So, I'm a few days into my Spring Break and it's been a lot of fun so far. Currently I'm in my Hostel in Berlin. We arrived today by train and had an interesting time finding the place. However, there's some vacation to catch up on first.
Austin flew in Friday morning. I got him at the airport before class and got him settled in. Friday night and Saturday we stayed in Paris. He got to meet Alix, Cao, and Adam. It was a lot of fun. We saw some of the sites like l'Arc de Triomphe and la Tour Eiffel, plus we spent some time in the Louvre.
Sunday morning we headed to the Netherlands and Amsterdam through Brussels. There was some oversleeping involved and we nearly made our train. However, after some running and cutting in lines we got our tickets sprinted onto the train. Unfortunately, we didn't get the other tickets for the trip and that caused some problems today. It looks like everything is going to be fine, but we had to seek remboursement today.
Amsterdam was a lot of fun. There's a carnaval going on in Dam Square so it felt like the whole place was just one big party. The main mode of transportation in the city seems to be the bike. We each rented one for the two full days we were there and it made getting around much easier. We went by the Anne Frank house, but didn't go in. Most of the museums in the city seemed to be 10 euros, so we only went to the Van Gogh Museum and The Rembrandt House. Both were awesome. The Rembrandt house had many of his works plus those of other artists. There were many different prints, paintings, and illustrations which were all really cool. The detail in the illustrations of insects and flowers was just insane. We found ourselves staring at the works for minutes and minutes because there was just so many small details to look at.
Today we made our way to the train station to come to Berlin. We had trouble with the ticket situation, but made it on the train in the end. The train ride was fairly long and I didn't get to catch up on sleep like I was hoping. However, we made it. The only problem was we are both drained and a little downtrodden because we had to rebuy tickets. On top of it, we spent a bunch of time searching for our hostel so it was mostly a day lost to traveling. However, we're here until Sunday, so there will be plenty of time for sightseeing, and sampling German beers and sausages.
Once I've finished my voyages I'll try to recap some with pictures, to make it more interesting around here. Sunday I head to Warsaw, Poland to kick off the second week of vacation. I believe I mentioned it before, but the second week consists of Eastern Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria. So, I hope to have plenty of photos to share of all of these places. So, check back to see that. I'm not sure if I'll have any more updates while on my trip, but I hope to get started again shortly after I get back to Paris.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
The Loire Valley
This weekend there was an AIFS trip to The Loire Valley, which is the Château region of the country. There's probably at least a dozen of them scattered along the river. Not all of them are right on the river, but most are very close. It's quite an area. All of the castles are only a few minutes drive away from each other, so we got to visit 4 and see a few others.
We left early on Saturday and the first château we visited was le Château de Blois. There was a lot of history there, but the tour started getting boring just hearing about which Kings decided to build which parts. Although that was the interesting part about the place. The Château was built in several periods by several kings. They'd knock down one of the parts and build their own in a different style. The whole place is a mash-up of different parts and it looks pretty messy. There was one huge open spiral staircase though, which was one of the best parts about it. It was nice, though, because the area was on the Loire River and the view was nice over the city.
There we also first started seeing the emblems of the kings. The emblems are all over all of the châteaux. The porcupine, for Louis XII. The salamander for François I. The hermine (ermine or stoat) for their wives, Anne of Brittany and Claude de France.
Second we visited Château de Chambord. This was the biggest of the châteaux that we visited and the most extravagant. The place was just huge and the roof was incredibly complex. It basically looks like the skyline of a city. The castle also had a double spiral staircase. There were two sets of stairs that never crossed each other going up the center tower. We got to walk around on the roof which was awesome.
To finish the day of touring we stopped at a Vouvray wine cellar for a tour and a wine tasting. It was pretty short, but it was my first wine tasting.
Today we left the hotel in the morning and visited Château d'Azay-le-Rideau. On the way to the castle we ran across a cat who jumped out of a bush. He was very friendly and let me pet him. It was originally a privately owned castle, but was left and became a place where visiting royalty would stay in France. It might have been my favorite. It felt a lot more like a house than the others, and also had a moat haha. It rained a bit while we were there but we had pretty good luck. On the way back to the bus we looked for the cat again, but instead we found a very friendly dog instead.
For lunch we stopped in Amboise. There is a château there, but it was mostly destroyed so we didn't actually visit. We found a really good sandwicherie and had sandwiches and dessert, which was also really good. There was also a very nice view of the river, although it was flooding because of all the rain.
The last visit for the trip was Château de Chenonceau. This was also really cool. The original part was the main castle and a tower built on the River Cher. There was then a bridge added to cross the river, then a two story gallery was built on top of the bridge. There were gardens surrounding the castle, unfortunately the rain made the visit a bit miserable. We still walked through one of them and I'm glad we did, although we got kinda soaked.
The weekend was definitely worth the trip. Next weekend starts my spring break, so I probably won't post for almost two weeks while I'm traveling. But when I'm back there should be a bunch of good stories about the trip to tell.
We left early on Saturday and the first château we visited was le Château de Blois. There was a lot of history there, but the tour started getting boring just hearing about which Kings decided to build which parts. Although that was the interesting part about the place. The Château was built in several periods by several kings. They'd knock down one of the parts and build their own in a different style. The whole place is a mash-up of different parts and it looks pretty messy. There was one huge open spiral staircase though, which was one of the best parts about it. It was nice, though, because the area was on the Loire River and the view was nice over the city.
