Hello everyone! I realize I haven’t written a blog since the end of June, however, it’s really because there wasn’t a whole lot that went on in July and then I’ve been gone much of August. So, here I am again!
For the month of July, I chose to take an intensive Dutch course. It was 4.5 hrs per day, 5 days per week, 4 weeks. Never in my life have I had so many different foreign words and sentences thrown at me! It was definitely a tough class but I learned a lot and came out of the course with a much better command of Dutch than I had before. Now I have more confidence when talking to other in Dutch and I’m better able to recognize what people are saying to me! Though I’m not sure how helpful Dutch will be to me throughout the rest of the world, it really is a nice treat learning another language — you really do learn a lot more than JUST the language itself.
The only traveling I did throughout July was a day trip to Luxembourg and it was honestly only because one of my friends and I had been cooped up in Dutch course for 4 weeks and just needed to get out and do something a little more exciting! We took a day trip to Luxembourg City via the train. We really had no specific plans, rather, we just took each hour as it came and enjoyed the city. I was able to capture a few nice photos and will post all of the links to my various photo albums at the bottom of this blog entry.
My friend Marieke and I also attended the Tour de France start in Rotterdam at the beginning of the month. Although the Tour generally starts in a different location each year, this was the fifth time that the Dutch have hosted the event from Rotterdam. Neither of us had been to the start before, so it was pretty neat. We attended the time trial on the day preceding the actual start. The time trial is intended to determine everyone’s starting position on the first day of the race. We chose to attend the time trial because each cyclist is released for the 9km course one at a time. So, about every 1 minute a cyclist would come by. It afforded us a much better viewing experience than watching 200 cyclist pass by all at once in a flash! Except for a little rain that day, we had a great time! Sorry, but there really aren’t any photos from this day: I got all the way up there and realized my camera battery was still on my counter back in Maastricht.
At the start of August, I’m picked up my travels once again with a flight to Bratislava, Slovak Republic. Although my ultimate destination was Budapest, I decided to spend a couple days exploring both Bratislava and Vienna, Austria. After landing in Bratislava around 11.00am, I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon exploring the Slovakian city. Though it still bears many scars of the communist era, the city was surprisingly beautiful. Of course, there were tourists abound, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying some of the quieter parts of the picturesque city. Diving further in, I reached a city center covered in typical cobblestone streets and old, colorfully stuccoed buildings. As I passed by numerous street merchants, local shops, and touristy restaurants, I couldn’t believe how surprisingly clean the city appeared. Statues littered the center, some simply for decorative enjoyment, while others remembered past communist rulers. I even took the opportunity to hike up to the Bratislava castle, taking in striking views of the city, surrounding countryside, and the Danube River. Though Bratislava is not a city I would have pinpointed as a destination, I’m sure glad I afforded myself the opportunity to take in some sights. I’d love a chance to visit some of the Slovak countryside if I ever return. Following my afternoon visit, I boarded the train for a quick 1,5 hr ride to Vienna for the night.
After spending the night in Vienna, I awoke the next morning and spent the whole day exploring the city. Though I was warned by my brother that he found Vienna quite “boring”, I wanted to see as many of the sights as I possibly could. As a walked through the city, I quickly saw why my brother didn’t find Vienna to be one of the better cities on the map. Vienna is well known for it’s theatre and music. Beyond this, the city’s old architectural style in its city buildings and churches are quite interesting, however, there’s only so much to see! Although I certainly could have taken more in of the city by attending some theatre shows, I opted to take advantage of the nice weather and spend much of my day outside enjoying the sights and sounds. The only thing I didn’t do that I wish I would have was tour the Royal Palace of the once-famous Austrian Empire. As night fell, I was able to get a few night photos of the various churches and city buildings around the city center. Although many of the buildings were covered by scaffolding or giant movie screens for the ongoing film festival, I was still able to get a few good shots!
