Barcelona

               The moment we reached Barcelona, we saw a major shift in culture.  Not only were things not as proper and posh, but everything was so much cheaper.  So much so that I was starting to understand why so many college students choose to study abroad in Spain and not France...this was then overridden once we hit Southern France after Barcelona.  *Click to enlarge photos*

                Imagine a land where chocolate is acceptable for breakfast, nachos can be a daily thing and lots of color.  This land would be Spain.  Churros (legit good ones) dipped in hot melted was our daily breakfast along with big cups of coffee.  I don't think you understand our struggle with big cups of coffee, they don't exist in Europe.  This was then followed by lots of real nachos for dinner, which I learned don't usually include nacho cheese, and soccer.  But Barcelona also seemed to be the place of random discoveries.

       Our first day we decided to venture through Barcelona without any guidebooks.  We had agreed upon doing a circle route while looking at the maps on our phone.  These maps, while so helpful, do not show any indication of altitude, and we soon found ourself walking straight up on the top of a hill/mountain thing.  We seemed to have stumble upon the very touristy viewpoint/castle.  We applauded ourselves for somehow finding the most popular tourist attraction without trying, while also stumbling upon another site.  This time it was the base of the Catalonia National Art Museum.  We saw people gathering around the pillars staring at the fountain.  We quickly did our research and learned that on this day of the week there are two fountain/water and light shows.  We were there 30 minutes before the start so Katie got us hot coffee and we watched a free show.  We then found ourselves in a local bar witnessing a soccer game through the eyes of the local crowd.  But this was just day one of our happy stumble-upons.

Catalonia National Art Museum

               Day two we walked through the old town to find that there was a big celebration and festival occurring.  I literally can't describe this festival in words other than "human tower with children as the top".  Video attachment later.  Check back for it.

Katie with her flip flops

               Day two was Sunday, but it seemed we had missed the noon mass because it was canceled for celebration that was going on.  Personally fine by me, I'm pretty sure Jesus would be all for me seeing and having adventures around the world.  But see, this was now the reason why later, I had completed the hardest run of my life.  Ok all, I was on Cross Country and Track and I did pretty well.  But, the best I can do in Israel is try to find a cold time in the day to go for a run (that cold time doesn't exist), so I am not in the best shape.  Luckily since this was the end of the trip, I had gotten a little more in shape with all the walking.

             

Run destination

         Katie decided she wanted to go on a run while I was trying to figure out my flight plans.  I was supposed to fly out of Madrid in a few days, but there had been a ground strike canceling half of my flights.  International calling wasn't working so I opted out for mommy dearest who actually had a working phone and decided to run with Katie.  We picked a site and decided to run.  Well friends, this site was 4 miles away.  Wasn't really a big deal until Katie wanted to run back in time for mass.  I think we maybe had 45 minutes tops...and we had to run 4 miles back.  Trust me people, I tried my hardest to convince her that God understands we're exploring the world and didn't want me to throw up a lung.  But no worries, I made it in time to listen to 1.5 hours of Spanish.  Los sientos Jesus, yo no comprendo.      

               Barcelona was a relative break point.  Lots of different things were happening at once.  There was a lot happening with my travel plans a few days before departure, Katie and I had a bumpy moment and school was starting soon.  But give it a good night's sleep and bam, we decided to cancel my planes and go to Southern France and then Rome for the pope stuff, the bumpy moment had been forgotten and my friends were going to register me for classes.  We were now on our way to what was to become my very favorite part of the trip, Marseille and Nice.

Church that's been under construction for over 100 years

same church as pictured left

Paris

               I forgot to mention a really important part of our trip back in Belgium.  As we were standing outside the chocolate shop after hours, we noticed that we started getting notifications on our phones because they were automatically connecting to the store's wifi.  We found out the Pope had decided to step down.  This also led to multiple emails from both of our parents telling us to head back to Rome for the last Papal audience.  We rushed back to our hostel, got on real computers and started emailing away and looking at how to rearrange our trip.  With the support of our parents and an email sent to the nuns, we shifted our attention to getting to Paris.  **Click on photos to enlarge**

                Ah yes, Paris, the City of Lights, or to most, the City of Love.  Being the smart girls that we are, we stupidly made it so we were in Paris for Valentine's day.  Single ladies unite!  At the same time, we do credit ourselves to a cost efficient and very authentic Paris experience.  We quickly realized Paris hostels were not going to be cheap and so we opted for a thing called airbnb.com where you rent out someone's apartment and roughly pay the same price as if it were a hostel.  So we ended up with the cutest studio in the 3rd arrondissement, which is walking distance from all the tourist sites.  We arrived after a train ride of literally running to the train after last minute buying seat reservations.  Again, yay for backpacks.

