We are now settled in our little apartment in Paris, and as much as the museums and Louvre give me a rush, were looking for some more Dares to keep us on our toes and give us some excitement! We have already had some great ones, and the floor is now open for Dares in Paris, France!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Bonjour From Paris
We almost missed our flight out of Berlin yesterday morning as well, and again found ourselves running from the subway to the airport, me with no shoes on, only to get to our plane with a few minutes to spare. My mom got us an apartment in Paris for three weeks (thanks mom), so will be here for a while, with the exception of trips to Normandy and Amsterdam. Our flat is amazing. Super modern, chic, and huge (3 bedrooms). Plus, take a look at our great view out of our living room window!
Yes, that "beautiful building" is the only French Prison in the heart of Paris. We can hear the inmates working out in the morning, it's wonderful. Rest assured family, this is a super safe neighborhood, in the top of the 13th arrondissement, all families living here. Last night we went to the store and made some steak and mashed potatoes. We have decided that along this trip we will need a day off a week for a "P" day (preparation day), to chill, plan out the next week, and rest from all the nonstop sightseeing. Today, after a long day of resting, and checking out the neighborhood, we decided we would go to the grocery store and cook again. Take a look at our dinner!
The pork tasted fine, but had the consistency of rubber. Tomorrow, we head to one of the oldest restaurants in Paris for a meal and all you can drink wine, and then the Eiffel Tower. If anyone has any dares for Paris, Normandy (we got yours Smitty), or Amsterdam, we would love to hear them now. Even these simple dares are turning out to be much more difficult than anticipated, and they are much fun to try to complete!
Yes, that "beautiful building" is the only French Prison in the heart of Paris. We can hear the inmates working out in the morning, it's wonderful. Rest assured family, this is a super safe neighborhood, in the top of the 13th arrondissement, all families living here. Last night we went to the store and made some steak and mashed potatoes. We have decided that along this trip we will need a day off a week for a "P" day (preparation day), to chill, plan out the next week, and rest from all the nonstop sightseeing. Today, after a long day of resting, and checking out the neighborhood, we decided we would go to the grocery store and cook again. Take a look at our dinner!
We had left over Mash Potatoes, so some Andouille sausage sounded great
It wasn't precooked which was kind of weird, and it looked a little funny
Then it broke up an looked more like ground pork. Upon checking the package I realized it was pig intestine, Sarah wasn't very pleased
MMMM, Yummy Pork intestine, cant get this delicacy in the states! Sarah even tried a bit of it.
The pork tasted fine, but had the consistency of rubber. Tomorrow, we head to one of the oldest restaurants in Paris for a meal and all you can drink wine, and then the Eiffel Tower. If anyone has any dares for Paris, Normandy (we got yours Smitty), or Amsterdam, we would love to hear them now. Even these simple dares are turning out to be much more difficult than anticipated, and they are much fun to try to complete!
Guten Tag From Berlin!
We arrived in Berlin around 4 in the afternoon, dead tired having only slept about an hour on the plane. We stayed at the EastSeven Hostel in East Berlin and loved it. Great location in the Mitte district, a working class district of Berlin, and it was super clean, and super friendly. Since we only had a couple of days in Berlin, we decided instead of sleeping we should go to the oldest beer garden in Berlin and grab a couple of German beers. The beer garden, was packed on a Tuesday early evening with people getting off work and going to grab a beer. There were almost all Germans at this garden, so we sat and enjoyed some tasty German beer, but were harassed constantly by wasps (apparently there is a big wasp problem in Berlin). After leaving the Garden, we bought some beers and walked around exploring Mitte. We stopped at a cafe and got a Turkish pizza (first bite in 24 hours), and after finishing, stumbled across an absinthe bar. We figured this was a good time to knock absinthe off the Eurotrip checklist. We got a couple of absinthe drinks, and proceeded with the protocol of drinking absinthe which apparently entails dipping a cube of sugar in your absinthe, lighting it on fire and then dropping into the shot glass. We met 2 Aussies at the bar who had been travelling for quite some time, one of whom lived in Berlin. We had a great conversation with them about post Wall Berlin, and how the city has evolved into a culture filled with diversity, art, and music since the wall fell. After this we grabbed some dinner and spent the rest of the night with our hostel mates in the kitchen. Ben turned in around 12, but I stayed up until 2 AM chatting with Australians, English, and Italians (one of whom tried to convince me that Mussolini wasn't a bad guy). At the end of the day, we had been up for some 38 hours with just an hour of sleep, but all of it was worth it for the fun that was had.
