Today is my last day in Europe! I can’t believe it has already been a month! I have to say I am going to miss Europe. I really have enjoyed staying here. I love the environment and they way people live here. I am so happy I had the opportunity to come to Europe and have this once in a lifetime experience.  I have really grown as a person and feel much stronger than I did before I came. I tried new things and I also did things on my own. As much as I will miss being in Middelburg, I have to say I will be happy to go home. I miss a lot of things in the U.S.  Such as, ENGLISH, and my friends and family. I am very excited to be back home in time to celebrate the 4th of July! I really hope you all have enjoyed following me throughout my trip. If you ever want to know anything about the places I went or the things I saw just email me.

Today, I will be checking out of my room and heading to Amsterdam. I will spend the day in the town. I will also be going to Anne Frank’s House! I am very excited to do this.  Then that night I am going to stay in the airport. Although it should be interesting because I heard that you are not actually allowed to sleep in the airport. Guards will come around and wake you up every 30 minutes… I am spending 12 hours in the airport… This should be fun! Wish me luck! I will be back home on Sunday at 4pm. I will make one more post when I get back to the U.S. about my trip to Amsterdam.

Bye!

I am back from Paris! It was absolutely beautiful there. I loved Paris so much. Although, the trip there was exhausting.

When we left for Paris we took an hour and a half train ride to Rotterdam. Once there we find where the Eurolines office is located. However, it is not open and there is just a paper sign taped to the light pole saying Paris Express with an arrow point in the direction of the office and street. We had no idea where we were getting picked up and there was no one else around the area for a full bus to Paris. We were slightly worried that we would miss out bus. But finally we stood on the corner between two different streets and waited for the bus to hopefully arrive. There were a few other people that showed up that were looking for the bus as well so this made us feel a little better. Once we got on the but we had around a 6 hour bus ride to Paris. Mind you, this is at night and the bus was incredibly uncomfortable.  Finally we arrived in Paris alive. It was really exciting to actually be in Paris!

We took the underground to the Eiffel Tower in the morning. Once we saw the Eiffel Tower we were all very surprised! It was BROWN! I did not expect for it to be a gross brown color. Any time I see photos of the Eiffel Tower it looks Glamourous. However when we got there it was not at all glamourous. The grounds around the Eiffel Tower were also very filthy. Although, I did go back later in the day and it was cleaned up and looked much nicer.

We ate breakfast in a small cafe and I had a delicious baggett and croissant. The croissant was very flakey and delicious! We walked around Paris and went to the Champs-Elysees.  The streets were very busy. Once we found our hotel it was nice to just relax. It was a very exhausting day.

On Saturday we went to Versailles.  This was so crowded. However, the Palace was absolutely stunning. The inside of it was filled with gaudy things yet looked so majestic. I would have loved to be royal and live in a place that looked so beautiful. The beds that they slept in were also very gorgeous but a lot smaller than I imagined them to be. After that we went to the Gardens out back. They were so beautiful.  However, we did not get to see all of it because the Gardens were so incredibly large. We also walked up to Marie Antoinette,s house she had built for her to play in.  Just like that palace, it was beautiful, however much more simple.  Later that evening, we went to the Eiffel tower so we could see it lite up at night. During this time I also had the best tasting crepe in my life! It was so warm and delicious. I am not craving them. The Eiffel Tower at night looks much more beautiful than during the day. For about 15 minutes, it had flashy lights that made it even more beautiful. I enjoyed just sitting on the ground watching it at night. There were so many people just sitting there enjoying their nights with friends. It was such a enjoyable experience.

Sunday is when the heat really came on. It was so hot and it made it so hard to walk around all day. We went to Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, The Louvre, and we walked around a Jewish District. We met up with one of my friends, friends that was studying in Paris. He took us to the Jewish District in Paris and I had the best Shawarma ever. I wasn’t sure I would like it but when I tasted it, it was wonderful. The place we ate at was a legit Kosher place. It was a very exciting experience. However, the walk there was killer. It was so hot and far. It just was miserable and we didn’t have any water to drink. It was a very long and exhausting day.

Thankfully we made it back to Middelburg Monday morning after a long bus ride back, which was just as terrible as the first. Overall I enjoyed Paris. I can’t wait to go back. I think that I would like to spend more time there so I could actually go inside many of the places. I can’t wait to visit again some day. Now I will post a few images from my trip. If you would like to see more just check out my flickr account.

This is my Shawarma

The best crepe EVER

Au Revoir!