There we also first started seeing the emblems of the kings. The emblems are all over all of the châteaux. The porcupine, for Louis XII. The salamander for François I. The hermine (ermine or stoat) for their wives, Anne of Brittany and Claude de France.
Second we visited Château de Chambord. This was the biggest of the châteaux that we visited and the most extravagant. The place was just huge and the roof was incredibly complex. It basically looks like the skyline of a city. The castle also had a double spiral staircase. There were two sets of stairs that never crossed each other going up the center tower. We got to walk around on the roof which was awesome.
To finish the day of touring we stopped at a Vouvray wine cellar for a tour and a wine tasting. It was pretty short, but it was my first wine tasting.
Today we left the hotel in the morning and visited Château d'Azay-le-Rideau. On the way to the castle we ran across a cat who jumped out of a bush. He was very friendly and let me pet him. It was originally a privately owned castle, but was left and became a place where visiting royalty would stay in France. It might have been my favorite. It felt a lot more like a house than the others, and also had a moat haha. It rained a bit while we were there but we had pretty good luck. On the way back to the bus we looked for the cat again, but instead we found a very friendly dog instead.
For lunch we stopped in Amboise. There is a château there, but it was mostly destroyed so we didn't actually visit. We found a really good sandwicherie and had sandwiches and dessert, which was also really good. There was also a very nice view of the river, although it was flooding because of all the rain.
The last visit for the trip was Château de Chenonceau. This was also really cool. The original part was the main castle and a tower built on the River Cher. There was then a bridge added to cross the river, then a two story gallery was built on top of the bridge. There were gardens surrounding the castle, unfortunately the rain made the visit a bit miserable. We still walked through one of them and I'm glad we did, although we got kinda soaked.
The weekend was definitely worth the trip. Next weekend starts my spring break, so I probably won't post for almost two weeks while I'm traveling. But when I'm back there should be a bunch of good stories about the trip to tell.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Great Weather in Paris
The weather here has been great lately. It's been much warmer the past week than it has been all semester. Plus, we finally sprung ahead over last weekend, so we've had an extra hour of daylight. I've done a few fun things this week that involved being outside. Luckily I had my camera around for some of it, so you can check out a few of the places I've been.
Tuesday (I think) Cao and I went to the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. We were in search of large silver balls that Cao read about, but it turned out they weren't there. It was okay though, because both were pretty cool. We only got to look at the Grand Palais from the outside because they were setting up for an exhibition or something, but it was okay. There was a huge bronze turtle out front so we checked that out before heading across the street to the Petit Palais.
The Petit Palais is the home of a small museum with a permanent collection that is free to check out, and a temporary one that is not. Anyways, it was definitely worth the no money we paid. There were some interesting artifacts in the museum, from a variety of times. There was a bunch of stuff from the times of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI plus some other interesting artwork. Plus there was a courtyard in the middle that was quite beautiful. They also had paintings of dead animals, which seems to have been popular at one point. I've also seen them in the Louvre and in an apartment here.
Today, Cao and I went to see the Palais Royal, the real home of the silver balls. It wasn't very thrilling at all. They were just in two small fountains. It was a bit of a letdown, but the weather was so nice, we just hung around in the courtyard for a while. The scenery was quite nice, so it wasn't a waste at all.
After the Palais we went and visited Parc de Monceau. It's pretty close to where we live, well at least a short metro ride away. It was also very beautiful and it was bustling with kids running around. One unfortunate part was that all the grass and gardens were fenced off. Kind of a look but don't touch approach to nature. It was still a nice place to hang out for a while, and I could see myself going back.
A panorama from the courtyard of the Palais Royal
Tuesday (I think) Cao and I went to the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais. We were in search of large silver balls that Cao read about, but it turned out they weren't there. It was okay though, because both were pretty cool. We only got to look at the Grand Palais from the outside because they were setting up for an exhibition or something, but it was okay. There was a huge bronze turtle out front so we checked that out before heading across the street to the Petit Palais.
The Petit Palais is the home of a small museum with a permanent collection that is free to check out, and a temporary one that is not. Anyways, it was definitely worth the no money we paid. There were some interesting artifacts in the museum, from a variety of times. There was a bunch of stuff from the times of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI plus some other interesting artwork. Plus there was a courtyard in the middle that was quite beautiful. They also had paintings of dead animals, which seems to have been popular at one point. I've also seen them in the Louvre and in an apartment here.
Today, Cao and I went to see the Palais Royal, the real home of the silver balls. It wasn't very thrilling at all. They were just in two small fountains. It was a bit of a letdown, but the weather was so nice, we just hung around in the courtyard for a while. The scenery was quite nice, so it wasn't a waste at all.
After the Palais we went and visited Parc de Monceau. It's pretty close to where we live, well at least a short metro ride away. It was also very beautiful and it was bustling with kids running around. One unfortunate part was that all the grass and gardens were fenced off. Kind of a look but don't touch approach to nature. It was still a nice place to hang out for a while, and I could see myself going back.
A panorama from the courtyard of the Palais Royal
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)