Walk like an Egyptian (I had to right?)

My plane flight to Cairo was delayed and so I spent some time in the Milan Airport reading Imagined Communities and people watching. I flew EgyptAir and discovered that their symbol is the Egyptian god Horus and appropriately a falcon that was worshiped for protection. (When I went to the Egyptian Museum he was everywhere!) They even had his symbol on our seat belts! The plane ride was my first alone, and the longest one I had experienced since our flight to London. However, it was only three and a half hours I think. I had plenty of room too, because the seat between this guy and me was empty! They gave us a late lunch that was interesting and the movie Matchstick Men played. Before too long, they made an announcement that we were getting ready to descend and I looked out the window and saw Cairo all lit up! It was exciting and I also thought it was funny to see sand along the runway! I felt bad for being so late, and the luggage took forever, but once I bought my visa and made it past all the people I found Uncle Mark! Uncle Mark and Musa (their driver) had just gone and got tea after calling the airline and finding out the plane was delayed. We made it back to the Breckell's apartment and I told them a little bit about Ashley and my travel over some dinner. The next day I enjoyed a relaxing day at the apartment. Instead of updating my blog, I did some Essex stuff and went on Pottermore!!! It was so fantastic I was finally able to go on :) Later that evening we went to Aunt Stacy's ultrasound appointment. I got to see my little cousin! He kept blocking his face with his hands, but we could still see how adorable he is.




The next day, Wednesday, Uncle Mark and I went to the Pyramids of Giza and the Egyptian Museum. It was a very enlightening trip because we went with a tour guide. I realized that I hardly know any Egyptian history!! It also was an incredible experience of course! Egyptian tourism has been down since the revolution and there was hardly anyone there! It was not the typical packed place a national monument would have in front of it and the souvenir industry has taken a hit. Apparently the prices of the figurines and other touristy stuff were super inexpensive! After hearing about the Great Pyramid of Giza, Khufu's pyramid, and getting an up close look at it's greatness we went down into one of the smaller pyramids! It was actually built for Khufu's wife (all the smaller pyramids that you don't think of are for the Queens). It was very hot, but really cool to actually go down into one. Going down into one of the smaller ones was plenty for me, I got the experience I think without having to go farther in bending down and walking down backwards. Plus I'm a wimp when it comes to breathing in dust and being drenched with sweat! Haha they are like ovens! Anyway, after seeing the pyramids up close, and learning a bit about each one, we drove to higher ground and saw all three of them in the distance! We got some pretty spectacular pictures as well. Next we went down to where the Sphinx is and heard all about how the ancient Egyptians prepared their dead. In the Valley Temple right next to the Sphinx, there are pink granite pillars and alabaster flooring where the mummification took place. Our tour guide, Izzat, told us a bit about the process and also a little about the ceremonial boats.




Seeing the last remaining wonder of the ancient world was undoubtedly one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had! I got that same awestruck feeling I get in really historical places in Europe. Who would have thought even six months ago I would be going to Egypt?!!! (especially about six months ago when the revolution was happening) After we explored Giza, we were driving to go get some lunch towards the museum when we got stuck in traffic. It was really intense standstill traffic and pretty soon hordes of people started walking our way. It turns out it was part of the funeral for a top Egyptian official that had been imprisoned and had died the day before after being transferred to a hospital. They actually carried the coffin right next to our van! It was an experience we weren't expecting and it was cool to witness! After lunch at McDonalds we went to the Egyptian Museum!! It was built in 1897 and opened in 1902 so the building was fantastic in itself! I also got to see Tahrir Square and a burned building. When you first go in you can see how easy it would have been for the people to break in from the windows on the ceiling during the revolution. We saw the old security system as we walked in, there was just some security cameras they checked on frequently. Not very secure. Izzat explained that some of the gold statues that they retrieved back look kind of different from others, so it's not certain they are the real ones. In the beginning he took us on a tour of the most interesting pieces of the museum and gave us the history behind them. Our first thing we saw was the FAKE Rosetta Stone. The real one is in London, and it's just weird that they have arguably the most significant artifact for ancient Egyptian history as the stone allowed the hieroglyphics to be deciphered. However, a French officer was actually the one to read the Greek and realize the significance, so in a way imperialism allowed ancient Egyptian history to be fully explored. Actually a lot of the most famous pieces are in London, so i'm glad I can see them! Not to diminish Cairo's museum, we saw a lot of incredible pieces. It's so big and full of tons of statues and giant walls of hieroglyphics it would have not meant as much if we hadn't had Izzat to explain things. One of my favorite Egyptian stories is of Hatshepsut. She is the only woman to have actually been Pharaoh and not just a Queen married to the King of Egypt. She dressed as a King with the false beard and refused to let the previous King's son rule as Pharaoh because of his age, and she felt she had the right to rule. At the age of 33, the son finally ruled and previously it was thought he killed her to become Pharaoh, but then they found her tomb in Luxor. If he had killed her she wouldn't have a proper King's burial, so it was clear that she had just let him rule when he became a good age. Stories like that sound familiar from when I went to an Egyptian museum in San Jose and just from learning Egyptian history but it was so nice to have a guide to show and tell us so many interesting things! The museum actually has a whole floor dedicated to King Tut and what they found in his tomb. His body is still in his tomb in Luxor, however everything that was with him is on that floor! We saw the famous gold coffins and all his jewelry in the only air conditioned room as well! He had several thrones, a chariot, pretty much everything he would need in the afterlife of course! It was interesting to see all his shoes that showed him grow up as he ruled from age 9 to 19 when he mysteriously died. The story of the military commander and the high priest killing him sounded convincing to me! I just remember watching something on him in sixth grade and his DNA showing he had scoliosis, I remember the important stuff clearly! Honestly I was upset with myself for forgetting a lot of Egyptian history, ancient history is hard for me to imagine and not my favorite, but in the future I should take a class if I can. I won't describe everything we saw, however the mummified animals were cool! Especially the crocodile mom that had a baby in her mouth! But some kitties were killed during the mummification process, for cheap mummies. :( We like the cats that were revered in Egypt! Like Shwaya of course :) Earlier at the pyramids Uncle Mark actually got a cat statue, Bastet, the feline goddess they worshipped.




