Tokio! Hotelo! Where are you?!

So here I am in the founding city of Tokio Hotel and they aren't anywhere in sight!

It's ok, though because there's plenty to see! I just walked around for awhile this afternoon and looked at many pretty buildings. Another cathedral and a Dr. Seuss-like building. Then I came back to the hotel. The hotel's restaurant was closed tonight so I went to an Italian restaurant nearby. It was delicious.

My main complaint, though, was the train ride over here. It was freezing!!! I was SO cold for 5 hours! :P But nothing too exciting, thank goodness.

Tomorrow it's off to Hamburg!

Koln, Magdeburg

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Christmas in Koln

So I got to Koln at about 11am, pretty good huh? I looked at a map for a LONG time before I figured out that my hotel was on the other side of the Rhine. @@ Anyway, it didn't look that hard to get there, so I struck out. I first went to the Tourist Information building but it was closed (really, Claire, what did you expect on Christmas morning?). So no one told me it would take about 10 minutes to get to the metro stop closest to my hotel from the train station. Instead I walked for two hours. Yup. That was fun. My back was really thanking me by the end.

I did finally get to the hotel, though, and checked in. I went and collapsed. Thought about going back out, but I gave in to my protests and took a nice nap instead. Very strange dreams ensued. Then it was dinner time. So my first day in Koln was what I like to call an inadvertent walking tour of the city. Did you know they have a zoo? With gorillas? Neither did I until I passed it.

Good news, though, was that my mommy is awesome and gave me a German phrasebook, chocolate bar, and...wait for it...a reindeer PEZ DISPENSER!!!! It was epic.

So on Boxing Day more things were open (like the Tourism Office) and I went back to the Dom (cathedral), to the El-De Haus, and to Museum Ludwig. I have to say, Koln isn't my favorite city, but I LOVED the museums. Two of the best of my trip.

El-De Haus is a museum devoted to Koln's role in WWII and Nazism. It's very interesting. Housed in the old Gestapo prison, it has exhibits in the prison itself as well as in the upper floors. I, as well as many others, find WWII and Nazism kind of morbidly fascinating. One of my favorite parts of this museum was not only the acknowledgment (that even they admit has only officially come recently) but the room devoted to"forgotten victims" who were imprisoned, forcibly sterilized, and killed because of a few factors that the Nazis considered racially impure. These victims included homosexuals (who were often castrated), the mentally impaired (from epilepsy to bad eyesight), prostitutes, beggars, and anyone who might not pass on good genes. I saw the movie Coming Out last year and it has a very moving scene where a character who's a gay survivor of the Holocaust recounts his story and the fact that when all these other groups got acknowledgment and apologies after, the gay community was still suppressed. I found it surprising, then, to find out that Koln had actually had a fairly active gay community before the Nazi government took control.

So, after that depressing tour, I went to Museum Ludwig. Boy, oh boy do I wish pictures had been allowed. There was so much! A lot of Lichtenstein (my fave!), Warhol, Picasso, and so many others. Some Ruscha, Johns, Kirchener, and Chagall. I could have stayed for days. In one room they have both "Painted Ale Cans" and "Obelisk." !!! I was a happy camper after that.

Since it was dark when I finally pulled myself away, I went back to the hotel for dinner and interwebs. Then this morning it was off to Magdeburg!

PS. ARGH! Couldn't find a Koln spoon anywhere!
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Offenburg and Strasbourg

So instead of two days, because of the messed up train times at the beginning of my trip, I only got one whole day for both cities. It was enough time, though!

*BTW, Offenburg is in Germany, about 30 minutes by train from Strasbourg in France.*

I went down to the train station around 10:30 that morning (by bus)and got my tickets for the rest of my time in Germany and a ticket to Strasbourg. I had a little over an hour then before the train left for Strasbourg, so I explored a little in Offenburg.

Tourism is definitely not the main business in Offenburg. I was lucky to get some postcards for my bulletin board. Anyway, I went down the street that was directly in front of the bahnhof (train station), which seemed to be a main drag. It was a nice town. I didn't really know what I was looking at, though.

