Traveling, traveling, traveling! The last 4 days have been such an adventure! On Thursday, my sister, brother, brother's girlfriend, and I all went to the Dortmund Christmas market. I have never seen something so beautiful! If Kentucky/Indiana had these, I'd be so broke! There are little shops set up all throughout downtown with Christmas things to buy, food, and drinks! You gain 10 pounds just smelling everything. I tried my first Bartwurst from Germany on a German roll and it was delicious! They soak them in beer to bring out the flavors than grill them! I also tried mulled wine......I think I'll pass on that next time. It tasted a little too strange for me. While in Dortmund, I got to see the world's largest Chrismas tree. It is made of over 1700 Christmas trees and has over 48,000 lights on it. This picture does not do it justice. It looks crappy because of the quality of my phone camera, but it was gorgeous!
On Friday, Jordan, Kelsey, and I embarked on our very first unsupervised trip to Amsterdam. Anyone that knows us should know that we should not be allowed to go on trips alone, but WE DID IT! We successfully caught three trains, bought tram passes, rode the right tram, and found our hostel all without anyone's help. I am rather proud of this! We decided that after we got settled in, we wanted to go find somewhere to eat and explore this wonderfully gorgeous city! On our first night, we decided to have dinner at a fabulous Italian resturant. This was the BEST Italian pasta I have ever had. EVER! While at dinner, we met two guys from England that were in Amsterdam for the weekend as well. After a long conversation with them, we decided to catch the tram and head back to the hostel. While waiting for the tram, we ran into a very interesting guy. He used a lot of cuss words and invited us to a party. I think this is the first time since traveling that I was actually scared of the people. He was very interesting, but made for some good laughs on the tram ride to the hostel. We also saw a pink wig laying on the ground across the street while waiting for our tram, but it is Amsterdam....that's common right? Not even two feet away was a man seizing on the ground. Luckily, the ambulance pulled up shortly after we saw him.
Saturday was started by sleeping until 10! I have no shame in saying that it was the best sleep I've had the whole time I've been in Germany. I needed a day to sleep in and take my time in getting ready. This was the day that Kelsey, Jordan, and I would be compete American tourists without any type of guide. We managed to find our way to the Anne Frank House, and after waiting almost 2 hours in line, it was the best decision of my life to go! There were so many emotions while walking through that house and seeing all of the artifacts and pictures from what the business looked like during that time. We were not allowed to take pictures out of respect, but I will forever have mental pictures of that wonderful experience. It was so cold outside that we decided to go back to the hostel, get warmed up and map out the rest of our day. We all decided that we HAD to do some shopping while in Amsterdam. That's what all tourists do anyways....right? I found the cutest decoration for my future classroom and I am so excited to use it (hopefully soon). You know you are officially (or almost officially) a teacher when you start buying things for your classroom! I also got some wonderful gifts for my family back home. I cannot wait to give everyone their gifts!! After shopping, we were so tired from all of the walking and sight seeing that we decided to go back to the hostel and to relax for the rest of the night. That resulted in all of us sitting in the dining area on our phones/Ipad communicating with family back home. I can't complain though, because I got the chance to talk to my Addy bugs back home that I miss more than anyone probably (sorry everyone else), my sister, brother, mom, and some friends back home. It was a great way to unwind and share some of my experiences!
On Sunday, it was time to get our things together, do some last minute sight seeing, and catch our train to return to Werne. We planned to go to the Van Gough Museum, but the line was long and we didn't want to miss our train home. Instead, we walked around many side streets and saw so many pretty buildings, an ice skating rink, and were almost attacked by birds. Jordan and I decided we wanted to feed the ducks crackers in the canel. Bad idea. Seagulls swarmed us and began attacking the ducks for the crackers. This resulted in Jordan and I running for our lives from these awful birds! I didn't like birds before this experience and I really don't like them now!! At least I can look back and laugh about it now. We did some more sight seeing than headed to the train station. This train ride is a reality show gone wrong! We boarded our train that was scheduled to leave around 4:30 and were waiting to take off when someone came on the intercome to tell us that we would be delayed but no information was available. 5:00 rolled around and we were still sitting there. 5:30 - still not moving. Finally, the lady came over the intercome and said something in Dutch than followed it up with soemthing in German. Luckily, there was a very nice Russian man sitting nex to me that informed us that there had been an accident with a man and the train that had just left the station before us. We were delayed because of the police and other issues that had to be taken care of. He informed us that this happens quite often in Europe. I was a nervous wreck after that. Not only were we an hour and a half behind schedule, but we missed our two other connecting trains that would get us to Werne at 8:00. After much waiting and long train rides, we arrived in Dortmund, which is about 30 minutes away from Werne. We couldn't find a train to take us to Werne, but luckily I have absolute God send host parents that came to pick us up and get us home safely. I have never been so happy to see people I know and a car to get my home and to bed! A trip home that should have taken a little bit over 3 hours ended up taking 7 1/2 hours.
