Belgium & Amsterdam Christmas 2010

When I approached the idea of Christmas while abroad I didn't know where to start. I could have stayed in Poznan, but I figured that would be pretty boring. I then considered just travelling, but travelling alone over Christmas, while probably being fun and all, could be quite lonely as well. Then one of my awesome friends from Belgium/Spain invited me to just go home with him to spend Christmas with his family. Belgium isn't somewhere I ever expected to go, and I was really interested in seeing how a Spanish family would celebrate Christmas, so naturally, I agreed.

our first night in Liege

We started the trip with a train ride to a city in Poland called Wroclaw, then boarded a ryanair flight to Brussels. The problem with ryanair is that the flight itself is cheap, but in order to take a suitcase, you have to pay nearly as much, if not more, than your ticket. All I had with me in Belgium, for one whole week, was my hand luggage. And that meant no liquids. Needless to say... thank you to Roberto's family for lending me contact solution, shampoo, conditioner... ect.
After we reached Brussels, Roberto and I separated from Momo and went with his mom and sister to his city, Liege. The night we got there, after a quick meal, we went into the city center with Roberto's friend, Thomas, and went to a pub the boys part own. We had a great time and slept almost all of the next day!
So we flew into Belgium on the 22 of December... the 23 was a recuperation day and the 24 was Christmas Eve.

Christmas dinner

As anyone who reads this probably knows... I haven't ever celebrated a Spanish Christmas before. The big celebration is on the 24th and then the 25th is just a small family day. So on the 24th we all got dressed up and around 25 members of Roberto's family came over and we had one of the best meals I have ever tasted. I wish I could remember exactly what we ate, but I remember it started very late because... well... it's a Spanish thing. At the beginning was a salad and pate (a Belgium thing). I never liked pate but it wound up tasting pretty good and now that I'm thinking about it... I am craving it a wee bit. Next was a delicious fish soup. Roberto's Grandma was over from the Dominican Republic and that woman can COOK. It was amazing. After fish soup the main course began. I couldn't tell you exactly what we ate unfortunately. I know there was rices... multiple types of rice. And meats. I'm thinking probably chicken and I think maybe duck or turkey or something. And salads. And more soup... and amazingness. Ah it was delicious. Not to mention the river of wine and champagne all night long. Seriously never ending river and it was good wine too. That night we went to Roberto's cousin's after dinner and I fell asleep because... well, I was tired, and that's what red wine does. We just went home and went to bed!
The next day the whole house was asleep until well into the afternoon. We just had a late lunch of leftovers with the closer family and relaxed. We went into the city and went to "Village de Noel" or the Christmas Village. Mulled (hot) wine is a popular winter drink all over Europe. I neglected to mention that while in Prague, mulled wine was the only reason we survived the cold. So in Liege we drank our hot wine and just relaxed at a friends place and after some creative driving,  headed home.
I think I have mixed up my days a little bit here, but I am not too sure of the order.
One day... while we were in Liege... we went sledding and it was toooooo much fun! Belgium kind of lacks... hills. So after a decent amount of driving we reached the hill and had a fun day in the snow :)

The next day we went through the city and explored a bit, checking out the Christmas market and had a nice relaxing night before we went to...
AMSTERDAM
I love Amsterdam, I really do.

We woke up early and caught a train out of Maastricht. Liege is close to the Dutch border and so Roberto's mom drove us there and we took a cheaper train into Amsterdam. By cheap I mean... in Euro's terms. Converted to zloty it seemed way too expensive for a train. But we caught a train and made it to Amsterdam that afternoon.
My first thoughts of Amsterdam... it was cold. jajaja... when touring a city in the winter be prepared to freeze. It was cold... and beautiful. The train station (after living in Poland) was amazing. Unfortunately we didn't have time to do an official tour as it was off season for tourists and we had less than 24 hours. So our first order of business was to buy gloves.
Following a quick trip through H & M we explored. The first thing I really noticed was the way the shops were organized. It went restaurant restaurant "coffee shop" "coffee shop" hookah bar (nargile in Turkey) restaurant. As you should know... a coffee shop is a cannabis shop... as cannabis, along with prostitution, is legal in Holland.
We then set off in search of Roberto's cousin's boyfriend's (fiance's?) office. Which we found, after... quite some time. He then gave us a few recommendations then we continued our adventure. After a short while we found the apartment and ate a really, really delicious meal... 

