Part 2 of a 3 Part Series: The Start of a Great Adventure!

Here at CIDEF, our spring break is two weeks long. During this time, everyone travels a ton and sees so many awesome things, it's fabulous. My plan was to go to London with my friend Ana, then from there I would leave, toute seule, for Luxembourg, Strasbourg, Lyon, Geneva, and Munich. Ambitious, but then again that's me! In this post, I shall briefly guide you through my adventures during the first half of spring break: London, Luxembourg, and Strasbourg. Then I will also give some updates on what is happening with me as of today.

London Baby!

Ana and I spent four days together in London and needless to say, had lots of fun. We saw all the usual things, like Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Tower Bridge, etc., but also the gorgeous Hyde Park and a lot of cool restaurants, pubs, and markets around town. I didn't realize that London was so huge on the theater; there must have been ten or more different shows playing all around the city including Les Miserable, the Phantom of the Opera, LionKing, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, and many more smaller shows. Next time I go to London, which I very much want to return, I plan on staying for a while so I can attend several of the shows playing and experience all the classic theaters in London. While we were there we actually came across the red carpet being set up in front of the opera house for the Oliver's (like the Oscars for theater) which were happening later that night.

I very much loved London; it felt like the kind of city I could live in. We saw so many people just living out their daily lives, most of them super fit-- running, walking, biking, you name it. There was so much to see that I absolutely have to go back, perhaps when I have more money because it was definitely the most expensive place I visited.

Could this be any more classic?

In front of Buckingham Palace

Peter Pan Statue!

Yes, I've been to a red carpet event...

The TUBE

Parliament over the Thames

M&M World!!!

Great art everywhere

Oh no! The gate is closed!

Best Indian food ever

Gorgeous Hyde Park

Hostelling

The Wizarding World!!!

I almost forgot to mention our day trip to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Well, actually we went to the Studio where they shot all the films and did the tour, but still! It was so amazing to be there. As many of you probably know, I am a Harry Potter and movie addict and love anything to do with these, so this was a dream come true. I loved to see all the different sets, props, and costumes and read about how all the spectacular special effects were created. We spent about four hours there and I loved every moment. We even got Butterbeer, which was just as amazing as everything else. For me there is something special about being up close and personal with things that were in a major blockbuster film and used and worn by famous actors. But I will share some photos so that you may share in the magic!

Luxembourg and Luxembourgish

I finally parted from London and Ana on May 3rd for Luxembourg City. Long story less long, I had to take a taxi at 4 AM to Liverpool Station (the driver was very nice and accepted my measly 18 pounds when the fare came to 26), then catch an hour long train to London Stansted Airport (23 pounds, seeing as London Stansted is NOT in London...) where I nearly missed my flight because I had to wait in a huge line to get my visa checked and then go through security. My bag was pulled out twice, the first time because all my liquids were not together in one plastic bag and the second time for absolutely no reason at all. I had to carry half of my things in my arms as I ran to my gate during the final call. By sheer luck I was able to make it to my gate just in time, about ten minutes after it was supposed to close at 7 AM. Needless to say, this was quite a stressful morning. Next thing I know, I am in Dusseldorf Airport, Germany where I intended to take a train to Luxembourg free because I purchased a eurail pass. However, again, Dusseldorf Airport is NOT in Dusseldorf and I had to take a bus (14 euro) to get to the train station. Here I discovered how little German I know, which at the time was danka.

Well once I finally got to Luxembourg City, I found it to be very lovely. The hostel (there is only one in the city) luckily had room that night, but was booked for the following night. From then on I tried to book ahead. So I stayed that night and got up early the next morning, checked out and stored my bag. Then I got to see the beautiful town, so here is a taste of that. I did the Hop On/Hop Off bus in town, so that was a cool way to get a good overview of the city. There were lots of people and a sort of carnival going on in the center with great food. I visited the a couple museums and such, but mostly just walked around. Fun fact: the people of Luxembourg speak Luxembourgish! It is a sort of mixture between French and German, with a little Dutch thrown in. That night, I left for Strasbourg-- or at least that's where I thought I was going...

La dee da...

Walked in on Mass... Whoops!

Gorgeous views

Parks surround the city

I came to love cheesy narrated tours

The Grand Duchy

Strasbourg, the Capital of Alsace

Getting to Strasbourg from Luxembourg was not as simple as I expected. With my eurail pass, I could jump on pretty much any train I wanted, so I just happened to make a bad choice of train. I should have known because it was running extremely late and I had to make a connection in Metz, but there was another train after so I wasn't too worried. It ended up that everyone had to switch trains because there was something wrong with the one we were on, in order to continue on. Then stupidly I stepped off at Metz Nord and not the Metz station. Metz Nord is just a platform in the middle of nowhere... But my luck held out and a sweet couple had gotten off with me. They ended up taking me to the hostel in town for the night because there were no more trains until morning, and they even packed me a bagged lunch because I hadn't yet eaten. I was so thankful to them I felt like crying. They went out of their way to help me and it was so sweet, I don't know what I would have done without them.

The next morning I got a train to Strasbourg at last and spent the day, night, and half of the next day there. It was a beautiful city, despite the fact that it rained the whole time. I took a couple tours and saw a couple museums which were nice and had some delicious Alsacian fare. There was lots of hustle and bustle there and I enjoyed just walking around the city and looking at the beautiful and classic architecture found everywhere there. By the end of my stay there, however, I started to feel a bit lonely, especially after having so many travel mishaps and not having met anyone new along the way besides my saviors in Metz. So I moved on to Lyon as planned, but also decided that later I would go to Munich so I could meet up with my friend Sarah.

Astronomical Clock

Strasbourg Cathedral

Homage to American Soldiers

Another tour, but on a boat!

Petite France

European Parliament

View from the top of the cathedral

Yummy Alsacian fare!

Bridge to Germany by my hostel

Going through the motions...

This week has been a little rough getting back in the groove of things. I'm stressing out a little for the end of the semester and we have started back again harder than ever with classes. We only have two more weeks of classes after this and then exams. Afterwards I'm doing a bit more traveling and then it's home for me! I can't believe that it is almost time for me to leave. I love it here and there is so much left to see and do, however I miss home and am excited to see my family and friends again. It will certainly be a bitter-sweet goodbye. But I definitely will be coming back in the future.

This weekend is a long one, so Sarah and I are going to Nice! Woo! We are super excited to "beach it," so we are hoping for great weather... bon chance à nous... hopefully I can get in my last blog of this set tomorrow night, but I'm not promising anything.