Venlo - Faces of Carnaval

Most of the castle kids have decided to stay in Well this weekend for Carnaval, a huge Dutch holiday. On Friday Jeannie and I biked 24 km (about 15 miles) to Venlo and then stopped at the Thermal Baths in Arcen on the way back, which was absolutely magical and relatively cheap as well! Plus it helped cure our sore muscles from biking so far. 

But Saturday was when the real party started. We decided to take the bus this time, but again traveled to Venlo this time for the celebrations! There were six of us that went and we all got dressed up in the Carnaval colors: green, yellow, and red (or at least attempted and dressed as brightly as possible) and then set off. 

The whole town was decked out for the day. Banners hung from every building, the streets were filled with people, and everyone was dressed up for the occasion. The crowds of people were hard to navigate through, sometimes the crowd was so large that we were stuck in one place unable to move in any direction for several minutes. Luckily we had a pretty small group so no one got lost or separated.

Most of the dutch were eager to have their pictures taken because they were so excited to show off their costumes. These two guys pulled me aside when they saw my camera and asked me to take a picture. 

The costumes made it feel like it was like Halloween all day and the Dutch pulled out all the stops. They covered themselves in full body make-up, feathers, fur, and full body suits. 

After an intense day, we piled back on the bus and headed back to Well, six very tired girls. After a short nap we went to some of the local festivities and then climbed in bed to rest up before the parade in town the next day.

Howth - on top of the world

On our second day in Dublin, instead of venturing around the city we traveled north to Howth, a small fishing village with delicious fish 'n chips and beautiful views.

Our travels took us up a rocky path that overlooked the water and "Ireland's Eye," a small island just off the coast.

We even took the time to reenact the Lion King at the top of the mountain.

Dublin - shopping for the budget traveler

We arrived in Dublin early last friday morning (wow only a week ago!) and took our time getting through customs, going to the ATM, and finding the bus to the center of town. We went up to a very friendly lady at the tourist information desk who helped us with a city map and led us to buy a three-day transportation pass. The pass included a hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Dublin as well as transportation to and from the airport and endless travel around the city. After weighing all financial sides of the matter, asking about ticket prices, and comparing spending prices we decided to spring for the pass. 

After a delicious breakfast at a small cafe (beans, toast, eggs, ham, bacon, and coffee/tea all for 4.95 EUR!) we quickly realized that Dublin was going to be the perfect city for the budget traveler, which all of us, being college students, are. 

After dropping our things at a luggage room in Brown's Hostel (not recommended for future travelers, cheap but you pay for what you get) we set off for our hop-on-hop-off bus tour. We sat on the top of a double decker bus and enjoyed the city from a new vantage point. The great thing about this tour is you can get off whenever you see something interesting and another bus will be just around the corner. We did just that, getting off at the beautiful St. Stephen's park.

The park was filled with couples (did I mention this was Valentines weekend?) and families with children, and from the moment we stepped in: college students with cameras. Everyone that I traveled with on the trip to Dublin, not only had a nice camera but also seemed to be obsessed with taking pictures, and boy did we take a lot of them!

Above: the girls I will be living with next semester, minus Caitlin who was at the castle in the Fall. We are posing on one of the beautiful bridges that ran through St. Stephen's Park and enjoying being quite silly after very little sleep.

Below: An artistic picture, set up by Cher, also in the park. It took about a million trys, but in the end we had our entire group off the ground. 

We hoped on and off several more times, stopping at the Guinness storehouse and seeing many of the beautiful castles and cathedrals in Dublin. Our tour ended back in the center of town where we enjoyed American food at Eddie Rockets a cute little diner were we were all appreciative to enjoy burgers, fries, and sundaes, not the typical menu of our dining hall back at the castle. 

We also went on a Pub Crawl, which took us to several of the lesser known pubs in Dublin and we met some fellow travelers from Boston.

On our second day in Dublin we journeyed away from the city to the small fishing village of Howth, recommended to us by the lady at the airport, which I will blog about in a different post. 

And on the third day we lost the majority of our group, most people had to return to the castle for classes, but a few of us had a schedule that enabled us to stay longer. The four girls left enjoyed shopping and a few last minute sightseeing opportunities. We went to an irish marketplace and also bought colada rings from a street vendor. In addition to that we also walked down Grafton Street, Dublin's biggest shopping street and stopped at a store called Penny's in the center of town were we found shoes for 2 EUR and bathing suits for 9 EUR, quite a deal compared to the USA.

