So this weekend we ventured to Paris. Paris is a bit on the expensive side so we decided that we only wanted to spend one night there in the hostel. We left Brussels at 6AM and got to Paris around 9:30. Once we settled into our hostel (it was surprisingly nice, we had an Argentinian backpacker and two students from Spain staying in our room) we went out and grabbed some lunch. Our diet in Paris included: Baguettes, Crepes, and LOTS of desserts... their bread and dessert selection is soo delicious/plentiful... it seems like there is a backery every 5 steps. We did a four hour walking tour and saw sights such as: Saint Michael's Fountain, Notre Dame Cathedral (soo pretty, I went to a prayer service there), the Prison where Marie Antoinette was held, the place where Jacque de Molay was burnt at the stake (an interesting story that I hadn't previously heard), lots of statues of Napoleon, Louis and Henry, the "Bridge of Love"/"Lock Bridge" ... an entire bridge where lovers go and write their names on a lock then throw the key into the river, it's really pretty! And of course as I told you we saw the Royal Palace, the Old Royal Palace, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre (where the Mona Lisa is). I think we are going to take a day trip back to Paris in March or April to go see the Gardens at Versaille but we wanted to wait until the weather is nicer. The first night we went to the bar at Moulin Rouge (we were going to go to the show but it was over 100 euro's... not in our budget!) and we met some Australian friends who were really cool! The next day we went back and actually climbed the Eiffel Tower (soo beautiful!) and then went and explored more of the Louvre, went into Napoleon's tomb and then..of course, SHOPPING! In Europe there are only two months each year when stores are allowed to have "soldes" or sales... and it just so happens that January is one of them. We went to the Lafayette area (where all the designer stores are) just to window shop and then we ended up back in the cheaper "Latin district" where the shopping was less pricey but still really fun! All in all Paris was an amazing trip, I loved the city and the people were very friendly toward us which made things a lot easier.
I miss you all and can't wait to talk to you again! Check your mail for postcards :) Love you!
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Amsterdam
Hello everyone! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS! I miss you all so much and skyping was awesome... if any of you have skype on your computers at home i'd love to get your names so we can keep in touch like that, it's the easiest/cheapest way for me!
This past weekend (January 21-23) we journeyed to Amsterdam. The bus ride was not bad at all, just over three hours from Brussels, and we slept most of the way. The first thing we quickly learned was that EVERYBODY in Amsterdam rides bikes. There is an entire bicycle lane throughout the city...and let me tell you, these bicycle people are not nice and do not stop or swerve out of the way if you step into their little lane. Fun Fact: there are more bicycles than people in Amsterdam!
So the first day we went on a walking tour of Amsterdam.. the city is actually really interesting and historic. We saw the historic Jewish quarter and Anne Frank's house as well as New Town and Old Town Amsterdam, of course the Red Light District and then we took a walk down one of the canals. It's actually a really pretty city and not as crazy as it's made out to be. The funniest part of the trip was when we were lost at one point looking for a place to eat dinner and we asked a woman how to get to the restaurant... she responded, "Take your next left, it's down past the street with prostitutes.. it's a really nice area though, don't worry." That made us laugh, the people there are so accepting of the prostitution and our tourguide said they call them "business women" and that they don't really view them in a negative light as we do.
This past weekend (January 21-23) we journeyed to Amsterdam. The bus ride was not bad at all, just over three hours from Brussels, and we slept most of the way. The first thing we quickly learned was that EVERYBODY in Amsterdam rides bikes. There is an entire bicycle lane throughout the city...and let me tell you, these bicycle people are not nice and do not stop or swerve out of the way if you step into their little lane. Fun Fact: there are more bicycles than people in Amsterdam!
So the first day we went on a walking tour of Amsterdam.. the city is actually really interesting and historic. We saw the historic Jewish quarter and Anne Frank's house as well as New Town and Old Town Amsterdam, of course the Red Light District and then we took a walk down one of the canals. It's actually a really pretty city and not as crazy as it's made out to be. The funniest part of the trip was when we were lost at one point looking for a place to eat dinner and we asked a woman how to get to the restaurant... she responded, "Take your next left, it's down past the street with prostitutes.. it's a really nice area though, don't worry." That made us laugh, the people there are so accepting of the prostitution and our tourguide said they call them "business women" and that they don't really view them in a negative light as we do.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Midweek
So far this week has mostly been settling in and getting used to the life in Brussels. We have taken a lot of time to plan and book flights/hostels before it gets too expensive. So far we've book: Dublin for St. Patricks Day (hopefully I'll be joined by Chris for this one!) London for a night to see my friend Tyler, Barcelona for a weekend, Prague for a weekend and Amsterdam for a weekend! During our time at Prague we will be spending a day in Vienna, Austria (tell Nanny!). I'm so excited. We also decided that we are going to be spending the nine days of spring break exploring Italy: Venice, Rome, Milan and Florence. One weekend in April will be spent on the beaches of Croatia as well. I can't wait to start travelling and sight-seeing. Along with the St. Patrick's Day parties in Dublin we booked a half-day trip to see the countryside and bay area along with some cliffs and castles, it should be beautiful!
Class is 3 hours on Monday and Wednesday and extremely boring since it is accounting but so far I understand the material and I hope it stays that way. I haven't been bringing my laptop because facebook/email is too distracting!
