Truth. I had a BLAST but I was not aware that 1 pound equals roughly $1.70 right now. woof. That being said…

Thursday:

Up early, caught the cab at 6am with Yareli, Max, Jane and Ngawang. Flight left Eindhoven at 9:25, and I slept through the whole thing (a whopping 50 mins!). Once off the plane we had an hour bus ride into the city. I managed to book a bed at the Astor Victoria for the second and third night w my friends, but night 1 was spent by myself at the White Ferry Inn. So we dropped off our stuff and grabbed some Vietnamese for lunch (SO good). Then we walked to Buckingham Palace (like 15 mins from where we were staying). And it was photoshoot time. Normal shots, jumping shots, statue imitation (MY FAVORITE). There was a huge number of guards waiting for this military person to arrive so we had plenty of opportunity to ogle and take pictures.

After that, naptime was necessary, so I went and checked into my hostel and slept for about an hour. Went and met up with the group again and hit up a little pub for dinner. FISH AND CHIPS. perfection. Not to mention strongbow, which is apple beer than tastes like cider. DELISH. (and did I mention it only came in pints…) Max, Yareli and Jane wanted to go on a ghost walking tour, but me and Ngawang decided to hang back. We walked around for a bit, popped into a department store and then ended up at a pub with some more strongbow. Then bed. No questions asked.

Friday:

Up early to check out of my first hostel. Headed over to the Astor Victoria to meet up with everyone. Free breakfast consisted of bread, butter and cereal. womp. (but free) then we headed to the train station to meet ms. Kate Hefler who was flying in for the weekend. We ran into the rest of the group on the way, and they headed to the AV to drop off their stuff. 

After meeting up with Kate we headed to the Imperial War Museum, on the recommendation of our History Teacher. What a museum. I spent almost 2 hours in the holocaust exhibit, which was morbidly depressing, but extremely informative.

After the museum people decided it was time to go shopping on Oxford St. (which I had NO money to do) so I met up with Alaina (my best friend from home, who happens to be living in London this semester). We went to her apartment and caught up, I got to see some of the UMASS crew too, which was super exciting!

After that I met back up with some of the group and we went to another pub for dinner. This time I got a falafel burger (so good) and, of course, a strongbow. After that we had decided to go clubbing, but long story short, we got out there and I hand’t brought the proper form of id, so I couldn’t get in. It was fine. I went back to the hostel and passed out on my bed.

Saturday:

We all got up early to do a free walking tour of London…but apparently we showed up with too many people to participate. The man actually blatantly refused to let us split up and do the tour in groups. Ridiculous. Anyway, Gemma and I had been talking about just seeing the sights ourselves, and Shanae decided to join us. I had to go back to the hostel and get my coat and they wanted to do some shopping, so we met up on Oxford St. an hour later.

From there we hit up Westminster Abbey (it closed 5 mins before we got there, fail.) and Big Ben. We walked to Trafalger Sq. and got some lunch, and did a little bit of souvenir browsing. From there we walked Fleet St. down to the Millenium Bridge (YES the one in Harry Potter 5!). We crossed the bridge and saw the Globe, but we couldn’t tour it bc there was a matinee of Henry IV.

After that I headed to the West End to pick up my ticket for DEATHTRAP featuring Jonathan Groff!! It was fantastic. I adored the show. It was intense and funny and simultaneously a thriller…ugh too many things. AND just to add to it, Estelle Parsons was in it! I saw her in May in Boston in August Osage Country. Fierce. I got to meet both of them after the show with Jane and Taylor. Estelle knew ALL about Emerson, and actually used the words “you are certainly in the right place.” Thanks! I think so too! J Groff was the nicest human being on the planet, as per usual. We had a hip-pop moment. It was great.

After that we hit up a pub with some of the others, I grabbed a beer and then headed to bed.

Sunday:

Shanae and I got up early, checked out and headed to the Globe Theatre (this time to tour). It was fantastic. That theatre is ridiculous and intimidating in so many ways. It’s strang how one building can feel like such an important part of the history of acting. Anyway, after that we grabbed a proper English breakfast, bought our bus tickets and goodbye London! (then they dumped my bag at the airport for a random check. fml) Excellent weekend!

