Home of Athena

I have come to learn that Athens is not my type of city. I loved the landscapes, but whenever I was in the newer parts of the city, I just couldn't stand it. I found it to be grimy and smelly and every time I stepped outside my hotel or stepped away from the greenery, I would find myself disgusted.  The people were friendly and overall it is a great city. I just couldn't get over the smell and dirtiness of it. BUT, I will show you some pretty pictures of what I enjoyed. I didn't get to see as much as I would have liked because I had a migraine on my first day in the city, but I tried to do my best to make up for that, my lack of enjoyment of the newer areas, and the fact that most places to see closed by 3pm. 

I think this is the Bizantine church, but I have no idea. So I could be wrong. It is near Keramikou.

This is inside the Keramikou Museum and the next billion after that are outdoors in Keramikou.

Here is a structure I discovered while I was aimlessly wandering. I don't know where or what it actually is though.

I had a migraine, so I made my way back to my hostel via the subway. Here is what I found in the station I went to: ruins!!!!!

I just wanted to interrupt the nice photos with a picture of how small my shower was, let alone that my bathroom was so small, there had to be a hole cut in the door of the bathroom to be able to open the door and not hit the toilet.

The next day, I did a lot of walking and saw a majority of the major sites. I started in the National Gardens.

Then went to Oooooooo! The Olympic Stadium!

After that I made my way to the Zappeion. It was a pretty cool building, but I didn't want to pay to get in. The man working was nice enough to let me take a photo of the interior from where I was standing.

Following that, I made my way to the Temple of Zeus. It was pretty awesome to see how large the columns were and to see the few that were still standing, but I kind of liked the fallen column (shown second) better.

Following the Temple, I made my way to the Acropolis. Here is a view of the temple as I made my way up.

This is Odeion of Herodes Atticus. I wish I could have actually gone in it, but this was the only wau to see any of it.

Here is the Propylaea.

The view from the top of the hill.

The beautiful Parthenon.

Another view from the top. This one shows Theatro Dionisou.

I then made my way to the Stoa of Attalus (pictured below) and wandered around Ancient Agora.

The next three show Ancient Agora. Well it pretty much just shows the pretty paths I walked along, but whatever.

My last stop of the day was to the Acropolis Museum. Before you walk in, you see some of the ruins that the museum is built over.

I wasn't supposed to take photos inside. but I thought I would sneak one anyway! I mean ummm I found out after this photo that I wasn't supposed to be taking pictures. This is actually true. They didn't even catch me taking photos, I sort of ran into a sign that said "No Photos". Anyway I spent the rest of my day in the museum and then dragged my tired body home to the hostel.

My delicious dinner is pictured below. Don't drool because it is pretty and you are near electronics!

My Journal

Has anyone else noticed that this blog has been somewhat of a journal or diary for me? It wasn't supposed to work like that, but I think it actually helps me deal with whatever I am going through, so it shall continue. Sorry to those who don't want to read about it, but it should be easy to tell when I am going to talk about my emotions, so just skip the ones you don't care about. So let us begin...again...

Dear Diary, (because that is how these things are supposed to start)

As you may have been able to tell, I have been a little down lately. What you might not know is that I have been really struggling to leave the hostel, let alone my bed. It isn't because the places I am in are boring, it is just that I haven't wanted to move. I have eventually forced myself out of my hostel, but not until the afternoon. You lose a lot of exploring time this way (Duh!).

Anyway, last night, I had some free time, so I called to see if my parents were free to skype because I try to talk with them when I can (I know. I am such a good daughter hahaha) Anyway, they weren't free, but I talked with my mom on the phone for a bit. I told her that I was struggling to get out of bed and she said exactly what I didn't want to think about. She asked if I was depressed. Once she said it out loud, I couldn't ignore it. I am on the steep slopes of depression. It isn't something new, I have struggled with it for a good while, but it never seems to get easier to admit and deal with. I wouldn't say that I am actually full on depressed at this point, but I am on the edge where the next couple weeks will determine how the next few months go.

It is amazing how my mother, who is on the other side of the world, picks up on my depression within a few words. It is also amazing how it takes someone saying it aloud for me to fully admit the situation I am in. And now because this is in the open, I am fully opening the doors and windows and everything to tell the internets where I currently stand. So now that everyone knows what is happening in my head, let me talk about my game plan.

The game plan is important. It is a way to get out of anything from a minor funk to depression. My plan as it stands looks something like this:

• Get out of bed and get ready to start the day by 9am
• Find something to celebrate no matter how small (this morning it was that the hostel had dried apricots.)
• Walk around in the sunshine
• Smile even if you don't feel like it, but don't do that creepy smile that you do when you aren't actually happy

It isn't much to look at, but it is a start and that is what I need to do. This morning I was dressed and downstairs to buy breakfast in my hostel at 8:45. It was hard as hell to get out of bed, but here I am. I am up. I am present. I will be fine. I just need to work to get back to being fine. 