After our wonderful adventure to Giza and downtown Cairo we went home and Uncle Mark had a softball game. Aunt Stacy made a delicious stir fry for dinner and after we caught up on Grey's Anatomy! Although she has the last half to finish because I stayed up later. Although this is only a piece of my experience in Egypt I'll have to save the rest for later because I'm tired. We are really having a blast! xoxo Marissa

Oh Fashion Week in Milano

Ashley and I had an interesting time in Milan. Our hostel was more like a Motel 6 so it was nice to have our own air conditioned room and a bathroom. The staff didn't speak much English but they helped us when we were in a pinch. Ashley's flight to London was so early that the Metro was closed! Luckily they were able to take her at 5am in a shuttle. They also printed some stuff for us, after a look at Ashley's phone for a translation. "Stampa" means to print and we had been saying no we don't need any stamps haha. Hotel Gala also had a great breakfast buffet!! We didn't do much in Milan due to tiredness and the fact we forgot to wear tights with our dresses. Upon entering the Cathedral the police men pointed to the no entry sign with a mini skirt. Oops! We had remembered sweaters! We decided they were much stricter than some of the guards in Florence who let Ashley in with the same dress. We also were not able to see The Last Supper and this caused us to be bitter about Milan. In the planning stages two months before we had been unable to get a reservation, and hoped that this last minute website would work, but alas we couldn't see DaVinci's masterpiece in Milan. So we walked around a bit and made it to an interesting castle! We also saw elephant sculptures everywhere which was fun! It also was fashion week in Milan so we're pretty sure we saw models. There were giant white tents places, including right next to the Cathedral! There was a news station we passed talking about shows, and a hair and makeup place! There was a line so we are pretty sure that if we had waited we could have had our makeup done by professionals! Apart from the fashion week excitement, Milan wasn't as inviting or pleasant as other big cities we decided. (It could have been the Last Supper bitterness though) One such instance was when a guy trying to get me to buy bird seed for the pigeons in front of the Cathedral, was basically throwing the kernels at me!! Ashley told him to get lost and he proceeded to yell in her face, we managed to pick out the F word and it was not pleasant. We also could not find an internet cafe for our lives! In other cities it is so easy to find things! Basically the city just stressed us out. However the Cathedral is beautiful, and parts of the city are as well and I'm sure if we ever go back we will find it much better than our initial experience.

Singing I See The Light

I thought I would dedicate this post's title to the fact that ever since I started singing "I See The Light" from Tangled randomly in Berlin, Ashley and I have been known to randomly start singing it or when we are traveling we will listen to it on my iPod. Actually anytime really. Last night we played it after Backstreet Boys and sang along while we packed for Milan. Haha yay for having our own room. We also sang I'll Stand By You, by The Pretenders at the Victory monument on Berlin and these boys started staring. Haha it's my fault really, I don't know how these songs get stuck in my head! On planes we will also crack up when one of us says "There is something they aren't telling us...THERE IS A COLONIAL WOMAN ON THE WING!!!!" hahahah we just that was one of the only really funny parts of Bridemaids. Plus we travel on planes a lot! Surprisingly way more than trains. On 23/9/11 we woke up early again to go to one if the oldest and most famous art museums, the Uffizi! Home of Mr. Gregory's favorite Botticelli's and other great Renaissance and classical art. We saw it all some Rafael's, DaVinci's, Michelangelo's, Giotto's. So many! I liked seeing one of Duccio's famous Madonnas. Sienna and I did a whole project on him in AP Euro and we painted a giant cathedral with glitter on the poster board. It was awesome, I'm not going to be modest haha. Duccio isn't as famous as Giotto and his worn doesn't capture Giotto's emotion, but he is special to us. My favorites were Botticelli's Spring and the most famous Birth of Venus. His faces are just so beautiful! This day in Firenze was terrible for my allergies! (update just had a cold) It was the worst I have ever been I think. I constantly was stuffed up and would sneeze and need tissues like no other, my little unopened pack is gone now. In the Uffizi gift shop there was Birth of Venus and Spring tissue packs but as I explained to Ashley..."I don't want to wipe my nose on Botticelli" hahahahh. In the Uffizi there was also a cool post office where you could get stamps of the art and also jewelry that showed what painting it was from. So great. After we experienced that slightly uptight, but cool museum, we took a leisurely stroll around Firenze and shopped! For things like postcards though because we can't afford the fleur de lis earrings we want on the Ponte Vecchio! Also in case I forgot to mention the Ponte Vecchio is Florence's oldest bridge that was spared by the retreating Nazi's during WWII. It's beautiful and super touristy like a lot of Florence and jewelry shops line the inside of the bridge. We walked through it multiple times a day because it was on the way to things from our hostel. However when going to our favorite gelato shop where Ashley would get chocolate orange and I would get a strawberry coconut mix, we used a different bridge haha. On one of our many walks throughout the city that day we found Palazzo Strozzi which is a palace that was built to complete with the Medici's but I think Cosmo actually took and it was finally returned to the family 30 years later. Inside this building that has a open roof, there are benches, arches and pillars. It is marvelous and has free wifi! There was an exhibit upstairs but we decided to save our money, enjoy the internet and get off our feet. We went shopping some more, headed back to our Pitti residence and then set out for dinner. I didn't want to spend too much, and I can be picky haha so we walked a bit looking at menus until we found the perfect little place! We think it is pretty popular because there were a lot of reserved tables and so busy the whole time we were there. I got spaghetti with tomato sauce and Ashley got pesto. For our first time Ashley said yes to vino (wine) and they brought a half liter pitcher haha we probably could have done well with a quarter one. We did manage to drink some though! Haha at first I was not liking it, but we got the full Italian experience. And then we got gelato for the last time in Florence and passed out at our hostel.

