I find myself not wanting to leave France at all while I'm in my classes. I wonder why, too. It's a room with several long wooden tables and chairs, tile floors, one white-board and three windows with wooden shutters that overlook the town of Pontlevoy, France. In the mornings and early afternoons, the sun shines so brightly. When the weather is warmer than usual, our teachers open the windows and let the clean, French air go deep into our lungs.
Yesterday was probably our first warm day since we've been here for just over a month. The 55 degree sunny weather instantly puts everyone in a great mood. The professors are more energized, we're more intruiged to learn and everyone in town seems to be going for an afternoon walk.
Its an amazing energy that I haven't seen elsewhere. I spent part of the afternoon hanging out with other Abbey-ians in the gardens, which are located in the "backyards" of the Abbey. It was just warm enough to not have to wear a jacket.
We're all also so excited for our upcoming Paris/Normandy week and our 2 week spring break. We leave for Paris this Saturday by bus. This is the first year they're getting us hotel rooms instead of hostels (HALLELUJAH!). Our days will be spent with small groups of 7 and an assigned professor to give their own walking tour that corresponds with their classes. As a treat, the program is taking us on a boat cruise on our last night there. HOW COOL IS THAT!! We are also spending two days in Normandy. We're seeing the American cemetery and Omaha Beach (I'm most excited for this). One day will also be spent in Versailles.
Tuesday, March 31, Lindsey and I are jetting off from Paris to Dublin, Ireland. We're staying in a hostel downtown. After two nights, we're leaving April 1st early in the morning for a quick flight to London. We're staying 3 nights. We're meeting up with my good friend Alexis' parents and gonna do all those touristy things. Of course I signed up for the Official Beatles Tour. Easter Sunday, we're flying to Rome and staying there for 5 nights. We're staying on a river, near the Vatican. On that Wednesday, we're going hear the Pope say mass. I think we may do a day trip to Florence because we're there for so long!
Finally, on our last weekend, were going to the coast of Italy and staying in an area called the Cinque Terre. Hopefully it'll be warm, cause we're right on the beach. Sangria and gnocchi are complentary. We're renting out a cheap apartment for six of us! After an afternoon in Pisa, we arrive back to Paris on April the 11.
It's going to be amazing, long, tiring, nerve wracking, stressful and downright everything I hope and more. I look forward to trying to navigate the London Tube, drinking local beer with the Irish, trying authentic Italian food, getting lost in Rome and meeting up with my friends for a relaxing weekend trip on the beaches in Italy.
It'll be funny to re-read this blog entry after I come back. Will I be exhausted, stinky and sunburned, yet accomplished and full of stories to tell? Or will I look back wondering why I did this or why I didn't see that? Either way, it's an experience I'll never be able to experience again.
I'll never again in my life be a young 20 year old with a backpack, a few friends and basically a empty wallet. When I come back, I know I'll either be older with my own family or husband. Maybe my parents and I will go. Or maybe I'll go again by myself on a work trip? Either way, this trip is pretty freakin' insane and I cannot wait to let you all know how it goes.
See y'all in a few weeks! :)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
"When in Belgium"
There is nothing more than I love than Belgium!! I guessed something extremely different, and was more than happy then what I was expecting.
On Thursday, Alexis, Katie, Lindsey and I hopped on a train with some other Abbey-ians and arrived in Paris around 9:30 pm. We had to take the metro to arrive to our hostel which was located in North Paris in the Pig Alley District. We checked into our hostel, which was basically a hole in the wall, but did what it needed to do: let us sleep! We found a little burger joint and had a quick dinner there. It was the best burger I've ever had! LOL. We then arrived back home and hit the sack before midnight.
Friday morning, we woke up at 5:30 am to arrive to Gare Nord. We again had to take the metro, which I love, and we got to the station with about 30 minutes to kill. Several espressos later, we were seated and on our way to Belgium. Alexis and I had seats by each other we dozed off and slept for the whole hour train ride. When we arrived in Brussels, we had to catch another train to Brugge, which was where our hostel was. Luckily for us, our Eurostar ticket allowed us to use any Belgian train! We saved about 50 bucks!
