To the land of wine & beer

After leaving Brussels, our group spent a week in Paris. Our site visits were pretty cool, but my favorite by far was IFRI – Institut Français des Relations Internationales. It’s a French think tank.

I was so happy once again to be able to go back to the Marais. I did a little shopping there, and bought another pair of Bensimons! As well as the cutest shoes from Andre! This Parisian visit, I lived in the 15e arrondisement, minutes away from the Eiffel Tower. It’s crazy how after spending so much time in Paris last summer, I did not know this area at all!

My grandpa shoes from Andre.

I also went on a hunt to find the lock that Lee and I had put up two weeks before. It took me two visits before it was actually found. Note to self: Don’t go looking for locks in the dark, especially when your lock looks just like everyone else’s!!!!

This time around I also avoided tourism like it was my job, although I did go to the Pantheon and see some famous graves. When it came time to leave Paris, I was almost devastated. I kept saying that I won’t get on the train to Berlin and instead just spend the rest of my summer in Paris. My wallet, however, really appreciated that I got on the train.

Other things I saw in Paris/France: 

• Fête de la Musique 2012 (no dancing in water fountains this year)
• Normandy
• Bayeux Tapestry

So then off to Berlin. I speak no German, but thank god Germans are pretty good at English. Probably my favorite thing to see in Berlin was the East Side Gallery.

East Side Gallery & I

In Berlin we stayed at Hotel Kurfurst, near Kurfurstendamm. The internet was anything but fast and convenient, but the rooms were huge in comparison to Paris.

We had a cute tour guide two of the days being here, Stevie Bloomquist. She’s an American who moved to Germany in the 60’s and was here when the wall was torn down. It was really cool to hear some stories from someone who experienced life in a divided Germany. One of the places we visited with her was Checkpoint Charlie.

"You are now leaving the American sector."

One regret of Berlin is that I didn’t go to the DDR (East Germany) museum. I meant to go on the last day of being here, but when it’s almost 30C and there is no A/C anywhere, the last thing I want to do is even move. But I can always come back. Who knows, maybe then I will be speaking German!

Other significant visits in Berlin: 

• Charlottenburg Schloss
• Coca Cola Deutschland
• Building where they held the Wannsee Conference
• Cecilienhof in Potsdam
• Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Typography of Terror Museum

Also Café Bleibtrau is freakin’ delicious (near Savignyplatz). I went there 7 times in 7 days. Good cheap food and American sized portions. But I must say, I was a bit disappointed with the beer in Germany. I actually like Belgian beer better. (Not that I am a beer expert by any means, but I miss my Leffe.)

Today I'm off to Poland. Krakow, Poland. I never thought I’d be going there (although I never really saw myself in Croatia either). We leave for the train station in 4 hours, and then it’s 10+ hours of travel. While my group only has one week left in Europe, and I realized that I still have 7 more. I feel like I'm never going home. 

Travel break from Brussels

It's almost Sunday, which means it's almost time to leave Brussels. While other students in the group are sad about leaving our "home" I'm kind of "ehh" about it since I know I will be back for work. I am however EXTREMELY excited about Paris. But before I start ranting about how excited I am for Paris, I'll recap my past month in Brussels.

 I have seen a lot.

Parc de Cinquantenaire

Université Libre de Bruxelles

African Museum - which I found fascinating

Grand Place - which I will return to in August for the flower carpet!!!

My new place of employment! The reason for my return!

A real Belgian BBQ. 

I also go to visit the Atomium and Mini Europe, live with a real Belgian family, in a real Belgian neighborhood. At the end of the day, Brussels isn't Paris, but it's not bad either.

I got to visit the Netherlands for the first time as well (outside of the airport) by going to The Hague, so now I can legitimately knock that country off of my list. I learned to use the Brussels metro, bus AND tram, which is more than what I can say for Paris from last year.

Now we move into the phase of the trip where we aren't living in families anymore, but collectively in one hotel. So here's to my last weekend in Brussels, and to an exciting adventure in Paris. This is the part of the trip I have been waiting for!!!!!

But before all of that excitement happens, we get to visit Bruges and Ghent. It's supposed to rain, but my host mom just told me at dinner that when move back in July, she will take me there and we can go to her mom's house for dinner. I'm a tad bit excited for that as well.

Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission.

