Day 6 - First real day in Mlini

I'm about a half a day behind on the blog. It's amazing how access to the beach delays my entries. ;) Actually, yesterday, I slept in until about 11:30am. We had a meeting with our faculty member, Professor Drobac, and Marco (the liason I mentioned in the last entry). It lasted about an hour and then we all had lunch in the hotel. I have already begun making friends with a few people who I sat with in the meeting and at lunch. After lunch, I changed my money over to Kuna (the official Croatian currency) and we all went up to our rooms and changed to our swimsuits and hit the beach!

The beach (and the view from my room) are extremely beautiful. I am pretty sure my pictures will not do them justice. The beach has mostly pebbles instead of sand, but after being in the water for a while, I found it to be comfortable under my beach towel. I also had a beer (no umbrella drinks here) and enjoyed the view from the small bar near the beach with Karrie, another student I have become friendly with. Something I love about the hotel is that any of the restaurants/bars in the hotel will put the things you purchase on your room and we are supposed to pay off the charges once a week with our credit cards. I am keeping track of the charges though, because I do not want a crazy bill when I return home.

So, after a couple hours on the beach, I decided to make sure I didn't get a sunburn, so I went up to my room to relax for a few hours. I put all of my pictures from the last few days onto my computer and watched one of the two channels that plays American movies with Croatian subtitles. Suprisingly, I am learning a few words in Croatian this way. There are also some very strange television channels on our TV. One is a news channel that is also in English. They also have MTV where the VJ's are speaking in another language (possibly German?) but some of the shows are in English, and the music videos they show also are often in English. I watched the first Rock of Love with subtitles later in the evening. Another channel shows very racy advertisements later at night. Everyone in our group has been talking about shockingly stumbling upon them over the last few days.

Anyway...after relaxing, I got ready for our Welcome Dinner. It was held at the same bar/cafe by the beach. It was incredible watching the sunset over the beach and sipping on some wine. I also met some more people from our group. One girl had the worst possible trip over because her first flight was cancelled and all of her problems stemmed from the delay. I also met some of the students from Zagreb, Croatia who are part of the program, as well. So, in total there are 30 of us from the U.S. and 5 from Croatia. I found them very easy to talk to and they are very nice. In fact, most of the people in our group are very nice. The only real complaint I have is that many of the students are about 5 years younger than me and they are more focused on getting drunk and goofing off. I'm not a stick-in-the-mud, but I understand the importance of not treating this like a Spring Break trip. Hopefully, after a few days people will slow down a bit so I can get to know them better.

After dinner, I tried to get to bed as early as possible. We had class today beginning at 9am. Right now, it is a little after 1pm (7am Indiana time) and things should be wrapping up soon. Class is pretty interesting, but I find the internet to be a little bit of a distraction. I am hoping to have more time to do updates in the evenings so I can concentrate during class. That's all for now. More to come soon!

Day 5 - Traveling to Dubrovnik

So, the day started off pretty gloomy outside. Apparently, I was really lucky that it had not really rained until my 5th day in the Netherlands. It was not coming down very heavy or anything, just a light sprinkle. So, I got up around 9:30am (3:30am Indiana time) and had breakfast with Helga before she walked with me to the train station. She helped me get all of my luggage on the 1st train and we said our goodbyes.

I was only on the 1st train for a short time. I kept moving up the times I wanted to leave because I was so worried that a train would be delayed or I would have problems getting all of my luggage to the platforms in time. So, the first stop was Rotterdam again. I was there pretty briefly and headed to Utrecht, Netherlands for another connection.

Once in Utrecht, I boarded the international speedy train to Frankfurt, Germany. I had bought my ticket yesterday, so I was guaranteed a seat, or so I thought! Apparently you have to request a seat reservation and pay a little extra to do that. So, I was not allowed to sit in the seat I planned to, but luckily there was an unreserved seat nearby which I snatched up before someone else could.

I sat next to the sweetest German woman on the train. She reminded me of my Grandma so much - in looks and somewhat in personality, she was just a little older. She had the same curly hair and some similar facial features. She told me about her children and grandchildren and how she went back to school in her fifties to become an interpreter, so obviously she was very good with English. She also spoke Dutch, German (obviously) and a little bit of Spanish. She and I chatted for about an hour and a half until she reached her stop just over the border in Germany. She even gave me her container of apple juice because she said she really was not as thirsty as she thought she might be.