Right now as I write this we are traveling on a train to Milan. I am also listening to the Beatles but just switched to Disney songs. For the first time we were separated because these tickets actually have compartments and seat numbers! But I like compartments because of the Hogwarts Express of course.(Speaking of which, I finally got my Pottermore email!!! I basically freaked out this morning while Ash was in the bathroom, too bad I can't go on yet!) When the trolley came by I got a chocolate frog! Haha I actually didn't get anything because the wonderful Ashley had ventured out and got me a muffin earlier. It's our last time traveling together though! (and we are not together haha) After Milan I head for Cairo and she goes to London! Craziness. Ciao Bella!

I was behind sorry! Now need a Milan one

We are not in Berlin anymore

On 22/9/11 we started our day super early to go see il Duomo! The church is officially called Santa Maria del Fiore but everyone just calls it the Duomo. It is actually the third largest church in the world behind St. Peters and St. Pauls. Last time I was in Firenze I didn't actually go up to the top, I just stared in awe! So I was super excited this time. While waiting for the dome to open Ashley walked over and got us some croissants and she got her expresso. Then with only about 10 people in front of us, they opened the doors and we climbed the four hundred and something stairs! At first we just thought that we were going up to the edge of the dome to view the inside of the church and look up at the paintings, but we soon realized you kept going! We were so excited! Some of those stairs are so steep and the climb is not for the feign-hearted, but it is so worth it! Part of the time you realize that you are climbing alongside the dome itself! Brunelleschi's brilliance is unbelievable and the view is incredible once you get to the top. Luckily since it was so early there was hardly anyone up there and it was cool. Imagine climbing those stairs in the heat! People were so friendly and everyone got wonderful pictures. After 15 or so minutes we soon lost the peace as hordes of people made their way up. We decided to start heading down but until you get to a certain point there isn't a separate exit so another couple and us had an interesting time running down the stairs during a gap and then moving to the side haha. Once we got down, we went over to the baptistry and took pictures with the door. It's so amazing! Then we headed over to the Academia Galleria to the David! I also had never seen Michelangelo's real work, only the two copies in the city. The gallery was designed for it and besides the Rape of the Sabine Woman there was just some Florentine art and unfinished Michelangelo statues. Everyone pretty much just stares at the statue until their neck aches. Luckily when we went to the museum it was still early so our line was pretty short. I love the way Michelangelo captured his eyes and how you can see the human in David, like his veins! So incredible. We went for a dinner that night in front of the Duomo! It was great, I had the best lasagna ever! Ashley got the smallest beer for 4 euros! Hence we are not in Berlin anymore. Our waiter also told me that my name is Italian which makes sense because Maris is Latin for "of the sea". However this waiter and the owner told us we should come back for drinks "on the house" at ten. Naturally we did not take them up on their offer.. Haha Ashley and I have had interesting experiences this trip. We went back to our hostel and were able to skype with our parents before we passes out from exhaustion.

Firenze

21/9/11 The morning we woke up in beautiful Florence we took our time getting ready for the day. It was so nice just to stroll around looking for breakfast but not feeling rushed. Our hostel is amazingly old and right across from Pitti Palace so it's a really short walk until you hit the Ponte Vecchio. It's also great that we have our own little room! On our adventure to find shampoo and face wash we actually ran into one of Ashley's Cal Poly friends that is doing the architecture program here! It was pretty awesome, and Kristina invited us to her apartment for tea later that night! We managed to find a market and I got some shampoo and Ashley just had to guess on the face wash, unless she wanted to spend 17 euro on the Cetaphil we found haha. We got some waters and yogurt too, haha I'm obsessed with European yogurt now. We next decided to head to Santa Croce Church. It was funny because we both knew we wanted to go their from reading the night before but couldn't remember why! As soon as we went in I recognized it from our last trip! We got to see Michelangelo, Galileo, Dante and Machiavelli's tombs! Although Dante's body is actually in the place he died. Franciscans saved Galileo's body and finally he was given a Christian burial way after he died. It's amazing how they were able to hide his family and his body from the Church for so long! Monks are awesome. And Michelangelo wanted to be buried where he died, Rome! But someone convinced others that since he had family here it was meant to be. Santa Croce was also amazing because in the museum you can see the restored works they were able to save after the horrendous flood of 1966. We saw a lot of other tombs too that I won't list but know from my limited knowledge of Italian history. There was some works by Giotto and Brunelleschi too! After we went back to our room and decided to head out for lunch and get a good view of the city to see il Duomo and the buildings of Palazzo Vecchio. On our way walking we found a really good gelato shop and started heading up the hills. The problem was that I had no idea how to get to Palazzo Michelangelo and we found this spot that might be it on the map and went that way. Haha it was this abandoned fortress and there were signs about how people had died. Needless to say we were not going to go up there, and it was so quiet and very eerie so we started walking back down towards the center of the city. But the road that followed didn't have a sidewalk so that was an adventure as well. It was very pretty because it was next to the old wall but terrifying with cars flying by! We walked down and found a tower that you could go up that had just recently opened called Niccolo Tower I think. It was gorgeous. Ashley got her view and we realized we were so close to the Palazzo we were looking for! Haha but after climbing all those steps and walking up hills we decided to save that for the next day. We went back to our hostel for a bit and then set out for Kristina's apartment. They live pretty close to the duomo and it was very pretty at night. We got to her apartment and she served us some tea and biscotti, we met her roommate Jessica too. They have such an adorable apartment that was decorated when they got it and then it had their figure drawings. After finding out that we hadn't had dinner Kristina made us some pasta with fresh eggplant and it was delicious! Then we all went out for a walk and some gelato we ate on one of the bridges over the Arno. It was a great night and we were pretty excited to hear how they liked studying abroad so far, it's safe to say they loved it. :)