We enjoyed an irish dinner and then turned in early so we could wake up in a timely fashion to catch our flight back to Well. 

Commanderji – Dutch culture through the eyes of a native

We took a required field trip to Commanderij College (which is actually a high school, apparently they use the word college for high school and university for college) today for my intercultural communication class. My professor, Chester Lee, prepared us for the trip by asking us to make a power point presentation about ourselves and American culture to show to the students upon our arrival. After a long bike trip to Weeze this morning, a hurried lunch, and quick shower I met my class in the courtyard to travel to Commanderji about a thirty minute drive from the castle. 

I felt like a strange cross between an animal in a zoo and a celebrity as we entered the school grounds. Every student turned to look as we walked toward the school immediately picking us out as foreigners and curiously taking in every aspect of us from the clothing to hairstyles to our accents, we were completely different from anyone they had ever encountered before. We were greeted by a “Welcome American Students sign.” Professor Hubes came to meet us in the main hallway and walked with us to a huge classroom with computers and more staring students. Shortly after our arrival each of us was paired with one of the Dutch students. Liza shyly greeted me, but even behind her timid first glance I could tell she was very excited to meet me. We showed each other our powerpoint presentations and talked about ourselves and the cultures we each grew up in. She told me about the different provinces of Holland and talked about her favorite musical artists. We talked about the differences between our homes and the asked each other questions about our cultures. Her English was excellent, every once in a while she would forget a word and look away from me mumbling, “uh uh how do you say . . . ?” But moments later one of us would be able to think of the word and the conversation would continue.
At one point in our conversation I asked her about driving cars vs. riding bikes. She noted that there are more bikes in Holland than there are people and that she only asked her parents for a ride when she was in a huge hurry or late for something, she will be able to get her own drivers license when she turns 18. I told her that we can drive at 16, and she responded with “yes but we can drink at 16” and we both laughed.

She took me on a quick tour of her school showing me the classrooms and common spaces for teachers and students. I learned that she had only been studying English for a few years and was also taking French, German, and Latin. We stopped to talk with Katie and the student she was paired with to talk about television shows, and Katie noted later that Liza’s English was amazing compared to the students she had spoken with. We each posed for a picture with our students and exchanged gifts with them, receiving a bag filled with mints, pads of paper, and pens.

As I got together my things to leave we exchanged a few last minute questions and she expressed her joy at being able to meet a native speaker from the language she has been studying. I departed with a hug and goodbye wave and got on the bus for the short ride home.

Weeze - The biking adventure for cheap lattes

My weekly mornings have been filled with bike rides into the countryside and small towns of the Limburg providence as well as in bordering Germany. 

Jeannie, Courtney and I biked to Weeze this morning, it took about 3 hours there and back but according to Jeannie's heart rate monitor we burned 921 calories! Once we got to the small German town we decided to explore a little and found an adorable little coffee shop with delicious lattes for under two euros! 

Our first trip into Germany we actually had no idea we were in another country. But eventually we did find the welcome sign and decided to pose for a picture.

We also managed to find another castle. As it turns out it is more of a camp ground but it was cool to find just the same and it also inspired us to travel in a different direction because we followed the signs for "Kasteel."

Bikes are also really convenient for getting groceries. Even though the trip into town takes about five minutes total walking would take much longer and this way you don't have to carry the food on the way back!

We do try to bike everyday and have been doing very well so far, exploring each new road we come to and going in all directions. Our sights are set on a trip to Venlo, a rather large town 23 kilometers away and biking through Belgium three weekends from now. 

Copenhagen - A world of beautiful Danish Children

The Danes have beautiful children.

As Teal, my travel buddy for Copenhagen, and I sat sipping two of the most delicious cafe lattes at Smagsloget, our new favorite sandwich shop, we watched the very fashionable Danish mothers (and even a few fathers) push carriages of beautiful children through the relatively small side street Smagsloget is located on. 

We picked Smagsloget because it was conveniently located to our 2 p.m. meeting place, Norreport, a very busy station for the S-Tog, Metro, and Buses. The public transportation in Denmark is remarkable. The Metro is electronic and so is not driven but rather operated. The doors open automatically and everything is timed perfectly so you can expect a train at the exact moment it arrives. After smoked salmon sandwiches, lattes, and spicy tomato soup we head to this busy station to meet up with my friend Matt (fellow camp counselor and student at Boston College), our unofficial tour guide for the weekend, who will be studying at Copenhagen Business School until June.