…43 actually, but bear in mind that some of that time did need to be allotted for sleeping. So here’s the thing. I love Paris. LOVE Paris. I never thought I’d had enough time to see everything I wanted to this weekend…but then I DID! I actually saw it all in one day too, so extra points for that if you don’t mind. Let me break it down.

Friday: 

Chelsea and I left the castle around 10:45. We caught a bus to Venray, and then caught our first train to Blerick (which was like 10 mins away). From there we caught a train to Rotterdam, which took about 2 hours. Here’s where things get stressful. You see, Chelsea hadn’t activated her Eurail pass yet (you need to do that at a major train station) and you cannot use the pass before it had been validated. She and I both had reservations on the train to Paris, but the pass is our ticket. This wouldn’t have been such a big issue, except that we had 15 MINUTES in Rotterdam Centraal before the train to Paris left! Knowing that we were in line for 20 minutes to get tickets in Amsterdam, you can imagine why we were worries.

So we decided that I should wait at the platform in case she DID in fact miss the train, then I could hop on and still make it to Paris, and she could catch the next one out. Strugs. We don’t have cell phones, so the best I could come up with was for her to leave word for me at the hostel. Like I said…strugs.

So I go to the platform, and its the WRONG fing platform. Turns out they were doing construction so the train switched. Luckily I heard that the train to Paris was pulling into platform 1. I double checked it with a conductor and then hauled-ass over to platform 1…where Chelsea was waiting for me. thank god.

So another 2-2.5 hours train ride, listened to some jams, dozed a bit. It’s probably important to mention that I was SICK AS A DOG. (as a dog) I had woken up that morning so congested and gross, and had been popping as much sudafed as s healthy to pop.

So we finally get to Paris and it’s pouring. We catch a cab (navigating the metro when cold and sick? no thanks) and head to our hostel. It was in the southernmost part of Paris, Place d”Italie (who knew Paris had a little Italy?). We checked in, turns out that our private double was a private triple with just the 2 of us, no complaints. Funny story though…the shower was the bathroom, you just pulled a curtain in front of the mirror and toilet to TRY to keep them dry (emphasis on try, bc they shared the same floor and EVERYTHING got soaked).

It had been a long day so we decided to grab some dinner and call it a night. We went to this little pasta/pizzeria across the street. I got me some 4-cheese pasta and we split a caraffe of wine (2 glasses did me in on the sudafed) and that was friday.

Saturday:

GET. READY. This day could not have been more epic. I’m gonna do it in steps.

1. Got up. Got free breakfast. Better than the hostel in Amsterdam’s.

2. Bought metro cards, jumped on the metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower. Saw the tower (choked up a bit. w/e its fucking Paris) Took some SUPER touristy pictures and thoroughly enjoyed it.

3. Walked to the Arc du Triumph. I still don’t know how exactly you’re supposed to get across the street TO the Arc (it’s this crazy busy rotary with no crosswalks or red lights!) Took some more touristy pics, no. big. deal.

4. Walked part of the Champs d”Elysee. Did some shopping (for an umbrella which was overpriced and immediately unnecessary as it stopped raining- not that im complaining about that) and grabbed lunch at this little cafe. Then, miracle of miracles, we found a free internet booth, so I could check my email and find my friend Becca’s number (my friend from home who just HAPPENS to be in paris!) so we could call her for dinner.

5. Hopped the metro and headed up to the Moulin Rouge. It was a cool little area and I loved looking through the gift shop, even if I couldnt buy anything…

6. Walked 1-2 miles through Paris, just seeing the city.

7. Caught the metro again. This time to the Louvre! We didn’t go in the Louvre (the only thing I’d wanted to see was Mona anyway) because there was a crazy long line, and we were getting a little tired. That being said WE WERE AT THE LOUVRE. The building ITSELF is a piece of art. Not to mention that the courtyard with the pyramids is free and public!

8. Walked over to the Musee d’Orsay (where most of the art I would have wanted to see was anyway). Again, didn’t go in. Just too tired at that point, which is fine.