The next day we slept until 2pm because we were so exhausted. We then went on a free Berlin walking tour of all of the main sites including the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, Hitlers Bunker where he killed himself, etc. It was a great tour that gave us a deeper look into Berlins rich history, which helps shape what it is today. After that we went on the hunt for some beer and donor kebabs. After finding both, we had a great night hanging out with people from our hostel.
The next day we went to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in a town called Oranienburg. I had never been to a concentration camp, but Ben had been to both Auschwitz and Dacau, so I was nervous, especially because my paternal grandpa was in a forced labor camp during WWII, and, as I later learned, he most likely was in this particular camp for a portion of his imprisonment by the Nazis.. The first thing that struck me was that the camp literally butted up to several neighborhood and some people's backyards butted up against the camp, really weird. Since the camp was a forced labor camp, the Nazi's would tell the public that the workers were criminals that they were trying to rehab through work and sport. Therefore, the guards would have the prisoners run through the streets whistling so the townspeople thought they were happy, although they were starved, beaten, and tortured daily. Inside the camp they showed us the old barracks, the execution trench (even though it wasn’t technically a kill camp they still killed around 60,000 of the 200,000 prisoners who went through there) and the infirmaries where they did medical experiments on prisoners. It was a good experience, but extremely sad and emotional. After the tour we stayed and watched a 30 minute film on the camp and came out of the film to the pouring rain. We were a good 4 miles from the train, with no connecting bus, and with the clouds looking like the rain was not going to let up,.It was time to get wet! We were both dressed for summer with flip flops, shorts and t-shirts, no jackets. Once we got to the train station it had stopped raining so we decided to walk around the small German town of Oranienburg to check it out. It was super quaint and classic German, with a beautiful river running through the middle of it.
We got back to our hostel around 10 PM, tired, wet, and planning to call it a night for our 8 am flight the next day when AGAIN, we realized that we had a dare for Berlin from Taylor Buckman (thanks T bucks!). So, here we were again, only minutes until we leave, and had to complete a basic dare, that turned into a real challenge. We had to find a "fotoautomat", which is essentially a photobooth, and cram some locals into it for a picture. After a train ride to Alexanderplatz, we found one in the main train station, only to realize after pumping it full of 5 Euro that it was broken. So, we had the Europeans take the picture of us with their phone and they said they would email it to us. Unfortunately we are still anxiously awaiting the email. All in all, this was Ben's second trip to Berlin, he hated it the first time and now absolutely loves the town. I must say that Berlin was not on the top of my list coming into the trip, but it really won me over in the last few days.
The next day we slept until 2pm because we were so exhausted. We then went on a free Berlin walking tour of all of the main sites including the Brandenburg Gate, the Berlin Wall, the Reichstag, Hitlers Bunker where he killed himself, etc. It was a great tour that gave us a deeper look into Berlins rich history, which helps shape what it is today. After that we went on the hunt for some beer and donor kebabs. After finding both, we had a great night hanging out with people from our hostel.
The next day we went to Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in a town called Oranienburg. I had never been to a concentration camp, but Ben had been to both Auschwitz and Dacau, so I was nervous, especially because my paternal grandpa was in a forced labor camp during WWII, and, as I later learned, he most likely was in this particular camp for a portion of his imprisonment by the Nazis.. The first thing that struck me was that the camp literally butted up to several neighborhood and some people's backyards butted up against the camp, really weird. Since the camp was a forced labor camp, the Nazi's would tell the public that the workers were criminals that they were trying to rehab through work and sport. Therefore, the guards would have the prisoners run through the streets whistling so the townspeople thought they were happy, although they were starved, beaten, and tortured daily. Inside the camp they showed us the old barracks, the execution trench (even though it wasn’t technically a kill camp they still killed around 60,000 of the 200,000 prisoners who went through there) and the infirmaries where they did medical experiments on prisoners. It was a good experience, but extremely sad and emotional. After the tour we stayed and watched a 30 minute film on the camp and came out of the film to the pouring rain. We were a good 4 miles from the train, with no connecting bus, and with the clouds looking like the rain was not going to let up,.It was time to get wet! We were both dressed for summer with flip flops, shorts and t-shirts, no jackets. Once we got to the train station it had stopped raining so we decided to walk around the small German town of Oranienburg to check it out. It was super quaint and classic German, with a beautiful river running through the middle of it.