Another train ride later, we arrived in the lovely town of Brugge. Brugge is a town about an hour north of Brussels and is so cute!! We caught a bus to the Markt, which is sort of like the town square of Brugge. Alexis took charge and led us to what she thought was our street where our hostel was. 45 minutes later, we realized that we were no where close to where we needed to be! I laugh at it now. There was me, holding a HUGE fold out map, Alexis, standing on a street corner trying to decide what street we were on, and Katie and Lindsey who were trying to stay warm. A old German man passed us and asked if we needed help and luckily for us, he spoke perfect English. He showed us that we were about a mile and a half in the other direction. Alexis was not allowed to navagate any more and the whole experience was so funny!
We finally arrived to our hostel (which only would have been a 5 minute walk) and immediately set out to find some lunch. We were famished! Down the street from our hostel was a little cafe owned by an extremely nice woman. Juliette's served breakfast and lunch and we all had a great lunch there. We found out then that water was not free in Brugge, and for the rest of the trip, water was at least 30% of our meal price!
We went shopping after that and of course, I found yet another H&M. I only bought a cardigan Mom! Brugge has lots of little shops and we spent the rest of the afternoon doing just that. We went back to our hostel around 5pm and took a well needed power nap. We were SO tired. We then got up and found a little restaurant that was located in the Markt. It was incredible. Sort of pricey, but well worth it. 3 courses for about 20 euro (tax, tip and beverage included). I had this cheese appetizer, lasagna and mouse for dessert. Katie went after the famous mussels and Alexis and Lindsey had some chicken thing. It was a great dinner and we all had a great conversation! After that, we found this street which is famous for its bars and its nightlife. We went to two bars and had a great time. We again called it early and were asleep by 12 am.
Saturday we slept in a little, grabbed a cheap lunch and headed out to see the historical Brugge. We went to several little souvenir shops, took pictures all around the city and took an amazing boat tour through all the canals. Our tour guide was a hoot: he looked just like Chef Boyardee. He spoke perfect English, which was a plus. Most of the people there spoke great English and were by are the nicest people I've met on my trip so far. Katie, Alexis and Lindsey are chocolate fanatics and we stopped at several chocolate stores. They all spent so much on Belgian chocolate. I sampled a bit, it was really good! We went back to our hostel for another nap and went out for a quick dinner again. Not as good as Friday night, but we went to a little bakery and sampled of course a Belgian waffle. We went to bed again early because we had to be at the train station by 7 am.
Yesterday was basically full of travel. We arrived back to Brussels and had about a 3 hour layover before our train to Paris arrived. We met another american student there so that was pretty cool. She was from Philly and was studying in London (which I positively cannot wait to see). After we arrived back to Paris, we were fortunate enough to catch the train back to Montrichard with 2 minutes to spare!! About Abbey-ians were on that train so we were all happy to see one another there. We arrived back to campus around 8:30 that night and I got to talk to my family on skype for the first time since I've been in Europe. It was AWESOME.
I'm so tired from this past weekend, but it was amazing. I love Belgium and I certainly want to go back soon!! We leave for Paris in one week! We stay there for one week, and then we are off for 14 days on our own! I'm a little nervous, but I am SO excited!! :)
On Thursday, Alexis, Katie, Lindsey and I hopped on a train with some other Abbey-ians and arrived in Paris around 9:30 pm. We had to take the metro to arrive to our hostel which was located in North Paris in the Pig Alley District. We checked into our hostel, which was basically a hole in the wall, but did what it needed to do: let us sleep! We found a little burger joint and had a quick dinner there. It was the best burger I've ever had! LOL. We then arrived back home and hit the sack before midnight.
Friday morning, we woke up at 5:30 am to arrive to Gare Nord. We again had to take the metro, which I love, and we got to the station with about 30 minutes to kill. Several espressos later, we were seated and on our way to Belgium. Alexis and I had seats by each other we dozed off and slept for the whole hour train ride. When we arrived in Brussels, we had to catch another train to Brugge, which was where our hostel was. Luckily for us, our Eurostar ticket allowed us to use any Belgian train! We saved about 50 bucks!
