Harrods & Hyde Park

Hello! It's been about a week since I wrapped up my blog posts detailing my incredible spring break trip. I spent the majority of this past week locked in my room, writing five 3,000 word essays. But, before I got started, I was able to enjoy a couple of days with some friends from BC - Sarah M, Sarah N, Mike, and Amanda - who are also studying abroad in Europe and spent the weekend visiting London, along with my fellow London-ers, Eric, Dave, and Danielle. It was really great to see everyone, especially since I hadn't seen some of them since December, which is the last time we were all at BC. We had a great English breakfast, went to Platform 9-3/4 in King's Cross Station, and went to afternoon tea. 

English Breakfast at Big Chill House (I took the picture)

On my way to Hogwarts!

Enjoying Afternoon Tea in Kensington

After a great weekend reuniting with friends, I had 5 essays to knock out by Friday. Studying abroad has made me quite the master procrastinator,  I must admit, as I was able to complete one essay each day, with time for breaks, a normal sleep routine, and with enough time to edit everything numerous times. 

The style of assessment here in the UK is much different from what I've grown accustomed to back in Boston. Essentially, for my four classes I took at SOAS, I was responsible for two 3,000 word essays (some due in March, and the rest due last week). Because I joined full-year courses, I am not required to stick around for exams in May, since the exams cover material from the first term (which I was not present for). The questions I answered in my essays were selected from one lecture out of the entire course, meaning that I was never required to connect overall themes or lessons. Though I definitely learned a lot in each of my classes, I am looking forward to returning to my BC classes in the fall. 

It felt really great to finish submitting my essays on Friday, but it's terrifying to realize that I'm now that much closer to starting my senior year of college! To celebrate the end of assessments, as well as Allegra's 21st Birthday, six of us went out to dinner at Cantina Laredo, a great Mexican restaurant here in London, on Friday night!

Celebrating the end of essays and Allegra's 21st Birthday!

Yesterday (Saturday), was an absolutely gorgeous day. Eric and I hopped on the tube and went to Harrods, easily the most famous store in all of London. As a shopping fanatic myself, this place was like heaven. It had pretty much anything you could possibly dream of - perfume, makeup, tea, coffee, chocolates, designer clothes, toy kingdom, cafes, technology department, home furnishings and decorations - and, the best place of all: Pet Kingdom. 

Located on the top floor, Pet Kingdom not only houses a Pet Spa (for grooming), dog toys, dog food, dog clothes, and dog beds, but there are also puppies! Unfortunately, you can only look (not touch), but I could have stared at the French Bulldog puppies, Chihuahua puppies, and Cavapoo puppies for hours. Eric pretty much had to pry me away, and we ended up revisiting the puppies one last time before we left. I'm so excited to see my own puppies, Sadie and Cooper, in just a few weeks! 

Mickey Mouse outside the Disney Magic Cafe at Harrods

The Egyptian Escalator, which brings you to every floor of heaven

One of the many food halls, where Eric and I enjoyed lunch

Approaching Pet Kingdom!

One of the dog beds on sale - perfect for Queen Sadie!

Candy Store in Toy Kingdom!

Harrods Bear in Toy Kingdom

The iconic view of Harrods!

After spending nearly four hours (no, I'm not kidding) in Harrods, Eric and I walked over to Hyde Park to enjoy the wonderful weather. We walked all the way through to Marble Arch, where Oxford Street begins. I loved Hyde Park - there are so many bikers, roller-bladers, skateboarders, joggers, people having picnics, and people just walking around enjoying the day. I definitely want to go back at least once before I go home. 

The Serpentine, a man-made lake running through Hyde Park

Swans!

Ducks!

What a gorgeous day!

Finally some sun and green after a cold and rainy winter in London!

Marble Arch

After leaving Hyde Park, Eric and I walked down Oxford Street, then to Piccadilly Circus, and finally stopped for dinner in Covent Garden. I was so tired from walking all over London, but it was great to finally get out, get some exercise, and enjoy some beautiful weather. 

