This past week was our first “spring break” of the program. We had 10 days off and our fate for traveling Europe was in our own hands….or so at least we thought. The seven dwarfs who I traveled with included my other half (of course), Luke (great uncle Luke), Danny (4Ds/Classic Mix up), Levi (Levus), Charlie (the wanderer) and Riley (Tom Tom).
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| Levi, Kenzie, Me, Luke, Danny, Riley, Charlie |
Brussels, Belgium:
We began the week off by leaving on a flight Friday night to Brussels. All I can think of when it comes to flying now is two words: Ryan Air. This “bootleg” (which I called it) of an airline can be considered the Greyhound of flying in most eyes. Although “low cost” this airline flies you literally into the boonies of whatever city you may choose. After arriving at our hotel, we settled in and took to the cobblestones streets to explore. Note: wearing heals in cobblestone is harder than it looks. We stumbled upon a restaurant where we feasted on chicken and some type of purple beer I am still trying to figure out exactly what it was….nonetheless, everything we had was delicious. Strolled around a bit and discovered a little pub with live music downstairs and more of a club/dj scene upstairs, which was pretty cool. Exahausted from travel though, we headed back to the hotel (little did we know that this would be one of the finer establishments we stayed in over the course of the week).
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| At Cantillon Brewery |
The next day Mr. Bull, myself, Kenzie, and Levi Jeans decided to go to breakfast at one place a fellow classmate suggested. This restaurant was located in the center square, a place that reminded me of Disney World because of how fake the town seemed. The historic architecture of the buildings, along with the cobblestone streets and Dutch/French/German speaking people all made me feel like I was in a fantasy world. After ordering and devouring one of the best omelets and BELIGUM WAFFELS (comparable to Kathleen Bivona’s) we headed out to see what the streets of Belgium had to offer. We found beautiful buildings, parks, and shops around the city. In the afternoon, we went to the Cantillon Brewery. Paid three Euro to go 2 blocks (hint: figure out where you are going before you go). After the tour of the brewery and tastes of raspberry and cherry beer (interesting to say the least), the boys were persuaded by Kenzie and I to get haircuts by Moroccans----HA surprisingly they came out well and were lookin’ fresh for the Belgium girls. Wanting Mexican for dinner, we walked 20 minutes to a place which we (the American tourists that we are) found out closed 4 years ago….great. Starving and annoyed at our completely out of the way excursion for Mexican, we settled for Gyros at a small shop. After dinner, we met up at a popular draft house called Delirium. This place had an awesome environment and welcoming feel to it. The tables were made out of large barrels and some other CIMBA students were there to join in the chants and cheers that developed over the course of the night, as well as to enjoy the “best beer in the world” according to many aka Catus Beer. The next morning we boarded a train to a smaller town in the country called Brugge….
Brugge, Belgium:
Making it to one of my top places in Europe thus Far, Brugge is a quant little town filled with many old buildings, hidden alleyways (think Harry Potter) and great people. Downgrading to a hostel (compliments of Mr. Bull himself), St. Christopher’s put us up for the night in a 12 bed, 3 room accommodations, with a toilet across the hall and 5 ½ foot showers in the basement that shut off every 10 seconds…clearly I was thrilled about staying at this place (or at least I should have been as our living situation will continue to worsen just wait). One fantastic thing about our hostel was that we met this awesome guy named Kai from Brooklyn who moved to Brugge three years ago and gave us a hilarious yet extremely informative tour of Brugge the next day. That night we visited a pub, which is the only place in the entire world you can find this one beer, then proceeded to a bar underneath a church (one of the more unusual places I have been I must say). Brugge had amazing food to offer as well, being by the coast the seafood found there is so fresh….and of course more Belgium waffles, which we were quick to fill up on before our flight to Barcelona. Belgium was a place of much conversation, beautiful sights and this is where the infamous “mine” game started. If prompted by a question and answered with “it’s mine” you must do 10 push-ups, anywhere, anyplace, anytime. This game from here on continued throughout the ENTIRE week and therefore found ourselves getting jacked in airports, train stations, apartments…you name it, we did it (and documented with pictures).
Barcelona, Spain:
We arrived in Barcelona (thank you Ryan Air) late Monday night and we were quick to change our “thanks” to gracias and our hellos to “holas”. Shoutout to Kenzie for booking the best hostel of the trip in this hip and modern city: Hostel One Barcelona (only open for a month and clean as can be----thank god). Barcelona was a totally different city and experience than that of Belgium. This city is HUGE and has so much to offer. The metro system I must comment on is prime. The subways were clean, fast, and efficient; the color-coded system allowed us to master it in one night. Moving from Dow Jones to Bucaro, we were thrilled to once again bump into more CIMBA students and enjoy every minute in Barcelona.
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Sagrada Familia
(Me, Lyssa, Kenzie) |
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| Parc Guell |
The next day I GOT TO SEE ALYSSA AND KEITH-beyond excited that they were in the same country as us. We all met up for delicious tapas and headed to one of the most gorgeous and famous churches: Sagrada Familia designed by Gaudi. You think the view from the outside is incredible, than you walk inside and can’t even believe what you are looking at. The design itself is amazing, let alone how the heck they build this massive structure with no modern machines blows my mind. One of the coolest things about this church was there was another church that you could see through windows built below the Alter---crazy. After the church we toured around the city and hiked up a mountain where we were able to see the entire city and enjoy some cappuccino. The buildings are so much more ornate and in my opinion creatively designed than any buildings I have seen in the U.S. That night, all of us went to a Mexican restaurant around the corner from Alyssa’s and Keith’s apartment followed by a night of dancing and cheers to Keith for his birthday at Opium (located literally on the beach). The food, company, and night was amazing and unforgettable to say the least.
