What an amazing city London is!!! My last trip on this continent was to this great European city. Our last exam got over on Wednesday at about 5 pm and we left at 730 pm. We took a ferry (more like a cruise ship) from Hoek van Holland to Harwich, England. We arrived real early in the morning (630 or so) and took a train from Harwich to London. We finally arrived in Downtown London around 1030 in the morning. From there, we checked into our hostel and began to explore the city.

Our first stop was Westminster Bridge. This bridge crosses the River Thames and provides views of Big Ben, Parliament, and London Eye (a large ferris wheel which offers a great view of the whole city). After admiring these places, we walked back across the bridge and headed towards Westminster Abbey. This church was amazing and was much more than a church. Every coronation that has taken place in the last 1000 years has happened here. Many kings, queens, and nobles are buried and memorialized here. Poet’s Corner contained many memorials and monuments of some great writers, poets, playwrights, composers, etc (some of whom are actually buried in the church). Shakespeare, Dickens, Chaucer, Handel are just a few examples. After we left the church, it was pretty dark (at 430 pm) and so that limited our sightseeing for the rest of the day. We were pretty fatigued, so we went back to the hostel for a relaxed night.

The following day, we were up and about by 8 am. We traveled by metro all the way across town to Wimbledon. I used to play tennis in high school and am a big fan of watching tournaments so this was one place I had to go. Regrettably, we didn’t partake in the tour. However, it was nice to kind of wander around the premises and take pictures of center court, the grandstands, the tournament brackets, etc. Later on, we took a hop on/hop off bus tour which was recommended to us by some girls from U of L. I am really glad that we did that because London is a huge city, and it is not possible to see all of it by using the metro alone. The tour took us to Marble Arch, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Bridge (again), Picadelli Circus, and Buckingham Palace. The tour also included a panoramic river cruise on the Thames River. It was quite nice and relaxing to see all the sights from a warm and comfortable boat.

Once we got off the boat, we walked around the Tower of London, the notorious prison and symbol of royal power in London. Later, we walked across Tower Bridge which is simply awesome. As the night progressed, we eventually reached Hyde Park (which I believe is London’s largest park). We were greeted with a huge festival which was a combination of a cultural festival, county fair, and a winter festival. There was lots of good food, things to do, and festive Christmas lights and decorations. The last thing on Friday was a pub crawl around a part of town called Covent Garden. It was nice to get out and experience the nightlife (which isn’t that good compared to other cities) and meet some new people.

Saturday was our last day in London. We used this day to see the lesser known things in London. We checked out of the hostel and went to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain. Right beside that, was Kensington Palace. Once again, we didn’t go in, but it is nice to say that I was there. From there, we went back to Trafalgar Square to take some more pictures (when we weren’t on a moving bus). We then crossed the Thames River and found Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. After a few pictures, we crossed back to the other side of the river to see St. Paul’s Cathedral, which looks more like a government building than a church). Last but not least, we went to see Chelsea’s (my favorite soccer club) stadium on the West End of town. Afterwards, we hurried back to the hostel, grabbed our bags, and traveled by train to Harwich for our journey home.

We made it back in Holland at around 8 or so on Sunday. However, there was a big snow storm the previous night; consequently, our first train got postponed for about an hour. Then, we were stuck at a nearby train station for 2 hours before any train arrived. Luckily, the one and only train was going in the direction of Den Haag so we avoided taking a taxi. Although it was a pain to return home, it was well worth it.

London was just a small step below Rome in the number of things to see and do. I could have easily stayed in London for another 2 days and been extremely occupied. The people were extremely friendly and helpful, and the public transportation was the best that I had ever used. My only regret was not going sooner in the year. London in December is quite cold, and I struggled to stay warm. Nonetheless, London was a great way to end my long string of European journeys.

