roaming through europe

Paris, France

So, finding internet for free in Luxembourg and in Brussels was impossible and the internet cafes were only opened for limited amounts of time.  Therefore, I will be doing a lot of updating when I get home.

We are now in Paris and last night the Eiffel Tower lit up the whole sky after the hardest rain I've seen in a long time.  We walked 4 miles last night and just got back from about another 4 mile walk.

I will try to post every now and then but this keyboard is torture!

Hugs!

Miss everyone!

Au revoir, Strasbourg!

So, tonight is our last night in Strasbourg.  We got home late from Switzerland and now it is packing time, washing clothes time, and saying goodbye to Strasbourg and our guide, Catherine.  I have been sitting here way too long trying to catch up on my entries so you will all be informed.  But, it looks like I won't be able to finish them tonight...hence the blank entries before this.  I will get to it as soon as possible.  Sorry to keep you in suspense so long! :)

I will try to get my pictures up tonight, though! (UPDATE:  I don't think they will be up today...sorry...we are headed onto the bus for Trier, Brussels, and Luxembourg and may not have a computer today!)

DAY 11--Gimmelwald and Back to the Chateau (5.21.07)

DAY 10--Lucerne & Gimmelwald, Switzerland (5.20.07)

DAY 9--Basel & Lucerne, Switzerland (5.19.07)

Saturday morning started off a little too early for my liking.  But, it was the start of our free weekend and we were all ready to head out.  We boarded the bus at 6:45 am and headed to the Baden Baden airport to drop off the various groups of people headed to Munich, Berlin, Barcelona, and Amsterdam.  After dropping off everyone else, Lexi and I were dropped off at the Baden Baden train station that was only about 20 minutes away.  We got our rail-passes authorized for our first day of rail travel and then waited for our train.  At 9:17 am, we boarded our train for Basel, Switzerland and at 10:47 am, we arrived.  It was crazy to see the scenery change before our eyes so drastically and more incredible was the fact that in 1.5 hours, we were in a totally different country with a totally different culture and a totally different landscape. 

Once in Basel, we bought 2 bus tickets to get to the shopping part of the city.  The buses ran frequently and we headed to the grocery store and bought sandwiches and yogurt for lunch.  We ate on the stairs of the Basel Museum of History.  Then, we walked around with our loads of luggage.  I didn't bring that much but 2 bags is WAY too much to carry around in almost 80 degree weather in the sun.  So, after our aerobic and weight-lifting workout, we got on another train at 2 pm and headed to Lucerne, our destination for the night.  The train ride was an hour and we realized that we may have thought Basel was nice, but we were in for some more incredible things. 

Lucerne sits right on the water and with the alps in the background, it is breathtaking.  After asking about a hundred people (not really) for any bit of knowledge on the location of our B&B for the night, we found it after 1 mile of walking.  The Pension Villa Maria truly was like staying at your grandma's house.  It was a three-story, yellow house with a garden out back and our room was on the second floor.  Lexi and I were SO happy to be somewhere where we could lie down so we hung out in our room for a while.  Then, per Lexi's suggestion, we asked Maria (the 70 to 75 year old owner of the Pension) about a restaurant called the Stadtkeller.  Maria made reservations for us that included a four-course meal and a 2-2.5 hour show including all of the Swiss traditions.

At 7:00 pm, we walked the mile to the Stadtkeller Restaurant.  Our meal consisted of a Swiss cheese fondue with bread, salad, Swiss rosti (kind of like hashbrowns) and chicken and spinach, and dessert was vanilla/strawberry ice cream with applesauce and whipped cream.  More important than any food we ate was the entertainment--alphorns, flag throwing, yodeling, Swiss dancing, water piano, accordions, and more.  I even went on stage and got a shot at blowing the alphorn (I did pretty darn good if I don't say so myself!).  And, I guess I had such a good time up there and they enjoyed laughing at me so much that they invited me back up to yodel into the microphone.  Then, they forced me to chug a beer because apparently, "yodeling makes you thirsty!" 

