Backpacking Across Germany, Belgium, and France

Ok the term "backpacking" sounds a bit more intense than what it actually was but none the less I just got back from a 10ish day excursion with everything packed in a backpack...so yeah that's what I've been up to. So with my program we had some long weekend travel breaks. well this was our big break so we got a whole week off of classes to go travel!  And here is a hopefully not too long description of what all we did.

Germany
We started by flying into Germany, outside the Frankfurt area.  We spent the weekend in Wiesbaden and spent some time in Mainz too.  It may sound random but we stayed with one of my friend's family. They showed us around a bit and we spent time hanging out with them.  Her uncle doesn't speak English but he still tried to talk to use and he was very funny! They were all so sweet!  It was a lot of fun! In Mainz we went to the Gutenberg Museum which is there because Johannes Gutenberg was from there.  We also went to the castle one day too! It was a lot of fun to stay with them and get to talk to people and learn a bit about Germany by that, getting to know people, seeing smaller towns, and not just the tourist stuff.  So we all really enjoyed that.  They showed us around the area and we saw a monument, a castle, a monastery and took a ferry across the Rhine.  After the weekend we went to Karlsruhe.  When we told her family we were going there they couldn't figure out why.  The reason we chose that place is because it is by the Black Forest, but unfortunately we didn't get to see it.  But hey we still had a good afternoon there.  We visited the zoo which was a bit sketch but fun none the less!  We also went to the Karlsruhe palace! The next day we headed to Berlin and kinda got their late so we didn't go out just ate dinner at the hostel and went to bed.  The next morning we went around Berlin.  Berlin is really cool!  I love the history and how some of it is so recent with the Berlin wall and all that.  First that day we went to the Reichstag and there is a dome that you can visit and get pretty cool views of the city.  We also saw a meeting gathering and I'm pretty sure I saw Angela Merkel.  Since that would be really cool to say I'm just going to go with it! So I saw Angela Merkel at the Reichstag!  We then saw some other sights, some memorials, the Brandenburg Gate, Checkpoint Charlie, etc.  That day we spent some time at the Jewish Museum which was really cool!  It was very interesting.  They had a lot of symbolic stuff so that was interesting but it was really cool!  We ended up being able to stay a few hours longer in Berlin than we first though so we attended a church service which was pretty cool!  I really liked Berlin for the history and I really liked Germany.  I wasn't expecting to really like it but I did.  We spent a lot of time there in Germany though.  From Thursday night to the next Thursday morning.

Thanksgiving!
This Thanksgiving was quite the crazy day! We took an over night train from Berlin to Brussels.  I don't do the night train thing so well and may have only gotten 45 minutes of sleep...Yes I have already been to Brussels but it was quite alright to go back.  We saw some different things and it was with different people and all. So you know how the last trip was just a day trip so we just spent several hours there...well this time we spent even less time.  We spent about 6 hours getting lost, seeing a few things, getting waffles and chocolate, etc.  Luckily it was a sunny day and the weather was beautiful!  It was nice to see the blue sky! Then we headed to Paris that afternoon.  We got there that evening and after getting into our hostel and all settled we set out!  We went to the Eiffel Tower that night and the view was fantastic from the top.  It was so cold though!  It was windy and we were there freezing the whole time! But the view was great!  It was cool to see the city at night too! But if I go to the Eiffel Tower again I'd like to go up in the day.  But night is pretty cool to see from the top!  It is probably a bit colder though.  After that we walked around a bit and saw the Arc de Triomphe before going back to the hostel for the night.  So basically I spent Thanksgiving in 3 different countries! Which is quite exhausting without only getting 45 minutes of sleep I bet.

Paris!
Last time I went to France we stayed in Lille so I didn't get to see Paris, so I was excited to get out and explore the city I'd been reading about in Les Miserables.  The next day we got up and went to the Musée d'Orsay, which was really cool!  We took a tour and then went and looked around on our own for a bit.  After that we went to the Louvre. So that day we spent a lot of time at the museums.  Paris does have great art museums though!  So we did that for basically all of that day with seeing a few sights here and there.  I have to say I liked the Musée d'Orsay better.  Probably because it was less crowded, and not as enormous. The Louvre is just huge!!!  There are the busy parts and then there are sections of the museum that are basically deserted!  Our last day in Paris we went and saw the Sacré Cœur Basilica and the Notre Dame.  We tried to go see Oscar Wilde's grave but due to some circumstances and the enormous nature of the cemetery we didn't make it.  That night we travelled from Paris to Marseille.

