Our overnight train experience was nothing like White Christmas- no Bing Crosby and no Danny Kaye!

We arrived in Denmark safely! But, lets back up first and explain how we arrived in Copenhagen, shall we?
After saying our goodbyes to Lena in Solingen, at 10:30 in the night, our train arrived to take us to Wuppertal, where we would get on our night train to Copenhagen. We were busy saying goodbye whilst walking towards the door when we hear Lena, in her loudest voice, yell something... we both look back towards her wondering what shes clamouring about... she is running towards us hands flailing. We then realize why she was running towards us, for the door to the train was closing. She was able to save us from missing that train by pushing the button just in time to open the door. Phew!
So once on this train, we had about 10 minutes till our stop. While waiting for our train that would take us to Copenhagen, we find that it is 20 minutes behind schedule. This wouldn't have been bad in the summer time but we're talking Arctic winds chaffing at our faces!
So our train finally arrives, we board and find our ''Couchette.'' Now when one thinks of a couchette, one thinks of a night train and some White Christmas...loveliness! Not so my friends, not so!!!
Back on board the train, we open the door to our sleeping quarters and the most foul odor inflames our nostrils. We could go on explaining the Hannis smell that filled the air around us but if you know us there is only one word for it and what it smelled like....
According to our reservations, we were supposed to be on the top bunk, but no ladder. We were not about to ''King Kong'' it up to the highest loft. Also if you all saw our backpacks, there was no way. We were joined in this small stench room with two other men, who may have been the ones leaving this smell, one shall never know... they were already asleep as we entered this cubicle.
We immediately lied down on the mattress's which were provided. There were some sheets and pillows for us as well, which smelled clean but who knows.
An hour and a half later, in which no sleep occurred for either of us, we hear some loud noises just outside our box car. We then hear a knock at the door and the light flicked on. The police were standing before us, we shoot up from our beds as they ask for our passports. Only Molly and the guy above Ericka gave the police their passports. Ericka was fumbling around to locate hers, while the guy above Molly was ''cutting the cheese,'' the police did not stick around long enough to wait for Ericka.
Not sure if we got sleep or not on this journey, because it was all a blur of stench, bunks, moving lights, and police. Molly does not remember the second time the police appeared, yes they appeared a second time, even though they were shining a flashlight in our eyes.
In the morning, as we were touring the train, we ran into a man from Tobago. (He earlier had tried to sell Ericka a reggae c.d.) He told us of his American adventures of creating and writing music and that he entertained those like Jay-Z. He told us of his time in Amster-D and that he LOVED the coffee shops. He then told us to take one of his C.D's for free and said goodbye with a pound of the fist!
Well, above all, we did make it safe to Denmark. We are warm and safe. We took a bike ride with Soren and Tanya into town to buy some groceries for this weekend, felt so good to get some fresh air on our faces.
Thank you for your continued prayers and hope for a good nights rest tonight!
Much love to you all!!

Mollericka keep laughing because they can't sleep

Yup folks- we can't sleep. We don't know if it's jet lag or because we just figured out there MAY be caffiene in the tea we've been drinking for the past two days. We are presently in hysterics over this blog already. Today we had the sensation of going to Amsterdam. SURPRISE - our souveniour from Amsterdam is a black lung, due to second-hand smoke of marijuana. You can buy and smoke marijuana in a coffee shoppe-wow. Don't worry, we did not participate in this scandalous affair. Amsterdam was fun, none-the-less. We drank coffee at a local cafe (not to be confused with the coffee shoppes) whilst listening to some really good music.
Molly wants us to elaborate on our sleeping patterns to the four people that read this, haha. We went to sleep at about eleven thirty last night and fell asleep right away, no big deal. Whoops! Molly woke up at one thirty in the morning, wide awake. After several attempts to overcome this hurdle, she decided to listen to J.K. Rowlings - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, via her Ipod. Two hours later, Ericka wakes up - wide awake. Ericka was not aware of Molly being awake, and after several attempts to fall asleep, as well, she decided to use her Ipod to check the time on her watch, and possibly, fall asleep to the wonderful musical score of the film, Pride and Prejudice. Right before Ericka turned the light on of the Ipod, she spotted in her peripheral vision, an Ipod glow. She turned around to face Molly and they both burst into hysterical laughter. After minutes of this ridiculousness, we got up to drink some water, etc... We both tried to fall asleep again, but alas, this did not happen. We then listened to the same music and had a dance party for three minutes. Molly did, after an hour, fall asleep. Ericka, did not - what a surprise. Ericka did get, possibly, an hour of sleep before getting up at eight o'clock to start the big day ahead. All in all, we hope to sleep better tonight. And if we don't, this means the tea is the culprit and we will have to exile it to the shelf. Talk to you later...!
Ericka and Molly

Why are their so many hula dancers?

(left: walking around Düsseldorf)
Hello everyone! Molly and I are safely in Solingen, Germany. After the not-so-amazing plane trip (where we thought we would sleep heavenly because we had our own row due to only 75 people on the train, but we didn't because our bodies are dumb) we arrived in Frankfurt at around eleven am. (sorry that this is in underline all of a sudden) We easily hopped onto the train right at the airport...but we missed the train to Solingen due to small children in the railway. So, alas, we were late. While waiting for the next train in Köln (otherwise known as cologne), we wandered about the train station area down
below - what a sight!! There were people EVERYWHERE dressed up. As clowns, pirates, strawberrys - everything. It turns out that it is the german holiday in köln, known as Karnival. It's similar to Halloween, exept more lots of drinking on the streets and singing cheesy songs. It's also more for adults, which was weird seeing old grandpas strolling the streets looking like Robin Hood, rather than kids.
We finally got to Solingen and met up with Lena. Her apartment is so quaint. And it is orange, red and yellow inside. We went to her friend's house and ate delicious waffeln, similar to waffles, with whipped cream and cherries. This morning we went to church via train and listened to a service by a Nigerian pastor. Very interesting, but good - Molly and I looked ridiculous with bulky headphones blasting out the translation. For the rest of the day we enjoyed the town of Düsseldorf, eating at a löffellhaus (cafe known for soup), experiencing karnival, and meeting so many nice Germans. I have been able to practice my German, which was fun and Molly is learning some! Anyways, tomorrow should be amazing - but you'll have to tune in next time to find out! We love you all!

(left: chillin at a local train station)

The Itinerary

Hello! I thought I would let you all know the general Itinerary for our European Escapades.

Day One: Travel for a ridiculous amount of time from Seattle to Solingen, Germany. We leave Feb. 20 and arrive there on Feb. 21.
Week One: Stay with our dear friend - Lena.
Our next destination will be Copenhagen, Denmark - for the weekend. Visiting our friends Soren and Tanja, and Kasper.
Next, we'll be staying with our friend Andreas for a week in Munich Germany.
We'll swing down to Vienna, Austria to see a few friends for a few days.
On our way to Paris we'll be stopping in Salzburg, Austria for a few days. In Paris we'll be meeting up with our friends - Brie-Anne and Jeremy.
We'll be staying at Capernwray Hall for one month - March 20 to April 18. We'll be volunteering, washing dishes and cleaning rooms.
After that- we'll be roaming Scotland and England.

I hope that helps for all of you!