My opinions, updates on my life, all sorts of "randomness"...

Here you go, Hamburg, Copenhagen, & Amsterdam! London update to follow soon...

November 30th, Hamburg
Woke up Thursday morning in, packed up, checked out of the Heart of Gold Hostel, and went to the train station to get a ticket to Copenhagen. Turned out I had to switch trains in Hamburg, and while there wasn't a train from Hamburg until that evening, trains left for Hamburg every hour. Soooo, not needing the extra day in Berlin I rushed over to the platform and hopped on a train to Hamburg.

Spent about half a day there, wondering around. There was a great Christmas market, fun streets...and this amazing church that was bombed during WWII and was left standing, just a hollow shell, as a memorial to war. Cool to see, and great views from the top.

November 30th-December 4th, Copenhagen
Highlight of my train to Copenhagen? Had to be when the train drove onto a ferry. No joke, same as all the cars and busses that just drive right on, so did our train. It was so odd, had to call Mom and let her know... "Mom? Guess where my train is now. On a ferry. No really, the whole train just drove on the ferry... I'm serious!"

Got there, first glance of Tivoli, and met a crazy women on the bus to my hostel who thought my backpack was a baby.
"Are you okay? she asked
Me: "Uh, yeah..."
Her: "But is that your baby? Is your baby okay?"
Me: "Uh, it's a backpack..."
Her: "No it's a baby, right?"
Me: "..."
Found a hostel, booked for the night but was told they were full for the weekend so I'd have to change in the morning. No worries, wasn't a huge fan of the three bed high bunk beds anyway. Easily found a new one the next morning, which was also slightly sketchy, but amazing location so I dealt with it.

Attempted to find out what time services were, couldn't, which continued my frustration with shuls in Europe, and just explored the city. Then a couple hours before Shabbas started I happened to walk into a 7-Eleven and saw a young man in a kippa. "Excuse me, do you know what time services are tonight?" Turns out he was the Rabbi, so yes, he knew. And he told me that they were doing a special Carlebach service and dinner that evening after the regular services at his place. Amazing!

Friday night was awesome. People were so great, so much ruach, spirit, during the service, the Rabbi and his wife and their kids were so sweet...It was the hospitality I'd been lacking the rest of my trip, that I was craving. Saturday morning I went to services in the main shul, a gorgeous awe-inspiring building, although the service was a bit too...well, choirs aren't really my thing. Then a few of us walked over to Chabad for lunch. Turns out the Rebetzin was from Pittsburgh, was friends with my cousin Esti. Gotta love Jewish geography.

Saturday night hung out with Daniel, this guy I met at Shabbas dinner. Have any of you ever played Guitar Hero? I swear, it must be the most fun game ever. So we played that, went to a couple bars, great night...

Sunday I went to the train station, attempting to get a reservation for the night train to Amsterdam...but unfortunately, the next night train wasn't until Dec 16th. What? Stupid timetable...Worked out, though. Meant I got more time in Copenhagen. It's a great city. Awesome people, beautiful, crazy bike lanes (they have their own street lights for the bikes! Little red/green bicycles...). Daniel gave me a great tour, really nice to be in a car, lol... Highlights had to be the little mermaid, and changing of the guard...

Copenhagen hadn't been on my list of places to go, but back in the planning stages Ricky had recommended it... So thanx! I loved it!

December 4th-11th, Amsterdam
Need to get to bed so this can't be so detailed...sorry...
Got in late Monday night after a long train ride. Peter, and Mike & Dan (the guys I met in Berlin) were all staying at The Flying Pig, the hostel everyone recommends, and I had even tried booking in advance (first time all trip), but they were full. No worries... I stopped by, met up with Peter, and then found my own hostel. Stayed at this random place the first half of my time there, nothing special, but chilled at the pig a bunch. Ran into Mike & Dan my first night as well, so got to chill with them as well as Peter. Once the boys left (Mike & Dan on Wed, Peter on Thursday) I switched over to Bob's Youth Hostel. Fun place, met some awesome people there....Ivan, the Canadian guy, Kyle, the Aussie, Nick, from New Mexico, Laurel, also from the States...

Did another one of the NewEurope free walking tours, the NewAmsterdam tour. Not as good as Munich and Berlin, but that was probably partly do to the never ending barrage of rain...

Highlights of Amsterdam: Just walking around and chilling with some awesome people, checking out the crazy "window shopping" in the Red Light District, museums... The Van Goh Museum was amazing, had some awesome exhibits and amazing paintings, spent ages there. Also went to Madame Troussad's Wax Museum, a couple movies, Cannabis College, the Sex Museum...some crazy stuff!