Packing for RyanAir

The standard Ryanair jet

If you're a poor college student wanting to fly around Europe, getting a flight through Ryanair or easyJet is going to be your cheapest option. For the flight that is. Because RyanAir's tickets are so cheap, they charge you for basically everything else, from a seat reservation, to checking a bag, to priority boarding. There are a lot of little rules and regulations that govern RyanAir flights, meaning lots of fees if you aren't careful. I'd say the biggest one for people is the carryon regulation. It was also the one that I was most worried about going to Sweden.

It fit!

I mean if your bag doesn't fit in that, you have to check it. Which is about €30 each way. And being the super cheap college kid that I am, I was not about to pay €60 for a checked bag. So I managed to pack 5 days worth of clothing into my north face backpack, and it fit perfectly. 

6 days of clothing and toiletries, impressive huh?

Arial view

The trick is that your bag can't be fat. Go for long and skinny bags when picking a Ryanair carryon. Also I always roll my clothes when I pack because it saves a lot of room, and actually helps keep most stuff wrinkle free. 

I also wore all my bulky clothing on the plane which saved a lot of room (and weight). Another tip is to get to the gate as early as possible and sit by where the start of the queue is. Because if you didn't buy priority boarding, it's first come first serve on the seat you get. Luckily for me I was at the head of the line so I got onto the plane fairly quickly and picked myself out a window seat. 

Yay window seats! And Sweden!

So I got this awesome view as we were coming over Sweden. As interesting as an airline experience this was, I have to give Ryanair credit, my flight left on time, got in on time, and they were very efficient about the whole process. So will I use Ryanair in the future? If it's the cheapest flight option, you better believe I will. 

Dresden Continued

Saturday was a late start for Lisa and I as we struggled to fight the groggy post-alcohol induced haze. Finally we were able to pull ourselves together, shower, and head off to Neustadt for the day. We left her place without a plan and again since it was beautiful outside, we opted to walk instead of take the street car. The no plan idea ended up working out fantastically as we wandered aimlessly around the city. It was then that we stumbled upon the Kunsthofpassage, tucked away in a little alley. Goodness what a find. The sheer design of the buildings blew me away.

I loved these mosaics

Just me trying to make an iPhone photo artsy

Now THAT'S a gutter system :)

I just love how cheery it is

Yes, it is a sign of a flying cow

We window shopped for a while and then decided we should probably eat something (considering it was already 4 pm). We ended up deciding on one of the little restaurants in the Kunsthofpassage, the Lila Soße. And what a great find it was! I got this Spätzle with arugula pesto and cheese. YUM. Like actually it's probably the best Spätzle I've had in Germany. And it was only €6.50! They also served the food in essentially glass tupperware, which I just found so neat. Also I highly recommend ordering the goat cheese dip with bread. It was heavenly.

My bitchin' lunch/dinner

We hung out and people watched, enjoyed some coffee and tea, for probably about 2 hours. Because we had noticed a Schokoladenbar at the entrance to the Kunsthofpassage, and it advertised a happy hour beginning at six. Six o'clock on the dot we plopped ourselves in the open window seat where we sat for about 4 and a half hours! But it was time well spent as we ordered drinking chocolate, cake, tea (Lisa), alcoholic chocolate beverages (me), talked, and people watched. Oh boy was the people watching great. We saw approximately 24 barefoot people go by, a woman dressed as Snow White, a guy with a propellor hat and underwear on top of his shorts, a dreadlocked guy presumably steal a bike, a few bachelor and bachelorette parties, and a lot of really cute German kids.

Our drinking chocolate. YUM.

Tea, cake, and a Choco Colada

My perch in the Schokoladenbar window (note the bare feet)

After finally paying and leaving our new favorite spot, we went and grabbed a couple of beers (and a bubble tea) and went and sat in this square where several musicians had stationed themselves. There were drums, guitars, dancing people, and we just sat back and took it all in.

Sunday was my day to say goodbye, and we decided we would blend in with the locals by walking around Neustadt barefoot. But not before a delicious (but not really nutritious) breakfast! Croissant, coffee, cake, cappuccino, and the cutest ice cream cones ever.

Yes those are mini scoops of ice cream with our coffee

Taking the tram into the city for the first time, we had some time to explore around the tram stop. Like this bombed out church that was never reconstructed after the war.

There really isn't a roof anymore

So we walked around barefoot, happened upon the Erich Kästner museum and got our own private tour (for just €3!), then decided I should probably try and find where I was supposed to meet up with Lars again so he could drive me home. Of course where we got off at the tram stop there was a Holi Festival going on so everyone was covered in blue, purple, and green paint powder. What a sight to see! After a fun people-watching late lunch at McDonald's, I met Lars, hugged Lisa goodbye, and hit the road. The city is absolutely teeming with life, and I took a bit of it home with me. That way I know I'll have to come back one day, so that  I can give it back. 

Real Life Stumble Upon: Kunsthofpassage

Song of the Trip: Monogamy by Cherub

Best food: My arugula pesto Spätzle

Best drink: The Choco Colada

Favorite historical spot: Just the entire Altstadt

Ice cream: Macaron at Venezia 

Must-Do: Go out at least one night somewhere in the Neustadt

Don't Do: Sacrifice comfort for style. Wear shoes you can walk A LOT in

Dresden: A tale of two cities

So this past weekend I popped on over to Dresden to visit my good friend Lisa who is there for the summer conducting neuro-research at the Uniklinikum. It's stuff way above my head, but from what I could grasp it seemed pretty cool. Now Dresden is only about 2 and a half hours from Bayreuth, but by bus it's around 4 and with train it can be any longer, not to mention expensive. So I boldly chose to get there through a ride-share. Now you may be thinking "Sommer isn't that dangerous?" and it's true the thought did run through my head that I had no idea what kind of person would be driving me. After all it essentially is pre-mediated hitch-hiking. But in the end it worked out great. It cost me just 10 Euro each way (as opposed to a 22 Euro bus ride each way), I got to practice my German, and the guy who drove me was very clear on when and where to meet him for my rides. The "Mitfahrgelegenheit" is a win in my book.