The Final City (of Winter)

My final city on my winter adventure was Dusseldorf. After Berlin, it just wasn't that exciting, but it had some cool areas and it was worth the couple days I gave it. Granted this is upon reflection of the city because I am pretty sure I told people while I was there and months after that it was not needed. Sorry Dusseldorf! See though, I took it back! It just took me a few months to realize it! 

Ok so I had absolutely no idea what to expect in Dusseldorf. I had put it on my travels so I could get a cheap flight back to Leeds. I had found out that it was the fashion capital of Germany or something like that and I remember thinking "Oh crap! I am not going to fit in!" I didn't exactly fit in, but I also didn't stand out. I sort of was in the ideal position I wanted to be in: noticeable not to be hit by a car, but not enough to be attacked for my bag. (again sorry Dusseldorf. It sounds like you are a crazy crime ridden place and you could be, but I have no idea if you are and implying that is cruel of me) 

Alrighty, so like normal, I went exploring and took pictures of things. Oooooooo! Ahhhhhh! And like normal, I had no idea what I was taking pictures of. Take this picture for instance:

I saw it and thought "Huh. That looks cool. Time to take a Pic-it-chure!" Now I find out through  the magic that is google and google maps that this is apparently named after the person who created it: Mack-Brunnen.

This church and statue is close to the monument/ statue from above. It is in Martin Luther Platz.

From there, I wandered through the main shopping area where there was nothing I could have afforded. And fortunately, I found my way to something free: Hofgarten. Yay for gardens!

 And look! Swans!!!!

And look! A weird statue in said park! It was actually pretty cool because it technically has no head, but depending where you stand, it can look like it is holding its head as you can see below.

Then after seeing some of the greenery, I made my way to the water and took some cool shots of the bridges and other things close to the water. As you can see, it was getting dark, so I knew I had to start to find my way back to my hostel, but I couldn't just yet because I kept seeing interesting things.

Like this! It is a column covered in advertisements with a sculpture of a woman holding a child on top. At first, it scared the crap out of me because I thought it was a real person t first. Silly me!

Then after I took a few shots of this, I went back to the hostel to sleep.

The following morning, I woke up and headed to the tower that is pictured above to go to the top and see the views. Here is the outer part of the elevator of the Rhineturm

Here is a cool building outside of the tower. The magic of google maps tells me it is called Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia.

The Rhine and its bridges from the top of the tower. Ignore the nasty looking water!

After the tower, I headed out to explore the rest of the area. I found this cool walking bridge and decided to see where it would take me. Turns out, it didn't go anywhere interesting, but it did me a way to waste time.

Then I went and explored more of the area and found some wicked cool looking buildings. They were so cool to look at that I wasn't the only person to stop and stare for awhile.

This was pretty much my favourite theme of Dusseldorf photos: water, tower, bridge.

Here was another interesting building. Although there was nothing interesting about the structure, the creepy coloured figures taking over, were very intriguing.

I likes the cool red panels of this building. I found this while lost because I didn't want to go back the way I came. This of course ended up taking me in a circle and then a couple of hours of wandering to find my way back to the hostel

Looking at google maps has really shown me that I haven't seen as much of Dusseldorf as I should have, but I am still content with what I saw. Although I will not be making an effort to go back anytime soon, I would not pass up an opportunity to go back if one presented itself. 

It is just so mushy!

Wouldn't you believe it? I am totally and irrevocably homesick! Well, maybe not irrevocably, but pretty damn close to it! It isn't even so much being homesick as peoplesick. Wait, that makes it sound like I am sick of people, which isn't really true. Well, I am sick of people I don't know. I want my family and I want my friends and I want Toki! Gosh Dammit!!!!! Normally I just miss people, but I find that I can distract myself with the cool things that I am surrounded by, but at this point, I can't. Not only do I keep having dreams about my family and friends and I see a ridiculously amount of stuff that makes me think of individuals, but I have run into so many people who are going home. This wouldn't bother me as much, except for the fact that most are not happy to be going home. Many say they "don't have anything back home" and I sit there and say, "but you have your family and friends there" and they say "yeah, I guess". Don't get me wrong, travelling is great and amazing and a totally worthwhile experience, but for someone like me who normally goes home every month and a half or so, being way for as long as I have has been hard.

I mean, I will probably get bored or tired about being home at some point soon after returning because that is just part of the cycle of life, but I am still excited to be going home in 26 days. Yes, I counted. I can't tell you how long exactly I have been gone, but I am well aware of when I am coming home. Today was really hard because as I was leaving the train station to get on the metro (I am currently in Barcelona atm), I saw three reunions that made me well up. The one that started it all was a grandmother meeting her two granddaughters. The granddaughters saw her and started screaming and running toward her and she started crying and called them princesses and held them so tight that it seemed they all would soon pass out. It was so wonderful to see, but it broke my heart because I have so many more train stations and airports to travel through alone. Plus as much as my family loves me, I doubt we will be as adorable as this woman and her granddaughters. The other two were not as lovely, but were helpful in making my eyes leak a little ( I don't cry, my eyes just leak sometimes). Both were couples. One was a man picking up a woman and the other was a woman waiting for her man. Both were touching, but I also wanted to ruin it for them because I felt they were being selfish. I understand that they weren't, I was just being a tiny bit jealous. Just a tiny bit though, not a lot. (Ok fine! Maybe a lot! So what?! Like there is anything you can do about it!)

