First of all I would like to point out that I am STILL sick! It is terrible! I feel pretty good all day but at night I get this nasty cough that keeps me up all night. Last night I woke up about a half hour after falling asleep coughing so hard I started gagging! Gross I know but it is a pain. I haven't gotten a full nights sleep in almost 2 weeks.

With that being said I will go back to last week.

Classes were the same.. homework.. projects and presentations galore. Thursday morning we found out that the bus to Munich had been canceled! We were all really upset but decided that we would try blind booking instead. Friday morning we got up and booked our flight... it was to Leipzig, Germany. We were hoping for somewhere outside of Germany. For anyone who does know what blind booking is, here is the excerpt from Germanwings.com

New: discover Europe last-minute with our low-fare surprise flights.

We guarantee our low fares to get you to the beach, the city or to do some shopping.

The actual destination is revealed to you at the end of the booking process. Beforehand you can obviously decide when and where you’re leaving from and what you’re in the mood for.
Simply select your departure airport and the theme of your holiday.

We picked Culture as our theme. There were a lot of options. We will surly be trying blink booking again. The one problem we ran into was that you can choose the time of your flight. We ended up on a flight that left at 6:45 a.m. Normally I would not have a problem with an early morning flight. I actually prefer them however, we did not have a way to get to the airport that early. Our options were

a. Take a taxi and split it between us approx 20 euros per person

b. Take the earliest train and get there at 6:05 (given the train is on time)

c. Take the last train out and sleep in the airport

We chose option c... it was an adventure to say the least. It was cold sleeping on the airport chairs plus I couldn't stop coughing which made it worse.

We got on our flight and made it to Leipzig no problem. Once we arrived in Leipzig we went to our hostel to drop our bags off. We were not able to check in until 5 pm so we decided to head our and explore the city. There was a market there and so we went there and ate and looked at all the different stands.

Once it was 5 o'clock we went back to the hostel, checked in, and just relaxed for an hour or two. After relaxing we headed to a Mediterranean restaurant for dinner. Claire had been searching for hummus since arriving and we finally found some! I had hummus in a pita. It was delicious!

Sunday we spent the day going to museums and exploring again. It was more enjoyable than Saturday because we weren't exhausted! We went to a restaurant for doner kabob. It was fantastic! We headed back to the hostel after dinner to pack up and get a good nights sleep before our flight back to Bad Honnef in the morning. We had to be up and out of the hostel by 6:15 to make it to the train station. It was a quick train ride to the airport. We had no problems getting on our flight and made it back to Köln in one piece! We got back to Bad Honnef around 10:30. Yesterday was German Reunification day so everything was closed. Usually I would not have a problem with this however I didn't have much food. I was able to make some noodles and survive on that for the day.

Today we started classes for the week. I only have class Tues, Wed, Thurs this week!

Friday morning Sam and I are flying to Berlin for the weekend! We are meeting one of her friends from Buffalo there and the three of us will be attending the Sabres game on Saturday night.

We will fly back Sunday afternoon and get back to Bad Honnef just in time for the Bills game! :)

I have decided to come home for my month off in February/March. I was going to spend that time traveling however we have a week off at the end of October, 2 weeks at Christmas, then more time during the spring & summer. I think I will satisfy my traveling during those times. I think a month home will do me some good. Plus I can work while I am home and make some money! :) If anyone needs a sitter I will be home February 11th- March 9th. Let me know!

I love hearing all about life at home so keep me updated!

Thank you for all your love and support! I would not be where I am today without all of you!

Brittany