Eurotrip 2013

So throughout the semester there was a video contest going on for our GTL 2000 class. Harry has been taking videos with his GoPro all summer and compiled this video of him, Jay, Kris, Jarrett, Sutton, Vishnu, Sid, John and myself for the contest. We ended up getting 2nd place for the "People's Choice" award in the contest! I think it sums up our adventures pretty darn well and I love the music behind the scenes. Just wanted to post it here for all to watch!

Weekend Ten: Marseilles

One of the places on my "To-Visit" list, I guess you could say, was southern France. Ever since I knew I was coming to France, I wanted to see the cliffs and rocky beaches. Where there's a will, there's a way, and so it worked out that my last weekend trip was able to be spent in Marseilles on the southern coast of France. (It's actually high travel season in France so we were lucky to be able to get to any beach at all, much less book the trains the day before.)

Friday afternoon we took off on another train. I have no clue as to how many trains I have been on this summer! Interestingly enough, a normal TGV reservation in second class with Eurail from Metz to Paris is a standard 9 euros; not bad. I have no idea how, but our tickets ended up being 12 euros all the way from Metz to Lyon in first class. For being the only thing available, I'd say not bad at all! It was one train all the way there, taking a little over 5 hours. We arrived around 9pm with just enough daylight to find our hotel. What should have been a 20 minute walk ended up taking almost 2 hours as we came to a confusing dilemma. We were on one side of a major highway (think spaghetti junction) and our hotel was on the other. We walked in circles for a bit wondering if our directions were right and after verifying with a man at a different hotel desk, they were. He showed us a way we could walk there: "Oh, it's easy! Just about 200m. You just go down to the intersection, turn right, and the first chance you can go left and up through the parking deck to get across." So we try that. All we see is a dark parking deck with no one around....not chancing it. So we look around some more and come up with nothing. We go back to the man, "Oh, well there is another way, yes. Much easier. You go down to the intersection, this time turn left. You see you can go under." Oh, we saw that way. That way was walking under a bunch of highway bridges in a sketchy park area, and it's 11pm by now and we have all of our luggage on us. Finally we get the man to just call us a taxi even though he thinks we are crazy for not just walking. I'd rather not risk getting mugged. He was very nice for all of his help though, and a very short taxi ride later, we made it. From what we were able to see of Lyon as we wandered around that night, it seemed very pretty. We walked along the waterway and there were a lot of nice bridges and people out late. We passed some cool art sculptures as well.

Saturday morning we woke up early and were able to figure out the metro system very easily to avoid another confusing walk back to the train station. We got Subway sandwiches (yep, they have Subway in Europe!) and hopped on the regional train to Marseilles. We ended up squeezing in to an 8-person car on the train because the other option was standing for four hours. We decided to try talking to the people in the car with us, and what started out as awkward conversation ended up being a pretty enjoyable ride. There were three people in the car around our age, so we had fun talking about what each of us are studying. I also got to practice a little bit of French this way because we switched back and forth between the two languages. It was around 1pm by the time we arrived, so we checked in first thing and then headed out to explore the city. Marseilles was gorgeous! We walked through a market and found our way to the Old Port which was close by. There we saw tons of boats and restaurants on the water. Our map we got had some walking paths marked and we decided to take the one that went by the coast line, through the Old town, and past the Cathedral. The Old town proved to be an enjoyable walk, but definitely not a walk I would take at night as it tended to be...well, older and slightly less populated. But overall it was nice and the Cathedral was pretty. When we returned to the port we searched for dinner and got giant individual pizzas and beer. It was delicious! Since it was getting dark and we were tired, we planned our next day and turned in early.

Sunday was our beach day! We woke up fairly early and went down to the market. We spent a good while there picking out fruits and nuts to be snacks for the beach. My favorite shop had every spice imaginable. When I walked in I couldn't figure out why there was such a strong smell and then I saw that further back there were tables with burlap sacks of every spice I have ever seen and more and you could just scoop what you wanted in to a bag to be weighed. If I lived there, that's where I would get all my spices. They also had dried fruits and nuts, so we got some dried apricots and almonds. We also picked up grapes, nectarines, and a mango from some of the other fruits stands. Something else I noticed in the market but did not get to try were a lot of stands selling what looked like pita bread and marinated olives. It looked so good! They also had this really weird candy(?) that looked like an orange pretzel made out of that bendy sugar ribbon candy you see at Christmas. After the market we got on a bus and drove along the coastline until a stop where most people were getting off. Since the majority of the people on the bus seemed to like that beach, we figured it must be a good place to stop. Surprisingly, the "sand" there is just small gravel rocks, which I assume was man-made. It was interesting, cause it doesn't get all up in everything like sand would, but it leaves everything very dusty. Either way, tanning works! So we tanned and swam around enjoyed the nice weather. In the distance down the coast we saw a Ferris wheel and tents, so after a while we headed down that way. The tents were in the process of being set up for some event in the evening, but the Ferris wheel was fully functional so we rode it and were able to get a really great view over Marseilles. Afterwards, we got dinner right on the water. I got a grilled lemon chicken with risotto and enjoyed every bite. That night instead of waiting for the late bus, we ended up walking the entire way back, and it really wasn't bad at all. All I had with me was 4 euros and a towel, so I didn't have to worry. Plus, the whole way back there was a sidewalk over the beaches along the coastline, so we got a really great view of all of the cliffs and water at night.

