Belgium and Germany!

As a chocolate lover, my dream came true when I found out that the Chocolate Society was hosting a trip to Cologne, Germany to visit the Christmas markets, and of course, staying in Liege, Belgium in order to taste real Belgian chocolate.  However, I did not realize until the night before departure that we had to meet at 6:00 in the morning, and the worst part, that we would be traveling by coach.  That meant an eleven hour bus ride, while a train ride could just cut the journey time in half.  But having already paid and more than ecstatic to be going to Belgium and Germany, I set my alarm for 5:00 Friday morning after staying up until 2:30 am working on a paper.
Even though I technically woke up at 5:00 am to turn off my alarm, the next thing I know upon opening my eyes is that it is 5:40 and I am still dressed in my pajamas.  I instantly shot out of bed and got dressed faster than humanly possible and was standing outside my friends door five minutes before six like we had planned so that we could walk down to the coach together.  But one big problem...she was not there.  Five minutes passed and still, she was no where to be found.  Now, let me tell you something about my friend.  This is NOT the same person who made me miss my train in London and made me late everywhere in Paris.  This was Lily.  Always on time to things, and mostly always early.  So I got worried.  Where could she be?  If there was anyone who was more excited than me for this trip, it was Lily and I knew that she would be too excited to sleep past her alarm.
But finally, at 6:10 am, with Lily still a no show, I decided to walk down to the coach alone in the hopes that she had forgotten our plans to meet beforehand.  But still, no Lily.  I asked other Chocolate Society members if they had seen her, but because she hadn't come down to the coach yet, and the fact that we had yet to meet the people who we were traveling with, no one could be of help.  Almost 6:30 am and still no sign of Lily, I asked one of the trip leaders if I could run to her flat and see if she was there since her mobile was shut off.  Sprinting up to her flat, I soon found out that because we live in different buildings, my key would not let me into her flat.  Crap.  I looked at my watch.  It was past 6:30.  The trip was already supposed to be starting, but instead, I stood outside in the frigid air in a cold sweat.
 I sprinted back to the bus and asked my fellow travelers if anybody lived in the same flat as Lily.  To my surprise, there was another international student, from Spain, who lived in Lily's building and more importantly, had key access to get in.  Sprinting back up the hill at 6:40, we made it inside the building.  But bad news, Lily's door was locked and when she sleeps, she's out cold.  Banging on the door, and shouting her name didn't do any good.  But worried that the coach would drive away with my bags on it, I took a running start at Lily's door, and to my surprise, broke the lock and busted open the door!  Thrilled, but also a little concerned at the security of the locks, I shook Lily awake.  Somehow, she managed to get ready within two minutes, and at 6:55, we made it back to the bus.  Exhausted after no sleep, sprinting back and forth, and panicked that something had happened to Lily, I was finally able to relax and catch some zzz's on our eleven hour bus ride, even though we were leaving much later than expected.
But after about three hours on the bus, at ten o'clock in the morning, the bus driver and his assistant decided that everyone had enough sleep, and started blasting hip hop music.  And take my word on this...when someone wakes me while I'm peacefully sleeping, I don't wake up in such a peaceful mood.  My Dad used to say that there were always two different Logan's.  Logan number 1 = me.  Logan number 2 = a completely other person...someone from a dark, dark world, with dark, dark thoughts, who will say dark, dark things.  But on the upside, when I transition from Logan number 2 back to Logan number 1, I rarely remember what I said, so at least my bad mood won't affect me for too long.  But this was different.  When the bus driver blasted, and I mean BLASTED, the music at 10 am , Logan number 2 stuck around for hours.  But once finally arriving in Liege, Belgium, I was back to my old self and as happy as a clam.
Liege was so nice!  They had outdoor eating markets set up in the city center which was perfect upon arriving for dinner.

(One of our many pit stops along the way.  We loved the sign in the background.)

After getting a good night's sleep in our surprisingly really nice and big hotel, we set out for Cologne (Koln), Germany.  Now, I had been excited for this trip not only for the chocolate and Christmas Markets, but also because Germany was the homeland of my Uncle Steve.  He would always talk about Germany, and just hours before learning that his childhood house was in Cologne, I couldn't have been any happier to be visiting where he came from.  And let me tell you something.  Cologne is beautiful.  From the food, to the scenery, to the history, Germany was more that I had hoped it would be, and of course, I felt blessed to be visiting so close to Christmas due to their world famous Christmas markets.  And that is something else I learned while there.  Every city in Europe has Christmas markets set up this time of year, but apparently if you do it right, you go to Cologne.  And I could see why.  It was astonishing.  Market after market, christmas cheer all around, and of course amazing food.  Now, as I said before, I tried to work out as much as possible before this trip so that once I got to Belgium and Germany, I could stuff my face with all the the two countries had to offer.  But because I am prone to foot injuries (I have broken my foot twice and have had surgery on my right foot), I seemed to have stressed one of my bones in my left foot.  Physically unable to workout the few days leading up to the trip (and still unable to use the treadmill), I decided to stuff my face anyway. It was my first time stepping foot in Belgium and Germany in 21 years, so at the rate that I'm going, I won't be back until I'm 42 years old and by then my metabolism will be even slower than it is now, and therefore I must enjoy every single food choice that Belgium and Germany has to offer.  So I did.  

