Gills adventures

Wow, the frequency of my recent posts is alarming! Even to me!! But I want to keep this blog updated while stuff is still fresh in my mind.
So Hauptbanhof........ it mean train station, or the place shannon and me have been spending a lot of time in the past couple days. We came to Munich on friday and checked into a middle of the road hostel. 40 bed mixed dorm room for 19 euros a night, met some cool people, some not so cool ones, you know how that goes! Anyways we have spent 3 nights there and are sleeping there again tonight, so it feels a bit like a home now. On saturday morning we went to Dachau concentration camp. What a place! To actually see the place and walk where the prisoners walked and walk through the crematorium building was quite a experience. We ended up spending 4.5 hours there, so much to see and read and learn. Very sad. Quite unbelievable what the prisoners had to go through.
Later that day we stumbled upon a summer festival at the Olympic park complete with rides and carnival food, and a live band, and beer gardens with the servers in traditional costumes - ledrhison I think its called. Funny. We made our way to the Olympic Village where the 1972 Olympic massacre happened. I took a course in university and we spent a lot of time learning about it, so it was great to see the park with my own eyes.
The next day we went to Berteshgarten (sp?) which was a three hour train ride one way to go to the top of a mountain in an elevator shaft to see Hitlers fortress which was a gift to him on his 50th birthday from the SS. It was pretty cool and a beautiful day, we could see the whole mountain range. But my time is being cut short again because of the expensive internet. Till next time......

Hi!
Just bought some minutes here at an internet cafe in Fussen in Bavaria, so thought I would update on the happenings of the last couple days. Staying with Shannons friends Ester and Jens and their baby Julian was great, they were so hospitable and just happy to have us (I think). They had a lot organized for us and we got to a lot of places we probably couldnt have seen without spending tones of money and time on the train. We drove down to South Germany to stay with Esters parents at their place in the Black Forest which was so beautiful. The thing that really struck me about all the cities and towns we were in was how each little street was so unique and pretty. All winding cobblestone streets with tall buildings with all sorts of colorful flowers on the windowsills. Lots of outdoor cafes....... Just a really beautiful holiday spot in my opinion.
We had lots of funny moments with the family, like how Shannon and I cannot say Goeten Naacht (sp?) which means "good night", the closest we come is saying "good nude". This German language is difficult!! But we ate a lot of German food like Schnitzl (sp?) and Bratwurst (sp?). At breakfast time they put out like Sandwich meat and cheese and rolls and everything.... its funnny.
We left the Kriekenbaums yesterday morning and took a train to Fussen. It was a 6 hour ride but there were 2 changes enroute so it didnt feel that bad. When we got to fussen we had a bad experience finding a place to stay. We went to tourist info to get a list of available hostels and we chose the cheapest one and set out to find it with our packs on our back. An hour later we found our place and rang the doorbell......nobody home. It was getting dark and starting to rain at this point and we hadnt eaten since breakfast. We set our packs down and mulled over our choices then just started ringing the doorbell out of tiredness and frustration and a woman answered!!!! We were a little surprised but more greatful than anything. Till she said she had no rooms to rent despite the rooms available sign in her window and the info from the tourist place. Packs back on....... A hour and a half later we made it to another place and thank the Lord they had room or we would have been sleeping in the train station! So this morning we got up early and went to the most beautiful castle I have ever seen or imagined. Neuchveninstein, it is right in the Alps, so high up that the clouds actually surround it. It is amazing. I would elaborate but I am going to run out of time on this computer. We are off to Munich in an hour, tomorrow will see Dachow(sp?) a concentration camp and Hitlers eagles Nest. Bye!

Hallo (German greeting),
Ahh, so much to say, so little time! Flew into Frankfurt on saturday and go picked up and taken to Neinleganan sp? to the home of the Krighleibaums sp?. Since then have been to a wine festival; Strasborg, France ; Heidlburg ; Europa park (europes disneyland) ; and Friburg. Right now we are in the town of Walwadt sp? which is right near the black forest, staying at the home of Esters parents where we have been eating and drinking like queens and marvelling at these fancy germans. But tomorrow we must part ways, and Shannon and I will learn what it is like to be on our own in a foreign non english speaking land!
Tomorrow we take a train to Fussen where we will spend the night at a cheap hostel and travelling to see the castels in the morning. The one castle in particular we are interested in is the one that Walt Disney modelled Cinderellas castle after. It is the number one tourist thing in Germany, so may be crowded but should be worth it. Not looking forward to the 6 hour train ride to get there however.
It is very beautiful here, lots of trees and mountains. The weather has been hot which I very much welcome after rainy old england! You should see the house we are staying in right now...... Gigantic and fancy!!!! Me and shannon are sleeping in the loft and it is just like in the movie Heidi, how you open the huge windows in the morning and the beautiful mountains and trees are close enough to touch and the cathedral tops from the nearest city are just visible. It really is gorgeous. But its late and I got to go and get organized for tomorrow. Hopefully we will soon find an internet cafe so I can spend some time and fill you in on some of the details.
Ciao (Germans say that)