After she left some younger guy sat next to me. I had my iPod on by then, so we never spoke to each other. I arrived at Frankfurt airport around 4:10pm (10:10am Indiana time) and checked in after a LONG walk to the terminal. I found out that, SURPRISE, my luggage was over the weight limit so I had to pay about 40 Euros for the excess baggage. They weigh the luggage together (I guess it does not matter how many you have) and base their amount on the total weight. I swear, you win some and lose some.

Anyway, after I got that situated, I waited at the gate for about 2 hours to board the plane. I met a woman traveling with her 3 year old granddaughter. She lives in San Francisco but is originally from Croatia and was going to be vacationing for 8 weeks in Dubrovnik. We chatted about a lot of things and she gave me some pointers on things to see while I am here.

So, I made it to Dubrovnik, found my luggage and met with Marco, the Croatian liason for our group. I am not going to lie, he is a pretty cute guy, so my single lady friends, I will see if he will come back with me to meet you all. He speaks English too, so that is a big plus! Anyway, we rode to the hotel with one other guy from our group who was also on my flight. He is Croatian too, but has not been here since he was very young. The two guys talked in Croatian the entire ride (all of 10-15 minutes) so I was left to gaze out the window and see the lights reflecting in the water. I cannot wait to see what everything looks like in the daylight tomorrow.

I checked into my room and unpacked everything. I know, I am such a Virgo, but everything has its place already. ;) The room has two single beds, a desk (which I have turned into my make-up area), a closet (which I only took up half of) and a balcony (with a lawn chair). So far, I really like the place. I was a little worried though when I found out we do not have internet in any of the rooms. Luckily I did find out that we can use our classroom during other hours and it is wireless internet, so I can sit in here as long as I want, which is what I am doing right now.

That also means that pictures will be coming soon! I will try to put those on my computer tonight or tomorrow so on Monday I can put some on here after class. Well, I think that is it for now. I am still having trouble using my phone card. I swear, I have tried a dozen different ways, but every time it has not reached Adam, so I will keep trying. I will talk to someone about it tomorrow and see if I can get a solution. Anyway...until then, keep checking the blog for updates!

Day 4 (continued) - Rotterdam

So, this is a bit late, but I did not get home last night until about 3:45am (9:45pm Indiana time). Helga came home a little after I finished the last blog entry and we got ready to go to the party in Rotterdam where Bernard was DJing. On the way, Helga insisted that I try some Holland french fries because she said I could not miss them and it was the last night of that leg of the trip. Twist my arm, right? The fries were pretty comparable to ones in the states, BUT the weird part is that they serve them with mayonaise and peanut sauce. When you mix the two together, it is pretty glorious! ;) And, that was my dinner, so hopefully now that I am out of Holland, I will start eating better!

So, anyway, we took the train to Rotterdam and took a tram over to where the party was near. I did not expect it to be such a large city, but it looked like any other city in the U.S. with big buildings, etc. There is a really pretty bridge called the Erasmus (I think) Bridge, which we walked over on our trek back to the train station (the trams stopped running around 1am there and we did not arrive at the party until about 12:00am.

So, anyway...the party was in an abandoned house that overlooked one of the waterways. I guess in the Netherlands when a house becomes abandoned someone can just move in and claim it as theirs, then they fill out some sort of paperwork with the government to become the official owners. So, that is what this person did. And when you have an abandoned house that you just moved into it is common to throw a big party in it before you fix it up properly. So, the house was very interesting looking. It did have a separate area set up with a bar, so that was pretty cool.

While we were sitting having a beer and chatting some guy that reminded me of John Lennon came over and asked if we were together. I explained that we were just friends and her boyfriend was the DJ. So, he ended up talking to me for about 20 minutes. He was an art school teacher and he was the biggest hippie I had talked to in quite some time. I am convinced he was on something or possibly multiple things at the time. It was entertaining though.

After our 1 beer we were kindof over the party. The few people that Helga knew had left and the music was not really our style to dance to. It was the electronic music that has the good beats, but not really any words. So, we left the party and walked toward the downtown area. We were considering meeting some of her co-workers at a bar, but the one they were at was really out of the way, so we just decided to walk back to the train station.

So, we walked across the huge bridge and stumbled upon a Walk of Fame on one of the streets. It had the handprints and footprints of some celebrities. It was kindof fun to walk through there and see who had big or small hands, etc. It was like the Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, but smaller. So, we got a kick out of our discovery and headed back home. All in all it was an interesting night. I was glad that we ventured to Rotterdam, so I could give it some love from Elaine. ;) And, I did want to see it, and frankly it is probably prettier at night. And, as soon as we returned home I fell right asleep.

