, and then I only have one paper left which isn't due until January! And once Tuesday is here, the fun begins again! This Wednesday my friends and I are planning a night for us all to get together for one last time before everyone leaves to go home for the holidays. Then my friend, Katie, and I are off to Berlin for the weekend to visit our friend, Alex. Which should be a great time, because another car-load of my friends are also going that weekend! Once I arrive home on Monday, Clayton flies over from Manchester, I will spend the next 3 days saying my good-byes and packing, then we're off on our 15-day European adventure! I'll back up a little bit to last weekend though. It was kind of a bummer because I wasn't able to do any overnight traveling due to my procrastination when it came to booking. But I went with a friend to Munster last Saturday. Its a town about 2 hours north of Cologne by train. It was nice to get out of Cologne for a little bit and see something new.

We walked through many Christmas Markets, went to the city museum, went inside a few cathedrals, got an Asian food lunch, and went to their palace. The "palace" was the coolest part, but it technically wasn't a palace. I'm still not sure what to actually call it, but I think royalty used to live in it, but now the University owns it so its not open for tours. The outside was beautiful and the landscape was pretty awesome.
So, once Tuesday rolls around, it is going to get pretty hectic for me. I will try my hardest to post after Berlin! But if I can't, I may as well tell you now about my post-semester travels. Clayton and I decided to use a 15-day Eurail pass to see Europe! Our first destination will be Strasbourg, France. One of my ERASMUS friends lives there, so it will be my final time to say goodbye to her. I've already been to this city, but it was so wonderful that I want to bring Clayton there! And I've heard that the Christmas markets are just wonderful! That night we will head to Karlsruhe and spend two nights with my relatives. On Christmas morning, we will head to Zurich for a night. Then in the next 10 days, we will visit Florence, Rome, Venice, Vienna, and Prague. It will be very stressful but so rewarding at the same time, I can't wait for it! I hope all is well at home, that everyone is surviving the snow storm okay, and have a wonderful holiday season!!