Then it was off to Strasbourg! When I got there it was about 1:00 so I wandered in the direction of the cathedral, going through the old town. I missed the daily, um, presentation of the astronomical clock at 12:30 but I wasn't too broken up about that. I walked through the cathedral and around the Christmas market right outside it before going to the Palais Rohan. It's pretty big and has three museums in it. The archeological museum is in the basement and has some awesome old stuff in it, mostly from the Alsace region. A lot of it has to do with the Romans. The museum on the ground floor is basically a series of rooms decorated in a lavish style like when it was used as a palace. They also have a great collection of dishware. The art museum is on the first floor (second floor to Americans) and is ok. They have some pretty famous artists, though, like Rossini, Rubens, and Watteau.

After that I had a very odd experience. I went to the art museum next door (the Musee d'Louvre Notre Dame) and had quite the language barrier. I think that the lady was trying to tell me that they were closing in an hour, but at the time I thought she was talking about dates and I was very confused so I just left and walked around the town a bit more. :)

I went back to Offenburg at about 4:30 and caught the bus back to my hotel. Then I had another odd experience. I think this had more to do with the fact that I rarely take buses, much less European buses, but suffice it to say that the driver thought I was an idiot. Oh well.

Once I got to the hotel I arranged for a taxi for the next morning since the buses wouldn't be running as early as I needed to get to the train station. This process involved the receptionist asking me "What time do you want to stand u?" O.o Huh? I interpreted it as her asking what time I wanted to leave and that seemed to work. Then it was off to my room where a surprise awaited me! Check out my pics to see!

Offenburg, Strasbourg

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Second Day in Reims

My second day I didn't get started as early as I would have liked (when do I ever?) so I only had time for one museum rather than two. What I ended up doing was walking over to see the Sube Fountain and a couple of the squares (place du Forum and place Royal) and getting lunch at a nice place called L'Apostrophe. It was also during the last days of this year's Christmas market which was fun! Lots of stalls selling everything from mulled wine and chocolate to tree decorations to jewelry!

After lunch I headed to the Musee Beaux Arts. It was really fun! Some of their stuff, including a couple of Monets, was actually at a Monet exhibition in another museum. But they had an exhibit of Art Deco that was cool. They also had a couple of Watteau's and I'm sure other artists whose names I didn't recognize.

Then it was back to the hotel to get my suitcase and set off for the train station. I got there in plenty of time, made all my connections (three trains in all) and got to Offenburg around 10:30. I was lucky to get a taxi because my hotel was actually in the suburbs rather than town. That post is coming next!

Reims

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First Day in Reims

Today. It was a good day overall. Same format as the last post.
1. My shower wasn’t working so I got dressed and went to breakfast at about 9:45. It was crowded! I scoped out a table that looked empty as I was preparing my tea (man I got used to tea quickly!) and it was, so despite the stuff on it, I put down my cup and started moving things out of my way. Boy did that get the waiters moving! They quickly cleared the table and got it reset for me. It was great.
a. Note to self: go for breakfast earlier tomorrow.
2. Left the hotel at about 10:30 and walked up to the Cathedral where my camera ran out of battery. I decided to go ahead and get some souvenirs and batteries. Went into the Cathedral, looked around, went to Tourist Information, got a full-day bus ticket, and (of course) got lost on the way to the bus stop.
3. I kept walking and consulting my bus map and finally found the stop I wanted. But for whatever reason this particular bus wasn’t running today. So after waiting awhile before I realized it wasn’t coming, I decided to just walk. My destination was the Taittinger cellars because, really, how could I come to the Champagne region and not do something Champagne-y? And, naturally, by the time I got there they had closed for lunch.
4. At this point I decided to walk back to my hotel to get my batteries. Long story short, the two huge packs of batteries I brought are only suitable for low power items. No wonder they were so cheap! :)
5. Got back to Taittinger with the last pair of Energizers in my camera (yes, this was my third pair of new batteries today). And yay! I arrived about 5 minutes before the last English tour. A pretty cool tour, too. Followed by a tasting. Awesome.
6. After Taittinger I went to the Basilique St-Remi and its accompanying museum. The organ was playing in the church, although I got the impression that it was more for tuning or something than for visitors’ pleasure. The museum was free (with my student ID) but not the best one I’ve ever been to. Very poorly laid out. It used to be an abbey and it’s a beautiful building but it does not lend itself to being a museum. It had some cool stuff but not my favorite museum ever. I did like the recreations of dresses that the women in the Romanov family wore over time.
7. That’s all I’ve done so far today. I’ll dinner in a bit and go to bed pretty early so I can get up tomorrow. Since my train doesn’t leave until early evening I’m planning on seeing a couple more museums. Then it’s off to Offenburg!

