August 13 2010 - The wizarding World of Harry Potter

Hey there,

So the reason why I decided to stop in Orlando again is simple. I wanted to go to the Harry Potter theme park that had opened about a month ago. I got up early so that I had enough time to spend there because I really did not want to be stressed in there.

Luckily two other girls from the hostel wanted to go to the Universal Studios too (that's the park where Harry Potter is located). That meant that we were enough people to get the hostel shuttle to drive us there. The same couple as last year runs the hostel by the way, however, they do not bring their dog Tiffany to work anymore. By shuttle it took us about half an hour to get there, by bus it would have taken about two hours!!!

Universal Studios are divided into two parks. There's the Universal Studio park and the Island of Adventure park. I bought a ticket for the Island of Adventure. These two parks contain different little parks. The Island of adventure has Jurassic Park, and The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in it among others. The two other girls bought a park hopper ticket which allows them to visit both parks on the same day. I had seen the actual Universal Studios in Los Angeles and did not need to see it again.

After buying the ticket from a guy who now thinks that I am crazy because I asked him everything like 5 times because I was just unable to understand him, I went in and went straight to the Harry Potter section because honestly, that's why I was there.

When I walked into "Hogsmeade" I could have cried because it looks just sooooooooo awesome and soooooooooooooo real. I felt like I was walking on the movie set. Everything was there, Honeydukes, Zonkos, Olivanders, the 3 broomsticks, the hogshead, the train station with the Hogwarts Express and of course, towering over everything, the Hogwarts castle. It was just beyond amazing, they really did an amazing job creating this!











The first ride I went on was the dragon challenge. The line was long, i stood there for about an hour but it was worth it. It's a fast rollercoaster, so fast that they make you hold your shoes in your hands cause they could fly off your feet :)

I wanted to check out the stores next but you even had to stand in line for that so I postponed that. Instead, I went into the castle. There is another ride in the castle and the line was long again, however, I learned that there is a single rider line that is way faster. Every time a seat is free, they take someone from that line to fill up all the carts. I only waited about 15 minutes but even if I had had to wait longer it would have been worth it. This ride was amazing. I was flying above Hogwarts castle, playing in a Quidditch game, escaping dragons etc. really really awesome!!!

It was time to taste the Harry Potter food now so I stood in line to go to Honeydukes to buy a chocolate frog and Berty Botts every-flavour beans. Then I bought a bottle of pumpkin juice and stood in another line to get a butter beer. With my provisions in hand I left the busy Harry Potter World to find a quiet place to eat. I decided to go back to Harry Potter later that afternoon hoping that less people would be there then.








I found a spot at the entrance to Jurassic Park and started to eat. Let me tell you, Pumkin juice is disgusting but butter beer is even more disgusting. I could not even finish it!

Anyway, I spent the next 3 hours of the day in the rest of the park going on rides like the Spider Man ride, Poseidon's fury or the Popeye water ride.






Then I went back to Harry Potter. I still had to check out all the stores. Let me tell you, they then absolutely great. All the important details are there, it's really like being in the books!





















I also wanted to go on the Hippogryphe ride but it is an outdoor ride and lightning and some thunder were going on then so they had to stop the ride. The one in the castle was still open though cause it is an indoor ride so I went back there.

People who were in front of me asked the guy working there if they could go into the single rider lane. He said that if they did they wouldn't get to see the whole castle. I did not know until then that there is more to see so I decided not to go into the single rider lane this time.
Turns out it was a good decision because there is a whole lot to see in that castle.







They have the magic mirror there, the statue that leads to a secret pathway, they have the defense against the dark arts class room with hologramms of Harry Ron and Hermione who talk to you, there's also Dumbledore's office to visit and also the Gryffindor common room and all the pictures are moving and talking, it's just amazing.








After that it was about 8.00pm already. I had done and seen everything I wanted to but I still had 2 hours till Dawn (the girl from the hostel) would pick us up. I left the park and hit the universal city walk where I spent some time at Starbucks and then had late dinner at Panda Express. The last 45 Minutes I spent in front of a stage where a band was playing cover songs. They were very good and it was a lot of fun. And that's how this AWESOME day ended.

that's it for now

xoxo

August 11 2010 - Last Minute Shopping

Hello you all

So this was already my last day in Miami. Where did I start it? Yep, at Starbucks again. Did you expect something else? Well first I did sleep in again. I did wake up around 7.00am because Anna and Dana woke up realizing that they had not heard their alarm and were missing their trip to Key West. They made like 10 phone calls and somehow they got the tour company to make the bus turn around and pick them up. I fell back asleep and then went to Starbucks with Sonja and back at the hostel I went to bed again for a while.

Oskar and Sonja were planing to go to the beach today with the English guys and I said I would join them later but first I had to go downtown Miami cause I had to get my Hard Rock Cafe Shirt before leaving without it like last year. Of course it took forever to get there. First I wanted to walk cause on the map it did not look like it was a very long way, and it really wasn't the problem is, there are no freaking sidewalks in this country and I was not keen on walking along the highway. So I switched to the bus after 20 minutes of walking. I did get there though and I got my shirt. The Hard Rock Cafe is in a kind of mall thing right on the sea. I spent almost the whole afternoon there. They have a lot of funky little stores there that I visited.

