WOW! It has been a long time since I have posted anything on here, oops. So I guess it is time to catch up..or stop procrastinating.
Dad,Renee,Kyle, Micheal
I met my Dad and company in Paris for Christmas. Visiting Paris in the winter is not ideal, but it was alot of fun. The weather in Paris was actually pretty pleasant compared to what I was dealing with in Germany the week before. We did alot of sightseeing in Paris. The Eiffel Tower, the Lourve, and some other places that I didnt bother to remember the name of! We had a good time in Paris though. We came back to Germany on Christmas Day and stayed in a hotel in Frankfurt. While in Germany we also went to Cologne and Heidelberg. Dad rented a car, so it was pretty easy to get around. (the gps helped) Pascal came and met us in Frankfurt the last night they were here.
Sadler
Eric flew in the same morning that Dad and company were leaving. We spent the first day hanging out in Marburg and catching up on some sleep. The next day we were off to Brussels for New Years Eve. For those of you who don't know, Bussels is the capital of Europe. Our hotel was about a 15 min walk away from the main part of the city where all of the festivites were taking place. Of course being Eric and Mitch, we didnt make any reservations for dinner, so we ended up eating at Pizza Hut. The pizza was good and we even got a beer there. We went out to the city center at night and there was a big countdown and lots of fireworks and party party party. We ended up meeting some spanish girls and followed them to a bar, which ended up to be the most famous bar in Brussels (its called Delirium). We didnt know that we had been there until the next day when we were looking for it and then realized we had already been there. The waffels and beer in Belgium are number 1.
After Brussels we were off to Amsterdam for a few days. Amsterdam is a port city, and also sin city. It was weird to walk around and see girls standing in windows and pot shops everywhere. The city was by far the dirtiest city I have been in, but the canals were cool and the Heineken was on fire. After Amsterdam we went back to Marburg for 2 nights then Eric went home.
Visa
When I got to Germany I applied for my visa there, but I was informed while I was in Germany that I could not get my visa for Austria in Austria. So I had to go to Berlin to get my visa, which wasn't as bad as it could have been since I wanted to visit Berlin anyway. I forgot to take my camera, so I had to buy a desposable camera in Berlin. There is alot to see in Berlin. The first day I was there I spent all my time finding the Austrian Consulate and then finding my hotel. But the second day I got to see alot of cool things. Of course the most interresting was the Berlin Wall. It was different traveling alone, but it was also alot of fun.
GRAZ
Now I am finally in Austria. I took a train Sunday the 13th from Marburg to München and stayed the night there, then got up early on Vday and took a train the rest of the way to Graz. I got in at about 2pm and my "buddy" was at the train station waiting for me. Its a good thing she was because Graz is much bigger than Marburg. Graz has about 400.000 residents and Marburg only 80.000. The first day here I got settled in with no problems. I take a tram into the city. It takes about 10 mins and then a 10 min walk. My room is pretty small, but its also nice. I have my own room, share a bathroom with a girl from New Jersey, and share a kitchen with about 10 people. The second night I was here (without food, dont ask why) some girls on my floor asked me to eat dinner with them. They are from Masadonia and made some typical Masadonian dish, I will have to ask them what it is called because it was pretty good, similar to meatloaf.
Right now I am just going through all the motions of moving to a new city. Registering here, opening a bank account, student IDs, registering for classes, meeting with professors, getting a feel for the city. I havent taken any pictures yet, but it snowed last night so maybe I should.
