Hello Loved Ones!
So, we've got a bit of an announcement. No, we're not pregnant, so let's just get that one out of the way. No babies coming our way for a long time!
In fact, our announcement is that we're heading home to Portland earlier than planned. As most of you know, we were planning to be in Sheffield until Summer of 2011. But, having been here for two months, we're realizing that it's time for us to go home. We're finding Sheffield to be more difficult to be in without Grandma around, which is how we originally planned this adventure. Also, we are really missing our friends and family in the States, and that's not something that is easily replaceable.
As most of you know, we planned this adventure as having a year to do fun things that we wouldn't normally have the chance to do. Instead of being based from Sheffield, we will continue to pursue our year of adventures, just based out of Portland. I (Jillian) will be pursuing volunteer opportunities with the hospice program with Providence Health & Services--the company I used to work for. Kyle has a school program he wants to pursue for autobody work, so we'll both indeed keep busy. In addition to those activities, we will absolutely continue traveling. We will do a whole California tour (Sacramento, Truckee, SF, San Jose, LA, and San Diego), as well as traveling all around the US. Also, as planned, we will return to Europe to do the traveling we had pictured, most likely in June or July of 2011. We will eventually be settled back into real life in August 2011, working and going to school as we had always planned.
While our plans are changing, we are really excited. We've learned that while Sheffield is totally lovely to visit, it's not the place for us long-term. We are grateful to be flexible enough to change our plans to still suit our long-term goals of having fun adventures together. We are appreciative of everyone's support, especially our family, and we are excited to be back in Portland soon!
We send lots of love from Sheffield, and will be busily working to get my grandparent's house clear by late November. We will do some traveling around Ireland and Scotland (whiskey tour here we come!), and then we'll be in Portland by mid-December. Hugs from us both to all of you!
Jillian & Kyle
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
8 October 2010--It's about time!
Hello everyone!
This is Jillian FINALLY updating our blog. It's been a while since we updated this thing, and we didn't want you to lose anymore sleep over it. Here's a super quick recap of what your two favorite traveling hooligans have been up to.
We last left you when we first arrived to Munich. In total, we spent four days in Munich. Highlights include drinking, spending time at Oktoberfest, drinking, sleeping in a tent at our campsite (the only thing available by the time we got around to booking Munich accommodations), meeting new friends from all over the world (including a lot of Australians!), drinking, hanging out with our new friends Anne and Hillary (who we met in Berlin), drinking, climbing the zillion stairs at St. Peter's Cathedral to look out over the city of Munich, wandering around town, drinking, and me getting stung by a bee on my big toe. Due to this bee sting (which caused a lot of swelling and discomfort, so of course looked super attractive!), as well as the huge downpour of rain that made the campsite quite unbearable, we spent our last evening in Munich at a hotel, where we were miraculously able to book a room for one night.
The highlight of Munich was Oktoberfest. We had a lot of fun at Oktoberfest. But, who wouldn't have fun at Oktoberfest?! Even though I couldn't drink any of the beer (one of the many times I have not enjoyed this gluten-free lifestyle!), it was very enjoyable. We went one evening and were able to scam our way into a VIP section in the Hofbrau Haus tent with our friends Anne and Hillary. Kyle enjoyed many liters of beer, while I enjoyed my smuggled-in vodka. The place was completely packed with very happy, boisterous, drunk people from all over the world. We spent another full day wandering all around the grounds, which included a lot of beer tents, carnival rides, food carts, and souvenirs. The Germans go all out with their festivities and decorations, and it was super fun and festive. Good times indeed!
In all, our European Adventures were awesome. We did very well with our giant backpacks trekking all over the place, and are of course super buff and strong now. We had so much fun exploring the histories of the interesting cities we were in, and we look forward to future visits. We did not make it to all of the cities that we had originally planned on, so we are saving future visits (that is, before we got back to the US) for Prague, Salzburg, many points in Italy, and Paris. Additionally, we are planning trips soon to go to Ireland and Scotland. Kyle doesn't know that yet, but we're definitely doing some local travel soon. Perhaps for Christmas?