Day 4 - Amsterdam

I was amazingly surprised my first day when I didn't feel at all jet-lagged. I believe the lack of sleep is now beginning to catch up with me. I couldn't fall asleep last night until 3am (9pm Indiana time) and slept through the alarm I had set for 7:30am and instead woke up a little after 9am (3am Indiana time). I got ready pretty quickly and had breakfast with Bernard, Helga's boyfriend. Then I went to Rotterdam to buy my train tickets for tomorrow (I have to take three trains to get to Frankfurt airport for my flight to Dubrovnik), but I was really relieved to have my seat reserved and paid for so I don't have to mess with that tomorrow when I will have all of my luggage with me. Then, it was off to Amsterdam!

I didn't arrive until about 12:45pm and my first impression stepping out the train station was pure amazement. If you have been there, I'm sure you felt the same way. There are these impressive buildings all over and then all of the canals stemming from the Centraal Station. Oh, and the smell of marijuana all over the place was also a bit of a shock to the senses. What also impressed me was the fact that there weren't any signs telling me where the heck to go. So, I found a service that drives you near all of the major attractions and for a very small fee they will drop you off and pick you up as they drive along the path (like a bus, but less crowded and more flexible regarding where to stop).

So, I got dropped off about a block from the Anne Frank House, the major thing I wanted to see in Amsterdam. I met a couple from Minnesota and a woman from Wales.

The four of us had a nice chat outside in the line before we went in, but we all went our separate ways once inside. Everyone I had talked to about Amsterdam said that the museum was the thing to see. And they were right.

The artifacts they had and the way they presented them were very moving, in fact I got teary a couple of times. It was very emotional and I don't think that was just from the jet lag. ;) I was able to send a virtual message to two people, so I sent one to Adam and one to my mom. It was kind-of cheesy because I didn't know what to say and I was in a room full of other people while I was doing it.

Next stop, I requested on my driving route was the Van Gogh museum, simply because I knew it was by the Rijksmuseum, but I had no idea how to pronounce the name and didn't want to screw it up. Instead of going in the museums (even though I wished I could have but didn't due to time constraints) I chose to go on a boat tour of the canals. I was sad I couldn't see the museums, but it was such a nice sunny day, I thought the boat ride would be more fun. It was very relaxing to go around and see all of the beautiful bridges and houses. They even pointed out the smallest house in Amsterdam, which was three stories tall, but only as wide as the front door.

After I was on the boat for a while, I got antsy to wander around some more, so I got off at an early stop near Centraal Station and headed in a different direction. The tour was going to go past the area I had already been to, so I figured I would spend the time exploring more on my own. So, I wandered around for quite some time trying to find...what else but the Red Light District. It wasn't as easy to find as I had expected. I kept walking in different directions and finding interesting things, but obviously not what I had in mind. So, after wandering for a bit through the shopping area of town (which I found enjoyable to walk through anyway) a couple stopped me and asked for directions. Someone overheard me tell them that I had no clue where we were and I couldn't find the Red Light District and he pointed me in the right direction.

On my way to my destination I stumbled across the Dam Square, which was not really publicized but incredibly beautiful. The open square is surrounded by Nieuwe Kerk and St. Nicholas (beautiful churches), Koninklijk Paleis (the Town Hall), Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and the National Monument (which is basically a stone fallic symbol with lions in front of it). To think I had almost missed this on my search for the seedy neighborhood.

Surprisingly enough, the Red Light District is only two short blocks from the Dam Square. Who would have thought? The area wasn't at all what I expected. I guess I figured it would be like a Vegas area WAY off the strip, with tons of neon and trash on the street. First of all, most of the buildings in the area look exactly like the beautiful ones in the rest of Amsterdam, the only difference is that they have red curtains on the windows and some are open with scantily clad women in them.

I also pictured the women to be more like strippers, but most of them sat in the window either looking bored or even talking on their cell phones. I guess 4:30pm isn't a peak business hour for them, but I actually just felt sorry for them sitting there knowing no one was really interested in them for their professional purpose. I am sure that at night, it is a different story, though. The other thing that was so strange was that the businesses didn't look out of place among the beauty of the canals. I wasn't put off or disgusted by the atmosphere at all. There were enough pretty things to see to balance something very raw and in your face.