We got back to our hostel around 10 PM, tired, wet, and planning to call it a night for our 8 am flight the next day when AGAIN, we realized that we had a dare for Berlin from Taylor Buckman (thanks T bucks!). So, here we were again, only minutes until we leave, and had to complete a basic dare, that turned into a real challenge. We had to find a "fotoautomat", which is essentially a photobooth, and cram some locals into it for a picture. After a train ride to Alexanderplatz, we found one in the main train station, only to realize after pumping it full of 5 Euro that it was broken. So, we had the Europeans take the picture of us with their phone and they said they would email it to us. Unfortunately we are still anxiously awaiting the email. All in all, this was Ben's second trip to Berlin, he hated it the first time and now absolutely loves the town. I must say that Berlin was not on the top of my list coming into the trip, but it really won me over in the last few days.
Prater Beer Garden - The Oldest German Beer Garden in Berlin, Since 1837!
Us with the Australians at the Absinthe Bar
In a Town Square in Berlin
Berlin Cathedral - Oberpfarr und domkirche
Day 2 and 3 - Manhattan
First, excuse my typos, I am typing on a French keyboard where all of the keys are in different places (took me about 45 minutes to get this post done!) . On our second day in NY we did a free walking tour of Midtown and explored the areas of Grand Central, Times square, etc. Way too many people around these parts, not exactly a relaxing place to be to say the least. The next day we started our second walking tour in Downtown at the charging bull. really good story about how the bull was dropped off after the 1929 crash when things were recovering to show the recovery of the US. We saw WTC, Wall Street, etc, but our tour guide was incredibly boring, and so we bailed from the tour about 1/2 way through. After we showed ourselves around downtown, we went to Katz Deli, a place Ben always sees on the Travel Channel. When we arrived, we immediately saw Chum-Lee a reality star from the History Channel’s Pawn Star (a show I hate, but Ben loves, so he was stoked). He got a pastrami reuben (pictured below)for a total of 21 dollars with a drink. Ridiculously epensive, and the place was packed, so I am sure they make some good money. Ben said the sandwich was worth every cent (amazing seeing how cheap he is!). I tried a bite and have to admit, the pastrami was pretty good even though I dont like pastrami all that much.
That night we had a red-eye to Berlin so we headed back to the place we were staying to rest for a bit, but we didnt have much time til checkout. Since it was about 95 degrees out and we had 3 hours til we had to leave for our flight, we found an air conditioned burger king with free wifi and went there to check email, etc. With about 2 hours until our train was to leave for newark airport we realized we had gotten a dare for NYC and only had 2 hour to complete it. We were to find Bryant Park, and go to the cafe there and get a couple of glasses of wine. Let me tell you, with our bags on our back and in 95 degree heat, this simple dare soon turned into a challenge. Running through the rush hour streets of NY, we bolted from station to station to catch the subway and navigate our way to the park. We made it there in about 40 minutes, so had about 1 hour and fifteen to have a glass of wine, and finish our other errands prior to leaving NY. After a nice old glass of white wine we set out for the bank and post office, and made it to our train with about 4 minutes to spare. Dead tired, sweaty from a day in the heat, and sore from running around with packs on, we were off for a nice little 16 hour trip to Berlin...YAY!
That night we had a red-eye to Berlin so we headed back to the place we were staying to rest for a bit, but we didnt have much time til checkout. Since it was about 95 degrees out and we had 3 hours til we had to leave for our flight, we found an air conditioned burger king with free wifi and went there to check email, etc. With about 2 hours until our train was to leave for newark airport we realized we had gotten a dare for NYC and only had 2 hour to complete it. We were to find Bryant Park, and go to the cafe there and get a couple of glasses of wine. Let me tell you, with our bags on our back and in 95 degree heat, this simple dare soon turned into a challenge. Running through the rush hour streets of NY, we bolted from station to station to catch the subway and navigate our way to the park. We made it there in about 40 minutes, so had about 1 hour and fifteen to have a glass of wine, and finish our other errands prior to leaving NY. After a nice old glass of white wine we set out for the bank and post office, and made it to our train with about 4 minutes to spare. Dead tired, sweaty from a day in the heat, and sore from running around with packs on, we were off for a nice little 16 hour trip to Berlin...YAY!
