Today we drove to Tim’s parent’s house, because they were throwing an engagement party for Tim and Joann. So, we dressed up and went to the party. Great food, nice people, and lots of humor made that night pass very quickly.
Author: Benjamin Trotter
Drive to Witten
Today we drove up to Witten, where Jürgen and Eli lived before their study abroad in England this year. We met with Gordon and Christina and stayed at their place. We had a great dinner and watched Final Destination on DVD =)
Königstein
Jürgen and I went to Königstein to look at the city. It’s very close to Bad Soden, so it was only about a 20 minute drive. There, we went to a fortress at the top of the hill, and saw a castle that Tina Turner had once owned. We also went by a bank to get a Euro Starter Kit. That evening, Tim came down, because Joann was flying in from Singapore the next morning.
Christmas Flight
Today I flew out to Frankfurt. I had an ok flight, didn’t sleep much, and it seemed to be one of the longest flights I had ever been on. Most of that was probably due to the lady that sat next to me, who talked in a 9ft voice, instead of the 3in. voice acceptable in close quarters. Anyhow, I arrived early at the airport, and waited out in front of the customs gate for Jürgen to arrive. It was just 10 minutes before I saw him walking toward the gate. I was so excited to be there! We went out front, and Eli was waiting in the car. The snow was really nice to see, and I really started feeling like I was really in Germany!
When we came to Jürgen’s house, I thought it was so nice! It really looked Japanese to me, the way everything was so modern and new looking. I met his parents, and was so happy to be in their home. I took a nap, because Eli’s brother was having a birthday party that day that we were going to. So, that evening, I got to meet Eli’s mother, and her brothers, Robert and Sebastian. They were all so amazingly nice, and I’m always so impressed how people can speak English, without being in the US or an English-speaking country.
I was dead-tired, but dedicated to staying up until night to get off of jet lag.
Fall Break Trip to Washington DC
Washington DC–My own nation’s capital. Finally I was able to visit the home of my own government. UT put on a Fall Break trip for a group of 40 of us to go see Washington DC. So, when I saw the advertisement, I knew that I should take the opportunity to go. Definitely, it was a great decision.
We started out the trip at night, on a chartered bus. We drove all night and arrived the next morning in DC. Needless to say, I was really tired, due to my incapability of sleeping on moving transportation (this is not a good thing for a traveler like myself to have). Anyhow, when we arrived, we had to start touring, because the hotel wouldn’t let us check in. So, we went around the capitol building on down to the Holocaust Museum. This was an awesome thing to see, and I am really more interested now to see the House of Anne Frank in Holland.
So, anyhow, after the museum, I received tickets to have a special tour of the Capitol Building. After meeting the Congressman representing Knoxville in his office, we were shown around the different areas in the Capitol Building. The most fascinating thing was all the art and architectural secrets within. Within almost every painting or wall, there seemed to be some type of secret about it. The tomb for Washington that was never filled (George died a little bit too early–before the tomb was finished!), the artists persistently putting their faces in the paintings they painted. How funny.
After the Capitol, we were all beat, so we went back to the hotel, and rested. The next day, we all went and looked at the different monuments because it was such nice weather. We went to the Washington Monument, which was closed for renovations. Then we walked over to the Jefferson Memorial for some pictures. There was so much security everywhere, it was like I was in a different country. I had never seen so many armed personnel in the states before. It was really eerie. We then walked over to the White House, and my first thought was how small it was. I really thought it would be much bigger, and it may be just because of where we were standing, but I thought it was small. After that we stopped by the Red Cross Building, then over to the Lincoln Memorial.
That night was a lot of fun at the hotel with a little party. The next day however was when we had to leave, and we still hadn’t seen the Pentagon, so we made an early trip out to see the damage. It was really sad to see such damage done to a building as important as the Pentagon, and to have been done in vain. After seeing the destruction, we all headed back to the hotel shocked. We then hopped on the bus for another long drive back home.
All in all, this trip was really educational, just for the fact of seeing the United States Capitol and government buildings. If you haven’t been there before, it is a must see for every American.
