End of First Stint, Beginning of Second

Day 12 - Amsterdam
We woke up this morning as late as we possibly could without missing the free breakfast provided by our hotel (which probably wasn't all that free, considering the ridiculous price we paid for our room). After breakfasting and checking out of the hotel, we went to the train station (which was rather close to our hotel, definitely within walking distance, and not at all necessitating the taxi we paid for) so that we could reserve our sleeper car. Apparently, a lot of people like to go to Amsterdam - there was a wait of over an hour to even talk to the people at the ticket desk, which was rather frustrating considering that we weren't even buying a full-price ticket. We took a number and went exploring in the area near the train station instead of waiting. This area was rather touristy - there were a ridiculous number of souvenir shops selling all sorts of marijuana paraphernalia and "I AMsterdam" shirts (which is apparently their new, non-pot-related tourism slogan) - and it was crowded with throngs of tourists eager to prove that they had, in fact, been to Amsterdam by buying their very own overpriced T-shirt. After spending a few minutes in this district, we headed back to the train station to reserve our tickets. After that, we walked to the Anne Frank House in hopes of going in, but the line was so long and moving so slowly that we decided our time would better be spent elsewhere. And what better thing could we do than shop? We spent most of the rest of the day walking around the quieter part of Amsterdam, which is actually quite nice - with its own "meandering canals," as Katharina put it, and more bridges than Venice. There were a lot of cool stores that we wandered around, and Katharina and I bought the same Karl Lagerfeld jeans in different colors while Sharp bought a striped sweater. After we tired of shopping/exhausted our budgets, we decided to peoplewatch, and what better place to do this than a bar? So we went into a bar in Amsterdam and ordered three Cokes (we're probably the lamest people to ever Eurotrip to Amsterdam) and sat outside next to the canal and watched the people go by. There are some interesting people who go by in Amsterdam. After a couple hours, it came time for our night train back to Munich. We did that, with a nice German couple - definitely unmarried, probably teenagers, and definitely pregnant - in our car. And woke up in Munich the next morning (well, after waking up multiple times throughout the night - at least for me and Katharina - because the train stops and starts a lot). End of stint 1 :(



Day 13 - Osterhofen

After disembarking at the train station in Munich, we got on a train back to Osterhofen. We finally got back to the house in Osterhofen. We all showered because we felt disgusting. Katharina and Sharp proceeded to sleep ALL DAY LONG while I took placement exams and stuff. We ate pasta for dinner, watched Pimp My Ride with German subtitles, and then went to sleep.

Day 14 - Osterhofen

Today, we slept in late and then did laundry. Mid-afternoon we decided to take the bikes to town to pick up groceries for lunch. Gabrielle had some trouble with the bikes, so she stayed home to take more placement tests while Katharina and I rode to town. After procuring lunch, we returned back to the house, ate, and finished packing. We left for Munich and then hopped on a night train to Venice.

Day 15 - Venice

We arrived in Venice early enough to catch the sunrise. We walked out of the train station and were confronted with the grand-canal at sunrise. I believe that Venice is best seen early in the morning, as the sun's light reflects beautifully off the pastel colors of the canal's homes and the water. Also, it was before the hordes of people had come out (always a plus). Anyways, we then set to trying to figure out how to get to our convent. We checked out public transit (the water bus) but ultimately decided against it at the time. After some searching, we found the convent. We rang the doorbell and were received by the Abbess, who was dressed in traditional garb. The Abbess was very friendly and excited to see us, however she did not speak any English and we did not speak any Italian. Ultimately, however, we figured things out. I was put into a single room next to the girls' double. After putting our things away, we then went back out to explore Venice, this time taking public transportation. A tip to anyone trying to travel Europe on a budget: don't go to Venice. A one-way trip on the waterbus cost each of us 6.50 euro. Well, we bit the bullet, bought tickets, and hopped onto the waterbus (squeezed might be a more accurate term). We took it to the final stop - San Marco. The line was too long at Saint Mark's Basilica, so we went to the Doge Palace instead and took the secret itineraries tour. The secret itineraries tour basically revolved around showing us what the palace was like when Casanova made his famous and highly romanticized escape from their prison. We saw both his cells (the story goes that he dug a hole under his bed in his first cell and right as he was about to make his escape they moved him to another cell), the former libraries/scrivner rooms, the rooms of justice, and the former offices of Venetian rulers. After the tour, we were free to wander the palace, which we did by accident, as it was far harder to find the exit than it should have been. We walked across the Bridge of Sighs (called that because it was the last sight of freedom prisoners had when they were being transfered from the courts to the prisons, which were conveniently housed in the same building) in our attempts to get out. After finding our way out of the labyrinth, we meandered back to the convent, stopping at a wide variety of mask, glass, lace, fashion, and jewelry shops (scouting for our next day's purchases). We ate dinner at a little pasta place near our convent (not too bad, not too good), bought some gelato, and then went back to our convent for the night.

Day 16 - Venice

We ate breakfast (bread and hot chocolate) at the convent, served by the friendly Abbess (as always dressed in her traditional outfit). Again, we took the waterbus to San Marco, this time early enough to get a reasonable spot in line for Saint Mark's Basilica. Saint Mark's Basilica contained several beautiful mosaics, but the most unique was its altar - a huge, gold, gem-studded altar. Above the altar was a mosaic of Jesus, who appeared to be looking at you both when you stood under it and when you were looking at it from a distance. After Saint Mark's, we took another waterbus, this time to the island Burano - a smaller, quieter, less touristy area known for lace making with good shopping. We spent a relaxed midday there, ate lunch at a nondescript place, and shopped around. Gabrielle and I each made some purchases (Gabrielle a glass plate, I got gifts for my mother and John). We went back to Venice, wandered some more, visited a few paper shops (they may not sound interesting, but they were very cool). We also managed to find a type of Venetian mask that Gabrielle had not yet seen - the cyborg masks. They were actually pretty cool, and we all liked them, but they were quite expensive... oh well. We then ate dinner at a place next to a really nice restaurant (ours wasn't too bad either, we all enjoyed it, we also got to share a courtyard with the nice restaurant). From there we slowly made our way back to the convent, taking in Venice in the evening.

Day 17 - Venice/Florence

We awoke, ate breakfast consisting of the same foodstuffs as the day before, and left our things with the nuns while we went to Rialto - the largest bridge in Venice (it has stores on it, by this point, however, we were mostly tired of stores). On the bridge, Gabrielle was hit on/ASKED FOR DIRECTIONS by this Spanish guy - she maintains she was not flirting, I say she was being very friendly in that case. We then went to the food market nearby, where Katharina enthusiastically took in the terrible smells of fresh fish while Gabrielle and myself held our breath. Besides the fish, there was a huge selection of fresh fruit available as well. We bought some, ate it, and then picked up our stuff from the convent. We went to the train station and left for Florence. (Now that Sharp has become bored and has gone to play a video game, I will take over the blogging). Once we arrived in Florence, it was already late afternoon so we decided to head to our next convent. After taking a bus across the Arno (?) River, we arrived at Piazza del Carmine and Casa Santa Nome di Gesu. Of all the convents we have now stayed at (including the one in Rome), the one in Venice still seems to be Sharp's favorite. This is not to say that the convent in Florence was not nice - in fact, it was much bigger and more beautiful (architecturally) than Casa Caburlotto (Venice). It just lacked the constant presence of nuns that we had experienced in Venice. After dropping off our stuff, we decided to go for a quick dinner (we were all pretty exhausted) where I had excellent foccacia and the others good pizza. Having satiated our hunger and thirst, we returned to the convent, eager to sleep so we would have energy for the next day.