Luxembourg-Brussels-Cologne-Frankfurt- Part 4

Frankfurt was our last leg in our 4 city Holy Week journey.  I had previously heard mixed reviews about this city.  Honestly I can say I didn't hate it.  Like every city in Europe, it has it's own style, feel, and ambiance.  We arrived at about midnight on the train and went straight to the hostel for some shut eye.  The next day we set out to see the city.  Unlike Cologne, Frankfurt actually has quite a skyline.  Being one of the centers for the European Union there are many office buildings and important political and business people in that area of town.  But not 4 blocks away from the tall skyscrapers and the modern buildings is the heart of the old town.  We walked around town enjoying the architecture and doing a little people watching.  Then Beth and I decided it would be another great idea to climb the cathedral tower.  After all it only costs 1 Euro.  =\  You would think I would have learned the day before, Erin + Heights = anxiety and fear.

After the tower we checked out the History Museum.  It was really cool to learn a little about the history and what important events took place in the city we were visiting.  The museum we went to had a very extensive collection along with many high tech videos and interactive areas for children!  After wandering around the museum for a couple hours we decided to check out the Dippimesse (Spring Fair).  We had been seeing posters around town and made the hike to the outskirts of town to see it.  It was a carnival, with a german twist of course.  Think your county fair only with bratwurst, crepes, beer, beer, and oh yeah.... some beer.

We wandered around checking out the carnival rides and the booths set up selling random odds n ends and parked ourselves in the beer tent.  The empty beer tent.  There we decided to start tasting the local drink, apfelwein.  A cider beer that was super good!

After the Dippimesse, we had a tidge of an adventure.  Instead of booking another night at our hostel we had a brilliant idea to stay up all night to save the money we would have paid for a bed because our bus to the airport left at 3am.  I would not ever in my life recommend this to anyone.  It always sounds easy when you are throwing the idea around.  I mean, staying up until 3am usually is no problem for me.  This was the longest night of my life.  Beth and I have both concluded that even though it sounds easy we never want to do this again.  That being said, Frankfurt was great.  We stayed up, caught our flight and had a blurry trip back to Vigo. 

Luxembourg-Brussels-Cologne-Frankfurt - Part 3

After a bit of confusion about the train stations and a quick jog through the metro, Beth and I were on our way to Cologne.  This city was quite the mystery to me before arriving.  I had heard so many people say "You will love Cologne!" before coming, but they were right.  Cologne was pretty cool.  First off, the second you set foot in Germany you just sense the punctuality and organization of the country.  Trains are on time, with seating arrangements, and arrive to the city center with ease.  The people seemed to taller, and way more in a hurry(At least from what I'm used to).  

Once we arrived, we exited the train station to be absolutely awed by the massive cathedral standing in front of us.  Looking at our clocks we made the foolish decision to climb to the top of the cathedral with 30 minutes until closing.  Seems like an easy task, but after 530 something stairs with your backpack on your back, you realize just how stupid of a decision it was.  After a short panic attack due to a  fear of heights and about 5,000 calories later, we set off to explore the rest of the city.  Cologne is located on the Rhine River.  If you remember, a few weeks earlier I was in Basel, Switzerland which is also located on the Rhine.  It was pretty neat to see the same river in two different countries.  

 The Dom - Cathedral

View from the top! 

The next day we spent wandering around the city.  We walked across the lock bridge, went on top of the triangle to see the views of the city, walked through the old part of town and ended with a meal at the Früh am Dom.  There I got my hands on a delicious german bratwurst and cabbage.  The rest of the day Beth and I picked up a few Kolsch beers and walked around town waiting for our train to Frankfurt.  

Inside the Cathedral - Probably the most impressive stained glass I've ever seen.  

On the Rhine River

View from the Triangle

Lock Bridge - I think almost every major European city has one of these things.  

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Luxembourg-Burssels-Cologne-Frankfurt- Part 2

Beth and I stayed in Brussels the longest.  We arrived in the night to this diverse city and after checking into our hostel (that was right next to the Godiva chocolate factory), we made our way to the hostel bar to try the famous belgium beer.  To our luck, the bartender was Spanish and we had a lovely time practicing my castellano.  The next morning we hit the town.  Riding the metro into the city center was like a mini experience in itself.  There were people of all races, all backgrounds, and speaking all languages on the train.  It was so exciting to hear all of the diversity co-exsisting in one society at once.

Subway in Brussels - I love how they are designed!

We headed straight towards the city center where we saw comic walls, mannekin pis statue, the chocolate museum, belgium waffle stands, and so much more.  After an interesting tour of the chocolate museum we headed off to the Parliamentarium, which is the heart of Europe.  The visitors center at the Parliamentarium was amazing.  I learned about the development and history of the European Union, which countries are involved and when they joined, some general information about political processes and also looked at some of the current leaders of the EU.  I can honestly say I have never been to a more high tech place with touch computer screens, personal headsets, and interactive features.  If anyone has the chance I would recommend it!

