May 22nd, 2014

So I have FINALLY been to Germany!

Today Camille and I went to Cologne, Germany for the day. It was kinda an early start as we took the 8:14 am train. This train was different from the others I have taken as we had assigned seats and assigned trains (whereas all the others you could take any train you wanted really, at an time).

It was a gorgeous day in Cologne. Mom told me that I had to see the Cathedral as St. Matthew's Lutheran Church in Stony Plain is modeled somewhat after it. Well as soon as you get out of the train station it is literally right in front of you. You couldn't miss it if you tried, it also helps that its the tallest building in Europe. And I can definitely see the resemblance to St. Matthew's.

Once we arrived in Cologne, we toured the Cathedral and it was gorgeous! Absolutely spectacular, from the stained glass windows to the sheer size of the Cathedral. If you ever have the option to go, definitely see the Cologne Cathedral! Plus there was a choir touring it as well and they sang a few songs, The acoustics were spectacular!

After the Cathedral we walked across the square and got a map from the Visitor Information Centre. When we walked out there was this little green train nearby. It was a tour of the city going to the Chocolate factory and back for 6 euros.

So off to the Chocolate Factory we went! That was incredible too! So much chocolate! Mmmm and I bought lots of Lindt Chocolate to try, like cookies and cream, strawberry cheesecake, and cherry ice cream! Mmmmm!

For lunch we went to a small Italian bistro off the main area (all traditional German food such as bratwurst was WAY too expensive). Camille had pizza and I had spaghetti.

After that we just meandered our way around the city, finding cool shops, handmade candy stores and churches. We even found our way into a circus if you can believe it! It wasn't open but all the tents were set up.

At one point we found our way into a park by the river and it started to rain a little bit so we took shelter under a building overhang... Boy that was a mistake! This group of guys, probably our age, takes shelter there too and they start hitting on us, asking where we were from, if we were single, etc. THEN they started selling/exchanging drugs! It was so scary! This one guy wouldn't leave Camille alone! The instant the rain let up Camille and I got out of there!

Aside from that, the day was a lot of fun. I had Subway for supper, and about two hours before our scheduled departing train, it starts pouring! It gets grey and extremely windy (this coming from someone who lives in Lethbridge) and it rains cats and dogs! So we run into the train station and sit on the platform until our train.

Getting back to Liege was uneventful, but I arrived, put my stuff down, and Franny texts me asking if I want to go out. So instead of studying like I should be, I go out for drinks with her and some other friends until 11:30. Full, fun eventful day. And like I said, Cologne is BEAUTIFUL! and if you ever get the chance to visit, don't pass it up!

May 17th, 2014

So today I had to say my first goodbye of the semester. My friend Emil from Sweden had to return home today after his first semester here in Liege. So last night, Camille, Franny and I went out and celebrated with him his last night here.

We had no-bake chocolate coconut cookies (a Swedish recipe), they tasted almost like mom's Haystacks. Then it was off to the city centre to Le Carre for some bar and club time. We met up with some of Emil's friends and all decided to go on Jams which is a dance club on a boat. No word of a lie! This is a dance club:

It was so much fun, I had this fruit punch stuff (it was a lot stronger than I thought), and we all danced the night away. After the boat, we went back to Le Carre to L'Orange Givree, had some more drinks, then to Bar Carlsberg for more drinks and dancing. By then it was two thirty in the morning so I gave Emil a big hug, told him to let me know when his train was in the morning, and I went back to my apartment.

Today I met up with Emil and Camille at the train station. When we got here, we were all given these red tote bags that say "Mon Erasmus a Liege" (My Erasmus in Liege) so I decided that I want all my new friends so sign it, so I made sure I got Emil to before he left. It was very emotional and tear-filled. It's always hard saying goodbye, especially when you know its the first of many. Before he left, Emil gave me one of his Swedish coins, 5 crowns, for my coin collection, and made me promise to visit him in Stockholm. After Emil's train left, Camille and I went back to the centre to get ice cream before I returned home to finish my paper. Overall, a very sad day.

May 15th, 2014

Hey all, sorry for no blog posts recently, I've basically been doing nothing but studying the past couple of weeks getting ready for exams. I'll post when something happens, other than studying that is!

