Amy's Ridiculous Adventures!

Alright, fine. I know it's been nearly a month. But, for once, I have a legitimate excuse. A volcano erupted on my vacation and I couldn't get home to write a blog! Sounds totally fabricated, but you all know, it's not. I am not apologizing for the forces of mother nature (or the 3.50 euros an hour most internet cafes charge in Europe...)

Warning: I hope you have more than 5 minutes to read this.

So, where do I begin... the holiday began with Diana and I making our way to Berlin, as flawlessly as it gets with the two of us. We were able to see all kinds of things there, including the Reichstag (German parliament with a glass domed roof that shows a view all of Berlin) the Berlin wall, the Holocaust Memorial, the Victory Tower Brandenburg Gate, AlexanderPlatz plaza, Checkpoint Charlie, and some ruins from WWII. I think those were the majority of the things we saw, but the highlight of Berlin was going north of the city to Oranienburg to visit Sachsenhasuen. We went on a 6 hour tour of the Nazi concentration camp and learned so much. Unlike Auschwitz, Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp for political prisoners, not an extermination camp. Having said that, however, for the 9 years that Sachsenhasuen was under Nazi control, approximately 50,000 people died of exhaustion, starvation, or execution. I guess for most, it is ignorantly believed that gas chambers were the main way prisoners were extinguished, but it wasn't until In 1942 gas chambers were installed at Sachsenhausen which provided the Schutzstaffel Officers (or the SS as they are known) another way to kill Prisoners of War. It was a really interesting and sombre experience, being on the grounds were 50,000 people lost their lives and many more suffered horrendous conditions and treatment. I have always had great respect for the country I come from and the freedom from religious and political injustice those who came before so bravely fought for. I am so lucky. WE are so lucky.

After Berlin, Diana and I hopped on a train to Rotterdam, Netherlands. Well, it sounds easy enough, but Diana and I tend to get ourselves a little turned around and we ended up in the middle of nowhere going backwards on a train that we had already missed once because we can't read Dutch! Well, arrived safe and sound in Rotterdam, we are met by friends of Diana who she met a few years ago in the USA during a youth conference. Elise and Joanna. What AMAZING girls! It was wonderful to stay with them for 6 days and enjoy their company and see and understand a little bit more than we otherwise would have. We went to a few places to around Rotterdam, one in particular called Kinderdijk - windmills! Real, working windmills that people STILL LIVE IN! I thought that was really cool. It is amazing how much the country of Holland depended on them to keep the city dry! The country is just under sea level, so the windmills did much work displacing water elsewhere to crops while keeping it from flooding the cities. We also went and spent the day in Den Haag (or The Hague) where there is this amazing place Madurodam. I think it's mostly for kids, but we had a fantastic time exploring the entire country of the Netherlands - in miniature!!! It was SO COOL! Another place we went to was called the Keukenhof. These are the world famous tulip fields and flower gardens. This was a really relaxing day and Diana and I truly enjoyed this. The flowers were absolutely beautiful and it smelled so good!

Of course Diana and I went up to Amsterdam for a night. We waited in queue especially to see the house of Anne Frank - that was also a really somber experience. Knowing that 8 people were being hidden away in a hiding place, away from the rest of the world for 2 years...never to see the light of day... only to be betrayed and taken to concentration camps where 7 of the 8 perished, including the young Anne Frank - was shocking. If you haven't read the Diary of Anne Frank (it has other names too, The Diary of a Young Girl, or the Hiding Place) you must.

Amsterdam is an incredibly interesting city. Full of history and quite liberal views, the people of the city are very laid back, helpful, and always smiling. The city itself is completely walkable and Diana and I walked the entire thing! The canals are beautiful and bicycles certainly take over. Diana and I went on a pub crawl and got to enjoy the nightlife as well - we steered clear of the redlight district in the evening, but went through the next day on a walking tour. I asked the tour guide where the men were in the windows - she told me that someone had thought of it once and it was so popular the streets were overrun by women going to window shop! HAHA!

