Flew in a French Translator

March 8-17
Munich, Germany & Strasbourg
Featuring: Mom and Liz

My mom came to visit me because she knows I’m not coming back, Lizzy came so she could brag to all her friends. I met them in Munich, and then they visited me for a few days in Strasbourg before they headed to Lucerne, Switzerland.

Okayyy Germany

I got less than 24 hours in Strasbourg before I caught a bus to Munich. Whenever there is a train strike, FlixBus becomes my bestie. This time it was the Germans and not the French on strike. It was close to a seven-hour ride. Although hearing about my mom and Lizzys' experience with the trains, my journey was better. I'm a professional traveler now, so I had snacks, a pillow, a blanket, and movies downloaded. At one point during Cheaper by the Dozen, I looked out the window and realized we were driving through the mountains. I think it was the Black Forest. I arrived close to 10, so I headed to the hotel right before my mom and Liz crashed.

That's Lizzy not Me

We spent most of Saturday at the Dachau Concentration Camp. It was the first concentration camp and used as a model for all the others. Visitors can go into the buildings, and one was filled with information plaques. We then returned in the evening and went into a few churches. I then introduced them to Rituals. It is a fancy European Bath & Body Works that we’re obsessed with. Liz was sold. We then went into an H&M home and a H&M with a cafe and makeup section. Cultural shock. We also went into a Lego store. In every Lego store we’ve been to, they have the country's landmarks. So, I’m tempted to make a whole Instagram post of my travels, but they’re all the Lego versions. In one of the churches we went into we decided to go to mass there that night rather than Sunday morning. After, we went to dinner. I got another schnitzel, and we got a dessert that was similar to bread pudding.

She Twinned with Me, not the
Other Way Around

Just a Little Tipsy

On Sunday, we went to a former palace. It was the first palace I’ve been in on this Europe trip. We had the free audio guides and were listening to every audio in each room, until about halfway when we all collectively gave up. The rooms were just as pretty when you didn’t know anything about the history of it. Afterwards, we went to a beer garden. I don’t know the names of anything because I was just following my mom and not planning. I got coke at the beer garden. But don’t worry, I still got drunk. There was a band playing music, and I was getting flashbacks from the polka episode in The Backyardigans. We walked around after and saw a random Michael Jackson shrine on someone else’s statue. Who did it better Lizzy or Me?

We caught the train back to Strasbourg Monday morning and I became a tour guide for a city I leave every weekend. Although, I was showed up just a little because my mom has seven years of French under her belt. I showed them Primark, and they were not fans 😢. They were fans of tarte flambee though. I took them to our go-to tarte flambee place. They are a traditional meal from our region in France. It’s a flat crust with cheese cream and onions, ham bits, and any additional topping. It's good, but for €6 it’s delicious. Before dinner, I showed them around and we went into the business school.

On Tuesday morning we walked around La Petite France, which is my favorite area. When you look up pictures of Strasbourg it shows you that area. Mom then bought me a coat, which meant Lizzy wanted something too. I came back for two back-to-back lectures, which were both oddly online. I think my mom and Lizzy went on a walking tour. About an hour into the lecture, I logged out of Zoom because the professor still had not joined. She sent an email later saying she had problems, but all of us could get on, and it said on our end that the host never joined. This is the same professor who has canceled five previous classes, so I’m not really buying it. Liz and Mom were already off on their adventure, so I just stayed in till my other one started. We got dinner at the best restaurant I’ve been to in Strasbourg. After those two restaurants, I was out of places to take them for French dinner. My mom found a good one for the next day, so I was saved.

Wednesday I spent all day at the business school, while they went to Colmar. After my class got out at noon on Thursday, we had a picnic near the river to celebrate the first sunny day Strasbourg has seen this year. I’m excited for it to finally get warm here because that’s the Europe I want. We went on a river boat tour. I finally learned a little about the city I've been living in for two months now. Mom and Liz left that evening, and I finally had their clutter out of my apartment. Now I’m just waiting for Mary Katherine to get here. I stayed here this weekend because I suppose it’s about time I study during my study abroad. I’ll also be here next weekend because I have a class all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. I’ll go back to easy class and travel the week after, don't worry.

Au revoir!
 

My French alter-ego was on Full
Blast for Them

A Redhead and a Leprechaun Walk into an Irish Pub...

March 2-5
Dublin, Ireland


I traded in Gamez for Cunniff. I went to Ireland with a redhead, and I was the one with more Irish

The Nashville of Europe

ancestry. 

Before leaving, I asked an Irish student in one of my classes for a good town recommendation near Dublin. He proceeded to write me a whole recommendation list with things to do, restaurants, pubs etc. God bless the Irish! It was our guidebook for the whole trip.

We arrived Saturday afternoon just in time for dinner and pubs. The main street was all lit up and filled with crowds. We went to a pub on the strip that had a band. You know that one commercial where everyone in the bar sings Sweet Caroline? It was giving that. The bar should have been a karaoke bar the way that everyone was singing.

Sunday morning we had perfect weather, so we spent it all outside. We walked around Trinity’s campus and it was only slightly better than A&M’s. We saw the Dublin castle, Temple Bar, and St. Patrick's Cathedral all from the outside. We then went to the Botanical Gardens. There were a few greenhouses, and the Glasnevin cemetery attached. We spent lots of time in the rainforest greenhouse because it was amazingly humid and warm. That night, we got dinner at Nando's because Lauren is obsessed with One Direction, and One Direction was obsessed with Nando's. Ask me about my Nando's hostess story later because I need to tell it dramatically in person. 