April 26th, 2014

Happy King’s day everyone! Today some friends and I took the train to Amsterdam to celebrate King’s Day. We took the 9 am train, transferring in Maastricht and Utrecht Centraal, before arriving in Amsterdam. In Maastricht, I bought an orange t-shirt with a crown on it, a headband with a crown on it, and a ribbon to wear in honour of King’s Day (all in orange of course as that’s the colour everyone wears today). 

We basically enjoyed the day, taking part in all the festivities we could. We went on one of the fair rides (a giant swing with an amazing view of the city) and just walked around and took in all the sights, including the “Iamsterdam” sign. 

My favorite part was when we stopped to use the washroom, I went into an “American foods” store and what did I find? Sour Patch Kids, Hamburger Helper, and Kraft Mac’n Cheese! Three of my biggest cravings since coming to Belgium! So of course I bought a package of all of them! I also got a Henna tattoo on my arm.

King’s Day was such a cool experience and they had events and activities for people of all ages. 

April 22nd, 2014

Today was my friend Elena’s birthday. I also received an Easter card from Mom & Dad today with 10 euros to spend on an Easter treat for me. With the money I went and bought myself a bouquet of carnations and I bought Elena a bouquet of roses for her birthday. I caught the bus the Sart Tilman where we drank and ate crepes and had tons of fun before catching the last bus back to the Centre where we went to Le Carré for an hour or so before I went home. Lots of fun

April 21st, 2014

So today was mine and Loring’s first anniversary. I can’t believe a year has passed by so fast! It sucks tha we have to spend it apart but we’ve managed this far. I’m crazy about him.

We agreed that we should do something special for our anniversary so we both sent each other a gift. I haven’t received mine yet, but his arrived a week ago and he’s been sitting on it waiting for me to give him permission to open it. I packed his full of gifts from Europe; a flag, chocolate from Belgium and Luxembourg, candy, a Belgian waffle, a tie & cufflink set, and a cardigan.

Another way we wanted to celebrate what to start a tradition. Every year on our anniversary, we will get dressed up and take a photo together, holding last year’s photo. Since this is our first anniversary, we are using the photo from my sorority formal last year, the photo closest to when we started dating.

Here’s the photo we are both holding: 

Here’s my photo: 

Here’s his photo:

Next year, we will take a photo together, holding both of this years photos.

When he woke up, we skyped for a good three hours, then we played a few computer games together and watched a movie. If we had to spend our anniversary apart, it wasn’t that bad of a way to spend it.

April 17th, 2014

Today I had to return to Liege and it sucked. I was up at 4:30 to catch a taxi to the airport. Everyone woke up to say goodbye which was really sweet, Franny’s dad even walked me down to catch a taxi. I was glad for it because being alone in a strange city at 4:30 in the morning is not very comforting, even though La Rambla was still busy at that time.

I arrived a good two hours before my flight so that I could have breakfast in the airport, just a salami sandwich and some juice. To get to my plane we actually had to go downstairs and onto the tarmac again, and from there we took a shuttle bus to the airplane. Strange but I think I’ve done it all now for getting onto planes. My flight back was uneventful. Caught the bus back to Charleroi train station and the train to Liege, bus to my apartment, it was all very uneventful. I’m just tired now so I’m going to nap and tomorrow I will sleep until I’m finished! That was my amazing journey through

April 16th, 2014

Woke up a bit earlier this morning at 10 am as opposed to 11. Breakfast was really good, tea, yoghurt, eggs & toast, very filling! I decided to wear my white tank top and my black skirt as it was very hot out.

After breakfast, we all walked down to La Pedrera, one of Gouvy’s most famous private constructions. We toured the building and learned about Gouvy himself. His style of architecture is so intricate and mesmerising! His use of shapes and colours was way before his time and it’s all beautiful. Stopping in the gift shop on the way out, I bought Gouvy themed lamp shades that you put over wine glasses with candles in them, very simple yet pretty.

We stopped at a little café for a light lunch. I had these potato ball things that were very good but very spicy. We all sat in the sun as the shade got pretty chilly!

After lunch, Franny’s parents went home while Franny and I went shopping! I bought a couple of flowery shirts, a scarf, a fan, and two beautiful dresses. I probably spent way too much but I’m on vacation!

