My Roman Holiday

A couple weeks ago, I embarked on my last big adventure of my study abroad experience. How crazy is it that all this is coming to an end? A month from today, I will be getting on a plane home to America - a place that seems otherworldly at this point. I've become so acclimated to the lifestyle here, that I think it's going to be a bit of a challenge coming home and readjusting to what used to be almost 5 months ago.

So my last major travel took me to Rome, Italy for a few days. It was the absolute best time - full of unexpected surprises! Izzy and I flew out of Brussels on a Sunday morning to land in Rome in the afternoon. I've always wanted to go to Rome. After visiting, I've never been to any place like it. There is just so much art and history jam packed into one city, it's spectacular. 

The only aspect I truly didn't enjoy were the amount of tourists there. It's a good thing I'm heading home soon, because this is when families start taking summer vacations. Rome was so crowded and full of people all over the place. There were so many vendors trying to sell you things, Izzy and I reached a point where we were about to tell of the next person that tried to sell us a selfie stick. 

When we arrived Sunday, we hit up a couple major sites - a walk by the Colosseum and a visit to the Trevi Fountain. Both were just astounding. I've never had the opportunity to see a structure so old and historical. Then I had another jaw-drop moment at the fountain. It is just absolutely stunning. The amount of detail and craftsmanship that was put into the fountain is amazing. I made a wish and threw a coin in, so fingers crossed that comes true someday. 

Afterwards, we met up with one of Izzy's friends who actually stayed with us back in February to grab dinner in the Trastevere neighborhood. She ended up leaving just 2 days after we arrived to come home to the States - it was crazy for us to think that we still had another month and a half to go. She also took us for our first gelato where I had the most delicious little cup of the sweet goodness. You wouldn't think blueberry cheesecake cobbler and strawberry would go together well, but both flavors were amazing. 

The next day, we fit in as much as we could. We originally planned to go into the Colosseum, but by the time we got there, the lines were extremely long, so we decided to do some other things. We stopped by the Trevi Fountain again (because it's just that amazing!) and then made multiple stops to the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. On the way there, we ended up running into a Hanover class that was taking a spring term trip here unexpectedly. It was the funniest and best thing. So nice to see some familiar faces! 

After stopping at both these places, we made our way to Il Gioliti which Jill had recommended us to go to for some more amazing gelato. Here I tried Oreo, Stratiacella, and Strawberry flavors. Izzy and I took a breather before we were off to meet up with one of our favorite professors who was taking a class from Hanover to Rome for Spring Term.

Originally, we intended on meeting her in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Long story short, we waited almost 2 hours baking in the sun. Eventually we left only to find out she got caught up with an issue she was having with her class and couldn't get in contact with us to let us know what was going on.

At this point, we were so exhausted that we just took the metro back to our hostel where we took a breather. Some of our sorority sisters ended up being in Rome with another class, so we met up with lots of people from our school that evening for dinner and drinks. I can't tell you how lovely it was to just hang out with Americans. We didn't have to worry about language barriers, we didn't have to explain ourselves, we could just be, and it was so refreshing.

Our last day, we crammed in so, so much. Because the Colosseum was packed the day before, we got up bright and early to make it there right as it opened. We ended up practically having the place to ourselves. It was so nice. The Colosseum itself is just amazing. It's hard to put into words how cool it is to stand in a structure with so much history, spanning over thousands of years. After, we made our way to the Roman Forum which is located right next to it. Also spectacular.

After, we made our way to the Vatican, where we spent a couple hours walking through the museum. I even got to see the Sistine Chapel. I feel like I'm being so redundant when I describe all the places I've been to, but it was hard to put that place into words either. Hundreds upon hundreds of years ago Leonardo da Vinci painted that church - how neat is that?!!

Then, we made our way to St. Peter's Basilica. I'm not Catholic, but boy was that place just beautiful. At this point, Izzy and I were wiped, so we ended up lying down in a park and relaxed for 2 hours before we were to meet with our professor for dinner after making our way through the church.

We spent our last night dining with Uschi, our study abroad advisor who as I said before brought a class here. It was so great to catch up with her as well. We told her all about our experiences (and how we're freaking out about finals being so soon).

A fantastic Roman Holiday it was. I apologize for the lack of blog posts, but I'm spending every day (until I come home ultimately) for the next 3 1/2 weeks studying hardcore for exams. I'll try to fit in little updates here and there, but thank you for keeping up with my journey throughout this semester!