We then set off to find the red-light district. Disturbing but an important part of Amsterdam. The whole street was lined with "shop windows" that... usually men... could walk past and do some... window shopping... I hope you can pick up what I am trying to explain. See the photos to understand...  We then made our way a bit farther into the center (FAMILY, STOP READING) and stopped at a hookah bar and a coffee shop... My friend from home, Megan, had been to Amsterdam summer 2010 and recommended this place called "Lost in Amsterdam" and so Roberto and I decided to stop there. It was awesome... all these cushions on the floor, low tables set up, chill music... it was amazing. Needless to say we had a good, relaxing night in Amsterdam and headed back to Roberto's cousin's flat for a good night's sleep. 

The next day we woke up early and headed on our way. Our first stop was the Anne Frank House. (for more information on Anne Frank visit this site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Frank) We had to get there as early as possible because it is such a popular place to visit in Amsterdam and people start queuing up early. When we got out the queue was around the corner! I think everyone knows who Anne Frank is. A German born Jew who escaped to Amsterdam in 1933 when the Nazi's took over. Following the Nazi take over of Amsterdam they were trapped and eventually had to go into hiding. When they were ratted out the whole family was sent to various concentration camps. Anne and her sister survived until March 1945 when they died of typhus. When Otto Frank came home, having survived the camps, he came to an empty, ransacked home. Within a short time, the house was opened to the public as a reminder of what some people in WWII had to live through. Because I had visited Auschwitz on a previous occasion visiting here really struck a chord. Why? Because I had seen what happened to people once they were  imprisoned or taken captive. It was brutal... and to seen the living conditions before hand was so difficult. Growing up I had read the Diary of Anne Frank,and the story that seemed so distant at first became glaringly real when I stepped into the attic of that house. 

After the Anne Frank House we wandered a bit farther and had a delicious waffle breakfast... 

We then began our search for the I AMSTERDAM sign. That wasn't easy because it is moved around. But we found it! Then it was time for a quick lunch and a sprint to catch our train back to Maastricht where Roberto's mom picked us up at the train station and drove back to Liege!

The day we got back Momo came to Liege so that we could get back to the Charleroi airport together. That night we went out in Liege and didn't quite make it all the way back to Roberto's and crashed on one of his friend's floor... squished on a variety of mattresses. As Momo would say "it's an experience". It was fun. 

Before we went to the pub that day we went out for an absolutely amazing meal, typical of Belgium. It was... amazing. The boys said it was some kind of pork... thing. And... OH MY GOD. It was spectacular. That was when they started making me drink... every (I swear) type of beer Belgium has ever produced. 

That day we made it back home, packed up... and headed for the airport :)...

There are plenty more stories to share from my time in Liege and Amsterdam... but this post is plenty long enough as is!

I want to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to Roberto and all of his family and friends for not only opening their homes and holidays to me, but making me feel so welcome while being there. Being so far from home over a time that is normally one to be spent around friends and family... it was so nice to be some where warm and so full of love... So thank you all, so much...
So, that's how I celebrated Christmas 2010... I can only wonder what 2011 will bring :))
xoxo from Turkey

Prauge, Czech Republic, December 2010

My Turkish sister, Selin, and I decided that a weekend trip to Prague would be an excellent time, and boy, were we right. However, we hit a few bumps in the road on our way there.
Once I received my acceptance letter from Turkey I had to get my student visa ASAP. Since Selin is Turkish, she is an excellent companion to take along to Warsaw with me to the consulate. If I remember correctly we left on a Thursday morning train. Since neither of us are morning people, we pulled an all-nighter Wednesday night. Believe me, this is important for later. So we made it to the train in time, and had a nice ride all the way to Warsaw in a compartment all to ourselves :).
Once we reached Warsaw, Selin knew where to go (thank god) and we made our way to the consulate. Everything was going perfectly, I had all my papers in order, everything was okay! Then they asked for 118 AMERICAN dollars. I was a CANADIAN, studying in POLAND, at the TURKISH consulate, and they wanted AMERICAN cash. That was bump number 1. 4 or 5 banks later (all the while running with a big backpack) we made it back to the consulate with a little bit of time to spare and successfully... finally... got my visa.
Back to the train station and a bite to eat and we were off to a small city in Poland called Katowice. During our... I don't know the term for train layovers... we had some fun in the snow and boarded the train off to Prague.