Today, I am preparing for my next trip: Budapest, Munich, and Prague. Eric and I will spend 3 nights in each city, and will meet up with some friends from BC along the way. It should be another incredible trip! Stay tuned! 

Brussels: Chocolate, Waffles, and Beer

Note: This is the final post (6 total) about my 3 week-long Spring Break. To read about London, Berlin, Paris, Istanbul, or Amsterdam, use the navigation on the right side of the page. Enjoy!

After a great time in Amsterdam, Eric and I took a 2-hour train to Brussels, Belgium, our last stop of the trip. We were only there for 2 nights, but we still got to see a lot of the city, and eat a lot of waffles! 

We stayed in the perfect location, one block away from Grand Place, the most famous spot
in all of Brussels. After we got settled, we walked around for a bit to explore the surrounding
neighborhood.

Grand Place - we ate at a Belgian restaurant in this building, where Eric and I had excellent
French Onion Soup, and shared Mussels in Beer.

Grand Place

Enjoying a Belgian beer on the first night!

The next day, it was unfortunately quite rainy. We opted for a double-decker
bus tour, so that we could see everything in just a few hours. This is the
Cathedral Saint Michael.

Brussels is also home to the Atomium, a strange monument
constructed in 1958. It has been named by CNN as Europe's
"most bizarre building" and I have to agree.

Not many people took the bus tour with us in the rain, and Eric
was quite sad about it.

Brussels also serves as the capital of the European Union, hosting
its major political institutions. These are the European Parliament buildings.

The Royal Palace of Belgium

Les Galeries Saint Hubert, home to many high-end
shops and chocolate stores. Don't worry family (especially John),
I picked up some to bring home.

For dinner, Eric and I visited a fantastic burger place right near Grand Place.
I had a Tex Mex Burger, which was absolutely fantastic!

One of the most famous symbols of Brussels, for some reason, is the Manneken Pis.
I thought it was quite strange, but whatever.

On our last night, we went all out with the waffles! I got one with
chocolate, banana, and powered sugar. It was delicious!

A close-up just for good measure.

We stopped by Grand Place one last time to see it lit up at night. 

It really was quite a sight!

Before heading back to our hostel, Eric and I stopped at Delirium, one of the most
famous bars/pubs in all of Europe. It has over 2,000 beers! 

My favorite was a cherry beer called Floris Kriek. It tasted more
like soda than beer!

Though we were only there for one full day, I had a great time in Brussels. We were able to see all the sights, and then just enjoy wandering the city. Though the weather wasn't great, it really was a beautiful place. To get back to the UK, we boarded a Eurostar train that took us directly to London St. Pancras International Train Station, a 5-minute walk from our residence hall. I had been gone for more than two weeks, and it really was nice to get back to London!

With that, I have officially finished blogging about my spring break trip of a lifetime. After 21 days, 6 countries  4 time zones, 4 flights, and 2 trains, I definitely had a lot to share. It was so great to see my family, and to spend time with Eric and his family. It was incredible exploring places like Berlin and Istanbul, which are cities I'm already looking forward to revisiting. 

Now, I have 10 days in London until I'm off on another trip, this time to Budapest, Munich, and Prague. But, I also have 5 essays due in one week, which will definitely keep me busy until then. I hope you enjoyed reading about my trip as much as I enjoyed writing about it. Stay tuned!

Amsterdam: The City of Bikes

After an incredible time in Istanbul, Eric and I woke up at 5am to get to the Sabiha Gocken Airport and board our Pegasus Airlines flight to Amsterdam, Holland. We arrived on a Friday afternoon, and made our way to our hotel, located right in Rembrandt Square. Our friend from Boston College, Dave, joined us for our 3 days in Amsterdam, and we all had a great time!

Upon our arrival, we decided to explore the neighborhood a bit. We made our way to  Dam Square,
one of the main squares of Amsterdam. During the weekend we were visiting, this carnival was going on!

