My Spanish Holiday

Ahhh (huge sigh of relief) I am back in my comfy room in Tilburg after a hectic 48 hours of passport craziness. Don't worry, I was able to return to the Netherlands on an emergency passport and today I begin the process of obtaining a new one at the Hague. But I'll not let a situation like that overshadow the fact that Spain was probably the most beautiful country I have ever visited and my time there was incredible!

I went with an excellent entourage of girlfriends that included Danni, Cheryl, Melissa, Florence and of course me. Conveniently, Cheryl had an old friend (Greg) in the capital city of Madrid that allowed some of us to stay in his apartment while the other three of us stayed just down the street in the apartment of his two friends. These three guys were all on architecture co-op terms and all Waterloo students - talk about representing! Danni arrived in Spain a day earlier than us but by Thursday afternoon we were all walking through the sunny streets of Madrid together.

To kick off our first night in Madrid, we went out for a real Spanish treat: tapas! Now whoever invented tapas must have loved poor students like us. Tapas are drinks that come with a plate of food! This food is usually something very Spanish like prusuto, fried potatoes and lots of other things that I can't remember the name of. The best part about them is that they are the price of one drink! Needless to say, tapas became a staple on our trip.

Later that night we headed out into Madrid and danced away to some amazing live Salsa music. We started to really learn some amazing steps and turns but this didn't come without a price.... literally. At some point during the night we had each been pick pocketed. Luckily, none of us had lost anything too important, just some cash. By morning we were packed and ready to go to the airport....... to pick up our CAR!

Everyone one of us agrees that renting a car was probably the best decision we made on this trip. We were able to see Spain in a way that not many tourists do. Us five girls enthusiastically loaded up our little Volkswagen Polo and hit the road with our sunglasses on and windows down. We past through the city of Madrid and head down south for the city of Granada, roughly one hour from the Mediterranean shores. Along the way we were in awe of the giant hills and rolling red fields that made up the Spanish landscape. We passed by enormous roadside bull silhouettes that randomly existed every so often. Flo's sister mentioned that they used to be alcohol billboards but were painted black after advertising alcohol became illegal. The south of Spain is HUGELY into bullfighting and we made it our mission to see one at some point.... unfortunately, the bullfights don't start until NEXT weekend.

We arrived in Granada by sundown and had a crazy time driving through the little winding roads to get to the hostel where Florence, Melissa and I were staying for the night. Our hostel was situated on one of the giant hills that overlooks the city of Granada and right beside the Alhambra - a 9th century palace built by one of the Ottoman Empire's sultans! The hostel had a great location but the room was incredibly small. You had to be careful in the bathroom because as you sit down your knees bumped the door open! By nightfall we met up with the guys whom had rented their own car and we all enjoyed some more tapas in Granada. Florence was really tired from driving all day so she went to bed earlier but we all followed soon enough.

On Saturday morning I took advantage of the incredibly small shower but just as I was stepping out Cheryl burst into our door to announce that Danni was in line at 7am to get tickets into the Alhambra palace. We had to be there at the entrance by 9:30 in order to get in or we weren't going to be able to get in later. Excellent.... I'm soaking wet and I had 10 minutes to dry off, dress, pack and run to the entrance. Somehow, in a whirlwind of flurry, we all managed to make it to the palace entrance just in time. We were the last group they let in for the 9:30 time slot.

But the rushing and panic was all completely worth the most amazing experience in the Alhambra. If I took one million pictures of this palace and fortress you still would not be able to comprehend the beauty of this place. This palace was built by the sultan Mohamed V as a place for his family. Unlike other castles and palaces I've seen, this one was from a completely different and Eastern culture. Ornate carvings were on every single wall space and outdoor gardens lined the grounds and included multiple fountains. The view from the palace was absolutely breath-taking. We could have spent all day at that place but by the early afternoon we had to travel that extra hour to Malaga where Spain met the Mediterranean. There is a saying that goes "If you have not seen the Alhambra, you have not lived".

