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Cork & Alli's Trip Report

Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.com
8,067 views
All right gang this will be an on going thread. We could not possibly recreate our entire trip in one long drawn out boring :roll: :funn: thread, so we will report daily on each day spent in Europe. I'll start and Cork can refute ...I mean collaborate.....my efforts!

Days prior to the adventure
Cork was sending me emails and websites fast and furious....ummmm excuse me Cork...I have been packed for days...all her "last minute" instructions were of not use to me....:funn:
Dec. 27th 2007
I get to the airport in Columbia SC 3 hours ahead of schedule...per Cork and US Air's advice....MAYBE if I was leaving from JFK, Laguardia or ATL I would have needed to be there that early...but in little ol' Columbia SC it was a waste of 2 1/2 hours....:roll: No matter...It was GREAT just to be on the first leg of my trip!!!! I called Cork's cell as I was waiting, just to say Hi and to let her know I was on my way! EXCEPT...no cork...:eek: she had forwarded her phone to one of her associates...OH great I thought...what if something happens in Charlotte and I have no way to get in touch with her......:doh: I worried for nothing...she was waiting at my gate as I stepped off the plane!:wub:
We had a long 9 hour flight (took off 7:30 pm our time) We did get food on the plane...:roll: We each got head sets and watched "The Devil Wears Prada"...I tried to get some sleep...but I didn't get much. Finally started moving around 8:30 European time (3:00 our time) We landed in Frankfurt around 10:00. How EXCITING!!! I could not believe that I was actually doing this! I put my faith in Cork...and she didn't let me down! I did not know prior to this trip (I found out in the airport) that the reason that she knows so much about European back packing is, she and her ex conducted travel tours (the inexpensive way) for many years! She really knows her way around the Eurail system...And would have been much better if only she had a COOK BOOK!!!!!!:bang:
We got on a train bound for Amsterdam...how funn!!! I learned to LOVE trains...gosh how I wish we had such a wonderful system here!
Our train was taking many commuters home and as we were nearing one of our stops, the train stopped moving. Finally they made several announcments "the train's computer system has crashed" We are dead on the tracks. Cork and I cracked up at this announcment..."Please do not smoke in the smoking car any more. The air system is not working and there is no oxygen in the smoking car" I had visions of the people in "Total Recall" gasping for breath as the oxygen is sucked out of the car by smoke.....:floor:
The final announcment was "Well I guess you know this train is DONE" we waited for a tow to come and take us to the station.....
We finally made it to Amsterdam. In the station we found the travel agency (I amsterdam) and found a hotel to stay in. We were first told we had to book 3 nights....:eek: because of the New Year, but the young lady found us a one night hotel! We bought a 24 hour bus ticket and went to our hotel. Amsterdam is a wonderful old city..but very busy and modern as well. We got to the hotel (my backpack was KILLING my back....do you think maybe, just maybe, I had packed too much? :eek: ) We decided to forgo a shower and just hit the town...Mistake! We walked all around our hotel area (Princengrad? Cork will have to fill in all the names and places that I miss or miss spell :blush: ) We walked through Rembrandt Square and through the tulip/flower market..(pictures to follow)
As it started getting later we hit a brown cafe, enjoyed the menu, and walked around the red light district...:shock: We sure weren't in Kansas any more...:floor: There is so much to see and absorb in Amsterdam! A truly amazing place!!!!!
We were trying to decide what to have for dinner...the only places in Amsterdam are Pizza joints or Argentinean resturants! I wanted authentic food...NO SUCH THING!! We had some frites with mayonaise (best thing we have ever tasted...esp. after the brown cafe.....:clap_1: ) We finally gave in and had pizza...it was good, but NOT amore's! We took our leftovers to the hotel and crashed. It was about 1:30 by this time so we had been awake for about 24 hours by this time. We did not leave a wake up call....BIG MISTAKE......about 11:30 the next morning the maids tried to get in, and then the desk clerk stuck his head in and told us they needed to clean the room for other guests! I have never scrambled so fast in my life! I had torn my backpack apart the night before to shed some of the clothes I had packed...so I had clothes all over the place! I shoved them into the backpack, rinsed off...alas...NO SHOWER FOR ME....:( And we flew out of the room leaving our pizza leftovers for the cleaners....apologized (as cork says We are surely not the first people to do this....JET LAG!) We stowed our stuff at the hotel, got directions to a post office and took off. I got a box to send my stuff home in. Back to the hotel...then back to the post office and I lost 10 unneeded pounds for the mere price of 32 Euros...well worth the money! My back was HAPPY!!!!
We found a wonderful resturant that served pancakes (AKA crepes) and we feasted!
We found an internet cafe, where we posted our first SoWal posts and Cork took care of some business. By this time it was 4:00 and time to move on. We got our backpacks...AHHHHH mine was so light....:biggrin: We stopped in at a "deli" style market and bought dinner...salads, cheeses, meats and fruit.
Took a bus back to the station...but wait! Did we get on the right bus....NOOOOOO...we went about 20 minutes out of our way.....:floor: OH well...that is all part of the experience! When we got to the station we picked up some bread and wine...:biggrin:
We hopped on a train headed for Belgium. Had a wonderful dinner in our first class seats!