The evening was incredible and totally worth the money.  We couldn't have found ANYTHING better to do!  We walked the mile back home by the water and then crashed!

DAY 8--Group Presentations & Koehler Paper Mill (5.18.07)

I don't know if I mentioned this before (probably because it has been the least of my "writing home" worries).  Dr. Hansen, our teacher while we are here, assigned us a group project the first week of class.  Teams consisted of 4 students and we basically were assigned a chapter in our book on Europe and the cultures here.  My group took on France and we were supposed to read the chapter on France, answer a list of questions that would offer insight to the class on the French culture.  So, Friday morning, our group presented on France and it went really well.  We took all of the information from the chapter and related it to the metaphor of French wine as done in the book.  (The presentation wasn't for a grade but any time to show Dr. Hansen that we are on top of our game is a good time to step up to bat!)  After our presentation, the 3 other groups presented and then we were let out for lunch.

After lunch, we had 2 hours worth of free time before our next adventure.  So, a group of us rode bikes into town to the post office so I could mail off Drew's birthday card.  Then, we headed to the ATAC to pick up food for lunch.  We made lunch at the Chateau with the windows open in the kitchen and then we had to get back to schoolwork.

Before our free weekend began, we had to make one more company visit.  We went to the Koehler Paper Mill where they make specialty papers and learned about the company.  Also, we were able to take a tour of the plant and take lots of pictures!  Then, we headed back to the Chateau again.

For our last dinner in Strasbourg (before leaving for our free weekend and then leaving for good), a big group of us went into the city and ate dinner at Cafe Roan.  After dinner, a group went out to party and I was in the group that headed home.  We were going to ride the bus but when we got to the station, it was 30 minutes until the next bus.  SO, we decided to ingeniously walk ahead and catch the bus a little closer to the Chateau.  Well, our plan backfired and we ended up walking home the entire 4 miles.  You know I slept well as soon as we got home! :) 

DAY 7--Guest Lecture and BBQ (5.17.07)

So, I'm backtracking a bit but it hasn't been too long so I should be able to still fill you in with all the good details.  Thursday morning, Patrick Dollat, our guest lecturer who was a tad hard to understand, came and spoke to us about the European Union.  After 3.5 hours, it was a breath of fresh air to get out of the classroom and eat a quick lunch (zone bar, yet again) and meet with my group briefly.  Then, I got a taste of back home living and had a 2.5 hour nap that was much needed. 

I woke up about 15 minutes before we were to meet the group of students that just arrived at the Chateau from Clarkson University up north.  We met them at the tipi camp, which sits behind the Chateau, for a BBQ and let me tell you what...it was SO nice to have some new faces and people to talk to.  Not that our group of people isn't great, but the same 14 people can get old after a while.  Now, when I say BBQ, I know all my family and friends from Georgia are thinking, "BBQ????  In Europe???"  But, this wasn't any Down South BBQ.  We were served a 4 course meal while sitting under the tipis.  Round one was potatoes, cold vegetable salads, a regional fish, and grilled feta cheese.  Round two consisted of mushroom and zucchini shishkabobs.  Round three was purely meat with a few types of sausages.  And, round four and what they called our dessert was chicken wings.  The food was incredible and we ate it while sitting around the fire.  I came back to my room smelling like a fire pit but the food in my belly put me right to sleep!  It was definitely one of the best times we all had together so far!

just a quick update...

to let you know that i am alive.  i am in switzerland and this is the most beautiful place i have ever seen in my entire life.  we spent yesterday in basel for a few hours and then headed to lucerne.  today we are in gimmelwald and there is FREE internet at the moutain hostel we are staying in.  suprising though since it costs money to shower!  i guess lexi will just have to smell me.

anyway, i will catch up on all the days i have missed when i get back to the chateau tomorrow. 

i won`t type anymore now because the keyboard is european and let me tell you what, it is not easy to get used to.  i wrote drew an email and every time i write "i love you," it looks like "i love zou" because the "z" is where the "y" usually is and with this keyboard, just forget about punctuation!

hugs!

sarah

See you MONDAY!

