My past few days (WOW! can you believe its actually written this time??!?!???) hehe

This post is a little longer to make up for the missing videos and pictures…

Today is Sunday, and I have done lots so far the past few days!  One Wednesday I said goodbye to Olivia and Laura at the airport.  I then went back to the apartment and packed my things up some more.  I then met Veronika to see a Museum, and then we met with Tillman to eat dinner at a sushi place.  I then woke up the next morning (Thursday) packed, and left on the train first to Hamburg to then catch a train to Lübeck.  The transfer was way easier than I expected, and the trains were both nice.  I didn’t make a seat reservation on either train even though the first was an ICE (the person at the station told me that it was merely optional for this train.) So, I looked for a seat, but couldn’t find an unreserved seat in the first 4 cars I looked in, and I was hungry, so I just spent my time in the Dining car and ate lunch and then tea with cake.  It was really nice, had a great view, and wasn’t very crowded.  The next train I took had hardly any people on it. I had a whole 4-seat table to myself.  When I got to Lübeck it began to rain a little, so I got a map from the tourist office, figured out the busses (which were a little more confusing than expected), and arrived to Frank’s house.  The evening was farily slow and relaxing, as was the next morning.  I needed a morning to recover from travel and all the excitement in Berlin.  Then Friday afternoon the kids got home from school, and I them, and Mechtild (the mother) went on a really nice boat ride along a river.  Then Saturday the four of us went into Lübeck and saw some lovely sights including a boat festival where costumed teams race with paddleboats.  There were some really funny costumes including one team that was the American flag colors and the statue of Liberty.  Haha, quite funny! Then today the four of us plus Frank all went on a canoe ride!!  Oh, how I love canoeing!!!  It was really nice, and near the end the sun even decided to come out, which made it a really nice day.  When we were finally done, both kids wanted to paddle even more even though we had already paddles foe some hours!  They remind me of me at Hobbie’s cabin!!  So far my trip has been really nice! Looking forward to everything else there is to come!

ahhh, technology...

well, after I finally figured out the internet here in Lübeck (which required multiple cords, a password, and some patience), I discovered It takes too long to upload videos or  photos, so you all will have to wait for those... sorry!

Tuesday video (our last one together)

Here's our very sleepy Monday video...

AHHHHH!!! so much to make-up!!! all the photos will be on eventually..

well, I've gotten a little behind in posting pictures, but they will come...  for now, just enjoy our videos!!

Sunday's video (with a little bit of acting)

We thought our day called for some costumes and sepia tone... oh, and some accents (not really sure what kind, though we were aiming for British...)

Clubbing at the Fritz- a recreation

Saturday Video

We're on the U-bahn (our song)

Here's the song we came up with while on the U-Bahn while thinking about buying Pashmina scarves from Ku-damm (It's inspired from "We're on a boat" if you didn't catch that)...

oh, and we didn't practice much before filming...

Friday's video

Thursday's video

Wednesday pics part 2

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a) Cecilienhof Palace- where the Potsdam Agreement was signed by Truman, Stalin, and Churchill after WWII

b) Laura and me in front of Cecilienhof

c) Glienicke Bridge- famous for the spy exchanges that took place during the Cold War

d) the group taking some photos of the St. Nikolaikirche

e) some of our bikes

And indeed, this was the most touristy thing so far on the trip!  However, it was nice not having to think about where we needed to be and when, what trains to get on, and getting lost.  It was a nice slow, relaxing day.

Wednesday Pics part 1

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a) TV tower in Alexanderplatz

b) Laura getting ready for the bike tour

c) Guest house of Sansoussi

d) our tour taking a photo break

e) man at Biergarten on bike tour

Wednesday Video

FOOD!!

Mmmm... Some things we ate: Wiener Schnizel, yummy chocolate cake, Abendbrot, kartoffelsuppe... 

Tuesday photos part 2

These were taken in and around Museum Island, including the Ishtar gates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishtar_Gate)  and the bust of Nefertiti (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nefertiti)  or, if you don't like youtube try and find one of the 11 lb and 3 ounce Art history books we used in our AP class...