So this all has got me stuck on people. Some people I will see soon enough, others I will see in the future, and those who I won't see again and I am sad. I am selfish and I am sad. I want to be surrounded by people I care about and people who care about me right now! I want to see everyone right now! But mostly I just want a long hug from someone who loves me so I can cry and be happy in those few seconds or minutes and not think of anything else.

BBBBBBBB EEEEERRRRRR LLLLIIINNNNN

Berlin was a ball of fun. I met some really cool people and saw some even cooler things. 

My first day was just me wandering around. I was originally going to go on a walking tour, but I got lost and distracted. Yes, this happens more often than not, but still, how could you not be distracted by things like a polar bear army with a polar bear bellowing "Bow Down to Me!" You hear that too, right?

And how could you not be distracted by the junk tree? I mean look at it! I seriously stared at this thing for a good ten minutes or so. It is just so random!!!! Just look at it! There is a teddy bear and old records and hangers and stuff! Who thinks up this stuff?

After awkwardly staring at the junk tree, I moved on to the garden, well more specifically, the Grosser Tiergarten. It is HUGE!!!! I wandered around it for a huge chunk of time. At one point it actually started snowing! It was so nice! Here is a photo of some of the garden.

Do you see the red thing on the tree? It is a sad, lost, little mitten. All alone in the world :( Poor little mitten!

Here is a nice little statue with the temporary ferris wheel.

And another part of the garden. I told you I spent a lot of time in the garden! I like that there are trees in the middle of the path and the contrast of the people with the grass and trees.

After my meander through the garden, I discovered the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe. It was moving and beautiful. I then went into the museum. I think the quote below is something we should think about. So maybe take a second or a minute or an hour or a year or however long you need to process it.

Here is the beautiful Brandenburg Gate surrounded by fences and plastic, which is not so pretty, but I couldn't convince the guys to move it for my picture.

Here is the Berlin Victory Column.

The next day, I went on a walking tour. I tried to get on an early tour, but they were full up, so I went and waited at a restaurant. I got a delicious second breakfast. It was yummy and was helpful in killing some time. The tour was great. I met some cool Canadians that were interested in meeting up the next evening.  During the tour, we saw part of the Berlin Wall.

We also saw quite a few other historic buildings. Here is the Deutscher Dome.

And the Berliner Dom.

After the tour, I went home to get food and explore my area more. As you can see, there are no pictures of my area. I didn't find anything interesting.

The next day, I went to see the TV tower. OOOOOO COOL! I wanted to go up, but it was expensive and there was a long line.

Here is a cool building. It had so many pretty colors! Look at them! There are so many color panels!

Here is another photo of the Berliner Dom.

Look at the cool door that was on the Berliner Dom. It is so intricate!

I then went to the German History Museum. This is the very first thing that you see when you enter the museum. I just wanted to take it home and put it in my house, although it is a totally fictional house.

I didn't realize that there were so many Nazi uniforms.

After the museum, I headed back to my hostel to get ready for the night.

Did I mention that it was New Year's Eve? There was a huge celebration with a multitude of vendors and a large concert in the evening. My hostel was cool enough to give me a free bottle of bubbly that I was hoping to share with the Canadians I had met the day before. Unfortunately I was running late and although I emailed them and they said they would wait, we couldn't find each other. I ended up drinking some of the bubbly, but threw most of it away because no glass was allowed in the area. Oh did I mention that this was at the Brandenburg Gate? I pushed through the crowd to get a nice spot for the musicians, but ended up leaving it to use the toilet. When I got back (because the lines for the toilets were insane and  I kept getting hit on by random guys), it was even more packed. I kept getting pushed one way and then another and then another and so on. Hence the blurry picture of the stage below. Luckily, I was eventually pushed into some American soldiers who were kind enough to let me stand in front of them to keep from getting pushed around and I ended up hanging out with them the rest of the night.

Here is more of the crowd and the ferris wheel that had been set up for the night!

This was New Year's Day. I spent the day with the American soldiers I had met during the New Year's Eve party. The day started with trying to track down one of the guys because he apparently didn't make it back to the hotel room. After wandering around, we headed back to the hotel and found him with a few police people because they found him passed out in another hotel. After apologizing to the police and getting breakfast, I convinced the guys to go to the Olympic Stadium with me. It is pictured below.

Here is a cool man hole. It has a lot of Berlin's landmarks on it.

After the stadium, I took the guys around to see some of the wonderful landmarks the city had to offer. I basically puppeted the tour I had followed two days prior. After that we grabbed some food and said good bye. They were nice guys and I gave them my email, but I didn't get any of their information because they were more like vacation friends. I left for Dusseldorf the following morning!

Berlin was wonderful! There was so much to see and do that I do hope to go back sometime soon! There were so many museums I didn't get to see and a several other areas I didn't have time for. The people were friendly and the food was delicious. I can't wait to go back and explore more. Hopefully next time I will be able to share it with someone I care about (hint hint. nudge nudge. hello there friends and family)