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Mondo Post about Dec 21

Finally. I am in France. It was not easy. Here is the story, beginning to end. Don’t worry! It’s not all bad! :) And I’ll put it behind the cut, so click on “Full Post” to read it all.
1. We got to the airport in plenty of time. Got checked in, my bag was just the right weight, and the plane was on time. What could go wrong you ask? As I was checking in at the gate, they pulled me aside and told me I couldn’t get on the plane until I made arrangements to actually leave France. O.o Whuh? Huh? Wha’chusay? So they call the front desk, I book a flight from Paris to Exeter on January 11 and am allowed to board.
a. I do understand. France wants to make sure that people entering will leave at some point and won’t become homeless bums. I just wish I had known beforehand!
b. Upside: I now have my final plans cemented! No more wondering how I’ll get back. Plus it was only £95.
2. At the airport in France we waited in the Customs line for awhile (there were only 2 windows open and they appeared to be having a little trouble with a group) until the officers at the EU Passport window waved us over. That was cool. And then we got to go in these glass tube things. And instead of escalators, the moving walkways just sloped up and down. It was pretty awesome.
3. Got on the train and made my way to Gare du Nord where I had to switch trains to get to Gare de l’Est. Got to the station, found the ticket windows, got in line, and waited. The train for Reims was leaving in about 20 minutes and I wanted on it! I get to the window, the guy validates my pass…and gives me the bad news. The train requires reservations (I knew that, but I couldn’t do it online so I decided to wait until I got to the station) two days beforehand and the earliest train he could get me on was the 8:57pm in 5 ½ hours. @@
a. Because of this I realized that while I was waiting I could book a few more tickets that might require reservations. So I now have my tix for Reims to Offenburg and from Frankfurt to Paris.
4. So I waited the 5 ½ hours in the cold station only to find that the train was delayed 15 minutes…30 minutes…40 minutes. We finally boarded nearly an hour late.
a. I’m actually glad that we boarded at all. At this point I was getting grumpy because I just wanted to be in my hotel.
b. My prof again came through for me by calling my hotel to let them know I would be late.
5. We get to Reims at about 10:40. I get outside only to see that there are no taxis in sight. None. I wait. Still none to be found. So I went back into the station to see exactly how to get to my hotel. I write down street names (my map was in my suitcase because the France guidebook is a big sucker) and leave the station (this is around 11)…and promptly get lost. I did find my way back to where my directions told me but got lost again. Since I knew the general direction of the hotel I just kept walking. I finally broke down and got out my guidebook. I was in an area not really on the map when a woman came out of a bar and saved me! I was actually pretty close to the hotel I just needed to go down one more street. Check-in time: 11:45pm.
a. Yay! I got there! I got a room and a bed and tea!
b. Bad: Have to pay for internet. Got three hours, a little over 2 of which I used yesterday. I kind of wish I could get 5 hours but the payment plan jumps from 3 to 10.
6. Went to bed a little after 2 and got up today at about 9.


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Fly-By Post

This is just to let you know that I'm at my hotel in Reims, safe and sound. It took 13 hours of traveling, but I made it! More extensive post tomorrow!
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Some changes to the blog...