Cheryl travelled towards Malaga with the guys the rest of us girls actually went a little bit east of Malaga to a beach town. My heart stopped for a brief second as we drove over the last hill and saw nothing but bright blue ocean: the Mediterranean. This was a great place to spend the evening and we purchased some salad, cheese and wine to enjoy on the beach until we headed over to meet up with the others in Malaga. The hostel that some of them were staying at conveniently overlooked a live concert in the square below. As we were getting ready for dinner we enjoyed the Spanish tunes through our terrace balcony.

As night full Florence and Melissa went back to their hostel as I decided to join Cheryl and Danni in the car. This was a great way to save some cash! When morning came we put on our beach gear and sunscreen (making mom proud) and spent some hours by the palmed shores of the Mediterranean taking in the sun and sea. Malaga was a beautiful city and I would have loved to spend more time in it but we had to head back to Madrid for our last day (or what I thought was my last day!)

On Monday Cheryl and Flo had to catch up on some homework they had brought along but Danni, Melissa and I enjoyed some free time strolling through Madrid and taking in the city. We decided to go to one of the most famous art galleries in Europe. This place was incredible! I saw with my own eyes actual paintings by Pablo Picasso and Salvador Dali! At one point when I was looking at my favorite Dali painting I had to pinch myself and ask if this was really the painting!

For the rest of the afternoon we met up with Florence and Cheryl in the central garden. There was a beautiful rectangular lake here but we couldn't help but laugh at all the rowboats. Instead of casually rowing to the middle of this small lake' and relaxing, all of the people were frantically rowing and sweating trying to get somewhere in a hurry. The situation just looked ridiculous because the 'lake' was the size of a football field. I think they need to come to Canada to see what a real lake looks like!

It was around this time I realized my passport was missing and the search began. Everybody checked their bags and the apartments were turned upside down but with no luck. Since the embassy in Spain was closed, I was able to void my passport from Ottawa to protect me in case it had been stolen. Before all the girls left, we had one good meal all together eating some traditional Spanish paella's. Although I could not completely forget about my passport troubles, we managed to have a great last night in Spain.

Long story short I obviously worked things out at the embassy the next morning. I have managed to lose several winter coats, purses multiple times and even flush glasses down a toilet but this one definitely takes the cake. On the plus side, I was able to have one more day in Spain....

An extra day in Spain

This is just a quick email to update friends and family who may have had reason for concern. As some of you may have thought, I should be back in Tilburg today but instead, life threw me a curveball. I realized my passport was missing yesterday about an hour after the Canadian embassy closed and six hours before my flight back to Tilburg. Fearing it might be stolen, I called the helpline in Ottawa to void my passport. After many hours at the Canadian embassy today, I have been issued an emergency passport to get me back to Holland where I then have to apply for a new passport at the embassy in de Hague.

I just want to assure everyone that I am perfectly safe and calm. Obviously I was not able to fly back to Holland without a passport so I had to miss my flight and book a new one for 6:40am this Wednesday morning (about 9 hours from right now) Luckily, I am able to stay with my friend Cheryl's friends (Canadian co-op students from Waterloo) until this mess clears up.

Despite this situation, my time in Spain was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to post a new blog and pictures tomorrow night....

Bienvenue a la Paris!

So I went to Paris.... one of the famous if not the most famous cities in the world. I can see why so many people say they can fall in love Paris. Two days was in no way enough time to see this historically beautiful city but Loretta, Bev and I tried our best to fit as many activities in as we could. We arrived in Paris in the late afternoon and immediately went to the underground Metro system to get to our hotel. Luckily, Loretta had some tickets left over from her Contiki tour that we could use. Our stop was actually right in from of the Louvre! It was an absolutely beautiful building and as Loretta told me it used to be the palace for the monarchy until they decided it was "too small". Nonetheless, if you were to look at each painting in the Louvre for one minute, it would take NINE MONTHS to get through all of them!

From the Metro we made our way to the hotel which was surprisingly located quite centrally. We walked through the Palais Gardens with all of our luggage and I have to say, watching Bev struggle with that suitcase that was over twice her size was one of the funniest things of the trip (love you Bev!) At last we made it to our hotel (or what we thought was our hotel) but as it turned out we had to go to the OTHER Best Western just down the road. Once in our actual hotel, we found a Spanish couple who had the same problem, they had to go back to the Best Western we had just come from. I told the manager that I would point the way for the couple to help him out.

