7 cities in 5 days!

I'm surprised I'm even awake enough to write after the jam-packed 5 days I've had! I traveled overland between the Antwerp and Le Havre ports so was able to see 7 whole cities in 3 countries (Belgium, Netherlands, France)! Sorry I can't post any pictures right now, but I'll get them up eventually... I have about 300. Here's the run down of what I did :)

Day One
    We got into Antwerp, Belgium and I loved it the second I got off the boat! It was so adorable.. a really small city with cobblestones roads and old looking buildings. Did some exploring... got delicious french fries and tried some Belgian beers. The waffles were UNBELIEVABLY good.. I got one with strawberries, chocolate and whip cream on it. Brian (my friend from Bentley) and I took a train to Leiden in the Netherlands around 7. He has a friend (Denise) that studied abroad at Bentley who showed us around and we stayed with for the next couple nights. It was really nice to have someone who lived there to show us around. That first night we hung out with her and some of her friends from the University of Tilburg. We had the pleasure of riding bikes around.. which everyone does in Europe. It was fun and interesting to say the least on the late night ride home (I'll share the hilarious details in person when I get back).

Day Two
    We woke up and had some traditional Dutch breakfast foods (Cornbread, ham, Nutella, cheese). She had us try this Slankie stuff that was kinda like a combo of cheese and butter... so of course it was good. Also... stroopwafles are to die for. They are like waffle cookies with caramel in the middle. Safe to stay I had about 20 in the 48 hours we spent with her. She showed us around University of Tilburg campus a bit then we went to the city of Lieden which was nice. We ate on a rooftop restaurant, went in a mill (they are all over the place in the Netherlands) and looked around the shopping area. There was a store called Oil & Vinegar that had all sorts of oils and dips. You could taste test everything... and I literally did try everything. There was really good honey mustard, balsamic glazes, brushettas and such! Reminded me of the Southern Living dips/ bread that we always have at family parties! She then took us to the Haag which is another city before we went back to stay over at her parents' house.

Day Three
    We got up pretty to head into Amsterdam! We pretty much got a full day in there. We went to the Anne Frank House, but it was closed because of Yum Kappur which stunk because I heard from a bunch of other SAS kids that it was a really cool experience. Did some more taste testing at a place called Old Amsterdam Cheese... YUM. Got Kiera a pair of wooden Dutch shoe slippers that are the cutest things ever! We went to the Heineken Brewery. It was just about two hours long, but very cool. We got to learn all about how the beer was made and how the company came about/ grew. There were some cool interactive parts.. such as tasting and getting free Heineken! After this we said bye to Denise becasue she had to go home, and a little later that night we took an overnight (10PM-7AM) bus to Paris. I was able to talk to Mom and Bruce a little bit from Kate and Jon's wedding, but the WiFi wasn't strong enough to FaceTime. I was really bummed out thinking about missing it, but Kate you looked amazing and I was 150% there in spirit to make up for not physically being there :) LOL

Day Four
    Was already beyond exhausted by the time we got to Paris at 7AM, but we dove right into exploring. Both of us had been there so we kinda just wandered around. Saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triumph and Moulin Rouge again. We made it back to Le Havre, where the boat was docked, via train at about 5PM.

Day Five
    Today, I had a really cool field program for my World Geography course. We went to some D-Day sites from WWII. It was a two hour bus ride out to the beaches. We started at the Pointe de Hoc which is where the allies invaded on D-Day (June 6, 1944). It was very informative and interesting-- our tour guide and teacher were both great! From there we went to Omaha Beach (I took some sand home!), the American Cemetery/ Memorial, and a D-Day museum. I learned so much and had a really great time. So far, it's been one of my favorite things that I can't wait to show picture of and tell you all about when I get home! Just got back from that a few hours ago. I've been getting re-settled on the boat and just relaxing. Going to get some work done and probably pass out soon since it's been an exhausting five days. Hard to believe just three days of class then I'll be in Dublin!

Talk to you all soon!
XOXO