We've been back in Sheffield for about 10 days. When we got home, we were both quite under the weather. We spent many days lounging around the house with sore throats, coughs, and congestion. As you can imagine, we were delightful to be around. While you may blame the copious amounts of alcohol for our illness, I blame that damn bee who stung me! And, perhaps the alcohol played a role. Either way, we've recovered a bit in time for us to make more progress on the house. We've made very large piles of things to donate, as well as things to throw away, in the garage. Once we make a bit more progress, we will rent a small dumpster (a skip!) to toss everything into.
In other news, I started my job this week. I'm working for an agency that provides in-home care to elders in the Sheffield community, with the goal of allowing elders to live independently in their homes for as long as possible. The woman who runs the agency is very generous and has lined up many opportunities for me to learn about how care is provided to elders in the UK. Given that my graduate degree had a concentration in gerontology, this is going to be a great experience! So far I've been oriented to the main office, read many client files, and accompanied caregivers on many different assignments. I'm excited to learn more.
Beyond work and house stuff, we've been enjoying some very nice weather the past few days. Lots of sunshine and clear skies have allowed us to take long walks all around the city, and we've walked many many miles in the past few days. In the next two weeks, we will be getting the house ready for a visit from the Rose family--an arm of our Sacramento family. Scott, Teresa, Brandon, and Katie will soon be staying with us on their way home from Morroco, and we're so excited to see them! We will be sure to have comfy beds (including one air mattress!), a warm house, available washer and dryer, and lots of wine ready for them! Shortly after the Roses depart, Mom and Aunt Margaret will be visiting, so this will indeed be a bustling house before too long. Needless to say, we're totally getting tired of each other, so we will welcome all visitors!
So, keep checking back to this wonky blog, and we'll be better about providing updates when we do anything fun!
Lots of love from Jillian & Kyle!
This is Jillian FINALLY updating our blog. It's been a while since we updated this thing, and we didn't want you to lose anymore sleep over it. Here's a super quick recap of what your two favorite traveling hooligans have been up to.
We last left you when we first arrived to Munich. In total, we spent four days in Munich. Highlights include drinking, spending time at Oktoberfest, drinking, sleeping in a tent at our campsite (the only thing available by the time we got around to booking Munich accommodations), meeting new friends from all over the world (including a lot of Australians!), drinking, hanging out with our new friends Anne and Hillary (who we met in Berlin), drinking, climbing the zillion stairs at St. Peter's Cathedral to look out over the city of Munich, wandering around town, drinking, and me getting stung by a bee on my big toe. Due to this bee sting (which caused a lot of swelling and discomfort, so of course looked super attractive!), as well as the huge downpour of rain that made the campsite quite unbearable, we spent our last evening in Munich at a hotel, where we were miraculously able to book a room for one night.
The highlight of Munich was Oktoberfest. We had a lot of fun at Oktoberfest. But, who wouldn't have fun at Oktoberfest?! Even though I couldn't drink any of the beer (one of the many times I have not enjoyed this gluten-free lifestyle!), it was very enjoyable. We went one evening and were able to scam our way into a VIP section in the Hofbrau Haus tent with our friends Anne and Hillary. Kyle enjoyed many liters of beer, while I enjoyed my smuggled-in vodka. The place was completely packed with very happy, boisterous, drunk people from all over the world. We spent another full day wandering all around the grounds, which included a lot of beer tents, carnival rides, food carts, and souvenirs. The Germans go all out with their festivities and decorations, and it was super fun and festive. Good times indeed!
In all, our European Adventures were awesome. We did very well with our giant backpacks trekking all over the place, and are of course super buff and strong now. We had so much fun exploring the histories of the interesting cities we were in, and we look forward to future visits. We did not make it to all of the cities that we had originally planned on, so we are saving future visits (that is, before we got back to the US) for Prague, Salzburg, many points in Italy, and Paris. Additionally, we are planning trips soon to go to Ireland and Scotland. Kyle doesn't know that yet, but we're definitely doing some local travel soon. Perhaps for Christmas?