Beautiful Mont St. Michel
After spending the night in Caen, we were off to see the incredible Mont. St. Michel, a castle built on a little island surrounded by the sea when the tide is up. Between morning and evening, you are able to cross out to the castle, but if you wait to late, you’ll be stuck on the island because of the water. Unfortunately, when we ordered our tickets, there was a confusion on what stop we were actually to get off. Once we missed it, the next stop was a good 30 minutes away. Thinking that this was a modern country, I thought that another train would take us back to the stop we missed. Surprisingly, there were no buses, trains, airplanes, ships, submarines, rickshaws, hovercrafts, mule-carts, or any type of public transport back to that stop. How strange is that? So, frustrated, we had to pay for a personal taxi to drive us almost an hour to the castle. The driver was a really nice man who spoke not one word of English. During our drive there though, on his radio station came the song “Georgia”. With my limited, VERY LIMITED French, I explained that we were from the US (obviously) and that my parents were from Georgia. Anyhow, we made it to the castle, and it was a great stop.
After walking around the castle grounds for a while, we headed back to a bus that would take us to the train station back to Paris. While we were waiting, we saw some punk kids making fun of the Japanese tourists. Yelling Konnichiwa and stuff like that. Well, the Japanese didn’t really understand what was going on, until they started hindering their way and such, so I spoke out in fluent Japanese (yes, I speak Japanese) and said, “Don’t mind those idiots, just pass by them.” Well, everyone was shocked, the punk kids looked, and the Japanese were thrilled that I could speak so well. So, I started a conversation with the Japanese tourists. It was really quite funny.
Arriving in Paris again, we went to our hotel, to pack and get ready for our flight home. We also went back to the Arc de Triomphe one last time for the great view of the Champs-Elysées. Sad to say goodbye to Paris, we left the next morning back for the US. I definitely would like to travel back to Paris. It truly is a magical city, and as one of my friends called it, “it is a city full of doll houses.”
Train to Normandy and D Day Beaches
The next two days we planned for a trip outside Paris, into Normandy and Brittany. We wanted to see the Normandy D-Day Beaches, and Mont St. Michel near St. Malo. So after a train ride, we made it to Caen, which is a town near the D-Day beaches. We traveled on a tour (which is really the best way ever to see these types of things) with a young lady who is a native of Brittany, and whose masters degree was in Normandy History. So, as the story unfolded of the history, I felt totally consumed by her words, and seeing the actual places we were talking about during the stories was the most educational tour I had ever participated in.
Tour Eiffel
Today we slept in and decided to finally see the Tour Eiffel, hoping for blue skies. Fortunately, we did get a good few hours to see great views from atop the tower, and around on the ground. We chose to walk up the tower for the best experience, to truly appreciate the magnificence of such a structure. Not only was it great exercise, but the views were worth every step.
We also went to the Sacre Coeur Church. Here is where in the movie Amelie, she goes to meet her guy. It was still pretty dreary, but you could see far out into the big landmarks of the city from the hill.
Train to Versailles!
The next day we bought a train ticket to Versailles, to see the palace. Unfortunately, it poured down rain the entire day, and the palace gardens were under a major reconstruction. Seeing the King’s apartments, and other places in Versailles was fascinating. After seeing these places, you really feel like you traveled back in time to see them. Truly amazing.
Despite the frigid air, we had a great lunch of ravioli before we headed back to Paris. Once we got back into the city, we went to try to see the Catacombs, but they were closed for renovations :(. So we left there, and headed to the Rodin Museum that has ‘The Thinker’
Mona Lisa!
The next day we planned for the Louvre. Finding the entrance to this museum was even difficult, much less finding the works of art we had a particular interest in >> Venus De Milo, Mona Lisa and others.. Anyhow, this was a great experience to see how many treasures we do still have preserved today. We saw great Van Gogh paintings and went all around the place just trying to even take a bite of the works in. It’s impossible. I mean, c’est ne possible pas. :)
We went to the Pompidou Centre as well, and then to the Pantheon, which was closed. Cruising around the city we went to the famous Hotel de Ville and enjoyed people watching.