Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

LAX to TXL September 11, 2011

Filed under: Contiki,Europe,Germany,Travel — Kelocity @ 6:56 am
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We are just wrapping up an amazing 17-day trip to Eastern Europe. Lots of pictures and stories to share, but I am going to roll out my posts over the next week or so. Stay tuned!
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From August 26, 2011

Here we are again! Heading to the airport for our 4th international trip with Contiki. It is really surreal that it’s already here. We usually go in October/November so it was a treat this year to go so soon. Our original plan was to fly Delta from LAX to JFK (New York) and then to Berlin. But hurricane Irene was threatening our plans, so we called the night before and asked to be rerouted. Now we are scheduled LAX to Amsterdam (non-stop YAY!) and then on to Berlin. We much prefer those long haul flights so it worked out perfect!IMG_7004

The flight was only 9.5 hours (which was nothing compared to our 16 hour LAX to Dubai flight last year). It was super easy and flew by (no pun intended!)
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We watched a couple of movies and snoozed for a bit. I love those big planes.

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We arrived into Amsterdam on time, but we only had an hour to get to our connecting flight… and that time included going through customs and running three terminals over. Eek! It was close.

We made it just in time (but later learned that our luggage unfortunately didn’t…)

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But KLM and Berlin airport in general is very organized and they scheduled to have our bag delivered straight to our hotel just a few hours later.

The flight from Amsterdam to Berlin was only an hour (I love how close everything is in Europe!)

Welcome to Berlin!
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Despite how extremely well rested I look in the photo above (kidding) we made our way via bus to our hotel!

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Contiki hotels are all pretty much the same, but we were really impressed by the Hotel Aldea.

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I think they called it a 3-star hotel, but the beds were some of the best we’ve ever had in Europe. I loved the duvet covers. We used our free afternoon to catch up on sleep, boy did we need it. Plus this bed was just too tempting to ignore. zzzzzzzz
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Later on we met up with our group to hear more about the tour and what to expect.

Meet Joe! Our trusty tour manager. Those guys are amazing at keeping everything together and making our vacation flawless.
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We love these meetings, they definitely get us pumped up. We have a great group this time.

First stop is Berlin! We can’t wait!

 

Munich April 6, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 4:46 pm
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Well, I haven’t written in a while… Whats new? A lot I guess. I’m very homesick, and I’m Sooooo ready to come home now. I think I’ve felt this way since the middle of March. The weather has been unexpectedly amazing. It has been so warm and so sunny all the time. Its great. I’m working on my tan! Ok… so I’ll fill you all in on basically what I have been up to.

Last weekend, I was in Munich. My whole group (79 of us) took a train, overnight. We got there Friday morning, and we went to some palaces, some main squares, some museums. It was all nice and stuff.

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Saturday, we went to some museums, I saw some older museums, and then a really great modern art museum. Modern art is my new favorite thing ever. I love it, I spent all day in there! Saturday night was the best night EVER!


First, all of us (yes, 79 of us) went to the Beer Hall. It’s a bar that holds 1,500 people, just on the first floor. Its awesome. We all drank and had fun. Yea Yea Yea… then….Melissa and I went to an awesome techno dance club in downtown Munich. We stayed till almost 3am, although I could have stayed much longer. It was awesome. We met some guys from Switzerland, we couldn’t figure out if they were either very European, or very gay… either way, whatever. We had a great time.

Sunday, we went to Dachau. It is the first concentration camp that Nazi Germany used during WWII. It was a strange experience. I felt like I should be moved by it, but I actually felt numb to it. I felt like something so terrible could never happen and I tried to convince myself that it was all fake. Its just too terrible to imagine, I guess. But I was glad I had the opportunity to see it because it’s such a big part of Europe’s history.

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Dachau, Germany (Nazi Concentration Camp)


On a side note, the best part was when Chester Lee, our Chinese program leader, told us all on the bus there that “You must bring food to Dachau. If you do not bring food to the concentration camp, you will starve!” Ironic huh?

Monday, I went to Fussen, a town in southern Bavaria, 2 hours from Munich. I went with Dara and her boyfriend, Will. In Fussen is the castle that the Disney Castle is modeled after. It is way up on a mountain, and we took a horse and buggy up the hill. It was cute. The horse farted so loud the whole way up, I thought I was going to die! Lol jk. It was a beautiful castle, but for what we paid to get there and go in, it kinda wasn’t it worth it.

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Bavaria, Germany (This castle is the one that the Disneyland Castle is modeled after!).

 

Koln, Germany February 22, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 4:05 pm
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We ate breakfast: brie cheese, berries, bread and tea! (mmmm)

We went to the RomanHistory Museum. It was a museum dedicated to the Roman remains found in Germany when the Roman Empire stretched that far north. Emily and I got into a really deep discussion debating Creationism versus Evolution… This conversation led to a debate over whether or not heaven and hell actually existed…and other stuff came from that… it was interesting because I realized that my opinions have a lot of holes in them, and I need to really think about and research these things to back up my thoughts. But I learned a lot through talking to her, as dorky as it sounds, it was fun.

We headed back to the Castle! End of trip! Traveling for a week is a very long time, it felt so good to be back. I did laundry and just relaxed. What a great week!

 

Koln, Germany February 21, 2003

Filed under: Europe,Semester Abroad — Kelocity @ 4:02 pm
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Instead of staying in another Hostel, we decided for the same price to get a bed and breakfast hotel. We found this place right on the Rhine River. It was beautiful. We had down comforters, and oak furniture. Breakfast was included too, always a plus!

Emily and I split up to give ourselves some time alone. I walked along the river, almost in tears because it was so pretty. There was not a cloud in the sky, the sun was shining! I walked to the Chocolate Museum…. Mmmm….


I then walked around most of the city, looking at churches, monuments and parks. I came to a huge shopping district, and browsed some shops.


Emily and I met back up and walked around some more. We got dinner at this little bar, and we went shopping again! I FOUND H&M! I bought black pants for 4.50! Everyone has black pants in Europe except me – I felt left out! They are really nice!


 

 
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