Us with the Bull
Chum Lee from Pawn Stars!
$18 Sandwich "Worth every penny"
1st Completed Dare...Thanks Aunt Wendy!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Day 1 - Manhattan
We started the day off early. After a goodbye happy hour with our friends Friday night, we both woke up at 4:30AM, even though we didn't have to leave until 8:30. The first flight to Midway was uneventful, but the plane was packed so we couldn't sit with each other. While boarding the next plane, an older lady stumbled up to us, babbling, with a cocktail in her hand, clearly belligerent. She ended up on our flight, and after switching seats about 6 times, and causing a lot of awkward moments with other passengers, she sat down. The plane took off, but not 10 minutes later, she had flight attendants at her side. She was having an "asthma attack", and they eventually sat her a row right behind us. A nurse on the plane sat with her, and she was babbling about how she needed to breathe, while simultaneously requesting a glass of wine. They almost grounded the plane for this lady, and all of the passengers were not happy. The flight attendants would tell her to sit down and buckle her seat belt over and over again. But, without fail, once they would turn their backs, she would be awkwardly hovering over us, saying things like "no way, it cant be, well I don't believe it". To top it off, they weren't serving drinks because of this drunky, and we had drink coupons to use. We eventually convinced them for some drinks, and were very happy. Before landing, drunk lady made a raucous about someone stealing her bags. In reality, she didn't remember where she stowed them, because she was blacked out upon entering the plane. Finally, her bags were found. When the plane landed they had police and medical staff waiting for her. All in all, a very interesting flight.
We arrived to the Upper East Side of Manhattan around 10:30 to meet our host, Stephen. We booked our NY stay on airbnb.com, where people rent rooms in their home to travelers. Our host is a very nice, spiritual, metaphysical teacher. We are on the ground floor apartment, which is a little scary and the house is filled with snakes, herbs, trolls, crystals, etc. There is one really creepy troll suspended from the ceiling over the bed (check pic below). VERY ECCENTRIC! We went out last night and got a slice of pizza, some drinks, met some cool people, then called it a night. We were both exhausted and the second our head hit the pillows we were out like babies. Today we are exploring Midtown, and tomorrow Downtown.
We arrived to the Upper East Side of Manhattan around 10:30 to meet our host, Stephen. We booked our NY stay on airbnb.com, where people rent rooms in their home to travelers. Our host is a very nice, spiritual, metaphysical teacher. We are on the ground floor apartment, which is a little scary and the house is filled with snakes, herbs, trolls, crystals, etc. There is one really creepy troll suspended from the ceiling over the bed (check pic below). VERY ECCENTRIC! We went out last night and got a slice of pizza, some drinks, met some cool people, then called it a night. We were both exhausted and the second our head hit the pillows we were out like babies. Today we are exploring Midtown, and tomorrow Downtown.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
First Donation of the Trip!
Thanks to Bradley Robert for the donation for some drinks in Normandy, France! We will be sure to post a pic once we have completed this. The floor is now open to suggestions for dares for donations, so comment here if you have any dares for us in NYC, Berlin, or Paris!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
10 Days 'til Departure
We are getting close to taking off for NYC, and the excitement is building. Yesterday, we went to REI and got our backpacks fitted and that's when it hit me, the trip is right around the corner. I could barely sleep last night I was so excited. We ended up getting some "pack duffels" for our bags since the baggage machines can tear our packs up. Today we looked at the public transportation systems in NYC and Berlin and figured out that we will be in either Queens or East Harlem at 11 PM next Saturday trying to change buses to get to Manhattan...should be interesting. There is still so much to do prior to the trip, but the list is slowly dwindling. Anyway, really excited for the trip and can't wait to share it with you all through the site, thanks for stopping by!
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