Thanks for reading,

Josh

This past weekend, 4 people from U of L along with a girl from Arkansas traveled to Barcelona. It was a hassle to get there, however. We had to take a 90 minute train to Eindhoven, a 20 minute bus to the airport, 2 hours in the airport, 2 hour flight, and a 90 minute bus ride to Barcelona, and a 20 minute metro ride to our hostel. We left at 9 AM and arrived at our hostel a little before 6 pm. After settling down, we went out to a few pubs and clubs and enjoyed our evening.

The following morning, we decided to rent some bikes (due to the advice of the hostel staff). It was great advice in the end, as we were able to use them for about 5 hours for a price of 10 euros per bike. It was the first time I had ridden a bike in about 5 years. To be quite honest, I have a newfound passion for riding bikes. Hopefully when I return to the states, I can buy a bike and use it frequently.

During our bike ride, we were able to see a great deal of the city. We rode through the busy city (luckily there are bike paths), navigating our way through the large and crowded city. We began to climb a large hill and were able to see a good view of the city. We eventually reached the top where the Olympic stadium, from the late 1980s, was located. After spending some time there, we went back down the hill and back through downtown. Our last stop was the beach. Riding along the beach for a few kilometers was one of the most relaxing things I have done in a while. That night, we walked along the city, enjoyed the lights, and stopped at a few pubs.

The following day we ventured into another part of downtown. Our first stop was Gaudi’s Cathedral (If you haven’t seen it, google it). It was definitely the oddest cathedral I had ever seen, but interesting nonetheless. Afterwards, I felt the urge to explore more of the downtown area on foot. The downtown area was quite bustling and crowded, and there was quite a lot of stuff going on there. After dinner, we returned to the beach. It was peaceful just watching the waves at nighttime; it was a good last memory of Barcelona.

The entire time there, I was able to utilize the Spanish, which I learned in high school, to talk to the locals. Granted, I wasn’t great at it, but I got the job done nevertheless. I was glad to see that all of my schooling paid off. This trip has made me want to take some more Spanish classes or buy some software to become more fluent in Spanish.

Barcelona had a little bit of everything-a beach, shopping, nightlife, attractions, and more. We were able to take advantage of most of those. The weather was a big plus for us. All three days there, it was in the mid 60s, sunny, and dry (seemed like a heat wave compared to Holland). I would like to return there during the summer or early autumn to enjoy even warmer weather and a little better nightlife.

Thanks for reading,

Josh

Paris!!!! I am actually writing this entry a couple weeks late, as we went to Paris three weekends ago. Nonetheless, I had a great time in the City of Lights, taking plenty of great pictures and making lots of great memories.

I decided to go the cheap route traveling there, using my train pass. Instead of paying a supplement to take a direct high speed train from Den Haag to Paris (which takes 3 hours), I ended up taking 4 slow trains taking a total of 8 hours. Needless to say, when we arrived in Paris Nord Station (which is humungous), I was quite relieved.

We arrived in Paris around 530 P.M, set our stuff down in the hostel, and went off to start sight-seeing. First on our list was the Louvre. The outside of the great museum was awesome to look at with fountains, a huge glass pyramid, pretty lights, ornate buildings, etc. The inside didn’t disappoint either. Other than the Vatican Museum in Rome, the Louvre is in my opinion the second best museum I have ever visited.

The corridors or the museum were extremely long and full of great pieces of art. The most famous of course, the Mona Lisa, was one of the first things we saw in the museum. Surprisingly, Da Vinci’s work was not all that large-maybe the size of a family portrait some people have in their home. Even more surprising was the fact that we were allowed to take pictures of it!! We probably spent a good three hours getting lost in the museum, exploring the centuries of paintings, sculptures, and artifacts. Afterwards, we just went back to the hostel to rest for the night.

The next day was a lot busier. The first thing we saw was Notre Dame Cathedral. It was basically everything I thought it would be after seeing pictures, learning about in art classes, etc. The size of the building was immaculate. There were flying buttresses everywhere on the exterior. The interior was very dark (it is a Gothic church after all), with the exception of multiple stained glass windows. These windows were so large and had such complex color patterns and designs that words don’t describe it.

