Week 32: The best week, with the best of friends!!

This week has been unreal, in the best way possible! I have had such a great time this week traveling with so many different friends and making so many amazing memories, I hardly know where to begin! (So I’ll be boring and follow the usual format.) Warning: This might be the longest post I ever write for this study abroad blog… be prepared!

Monday morning, I woke up in Bergamo, got everything ready, and got some breakfast. At breakfast, I actually heard a lady speaking southern American English, and so I couldn’t help but ask where they were from, and it turns out that she was leading a class of Moroccan students on a school trip to Italy! So that was a fun morning (besides, we all got our fair share of complaints into each other about the crazy receptionist). Then I got going to the train station in Bergamo, but not to catch a train - to catch a carpool! I had scheduled a carpool with BlaBlaCar, something like the European equivalent of Uber, and so I met up with the driver and the other passengers at the station. They were all very nice, and they even spoke Spanish! (I tried speaking a little Italian, but I definitely did better with Spanish :)) The guy had brought his friend, his mom, and had gained another passenger in addition to me thanks to BlaBlaCar, and so the five of us set out from Bergamo to Venice. We got some great camaraderie going the whole three hours or so, we even stopped for coffee halfway through and, for the cherry on top, they even gave me lunch for free! I added them all on Facebook just for good measure, and since they were going into the heart of the city as well, they even helped me to find where I was staying. What a nice group of people! And so my first views of the city were with Andrea (the driver), his mother, and Valentina, his friend.

Me, Valentina, and Andrea's mother. Such lovely people!

One of my first views of the city, looking down the Grand Canal.

Since Andrea then had a conference, we had to part ways, but we made sure to say that we’ll keep in touch via Facebook. Before I said goodbye to the BlaBlaCar people, though, we had gotten to the bed & breakfast, and I met my friends Angela and Katarina there! They were just unpacking their things, as they had arrived not too long ago themselves. Then we said goodbye to my wonderful BlaBlaCar hosts, and chilled for a little bit, as I got settled in and we decided what to do about meeting up with the final friend in our party, Amanda. We decided to message her and then go out exploring, and so that’s exactly what we did - until we ran into Amanda not a minute later! She had just about found the bed and breakfast, and so we led her back to where we had just come from, got her settled in and relaxed a bit, and then finally got out to explore the beautiful city.

Looking over the main bridge over the Grand Canal.

Glass shops galore!

The four of us were very content to be in such a beautiful city.

After a while, we were hungry for dinner, and so we made our way to a decent restaurant where Angela surprised us all by ordering pasta with squid in its ink, and we all got a little bit more normal dishes such as gnocchi and ravioli, and of course we got some wine, because Italy. Finally, we walked around the city a bit more, by the Grand Canal and through San Marcos Square, where we saw a violinist and a cellist playing and danced around to the music (and tried our best attempt at jumping pictures at night), and then we decided to turn in for the evening… but not before grabbing some limoncello and cookies to make for a nice evening in. All in all, it was a lot of walking… but definitely worth it!

Yummy yummy dinner!

Night view of the Grand Canal.

San Marco square!

Tuesday morning, we tried to get up and at ‘em right away in the morning, as we wanted to explore as much of Venice as possible. We decided to try our luck and wander around the narrow streets for a while before noon, and we ended up running into a handmade costume store. One of the two owners informed us about how Venice is known for its carnival season, and as such is known for its masks and costumes, but a lot of them in today’s age have been produced in cheaper, more modern methods, whereas her products are all handmade, including historically accurate ball gowns from a century past. We had fun imagining ourselves in each and every mask and dress, and of course Angela, being an accounting major, couldn’t resist asking the owner about the effect of tourism and cheaper products on the business there. Soon enough it was time to leave, and so we kept on exploring.

The canals of the beautiful city on water.

Meow!

We had decided the previous night that we wanted to get to San Michele, one of the islands off of the main city of Venice, which you have to access by water taxi. After an unpleasant experience at the ticket window (the lady had a very short temper), we were ready to make our way to the cemetery island. We saw the graves of Igor Stravinsky, Ezra Pound, and many other famous and not so famous people, and we learned that Venetian residents can still pay to be buried on the island, but only for 10 years, and then they are moved back to the mainland. After taking a few moments at a few graves, we navigated just about the entire island (which isn’t too big, but certainly big enough), we continued on the water taxi route to Murano.

