Just so everyone knows, I have added a sidebar to the blog with links to each of my photo albums. Let me know if it doesn't work!
We are still in Lagos and loving every moment of it! Yesterday we layed on the beach all day long and then danced the night away at a bar with a live band until 4 in the morning with a huge group of people from our hostel. SERIOUSLY, this is what every vacation should be like! Kirst and I are slowly (but surely) getting more and more tan; soon we won't look like Oregonians! After Lagos we are excited to stay South and hang out in Spain and Italy before heading up to Switzerland and France. We are saving the majority of our shopping for Prague because apparently it is really cheap there.... although we just bought sweaters for only 10€ yesterday. Oops :)
I am so glad we decided to take a break from backpacking. It has been so so nice to not need to worry about catching a train on time or making sure we've reserved the correct seats. We can worry about that next week. For now, I'm just going to make sure we have enough sun screen :)
Miss and love everyone!
xoxo
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Paradise!
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
Where in the world am I today?
Portugal! Kirsten and I have decided to take a vacation from all this backpacking and, after 27 hours on a train, are now in beautiful Lagos, Portugal. We think we´ll be here for about a week, maybe longer. The beaches here are supposed to be fantastic and everyone in the hostel is so much fun so far. The food here is super cheap and the shopping looks fabulous. I can´t wait to lay on the sand in the sun for a few days! (Gosh, our lives are so difficult here!) I am slowly uploading photos from Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Bordeaux right now. I just wanted everyone to know where we are!!
xoxoxo
xoxoxo
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Why I don't speak French
I don't speak French. I don't know many people who do. Besides Canada, not very many people in North America speak French. The "important" or "valuable" language to learn in the states is Spanish. In fact, statistics show that it is only a matter of time before the US is a bilingual country with half of the population speaking SPANISH. Today some French guy flipped Kirsten and I some crap because when he goes to the states no one speaks French and he is forced to speak our language, English. He thinks it is stupid that when Americans come to France they expect everyone to speak English; instead, he said, we should learn French. I tried explaining to him that in the US we mostly learn Spanish because we are much closer to the Mexican border than to France. He looked at me and said, "But we do not speak Spanish here!"
I hate to break it to you, dude, but the world doesn't revolve around France. The US is a way bigger country and we are on a different CONTINENT than France. It doesn't make any logical sense to learn your language.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I would like to also point out that everyone else here (with the exception of one rude lady at the train station) has been VERY nice - a lot more pleasant than I expected the French to be. I guess it was only a matter of time before we ran into some French arrogance. It is unfortunate that those few difficult people are the ones who have built the French stereotype; I understand that not everyone is like that. I also want to add that although these countries are beautiful and magnificent on so many different levels, I have never been more proud to be an American and I feel much more patriotic. The constant need to defend our country and explain our more conservative beliefs makes me excited to come home and appreciate the way we live.
With that, I am going to bed! Or at least changing into some new clothes; it's so hot here. I totally have some new tan lines!
Xoxo
Meg
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I hate to break it to you, dude, but the world doesn't revolve around France. The US is a way bigger country and we are on a different CONTINENT than France. It doesn't make any logical sense to learn your language.
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I would like to also point out that everyone else here (with the exception of one rude lady at the train station) has been VERY nice - a lot more pleasant than I expected the French to be. I guess it was only a matter of time before we ran into some French arrogance. It is unfortunate that those few difficult people are the ones who have built the French stereotype; I understand that not everyone is like that. I also want to add that although these countries are beautiful and magnificent on so many different levels, I have never been more proud to be an American and I feel much more patriotic. The constant need to defend our country and explain our more conservative beliefs makes me excited to come home and appreciate the way we live.
With that, I am going to bed! Or at least changing into some new clothes; it's so hot here. I totally have some new tan lines!
Xoxo
Meg
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Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Bordeaux
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Monday, September 21, 2009
France, finally!
Bonjour from Tours, France! We finally managed to reserve seats on a train halfway to Bordeaux; we should be there by noon tomorrow. Paris will need to wait until October when we visit my friend Claire in Reims.
The Netherlands were fantastic! Amsterdam was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me so far. The first day we found our gorgeous hotel (thanks Charlie and Trina!) And wandered around the city to see where everything was. We also managed to walk through the red light district and see some of the prostitutes advertising themselves in the windows. There are "coffee shops" (places to buy and smoke marijuana) literally on every corner and it is impossible to walk down any street without smelling it. Although technically people are only supposed to smoke indoors, we passed by a countless amount of people smoking on the street; it's basically everywhere.