Later on in the day, we went to see what I looked forward to the most, the Palace of Versailles. It took about 45 minutes to get there from central Paris, but it was worth it. The hallways and individual rooms were so elaborately decorated. The paintings on the wall were quite interesting, as they depicted numerous battle scenes and famous individuals in European history. The gardens, though, were the best part. Acres upon acres of space were occupied with fountains, flowers, and interesting designs of grass and rock. I really could have just sat on a bench and basked in its beauty for hours.

Lastly, we went to the world famous Eiffel Tower. Luckily, we went at night and were able to see the landmark all lit up. The Eiffel Tower reminded me of the Great Wall of China and the Roman Coliseum; no matter how many times you have seen pictures of it, you still can’t help but have your breath taken away by its splendor. We climbed to the second platform (the third one was closed sadly) and were able to see a panoramic view of all of Paris. It was well worth the climb and the money!!
We didn’t have a lot of time in our last day of Paris (as we had an early afternoon train to catch). We were able to see the Arc de Triomphe, however. I had no idea how large it was until I was standing underneath of it. The monument was quite pretty with very ornate engravings and inscriptions. It is located in a very busy part of the city, as eight major roads converged on this one point. Afterwards, we rushed back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and headed back to the train station. Sadly, we missed our train (which is a whole different story), but eventually made it back to Den Haag.

Paris was a really cool city with plenty of awesome things to go see and do. The best part was that I was able to go into all of the sights for a combined 4 euro thanks to my student ID and Dutch residence permit!! I am very thankful for the opportunity to have gone there.

Thanks for reading,

Josh

Wow what can I say? What an amazing trip I just experienced!! The Hague had a week long fall break after midterms, and consequently we took advantage of it and went on a 9 day trip. Over the course of 9 days, we hit five different cities in 3 different countries. We used 6 days (out of 15) of our train pass in the process and traveled countless hours via train, but it was definitely worth it.

Our trip began on Friday night when we took an overnight train to Zurich, Switzerland. We arrived around 8:30 AM and spent about 12 hours wandering around the city. Zurich had the potential to be quite picturesque because it was sandwiched between the mountains and had a large river running in the middle of it. However, the weather didn’t help our cause at all. In fact, we actually got sleeted on for at least an hour or so. It was quite cold and rainy the rest of the day.

The city was quite clean and had many large buildings (predominantly banks and other commercial centers). However, it was a pretty expensive city even for basic things like food. Nonetheless, we visited a few cathedrals, including one, which had a tower that offered a panoramic view of the whole city. Other than that, one of our main focuses was to stay warm, which proved to be troublesome. Zurich didn’t offer that many attractions for tourists, as we saw everything we wanted to in the first 3 or 4 hours. In fact, my travel book had 0 pages about Zurich, and Brian’s travel book had 3 pages. Regardless, it was exciting to go to a different country that many people don’t ever travel to.

The next stop on our journey was Rome. In order to get there, we took another overnight train (from Zurich) which put us in the city around 9 in the morning. Rome was simply amazing!! There were so many things to see and do. Every ten steps you take, you see another picture-worthy building or site. We were there for 3 days, but I honestly feel that we could have stayed another 2 and still not have gotten bored.

The first day, we decided to knock out all of the Ancient Roman sites. We had to start with the famous Coliseum, of course. The most famous building of the ancient world was not a disappointment in the least. Regardless of the fact that I had seen so many pictures and heard so many stories about the Coliseum, the amphitheater was awe-inspiring. My imagination really came to life just imagining the crowds, the fighters, the animals, the naval battles, etc. that took place there some 2000 years ago. Afterwards, we visited the Roman Forum-the center of Ancient Roman life. Even though most of the Forum was mostly just ruins, you could just imagine the ornate temples, the courthouses, the Senate, etc. Following that, we entered some beautiful cathedrals filled with some amazing murals and statues.

