HOME

I'm home, safe and sound in the good 'ol USA. Its been quite a semester, I've learned a lot and have had many, many adventures. Even after experiencing parts of the world I never imagined I would, I'm so happy to be home.

England and back to the Netherlands

I'm back in Amsterdam for the last part of my adventure. On Thursday I took the Eurostar to London and spent two days wandering through London. I stayed with my friend from Dickinson who is studying abroad at the LSE. On Thursday night I actually attended an interesting lecture at the school by the commissioner of human rights for the Council of Europe. I got to see some of the sights of London and I went to the National Gallery.

On Saturday, I took a train up to Norwich to stay with Marianh and Brie who are studying abroad with the Dickinson program there at UEA. Norwich was a really cute town, the only downside was that it gets dark at around 3:30pm. We had a lot of fun in Norwich and I actually ran into a lot of Dickinson students on campus earlier today when I was walking around with the girls.

I'm heading back to the USA on Wednesday afternoon. I'm ready to go home and relax for a few weeks before my new semester in Washington, DC starts!

Oui Paris!

SNOW

At the Lourve!

Today is my one full day in Paris and its been a pretty packed one. This morning I had a great breakfast at my hotel and then headed over to the Lourve. It was raining when I left my hotel so it was nice that I could spend a few hours inside the almost overwhelmingly large museum. I didn't know where to start! I pretty much just went to the rooms where the most famous paintings are and looked for the crowds that formed around those works of art.

When I left the Lourve the rain had turned to a solid snow fall but it wasn't bad enough that I couldn't walk, so I started walking to Notre Dame. Once I got to the neighborhood where Notre Dame is, the snow started picking up more and it was time for lunch anyway so I had a huge pasta lunch. After lunch I browsed through the Shakespeare and Company Bookstore for a couple of hours.

Once I was finished looking through stacks of new and used books, I decided I wanted to go back to my hotel to rest for a few minutes. It took a while to find the train and the roads were grid-locked because of the snow so the bus was not an option. I eventually got back and rested until it got dark out so that I could go to the Eiffel Tower when its lit up. I walked over to the Eiffel Tower but it was closed for going to the top because of the snow. Instead I just walked around the area and took a few pictures. It was freezing cold anyway so I didn't mind just going back indoors. On the way back to my hotel I picked up a couple of macaroons, which are my new favorite cookie/dessert. (Thanks Steph for telling me about them)

Now I have the big decision of what I want for dinner- life is really tough. :)

Lots of Maroc

At the Mausoleum of Mohammed V in Rabat

The tres amigas in Casablanca

Cous cous, traditional Friday lunch

I'm currently sitting in Burt's cafe in Rabat, Morocco, exhausted after some of the most fun days I've ever had! My experience in Morocco so far has been so much fun! Being in Casablanca on Friday was wild! It is a very pretty city. I couldn't believe how big the Hossan II Mosque was! Seeing Kim and the Dickinson Malaga group was surreal but really nice, even if it was for under 2 hours.

On Friday night Julianne and I took the train to Rabat where her study abroad program is located. I met her host family who are incredibly welcoming and kind. Saturday morning we got a late start but made up for it throughout the day. We visited the Mausoleum of Mohammed V (which is one block away from Julianne's host family), Chellah, ate lunch in the Medina, walked through the Andalusian gardens, walked through the Casba, drank a lot of mint tea, watched the end of a football game at Julianne's friend's house, and ate a fabulous dinner at a restaurant where we waited for two hours to be seated.

Today was also a very busy day. We got up early to go to a place in the city across the river to go 4x4-ing but since the rains last week, the course was unusable. Instead we found this BB gun shooting range in the complex where the quads were and wound up shooting at targets for an hour and a half. Never thought I would do that! Then we went to get some lunch and hung out at cafe that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Even though its December, people were still surfing and playing on the beach!

In the afternoon, Julianne brought me to the hammam. The hammam is basically a public bathing place/steam room. Its a traditional practice in Morocco that I'm really glad I did because I've actually never felt so clean in my life.

I'm leaving Rabat in the morning when Julianne heads to school and taking a train to Fez to spend the day. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Fez and doing some shopping in the Medina where I hear there is some of the best shopping in the country!

Bienvenue Morocco!

I arrived at about 8pm last night in Casablanca, Morocco. There were a few minutes that I was questioning whether I was actually going to make it to Morocco because of a problem with my plane ticket. I wound up working everything out thanks to two very nice and helpful people from Royal Air Moroc in the Amsterdam Airport. But I'm here and that's what matters.

I just ate a huge breakfast at my hotel consisting of bread, croissants, pistachio yogurt, very strong coffee, freshly squeezed orange juice, and a boiled egg. I'd say I'm officially ready to start my day. Good thing I'm going to be spending most of my time in Morocco with Julianne who speaks French because I have already felt the language barrier. I can definitely understand a lot of it because of Spanish but there is no way to respond.

Meeting Julianne at noon at the train station and I'm so excited to see her and Kim and the other Dickinson students who are in Morocco!!!

Leaving Amsterdam

I'm leaving Amsterdam in a couple of hours to make my way back to the African continent... this time the northern part. I'm landing in Casablanca, Morocco early this evening and I can not wait to visit a new city! Hopefully the rains have calmed down a bit (as I do not have a raincoat).

I went to the Van Gogh museum this morning which was actually very exhausting but really interesting. I really enjoyed seeing his different periods of art and how he was influenced by so many different artists. On the top floor of the museum I got a great view of the city with its fresh coat of snow. Pretty but a bit depressing actually.

Well, I'm onto part two of Arielle's European Adventure.

A Dutch Day

View from the Anne Frank House

That clog definitely does not fit!

Today was my first full day in Amsterdam. I woke up early and looked around the neighborhood for some breakfast but nothing opened until like 9am. Instead, I took the bus to the stop near the Anne Frank house where I was planning to go that morning and found a little deli and had a cheese sandwich and a cappuccino.

I think I was one of the first visitors in the Anne Frank house today. The museum is all self guided and really well preserved. When I got to the top of the stairs that lead to the secret annex I felt really nervous to enter. Its one of those places that I've heard about my entire life and suddenly it was in front of me and I was a little freaked out. I stood in the place where Anne's desk was for a few minutes. The most memorable part was probably seeing Anne Frank's actual diary. I'm really glad historic sites like this one exist because it really makes you think about other injustices in the world and how some people are still persecuted because of their ethnicities, religions, etc.

After going to the Anne Frank house, I took the short walk over to the Red Light District just to take a quick look around. It was a really creepy experience. I actually wanted to go there to see if there was any special activity or something to commemorate World AIDS Day which is today. To my surprise, there was nothing. I asked a random shop keeper if there was anything planned in the district and he didn't understand why that would make sense. I left the Red Light District and walked around the Dam Square area and actually bought a warm pair of boots.

I then headed back to the Museum District where I am staying and took a little rest. At about 2pm I got lunch at a little Kepab stand. The owner was from Morocco and I told him about how I am going to Morocco tomorrow. He told me everything about the floods and the heavy rains that are happening there right now. Better than the freezing cold?

After lunch I decided to go to the Rijkmuseum to see the Rembrandt collection. Its a relatively small museum but has a really great collection of Dutch art. I was so amazed by how life like Rembrandt's paintings are. I also can't believe that they were painted in the mid 17th century!

I'd say I had a very productive and busy day. I'm enjoying traveling solo, but I am also looking forward to seeing my friends in Morocco starting on Friday. I'm probably going to grab a light dinner in a couple of minutes and then have an early night. The cold is exhausting!