In review - two weeks ago, we had our "fall break" which didn't really count as a 'vacation,' but it is the longest amount of time that IES gives us without classes (we had Friday and Monday off of school). I decided to use it to go visit my friend Nina, who spent her senior year of high school at Spring Lake. When I visited her here, I was the first one (except Steve, her boyfriend - he doesn't count haha.) from Spring Lake to come visit her in Europe. So that was pretty exciting! It was amazing, though, to see her on this continent.
Thursday afternoon, I took the train from Nantes-Paris (had to switch stations which proved a hilarious challenge...the Paris metro is not very compatible with lugging around suitcases. Which will be interesting when Meryl and I have to do the same switch with ALL of our luggage on our way to London in December...not just with an overnight bag like I had on this trip) and then Paris-Brussels. First thing, I had to find a WC (water closet)...found one, but it was a paid restroom, so I had to find a 50 Euro cent...not 2 20 Euro cents and a 10...just a 50. It took a while, but then I found the change machine into which you put your change...and got back more change? It was hilarious. And then I ended up going into the wrong side (because I obviously can't read Dutch!?!?) and I come out face-to-face with this man who was clearly trying to tell me, in Dutch, that I had failed miserably at this attempt. It was great fun. Then, I finally got in touch with Nina, via text, and she called and said that she was stuck in a ridiculous traffic jam and would be a while. About an hour later, we finally met up and got all excited, and then tried to navigate our way onto the highway which also proved interesting...Brussels literally consists of a million tiny little streets and one HUGE street with about 4 lanes, all the way through the city, that goes in and out of tunnels all over the place. It was a bit complicated. We finally got on, though, and arrived at Nina's apartment in Maastricht (or, actually Lanaken, Belgium - about 2 minutes from the border) and stayed there for the night.
The next day, Nina had class, so I woke up late-ish, watched CNN International - my new favorite activity (it literally has so much information...I saw commercials for Kosovo - not for tourism or anything, but literally advertising the legitimacy of the country's sovereignty. It was amazing), and then met up with her when she was done. We had waffles for lunch:
We then did ALL of Maastricht, led around by an amazing self-tour that we got at the tourism office. It took us everywhere we could have wanted to go...and read our minds. We would say "oh, that's a pretty street, we should go down it!" and then we'd look at the map, and it was say "turn left down this street, it's beautiful." haha. Nina lives there, but she even learned about a lot of the history of Maastricht.
I also went to Nina's Sustainable Development class, which was awesome. We were debating the definition of the term, which was fascinating because there were literally people there from: Norway, Denmark, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and then there was me. It was so cool. That night, we went out with some of her friends from class, and I had my first coffee shop experience, which was absolutely bizzare. Ask me about the details if you wish. haha
The next day, which was Halloween, we went to Duren, Germany - Nina's hometown...it was so wonderful seeing her hometown and her house, and her parents again - they came to Spring Lake for Nina's graduation, and we had them to our house for dinner. It was not only really cool being able to see them again, but also being around people who could 1- speak English 2- knew my family and my home and my home town and 3-feeling so at home! I loved it a lot. So, when we got to Duren, we just hung out and relaxed, which was lovely. Nina also taught me to drive stick shift, and apparently I'm a natural! I actually drove us to the grocery store, and then home, and didn't kill us! I was so proud. We then went and rented scary movies and bought chocolate, came home and helped with dinner and had a wonderful, 3-hour long dinner - my favorite kind! Then watched the movies and had a great Halloween night.
The next day was Cologne - we took a train in, fairly early in the morning, and started off right away. We climbed the cathedral stairs, which was exhausting but TOTALLY worth it.
It was beautiful at the top. We then explored the waterfront, and the old town, and I experienced a true, real-life beer haus in Cologne, complete with bratwurst and beer and everything.
The next day was my last day, and we decided to do Brussels. So we got up early, packed up and drove in to the city...and we didn't get lost! First, we went to the campus of the buildings in the European Union. It was so cool! Unfortunately, everything was closed -- because, we found out, there had been a summit of all the European leaders the past weekend, which in turn, we found out caused the traffic jam that Nina had been stuck in - all the motorcades for Sarkozy and Merkel, etc. SO cool! -- Then, we drove and found the Grand Place, which was doubly exciting for me, because it was deja vu: we had been there the first time I came to Europe...I even replicated the photo we took. It was still just as beautiful! we had about an hour left, and decided to ask the people at the tourism office what we should do with it...they told us to walk up these steps, so we could get a view of the entire city. It was so pretty!
It was a beautiful way to end the weekend. Then, I hopped on the train, and got back to Nantes. My host mom picked me up at the station, which was lovely because it was pouring rain. It was nice to be back "home" and speak French again ahah.
So that was my trip...much has happened since then, but unfortunately I don't have time now to talk about all the rest of it. I'll have to update you on Castle Quest '09 later on!
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