The second day in Rome, we went to the Vatican City. The Vatican Museum was unbelievably huge-in fact there are over 4 miles of galleries in that one building!! Every single gallery I walked into, I was just like, “Wow.” I felt like I should have taken a picture of every single piece of art in the museum. The most famous artwork we saw was the Sistine Chapel. I just stared at the ceiling for about 20 minutes without problem. Eventually, I just had to give my eyes a rest as there was so much going on. Next, we wandered through the tombs of the popes and even saw the tomb of Pope John Paul II. The tombs led straight to the most immaculate church in the world-St. Peter’s Basilica. The church was so large and had so many quadrants to look at that our group actually got separated for about an hour. St. Peter’s puts just about every other church in the world to shame with its size, artwork, prestige, etc. After leaving the Vatican, we walked along the Roman countryside and even toured some catacombs dating back to the 4th and 5th century. The catacombs were the final resting place for persecuted Christians who were killed for practicing their beliefs during the time of the Roman Empire.

The third day in Rome, we walked to some of the less famous places in Rome. We started with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which regrettably, is much nicer, and more ornate then the one in Arlington Cemetery. Next, we walked to the Pantheon-a huge temple devoted to all of the gods of Ancient Rome. Afterwards, we meandered to Trevi Fountain, which in my opinion was quite possibly the prettiest thing I saw on the entire trip (if you have never seen it or heard of it, type it into Google Images and enjoy). The rest of the day, we just wandered around, leaving most of the touristy areas of the city.

I was sad to leave Rome the next morning, but nonetheless, it was onto Florence-the birthplace of the Renaissance. After checking into our hostel, we went to the Duomo (once again Google it), a famous cathedral located right in the center of the city. Basically, every road in the city led to it, and one can see it from just about anywhere in the city. Later in the day, we entered the Uffizi Gallery, which according to many sources is one of the most impressive art galleries in the Western World (if not the whole world). Inside, we saw the works of such artists as: Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Raphael, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt. My favorite artwork in the gallery was the “Birth of Venus” by Botticelli. It was just so interesting to see the real paintings rather than pictures in art textbooks.

The second day in Florence, we began with the Accademia. This art museum was not nearly as large as the Uffizi or had as many famous artworks inside. However, the Accademia is the home of Michelangelo’s statue, “David.” The statue was so large, perfectly sculpted, and still in perfect shape. This may be the one artwork that defined the Renaissance time period and to be standing in its presence was quite awesome. Afterwards, we walked around a marketplace and some shops (if you like shopping, Florence is a good place to go as there are vendors everywhere). After buying a few souvenirs, we walked across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge (Google it) to the more quiet side of the city. We walked around some beautiful gardens and climbed to the top of a hill to see the whole city. After a little more wandering around, it was time for dinner and to go back to the hostel before going off to Venice the next morning.

Venice was just as I had pictured it in my mind: just an extremely scenic place with lots of canals, boats, colorful buildings, etc. Our first adventure in the city was to take a water bus down the Grand Canal from the train station to St. Mark’s Square. St. Mark’s church had a totally different style than most other churches I had ever seen. Nonetheless, it was just another huge and beautiful cathedral in Italy. Across the street was a huge bell tower. We took the elevator up, and were once again able to see the whole city (it seems to be a reoccurring theme with us). It was just so cool to see all the little islands, the waterways, the gondolas, etc. Afterwards, we walked around the waterfront for probably a good mile or two just taking in the beauty of the city.

After we saw the major sights, we simply began to wander around the streets of the city. Venice is an extremely hard city to navigate around. There are 150 canals, 400 bridges, several islands, etc. There are few street signs, and most residents’ addresses are just the district of the city followed by a number (not a lot of help for us). It began to rain later in the night which didn’t help our cause, but we still managed to see a good chunk of the city in the 8 or 9 hours that we had to spend in the old town.

The six days we spent in Italy were so amazing. We saw so many sights, famous museums, and cathedrals. In fact, I probably went to more art museums this past week than the last 5 years combined. I have always found Italian food as the best in the world, and real Italian food didn’t disappoint. I ate so much pizza, pasta, lasagna, calzones, etc. The best, however, was gelato (Rick Steve’s calls it, “an edible art form”). I am already missing it-as it was probably the best ice cream I have ever tried (yes, even better than Graeter’s), not to mention that I had it about a dozen times in 6 days. I loved Italy, and hopefully I’ll be able to return there sometime in the near future.