Enjoy some photos from the trip below!

Living out my Lizzie McGuire dream!

First bites of gelato

Trastevere Neighborhood

The best reunions are Hanover ones.

Phi Mu reunited in front of the Trevi Fountain.

Piazza Navona 

St. Peter's Basilica

Roman Forum

Reunited with our study abroad advisor. 

Returning to the City of Light

Half a month later and I'm just getting to updates on our weekend in Paris. Things have been getting crazier and busier here in Leuven. I'm reaching my final weeks with only a month and a half left to go before I board a plane heading home to the States. I'm making it a goal to be all caught up on my posts this week, so be on the lookout for a couple more blogs from yours truly.

So - Paris. We came because we wanted to participate in the Paris Color Run - so we just made a weekend trip out of it. The megabus costed less than 25 euros to get us there and back, so it was an easy 4 hour drive from Brussels. Upon getting off at the bus stop in Paris, my heart skipped a beat. I have been blessed to experience and see so many new places during my travels this semester, but there's just something about this city that makes me want to pack my bags up and move here. It feels like a second home to me - I feel comfortable exploring and navigating my way around, and there's always something new for me to see and fall in love with. 

After we checked into our hotel, we explored the Notre Dame area a bit. I got a scoop of my favorite ice cream, Bertillion and we walked around for awhile, stumbling into Shakespeare and Company and eating dinner in a cute little restaurant for less than 10 euros. The sunset was stunning that evening - and I just couldn't stop smiling the entire time. 

Saturday we did so, SO much. We started our morning off at the Champs-Elysees and l'Arc de Triomphe (where I almost convinced myself I needed to spend 20 euros on macaroons from Laduree). I ended up buying a new jacket from the H&M there which was so fun. After snapping some pics, we made our way toward the Eiffel Tower. Call it touristy, call it cliche, but the Eiffel Tower is my favorite thing about Paris. It's what I dreamed about seeing for the longest time . . . so when I finally did back in high school, it only ignited my passion for traveling the world. Every time I get to see it again, I am immediately reminded of how much more I want to see and explore on our beautiful planet. 

Paid a visit to my pal Louis Vuitton

From Paris with Love. 

After grabbing a sandwich, we got caught in the rain making our way toward the Louvre. It literally downpoured for the entire walk there, so we got a little soaked. Once we arrived though, it was completely sunny again, so I couldn't complain too much. I was so happy because I ended up getting into the Louvre for free. Because we have Belgian residence cards, we're considered "members of the EU" so I didn't have to pay a dime to see the Mona Lisa! Of course we took the obligatory selfie and explored a bit more. 

From here, we spent the night sitting on the steps of the Sacre Coeur and watched the sunset over the city. It was magical. We were off to bed early as our last morning was spent waking up bright and early.

Okay. So if you ever get the chance to do to the Color Run in Paris or anywhere else amazing in Europe - do it! It was such an amazing experience (and not too expensive!) It works just like any other color run, except I was motivated to finish thanks to beautiful views along the Seine and the final celebration at the Trocadero in front of the Eiffel Tower. Words can't describe how awesome it was. It made me so thankful for these wonderful experiences I have had. 

After dancing and getting completely covered in powder, it was time to say goodbye to the City of Light. I'm already dreaming up my next adventure, and cannot wait to return to my favorite place in the world one day. 

Dublin' it Up in the City

Just two weeks ago, I found myself in the city of Dublin, Ireland for a quick weekend trip with Izzy and Annelien. All of us had always wanted to go, so we said let's do it!

Because of the delays during our trip to Spain, we had one day in between Spain and Ireland at home in Belgium, so much of what we did was very spontaneous while we visited (little time to plan unfortunately). Let me just say, the flight coming in was absolutely stunning. Because Dublin sits right near the water, we got to see much of the coastline upon flying in. 

Overall - I would give Dublin a 7/10. It's definitely a neat city with tons of history, but it's quite expensive when you're balling on a budget, and you truly don't need more than a weekend there. If anything, this trip fueled my desire to go back and visit the rest of the country, mountains, cliffs, and all.

Upon arriving, we got driven to our hostel by this adorable old Irish taxi driver. It's so weird seeing them drive on the other side of the road, let alone being present in a car while it happens, but he drove us about 20 minutes away to the heart of Dublin. We stayed in "The Generator Hostel" which ended up being very trendy, very different from the hostels we've stayed in before. 