So, since I went on a rant yesterday and used some questionable language ;) I've decided to start using cuts. Each post will have a link at the end that says "Full Post..." and I'll tell you if I decide to put something under the cut. So far I'll just edit the post with my rantings. Otherwise it might be where I put pics, etc.
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So. Plans.

After all that, um, kerfuffle with the Eurostar stuff, Deborah, Jim, and I booked tickets with Flybe for tomorrow (Monday) to fly into Paris. I will then leave almost immediately on a train to Reims. But in order for this to work we had to take the train...back to Exeter. We're now sitting in Deborah and Jim's house getting ready to go for dinner. Then tomorrow we'll go into Exeter to the airport and (fingers crossed) be on our way. More tomorrow!
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Ridiculous

So both the hotel and Orbitz are giving us the run around on canceling my reservation. Normally I would understand policy and all that, but these are extraordinary circumstances. Fortunately I have an extraordinary woman on my side. I was trying my best to deal with these people but wasn't getting anywhere. She took the phone and gave them the run around! :) We now have a supervisor calling the hotel to try and get something done. But it looks like I won't have to pay for the reservation! For about the bazillionth time I am so relieved to have Professor Laycock here.
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Day in London

So the upside of being stranded in London is, well, being stranded in London. After lunch we went to the Hayward Gallery to see an exhibition of Ed Ruscha's work. Then saw Bright Star, a cute movie about Keats and his relationship with Fannie Brawne. Then dinner and back to the hotel.

So the exhibition was awesome. I loved looking at all of the art. Since taking art history I feel a lot more capable of "reading" art and seeing connections between pieces, both of which served me well. In a lot of his paintings, Ruscha uses diagonal lines, single words, phrases, and censor bars. There were also several examples of before and after paintings, like this and this. It was very enjoyable. This was my favorite.

After seeing that the IMAX 3D Avatar was sold out, we went to see Bright Star. I thought it was pretty good. The end was the best. It had some stunning visuals and the acting was pretty good. I just don't think it will ever be a favorite of mine.

Then heaps of Italian at Balfour and back to the hotel. But this was the highlight of the night:



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Update: Playing it by Ear

So, according to the website no trains going through tomorrow either. We're going down to the station at about 6:30 to make sure, but also looking into other modes of transport.

Click on "Full Post" to read my rant about Eurostar.

So Eurostar is nothandling this at all well. Here are a few simple suggestions:

1) Open your damn ticket window to answer questions if nothing else. You have the staff. I saw them milling about back there. Put them to use and reassure your travelers.

2) Make the info easy to access. Put up signs, put updates on the TV monitors, and don't just direct people to the website and the phoneline (which wasn't working half the time anyway).

3) Learn from this. You obviously didn't think anything like this could happen because you were caught with your pants on the other side of the room. Put enough simple snacks (bags o' peanuts, etc) on board to hand out if the train gets stuck somewhere for any reason.

4) Give priority to stranded passengers in the order of their original trains.

5) Put a system in place. Instead of looking like idiotic ninnies you would like a professional, prepared business. That's what we pay you for.

6) This is the time to be extra nice to your paying customers. Give us hotel info, order pizzas for those queuing, and tell them what's going on.

I bet the ferries will be doing a brisk business for awhile. (Eurostar nincompoops)

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Things are starting to go wrong...

There's bad news. Due to weather in Paris 4 trains have been stuck in the Chunnel since yesterday. So I'm not going to Paris until at least tomorrow.

However! There is good news. The Harlingford was able to extend my stay in the same room for tonight and the wonder that is Deborah Laycock is on her way! She and Jim are coming to London today and will take care of me!

This is also good experience for if something similar happens later in the trip.
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First Day of the Extravaganza!

I am dead tired, so this will be a short post.

After running around like a headless chicken this morning (a headless chicken watching Sleeping Beauty), I got on the 11:55am train to London. I brought my small suitcase, but do not be deceived by appearances (you'll get turned into a Beast!!!) because it's the heaviest thing on the planet due to my many guidebooks.