On Monday night we went at 2:00AM to watch the national championship game, I got to sleep the entire next day as I do not have class but some of my friends weren't so lucky.
Other than that not much else is new.. we found a new, better grocery store which is easier to understand the french/dutch to english translations of things. We are enjoying our new home and have been cooking dinners like chicken, potatoes, veggies, and a whole lot of spaghetti and salad (as they are cheap!)
Love and miss you guys, I'll call you soon!
Class is 3 hours on Monday and Wednesday and extremely boring since it is accounting but so far I understand the material and I hope it stays that way. I haven't been bringing my laptop because facebook/email is too distracting!
On Monday night we went at 2:00AM to watch the national championship game, I got to sleep the entire next day as I do not have class but some of my friends weren't so lucky.
Other than that not much else is new.. we found a new, better grocery store which is easier to understand the french/dutch to english translations of things. We are enjoying our new home and have been cooking dinners like chicken, potatoes, veggies, and a whole lot of spaghetti and salad (as they are cheap!)
Love and miss you guys, I'll call you soon!
Monday, January 10, 2011
First Day of Classes!
I went to bed around 12 last night and got up at 10:30 this morning so I think my body is getting adjusted! This morning I made cheesy scrambled eggs and a piece of toast. Now I'm getting ready for my first class.. Accounting. That class goes from 1:30-4:15. After that I think we may go explore some more markets and grocery shop for more things for dinner (or else I guess we'll just have to have spaghetti everynight because the meat here is pretty expensive!)
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First Dinner and First Day
The first night we all went out to dinner. So far it seems like the main foods in Brussels include: Fries (frites), unlimited Muscles, Chocolate and waffles. I got roasted chicken, fries, vegetable soup, this weird salad they have and some bread. It was delicious! I also tried muscles but I wasn't the biggest fan.
The location of our hotel couldn't be more perfect- walking distance to "downtown" brussels. We have the beautiful St. Catherine's Cathedral as a view from our window -- it's soo old and currently being renovated but it's still goregous... just not in use. The bars, restaurants, and everything are right down the street, one turn and you're there. The best way I can describe it is an old-fashioned, classy, beautiful version of an American city. Downtown is hopping at night.. there are people everywhere and it seems like there are hundreds of bars to discover. The funny part about the bars is that they play American music!
Today we woke up "early" ... we're still jet-lagged and went for a run in the Park that is about 10 minutes away and went out to breakfast for our first Belgian waffle. It was DELICIOUS although a little too much like dessert for me. I got strawberries on mine :)
Now we're about to adventure through the markets -- mostly which sell hats, scarfs, little toys (almost like the lower level of Fanuiel hall) and see what there is. Then we're going to come back and make spaghetti for dinner. Speaking of that -- our first grocery store experience was interesting! They have tiny aisles and everything is in French so it's kind of hard to decipher what is what. Also, you have to pay extra if you want bags so mostly everyone brings their own backpacks to carry their groceries home in.
That's all for now as we are headed to the markets! :-)
The location of our hotel couldn't be more perfect- walking distance to "downtown" brussels. We have the beautiful St. Catherine's Cathedral as a view from our window -- it's soo old and currently being renovated but it's still goregous... just not in use. The bars, restaurants, and everything are right down the street, one turn and you're there. The best way I can describe it is an old-fashioned, classy, beautiful version of an American city. Downtown is hopping at night.. there are people everywhere and it seems like there are hundreds of bars to discover. The funny part about the bars is that they play American music!
Today we woke up "early" ... we're still jet-lagged and went for a run in the Park that is about 10 minutes away and went out to breakfast for our first Belgian waffle. It was DELICIOUS although a little too much like dessert for me. I got strawberries on mine :)
Now we're about to adventure through the markets -- mostly which sell hats, scarfs, little toys (almost like the lower level of Fanuiel hall) and see what there is. Then we're going to come back and make spaghetti for dinner. Speaking of that -- our first grocery store experience was interesting! They have tiny aisles and everything is in French so it's kind of hard to decipher what is what. Also, you have to pay extra if you want bags so mostly everyone brings their own backpacks to carry their groceries home in.
That's all for now as we are headed to the markets! :-)
Day 1: Travel
After saying goodbye to Mom and Dad I met up with my friend Brendan at the airport. We spent lots of American money for the last time on Dinner .. little did we know that the flight would supply us with a full meal. I ended up sitting next to a group of Irish students (same age as me) that were all returning from a week in the states. They claimed "the United States is way better than Ireland and everybody is so much nicer." They also told me all about St. Patrick's day in Dublin (which led us to immediate book flights there for that weekend!) and it sounded amazing. I was surprised to hear that they thought American's were nicer than Europeans. Meanwhile, on the flight we each had our own personal TV screen and remote -- it had a choice of over 30 movies and then TV episodes and free music. I watched Charlie St. Cloud and Salt on the flight. Dinner was roasted chicken, rice, vegetables, cake, cheese and crackers, salad and ended with an andes mint. It was delicious and I was very satisfied with the flight. We landed in Dublin and had to wait only like 15 minutes for our next flight to Brussels. The flight was EMPTY so me and Brendan each got our own row so I slept the entire flight. Once at Brussels it was really convenient because we met right up with like 15 other kids in the program. It was quite the scene we caused all carrying our bags and trying to navigate the Metro. Let me tell you -- cobblestone and rolling bags DO NOT mix well. After about an hour adventure we finally made it to the hotel. :)
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