Because we couldn't check in until 2, we went in search of lunch. We ended up going to the Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Ireland dating back to 1198. It was everything you would imagine a typical Irish pub could be. Fireplaces, dark mahogany walls, beer glasses the size of your head - old Irish men drinking at 11 in the morning - it reminded me of the Three Broomsticks from Harry Potter. It was fantastic. I had a delicious sandwich and ended up trying some Irish hard cider (no Guinness for me - yet!)

The rest of the afternoon was spent simply exploring. It ended up raining a bit (what a surprise). We stopped in the late afternoon for one of the best "iced" hot chocolates I've ever had. Yes, you heard me. In the biggest mason jar, you get hot chocolate, topped with ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate syrup. It was the absolute best. 

We ended up going to bed early that night due to the exhaustions of traveling. The following day was my favorite, though. We started our morning off by visiting St. Stephen's Green, a massive park in Dublin. As we walked through, we met an old Irish man who was fond of feeding pigeons. He ended up wanting us to do the same, and my friend Izzy went right for it. I'm not too fond of birds after an incident I had with one at a young age, but before I knew it the guy was giving me oats in my hand and I had a pigeon resting right on my arm. Don't worry, PLENTY of hand sanitizer was used after I was finished. He was a little quirky, but it made for a hilarious memory.

Kinda happy, kinda not...

After, we walked by Trinity College and decided we were going to visit Howth, a little harbor town on the coast of Ireland. It only cost 6 euros to take the train to get there, and boy was I happy we did. It was definitely my favorite part of the weekend. We couldn't have gone on a better day. Clear skies and a little bit of wind added to the ambiance of it all. You could walk all through the town and just see so much blue sky and rocky cliffs. I ended up making a couple new friends along the way as well...

Meet my new friends!

Howth, Ireland

Upon coming back, we trekked through the Temple Bar area where much of the nightlife happens. It's a cool little area to hear live music, but definitely something you only need to do once or twice.

Sunday, we visited the Guinness Brewery, which was much more awesome than what I expected. Not only do you get to learn about how the beer is made, but they teach you how to "craft the perfect pour" of Guinness. Let me tell you, it's an art. After you get through the museum, they have a "gravity bar" where you can see lovely views of Dublin while enjoying your complimentary glass. It was a lot of fun and I can proudly say I am a true fan of the beer.

Graduated with honors! 

Later that day, we were looking to go to the old jail located on the outskirts of the city, but little did we realize that you had to book in advance before you could go. So, we got there only to find out we couldn't visit which was disappointing. The rest of the evening was filled with relaxation, as we had an early flight the next morning. Our hostel ended up having live music on Sundays, so we sat in the restaurant and listened for a bit.

All in all, Dublin made me realize how much I want to go back to Ireland to explore more. I'm so thankful to have traveled to all these cities, and I'm so excited for a few more adventures we have in the works in my last 2 months ahead. Up next, an update on a visit to my favorite city in the world ... Paris! 

Spring Break - Spain Edition

Long time - NO BLOGGING! I've missed getting to write posts on here. For the past two weeks, I have been traveling non-stop, with almost no time for anything else. We had our Easter holiday, so we took advantage of the time off to explore other parts of Europe. A little over a week ago, I traveled to Spain with Izzy to visit Paloma, a girl who studied abroad at Hanover last semester. She was wonderful and showed us all over. We visited Ciudad Real, Iniesta, Cuenca, Toledo, and Madrid - all within the short time we were there. I've never seen another country like it. Getting to have locals show us around was such a blessing, and I was truly able to experience the Spaniard lifestyle.

CIUDAD REAL:
This university town is about a two hour drive south of Madrid. One of Paloma's friends drove us here from Madrid so we could meet up with Paloma while she was at school. The drive there was absolutely stunning. Rolling hills, vineyards, olive trees growing everywhere - it was all so beautiful. At this point in the day, we were so exhausted, and it was difficult for me to try and stay awake. I wanted so badly to continue looking out my window, but fought against my heavy eyelids that were telling me otherwise.

Once we arrived, we went out for dinner and drinks. In Spain, tapas are a very common thing. With almost any drink you order, you can pick out a little "tapas" or tiny snack to eat with it. So we sat our in the main square and enjoyed a spring night in Spain getting to catch up with Paloma and a couple of her friends.