When we got back to the apartment we had snacks (cheeses and crackers and wine) and watched pimp my ride and other shows like that (mainly because that’s the only thing playing in English).

Around 10 pm we went to a restaurant called 4 Cats for supper but we didn’t have a reservation so they couldn’t accommodate us. Franny’s family made reservations for tomorrow night but since this is my last night I unfortunately won’t be able to go. So we walked around the block to an Italian pizzeria for supper instead. I had a wonderful Bolognese Lasagna. Then it was back to pack for my early flight. 

April 15th, 2014

I woke up at 11 am with everyone else, it seems we all got up way too early and stayed up way too late and just needed a good rest. I had yogurt and fresh fruit for breakfast and it was very good.

I decided to wear my blue flowy dress today. It’s really hot plus it feels appropriate being in Barcelona. We walked up La Rambla to wear the CitySightseeing tours started. The lineup was huge so I grabbed a place in line while Franny’s parents went and bought us tickets. I had barely moved when they came back. We stood there for a moment and noticed that the tour buses were leaving with only the top floor full, not the bottom. So Franny walked up to the guide in charge of loading the buses and asks if we could go onto the bottom of the double-decker and he brought us to the front of the line. So we skipped the entire line. We sat on the bottom deck for one stop, then climbed to the upper deck at the next stop. It was probably not a nice thing to do but its’ not our fault no one else thought of that, and at least we got on the bus.

The tour took us everywhere in the city, up to where the Olympic stadium was, down to the port. 

At the port we got off and walked along the beach a bit, dipped our feet into the Mediterranean sea, and enjoyed the sun and sand. It was a little awkward at points as there were plenty of women on the beach who were topless, not us though so don’t worry! 

For lunch we stopped at a seafood restaurant. They all shared the Paella while I had a greek-type salad. Then we continued on the bus tour up past La Sagrada Familia. We were going to get off and go in but it was closed for a specific renovation at the time. It’s Gouvy’s masterpiece and it has been under construction for the past 100 years, funded by private donations and the entrance fee to see it. 

Instead we stayed on the bus and it took us up near the top of the mountain overlooking the city (the amusement park is up there, but that’s not where we were headed). One of Franny’s friends here in Liege is from Barcelona and she told us of a small café up the mountain with breathtaking panoramic views of Barcelona, and it was not touristy at all. It is called MiraBlau and it lived up to everything she told us.

We had tapas there and enjoyed watching the shadows decend over the city (the sunset was behind us). We caught the last tour bus back to the city centre and walked back down La Rambla to our apartment. Where we had snacks in the livingroom and watched “The Lincoln Lawyer” starring Matthew McConaughey. We didn’t get to bed until 1 am.

April 14th, 2014

It was difficult getting up at 5 to wait for the shuttle to pick us up to take us to the Paris Bauvais airport. And that’s where our troubles began… First of all, the shuttle didn’t want to pick us up. The driver told Franny’s parents that he wasn’t told of a second pick up and didn’t want to do it, but they somehow managed to convince him thank goodness! On top of that, the stupid shuttle cost 200 euros because the stupid airport is two hours outside of Paris. NEVER fly in or out of Bauvais unless you are ONLY going to Disneyland. That is the only thing you can get to from there.

So we finally arrive at the airport and we are two hours early for our flight (which turns out to be a blessing in disguise). So I have my boarding pass printed, check in, get my Visa checked, etc. and I’m good to go!

The Delaney’s on the other hand… oh my goodness! So the first lady they talk to is not a very amicable person, she’s kinda rude and indifferent, saying that Franny’s parents were good to go but Franny hadn't actually checked in and she needed to pay 70 euros and go print off her boarding pass at the kiosk (which cost her 7 euros to use and print) and she gets back only to be told she has the wrong paper. So they all go to the kiosk and its not working, and her flights not coming up and she’s put in probably 30 euros so she gives up and they go to where I checked in to figure out if they could print it. That little girl (she seemed to be 18 tops) was so rude I was actually shocked. She said that Franny was checked in, but her parents weren't! And she kept repeating “you have to pay, you have to pay” and she was no help at all.