                This was the start of the week I kindly dubbed "I think God is sick of me".  We went to mass on Sunday in Amsterdam, and now our first whole day in Paris was Ash Wednesday.  So for Wednesday, Katie found times to go to Ash Wednesday mass in Notre Dame.  When we awoke in the morning, I was informed we would be participating in the fasting process with no meat...yes Paris and i'm fasting.  So we had some coffee and walked ourselves to Notre Dame.  It was actually pretty cool to not just be any other tourist and sit down and see this huge space be turned into something other than a cool picture backdrop.  But see then the next day, it was raining and we opted to visit Rue de Bac, which is another church.  Welp, mass just happened to start the moment we were about to leave, so that would be mass number 3 this week.  And then apart from visiting many other churches during week, we went to mass in Barcelona on Sunday.  So we were 4/8 days in mass.  Sorry God, I'm sure my face got annoying.

                I finally got to prove myself worthy of our trip.  Not only did 4 painful years of high school French utterly pay off, but it seems even in this day and age, some 29 year olds don't know how to use public transportation.  Katie's got an ok excuse though.  She lives in Los Angeles where that just doesn't exist, so I was our conductor for the trip.  With an amazing subway system like Paris', we went anywhere and everywhere.  This would include climbing to the top of the Eiffel tower, seeing the painting on the opposite wall from the Mona Lisa and any quaint thing we could get our hands on.

 

                But Paris, City of Love didn't disappoint.  One of our waiters legitimately turned his back to me to talk to the lady with the "pretty eyes" and introduce himself to her in french.  Even when I tried to tell him that Katie didn't speak French, he kept his eyes solely on her.  Now as Katie was trying to explain to me that the waiter there "only felt bad for her" and that was why he hit on her, we got waiter number two named Bruno who slipped a note under her plate when we got the check.  This time she told me it was because he "pitied the apparent single mom".  I then proceeded to tell her to knock it off and accept that she was pretty while I bought our large bottle of wine for our Valentine's dinner in.   Seriously, Valentine's day in Paris, what were we thinking?

                 Honestly though, Paris is everything you want it to be; sophisticated, quaint and surreal.  I learned that I actually like French because I wasn't practicing grammar or taking tests, but rather being a part of the culture.  Renting the studio truly made the experience what it was because we were on our own, eating from local bakeries and restaurants.  I could never get sick of Paris.  Also, relatively unrelated to this post.  Everyone, go watch "The Untouchable" right now.  Honestly one of the best movies i've ever seen.  It's French.

                 Few random things: Katie spent more time taking pictures of the flip flops she owned throughout Europe than of herself.  I found goldfish, but they only came in two flavors...Salt&Vinegar and pizza...WHAT?!  America shouldn't have nice things because we would just spend our time trying to find a way to make it funny. Next is Barcelona.

Amsterdam and Bruges

               Sadly, Katie and I had to leave Berlin for a different city.  We were headed off to Amsterdam and instead of paying the same amount of money to stay in a questionable Amsterdam hostel...we got ourselves a hotel room.  Honestly it was time for us to use a real shower, and Katie really liked the hairdryer.  The reception desk was shocked to find two girls looking disheveled with legitimate reservations.

So many bikes in Amsterdam

Amsterdam

                Here's the thing about Amsterdam...it's a weekend trip with your friends from school when you're clearly looking for a fun time.  Out of context, Amsterdam is beautiful.  There are so many bikes, bridges and colors.  It truly is a different type of Western Europe.  In context, I wouldn't really go back unless I was with a few of my friends and wanted a weekend get-a-way.  It's the Vegas of Europe.  But lord knows I couldn't live there.                 

               


         
          We took the obligatory picture with the "I AMsterdam" sign, ate annoyingly expensive food, went to church again and walked around the red light district playing "prostitute or just another trashy girl?" (prostitution is legal in Amsterdam).  The history nerds that we are, we went and saw the Anne Frank house.  Fun fact, none of the furniture is there, Otto Frank wanted the rooms to be empty.  And then came the Modern Art Museum.