We had a late night last night so my hopes of getting caught up are gone...I will catch up either in Switzerland or on Monday.  You read that right!  I'm going to Switzerland for our free weekend with Lexi.  Hopefully, we will make it back alive!!!

DAY 6--Frankfurt Banks

So, Wednesday started out VERY EARLY (well, in comparison to our 9:00 and 9:30 lectures we have been having).  We boarded the bus at 7:30 am and got on the road to Frankfurt, a city in Germany about 2.5 hours away.  After a long bus ride with little sleep, we pulled up to the Deutsche Bundesbank (DB), the German bank.  (**Just a little background to understand--there are 27 national states that are part of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) and 13 of those countries have adopted the euro, making them part of the Eurosystem.  The euro was introduced in 1999 as a "virtual currency" and set the standards for a common monetary policy for Europe.  In 2002, the euro was converted from a "virtual currency" to an actual currency made up of banknotes and coins.

We then had a short powerpoint presentation on the role of the bank within the Eurosystem.  The aim of the DB is to maintain price stability in Germany by working with the European Central Bank (ECB), which is also located in Frankfurt.  After our lecture was over, we then went to the Geld Museum (Money Museum) located in the bottom of the Deutsche Bundesbank.  The museum showed the evolution of money from cattle to the present euro.  Included in the museum were all the different countries' coins in the Eurosystem and many other interactive displays.  Finally, we shopped in the Money Museum store and then left!

During our hour long break in the city center of Frankfurt, which is known as "the New York of Germany," we pondered shopping but the pouring down rain was quite the deterrent.  Instead, most of us ran into the closest restaurant we saw which happened to be a Thai Restaurant...not what you would expect to eat in Germany!  But, the Thai food was incredible and just what we needed!

We then walked a couple blocks (still raining at this point) to the European Central Bank (ECB) that I mentioned above.  Getting into the bank was harder than getting in to any of the other places we have gone yet.  Individually, we had to show our passports to the lady at the front desk and then be escorted onto the elevator.  We then had 2 lecturers speak to us about the role of the ECB and the euro.  Although there was quite a bit of overlapping from our visit at the Deutsche Bundesbank, I did learn a few interesting things.  First of all, the euro has a common theme throughout all of the banknote denominations.  The front of the bills have an illustration of windows to symbolize openness.  And, the back of the bills show bridges that symbolize unity.  Also, when first looking at the euro banknotes, one might think they were playing with Monopoly money--they are ALL different colors and sizes.  I had never really thought about the reasoning behind this design but we were told that the bills are different colors and sizes so that slightly blind people can still distinguish between denominations.  Finally, if you were to look closer at the euro coins, you would notice that they are all very different, even within the same denominations.  Our speaker informed us that the front sides of all the coins are the same but the backs are designed each of the 13 countries that have adopted the euro.  And, every year, each country gets to design another coin and even a different design on every denomination of coin!  I thought this was really neat that the euro enables these 13 countries to have a fluent monetary system but still allows creativity!

Anyway, now that I am a complete nerd for talking about coins for a few paragraphs (although I have to because I have to show Drew that I am interested in coins...at least for his sake), I will continue.  We left the ECB and ran around in the rain trying to shop but not getting very far.  After visiting an incredible chocolatier and a few little stores, we ran back to the bus and all headed to a German restaurant.  We had a VERY German dinner that started with an incredible potato soup and then some type of dark meat, a creamy herb sauce, and potatoes.  Then, we ended the night off with a delicious blueberry crepe-ish dessert!

We didn't get home to the Chateau until very late (about 11:30 pm) and the rain was a bummer.  But, all in all, it was an educational day!