Istanbul Days 1 & 2!

Hello from Istanbul! I don't know how long this will be because it's a little tedious to be typing this on my iPad, but I thought I would give a quick update on my time in Istanbul! I flew in on Wednesday night (I have about 10 days off for spring break) and was met at the airport by my wonderful daddy! It was pretty late, so we just took a taxi to the hotel near the old city and went to bed shortly after that! Yesterday, we got a bit of a late start - my dad is recovering from jetlag - and caught the end of the buffet breakfast downstairs which was delicious - fresh squeezed orange juice and honey with the honey comb in it! Pretty delicious. After breakfast, we headed out for a big walk around the city and to see all the big sights! We went to the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and then later in the afternoon went across the river (still in th Europe side) and went up the Galat Tower to get a great look around the city from above! Pretty incredible. Today, we also had a little trouble getting put the door, but once we did, we went to Topkopi Palace and the Harem (which was the best part), and then we went back to the Grand Bazaar (I forgot hat we stopped by there and the spice bazaar yesterday!) and got a little lost...it's pretty easy. And it's also a little exhausting because the whole time you're basically accosted by people trying to get you to come in and buy things! We've had some pretty yummy Turkish food which is mostly lamb and rice and yoghurt and that kind of stuff - they also really love green peppers, which isn't so fortunate for us! But we are still finding some delicious things to eat! I'm struggling to figure out how to upload pictures using this device, so I will post some tomorrow! A bientot!

100ieme blog, un dejeuner de canard et Berlin!

So! First of all -- this is my 100th blog entry!! WOOOOO. So as a favor to me -- I would love it if you could send me a really quick email (emilyswett@gmail.com) just to tell me that you're reading this, I would really appreciate it! i know i've fallen off a bit with entries -- and as hard as it is to believe, my time is quickly coming to an end.
We finally have some rainy and dreary weather in Paris....ick! I'm spending my afternoon doing some housekeeping things -- while Pastel tries to rub is face in mine -- he's quite beside himself with Marilu and Alain gone on vacation.
I can't write this without mentioning one of the most delicious lunches I've had yet this past Friday -- Jean-Nicolas took me to the restaurant, Domaine de Lintillac near the Bourse in the 2nd arr. it's a place that specializes in DUCK. Yummy. I had the "Menu Dejeuner" and started with the paté that had been flavored with Monbazillac (a really sweet white wine), and then had the magret du canard -- which was so delicious, and came with a small mound of pan roasted potatoes and a salad. For dessert, we split the homemade chocolate mousse -- also delicious.

First of all -- as i was attempting to pack on Friday afternoon -- Pastel wasn't very happy that i was getting ready to leave and wanted to come with me...

Friday night, I took a flight to Berlin where I met Pia for another fun weekend in Germany. She took me to our hostel which was called the "Mitte Baxpax Hostel" and we had the "Moonlight Suite" all to ourselves. And yes, it was just as ridiculous as it sounds. The hallway into the room was lit up with black lights -- and then there was a loft with two mattresses, and underneath, a couple of beanbag chairs and some moodlighting -- pretty crazy, but fun none the less.

Saturday, we got up on the earlier side and after a quick breakfast at one of the coffeeshop chains, we walked to the Brandenburg Gate, which was the starting point for the Sandeman's Free Walking Tour (which does free walking tours in quite a few cities in Europe).

So we headed off in a group of about 35 with Kim, who was our tour guide from Australia! She was absolutely fantastic -- interesting, enthusiastic, and just wonderful to listen to. We set off and saw the Reichstag, then walked down to the memorial to the Jews that were murdered in WW2 -- really incredible place -- we probably could have spent hours walking through there:

So! From there, we kind of took a change of course -- and walked across the street to what we all thought was just an empty parking lot -- it turns out we were standing on top of Hitler's bunker! Which Berlin has chosen to do absolutely nothing with -- which we discussed as a group, is really a great idea. It takes away any chance that fanatics or neo-Nazis might come and gather around to honor Hitler.