Matt and his friend Jeff (also from Boston College) took us around Copenhagen to see many of the tourist sights, some of which they have not even had a chance to see themselves. One of which is the beautiful mermaid statue below to honor Hans Christen Anderson's fairy tale "The Little Mermaid."

After a comfortable night at the Danhostel Downtown and a quick breakfast at Matt and Jeff's apartment we took a tour of the Carlsberg beer factory and the National Museum. At the factory we were able to smell a variety of  different scents and then try the beer that best matched our favorites. At the museum we learned about the Danes throughout history and were able to also learn quite a bit about fashion throughout the years.

As it turned out we arrived in Copenhagen in the middle of Copenhagen Fashion WeekEND which turned out to be an amazing time to go. The streets were filled with beautiful people and billboard movies displayed the runways in major squares.

Our last day consisted of outdoor ice skating (with hockey skates! I was pretty scared to hit the ice without toe picks), an amazing tiramisu latte, and a few last minute sights. We had a beautiful dinner at a restaurant called Apollo, packed some danishes for the next morning, and got on our CityNightLine train for the 14 hour ride back to the Netherlands.

Amsterdam - More than just Sex and Drugs

I didn't know that much about the city of Amsterdam before my visit. One of the few things I did know and one of the most popular ideas associated with the Dutch is that of their lenient drugs policy and legalization of prostitution. 

I learned a lot about these two things during my travels. In Amsterdam the Coffee Shops are actually a place to purchase and smoke marijuana. They do not serve coffee. You just walk up to the counter and can choose from a multitude of different types  and then here is the important part, you must smoke it in the shop. Once you leave the shop it is no longer legal. So unless you know what goes on behind the coffee shop doors the presence of drugs in Amsterdam is very minimal. 

As part of my Intercultural Communication class we were taken to the Prostitute Information Center. A small inconspicuous little shop in the Red Light district. Started by a former sex worker, as they like to be called, the PIC educates tourists and provides a resource for current workers in Amsterdam. It was amazing to see how a different culture reacts to something that Americans are so against. For the dutch it is a profession with health benefits and you get to be your own boss. Granted children do not grow up with "prostitute" written down among the other professions that they are considering, but it is something you are able to do if that is where life brings you. If you ever get the chance to travel to Amsterdam a quick stop at the PIC is a must, it completely opened my eyes to a new a different type of culture.

I suppose most people do travel to the Netherlands and Amsterdam in particular to take advantage of the availability and legality of drugs and prostitutes. However Amsterdam has so much more to offer. 

There are canals everywhere in Amsterdam, and they are absolutely beautiful.

We had a required excursion to the Anne Frank House with my World Since 1914 class. It has been quite a few years since I read the Diary of Anne Frank, however it all came back very quickly as I walked through the empty rooms and gazed at the displays. The most touching moment for me was seeing the pencil marks on the wall from where they had marked the growth of the children throughout their time in the Secret Annex. 

Our Amsterdam experience also included a trip to a Portuguese Israeli Synagogue, the Rijksmuseum, a guided walking tour of the city, and a delicious Indonesian restaurant. And then of course the nights were ours to do as we pleased. My favorite night spot was "La Margarita" which was on the (unofficial) gay strip of Amsterdam. I was not much of a fan of the Margaritas themselves, but my Pina Colada was delicious. We also had a bit a free time during the days to shop, eat, see and been seen. It appears that even though the dutch don't seem to think very highly of Americans, they love Obama. I received a few side comments from people on the sidewalk when they heard my accent but in the few conversations I actually had, everyone wanted to talk about Obama.

Bikes line the sides of the canals, push their way through the crowded streets and I am convinced that they are the sole reason that europeans are so skinny. I really have never seen more bikes in one place. I love watching the children on bikes. Some of them were ride on their own little seat, others in a carriage pulled by their parents' bike, and some of them even on a bike of their own. I also saw a mother riding a bike with a baby on the front in a car-seat type thing driving one handed with a leash in the other hand and a dog running along beside her. The dutch are very talented in their bike riding. 

I have ventured out on a few bike rides of my own. Jeannie and I have been going a few times a week. We have been exploring the neighboring dutch towns and even traveling into Germany which is only about 5 km away.