Reflection

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a memory is worth a thousand pictures. The nearly 4,000 pictures I took on my trip, although they help me to recall the scenery, pale in comparison to the memories I made. In our desperate struggle to make our favorite experiences permanent, we fail. No matter how many pictures we take and wishes we make, those perfect moments always come to an end. However, our experiences are made permanent all the time with the imprint that they leave on our character.

T.S. Eliot said,

"We must never cease our exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to return to the place where we first began and to truly know that place for the first time."

Words were never so true.

My exploration took me to Valencia, Buñol, Montpellier, Carcassonne, Preixan, Paris, Tours, Amboise, Reims, Épernay, Chatillon-sur-Marne, Madrid, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Arromanches, St. Malo, St. Michel, Bayeux, Rome, Vatican City, Florence, Pisa, and London.

These are the 25 cities and towns that I had the opportunity to explore on foot. They are located in 9 countries (Spain, France, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, The Vatican, and the United Kingdom). If you add countries I traveled through, the country count jumps to 11 (Switzerland and Belgium) and the city count jumps higher than I care to count.

As I reflect on this, I realize how lucky I am to have the opportunities that I do. So many people would never be able to do what I did. I am fortunate enough to have time in my school schedule, to have the financial means, to have loving and supportive parents, to even be in school. The list of my blessings could continue forever.

And then there's the million dollar question, that awful question that seems to be an echo among those I talk to: What was your favorite place?

"Paris" does not satisfy them.

"I mean other than Paris."

Such a difficult question. Each place has a unique attitude and demeanor, an aroma that envelops you. Did I enjoy fending off tomato-bearing assailants in Buñol? Did I like seeing the Holy Grail in Valencia? Was it interesting to meet an overly generous antiques trader and his cronies? Was it charming to see the pointed turrets and fairytale bridge of Carcasonne? Was I happy to march through the vineyards of southern France to taste wine and to bike through its foothills? Was it unreal to see the châteaux in the Loire Valley that look like they should only exist in painting? How about seeing The Marriage of Figaro in Vienna, the birthplace of its composer? Or riding a horse-drawn carriage at night through Prague, a city famous for its legends of ghosts and hauntings? Were you stunned to walk through Berlin and experience the electricity of a medieval city that is only 18 years old? Was it weird to stroll through the red light district in Amsterdam? Were you humbled as you contemplated the beaches of Normandy and the thousands upon thousands of white-marble crosses and stars of David, each representing a person that died for your freedom and happiness? The ancient city of Rome? Its Colosseum? The Vatican and its priceless collection of art? Sistine Chapel ( a place you may have heard of)? Michelangelo's 17 ft. statue of David? Leaning tower of Pisa Tower Bridge Big Ben and Parliament in London Arc de Triomphe Notre Dame Champs Elysées Eiffel Tower?

Yes, it was all cool.

Whenever I attempt to answer that question, I usually start of with one place, and continue on, "but you know, XXX was cool too, and this and that,"

and I continue until I've named the majority of the places I went. So no, besides Paris, I don't really have one favorite place. I don't regret any of the money I spent and I don't regret any of the trips I did. Together they had a profound effect on me and made my semester what it was.

Even though my experiences were satisfying, the last word I would use to describe myself is satisfied. The more I saw, the more I wanted to see. Like drinking saltwater when you're thirsty, the craving only doubles and redoubles.

I still want to go to Ireland and explore the countryside and Dublin. I have a newfound conviction to learn German and travel through that country as well as Austria and Belgium. My reading list has grown to include books relevant to some of the place I went. I have an increased appreciation for art and architecture and want to learn more. I've found that sometimes I need the serentiy of the countryside and sometimes I want the business and sophistication of a city. I enjoy a newfound appreciation for living in a French-founded city. I know what people are talking about when they discuss Paris, and I know what they mean when they say there's no place like it. I know the sound of Parisian sirens, the hum and vibration of the metro underfoot as it rumbles past. Hemingway was right when he said,

"If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast."

I have taken part in that feast, I have dined at that table. And I have taken with me countless sounds, sensations, smells, tastes and images from the city of light and elsewhere. And I never have to give them back. And I never will.

When I talk to people about traveling, especially people out of school but my peers as well, I get a lot of "I wish I was 21 again and doing that," and a lot of "I wish I had the time to do that." I did a lot of things that I never thought I would do. If there is one thing that my study abroad experience has taught me, it is this. If you want to do something, do it. That seems really simple, but before this trip I was a much more passive person. I've learned that things that you want will sometimes fall in your lap, but you can always choose to pursue them.

Go beyond your perceived self-limitations, because limitations are just that: perceived. They exist only in your head and not in reality. Sound idealistic? It is. But if you have that attitude you'll do things you didn't think you could or would do.

I recommend traveling to everyone. I didn't say I recommend it to anyone. This is an important distinction. If I recommend it to anyone, I'm saying that any given person can and should travel. I'm recommending it to everyone, meaning every given person. I recommend it for stress, for depression, for narrow-mindedness and short-sightedness, for boredom and stupidity. It is a one-size-fits-all cure-all prescription for everyone everywhere, especially if you can afford it but even if you can't.