When I got back to the hostel, it was already almost 4pm and I did not want to go to the beach. Oskar was still at the hostel. He had a really bad hangover from last night and spent all day lying around Bad Girls Club wasn't even on so he must really have felt bad :) I took a shower and then took a nap too.

Anna and Dana came back around 7pm with subway sandwiches which reminded me that I was hungry too. So I decided to go to Subway and Oskar decided to leave the dark room and come with. So we had dinner and then started to get ready to go to Mansion, one of the biggest clubs in Miami.



Unfortunately Dana and Anna did not get in again. The night was fun. I also got to meet th two Swiss guys Sonja and Oskar had met in New York and they are from the same area from where I am too. Somehow I lost everybody at one point though and when I got back to the hostel they were all asleep already. It was really a long day but really a good one. I am really sad to leave tomorrow cause I met all these nice people and it would have been fun to spend more time with them. Anyway, that's it for now.

xoxo

August 12 2010 - Back to Orlando

Hello again

So I got up early after not so much sleep and finished packing my stuff. Anna and Dana were up already because they were going on their Everglades trip so I got to say goodbye to them. Oskar and Sonja however were still asleep so I left them a note on the bathroom mirror.

I went to Starbucks for breakfast and then went to the bus to get to the airport. On the bus I met a guy who had just traveled from California to Miami by bike and was now flying back home. When I got to the airport I t did not take me too long to find the check in place. I still had the voucher to pay for my luggage but they could not take it so I had to pay cash which really annoyed me to be honest. Anyway, I passes security and sat at my gate waiting for the plan which surprisingly was not full to the last seat and it was on time.

The flight was short and I slept through most of it which was not surprising considering the fact that I went to bed at 4.30am and got up at 8.00am.
I got to Orlando at 4.00pm. The luggage was there pretty quick and I tried to find the Mears shuttle counter in order to get a lift to the hostel. I walked up and down the hall like 6 times till I found it.
The shuttle took me right to the hostel door. It's the same hostel Sarah and me stayed at last summer and they even put me in the same room as last year. This hostel is one of the nastiest I have ever been but it's just really, really cheap. It was past 6.00pm when I got there and I was hungry. Luckily there is a Target and a Publix right across the street from the hostel. First I went to Target, I saw a suitcase there that I was thinking about buying because my backpack is so broken but I didn't. I did not really find anything to eat there so I went to Publix. I was craving Sushi so I bought some but it was disgusting I could not even eat the whole thing. After dinner I took a shower. When I came out I met one of my roommates. She's Asian and a nice girl. She warned me of the big lady also staying in this room, she said she snored like crazy. We'll see.

xoxo

August 9 2010 - To Aventura Mall

Hello everyone,

Surprise, surprise, it rained again!!!! No beach again today. But of course I always have an alternative plan.



The thing is, I still needed some presents for the family, among other things, books for Melodye (I wrote that after her birthday so its not spoiling the surprise :)). I had noticed that some of the buses said Aventura Mall. During breakfast at Starbucks of course, I checked it out on the internet and then decided that that's where I was gonna spend the day.

I took almost an hour to get there and it was freezing in the bus. The two French guys sitting next to me thought so too. And of course the from the rain wet clothes were not helping eighter.
When I finally got there I looked at the directory and saw that they do not only have an Abercrombie and Fitch but also a Hollister Store here. Fabienne and I had heard a lot about Hollister but had never actually seen or entered one. Hollister is like a sister store to Abercrombie, its by the same company. If you don't know that already, you realize that these two stores have something to do with each other as soon as you enter. The whole atmosphere is the same, the music is similar, there is also a perfume hanging in the air, not as good as the Abercrombie one though, and also the people working here are not as good looking as the ones at Abercrombies but still good looking!!! The weirdest thing though is, that they basically have the exact same clothes, the only two differences are the logo and the price. The Hollister logo is of course another than the Abercrombie one and the Hollister prices are half the Abercrombie ones, crazy, for the same clothes!!! The whole thing made me a bit made to be honest, but anyway, I found what I needed, except for a bookstore. I'm really starting to think that people in Miami don't read. How is it possible that there is not a single bookstore here? I mean, this is close to a beach and on the beach, a lot of people read.......anyhow.

On the freaking crowded bus back to the hostel I sat next to a girl a few years older than me I would guess. I saw her typing in German on her phone. Not that I was trying to read it I just saw it by accident. Little bit later she asked me, in English, if I knew when her stop would come up. I said I did not know and asked her if she spoke German, she of course said yes and asked how I knew? While she was talking I heard that she was not really German, in fact she was Swiss. We had a short conversation before she got off.