We woke up early the next morning to eat HUGE breakfast and walk down the block to the Anne Frank House. It has been a life-long wish of mine to visit the annex where Anne hid for over two years with her family; I really appreciated the opportunity to finally see it. The museum is really well done with plenty of videos and interviews with friends of Anne's as well as her father. Although there is no furniture in the tiny apartment (we couldn't have walked through if there was!) Anne's decorations and pictures of her favorite celebrities were still on the walls. I think I had chills the entire time I was there.
Immediately following Anne Frank, we walked to the Van Gogh Museum only to discover that it was 20 US dollars to get in! We decided the Louvre is more important than Van Gogh and instead went to the National Museum, or the Rijks Museum. We also went to the Sex Museum in the red light district. (Very funny and interesting!)
The last morning we ate another massive breakfast and checked out of our wonderful hotel with the intention of going to Paris. As you may have read in my previous blog, however, all the trains were booked! We had to immediately cancel our reservation in Paris and frantically find somewhere to sleep until we went to Bordeaux. Since it was a Saturday, everything was booked! At one point I was seriously concerned that we would have nowhere to sleep. After 3 hours of searching for a hostel with two beds available (that didn't seem creepy; we didn't want a repeat of Berlin) we found a really cool place in Rotterdam. Since this was only our second hostel experience we were nervous but we actually had a really good time there. It was right on the harbor in adorable Rotterdam, was extremely safe and they even gave us free beer last night! We met some really cool people who gave us more travel advice; two guys we met are literally on the same route as us except going to opposite direction. (We of course, told them where to NOT stay in Berlin.)
Today we took a train to Tours, France; we'll be here for the night before we go to Bordeaux. I am really excited for wine-tasting in Bordeaux - the place we are staying is right next door to the information center on Bordeaux wine! Yes, we planned it that way. All the museums are free in Bordeaux... I can't wait to save some money :)
The language barrier is so much bigger in France than it has been everywhere else. So far no one has been rude though, which we were worried about. But the bread is amazing! We bought fresh sandwiches at a bakery for dinner and it is SO GOOD.
I can't believe that on Wednesday I will have been gone for an entire month! We still have so much to see and do. I hope everything is great at home; I'll see everyone in about 6 weeks!
Xoxo
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
The Netherlands were fantastic! Amsterdam was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me so far. The first day we found our gorgeous hotel (thanks Charlie and Trina!) And wandered around the city to see where everything was. We also managed to walk through the red light district and see some of the prostitutes advertising themselves in the windows. There are "coffee shops" (places to buy and smoke marijuana) literally on every corner and it is impossible to walk down any street without smelling it. Although technically people are only supposed to smoke indoors, we passed by a countless amount of people smoking on the street; it's basically everywhere.
We woke up early the next morning to eat HUGE breakfast and walk down the block to the Anne Frank House. It has been a life-long wish of mine to visit the annex where Anne hid for over two years with her family; I really appreciated the opportunity to finally see it. The museum is really well done with plenty of videos and interviews with friends of Anne's as well as her father. Although there is no furniture in the tiny apartment (we couldn't have walked through if there was!) Anne's decorations and pictures of her favorite celebrities were still on the walls. I think I had chills the entire time I was there.
Immediately following Anne Frank, we walked to the Van Gogh Museum only to discover that it was 20 US dollars to get in! We decided the Louvre is more important than Van Gogh and instead went to the National Museum, or the Rijks Museum. We also went to the Sex Museum in the red light district. (Very funny and interesting!)
The last morning we ate another massive breakfast and checked out of our wonderful hotel with the intention of going to Paris. As you may have read in my previous blog, however, all the trains were booked! We had to immediately cancel our reservation in Paris and frantically find somewhere to sleep until we went to Bordeaux. Since it was a Saturday, everything was booked! At one point I was seriously concerned that we would have nowhere to sleep. After 3 hours of searching for a hostel with two beds available (that didn't seem creepy; we didn't want a repeat of Berlin) we found a really cool place in Rotterdam. Since this was only our second hostel experience we were nervous but we actually had a really good time there. It was right on the harbor in adorable Rotterdam, was extremely safe and they even gave us free beer last night! We met some really cool people who gave us more travel advice; two guys we met are literally on the same route as us except going to opposite direction. (We of course, told them where to NOT stay in Berlin.)
Today we took a train to Tours, France; we'll be here for the night before we go to Bordeaux. I am really excited for wine-tasting in Bordeaux - the place we are staying is right next door to the information center on Bordeaux wine! Yes, we planned it that way. All the museums are free in Bordeaux... I can't wait to save some money :)
The language barrier is so much bigger in France than it has been everywhere else. So far no one has been rude though, which we were worried about. But the bread is amazing! We bought fresh sandwiches at a bakery for dinner and it is SO GOOD.