It is never too early or too late to do something, especially something like traveling. If you want to do it, find a way. Life is too short to sit and wish, better to take action and get results. Sometimes they aren't the results that you had in mind at first, but if you put up your sails the wind will take you somewhere.


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Afterword

I'd like to thank my parents for making all these experiences and lessons a reality for me. I am more grateful than you can know, and I appreciate so much the sacrifices you have made to make school and traveling possible for me and my siblings. Your dedication to me, my brother and my sister is amazing and unparalleled. I love you more than you can know and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you have given me.

And with that, I seal the envelope of this blog. I melt the wax and stamp it shut.

FIN

The Bittersweet Return

United Flight UA7909 : Originally 6:50 - Now 9:55
Delay Reason: Aircraft Delayed

Wow, that's helpful. As I sit here in terminal B22B of Chicago O'Hare International Airport, I'm already noticing all the little differences between France and the U.S. People don't dress nearly as well. There is football on television. I forgot that even existed. There is snow on the ground, which I haven't really seen anywhere in Europe. At McDonald's (yes, I went there) they give you 5 ketchup packets instead of 2, and the small meal here is as large as France's "Super-Size" equivalent.

People are also loud. Why do they need to speak so loudly? Do they think that I'm interested in what they have to say? Well I'm not.

Not that it's bad to be back in the US, aside from wanting to say "pardon" and "excusez-moi" when I brush by somebody, the English is nice, although a little weird. Everything seems so easy. I mean, I don't have much trouble communicating in France, but it's extra effort.

But Honestly, I've been traveling all day, and I really just want to be home. Seeing the family and the dog, having a comfortable bed and a shower with enough room to move around in will be great.

Zurich to Chicago was delayed 1.5 hours or so, and my plane to St. Louis is delayed 3 hours. This is both a blessing and a curse though, since if it ran on time I would not have made it thanks to an abnormally long baggage claim process. Amy's flight was at 6:10, and luckily hers was delayed too, although by not as much. What's really strange is that our two flights home were the only ones delayed...

I guess we're meant to be home today. I certainly want to be.

The Crystal Ball

Being in London was like being in America again. It was the first time I've been in an English-speaking country since I left home. It was really strange. I had loads of fun though! My friends Ashley and Alli studied in London this semester, and Eddy and I visited them in their last days there.

We flew out of Paris Charles de Gaulle and arrived in London Luton airport before we left, due to the short flight and time difference between Paris and London. That was cool. What was not cool was the immigration authorities. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my little notebook with our Hostel address in it. They wanted to know where we would be staying on the card we had to fill out to get into the country. So Eddy had to bust out his laptop and we had to pay for internet to find out. After we were done, the lady was like, "What are you two doing?"
Eddy and me: "looking up the address that you need"
Immigration Lady: "Didn't you see the sign? No internet use in here."
Us: "Okay, well we already did. We aren't anymore."
Lady: "Why did you need to use it?"
Us: "We needed the address of our hostel."
ETC.
------------5 Minutes Later--------------

Lady: "Well next time you want to enter the UK make sure you have copies of your hostel confirmation, return flight, etc."

What a pain...

We bussed into the city, and Ashley met us at Victoria Station to show us where our South Kensington hostel was. They lived just a couple blocks down the road, which was convenient.

First things first, we were hungry. The girls took us to Brick Lane, the famous East-end area for Indian food. If you stand your ground, you can get a great deal like we got: free bottle of wine and 2 pints, free appetizer, and 30% off the total bill. You don't go in until you get a deal like this from the hawker guy. I had chicken Tandoori, it was excellent. I had heard from many people that London was great for Indian cuisine, and I wasn't disappointed.

Then we went around the corner to a dark corner pub with torn up scarlet couches and shiny black armchairs. It is said to have been Jack the Ripper's favorite hangout. Creepy.

We took the tube back to our end of town, and split up so we could take a quick nap. Quick nap turned into 3.5 hour hibernation, from which we were stirred by a fish-and-chips-toting Alli. After enjoying that famous English Dish, we went down to the neighborhood pub, the Zetland Arms. It's a cozy place, with wood panels, subdued lights, and cold beer and cider. We like this place so much we actually went there all three nights. Ashley didn't join us because she was studying for an exam the next day. Apparently Alli was feeling confident enough already about that one.

The Zetland Arms, like many places in London, closes early for our Parisian tastes (midnight). So after few pints of John Smith's Ale, we headed back to the hostel and called it a night.

As the girls took their las exam, Eddy and I got up and took a walk around the city. Eventually, we got around to Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (big Ferris wheel that we didn't go up in), and the reflective river Thames. London does have some beautiful sights to see.

We took the tube to Westminster where the abbey and Big Ben are, and it was really cool because right as we exited the tube station we were at the foot of Big Ben, towering over us. It's so intricate - the details on the clock are amazing. And it's such a landmark, kind of like the Eiffel Tower, that it just hits you when you see it for the first time.