Monday we had a half day left to explore and we wanted to make it count. We got breakfast and then headed to Old Port to find the tourist office that was listed on the map. We circled the buildings once unable to find it, and then went straight to the water where the icon was on the map. I noticed some blue umbrellas that said "office tourisme" and headed that way. Turns out they were selling some really strong smelling fish under those umbrellas, and whatever tourist office was supposed to be there was nowhere to be found. No worries though, because along the port were a few ticket offices for different boat tours. We were able to catch the next boat out to the islands. We went to Ile Ratonneau, which also had a good view of Ile d'If and the cool old Chateau on it. We climbed the rocks and trails on the island and were able to see tiny alcoves and small secluded beaches along the island, as well as some old ruins of what looked similar to the chateau across the way on the other island. Overall, it was really beautiful. It kind of felt like we were trekking through the dessert though with all the heat and rocks, and I kid you not there were a few cacti. Too soon, we had to head back down and take the boat back in to Old Port. The boat ride there and back were nice because it was about 30 minutes each way on the water, allowing for some good sight-seeing and pictures. When we got back, we got ice cream to cool us off and then ate kabobs for lunch. Finally, we grabbed our stuff from the baggage room and got on the metro back to the train station. Once more, we were on a TGV back "home". There was one change-over in Lyon, and then it was a 6 hour ride straight to Metz. I have to say, I'm not sure how it worked out, but first class was nice. Nothing super fancy, but there is a lot more leg room and no wary people to look out for. I probably slept over half the way.

And now, I am back in Metz. Back to the reality of finals and packing up my room soon and preparing for resuming normal life back in the States. I am glad that I got the chance to spend a relaxing weekend at the beach before this last push to come home. Marseilles was a gorgeous city and I hope to one day return to southern France.

10 Day Count Down!

This morning marks my 10 day count down until I come home! I have to say, I think I am ready for it. I love it here so much and I know I will miss traveling all across Europe, but my body is physically and mentally ready for a break from all the constant planning and walking and stressing over school. I am excited that I will be starting my co-op when I get back and therefore getting to take a break from school work. I went ahead and reserved my train ticket back to the Paris airport last week and it was a bitter sweet feeling. I can't wait to see my family when I get off the plane and sleep in my own bead with air conditioning and eat peanut butter and Mexican food. I will miss the amazing cheeses, breads, and pastries that are so readily available in France though. The friendships I have made here are wonderful as well, and I hope that we can all continue to hang out and seek the world together back in the States. I will make these last 10 days count as much as I can while I study for finals. My thanks goes out to my family for making this summer possible and my dreams a reality. I can not say how much it means to me to have gotten this incredible experience.

Weekend Seven: Interlaken and Grindelwald

Helloooo world! It has been way too long since my last post. Over a month actually, and that's a long time to go without writing over the summer. I guess I kind of fail at blogging. The thing is, I have been way busier than I ever thought I would be. Planning these weekend trips is an event in and of itself on top of school. Since I am behind 4 weeks, I think the best place to start is the most recent, and then work my way back as I find time to fill in the gaps. So where did I go this weekend? Switzerland!

We only had a two day weekend this time, so we decided to use it for an adrenaline and nature rush. Friday we left straight after class for the train station. It was an easy ride over to Interlaken, just a few change-overs and no seat reservations necessary. We arrived around 11pm and took a bus 30 minutes up the mountains into Grindelwald where our hostel was. It was pretty much pitch black and deserted, but not scary at all. Switzerland felt like one of the safest places I have ever visited. Because we arrived in the dark, we had no idea what beauty awaited us. As soon as I stepped out to greet the day Saturday morning, this was the first view I saw:

Morning view of the mountains.
Grindelwald, Switzerland

Pretty great way to start the day! Bright shining early we were on the trains by 7:10am back down to the valley where Interlaken is located. We grabbed some bread and coffee from the local grocery store because we were up too early for our hostel's free breakfast. Then we were greeted at the train station at 8am by a guide from Outdoor Interlaken, the group we booked our day's activities through. He drove us to their place where we were fitted for wetsuits, jackets, helmets, and shoes- pretty legit. We then had about an hour bus ride up the mountain towards the canyons. It was super exciting changing in to our wetsuits on the side of the road too....in the cold mountain rain. Our group of six was lead in to the canyons by two guides along with three other people around our age (all originally from the states as well). The descent began with a repel down in to the canyon. The rest was just a rush of icy, intense canyoning in Canoyn Grimsel. Two hours of climbing, sliding down rocks, and jumping off cliffs in to the icy water. It was great! There is actually a link here to a youtube video of our experience. (Well, mostly of Harry's, but we all did the same stuff and weren't about to each pay for a video so we just split one.)