Marseille
After a week of walking all bundled up in the cold it was nice to get a warm day.  For our last day we went to Marseille in the south of France.  We spent the day walking around, enjoying the great weather, and the beach even though we didn't have our swimsuits.  It was a really cool place!

We headed back to Oxford Sunday night and now wrapping up this semester with papers and finals and all that not-so-fun end of the term stuff...Saturday I'm going to Cardiff but that is looking like it'll be my last major trip...hopefully I can go once more into London but probably not unfortunately.  But I've had a great semester here, this was a great trip with a great group of people!  It was good to get to know them better.  I had so much fun on this trip and wish it didn't have to end. But now on to finishing up this semester and enjoying my last two weeks living here in England.

Nottinghamshire

Living in England is cool!  Because it's just a cool place.  There are also a lot of places that you've heard about your whole life that are all the sudden just a bus ride away.  Like Nottingham.  Yes! The home of Robin Hood!  And then you decided two hours before you leave that you're going to hop on a bus to Nottingham.  It happens.  

This weekend I was going to go to Cardiff.  Then that fell though and then I was going to just stay home, have a weekend to rest, and work on my paper like a good student. :) But...my roommate and a couple other people had planed a trip to Nottingham...and I wanted to go.  And someone dropped out a few hours before.  And since they already had tickets and a hostel, I got to go!  

My sister is a big fan of the BBC series Robin Hood!  It's a really good show!  My roommate is also a fan and that's why she wanted to go.  Robin Hood is just a cool story/legend.  I love the British legends like Robin Hood and King Arthur and Merlin (that have both become BBC series).  It kinda makes you wonder how much of it is just stories and how much is real.  Robin Hood seems like it could have actually happened and it was cool to see some of the sights that connect with the legend even if it may not be actual history.  And there was some opportunity for Robin Hood quotes. 

Friday night we left for Nottingham, and spent the night in a hostel (which ended up being really, really nice, and having memory foam mattresses).  Saturday morning we went around Nottingham for a bit and got to see "Nottingham Castle" which actually isn't there anymore.  But there was also a statue of Robin Hood there.  Then we caught a bus to Sherwood forest which is actually closer to Edwinstowe, which is a little town right next to the forest.  So that was about a 40 minute bus ride.  We got to the forest and walked around a bit.  It was so pretty!  We went to the Major Oak where according to the legends Robin Hood and his Merry Men use to meet.  It's over 1000 years old so they've blocked it off so people can't climb it and such to preserve it.  It can't really support itself now so they've built things to help its limbs.  After walking around a bit and climbing some other trees (getting funny looks from British people and such) We went and checked out a few other things at the sight before catching out bus back to Nottingham.  Unfortunately we got a bit distracted so we watched the bus drive away...and the next one wasn't for 2 hours.  Luckily that didn't mess up our plans for getting back to Oxford but we also had two hours to wait around...so we went into Edwinstowe.  There wasn't much but it looked like a nice little down.  There was an arts and crafts centre with some cool stuff to look at.  We ended up just walking around town.  Also in Edwinstowe there is the church where Robin Hood and Maid Marion were said to be married in.  We just walked around the outside because it wasn't open.  We caught the next bus, which was also the last bus, and we headed back to Nottingham.  Though we didn't have much time there so basically just went from one bus station to the next to head back to Oxford.  

It was a really fun trip but you need more time in Nottingham that I though.  To be honest I was wonder what on earth are we actually going to do in Nottingham, but I wish we would have had more time.  The castle isn't really worth going inside unless you want to go see the museum.  It's not even the real castle, just the grounds so if you ever go just walk around the outside and that's fine.  There are also caves that we missed out on (since we missed the bus).  Sherwood forest is fantastic!  It is fun to walk around and a lot of the locals so to bike there are to take nice walks.  I would if I was a local.  How cool would that be to just go on a walk in Sherwood forest on a regular basis!!! I felt rushed the whole trip so if I go again (and I'll tell this to my sister if she ever gets to go) I will spend some more time there.  But sometimes you just don't have to option to spend a lot of time somewhere.  

