Hello/Bonjour

Hello and Bonjour from Brussels!

We arrived early this afternoon after leaving Dublin very early this morning. So far we have not done too much around the city but it is much different than I expected. I expected a quiet, quaint, 'medival' type city...well it is quite the opposite! Busier and more crowded than Rome, with a better subway system by far as well! We walked around for a while, enjoying one of Brussels claim to fame: chocolate!!! Oh my! One thing that is really interesting is how much it is starting to feel like Christmas here...lights, chill in the air, hot chocolate :) It is very strange and surreal for me!

Ok so a little jump back to yesterday and my day in Dublin....we did a bus tour of the countryside and Wicklow park...where they filmed Braveheart and P.S. I Love You :) It was beyond beautiful! We had such an amazing day and we had a great tour guide, Stephen. We went from the city to Wicklow and Glendalough...in addition to the wonderful landscape we stopped at a monastary (sp?) and lakes. We stopped for lunch in Glendalough and I got Guinness Beef Stew...yum! All in all it was such an amazing day and we have been blessed with such great weather so far (minus some rain in Barcelona). I can't wait to put my pictures up (on facebook) so you can get a glimpse of how breathtaking Dublin and the countryside is.

There are SO many stories I can tell about each place we have been, people we have met, things we have done...the list goes on and on! Well here's one true story: I played spoons in a pub in Dublin! Last night Sarah and I went to a pub with live music, we were listening for a while and Sarah was like "Kristin you should play the spoons with the band" so she asked the bartender for some spoons...he asked if she "was dangerous with them?" So said no but that I was :) So he dug through the drawer and got me two spoons and than he threw a coaster at the guitar player and pointed to me. The guitarist told me to come up front...so I did and we 'jammed' for one song :) Oh my word!!! Can you believe it? Ha- I never thought I would say I played in an Irish Pub!

Well tommorrow we are going to Amsterdam for the day and then back to Brussels on Sunday. And we leave for Rome early early Monday morning. As much I have enjoyed traveling I am excited to go 'home' (to Rome) and not live out of a suitcase, have clean clothes and smell nice ;) But really though this trip has been more than anything I could have ever expected and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Well I wish I had more time for some more stories but my time on the internet is running out...so I must say goodnight for now! Bon nuit!

3 down and 1 to go!

Well this week is finally wrapping up and honestly it hasn't been stressful at all! So unlike any midterm week I have had at Philly U! My 'hard' exam on Monday wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, granted it was intense but I tried to prepare as well as I could. So I did not leave the room crying like he said we all would be! All the other ones have been very laid back, which is just so weird to me. So now I just have one more tomorrow morning so I guess I should start studying :)

I am also in process right now of packing for my Fall Break European Excursion Extravaganza! Oooo that has a nice ring to it :) Sarah and I really don't know what to expect and we were just talking about that earlier- how even though we can be prepared something will always happen! But I guess there's always something to make it interesting. So all I can share with you is what I do expect to happen (aka our itinerary):

• Oct. 31st: Rome to Barcelona
• Nov. 2nd: Barcelona to Paris
• Nov. 5th: Paris to Dublin
• Nov. 7th: Dublin to Brussels
• Nov. 8th: Brussels to Amsterdam (train)
• Nov. 9th: Amsterdam back to Brussels (train)
• Nov. 10th: Brussels to Rome

Phew! It is going to be a busy 10 days! We have all of our hostels booked though and we are so lucky to be able to stay in Paris for free with Grace! Also another interesting hostel experience will be in Amsterdam, which has its label as being a 'crazy' city (i.e. legalized marijuana). However...Sarah and I will be spending the night at Shelter City, a Christian hostel in none other than the red light district of downtown Amsterdam! Ironic- isn't it?

Even though I really don't know what to expect from this trip I am sure that we will never have a dull moment. Which may be interesting considering that I have been developing a cold the past few days...so pray that that is not worsened from this trip...hmmm...I can only imagine what kind of germies I will be exposed to in 5 flight, 2 trains, and 5 hostels!

Also as far as what to expect- I know that I will be seeing Gaudi architecture, Le Louvre, Le Pomipdou Centre, Notre Dame, Ronchamp, Chartres, Le Tour d'Eiffel, and so many other amazing works of architecture. But I just cannot begin to comprehend it all. But can you tell how excited I am for Paris? I have dreamt about going to Paris since I was 9, I have studied these buildings and even watched a documentary on Le Pompidou Centre for fun! So in that way, I am sooo ready for this :)

Ah yes and in regards to a winter coat, I remembered (thanks to Megan!) that I love the cold! Haha! I feel dumb in saying that I 'forgot' how much I love cold weather...but it's true! So I will be enjoying (or braving) the 40 degree Dublin weather in the one sweater I have!