BYE

Now about London! London is cold and rainy at all times. Friday was very cold and it rained about all day.  I went to the Tower of London and saw all kinds of awesome things there. I got to see some of the crowns that kings and queens used. There was one case that had a crown with 12,000+ diamonds that are supposed to go in the crown.  It was worth about 60,000 pounds in the 1800s… I can’t image how much it would cost now. I also got to see some carvings in the stone walls that prisoners did.  They were trapped up in a tower for a very long time.  The detail that some of these carvings have are amazing. I also saw the torturing devices that they had used back in the day and it was terrifying. I got to see Tower Bridge which is very beautiful and large. From there I went to Abbey Road and walked across the cross walk. It was actually really exciting. It’s amazing what a little cross walk can do for people. I also got to see the Abbey Road recording studio.  Then I went to Oxford Street which is a really being shopping street. The stores are so big!  The clothes in the stores are so cute and I wanted to buy so many things. The people in England are so stylish. I felt like I did not dress well for my visit. lol. After that I walked around and had dinner and just enjoyed the sights of London.  It was a very exhausting day. At the end of the day we ended up getting a bit lost on the buses.  We figured out the underground just fine, but the bus we managed to get confused with.

On Saturday we had a much longer day. We woke up at seven and headed to Westminster Abbey. However, once we got there the line to buy tickets were so incredibly long that there was no way we were going to be able to go inside. So we just took pictures outside and got to see Big Ben and parliament houses. Then I went to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of guards. However, this turned out to be a disaster. There were so many people and I couldn’t see anything. I was getting shoved around and it was just miserable. And I even got there like an hour and a half early! So I got to see a little bit of the changing of the guards but it wasn’t really worth it. After that I went to the London Eye. The line for this was also long but it didn’t take too long to get through. I got to go up in a glass room (like a ferris wheel) and look over London. It was really beautiful. When I was waiting in line it started to pour down rain so hard, but thankfully I was under the glass cover before I got my turn on the London Eye. From there I went to a awesome market in Camden Town. It was so awesome I really wish I could have spent more time there. There were so many vendors that has some awesome clothes, accessories, and a lot more other things. From there I went back to Oxford Street for a little bit and then went to Convent Garden for some dinner. After that I took the Underground to Big Ben to get some night shots and then went to London Bridge to take photos of Tower Bridge all lite up. After that I headed back to the train station to take a 45 min train back to the airport. Once at the airport I had to wait for nearly 10 hours for my plane to head back to Eindhoven airport. That was the longest night of my life. I tried to sleep in the cold airport on the cold tile floor. That didn’t work very well. Finally at around 3:30am I found a bench to sleep on. I slept for maybe 2 or 3 hours. Once I got back to Eindhoven (only an hour flight) I took the 20 minute bus back to the train station and headed back home on an hour and fourty five minute train ride. I finally reached Middelburg! Then I had to walk in the cold back to my room.

So, overall I thought London was cool, but too cold for me.  I had a lot of fun and I am happy that I had the opportunity to go. I will post some pictures as soon as I can but I have to catch up on some editing and other things for my classes. So for now I will leave you with one photo of Big Ben from Saturday evening. BYE!

Sorry that I have not posted anything on my blog for a few days. I have been quite busy getting ready for this weekend and the next weekend.  I am traveling to London today, in about 3 hours, for the weekend. I will be coming back to Middelburg Sunday around 1 or 2pm. I am very excited for my trip to London because I get to explore a new country. When I am in London I am planning on going to the Westminster Abbey, The Tower of London, The London Eye (I am kind of scared), Abbey Road, Buckingham Palace to watch the guards change, The Parliament/ Big Ben, and then anything else that pops in front of my face. I can’t wait to see all of these things that I can actually identify and relate to. Going to London will be very fun and exhausting at the same time. I will of course take tons of photos and post them as soon as I can. It might be a few days after Sunday that I actually get to them.

Next weekend, I am going to Paris. We have already booked the hotel and the bus tickets. I am very excited for this trip as well. I am so happy I have the opportunity to go to all of these places. My collection of photographs will grow as well as myself. I hope in Paris I will be able to find everything and understand their French. I can’t wait to see the Effiel Tower and Notre Dame and many other great places. We are actually going to spend Friday in Paris, Saturday in Versailles, and Sunday in Paris again.  We are going to be taking the overnight bus back home.  We will be getting home around 5 in the morning and then I will have to take an hour train ride back to Middelburg from Rotterdam. I can’t wait for this adventure because I really want to see Paris and eat Crepes.

I also learned yesterday that my last day of classes are on Tuesday the 28th of June. This means that I will have an entire week in Europe to do something. I am trying to plan a trip to Greece if my finances are able to allow me. I really hope I can squeeze this trip in because I have always wanted to go to Greece. It is so beautiful there and I would just love to see the areas there. I am also going to spend a little time in Amsterdam because I really want to go to Anne Frank’s House. I am hoping to do that before I go home. I can’t believe that I have been in Europe for almost two weeks! It is almost half way over! However, I still have a ton of exploring and photographing to do.