We've been back in Sheffield for about 10 days. When we got home, we were both quite under the weather. We spent many days lounging around the house with sore throats, coughs, and congestion. As you can imagine, we were delightful to be around. While you may blame the copious amounts of alcohol for our illness, I blame that damn bee who stung me! And, perhaps the alcohol played a role. Either way, we've recovered a bit in time for us to make more progress on the house. We've made very large piles of things to donate, as well as things to throw away, in the garage. Once we make a bit more progress, we will rent a small dumpster (a skip!) to toss everything into.
In other news, I started my job this week. I'm working for an agency that provides in-home care to elders in the Sheffield community, with the goal of allowing elders to live independently in their homes for as long as possible. The woman who runs the agency is very generous and has lined up many opportunities for me to learn about how care is provided to elders in the UK. Given that my graduate degree had a concentration in gerontology, this is going to be a great experience! So far I've been oriented to the main office, read many client files, and accompanied caregivers on many different assignments. I'm excited to learn more.
Beyond work and house stuff, we've been enjoying some very nice weather the past few days. Lots of sunshine and clear skies have allowed us to take long walks all around the city, and we've walked many many miles in the past few days. In the next two weeks, we will be getting the house ready for a visit from the Rose family--an arm of our Sacramento family. Scott, Teresa, Brandon, and Katie will soon be staying with us on their way home from Morroco, and we're so excited to see them! We will be sure to have comfy beds (including one air mattress!), a warm house, available washer and dryer, and lots of wine ready for them! Shortly after the Roses depart, Mom and Aunt Margaret will be visiting, so this will indeed be a bustling house before too long. Needless to say, we're totally getting tired of each other, so we will welcome all visitors!
So, keep checking back to this wonky blog, and we'll be better about providing updates when we do anything fun!
Lots of love from Jillian & Kyle!
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| Us at Hofbrau Haus. |
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| Us at the Hofbrau Haus Oktoberfest beer tent. Kyle with his giant 1-liter beer, and me with my teeny cup of vodka. |
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| Those Germans take their beer tent decorations seriously. |
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| Kyle was having a terrible time. |
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| I know, my hat is very authentic. People thought I was a native Austrian. |
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| The Lowenbrau Lion, who actually rotated AND lifted his cup up and down. |
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| My wine, along with the giant beers for Kyle, Anne, and Hillary |
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| Decor outside an Oktoberfest food stand |
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| Decor outside an Oktoberfest food stand. Wieners are funny. |
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| Decor outside an Oktoberfest food stand |
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| Badass statue on the front of an Oktoberfest ride |
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| A terrifying statue outside an Oktoberfest ride |
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| The Bavaria Statue, which overlooks Oktoberfest. We saw lots of drunk people rolling around those grassy hills. |
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| All the beer companies had horse-drawn carriages advertising their beer wandering around Oktoberfest. Needless to say, it was super cool, and there was horse poo everywhere. |
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| Our friend Hillary in the traditional German lady garb. I was definitely super lame for not wearing something similar. |
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| Us at the top of the cathedral. Very beautiful view and worth the hike. |
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| View of Oktoberfest from the cathedral. |
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| A cool gargoyle! |
Friday, October 1, 2010
Berlin!
Note: This was written the day we got into Munich, but due to technical difficulties (spotty wi-fi at our campsite), we never posted it up. So here is our much-delayed and surely anticipated account of Berlin. We will follow up with our Munich adventures soon.
Hey Friends!
Kyle and I are at our campsite in Munich for Oktoberfest. We just arrived today after an extended stay in Berlin; instead of 3 nights in Berlin, we stayed 5. So, for this blog entry, I’m going to give my account of events in Berlin and Munich so far, and then Kyle will give his. Hehehehe, such madness! I should also say that we are both on our third cup of sangria/beer, so don’t be upset if we are offensive, rambling, or over-use the word ‘super’ (probably just I would do that).
