I can’t believe how quickly this semester has gone by, it feels like yesterday I got to Den Haag and now Christmas is almost here. Now that everything is all said and done here are all the places I got to go to. Antwerp, Belgium; Munich, Germany; Paris, France; Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, and Pompeii, Italy; Madrid, Spain; London, England; Dublin, Ireland; and Den Haag, and Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Out of all of these here are my top three favorites and why. This is no particular order.

1. Venice, Rome:

Venice while yes was very expensive was one of the prettiest cities. The city is quite literally a city on water. They have no streets and no cars. Everyone either gets around by boat or by walking. And even though it was the easiest city to get lost in I didn’t mind being lost because the city was just that pretty! Plus the food was amazing!

2. Dublin, Ireland:

The best part about this city is for sure the people. I have never in my entire life met people who were so nice. The people of this city love tourist and genuinely wanted to help! Not only that but if you drive maybe 30-40 mins away from the city you can see the country side and the Ireland country side is one of the prettiest sites I have ever seen! The grass is a shade of green that you have never seen before! It’s just absolutely beautiful!

3. Paris, France:

Pairs is again another pretty city but it’s because of its architecture. Every single building is pretty and worthy of a picture. Not only that it was the cleanest city I went to. I would also have to say that the over all atmosphere was probably the best part. It had that classy, but romantic feel to the city. Finally seeing the Eiffel Tower in person also made this city that much better. Seeing the Eiffel Tower is something I have always dreamed about, so to finally see it in person was literally a dream come true!

This past week was our fall break. Luckily here in the Netherlands fall break is a week long. My friend and I from home went to Milan, Venice, Rome, Naples, and pompeii. Out of all of those my favorite was Venice it had a completely different feel than the rest of Italy or any other place in Europe that I have been to so far. After visiting Italy I would high recommend Venice and Rome. The entire week was such an over all great learning experience. I learned about their culture, food, and even learned a few Italian phrases.   

Top right the colosseum in rome
Bottom right Duomo church in Milan
Bottom left Venice Island
Top left Pompeii
Middle sistine chapel Vatican City, Rome

I have officially been in Den Haag for two weeks now. I am still in shock that I am even here. Classes started last week and all the professors are very nice and helpful. There are bikes everywhere!!! So far I have been to Amsterdam and Haarlem.

In Amsterdam we saw the I AMsterdam sign, visited the Vincent Van Gogh museum, went to an ice bar, went to a flower market place, visited a park and went on a canal tour.

In Haarlem we went to St. Bavo church, saw windmills, went to a dutch market place, and saw the Corrie Ten Boom house (If you don’t know who she is I recommend looking her up! very cool story). The hiding place is about her!

Something kind of random I have noticed since I have been here are the dogs. Dutch people love their dogs and take them everywhere they can. And these dogs are way more behaved than your average american dog. When the owner stops walking the dog sits with out being told to. If the owner has to walk into a shop where dogs are not allowed the dog will sit very patiently at the door starring and waiting for their owner to return (and they are not tied to a tree! the owner just drops the leash if they have one and goes inside). Most dogs are not on a leash and if they are the dog doesn’t really need it because even with no leash the dog doesn’t run away, it stays right next to their owner.

Over all Den Haag is very nice and friendly and I am very excited for the rest of this trip 🙂