Tomorrow you will hear about or stay in Brussles and our 4 1/2 hour whirlwind tour of Paris......
OK Corkie baby...you need to chime in here girl!!!!

Edited

Replies

162
Cork On the Ocean avatar
directionally challenged
#152
"About time I piped in"? Don't quite get that.

I'm just a "bystander" who has been fortunate enough to listen to some of Cork's European adventures. Someday I hope to enjoy some of those exciting "finer things in life". I envy you, Cork and anyone else who doesn't just dream about travel .. but travels his/her dreams.

MM

Alifunn is wiser than you think MM :floor::floor:
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#153
Another Cork & Alli instillation ...................
Copenhagen......
After our train departed the belly of the ferry we traveled to Copenhagen.
We walked out of the station, but there was no tourist information location to be found, so we took off on foot....back packs and all...poor cork was in pain by this point of the trip...suffering from a broken toe.....important safety tip :biggrin: ...DO NOT break your toe days before a walking trip of Europe....:( :bang:
Copenhagen is a large glitzy city with lots of shopping, movie theaters and the Tivoli Gardens (an amusement park/casino/gardens) We walked through a square and saw several beautiful, old and EXPENSIVE looking hotels. Most of them were 5 star...so forget that :eek: ! We ended up in a tourist shopping area. I talked to one of the shopkeepers and asked her where we could find a reasonable hotel. She gave me a map of the city and said that the old red light district had the best deals and it was now a safe place to get a room.:shock: This area was behind the station...so we had to walk all the way back to that area....poor cork....
We chose the Comfort Hotel...not related to the US....and looked at the room. The first room we had was very musty and smelled like mold...I was not keen on the possibility of getting some kind of sickness...so we switched rooms...much better!
The evening turned out to be pretty low key...we walked around the city to find a place to have dinner. Denmark is another country that does not use euros...so everything is even more expensive! We opted for a steakhouse. I had steak, baked potato & salad. We finished dinner and walked around a bit more. We went to the Hard Rock Cafe and had a beer. We returned to our hotel, used the computer for a while and went to bed. Got up the next morning, (I showered of course!:blush: ) we had breakfast, made reservations for the train, then walked around a while before our next trip.
Copenhagen is an old city that is trying to be modern...it is caught in the middle. I have to say that it was my least favorite of all the cities we visited. (the best part of the trip was the ferry ride....) I suppose you can pretty much tell by the short report....:blush:
We got back to the station and boarded the train. We were headed for Hamburg, then Amsterdam...but we decided to go to Cologne first! I am so glad we decided to go to Cologne :clap_1: ....you'll find out why next installment!
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#154
Pictures from Copenhagen....
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#155
the first photo shows the train station..it was the most beautiful building I saw in Copenhagen....

