3:03 PM | Posted in
Guys.

So I went to Dusseldorf this weekend.
It was awesome!!

But let me start at a more appropriate begining...

We all got our passports back on Thursday.A lot of people made plans to go to Copenhagen, however Denmark is not on my Eurorail pass so me and a few others looked at alternatives.
We figured this weekend would be a good time to go of one of the Benelux states. Maybe Belgium. We started planing until somebody figured out that Friday was Weecho's birthday.
Weecho couldn't come with us this weekend because he promised his H-mom he would attend her Karnival party on saturday.

Thats when we got the great idea to spend the night in Dusseldorf! We wouldn't have to pay any travel costs because were were going with AiB on friday! all we would have to do is check into the youth hostel and we would be set! it was a good plan.
Dusseldorf is a fun city! During the day we took tours, and to make sure I got all my friends in my pictures, I started "Catching" them. Like pokemon! Only I was able to catch them all this time. (Except for Kate, she was sick.)

We went to a sky needle type building and that was cool. We toured a video game firm that made realy neat real time stratagy games. We viewed a students art exhibit from the local university (I was kinda dissapointed. I felt like alot of peole were using shock to make themselves noticed instead of talent. Example: 12x12ft painting that only said "I love my #*&$" where #*&$ is a vulger term for the female anatomy.) And we had fun walking around the city!

Around 6 we tried to get into the youth hostel, but alas they were closed. so we had the option of getting a more expensive hotel, going back then or staying in the city till 3AM and taking the last train back to Bonn.

What do you think we did?

Me, Weecho, Chris, Nick, Virginia, Jack, and Justin all decided to stay late. We got some food at a Hooters of all places, because we needed some chicken. (you can hardly find it here. Its all about the ham in Germany) then went out to a pub with the people going to Copenhagen until they had to leave, then we went to Stone, a rock and roll club that has some of the best music I had heard so far. It was a w e s o m e. We drank and made merry and celebrated Weecho's birthday in a royal way! I even danced a little. It was fun, because you just move, but you don't have to do that bumping grinding junk we do in america. You just MOVE and its cool. Although, I doubt I was really cool, I'm pretty sure I flailed just a little too much. But the 6 of us dancing was a whole lot of fun. (Jack stayed and watched the coats. =\ )

Anyway we left and rode the train back. It was a long one, but eventually we got back to Cologne, were we switched trains to Bonn. On the way back to Bonn a trainn offical started checking the tickets to see if we had all paid. AiB had given us a ticket to use, to get back to Cologne, but we didn't think it worked anymore because it was after 4, so we all got of on the next stop to avoid a $40 fine. Luckily this was my stop. Unluckily 6 other people had no place to go while they waited for an hour to catch the next train.

So we went to my place.

I was sure we would wake everyone up, the way we all thundered up the stairs. Or the way Justin and Weecho's combined weight caused my bed to colapse (i fixed it later) or how everyone started laughing as my h-dad's snoring made noises even I'd never heard before.

But no one did.

And then it was time for them to go.

And I got to sleep in my bed. And save money on a hostel.

And it was a FUN weekend.Will post pictures on fb later today!

-matt
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2:15 PM | Posted in , , ,

Hey everyone!

Well this week we had two excursions outside of Bonn. The first was to Aachen on Thursday. The second was to Cologne again on Friday.
Once again, I cannot impress upon you how amazing Cologne Cathedral is to me.

But first Aachen.
It is an old town, founded by Romans. They used the hot springs there as a place of rest and healing. The sulfur water does that. Heals, I mean. Not taste gross at all. We all took a sip from the old fountains and let me tell you, I actually would prefer all my water to taste like Eggs.

[sarcasm]

But besides the foul water, Aachen was pretty uneventful. We went to the University there and saw some of our professor’s students’ work. And while they were very impressive, it had been a long day, and I get fidgety around random people.

Cologne is a beautiful city. Which is sad because it means I have done exactly what I hate doing on trips, and why I end up uploading so little photos to the net. I take pictures of inanimate objects. As hard as I try, my pictures often end up having very little of my friends in them, or if they do, then there backs are turned taking a picture of what I just finished taking. Captions read: ______ taking a picture.

Very exciting.

Speaking of cameras, mine is draining batteries like trucks drain gas. I think I will end up having to shell out some cash for new rechargeable ones.

Ok, sorry for gripping.

The best part about today was getting to climb up Cologne Cathedral. I was able to climb to the top. It is amazing up there. Cold. Very very cold. But so spectacular.

Here. I wanted ya’ll to see this.