OK, Berlin was super awesome. Of all the cities up to that point, Berlin was my favorite. I spent a lot of time in high school and college learning about German and Nazi history, so it was super cool to see things I have only ever read about. The idea of the Berlin Wall has always fascinated me, and to be able to see portions of it in person was really amazing. A quick run-down of Berlin:
-Visited Checkpoint Charlie (major checkpoint along Berlin Wall).
-Saw former Third Reich Air Force headquarters, which is now the German Ministry of Ministries (no joke).
-Visited Brandenberg Gate and Paris Square—site of many infamous historic events, including Hitler’s first public address, JFK’s “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech, and statue of the goddess Victoria. SUCH amazing history there.
-Saw buildings with actual bullet holes from WW2—wowza!
-Saw the second largest standing section of the Berlin Wall.
-Saw Holocaust Memorial.
-Saw memorial to all the victims of tyranny, which houses the dead bodies of a Nazi solider and a Jewish man killed in a death camp, side-by-side.
-Went on a Berlin pub crawl. Made friends with two cool ladies from California, who we are meeting here in Munich.
-Spent a day at Sachsenhausen, the first ever concentration camp about 45 minutes outside of Berlin. It served as the ‘model camp’ for the rest of the death/concentration camps. Of course, totally fascinating and depressing.
-Ate at the famous “The Bird” burger place. Don’t know how to describe my meal, beyond super duper great, even without a burger bun! The fact that we were starving and slightly hungover might have helped.
-Stayed in very cool hostel near city center that offered cheap drinks and very cheap accomodations. We got our own room!
-Switched to a very secluded, eco-friendly hostel in the middle of a forest for our last two nights. Great way to recharge before Munich.
Now, in Munich, we are having a great time. We flew in from Berlin this afternoon and made our way to our campsite (the only accomodation left by the time we booked our stay!). While not at all near the center of Munich, we are really happy with this place so far. We get a tent, two sleeping bags, and two sleeping pads. The campsite also provides daily shuttles to and from Oktoberfest (where I’ll be smuggling in my own vodka since I can’t drink the beer, so don’t worry about me). We will also get hot breakfasts and dinners, included in the cost. And, perhaps the best part of staying here is the unlimited beer and sangria all day. It’s camping like we’re used to! With very nice weather, there’s not much more we could ask for!
Ok, here’s a final bit from me until Mr. Heacock has his turn. We’ve decided that Munich will be the finaly leg of our journey. We’ve booked a flight to return to Sheffield on Sunday the 26th. We’ve had such a fantastic time traveling, but I think it’s both wearing on us a bit. Kyle had a bit of a sore throat for our last two days in Berlin, and we’re both getting a bit tired of living out of our backpacks in crappy hostels. We’ve decided to make small, single destination trips to include Rotterdam to see Tuan, Berlin to do a few more things, Salzburg to chill for a weekend, and then one large trip to Rome (I WILL go to Rome before going back to the US). And, if finances allow, we’re going to do some more travels further east, but we’ll just have to see about that.
We miss everyone a lot, but we’re having a great time! We still like each other quite a bit, so I’d say we’re good travel buddies. Lots of love from Munich!
Jillian
Howdy Howdy,
It’s time for another riveting installment of our European travels. I’m writing you from Munich, but we last left off in Berlin, so let’s backtrack a bit. We spent a total of 5 nights in Berlin in 2 different hostels, and had quite a good time. This may be contrary to my earlier declaration of not staying too long in the same city, but rules were made to be broken. Our first hostel was The Generator, a giant hotel-sized affair located in East Berlin. We quickly learned how to use the German public transit system, which is both efficient and intuitive. The only sticking point for me was remembering and pronouncing the destination names, though I find the German language much easier to learn (and pronounce) than Dutch. We took advantage of a “free” tour of the city, which was put on by the same company that did tours in Amsterdam. We had a great tour guide, and saw some very fascinating sights. Berlin has a very dark past due to the Hitler regime, but it was nonetheless very interesting to learn more about the city’s history from its inception, through WWII, and beyond. We happened upon what we can only guess was an anti-abortion march through the city-center, which crossed paths with an anti-fascist demonstration/mobile dance party. We ate some currywurst (gluten-free since it’s normally served without a bun!) and bratwurst, and wandered through an open-air market (very similar to the Saturday Market we have in Portland). We headed back to our hostel, then decided to go on a pub crawl that is put on by the same people as the free tours.