This weekend was exhausting, but it was filled with so many amazing memories! Jordan and Kelsey both made this a trip that I will never forget and memories that I will cherish always! Thank you ladies for being such amazing friends! Below are just a few of the pictures from Amsterdam!
XOXO Jessica :)
Saturday was started by sleeping until 10! I have no shame in saying that it was the best sleep I've had the whole time I've been in Germany. I needed a day to sleep in and take my time in getting ready. This was the day that Kelsey, Jordan, and I would be compete American tourists without any type of guide. We managed to find our way to the Anne Frank House, and after waiting almost 2 hours in line, it was the best decision of my life to go! There were so many emotions while walking through that house and seeing all of the artifacts and pictures from what the business looked like during that time. We were not allowed to take pictures out of respect, but I will forever have mental pictures of that wonderful experience. It was so cold outside that we decided to go back to the hostel, get warmed up and map out the rest of our day. We all decided that we HAD to do some shopping while in Amsterdam. That's what all tourists do anyways....right? I found the cutest decoration for my future classroom and I am so excited to use it (hopefully soon). You know you are officially (or almost officially) a teacher when you start buying things for your classroom! I also got some wonderful gifts for my family back home. I cannot wait to give everyone their gifts!! After shopping, we were so tired from all of the walking and sight seeing that we decided to go back to the hostel and to relax for the rest of the night. That resulted in all of us sitting in the dining area on our phones/Ipad communicating with family back home. I can't complain though, because I got the chance to talk to my Addy bugs back home that I miss more than anyone probably (sorry everyone else), my sister, brother, mom, and some friends back home. It was a great way to unwind and share some of my experiences!
On Sunday, it was time to get our things together, do some last minute sight seeing, and catch our train to return to Werne. We planned to go to the Van Gough Museum, but the line was long and we didn't want to miss our train home. Instead, we walked around many side streets and saw so many pretty buildings, an ice skating rink, and were almost attacked by birds. Jordan and I decided we wanted to feed the ducks crackers in the canel. Bad idea. Seagulls swarmed us and began attacking the ducks for the crackers. This resulted in Jordan and I running for our lives from these awful birds! I didn't like birds before this experience and I really don't like them now!! At least I can look back and laugh about it now. We did some more sight seeing than headed to the train station. This train ride is a reality show gone wrong! We boarded our train that was scheduled to leave around 4:30 and were waiting to take off when someone came on the intercome to tell us that we would be delayed but no information was available. 5:00 rolled around and we were still sitting there. 5:30 - still not moving. Finally, the lady came over the intercome and said something in Dutch than followed it up with soemthing in German. Luckily, there was a very nice Russian man sitting nex to me that informed us that there had been an accident with a man and the train that had just left the station before us. We were delayed because of the police and other issues that had to be taken care of. He informed us that this happens quite often in Europe. I was a nervous wreck after that. Not only were we an hour and a half behind schedule, but we missed our two other connecting trains that would get us to Werne at 8:00. After much waiting and long train rides, we arrived in Dortmund, which is about 30 minutes away from Werne. We couldn't find a train to take us to Werne, but luckily I have absolute God send host parents that came to pick us up and get us home safely. I have never been so happy to see people I know and a car to get my home and to bed! A trip home that should have taken a little bit over 3 hours ended up taking 7 1/2 hours.
This weekend was exhausting, but it was filled with so many amazing memories! Jordan and Kelsey both made this a trip that I will never forget and memories that I will cherish always! Thank you ladies for being such amazing friends! Below are just a few of the pictures from Amsterdam!
XOXO Jessica :)