The abbey is right around the corner from Big Ben. Not as impressive as Notre Dame I thought, although I didn't see the inside. By the time we got there it was closed to visitors and when it's open it's 9 Euros, so Eddy and I decided to skip that. It is cool though, it's where all the English Kings have been crowned for like, a long time.

We met back up with the girls after their exam, and they were obviously very happy to be done with school. They were saying though, that they really didn't do all that much work, and that they wished classes back home were like their classes abroad. I can see why they enjoyed their time abroad; their residence was a 2 million pound house full of 13 happy badgers. They got quite the deal there.

They were ready to party though, and so after a Pimm's and Lemonade at their place (very British) we made our way to their Student Union bar. It seemed to be the place to be that night. I had a Guiness and something else that I can't remember. After Union bar, we gravitated back to the Zetland Arms for a couple more pints. It was really nice to catch up with the girls over a cold beer. They had a lot to say about how their semester had been, as did we.

We then moved on to another local haunt called Janet's. Janet was there. We got a bottle of wine. We lamented the fact that we were all leaving soon over the Chardonnay.

Fish and Chips again before bed.

We got up the next day and decided to be productive again in terms of seeing sights. We went over to the area with the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. They were pretty cool. We didn't go in anywhere though, because London tourism is really expensive. It's okay though, I was content to wander and soak in the sights. Frankly I'm tired of being a tourist. After so many museums and cathedrals you really do get burned out. A nice relaxed walk through that part of the city sufficed.

Before heading back home we also stopped off at Buckingham Palace. We got there too late to witness the changing of the guards however; I guess they don't think that the night is as dangerous as the daytime because there was no one guarding the gates! What a shame. It was cool to think that the Queen was chilling out inside though.




We went back to our hostel and decided we were going to check out and just stay at our friends' place for the night. Everyone but Alli and Ashley had left, leaving an empty, large house. Plus, our hostel was kind of weird. It was clean and everything, but the people were weird. Everytime we went into our room (of like 16 beds) everyone was asleep...even at like 3:00 pm. And the lights were always off for the room. But, if you turn the lights on, the whole room lights up. Eddy had a bad habit of doing this when we came in. He got glares from this Italian dude, and this really really awkward guy said something like, "It's okay to turn the lights on, there are only 4 people sleeping). We couldn't even tell if he was being sarcastic or not though. So after an awkward silence, Eddy said, "Do you want to come to the pub with us?" Imagine Alli's and my shock when Eddy extended this courtesy.

And he even told the guy which pub we would be at (Zetland Arms). We still didn't expect the guy to show up though, we didn't think he liked us very much. Until he did show up. We were like, Oh, hello there. But we got talking and he's actually very nice, just socially awkward. His name was Ben, he was from Canada, grew up in London, and now lives in Ireland. He makes violins for a living, by hand. It takes him 3 weeks to make one and he sells them for $5,000. He's good at making them but bad at selling them, as he really only sells to one guy, a friend, who runs a music store. He offered socially-competent Eddy 15% of every sale if he sold them for him. Haha. You can meet the most random people abroad.

Since the girls, and us for that matter, had to get up the next morning at like 5:30, we went right home after the Zetland Arms. Back at their place, we watched an episode of Madmen on Eddy's computer, and hung out. I fell asleep as did Ashley, but Alli and Eddy stayed awake the whole time. Then Eddy and I helped the girls carry their bags to the metro, and my theorem that all girls overpack was again confirmed. Exercise for the week, check.

Seeing them tearing up and leaving on the metro with all their bags was like seeing into the future. I couldn't help but see me in their position. It was like gazing into a Crystal Ball. It's coming up so fast, and it's so sad. It will be nice to be home though, it's just that I know I'll miss Paris a lot.

To make things worse on that front, we had to say goodbye to one of our core group members yesterday, Carly (the Australian). She stayed in my room while I was in London because she had to leave her housing. Then we all helped with her bags to the train station, and we put her in a cab to the airport. Soooo sad. The group begins to splinter...

On a happier note though, it was Eddy's birthday yesterday. We went to the bar in the top of the Tour Montparnasse, the one skyscraper within Paris proper. It was a really cool view, and we saw some sparkling Eiffel Tower action from the top. The drinks are pricey up there, but it's very classy, and a great way to celebrate something with the glimmering "City of Lights' beneath.

The unreal view from floor 56 of the Tour Montparnasse

Birthday Boy in "Le Ciel" ("the sky") bar in the Tour Montparnasse.

Rome-ing around Italy

Man I've been busy lately...school is really starting to get intense in it's final two weeks, so I have just now found the time to blog about my Italy trip of last weekend. I had a class on Thursday morning that I couldn't miss, so I would have to meet Carly and Martha in Rome.

The first awesome thing about it was before I was even in Italy. I was asleep on the plane before it left the airport in Paris, but I woke up mid-flight to see the French Alps bathing in mist tinted pink by the setting sun. That was really cool...and then it got dark and I went back to sleep.

Once at the airport in Rome, I had to get to the city center which is like 1/2 hour away. I found out the best way to do this was to take the train, so I had to figure that out by myself in a country whose language I don't know. It was fine though, and I got to Roma Termini train station in the middle of the city about a half hour later. I then had to find our hostel, which thankfully was only a 5-10 minute walk from the station.

