Spring Blizzaster....

     Well where do I even begin? This past week has been AMAZING and TERRIBLE all at the same time. I'm pretty sure if something could wrong, it went WAY wrong. But first lets back up to do a brief review of the week before spring break when I was still attempting to book some things. (And God only knows why my parents trusted me with this task!)
     It may not seem like a big deal to have to buy a train ticket to Frankfurt and to book one night at the youth hostel, but as I said earlier, if something could go wrong, it did. So of course I booked the hotel and train no problem, except, oh yeah...we needed them for Sunday...and I booked them for Saturday...AWESOME. So of course the train company (I didn't use the db site, lesson learned!) doesn't have a working costumer service number, so I had no way of cancelling or changing the ticket. So I was forced to buy a new one. (There's 24 euros down the drain.) But then we had to address the problem of the hostel. The AIB worker was nice enough to call the German help line for me, and the man on the phone seemed really nice and switched the dates saying "No problem." Except he had failed to mention that they were still going to charge us 80% of the Saturday room too! So now instead of paying 240 euros for one night in the hostel, we were paying about 450 euros..for a freaking HOSTEL. For those of you who saw me that evening when I found out, well you know I was devastated. Anyways, what was done was done, so at least now I had a good ticket and the hostel for the right night.
     So I woke up at the butt crack of dawn on Sunday and Rosi drove me to the Hbf. I had attempted to dress "Euro," and apparently failed miserably, as an 81yr old German woman picked me out immediately and knew I wasn't from here. But we had a nice conversation while waiting for our train in Deutsch. (We were both on the same train.) I can't really remember what we talked about, since I probably didn't even know what we were talking about at the time. (Seeing as Ich nicht spreche Deutsch sehr gut. haha) Then I caught my train at 6:14am and was headed to go meet my family in Frankfurt! (Words cannot express how excited I was to see them!) I met a girl on the train who had turned around to some people near me and asked if anyone spoke English. Which of course I replied that I did! (Not that I would be very helpful, seeing as I had never taken the train to the Frankfurt Flughafen before!) But at least I knew what airport was in Deutsch, and I could read what stops were next. So we got off together and wandered from the train station to the airport. Then I wandered off alone to go find the baggage claim area, but then it dawned on me that I was in the Lufthansa terminal and they were coming in on Delta. Needless to say, I eventually found the tram to take me over to terminal 2 and met my family no problem. (As you will see throughout this trip, Dad never trusts when I say I know where I'm going, and has to stop every time to ask, even though I never led us the wrong way...) So even though I already know that our first train to Basel, Switzerland is leaving from the same gate that I got out on an hour before, Dad still has to go ask to make sure. So we were there a prompt 40min early (since Mom and Dad were practically making us spring to get there, even though I told them it was only a 15min walk...) and got on the train no problem. In Basel we had a short lay-over, so we bought some real Swiss truffles and raspberry chocolate, can you say NOM??? And then got on our second train to the great city of Zürich, no problem!

Waiting for our train to Zürich! With Brandon (left) and Chase (right).

     When left the train station, bought Zurich day passes, and went to check in at the hostel. The moment of truth came when Dad asked to pay before checking, and surprisingly, luck was in our favor! (The Zürich luck!) They only charged us for Sunday night, and, EVEN better, it was cheaper than the 240 euros I was originally quoted! Yippee-Kai-Yay! I love this city! So then I took the fam back to walk around town before the rain could come. Since it was getting cold, we decided to take another boat tour. (It was free with our Zurich card, so why not?) But, of course, as we're standing waiting for the boat, it begins to POUR. And, of course, none of us had an umbrella. AWESOME. After much debate on the boat, we finally decided to go the Zeughauskeller (my fav restaurant!) for dinner.

Where we had dinner in Zürich. Still my favorite restaurant in Europe!

     Dinner was AMAZING (like always!), except for Dad's. Why he would order a blackened sausage is beyond me...it looked TERRIBLE.

Another view of Zürich!

Zürich historical bus tour! (Since it was raining.) 

     Since it was still drizzly/rainy in the morning, we took a historical bus tour. That way we could learn about/see the city without getting drenched. :) After the bus tour we decided we had plenty of time before our train to Paris to go up to the top of Uteliberg.

View from the top of Uteliberg. SUPER foggy, and looks way different without all the snow! 

