last night we went to an irish pub called O'Reilly's. it was realllllly fun. there was karoake and we had a little room pretty much all to ourselves too. we ran into these guys from Marist College. They had actually been at the ECB right after us too. pretty crazy. we also met a really funny girl who was from frankfurt, marrying an American. they met at oreilly's a year before. she had on bunny ears with a veil. very entertaing.
my favorite quote of the night: "i'm not stupid" "you're wearing 2 coats."
i'm having so much more fun than i thought i would!
today we took a bus to heidelberg. it was really cute, BUT pouring down rain. seriously so nasty. we climbed up this crazy hill to get to the castle. we took a tour around the outside of the castle amd the courtyards. inside the castle was crazy- there were these HUGE things of wine. apparently the people had to pay their taxes in wine. so they collected all the wine and mixed it together (red, white, all in these big things) and then people got paid in wine too. kinda crazy. we saw some cool churches and the university in heidelberg. about 100,000 people live there- but 30% are students.
after the tour, we had some time to walk around. i had lunch at hard rock cafe (so nasty.) with cara, jocelyn and brynn. finally we were back on the bus (taking a nap) to be out of the nasty cold rain.
after another nap and shower, we had dinner at the hessicher hof restaurant (our hotel.) it was SO freaking nice. it was a 3 course dinner with two different wines to go with the different courses. i had a really nice relaxing dinner with mrs. fields, derek, katy, jen and alicia. it was good to just be calm :)
i think tonight we are going to go watch american football! yay!
Showing posts with label frankfurt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frankfurt. Show all posts
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Friday, January 4, 2008
a very financial day.
After going to bed at 8, today i woke up at 1 am and was 100% awake. i was really annoyed. after laying there for an hour, i fell back asleep... giving me a total of almost 12 hours of sleep! amazing. i think i'm pretty much over the jet lag.
today we put on our business suits and went to the ECB- European Central Bank. after dr. fields got us slightly lost, we made it there. we had to go through crazy security, it was insane. then we had a lecture in this awesome room. it was a really cool boardroom type place and we each had our own microphones and stuff. they also gave us coffee and cookies and stuff, pretty sweet. i really liked the lecture. the speaker made it really interactive and i learned so much about the Euro and the European Union. i feel like i learned more about finance and economics at the lecture than in my entire finance clas at delaware.
after the lecture, we split up for lunch. i went to the bull & bear restaurant with teri, katia and alicia. i had a really yummy thin pizza, so good. i kept seeing starbucks but i'm fighting the urge. i'm determined to not drink starbucks until i'm back in america. too bad i keep drinking straight up coffee instead, oh well. i guess at some point i had to start the coffee addiction like everyone else.
after lunch we met back at the bull & bear (statues, not restaurant) and then went inside to the Deutche Boerse. our speaker was so cute, he could hardly speak english and i felt really bad for him. he told us it was his first lecture in english. then his powerpoint broke too. sooo the lecture wasn't great, but i learned some about the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and how it works. they have a physical floor like in NY, but also have a computer program too. we got to watch the computer thing and it was pretty cool.
i tried to get money out at an ATM and it said "unable to process this transaction at this time." i got a little worried but eventually found another ATM that worked. yay.
after that we had some free time. we walked back to the hotel, bought some postcards and then i took a nice long nap. for dinner we went to this really good pizza place. they sold individual pizzas for like 3 euros- too bad the drink cost almost as much. it was funny though- this tiny pizza place way off the beaten path, they rushed out and it was funny. people would just sit at tables with other people too. very entertaining.
today we put on our business suits and went to the ECB- European Central Bank. after dr. fields got us slightly lost, we made it there. we had to go through crazy security, it was insane. then we had a lecture in this awesome room. it was a really cool boardroom type place and we each had our own microphones and stuff. they also gave us coffee and cookies and stuff, pretty sweet. i really liked the lecture. the speaker made it really interactive and i learned so much about the Euro and the European Union. i feel like i learned more about finance and economics at the lecture than in my entire finance clas at delaware.
after the lecture, we split up for lunch. i went to the bull & bear restaurant with teri, katia and alicia. i had a really yummy thin pizza, so good. i kept seeing starbucks but i'm fighting the urge. i'm determined to not drink starbucks until i'm back in america. too bad i keep drinking straight up coffee instead, oh well. i guess at some point i had to start the coffee addiction like everyone else.
after lunch we met back at the bull & bear (statues, not restaurant) and then went inside to the Deutche Boerse. our speaker was so cute, he could hardly speak english and i felt really bad for him. he told us it was his first lecture in english. then his powerpoint broke too. sooo the lecture wasn't great, but i learned some about the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and how it works. they have a physical floor like in NY, but also have a computer program too. we got to watch the computer thing and it was pretty cool.