Suiting up for canyoning Grimsel.
Interlaken, Switzerland

When we got back in the buses, we were FREEZING! I am not sure if I have ever been more cold. Perfect day to forget my towel too, meaning I had to dry off with my spare shirt. I walked around for the next three hours in a wet shirt. By this time, it was around 2pm and we were starving. Outdoor Interlaken gave us sandwiches, but we went back to the grocery store for more bread and cheese and just took a break for a few hours. At 4pm we met with a guide from Alpin Raft who drove us up the mountain back towards Gridelwald where we stared death in the face and said, "You know what, I payed a lot of money to meet you today. Please don't let me die." 

Me realizing that I am falling 85 meters!
Canyon swing at Interlaken, Switzerland

And then we suited up and jumped 85 meters off a cliff to our near deaths. It was amazing!!!!! Basically, I was excited and a little nervous, but the fear didn't set in till after I had made the jump. Then it was instantaneous (as shown by my lovely face). I expected for the jump to be more outward and a earlier swing, really just to feel like a big leap with a few butterflies. I even attempted a Spiderman pose and was planning on smiling at the camera guy, but instead it felt like, "Oh...oh oh oh I am actually falling right now! Holy crap!" So rather than a jump, it was a straight free fall and then closer to the bottom I swung through. The swing was actually the best part because you just fly through the canyon. It was too fun! (Here is a link to that video as well.)

Eiger Mountain
Interlaken, Switzerland

So....after all of that, anything else seems a little dull in comparison doesn't it? We were dead tired by the end of the day and crashed as soon as we got back to the hostel. We were able to get a 6 bed room for the 6 of us, meaning no strangers to bunk with. The place we stayed at felt just like summer camp. Bunk beds, cabins, woods, turning off the lights but still telling stories as we fell asleep. Pretty cute. Morning came and we got our free breakfast from the hostel. There was plenty of Gruyere, a wonderful type of swiss cheese, to satisfy my tummy. We spent the rest of the day hiking through the mountains in Grindelwald. The views were impressive and simply breath-taking. The Eiger mountain had my attention all day. Hiking up through the mountain was great, but knowing our group, it was only expected that we got lost on the way down. We ended up walking down to where we made the canyon jump the day before and then proceeded to walk all the way to the base of the mountain, across part of the valley, and back up to the train station. Whoops! Props to our navigation skills. Before we got back on the trains home, we made sure to buy some classic Swiss army knives. I can now say that I own my first pocket knife! Yay!

We left on a train at 4pm, and with two connection changes, we were supposed to make it back to Metz around 10pm Sunday night. The French however, thought that that would be too easy. So instead, they decided to cancel our connecting train to Strasbourg, leaving us with no other connections that night in to Metz. With class in the morning and no money to spare, we get to Strasbourg via a later train (all our following connections could not be made at this point) and stood up for ourselves at the station. Who knew that if you actually walk in with a plan and complain, you could come out with a free hotel and breakfast as compensation? We were able to get nice individual hotel rooms for free for the night, a voucher for breakfast at the station in the morning, and the first train back to Metz in the morning. It turned out to be a fun night eating Chinese food and enjoying a nicer room than the one I have at Lafayette. We made it back in the morning and, as usual, dropped our stuff, cleaned up a bit, and headed to class. This life is crazy!

Weekend Three: London and Amsterdam

Sorry for the delay in posting about my weekend excursion to London and Amsterdam! It has been difficult finding the time to write here. I started this post last Wednesday morning when I returned but was pulled away and haven't gotten back to it until now. But here is what I started plus the rest added on now:

Journey from Metz (blue star) to London to Amsterdam and back!

"Home" again! My home away from home at least. Every weekend away feels like a month-long journey, and each first shower back in my own room feels like the best shower of my life. I have never felt so dirty as I do when I ride the overnight trains. It is also crazy to think that I arrived back to Lafayette at 9:30am this morning, yet in 48 hours I will be packing to leave AGAIN! No complaints, I love this! But, it is kinda crazy.

I thoroughly enjoyed our 4-day break. And really it was longer- I had half of Friday, all of Saturday through Tuesday, and part of Wednesday off. So much happened this weekend. I just like writing down everything I can remember so that I can try and live through it again in the future. Sorry if the length of this one bores you!

For starters, there is that little part of GTL called...hmmm....oh yeah, school! It really has been a struggle to keep up with all of my work and studying while also walking everywhere, planning everything, and traveling over any moment I don't have class. Friday I had my first test of the semester in statistics, my hardest class. It took two hours and I had to bolt to the bus stop to catch the bus to the train station as soon as I was finished. Hard to focus like that, but it went alright I suppose. And instead of writing it all down, how 'bout I just give a break down of what it took to get to London this weekend:

• bus to Metz Ville train station
• train from Metz Ville to Luxembourg
• bus from Luxembourg to Frankfurt Hahn Airport
• taxi from Luxembourg to Frankfurt Hahn Airport
• plane from Frankfurt Hahn Airport to London Stansted Airport
• bus from London Stansted Airport to Liverpool Street Station
• walk from Liverpool Street Station to St. Christopher's Inn Hostel

Yep!