The next day was a big party that the entire campus was participating in. Throughout the year, different "faculties" of the university will hold a big party that everyone goes to. On the day we visited, it was the law faculty's turn to host. The party was held in what used to be a water park facility. They had a DJ and what looked to be a massive swimming pool completely drained so that people could walk around in more areas. it was very different - but the party lasted all day. We ended up meeting up with a couple girls from Hanover who were studying abroad at the university as well, so it was great to see all of them, too.

Our last day in Ciudad Real, we met the Hanover girls for lunch at this restaurant that ended up serving burgers as big as your head. Literally. I could only eat half of the sandwich. They were just massive. It was so nice to talk to students that were going through the same study abroad adventures as we were. We bonded over the language and cultural barriers we experience on a daily basis and how different our school is from the ones we attend in Europe. It made me miss Hanover and home even more.

Paloma, Izzy, and I in Ciudad Real

Later that night, we all drove East towards Valencia, where we stopped in the hometown of Paloma's - a city called Iniesta!

INIESTA
Paloma, Izzy and I, and about 7 of her other friends all came to her town for the weekend to stay with her family in their home. They live in the heart of Spanish wine country. Her dad even works out in the fields where the endless plains of olive trees and grapes are grown. Unfortunately, they didn't speak a lick of English - so I was at a bit of a loss the entire time we were there. Izzy knew some, but we had to have her friends translate for us often. Their family was so welcoming though, and always cooked big Spanish meals for us to eat.

During my stay - I came to realize just how laid-back the Spanish lifestyle is. They didn't eat dinner until at least 11 P.M. each night (much different from my 5:30 P.M. meals back home). They wake up late and breakfast isn't eaten until at least 11 A.M. - lunch maybe around 3 P.M. The lifestyle was just so different!

On Saturday we went to Cuenca, this beautiful city just north of her hometown. It was maybe an hour drive, and we got to see much of the Spanish countryside on the way which I loved. The city is built into the rocky mountainside, and it just oozes with picturesque lookouts and gorgeous winding streets to walk through.

Living life on the edge.

When we came back, we ended up taking one of her dad's old trucks out for some good ol' off-roading in the Spanish countryside/mountains. We got to see so many vineyards and drove for miles on these old dirt roads. We ended up getting lost trying to find a bridge that connects two provinces together in Spain, so what was supposed to be a 2 hour trip turned into a 4 hour deal. We made it back just in time for dinner at 11:30 though!

Sunday was our last day in Iniesta, and we actually got to visit a mushroom farm. Mushrooms are a big deal in Spain - they're eaten at almost every meal and they're very knowledgable on the food as a whole. Paloma's aunt worked at one, so we got a tour of how they grow and produce them which ended up being pretty neat. I myself am not a huge mushroom fan, but it was still great to visit.

TOLEDO
The same day, we were leaving to go to Madrid, but on the way we stopped through the gorgeous city of Toledo. This is probably one of the most picturesque cities I've visited. It's about an hour south of Madrid, and it sits on this massive hill that is surrounded by it's own natural moat. Unfortunately, we didn't get to a lookout of the city until it was dark at night, so I don't have pictures of the city as a whole, but I did get some great ones throughout the afternoon we were there (which will hopefully do the place justice!)

This moment reminded me of the movie Tangled - when they release all the lanterns into the night sky.

MADRID
We finished our last couple days in Madrid before it was time to fly out! We crammed in tons. We saw multiple parks, Playa Mayor, the Royal Palace of Madrid, Buen Retiro Park, and the Crystal Palace. Photos to follow below:

Fresh blooms everywhere you look!

Boat rides for 2 euros? Why not!

Crystal Palace, Madrid

The insane part was trying to get home! I'll do my best to make this short and sweet - but we'll see if that happens. Originally we were supposed to fly out Tuesday very early in the morning to return to Brussels. Because of recent events, many flights were redirected to Liege and Charleroi airports in Belgium. Flying to Madrid, our flight was redirected to Liege - no big deal, we checked online and got to the airport when we needed to. The strange thing was, we never got an email saying our flight was changed. We just did our own research.

Coming back, we checked to see when our flight was scheduled to leave that Tuesday, and it was at 9:30 P.M. Cool - we would just get on the plane then and come home. Buuuuut just wait. Izzy checked her email that day around noon only to see that they rebooked our flight the day before to leave at 12:35 P.M that day. So we missed our flight. We were extremely confused, as the website never updated with our flight change.