So, along the way back to the train station (which was not that far away, after all) I picked up a few souveniers and headed back to Helga's. We were originally going to meet at Den Haag (the Hague) but since I got such a late start to my day and the time in Amsterdam flew quickly we were not able to go there. It would have been nice because that is where the International Court of Justice is located, but I saw hookers instead. ;)

One thing you should all know is that I found a lot of coffee houses along my wanderings, however I was too intimidated to go inside any of them. I had heard plenty of stories of the goodies inside, however, I decided that by myself in a country where I didn't speak the language, it probably would not have been the best idea to mix legal marijuana with that equation. I know, I know, I must be getting smarter in my old age. Next time I come here, I will just have to bring a friend. ;)

Anyway, right now I am waiting for Helga to get home. She had a dance class tonight which I told her not to skip because I was here. Bernard is DJing at a party in Rotterdam later tonight, so we are going to go for a bit, so I figured that I needed to rest up. I think I will try to call Adam at work and surprise him...I hope he answers. That is it for now. Tomorrow, I am off to Frankfurt to fly to Croatia! Hopefully things will continue to go as well as they have on the next leg of my journey. Keep the comments coming, I love reading them!

Day 3 - I Love Belgium!

So, this morning I woke up at 5am (11pm Indiana time) because of the sunrise, I guess (see previous blog). I checked email again and read for a little while. I fell back asleep around 7am and re-awoke at 10am. I showered and got to the 11am train to Antwerp, Belgium. I sat next to a woman in her sixties on the train and we chatted for the whole ride. She was from Amsterdam and told me some amazing stories about having a baby at age 18 and giving him up for adoption. She moved to India in her late forties and around that time, she and her son were reunited. He was about 25 at the time. She said they are still in contact and now he is in his forties. She is now a Hari Chrishna (sp?) and was heading to Antwerp to prepare for a festival taking place this weekend. She was a really sweet woman and I really liked chatting with her.

I arrived in Antwerp around noon (6am Indiana time) and the woman from the train told me the route to the tourist sites, but I think I would have found them without the advice. Almost immediately off the train you run into the shopping district, called Meir. It is a long street closed off from most traffic with a ton of shops and restaurants. Almost all of the restaurants had separate outside seating and it was fun strolling down the roadway. Apparently this area really likes H&M because I passed three of them on my walk. There were some other stores I recognized and obviously some I didn't. There was even one called Princess. :)

At the end of Meir I went inside the Cathedral of Our Lady. It was very pretty but I didn't get a great view because you had to pay to go further in. After the cathedral, I went to Grote Markt (Market Square) where the City Hall is located. It was very pretty and I loved the fact that the city was really easy to get around. After all of my walking I headed back toward the train station and got a pizza at one of the MANY Italian restaurants along the Meir. They give you an entire pizza (which I could not finish) that is very thin and has to be cut into pieces to eat. It was tasty and I had plenty of time to get to the train to meet Helga. The trains to Brussels only come once an hour from the Netherlands, so Helga gave me her German cell phone and texted me to let me know which train I had to board. The plan worked perfectly and I met Helga on the train and we were off to Brussels.

The train ride to Brussels took about 20 minutes and we were there by about 3:15pm (9:15am Indiana time). On our way in, Helga pointed out Brussels' Red Light District, which you can see from the train. I took a very blurry picture on our ride back.
Once we arrived in Brussels, we decided to take the Metro (subway) to an outer part of the city to see the EU headquarters and a beautiful park. I am SO glad Helga was with me because I found the Metro a bit intimidating. It wasn't scary, just very busy. So, we saw a bit of the EU headquarters and strolled through the park.
I enjoyed how peaceful it was there and we even got a free show from a couple passionately kissing in the grass. ;)

Next, we took the Metro back to the city center. We wandered around for a while because the signs were not as clear as we thought, but we eventually found the Cathedrale Saints Michel et Gudule (Saints Michael and Gudule Cathedral).
It was much more impressive than the cathedral in Antwerp with amazing stained glass windows installed in the 1500's. There was also a sculpture made entirely of oak which was really impressive. For one Euro we could also see the burial area which the church was built over from the 11th Century. It was small but still impressive to think it has been there for about 1,000 years.

Outside the cathedral, we found our way to the Grand-Place (Market Place), and it's name rings true. The market is truly grand and beautiful!
The Grand-Place houses the Town Hall, Maison du Roi (House of the King) and other shops and restaurants.








A small part was being worked on, but it was still quite impressive. Nearby there are a bunch of Belgian chocolate shops and we went in a few and even received some free samples! And, oh my, they were tasty. We each bought a small package of chocolate from a different shop and a can't guarantee I will have any left when I return.