The pub crawl, at least what I can remember of it, was good fun. We started out at a place that had an extensive outdoor seating/bar area, and it was also the home to the free beer we were promised when we paid for our pub crawl tickets. Needless to say, that’s where we spent our time there. I got twice the beer since Jillian would get a cup, then hand it over to me, which probably accounts for my fuzzy recollections of later in the evening. We saw The Pyrofessor, a guy with a flamethrower who juggled some fire, then moved on to the next bar. It was (I think) on the way to the next bar that we met our new friends Anne and Hilary, who are a couple of Californians that we struck up some conversation with while pub-crawling. From that point on, we started exchanging rounds of drinks, and this is the point where you’ll have to ask Jillian for details. We apparently were out till about 3am, at which point we took a cab back to our hostel and I put up a fight about brushing my teeth before bed (I’m taking Jillian’s word that that actually took place).
The next morning, we woke up bright and early (9am) and headed out to a guided tour of Sachsenhousen, one of the first concentration camps. It was a very interesting but somber tour, and while I was glad we went, it’s not something I’d call fun. I must say that I am quite impressed with the Germans in that they don’t deny their past misdeeds, but instead put them out in the open so people remember them and don’t repeat mistakes of the past. After our tour, we headed back into town to meet up with Anne and Hilary for dinner. We successfully made our way to “The Bird”, a local restauraunt known for their hamburgers. I must say that I enjoyed the best burger and fries of my life (to date) while there. 250 grams of freshly ground beef topped with ample amounts of cheddar cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, and bacon overflowing out of an english muffin with a giant pile of fries filling the rest of the plate. Superb. After our food comas subsided enough to walk again, we made our way back to our hostel and got some long-awaited sleep (somehow 5 hours of drunken sleep wasn’t quite cutting it) before departing for our next hostel.
We had decided to stay in Berlin for 2 more nights, then head down a night early to Munich, so we booked 2 nights at the JetPack Eco-Lodge (best hostel name I’ve come across so far) since The Generator was booked up. We made the journey into a forest in west Berlin, and eventually found our way to the hostel. We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice quiet oasis in our mostly hectic travels within major city centers. We ate dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant, took a leisurley stroll through the forest, used quite a bit by locals walking their dogs (much to Jillian’s delight), and after getting slightly lost, made our way back to the hostel. We watched a couple of movies, then turned in for the night. The next morning, I woke up with a sore throat and some body aches, so we decided to stay in an recuperate from our travels, so that we would be healthy and robust for Oktoberfest. We left the hostel to get some food, but otherwise enjoyed the big screen TV and ample selection of movies provided by the hostel.
We awoke early and journeyed to the Tegel airport, and eventually made our way into Munich. We had a delayed takeoff due to a “bird strike”, so they had to check the engine to make sure it wasn’t damaged. We are now in our campsite, which is put on by a company that sets up trips to popular festivals around the world. I will leave you now, as we are preparing to go to the Hofbrau Haus to drink giant beers and meet up with friends, and have no more time for blogging foolishness.
Pics to follow, free blogger programs suck.
Hey Friends!
Kyle and I are at our campsite in Munich for Oktoberfest. We just arrived today after an extended stay in Berlin; instead of 3 nights in Berlin, we stayed 5. So, for this blog entry, I’m going to give my account of events in Berlin and Munich so far, and then Kyle will give his. Hehehehe, such madness! I should also say that we are both on our third cup of sangria/beer, so don’t be upset if we are offensive, rambling, or over-use the word ‘super’ (probably just I would do that).