And the scratch-through was only a minor tragedy in my wallet. Our TGV train (the fast kind, remember), which we paid for and reserved ended up arriving to Luxembourg over 15 minutes late. This is rare in Europe and was totally unexpected, causing us to miss the connecting bus we payed for. As a result we had to catch a taxi all the way from Luxembourg to the Frankfurt Hahn Airport. We were lucky to get the driver we did though. He was self-employed, and therefore was able to offer us a rate much lower than any of the other drivers. Peter was his name, and truly God must have sent him to help us. He saw our situation and from a driver's perspective, offered us a ride at a very reduced price. The drive took almost an hour and a half, and you know he had to drive all the way back. Three hours out of his day plus gas, over dinner hours, and while it was expensive to us, he really did give us the cheapest ride possible. Also, I enjoyed his gospel music that he invited us to jam out to the whole way there. "Je suis Christian." "Je suis Christian aussi!" is all it took to connect with the man. Also, I don't even want to talk about it, but more fees ensued with Ryanair once we arrived at the airport due to failed group communication. And with Ryanair, there is no room for slip-ups. That's how they make their money.

Long story somewhat shorter, we made it to London!!! The English part of my blood was loving those Fish n' chips and British accents. Our group of 4 met up with another group of 5, and the 9 of us (math!) enjoyed Saturday and Sunday exploring London. We had a special surprise Saturday morning, which was getting to see a practice-round parade in preparation for the Queen's birthday coming up. We listened to the band practice different marches and then watched as the horses and band and artillery all marched down the street towards Buckingham Palace.

Me on the white horse statue

After that, I don't know why, but we were all pretty amused with this white statue of a horse so we climbed on it for a good 15 minutes. Then we headed to the National Gallery where we proceeded to climb on lion statues. The gallery was awesome for two reasons: it was free, and it had great art. Unfortunately, we barely got to spend any time inside- and it was huge! But what I did get to see, I enjoyed. When we came out, we were surprised to find a Turkish protest forming. Full fledged red flags waving and chanting. Really not the sort of thing you want to get pulled in to whilst in another country, even if it is peaceful. We steered away and looked for lunch where we got some pretty decent fish and chips for cheap. After lunch we headed to the Thames River.

River Thames and Big Ben in the background

On the way we passed Big Ben! More Turkish protesting was going on down there though, so we took pictures from the other side of the street. Continuing onward we walked along London bridge and got some praline peanuts from some street vendors.  Down by the river was a lot going on! Street performers were doing magic shows and playing music, there was a comedy show and a beer garden, as well as all of the other tourist attractions. Our group decided to take a boat tour down the Thames where we passed under London and Tower Bridge. I personally prefer any sort of tours we can take because you get a lot of history along with them. After the tour down the river, Harry, Jay, and I kept walking along the River Thames and exploring while the rest of our friends took a ride in the London Eye. For dinner we ended up at some Asian restaurant...not really food specific to London, but hey, I like me some Pad Thai.

In the evening we all hung out in the bar at the bottom of our hostel which ended up being a really cool place. We were staying at St. Christopher's Inn and Hostel and I liked it. They had a neat break-out room/lounge and good lockers you could rent during the day even after you've checked out. I would recommend it to anyone traveling to London in the near future. The thing about hostels though, is that most of the time your experience is more dependent on the people you are rooming with than the hostel itself. For example, the hostel we stayed in was alright (for a hostel). The other people in our room....were interesting. There were 6 British guys in their mid-30s on a week-long bachelor party rooming with us. One of the guys I met, Sebastian, was pretty nice. However, I have to say no, I did not appreciate coming back to the room and finding a mostly naked drunk man passed out in the middle of the floor covered in his own vomit. But hey, give me a bed and free coffee in the morning and I'll stay almost anywhere.

Sunday we walked along Tower Bridge and visited Shakespeare's Globe and London Tower. Fun fact about London Bridge: it's ugly. London Bridge is actually a small grey, nothing-special-to-it bridge across the Thames. When you look it up on google images, the fancy bridge that pops up is actually Tower Bridge! Just a little ways further down the river from London Bridge is the impressive Tower Bridge, and we walked along it toward Shakespeare's Globe. The Globe was pretty neat, but unfortunately we did not have the time or money to watch a play. If I understood correctly though, it has been renovated using the same materials that it would have originally been made with. After that, we spent the rest of our time in London at London Tower. I could have spent an entire day there! We were taken on a tour by this awesome guide who told us all of the old history about the buildings we were seeing. I got to look at the Bloody Tower where many medieval murderous events took place. We saw Traitor's Gate where prisoners were taken in to the Tower of London before they were executed. We even saw the crown jewels! The coronation crown that they use for the coronation of every new queen was in there! Not to mention other cool artifacts like armor and swords.

Tower Bridge

So in a very large nutshell, that was London. On to Amsterdam!

Swedish meatballs and mousse on the cruise!

