Whew! I have had a busy couple of weeks. Here is a little bit about what I have been up to:
My entire family, Rhonda, J.C., Matt, Ben and Nick, arrived in Paris on December 22 to spend Christmas with me. We had a wonderful time seeing the sights and enjoying French food such as lobster soup, oysters on the half-shell, beef tartar, duck, and some of the best falafels any of us have ever had (go figure, falafels in Paris). We made a trip outside of Paris to the Palace of Versailles. It was beautiful and I am excited to go back when it is warm so I can explore the gardens. On Christmas Eve we attended a mass at Notre Dame. I think this was the first time in about 15 years the Rupel clan had been to a mass and I was excited to see a ceremony at such a large, famous cathedral. A part of me was expecting there to be pyrotechnics, perhaps dancers (which there was none of), but it was interesting to see none the less. Throughout the trip the boys and I bonded over the embarrassment that our dad was saying “bong-jour” to everyone we met. Dad, thanks for trying to fit in and providing us with entertainment! We definitely didn’t have the typical Christmas in which we sit around the beautifully decorated tree and exchange a bunch of presents, but it was more of what the holiday is supposed to be about--time with family. Christmas in Paris wouldn’t have been the same without them.
After Christmas my friend Whitney arrived for a visit and we left Paris for Prague, Czech Republic. Whitney and I are not amateurs at traveling together. After we graduated high school Whitney and I spent two weeks traveling around Europe on train. You would think that almost five years later, with college degrees under our belts, numerous travel experiences, and apparently some wisdom, maneuvering through various countries on trains would be no problem for us. However, we couldn’t seem to get our s**t together. With arrived at the train station with our Eurail passes (tickets for traveling in multiple countries) early in the morning to make a reservation for an evening train. We were informed that there were no reservations left and we would have to buy a separate ticket to get to Prague in time. So we begrudgingly bought the extra ticket, arrived at the train station with barely enough time to hop on our train, and after a long night in a six-person sleeping car we arrived in Prague. Prague was beautiful! We saw the old city, toured Prague castle, went to an absinthe bar, went on a beer tour (I learned many fun facts about beer that I will share with you in a later email), and met some great friends at our hostel. I discovered a traditional Czech pastry that I love. It is called a Trdelnik and is made by wrapping dough around sticks that look like rolling pins, then roasting them over coals until they are crispy and finally topping them with a sugar and walnut mixture. Delicious! On New Year’s Eve we celebrated at midnight with our new friends, fireworks, and champagne on the Charles Bridge.
On January 1st Whitney and I had plans to leave Prague for Frankfurt, Germany. When we arrived at the train station we could not find the platform for our train. It was only about 15 minutes after our departure time that we realized to get to platform 2B we needed to go up platform 1, through an unmarked doorway, then outside to a bus that would take us to Frankfurt. So, we didn’t make it to Frankfurt. We decided to head to Berlin instead. We were both pretty excited about this detour; we were going to get to see the Berlin wall! Yes we know it fell (when we were both about 1 year old), but we were expecting there to be some remnants left. To the relief of our intellectual egos we did get to see a part of the Berlin wall. We also went on a bus tour of Berlin and saw a very interesting museum exhibit titled “Hitler and the Germans” that has been controversially touring Germany. At this point in our trip my cell phone, which we had used as a watch/alarm, had died and I had unfortunately forgotten my phone charger. So here we were, staying in a 10 Euro a night hostel (that is not a typo. 10 Euros, and you get what you pay for), and we needed to wake up at 9 a.m. to make our train back to Paris. We weren’t very excited about sleeping in our sketchy-looking beds and for 10 Euros a night you can’t call the front desk to request a wake-up call. Whitney and I decided that the only reasonable thing to do was to stay up all night. At a bar we met some Swedish people that were heading to a famous Berlin club so we decided to join. While Berlin was great, it is the dirtiest city I have ever been in—the streets were completely littered with food wrappers, alcohol bottles and used fireworks. The club was no exception. The party at this particular club had been going continuously since New Year’s Eve (keep in mind it was January 2nd) and many of the people there look like they were on the marathon party trip. The music was techno and really fun to dance to. We definitely had a unique Berlin club experience! Then, we missed our train to Paris.
Just kidding! Our “reasonable” plan worked out and we made it back to Paris without a hitch. In Paris Whitney and I stayed the week with a Cordon Bleu friend of mine named Jennifer. Jennifer is an American who had just moved into a houseboat. For me and perhaps for you too, the term “houseboat” brings to mind images of pre-fabricated boats you may see an old man with a country accent advertising on a bad TV commercial. When Jennifer first told me she was going to live on a houseboat I was a little skeptical. However, this is France and a houseboat here is called a “peniche.” The peniche is docked on the Seine River right next to the Eiffel tower; it has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a kitchen bigger than many I have seen in apartments here in Paris. Oh, and the coffee table is a vintage Louis Vuitton trunk. I don’t think I will ever become jaded in this country!
Bisou, bisou,
Maggie
“The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese."
Steven Wright
Steven Wright
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