To my delight, not only was I greeted by Carly and Martha in the hostel, but also free pasta (cooked nightly by the hostel staff). It was actually really good too! This was the only hostel I've ever been in that included breakfast and dinner! Unheard of.

After resting my feet at the hostel for a few minutes, we strolled around Rome. It's similar to any big European city actually. We did see the Colosseum, which is stunning. It's real name, by the way, is the Flavian Amphitheatre. Although even the Italians just call it "Coloseo". It was getting late though, and it was drizzling, so we booked it back to the hostel. Not without stopping for gelato though, which I would have no less than 5 times in the 4.5 days I spent in Italy.



So we got up the next day and hopped on the metro over to the Vatican. We snagged one of the MANY tours that are advertised right outside the metro stop. Our tour guide was an American girl, so it was very easy to understand her. She took us into the Vatican, through a gate in the protective walls. She took us through the Vatican museum, which is full of Renaissance and Greek/Roman sculpture. There are also many frescoes by Raphael in the museum, including the famous "School of Athens". That was pretty cool - one of those things that you see all the time in books, and then it's amazing when you see it in person (many more of those to come in Italy).

The Vatican owns some absurd amount (like 78% or something) of all of a certain type of red marble. It looks really nice, and it's really valuable because there is not much of it around. One piece in the museum is an enormous bowl (like diameter of 8-10 feet, depth of a few) made entirely of this red marble. An object like this is priceless, and some emporer used it to take his baths in. I think he may have done more than just clean himself in there though...

The next stop was the Sistine Chapel. It was actually completely different from what I was expecting. I thought it was like, one big mural on the ceiling, and that it was all floating people and angels and stuff. Instead, I saw many different panels of art, each self-contained. The ones down the middle tell the story of the creation of the world. Michaelangelo painted the ceiling, and it was actually his first attempt at painting (he was a master sculptor and didn't like to paint). To everyone's surprise, it turned out great, even better than Raphael, the celebrity painter of the day, could have hoped to do. Michaelangelo however, didn't like the Pope he was working for, so he put numerous insults into the artwork. For instance, God is mooning the doorway where the Pope would enter the room. Things like that.

When we emerged from the museum, we were just outside St. Peter's Basilica with that famous square - I was like "whoa!". After some pictures there, we took a stroll through the crypt with the tombs of all the popes, and then visited the interior of St. Peter's. It's very different from a Frech gothic cathedral like Notre Dame. It was very impressive though, beautifully decorated with marble and sculptures covered in gold polychrome.

I sent a postcard from the Vatican because it's technically a different country. They have their own stamps/postal service, radio, utilities, everything a country should have.

We took the metro back to central Rome and walked around a little. We passed the Roman Forum, which is a large, realatively undisturbed site of ruins: the center of ancient Rome.

We visited the Pantheon, which is really cool. It's got a huge dome and massive pillars out front, all of which were taken from Egypt. It was dark by this time, and Rome is really cool at night. We went to see the Trevi Fountain, which is probably the coolest fountain I've ever seen...no definitely the coolest one. Then we went to the Spanish Steps and climbed up. I watched The Talented Mr. Ripley a couple night's ago, and they were right in front of the Spanish Steps many times, I recognized the area perfectly.

Then we went back to the hostel and rested for a bit before going out. We hit a few bars near our hostel. They were okay, but nothing amazing. At about 1:30 or so, we got back to the hostel and rested up.

On our last day in Rome, we saw the interior of the Colosseum. It's so cool! What's really surprising is that the setup is pretty much identical to a modern sports arena. It's a tingly atmosphere - you know that the ruins are so old, and you can't help but think of the crazy fights that took place there. We had plenty of time to appreciate it before catching our train to Florence.





Florence

After a really beautiful train ride, we arrive in Florence and found our hostel. After checking in, we left to go walk around - the best thing to do in a new city. We quickly and inadvertantly found the duomo (the dome) which is iconic of Florence. It was incomplete for a while until Brunelleschi said he could complete it, and did, during the renaissance. We checked out one of Florence's museums, the Uffizi, which is home to some famous artwork. Most notably, the Birth of Venus is there (that one with the pasty naked chick with yellow hair standing in a seashell). So that was cool. After that, we walked to the Ponte Vecchio, a really old bridge that has always been the home of the jeweler's guild in Florence. So the bridge has shops all along it's sides, and they're almost all jewelery stores.

We ate dinner at a great little restaurant called the Porcupine. I had Tortelini Carbonara, and it was amazing. We shared some wine, too. We were in the Chianti region so I think all the wine we drank there was probably Chianti. We were talking with our waiter, and he is like the first person in Europe unhappy about Barack! He was kind of a crazy right winger though. But he was nice. That night, we just split some wine in our hostel room and took it easy.

Day two in Florence - time to see the duomo up close. We couldn't go in because it was a sunday I think, but we went up into the tower that is next to the church (sort of a part of the church). The view is really great of the duomo and the surrounds. Florence is nestled amidst many small mountain-hill things. It's a really pretty landscape.