Manic Monday in Paris

We began this hectic day by thinking we only had four things to do and we thought it would be less stressful than the day before! We were completely wrong haha. So we had been too lazy to go downstairs and print a reservation for the Eiffel Tower and decided since it was so late to do it in the morning. In the morning we realized it had to be a day before..oops! So wearing light sweaters, dresses and tights we set off for a long line at Tour Eiffel. We didn't realize how windy it was until we got off the metro. We were so cold! Standing in line was pure torture but since I had never been to the top I felt I needed the experience! We then realized the very top was closed, but we were almost there! So I settled for the second level and we took some photos. Then we saw that they had opened the top and beat the queues by finding a different ticket machine but it only took large coins so it was a close one! We were so excited! And going up the elevator to the top was sort of scary as you looked down, it is a thousand feet high! Once we got there Ashley got some champagne and we had a marvelous time finding various landmarks and enjoying the view. It was really exciting! Well somehow when we finally made it back down and ate lunch at this adorable American cafe it was already 14:00 or 2 pm! We waited for ever and we had spent a long time up there too apparently. Luckily the cafe with tons of French teenagers, was awesome! We had hamburgers and they sold all kinds of American candy, soda, cereal, and food in general! It was so funny to see all our brands and we had missed burgers. My favorite was the kraft macaroni and cheese! But it was all super expensive of course. So putting the Louvre last on our list, we managed to make it to the Hotel de las Invalides and see the Dome Church! I had never been and I was excited to see it! The front is incredible, the gilded dome was definitely cool to see up close. I liked the history of how Napoleon's tomb made it in there as well. Louis-Philippe had it commissioned after he was voted into the new Republic. Napoleon had actually wanted his ashes spread on the banks of the Seine I believe. Along with a couple of Napoleon's relatives there are other important French military generals, I wish I had known more about but we were on a time crunch so I couldn't find anything to translate fast. After that, we decided to head to Notre Dame because we feel you can't go to Paris without visiting. On the way I'm pretty sure the strangest occurrence yet happened to me. Ashley was walking behind me and I was trying to tell her something so I wasn't looking in front of me. A man walked straight up to me and snorted super loudly at me. He was so close and I just stood frozen in utter shock and terror actually. Ashley said later he was like a beast and he was given the nickname pigman. But seriously it's hard to describe how weird and kinda scary it was haha. Anyway back to Notre Dame...It always amazes me how old it is and I'm grateful Victor Hugo led that campaign to restore it after the revolution! As the 850th anniversary is happening (or something close to that number) they were also doing some restorative work on the sides. After admiring our favorite rose window, we went over to the Justice Palace and made our way over to Saint Chapelle. We both had never seen the famous stained glass there. It had been restored recently and the windows are truly indescribable. The difference between the restored and unrestored was definitely apparent. But the light coming through was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. But we didn't stay as long as we had wanted to because the Louvre was closing in an hour and we thought we could at least see our favorites. Alas, after literally running through different metro stations at times we didn't make it! Even though technically it was still open for a little more than a half hour. We went outside and took some pictures in front of the pyramid and relaxed. We were pretty dead. Ashley would have passed out at our hostel if we hadn't eaten yet. After an hour or so at our hostel in which I got to skype my dad, it took a lot out of us to put our coats on and venture out to Montmartre for some dinner. We got some crepes as well, I tried just plain sugar and decided though it was good nothing can beat nutella! We also took a look at the famous Moulin Rouge while it was lit up. We didn't even shower before we went to be and I failed at catching up on blogging! Also we couldn't stop laughing before we went to bed about pigman... I'll occasionally see Ashley start cracking up and she's reliving it, apparently my face was priceless, i'm pretty sure she would have had the same reaction! I'm on the train to Florence currently after we flew into Pisa, yay Italy and pasta! <3

Waterlilies, Mirrors and a Crepe!

We were very tired yesterday morning. Our trip's traveling is catching up to us. After breakfast we set out in the slightly cold Parisian morning and went to the Sacre Coeur, which is a church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Christ. Up at the top of Montmartre, it has so many stairs to climb up, but once you are there it is magnificent! It is the second highest point after the Eifferl Tower. The church was built by businessmen who swore that if Paris was saved from destruction in the Franco-Prussian War they would build a church. It was finally completed on the onset of WWI so they waited until 1919 for it to be officially consecrated. After Sacre Coeur, we went to the Musee de Orsay and saw a bunch of beautiful impressionist and postimpressionist works. There were tons of famous paintings that we saw as well as a couple of statues we recognized. The Van Gogh's were incredible and the Degas, Renoir, Manet, Monet, I could go on forever. I love seeing paintings from history textbooks as well like "dancing at the moulin de la galette" - Renoir and "Olympia"- Manet. So crazy to see things in real life! We then headed to the Musee de l'Orangerie to see Monet's waterlilies. They were so pretty and huge! They cover whole walls, so seeing them in person is a unique experience and awesome to get their full effect. After Zurich, Orsay, and the Orangerie we feel like we have seen so many! It's amazing. We then got some lunch and headed for Versailles because we realized it is closed on Mondays! And I really wanted to go there because art is more of Ashley's thing, and history is mine. The Palace of Versailles is so grand, it amazed me again even for the second time. I adore the cliche rooms, haha of course the Hall of Mirrors and Marie Antoinette's bedroom. The hall of mirrors I could spend so much time in if the hordes of people weren't so much of a deterrent. I just imagine how it must have felt to the people who had never looked at themselves in a mirror before! And Marie's bedroom is so great because you can see her escape door she used! We couldn't go to the gardens because they had some special show our pass didn't cover, but we did see them at least. And I'm glad I've walked through them before. We got some dinner in the Latin Quarter and while Ashley ate and got coffee I went quickly to the Pantheon to see if it was still open because it was 6:30 already. It was closed but Ashley didn't want to see it anyways and we saw the front which is always amazing. But I would have likes to see the inside and Voltaire's tomb again. We did find a flea market in the Latin Quarter and wished we had space in our luggage, there were so many cool things! We finished our day with taking the metro to our hostel worn out and then trying to find food. All I wanted was yogurt and a nutella crepe, they were amazing :)

