I'm alive!
Mar. 21st, 2010 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookaddict88I was nudged to update weeks ago, and as you can see, never got around to it. These past two months have been such a whirlwind, I haven't even kept up with my LJ reading, which I usually do even when I don't post. My weekends have been filled with traveling, while my weekdays have been filled with schoolwork. I'm only taking four classes this semester (and unfortunately, unlike last semester, none are all that interesting to me), but since I don't have time to do schoolwork during most weekends, and each semester-long class is squeezed into seven weeks, they keep me on my toes!
But schoolwork's a boring subject for an LJ post, so let's jump to my travels! When I last posted, I was going to take a day trip to Monschau, Germany with my study abroad group the next day. Well, Monschau was an incredibly cute little town... though quite cold. It took us a little longer than planned to get there due to the snow and ice, but we made it. We then had schnitzel for lunch, and took a tour of the town. I felt so bad for our tour guide, because no one was paying attention because we were so cold! After the tour, all we had time to do was warm up at a cafe, before we headed back to the bus.
Monschau, Germany
The next weekend (Feb. 4-6), a few friends and I spent a couple of nights in Brussels, and then visited Brugge for the afternoon. Being poor college students, we squeezed four of us into a hotel room with two twin beds. It was cozy, but it worked! And it was cheaper than a hostel, thanks to Priceline's Name-Your-Own-Price. We did, however, take two hours the first night to find our hotel room. We were SO close to it too; we walked every street but the one we needed! Well, we learned to take a better map from the experience, so it wasn't totally a waste. Belgium was enjoyable (especially the waffels!), despite the fact that there wasn't a whole lot to do in Brussels, and Brugge was a bit foggy. It was also a good way to get us acclimated to the train system, since we've used it a whole lot since then, thanks to our Eurail passes! Sadly, I don't have any of my pictures of this trip, as I lost my (fairly new) camera which had those pictures on it. At least I brought a back-up, which I don't like as much, but at least gives me something to take pictures with the rest of the trip!
A picture stolen from Facebook of me in Brugge!
The weekend after that was the start of Carnival, and we had the whole week off from classes. Maastricht has a pretty big celebration for the festival, but unfortunately, I didn't end up getting to see it. I went to Greece instead! We made a quick one day stop in (COLD!) Berlin, spent the night in the airport, then flew from there to Thessaloniki, where we enjoyed the warmth by the beach. From Thessalonik, we took a night train into Athens...which was a bit of an adventure, seeing as it was loud and dirty and I sat next to a creep for most of the trip. But we made it in one piece to Athens! This hotel would not let us sneak four people into one room, though we tried. However, they did let us check in early. Seeing as we were dead tired by this point, that was a blessing! We took a nice long nap before heading out to explore Athens. Athens is a pretty dirty town, and during the winter at least, everything closes around 3:00pm, which is a pain. However, they had cheap gyros and gelato! I think our favorite thing to do there was sit in the square or in our favorite cafe and eat. ;D But of course, we also visited the Acropolis. It was pretty amazing to be surrounded by all that history!
The Pantheon at the Acropolis
The lovely (as long as you ignored the landfill) bay that was our destination for a late picnic lunch.
There was no path down to the water, but of course, I couldn't resist climbing my way down!
I know, this picture doesn't show you much of the interior of the beautiful Estates
Theater. But, look, even if it's still not the most flattering picture, I'm all prettied-up!
I haven't bothered to do that much this trip...
Ghent, Belgium
March 11-14, I went to Switzerland. While I went with a group, I ended up traveling by myself on the way there, since they all left before I was done with class on Thursday. It took all night (and not on night trains, either, so it was tiring), but I made it safe and sound to Interlaken! The first day, we explored the town a bit, and then walked down to one of the lakes that gives Interlaken its name. Then, that night, a friend and I went to my host's home. You see, while the rest of the group was staying at a hostel, I decided to CouchSurf, since I arrived later and they didn't have room in their hostel for me anyway. Well, my host Kathrin was such a sweet girl. Her brother joined us for a simple but delicious traditional Swiss meal, called Raclette, where we all baked our own cheese on a table-top grill. We then talked for hours before bringing my friend back to her hostel. The next day, a few of my friends and I took a day trip to Bern, where we mostly just relaxed -- but being Baylor Bears, made sure to see their bear pit! Sunday, we made our way back to Maastricht, so that we had time to do our homework in the evening.