We then walked passed a part of the Berlin Wall, and past Checkpoint Charlie -- which was really just a tourist attraction! We took a quick break for lunch, and then after, we saw the much "prettier" parts of the tour. We saw the university that's right in the center of the city, and all of the pretty churches, and then ended up on Museum Island which is also where the Berliner Dom is -- very incredible looking church!

Me and Pia in front of the Berliner Dom:

That about covers Saturday -- went spent the afternoon around the shopping streets and had fun looking around....Sunday, we had a museum day. We decided that we wanted to go to the German National History Museum and the Pergamon Museum. Both were really interesting -- the history museum was enormous, and had so much to learn!! And then the Pergamon Museum had the recreation of the Pergamon Altar with all of the pieces that had been found, among some other impressive archeological finds that had been rebuilt.

Sunday night, we met one of Pia's friends for dinner and we went to a place sort of on the street called Curry 36 where I tried one of Berlin's specialties: currywurst! Which is basically sausage with curry powder on top and a pile of fries with a glob of mayonnaise! It was pretty delicious. The other main dinner specialty is of course the kebab....

Yesterday, I unfortunately spent in a café so that I could write my last paper for my 16th century litterature class -- it was actually quite peaceful, but it probably wasn't my preferred way to spend my last day in Berlin!

After my class tomorrow -- it's finally spring break!! I am off to Istanbul tomorrow night where I will meet my DAD for some quality father-daughter bonding time, and then after about 4 days there, we fly to Athens (Greece) for two days and finally finish off the trip with some time in Crete! Hopefully, I'll be able to do some updates while I'm away!

Again -- a quick 3 word email would be much appreciated!! No matter who you are (meaning if i know you or not!).

A bientot!! 

Allemagne!

So it seems as though i've gotten in the habit of posting once a week -- things have been a little hectic with work and traveling and all that -- so unfortunately, blogging hasn't been my top priority!

i did just spend a wonderful weekend in Germany with Pia (our exchange student that stayed with us about 6 years ago) and her family! i took the 6h01 train on Friday morning from Paris to Cologne -- note to self, too early!!! i slept the whole way (what a surprise) and woke up to find myself in Cologne and with Pia waiting for my right outside the train!

Cologne was pretty empty upon my arrival -- kind of eerie, but we started walking around, so of in search of something to eat. There was really on this one chain of cafes open, so we got some tea and coffee and these chocolate croissants that were pretty disappointing (there was no chocolate inside!). After that, we wandered through the Dom where they were having their Good Friday service, and then went and found the little trolley that makes a tour around the city! it was a little cheesy, but we took it to the chocolate museum! Which was probably the highlight of the day....They had lots of info about how chocolate is made, and then they had a whole area that was about how Lindt manufactures its chocolate. We saw a woman wrapping the gold foil on a huge chocolate bunny! And then probably the coolest part was where we got to design our own chocolate bar. We each filled out a sheet saying what we wanted, and then dropped it off, and about 40 minutes later, it was ready to pick up (and more importantly, ready to eat)!

The Dom

Wrapping a chocolate bunny!

From there, we walked along the river down to the cable car station where we took a cable back across the river towards the city to get a great view of everything -- it was very cool, despite it being just a little scary...

View of Cologne from the cable car

THEN, we decided to make the climb up the tower of the dom! 544 steps up (i think) -- and the funny thing is, that they have two way traffic on this itty bitty spiral staircase....doesn't exactly seem too safe...like a game of dominos waiting to happen. But the view was pretty spectacular, and we definitely felt like we got our exercise for the day....

View up the Dom!

That basically concluded our day in Cologne. We drove the hour and a half back to Munster, where Pia and her family live. Her mom made this delicious salmon dish with noodles -- so good.

Saturday, we woke up on the earlier side to get going on our drive to Hamburg. Very beautiful city!! And Pia's favorite in Germany! The only slight problem is that it was SO COLD -- and it actually was snowing a bit....made me feel like i was in Rochester again! But we had a lovely day wandering around -- took a long walk on the harbour with all the tourists, met one of her friends for coffee in the late afternoon, and mostly just strolled through the streets which was fun!