      Although it was really foggy, it was still beautiful! But, of course, since there was no snow, I couldn't take my brothers sledding, which was a huge bummer. And also, they were doing construction on the last stop, so we had to get off at the second to last train stop and hike a mile to the top. But still no complaints because the weather was decent. (not freezing or raining) I wish we would've had more time to hike around up there, it was so nice! But we had a train to catch, and my parents wanted to be there an hour early so we wouldn't miss it. (Not that that helped us in any way...)
     We decided, since Dad had said our train was leaving at 3:30, that we would have enough time to go eat at Burger King and then go find our train gate. After an "interesting" meal at BK (I still prefer Mickey Ds), we headed over to look at the board. Unfortunately, there was a train going at 15:34 (3:34pm), but, of course, when we checked our tickets, they said 13:34. ONE THIRTY-FOUR... WE MISSED OUR TRAIN TO PARIS!!!!!! It was about 2:30 now, and our train was LONG GONE, so we headed over to the ticket station to see what could be done. Apparently my parents used a French website to book tickets, so the Swiss couldn't do anything about it, except sell us new tickets. (I hate the French......) EIGHT HUNDRED EUROS LATER, we had new tickets to Paris on the 3:34pm train. Lessons learned, ALWAYS check your train time first thing in the morning!
      We got to Paris on an EXTREMELY fast train (320km/hr or 198mph!). Dad went in to discuss our ticket issue and to see if we could get a refund, but of course, barely anyone speaks any amount of English. The lady told him, he would have to get ahold of the company in America and see if they would refund us, because she couldn't do anything about it.... GREAT. Finding our hotel was another catastrophe. Dad said it was only a block away from the train station (which in reality it was) but since we had taken a later train, it was pitch black and POURING rain, and it felt like it took 9years to find the hotel! But thankfully we finally did, and it actually turned out to be pretty nice. Unfortunately we were all in the same room again, which would normally be fine, except for the fact that my Dad snores like a dying wild animal, and no one can sleep through it!

Chase forgot his ski coat, and only had his track windbreaker, so he had to wear my Aggie fleece under it the whole trip! Needless to say, it was still FREEZING. 

      The next morning we woke up to ARCTIC weather conditions. It was FREEZING cold, and the snow was falling like razor blades! But we trudged on, determined to make the best of our time there. We couldn't find where our hop-on-hop-off bus tour started, but we knew it would pick up by the Notre Dame Cathedral, so we went and bought day pass tickets for the tram. (Paris's tram system is really strange and regulated. You have to put your ticket in a machine every time to go through the gates to get to the platform!) And you can't lose your day pass ticket, because you need it every time you go into the subway. (and these things are TINY!!!) But we go to the cathedral no problem, but, of course, the towers are only open on Friday, and we were there on TUESDAY. COOL. So then we had to stop at a little cafe (with the cat below) for hot cocoa, a bathroom break, and directions to the bus stop.

Friendly cat that was apparently living in this French diner..... I'm not quite sure that's sanitary... But we also saw a cat in our restaurant in Amsterdam, is this a European trend?? 

      OF COURSE, we find the bus stop, and wait 15min (which there's supposed to be a bus every ten minutes) and then decide to call the bus company. OF COURSE the buses aren't running that morning due to the weather being poor. AWESOME people, freaking awesome. You know a little heads-up would've been nice. Thankfully we had day pass tram tickets so we could use those to get around to the main attractions. So next we went to the Eiffel Tower, which was really spectacular! Except, OF COURSE, it was closed that day due to weather conditions...yay. Although it really was beautiful in the snow, and we still got some great pics!

Eiffel Tower! Closed to go up in BOTH times we went. 