What better way to get to Amsterdam than by ferry across the English Channel? "No better way at all, Holly!" That's what we thought, but turns out the answer is: by cruise!! From London we took a bus to Harwich. Then we booked a 'ferry' to take us from Harwich to Hook of Holland, Netherlands overnight. Travelling by night kills two birds with one stone: transportation and a place to sleep, all while allowing for more daytime in the cities you visit. Technically, we did take a ferry, because it had a car port under the deck. But it was actually a cruise for the rest of the passengers who were already on board. Deck 9 was where it was at: casino tables, restaurants, gift shops, video game room, and basketball court. Oh yeah, and a cinema on board that was playing Iron Man 3. No big deal! It was a great surprise, but also made us not want to sleep at all. The sleep we did get was good too since we had our own room for the 4 of us with a nice shower. Totally worth it.

Monday morning rolls around and bright and early we pull in to the harbor. It was a short train ride then bus in to Amsterdam. We checked in to our hostel, the Flying Pig, and then went out exploring. Bikes were everywhere! Crossing the road was incredibly confusing because there is a pedestrian lane, bike lane, car lane, and tram lane. Also, I didn't realize that Amsterdam has a lot of cool waterways and bridges running through the city. We saw the Van Gough museum, which was interesting. I liked his art and got to see the famous sunflowers. However, I think there were 4 levels, and for paintings it was a little much for me to focus on. After that we got sandwiches for lunch. Mine had some sort of olives in it that were really good! From there we decided to take a sneak peak of the red light district. All I can say is....no I really don't have much to say about that. In case you didn't know how it works there (I didn't know), you literally window shop for hookers. Like, rows of glass cubicles with girls in each one all along the street. Dinner we just ate burgers at a cafe.

Surprisingly, Amsterdam really doesn't have much going for it if you aren't there for the "coffee shops" or hookers. Tuesday we had a lot of time to kill, so we were able to visit the Heineken museum. That was probably my favorite part of my trip to Amsterdam. The tour of the museum explained how Heineken got started, the brewing process, and of course, included beer samples.

There was also this funny motion simulated ride inside where you pretend to go through the process of being brewed. Educational! (...joke) One section of the museum that I found cool was showing old and new Heineken commercials from different countries. After the museum, we headed to the big park that was next to our hostel, grabbed some baguettes, meats, and cheeses from a supermarket along the way, and had a picnic in the grass by the lake. It was so wonderfully sunny and warm that we fell asleep there for hours. After being on the move so much, I really enjoyed taking a moment to relax. And with that, we woke up and headed to our couchette which brought us back, with beds thank goodness, to Metz by Monday morning. Just in time for a shower and class again! Gotta get used to that. The one thing I wish we had been able to see in Amsterdam was the Anne Frank House. It was a ways out from where we were staying though, and we heard the line gets hours long.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my 4-day weekend trip to London and Amsterdam! It was a lot to fit in, but well worth it.


...Now time for me to go join the girls in the red light district....cause I'm broke. :P

Weekend Two: Prague

This past weekend's destination was Prague! Even though we only had a two-day weekend, it feels as if we were gone for a week. I arrived back to my dorm Monday morning at around 10am, just in time to take a much needed shower and make it to my 11:30 CS class.

Center Square
Prague, Czech Republic

So Friday after class got out, we were in a crunch. We had three hours to print any study material for the trains, pack, cook and eat dinner, and take the bus downtown to the train station to board the first of many, many trains this weekend. Trying to be more conservative this trip, we only packed one major bag for the three of us, and then my backpack full of snacks and homework. This way at least one person could always be "posting" the bags. We boarded our first train at 7:30pm Friday night that took us from Metz to Strasbourg. Once at the Strasbourg station, we found a convenience shop and got some pastries and red bulls for the morning. This turned out to be a good idea because it was a long night. From Strasbourg we changed over to a train (more like a small shuttle) that took us to Offenburg. Then it was a quick change on to the night train that would take us the long stretch across Germany from Offenberg all the way to Prague in the Czech Republic. For this train we had gotten reservations for sleeperette seats. Our impression was that a sleeperette was between the luxury of a couchette(beds on the trains) and normal train seats, meaning we would be sleeping in seats, but there would be a good amount of recline. I still am not sure whether what we were in was a true sleeperette or not....Basically, we spent the night in a Harry Potter style car that had 6 seats in it, and only an inch of recline per seat. There was another young girl we met in our car as well who was very nice, and at a stop later in the night, we picked up another man. So, 5 out of 6 seats taken and no real difference from a normal upright seat....picture people playing tetris while trying to sleep. It was a rough night. Oh man, not to mention the car was super hot so we were feeling crazy gross in the morning. BUT, it was an experience, right?!

14 hours later and we arrived in Prague! All I kept thinking was, I could have taken a plane to China for that amount of travel! Prague was an impressive city and we got there early in the morning for a full day of exploring. Courtesy of Google Maps...just take a look at how far we decided to travel, just for the weekend:

Metz, France to Prague, Czech Republic

Yeah....

