Sorry for the delay in updates. Here is Germany, which will be followed by my Ireland updates in the next few days. I've got a bit of catching up to do, what with finals taking over my life right now.
Monday: that whole waking up for class thing? Yeah, I had to do it again on Monday, and it was no fun, especially after staying up way too late writing. But, I just got the writing bug on Sunday night and it could not be stopped! So, I made it through all three of my classes, hit the gym, and then we had an in-house pizza night in which we are all obligated to eat far too much. But, it’s so delicious! After pizza, we socialized for a bit and then I headed upstairs and grey so fully immersed in writing my novel that I had no concept of time passing. It was 4.5 hours later when I finally checked the clock and realized that I had not moved in FAR too long. So, I got up, stretched, and then resumed the position for another fifteen minutes before, waiting for it – I finished my current novel! It was a very fulfilling feeling. I mean, I still have a ton of editing to do, but it gave me a great feeling of satisfaction so type in that final sentence and look at my completed work. All in all? A productive day.
Tuesday: I slept in today, especially after the ridiculous amount of hours I spent writing on Monday. It’s not a physical task, but it actually took it out of me. I hit up my daily 1000 situps before convo, then ate lunch before heading to the gym. This was followed by my typical class and then dinner at Wagamamas, under the realization that we have less than a month here in London for this semester. So weird, and not exactly the happiest of thoughts. And, I’ll be traveling for the next two weekends, then finals, then Turkey, so time is going to FLY by. I spent the evening doing a bit of socializing and finally writing my blog for last week. I kind of put it off for a bit too long. My apologies.
Wednesday: Today I… well, I slept in again. And it was lovely. Actually, both my roomie and I slept in until about 10 am today before going about our chosen modes of exercise. I got in my situps and then headed to the gym and she went on her run. Upon arriving back at the house, I decided to take a nap while she was in class, and then we both left for our museum visit at the Tate Modern, where we looked at some American artists for our US History class, and then the recently 66 million pound Picasso that was just purchased at auction- the buyer decided to generously display it at the Tate for a bit. It just got there about 2 days ago, so we were among some of the first Americans to see it in its new display. Pretty awesome, right, especially considering it’s one of the most expensive (Britain’s saying the mot expensive) paintings purchased. After this, we battled the awful Circle tube line to get to dinner at Byrons, and then headed home for some research and presentation work, since finals and presentations are all coming up in two weeks. Amazing how time flies, isn’t it? Amazing, and somewhat terrifying. But, I’ve got Germany tomorrow, so I can’t worry too much right now. I’ll figure all that rest of that scholarly stuff out when I get back on Sunday. Such a good academic mentality, right?
Thursday: My flight to Germany wasn’t until later in the day, so I was able to get in my exercise, museum visit, packing, and register for classes before actually moving out of the house for Andrew to begin our epic nighttime journey to Heidelberg, Germany. We flew Ryenair, the absolute dregs of cheap flights, and had a bit of time to kill while in the airport waiting for the inevitably late plane. So, we bought a bottle of wine, some starbucks, and hoarded the cold pizza we’d packed into our backpacks. Now, don’t get judgmental- We were going to need it. Although the flight itself was only 50 minutes, the buses that run in Germany out of Frankfurt-Hahn kind of suck. But seriously. They only go every few hours, so although we landed at 10:30 at night, the next bust wasn’t until 11:50. So, we waited at the airport, got kicked out of the café after not ordering anything, and finally hopped onto our bus, which would turn into a 2 hour ride into to the city. Aka, our destination time was around 2 am in the morning. Talk about a ridiculously long day. Now you understand the wine and pizza. We’re classy people, I swear. Well, other than the whole screw-top booze on a bus followed by cold pizza thing.
Anyhow, we arrived at the bus stop, were met by a Heidelberg’er, who then got us a cab and we drove up the mountain to the house, which was absolutely beautiful. We got a quick tour before I was reunited with my lovely roommate Jillian, and then we crashed out. Because honestly… we were exhausted. Who wouldn’t be?