Passport to Paris

This was on the 17th, I forgot to hit submit haha the others were late too because I didn't have wifi. These last two days I was just lazy because Paris was intense, updating them all tonight! .....We arrived in Paris at the perfect time to check into our hostel but it was a long day of traveling! We got there and changed and set off towards food. We were so excited to have a hot meal again! Who would have ever guessed we would think Paris is cheapish haha compared to Switzerland it is! We found a cafe near our hostel in Montemarte and got a water, pizza and pain chocolat (we don't really know what they are called haha). It was delicious and only like 5 euro. Yay! Now I just need to learn how to say more french words so I can take full advantage of such delicious pastries we saw. After we got that much needed food, we headed toward the metro to get a three day pass and visit the Arc de Trimphe! When we got there it was weird because they had the eternal flame blocked off, we couldn't get near it. But we noticed you could go up to the top for free so we ascended the 150 or so spiral staircase up to the top, I got so winded but it was awesome! The view of Paris was great and the stuff you could view inside was interesting. It was a first for me! When we came down we realized there was some sort of ceremony going on and we watched while veterans and soldiers played the Marseillaise! Police were everywhere too! Just like at Checkpoint Charlie and the Brandenburg Gate! With their armor on and everything. We've decided we attract them. It didn't end there, after we strolled down the Champs Élysées we saw more at Place de la Concorde! While we were turned around at a stand on Champs Élysées an Asian man said "you are so beautiful" and wanted a picture but I was so confused and then Ashley turned around and he was like both of you and snapped one! haha it was interesting, apparently it happened to Amber all the time in China. Along the famous street I also managed to find the only upturned stone and trip in front of so many people, and it hurt my toe so badly! Aside from the pain I realized how funny it was and at least it was in a special place right? I love being in Paris as it is familiar and also such a fun place for history, just like Berlin! Place de la Concorde is the square where a majority of the Revolution of 1789's terror was carried out! Both times I've stood in it I've been so wonderstruck at it's historical significance. After we did all this we went back and got ready for bed as were we pretty tried. Paris is such a wonderful city and I'm excited for the adventures it will bring!

Bonjour Geneve!

We had very little time in Geneva since we arrived by train from Lucerne at noon and we left the next morning for Paris! Immediately upon arriving it was a totally different atmosphere since we are used to German! It felt like we were in France! The French language is more familiar to me so I don't sound as weird speaking the small things I know haha. But I love hearing and attempting to say things in German so I'm going to miss that! Also Geneva was hot! I'd say like 80 so when we first got there and walked to the United Nations building we were dying. I can tell you Ashley was hating Switzerland for their prices and the walking haha. We went to coop (our grocery store that saved us in Switzerland) and got some delicious baguette sandwiches and walked and ate them. We headed towards the UN and it was really cool seeing it! I've never been to New York and seen the most important one, but the Geneva one is next! We had just been watching the news about Palestine trying to get a seat too! Weird coincidence. There was the chair monument in front and then the rows of flags, very awesome! But we somehow couldn't find ours! I was excited to see the building and bummed we missed the Red Cross one and museum. Anyway, after we checked in officially (not just dropping off our luggage) they gave us a Geneva pass for the buses, rail, and boats so that was super nice. Ashley made a good point that we should rest up for Paris and she was exhausted so she took a nap. We also decided not to go to any churches or museums as they'll be plenty in Paris and Florence. After a refreshing rest, we went on a short boat ride across the Rhone river. We went over to the Jet d'eau, Geneva's water fountain jet and saw it up close. It was really high and quite awesome. I hadn't realized it had been a symbol of Geneva since the late 19th century! Quite a bit earlier than Disney's World of Color! I also learned that it is white because of the pressure and bubbles. Unlike the late 18th century I don't think they actually need it anymore, before it got moved to a more visible tourist spot it was needed and then they realized it's popularity! Interesting tidbit. After that we went to coop again and got salads and yogurt, and a bit of salami and bread too. We sat and ate them in an area with kids scootering and playing games. It was neat. We went to our hostel, showered because today was not a pretty sight, and now we are paying a lot of money for laundry! Our first time haha it is definitely needed. We are actually watching Scooby Doo in French at the moment waiting for our laundry. Next entry from Paris! Au Revoir!

Swan Lake Lucerne

So as you can tell I was pleasantly surprised to find more swans in Lucerne which makes sense because it is so close to Zurich and it too has a beautiful lake. Lucerne is also small enough to just walk around so we were able to avoid the bahn system and enjoy all the sights, Ashley hates walking so she does not share this view haha. In Lucerne a lot of people spoke French so it was a nice transition city as well! We arrived from the train system and walked to our hostel which is right across the lake but pretty far from old town. After we dropped our luggage off, we went to old town. It is so beautiful, there is this bridge that is dedicated to a Roman Egyptian general that conquered most of Switzerland but he was ultimately martyred along with his troops for not worshipping the Roman gods. Later he was made a saint but his name escapes me, anyway this bridge is so lovely, it is made of wood and all along the sides there are colorful flowers and swans swimming underneath. Switzerland is so picturesque it's crazy. After we went across we headed to the towers up above old town. We climbed up one and went down another, walking across the wall that connects them. Going up and down the towers was terrifying! The stairs inside were so steep! After we had that little adventure we went and looked at a Franciscan church, and later a Jesuit one! And so the church going begins haha. Anyway churches are always pretty and these were on the way to the Lion Monument. Ash and I didn't know it existed before today but apparently it is pretty famous and now we know why. Carved into a rock cliff/spring there is a weeping lion. It makes your heart ache to see it and it was carved as a memorial to the Swiss missionaries who died in France in 1792, oddly enough the little English blurb didn't say why, but hopefully the date is a good clue. The carving was absolutely amazing. Another favorite part of Lucerne was the fact we found this spot where all the locals eat their lunch, on the stairs beside the river. We just relaxed there and then I felt my arm get wet, I turned around and these four little birds were bathing in the puddle behind us. It was darling, and in front of the pretty water it was very serene. Plus we felt Swiss. We didn't do much more after that, just walked around a bit and went back to our hostel. One thing we did however was go by the lake in front of our hostel. I found some ducks, geese, and a swan. I named her Odette! We realized the matching grey birds that we thought might be female swans are just probably geese after completing a puzzle with a swan and her babies. The puzzle took us forever but we were pretty proud after we finished! There is a picture of our finished product at the bottom. Also, the lion monument, Odette and some geese, and a picture of a section of our hostel.