Prague Castle

But it was so worth it! Some expert travelers might say to avoid touristy sites, but honestly, I enjoy all the old historic beauties that tourists go to see for a reason. Prague Castle was just astounding. I have never witnessed anything like it before. And Charles Bridge was so terrifically eerie at night with the statues of old saints on the backdrop of the water.

Charles Bridge

We visited the Old Town and New Town, and just wandered from street to street, enjoying the view. We also were incredibly sore from the train ride over and got excited at a sign for a 9 euro massage. But, as with anything like that, there was a lot of fine print and it wasn't worth it.

The food was, of course, delicious. Each time our group goes to a different city, we decide to all try something local or authentic from that area, from the beer to the main dish. Therefore, in following our rule, we each tried the Budweiser Budvar. It goes like this: in what is now the Czech Republic, back in Bohemian times, there was a town named Budweis. In this town, the German-speaking Czechs brewed a beer that they  correspondingly named Budweiser. Near, but not exactly, this same time, a Budweiser beer showed up in America. So, there are apparently two Budweisers, not really the same thing, and the Czech's claim to be the first to have invented it. At least I think that's about right. Along with the beer, we tried the Czech goulash, and later on the roast duck. I have never had roast duck before, and just like last week with the rabbit, I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed it far more than the rabbit and it came with some tasty pickled cabbage. Simply delicious. And yet again, the main square was lined with food stands where on Saturday, we tried their sausages and Sunday, their ham. Sunday was pretty miserable though. It was raining and freezing cold, and we got the ham and ate it while standing up, huddled together in a circle like a bunch of hobos. But hey, it was something!

Before we left, we went shopping. Seeing as the weather is not letting up and I have been forced to wear the same two pairs of pants almost every day for a week on end, we needed some more appropriate clothing for this cold weather. (Don't blame me for not realizing we're at about the same degree North as Ontario, Canada! It supposedly hits 90 F here in the summers.) Anywho, we quickly learned that all the clothes in Europe are too pricey, cause they actually dress well here all the time and care about their clothes more than I do. Sorry for still being slightly tom-boyish. The irony then, was that the only store we found that we could afford was New Yorker. So, we went shopping at New Yorker in Prague. Judge me not for buying cheap sweatpants and skinny jeans, for I am comfortable.

The train ride back was slightly better I guess. At least this time we had the car all to ourselves and the window would open and let cool air in. Still, I would not recommend traveling overnight by train unless by couchette. Actually, I would still say if you're young, do it once just to do it! It is an experience, all being miserable and tired and gross together. Gotta go through it once in life.

Sorry that this post is so delayed and fairly rushed through. It has been insanely busy this week as first tests are approaching (as in, my first one is tomorrow and I have no idea what I am doing >.< ) For an update on what is coming up, I leave tomorrow for a crazy adventure that involves buses, trains, planes, the underground, AND a ferry. Literally, all of the above. Destination: London then Amsterdam. Duration: Friday - Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning. Can't wait!

Weekend One: Luxembourg, Brussels, and Brugge

Wow, what a roller coaster! I had three destinations this weekend since we had three days off from school. First stop? Luxembourg.

I started the weekend off by waking up early Saturday morning and headed to the train station in Metz with my travel buddies, Jay and Harry. On the platform, I was excited to find some of my other friends headed to Luxembourg as well. We all hopped on, and as soon as the train started moving the conductor came around to check tickets. We all bought the global Eurail pass in advance so that we should be able to board almost any train in Europe at no extra cost all summer, with the exception of overnight couchettes and long distance, high-speed TGVs. As the conductor approached, we pulled out our passes. To our dismay, we had not realized that the train we were on was a TGV. Even though it was a short ride, we were still required to have either reserved tickets for specific seats or taken the slower train system in to Luxembourg. Therefore, all six of us had to cough up a 20 euro fine. Clearly, we were starting out our weekend on the wrong foot. Nevertheless, we kept on and tried to not let it put us in a bad mood.

Jay, myself, and Harry at the Luxembourg train station

When we got to Luxembourg, we had to take care of some business first. It took a few hours, but I now have almost all of my tickets reserved on any necessary TGV and overnight trains for the rest of the summer. The staff at that Luxembourg train station are incredibly helpful and nice as opposed to the staff at the Metz station. In their defense however, there are a lot of us always asking them for help in Metz, and they don't know much English, so I can understand how overwhelming that might be. Once outside and exploring, I was instantly impressed; Luxembourg is a great place. The city is very touristy, so I didn't feel out of place. All around, we saw old buildings and churches and what I even think was an aqueduct.

