Mein Geburstag!

    Today was my nineteenth birthday and it started early in the morning.  On the 16th of May I was invited to a German party because the 17th happened to be Christi Himmelfahrt Tag (Christ going to Heaven) this year and is a free day.  This meant no school for the rest of the week.  My birthday started out with a rather unusual round of Happy Birthday. I didn't get to sleep until 3 in the morning and then woke up later that morning at 6 something, which I promptly rolled over and tried to get more sleep.  The reason for this was because I was going to be heading to Berlin for the day.  After squeezing in a bit more sleep I was privileged enough to have a ride home that allowed me time to get ready for the day ahead.  The first thing we did after a wonderful breakfast that included cheesecake for me was open my present.  A sock and a pair of earrings... the sock is the second to one I am still knitting.  After that we took the train to Berlin and enjoyed a little bus ride through the city.

"For the German People"

The Reichstag

Then we visited the Reichstag.  This meant we walked in and around the glass dome, which was super cool.

The glass dome of the Reichstag.

Anna, Me, Jakob

   The view was amazing - Berlin was spread out before me.

The Brandenburger Tor (The Brandenburg Gate)

Berlin Hauptbahnhof (Berlin Central Station)

Chancellor's House

After enjoying the opening in the center of the dome we headed down and ate Italian food.  I had a gigantic yet delicious pizza.

After that we headed to Tränenpalast (Palace of Tears), an old crossing point (East/West Berlin) by the Friedrickstrasse Bahnhof (Train station).  At this point I was dragging a little because of my lack of sleep and during our guided tour I almost fell asleep standing up, a feat which I didn't think was possible until I nearly crashed into a display.  After that we got ice cream and took the train back to Brandenburg.  All in all it was a birthday that will go down in the history books of Hanna.

Paris!

4.11.11 - 6.11.11

In November Rotary had a mandatory trip to Paris... How cool is that, a mandatory trip to Paris.  There was no reason other than to let 90+ exchange students enjoy France's capital city.  It was fun and crazy to say the least.

The Itinerary

Highlights from the Trip:
-Sleeping on the floor of the bus on the way to Paris
-Going to the Louvre
-Seeing the Mona Lisa at least 2 times (one due to running around the Louvre without a map)
-Trying to locate famous pieces of art without a map and then later using a French map with Noora
-Finding out elevators are really good at helping you get unlost
-Seeing part of Hammurabi's Code
-Walking through Paris
-Eating street food on the steps of the Opera
-Buying a mini 2x2 Paris Rubik's cube key chain
-Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night
-Seeing the Moulin Rouge from the outside
-Buying and eating a baguette while walking around Paris
-Versailles
-Trying to walk to the end of the Versailles garden with Sarah
-Taking a boat tour on the Seine
-Walking around the Eiffel Tower
-Eating a Nutella crepe in front of the Eiffel Tower
-Wandering around Paris and ending up in a non-tourist area - enjoying Paris at it's best
-Going to Notre Dame de Paris - dream come true, though I did resist singing a song from The Hunchback of Notre Dame
-Sleeping on the floor of the bus again, it's a comfier than trying to squish in a little seat

There was more space than there looks...