So I call my parents a couple of weeks back to remind them that I had a long weekend coming up. My parents kindly asked me, "Oh what are you thinking of doing?" I respond with, "Mom... Dad... I'm going to Croatia!!!" Keep in mind this was all over Skype so I was basically on speaker at my parents apartment. Mom's face looked shocked and Dad in the background yells, "SHE'S GOING WHERE?!?!?!?" Well tickets had been bought, and the hostel had been booked. There was no turning back. :)

Off to Pula, Croatia!

From France to Croatia in less than a week. I barely got to settle back into life in Brussels before I was packing up bags again. This time I was off to a country that I had never visited before, taking RyanAir - the least sketchiest form of flying ever. Since I had paid 30e for my ROUND TRIP tickets I was literally crossing my fingers as the plane took off, flew and landed.

I went with five other girls from my study abroad, but I was potentially the least prepared. I didn't have the address to our hostel. I didn't have any "Kuna" (currency). I didn't know what the exchange rate was for said "Kuna".  Not to even mention the fact that I was a complete bum when it came to needing to borrow toothpaste, shampoo and sunscreen.

Georgia Tech girls take over Croatia.

Day 1: I got to see a gladiator fight in an arena!!! Pizza for lunch. Pizza for dinner.

We definitely had our favorites.

Day 2: Beach. A 21st bday dinner. Croatia - Ireland football match. (1. The EuroCup is going on in Poland/Ukraine this year. 2. Croatia won!) Pizza for dinner (lunch was skipped due to the beach).

Rocky beaches of Croatia. 

Day 3: More Pizza for lunch. Get on board lawn mower and fly back to Brussels.

Yummy. 

In conclusion, I definitely don't need ANY MORE PIZZA while I'm in Europe. I had a good time. I don't know if I'll ever go back to Pula specifically, but it was definitely a memorable weekend. It's one more country I can cross off of my list of places to visit. All I know is that next time I go, if I go, it will be an EU country so I won't get a stamp on my passport! So at least I got that knocked off.

My life as a Parisian tour guide

Last week flew by. After having Monday off, it turned out that the trip on Friday was optional, a.k.a. I got a ticket to Paris a day earlier. This is where things got a little interesting. I had to somehow meet up with people who were coming in from London, when none of them had phones. After sending a couple of "FYI" and "GET A HOLD OF ME NOW" emails, I was able to get a response and set up a meeting time at noon at the Paris Nord train station.

I arrived three hours earlier, so I took the morning and went into town. I headed straight for Marais, my old neighborhood. I walked by the MIJE, picked up a quiche lorraine from Manon, and went to enjoy my breakfast at the Notre Dame. Since it was so early in the morning I was able to sit inside (sans beaucoup de touristes) and just take in the beauty of the church.

Third Floor, Middle Window. Mine. 

Notre Dame

Meeting up went a lot more smoothly than planned. We went immediately to the hostel, checked in, and off we were to explore Paris. Let me start out by saying, we accomplished a lot more than I thought humanly possible, but our feet definitely suffered because of it.

On day 1 we saw: Moulin Rouge, Sacre Coeur, the Montmartre neighborhood, Notre Dame, Louvre (outside of it), the Tuilleries Gardens, Concorde, Arc de Triomphe (from a far, from Concorde), the Petit Palais & Grand Palais (walked by), les Invalides (again, walked by), and the Eiffel Tower + Champs de Mars (while enjoying pastries and a bottle of wine!). I literally showed them all of the highlights in one day. (Now considering becoming a Parisian tour guide.)

Quiche Lorraine at the Eiffel Tower

This picture makes me smile. :)

On day 2: The Catacombs, and climbed up the Arc de Triomphe.

Never ending maze of bones underground.

On day 3: The Louvre and climbed up the Eiffel Tower.

The Mona Lisa

Can't you tell we got a little worn out after day 1? I just wanted to make sure they saw it all!!!!

So originally I was supposed to leave the night of day 3. That didn't happen. I stayed one more night and left around lunch time on day 4. This made things a little interesting since I had to be in a suit meeting up with my study abroad group at 2 PM. Thanks to the best roommate ever this was made possible though. She met me at the train station with my suit + heels + passport.

I was so sad to leave Paris. My friends were off to Germany and I headed back 'home' to Belgium. Ready to tackle another week of school, keeping in mind that I am returning to Paris in 2 weeks. But before that happens, I will be hitting up Croatia for the weekend!!!