From Venice, we had a 620 AM train to go to Innsbruck, Austria. We arrived in the quaint, mountainous town (about 110,000 people) around 1230. Innsbruck was quite literally located right in the Alps. We finally had nice weather and looking at the snow capped mountains was a great experience. We saw a gold plated roof dating back to the 15th century and the tomb of Emperor Maximilian I (it reminded me of the Terra Cotta soldiers in Xi’an, China). The Winter Olympics were in Innsbruck in 1964 and 1976, and we were able to see some of the old Olympic stadiums. We went to the top of the ski jump and had a drink in the all glass restaurant, admiring the beauty of our surroundings. The city of Innsbruck was very quiet, safe, clean, and pretty-I would love to return there to go skiing for a week.

Like I said at the beginning, what an amazing week my trip was. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would be able to go to all of these places. My body and mind were exhausted by the time I returned to Holland Sunday morning, but the fatigue was well worth it; I enjoyed every minute of the trip.

Thanks for reading,

Josh

This past weekend, Brian and I ventured to Luxembourg. We bought a train pass before we came to Europe, but now we realize that we will be hard pressed to use all 15 days of travel in a 2 month period. In all honesty, the two day trip to Luxembourg was quite spontaneous, as we didn’t decide to go there until the past Monday.

We left on Friday morning and came back late Saturday night. With travel times included (about 6 hours each way), we were actually only in Luxembourg City for around 24 hours. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed our little get-a-way from Holland. The city was quite pretty and picturesque. Luxembourg even had hills!!! We had not seen substantial hills since Dublin (the literal translation of Netherlands is “low lands” or “flat lands.”) The city was also quite clean; it may have even been the cleanest place I have ever traveled to.

We maximized our time there by going to as many places as possible in a short period. We saw the Palace of the Grand Duchy (Luxembourg is the only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy), some beautiful cathedrals, and a famous fortress dating back to the 10th century. The rest of time there, we wandered around a marketplace, took a hike through the forest, and just took in the sights.

Another upside of our trip was the hostel. The hostel that we stayed at was not only the cheapest one available, but it resembled a Holiday Inn. It was by far the best hostel I have ever stayed at. I am hoping to stay in another hostel run by the same chain in the near future.

All in all, I am glad that we decided to go to Luxembourg. It was nice in a sense because nobody really talks about or travels to Luxembourg; it was cool to do something that most people won’t ever do. Luxembourg was also the prettiest place I have seen since I have been to Europe. Because of its small size, there was not a whole lot to do. The amount of time we spent there was pretty ideal. So, I wouldn’t recommend ever going there for an extended period of time, but if you are ever in the nearby vicinity (Belgium, Holland, Germany, or France), I highly recommend you stop in Luxembourg for a day or two.

Thanks for reading,

Josh

I just experienced one of the greatest events of my entire life this past weekend!!! The one thing that I had to do while in Europe was go to the real Oktoberfest in Munich. When we realized that our finances and our class schedule would allow us to venture to the great festival, we immediately jumped on the opportunity.

It is quite difficult to describe in words the magnitude of the fest. Oktoberfest was kind of like the Kentucky Derby on steroids. In fact, combine: all the action of the state fair (rides, booths, attractions, etc), the party atmosphere of the Derby, hundreds of thousands of people, and German food/beer and you have Oktoberfest in Munich. Everywhere you look, you could see thousands of people in their traditional lederhosen. There was also plenty of music to go around for everyone to enjoy, as well.

The beer tents were immense; I read that some of them could hold around 5000 people each. Imagine that amount of people singing, drinking, dancing on the tables, etc. You don’t even have to drink to have a great time. I strongly believe that anyone would be able to enjoy themselves in that environment regardless of the circumstances. Everywhere you look, you see people from all over the world with a big smile on their face.

