An English Christmas

To start off, I would like to wish everyone a very happy holiday season. In Germany, we say, Frohe Weihnachten und ein gutes neues Jahr (Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year)!!

The past week has been a roller coaster ride. However first off I would like to thank Laura and her family for having me at their home to celebrate Christmas! I had the most wonderful time, filled with great food, drink (of course), and company! I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Wilmslow, a suburb just south of Manchester, England. Laura and I made the trek into Manchester the day after I arrived for a couple reasons: 1) The airline temporarily lost my bag, therefore I needed clothes; 2) We wanted to see the city; and 3) We wanted a fantastic cocktail. Well, I have to say, Manchester did NOT disappoint! We took the train to Manchester Picadilly (can it get more English than that?!??!!) because of the awful weather England had been experiencing. I have to say, I really really wish Milwaukee had trains as easily accessible and useable as Europe...theres no excuse! They are so user friendly and convenient! Anyways, we walked around the city a bit, went to Primark to get some clothes to hold me over, explored a mall, then ventured to the bars. Now, we really didn't have the intention to party it up in Manchester, but it happened - go figure :-) I think we went to about five bars and didn't return to Laura's until the wee hours of the morning.

The following days were filled with family time and wondrous meals, and also a night out in Wilmslow with a few of Laura's friends. We had a fantastic time ringing in Christmas at The Rectory and The Bollin Fee, complete with some Veuve Clicquot champagne...yum. Christmas day was nice and relaxing, and even filled with gifts! Laura's family and friends were very generous and lovely, really showing me a great English Christmas. I will definitely remember this one for a long, long time :-)

The flight home was really uneventful, which was welcomed considering how stressful the flight to England was. Cancellations, lost baggage, and unhelpful staff really made the beginning of the trip a hassle. Needless to say, Lufthansa is going to get a really angry call tonight... Maybe I'll get some reimbursement?? Cross your fingers!

Tuesday morning bright and early I'll be picking up Collin at the airport!! He will be here from the 29th of December through the 8th of January. Very excited for him to come so I can show him around Frankfurt. Hopefully we'll be able to get out of town to see another city/country as well.

Grüße!

Austin

Berlin

Hello again everyone...hoping all of you are well and enjoying the Christmas season wherever you are celebrating it.

I recently traveled to Berlin and really enjoyed getting to know another city. My friends and I arrived very early on Friday the 4th of December and stayed until the evening of Monday December 7th. Since we were there for a good amount of time, I really got a feeling of the city. I have to say, Berlin is nothing like what I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of New York...tall buildings, everything crammed close together, nothing green, etc. Boy was I wrong...

To start off, I knew that the city was big, but WOW was I surprised. Berlin's population is nearly 3.5 million, but it feels like more. Most of the buildings there aren't very tall, so in order to house everyone the city sprawls out, gobbling up smaller towns as it grows. Also, the amount of empty space in the city is astonishing. Parks, squares, and empty spaces are around every corner.

Another observation, Berlin uses many more above ground local trains that they do subways. I was surprised to find this out, again thinking everything would be more New York like... In Frankfurt, I can get from my dorm to the other side of the city in about 15-20 minutes. In Berlin it was muuuuch longer. Also, as with all cities here, there is no rhyme or reason to the streets. Each road twists and turns in all sorts of directions, making it nearly impossible to navigate the streets, even with a map.

Our hostel was really nice and very clean. Despite an incident with an Irish and a Fire extinguisher, the stay there was rather calm ;-) But oh yes, there was a pool table :-) It had been AGES since I've played and was really rusty, but it was fantastic nonetheless. At only 9 euros per night in a great central location it was a steal, and we even had our own bathroom...

Tomorrow, Sunday the 20th, I'm off to Manchester, England. I will be spending Christmas there with my friend Laura and her family. I'm really excited, and cannot wait to have an English Christmas! However, its supposed to snow buckets tomorrow...lets hope the flight isn't cancelled!