It is my new profile pic.

I was awed. We also got to climb up to the tristory (or clerestory? I forgot which) and see the inside of it from close up. But those pics didn’t turn out well because of the light.
So even though it was a cold, tiring day, it was a good one. (When I say cold, it was below zero most of the day. With wind.) We also went to a chocolate museum. And got to explore Cologne a bit more. It’s a fun place to hang out.

Oh! And I tried some Currywurst. Excellent stuff.


-matt



PS: My first album is up on facebook. Check it out there.
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1:45 PM | Posted in
Hallo!

New, albeit short post.
I am writing as I wait for everyone else to finish lunch!

I had bread/ cheese. Some might call this cheese bread, but I call it divine! It was fantastic.

So, what has happened since we last spoke? Well, I went to Colone and saw Colone Cathedral. It was amazing! google it. It is biiigg. And then some. I have been trying to post pictures, but I am having trouble uploading them directly to this blog.  I must find alternate route!

Also we went to Colone Zoo yesterday. Zoos are Zoos no matter where you go, but this one had something you would never find in an American Zoo. Raccoons!! For serious, they have raccoons in their zoo! But its not so weird when you think about it. Because Raccoons are strictly in North America. So they are exotic here. Funny right?  

We went to the zoo because we are building a Vertical Zoo as a studio project. I am not sure how I feel about this, because it sounds very architectural and not VIZ at all. But we shall see.

Anyway, I'm gonna sign off now,
-matt


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4:00 AM | Posted in , ,
1/22/09

HELLO!

This is my trip blog/ journal. I will be keeping it on my computer, and posting it to http://mattgoestoeurope.blogspot.com/

Forewarning: I am not a good writer. I enjoy the liberal use of parenthesis, and commas to the point of bad grammar. My spelling is atrocious. I rarely proof read.
You have been warned.

I will attempt to keep the time in 24 hours because it will help me adapt better. I apologize if that forces you subtract 12 from anything.

This entry will cover the flight/ first day/ second day.

The flight was long, but enjoyable. The food was actually good. Which was a surprise.

The first day was jet lagged into oblivion. I look back on it as "The day that doesn’t exist because
I somehow jumped 8 hours into the future and I don’t know how, why is it so bright out?"

The second day is where the action is.
I started by riding the train to Bonn in the morning. I got to Bonn Hbf (the central train station of Bonn) around 9:30 and was a little early, so I waited for the group to get there for while. While there I noticed a few things, such as a Pizza Superhero, and German manga. Around 10, we started walking to AIB. Our building isn’t on the original campus, but rather it is a new building (or an old building) that they redoing as I type. It is very nice, and will be fantastic once they finish We took a tour of the city, and it was beautiful. Bonn is a wonderful city, it looks old enough to be distinguished, but new enough so that new buildings don’t stick out like sore thumbs. I have pictures, I will attempt to post them soon.

After our tour, We all decided to head back to our host homes and meet later to explore the night life of our new city.

I never made it that far.

I am new to this train system. However I am not surprised that I was the one to get horribly lost first.

Time: 17:00.
I first rode a subway train to Bornhiem, where I live.
Time: 17:30.
Once I got off the train, I realized that this was the wrong part of Bornhiem. So I rode the train back to Bonn.
Time:18:30.
I asked the man working the info booth which train I should take. He told me what time and platform it leaves from, but the train that showed up had a different name then the one he told me. I should have taken it anyway.
Time: 18:52.
I asked for the next one, he gave me the time, I realized that he had given me the name of the station, not the train.
Time: 19:32.
This time I got on it, and rode it, but never saw the stop he mentioned. I rode the train all the way to Koln.
Time: 20:00.
The next train to Bonn Hbf left at 20:52. I was stressing out like crazy. Here I met some wonderful people who were kind enough to help me out. Marike was an art historian/restorer who I met after we both gave a homeless man something. She gave an apple, and I gave 15 cents. We talked and I used her cell phone to try and dial home to no avail. I had been attempting to use payphones as well, but never got it right. She told me I had the number wrong.
Time: 20:52
On the train back to Bonn, We heard "Bornheim, Roisdorf" over the loud speaker. She said that this was the last stop before Bonn Hbf, and that it was probably my stop (it was.) I got off, and started making my way back home.
Time: 21:21.
I met another friend who helped me find my neighborhood. (It was dark!) And a little before 22:00 I made it home.

Big adventure right?

It wasn’t a bad five hours, but I wouldn’t want to spend another five like that again.
I am glad to be home, and now I know my trains X)

-matt
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