The Grand Béguinage // Groot Begijnhof van Leuven

Today was a dream ... in more ways than one. Not only was it 55 degrees and sunny (a rarity for Belgium), but I spent my afternoon exploring the most absolute beautiful place in Leuven. The Grand Béguinage is a completely restored historical neighborhood in the southern part of the city that is now owned by my university and houses students and professors alike. But the neat part about it all is the history about this place. The Beguinage was built in the 13th century - yes, you heard me. It's that old. And so romantic. And so peaceful. And so serene. I just want to spend all of my afternoons here.

Back in the day (900 years ago), this place was a community for unmarried, religious women. I caught myself saying multiple times, "Is this real? Am I actually walking through something as beautiful as this?" This is what I love about travel. Sure, you can go to the big cities like Paris, London, or Amsterdam and experience huge monuments, massive museums, and touristy places and have a good time. But how neat is it that this world is full of millions of little cities and towns full of hidden gems like Leuven?

Discovering this place was surreal as well. Leuven is a fairly big city full of busy streets, bike riders everywhere you look, plenty of apartments, restaurants, academic buildings. Soon after I turned a corner, things got quiet and the next thing I knew I was walking down a cobblestone path that led me to this quaint and quiet neighborhood. Barely any souls around, I could take in the sights and just completely lose myself in the moment.

I was immediately reminded of 2 movies: 1. The Holiday with Cameron Diaz. You remember when she goes on vacation and stays at that adorable cottage in the British countryside? This place was the Belgian equivalent. and 2. Harry Potter - Privet Drive. So many matching homes, it felt like I was in Surrey. Enjoy some of my favorite moments snapped below.

Thank you, Belgium

As of last Tuesday, I have been here for one month.

what.
what.
WHAT.

Time is flying by so fast. As much as I can't wait to see my family and friends when I get home, I don't want to leave. With everything I've done in the past month, I can only imagine what the next four will bring.

This being said, study abroad isn't all glamour and travels. There are tough days, days where you wish you could walk down the hall to your mom's room and talk to her about the challenges you're having. Days where you don't want to go to that boring class. Days where you just want to snuggle in bed all day. And that doesn't always happen necessarily.

But you push through regardless. Belgium has already given me plenty of opportunities to grow as an individual, and for that I am so thankful. I would say in general I am a pretty independent person, but this country has brought my independence to a whole new level. They say when you go off to college, you learn how to live on your own, how to manage your time, etc. But this place is different.

After going from a schedule at Hanover where I'm busy from 8:30 am to 11:00 pm at night to a schedule in Leuven where I don't have to be awake before noon only to be busy for 2-3 hours a day, accountability means something different. It means forcing yourself to do your school work, to make time for friends, to travel, and to find time for yourself.

I'm learning to find a balance between relaxation and productivity. I have more time to enjoy the things I don't get to at Hanover. If I want to take a break from homework to go take a walk outside, I can do that. (Let me tell you, there are some beautiful places to walk here). I'm learning how to do it all.

With this, I am looking forward to warmer days and the adventures that come with them. Meanwhile, we spent a chilly weekend in Belgium with one of Izzy's friends who was visiting from her study abroad experience in Italy. It was tons of fun, we ended up going to Brussels for the afternoon and showed her around Leuven which was lovely. Enjoy several pictures below:

Views from "Mont des Arts".

Belgian fries with "sauce Americaine" - still no clue what it was. I can't seem to get on the bandwagon with the mayo obsession here. 

Still on track with my waffle goal.

Tropismes - the coolest bookstore fit for royalty.

The Grand Place of Brussels.

Phi Mu love from across the pond. 

I will forever obsess of Kasteel van Arenberg. It is so serene and calming here. I almost forget I'm in Belgium when I visit. It feels like walking through the grounds of a peaceful Irish manor.

Happy Sunday friends - until next time.

Youda Best, Budapest (Part Two)

Here goes **Part Two** of my adventures in Budapest. I'm still in awe of how much we accomplished in such a short period -- but we had the best time and I couldn't have asked for a better experience (get ready for LOTS of pictures).

DAY TWO:
After getting plenty of rest, we woke up to grab breakfast before heading off on the day's adventures. We grabbed food at this place called Cserpes Tejivó, a little breakfast/brunch place to fuel up. One of the great things about Budapest? It's cheap. They do use a different currency there, the forint, although Hungary is a member of the EU. Their bills are measured in thousands, so for a typical dinner, you may pay 2500-3000 forints (around 8-10 euros). Our breakfast ended up costing 470 forints - so basically 1.50 in euros. And look at how great it was!

