Study Trip Pictures

European Parliament (Brussels, Belgium)

Buidling in Maastricht at Mini Europe (Brussels, Belgium)

Main Square (Brussels, Belgium)

Belgium chocolate..yum! (Brussels, Belgium)

On our walking tour (Brussels, Belgium)

Enjoying our Belgium waffles (Annika in middle and Becca on right) (Brusels, Belgium)

Delirium Bar and lots of beer (Brussels, Belgium)

Band at Delirium (Brussels, Belgium)

Bruges market square (Bruges, Belgium)

Right before the cork flew across the square! (Bruges, Belgium)

Boat tour through Bruges (Bruges, Belgium)

Bruges at night (Bruges, Belgium)

All the Glory of France i.e. Versailles (Versailles, France)

Gates at Versailles (Versailles, France)

Versailles Garden (Versailles, France)

Versailles Gardens (Versailles, France)

My favorite! (Paris, France)

Annika and I at the Eiffel Tour (Paris, France)

The Louvre (can't wait to actually go in it!) (Paris, France)

Our yummy dinner (Note the stinky cheese!) (Paris, France)

We took stairs down half of the Eiffel Tour (Paris, France)

Chamagne bottles from 1800s (Reims, France)

Pommery Champagne Caves (Reims, France)

Stained Glass in Notre Dame of Reims (Reims, France)

Notre Dames of Reims (Reims, France

Study Trip (France: Paris and Reims)

(Read this after the other study trip entry...right below this one)

On Sunday, we went straight to Versailles from Bruges. It was amazing to see the castle and everything in it. The old art work, furniture, and architecture was spectacular. I went to venture through the gardens on my own and found those to be even more breathtaking, and wished I could've explored for much longer. The high hedges, ponds, and flowers were so carefully placed and went on as far as the eye could see. It makes me wonder if Louis XIV ever saw everything, both in the house as well as throughout the massive gardens. There is just so much! We left Versailles and checked into our hotel and had a quick shower before we headed out to the group dinner at Le Vauban, a restaurant right across from where Napoleon is buried. 

Sidenote: We were a little disappointed to go from our first hotel room to Bruges, as it was your typical European hotel room: two beds smashed right up next to each other, and a shower that you can barely turn around in! We had even a smaller shower in our hotel in Paris, BUT WE WERE IN PARIS, so it didn't matter!

We had a great three course meal, and the program even paid for it, usually all meals were "at your own expense," so it was nice to eat what we wanted on the program! I started out with a caprese salad (can't beat that), then had steak and fries, followed by some ice cream that I barely touched seeing how stuffed I was! After dinner we headed over to Pont Neuf for a boat tour on the Seine. We saw the Eiffel Tour and Notre Dame as well as the rest of the beautiful city all lit up. It was finally nice to be able to practice some of my french in France, and a French woman even told me that my french was pretty good!

The next morning we had a highlight tour of Paris on bus and got to see most of the city and all of the buildings. The next activity was an optional tour of the Louvre, but Becca and Annika are not at all intrigued as much as I am by art and old things, so they opted out. I would've gone with the boys or by myself, but I knew that I would be coming back to Paris with mom and would be able to OOOO and AWEEE much more with her! So I have been to the Louvre twice now, but never been inside..impressive, huh?! The girls and I decided that we wanted to explore Paris on our own, and set out. We walked up and down side streets as well as the Champs d'Elysees. It was really fun and quite charming to see everyone enjoying the beauty of Paris on a normal day. We stopped for lunch at a small cafe and in the french fashion we enjoyed lunch outside with great people watching. We started the journey back to the hotel, and on our way we decided to try our luck with the metro, because the program had given us a days pass on the metro. What we figured could turn into one giant headache, actually turned out to be a great success of an adventure. We were all quite proud of ourselves, and made it back to the hotel much quicker! After a bit of a rest at the hotel, we went to the market to find some dinner. We left with cheese, salami, and baguettes. At the hotel we set up our dinner and turned on the music video channel for some great European entertainment. Diving into the cheese, we realized they were both quite STINKY and we all enjoyed one much more than the other. We offered what we had left to the boys, but got it back within five minutes on accounts that it was just too smelly!! So what do you do with stinky cheese?? Throw it out the window..of course (I know, I'm such a rebel)! First we tested out the distance down with a piece of salami that landed on the window of a parked car and bounced off into the street. Next came the soft, gooey, stinky cheese!!! One toss and the anticipation was killing us...finally with a satisfying SPLAT we all three fell to the floor laughing until we couldn't breathe. But we still had more! Piece by piece, cheese came falling from the window and splatting below. There was a false panic attack as we thought we saw security when yet it was just a curious person inspecting the splatted cheese! then we heard a British accent telling us to "stop throwing cheese." We panicked! QUICK, close the window, shut the curtain, wash the plate, throw away the rest of the cheese..but don't put it in our room. We ran out the door and threw it in the boys trash, which was conveniently outside their door. Then ran into their room to tell them we had been caught, just to find out that it was one of the boys, Taylor, who had been practicing his British accent (as those have become quite useful for the boys...as they pretend not to be Americans all the time). We were safe..phew! The boys told us to get ready and then we were off to the Eiffel Tour by way of metro. Once we got there, we decided to get tickets to go to the top, which is something I have always wanted to do, seeing that the Eiffel Tour is something that has always mesmerized me. Once at the top, we snapped pictures and starred out at the city and all the lights twinkling at us. Back at the bottom, we saw the light show of the tour. What a great day..stinky cheese and all!