      Then we went over to the Arc de Triomphe, which is surrounded by the world's largest and craziest traffic circle possible. (I'm not kidding, 100 people would die each day if they put that thing in Cstat!) It was pretty cool, but you couldn't get very close to it, and it was FREEZING cold outside. At this point my brothers were definitely OVER the whole "Paris is amazing" crap. So we ate at Mickey Ds (since I'm trying to eat there in every country to compare!) and then headed back to the hotel to defrost. We went back to the hotel, and basically wasted the second half of the day, because, OF COURSE, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays so we couldn't even go see that....
     Wednesday morning I looked out the window bright and early, and for the first time I saw the sun. THE SUN! It exists! :D So I hurried everyone out of bed because the weather, while still terribly cold, was BEAUTIFUL! We raced over to the Eiffel tower again, super hopeful that we would at least be able to take the stairs to the second level...but of course, it remained closed due to icy conditions... It was like a slap in the face to make it all the way to Paris, France, and not get to go up in the Eiffel tower... but oh well, at least we got to see it! Then we RACED over to the Louvre since it was open on Wednesdays! :) It was positively AMAZING! There was SOOO much to see, and unfortunately we only had about an hour to see it. (We had triple checked our train tickets to make sure we knew the correct time today haha) And, crazy enough, we even ran into Paula and Carlos! Small world! :) Though we didn't get to see much, we DID get to see the Venus de Milo and the Mona Lisa! Super cultural! haha (Dad and the boys were OVER IT, but Mom and I were having a blast!) Then we hurried back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the train station.

The Louvre! So amazing, but we only had an hour to look at everything, which is not NEARLY enough time. I could've spent an entire day there!

     We got to the train station about 2hrs early (so we could've stayed at the Louvre longer :/) and of course they didn't have anything posted about our train gate. So we went to go eat. (That in itself was an experience. Dad's steak kabob was red in the middle, and Brandon's burger literally still looked alive it was bleeding so much! Our first waitress spoke perfect English, but then she left halfway through, and our new waitor did NOT speak English..typical. And Dad had to send his meat back because he had asked for well done... Needless to say his food didn't come back until AFTER they tried clearing everyone else's plates. haha Then they forgot Chase's desert donut, and God forbid we didn't get that DAMN donut that we paid for! haha It eventually came, and we eventually got the check [tip already included, those sly Frenchies.] and we got back to the train station with plenty of time.) Because of the blizzard that happened the day before, and all of the trains being shut down, the station was packed, and nearly every train was delayed. The train that was supposed to run an hour before ours to Amsterdam was delayed to our time, and the train guy had told us it was "first come first serve" today since so many people were displaced and needed to get out of Paris. So we tried to get on the "early" train (that was going at our correct time) but it was PACKED, people were standing everywhere. The ride to Amsterdam was over three hours, so we decided to wait the extra 30min for our real train. Well thankfully I walked up and checked the board randomly, because all of a sudden it said gate 9. So I flagged my fam down, and then we were sprinting to our train! Its a good thing we ran, because that train was not waiting for anyone! It was also good that we didn't get on the first train, because there were TONS of open seats on second train. :) We even got to move up to a four-seater table section!
     We arrived in Amsterdam only to be greeted by the dark and freezing cold again, but at least it wasn't raining. We hiked around trying to find our hotel (who's ghetto hotel sign had burnt out, so there really wasn't a sign for it anymore..cool.) and eventually found it like right across from the train station. The lady at the front desk was actually German and spoke PERFECT English. (The boys already loved Amsterdam for this tiny factor.) She was really funny and told us she didn't even have to learn Dutch, because almost everyone that came there spoke English, and that when French people came and asked for French, she had the pleasure of telling them no. hahaha [World: 1 France: 0] The hotel room was "interesting" to say the least. (Oh and every hotel we stayed at on this trip had a window open...it was so weird!!!) The bathroom door had a CLEAR window looking into it from the room...it was slightly awkward... After unloading our stuff, we re-bundled back up and headed out to find some dinner.

Downtown Amsterdam... pretty from a distance, just don't go down the Red Light District street!!!

      I don't there are words to describe what I saw in the Red Light District...I was mortified? For those of you who haven't been, I reccommend Amsterdam during the day, but by GOD you better HIDE in your hotel at night. I'm still trying to block out the atrocities I witnessed that night. Anyways! We had a really good dinner in a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant! (And what do you know, they had a pet cat too!)

Right when we arrived, Chase was pretty excited... 

     The next morning, (in the daytime, when Amsterdam is pretty and safe!) we headed out for our hop-on-hop-off bus tour! Thankfully we had beautiful weather again, and so we actually got to drive around and see Amsterdam! We saw a windmill, and the zoo, and lots of other cool historic places. Then they made us hop off at the Gassan Diamond Factory. It was AMAZING! We learned how to price diamonds based on the Four C's. (Color, Cut, Carat, and Clarity) 

I found my future ring! Oh you know, its only 240,000 euros, nbd. 