OK, Berlin was super awesome. Of all the cities up to that point, Berlin was my favorite. I spent a lot of time in high school and college learning about German and Nazi history, so it was super cool to see things I have only ever read about. The idea of the Berlin Wall has always fascinated me, and to be able to see portions of it in person was really amazing. A quick run-down of Berlin:
-Visited Checkpoint Charlie (major checkpoint along Berlin Wall).
-Saw former Third Reich Air Force headquarters, which is now the German Ministry of Ministries (no joke).
-Visited Brandenberg Gate and Paris Square—site of many infamous historic events, including Hitler’s first public address, JFK’s “Ich Bin Ein Berliner” speech, and statue of the goddess Victoria. SUCH amazing history there.
-Saw buildings with actual bullet holes from WW2—wowza!
-Saw the second largest standing section of the Berlin Wall.
-Saw Holocaust Memorial.
-Saw memorial to all the victims of tyranny, which houses the dead bodies of a Nazi solider and a Jewish man killed in a death camp, side-by-side.
-Went on a Berlin pub crawl. Made friends with two cool ladies from California, who we are meeting here in Munich.
-Spent a day at Sachsenhausen, the first ever concentration camp about 45 minutes outside of Berlin. It served as the ‘model camp’ for the rest of the death/concentration camps. Of course, totally fascinating and depressing.
-Ate at the famous “The Bird” burger place. Don’t know how to describe my meal, beyond super duper great, even without a burger bun! The fact that we were starving and slightly hungover might have helped.
-Stayed in very cool hostel near city center that offered cheap drinks and very cheap accomodations. We got our own room!
-Switched to a very secluded, eco-friendly hostel in the middle of a forest for our last two nights. Great way to recharge before Munich.
Now, in Munich, we are having a great time. We flew in from Berlin this afternoon and made our way to our campsite (the only accomodation left by the time we booked our stay!). While not at all near the center of Munich, we are really happy with this place so far. We get a tent, two sleeping bags, and two sleeping pads. The campsite also provides daily shuttles to and from Oktoberfest (where I’ll be smuggling in my own vodka since I can’t drink the beer, so don’t worry about me). We will also get hot breakfasts and dinners, included in the cost. And, perhaps the best part of staying here is the unlimited beer and sangria all day. It’s camping like we’re used to! With very nice weather, there’s not much more we could ask for!
Ok, here’s a final bit from me until Mr. Heacock has his turn. We’ve decided that Munich will be the finaly leg of our journey. We’ve booked a flight to return to Sheffield on Sunday the 26th. We’ve had such a fantastic time traveling, but I think it’s both wearing on us a bit. Kyle had a bit of a sore throat for our last two days in Berlin, and we’re both getting a bit tired of living out of our backpacks in crappy hostels. We’ve decided to make small, single destination trips to include Rotterdam to see Tuan, Berlin to do a few more things, Salzburg to chill for a weekend, and then one large trip to Rome (I WILL go to Rome before going back to the US). And, if finances allow, we’re going to do some more travels further east, but we’ll just have to see about that.
We miss everyone a lot, but we’re having a great time! We still like each other quite a bit, so I’d say we’re good travel buddies. Lots of love from Munich!