On Saturday, we went to a neighboring town, Dalkey. The town had one main street. We went to the coast and nearly got blown into the water. We got too close at one point and got soaked by a spray of a wave. We returned to town to go on an interactive tour at the Castle & Heritage Centre. When we arrived, we checked it out, and the employee convinced us to come back for a tour. The tour took place in an old castle and was led by people in character. There was an old medic, a guard, and a cook. Anytime they needed a participant, I volunteered. We headed back to town after that. We got dinner, and it was pouring, so we called in early.

Asked a Group of Guys to Take our Photo
Only to Realize They were American

We headed to Howth the next day. That town has been the best place I’ve visited so far. There was a hiking trail that went along the coast. It was a Lizzy type of hike: nice and easy. We had the trail to ourselves. After, we went into town for some calamari and fish and chips. You could easily forget that you were in Dublin, and not the east coast. The American in me was then restored by eating Auntie Anne’s at a mall back in Dublin. There was also a T.J. Maxx to complete the experience. We then started the long night ahead.

I Prefer a Coke

So… we bought a 6:00am flight out of Dublin and not a hostel for the night. We thought that since we’d be waking up so early, a hostel wasn’t worth it. So a Tuesday night bar crawl was the logical thing to do. After the mall, we sat at a park in Trinity till it went dark then went to the business school for about an hour. First bar we went to I got a Guinness. I’m not surprised that the same Irish who eat unseasoned boiled potatoes are the same Irish who drink Guinness. It was not too tasty. But I finished (my half pint). We then went to another bar and I got a cider. I don't think two bars can be considered a bar crawl, but they were too comforting to leave. We stayed there till closing at midnight. For a Tuesday night, they were both full. Since my Irish classmate gave us recs, the bars we went to were old and non-touristy. We headed back to the hostel to grab our bags and ate our leftover cold fish and chips in the lobby with our hands. There weren’t many options for the bus that takes you to the airport, so we got the 1:00 one and decided to get to the airport early. We chilled at the airport for a few hours before our flight. I'm really glad we had the time to do day trips because we got the best of both worlds. If I go back I'd love to just do the small towns. If the weather was 30 degrees warmer, it'd be a perfect country.

Au revoir!

Little Does he Know there are Bows
and Arrows at my House

City of [Concert] Lights

February 29-March 1 & March 6

Paris, France

When in Paris, eat like the French. At the beginning of our trip, this consisted of McDonald's, grocery store pizza, a bag of chips, a baguette, and a train station salmon sandwich (unintentionally). Our end of the trip consisted of Chipotle and bread. Remi would be so proud. 

Everyone Mistook us for Parisians

We pulled a Monte Carlo- we went to Paris, then caught a plane elsewhere. We had a week off for our spring break (which they called winter break), and my friend Lauren and I wanted to go to Dublin. Lauren and I partnered up for spring break because she needed to be in Paris by Thursday to meet her mom, and I needed to be in Munich by Friday night to meet mine. Plane tickets to Dublin were super expensive out of Strasbourg, but cheap out of Paris. Visiting Paris would also give us more to do over the week.

We caught a train out Thursday night and were too tired to do much. We checked into our hostel and walked around, eventually stumbling on a McDonald's. Lauren’s first time in Paris started with being told “bon appetite,” as we got handed our McDonald's meal. Because I had already been to Paris, and Lauren was seeing the main sights with her mom and sister, we made no plans. We walked over 14 miles, wandering around in the cold and rain. We started with the Tuileries Garden, which is located right next to the Louvre. We then walked down Champs-Elysees and went into the stores, as an attempt to get out of the rain. The strip has lots of designer and popular brands. There was a building in the shape of a Louis Vuitton suitcase, but we never went into it. We had to order macarons from the McDonalds on the strip. Not gonna lie, they were delicious. The strip ends with the Arc de Triomphe. We then went to the National Library of France because it was one of the only free things inside. By the time we got out, it stopped raining and was sunny! We got a grocery store lunch and were off again. We walked along the river and saw Notre Dame. It’s still under construction from the fire, so we couldn’t see the front up close or the inside.

Trees to the Right Blocked the Crane

We finished the night with a 1975 concert! Originally we were going to fly out on Friday, but Lauren loves the band and saw that they were performing, so we decided to leave on Saturday. She said tickets are really hard to get in the US, and we were able to get floor tickets the week of for Paris. The concert was a whole theatrical performance. The stage was like a '70s house with couches, TVs, rugs etc. The lamps would all be flickering in sync at times, the TVs would show live footage of the band or videos, and at one point Matty Healy, the singer of the band, was on the roof. MK heard me going off about it in detail on FaceTime, but I’ll spare you all the details. Just know it was one of the coolest things I’ve seen!

When we booked our flight it said Paris (Beauvais). That is the equivalent of saying Houston and having the airport in College Station. Make sure to check where you're flying out of in advance kids! It took us 2 hours to walk to the train station, take a train, then a bus to get there. Because of the train times, we left for our 4:00 flight at 10:00.

We arrived back in Paris on Wednesday morning. I went to Musee d’Orsay. The museum is free if you are an EU student, so I just flashed my student visa and got in. They had an impressionist floor which had art by Monet, Van Gogh, and Renoir. We took a nap because we hadn’t slept since Monday night (read about our Dublin adventures to know why). Our night ended at a jazz club. Shoutout to my Aledo neighbor Jenna for the recommendation. The music was great, but the people watching was a 12/10. It's a super famous club. The old people owned the dance floor. If I could add videos to this blog it'd be full. I caught a six-hour bus the next morning because it was super cheap. With a water bottle and bag of bread, I got on and headed back to Strasy!

Au revoir!

When the College Kids Showed Up

The jazz club: http://www.caveaudelahuchette.fr/