Kafka statue

Our first night exploring 

Bump #2. After not sleeping Wednesday night, and it now being early, early Friday morning, we finally got to sleep. I was sleeping on my bag, as was Selin. My camera was tucked beside me in my hand and Selin's phone was in her hand I think. We both passed right out cold. Selin woke up with the train conductor shaking us... I, of course, didn't. We got our tickets stamped and got ready to fall back asleep when Selin couldn't find her phone. We searched through everything and she asked if I was missing anything. I didn't think I was, at first. Then I realized my camera, with our pictures from Warsaw, the trains, and Katowice on it, was missing. We wound up in Prague with no camera and no phone to call around and help resolve the issue... limited sleep and a bed waiting for us in the nicest hostel I have ever seen... we headed straight to the hostel and slept. For a long time. In the most comfortable bed I have slept in since September. (ST. CHRISTOPHER'S--> they have hostels in... Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, and Prague I think. A-M-AZING)

Well after our nice long nap we explored Prague a wee bit :) grabbing dinner and headed back to the hostel for a good long na. Well the first order of business following our nap was buying  a camera. Thank god I have a mom who bails me out :).

Old Town, Prague 

Astronomical Clock, Old Town, Prague

The next day, Saturday I think it was... We joined a free tour, which was also an excellent choice, and visited the major points in the city. Beginning in the old town and working our way through. The astronomical clock... the Jewish quarter, Kafka statue... ect. you name it, we saw it. We ended near the Charles Bridge and switched tours and started the Castle tour.
I love castles. That's probably my favorite part of Europe... the castles.

Cathedral of St. Vitus

View from the Castle

The original Prague castle was founded in the year 880. Throughout the years the castle was added to and altered... making it quite a mess in an architectural sense.From the 10th century the castle was an important center for education and culture. In the time of King/Emperor Charles IV (ie: 14th century) it was a true time of prosperity for Prague. It became an imperial residence and the seat of the Holy Roman Empire. Following the Hussite wars the castle went into disrepair and building came to a halt. The castle went through a series of changes and during the renaissance times the Hapsburg family took over and began changing the castle into a renaissance seat. During the 16th century (the rule of Rudolph II) the castle became the seat of the emperor once again. The last bit of the 18th century a great rebuilding of the castle was undertaken and it once again became a prestigious landmark on the Prague horizon.

Castle in the background

At the pub

In 1918 following the foundation of the Independent Czechoslovak Republic the castle once again became the location of the head of state. The castle continues to be the location of the Czech head of state, as well as the location of many Czech and Bohemian artifacts, relics, and documents.
The Castle tour lasted past dark and we ended it with a visit to a monastery located on the castle grounds for some good, cold, monastery-made, Czech beers :).

Prague castle at night

Following the castle tour we caught a tram and headed on back to the hostel as fast as possible to make it in time for the pub crawl we signed up for! The pub crawl went, as pub crawls often do... in a messy, too much fun fashion... We met tons of fun Australians, most of which were dressed in Santa suits (I don't understand it either). We also met a few American and Canadian girls who were on their semester break. Needless to say, we had a time and made it back to the hostel with all our belongings and in one piece. 

The next day Selin, myself, and our hangovers checked out of the hostel and headed over to an English bookstore my friend, Jaelynn, recommended to us. The bookstore was called "The Globe" and we spent quite a bit of time there... and walked away with a number of new books to make the train ride home a little more bearable. 

Following our bookstore-venture we headed back to the old town for a quick lunch and some last-minute exploration. During this time we visited Charles Bridge.

The View

Charles bridge is one of the most important connections between the old town and the castle. The bridge is over 500 meters long and 10 meters wide and has 16 arches. There are about 30 statues over the whole of the bridge and a truly spectacular view of the castle. Construction of the bridge started in the mid 1300's and was finished in the beginning of the 1400's. The statues along the bridge depict various saints and patron saints. One statue has a picture at the base and it is considered good luck to rub it... so naturally we did :) see the picture =>

We then headed back to the hostel one last time for our bags and we were off on the last leg of our journey back to Poznan. 

