Catching Up

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I got mad at google for canceling my Adsense account (I was past 30 euros too!) and it was difficult to type on Oli's computer because the German keyboard has the "y" and "z" keys backwards and other weird things like that.

My week vacation was very nice.  Oli and I were able to do a lot of things in Hamburg, like visit the Hagenbeck Zoo, the harbor, and the World's Largest Model Train Museum!  The Zoo was the biggest and oldest in Germany.  A lot of the small animals weren't caged, and we were able to feed all sorts of animals, including elephants.  Oli taught me all the German names and I told him the English.  There were also quite a few animals that neither of us had ever seen before, so we had to go by the signs for that.  My favorite new word was Nasenbär (lit. Nose Bear), which was something like an anteater I think.  Watching the baboons was the most entertaining, but we also found this cafe where we could drink coffee and see flamingos, zebras, and lions all at once.  There were supposed to be Mountain Goats behind the lions, but maybe they were inside for the weather.  It was rather cold (but don't mountain animals like the cold? I don't know.)

On a nicer day we went down to the harbor and to an old church.  I need to start remembering names for these places.  In my mind all these churches are just "Die alte Kirche" (the old church) lol.  There was a nice view from the top, so we decided to take the stairs all the way up, totally underestimating the total height of the steeple.  We made it at least!  It was a great view, and we could see the entire harbor.  We went down to the Crypt afterwards, where we were basically just walking over graves.  I found one that said "Bach" and was sectioned off, but it turned out to just be a relation to the composer.  Oh well.

The Model Train Museum was awesome!  I could have spent all day looking at all of the tiny details in each set.  Definitely a work of art.  There was America, Hamburg, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden/Norway, and other parts of Germany.  They were in the process of making a working airport too.  The trains were all connected, and there was a little tunnel that said "Hamburg-America Tunnel."  If only it were that easy in real life!  Switzerland is the most famous exhibit there.  The mountains are two stories high, and there was a little chocolate factory that gave you real pieces of chocolate when you pressed the button (Oli pressed it twice lol.)  All of the scenes went through Day and Night, so you could see the buildings light up at night (Las Vegas in "America" was my favorite.)  It was a truly incredible piece of art, and I highly suggest it to anyone visiting Hamburg.

Oli and I also spent a night at his parents' house in Großhansdorf and were able to go for a hike through the woods by his house.  The houses and gardens there are so pretty!  It was a great place to be in fall.  His mom also asked us a ton of questions about the Amsterdam trip, and for some reason I can understand her German better than anyone else's.  Maybe because it's all travel vocab I learned in class? haha.  I wish she had given my listening test though!

We watched a lot of American TV and movies, and now I've exposed Oli to the movie Eurotrip and Jersey Shore.  I got hooked on Mad Men, and I'm really intent on finishing up the seasons when I'm back in the States!  Oli introduced me to "Bored to Death."  It was pretty good actually.  Any of you guys watching it?  It has that guy Zach Galifianaskis from "Between Two Ferns" on FunnyorDie.com.

Next blog will be about Amsterdam, I promise!

PS.  The picture is just Oli on his computer.  I bought a new camera (a really shitty one from Russia for only 35 euros) and I was trying it out.  It works, but every picture is blurry!