Bock, Casemates in Luxembourg

The best place that we found to explore for cheap was the Bock Casemates. We made it just before closing and for under 3 euros were allowed to explore this entire system of underground barracks from the 900s. So cool! Everywhere we turned there was another thin hallway, all dug out and made with brick. The craziest part were all of the thin, uneven spiral staircases. If anyone was coming up, no one could come down; they were literally one person wide. The first time we descended on some stairs, they just kept going and we had no idea how long we might be climbing. Turns out it was only about a minute down, and then you walk a few feet to another set of stairs and climb right back up. What a tease! Other treasures inside were some old cannons and some stir crazy pigeons that scared me half to death. Really cool experience though. Aaaaand, I  may or may not have climbed over one of the guiding lights (...off the path) and into a tiny crawlspace to see how far it went. When we had finished with our fun, we headed back to the front of the Casemates where we were let in. As soon as we got to the gate, this lady was locking up. We were screaming in French, "Bonjour!....Madame!!!...Euh.... Excuse-moi!!!!!!" but she had headphones in and had no idea what we were saying. Finally, she looks up, sees us, and just gives us this look like, "Yeah? You can go die in there." We thought this was the only way out so we kept screaming until she points to the right and we realize we have to go back in and find this second gate through some passageways that, thank goodness, let us out. Otherwise, the plan was going to have to be, "Well...cheap hostel!" Other events in Luxembourg included walking through the valley by the outside of the Casemates and the bridge and the aqueduct and taking in how much work must have gone in to building all of this back in the day.

Croque Monsieur

Also, for lunch we found a street cart selling panini, croque monsieur, and rhubarb pie. I got the croque and a slice of the pie and it was mouthwatering. What was great too was that while we ate, we just sat under the awning of a shop near the square and did some people watching. Very cool experience, and I would recommend Luxembourg to anyone.

The fun was to continue in Belgium, so we went back to the train station and got on a train headed for Brussels-Midi, which is where we had reserved our hotel for the night. Again, we met some more GTL students on our way. Let me take an aside and just say that this is where we learned a lot about being young American travelers. With one change in Arlon, the trip was to take around two hours, and we would arrive in the evening close to 8:30. All was well, the trains are pretty straightforward, but we were getting sleepy. As soon as we got into the the Brussels area (there are a lot of train stations/stops in Brussels) we were targets. White, young, English-speaking, dozing off, and with backpacks: how more could we candy wrap ourselves. We were sharing a 4-seater, and as the train slowed at a stop in Brussels, a young guy approaches us and starts pointing at our cookies, saying "mange, mange". This means 'eat' in French, so in my head I was like, "dude wants a cookie?? Say what?" And then he starts pointing in between all of our legs at the ground and kind of touching our stuff. We are all uncomfortable at this point, and wishing he would get out of our face. As soon as he does, our friend Reena who was sitting behind us yells, "JAY! THAT GUY JUST TOOK YOUR BAG!" So Jay runs after him off the train. Harry follows and the rest of us (all girls) are on the train screaming at the boys to hop back on before it pulls out; the trains do not wait in Europe. "That guy" didn't have his bag, and the boys got back on just in time. What just happened to us?

Lesson 1: Trains are prone to thieves.

We had been warned of gypsies in the streets, and their children who work for them. We had been warned about people who tap on the glass outside the train to distract you when you pull in to a station. We had also been warned that thieves are tricky and work in pairs. It was all in our heads, but until it happens to you, you just do not understand. The guy who was in our face speaking random French words was just a confusing, well planned distraction. While we were all looking down and protecting what was at our feet by the first guy's hands, a SECOND guy had passed by and swiped Jay's bag from the top rack, jumped off the train, and hopped the train tracks to a completely different platform. And just like that, his bag was gone. Luckily, all that was in there was a few clothes and toiletries, nothing of value. Thank goodness. Joke is on you, asshole thieves! But still, for the rest of the train ride we were all shaking and nervous out of shock. Since we were a group, it essentially felt like all of us had been robbed since one of us had been robbed. Now, I feel rude but I honestly do not care- anyone who asks me a question on the streets, the men, the woman today, or the little kids who stare at you, I just give them a cold stare in the eye and keep walking with at most a "no" if not pure silence. The sad part is that I don't even feel heartless about it because deep down I know that most of them truly are trying to get something off of me.

To make things even more interesting, we got off at Brussels-Midi station. 

Lesson 2: DO NOT EVER GO/GET OFF AT/STAY IN/EVEN THINK OF MIDI....EVER.

Never in my life have I felt so unsafe and scared for my well-being. After that train ride and staying the night in Brussels-Midi I have seen things. Nothing, not downtown Atlanta, will make me scared again compared to this place. And for all you reading, I apologize, because I know that this is not reassuring. But to reassure you, I did make it back. The thing was, our GTL teacher told us that Brussels was a close place to visit, and free to get to with your Eurail pass. No one explained, however, that the only place in Brussels you should go is Brussels-Central, where the big market and square and all of the historic parts are. All of the surrounding areas are an outer city sketch-fest. There were seven of us, and we had a 15-20 minute walk to our hotel, which by the way had nice ratings and reviews online. Along that walk, we passed nothing but dirty streets of trash and dog feces, broken down buildings, drunk fighting men, and gangs. We were so lucky to find our hotel safely. There was nothing else we could do though, because we were stuck there after the train left with no idea what we were in for. The hotel, however, was pretty nice. We locked ourselves in our rooms as soon as we got there without going back out to find dinner. In the morning we were starving, but the hotel saved the day with an amazing included breakfast. First thing we did after eating was head right back to the train station to get out of that dump.