9. Stopped at a cafe. Rested my feet. Grabbed an espresso and a croissant.

10. Walked le rive gauche! All the way to Notre Dame which was FABULOUS! But seriously, we are learning about Gothic architecture in my Art History class right now…SUCH perfect timing.

11. Walked Paris for a bit and met up with Becca and her friend for dinner! Found the BEST little restaurant where we each had a 3 course meal and split a bottle of wine for 20 EURO. I had a fresh goatcheese plate, caramelized duck and potatoes, and caramel cream for dessert. Parfait.

12. As it turns out, the ONE weekend I’m in Paris turns out to be Nuit Blanche. A bunch of museums do exhibits until like 2AM and its FREE! Paris was a mobscene, but I still got to see some cool stuff. I saw some modern movement art, a very sleep-no-more performance box and a flame-thrower outside Notre Dame (alas it was too busy for us to get into). ALSO becca and I took a picture outside Le Petit Pont, a cafe that our high school french teacher was OBSESSED with (she had a giant poster of it in the room and always made us take pictures in front of it so you know…now the real deal haha).

13. Went back to the hostel around 12, called it a NIGHT.

14. Next morning, checked out, saw the HUGEST spider (in the hostel. womp. but actually, I’m pretty sure that species of spider doesn’t even EXIST in boston) and caught our train back to rotterdam, blerick, venray, etc.

Like I said…epic win of a weekend =)

Amsterdam highlights

Ok…this is going to be a HELLA long entry. I got back from the lovely Amsterdam last night, but was far too busy and important to update my blog then. SO here is the layout of what exactly happened this weekend.

FRIDAY:

Got up at 6:30 (womp) for breakfast at 7 (wompwomp) so we could leave at 7:45.

*FIRST OF ALL, the SADDEST mama D moment. I had stayed online until like 1230 waiting for my mom to get on skype the night before because she really wanted to talk to me before I left for amsterdam. I finally had to go to bed (after trying to gmail dial her like 20 times). I wake up in the morning and there is one message in my fbook inbox. (my mom got a fbook last week) it says, hey marla, facebooks working (clearly haha) THEN it says, I’m going to set my alarm for 8am your time so we can skype before you leave. In case you’ve forgotten, 8am my time is 2AM AT HOME. AND I am leaving the castle at 7:45 sharp. With no way to contact my mom and warn her to stay sleeping, I simply had to respond that I was leaving before she’d wake herself up and that I was sorry and would talk to her on sunday. fail.

ANYWAY back to amsterdam =)

So we got there around 1030, had a meeting at the hostel and then dropped off our bags and broke into groups for the walking tour. I had Dulcia (cue hark of an angel’s choir). And we walked around the Jordan area of Amsterdam and talked history. We left off in dam square to grab some lunch.  Then we headed to the Rijksmuseum. The Duke gave us a tour of some famous Dutch art, saw some Rembrandt and Vermeer (nbd). Then we had a free dinner at this nice Indonesian restaurant.  They brought like 10 different plates to each table and we helped ourselves. And let me tell you…DAMN Indonesian food is spicy.  I took a bite of ONE potato (of course seeing what looked like red pepper flakes I should have known better). Ugh. I was a fan of the sweet beef, egg/scallion pancakes? chicken wings, and roasted soybeans. Yum.

After dinner my World Drama Class left, off to the theatre to see an experimental version of Richard III. Did I mention that it was three hours long? and IN DUTCH!?

…but actually. I loved it. The show was fabulously entertaining and I laughed half my way through it (tehe).

SATURDAY

Up early for free breakfast at the hostel (kill me). Then we broke into groups again (and once AGAIN I had dulcia waha) and headed to the Amsterdam Historical museum. More history…what else is there to say?

Oh, right. It was FREEZING. I had packed for rain, but NOT for cold wind. Must learn to dress more appropriately next time so I don’t freeze my ass of again.

After lunch (at new york pizza ha) picked up a few little souvenirs around the city and headed to the Anne Frank house with my history class.  The museum was super cool. I think my favorite thing about it was, what our info session leader appropriately termed “the most famous bookshelf in the world.”  The bookshelf that held the door to the annex where anne frank and her family lives.  I could have stood there staring at it for hours (and would have had it not been so crowded).