After the tower view, we went to Florence's other really important museum, the Accademia. It is important because it has the infamous Michaelangelo's David. You weren't allowed to take pictures. I did anyway, until I got caught. That was fine though. The guy said it to about 20 people while we were there. I thought it would be funny to stand, with your hands neatly clasped in front of you, and make digital camera "snap" noises when he wasn't looking. Just to mess with him. You could even look at the person next to you after you do it as if to say, "um, excuse me, pictures aren't allowed." We had fun with that...

Anyway, the David is amazing. It is probably my favorite piece of art aside from the "Winged Victory of Samothrace" in the Louvre. There are two things that make the David really really cool. 1) There is so much detail - veins in his arms and neck the realistically portrude as if underneath skin, precise facial features, completely realistic torso muscles, everything. It looks realistic. 2) It's 17 feet tall! I didn't know it would be that big. It's really impressive though.

Then we had lunch at a restaurant close to the central square in Florence. I had the Pizza Margherita (Mozzerella, Tomatoes, Basil for the 3 colors in the Italian flag). It was the best cheese pizza I've ever had. It just tasted different! The cheese had this oven-baked, rich, almost smoky flavor. We also had the Caprese Salad (Fresh tomatoes and mozzerella) and the cheese was amazing! It was in these perfectly round balls quite a bit bigger than golf balls, and had a consistency like dough.

After more wandering around Florence (past the Palazzo Vecchio and a nice little square with a church and music) we went out of the main part of the city and up onto one of the surrounding hills to see a bit what the quieter parts are like. They were very quaint, and very...quiet. It was really peaceful though outside the noise of the city.

On our way back, we got Canoli. I did this because of you Dad, because you're always telling me to try it and that line in whatever movie it is, "Don't forget the Canoli!" Well I got it, and it was fantastic. Delicious. I have no words for it.

At the restaurant we went to that night, I had the Veal Florentine (seemed appropriate). It was really good. It was a nice cut of veal in a rustic, hearty tomato based sauce the was the consistency of salsa. Of course, we had a good deal of Chianti with dinner, and the Tiramisu (sp?) for dessert. Tiramisu was really good too. Everything to eat in Italy is good. It's crazy!

Afterwards, we went to an Irish bar and played darts. I just needed a side of Ireland with my Italy.

The next morning was the beginning of our last day in Italy. Sad! We went to see the inside of the duomo, which is a big big mural. There's so much going on though that it's kind of numbing, but it was nice. We got on our train to Pisa which cost like 1.50, and used our few hours in Pisa to admire the leaning tower and, along with everyone else, take pictures of ourselves holding it up, pushing it over, kicking it, licking it...

The tower was cooler than I thought actually. It actually does lean a lot! Someone had told me it didn't lean that much. It does.

Pisa is a nice little town. Very small, but nice. We flew with EasyJet out of Pisa back to Paris. Couldn't see much because it was dark already. But I got a nice nap on the plane, and in an hour and a half or so I was back in Paris. Home sweet home!

Northward

This past weekend was the trip organized by our housing provider, Accent, to Normandy and Brittany. I was unsure about it at first, but I'm really glad I went.

Our journey started at 7:45 am...enough said. That's way too early to ask 40 students studying in Paris to get to the Bastille and get on a bus. It happened though, and we only left a couple people behind (they had to catch a train to meet us)! I couldn't tell you about the first leg of our drive, because like any sane person, I was sleeping. I was awoken though, after a few hours, as the bus jerked to a stop in Arromanches. This town is on the northern coast of France, and is the little village right inthe middle of all the D-Day landing beaches. There, we saw a video tribute in a 360 degree theatre to those who died during the invasion. It was pretty effective, especially since they had the volume turned so high up - the gunshots sounded real. There were no words either, it was just a montage of images and video clips and sound.

After the film, we ate lunch in Arromanches, which is a pretty small, but typical French town. The town was also the site of a Nazi artificial harbor that consisted of enormous steel floating blocks. You can still see many remaining blocks wedged in the sand just off the beach.

After lunch, we got back on the bus and drove about 10 minutes down the road to the American Cemetary right behind Omaha beach. We had a couple hours to walk around the cemetary, see the memorial, and stroll on the beach. The cemetary (which is quite large) is actually American territory: a gift from France free of charge, tax, or fee, forever. The French keep up the grounds and gardens quite nicely too. It's eerie, needless to say, to wander through the 9,000+ white marble crosses and stars of David. It's made even more somber when they tell you that an additional 14,000 soldiers' remains were shipped back home at the request of their families.
There are just so many graves, all neatly organized in rows much as the soldiers would have stood in attention. They all symbolically face West, looking home.

The beaches themselves are also humbling. As I looked back from the beach at the cliffs and hills, I could just imagine the German bunkers lighting up with gunfire and Allied planes soaring over my head. All of this played out in my imagination, contrasting with the silence and serene beauty that now characterizes the place.