We discovered our room AGAIN had only enough beds for two. I called up the manager to tell him our dilemma and he decided to upgrade us to this beautiful deluxe room because I had helped out that Spanish couple! (Talk about great luck!) Our room was everything a Paris room should be, beautiful french windows opening up to the flower-filled windows of the street. We went out to see the Eiffel tower that night as the hours soon passed.

Standing in front of the Eiffel Tower was incredibly surreal. Because it is such an icon, and you see it a million times in the movies, it almost feels like you've been there before. The whole sight was incredibly magical and I'm glad I was able to see it all lit up against the dark sky.

I have to say there was definitely a change of roles here. Loretta's knowledge of French definitely came in handy while in Paris and my Dutch no longer proved much usefulness. We did have one little miscommunication incident when we ordered dinner that first Saturday night though. On the menu it read "Cheval Burger" which in English means 'horse hamburger' (Ruthann stop reading this) We were quite surprised at this apparent weird French taste but thought 'every country to it's own'. The couple at the table next to us had to explain that 'cheval burger' is just a name for a burger that has an egg on it (phew) I decided to have French Onion soup instead!

We had a restful sleep that Saturday night and by morning we had to check out of our hotel and into a new hotel across the river. Our new hotel didn't quite have the same amazing windows, but it did have a great view of the city from our 23rd floor. We were out and about by the afternoon and bought tickets for one of those hop-on-hop-off city bus tours. This was well worth the money and we were able to see all the iconic places of Paris.

I was so amazed by the history and extravagance of some of these things! Napoleon's expensive tastes were so evident. One of the most insane things I saw was the chaotic roundabout that surrounds the Champs Elysees. There is no lane lines, roughly six rows of traffic that somehow manage to get on and get off. We had to go under a tunnel to get to the arch. On the tour, I was also able to see the Eiffel in daylight which was equally impressive. For all those musical fans out there I saw the famous opera house that the Phantom of the Opera story is based on!

I saw the site of Marie Antoinette and Louis the 16th's beheading, the incredible Grand Palais, the place where Napoleon's body lies and about a million other amazing sights. One of the coolest places was Notre Dame! This cathedral was absolutely beautiful. (More umbrella troubles in front of Notre Dame) A service was going on inside but we could still walk around. The stain glass was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Despite all this, the grand finale of our excursion was yet to come.....

On Sunday night we got all dressed up and made our way to the Moulin Rouge! We had bought tickets for the dinner and cabaret show and it was SO amazing. This place used to be a really shady area of Paris as you can imagine but now the Moulin Rouge is one of the most popular tourist events. Before the show, we sat in the beautiful dinner showroom and chose the three course meal we wanted. I am happy to report that while in Paris I tried one of Bev's escargot and it was surprisingly not bad at all.

The show was colourful, so lively and a lot of fun. One of the craziest things I saw was a woman swimming in a tank full of LIVE boa constrictors! An acrobatic couple pulled off the most amazing stunts and the three of us ladies just couldn't get over the fact that we were sitting at the Moulin Rouge enjoying a night out in Paris!

By Monday morning Loretta's mom had to leave early but Loretta and I got to have a nice sleep in until our check-out at 12. I found my way on the Metro to the train station and JUST caught my train to Rotterdam. Paris was a magical experience and I'm slightly jealous that mom and dad will have five days..... do you think it would be too intrusive if I crash with them? Better not, it is their 25th anniversary after all.

Brussels and Brugge and Luxumbourg ....oh my!

Whew! I'm back in my familiar room after a very long weekend in Belgium, Luxembourg and Paris. My travels began last Tuesday when Florence mentioned that she wanted to make sure she was in Brussels in time to catch her Wednesday morning flight to Scotland. Since I was planning to go to Belgium anyway to meet Loretta and her mom Bev on Wednesday, Flo and I decided to go up a day early, book two beds at a hostel and take in some sights in the capital of Belgium.