Dear Craig Farmer,

These video's are dedicated to Craig Farmer, the most amazing Art History teacher EVER!!! And who taught us these different types of columns...

Tuesday photos part 1

Here are some photos from the Pergamon!!!!!

Monday pics

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a-c) my photo shoot in the holocaust memorial.  I loved the juxtaposition of the large cold stones to the warmth of the trees and people.

d + e) Photo taking while waiting in the rain under the brandenburg gates.

Sunday pics

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a) eating our brezeln at the market we went to

b) the cute little market, that I can;t remember the name of...

c + d) looking across the river spree

e) Laura's B-day dinner at Lutter and Wegner's.  Yummm!!!

Tuesday's video (with modern performance art)

skip the first 15 seconds. It showed a connecting message, so we didn't know it was recording... so basically its us waiting for it to start filming, or modern performance art... haha

Monday's Video!!!

Sunday's video

Saturday pics 2

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a) Eating dinner with Veronika along the spree

b) Laura and Olivia in the Hauptbanhof (the main train station where there are also places to eat and shop, and lots of people watching!)

c) in Front of the Reichstag

d) the three of us in front of the Reichstag

e) and to top off the evening we went on a walk past the Brandenburg Gates (seen here) and along Unter den Linden

Saturday Pics 1

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a) walking with a relative of mine, Veronika, after Kaffee through the tier Garten

b + c) a sculpture we saw on our walk

d) another monument seen while walking.  It was actually originally in a different location, and when they moved it they had to raise it so it could be seen throughout Berlin

e) looking out across the spree on our walk

Thursday and Friday pics

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a) Here we are on the plane getting ready to go!!!

b) the three of us walking along a street in Berlin Friday

c)Olivia and Laura dancing where the Berlin Wall used to be, we were just walking along, and happened upon this little park

d) a street in the old Jewish Quarter where we found many little galleries and shops.  We even happened upon a gallery with a Shepard Fairey print show!!

e) we then walked to Alexanderplatz, where there was this outdoor exhibit with some history.  It was quite interesting, though we didn't look at the whole thing

YAY!!! I'm finally figuring out this technology!!!

Well, there has been a little bit of a learning curve for me with all this computer speak in file size and html, but I seem to be figuring it out...  Hopefully the video uploading will be smoother from here on out!!

Saturday's video

ok, so Saturday's video went over by 12 mb, so I will instead post a link from Youtube:

Saturday

We're having troubles posting Saturdays video, so we'll try back later...

WAY to much fun with Haribo

ummm... yeah, thats what happens when we don't get enough sleep...

Favorite quotes of the day:

(while waiting for our food to come)

Olivia: Never have I ever gone to... Alaska.

Laura and Nicola: Neither have we

Laura: I heard they have GIANT mosquitoes there

Olivia: and Sarah Palin

Nicola: She IS a giant mosquito! ...  Wait what does that even mean?

Olivia: She's a blood sucker

Nicola: (gasp) she's a vampire!

Laura: No! only Edward and handsome young men can be vampires! (her 5th? Twilight reference of the day...)

Laura's stomach: GRRRRoooLLLLRRRRGGGG

Olivia: What WAS that? I thought it was an airplane.

Laura: It's my digestive system (with a smile)

Favorite store name: FREAK Computers    (hmmmm... not sure I would want a freak computer...)

Airport adventure...

our favorite quotes of the day:

Laura: You guys always make fun of me

Nicola: (jokingly) But you make it so easy...

we were all settling down for a nap after a long days travel...

Laura: I'm gonna get another blanket, oh wait it's a poncho

Olivia: same thing

Nicola: wait. no.. but it'll work...

Laura:  (half asleep) thats a nice coperter you have

Nicola: (also half asleep) a what? what's a coberter?

Laura: a comforter

Nicola: what? oh

My big summer plans!!

Well, The video pretty much explained it, but I'm Nicola from Minneapolis, MN, and I'm going to be in Europe from June 10th until August 8th!!! First up is Berlin with my two friends Olivia and Laura!