There was even a mini-amusement park inside the fairgrounds. It contained a few roller coasters, a ferris wheel, small children’s rides, typical county fair rides, etc. Quite literally, there was something for everyone to do at the festival. There were people there that probably ranged from 3 years old to 90 years old. And the food……the food was fantastic. The streets were lined with different snack and sandwich vendors. I definitely got my fair share of schnitzel, sausage, pretzels, and anything else you associate with German cuisine.

All in all, Oktoberfest was more than I expected. I am so glad I was able to go, especially since I have no idea if I will ever be able to return. If you enjoy parties, festivals, beer, food, music, and a great atmosphere then Oktoberfest is your place to be. I honestly feel that this is one event that everyone needs to attend at some point in their lifetime.

Thanks for reading,

Josh Heeman

This past weekend, I took my first trip outside of the Netherlands. Six students from U of L, along with one other girl went to Dublin, Ireland for a long weekend. Getting to and from Dublin was kind of a hassle (about 12 hours of airports/planes/train stations/trains going there and about 10 coming home), but nonetheless it was well worth it; I have no complaints. I really enjoyed spending three whole days in Dublin, rather than the two that we were originally planning. We were able to see and do everything that we wanted to plus a lot more.

On Friday morning, we took a 3 hour walking tour around the city. The tour was through the website neweuropetours.eu. I highly recommend that if anyone goes to Europe to check out this website. They offer free walking tours in probably ten major European cities. They will take you to a lot of the famous sites for three hours and give you a lot of historical background information. When you are done, all you have to do is tip them (if they did a good job of course). The tour took us to Dublin Castle, Trinity College, Village Green, some cathedrals, Jonathon Swift’s birthplace, etc.

Later on Friday night, I partook in my first pub crawl. It was a really fun time, especially meeting many college age students from all over Europe and the United States. The crawl took us to 3 pubs, one pub/dance club, and one club all in one night. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves. Dublin’s main strip is called Temple Bar. Everywhere you look, you see restaurants, upscale shopping, pubs, and clubs. I personally thought that it was a much better version of Bardstown Road. It is quite touristy, but nonetheless it is a good place to enjoy yourself.

On Saturday, we kind of did our own thing. We went to a famous prison that housed and executed many political prisoners during the Irish rebellions against the British. I have always enjoyed history and learning about the Irish’s centuries-long feud with Britain was quite interesting. They had 5 revolutions in about 300 years, with it all culminating with the Easter Rebellion in 1916. The Irish have a lot of pride, and we were able to experience some of it while touring the prison and seeing the sites where the political leaders were held and executed.

Afterwards, we toured the Guinness brewery. We went to the Heineken brewery in Amsterdam, but the Guinness brewery was much larger. In fact, there were about 20 or so different buildings scattered within one complex. They did a good job explaining the various steps in the brewing process. The end was the best part-we got to drink a beverage at the top of the tall building. The “Gravity Bar” was circular and completely encompassed by glass windows. You could literally see the whole city. It wasn’t nearly as tall as the Sears Tower or Empire State Building, but nonetheless it served the same purpose.

On Sunday, we went on a tour bus to venture away from the city a little bit. We went to the countryside for a few hours and got to see the famous Irish rolling hills, green grass, and lots of sheep and cattle. It was the Ireland that we had always imagined. Afterwards, the bus took us to a city called Kilkenny. The city was well-known because of a castle that has been maintained in almost perfect condition. It was nice to walk in a real and fully-standing castle.

Overall, Dublin was a great experience. It was definitely a nice change of pace to be able to communicate with everyone and read signs in English. The city wasn’t the cleanest by any means, and with the exception of some scattered cathedrals and castles, there were not that many nice buildings to see. On the other hand, the people were extremely helpful and friendly. However, after some people began to drink, they could possibly become quite loud, aggressive, and possible violent. I believe that kind of behavior is overlooked by the population (which is quite different than in America). Needless to say, I would never want to be a police officer. Regardless of these facts, I still had a lot of fun, and I recommend that you travel there if you ever get a chance.

Thanks for reading,

Josh Heeman