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| Arc de Triomf (smaller Barcelona version) |
On Keith’s 24th we ate delicious salads and these shrimp balls (can’t remember the name) at a place right by the port where all the sailboats were. We also enjoyed the day at the Barcelona Zoo, and Luke, Kenzie and I went to Parc Guell, possibly of of the most interesting things I have seen. We had to subway it again (gotta love public transportation) and then climb up a hill (felt steeper than the streets in San Francisco) to this park designed by Gaudi. The pictures do not depict the enormity and detail of the colored tile that make up the unique and ornate structure. That night we all join in for another group dinner at “The Attic”. Props to Alyssa Mucci, this place was not only fairly priced, but had comida muy deliciosa. HAPPY BIRTHDAY (part dos) TO KEITH <3.
Knowing our flight was at 7:20 a.m. and we had a trek to the boonies (Ryan Air: we love you…NOT), most of us aka Kenzie and I decided to get the max amount of sleep possible, 2 hours. Boarding the plane the next morning was a sight to see….and we will leave it at that.
Paris, France:
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| Eiffel Tower |
Ahh Pari! We made it, how? I don’t know, but we did. After asking an employee of a nearby hotel were our hostel was located, we found out that it was in the “Bagdad of Paris” (sounds real safe). We know whom to thank for this hostel booking…thanks go back out to Mr. Danny Bull ladies and gentlemen. Overtired and not in the best mood after hearing this news regarding our hostel, Riley (Tom Tom) our navigator persuaded us to go see the Arc de Triomf because it was on the way. After much coaxing, we agreed and were greatly appreciative because it was ENORMOUS and such a sight to see as the structure encumbered an entire circlycirle (my made up word for the round-a-bouts in Europe). Hostel #3: not so bad once we get there. Settle in and then subway it (duh) to the Notre Dame. This church was breathtaking and I was speechless when I walked in. The stained glass and detail of the carvings on the inside is insane. We ate early because we knew we wanted to get a lot in the next day.
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Palace at Versailles
On Friday (one of the most productive and tiring days of the trip) we were on the go from 7:00 a.m. to midnight if not later. We started the day off by visiting the place of King Louie XIV in Versailles. This palace was ridiculously big and had a huge golden gate out front (pictures to come). We listened to an audio tour of each room (all ornately designed with colorful artwork, fabric, and chandeliers). The gardens in the back of the palace were incredible as well, fountains among fountains, lined the endless property owned by the King and half a mile canal positioned in the center of the back yard. After Versailles, we made our way to the Catacombs. The Catacombs is an underground passageway/maze where you have to walk down over 80 steps to get to. This creepy underground ossuary held thousands and thousands of bones and skulls of people (6 million to be exact) in tunnels that felt like went on for miles and miles. After resurfacing we made our way through the busy streets of Paris to the Eiffel Tower-YAY. Seeing this structure in books and in movies and then seeing it in life is unreal. We all took an elevator to the top, which overlooked the entire city of Paris and took what seemed like a million of pictures. After being blow away by this structure we kept our busy day going to ending it at the Louvre Museum. One of my favorite buildings inside and out, this place was massive and gorgeous to see at night with all the lights and fountains going upon entering. You enter through a glass pyramid down into the museum where we saw the Mona Lisa (ridiculous-it had its own wall) and other famous sculptures and paintings you read about in your textbooks, but never think you will ever see them in real life. We could have spent 4 hours there, but unfortunately it closed at 10 and we had to return to the Harlem of Paris (which is what I nicknamed Hostel #4). No longer was Danny on our hit list for worst hostel booker of all time no no, the title now went to our buddy Levi. Congrats. Sketchest. Place. Ever. Thank god we were only there for one night. We say the Eiffel Tower again at night because of the light show, the entire thing sparkled and light up the entire city. |
Frankfurt, Germany:
No sleep, running low on money, and with one day left of the travel break we hopped on a train to visit Frankfurt, where one of Charlie’s good family friends lived- GOD BLESS HIM. Christoph and family provided us with warm showers and comfortable beds (you forget how great these things are after staying in the hostels we did). We all went out to lunch at one of their favorite places and it was my first time trying Schnitzel (chicken fried steak thing, with a creamy type of mushroom sauce-very tasty) and then back to Christoph’s house where we met his girlfriend and friends, ALL who were extremely welcoming and friendly. With new friends and rested bodies, we went to a local hangout to enjoy each other’s company and some drinks on our last night of travel. This night at a cozy home in Germany could not have been a more perfect ending to the week.
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| New German Friends |
From there we hopped on a bus and were on our way back to Paderno del Grappa, pasta and those crazy Italians….and we couldn’t have been happier. The first travel week was in one word: UNFORGETTABLE. Living out of one suitcase (Ryan Air restriction=10kg), traveling to 5 cities, taking every public transportation imaginable and constant wondering whether there was more than 20 Euro in your bank account was priceless. This week would have been impossible if it weren’t for the 6 other Americans I was traveling with. The experiences, cultures, people, architecture and places we encountered over the last week have been incredible and I hope to remember them forever.
TIME FOR A 24 HOUR NAP-GOODNIGHT AMERICA.