We grabbed dinner again at the hostel (don’t ask me why) and then a lot of my friends went on a boat tour.  Scotty and I walked around the city and saw what we hadn’t had time to see yet.  

We walked through the red light district on the early side.  It was a really interesting experience.  It wasn’t super uncomfortable.  It’s really just what they say it is: women in windows, dressed in lingerie, waiting for customers.  Seriously, just these young women chilling out in these windows…some were drinking, some were smoking, some were even on their cell phones.  It was very casual.

After we went and hung out around the city for a while.  Then I met up with some other friends and we went and chilled in a club and then in a little bar.  Other than the constant pouring rain (thank god for my raincoat or I would have been a miserable wet rat all night) it was a really nice night.

SUNDAY

FINALLY we had some real free time.  We could have signed up fro optional excursions through the school, but I much prefer exploring on my own.  

First Chelsea and I went to the Pancake Corner (done and done). Then I walked around the city with a few people. We went to a cafe and got some hot chocolate (it was NOT warm outside), grabbed lunch in a little cafe near Dam Sq. and found the COOLEST little art fair.  There were tents set up on the street with artists in booths, displaying and selling their work.  I can’t even begin to describe the quality of the art I saw.

We spoke with one of the artists and she asked why we didn’t have more fairs like that back home.  We said we did, but the caliber of work wasn’t always that good.  Apparently to be in the show we saw there was a very rigorous judging process…trust me, it showed.

I picked up two small pictures from her stand for 2.50 each, and got a free postcard picture from another artist who does movement paintings (yes, that’s what I said actors).  She legit goes to modern dance classes and sketches the movement…I’ll just have to post the pictures later, but those three pictures are without a doubt a very nice addition to my life.

So after that we headed to the train station to book any trips we could and buy our tickets back to the castle.  Chelsea and I booked the train for Paris this weekend.  It was more expensive than I would have hoped (since I have an fing eurail pass) and we’re not in the city as long as I had planned, but it’s fine. I’m going to PARIS, so it’s hard to complain. We’ll make it work.

Got back to the castle around 8, did my homework, chatted with the fam and called it a night. I hardcore need to catch up on sleep and rest my feet this week. Pictures soon! 

I realized as that was posting that I wasn’t done typing yet. max and I were going to go to venray today, but were both too tired from last night’s festivities and decided just to grab lunch in town instead. I hate how small/expensive drinks are here. I need to remember to bring my waterbottle around with me.

So then I walked to the store to pick up some notebooks…and this gem happened.

Oh yes. It’s anecdote time.

I decided to stop at the ATM to pick up some money for Amsterdam (we leave tomorrow GAH). Anyway, the door had a handle, but when I pulled on it it didnt open. I figured I just had to swipe my card, so I did. It still wouldn’t open. I tried again, the sign said they accepted master card BUT IT STILL WOULDNT OPEN.

So I tried another card. My Visa wouldnt work either. I kept swiping and nothing. So I decided that at this point, I should just casually put my wallet back in my bag, hope no one had seen and go back to the castle.

I was halfway down the block when an old dutch lady waved me down.

Apparently she and the other librarians who work at de Buun had been watching me and my hopeless attempt to get into the ATM. They said that they could obviously tell I was a “young American lady who didn’t know what to do” so she came to help me. At that point, I thought I understood what she was saying I had done wrong, but I absolutely REFUSED to believe it.

We get to the ATM, she walks up to the door and PUSHES it open. No card. No swiping. No anything. I HAD BEEN PULLING ON A DOOR THAT YOU NEEDED TO PUSH.

I was so embarrassed, but she was very nice about the whole thing. So I thanked her and as I turned to say goodbye I saw ALL OF THE OLD LIBRARIANS FROM DE BUUN STANDING IN THE LIBRARY WINDOW WAVING TO ME. 

This…is my life.