I can't believe that on Wednesday I will have been gone for an entire month! We still have so much to see and do. I hope everything is great at home; I'll see everyone in about 6 weeks!
Xoxo
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Saturday, September 19, 2009
Paris... Don't I mean Rotterdam?
Today we were supposed to be going to Paris but all the trains into France were booked for today AND tomorrow. After sitting in the Amsterdam train station for 3 hours trying to find a place to stay, we found a pretty cool hostel in Rotterdam and hopped on a train! Tada! We are in an awesome hostel in cute Rotterdam currently trying to find our way to Bordeaux :) I will send a more detailed update soon; just wanted everyone to know where we are!
Love!
Xo, Megan
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Love!
Xo, Megan
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Thursday, September 17, 2009
Stroopwafel
We have been in Amsterdam for less than 5 hours and we have already discovered our favorite new pastry: stroopwafels. SO GOOD. We don't even know what stroop is, but it's basically amazing. Google this stuff and get ready to eat some when we get home because we are baking them all the time!
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Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Sick t-shirt
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Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Berlin
I need to catch everyone up on our creepy hostel and our adventures in Berlin. The first day we were here, we checked into the weirdest and sketchiest hostel I have ever been to. If all hostels are this bad, I am coming home next week; seriously. Anyway, we arrived at 11 am and some guy who wasn't wearing deodorant let us in. The cost for 5 nights was 180 euro which we had to pay upfront and in cash - no refunds. I also had to put a deposit down of 20 euro for the room key; this was placed in a glass jar on the table. The check-out system was taking my 20 euro back out of the jar and replacing it with the room key whenever I felt like leaving. When I asked what kept other people from taking my 20 euro, the guy's response was, "well, it hasn't happened yet!"
Then he gave us the grand tour of the hostel. There was no shower, two working toilets, holes in the floors of the bathroom, the kitchen floors were particle board and hadn't been cleaned in weeks, the front desk was a kitchen table, and - although we were the only guests - we got the last pair of clean sheets. (Don't worry, we didn't actually use them. We slept in our sleep sacks.) The carpet in our room clearly hadn't been vacuumed and there were several vomit stains spread throughout the room. SKETCH.
At first, Kirst and I decided to make the most of the situation and came up with a game plan. We would only sleep at the hostel. We wouldn't shower for 5 days. We would see every single part of Berlin so that we would NEVER need to be in our hostel. We were going to be fine. But then we walked outside.
Our lovely hostel was situated in the ghetto of Berlin. While we were walking towards downtown (in effort to escape our humble abode) some old man came right up to kirsten and said, "I love you, I love you! Kiss me, kiss me!" We also had to walk right by a high-security prison to get to the town center. By now, we were genuinely freaked out. We stayed in the nicer part of town as long as we could before it started getting dark.
Upon our return to the ghetto hostel, we began looking up better places to stay instead of our current situation. (Thanks, Mom and Dad for helping us pay for our safer accommodation!) We moved to a super cute bed and breakfast on the other side of town at 7:30 the next morning. We also contacted my aunt Wendy's friends in Stuttgart to see if we could visit some Portlanders for a nice change. With our new plan and reserved beds, we felt much better in Berlin and thought we were done dealing with that crazy hostel. WRONG.
Last night the owner of the hostel called me to ask why we weren't there. I explained the situation and general lack of cleanliness of the hostel and he was astonished. He said that he is currently remodeling the hostel and that the woman who checked us in was supposed to show us the place and make sure we still want to stay there before she took our money. I told him that this never happened and that a woman never checked us in, some guy did. We never saw another person the entire time we were there. Now he was really shocked because he has no male employees working for him. In fact, he has no idea who checked us in. Basically, Kirst and I were alone in some building where some guy who doesn't even work there has access to every room. We could have been killed. Scary.
Anyway, this owner said he would like to refund us all our money and asked me to give him my bank account number. What?! Yeah right. I told him that he could mail me a check so we'll see if that ever happens.
You can all breathe a sigh of relief and know that Kirsten and I are currently on a train to Stuttgart and spending a few nights with Cordy and Rich before heading to Amsterdam. We won't be in a hostel again until Paris (September 19th). Our new rules include: we see the rooms and bathrooms before we pay; don't book any hostels that include the words "crazy" or "cozy;" don't book hostels that don't show pictures of the rooms.