 It started with a pretzel.  (what they call a brezel)

And then a belgian waffle.  

And then a giant stick of chicken.

Some chocolate cake at the chocolate museum.  

And some German bread with toppings to end my day of eating.

And everything was delicious!  It was the most fabulous day.  First, we started off in front of the Cologne Cathedral which is the most beautiful building my eyes have ever laid eyes on.  And let me tell you, the inside is just as amazing, although due to respecting the 'no flash rule', I was unable to capture a less than adequate picture inside the Cathedral.  

So after staring in amazement and touring this historical Cathedral, we hit the Christmas Markets.  

(And I made new friends along the way!)

And in hope to give our wallets a rest, my friends and I headed over to the world famous chocolate museum in Cologne.  Most amazing thing ever.  

 There was a golden, chocolate fountain!  Every persons dream will come true if you visit this chocolate museum.  No joke.

And there was a giant chocolate bunny to pose with!  Unfortunately, while posing for this picture, I accidentally licked the top of the bunny ears.  

More giant chocolate bunnies.  

A chocolate dog.

Some random chocolate picture.  

 Snacks at the chocolate museum.

 The chocolate museum got a little racy for children.  Not cool.

And EWWW, the museum sold chocolate noodles!

Once done with the museum, we decided to go to the Medieval Christmas Market.  And of course, I loved it.  It was creepy and fully decked out with Medieval decorations.  There was even a fake camel walking around, and I got so excited to see a fake camel, that I posed for a picture. 

But get this.  Instantly after getting enthusiastic over a fake camel, I came eye to eye with a real camel!!  I couldn't believe it!  So I went and stood next to him.  

Then I pet him.

And then I hugged him!  

It was funny looking back at the picture I had taken with him because our hair color matches perfectly and we both had redeye from the camera flash (which I edited out).  But ever since that hug, and now looking back at this picture, I have realized that the next animal I want to bring home is a camel.  We have a big enough backyard for a camel, and camels are really low key and easy, and so cute and huggable, I don't know why my parents would say no.  But, if they were mad about my bringing home baby chicks, a camel may not be such a smart idea.  I've got to slyly ease camel talk into my conversations with them when I go home for the holidays and then maybe they'll lighten up to the idea.  Plus, with a pet camel, we would be saving the environment AND saving money on gas.  I'm sure that in Los Angeles you can ride a camel in the bike line, right?  

Anyway, after I had discovered my love for camels, the Medieval Market grew a little creepy.  With a woman's voice, but a beard of a man, there was a fortune teller known as 'the bearded lady'.

That is her on the right with the red hat!  

Cologne at night.  About to board a Christmas Market on a ship!

After a full day in Cologne, the coach took us back to Liege, Belgium, where we rested and got a good night's sleep for our day in Bruges, Belgium.  

The next morning at breakfast when I was grabbing food, I felt someone hug me from the back.  BUT WHO?  I turned around and guess what?  It was the bus attendant who blasted the music and wouldn't let me sleep.  I don't know if I had made this totally clear, but he was honestly the most annoying person to be working on an 11 hour bus ride.  His job was to serve drink to everyone, but he would literally wake people up to ask them if they were thirsty.  He must have woken me up 7 times in one bus ride.  That's why Logan number 2 was out for a good chunk of the day on coach ride to Belgium.  And now he was hugging me?  Why?  I didn't understand.  I pretend to need orange juice and quickly escaped his bear hug.  

Once in Bruges, Belgium, I was happy again (mainly because the bus attendant did not come with us).  Bruges, was beautiful, and I loved every second of it!

And of course, we did more eating....

But other than the food and especially the chocolate, my favorite part of Bruges are the canals.  It was absolutely beautiful.  