         

         I don't really know what I was thinking when I told Katie I wanted to go there.  Clearly, people in Amsterdam use this as a place to go right after they get high (i'm above trying to pretend that's not a thing here).  Now seeing as though Katie and I were not high, I think it made our experience even more entertaining.  We tried, we tried to be appreciative, but when you see people staring at a white wall with black line in the middle trying to find meaning...that's when we broke down.  We pushed our limits by laying on the ground to take pictures, trying to get as close to the art (metal circle on the ground) as possible, and obviously taking stalker pics of people.  Katie and I clearly missed the dress code memo of hipster obnoxiousness.  This whole experience can be found in the picture I took of the girl with the sweater that says "The entire cat population is my best friend" while she stares intently at pictures of people in swimsuits.  Go Amsterdam!

                    

                    I was going to go to England and meet a friend studying there, but trains and ferries were booked months in advance.  Katie and I don't do planning, so instead we opted for Bruges, Belgium for good chocolate.  Katie was going to meet friends in Da Hague (Chicago styled) and I was going to leave later and meet her there.  As Katie went to use public transportation alone for the first time ever, I slept in and decided to catch a later train.  Thank you Jesus for global Eurail passes with unlimited use. 

                    Because lots of snow is strange in the Netherlands, my planned train was cancelled.  I then had to quickly go to the counter and have them make an itinerary for me since Katie had the train time booklet with her.  I was to make 3 easy train changes and eventually make it to Bruges.  LIES.  I made the second train stop, and what do you have it, I'm stuck in Bumble Belgium where people claim they don't speak English or French...LIES AGAIN.  With no wifi and just a sheet of paper, I survivor skilled my way out of there.  The itinerary was completely wrong and I had to make up my own route from bumble to Bruges. 

                    I finally made it and Katie met me an hour later...I should have just gone with her...and we got much needed chocolate.  The guy at the chocolate store gave us the wifi password without making us buy anything because "we looked like we needed it".  Without lodging and a long day behind us, we scrambled to find a bed eventually made our way, but not before the store guy asked us to get a drink later.  We thought why not and met up with him later, where he told us he was a Belgian millionaire and was on the cover of Belgium's Time Magazine...LIES AGAIN. Belgium, the land of chocolate, fries and lies.  

                     The next day Katie and I went on a brewery tour and she explored a church ground while I stayed inside the heated church reading my book.  But it's all ok because we were headed to Paris next.       

Berlin

         

Brandenburg Gate

           Dear Mr. Meyer, this whole post goes out to you!  For those of you who do not know Mr. Meyer, he was my junior year US History teacher.  I was part of a program in high school that was called The Academy of International Studies, Academy for short, and so much of that class has shaped how I view things today.  Berlin specifically brings me back to Junior year.

          

           I was more than thrilled to get on that train in Warsaw to Berlin.  When we hopped off that train, you could totally tell we weren't in Eastern Europe anymore.  But on top of that, you couldn't exactly tell you were in Western Europe either.  Berlin is an ever-changing city.  Because of the destruction of WWII and the Cold War, Berlin is constantly rebuilding itself.  More and more museums and memorials are popping up as well as so many modern things.  Berlin was truly the one city I could have spent days just learning about.

          Although we had just spent days learning more about the consequences of WWII, the first thing I thought about when arriving in Berlin was the Berlin Wall and the Cold War.  I spent hours at night reading about everything the Cold War was before exploring the days.  Mr. Meyer told us the story about when he was in Berlin before the wall fell.  He had crossed the wall over to the soviet side and got to experience both sides of the Cold War.  Now, when you walk around the city, there is a line that goes right through all streets and sidewalks that shows where the wall had stood.  As weird as it sounds, I would give anything to go back in time to see what it was like when Mr. Meyer had visited.  To have the constant reminder is incredible.  

"Tear Down This Wall!"

Checkpoint Charlie

          There were also little things that were extremely amazing and interesting.  The big lit-up archway, called the Brandenburg Gate I have pictured, was relatively destroyed in the war and then during the Cold War, no one had walked through it because the wall was just outside of it.  Now people can walk freely through it.  We walked right past Checkpoint Charlie and Katie took a picture at the spot of "Tear Down This Wall".  So many moving moments that honestly I forgot to take pictures of a lot of the things I saw.  It's times like this where I wish Mr. Meyer had written me a handbook on ever aspect of history, or just have a mini-Meyer in my pocket at all times when I'm in need of a history lesson.

           But the all time craziest thing about all of Berlin and Europe was the big chunk of the Berlin Wall we saw left standing (pictured right).  Apart from the fact that this was the Berlin Wall, but literally a step from where the wall stood was once where the SS Headquarters were during WWII.  In all the hubbub over the Berlin Wall, I had forgotten that Berlin was the headquarters of all things WWII.  And now, in this specific spot, this ground was hit with two CRAZY parts of history.  The wall of the buildings and the Berlin Wall were maybe 10 feet apart from each other.  I literally said to Katie over and over that this was the craziest spot because it was WWII and Cold War all within twenty years.  