So they asked her to talk to the first woman and see who had made a mistake. She was having nothing of it! She was just being so rude and obnoxious, and when we asked for her name she covered her name tag and became even more hostile. So we asked to speak to her supervisor and she pointed him out. We walked over to him and explained our situation. So he took the passports and started looking up their flights, while Franny’s mom explained how rude the little girl had been. Which is when he became hostile, saying the same as the second girl. We asked if he could talk to the first girl about the conflicting stories and he was becoming so rude as well, also hiding his name tag when we asked his name. Then he started saying things like “I know you’re trying to intimidate me and it’s not going to work, blah, blah, blah.” He even threatened not to let us on the plane, and all we wanted was for him to talk to the first girl and get things straight. The Delaney’s finally give up and ask him to just get them on the stupid flight because time is whittling away and we don’t want to miss our flight. And he just keeps talking about how he doesn't have to do anything and being a complete asshole!

So we have to go print off Franny’s ticket (15 euros) and purchase her parents (70 euros each) so we go to the ticket kiosk to do that, then we have to go back to that guy and have him print off tickets before we can go through security. And he’s still being an asshole. We've been talking to him in English the whole time and when we return he mutters under his breath in French “Stupid tourists shouldn't be allowed to travel here, go back to your own damn country” (or something to that extent) not realizing that Franny and I can speak French. Luckily, all four of us keep quiet and we get to security without another incident. Franny’s dad is going to write a very angry letter to Ryanair because of that, and I don’t blame him. Working in the service industry, you can’t talk to customers like that! Head my warnings readers, NEVER EVER EVER fly Ryanair. And if you can’t avoid it NEVER fly with them in France. They do everything on the cheap and their customer service skills are non-existent!

By now, it’s 45 minutes until our flight so we’re panicking we’re not going to get through security fast enough (good thing we were there early). So we’re pulled out of the security line and put to the front along with 50 other passengers on our airline, go through security and go straight out onto the tarmac to our flight. Now Bauvais airport is a shit hole, it really is, there is a small coffee shop and a Relay store on the other side of security, and from the looks of it before security I was surprised there was even that.

I slept the whole flight to Barcelona, and when we landed it was not the end of our troubles. We arrived only to find out that Franny’s parents had mislaid the reservation for the apartment we were to be staying in. So we’re sitting in the airport, trying to figure out what to do, internet isn't working properly, so we say screw it and we decided to just show up and see what happens. Good thing Franny’s dad has a good memory because he remembered the address. So we caught a cab to La Ramblas where our apartment was (its also the main tourist street in all of Barcelona). And that’s when our luck changed. We arrived only to find that they had an office, so they let us in, got all the paperwork done and we were home free! They still needed to clean the apartment from the last guests who checked out an hour before we arrived so we got to leave our things in the office and we walked around for a bit to kill time and to go have lunch.

We walked to Cathedral Barcelona and found a small tapas bar across the square from it. We had no clue what we wanted so we let the waiter order for us. I had a water to drink and Franny had a gin and tonic and they poured it in front of her! It was really cool. The waiter brought us various tapas which is basically small samplings of random foods. IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!! I am in love with tapas, or at least the kinds we had. Especially this toasted bread with olive oil and tomato rubbed onto it. It was so good that I order it everywhere now.

After lunch we checked out a small street flea/antique market in the square, and walked up the steps of the Cathedral. 

And we stopped for gelato on the way back to the apartment. The gelato was delicious, and he put it on the cone in the shape of a flower. After checking into the apartment, we went to buy groceries at Carrefour, then out for supper at a place called Taher’n Tapas I believe, it was literally next door to our apartment building. There was really only one thing on the menu I could order and that was “Kate’s burger” (the wife of the owner is named Kate but I took it as a sign that that was what I needed to order). After supper Franny and I went to buy her cough drops as she has a wicked cold and has been coughing non-stop for most of our trip.

We got to bed early (especially by Barcelona standards) at 11 pm because we were all exhausted. I say especially in Barcelona because normally they have breakfast at 7 am, second breakfast at 10 am, lunch at 1 pm, tapas at 5, and supper at 9 or later. Usually not finishing eating until 1 am… I find that absolutely insane!