i tried to get money out at an ATM and it said "unable to process this transaction at this time." i got a little worried but eventually found another ATM that worked. yay.
after that we had some free time. we walked back to the hotel, bought some postcards and then i took a nice long nap. for dinner we went to this really good pizza place. they sold individual pizzas for like 3 euros- too bad the drink cost almost as much. it was funny though- this tiny pizza place way off the beaten path, they rushed out and it was funny. people would just sit at tables with other people too. very entertaining.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
US AIR flight 700
finally in Germany! Wednesday, after finishing my packing in the morning, my dad drove me to the philly airport! we got there so early and then stood around waiting at the ticket desk for like 2 hours. finally we checked in, i said goodbye to my dad and then off we went to the terminal! after another sitting around for a few hours, we finally boarded the plane. the ride wasn't terrible though. we had little TV's in the back of our seats so i watched 2.75 movies on the way there. (btw, nanny diaries is officially one of my favorite movies ever.)
at midnight our time/6 am thursday Frankfurt time, we landed! i couldn't sleep at all on the plane so i was getting tired at this point. we took a bus to our hotel and checked in... the hotel is SO NICE! seriously like 5 stars. my room is freaking massive- we have 2 huge bathrooms and bathrobes and towels and slippers, seriously freaking awesome.
after checking in and showering, we each got 20 euros to go find breakfast. teri (my roommate) and i found a little coffee shop but i was too overwhelmed to get anything so i didn't eat :( at 10, we got back on the bus for a bus tour of frankfurt! i'm not terribly impressed with the city- its very modern and financialish, kinda just like being in nyc or something.
our tour guide showed us all around the city- the Main river and all of the important financial buildings. we went on top of the Main tower and could see the entire city. it was SO cold and windy! but besides that it was nice :) next, we went to the old city and saw a museum. there were models of Frankfurt before and after WWII. during the war, the city was bombed and 80% of it was demolished. the models showed just how torn up the city was. since the bombings, there has been a lot of debate over how to reconstruct the city. some want to keep it like it used to be while others want to make it more modern. it was really pretty and felt closer to what i expected a city in germany to be like.
after the tour, we all went to Wagner's Bierstube for lunch. i had an awesome steak and homefries! it was seriously so good. we tried apfelwein and i wasn't too impressed, it just tasted like watered down wine.
at 4, we had a lecture from the consulate. i was so freaking tired, i couldn't stay awake. at this point i had been awake for 30 hours and was so beyond ready to sleep. the lecture was alright, but i felt bad because i was falling asleep. oh well.
next, teri and i wandered around a little bit to find a phone card, hung out with jen and katy in their room and finally crashed at 8 pm. i was so tired, 8 was the absolute latest i could stay up! overall, it was a good yet overwhelming first day in frankfurt.
at midnight our time/6 am thursday Frankfurt time, we landed! i couldn't sleep at all on the plane so i was getting tired at this point. we took a bus to our hotel and checked in... the hotel is SO NICE! seriously like 5 stars. my room is freaking massive- we have 2 huge bathrooms and bathrobes and towels and slippers, seriously freaking awesome.
after checking in and showering, we each got 20 euros to go find breakfast. teri (my roommate) and i found a little coffee shop but i was too overwhelmed to get anything so i didn't eat :( at 10, we got back on the bus for a bus tour of frankfurt! i'm not terribly impressed with the city- its very modern and financialish, kinda just like being in nyc or something.
our tour guide showed us all around the city- the Main river and all of the important financial buildings. we went on top of the Main tower and could see the entire city. it was SO cold and windy! but besides that it was nice :) next, we went to the old city and saw a museum. there were models of Frankfurt before and after WWII. during the war, the city was bombed and 80% of it was demolished. the models showed just how torn up the city was. since the bombings, there has been a lot of debate over how to reconstruct the city. some want to keep it like it used to be while others want to make it more modern. it was really pretty and felt closer to what i expected a city in germany to be like.
after the tour, we all went to Wagner's Bierstube for lunch. i had an awesome steak and homefries! it was seriously so good. we tried apfelwein and i wasn't too impressed, it just tasted like watered down wine.
at 4, we had a lecture from the consulate. i was so freaking tired, i couldn't stay awake. at this point i had been awake for 30 hours and was so beyond ready to sleep. the lecture was alright, but i felt bad because i was falling asleep. oh well.
next, teri and i wandered around a little bit to find a phone card, hung out with jen and katy in their room and finally crashed at 8 pm. i was so tired, 8 was the absolute latest i could stay up! overall, it was a good yet overwhelming first day in frankfurt.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)