            Honestly, just because of Berlin, my friend Meghana and I spent a good 30 minutes sifting through all the History and American history courses we could take next year at our schools.  I wasn't the best when it came to History, but it is the thing I really can't get enough of.  Berlin is it.  Mr. Meyer, you've succeeded in making me a History nerd.  Thank you for exposing me to the immense amount of history in this city!     

American Flag styled graffiti on Berlin Wall 

Poland

Polish Charlotte

            The only way I can truly describe Poland is: Poland 1 Mary 0.  There were so many things about this country that just beat me up.  And it's not that I don't like Poland, it just seems that Poland and Mary were not meant to be.  This could have been on account of the cold, a devil rental car or maybe the sad experience of visiting Auschwitz.  Regardless, I don't see myself going back at all any time soon.  **To englarge pictures, click on them**

Wawel Castle - Krakow

             We start with a horror movie looking train.  Not only were we taking a night train into Poland, but it seems this train car was going to swallow us whole.  It was the only train car that seemed completely rusted and only had half of the lights working with nice little creeks and squeaks with every step.  From that moment on, I'm pretty sure I knew I wasn't going to like Poland.  But luckily we got to Krakow safe and sound at a crisp 600 am.  Of course the mall (with wifi) was not open until 8am, so the train station bathroom it was.  We paid 2 "polish monies" to use their bathroom for a good hour making humans of our disgusting selves.  But these two hours in the morning was vital for all of Poland's planning.

Krakow

             We spent the day in cold cold Krakow.  We spent the day going to church, going in a famous Pope John Paul II church and then going in a famous old church...with a relic of Pope John Paul II.  Did you know that Poland is super Christian?  Krakow seemed like a place that would be gorgeous in the summer, but it was just so cold.  We learned a lot of about the history than we ever imagined.  Poland has truly been through so much, you wouldn't know where to begin.

              Before we knew it, we were hoping on a train to the airport to pick up our car.  We were going to go manual since we were ladies on a budget, but it was night time...in Poland...in the winter.  So, we went with automatic and started the first of our many car adventures.  We were given a good ol' Chevy with a GPS and were headed out.  We got lost, GPS helped us and in an hour we were in Osweicim.  We were staying with missionaries that Katie had a connection to and they couldn't have been more lovely.  We had real beds and our own shower and free food.

Auschwitz Gate

              We got up the next day and made our way to the Auschwitz camp.  We decided to hire our own tour guide.  Having our own personal tour guide was probably the best decision we could have made.  We bought a tour booklet, but the information the tour guide gave us, along with the opportunity to ask questions was well worth any amount we paid.  Coming from a whole semester worth of Holocaust and World War Two related classes made this trip something I couldn't miss.  I was given the opportunity to complete the puzzle, put all the pieces together and go full circle on so much I had learned and experienced in my first semester in Israel and Hands of Peace.  I was taken completely aback.

Auschwitz

              The reality that so many people faced and the hardship and utter hate there was is unfathomable.  I truly wanted to cry in every room we stepped in, but I don't think I could.  There were cases filled with hair.  And not a fish tank sized case, a complete wall sized case with hair that was shaved off.  There were dolls and shoes and eyeglasses.  There were pictures with flowers put next to them, meaning family and friends had been back.  That struck me the most because there were still every day connections.  Walking through not just Auschwitz, but Auschwitz - Birkenau where the infamous gas chambers were.  Everything was just brought to life in a matter of 4 hours...that apparently usually only takes 2.

Auschwitz

             There are also a lot of things about the Holocaust that many don't realize.  Around 11 to 12 million people died.  About 5 million of the people that perished were disabled, homosexuals, priests or other religious figures, and political prisoners.  You also learn that roughly 3 million out of the 11 were from Poland.

Auschwitz - Birkenau

             And because of this, everyone is connected to the Holocaust.  So many people have accused me of being disconnected from this or that it doesn't affect me personally.  But even if the Holocaust consisted of one group being persecuted, because I am a human being, I am connected.  The atrocities that happened are grotesque and shameful for all of mankind.  This is not something to be owned by anyone or any people.  Visiting showed me how shaken the whole world was by this.  I am connected, we all are, and don't tell me I'm not.