Then he gave us the grand tour of the hostel. There was no shower, two working toilets, holes in the floors of the bathroom, the kitchen floors were particle board and hadn't been cleaned in weeks, the front desk was a kitchen table, and - although we were the only guests - we got the last pair of clean sheets. (Don't worry, we didn't actually use them. We slept in our sleep sacks.) The carpet in our room clearly hadn't been vacuumed and there were several vomit stains spread throughout the room. SKETCH.
At first, Kirst and I decided to make the most of the situation and came up with a game plan. We would only sleep at the hostel. We wouldn't shower for 5 days. We would see every single part of Berlin so that we would NEVER need to be in our hostel. We were going to be fine. But then we walked outside.
Our lovely hostel was situated in the ghetto of Berlin. While we were walking towards downtown (in effort to escape our humble abode) some old man came right up to kirsten and said, "I love you, I love you! Kiss me, kiss me!" We also had to walk right by a high-security prison to get to the town center. By now, we were genuinely freaked out. We stayed in the nicer part of town as long as we could before it started getting dark.
Upon our return to the ghetto hostel, we began looking up better places to stay instead of our current situation. (Thanks, Mom and Dad for helping us pay for our safer accommodation!) We moved to a super cute bed and breakfast on the other side of town at 7:30 the next morning. We also contacted my aunt Wendy's friends in Stuttgart to see if we could visit some Portlanders for a nice change. With our new plan and reserved beds, we felt much better in Berlin and thought we were done dealing with that crazy hostel. WRONG.
Last night the owner of the hostel called me to ask why we weren't there. I explained the situation and general lack of cleanliness of the hostel and he was astonished. He said that he is currently remodeling the hostel and that the woman who checked us in was supposed to show us the place and make sure we still want to stay there before she took our money. I told him that this never happened and that a woman never checked us in, some guy did. We never saw another person the entire time we were there. Now he was really shocked because he has no male employees working for him. In fact, he has no idea who checked us in. Basically, Kirst and I were alone in some building where some guy who doesn't even work there has access to every room. We could have been killed. Scary.
Anyway, this owner said he would like to refund us all our money and asked me to give him my bank account number. What?! Yeah right. I told him that he could mail me a check so we'll see if that ever happens.
You can all breathe a sigh of relief and know that Kirsten and I are currently on a train to Stuttgart and spending a few nights with Cordy and Rich before heading to Amsterdam. We won't be in a hostel again until Paris (September 19th). Our new rules include: we see the rooms and bathrooms before we pay; don't book any hostels that include the words "crazy" or "cozy;" don't book hostels that don't show pictures of the rooms.
On a totally different subject, we did in fact enjoy ourselves in Berlin. On Sunday we went to the Humboldt Museum which is all about evolution; thank goodness I had Kirsten as a personal tour guide so she could explain everything to me. Monday we went shopping and saw all the important monuments such as the Berlin wall and the Berliner Dom. Today we woke up extra early to visit Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp just north of Berlin in a small town, Oranienburg. Only a few of the original building were still standing but they had rebuilt several others just for the museum. Probably the most haunting part was the execution trench, where thousands of camp prisoners were shot.
As soon as I make it to a computer I will upload all my pictures; I have tons! We are arriving in Stuttgart in a few hours and I can't wait to see Cordy and Rich!
Xo
Meg
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Saturday, September 12, 2009
Sketchiest hostel ever
I can't wait for Amsterdam.
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Off to Germany
Last night was our last in Denmark until November. We had so much fun in Copenhagen with Mai, Andreas and Jonna! We tried to convince them all to visit us in Oregon soon; I really hope to see them again in the states and I would love to show them around Portland and the island. Downtown Copenhagen was beautiful; I will be posting pictures as soon as I can. I am so glad we went to the soccer game the first night we were there; everyone should go to a game while they are in europe! We brought our own beer from the apartment to the game (we could walk around with an open container - like Vegas.) And watched it outside the stadium on a HUGE projection screen. SO MUCH FUN! Afterwards we went to a bar next door to celebrate a great game. As you can tell from my previous blogs, Kirst and I had a bit too much fun :) But not too many people can say they've been hungover on two different continents so therefore we feel more accomplished.
For the past few days we have been mapping our route through Western Europe and discovered that we have some extra time! We want to find a WARM, CHEAP place to lounge on the beach for a week - any suggestions? The emphasis is on "cheap" since we don't have a lot of cash.
