Let's start with Cologne. This is the main attraction of Cologne, below. A hugeeeee cathedral that was built before my measly country came into existence.
I didn't get any great pictures of it because when we walked outside from the train station I was cold and refused to take off my gloves and pull out my camera because I'm stubborn like that and by the time we got back to the train station, it was dark. Sorry mom. But thanks google image below.
Although this is blurry, I had to put it up. We arrive in Cologne to find these men mamba jambing and these random German folks dancing around to them. It was precious. I had a hop in my step after we watched the show. So weird. So Europe. Loves it.
Aaaaaaand we traipsed to the chocolate factory.... It's funny because we are normal 20 year old American girls who may not understand what a professor requires of a paper from us or how to unlock our dutch bike lock or how to know when to press the button for the bus driver to stop at our bus stop but you send us two hours away from our "home away from home" in another country, in a city we've never been to before and by golly, we will show up at the doorsteps of a chocolate factory with absolutely positively no trouble whatsoever. And there you have it. The chocolate factory/museum was awesome but we all know why we were there.... for the free chocolate. So all the rest of it was just kinda dingy until we saw the chocolate live. Then the real action happened.
So at every beginning of a museum, they like to start with the history of it all. I found a globe. I found home. America, I see you. Lylas.
There was practically no interaction with museum attendants and the information provided about cocoa beans in an african tribe (so exciting) so I made Carissa and Kristen participate.
Kristen, like always, had some attitude but shaped up when she saw her chocolate. (This is all lies. Kristen is the sweetest girl on the trip and everyone knows it and no one would be offended that they weren't the sweetest because everyone knows they arent. Kristen is the angel on the trip who literally is the nicest person I've ever met in my life. She has an amazing story and an amazing positive outlook on life. I lylas obviously. And Kristen has this weird thing too... she's obsessed obsessed obsessed with chocolate.. preferably hot chocolate. I've seen homeless men cracked out and addicted to many substances but I have never seen someone quite like Kristen. We will have just stopped for hot chocolate at a cafe and three seconds later she is saying.. "guys, look at that cafe, they look like they have hot chocolate! Oh look at that chocolate!.." And she'll mosey her way over there until we yank her away to get where we think we know where we're going. She's hilarious to watch when it comes to chocolate. It reminds me a bit of my sis, Micah, who loves anything and everything sweet. They would get along like two peas in a pod. Sweet friends... how did I get so lucky?
This guy creeped me out. His eyes follow you everywhere you go. *shudders*
Aaaand here is the chocolate. Zooming through the little pipes. JOY.
Give me a complimentary straw and let me start slurping away.
First thought: I LOVE LUCY when she sticks all the truffles in her mouth and shirt and Ethel is her right hand (wo)man. This lady definitely wasn't as entertaining as Lucy.
This was the chocolate poop box.... the box where all the "defect" chocolate goes. I was drooling. Can I have it please?
At last, we found the complimentary chocolate. It was a fountain almost as cool as willy wonka's and it was a wafer dipped in the fountain. We stayed in the museum obsessed with everything we saw for so long that this lady went off shift, another person came on the clock, and so we got two chocolate samples. Duh.....
What a beaut. Hey Gretch and Casey, can we get one of these installed in the Hooter House?
Don't know what this says but I think it's super sappy romantic and wonderful. A couple celebrating their anniversary at a soccer game with their cats.... the most logical conclusion.
Oh hey Easter bunny rabbit. How ironic that by the time you come to my backyard, I'll be there... sitting at my kitchen table in good ole ark opening my easter basket encompassed with lovely chocolate, random piece of jewelry, and some lip gloss that's too glittery. Mom, I look forward to this odd basket every year... truly. I remember receiving a Hanson CD in one I believe and I want to say some awkward crescent moon earrings that had to do with something I'm sure. Anyway, looking forward to Easter.... more so for being home with the fam however.
Ok..... so this old guy is FAMOUS. He is legitimately in all the "Lindt" truffle commercials and I took a bajillion pictures of him because I was obsessed with the chocolate in that bucket but soon realized he was on all the posters and on the commercial they had looping through all the TV's. Can you say you have seen someone famous in Europe? Yeah.. I didn't think so.
Famous dude.... naturally cutting the fruit he picked in his African tribal backyard that goes from tree to chocolate candy in a matter of a few short slices and dices... naturally.
I walked up to this line of truffles about the same time a little 10 year old boy did. I definitely stood there longer than he did and prided myself on the fact that I was more dedicated to chocolate than him. So low. So ashamed.
Turns out a little boy had his birthday party here. That's why the kid didn't stay longer. Because he was making his own truffle with his own two hands. Touche little German boy. Imagine having your birthday party at a chocolate factory.... in Germany..... with the famous Lindt guy..... yea nancy drew and ariel themed birthday parties are seeming so lame to me right now.
in the history part of the museum that i only half paid attention to talked about how chocolate used to be considered a delicacy in the 1800's and actually only for the elite. They had hot chocolate houses and eventually spread to the public later. Cool facts.
Ya know, expensive things the chocolate was held in at the royal palaces and stuff.....
this statute lady looked so real i was so freaked out....
doesn't she look real? anyway, she was a maid in this royal man's house and served him all the chocolate he wanted and ended up having an affair with him and was called the chocolate mistress or something. i dont know i think i just butchered that story but believe it because it's jucier than what it probably actually is.
Milka chocolates were around first in Europe as far as chocolate candy bars sold to the public go. They are in every major city train station candy bar machine. My thighs HATE Milka's. But my heart loves them. Nerdy fact: as far as their global marketing campaign goes, they have maintained their same brand logo since the 1800's.... which proves to me the stability and the quality of the brand... super impressed.