Jillian
Howdy Howdy,
It’s time for another riveting installment of our European travels. I’m writing you from Munich, but we last left off in Berlin, so let’s backtrack a bit. We spent a total of 5 nights in Berlin in 2 different hostels, and had quite a good time. This may be contrary to my earlier declaration of not staying too long in the same city, but rules were made to be broken. Our first hostel was The Generator, a giant hotel-sized affair located in East Berlin. We quickly learned how to use the German public transit system, which is both efficient and intuitive. The only sticking point for me was remembering and pronouncing the destination names, though I find the German language much easier to learn (and pronounce) than Dutch. We took advantage of a “free” tour of the city, which was put on by the same company that did tours in Amsterdam. We had a great tour guide, and saw some very fascinating sights. Berlin has a very dark past due to the Hitler regime, but it was nonetheless very interesting to learn more about the city’s history from its inception, through WWII, and beyond. We happened upon what we can only guess was an anti-abortion march through the city-center, which crossed paths with an anti-fascist demonstration/mobile dance party. We ate some currywurst (gluten-free since it’s normally served without a bun!) and bratwurst, and wandered through an open-air market (very similar to the Saturday Market we have in Portland). We headed back to our hostel, then decided to go on a pub crawl that is put on by the same people as the free tours.
The pub crawl, at least what I can remember of it, was good fun. We started out at a place that had an extensive outdoor seating/bar area, and it was also the home to the free beer we were promised when we paid for our pub crawl tickets. Needless to say, that’s where we spent our time there. I got twice the beer since Jillian would get a cup, then hand it over to me, which probably accounts for my fuzzy recollections of later in the evening. We saw The Pyrofessor, a guy with a flamethrower who juggled some fire, then moved on to the next bar. It was (I think) on the way to the next bar that we met our new friends Anne and Hilary, who are a couple of Californians that we struck up some conversation with while pub-crawling. From that point on, we started exchanging rounds of drinks, and this is the point where you’ll have to ask Jillian for details. We apparently were out till about 3am, at which point we took a cab back to our hostel and I put up a fight about brushing my teeth before bed (I’m taking Jillian’s word that that actually took place).
The next morning, we woke up bright and early (9am) and headed out to a guided tour of Sachsenhousen, one of the first concentration camps. It was a very interesting but somber tour, and while I was glad we went, it’s not something I’d call fun. I must say that I am quite impressed with the Germans in that they don’t deny their past misdeeds, but instead put them out in the open so people remember them and don’t repeat mistakes of the past. After our tour, we headed back into town to meet up with Anne and Hilary for dinner. We successfully made our way to “The Bird”, a local restauraunt known for their hamburgers. I must say that I enjoyed the best burger and fries of my life (to date) while there. 250 grams of freshly ground beef topped with ample amounts of cheddar cheese, grilled onions, mushrooms, and bacon overflowing out of an english muffin with a giant pile of fries filling the rest of the plate. Superb. After our food comas subsided enough to walk again, we made our way back to our hostel and got some long-awaited sleep (somehow 5 hours of drunken sleep wasn’t quite cutting it) before departing for our next hostel.
We had decided to stay in Berlin for 2 more nights, then head down a night early to Munich, so we booked 2 nights at the JetPack Eco-Lodge (best hostel name I’ve come across so far) since The Generator was booked up. We made the journey into a forest in west Berlin, and eventually found our way to the hostel. We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice quiet oasis in our mostly hectic travels within major city centers. We ate dinner at a really nice Italian restaurant, took a leisurley stroll through the forest, used quite a bit by locals walking their dogs (much to Jillian’s delight), and after getting slightly lost, made our way back to the hostel. We watched a couple of movies, then turned in for the night. The next morning, I woke up with a sore throat and some body aches, so we decided to stay in an recuperate from our travels, so that we would be healthy and robust for Oktoberfest. We left the hostel to get some food, but otherwise enjoyed the big screen TV and ample selection of movies provided by the hostel.
We awoke early and journeyed to the Tegel airport, and eventually made our way into Munich. We had a delayed takeoff due to a “bird strike”, so they had to check the engine to make sure it wasn’t damaged. We are now in our campsite, which is put on by a company that sets up trips to popular festivals around the world. I will leave you now, as we are preparing to go to the Hofbrau Haus to drink giant beers and meet up with friends, and have no more time for blogging foolishness.
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| pub crawling in Berlin |
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| mmmm, beer. |
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| a beach along the lake near our hostel |
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| our hostel in the forest outside Berlin |
Pics to follow, free blogger programs suck.
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