Another train ride later, we arrived in the lovely town of Brugge. Brugge is a town about an hour north of Brussels and is so cute!! We caught a bus to the Markt, which is sort of like the town square of Brugge. Alexis took charge and led us to what she thought was our street where our hostel was. 45 minutes later, we realized that we were no where close to where we needed to be! I laugh at it now. There was me, holding a HUGE fold out map, Alexis, standing on a street corner trying to decide what street we were on, and Katie and Lindsey who were trying to stay warm. A old German man passed us and asked if we needed help and luckily for us, he spoke perfect English. He showed us that we were about a mile and a half in the other direction. Alexis was not allowed to navagate any more and the whole experience was so funny!
We finally arrived to our hostel (which only would have been a 5 minute walk) and immediately set out to find some lunch. We were famished! Down the street from our hostel was a little cafe owned by an extremely nice woman. Juliette's served breakfast and lunch and we all had a great lunch there. We found out then that water was not free in Brugge, and for the rest of the trip, water was at least 30% of our meal price!
We went shopping after that and of course, I found yet another H&M. I only bought a cardigan Mom! Brugge has lots of little shops and we spent the rest of the afternoon doing just that. We went back to our hostel around 5pm and took a well needed power nap. We were SO tired. We then got up and found a little restaurant that was located in the Markt. It was incredible. Sort of pricey, but well worth it. 3 courses for about 20 euro (tax, tip and beverage included). I had this cheese appetizer, lasagna and mouse for dessert. Katie went after the famous mussels and Alexis and Lindsey had some chicken thing. It was a great dinner and we all had a great conversation! After that, we found this street which is famous for its bars and its nightlife. We went to two bars and had a great time. We again called it early and were asleep by 12 am.
Saturday we slept in a little, grabbed a cheap lunch and headed out to see the historical Brugge. We went to several little souvenir shops, took pictures all around the city and took an amazing boat tour through all the canals. Our tour guide was a hoot: he looked just like Chef Boyardee. He spoke perfect English, which was a plus. Most of the people there spoke great English and were by are the nicest people I've met on my trip so far. Katie, Alexis and Lindsey are chocolate fanatics and we stopped at several chocolate stores. They all spent so much on Belgian chocolate. I sampled a bit, it was really good! We went back to our hostel for another nap and went out for a quick dinner again. Not as good as Friday night, but we went to a little bakery and sampled of course a Belgian waffle. We went to bed again early because we had to be at the train station by 7 am.
Yesterday was basically full of travel. We arrived back to Brussels and had about a 3 hour layover before our train to Paris arrived. We met another american student there so that was pretty cool. She was from Philly and was studying in London (which I positively cannot wait to see). After we arrived back to Paris, we were fortunate enough to catch the train back to Montrichard with 2 minutes to spare!! About Abbey-ians were on that train so we were all happy to see one another there. We arrived back to campus around 8:30 that night and I got to talk to my family on skype for the first time since I've been in Europe. It was AWESOME.
I'm so tired from this past weekend, but it was amazing. I love Belgium and I certainly want to go back soon!! We leave for Paris in one week! We stay there for one week, and then we are off for 14 days on our own! I'm a little nervous, but I am SO excited!! :)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
"Il n'y a qu'un bonheur dans la vie, c'est d'aimer et d'être aimé."
For those of you who aren't fluent in French, the quote above means "There is only one happiness in life, to love and to be loved".
It's a Wednesday night, and it's about 8:30 and we're all watching a movie in a theatre type room called "The Flying Buttress". It's a Wednesday tradition where the Abbey plays movies that may be mandatory for certain students in certain classes, but for the most part, we all like to watch them. Today is a movie called the Enemy of the State... Not exactly my cup of tea, but last week we watched a movie called "La Vie en Rose", which is a movie about the life and death of Edith Piaf. It was probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. My friends and I are now obsessed with the movie and Piaf.
Speaking of traditions, there's a tradition that my friend Alexis and I sort of started/continued. Tuesday nights here in Pontlevoy is now a themed party night at the bar across the street. Last week was called "A Black and White Affair" and last night we hosted one called "Tacky Tuesday". They both have been very successful and last night was by far one of the most fun nights here in France so far. Alexis and I came up with a playlist and gave it to the bar owner, Julien and everyone loved it! Julien decorates the bar too, and all of our local friends come out too. Next week is probably going to be pajamas or dress all in one color.. We don't have a lot of options. Not many of us packed costumes lol.