The second photo is of the square, it shows how they have ruined the look of the old city buy installing bill boards and florescent signs on all the beautiful old buildings...:eek: I felt like it was a sacrailege! An insult to what used to be a grand city!:idontno:
DD avatar
SoWal Expert
#156
Thanks for the latest installment! Even if it was your least favorite I still liked reading about it and seeing the photos. It's a shame they effed it up with the billboards, etc. Poor Cork! She's a trooper, huh? :wub:
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#157
When the trip report is finished...I'll post some follow ups and final impressions....:biggrin:
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#158
Cologne, Germany
Almost to the end of the on going trip report.
I know Cork has been very busy, with family and dealing with a lot of rain. I hope that, at some point, she will post her own thoughts and pictures here
We arrived in Cologne in the evening, around 7:00? We walked out of the station and walked smack dab into the most massive structure I have ever seen.:shock: I kept saying "holy crap"!! It was "The Dom" a most impressive church that dominates the scenery in Cologne especially at night when it is all light up.
We easily found a room close by, within view of the Dom. I told Cork...we won't ever get lost in Cologne since you can see the Dom from everywhere.:biggrin: We Walked around the city looking for a funn bar. We stopped in front of a doorway that led down to a basement bar.The sign said it was an Irish Pub. I said "no":blush: but cork said "why not?" I was a bit leery...but down we went.:clap_1: It was karaoke night. Inside the bar some man asked me where I was from, US I said and he says "I thought you were Irish"....must have been the red shades in my hair.:roll:
We got a couple of beers and found a table to stand at along with several other people. This turned out to be one of the most funn and interesting nights! We truly got the flavor of the city and the country. There were people from all over the world in this bar! The karaoke was great...American Idol has nothing on this bar! All the songs were sung in English and most of them were American songs. The DJ was excellent. Cork & I talked to the people around us. Franc was the first one we really started talking to. Cork continued to talk to him as "Danny Boy" made his way to me...:funn:
He was a funny guy, I had funn making funn of him...I had his number...I watched him flirt with every girl as she came up to the bar...I joked with him about it. :roll: At some point a guy came in with 2 blonde bombshells that were dressed "sex" to the tee and danced around with this guy. I said something to Danny Boy about the girls and he told me that they were hookers and that the locals didn't like to have anything to do with that sort of thing. He lived in Cologne, was a local, frequented the bar and knew most everyone in there. He was really a cool guy.
Cork & I had funn listening to karaoke. It is amazing how 70's & 80's music is so popular in Europe. The most amazing part to me was when a man sang "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi!! :clap_1: :lolabove: This has been my mantra for years...it's my life, its now or never cauz I ain't gonna live for ever. I have felt like I have really been living my life this past year, and this song was so perfect on this night and in Europe, a place that I had only dreamed of visiting in the past.
The Bar wound down and it was time to leave. Danny Boy asked us to go to another party with his friends, but we thought the wiser of it. It was late and we wanted to get up early. I am sure it would have been funn but ..............(sorry Kimmi.....just couldn't go there)
We did wake up early the next morning and explored the city. I love Cologne!:wub: It is a diverse city and quite lovely. It is situated right on the Rhine River. This city is not confused as to what it is. It is a mix of old and new, but they are kept separate for the most part. The old area is where we were, near the Dom. The newer area is across the bridge. We walked all around the city, but our first stop was the Dom itself. It is just as impressive in daylight as it is at night! It is a massive building. It is made of stone that has turned black over the years. Part of the structure has been pressure washed to show what it would look like if the entire building were clean. It is a beautiful building!
We went inside and I was awestruck. It is impossible to describe the inside. It is all open with pews, alters, statues, massive carvings, stained glass....it is overwhelming. A feast for the eyes and very reverent. It felt almost surreal. If someone can be in love with a building, this would be it for me....:wub:
Walking outside we decided to walk over the river and check out the other side. As we walked towards the river we walked through a square. Inside this area was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen...a hideous sculpture of David...pic included!:floor:
Here I must interject...I do not know what the meaning of this particular David was...but it made me realize why I love Cologne. It is a wonderful city that is old and reverent, knows it's history, has strong roots, but is still able to have a humorous side, a modern side, a funn side. It is a wonderfully diverse city!
We walked over the Rhine River...and looked back at the city...WHAT A VIEW! The Dom is omnipresent for certain!
Cork & I walked back across the river and went to the shopping area of the city. We walked around for what felt like hours...it was easy to get turned around in this area...
We finally found our way back to the hotel, picked up our packs and headed to the station.
Our next and final destination:( ...Amsterdam....again...ending up where we had begun.;-)
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#159
"The Dom" as I first saw it
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#160
more pictures.........
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#161
the inside
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#162
the river and "the other David"....:eek:
Allifunn avatar
FunnChef - AlisonCooks.comAuthor
#163
just a few more.....................

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