Thursday, June 17, 2010

Updates

Sorry for my lack of updates. I am still alive. Somewhere after emailing parents and journaling, the blog gets forgotten. I'll start after leaving Groningen.
My next stop was Fribourg, Switzerland to visit Kristen. Fribourg is a cool little city that feels to be about the same size as Charleston. It is very easy to wander around, especially when you get to the hills. I really did like the feel of fribourg. It felt like the quintessential Swiss small city.
We made a trip to Milan, Italy on the 9th. I can easily say it was my least favorite place I've been in Europe. It was dirty and hot and I was stressed out the whole time. It also seemed like the only worthwhile things there were the over-done Duomo and the Last Supper. I was supposed to spend the night in Milan but I could not wait to leave so I hopped on a train and headed back to switzerland, eventually making my way to my next stop in Gimmelwald.
Gimmelwald is a little, even tiny town in the Berner Oberland region of the alps. First you take a train to Interlaken, the main city of the region. Then hop on a small local train to the small town of Lauterbrunnen. Take a bus to Schtechleburg and finally take a cable car up to the cliff side village of Gimmelwald. I stayed at the Mountain Hostel. This little haven in the alps let me quickly forget the stresses of Milan along with anything else. I got settled in my room and enjoyed the view over the valley and the snow capped peaks from my window. Over the next four days, I loved life by hiking, swimming in a glacial pond, reading, making new friends, and running into Dan and Heather! It's always fun to run into friends from home in random places across the world.

Nap time... To be continued.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Groningen, Netherlands

Yesterday I left london at about 4:00pm and somehow managed to get to Groningen at 12:00. That's what was supposed to happen but I'm not quite sure how it did. My first leg of the trip, which also happened to be the part I actually understood was from London to Brussels. That was easy. However, after that, it was just a big guessing game.. educated guesses, mind you. After a few train changes and a lot of question asking, I some how made it to Groningen in one piece and on time.

Groningen is fantastic! If you know me at least a little bit, which I would asume you do if you're reading this (if not, introduce yourself!), you know that I love bikes. You probably always see me on my bike cruising around Charleston. Well in that regard, Groningen is like heaven. everyone bikes everywhere. It is simply fantastic. According to Michelle, my resident urban planning enthusiast, most Dutch towns were designed to be 5km wide, the amount to be comfortably rid en on a bicycle. Hear that? Towns designed around bicycles!

Anyway, the weather is nice, the food is good, bikes are everywhere, I give Groningen my initial seal of approval. More soon to come.