Sonja and Oskar were out when I got back. I took a shower and heard somebody knock at the door. Assuming it was them coming back I just yelled hi! When I got out of the bathroom I did not find the two expected people but two new girls in the room. Also au-pairs and also from Germany. They are younger then me and the other two, only 20. Their names are Anna and Dana. We talked and I told them that two other people where in here. When they heard one was a guy, they immediately wanted to know if they were a couple which I did not know. They asked me if I had done a trip or anything so I told them about the Key West adventure. I promised to show them the place where Fibs and I had booked our tour after dinner. Meanwhile Sonja and Oskar had come back and we all learned that the two of them were cousins. Anna and Dana were delighted and giggled a lot. They seem more sixteen than twenty to be honest.

After dinner I showed the two newbies the important stops along Washington Avenue and they also got to book their Key West Tour and an Everglades Tour.
My whole room spent the rest of the evening on the front porch talking and meeting new people, among them, Paul and Chris, two really funny English guys who are traveling the world as log as their money allows them to do so.

That's it for now

xoxo

August 10 2010 - Riding the Hummer Limo

Hey everyone

After going to bed late yesterday I had planned on sleeping in but I woke up at 8.30 already and still feeling tired. I couldn't fall asleep anymore so I got up and made my way to Starbucks. It was not raining that morning but it did sure look rainy, it could start any minute. After the daily Starbucks I went back to the hostel and also back to bed. All my roommates were still asleep too. This time, I fell back asleep in no time.

When I finally woke up it was 1pm. Oskar and Sonja were still there too but Anna and Dana had gone out. I spent the afternoon looking for a cheap dress for the night. We had all decided to go out that night. The hostel organized Hummer Limos to get us to a club. Anna and Dana both have fake IDs but were still worried about getting in, who can blame them. I told them to try and that they don't get in it's not the end of the world. It's not like the club people will call the police because under aged girls try to get into a club.

After dinner we were all in the room watching Bad Girls Club Miami (The only male in our room seems to be fascinated by it and puts it on all the time :)). At one point Sonja and Oskar went downstairs for the hostel happy hour (2 for 1 beer) which I did not even know existed and a new girl showed up in our room. She is traveling with a friend but they could not get a room together. She is from Switzerland and I cannot stand her, in fact, I think she is horrible and her friend who came to hang out with her isn't the least bit better.
When Oskar, who was tipsy at that point, got back, he somehow ended up having an argument with the two Swiss Misses and decided he hated them.

We were all sitting on the porch with Chris and Paul, waiting for the limo. We had to wait for the third one to get in. Meaning, Chris, Paul, Anna, Dana and me. Sonja, her new Australian friend and Oskar did not make it into that one and would take the next. I have to admit that the limo was very, very big but I thought that the point of a limo was to travel in a comfortable, luxurious way, which was definitely not the case, too many people, we felt like sardines, really! Luckily, the ride was not too long, only about 10 minutes. Once there, Chris and Paul went in first, then me. I waited on the other side of the glass door only to witness that Anna and Dana were not allowed in. So I went back out to see what we were gonna do. We decided that Anna and Dana would go back with the next limo that arrived and I would wait for the others who were supposed to be on this very next limo. And indeed, Sonja and the Australian guy got off, Oskar wasn't there cause he had missed the last limo while getting a new beer. Anna and Dana got back to the hostel and the rest of us had a good time at the club.

Back at the hostel, we found Sonjas cousin on the porch, very drunk but still able to talk, walk, and bitch about the stupid Swiss girl in our room.

That's it for now

xoxo

August 8 2010 - Another day with Tyra

Hey everyone

When I got up this morning I was very surprised to see that it was raining cats and dogs! That meant no beach today but still breakfast at Starbucks. It was good as always!

When I got back to the hostel I found another post it on my door which asked me to come down to the reception. The first thing I said was “please don't make me switch rooms again”: The French guy who had checked us in at our arrival assured me I would not have to move. The reason that I was called was to ask me if it was ok if a guy was also staying in the room. He had a reservation made buy a girl for a girl and a boy. I told him that I didn't care about it but that I appreciated that he had asked. In other hostels you might wake up and realized that the female dorm had been converted into a mixed dorm over night.

Cause the weather was so bad, I decided to do laundry today. Once it was on, I was back in the room flipping through the TV channels and found America's next topmodel, YAY, another Marathon!!!! That's what I did all day, do my laundry and watch Tyra Banks. I only went out to get something to eat, it still rained like crazy. At around 7 my new roommates showed up, Oskar and Sonja, both from Germany, she has been in the States for over a year working as an au-paire in Chicago, he is visiting. I don't know in what relationship they are but I would really like to know :)
Anyway, we spent the evening watching Topmodel and talking.

xoxo

August 7 2010 - Lazy Day in the sun

Hello everyone

I slept till 11 am this morning. Felt good to sleep in really long. Then of course I went to Starbucks for breakfast or considering what time it was, lunch. The manager already knew that I wanted to talk to him. He was very friendly and apologized again.

I spent the afternoon at the beach, enjoying the hot sun and the cool water. So this was really a lazy day.

Back at the hostel I watched movies on abc family (the parent trap, mean girls, wild child) with the 4 party girls who were packing cause they would be leaving tomorrow morning. I also went out for a little while to check out Collins Avenue, which is a parallel street to the one we are on and its only one block away. I was very surprised to realize that it is basically another outdoor mall, but I was good and only did window shopping!

That's it for now

xoxo