Hogwarts in Zurich?

Today was a much better morning haha no lock issues! I haven't mentioned it but our room in this hostel is like five stories high and when you climb the stairs you get a work out haha. It's so different from our beautiful Berlin hostel since this one isn't as historical looking, but this one is cool cause we talk to so many people and get a free drink after ten and free breakfast! In this city that is perfect because we can't afford to eat it seems! A Starbucks is like 6 chf..think about how much dinner or lunch would be! We're eating yogurt, cheese and salami, and peanut butter banana nutella sandwiches haha. Also I grabbed mineral water by mistake! I want regular water, no bubbles! I need to pay attention better. It was our last full day in Zurich and as we predicted we woke up to rain, no lake side bathing :( but we decided to go to the history museum, yes! The Landesmuseum Zurich, or the Swiss National Museum Zurich, had valuable collection pieces alongside the historical information. How cool is it to actually see the German vernacular bible you read about? The best! On top of this we arrived to a castle. Yes the museum was huge and very much like Hogwarts... It was a dream!!! Pretty much made for me :) As soon as we got past early history and got to Humanism and I saw a giant painting of Erasmus I started getting so excited! Ask Ashley haha i wanted to point out everything to her. But i'll try not to bore you with too much of what we discovered.. I could go on forever <3. Some of the things didn't have english translations but with the French and my history knowledge I pieced things together. It was so great to see objects as I mentioned before. Such as Zwingli's armor he died in? Yeah pretty cool. For those of you who don't know Huldrych Zwingli led a Protestant movement in Zurich. Side note: you see streets like Zwingliplatz or Lutherstrasse in Zurich.. It's so great! Haha anyway the museum was awesome too because while you learned about general history, such as the enlightenment (don't forget Voltaire hid out in Geneva!) there is of course a Swiss emphasis and during general European History there is never enough time to cover Switzerland! Only the relevant information or contributions get mentioned, for instance Rousseau was from Geneva! I think some of the most interesting sections were the world wars and exhibits on things like Swiss banking and then cultural exhibits I learned a lot when I could make it out! After we spent forever there (and didn't even go through it all I think) we came back to our hostel for lunch and then set out for Zwingli's church, Grossmunster, and the old town part of Zurich. It was so lovely! We visited the church and I think it was actually a Roman Catholic Church that was transformed! Like these two dome-like tier things looked different than the rest of the building and it looked similar to a gothic cathedral. Dang my lack of German! Haha we will have to figure out it's history at some point. Anyways we strolled through old town an took pictures. Then we decides to go check out this Roman fortress that took forever to find oddly enough. We saw the hill finally and I said "the Roman fortress would be this way" haha dang cobblestone hills! But the fortress had been turned into a park with giant chess games and everything! Pretty neat! You could tell it was a Roman fortress still though, so old! Anyway we went back to the main center of Zurich and we had seen this boat that is small and goes under the bridges! We went on it and before we saw a beautiful carousel! But the horses didn't move up and down! Also we sat down by the edge of the river and took some awesome photos of the swans. I'm going to miss seeing swans in the beautiful river and lake! Our day was pretty much over and we went back to the hostel to relax and eat. Packing up for Luzern (Lucerne) tonight! Taking the train in the morning, hopefully the weather is nicer! It's going to be beautiful either way I'm sure. Guten nacht!

Sweet Switzerland

So last night we talked with a girl from Canada who is a seasoned traveler especially through Germany and France, she told us funny little insights like Australians are everywhere in Europe and they stay for a long time because of their brutal flights. She was pretty amusing and it was interesting to hear about where she had traveled. This morning I got off to a great start when somehow I accidentally reset my lock an all my stuff was stuck in a locker. I was freaking out while Ashley was in the shower haha. Luckily our hostel guy Paul, who also bar tends, came up and just broke it off! With his hands! Haha it was funny, he was like well that didn't seem too secure. But it was supposed to be really only for luggage I think. Borrowed a lock from the hostel and I'll need to replace it now. After that little set back we took off for the day and went to a museum. Ashley and I were excited to see Monet's waterlilies they had in their collection! Along with other beautiful Monets, we saw a lot of Van Goghs, Manets, Renoirs, Degas, Braques, Picassos, Warhols, even a Salvador Dali! Those are the artists I can remember haha. I bet a more detailed description can be found on Ashley's blog, itsarainydayinlondon.blogspot.com. I loved all the impressionists of course and the modern art we saw was cool but I just think Impressionism is so much prettier! That's why I can name more of those artists haha. Manet's Henri Rocheforts Flucht, had a very interesting story and I really liked the painting. It was of the man escaping on a boat and the painting was not received well as an historical piece in it's day, but I liked it! It was also cool because we saw Mondrian's Komposition in Rot, look it up it'll be familiar, it was to me an I've never taken an art history class and don't know much on the subject. One of Van Gogh's self portraits was there and this one shows his bandaged ear! I guess in later pieces he tries to hide it more so this one was really cool. After having our minds blown by all this famous art (Ashley more so) we finally saw lake Zurich! It is beautiful, this part of the city is so picturesque! On a bridge we looked down an saw all the swans, I know they can be vicious, but I love swans! On a side note, Swan Princess is one of the best non Disney animated films! And we saw ducks too so naturally I thought of the ugly duckling story. We took some great pictures and then went on an hour and a half boat ride, it was gorgeous! And we were bummed we didn't bring our swimming suits with us because it was so nice out and they have the best beaches and docks with slides and stuff. Tomorrow it's probably going to rain with our luck haha. The houses had boat garages next to the lake, and all of them were so lovely! We want to live in one, but I don't even want to know how much they cost considering Zurich is the most expensive city I have ever been too. Most of the houses are on hills above the lake like in San Francisco and they probably had beautiful views as well. I also love all the church steeples and clock towers you see here! So pretty! We saw a statue of Zwingli and I can't wait to visit his church it looks gorgeous. Staying in a hostel with12 other girls we have definitely talked to more people which is good! But it just makes me want to travel more! I don't even want to type out all the places I still want to go to even after this wonderful trip!! Europe is just so great! But then I remember how wonderful the States are too and I have so many places to go there as well! Well off to the bar to get wifi and skype! Look at Ashley's tumblr for all the pictures of the trip :) we-the-redeemed.tumblr.com

Auf wiedersehen Berlin, hallo Zurich!