Our security system the conductor got mad at us for

Fortunately this time we slept in shifts (for the most part) and made it back to Poznan in time for my presentation Monday morning :)

That's about it for my first trip to Prague!

xoxo from Turkey

Gdansk/Gdynia/Sopot, Poland, December 2010

Well this is late, I know. 
I'm hoping pictures will help me remember everything correctly here. 
So these three cities were all visited on one trip. Why? Because they make up the tri-cities, or in Polish: Trójmiasto, situated right along the Baltic Sea coast. You may be thinking: what the hell? The sea? In the winter? I couldn't agree more. It was Cold, and yes, that is Cold with a capital C on purpose. Back home we get really, really cold winters, I know. But southern Alberta cold can't be compared with sea coast cold. Never mind, I think the Portuguese that were with us almost died ;). 
So, as far as I know, Gdansk is the main city and if we go into medieval times, I believe it was quite a hotspot. But, since most of us don't really understand the importance of kings and knights from 997 to... oh I don't know, the late 1800's, let's fast forward to a more modern history. As all... or at least, most history buffs should know, after World War I ended Woodrow Wilson wrote the "Fourteen Points". As everyone knows, history has a tendency to repeat itself, so I don't know whether to call them incredibly effective or not... but anywho. So Mr. Wilson wrote these Fourteen Points and number 13 happened to call for an independent Polish state, with (and this is important) access to the sea. As most of you should know, Poland was not a country during WWI. It's geographical location put it in one of the worst possible places to be during that time, and it was divided three ways. One went to Russia, one to Austro-Hungary, and one to, of course, Germany. Well, back to Gdansk. Gdansk had a somewhat perfect location to be reinstated in part of Polska, but unfortunately, the Polish were no longer the majority in the city. That role of the majority went to... you guessed it; Germany.
So, Instead, in accordance with the terms of the Versailles Treaty, it became the Free City of Danzig, an independent quasi-state under the auspices of the League of Nations with its external affairs largely under Polish control. For those of you who don't speak history, I sure hope you know what the Treaty of Versailles is... or I would be forced to question your high school diploma. But it's your lucky day, lets touch on the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations all at once. 
Here it goes: so five years after the war began so much destruction and horror had been wrought, even though the war itself ended November 11, 1918 (Remembrance Day, Independence Day...) People, like human being tend to look for, wanted someone to suffer. 6 months at the Paris Peace Conference and by October 21,1919, exactly 5 years after the whole ordeal began (ie: when Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered), The League of Nations (no the Justice League does not exist) registered the Treaty and it was printed in a Treaty Series (a series written by angry masses to punish people who, honestly, probably didn't deserve it, but hey, we can't change history). The Treaty of Versailles kicked Germany's ass. It's not really fair, in my mind. But at the time, people were scared and angry. So I will withhold my opinion. The Treaty forced Germany to accept full responsibility of the whole war. Ouch eh? (look up the War Guilt clauses if you're interested). Not only did they need to accept this, but they needed to pay for it. This meant reparation payments totally nearly $385 billion USD today. And they had to disarm (that one was probably a good idea). I could go on about they punishment Germany received... but lets tie this in with Gdansk. The Treaty of Versailles covered many, many things, but one that important to us is the one that states: "The strategically important port of Danzig (Gdansk) with the delta of the Vistula River on the Baltic Sea was separated from Germany as the Freie Stadt Danzig" (or Free City of Danzing) placing it under the protection of the League of Nations and not really belonging anywhere. That is until 1933 when the Nazi party took over. 
So how did the Nazi party take over the "Free" City of Danzing? Remember when I said that the majority of the population was German? Yeah? That came back to bite the League in the ass. The Germans wanted back into their country (understandable) and the Nazi Party used this as a foothold into Poland. The Nazi Party soon gained the majority of the parliament in Danzing and Hitler used the issue as an excuse to invade Poland September 1st, 1939. The attack on Westerplatte was the first of World War II, but I will touch on that later. 
I just realized I haven't really talked about the trip itself. Well, we woke up bloody early and caught a train (6 hours I think?) made it to the hostel safe and sound and began a tour shortly after. 
We began in Solidarity Square which ties back into the fall of Communism in Poland in the 80's. Established in September of 1980 at the Gdansk shipyards, Solidarity was an independent labor union instrumental in the eventual collapse of the Soviet Union, and the primary catalyst that would transform Poland from a repressive communist satellite to the EU member democracy it is today.

