..closing in..

:: Break is over, and Princeton is looming ::

There’s just a little over three weeks left of my time here, and I can’t believe it. I knew that after my Eurotrip, I’d have practically no time left. And now here I am. Despite all the work that I have, I can’t help but not care. Today has been great so far – sunny, an upset in New Hampshire and Justine is here. So, I thought I’d continue the non-work doing by posting, since it has been quite a while.

First, a brief recap of the Eurotrip. Overall, it was a great success. Eight cities in thirteen days – it’s possible. I enjoyed every city, though by the end, I did miss Paris a little. Barcelona and Berlin were definitely the highlights for me and certainly deserve future visits. Though with a maximum of two days in each city, I’m pretty sure I could go back to all of them.

Barcelona >>
It may have been the weather, it may have been Brian’s presence (haha), but whatever it was, Barcelona was amazing. We did the typical sightseeing, which ended up being more of something to take up time between tapas, paella, sangria, hot chocolate, and more tapas. But no really, I loved the architecture and because it was Christmas, it wasn’t as crowded as it usually would be, so we got to see a kind of quiet side of the city. We still went out though and thanks for Fawn’s cheesy Party Europe guide, we found this really cool bar right along the Mediterranean. On our second day, we went to Gaudi’s park, which was a nice break from city life. Plus, our hostel ended up being pretty sweet too – complete with Christmas dinner and 3 euro one liter beers.

Milan >>
This was interesting, as it was our first ever Couchsurfing experience. It turned out very very well. Not only was our host very accommodating, but he also told us exactly where to go for the best food/cappuccinos. Milan was a little more low-key since there were less “must-see” sites, but it was still a great time. I probably won’t return in the near future, but I would recommend it.

Venice >>
I suppose it’s natural to be a little disappointed when a city is so talked up, though at the same time, I don’t feel that way about Paris. Venice was beautiful and everything I imagined it would look like – but that was part of the problem. This was a city where we could have used a local guide, because otherwise, we were just another set of tourists. Still, I enjoyed myself – it was pretty cool to be in a place that you have seen so many pictures of. And in this case, our hotel worked out really well. It was about a 20 minute train ride from Venice proper and let us experience a little bit of small town life.

Warsaw >>
Yeah, I know. Warsaw?! See, the thing is we had booked all of our train tickets in advance, except the overnight from Venice to Prague because the silly Trenitalia website wouldn’t take our credit cards. By the time we could buy them in person or whatever, all trains and all buses on the days we could go were sold out. So, in a last ditch effort, we looked up flights and the best option ended up being fly to Warsaw, stay there for a 23 hour layover, and then fly to Prague. I’m really glad we went because, let’s be serious, I never would have gone otherwise. While we didn’t get to see too much, everything we did see was nice – not at all ostentatious, and quite quaint.

Prague >>
What is there to say? I loved it so much the first time, I just had to come back. I was surprised that I remembered everywhere from the first time – the Concert Hall where we sang, Old Town Square, the Bridge, the Castle. Unfortunately, I don’t think I really deepened my understanding of the city since I was once again a supreme tourist. I did get to experience the nightlife this time, and thanks to recommendations from people who went to Prague earlier this semester, it was quite fun. New Year’s Eve, watching fireworks from Charles Bridge, was truly beautiful. And even though I may have missed people just a little at the time, I was still very happy to be there. The only downside was how extremely crowded it was for the holiday, which made the city lose some of its local feel. However, our ballin’ 4 star hotel more than made up for it.

Berlin >>
In our short time here, we managed to accomplish a surprising amount. We took a 3.5 hour free tour of all the important city sites, and along the way, got to learn a little history. While the architecture wasn’t necessarily as beautiful as other cities, hearing about the history and seeing how the city has transformed in a brief 18 years was really remarkable. Later in the day, we went to the Jewish Museum, which I found both informative and really well presented. Finally, the going out scene wasn’t too bad either – delicious and/or very strong drinks (haha) and clubs with hip-hop. Hurrah. It’s too bad we couldn’t have stayed longer, I feel like there was so much more to see.

Amsterdam >>
Oh dear, there are no words. We spent most of our time here wandering around, though we did manage to go to the Van Gogh museum as well. The canals were very cute and despite being a very touristy city, it still had a local charm. Unfortunately, we tried to be a little too local and got in a little over our heads. Let’s just say there’s an experience I never ever want to repeat. I did still enjoy the city very much, and feel like there is much more culture to uncover.

Brussels >>
On this last day of our trip, we were definitely getting a little tired. But we still managed to walk all around the city – though that’s not too big of a feat since it is quite small. Brussels felt just like a small town, yet had all the perks of a capital city. We also made our way to the European Parliament, which was pretty cool. For our final night, we stayed with another Couchsurfer, who cooked us dinner and then took us on a mini beer tasting. It was nice just being able to talk and have a relaxing evening. And then back to Paris it was!

//

Although I am a little traveled out, I am still pretty excited to go to London this weekend. My friend from HS and another friend from Princeton are both studying abroad there, so hopefully we will be able to meet up. As for Paris, Fawn is here and hopefully loving it, and also my friend from HS who is originally from Paris is here visiting her grandparents. It’s always fun being in Paris with other people, and I guess I should take advantage of it while I still can.

It’s funny – after I got back this Sunday, walking around Paris has felt markedly different. I feel almost as I did the first few weeks here, looking at everything wide-eyed and trying my best to take everything in. It’s not exactly the same, because everything now has a certain familiarity, but I guess I’m once again really appreciative of it. It’s sad how in the last few weeks, everything I do will be for the last time. But I know I will come back sometime, hopefully sooner rather than later, and there will still be so much more to see.

I will try my best to soak in the rest of my time here, but it’s going to be hard. As I mentioned before, I have an ungodly amount of work left to do. This includes two more presentations, all of our task force stuff, a fiche de lecture (essentially a book report), a paper, two in-class exams that are in addition to finals, and probably more. Not to mention it is not approaching crunch time for job applications and I still don’t have a clear idea of what I want to do. I think I have given up on the whole iBanking thing though – I’m just not that into it. I only hope that I find a job that I enjoy as much as I enjoyed HRIC, and this time get some money for it. The Eurotrip definitely burned a huge whole in my pocket. And then finally, I will be taking my finals from Sciences Po during the first two weeks of classes at Princeton – which includes, for me, move-in, bicker, classes, Tigressions auditions and all my other activities. Eeks!

Despite all the inevitable stress and even though I will miss Paris a lot a lot, I am excited and nearly ready to go back to Princeton. Not to sound like a nerd, but I do miss the academics there. And of course, I just miss being there, in my comfort zone, and also just being back with friends. I think I’ve taken full advantage (or nearly) of this semester abroad, and I’m ready to see what kind of impact it will have on my life back at Princeton. See you all February 1!

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~ by michen09 on January 9, 2008.