Waiting for the water taxi...

Our first view of San Michele.

Ezra Pound's grave.

Murano was fabulous! It’s where the idea and fame of Venetian glass originated from, and the entire island surely lived up to its fame; there was a glass shop every other store! We saw a really cool glass sculpture there as well, and a few of us made some purchases for family and friends. After a small wait, we got back on the water taxi and made our way back to the mainland, across the beautiful waters. Once we got back to the mainland, we just kept exploring the city, including finding another decent place for dinner, and following all the fun of the day, we made it back to our room again, ready to seize our last moments in Venice in the morning.

On Wednesday, we took advantage of our last moments in the beautiful city to enjoy a gondola ride! But not before another wonderful breakfast in our room (the establishment really does live up to its name, Bed & Breakfast!), and of course we had to get ready for the day. We then went out gondola hunting, through San Marcos square and all around, searching for a deal, and after three different gondoliers telling us that the government had mandated a certain price, but they could lower it for us, we finally chose one. Off on our half-hour ride through the canals we went! We enjoyed the entire experience, and our gondolier was certainly knowledgeable about the famous buildings on both sides of the canals as we wound through, avoiding water ambulances and other private boats. It was definitely an excellent experience!

San Marcos, good morning.

San Marcos square, with the two Herculean columns.

Gondola ride!

We had wanted to be plenty prepared for our departure from Venice and arrival in our next location, and so we cautiously made sure to keep lots of time in between us and our train. It was a relief when we finally started moving in the train, and off we were on our way to Corniglia, a tiny little village in the bigger community of Cinque Terre (Five Towns). We ended up spending the rest of the day chatting and relaxing in trains, with a 40-minute intermission in Florence, where we walked around the city a teensy tiny bit and got some snacks. By the time we finally arrived in Corniglia, night had long fallen. Another friend, Caroline, also joined our party, and so we were five then in Cinque Terre. We had arranged a vacation rental apartment through homeaway.com, and so a car came to pick us up with all of our luggage and take it up the hill. Once the owner settled us into the apartment with promises of more explanations in the morning, we got cozy and decided on a movie night! We watched Facing the Giants, one of my most favorite movies of all time! Unfortunately I was just a little too tired and ended up falling asleep well before the end… but such is life, I suppose. I was just happy that our friends got to see it, as Amanda and Angela had not previously had the opportunity.

Thursday morning found us planning out our day starting fairly early in the morning. We had our coffee and tea in the morning on our little balcony, enjoyed the morning sun and atmosphere, which was absolutely gorgeous, and planned what groceries we would need to buy to make the meals we had agreed on over Facebook. Since the grocery store in our little village didn’t have much selection, we decided to hike to the next town to look for more, and then we would take the train back with the groceries. Our hike was a wonderful little hour-and-a-half jaunt on the beautiful seaside landscape for which Cinque Terre has become famous, and we enjoyed every moment of it. We got to the next town, Vernazza, figured out that they didn’t have the best grocery selection either, and so we went to the next town over, Monterosso, by train, where we found a few grocery stores to our liking. Before buying groceries, however, we bought some gelato (which of course in Italy is just plain ice cream), and then went out to the rocky beach to soak in the sun and have some girl talk.

Lunch on a terrace just before leaving.

Our town in context of the sea.

We're on the road again...

The next town over, called Vernazza.

Gelato in Monterosso!

There will never be any shortage of gorgeous views in the whole Cinque Terre.

My friends and me (and some random French guys!) on top of a huge rock on the beach.

After that, we did some more exploring, and before we knew it, it was creeping into late afternoon/early evening, so we caught the train back to Corniglia. There, my wonderful friends who are excellent chefs actually made us all pad thai, and we sat on the rooftop while sharing stories and chatter (and the free wine we got from the owner helped!). It was a perfect way to spend a girls’ night in Italy!

Last, but certainly not least, we had another movie night, much to my liking - with Frozen! Unfortunately I didn’t stay up too late to see the end of this one either, but it was still fun nonetheless (I blame the wine this time). After snuggling in and falling asleep far too soon, I woke up in the morning to my soft alarm, and got ready for the next day.

A beautiful sunset for a goodbye.