     Then we got back on the bus and headed to the Anne Frank house. That was definitely an inspiring experience. I could not imagine having to live in that tiny attic, and never be able to go outside, or laugh, or sing, or run around... for two years! And it was terrible to know that Anne died only a month away from being saved. Her friend had pondered if the outcome would've been different if Anne had known that her father was still alive, and that she wasn't alone... I still don't understand how a human could do that to another human simply because they are Jewish. (Although I must state again, the Holocaust was not only directed towards Jews, Hitler also targeted other groups as well, such as gypsies, the mentally retarded, and the handicapped!) It was really neat to actually be able to see what we had read about in school though! It kind of helped to make that story a little more real for me.

Amsterdam City Bus tour!

     After the bus tour, we took a canal cruise. (There are SOOO many canals!) Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure I slept through most of it because I don't really remember it haha. Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the train station so we could go back to good 'ole Bonn, Germany! :D And what do ya know, this train was actually on time! (Thank God for German's being so prompt!)
     Strangely enough, the train started having problems, so they told us we would have to get off in Dusseldorf and change trains....but then we were told to get back on, and that it would make it to Köln afterall. (VERY stressful moment for my parents) Then in Köln we had to find another train to take us to Bonn, which was relatively easy, and we only had to wait 20min or so. Unfortunately I had GREATLY misjudged how far my family's hotel was from the bus stop at K/A Platz, so we took a nice 20min FREEZING cold stroll through Beuel before we finally arrived there. But I must say, the rooms there were SUPER nice, and had awesome wifi! (Not going to lie, I was really nervous when I booked it because the outside looked pretty sketch, but the inside was fabulous) Needless to say, Mom was very happy. :) Then they walked with me back to my house to drop off my stuff and meet my host family. Sandra called a taxi for us (so I didn't have to struggle through that haha) and we went to go eat Schnitzel at the Anno restaurant in Bonn. It was delicious just like last time. :) Then after dinner, we even spotted a van taxi that would fit all of us! So I showed off my mad power walking skills and flagged him down. The cab ride was only 6 euros for the 5 of us. Can you say #winning?!
     The next morning we got a bit of a late start, but it was still a beautiful day! We walked to the AIB so I could show them my school, and then I showed them St. Martin's Church, and the Netto (I made them try the pudding and knoppers!) and then we went to the Hbf. From here I bought a 5 person day pass and we headed to Cologne so I could show them the El De Haus and the Cathedral. The El De Haus (old Gestapo head quarters) was really interesting for them, but unfortunately we only had an hour to look at everything. (Which is never enough time!) Then we hurried back for a cathedral tour. I had assumed that's what we had down with school, but when I asked our elderly lady tour guide to confirm that the tour went to the top, she laughed at me asked if I really thought she could climb the 252 steps to the top? And when I told her about the elevator, she laughed again and point blank told me there was no elevator... I was like "I know I'm not crazy..I took that elevator less than a month ago, and I saw it outside this morning..." Needless to say, this tour was only of the inside of the church, which I still thought was worth it! But then we found out that we go up in one of the towers to the top, but we had to take the stairs. (Note, this was different tower than the one we went to!) I don't think my thighs have ever burned so much, I thought my legs were going to give out and my lungs felt like they were exploding! (And I've been running, so I'm know I'm not THAT out of shape!) The view from the top was amazing, except they had to put chain link fence everywhere, so it kind of got in the way of pictures...but oh well, we got to go to the top! After that we had to head back to Bonn, so my family could catch their train back to Frankfurt.
     We had a very bittersweet goodbye, and it made me realize how badly I want these last 7 weeks to pass quickly. (Although I don't think I'm going to have a choice about that! School has definitely picked up, and I'm busy almost every weekend!) And I found out the girl that is leasing my horse went to a show last weekend, and got CHAMPION in the Junior/Adult Jumpers! I was sooo proud!!! (That's his first time to show without me riding him!) But seeing those pictures sends another pang of hurt in my heart, and I cannot WAIT to get back to my baby boys. I'm missing everyone at home pretty bad right now, but I'm going to make the most of these last 7 weeks, because who knows the next time I'll get to come back!
     So that's all for now! Tschüs!