I was so glad we decided to do this! The last time Flo and I had traveled together was back in January on our plane to Holland... my how time has flown and it was such a pleasure to be travelling together once more after two months in a new country. The sunshine greeted us in Brussels and we were so happy to discover our hostel was very clean and trendy. We spent the afternoon taking in the famous architecture of the main sqare, trying the infamous Belgian waffels (the only thing that I have ever found almost too sweet to eat) and finding that famous little statue called the mannequin-pis!

One of our favorite parts of the day was just sitting right down on the cobblestones in the main square listening to her ipod as we took in the sights. I realized that the buildings I was looking at were oddly familiar.... three paintings hang above our living room couch back home.... those paintings belonged to my grand-great parents when they travelled to Belgium many, many years ago! How cool is that??

After a relaxing evening at the hostel we settled into bed. The sleep would have been great if it wasn't for a fog-horn snoring Texan in the room... but I guess that's the risk when you go to a hostel!! In the morning Flo and I went our separate ways as she was off to Scotland and I boarded the train for Knokke to meet Loretta and Bev.

Knokke was an unexpectedly beautiful little Belgian town right on the coast of the North Sea. Bev had a timeshare for an amazing suite that had a living room, kitchen, bathrooms and two bedrooms. Us three ladies had a really nice evening strolling the town, taking a dip in the indoor pool and watching some TV while we did our nails. Loretta really needed this relaxing time in Knokke as she had been on the go for over three months!

In the morning, we decided that we should go to Ypres, one of the key cities during the Great War. We did a tour through the 'In Flanders's Fields Museum' and were very moved by the fact that we were walking around a town where the war had actually happened! Ypres was completely demolished and had been rebuilt since. After the museum, we had been planning to go to Brugge, but we finally decided that as Canadians, we can't come this close to the famous Hill 62 Canadian memorial and not see it.

After finding the right bus that would take us just outside of Ypres, we began the now infamous trek. Now people, when we were told it was 'just at the end of this road', we thought we would be walking maybe 10 minutes tops before we would reach Hill 62. But after over 20 minutes of walking through tree-lined, country road in 2 inch heels, the only things in sight were more farmers' fields and manure. It was at this point we started to turn on each other, we doubted the way and were considering turning back. It was at that point I saw in the distance something that would save us.....

With my dashing smile and basic use of Dutch, I was able to flag down an old farmer driving his tractor up to some farther fields. "Kun ye wij helpen alstublief?" And he allowed all three of us ladies to squish into his tractor as he most happily drove us the remaining distance to Hill 62. We were quite the sight upon our arrival and the farmer's buddy was really impressed that his friend managed to bring with him not only three lady friends, but Canadian lady friends!!

Hill 62 was one of the most powerful monuments I had ever been to. It was amazing because in that area of Belgium us Canadians were treated with such help and warmth wherever we went. People were still grateful to our country. The farmers stood in the middle of the road waving goodbye to us as we made our way back to the bus stop. With the hours waning away we ended up in Brugge just in time for some dinner. Even in the dark, Brugge was an amazingly beautiful city. I couldn't wait to see it in the morning when we came back.

By Friday we had half a day to spend in Brugge before we had to be in Luxembourg to check into our hotel for the night. I cannot put into words how beautiful Brugge is! All I can say is if you ever have the chance to go... GO! It is the most picturesque towns in not only Belgium, but in all of Europe. The winding cobblestone roads, many old churches, and winding canals make this place a popular tourist destination. Among the highlights of our time was taking a lovely riverboat cruise and seeing a real Michelangelo sculpture (the Madonna and Child) in one of the churches. Whatever stereotypes you hear about Belgian chocolate... they are all TRUE! Never in my life has chocolate been so delicious and creamy!

There were many quirky stores and restaurants - one of Bev's favourites was the tea pot shop! While we were there, a movie was being shot in the main square and I learned that 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' had been filmed in Brugge as well. We were sad to leave but looked forward to being in another country. After a four hour train ride, we were in Luxembourg by 7pm. (Rookie's famous! Look at his portrait on the tea pot!)