Unfortunately I wouldn’t be joining my friends for the rest of the weekend; they would be staying on in Cinque Terre, whereas I would be visiting old friends from last semester in Antwerp! It was like a little family reunion, and I was so happy everyone could come! But first, I had to make it there - and I certainly did. I said goodbye to my friends in Corniglia, and I caught a couple of trains to get to Pisa, where I spent a few hours taking pictures with the famous tower! I am glad I got to see another famous monument, and the history once again reminded me of how lucky I am to be in Europe (and traveling around so much!).

One last excursion in the morning right before I left, with plenty of gorgeous seaside views.

Seeing the actual tower in person!

Goodbye Italy :'(

All too soon, it was time for my flight from the Pisa airport to Charleroi, and so I got my things together (including my enormously heavy backpack… definitely taking a carry-on suitcase next time!), got through security, and basically hurried up to wait. I was sitting near a bunch of French (or Belgian?) teenagers while waiting to board my flight, and so I already then started to re-acclimate a little to a French atmosphere. Finally, it was time to board the plane, and it was a pretty nice flight - not really much turbulence to speak of. All I could think about, however, was how I was going to get to see some awesome people in just a matter of hours! Starting with the lovely Fatima herself, of course :)

Charleroi Sud train station, where I changed from the airport train to a train to Antwerp.

Fatima had agreed to let me stay with her and her family, and so after I got off the train (after meeting a Frenchman and an Italian guy, who were both nice enough to chat with me along my way to Antwerp), I basically tackled Fatima in a hug, as I hadn’t seen her in a few months. Fatima’s father was there as well, and so we all went back to Fatima’s place to get a good night’s rest. Fatima’s father and mother were very welcoming, and I was already even more grateful that it had all worked out for me to stay with her.

In the morning, we started right away - in the time before everyone else arrived, Fatima took me to St. Norbert Church, just a few minutes from her house, and I was so excited! I just wish Norby Knight had accompanied me on this trip... Oh well ;) Then, before we knew it, Rob and Walker arrived on the train, and we met up with Ellen as well. The gang's finally all back together again! It's definitely great to see old friends, and this time was no exception. Fatima and Ellen then started talking about what we could see in Antwerp, and it was kind of cool because they did all the behind-the-scenes planning in Dutch so that when they turned to us with their plans, they were all put-together. It was all very professional. We saw the zoo, the main shopping center, and one of the main streets in Antwerp, with many things in between - even a sculpture of a giant hand with a story that I'll explain in a bit.

St. Norbert's Church!

It's ELLEN!! :)

Getting a move on.

The Ferris wheel in the main square.

The main street in the center of the city.

An all-chocolate display.

This chocolate frog begged a kiss...

A giant hand, 

Fatima and Ellen then insisted on us getting Belgian fries, because apparently even though they're popularly known as French fries (in the U.S. at least), they're originally from Belgium. (Side note: I have definitely learned so much about Belgium this semester that I never knew before! All thanks to these two lovely Belgian girls of course :)) They were of course excellent, and I just might concede at some point that they're better than my previous conception of French fries. Not too long after, we stopped into a Subway for lunch, which I always think is comical whenever I see an American restaurant in Europe, much less go in one. Staying with the course of tasting Belgian delicacies, and for a superb dessert, Fatima then led us to a chocolate bar, where we all got milkshakes and brownies containing some of the best chocolate I've ever tasted (yes, even including Café Angelina in Paris!), and of course endlessly ribbed each other about being British, American, and Belgian.

Finished with our milkshakes at Quetzal, the chocolate bar.

After that, we made our way through the city once again and down by the river. We saw lots of graffiti and some murals along the way, as well as some important Belgian institutions. We played around on the concrete riverbank a bit, and then we made our way up the MAS tower, which is a museum right in the middle of the harbor which has beautiful views of the city from the rooftop. We enjoyed more than a few minutes just walking around, seeing the city from above, and chatting about our semester in Lille (and in Rob and Walker's case, their continuing year there). Before we knew it, it was dinnertime, and we met up with another Belgian girl, Anneleen, to grab some dinner! We ended up at a burger place right on the river, and we all had a great time.

Subway for lunch!

A church in the middle of the city.

One of the many murals we saw throughout the city. 

The MAS Tower. 

View through the warped windows.

Going up!

View of a church on the river from the top.

We <3 Antwerp!

On top of the world! 

Burgers & fries with some fantastic people!