Hi friends and family!
It has been a while since I last posted so I thought I should take a moment today and tell you all that I am off to Europe tomorrow. Actually I am only going to London tomorrow to stay and then getting my plane to Frankfurt, Germany in the morning! It's all very exciting! My friend Shannon Dawson from high school is flying to Frankfurt from Calgary and landing 5 minutes before me (theoretically). Her German friends she met in Costa Rica last year are picking us up and hosting us at their house for a week. They have taken the week off work and are excited to show us all around!!!
From there, I don't really know what the plan is. I haven't booked a return ticket at all........ Can't decide if that's a smart decision or not..... All I know is I need to be back for August 9th. So it should be an adventure!
So other than planning my latest excursion, I haven't been up to too much since my last post. I have been working a lot, mostly travelling around to farmers markets. Last week I did 5 markets in 5 different towns or cities in 8 days, and I was by myself for 3 of them, and was the driver for all of them. My sense of direction is no good in this place, so there were a lot of U-turns and confused phone calls, and stressful moments. One of the guys I live with lent me his satellite navigation thing for one of the markets, that thing is amazing! I should have one......
Ummm, what else have I been up too..... Basketball has slowed down for the summer, we only play every other week till mid august then we will start twice a week again. Still very fun. I've gone on a couple day trips with my adopted family - the Halls. My friend Emma works as a fundraiser for Rainbows Childrens Hospice (which is like the Sick kids hospital), so she has had a few events that I have helped with to raise money. One night was a pub quiz that she and her brother organized. It was really fun, quite competitive! The government here doesn't take care of things like that (i.e. childrens hospitals, elderly people, students), unlike Scotland where they take care of everything. University is virtually tuition free to Scots. No fair!
My orange van has been on the fritz lately. From the stories I have heard of my van before I drove it, I am amazed that I have never had problems with it before. However, now is probably the most ideal time for it to break down because I am away! Haha. Awwww, I just looked out the window and it's raining AGAIN! It seriously rains like every single day. I hope it's sunny and hot in Germany! Back to the van... I couldn't do anything because I couldn't get the hood open because it is like rusted shut, but my friend James came last night and charged her up, so hopefully it will hold the charge long enough to take me to the shop to meet Ian today, and then hopefully he'll let me take the nice van till tomorrow.
That's about all I got. I will probably post while in Europe and fill y'all in on the adventure! Take care, and keep sending me emails!!!!!

Hi everyone,
Here I sit in an internet cafe on a rainy evening in London. What a place!!!! You should see it - things to look at everywhere, millions of people pushing around, bright lights, bad smells, dodgy hostels - it's great!!!!!! I'm here with my friend Miriam from Athabasca and we have been very busy the past couple days.
I left Leistershire on tuesday morning and arrived at Kings Cross (the station in Harry Potter) and got on the tube to go to Heathrow to meet miriam's plane from Calgary. We checked into our hostel which is a little on the questionable side, but it is cleanish and cheap which is what matters to us. From there we went to Covent gardens to watch street preformers and look in some posh shops, then to Trafalger Square, Westminster Abby, Big Ben and a couple other places near there. Today we have been busy seeing "Madam Troussauds Muesum of Wax figures" or something - it was wicked!!!!!!! You should see how real these wax people are, it's amazing. Tower of London was next including the Tower bridge. We got to see where the parts of the castle Edward the Longshanks (the bad king in Braveheart) designed and lived in. So much history, but too little patience to stand around and listen to it all, there is just too much to see! We went to Westminster abby again and actually got to go inside and go to evening prayers, it was beautiful. Then we went across the street and toured around the parliment buildings (miriam's choice) - saw the house of lords and house of commons - actually a kind of interesting day to be there because it is the day that Tony Blair the PM is resigning. Next we went on the London Eye - which is a huge ferris wheel with the people in glass capsules. Tomorrow we are going to science center (my choice), B-ham palace, and the Lion King show. Would write more but but my time on the internet is going to cut out soon. Hope you all are well and talk to you later!!