And that at last brings me to this weekend! Because finals are this week, I decided to stay here and work on papers. Still, some friends and I took a break Friday to see the Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam. It was a long trip for just a few hours spent at the gardens, particularly since it's been a cold winter and most of the flowers aren't quite in bloom. But there's still a lot to see and do at the gardens, and a couple of the buildings housed thousands of blooming flowers, so I think it was quite worth it!
So there's a brief overview of my trip thus far. Unfortunately, you probably won't hear from me again for another month and a half, at least. After my last final on Friday, I'm off for a month of gallivanting around Europe, seeing Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice, Florence/Siena, Madrid, Seville, the Loire Valley, Amsterdam, Dublin, and Edinburgh. As I'm not planning on bringing my laptop with me at this point, and I hate typing on my iPod Touch, I doubt I'll get another blog in until I'm back home in California. But I'll definitely update then, since I'm sure I'll have lots to tell!
But schoolwork's a boring subject for an LJ post, so let's jump to my travels! When I last posted, I was going to take a day trip to Monschau, Germany with my study abroad group the next day. Well, Monschau was an incredibly cute little town... though quite cold. It took us a little longer than planned to get there due to the snow and ice, but we made it. We then had schnitzel for lunch, and took a tour of the town. I felt so bad for our tour guide, because no one was paying attention because we were so cold! After the tour, all we had time to do was warm up at a cafe, before we headed back to the bus.
Monschau, Germany
The next weekend (Feb. 4-6), a few friends and I spent a couple of nights in Brussels, and then visited Brugge for the afternoon. Being poor college students, we squeezed four of us into a hotel room with two twin beds. It was cozy, but it worked! And it was cheaper than a hostel, thanks to Priceline's Name-Your-Own-Price. We did, however, take two hours the first night to find our hotel room. We were SO close to it too; we walked every street but the one we needed! Well, we learned to take a better map from the experience, so it wasn't totally a waste. Belgium was enjoyable (especially the waffels!), despite the fact that there wasn't a whole lot to do in Brussels, and Brugge was a bit foggy. It was also a good way to get us acclimated to the train system, since we've used it a whole lot since then, thanks to our Eurail passes! Sadly, I don't have any of my pictures of this trip, as I lost my (fairly new) camera which had those pictures on it. At least I brought a back-up, which I don't like as much, but at least gives me something to take pictures with the rest of the trip!
A picture stolen from Facebook of me in Brugge!
The weekend after that was the start of Carnival, and we had the whole week off from classes. Maastricht has a pretty big celebration for the festival, but unfortunately, I didn't end up getting to see it. I went to Greece instead! We made a quick one day stop in (COLD!) Berlin, spent the night in the airport, then flew from there to Thessaloniki, where we enjoyed the warmth by the beach. From Thessalonik, we took a night train into Athens...which was a bit of an adventure, seeing as it was loud and dirty and I sat next to a creep for most of the trip. But we made it in one piece to Athens! This hotel would not let us sneak four people into one room, though we tried. However, they did let us check in early. Seeing as we were dead tired by this point, that was a blessing! We took a nice long nap before heading out to explore Athens. Athens is a pretty dirty town, and during the winter at least, everything closes around 3:00pm, which is a pain. However, they had cheap gyros and gelato! I think our favorite thing to do there was sit in the square or in our favorite cafe and eat. ;D But of course, we also visited the Acropolis. It was pretty amazing to be surrounded by all that history!