To finish out the evening, we took a nighttime riverwalk along a raised deck a little ways down the river, and then back through the city to get back to our respective accommodations for the night. We walked through the main square in the middle of the city, saw city hall, and also, a statue of a guy seeming to throw something. Fatima explained that in Dutch, the city's name, Antwerpen, is a compound word, made up of ant, the old way to spell hand, and werpen, to throw, and this comes from a legend that there was once a terrible giant controlling the city, and this young hero went and chopped off the giant's hand to save the city, and so it is named after this nameless hero today. And so that's the story of how Antwerp got its name. After going out with Fatima's friend and parting ways for the night, we turned in, ready for some rest after our big day of sightseeing.

Our favorite Belgians! (L-R: Fatima, Ellen, Anneleen)

Antwerp Cathedral lit up at night.

Riverwalk adventures :)

The young hero who saved the city, commemorating Antwerpen.

But of course, there was still plenty of sightseeing to be done! To get the real experience at the Antwerp Cathedral, we actually all went to Easter morning mass there! I love hearing masses in other languages (preferably ones that I can understand, but any foreign language will do), and so getting to live out my faith in this way and participate in Catholic traditions halfway around the world was a great experience! Although, I must admit, that was when homesickness hit me the hardest it has yet; going to Easter Sunday mass in a cathedral reminded me that mom, dad and Sammy are actually in Michigan for Easter this year, and so they'll be going to a big fancy cathedral with all of our relatives for mass as well. That made my heart break a little, and I called them as soon as I could that day to wish them a happy Easter.

After this great start to the day, we then continued to explore the city, and on our way to a park, we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some lunch for a picnic! We once again found ourselves right along the river, reminiscing over the past semester, and just chatting in general while eating our salads and wraps. We actually went through the tunnel under the river to get a nice spot for the occasion, and so we found some benches and got comfy for a little while. There was even a playground there, which, if you know me, you know I love playgrounds! (I believe most of us are kids at heart), and so I was over there faster than you could say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. A nice rest there on the benches did us lots of good, and of course a little play never hurt anyone, and with that, we were on our way.

Picnic by the river!

We had a beautiful view of the whole city!

Why yes, we are children... :)

Ellen and Fatima led us back through the tunnel under the river, and we came up on the other side, ready to see whatever else our tour guides had planned. They then led us to their university, and we got to see a little bit of where they go to school normally, which is always really cool! We stayed a little while in the courtyard, trading some last stories and comments, and then all too soon it was time for Ellen to leave, as she had a family function that day. We said our goodbyes, with the promise that we'd all see each other again soon, as we will all be meeting in Lille before I leave. Fatima then took us to city hall again, where we actually got to see the inside as this year is the 450th anniversary of the building. After exploring inside a bit, we made our way through the city once again to drop Rob off at the train station, as he would have to leave sooner than the rest of us, once again on account of exams. As Walker and I are going to Ghent with Fatima tomorrow, we bid Rob goodbye, and then Walker requested that Fatima show us the not-so-nice part of town, just so we could get a better picture of the whole city. (I think Walker mentioned at some point that he had been half joking with the request in the first place, but since Fatima and I said why not, he just went along with it. haha.) We found our way to a park, where we discussed our favorite cities in Europe and our favorite travel experiences so far, and then as we made our way back through the city back to our accommodation, Fatima and Walker discussed cricket and soccer while I kept an attentive ear and made comments when I actually knew something about the sport. Altogether, it was a great day, and a fantastic time in Antwerp overall!

City girl

Opera House

Cityscape

The characters of a famous Belgian comic strip as a mural on a building.

Inside city hall!

Four friends. <3

As the title of this entry suggests, this week especially has just been phenomenal. From getting to spend a week forgetting about homework, and then on top of that, traveling to fantastic and beautiful places, and then, the cherry on top of everything, with amazing people, I couldn't have asked for more from the past 10 days!! I still have a couple days more of vacation, and then I return back to Toledo, where I will set my nose to the grindstone for two more weeks, and then be done!! It is positively scary how fast this is all going - I'm reminding myself as often as I can to enjoy the present moment and that I can't do much more than that, so on that note, I will go enjoy Antwerp for a few more hours before we head to Ghent tomorrow. Definitely looking forward to what these last few weeks have to bring! Until the next time, ¡Hasta pronto!