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Before I go on, I am sorry for jumping all over history. Moving on...
Solidarity Square is located at the Gdansk shipyards. In July of 1980 the Polish government was forced, once again, to raise the price of goods, and curb the growth of wages. This pissed a lot of people off and soon strikes were organized across the country, despite the censorship and the lack of communication amongst the people they managed to come together quite efficiently and stand up against communism. The Gdansk shipyard strike began August 14. "On August 16th, several other strike committees joined the Gdansk shipyard workers and the following day 21 demands of the unified strike committee were put forward. These demands went far beyond the scope of local concern, calling for the legal formation of independent trade unions, an end to media censorship, the right to strike, new rights for the Church, the freeing of political prisoners, and improvements in the national health system." (http://www.gdansk-life.com/poland/solidarity)
The Polish government eventually gave the workers most of what they wanted, which further increased their confidence and soon a national labor union was born and the Solidarity (Solidarnosc in Polish) movement began. Before you know it 80% of the Polish workforce joined the union. This was one of the first movements against the Soviet Union began. 
One thing led to another and... as you all should know, the communist Soviet Union fell. I have already talked so much about history, I am assuming no one is reading anymore :)
After we visited Solidarity square we went to a Museum of Solidarity. It was an eye opener into the lives of Polish people during the times of Communism, and how hard they really had to fight to have the freedom they have today. It was actually very enlightening because, as a Canadian, we always think about how "troops have fought for our freedom" and "troops continue to fight for our freedom"... but in Poland... it was the Polish PEOPLE that actually fought for their freedom. Not military men, just regular people. Please don't take that as a statement disregarding what Canadian troops have done, but just a point that everyone had to fight against communism in Poland. For more information regarding the Solidarity movement in Gdansk, this is a great site: http://www.gdansk-life.com/poland/solidarity

Gdansk Old Town

After visiting so many different Polish cities, I'm not going to lie, Gdansk is another Polish city. I'm not saying it isn't beautiful, because it is very, very beautiful! The market square at night was amazing, but it was so, so, so cold! We spent a lot of time in cafes there. 
Since Gdansk is along the sea coast there is a huge market for Baltic Amber... speaking of which, mom if you are reading this. Let me know when you get your Christmas present :)


Later that night, after a nap (of course) and like all good Erasmus students, we went out.
The next day we continued our tour, walking through the historic landmarks of Gdansk. The most important being Westerplatte.

Westerplatte is the location of the first battle of World War II. (Be prepared, more history coming your way)

Buildings at Westerplatte 

September 1, 1939, moments after the first bombs of WWII were dropped over Poland, a German vessel supposedly in Danzing for non-violent purposes, opened fire. The German army, thinking they had an advantage began an artillery attack. However, the Polish side put up quite a fight. Repeated attacks by about 3,500 German soldiers were repelled by a small army of 180 Polish soldiers. The soldiers stationed at Westerplatte put off further German attacks down the Polish coast for 7 days. Even once their food supplies were cut off, they continued to fight. Major Henryk Sucharski surrendered on September 7, 1939 due to a lack of food supplies and ammunition. As a sign of honor, the German army allowed the Major to keep his sword when they took him prisoner. 
We then continued our tour... visiting numerous monuments and the amber museum. 
The Amber Museum was amazing. The pieces we saw in there were true works of art, and made primarily out of amber!
Later that night we took a night train to Sopot and visited yet another club. We then (naturally... mom) got bored and ran to the coast and visited the Baltic sea, at night, during the winter. Geniuses we are. 
The next day we returned to Sopot and saw the ship yard there and visited the aquarium. 
Our trip then came to a close and we returned back to Poznan :) 
That's all for Gdansk! 
I'm in Turkey now, so I guess;
xoxo from Turkey