I said goodbye to Diana at the airport and fly into Pisa, Italy to meet up with Barret and Sandra. We went straight to see that leaning tower, and boy, is it ever leaning! I think one little shove and it's about to topple over! To be honest, there isn't a whole lot to see in Pisa other than that. So, we quickly took some pictures and off we went by train to Florence. We had an amazing hostel with a pool and nice pub area. All of Italy is incredibly rich in history, but today I believe Florence is probably most famous for housing the real Michaelangelo's sculpture of David. We made sure to get up early in the morning and go off to see that - it was pretty surreal to be standing right in front of it! We did some more sightseeing in Florence and enjoyed some really nice Italian food and Gelato, then off to Venice! What a crazy city! It is so hard to believe that it hasn't sank yet! Absolutely no cars, just canals with gondolas and other types of small boats and pavements for people to walk on. Bridges everywhere, piazzas everywhere, buildings that look the same everywhere... and a map that might as well be Times Square to guide you! We had some really funny times trying to navigate our way around and ending up in the same bloody spot we started! (then I took the map from Barret and we got home safely...) We stayed in a really crazy hostel - such a weirdo working behind the desk! I thought his mother died, really, he only lost his highlighter. Anyway, a bit of a dodgy place to stay, but everything in Venice is so expensive that we had to take what we could get! We forked out the dough for a gondola ride just to say we did it! It was really nice and relaxing though and I'm so glad we went for it! It was in Venice that we heard about the volcano in Iceland, we really weren't too worried to be honest with you. We thought it would blow over by the time our flight, 3 days later, came around. Well, hindsight is 20/20 they say for a reason!

From Venice we headed up to Turin, or Torino, host of the 2006 Olympics. We were determined to find the Olympic grounds to check it out. Well, we found it, but what a stinking disappointment! Everything in the Village was just left to rot. Shame, shame, shame. By Saturday, knowing our flights weren't going the next day, panic started to set in a little bit. We found an internet cafe and looked up flights from anywhere near by in the near future. We found something from Milan Wednesday, just two hours east of Torino, and hoped that the flight would run. Monday morning we headed out. At this time, I'm not feeling so hot. We got to Milan, checked into our hotel, and again, tried to figure out a solution to get ourselves back to London. No trains available, no flights, no buses. Hmm. Again, panic starting to set in because the way the BBC is putting it, there is no hope that our flight would go the next day. By Wednesday morning we say screw it! We are hopping on a train, ticket or no ticket, and we are getting the heck outta Italy! (Yes, there could be worse places to be stuck...but not more expensive!) We got on a train and sat in the luggage compartment, dreading the Italian ticket man who was bound to come by and throw us off for being stoaways... But, luckily enough, the man charged us about half price and went on about his business. At this point we are thanking our lucky stars that AT LEAST we would be in Paris by midnight! Not only that, but about two hours into the 8 hour ride, we got seats. The train staff were in fact amazing and compassionate people. I am very grateful I didn't have to sit cattle class for the duration of the ride! Once we got to Paris we had to get to another station in hopes to catch a train to Calais in the morning to catch a ferry to Dover. We walked about an hour and a half northbound only to find the station was closed. We joined the throngs of others waiting for Gare-du-Nord to open in a cafe where we sat in silence for nearly 3 hours. Tired, cold, a littler bitter, we were ready to go home. We were first in a 430am when the station opened and queued up straight away for tickets. We bought some to take us to Calais and hopped on a 730am ride north. Arrived in Calais and footed it to the pier where we luckily got tickets (whose prices were jacked up, OF COURSE) and sailed across to the White Cliffs of Dover. Waited another hour and a half and caught a national express home to London. I was passing out every chance I could get and when I woke up and saw "Deptford Townhall" (an area of town I would otherwise NEVER be pleased to see) I smiled. HOME! In Victoria Station I went straight to the walk in clinic to be told I've caught some sort of viral infection in my throat and mouth. What a souvenir of my trip!!!

Anyway, it's Sunday now and I'm just starting to see my ailments subside. This entire month has been insanely busy - even this weekend! Barret and I played in a softball tournament all day yesterday and went to watch a friend run the London Marathon today. I would just really like a little bit more sleep! I am off to get that now! I hope you all managed your way through that... I feel like I didn't do any part of my experience justice, but I had to get it all out before I forgot!

I do hope you are all well,

All my love,

amy