So took my trip to Venray the other day with Chelsea. It was a long and epic tale and not one that I particularly want to type up. Suffice it to say it was a lovely day and I found everything I was looking for =)

Then yesterday class ALL DAY again. woof. But actually I think History since 1914 may be one of my favorite classes. Our teacher Ralph seems cool and the class itself really kept my attention (unlike others fail). But yeah classclassclass…

THEN we went to a fun meeting where they tried to teach us dutch and they gave us treats. I HAD MY FIRST STROOPWAFFLE. it was a match made in heaven and we were very happy together for the short time before it was gone (in ma belly). Then the real chaos began.

Last night marked our first Wednesday in Well, otherwise known as American Night at the Linden. We all headed over to de Buun first because it was happy hour. I hated it. The beers were cheap, but awful. There were dutch men there from age 16 to age 60 (no exaggeration there I promise) and they just awkwardly stared at us. One of the guys started taking pictures of us at one point…anyway I wasn’t feeling it. So like 10 of us grabbed our stuff and headed to the Linden and the other followed.

I could go into more detail about the rest of the night, but I don’t know how accurate it would be, so I’m just gonna leave it at: it was a good night.

made it to venray today =)

Ugh. I forgot what it was like to be in class all day. And I do mean ALL DAY. No serious complaints. I made my schedule this way and I only have classes mondays and wednesdays (WHICH IS SO SICK) however, this monday was loong. 

History of Art: Renaissance and Baroque (YES the one Dulcia teaches!) was actually ridiculously interesting. Today was one of Rob’s classes, but he is fantastic. I wish I hadn’t stayed up so late last booking Rome, because I kept yawning throughout the class. It wasn’t because I wasn’t interested! It was because I was tired.

InterCom with PatCat. So far I really like him. He seems like a nice guy. Things I DONT like. When we break into deep discussions and suddenly people are SUPER pretentious with their “views on the world.” Reasons I DIDN’T sign up for philosophy (again).

World Drama. It’s a double block with dinner in the middle, and today’s class was definitely interesting. I’m loving our teacher so far, and we’re going to see a super experimental production of Richard III in DUTCH on friday. That’ll be fun.

So yeah…Amsterdam this weekend! I’m basically busy all day Friday and Saturday with mandatory class excursions. I think the final schedule is: Walking Tour of Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum (hell yeah I copy/pasted), Richard III. Then Saturday: Amsterdam Historical Museum, Anne Frank House.

There are some tentative plans for Saturday night, and then Sunday is my free day so WHO KNOWS?!

I’m hoping that without class tomorrow I can successfully sleep in and then make my way to Venlo/Venray FINALLY! 

Trust me, if I make it…you’ll know ;)

Ok. So I actually managed to plan two real trips this evening. I will be going to Paris with Chelsea the first weekend after Amsterdam and I’ll be doing a big trip to Rome two weeks later. 

So far I’ve reserved hostels. I was in the middle of booking my ryanair flight to rome and the system blocked me, so that will have to wait until morning. As for Paris, I’m going to utilize my handy eurail pass which means I’ll pick up the reservations this weekend in Amsterdam. One step closer to two of my top destinations!

So last day of orientation. We got the alcohol/drug lecture yet again. THEN everyone decides that the time is right to start booking trips. Haha funny joke. But no lie, I know people who in two days have already booked and paid for four weekends. woof. I sure hope nothing happens that changes your mind about you destination/travel buddies before then.

Chelsea and I spend the day researching Brussels/Bruges. I got overwhelming feedback that Bruges was a much better idea. We were researching hostels, train tickets, EVERYTHING. Then it occurred to me. I am not on this continent for a terribly long time. As much as I’d like to see Bruges, it’s never been a place on the top of my list. Now obviously I won’t be able to go everywhere I want during my 3 months here, but after Amsterdam I really want to get out there. So after a day of planning I proposed yet another idea…why not Paris?

Paris has always been one of my top 2 places to see (London took first a few years back). We still get to activate our Eurail passes and I get the peace of mind knowing that I have been to at least one of the places I HAVE to see. Now all I have to do is do all the research…again.

I’m sure I’ll make it to Bruges, but maybe for a shorter weekend, when I haven’t just arrived. 

Anyway, classes start tomorrow. I’m ALMOST done with Richard III. Still have not decorated my room and am so tired I could fall asleep right now. Ah jetlag. First weekend abroad: complete.