So Lars dropped me off at the Hauptbahnhof, and since Lisa still had work that day, I just wandered around the Altstadt. And boy was it beautiful. Going into the city, I really only knew about Zwinger Palace and of course the famous Frauenkirche. But there are so many other beautiful buildings; the architecture is absolutely stunning. Personally I love Baroque architecture though, so this was definitely my jam.

Frauenkirche. The dark stones are the original ones that survived the "Firestorm" of WWII

The churches are all free to visit, and if you want you can pay to take the stairs to the top for a bird's eye view of the city. Personally I'm still slightly scarred from going to the top of the Cologne Cathedral. Narrow spiral staircases and shaky legs to me aren't worth it. So I got a feel for the Altstadt on foot and stumbled upon some really great places.

Hofkirche (the Catholic church in the Altstadt)

I'm a huge church and cathedral person when it comes to Europe, and I just so happened to walk into the Hofkirche and was greeted with live (free!) organ music. Apparently everyday between 4-4:30 the Hofkirche has live organ music, so I just grabbed a pew and enjoyed a free concert in an absolutely beautiful church. They were accepting donations, so I essentially just emptied the few random coins in my purse into the bowl. It was just breathtaking.

After hours of wandering around the Altstadt, I walked over one of the bridges into the Innere Neustadt just to get somewhat of a feel for the other half of the city. I didn't wander far (probably because I wasn't wearing the best walking shoes) but just from the little that I saw, I could already tell it was a VERY different city from the Altstadt. The graffiti, the buildings, just all so different, all so...new. It was here that I started getting hungry so I popped in to the first ice cream place I saw, a Venezia Ice and got a scoop of the Macaron ice cream. At €1.20 for a scoop, it was a little on the pricey side, but OMG it was heaven in my mouth. Later I also stopped at a little cafe and got a cappucino, mostly because they advertised free wifi and I needed to let my parents know I made it to Dresden ok. After the coffee, I headed back to the Altstadt to go find a place to eat dinner. 

If you're looking for a place to eat in the Altstadt, you have to head over to Weiße Gasse near Kreuzkirche. It's like the United Nations of food options. I opted for a typical german restaurant so that I could try some of the local food and beer. The Gänsedieb caught my eye, especially when I saw that there was going to be free live music. I went with a hearty Saxon potato soup with sausage in it, which cost less than €6 but holy hell was it delicious! I enjoyed my dinner, my two beers, free wifi, and live music for a grand total of €13 (including tip). Not bad at all in my book.

Heaven in a bowl

Afterwards I made my way over to Lisa's and we hung out, had a beer, talked and got ready to go out. Being the nice night that it was we opted to walk the 20 minutes or so to the Neustadt. Just after five minutes of walking around young people sitting on the curbs drinking beer, I realized just how alive the city came at night. There are people all over the street, drinking, laughing, playing music. I would've been totally ok with people watching, but we had our hearts set on finding a club so we could dance. And boy did we dance. And drink. I wish I knew the name of where we went because they played awesome music. So awesome that we didn't leave until the music stopped and the lights came on, about 4:30 in the morning.

Of course the only pic I got was after we were all sweaty from dancing

Dawn was already breaking when we walked outside, and then we did what any drunk person in Germany does and went and found a Döner kebap place and split what could be considered a wonderful late night snack or just a really really early breakfast. Either way we justified it by the fact that we danced our asses off and it really was a complete meal with protein and vegetables and fiber. And as we ate our Döner and walked back to the Altstadt, we got this view. Incredible.

Dresden at dawn

And to think all of this occurred in less than 24 hours. I'll post about the rest of my weekend soon!

Herzlich Willkommen

My great-grandmother has always had a door mat with "Herzlich Willkommen" in all the houses she's lived in. I think it was a constant reminder for her of her roots, her homeland. Granted she lived in America almost her entire life, but you can never forget where you're from. Deutschland. Germany. Allemagne. However you want to call it, it's her history. And I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live here myself this summer and create my own history in this beautiful country. Germany has become like a second home to me. This is my third visit, and I'll be back in the fall to study in Freiburg with IES Abroad's European Union Program.

Panoramic View of Freiburg courtesy of Wikipedia

I have a permanent case of wanderlust, and I'm trying to see as much of the world as I can while I'm still young (and for as cheap as possible!) I've been blessed with the opportunity to see most of Western Europe from my studies abroad. Last summer I lived in Münster, Germany for six weeks and was able to visit Amsterdam, Bonn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Essen, and Berlin all while I was there with my language course run through Hampden-Sydney College. This summer I'm currently living in Bayreuth, Germany (but only for three more weeks!) enrolled in Universität Bayreuth's summer semester. My German language skills have drastically improved after spending so much time living abroad, and I know they'll only be getting better. 

The city center in Münster, Germany

Springtime in Bayreuth near the Röhrensee Tierpark

I'll be posting about all of my past travels soon, starting from the beginning when I was first bit by the travel bug, my family vacation to Europe in the summer of 2010. Included in these posts will be tips and tricks of traveling and studying abroad (specifically in Germany). Because every college kid should go study abroad!