We are currently on the last train to Neumunster, which is where Christoph is meeting us. I am so excited to spend a few days with him in Northern Germany before heading south for Oktoberfest. The trains are difficult to get used to! Sometimes you need to reserve a seat and sometimes you don't... Sometimes we think we don't but then someone will kick us out of "their seat." And the times between trains is insane! We had to switch trains within 4 minutes today - and our first train was late! Anyway, I hope all is well in the States and I'll write more soon!
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For the past few days we have been mapping our route through Western Europe and discovered that we have some extra time! We want to find a WARM, CHEAP place to lounge on the beach for a week - any suggestions? The emphasis is on "cheap" since we don't have a lot of cash.
We are currently on the last train to Neumunster, which is where Christoph is meeting us. I am so excited to spend a few days with him in Northern Germany before heading south for Oktoberfest. The trains are difficult to get used to! Sometimes you need to reserve a seat and sometimes you don't... Sometimes we think we don't but then someone will kick us out of "their seat." And the times between trains is insane! We had to switch trains within 4 minutes today - and our first train was late! Anyway, I hope all is well in the States and I'll write more soon!
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Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Upon request...
We are still alive. Just so busy to write anything! Long train ride tomorrow so keep checking the blog later. We get to see Christoph soon!
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Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Hangover
Kirst and I have recently discovered that being hungover in a foreign country feels just as bad as it does at home.
Direct quote from Kirsten: "I don't think I can drink any beer at Oktoberfest." I think I can change her mind :)
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Direct quote from Kirsten: "I don't think I can drink any beer at Oktoberfest." I think I can change her mind :)
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Saturday, September 5, 2009
IMG00012-20090905-2039.jpg
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Train again!
We are off to Copenhagen! Both of us are so excited to see Andreas, Mai, Jonna, and Thomas for a few days. Ruth and Joergen were so wonderful to us and we will miss them and their hospitality so much! We have been spoiled throughout our stay in Denmark and it makes it difficult for us to leave. We can't wait to come back in November!
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Friday, September 4, 2009
Royalty
Kirsten and I were just 10 feet away from the Queen of Denmark! We took lots of pictures and were even interviewed by the local news. I will let you know if we are on television tonight; we could be Danish celebrities :)
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Thursday, September 3, 2009
Time to get some blogging done
It's been so long since I've written but we have been so busy! Jørgen is the best tour guide ever and we have seen the best of Denmark in only a matter of days. It really feels like a fairy tale because each day is better than the last. I wish I could tell everyone what my favorite part has been, but there is no answer - everything is more than I could ever imagine or explain. Please be sure to look at the pictures I've posted on Snapfish; I can't wait to get home and frame them!
The Danish language is SO DIFFICULT to learn! Many of their sounds and words involve using the back of your throat - something that I am completely incapable of. Until I came here, I had never considered the fact that the muscles used in specific languages need to be developed. It is truly impossible for me to pronounce the letter "ø." This is an important letter because "beer" is spelled "øl." Of course, I cannot pronounce the most important word in Danish :) Instead of saying "beer," Kirsten and I attempt to order "wool."
The Danes are not afraid of color! Every home is a bright yellow, red, or blue. Out of every 3 houses that we see, Kirst and I want to buy 2 of them. Jørgen is very helpful and manages to point out to us which homes are actually for sale in effort to convince us that we need to move here.
One of my favorite places so far (notice that I say "one of my favorite places") is a beautiful castle that we visited on Tuesday. IT WAS GORGEOUS. I am trying to marry into the family, lol. We were allowed to go inside the castle and it was literally like a massive dollhouse. The rooms were so elegant and it had several rooms on display. It also had different clothing from different eras that the women who lived in the castle would wear. I kept expecting Mr. Darcy (Pride and Prejudice) to pop into the room!
Yesterday we went to the town that Kirsten's great-grandmother had lived. We met the woman who lives there and she mentioned that if we came back in November, she would try to pull together some history on town for us. (FYI: We are planning on returning to Denmark for the last few days of this adventure.)
Today, Ruth took Kirsten, Albert (the dog) and I on a walk in the country right behind their house and we took the most BEAUTIFUL pictures. Please take note of the clouds - they were moving so quickly they seemed to make different photographs each time! Kirsten has pictures on snapfish as well; be sure to look at them!
On Saturday we are going to Copenhagen to spend time with Jonna, Andreas and Mai! We are so so excited to spend more time with them - and most likely drink some øl!
And I am also getting very excited to see Christoph in a few days!
I miss everyone and can't wait to tell you everything in person. Also, I don't get text messages, but I love receiving email!
xoxo
Meg
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
IMG00011-20090901-1513.jpg
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Albert IMG00009-20090901-1012.jpg
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Pastries IMG00008-20090901-0935.jpg
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