Then we re-embarked and drove an additional few hours, crossed into Brittany, and pulled into St. Malo, a walled coastal city with a long history. It's always been wealthy and powerful thanks to it's famous industry: privateering (government sanctioned piracy against other countries). We got in at night, so we couldn't see too much. We tasted a lot, though. Eddy and I had mussels and fries, and a galette (similar to a crèpe, but heavier and made with buckwheat that gets crispy). This meal is very characteristic of the region.

So after a night at our surprisingly nice hotel, we got up and got a walking tour of the ramparts of the city, led by our faithful history-professor guide, Marek. The tour was jam-packed with information about St. Malo's rebellious, free-spirited history and it's famous privateers. After the tour we had a bit of down time before getting on the bus to visit Mont St. Michel.

Mont St. Michel is a large pyramid-shaped hill rising out of the tidal mud flats of France's western coasts. It's really a wild environment - the mud flats give rise to quicksand - real quicksand - that has threatened to swallow pilgrims to the abbey for hundreds of years.

The abbey that sits atop the mini-mountain has been there since before the year 1000 when a bishop had a vision from God telling him to erect a chapel to St. Michael at the location. Over the years it grew, was damaged, and modified many times. Now, there is a small village that shares the hill with the monastery, which is still a working one with a permanent population of monks. Marek had solid commentary through the entire visit to the abbey and church. One amazing thing is that the Mont has never been captured by an enemy force.

Then it was back to the bus and back to St. Malo. We spent the day really getting to know some of the other students on the trip, which was a great thing to do. We spent the night in St. Malo going out with our new friends. The nightlife there is pretty slow, but it's really who you're with, not what club you're at, that counts.

No rest for the weary, though. Then next morning we were up and out by 9:00 am. That's a brutal time, especially after a night out. There were good stories for the bus ride though. Our last stop before getting back home was Bayeux, a little town not far from where we first were in Normandy that is home to the Bayeux tapestry: a mere 3 foot tall but hundreds of feet long tapestry depicting William the Conqueror's famous campaign against England. We were armed with audioguides and sent in to tackle the tapestry that dates back almost 1000 years. It's astounding how a piece of embroidered fabric can even last that long. The guide led us scene by scene through the event (which took place in 1066) and succeeded in telling an interesting story. The town of Bayeux itself is also worth seeing. It really looks like a freeze-frame of World War II in some parts, like a scene from Saving Private Ryan. We had a few hours to lunch and meander through it.

Five hours on the road from Bayeux to Paris went quickly. After an hour or so, the chatter in the bus died down and everyone dozed off until we rolled into Paris under the blue-glow of the Eiffel tower and the shadow of a newly-constructed Ferris wheel sitting proudly in Place de la Concorde. I'm glad I got to see another part of France that's so full of history.

Well, I'm finishing this blog from a hostel in Florence (it's hard to keep up with this stuff!). Soon enough, you'll be hearing about Italy!


A piece of the Nazi artificial harbor at Arromanches in Normandy. A person stands in front of it.

The American Cemetary just inland of Omaha beach, the graves all facing West. The sight of it just silences you.

Looking out to the Ocean from Omaha beach, the place where so many Americans gave their lives. The people who live in the area still hand American, British, and Canadian flags from their homes and businesses.

The beautiful walled city of St. Malo. Picture taken from the ramparts.

The coast in Northern France is wild and rocky, not a place for a casual swim. Extreme tides and unusually strong currents make it a dangerous place for ocean-goers.

The cloister in the Abbey of Mont St. Michel: a place of peace and meditation for the monks.

Me on the road a few kilometers from Le Mont St. Michel. It just rises up out of the mud - breathtaking.

Amsterdam

Last weekend was our trip to Amsterdam organized by the student government of ESCP. We took an overnight bus to get there, from 11:00 to about 7:00 am. It was miserable, alternately too hot and too cold the entire trip. Plus, there was very little leg room.

But, we finally arrived, and checked into our hotel/hostel. Well, I suppose it's still called that if it's a barge. Yes, we slept on a barge. It was a nice barge, although the rooms were really small. It was cool though, and breakfast was included!

We took a little nap when we got there (hey, it was really early). When we woke up, we got right down to exploring the quirky little city. We browsed a street market that had the most random assortment of hats and coats, musical instruments, crafts, and drug paraphenalia. We continued down the street and stopped at a pub to eat lunch. Outside, there was a stall selling flowers. It had a really beautiful, colorful assortment.

Amsterdam is blessed with a series of concentric semi-circular canals that radiate from the center of the city. The floating fallen leaves and occasional boat make these really nice-looking. They also serve as pretty good landmarks for finding your way around the city. We walked everywhere we went.

All we did was explore the city on foot. We walked through the Red-Light District, which is...terrifying. There are prostitutes. They stand in the windows and beckon you inside! And unfortunately for everyone, many of them are...bigger. I think the dutch people like that. Strange.

Speaking of Dutch people, they're pretty nice, and they speak really good English, since Dutch is even closer to English than German is. It's kind of a hybrid between German and the Nordic languages. The owners of our barge were especially helpful.

As far as eating, the food was pretty international, and the barge lady was frank enough to tell us that, "Dutch cuisine is not exactly...exquisite." She explained that they ate Herring, fries, and pea soup. That was about all they contributed to gastronomy. She recommended the Asian restaurants. We also drank a lot of Heineken, since the beer hails from Amsterdam.

