Hello Everyone! It has been a hot second since I posted due to winter break. I have been back for two weeks now, but nothing has been happening beside me spending 9-11 hours in the library every day studying for finals. It has been a tough two weeks with finals, but I survived!
I hope everyone’s holidays were festive and relaxing and that you all are entering the new year with strong.
As I mentioned in my last post, I had the opportunity to travel around Europe during break. I’ll give you all a highlight of each place I went!
Germany (Berlin and Hamburg)
My first stop was in Berlin, Germany and I stayed their for a few days before moving onto Hamburg. There was lots to see and learning about the history of Berlin and Germany in general. My top two favorite sites were the Jewish Memorial and the Jewish Museum. The memorial was a place that you needed sometime to take in and think about what the artist was trying to say. It’s all about your own interpretation, but it did bring chills through my body. I could tell that for those who didn’t know what it was at first was confused, because on the surface it isn’t much, but it is the story behind it that is the most important. The Jewish Museum was structured in a very artistic way. The halls of display were slanted and created a narrowing effect. You’ll see what I mean in the pictures below.
Paris, France
Paris was a beautiful city with lots to see. The days I went happened to be a Union Workers’ Strike and all the public transports were down. That meant miles and miles or walking around the city during the daylight. It was a blessing in disguise because it allowed me to see several nontouristy things in the little alley ways and various neighborhoods. The Louvre was something to reckon with. There was so many things catching your attention from every direction in the art museum. My favorite would have to be the sculptures. And I can’t forget the Eiffel Tower! I did a tour of that and went up to get a beautiful view of the city. The tower is just something you go see if you’re in the area. Don’t get me wrong, it was beautiful to see, but the story behind it didn’t really appeal to me as much.
Ireland (Dublin, Sneem, Ennis, Kenmare)
Ireland was hands down my favorite experience! Since my friend from home had a last minute conflict and couldn’t meet me for Christmas, another Luther student on the Nottingham program, invited me to spend it with her and her family. We became good friends at the beginning of the program and I was extremely grateful that they opened up their family during the holidays. They had a family friends with them too, so there were two family and me that drove around in Ireland, a country with beautiful country side. Coming from a small rural Iowa town, it was comforting to be driving in the country side (Emma’s dad drove). We hit up several small towns and just took in the Irish culture and lifestyles . We made conversation with several natives and had great laughs. The time spend driving the Ring of Kerry was the best time because she shared stories and laughed until we couldn’t breath. The Cliffs of Moher was a site to see! It was beautiful and the pictures will show you how beautiful!
Barcelona, Spain
A friend from high school flew in to Barcelona from Iowa and we had 9 days of travel together. Lindsey and I were friends in high school and haven’t gotten the opportunity to spend much time together since graduation, so this trip was way overdue. We did a hopping bus tour of the city and took a cable car over a part of the city towards the Montjuic Castle, where we took a hike around the area. We tried some tapas restaurants, something neither of us have every tried. Usually, at these places, you order several (5ish) dishes and share them over drinks. Lets say, we tried some interesting things. For instance, there were tacos with octopus in them… it was surprisingly very good!
Italy (Rome and Venice)
Rome was my second favorite city I went to! It was their off season, but the streets were still crowded, so I can’t even image what it would be like during the summer! We visited the Roman Forum, Palatine, and Colosseum. The history behind the Roman empire is a long and extensive one! We learned about their presence in British history, so it was fun connecting the dots from class. The Forum was my favorite because it was kinda fun to image the buildings as they were originally and imagining the people living their daily lives.
We, of course, had to visit the Fountain of Trevi! The tale behind it is if you through a coin in , you will find your way back to Rome in the future… we shall see if I make my way back there. While were there, we had to stop for some Gelato! And if I must say… best thing in the world! The amount of Gelato we consumed was concerning… but of course we didn’t just eat gelato. There was also plenty of tasty pasta and pizza! Picture of health right here my friends.
Our last destination was Venice. We spend the least amount of time here, but made every second worth it! We did a boat tour out to the Islands. Murano and Burano was beautiful. On Murano, we got to see glass figures and bowls be hand made! Murano happens to be famous for glass making. Burano was colorful! literally… every building was a different color!
Winter break was fantastic, but I am happy to be back at Nottingham. It was a crazy month of travel and I’m ready to get a good rest in before the new semester starts up again! Well… as much rest as I can get. I am currently writing to you all on a train heading back to Nottingham, again, from York. We had a Luther class trip to study the industrial revolution. So technically, the semester has already started. I’ll be posted about that later this week! Stay tuned and have a fantastic and productive week!
Nottingham Adventures 