Poor Luxembourg, we didn't really give this little country much of a chance to impress us. After dealing with a room mistake (two single beds for three people) we weren't in the mood to go out and had an early night. We woke up to a dreary morning but braved the weather to at least see SOMETHING of Luxembourg before our train to Paris. (Loretta, Bev and I waiting for a train)

I apologize to any Luxembourgers reading this but everybody we met seemed to be in a somewhat crabby mood. We made the unfortunate mistake of walking into a shop that was clearly owned by the soup nazi's cousin (Seinfeld joke). This souvenir nazi would not let Bev drink her water in the store and chastised me for putting my purse up on the counter to pay for my post card "Can yoo not zee dat I am VERKING!!" We got out of there as soon as possible. This funny little country no bigger than the lake Loretta's Albertan town in situated on was not all bad however, we did manage to see the amazing fortified walls that surround the place.

But three hours was enough for us and by 12:35 we were aboard for Paris!!

A new post is coming!

Just to let all my wonderful readers know, a new post can be expected by Monday! I have just arrived in PARIS after sightseeing in Belgium and Luxumbourg with Loretta and her mom Bev. I will be seeing the Eiffel Tower tonight and for a grand finale we have tickets to see the Moulin Rouge cabaret and dinner show tomorrow night!

Stepping through the history in Maastrict

This time I would not the deadline pass me by so I was one of the first exchange students to sign up for the excursion to Maastrict this past Saturday. I am so glad I went on this trip because not only was this city beautiful, but it's rich history was extremely interesting to learn about on our guided city tour.

It was definitely an early morning as we all boarded the bus at 7:30am. On the bright side, it was a beautiful sunny day to be having a road on. After about an hour and a half of driving we stopped at a point half an hour before Maastrict. This was the highest point in Holland as they explained and I tried to conceal my laughter. They sure used the word 'mountain' quite loosely but considering all the flatness in Holland I guess this was a mountain to them. What is special about this area though is that on this large hill is the point where the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium all meet borders. I was standing in three countries all at once... pretty incredible. (left: Flo and I climbing on the three countries point)

After we enjoyed the area for a little bit and got some good photos, we were back in the bus to Maastrict where our tour guides were waiting. I was so impressed with the beauty of this county as we drove by. Our walking tour started just outside of the city's old walls that surround Maastrict. Our tour guide explained that Maastrict was originally settled by the Romans hundreds of years ago because the river was shallow enough to cross in the summer at that time. We walked through some beautiful green areas before entering the old city where millions of camera opportunities presented themselves.

I wish I could describe in more detail how amazing it was to look at the historical old buildings and cobblestone walkways. In Canada, history like this just doesn't exist. Our tour ended by an old cathedral where we could walk inside and look around. For our free time, Danni, Cheryl and I bought some of the famous vlaai pies which are very well known in the province of Limburg. We made it back to the visitor area in time to climb aboard for our river cruise through the city. Passing old buildings and bridges was fabulous and within half an hour we had landed at our destination.... the St Petersburg caves!!

This cave tour was my favourite part of the day. People started carving through these hillsides over 500 years ago for the limestone materials. There was over 2000 passage ways! Our tour was guided only by the lantern light of our tour guide Ed. Surprisingly, the ceilings were over 10 metres high. As Ed explained, people carve deeper and deeper into the stone so the writings and paintings near the top of the ceilings were from the 1500s/1600s while closer to our ground level the paintings and writings were within 100 years old. These caves were used by soldiers during the wars and about a thousand citizens of Maastrict. The city had made plans for the caves to be used for long term shelter during world war II but had only ended up needing them for 10 days. Nonetheless, a hospital, kitchen, sleeping areas and chapels had been created and a baby had even been born down here during those 10 days. At one point in our tour Ed left us all alone against the wall where we had to find our way around the corner.... in absolute pitch black darkness!! It was very scary but also quite fun.

Once we were out of the caves the sun nearly blinded us but we managed to make our way back to the boat cruise. We enjoyed some dinner in the city before making our way back to the bus. It was a really interesting day trip!