The next day we went to search for Anne Franks's house. We found it, but the line was really long, and I guess we were easily discouraged. It didn't look all that interesting anyway. So our experience in Amsterdam was a little different than all of our previous trips, because we saw very few real attractions, and we mostly walked around and took in the city. I think this was a good change though, because it made for a very relaxed visit. We took full advantage of what the city had to offer.

We did see cool stuff though. There were some very nice churches with really high towers. They look cool at night when they're all lit up. To put it bluntly, although we went to one club, the nightlife in Amsterdam isn't nearly as good as Paris; it's better to just walk around at night and enjoy the city. Navigating it was kind of a joint effort between us and a few French kids from school.

I learned quite a bit about the Netherlands when I was there, too. They are famous for their wooden clogs, tulips, windmills, and painters like Rembrandt and Vermeer. It's also pretty cool that 27% of the country is below sea level. Much of this land has been systematically "reclaimed" from the sea. Pretty cool idea. Must be hard work though. This is probably why the word for the Netherlands in French is "Pays Bas," meaning "low country."

We only stayed one night on the barge. We had two full days there, however, since we got there early morning on Saturday and left sunday night around 10:00 for another overnight bus ride. The ride back was more comfortable, and I even got some good sleep. A lot of the drive is through Belgium. Although it was very dark, I saw some things out the window. I don't think I can safely say I've been there though. So, add one more country to the list. Netherlands, check.


This is a view from the top of the Nemo, a science learning center/museum near our barge. It's a neat perspective of the city through the masts of a tall ship.


Here's me, all bundled up (it was probably our coldest trip yet). The distant church is Saint Nicholas church.


Our sleeping quarters aboard the barge. Cozy, but neat. My window was about 2 inches above the water.
This is a pretty representative view of one of the canals in the city. It really is very beautiful, and although it was cold, the sky was clear for us.

Brrrrrr-lin

The last leg of our epic fall break journey was Berlin. It was the city I was most excited for, and with good reason. I actually did enjoy it the most of the three. Maybe because it was the last stop, maybe because we learned more about the history there than anywhere else, or maybe it was just because I told myself it would be my favorite! In any case, it was a blast.

The first thing that struck me about Berlin was the fact that everything looked modern. I learned later the reason for this: 90% of the city was bombed flat in World War II. And I thought the Allied countries had bad WWII damage! Despite the lack of historical buildings (although there are quite a few), Berlin has a long and tumultuous past.

Before discovering the history of Berlin though, Eddy and Victor and I had to eat something. We wandered a bit away from our hostel (the Wombat, again) and found a Mexican restaurant. When you're with two ethnic Mexicans, a find like this is hard to turn down. And so we feasted on Enchiladas and Burritos and Nachos con Carne. Delicious, and the language barrier disappeared in the little piece of Mexico. Of course I didn't do the talking, but Eddy and Victor handled it.

After lunch, the girls had arrived and we settled into the hostel. It was as nice as I expected after having been to the Wombat in Vienna. Once again, the rooms were clean and there was a well-stocked bar. This Wombat though, which is newer, had a rooftop terrace and was connected to a Cajun restaurant. We all took a nap for a bit since we had such an early train.

When we got up, we checked out the Wombar, had some drinks there, played some pool and ping pong, and then decided we should explore elsewhere in Berlin...although we only made it to the restaurant next door before being tempted. The Cajun food was actually excellent. They had a great creamy/spicy fish soup, there was gumbo, and shrimp too. All very good, although my Mojito was really weak.

Since the restaurant took so long, it was pretty late by the time we were finished, and we decided to go to bed.

Our lazy start to Berlin is excusable, however, because we got up and got downstairs by 10:00 for the free walking tour of Berlin - in the RAIN. Very very wet rain. But hey, it was free.

Our tour guide was a scottish girl named Em, and she was great. She was full of energy, was clearly passionate about Berlin, and was very knowledgeable. She also included a good mix of fact and anecdote in her tour. We started off at the Brandenburg gate, which like most old things in Berlin has lots of white patches from where they fixed bullet-holes left by trigger happy allies and desperate Nazi soldiers.

The tour proceeded to the site of Hitler's Bunker (which has since been imploded). There is a small sign there that simply lets the reader know that Hitler's bunker was there. The reason for the lack of recognition is so that Neo-Nazis don't have a place to pay hommage to Hitler or have a meaningful meeting place. The Germans are very fact-based and upfront about their history, and you really get the feeling that they will never forget their past.

Other sites on the tour included the holocaust memorial, which was made even more potent by the gray sky and driving rain; the headquarters of the Luftwaffe (Nazi air force), which is one of the only examples of Nazi architecture still standing; The square where the book burning happened; and a bunch of other buildings and squares with interesting stories attached.