This weekend Alexis, Katie, Lindsey and I are going to Brussels and Bruges. We're leaving tomorrow night to arrive in Paris and we're staying in a little hostel by the train station so we can catch a 7 am train to Belgium. It's pricey, but I gotta start traveling outside of the Loire Valley! We're planning on staying in a little hostel and we're visiting trenches from WW1. It's going to be a BLAST.
I am especially excited for our Paris Week!! We found out today that we're staying in a hotel downtown. I'm most excited for Normandy Beach though. Being a history buff, it's going to be amazing visiting Omaha and the American Cemetery. Lindsey and I will leave from Paris the following day to Dublin. After two nights, we're off to London and I get to meet Alexis's parents and see Katie as well. Lindsey and I then arrive in Rome on Easter Sunday and staying in this little all women's hostel near the Vatican. It's going to be amazing.
The part I'm most excited about is after Rome, Lindsey, Alexis, Katie, Shelby, Tori and I are all meeting in the Italian Rivera called Cinque Terre for two nights. We rented out a 2 bedroom apartment and we will be 100 yards from the beach!!! Tell me how cool that is going to be!!!!!!
When we get back, it'll be my 21st birthday and we'll definitely stay in town during that weekend. I'm not totally sure where I will be traveling after that, but I want to see either Poland or see Venice. It's all just so expensive!!!
I adore my friends here and I'm so thankful to be waking up in a castle every morning in the heart of France. Send me letters and packages :)
It's a Wednesday night, and it's about 8:30 and we're all watching a movie in a theatre type room called "The Flying Buttress". It's a Wednesday tradition where the Abbey plays movies that may be mandatory for certain students in certain classes, but for the most part, we all like to watch them. Today is a movie called the Enemy of the State... Not exactly my cup of tea, but last week we watched a movie called "La Vie en Rose", which is a movie about the life and death of Edith Piaf. It was probably one of the best movies I've ever seen. My friends and I are now obsessed with the movie and Piaf.
Speaking of traditions, there's a tradition that my friend Alexis and I sort of started/continued. Tuesday nights here in Pontlevoy is now a themed party night at the bar across the street. Last week was called "A Black and White Affair" and last night we hosted one called "Tacky Tuesday". They both have been very successful and last night was by far one of the most fun nights here in France so far. Alexis and I came up with a playlist and gave it to the bar owner, Julien and everyone loved it! Julien decorates the bar too, and all of our local friends come out too. Next week is probably going to be pajamas or dress all in one color.. We don't have a lot of options. Not many of us packed costumes lol.
This weekend Alexis, Katie, Lindsey and I are going to Brussels and Bruges. We're leaving tomorrow night to arrive in Paris and we're staying in a little hostel by the train station so we can catch a 7 am train to Belgium. It's pricey, but I gotta start traveling outside of the Loire Valley! We're planning on staying in a little hostel and we're visiting trenches from WW1. It's going to be a BLAST.
I am especially excited for our Paris Week!! We found out today that we're staying in a hotel downtown. I'm most excited for Normandy Beach though. Being a history buff, it's going to be amazing visiting Omaha and the American Cemetery. Lindsey and I will leave from Paris the following day to Dublin. After two nights, we're off to London and I get to meet Alexis's parents and see Katie as well. Lindsey and I then arrive in Rome on Easter Sunday and staying in this little all women's hostel near the Vatican. It's going to be amazing.
The part I'm most excited about is after Rome, Lindsey, Alexis, Katie, Shelby, Tori and I are all meeting in the Italian Rivera called Cinque Terre for two nights. We rented out a 2 bedroom apartment and we will be 100 yards from the beach!!! Tell me how cool that is going to be!!!!!!
When we get back, it'll be my 21st birthday and we'll definitely stay in town during that weekend. I'm not totally sure where I will be traveling after that, but I want to see either Poland or see Venice. It's all just so expensive!!!
I adore my friends here and I'm so thankful to be waking up in a castle every morning in the heart of France. Send me letters and packages :)
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