I have got to say, after a weekend like this, any other trip is going to be hard to top, although I have a feeling like this coming weekend will be a pretty fun one for me as well.  Because I end the semester tomorrow, my friend Liz and I are meeting up in London tomorrow and then traveling onto Stockholm, Sweden, and Copenhagen, Denmark!  I am very excited to see Liz again and see these two countries before I fly home to Los Angeles.  And more good news.  I was originally just going to stay two weeks at home, but I just recently found out that my vacation was a full week longer, and my parents extended my stay in Los Angeles!  I am so excited because although I am having so much fun here traveling all around Europe, I need my own bed, my parents, and Lucy!  (And Matt of course!)  So in exactly one week, I will be sitting on my couch at home with Lucy on my lap and my parents sitting on each side of me.  Can't wait!  But due to jetlag and my big trip coming up tomorrow and then flying to LA, I may not be able to post about my trip right away, although keep checking back because I am sure there will be some epic stories to tell from Sweden and Denmark.  Until then, bon voyage!

With Poop, Comes Luck - Weekend in Norwich and London

Last Thursday I left Exeter to go visit my friend who is studying two hours outside of London in Norwich.  But of course, because this is me we are talking about, the travel was not easy.  Theoretically it should have been though.  A two hour train ride to London, then a half hour on the underground to the Liverpool train station, and then a two hour train ride from Liverpool to Norwich.  But something that I did not know, and now have learned, is that when there is barely even half an inch of snow on the ground, all of England panics.  Right after my last class on Thursday, I sped-walked to the train station so that I could be nice and early for my train.  But once there, I got an e-mail from one of my friends that I had made this summer on the Today Show.  I was going to spend two nights in Norwich with my friend Maggie, and then go into London Saturday morning and spend the rest of the day with my other friend from the Today Show.  She is currently studying abroad in Madrid, one of my favorite Spanish cities, but she decided to come and visit London for the weekend.  It all seemed perfect: I would spend time in Norwich with Maggie and then walk around the streets of London with Molly who I hadn't seen since the summer in the NBC offices.  But then I got the e-mail.  Her flight from Madrid to London was cancelled due to "all of the snow".  Um, there was literally less than one forth of an inch of snow and by the time my train had gotten to London, it was all melted.  I was so mad.  I was so looking forward to my weekend with Maggie and Molly, but because of "severe weather conditions", she was unable to get to London.  At that very moment, I wished that Kenyon was able to see the way that London worked.  Why is it when we get two feet of snow in Ohio, classes are still on?  And why is it that when Kenyon sends us e-mails saying "Do not go outside for over 2 minutes.  For this could cause severe frostbite and skin mutation", are classes not cancelled??  Seriously!  But anyway, as I arrived in London Paddington Station bitter about Kenyon's inability to ever cancel class even when it is dangerous to be outside, I decided to change my train ticket on saturday to leave earlier in the day now that Molly wasn't coming.  So after an 8 pound ticket change (better than getting on an  on-train change and paying 65 pounds), I took the tube to Liverpool Station, only to find out that my train to Norwich had been CANCELLED.  Crap.  What to do now?  I went over to the tickets booth, nervous that I was going to have to take a train back to Exeter after I had already bought all these other tickets for.  And the lady behind the desk, well, she was absolutely no help at all.  "There might be a train in another two hours to Norwich, but also, there might not be" she told me.  What?  She was staring at a computer screen that gave her information to different train times and that is all she could tell me.  So, not knowing what to do, I picked up my cell phone and made the most expensive call I have made during my entire stay here in England...I called home.   But to my luck, no one was home to receive my nervous breakdown of a phone call.  So what did I do?...I left the most pathetic message I think I have ever left.  My Dad told me he freaked out when he heard the message, and almost boarded a flight to Heathrow in order to save me because I was practically crying in my message, but of course, there is nothing he can do from Los Angeles.  But, since no one was home to help me put my head back on my shoulders, my childish "I need my Mom" cry came across in the message.  Oh, and I forgot to mention.  It was about 25 degrees out the entire time.  Yes, I was wearing a scarf and mittens, but still, after standing out in the cold for over an hour and not knowing my next move, I was literally frozen solid.  I decided to get a gingerbread latte, because that would warm me up and it would make me happy (anything holiday themed puts a smile on my face).  But once I got the latte, they forgot to put the special ingredient in, but I sipped it and held it close to my frozen veins, even though it was lacking the gingerbread.
After finishing my latte and still being frozen, I decided to go back to the ticket booth again to see if they had anymore information.  I purposely chose a different counter lady and to my surprise, she told me that there was a train boarding to Norwich at that very second and that my ticket would be good for it.  Stunned that it was only a half hour after my cancelled train was supposed to leave (although I had been waiting for a long time in the cold because my connecting train got in early), I sprinted to platform 3 and boarded my train to Norwich.  Not wanting to use anymore of my minutes (I have a pay as you go phone plan), I decided to e-mail my Dad from my phone to let him know that everything was now alright, despite the message full of tears I had left him an hour before.  But because of the "severe weather", the train had to go a bit slower so instead of arriving within two hours, it was more like three.  But as long as I got there safe and sound I didn't mind.
Once I got to Norwich my friend was waiting for me in the train station with food.  We took a taxi back to her flat and then she showed me around her city.  The next day we walked around Norwich some more and she showed me all of the cute little boutiques.  We even ran upon a restaurant called Logan's cafe!