The Luftwaffe building had a mural of happy communist workers and women on it: an example of East German communist propoganda. In the early days of East Germany, when quotas were doubled for workers and wages remained the same, a group of workers came to the Luftwaffe building, then a communist administration building, and stood in protest of the new standard. The guy in charge was in the building, and got scared, so he called the military, who proceeded to fire into the crowd and kill hundreds. That was the first protest against communist rule in East Germany and would be the last until the 1980s. Now, on the ground in front of the building and directly opposite the propoganda mural, is a photo of those protesting workers. It's exactly the same dimensions as the mural, but it's in black and white as opposed to color. It does a stunning job of contrasting dream and reality in Communist East Germany.

Yet another example of the Berliners remembering the past is a certain memorial. It was at one time, under the Nazis, called the memorial to the victims of Bolshevism (favorite enemy of the Nazis). Then, under the communists, it was called memorial to the victims of Naziism. Go figure. Now, the memorial is justly called the Memorial to the Victims of War and Tyranny. It is a simple, open room made of stone with a statue of a woman holding her dying son in the middle. The artist was a woman who lost her son in WWI and her husband in WWII.

We also so pieces of the Berlin Wall, and Checkpoint Charlie, the sole entry point from West to East Germany during the divide. It is where American soldiers and Soviet soldiers literally stared at each other all day across the border, the face-off point of the Cold War. There were second story cafés on each side that soldiers from the US and the USSR rented out to sit and spy on each other all day, so that each was spying on the other spying on them. Ridiculous. Em also had some hilarious stories about plans people cooked up to get across to West Germany (not many people were trying to sneak into the East).

After many more stops, the tour ended on Museum Island (great example of the German tendency to call things what they are and not embellish them). Half the group ducked out halfway through, because the cold and the rain really were quite the obstacle to enjoying the tour. It was a struggle to get through, and by the end my hands were shaking. I think it was Victor, Carly, Martha and I who made it through.

After a well-deserved hot shower at the hostel, and a short rest, we decided to take advantage of free museum night on museum island. We saw lots of old Egyptian stuff, Greek stuff, Roman stuff, whatever. To be honest I'm kind of museumed-out. It was unremarkable.

After the museum though, we ended the trip in a big way. We went up into the "TV tower." It's this spacey-looking needle thing that's really really tall, and was built by the Soviets to demonstrate how advanced they were, except that this was when they were clearly beginning to falter. They actually had to sneak in Swedish architects to finish the job because they couldn't figure out how. But we went up there, and the view of Berlin at night was amazing. We could see spots from our tour and thousands of lights twinkling below. We had a few drinks at the bar up there, and thought about how 30 years ago, soviet generals and politicians probably drank at the same bar.

It was a really cool way to end Berlin. One thing Em said about the city really resonated with me. She had already talked about how crazy it was that the city was separated, how families couldn't see each other for decades, how people in the east weren't allowed to be in groups of more than four in the street, how 1 in 6 people on the East side were informants, etc. It was a really dark time. Being there and hearing Em talk about it had a big effect on me. But she also said that it's one of the most exciting places to be, because it's really only 18 years old. The city has basically just been reunited, and there is still an explosion of construction and development. It has a very young feel to it.

The next day we had an afternoon departure on EasyJet back to Paris. We remembered, though, something that Em said: seeing a concentration camp, although not the most fun thing you will do, is probably one of the most important things you will do. So, being very proactive and a bit risky with our time, we decided to take the train out to Sachsenhausen, a concentration camp about 35 km north of Berlin. It was the first one, and it was where all the other concentration camps received orders from.

The train ride up was nice. It took us a little while to figure it out though, and we stopped in a little town outside Berlin for coffee while we discussed whether to continue figuring out the train or to just take a taxi. The town was very small, and the people were as nice as the people in Berlin. Everyone seemed nice in Germany!

Anyway, we made it to the camp via train and had a couple hours to walk around. It was creepy to say the least. Seeing the roll call area, the dorms, gunning towers and razor-sharp electrified fences, it all made you wondor how anyone could think it was the right thing to do. Madness.

It was so quiet there. It sounds fake to say it, but you could feel something in the air, you knew something terrible had happened there. Seeing the prison inside the camp was scary too, and there were big wooden stakes in the yard with hooks on them where they would hang prisoners to torture them. The worst part of it though was Station Z, where they executed prisoners. It really did make your stomach turn to look at it. All that was left were foundations and metal pieces like the cremating ovens, but I could see it all in my head as it was before. They had awful ways of tricking the prisoners to cooperate up until the moment they were killed.

One thing I didn't know about the camp was that the Soviets used it in a similar fashion after they defeated the Germans. They housed German soldiers there and treated them almost as poorly as the Germans had treated Jews, Homosexuals, Catholics, and other "undesirables." It was really disgusting to see that people sometimes don't learn from the past, and a clear lesson that you can't fight fire with fire. Everyone gets burned.

We had to rush a bit back to Berlin and to the airport, and after ending the trip on such a serious note, there wasn't much conversation on the plane. Fall break as a whole though was such a blast. We saw so much in so little time. I was in 4 countries in one week. Taking into account the Madrid trip of the weekend before, I was in 5 countries in two weeks. I was exhausted when I got back to Paris.

But, I only had a little over a week to recover, because the next weekend it was off to Amsterdam!