The following morning, I awoke bright and early for the 6.15am train to Budapest. The train ride to Budapest took about 3,5 hrs and was both comfortable and scenic. Budapest was, by far, my favorite city thus far. Not only were the people friendly and the tourist crowds less abundant, but the city is absolutely amazing. There is just so much to see, so much cultural history, and a new sight around every corner. To top it off, the Danube river flows right through the city center, virtually splitting it in half. Interestingly enough, Budapest is made up of two “parts”. On one side of the river you have “Buda” and the other side of the river you have “Pest”, hence, the entire city of “Budapest”. As I walked through the city, I toured everything from the famous Saint Stephen’s Cathedral, to the local cafés, high end shopping streets, Budapest castle, and the huge daily market. I found the people to be rather friendly (and most spoke excellent English, even better than people in Vienna and certainly Bratislava). I was later told this is the case because the Hungarian language is so much different than any other language within the region. Because of this, many of forced to speak English is they want to communicate with anyone beyond their own country.
Though Budapest also showed many signs of the communist era, the city was amazing, with endless opportunities for photographs. Though I spent two full days in the city, I certainly could have spent more time there, as I definitely didn’t get a chance to visit every place I wanted. I spent one night in a wonderful hostel. The people were friendly and the hostel was the nicest one I’ve stayed in to date. I found the city to be rather clean and the transportation to be quite efficient. In fact, the subway stations were some of the nicer stations I’ve seen, with nearly everything covered in marble tile. Of course, the subway cars themselves looked like rusty tin cans flying down the tunnel. One of the subway lines was the first line in mainland Europe. I’m pretty sure the cars are all original, too…at least they felt like it! Nevertheless, it got me where I wanted to go, on time, and efficiently! If I get the opportunity, I’d love to go back to Budapest for another visit. I’m sure there’s a lot that I missed and I have no doubt that spending a few more days in this city would be well worth the trip back. After day two in Budapest, I hopped back on the train for the evening ride back to Vienna. One last night in Vienna and then I headed back to Bratislava for my flight back to Brussels.
Following my trip to Hungary, I spent the night in Brussels, as my parents flew in the next morning. After a few “logistical problems” with their aircraft, they managed to arrive in Brussels only a couple hours late. I won’t write much about the trip here mainly because I took them around to the same sights that I’ve written about in previous blogs. However, a brief overview: We spent one night in Brussels before heading to Brugge, Belgium where we spent a full day and evening taking in the sights of the “Venice of the north”. It’s hard to get tired of seeing all the nice canals, small cafés, and picturesque buildings — though I could do without the massive crowds of tourists! After a night in Brugge, we hopped back on the train for the 3 hr trip straight into Maastricht. A four night stay in Maastricht afforded us time for some great Dutch dinners, including a fantastic meal in Chateau Neercane on the Dutch/Belgian border. The most impressive part was the 2000 year-old wine cellar! We were also able to make day trips to Luxembourg city, Cologne, Germany, and small villages and towns around the southern portion of the Netherlands. After the stay in Maastricht, we headed to Amsterdam for two nights. Luckily, “Sail 2010” was happening at the same time. “Sail” is an annual event in Amsterdam where thousands of boats come to the city for a weekend of celebration — it was quite the event! We even had the chance to visit Rotterdam and continue on the Kinderdijk, a small village with some of the largest traditional windmills in the Netherlands. Pretty neat! After nine days, my parents headed back to Ohio with some more cultural experiences under their belts!
Following that trip, I spent two days back in Maastricht before embarking on my last trip before the start of school. I headed to Prague via the night train out of Utrecht, Netherlands. Now, given the photographs of the night train posted online as well as the nice description of a “relaxing train where you can rest and be ready to go the next morning”, I had some high hopes for a nice trip. However, I was thoroughly disappointed when this piece of junk train pulled up to the station. Describing the seats like those in an airplane would be giving them too much credit — they were horribly uncomfortable and rather cramped. Beyond that, they didn’t even recline. Once would also think that a 12 hour train would have a nice restaurant car to feel your hunger. Well, the little food closet with a microwave just didn’t seem to do it for me. But, horribly broken expectations aside, I was able to see some nice scenery and travel through some great cities, including Berlin. By far, however, the most scenic part of the train trip was from the Czech border all the way into Prague. The train winded through the small rolling mountains, past tiny villages tucked away in the hills, and the tracks followed the river nearly the entire way. If I go to Prague again, I will fly into Berlin and then take the train from there!
