Hmm I believe the last time I updated this was the on the same date of last month, something I did not mean at all to happen buuut there it is ha. I'm sorry all these summaries are so mismanaged...but anyway, let me try yet again:
So I'll start with Munich and my excursion in Bavaria! Definitely one of my favorite trips out of the whole year, for so many reasons, a major one being that Germany is my favorite country in mainland Europe that I've seen thus far. I guess I've gotten to see more of it, know more of it's history, and just have a general feeling of comfort and wonder whenever I'm there. I'm reaaaallly reallly hoping to get to Berlin before the end of the year, but we'll see. ANYWAY, Munich was amazing and so much fun. The FREE tour that was provided us by our hostel was really great, and I can't imagine how many cool snippets of culture and unbelievable historical facts I would have missed around that city if not for Ozzie, our energetic, leder-hosen wearing, drunk, Canadian-born tour guide. He showed our group (all canadians and Australians besides me, kimmich, and ruth) all the big sites and the stupid but interesting things in-between, which included so many references to the birth of the Nazi party and beer and Catholicism. He even included stops for beer and bratwurst and gummy bears. So we spent the day in Munich and met many fine Germans or fellow travelers, and finally decided to wake up way early the next morning to get to Neuschwanstein, the castle that Disney drew his inspiration from when designing his own theme park. One thing I can say about the castle, as ridiculous as it is, is DON'T TAKE THE TOUR. While it's a very young castle (completed in 1860s and in original condition, although very much unfinished), it's just simply not worth the money. The Alps though...now that's worth anything to see. They were unbelievable. I've never really been around mountains before and am mostly a shore-person, been skiing twice, so when I remember now how the Alps look as the train raced to their feet, I can't believe that that was actually me. It was just surreal. They stretched beyond our vision and disappeared into the clouds and fog that gradually lifted as the day progressed. Words like 'majesty' come to mind more out of rehearsal than ingenuity, but that's my fault and not the mountains'...so yeah we stuck around there, moved on to other little towns to get back to Munich and grab a train to Salzburg where the weather was dreadful. Sought shelter. Toughed it out. Race to another bus. Tough it out. Repeat. But we still had a lot of fun tracing down the locations for different scenes of The Sound of Music and seeing Mozart's birth place and all that. Continued to meet some of the nicest people ever, and eat some of the best food ever. We spend one night in Salzburg and the next day returned to Munich where we took our time more and hung out in the hostel bar (we're just that cool) and "kept the enthusiasm up" for the South African guitarist that was playing that night (aka we sat in the front aisle and screamed song titles and were generally loud).
Ok I'm sorry I'm rushing through this so much but I really want to get to bed early before Italy tomorrow haha....Next weekend was London and Oxford and definitely another one of my favorite trips hands down. Lauren and I stayed with her friend Andre who's studying in London for the year. He was sooo friendly and hung out with us and showed us the sights, which we were really grateful for. Nothing like a local showing you what's what (or a study abroad student is the next best thing haha). Basically we saw all the more touristy things our first day, which meant running around all of London and being exhausted, but which I found entirely worth it. Andre's dorm itself was located in Covent Garden right near SoHo, which Kimmich was really happy to see since last time she was pretty much confined to the most touristy areas. The Brits are great people and I absolutely loved them. Oh and I don't think I've ever been happier in my life than the first night that we got there and Kimmich and I each for fish and chips with a Strongbow at a crowded pub. We went to see Oxford one day, and like our Salzburg venture, it rained continuously, but we still got to see Christ church with its Harry Potter overtones and then stop at a local antique book store before getting some tea. Going out in London was ridiculous: one night to a student bar with Kimmich, Andre, Amanda, and Johan, the next night out in Piccadilly Circus with Kimmich, Ruth, and her friend Kristin. There's something about Piccadilly Circus that I love. Well I won't go into that now. But yes, two entirely different experiences of the nightlife in London, and I'm glad of it. Andre showed us some really cool stuff related to Shakespeare...OH I have to talk about the British library for a second, which absolutely blew my mind. Basically, this place has an original Gutenberg Bible, a couple copies of the Magna Carta, lyrics handwritten by Lennon, Jane Austen's letters, notes from Queen Elizabeth, Sylvia Plath, W. H. Auden, notebooks of Leonarda da Vinci, Lindisfarne Gospels,Codex Sinaiticus, Darwin, Galileo, Handel's Messiah, Shakespeare's First Folio, and so many many more, including from Eastern history that I am unfortunately very much more unfamiliar with than western. But yeah, at first I thought to take pictures of the cool texts I saw, but then I just had to stop because it was overwhelming. I just couldn't take it in haha. I felt like this was a big secret only I was allowed to know (me and every other person who has ever set foot in that building haha). Yeah we had a lot of fun in London, but I always thought I would love that city. :)
Ok sorry I'm flying through this and I feel awful, but the next weekend Olszak came to visit from Paris and I think he had a lot of fun. It definitely wasn't the typical weekend, what with practically the whole house going out all three nights all together (including our St. Patty's day celebration on Saturday), annnnd Dave and Crazy being here to visit. We went to Brugge on Saturday and tried to see some stuff, even though I wish our weird tour guide ("You see?! JA!") could've been there to help me find stuff on the less-than-stellar map we had to use. We walked around Leuven a lot and caught up and it was a good time, but I still think he should come back on a more typical weekend when we drink less (meaning get up earlier, meaning see more things maybe)haha! Other than that my life now is just craziness. I really should be doing more schoolwork than I am haha, but I'm just finding ways to squeeze into my "packed" schedule. This past weekend, we had about 12 guests here (spring break in the US always brings visitors, so Christel says) so everyone was running around, and last night we had a huge potluck supper where everyone who's still in the huis and not back in their home countries for break made their dish and brought it down to Cristina's unit for dinner. I love the huis and its fabulous cooks! Ruth and I tried to hide the fact our pasta salad was boxed (inconspicuously named "Suddenly Pasta salad") while Mate and Pedro made elaborate traditional recipes a meter down the table from us. Oh and then we discovered potatoes that were prob 3 centuries old under the cabinet drawers, along with a pair of underwear. Another reason why I love the huis. Today was Easter, and the International Mass was such an awesome and needed pause (indeed, a two and half hour long pause haha), and then dinner at the Burgers was chaos per usual, if counting that we were all a bit sleepy and sick today.
Ok so I've documented all my weekends in the time since I last wrote, and they're really awful little descriptions but to be fair, my weekdays are nothing spectacular (i.e. class and hanging out) and my weekends move so fast I hardly know how to write of them in this blog before another one is on me. Like now, I'm leaving for Italy tomorrow morning and I don't even know what to say of it haha. Few days in Florence, a wine tasting and a tour of two vineyards in Tuscany, few days in Rome, and a few days in Positano await, and I know I have been looking forward to this trip since I signed up for this program last December. It's ridiculous that it's actually here, but like London, I feel like this is another one of those places I have been waiting to see for years and years. One thing I never anticipated though, was how much of a pain in the ass it would be to pack for this adventure, which I should continue doing now actually. Oh and another thing I can't wait for: Mom and Eddie (and maybe Dad) are coming to visit!!!! A month from now we will all be hanging out, whether it be here in Leuven or on the moors of Scotland, and I'm so excited for them to see my home in Europe, and my new best friends, and then travel with them to a place I feel a connection to already (you all probably think I'm crazy at this point for being in love with so many different countries, but I guess I'm just a sucker). So yeah, it'll be great!!
I will try my damndest to update ASAP after Italy! Until then. Ciao!
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