Mannekin Pis

Comic Walls

Belgium Waffles

I love the streets of Brussels

Chocolate Museum

Parlimentarium

Playing with Pablo Picasso at the Parlimentarium

Basilica in Brussels

We ended the day walking through the streets of Brussels, gazing at the basilica, and tasting a few beers at the hostal bar.  The next day was a rush.  We woke up early and headed out to see the Atomium, a great structure built for the World Fair in Brussels.  Then we hit the Godiva outlet store and raced through the daily flee market before hopping on a train to Cologne (Koln) Germany! 

Godiva Outlet Shop

Morning Flee Market

Smurfs! 

Atomium

Luxembourg-Brussels-Cologne-Frankfurt- Part 1

This will be one of a four part blog post.  In Spain during holy week, all schools are on vacation.  My roommate Beth and I took the opportunity to see some parts of Europe not yet explored by either of us. While it seems like we spent a ton of time in each of these places, Beth and I actually did something I like to call "Speed Traveling".  This meaning we didn't spend more than 48 hours in each place that we visited.  Our first stop was Luxembourg.

Esté blog post es el primero de cuatro.  Durante la Semana Santa en España, en las escuelas no hay clase.  Mi compañera de piso y yo usamos este oportunidad a ver algunas partes de Europa que todavía no habíamos visitado.  Mientras parece que pasamos mucho tiempo en cada sitio, en realidad Beth y yo hicimos algo que yo llamo "Speed Traveling".  Significa que no pasamos más de 48 horas en cada sitio que visitamos. La primera parada era Luxembourg.  

Luxembourg is a small country located in the middle of France, Germany and Belgium.  We arrived in the night to the town of just over 500,000 people to a clean and cozy hostel.  The next morning we had the luxury of our own personal tour guide through the city.  Beth has a friend of a friend that lives in Luxembourg and she agreed to give us a walking tour of the city.  We learned that Luxembourg is very different than Spain.  Most of the people that reside there are very wealthy.  We saw the city market, the cathedral, the Duke's city palace, the Viaduc, and much more.  We had a famous Luxembourgish hot chocolate in a break from the cold and visited the famous Casemates.   Towards the end of the day we headed off towards the train station.  Luckily we had booked an early train because due to rail issues, we waited well over two hours for our train to arrive.  Once on, we were off to Brussels!

Luxemburgo es un paìs pequeño localizado entre Francia, Alemania, y Bélgica.  Llegamos por la noche  a la ciudad, que tiene más de 500.000 personas, a un hostal limpio y cómodo.  Al día siguiente  conocimos la ciudad acompañadas de una guía local, la cual era amiga de una conocida de Beth que vive en Luxemburgo.  Aprendimos que Luxemburgo es muy diferente de España.  La mayoría de la gente que residen son ricos.  Vimos el mercado de la ciudad, la catedral, el palacio del Duque, el viaducto, y mucho más.  Tomamos el famoso chocolate caliente de Luxemburgo durante un descanso del frío y visitamos los famosos "Casemates".  Al final del día fuimos a la estación de tren.  Con suerte llegamos temprano porque había problemas con los trenes y esperamos durante 2 horas al tren para ir hasta Bruselas.  

In front of the Duke's palace

Our tour guide through Luxembourg

Hot Chocolate Spoons = Deliciousness

The river that runs through the center of town.  

View from the Casemates

City above, nature below.  

On our way to the train station 

Springtime in Cangas

Unlike back home, Spring seems to finally be arriving.  On a quiet Sunday when the sun was shining and the temperature actually hit 60 degrees, I decided to head to Cangas (across the ria) to do some beach exploring.  Here is what I found!

Al contrario que mi país, parece que la primavera finalmente ha llegado.  En un domingo tranquilo cuando hizo sol y la temperatura era mas de 15 grados Celsius, decidí a ir a Cangas (al otro lado de la ría) a explorar las playas.  ¡Esto es lo que encontré allí!

Real Madrid Vs. Celta de Vigo

Fútbol.... Soccer..... Fútbol..... Soccer?

I had the opportunity to take in some real amazing European Football, ahem Soccer, and snatched it up.  Vigo is fortunate enough to have a Division 1 team this year, meaning they get to play all the top teams.  So of course, I had to go see Real Madrid when they came to town.  A couple friends and I splurged and bought tickets ahead of time.  We lucked out with great seats and of course had to cheer on the home team, Celta de Vigo.  This being my first big Soccer game ever, I was just a little excited.  Enjoy the photos folks!

Fútbol.... Soccer...... Fútbol ..... Soccer? 

Tuve la oportunidad a ver el famoso fútbol europeo, ahem soccer.  Afortunadamente, Vigo tiene un equipo en división 1 este año, significando que juegan contra todos los mejores equipos en España.  Por supuesto tuve que ver Real Madrid cuando vinieron a Vigo.  Unos amigos y yo derrochamos  y compremos billetes temprano.  Con un poco de suerte tuvimos asientos buenos y por supuesto tuvimos que jalear al equipo de casa, Celta de Vigo.  Era mi primer partido de fútbol en mi vida y estaba muy feliz.  Disfruta las fotos! 

Final Score - Real Madrid 2 - Celta de Vigo 1