 At the train station, we decided to still give the rest of Brussels a chance and go to the Brussels-Central stop. The difference was night and day. In the center of Brussels, we found an open market going on, got Belgian waffles, saw the famous Manneken Pis, and went to a museum about Belgian beer. We finally felt better about our situation and were able to enjoy the day. And this time we found an early train that was headed for Brugge where our hostel for Sunday night was booked.

Once in Brugge, we checked in to Charlie Rockets, a very cool youth hostel that I would recommend to anyone going to Brugge. Brugge was a wonderful city that I absolutely loved. There was great nightlife, a pretty safe atmosphere, and really nice locals. The walk to our hostel went through a park, by some statues, and through the main part of the city. What we didn't realize was that in France, especially on Sundays, most places close early. All of the sudden we found ourselves running around to find an affordable restaurant before they all closed. We went in to one and I ordered the tortellini and french fries. Fun fact: Belgium actually claims to be the first to invent the french fry, so theirs are very easy to find and very tasty. Another fact about Europe in general: beer is cheaper than water, and in the old days beer was less bacteria ridden than water so people mostly just drank beer all day. I spent a whopping 2.50 euros just to get a fancy small glass bottle of water (they won't serve you tap) at dinner. I also learned that while there used to be around 56 churches in this small city, there are now "only" about 26 left. And of course, their cathedral was absolutely beautiful. At night, my friends and I just stood in the courtyard of the cathedral in awe and silently took it all in for a few minutes. The last adventure of the night was looking for some of our group at night, who had gone on a pub crawl. Three of us waited in our room while Harry and Jay went out to try and reconnect the group. On their way, they were approached multiple times by men saying, "You need my help. Let me help you!" This was the only sketchy part of Brugge, but like any city, it was late at night and to be expected.

Lesson 3: Fake Russian will scare off anyone.

So after being approached about three times by these types of men, who probably just want to coax you in to a corner and mug you, Harry and Jay were getting fed up. The next guy to approach them was coming on to them fast paced, again with the whole, "You need my help. I help you? Let me help you!" So what does Harry decide to do? He turns around and just blurts out angry fake Russian words at this guy. And it works. Full 180 degrees by that guy, not to be seen again. No one messes with Russia.

So day three rolls around and we wake up late Monday morning in our hostel in Brugge. We try to quickly get ready so that we can make breakfast in time, which was downstairs in the connected bar for only a few euro. Coffee + hard boiled eggs + bread = life. We were rejuvenated and ready for our last day. At 11am we took a free 2-hour walking tour of Brugge.

Canals in Brugge, Belgium

This city was so pretty, and I never would have known about it. Almost like Venice, there were small canals, with boat tours going through them and ivy crawling up the brick walls. Bridges, towers, gardens, old buildings, you name it. I really appreciated the tour and our awesome guides, who were just Americans who had come to Brugge and loved it enough to be living here for now. We then sat down for lunch at this restaurant our tour guide pointed out. I tried rabbit for the first time ever because I wanted to get a real authentic Flemish dish while in Belgium. The sauce it was in was so savory, and the rabbit itself was really good too, but it was still a little weird for me thinking of eating rabbit. After that, we checked out some of the Belgian chocolates (too many to choose from!) and this special beer that is only brewed in Brugge. The tiniest alleyway I had ever seen led to this remotely placed pub. Inside they sell a house beer that is brewed in Brugge, but not bottled or sold anywhere else. Because we are cheap college kids, were short on time, and the beers in Europe are 12+ percent, we all split 2. It was the best beer I have tried so far. And alas, we headed back to the train station.

The train ride back was long, with many changes. All along the way we had to "post up!", which is our code word for watching each others' stuff and standing in a special backpack-on-the-inside formation. Again, passing through the Brussels station, many sketchy people were eyeing us and following us. No matter where you are, the train stations are the most dangerous place to lose your belongings. Many people have nothing better to do all day than stay at the train station, pick out easy targets, and try and take their stuff to make a living. I kid you not, you have to be on your A-game. At the Brussels-Nord station, I turned my head around and looked at this guy who was right behind the end of our group. As soon as he sees that I see him, full 180. And it is like that in every train station. But the thing is, now we understand. We now know that traveling can be super fun, but if you let your guard down for one second, you are vulnerable. Travel in groups and take turns staying alert when the group is sleepy. The weekend was tiring, stressful, but most importantly, I had a blast! Never in my life would I have planned to go to Belgium, but the cool thing here is you can just take a weekend, anywhere in Europe. I love all of the brick and old architecture in every city. There is a uniqueness here when you realize that most of the buildings here are older than our country. Mind-blowing.

Center Square in Brugge, Belgium

Lesson 4: Have fun in the moment!

I hope that this was a good (but long-sorry!) insight in to what my weekend was like. The ups and the downs of the roller coaster we were on. I can't wait to see where else I will explore, and this was only week 1! Pictures to come soon. But now...sleep. :)