After getting my chocolate fix, it was off to Buda Castle. We hadn't ventured to the Buda side of Budapest, but the castle is perched on the top of this plateau that overlooks the city - well worth the visit. Traveling tip - pay for public transportation and the bus will take you all the way to the top of the plateau so you don't have to climb it or pay 10 euros to have a trolley bring you.

The views were absolutely stunning. You get this gorgeous look of the Danube River, you see the bridges connecting the two sides of the city, and there is a fantastic view of Hungarian Parliament (a must!) It's one thing to walk by that building, but you must travel to the Buda side of town in order to see a complete view of the building in all its glory. A mini photo shoot also ensued, so enjoy some of my favorites below.

After taking in some beautiful views, we grabbed lunch and then headed back down the hill. If you take some time to walk around the top of Buda, you'll get some great views of the mountains I mentioned behind the city - you can see little towns spread throughout and it's just stunning.

Once we took a bit of a breather at our hostel, we decided to go to this pub that Annelien loves to visit when she comes here. We were a bit concerned we wouldn't be able to go, as it was Sunday and everything is closed then in Europe - but the place was open and boy was I glad it was.

If you ever go to Budapest - stop by For Sale Pub. While it does have a bit of a Texas Roadhouse vibe (peanuts to eat at every table, shells and hay scattered across the floor), what people go for are the notes spread all throughout. Thousands hang from the walls and ceilings, written by people from all over the world who have visited. Of course we had to make our mark, so we grabbed one of the coasters and placed ours on a wall. Hopefully one day I can come back to find it.

Leaving our mark in Budapest. 

For dinner, we were craving pasta, so that's exactly what we went and got. With our bellies full of Italian, day two was a wrap.

DAY THREE:
Again, we slept in and enjoyed the morning. We grabbed a late breakfast at a place called Friccolla - all fresh ingredients, organic foods, extremely healthy (think of those trendy places in big cities that sell those green juices with ingredients you've never heard of it). I had a great sandwich on ciabatta bread with ham, mozzarella, and sun dried tomatoes which satisfied my morning hunger.

Once we finished eating, we stopped by a mall so Annelien and Izzy could do a bit of shopping. Like I said, Budapest is really cheap -- so if you're looking to shop, this is the place to go. Later on we took the metro to Annelien's neighborhood where she lived when she studied abroad here. The building she lived in was beautiful. While I can jazz up this city as much as possible through these posts - parts of it were saddening.

Budapest has lots of old buildings with beautiful detailing/architecture/etc., but many of them are deteriorating because no one is refurbishing them. Who knows why they aren't being cleaned up, but you could see paint chipping off many of the buildings, exposed brick, and rusted walls slowly falling apart. It was a beautiful tragedy - the city is so old, but no one is doing anything to fix them up.

Annelien at the metro stop in her neighborhood

At the end of her street - you come across Hero Square. Used to commemorate the Seven Chieftains of the Seven Magyars, it includes the tomb of the unknown soldier (also a place where many political demonstrations have taken place). After walking around for a bit, we stopped for food and then relaxed again before the final stops on our Hungarian explorations.

I don't know if it was fate or just a stroke of luck, but our hostel ended up being 3 minutes away from a cat cafe! It was the greatest thing. If you aren't aware of how these work, they're basically cafes where you can drink your cup of coffee while playing with kitties at the same time. So, I ordered my cat-puccino and did exactly that. So fun! I just wish there was one at home for me to go to. Makes me miss my cats even more.

One cat-puccino please!

Two more stops were to be made on this trip. First, we tried Kürtóskalács, a delicacy first made in the Hungarian-speaking parts of Romania for festivals that is now eaten on the reg. They describe it as a "spit cake" made with a sweet yeast. You can get it with different toppings (I went with chocolate because duh!). Very different, but yummy.

Our last stop: Szimpla Kert. They call them "ruin pubs" where you can eat/drink and socialize. They completely take over these old buildings and factories that are practically falling apart and refurbish them into restaurants. So cool and very funky. Originally, we were searching for a rooftop restaurant that would overlook the city, but we determined it would still be a bit too cold to do so.

All in all, Budapest treated us so well. As for my next couple weeks, I will be spending time getting to know my area a bit better. No major travels until our spring break hopefully. On my list for now? Visiting Lille, France (just a train ride away), possibly Luxembourg, as well as the tulip fields in the Netherlands once the weather gets a bit warmer. Soaking in every moment has been key, but I can't wait to see what new adventures Belgium brings me!