Our last day in Berlin we went to Potsdamer Platz again and found the museum Ashley really wanted to see with all the Rembrandts, I think there was 20. It was way less busy compared to the louvre and other European museums I have been to. It also only had paintings and only went up to the 18th century, I was bummed about that. Ash got to see a lot of her favorite artists though or people she learned about in art history, I'm excited to take an art history class at Essex! After that massive intake of paintings we went to the Berlin Wall East Side Gallery. The Bernauer Strasse on the west side of the wall was a French zone and for a long time it was a popular area to escape. The buildings on the east side were actually demolished when the wall security and fortifications were increased. A church was separated from some of it's parishes and also the wall and "no man's land" was built on graves from WWII. I didn't know that many details about the wall beforehand and the gallery was very informative. One section had the remains and explained all the different details surrounding the area. Another was what it actually looked like during the height of security. The picture of the police officer escaping always gets to me, it must have been so horrible. In this particular area a lot of families were separated too. At the wall there were memorials both for all the victims of the wall and all the now unknown graves from WWII. There was a window for all the victims with photos and there names. There also was a section that listed the names of the eight guards who died. But watching movies of escapes and seeing the hundred or so names of people that died was moving. I guess because I was born after 1989 and I haven't studied much about the cold war, before I went there the impact of the wall and it's symbol escaped me. Germany was not a unified country for so long! In the city there is a giant Soviet Memorial we saw dedicated to the soldiers who died. Nowadays it's easy to forget and think why is that there? Then you remember that the Soviets built it themselves. On the Siegessaule there are decapitated figures of the victory soldiers and men and women as well as other vandalizations. It commemorates the Franco-Prussian war so after WWII the French destroyed a lot of it. In 1990 a lot of the granite pieces were returned as a friendly gesture from France, and the Germans put these pieces in one of the tunnels to get to the site. They were purposefully not returned as a reminder. Interestingly enough that whole area is very similar to France's Arc de Triomphe! It was a weird parallel for Ashley and I. I think this is another great example of how much I love this historical city, everything you encounter! Later that night we went back and I skyped with my family minus Erica :) Ash had gotten the time wrong so we stayed in until she could skype with her family. During the skype session, I heard this really loud chirping noise.. Turns out it was a giant grasshopper! It was terrifying and Ashley and I tried everything to get it down from the curtain but it was so high and we were afraid. For a good reason cause after a shoe didn't work we shook it and it flew around., we definitely screamed. After that we decided to just deal with it later and went down to the bar in the hostel and Internet room. Went we came up a guy had caught it and was flinging it out the window. Vincint got it! Haha our new roomie proceeded to take care of the other one we found. Thank goodness, laugh all you want but I have never seen a bug that big and we were in the city! So strange how it even got in. While Ashley skyped her parents I got to know Vincint, Ashley and I finally got to know someone! From now on we are going to try and be less shy. Anyway Vincint is German and in the fall he is transferring to a university in Berlin so he was there to sign an apartment lease which I guess he was lucky to get. I can't pronounce or spell the city he was from but it's in Bavaria and closer to Munich I guess. After Ashley was done we all decided to go back down to the hostel's bar and Vincint ordered Ashley a beer while I got a special one! Haha only Vincint would know of a German drink that is similar to sprite and beer I guess? But the lady at the bar didn't make it right I guess, he was bummed we didn't get to try it. I was just happy it was way better than plain beer! Haha so Ash an I had our German mugs of beer and it was cool being with someone that could tell us how to say everything! We talked about school and a little about politics, we told him we really liked the Bundestag! After that we went out with Vincint and went to a place called Kreuzberger! Haha it was awesome and that was definitely the latest we had stayed out. Can I express how awesome it was that Vincint could just order Ashley's burger?! Haha I'm pretty sure the owners didn't speak English. After that we were pretty exhausted and went to bed. Yay for making a friend finally! We never even learned our Australian roommate's names! The next morning we had to say auf wiedersen to Berlin and made our way out to Tegel airport. I loved seeing Bismarckstrasse and Richard Wagner Platz on the U Bahn, so great! We flew Air Berlin for the first time and it was so funny because I ordered ginger ale and the guy thought I wanted a gin and tonic, uh nein! Haha this really attractive guy next us nicknamed "tall, dark and handsome" thought it was funny too and said that he must have just not know because ginger ale isn't popular in Germany I guess. "TDR" I feel epitomized our experience with German men, especially police officers! Ashley took some pictures haha check out we-the-redeemed.tumblr.com for not only those photos but some from all of our trip! Now we are in Zurich and have wifi again! So lucky! This hostel isn't as nice and homey as Berlin but it's nice but since Zurich is so expensive it's definitely in a sketchy area. We think at night we'll just stay in. We get one free drink (I'll probably get a soda haha) and there is music down at the bar so we are going down there. We also get free breakfast, makes it better for how expensive Zurich is! But I'm stoked to be in beautiful Switzerland for the next week :)