Friday: We woke up early, not because we wanted to, but because Jillian’s roommate was leaving early for her own weekend travels. So, Jillian and I got up (myself rather grudgingly, considering the night before), said goodbye to everyone that was leaving, and then Andrew and I busied ourselves with breakfast and laziness while Jillian was caught up in an RA meeting. Following that, some of our friends form the Lausanne program arrived and then we all took a trip to explore the castle. After this, we returned to the house, hung out with a bunch of the kids that lived there, and finally went down into the city to explore before a delicious dinner at a brewery that consisted to amazing German food. Example? Sausages, potatoes, sauerkraut, the like. Ah, so heavy, but so delicious. And I definitely got made fun of for ordering wine at a brewery. Sorry, I can’t help it if I don’t like beer.
That dinner was followed by an evening out in the city, where the Heidelberg kids toured us around to their favorite bars and clubs. It was an evening full of silliness, dancing, running around, and finally getting back to the house (after hiking up the massive hill) at yet another ungodly hour. Ah, college. It really doesn’t do much for sleep patterns, does it? Oh well. It was Germany. I kind of expected to go hard and keep moving all weekend. I definitely wasn’t let down in that department.
Saturday: We all got up at a decent hour again (seriously… this weekend was severely lacking in sleep), and then decided to hike up Philosopher’s Road after breakfast. I’m not exactly sure why we decided to do this, because the Heidelberg house was on top of a mountain, and the Road led to the top of a mountain on the other side of the town. So, we hiked down into town, and then literally up to the top of a mountain. It was kind of awesome though- amazing view, we saw a little citadel castle thing, and finally made it up to the amphitheater. So, regardless of the hike and exhaustion and severe sleep deprivation, the view, and the sleeping in the sun (the weather was great- did I mention that?), it was totally worth it.
After resting a bit up there, we decided to hike back down and hit up this kebap place. Seriously, Europe loves those places. They’re absolutely horrendous for you, but strangely delicious. And this place took the cake. I’m not exactly sure what I ate, only that it was delicious and addictive and made me a very full, very happy, tourist. We once more hiked back up to the house, rested in a kind of food coma with everyone in the house, and then made dinner reservations for one of the most popular places in the area- Schnitzel house. Well, it has a German name, but that’s what it translates to. A group of six of us went into the city, ran around for a bit again, and then finally made it to the dinner place.
It was amazing. Well, first we all got a little grouchy, because our orders somehow got lost, so, in typical German fashion, we were given free shots (the name of which alludes me, however it sounded something like “killthisbitch” and was therefore called that for the rest of the night. Excuse my language. Us college kids and our humor). Anyhow, it’s amazing how quickly we went from grouchy and hungry to absolutely fine waiting for our food once a free shot was offered. Hilarious how easily we are appeased. Anyhow, once we got our schnitzel (Jillian and I shared one with sautéed mushrooms on top- so good!) and our fries and salads, we happy gorged ourselves and then joined the Heidelberg group for another evening outing of shenanigans. 
Seriously… they party hard in Germany. And their house is awesome. I mean, of course I love London, but we’re not half as close as the Germany kids, so it was kind of cool seeing that dynamic. I’ve heard from my program director that the London summer group should be more like that, so fingers crossed. I could do with a group that’s a little closer than our current one. There are far too many groups and cliques, and Germany made me realize that. But, past that point, the evening was fun, full of more bar-hopping and table-dancing at one of the Germany-program’s favorite club/bars (the club literally got super strong tables for that purpose… love it). I definitely got a massive bruise on my leg from being shoved off the table at one point, but all in all? A fantastic night. And a great final night for my Germany experience. Definitely the BEST trip I’ve taken all year, and I was so happy that I got to share it with some amazing friends and that I got to meet a bunch more friends as well. Sunday: Once again, early rising. We packed up, grabbed breakfast, and then dropped into town for a little last minute lunch, some shopping for Gummy Bears (cause they were invented in Germany and are absolutely delicious!), and then it was back on the long bus for Andrew and me, and then lots and lots more travel home. I won’t bore you with the details, just that we got home safely and had an absolutely amazing trip.
Other little details of this week? I did a ridiculous amount of writing before this trip and actually finished another one of my novels. It’s a single one, as opposed to a series, so that was kind of fun, actually completing something so… well, completely. It’s called “Actions & Motives” and I’m going through the editing process right now. We’ll see what happens. Maybe my London internship will help it get a little bit of public viewing. You never know…
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