I will post as soon as I can when I get back from London! Bye!

This weekend didn’t go quite as planned because of the weather. First we thought we were going to Paris. Then we decided we didn’t plan for it and there weren’t any places to stay overnight in Paris. So, then we decided we would go to Amsterdam on Saturday and a smaller town on Friday. However, this weekend was kind of rainy but also very nice. I think we would have survived Amsterdam. Anyways, on Friday Anneka, Bekah, and myself went to Goes.  This is a small town right outside of Middelburg. It cost about 7,50 Euros to go there and back. However, our tickets were never checked. We could have had a free ride I am just kidding.  So once we got to Goes I immediately noticed that the town was a lot more modern that Middelburg. It was more of a shopping city than a small community like Middelburg. I am much happier I am living in Middelburg for the summer. Anyways, this town had a very beautiful church. The church was open because an exposition was going on that day. We walked inside and this cathedral was absolutely beautiful. All of the art inside for the expo was very beautiful and interesting in an odd way. I enjoyed going in this cathedral.

We did not stay in Goes for very long. Although, on our way out of the town we did stop at a bakery. I have the best tasting pastry ever.  It is called a roombroodje.  This is translated to cream sandwich. I enjoyed every bite of the calorie full and sugar stuffed pastry. And it looked beautiful.

We did not stay in this town for very long but I did enjoy the adventure. And the delicious roombroodje.

These are a Dutch custom. They are called Stroopwaffels. They are delicious. They are usually placed on top of tea to make the syrupy inside get warm.

I had a freshly made and wonderful delicious stroopwaffel

Then here are a few pictures of cheese and some fruit at the market. It all looks so good and fresh and wonderful

Lastly, Here is a poor dog that was dragged around at the market. However, I don’t know if he enjoys it or not.

Overall, the market was very fun and I can’t wait to go again. I will be buying things and trying other foods

I actually almost was able to finish all of that. It was very good and filling.

After stopping for pancakes we continued out walk to the canal and took some lovely photographs of the older houses there. I found this house that has 1560 on the front of it. The window is crooked as well.

Along my walk I also saw this bike parked outside of someone’s home. This bike must take a lot of talent to ride (and a lot of leg muscle).  Mothers will ride these bikes through town and have their children in the basket of it. There are several different ways to travel around town and this one I think would be the most challenging.

Lastly, I will post a few more photos of the streets and the homes of Middelburg. I hope you enjoy.

Well the last two days have been rainy and pretty chilly. Not the most beautiful weather. I had my first class today. It went well. It is just me and Anneka. We just talked today because it was rainy and cold. Then I went with Anneka to the market and got some food. I had some delicious raspberries and some juice. I also got some little like syrup waffles. They are pretty good. I think I might bring some of those home. At Anneka’s we made ham and spinach crepes. They were very good. I am going to bring that recipe home with me along with the tuna pasta. I also tried guava juice which was really good. I think I am going to start mixing that with my smoothies. After that I walked back to my room and edited some photographs and labeled all of them. Then I went to my orientation to find out that I might not have internet unless I go to the computer labs in the Academy. That wasn’t very pleasing however, the girl next door let me have her login and I can use her internet when she doesn’t need it. That is a relief so I should be able to keep my things updated. I will post a few pictures on here and then I will post the other photographs on my flickr account so if you would like to see me go there. Other than that I haven’t done anything today. It has been rainy and cold. Not a very nice day. Tomorrow my class is meeting at 1 and I think we are going to walk around town and take some photographs. A few of my assignments are 12 ways to ride a bike, 12 angles of Lange Jon Tower, and Rain. So you may see some of those photographs soon. For now here are a few photographs I have taken.

Here are a couple photos of the things I bought at the grocery store. Here is some delicious juice I bought. It is fresh with apple juice, strawberries, lemon, and basil in it. It is very good. I wish I could bring all these things I eat home with me.

Here is a photo of the syrup waffles that I bought. They are generally eaten with tea but I enjoy eating them by themselves as a little snack.

Here is a photo of the Lange Jon Tower. I am actually going to go up inside of it sometime. There is 200 steps and you can look over the town at the top. I am excited for the long journey and the wonderful view.

Finally my last photograph is an HDR photo. This means that it is a combination of different exposures and it is over edited. I photographed some of the graffiti because it is all over. But it is in a way that it looks pretty. There isn’t very many things that look gross. They are usually very colorful and have pictures. The other wall in this area had taz and bugs bunny. So they were fun.