I'm running out of time here.  Thursday I leave for Germany, Belgium, and France (yes I've already been to Belgium and France but that's just how it works out sometimes) and then I'll be there for over a week, then the first weekend in December I'm going to Cardiff, and then I have one more weekend here!!!  I hope I get to go to London one more time!!!  It's one of my favourite cities! 

Lille/Brussels

This weekend I went with my French class to Lille, France and Brussels, Belgium.  I have been taking French this semester and it has been quite interesting.  Sometimes I love it, sometimes I think it's okay, but probably more often than not it's just stressful.  I have learned a lot of French but most of the time I want to give up.  I say that I can't wait to get back to studying Spanish.  Probably one of the reason's that it frustrates me is because it's not Spanish and I keep wanting to mix Spanish into my French.  I catch myself saying "por favor" instead of "s'il vous plaît" etc.  I almost said "l'addition, por favor" when asking for the check at a restaurant.  Well anyway despite being frustrated with French most of the time, going to a place that spoke it made me want to learn it and motivated me a bit.  I had gone to Quebec over the summer and hadn't taking French before and even though we could get along fine and I was able to figure out some French because of my Spanish, going to France and Belgium after some experience with the French language was a neat experience.  It was cool to see how much I had really learned and to compare my French level in Quebec from it now.  I mean I can hardly understand anything and have a long, long way to go if I ever do decided to continue studying French.  But it was encouraging.  One problem is that I can never remember what to say when I have to for one but that will go away with some more experience and a better command of the language.

Well anyway on to what I did this weekend!  My French teacher is from France and went to University in Lille.  It's not a very touristy city but in a way that's nice.  It gives one a chance to experience a less touristy view of a culture and for a language learner it's easier to get practice because not everyone knows English.  If you go to a big city the moment they realise you don't speak the language they start talking to you in English.  A lot of people did know English in Lille but there was still more chance to use French (if my French was a bit better) than in Brussels and probably Paris (I haven't been there yet so I don't know).  We took the train from London to Lille.  Meaning we went through the Chunnel.  We stayed at a brand new hostel in Lille.  And when I say new I mean you could smell paint and we were the first people to check in.  That new.  But it was great!  The staff was really friendly and helpful.  That first night we went out to a nice restaurant and ate good that night.

The next day was a free day and we went around Lille. There wasn't a lot to do and the museums didn't really interest us so we mostly shopped that day.  A lot of the shops were really posh though so we did a lot of looking.  We did make some purchases though and had a good day.  We also saw the Cathedral.  And of course went to a bakery and got some good pastries.

Saturday we took a train to Brussels.  One of the first things we did in Brussels was find Belgian waffles.  And that we did.  I got waffles with hot chocolate on top.  It was so good!!!  Basically that day we had a lot of chocolate.  We went to a chocolate museum and got a lot of free samples of different types there and learned how to make pralines.  Brussels is a really cool city.  Unfortunately I didn't get to go to the EU centre and Little Europe so maybe next time.  The Grand Place is really pretty and cool and there was a cool market.  Some of the big things in Belgium are chocolate and lace so there were a lot of chocolate shops and lace shops.  And waffles everywhere.  We also saw a famous statue called the Manneken-Pis.  yeah... not sure how that got to be famous but dignitaries bring clothes for it when they go to Brussels and there is a museum with all the outfits, but we didn't go.  I also experienced Ethiopian food, which was interesting.  Good, but interesting none the less.  My favourite thing to get though was a simple waffle with hot chocolate on top.  It is fantastic!!!  Unfortunately it was just a day trip and with not being in a city for long you don't get to see everything but it was still really cool.  I really liked that city and I'm excited to go back!  And eat more chocolate!  And more waffles!  

Sunday in Lille we didn't do much.  It was rainy and cold and we had done everything we had wanted to do so we just went to a market and to get coffee/hot chocolate.  The rest of the time we hung out in the hostel with each other.

It was a fun trip and it was good to practice my French, even though I didn't know much to begin with. It was always neat though when I did recognise something in French.  I didn't get to go to Paris this weekend but I have plans to go before I leave.  But one of the girls on the trip who had been to Paris before said that she like Lille as a city better.  I mean there are awesome things to do and see in Paris but it is nice to see smaller, lesser known cities and to see a bit of the culture of Northern France.  Brussels was great though and probably one of my favourite cites so far.  But I probably say that about a lot of cities.  But I can't wait to go back to Brussels!