             After that, Katie drove us the 5 hours to Warsaw in our rental car.  I was so anxious the whole time that I think I gained a six-pack from the perpetual flexing and said so many Hail Mary's that Katie was even proud of me for praying, even though it was because I was scared of her driving.  Rain, windy roads and night time.  Not a good combo for me.  Then we were locked out of the building we were staying in at 2 am in the ghetto part of the city.  The last straw was when I completely wiped out on a patch of ice with my 20 pound pack on the next day.  Yep, done with Poland.

Poland 1 Mary 0

Devil Rental Car

Munich, Salzburg, Vienna and Prague

        Dear All, So Sorry that I am so behind!  It's been a weirdly crazy semester with lots of different things all happening at once.  With the summer just around the corner, there's been a lot of planning for the future and more.  But without further adieu, I bring you Bavaria..aka land of amazing food!  Oh...and my cousin Katie I guess.  *Again, if you click on pictures, they will enlarge*
     
        After my crazy ticket/train ride, I got to Munich with out any of my possessions stolen and honestly, a bad night's sleep.  Oh and it was 6am and snowy, but that's why God made Starbucks with free Wi-fi.  I told the Hostel I sat down and wasted my life for a good two hours.  I drank that coffee, contemplated another one, but was eventually on my way.

        It was snowy.  It was cold.  But it was Germany, which is somewhere I've never been and I was excited!  Munich is a great example of a modern and old style city.  There's obviously old town building and churches, but when you get past the toursit-y area, you get right to modern skyscrapers.  But soon it was 730pm and Katie arrived.  And we celebrated the only way O'Brien women know how, by eating.

MarienPlatz

Hidden Gem Church

       When Katie and I were in Munich, we saw so much we weren't expecting to see. This is probably because we didn't know what to expect when it came to Germany other than good beer.  Of course we coincidentally saw Marienplatz go off at noon and soon learned that the capital was once Munich because we toured the inside of the royal lodging, but there was this one church we found, that was truly amazing inside, but it very conspicuous from the outside.  We honestly would have never expected this in a million years.

"Hills are Alive" hills

VonTrapp House

       After our time in Munich, we made our way to Austria to take a day trip in Salzburg.  I guess Katie and I really didn't know each other because she thought she needed to ask me if I wanted to go on the "Sound of Music" tour while in Salzburg.  I don't think I've ever been this giddy in my entire life.  We had this ridiculously psycho tour guide, but it was ok because he played the soundtrack every moment we were in the car, which was a while.  We saw the house they used for their outside scenes, the gazebo, convent, wedding church AND "The Hills are Alive" hills.  Although it was cold out, I could have stayed at that viewpoint forever.  Words can not describe, so obviously just look at the pictures.  Also, a special shout-out the the 85year old grandma, who ten years ago wanted to dance and jump in the gazebo...and broke her hip.  Thank you, kind grandma, for making it so the gazebo is sealed shut and I don't get to live my dreams.  Not bitter.

Gazebo

      Later that night we had to leave Salzburg for Vienna, which again was another one of those hidden gem European cities.  We did the walking tour that Rick Steve's outlines in his guide book, and ended up in the most beautiful courtyard completely surrounded by sculptures and large buildings filled with history.  Vienna is definitely one of those place people wouldn't think to visit, but is truly worth your while.  This is also when Katie and I truly knocked down reservations of each other.  I kindly took a video of her while she proceeded to fall asleep in the Hostel lobby, and that was the beginning of the end for our mutual taunting.

Lennon Wall - Prague

     
       The last part of this leg was Prague.  If you ask any Twenty-something year old, most would say that they want to go to Prague or have recently been.  And this is because Prague is just another one of those hidden gems.  If you go to the old city at night, it looks like Magic Kingdom at Disney World.  There's also this strange clock that I was too impatient to watch and of course the ever touristy John Lennon Wall.  This wall, by the way, was the inspiration for the 2009 Glenbrook South Variety Show - Imagine.

Quality Beer

Hofbrauhaus - Munich

      My favorite thing about this area, and I'm pretty sure Katie's favorite thing, was the food.  Our friend Rick, perfectly found all the best places for us to eat.  Katie and I ended up eating at the famous Hofbrahouse in Munich and then very cute and authentic quaint places in all the other cities.  In Prague we met up with Katie's college friend and went to a favorite of hers.  And every single piece of food we had was amazing.  Whether it was bratwurst or strudel, everything was authentic and so filling.  And then of course the beer.  Good beer.  Yes, I'm 18, I'm legal.  Plus kids, beer is cheaper than water in Prague.

Magic Kingdom - Prague

      Bavaria and slight Eastern Europe is just a sight to see.  The beautiful geography, food and history is something you wouldn't want to pass up, and definitely something I never would have thought to visit.  Next will be the craziness of Poland.