Next, we bought a dinner\dessert of, you guessed it, a belgian waffle with chocolate and whipped cream (Helga had ice cream instead) and we ate in the Grand-Place and enjoyed the view.

On our way back to the train station, we stopped by Eglise Saint-Nicholas (Saint Nicholas Church) but were unable to go inside because a service was taking place. So, with our extra time, we made it back to the earlier train (7:20pm) and made it back to her apartment by about 9pm. I showed Helga some pictures of people from back home and she showed me a video of her belly dancing group's performance. Since about 10:30pm (4:30pm Indiana time) I have been checking email and updating the blog. So, as it is now after midnight, I need to get some sleep because I have another fun-filled day ahead, this time in Amsterdam and a few more Holland spots.

Also, please be patient on pictures, I may need to edit the blog once I have them on my computer and add them in once I get settled in Dubrovnik. So, when you check back next week, hopefully I will have pictures to go along with these older entries. Thanks for your patience.

FYI

FYI - in the summer, the sun doesn't set in the Netherlands until about 10:30pm and rises around 4:30am. Crazy stuff!

Days 1 & 2 - Traveling to Dordrecht

I left Bloomington yesterday at 11am with Adam for the airport. We made it there in plenty of time and I was so proud of myself for fitting six weeks of what I would need in 1 big suitcase, a backpack and a large purse. So, I was a bit sad when I was told that my suitcase weighed 8 pounds over the amount allowed, so I was going to have to pay an extra $50. Luckily, there was a little shop near the ticket counter where I bought a small duffel bag where I put a few things from the suitcase. So, I had two checked bags after I had tried so hard to only have 1. I guess that means I'll have room for a few souveniers. So, after the luggage situation was taken care of, I had a teary goodbye with Adam infront of the security guys (who made fun of me a little bit).

I arrived in Chicago around 2pm central time and met my parents at O'Hare for a quick lunch. The restaurant my dad wanted to go to was closed, so we found a little Italian place about 20 minutes from the airport. I was a bit nervous about getting back in plenty of time, but the food was good and I was through security and at the gate with two hours before my flight. As it turned out, I didn't even need to worry if I was late, because we were delayed about 45 minutes while the ground crew re-adjusted some special cargo.

I slept for about 2 hours on the plane ride and caught one of the in-flight movies. The seven hours went by surprisingly fast. I arrived in Amsterdam this morning at 9:45am (3:45am Indiana time). I exchanged my dollars to euros, got both of my checked bags and breezed through customs. Then I learned how to work a pay phone to call Helga. I probably wasted about 2 euros because they don't give you change. I also had a bit of difficulty getting my train ticket to Rotterdam to meet Helga. The machine I used with my credit card asked for a PIN number and it wouldn't accept my debit card. Luckily, there was a ticket office nearby and I was able to purchase a ticket on my credit card from her just fine. I took the train to Rotterdam and met Helga at the station. I got her keys and a map with the route to her apartment in Dordrecht highlighted. It was an easy 10 minute walk through a really pretty park. I made it to Helga's around 12:30pm local time (6:30am Indiana time). I was still feeling pretty good on my 2 hours of sleep, so I took a much needed shower and relaxed on the balcony overlooking the park.


Helga got to the apartment around 2:15pm and made us lunch. In the park outside of Helga's building is a free petting zoo with goats, peacocks, cows and other typical petting zoo inhabitants.


We walked around there for a little bit, and then, we walked to downtown Dordrecht about 10 minutes from the train station on the other side. It is a beautiful town with a perfect mixture of traditional buildings (including a lovely church built in the 1600's and a monastery from the 1500's).

I took a TON of pictures already (which I will try to post ASAP). We also stopped at a little restaurant that makes pancakes. We both had an order of them as our dinner\dessert...YUM! The meal, including my Coke Zero was only about 6 euros. At least we did a lot of walking, so I felt o.k. having the treat.

We got back here about 7:15pm (1:15pm Indiana time) and I spent over an hour checking and writing emails (and I've only been gone a day and a half) on Helga's computer. It is a bit harder using the German keyboard because some of the keys are different. We are now watching Germany play Turkey is a World Cup semi-final futbol game and enjoying a glass of French wine.

Tomorrow, I am off to Belgium. I plan to spend a bit of time in Antwerp early in the day and meet Helga and go see some sights in Brussels after she leaves work.