On Tuesday, we packed up our things, and had to say goodbye to Paris. We headed to Reims where we got a tour of the Pommery champagne caves. We were a little late getting there, so we couldn't have a complete tour, but it was still really neat seeing the cave,s the bottles, and trying some of it. Down in the caves it is very cold (I think it is 50 degrees) and very dark! They had bottles every turn, and they even showed us their oldest bottles, coming from the 1800s! Then we drove over to Notre Dame of Reims and walked inside and around the cathedral..BEAUTIFUL. The stained glass was breathtaking and so intricate. Becca, Annika, and I found a small crepe restaurant for lunch and were extremely satisfied. Then back to Maastricht we went.

What a great trip!

Study Trip (Belgium: Brussels and Bruges)

Friday morning we packed onto the bus and headed off to Brussels, Belgium for the start of our study trip, where we would travel to Brussels, Bruges, Paris, and Reims. Before even getting to the hotel, we arrived at the European Parliament and got a great tour of the place. We had an introduction by a woman who was working on the communication staff, but had previously been an interpreter (takes over 12 years to get to that). Then, we actually got to see the where all the magic happens in the Parliament! That was really neat. From there we went to Mini Europe, which is a place where they have most ever famous site in Europe except it is TINY! We got to be in many countries in just under an hour and see everything we had heard that Europe has to offer! 

Checked into our hotel, and were quite surprised to see how nice the hotel (not a typical European hotel room..much more room!) Off to the market square, where we had a walking tour of the city. There were so many restaurants throughout the town (mostly seafood), and lots of statues that looked like they had been there forever! I am still so shocked at how everything is sooo old! After our tour Becca (she goes to DU too, but I didn't know her before), Annika (sorority sister), and I made swift moves to the closest waffle stand, and smothered them with chocolate and strawberries..YUM! They were delicious. The entire group of kids I am traveling with, met up at Delirium, which is a bar that has over 200 kinds of beer (Bill, you would've loved it!). We found a beer that was really light and specific to Belgium, it was called a Belgium White. They had also told us that they had fruity beers, and we were quite intrigued, so we tried the cherry beer. It was surprisingly good, and tasted like a cherry soda (that could get you in trouble!). At the bar, there was an upstairs and downstairs, so we wandered downstairs. There was a french rock band that played, that was made up of four guys, who all had a poor sense of style and even worse hygiene. While discussing the horrible band with Evan Jonker (a kid on my program), I found out that he is from Ojai and went to Villanova...he even said that he might have been on the same tribe as Bill for the Villanova field day games! What a small world. 

Saturday morning, we headed to Bruges. Before getting to Bruges, we stopped at the Royal Palace in Brussels. It was gorgeous! I have never seen such beautiful chandeliers in my life, it seemed like there were hundreds of them in each room. But the best room was one that when you looked at the ceiling and the main chandelier it was blueish/greenish and shimmering. There was sign that said that the reason why it looked like this was because they had used a certain kind of beetles wings that shimmered that way, and had covered the entire ceiling as well as one of the chandeliers! WOW! 

Once in Bruges we headed to the market square and were given free time. The market square was amazing. It had old buildings surrounding the entire square, with a large clock tour and restaurants serving over priced meals! Annika, Becca, and I went to find some lunch and stumbled across a great sandwich shop, one sandwich (on a baguette..of course!) for 3 euros! We were quite proud of ourselves. It was just what we wanted, and we sat on some benches in the sun while we ate our sandwiches...perfect. We all didn't know what to do with the rest of our free time and thought that it would be fun to get a bottle of champagne to celebrate our travels through Europe. We wandered around the town seeing shop after shop full of glumpet and admiring the old buildings, finally found some champagne, but didn't stop there. We also got some chocolate...belgium chocolate!! We went back to the market square and sat on some steps and enjoyed our treats! However, the champagne was a little harder to open then anticipated, we almost gave up, but then the boys on our trip were coming across the square, so we called them over to help us. As soon as they were coming over, Becca (who was holding the bottle) said "O NO....ITS GOING!" and with that, the cork went FLYING off, a good 50 feet away from us. The boys were quite surprised and us girls couldn't stop giggling. 