The Hamburg Rathaus

Sunday was Easter! And we woke up to lovely baskets of delicious chocolate on the table, and a huge array of food for breakfast! Wonderful cheeses and meats and rolls, etc. After breakfast, we hung out for a bit and i worked on some homework. Around 1, we had another incredible meal. We were joined by Pia's brother, Jonas, who's about my age and goes to university in Munster. Pia's mom made lamb and potatoes gratin and green beans and salad and then for dessert, she put peaches and raspberries in a big dish and covered it with whipped cream and brown sugar. Needless to say -- i didn't go hungry!

Later in the afternoon -- since the weather was finally cooperating -- Pia, Jonas, and i all went for a bike ride! They said it was the ride that they would do with their parents every Sunday afternoon -- and it ended at an ice cream shop! But we had a great time -- lots of people out biking, jogging, walking and enjoying the sunshine!

That night, some of Pia's friends came over, and then we all rode bikes over to the Easter fire -- which is a traditional German thing! it's mostly for socializing and such, but the fire was pretty impressive!

Yesterday, Pia and i started the day off with a little jog in the rain (to the bakery and back....) and had another nice breakfast with her parents. Then, we went into town and visited the Munster city museum which was quite interesting! And then wandered around -- unfortunately, again in the rain. But despite the rain and everything being closed, Munster is a very lovely place!!

Munster street

i think that about does it for my Germany weekend! Her mom had lunch waiting for us when we got home and so we ate before Pia drove me back to Cologne to catch my train. Here are some pictures of me, Pia, her parents, and their adorable, yet not too bright, dog, Eddie.

And i'm off to class -- a bientot!











Bordeaux!

So i got back late last night from a really wonderful weekend in Bordeaux! if i had just been going by the weather -- i would have said it was probably the beginning of June -- and definitely not the end of March/beginning of April!
i went with my friend from swimming, Jean-Nicolas (aka the one that gave me a concussion!) who went to university in Bordeaux and swam there as well and has a bunch of friends there too! So he invited me along for the weekend.

We took the train early on Saturday morning and got to Bordeaux around 11:30am -- he had rented a car, so we picked that up and then drove to his friend's house! After dropping off our stuff, we headed to the pool for practice with his old team! it was actually a really fun practice -- nice to have a different rhythm to it and see what another French team is like! After practice, Jean-Nicolas and i drove into the city center of Bordeaux and basically just wandered around!

He had forgotten our return train tickets and 12-25 discount cards on the train that morning, so we also had to return to the train station to see if they had found them (they hadn't), and then get new cards printed....From the train station, we walked down the quai next to the river which was absolutely gorgeous, which then led us back into the city.

We were getting a bit tired, so we made our way back to the parking garage and headed back to Yann (his friend)'s apartment. We had a really fun night with a bunch of his friends just hanging out and playing some games and having a few drinks!

Sunday, we (Jean-Nicolas, Yann & Amandine - Yann's girlfriend, and i) went to the BEACH! No -- not an April Fool's joke. Well, first we went to La Dune du Pilat which was incredible. it's literally just this enormous pile (or dune...) of sand that you can climb up. And it's hard work!! They put stairs on it during the summer, but they weren't there yet, so we climbed up the sand itself to the top -- absolutely gorgeous view. Then we went down the other side to the ocean! And then again back up and over the top. So cool.

After an hour or so there, we drove a little ways to Arcachon, which is a small town on the coast, and found a nice spot on the beach to have our picnic lunch of bread, ham, country pate, cheese, etc. Does it get any better than that? i think that after that -- we all took naps for a bit before it got a little too chilly and we decided to pack up and leave.

The pictures don't really do the dune justice at all -- but this might help a little bit --  http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_de_Pilat

We took the train back to Paris late Sunday night -- and unfortunately, now it's back to reality after an incredible weekend.

A bientot!