Prague was a very nice city. The buildings were all quite beautiful and the river Vltata flows right near the center. The many bridges across the river are also rather scenic, as their stone arches are quite impressive. Though the weather was not very cooperative, I was still able to enjoy the city and snap a few good photos here and there. Walking is definitely the name of the game here, however, the massive amounts of cobblestones can certainly take a toll on you by the end of the day! Never have a seen so many cobblestones in a city! Because the city center is quite small, I was able to see most of the sights within 2,5 days, including some of the churches, the famous anatomical clock, the Prague castle, and some other lesser known sights around town. Street artists are everywhere in the city, offering paintings from nearly every angle — I bought two! Another famous claim of the Czech Republic is Bohemia Crystal. People from around the world often leave Prague with a bag full of Bohemia crystal purchases, as nearly every store sells some variety of the striking glassware. The famous crystal dates back to the 11th century when it was discovered in the region. It’s usually handmade and often contains hand-carved designs within the class. Even I left Prague with a few Bohemia Crystal wine glasses of my own, and I must say, they sure do look better than my cheap glass ones from the local department store! The only thing I didn’t like about Prague were the absolutely huge amounts of people in the city. Oftentimes, it was hard to enjoy parts of the city because there were so many people. After returning to Maastricht, I spoke with one of my friends from the Czech Republic and the first thing she asked me about were the crowds of people! She said that the Czech themselves often don’t go into the center for Prague for years at a time simply because of the amount of tourists — I can’t say I blame them! Well, after 2,5 days in Prague, I jumped back on the train and made my way back to the Netherlands, capping off another great experience and an enjoyable end to my summer here.
Looking back at this summer, I am pretty happy with my travels. I had the goal of making it to as many different places as I practically could and I am pretty happy with the results. I was able to explore: Britain, Norway, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Hungary, and Austria. In the next few months, plans are in the works for France and Spain! I can’t wait! Until then, not much will likely happen except lots more school work and a thesis that’s just waiting to be written! As I start progressing on my thesis, I’ll try to send some updates your way! And of course, I’ll do my best to update you on some of my final travels of the year!
Photo albums (see links below)
Parents to the Netherlands: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2108368&id=45201564&l=0fc4a66cea
Luxembourg: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2105408&id=45201564&l=a36beb079a
Hungary/Austria/Slovakia: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2109433&id=45201564&l=77138adb16
Prague: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2110749&id=45201564&l=971432906d
Creative photos of Maastricht through a crystal ball: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2106305&id=45201564&l=8c52b204b1
It’s been a couple weeks since I last published an update for all of you. I thought I’d be able to publish one after last weekend but things just got too busy with work and other activities. This week has calmed down since it’s exam week for students. As a result, I don’t have any courses to teach which frees up a lot of time for me! Of course, next week everything starts back up again with a brand new schedule for everyone, as the new block of courses begins.
Two weekends ago my friend Peter invited me to a car racing event in Zandvoort. Zandvoort is on the coast west of Amsterdam and the races took place at Circuit Park Zandvoort. Though it started out as a pretty cold day, the sun was shining the entire time and there were a lot of good races to be seen! We had tickets for seats right near the finish line so it was perfect for viewing all of the races and finishes! A couple people asked me what kind of race track it was (oval, street race, etc). Here’s a map of the track so you can see the actual layout. While there were no exploding, firey crashes, a few of the drivers did manage to find the grass and dirt now and again. I think a couple cars ended up leaving a rather impressive smoke trail, as well!
