Still alive!

I've been in Amsterdam since Tuesday morning. This city is great! Although I do have to say that it is a huge tourist trap. They smoke you out and then surround you with cute stuff to buy and SO much food. Good thing that its too expensive to buy much....although it hasn't stopped us all the times that it should have.....I'm dieing to try food from this vending machine place. Burgers from a vending machine....yes, please? I mean I wont eat the burger. But I will try one of the croquettas that I see people eating everywhere. I'm also totally loving the hostel that we are currently staying at (and not ONLY because of the wifi...).
Amsterdam is known as the Venice of the North! The weather has been semi good. When the sun isn't blocked by clouds, its pretty warm. But its been really cloudy.


Have I talked about how awesome our hostel is?
At dinner (Mexican. in Amsterdam?), we were talking about how this part of the vacation has been super relaxing, because while there is a lot to see in this city, most of it costs too much money so we just end up wandering around for most of the day without anywhere in particular to go. ..... Tomorrow though, I think we are doing a free walking tour. If they do it on weekends.
OH MAN. Last night we went to a Matt and Kim AND Major Laser AND Diplo concert. in Amsterdam. Yeah. I know. It was just as amazing as it sounds. And we got to dance on stage with Major Laser and Diplo. mhhhhhhhhhhhhm. super fucking rad.

The churches that we have seen have been SO impressive.
OHMYGOD! So i completely forgot to mention something in my post about Poland: the FOOD! was so good. I'm not going to lie, I was worried about eating in Poland. For some reason I thought all they ate was meat. And being a vegetarian, I thought it'd be a problem. But NO! I've added perogies and red beet soup to my list of things to cook when I get back.

Yesterday we went to the Sachsicher Schweiz, which is an UNESCO World Heritage Site! And with reason. This place was beaaauuutiful. The people in my group were lucky that I didn't have my Canon on me, because otherwise I would have taken about 765590 more pictures than I already did. I think its been my favorite activity so far. I wish it was MY JOB to climb those things.

It was ridiculous because even though it was rainy and freeeeeezing, the place was still packed! With old German people! God, I love them.

Polen

Poland was pretty sweet. I have to say that we were completely sketched out when 4 of us decided to cross the bridge over to the Polish side and it became night-time. .... The contrast between the German side and the Polish side was crazy because of how apparent it was! We were told that the Polish government doesn't invest too much money in reconstructing that city. Oh, at this point we were in Goerlitz!

The main Polish city that we saw a lot of, though, was Bretslau. Talk about awesome. I decided to buy a luggage there because honestly, one book bag was a BAD idea (ahem).....plus, it was relatively cheap! Poland isn't on the Euro yet, so they're exchange rate was way better. WAY better.

Im not going to lie, a lot of times we were confused as to what country we were in. It seemed like every city that we went to was bordering Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany.

On our way back to Dresden, we stopped at this CUTE ASS town, where we all had ice cream. Then we stopped at a mountain neraby to have lunch. Suuuuuuuuper sweet. And the people who are scared of heights even enjoyed it! Thats how nice the view was. Yeah. Whenever we get bagged lunches, they like to give us Coca-Cola and candy bars. Yeah, we're American, but is that REALLY necessary? I've had more Coke within this week than I've ever had in my entire life (not counting Cherry Coke).

Bugs and Birds

So we've been in Dresden since Tuesday now. The days go by so fast here! One minute its breakfast time, and the next, we're shoving lunch down our throats because its scheduled feeding time. (Yeah, its weird for us, too.)
So far we've seen a lot of the city, but really, not enough! We've also seen a bit of the nightlife which has been suuuper fun....but tiring.

Its Spring time, but you'd never guess here. Its been rainy lately, but for the last couple of days we've been able to catch some sun for a few hours.
So far, we've met and talked with a bunch of German students. For the most part, we've been able to communicate pretty well with each other. I feel like my German is improving by the HOUR! Although Dirk told me his secret to his perfect English: watch TV in English! I'm totally going to start doing that. Except in German.

This building used to be a prison. >2,000 people were executed here during the time that this was still part of East Germany. The history of this region is so dense and still so evident. Today we went to a soccer game and when you walked in, it had a poster of Nazi-Propaganda stuff that you weren't allowed to wear into the stadium.

After the game, we spent some time at the Grosse Garten, where we ate ice cream, napped, played cards and frisbee.

Im loving this city, and everyone in it!

See you post-Poland :]

Dresden

After 3 flights, a bus ride and a train ride, we have arrived at our destination!!!! Kelley and I are obsessed with the apartment that they put us in. It is the cutest thing ever, and we feel like we are living IN ikea. Our plan is to make a Cribs video....yeah, its THAT sweet.
Also, I totally underpacked. .... .... totally. I feel like the purchase of a small suitcase is in my near future...
The weather here is currently 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Which is what Im used to in the winter months of Tallahassee. We're doing a Pub Crawl tonight (don't ask me why Im not napping), I think I'm going to freeze. And I don't think I'll last long enough to get that 4th drink free....we shall seeeee.

the day before...

So I'm leaving Tallahassee tomorrow morning at 11:30. I've been holed up in my room all day (minus the brunch making with my visiting loooover) packing and repacking my ONE bookbag that is supposed to somehow fit 3 months worth of clothing....I made it happen...but hardly.
Also, I realized that I have nowhere to stay for the last 2 weeks that I was supposed to be in Sweden wwoofing.....all of the farms are booked up, so my new plan is to slowly make my way down to Stuttgart to visit Rachel, and then back up to Berlin to fly out of there with Jessy, when we head to Budapest. I think Ill be making stops in Copenhagen and some parts of West Germany.
As of right now, everything is pretty much packed and Ive got my accounts in order.....the only thing missing are my headphones!
aaaahhh.

This time tomorrow, I'll be in Dresden, Germany!