I napped a little on the train before watching the snowy, Narnia-like countryside going by. I got an email from Deborah (the awesome Kenyon-Exeter prof) last night warning that I might have travel delays because 10 inches of snow were being forecasted for London. :P But thankfully the most we saw was about two inches. *phew*

Got really turned around in Paddington, but finally made my way to the Circle Line and @@. Had to get off at Edgewater (the stop after Paddington) to get on another train going in the same direction. Apparently this is a new change to the Circle Line which makes things just a little inconvenient.

Finally got to the Harlingford and the woman at the desk told me that even though I'm leaving SUPER early (try 5:30am) I can have a cold breakfast. *hugs her*

Then got caught up on random computer/internet stuff.

Then I had the most wonderful dinner. I hadn't eaten since my half a bag of crisps in the morning and the apple at the Harlingford so I was ravenous. I went to Depa Tandoori and had scrumptious deliciousness. I finally realized that to get the kind of nan I'm used to I have to order butter nan and I loved myself for that. My main meal was Chicken Korai and it was the perfect spicy-ness. Not spicy enough to burn off my tastebuds, but it still tasted Indian. Yummy!

And now I'm going to bed.

See you in Paris!

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Topsham

Last weekend I went to Topsham, a small town about 15 minutes from Exeter by train, to do some shopping and get some cream tea with our professor. Everything was going well. Tea was amazing (if you ever find yourself in Topsham, get cream tea at the Georgian Tea Room) and Topsham was adorable. Our little group went to get the train back to Exeter and that's when things went pear-shaped. We were early by about 10 minutes but we figured something was wrong when the train hadn't shown up after half an hour. So I called Deborah (our professor) who lives in Topsham to ask what we should do. As she was suggesting that we wait for the next train, a guy waiting for the same train told us (don't ask me how he found out) that the late train, never mind the one after it, was going to be another 32 minutes. O.o When Deborah heard that she told us to come to her house and that she would drive us back to our dorms. And that attitude is precisely why everyone loves Deborah.

I also took some pretty, pretty pictures!

Topsham

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Bath

Yesterday we set out on our last group trip of the semester. We went to Stratford to see Arabian Nights. Since we had already been there and it was cold, the girls I was rooming with (Rachel and Kristy) and I decided to nap and then go for dinner before going to the play. After a very nice nap we made our way to The Garrick, a pub recommended by our professor that Rachel and Kristy had eaten at the last time. It was excellent. I had duck. Yummy! The play was next and we were all a little apprehensive. There were so many ways it could go wrong, not only in the staging, but in the politics (doing Arabian Nights while the country is at war with Iraq...). But they handled it so well! Everyone had a great time! I stayed awake and enjoyed myself immensely. Good thing, too, because I have to write a response paper on this one.

Today we made our way back to Exeter by way of Bath. Awesome! It was the last day of the Christmas Market. It was very crowded. We walked around there for a bit before heading to Yum Yum Thai for lunch. After that we saw the sights (at least some of them) before going to the famous Pump Room for cream tea. At least until we saw the line and decided that the wait and the price (£ 10 per person!) combined were too much. So on the way out I got a cup of the spa water and declared myself satisfied. We walked a little ways to Sally Lunn's. It's in the oldest house in Bath. Occupied since the 1400's, Sally Lunn moved in 1690 and started baking her famous buns. Today they still make the buns and serve them with all kinds of things. Of course we got there at a peak time and our 7-person group had to split (no biggie). Abby, Laura, and I ended up in the Jane Austen Room (!). We all got cream tea, which was brilliant! I got the Jane Austen Cream Tea which consisted of tea and a half a Sally Lunn bun with raspberry jam and clotted cream. It was so big I couldn't finish it, although I had three cups of tea. After tea we only had about half an hour before we had to meet the bus so we went to the Abbey. Then back to Exeter!

Here be pics!

Bath

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