We ended up going to the airport anyway to see if we could get on the flight, only to find out it was overbooked. I may or may not have broken down right then and there in the airport. It's one of the worst things when you're exhausted (mentally and physically), when you just want to get home, and you can't. Not to mention few people spoke English, so I had no clue what was happening for the most part.

As they say, it's important to look on the bright side, though. The airline ended up getting us a really nice hotel room to stay in that night, and we ended up getting on a plane leaving the same time the next day. We met a really nice lady who was in the same situation as us, and ended up making a new friend in Belgium which was awesome! She lives near the coast - so now we have new friends to visit if we ever get out that way which is great.

Does the story end here? No it does not sadly. So we get onto this plane the next day thankfully, but they tell us instead of flying into Liege, we will be flying into Brussels International Airport. Brussels is actually much closer to Leuven than Liege, so that was nice, but our flight didn't get in until 11:35 P.M. at night. The last buses ran at 11:30. So we had no way of getting home until they ran again at 4:30 in the morning. We tried everything. We looked into getting a taxi (this costed 100 euros to drive 20 minutes away) so that wasn't an option. We tried Brussels Uber which wouldn't have been that expensive - but the cars were busy the entire time we tried to leave. We couldn't even take a train anywhere! It was miserable. We had to wait another 6 hours before we could get home. But eventually we made it and I slept for a very very very very long time.

Because of all these crazy delays/cancellations/etc., we had one day to relax in between our travels from Spain and our travels to Ireland. If I've learned anything while I'm here, it's to go with the flow, to be flexible, and to expect the unexpected. Be on the lookout for a new post on Ireland here soon!

There's Nothing Like a Sunday Stroll

Week 7 has come and gone. I am almost done with month 2 of study abroad and each day I am discovering little parts of Leuven I never knew existed before. I love my free days where I can just wander and explore the town. Today, I ventured out to Abdij Van Park (Dutch for "Parc Abbey"), just outside the city in the Belgian countryside. It was an easy and quick 20 minute walk from my house, and boy was I so thankful I decided to spend a Sunday stroll here.

The parc was built on the grounds of an abbey that was established in 1080. After doing some research on the area, I discovered that it went through many changes and developments - the church standing there today wasn't installed until the 18th century. Back home in Indiana, I love visiting Ritchey Woods - a little nature preserve about a 10 minute drive from my house. I think Abdij Van Park will definitely take it's place until I return in the summer. 

I had no destination set in stone, so I spent much of my time exploring different paths. Everyone was walking their dogs, spending time with family, riding bikes, or going on runs. It's days like today that make me so thankful I chose to study in Leuven. Sure it would've been great to study in the South of France or in the U.K. - somewhere where you always have the hustle and bustle of the city, but Leuven just makes this experience so much more authentic. 

I feel like I'm truly living life like a European. I can experience both the peaceful moments and crazy moments. I never have to take a metro to get anywhere and yet I can still explore all parts of the city. If I want to take part in the nightlife, I walk 10 minutes down the street. If I want to go for a run in the countryside, I turn right out my door and take the sidewalk out of the city. This place just feels like home. Knowing all of these special moments I've had with Leuven is going to make it that much harder to leave come June.  

Yesterday also included a visit to a market that we came across close to the town hall. It was so cute and full of fresh produce and flowers to purchase as well. This week I'm trying something new and making avocado chicken bombs for dinner, so I ended up buying 2 avocados as well as a fresh bouquet of tulips from a stand that brings in flowers from the Netherlands to brighten up the room.  

Besides this, classes are interesting. We made a trip to Antwerp on Friday because our art class was supposed to meet at the Rubenshuis for a field trip. We waited an hour for our professor to show up (which he never did) - so a few classmates and I ended up just exploring the museum ourselves. I'm really glad we did, lots of neat paintings and architecture to discover. 

Below I'm attaching a few random pictures from the week. This is our last week before our 2 week Easter Break. During our vacation, we are venturing to Spain and Ireland - so I will be sure to keep the blog updated with the new adventures that come!

J-House Hotel Party - The residence I'm living in does one of these each semester where each room prepares a snack/drink/game to play so everyone can see each others rooms and get to know one another.

Selfie Stick always coming in clutch.

Until next time.....!