Why are there clocks in this chocolate factory? I don't ask questions.
Boys birthday party. Jealousy is steaming out of my pores at this point.
Alright, here I am in the store. Millions of awesome chocolate pictures are about to ensue.
Well look at this hunk...
I couldn't decide between either... They both looked so... enticingly appetizing. har har.
What? um ok....
Irony.
Chocolate beer. Oh Europe.
Chocolate body peeling... what a mess.
Chocolate spaghetti anyone?
At last, we settled with a great view of the river and a nice hot chocolate.
This wall we happened to stumble upon was apparently in my tour guide application to see. Probably had something to do with a war or something. It was great.
Oh Beilzers.
And of course we found a cheeto ad on a billboard with a skank on a motorcycle and the cheeto called "Chi o..." sooooooo......
And the "Bitburger" is special because it is a beer only made in Bitburg, Germany which just so happens to be the birthplace of moi. I am actually traveling to Bitburg this weekend. I asked one of my guy friends here, Beach, to go with me because he is 6'4 and my body guard. I enticed him with this famous Bitburger Beer Factory and you better bet your bottom dollar he is in.
This random lady came up to us and asked us where we were from. We said Texas. She got so excited and goes... "Awesome! I'm from Germany!!!" We said....... "neat..... can you take our picture in front of the cathedral?" Anyway, it was weird and awkward because then we stood there nodding our little american heads at her little german self and then we parted ways. It was a great experience honestly... what can I say... everyone loves us. (This is supreme sarcasm for anyone that has actually ever been to Europe.)
and now for Bruge, Belgium: a quaint little village. The first actual village I have been to. Nothing big here except a big cathedral with work being done to it... but cute canals, little shops, and a quiet homey feel that makes you want to stay at a bed and breakfast and go ride a horse through the town while playing a trumpet... or maybe that was just me.
Cute little boat of people were coming towards us. I waved.... they waved back. Then started yelling in a gibberish language I had never heard in my life and I froze like a statute. Then I ran to the other side and snapped more pictures of them. I was awkward. That's really all I remember about this picture.
Me and rooms.
Me and sweet pea.
Wall shot.
Door shot.
After eating at cute little cafe, we journeyed through the side streets and came across the cutest stores. Everything about this town screamed "I am so cute so stay forever."
A precious little postcard store had the oldest photographs I've ever seen. One postcard was of this naked girl on an elephant with wings and on the back of the photograph it said, "1920: Big Bertha." I laughed. The guy who owned the store was sitting down eating a sausage with his bare hands and listening to a German radio that said "Bieber" like a million times. Love.
And now we get to the highlight of the trip. The DIAMOND MUSEUM. Holla. It was the perfect place for us girls to go to. But I won't lie..... after going to all the factories and museums we had, and receiving all the free samples, we were all a little disappointed with no free diamond sample at the end. Rip off. Kidding! It was so nice!
Diamond mine history.....
Spot the awkward statute out of place in a diamond museum. Again, dont ask questions.
Doesn't that guy look like a real person? Or was it just me? Because I flipped and then realized it was fake. 5 Euros well spent... believable exhibits. (I'm talking about the guy in there working in the diamond mine.. not the nutcracker. Let's get that straight.)
Couldnt. Use. Complete. Sentences. Around. These. Diamonds. Drooling....
Jump in my pocket little buddies!
So many diamond stealing techniques running through my mind at this point..... Came up with zero practical ones. Naturally.
And it ended with a big rock/diamond/gold nugget thing. It was beautiful. I had a great time. I was ready for hot chocolate again too. And we all know Kristen was ready for it more than me and before anyone else.
Carissa, Hannah, and me enjoying some hot chocolate after walking around in the murky wet weather.
Carissa, Hans, and I enjoyed watching the boats float by and waving like royalty..... or was that just me?
Ok I take back the last highlight of the trip.... this was definitely the highlight of the trip: watching these two high school boys make candy. Carissa, Kristen, and I especially were literally in a trance obsessed with the process. These boys were probably so confused and wondering if we were on a special ed field trip because we stayed inside there for about 45 minutes just watching this candy making. It was so cool to see them roll the sugar, mix colors, roll it into smaller rolls, chop them off, let them harden, and give us free samples. I stole like 15 extra pieces when they weren't looking. The people around us were of course all little kids mesmerized like us, but not as.... of course.
I found this picture and I thought it would fit perfectly with this kinda boring and lame post. I don't have a lot to say because it was a long time ago and nothing super huge happened in these towns. They were quaint little villages with lots of life that we explored through interacting with the people and enjoying the beauty of the different architecture and watching how people led their lives in these towns. It was simple. Just like this post.. nothing too out of the ordinary, just a simple reflection on how great life is... how simple it can be... and how grateful we all should be. I've been learning lately how vital it is to take every single day as a gift and to treasure it. My heart swells with gratitude for the opportunities I have been able to embark on. I still have a month left too! So I will update in the morning ( in the wee hours for you american crazies) with my Austria update. Then I will start on the Ireland WEEK with my best friend Gretchen who came to visit for her spring break and then I will update on Switzerland. Then I will sleep and go to class and take tests and write papers and book flights and trains and hostels and start packing and get ready for life back in American with internships and summer school and housing and unpacking and all these crazy things on my to do lists..... The to do list keeps getting longer and nothing gets scratched off..... But regardless, life is still good.... my head is still on my shoulders and these things will get done. Cheers to one post down, 4 to go. Way to go on procrastination marls (I can hear my mom saying...) I wouldn't have it any other way. Goodnight all you countless readers (lala and mom.... haha!)
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