Dem Deutschen Volke

Today we experienced so much of the highlights of Berlin such as the Reichstag, Brandenburger Tor (Brandenburg Gate), the Holocaust Memorial or the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, the Tiergarten, and the Siegessaule! Plus a tiny bit of Potsdamer Platz. This morning we got up fairly early because I had made us reservations to visit the Reichstag, I had emailed the government before our trip and so we were about to take a tour up to the dome! I'm so glad I took that extra time, it was brilliant. After passing through security you got to go up there and walk up the stairs of the Dom all while getting a tour through audio ear pieces that explained the history and sights. It was so great and I learned about the German parliament and significance of glass dome which represents the transparency of the democracy. The building also emphasized unity which is very important to Germany and had the great mix of modern and historic architecture ever-present in Berlin. It's so great to have that old feel around the city without losing modern conveniences and modern art as well. I've also noticed that ads mix in a bit of English sometimes! It's cool because with context clues I can sometimes understand it! I forgot to mention how funny today was because Ashley forgot to pack the tights I told her to bring in her small suitcase and so just wore shorts today. I wore black tights and a skirt. Apparently we've noticed that German girls always wear tights! This morning we got like three honks and everywhere we went people stared at us, well Ashley, finally we found an h&m store for her to buy some! It was crazy and I think Ashley felt scandalous. After the Reichstag, we took pictures in front of the Brandenburger Tor :) it's a great symbol like the Eiffel Tower is for France! Today there was some sort of political gathering out front at noon and there were so many police officers! We tried asking the guard outside the American embassy (which is right next to the gate and awesome!) why they were there but we didn't really understand him. Next we went to the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe and took it all in. I really feel like pictures don't do it justice because I guess I didn't realize how much the blocks varied in height. It makes such an impact. Ashley didn't really want to go underground because her feet hurt, but I went and viewed the very well done information part of the memorial. I think it's more important to see the pictures and read real accounts of what happened rather than only take photos of the cool blocks. I knew all the museum information already, but the memorial really showed the impact of the six million murdered Jews with photos and movies and rooms dedicated to different families and people from the different areas of Europe. There was this one room that had lit up postcards, letters, accounts on toliet paper basically an assortment of real stories. A twelve year old girl pretending to write to her mother who will never get the letter because she is afraid to die but knows she will. This part of the memorial is so important despite the fact most tourists don't want to read or walk down there and go through security, this part of history isn't as exciting I guess. Most people just listened to a tour up at the top and then left or sat like Ash did. I also liked that it didn't only focus on Auschwitz when describing the camps, but I understand why the sheer number of deaths in that camp make it significant and most talked about. After that intense and emotional experience we strolled down the lengthy Tiergarten on our way to the Victory Monument or Siegessaule. We took awesome jumping pictures off the main trail next to a pretty man made pond. But the Tiergarten park is so big and we barely saw any of it! By the time we got to the end even my feet were killing me. Thank goodness for the buses and S & U bahn! We avoided a lot of walking after that and laying on our beds right now feels so incredibly amazing. We stopped by the Potsdamer Platz shopping center for a late lunch but left after that cause we knew that to experience that requires being able to walk haha. Later we became super grumpy. Then we went out the latest we have, found my deutsche bank with free ATM withdrawals and went to cocktail lounge and had our typical experience of dining forever! They take their time here so waiters never come haha. Our newest roommates are girls from Sydney who have no plans for where they are going next..crazy! Apparently our other roomie is hot, Ashley briefly saw him but doesn't know what nationality he is. Tomorrow is our last full day in Berlin! Excited for Switzerland but sad to leave

Berlin: "Marissa is high on history" -Ashley

So I'm not the best blogger and it's hard to type on my iPod so sorry about not posting everyday. Also I'm bummed I can't upload my photos until I get my computer back. But Berlin... It's so amazing! I'm pretty sure I'm going to love every city I encounter in Europe just because I love it so much, but that doesn't make Berlin any less awesome. The people are great, you feel pretty safe even at night, and you can uncover gems everywhere. This is because it has so much HISTORY. Today besides seeing the franzosischer dome and the berliner dom, checkpoint Charlie, gendarmenmarkt, and more things I have trouble naming... We went to the topographie des terrors which is a museum built upon the headquarters of the Gestapo and the SS. The site where they planned and organized the final solution. On top of that intense experience there was a piece of the wall right over the series of photos and exhibits. Almost everywhere you look there is a piece of history and a story. Unlike our first day in Berlin where we just checked in and relaxed and before just figured out the s and u bahn from the airport, today we started our adventure in the pouring rain. I've seriously lived in my peacoat this trip. Bought an umbrella though! Haha Ashley and I want trench coats so badly now. In the rain we encountered a statue dedicated to the jewish children on board the trains to death and on the other side on the trains to life which we coordinated secretly to places all over Europe to save children. We almost missed it! Ash walked straight by it cause it was on a random street, but it was on the route so it made sense. Switching gears, we didn't eat really until the late afternoon and ashley finally got to try her currywurst! I decided to play it safe with a turkey based hotdog. I did have a German based dinner though, it was macaroni and cheese like with caramelized onions it was so good! That doesn't even compare to our apflstrudel though! It was basically heaven. We found a cute little local place for dinner and I hope the waitresses had a good time laughing at us :) I can't pronounce German things really haha. Oh i forgot! We heard a german politician speak today! At checkpoint charlie and there were so many policemen. Every time i hear a siren here i think of the bourne movies, its unavoidable. Today was just so great and I could go on forever but I should go to bed. Big day tomorrow! Brandenburg tor and the reichstag! look at we-the-redeemed for pictures!

Loving London

Yesterday we were running on less than six hours of sleep and today we are too since we could not sleep! Hopefully we are able to in Berlin after we are more adjusted. Yesterday I saw the front of buckingham palace, westminister, big Ben, the eye, and we wandered around London using the tube and walking. London is beautiful and I'm excited to see more of it in the future! Yay for Ashley living there! I'm stoked for Berlin :)

Tired in London

Too tired for a real post but basically in love with london and we saw mischa Barton at buckingham palace! Got to catch the tube back to heathrow so we can venture to Berlin tomorrow!! xoxo

The University of Essex

It's going to be a lovely place I'm sure. Just thought I would post these so I learn how to post pictures!

The towers are my housing!! Quite different from Cerro Vista or Poly Canyon haha. I'm in Tawney Tower :)

Only four days away

I figured I would finally start a blog. Instead of packing of course. It's rather unreal that we leave so soon! Well back to figuring out the things to squeeze into one suitcase and a carry on for several months.