I have officially been her for 3 weeks! A lot has happened, so buckle up for a big one. The weekdays have been filled with classes and learning about new topics, cultures, and ideas. The weekends we have spent traveling around Germany and some other countries. I started off small by touring Bremen. Our school is secluded, and in a little town just outside of the downtown area, about a 20 minute train ride. At first, it didn’t seem like there was much to the city, but the more I got to explore and walk around, the more I see so many hidden treasures. There are tons of small side streets, little parks, and historical buildings all around town. Since then I have been able to run into town for small things, like walking around in the afternoon when I am done with classes, or getting some groceries from the local Aldi!
Week two we ventured out a little further, taking the train to Hamburg! The first thing I noticed was how many churches there were! They towered over everything, and the architecture was so beautiful. We even found one that let us go to the top of the tower. We could see the whole city. It was about 130 feet up. The river in the middle seemed to divide the town between old style factories and new, updated office buildings. It was so relaxing just walking down the river and taking it all in. There seemed to be bridge after bridge while we were walking. We found a chocolate museum, and got to tour the inside. We learned all about chocolate and how it is made, and even got to taste it at multiple points in the process. At the end, we all made our own chocolate bar that we got to take home. And I must say, mine was pretty good! There was also a beautiful park, called Pflanen un Blomen, that was so peaceful to walk through. There were chairs, streams, picnics, and quite a few spots for a photo session. And believe me, we took full advantage of them. With Hamburg being only about an hour away by train, I definitely plan on going back, even if it is just for dinner on a weekday!
Week three got really crazy! Another exchange student and I have begun planning some more exciting weekend trips. Since neither of us have classes Fridays, we even have an extra day to spend traveling. Thursday night we boarded a bus around 10pm. This bus drove overnight and dropped us off in Brussels, Belgium around 4:30am. Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to sleep on a bus, so after watching a movie, we got only a couple hours of sleep in. As you might guess, nothing is open before 5 in the morning. We found a coffee place in the bus station and sat there while we planned out the day. After about an hour, we began our walk to the first open breakfast place. It was about a forty-minute walk, but took us right in the center of the city. It was still quite early after so we walked over to the Arc du Cinquantenaire. Barely anyone was theree, so we got to take some great pictures. We walked back to the main area, and saw the castles and museums, and they were all so beautiful! The chocolate stores were fantastic, and most of them had free samples! We found an antique shop, and took a rest on their bench (it had been a long morning already). Back at the Grand Place, the main shopping square, we explored some shops and walked around. Of course, we had waffles for lunch, and then headed back out to explore some more. We found a mall area with some little stores and got our souvenirs. The lack of sleep was beginning to kick in, which caused us to have WAY too much fun at a small toy store. After a long day, we had a Belgium beer tasting, where we learned all about how beer was made, and got to taste 5 different Belgium beers. We had Chi-Chi’s for dinner, mostly so we could use their free bathroom. We took a walk to the train station to get our bags out of the lockers, but sadly the police did not recommend waiting there for the bus. Judging by the “interesting” people we saw on the walk there, I really don’t blame them. The 24-hour McDonald’s down the street provided a nice sanctuary for the next 2 hours though. One of the best parts of the night was when someone outside the window, knocked and asked why my friend was sleeping. Between the sheer randomness, and being awake for about 21 hours, I laughed for way too long. By 3am, we were on the bus and headed to our next stop, hoping for some sleep along the way!
It was around 6am when we arrived in Amsterdam! Got coffee and some breakfast to wake us up, and planned out some of the day. After walking over 20 miles in Brussels, we were quite exhausted. We opted for a tour bus, which allowed us to get in a lot more of the town, and gave us the opportunity to take a boat around the canals. We first took a loop around to see the whole city, and get our bearings for where we wanted to go. I needed some real food, and the burger place on the corner hit the spot. I went from my lowest point (basically dying of hunger and sleep exhaustion) to possibly too excited. Our next stop was a small marketplace, a lot of locals came here to sell goods, or set up food stands. Since Heineken Beer originated in Amsterdam, we went on their experience tour of the old factory. It was really neat to see inside all the machinery, and learn how the whole company got started. Our tour group was us two girls, and a large bachelor party (who had already been drinking), so it got pretty crazy. But at least they were entertaining. Also, anyone that knows me, knows I am obsessed with socks, so of course I bought a pair that looked like beer! We went to the “I AMsterdam” sign, but it was covered in tourists. Plus, it is so big, there is no way to get the whole thing in one picture. Instead, we found a super cool bench, that had the same thing and no one around it. It made for much better pictures. Speaking of benches, I couldn’t help but want to visit the bench from The Fault in Our Stars. Honestly, it was a bit underwhelming, but I don’t know what I expected. It was still cool to see; I would have been really mad at myself if I didn’t. At the very least, it made for some good pictures! Since a canal boat tour was included with our bus ticket, we took a loop around the city. It was beginning to get dark, so the lights were on under each bridge. It made the already picturesque view even more spectacular. The boat had little speakers so we could hear about each sight we passed, and its historical significance. At the end of the boat tour, it was time for our tour of the Anne Frank house. Apparently, you are supposed to reserve tickets before, which we didn’t actually know. We lucked out though and scored these the day of online. My mom would have loved to see it, but sadly there were no pictures allowed inside. Honestly though, I don’t know if I could have taken them anyway. The whole place had this strange feeling about it. You were given these little phone-like things that played everything very quietly for each person. No one was talking and it was very solemn. You hear these stories about what happened and where they lived, but it was a completely new feeling when you actually see it in person. Afterwards, we made our way from central station back towards the bus stop. We got some dinner in the terminal, and had to wait about 30 minutes. I fell asleep with my legs crossed and couldn’t stand afterwards. I fell-down crippled on the ground in a bus station at 11 at night. And we were so exhausted that we couldn’t stop laughing either. We were on the road by midnight, so it only took minutes for me to fall asleep on the bus.
It dropped us off in Bremen around 4am, and since there were no more trains running at the time, we had to figure out the bus system. We waited in the cold for 30 minutes and finally got on, but it took a bit of questioning to find out where our actual stop was. A quick walk to campus, and I was in my bed at 5am! From there I slept about 12 hours, and still managed to sleep fine the next night. I was up and ready for classes on Monday like usual, and can’t wait for next weekend when I can go on another adventure!