The Pantheon at the Acropolis
From Athens, we took a ferry to the island of Poros, where we spent the next day and a half. I wish we could have stayed there 10x as long or more! Poros is a sleepy little island during the winter, but the weather is beautiful, especially compared to Maastricht. We stayed in a lovely family-owned hotel with a view of the bay, and amazing breakfasts with home-grown fruit. The first day, we walked a bit on the island, and then spent some time by the beach. The next day, we rented bikes, and biked all around the island. Or rather, we walked uphill with our bikes (I'm so out of shape!), then biked the flat and downhill parts. It was a perfect day for biking, and the island was so small we made it across to one side of the island one way before lunch and over the hills to another before dinner. I think that this was one of my favorite days in Europe so far, and it only cost us a few Euro!
The lovely (as long as you ignored the landfill) bay that was our destination for a late picnic lunch.
There was no path down to the water, but of course, I couldn't resist climbing my way down!
The next weekend (Feb. 25-28), my friend Savannah and I took a night train over to Prague, which is a beautiful city (esp. when the sun's out, which unfortunately happened only one day of the three). In Prague, we took a free walking tour, did some sight-seeing of our own, added our own graffiti to the Lennon Wall, visited one of the most interesting-looking cemeteries I've ever seen (at Vyšehrad), attended a prayer service so we could get a glimpse inside the cathedral on a Sunday, and watched Don Giovanni -- at the Estates Theater, where Mozart premiered the opera!
I know, this picture doesn't show you much of the interior of the beautiful Estates
Theater. But, look, even if it's still not the most flattering picture, I'm all prettied-up!
I haven't bothered to do that much this trip...
The next weekend, I stayed home. I was ready for a break from all the traveling! I did, however, take a day trip on March 5th to Brussels, visiting Brugge (again) and Ghent. Ghent was a cute town, though unfortunately there was a lot of construction going on. And the weather in Brugge was nicer than the first time I went, though still cloudy.
Ghent, Belgium
March 11-14, I went to Switzerland. While I went with a group, I ended up traveling by myself on the way there, since they all left before I was done with class on Thursday. It took all night (and not on night trains, either, so it was tiring), but I made it safe and sound to Interlaken! The first day, we explored the town a bit, and then walked down to one of the lakes that gives Interlaken its name. Then, that night, a friend and I went to my host's home. You see, while the rest of the group was staying at a hostel, I decided to CouchSurf, since I arrived later and they didn't have room in their hostel for me anyway. Well, my host Kathrin was such a sweet girl. Her brother joined us for a simple but delicious traditional Swiss meal, called Raclette, where we all baked our own cheese on a table-top grill. We then talked for hours before bringing my friend back to her hostel. The next day, a few of my friends and I took a day trip to Bern, where we mostly just relaxed -- but being Baylor Bears, made sure to see their bear pit! Sunday, we made our way back to Maastricht, so that we had time to do our homework in the evening.
Lake Thun, Switzerland
And that at last brings me to this weekend! Because finals are this week, I decided to stay here and work on papers. Still, some friends and I took a break Friday to see the Keukenhof Gardens near Amsterdam. It was a long trip for just a few hours spent at the gardens, particularly since it's been a cold winter and most of the flowers aren't quite in bloom. But there's still a lot to see and do at the gardens, and a couple of the buildings housed thousands of blooming flowers, so I think it was quite worth it!
At the Keukenhof Gardens
So there's a brief overview of my trip thus far. Unfortunately, you probably won't hear from me again for another month and a half, at least. After my last final on Friday, I'm off for a month of gallivanting around Europe, seeing Munich, Salzburg, Vienna, Venice, Florence/Siena, Madrid, Seville, the Loire Valley, Amsterdam, Dublin, and Edinburgh. As I'm not planning on bringing my laptop with me at this point, and I hate typing on my iPod Touch, I doubt I'll get another blog in until I'm back home in California. But I'll definitely update then, since I'm sure I'll have lots to tell!
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Date: 2010-03-21 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-22 02:46 am (UTC)