Back with the group, we headed to Halve Maen brewery for a quick tour and taste of the award winning beer. Then it was straight off to our next adventure, a boat tour of Bruges. It felt like we were in Venice, and it was a great way to take in the sites (seeing that my feet are starting to become raw from all the walking!). That night, we went out for a late dinner. We found a small cafe, and had WONDERFUL pizza. Becca, Annika, and I each finished a whole pizza to ourselves, and were quite proud! We called it an early night, seeing that we had a long drive early the next day to Paris.

First Few Days

So I arrived safely on Monday morning, bags and all! Got off the plane and was met by a sorority sister, Annika, who came in on another flight. SO NICE TO SEE A FAMILIAR FACE! We got all our bags and found the other people in our group and headed off on a bus from Brussels to Maastricht. The drive was about an hour and a half, and it gave us all some bonding time. There are a few kids from Colorado College, Indianna University, one from Yukon, and a whole bunch from Muhlenberg (sp?). We got to the guesthouse (the dorm-like place we are staying), and set off to find our rooms. I am living in a single room, on a hall currently with only one other girl...Annika! It's a bit lonely, but more people are moving in, before school starts. At the end of the hall is a communal kitchen, with two hot plates that have four burners on them, four mini fridges (for 12 people..eeek!), a microwave and some pots and pans! There is also a small living room attached to the kitchen that has a big table with chairs, couches, and a tv. 

The first day we went on a walk and were shown were a mall is that has a market, and many other stores that carry all sorts of things. We wandered around for a while and picked up some things to make sandwiches with and came back to the guesthouse (home sweet home!) O and by the way, the guesthouse is or used to be a hospital...we can't quite figure it out. We think that there are still some things that are going on that relate to medical needs. I saw a sign that appeared to say something about radiology..but you can't ever tell, cause its in DUTCH! Anywho, the doors are the big wide hospital doors throughout some halls, so its interesting!! So we roamed around the city a little bit, but didn't see all too much, since we were all fairly jet lagged. 

The second day, we went on a great walking tour of the city and saw where all the shops are, where to eat, and so much more. Its a great city...I can't wait to explore it more!! However, it is a little confusing sometimes, because all the streets look so much alike! I love the old feeling of the city, all the brick, cobblestone roads, and so much character! We had a lot of orientation as well, and then had free time to do what we want. Annika and I walked around and went to a different market that we had seen during the day. We strolled the aisles and were able to find some things that looked familiar, and many that did not! It will be very fun to find different food and try it all. Last night, a bunch of us hung out and had a really fun time. We were supposed to go to a big party, for all of the returning Dutch students, but we never found it downtown. We ended up walking around downtown and found a kebab stand, so we stopped and had one. The man that was working at the stand was extremely nice and we stayed and talked to him for almost an hour. It is amazing how almost everyone here knows english, but I wish that I knew Dutch, and it would be easier to communicate.

Today, we had more orientation and we all applied for our resident permits, which is the Netherlands equivalent to a Visa. We learned about different things we will be doing throughout the time we are here, such as the study trip that we are taking from Friday to Tuesday. We are going to be traveling to Brussels, Versailles, Reims, and Paris and doing all sorts of site seeing and other activities. Then we had a little bit of a break from the orientation, and a few kids and I went walking around the city and found a place to buy second hand bikes. So I am now the proud owner of a Dutch bike!!! Everyone here rides bikes, and it will be really helpful, especially since the school is almost a 20 minute walk from where we are staying. After buying the bikes, we had a Dutch lesson...wow..what a tough language! We are free for the rest of the day, and have more orientation, and a 3 hour bike tour of Maastricht tomorrow!! Better rest up for that! Toodles, or HOI HOI (bye bye) as the Dutch say!

Off to the Netherlands

It's been an adventure from the beginning. The packing!!!! EEEGADS! Mom and I were dawdling around all day yesterday doing all the little things to get ready for my big trip, but apparently packing wasn't one of those things! After dinner, we decided that it was time to get down to business, so we were off with wine in hand and a mountain of clothes to stuff into two suitcases. I was a process deciding what was a "must have", a "maybe", and a "no way!" We finally got around to stuffing it all into the bags..and it was only 3:30 IN THE MORNING! And that's right, we were leaving in an hour for the airport!

We made it to the airport, and it was a tear filled goodbye, but excitement as well. First plane ride of the trip is over, and am currently in the airport in Chicago awaiting my next flight to Brussels. I am currently working on about an hours worth of sleep (all of which was done on the first flight), and am trucking along! 

Best news to date--I won't be jammed in steerage and will be flying BUSINESS (THANK YOU :D)!!! yeeehaw...business class better watch out, they don't know what is about to hit them! :)

That's all for now...off to find my gate and OFF TO THE NETHERLANDS!