I quickly stumbled upon a Dutch clog on our walk, so naturally I hopped in!

Amsterdam is a city of canals, and we saw beautiful swans nearly everywhere.

Loving the canals and Dutch houses!

Oude Kerk, the oldest church in Amsterdam, also located in the infamous Red Light District.

I thought the Dutch houses were really interesting and beautiful, and although many
of them looked similar, they were all very different.

Enjoying the city!

On our first full day, we stopped at the I Amsterdam sign to take some pictures.
Behind us is the Rijskmuseum, which I had hoped to visit during our stay, but unfortunately it does not officially
reopen until next week. 

I Amsterdam sign in its full glory!

Walking around, we stumbled upon the House of Bols, a "museum" dedicated to the Dutch gin distillery, Bols.
We took a fun tour and learned about all their different flavors, and at the end we were able to try a cocktail.
My cocktail was Vanilla Berry Crush, and was delicious! Eric got a Peach Cheesecake cocktail, which was
interesting as well. I went in not expecting much, but it was actually a fun and unique "museum" experience!

Because Amsterdam has a serious housing shortage, many people opt to live on houseboats like
the ones pictured here.

After grabbing a quick lunch, Dave, Eric and I went to Anne Frankhuis, which was a truly moving experience.
This here is the Anne Frank memorial located a few blocks away from the museum.

Anne Frankhuis: such an incredible experience. We were able to walk through each of the different
rooms in which Anne and her family hid for more than 2 years, and see some actual pages of her diary.
After being in Berlin the previous week and learning all about World War II and Nazi Germany, I think
this had a much stronger effect on me. It was definitely something I will never forget.

After Anne Frankhius, we took a Canal Boat Tour to get some alternative views of the city,
like this one! Amsterdam really is a beautiful city.

So many boats!

The oldest bridge in Amsterdam!

After the canal tour, we stumbled upon this Cheese Museum.
It was more a store than a museum, but we got to try all sorts of delicious cheeses.
It was easily one of the highlights of the trip, which sounds bad at first, but if you were there,
you would totally understand.

We then enjoyed a couple of beers and a snack at a cafe on the canal. I had a Leffe Blonde Beer, which
was easily my favorite beer I'd ever tried (I'm not a huge beer fan, but since being in Europe, it's been growing
on me!). I even bought that glass I'm holding there as a souvenir, because it was so beautiful!

In Amsterdam, bikes are everywhere. Tourists can rent them for a couple of hours, which is what
we decided to do! It was completely terrifying at times, but a lot of fun and a great way to see
the city!

Photo-op!

I'm pretty sure that both Dave and Eric wanted to kill me for the duration of  our bike-riding
experience, because I never knew where I was going or what I was doing, but we learned to laugh about it
by the end (I think). 

Rembrandt Square, one of the busiest squares in Amsterdam and also
where our hotel was located.

Rembrandt Square is home to a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars, and clubs, and even has this
big screen TV (if you can call it that) playing advertisements and music.

On our last night, we ventured out to Leiden Square, another busy square of Amsterdam
with lots of restaurants. We ate at a Dutch restaurant called The Pantry, where I had some delicious
beef and onion stew.

Overall, I really enjoyed my time in Amsterdam. The canals were beautiful, and I loved the homes and restaurants. Anne Frankhuis was an experience I will never forget, especially in light of all I learned about World War II and Nazi Germany during my trip to Berlin with my family a week earlier. 

However, for me, Amsterdam seemed like it was more about marijuana and the Red Light District than anything else, which got old very quickly. It was interesting to see at first because it is so different and unexpected, but I felt like you couldn't go more than a block without smelling pot or seeing a sex shop, which was very jarring at times. But, I had a great time exploring the city with Eric and Dave, and am very glad I visited!

On Monday morning, Eric and I were able to take a break from planes, and boarded a train from Amsterdam to Brussels, Belgium, our last stop of the trip!