But out of everything we did, I have got to say that my favorite part of the trip had to have been the fish foot massage.  Yes, rather than a woman massaging our feet by hand, we went to the Norwich mall and came across a place called Dr. Spa Fish.  Before dipping our feet into the fish tanks to have the fish suck away our dead skin, we had to fill out a medical form.  One of the questions: "Do you have any open cuts on your feet?"  The night before I had stubbed my toe hard, but decided to ignore the fact that it drew a teensy bit of blood because this would probably be my one and only chance for a fish pedicure.  So after checking the box that said "No", I took off my boots, rolled up my pant legs, and surrendered my feet to the fish.  And wow, what a weird sensation it was!  10 pounds for 20 minutes was totally worth it.  My feet loved every second of it, and I know this sounds weird, but having the flesh pulled and eaten off of my feet had never felt so good.  The whole experience was reinvigorating, and now I can honestly say that fish have eaten my feet.  

On Saturday, I headed back to London (this was the day I was supposed to hang out with Molly).  Getting back to London took no time, although, of course, the tube line that I needed to take to get back to Paddington was shut down just for the day that I needed it.  The old me would have freaked out.  But now that I am 21 and full of wisdom, I stayed calm and figured out a new route to take without even asking anyone for help.  I was very impressed with myself because if you didn't know, I am the girl who has to drive home first before I go anywhere new because I only know where places are in relation to my house in Los Angeles.  Very sad, but true, and I am very happy to say that this abroad experience is really broadening my horizons and may just be the push that I needed to try and learn my way around Los Angeles.  But anyway, once I made it to Paddington Station, I had a two and a half hour layover for my next train to Exeter.  Seeing that there was another train leaving in just one hour, I asked the woman at the tickets line if I could trade my ticket in for free.  The answer: No.  So there I was again stuck in London in the freezing cold.  I strolled around outside for a bit, but two hours did not leave me enough time for what I truly wanted to do...go shopping at Harrods (I'll save that for next trip!)  Not having much luck shopping wise, I went back into the station.  Even though Paddington Station is technically "indoors", it is equivalent to standing outside due to the freezing cold and no central heating.  Why, London, why???  I don't understand why no one in England doesn't just invest money in a heater.  They all complain that it is so cold, but still, no central heating ANYWHERE.  So, because my body temperature was abnormally low and I had lost my mittens in Norwich, I decided to go to Starbucks to warm me up as I was waiting for my train.  As I was walking there, a pigeon pooped on my boot.  Yes, Paddington Station is indoors, and yes, I am probably the only person who has ever gotten pooped on by a bird while indoors, but instead of getting upset and throwing my arms up in the air, I decided that because the chances were so low to get pooped on like that as I did, I would be extra lucky for the rest of the day.  And you know what, my luck started to turn around for the better.  My order at Starbucks = hot chai latte.  What they served me = room temperature chai latte.  Usually I try not to complain, but because this was a three pound latte (equivalent to over $5), I decided that Starbucks was going to make it right.  I asked them to reheat my drink, but instead of reheating it, they made me a new one, upgraded my size, gave me a free drink coupon for the next time I order something, and would not stop apologizing.  I looked down at my pooped stained boot and smiled.  The luck was coming through.  My hands finally regained feeling from my hot drink, and I went back to the seating area and took my seat to wait another hour for my train.  But all of the sudden, the ticket lady came up to me and told me to take the earlier train, gave me the ticket, and told me not to worry about the price difference.  I smiled at my pooped stained boot.  

The train ride was great, a little less than two hours which is very rare.  (I think it was the bird poops doing.)  So even though my friend's flight didn't make it out to London, I got a free Starbucks and was able to get back to Exeter and relax a little earlier.  I had a great time in Norwich and a lucky time getting back from London.  Don't worry though, I washed the poop off my boot as soon as I got back to my flat.  

Next weekend I head off to Germany with Exeter's chocolate society to visit chocolate factories and Christmas markets!  All of Europe gets very geared up for Christmas so I am extra excited to see what Cologne, Germany has to offer.  I have been working out extra at the gym, and I am planning on packing my stretchy pants in preparation for this chocolate trip.  This is my second to last weekend in Europe before I go home for winter break so I am going to live it up.  Check back next week and until then grutenfrogen (it sounds like a German word to me).