Abroad with my Mama

For months now I've know my mom was coming abroad to see me. She wanted to come on my birthday, a very special birthday too, my 21st. She arrived on a Thursday, we took a short tour around Brussels and I gave her the experience of having Frites, Waffles, and Belgian beer. It is such a joy showing her around in what is now my 2nd home. The next day after my class, we flew to Geneva, Switerland. We realized a few things when we got to Switzerland 1) they dont use Euros 2) we're glad we got a rental car 3) everything is super expensive. After a nice walk around the center and delicious dinner we hit the hey. The next day we drove up to Chamonix, France. A beautiful resort city 45 min from Geneva. Luckilly for us it had snowed 3 feet over the last 24 hours and the Alps looked gorgeous. After checking in,we headed to the chairlift Aguille du Midi to head to the top of Mont Blanc ( the tallest moutain in Europe). Then after meeting with a nice Irish man I booked a paragliding trip back to the bottom. Paragliding consists of a parachute on your back and hoping it will chute up as you jump off a cliff. It was exhilerating!!! After a beautiful 30 min flight I landed and met upwith my Mom at the chairlift. After that we strolled through the gorgeous center, did a little shopping, and endedthe night with some hot cocoa watching the Tech-OU game. The next day we did an epic drive through the Alps to cross to the other side...Italy. We setup shop in Aosta, Italy a small town on the very tip of Northwest Italy. It was such a culture shock from being in French speaking areas. It was like nothing I had imagined. After a real 3 course authentic italian lunch we toured the ancient city and walked around the ruins. Aosta had been around for over 2000 years!! Finally we drove back to Geneva, and flew back to Brussels. For the rest of the week my mom I toured parts of Brussels, had dinner at Han's house, and did a 1 day trip to the mideval city of Brugge. Finally we headed to Paris for the my birthday weekend. Way back when I was little my mom made a promise to me that we'd go to Las Vegas for my 21st b-day. Instead we went to Paris(a little better I might say). We toured the Louvre for multiple hours, took a boat tour of Paris, climbed Arc du Triomphe, and walked down Champs d' Ellyeses. Finally we had to say goodbye. It was sad but it was an amazing trip. I am truly blessed to have an amazing mother. This will be a memory I will cherish for a liftime.

                                                                             The cliff I jumped off of Paragliding

                                                                                Mont Blanc

                                                                                     Chamonix Hotel

                                                                                    Driving through Swiss Alps

                                                                                        First Authentic Italian Food

                                                                                         Aosta Ruins

Grand Place

Paris

Mom Send Money!

Another week of intense traveling is in the books. Once again it was such a thrill traveling with my best friend around Europe. We saw so many places and met so many interesting people. Wish it could go on forever. Unfortunately, my bank account shows the damage we’ve done….and I mean some damage. So my travels for the time being will be limited to hardcore workouts on the bike to burn off all the good food and drinks we enjoyed over the last two weeks.

Thursday- Alex and I made a short day trip to downtown Brussels to go to the Brasserie Cantillon, a world renowned brewery known for their mythical brewing process. They showed the complete brewing process from raw materials to the finished product. It was very interesting to see how their unique spontaneous fermentation process worked using open-air barrels. Of course no brewery tour would be complete without a good tasting. First we tried their “” straight out of the barrel. Because it was open-air fermented it had no carbonation and was very flat and bitter. It had an incredibly interesting flavor that I had never had before. Our second taste was their version of “beer champagne” which went through a second fermentation process that gave it an incredibly bubbly style. After seeing how it was all produced, Alex and I were in the mood to try some other beers. We made our way over to Grand Place and went to a 400 year old brasserie that offered over 300 beers…needless to say we tried a few.

Friday- As soon as I got out of my class we headed to Paris on the Thaylls Bullet Train. It was exhilarating feeling such a large machine reach almost 200mph!!! As soon as we arrived in Paris, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and our journey began. Our goal was to see Paris in a day….we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. After walking a good mile and admiring all the amazing architecture we stumbled upon a massive building with tons of people walking in and out of it….we had arrived at the world famous Louvre Museum. It was fantastic….everything that we had thought it would be. Unfortunately we didn’t get to go in due to the long lines, so we kept on with our journey. Block after block we saw some amazing churches and buildings, many of them hundreds of years old. After another two miles we realized we stumbled upon the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. Quite impressive. After a quick bite to eat at a café we had a long 5 mile walk to our biggest stop of the day The Eiffel Tower. We made sure we took a route we had not taken yet so we could see more of the city, once again more and more beautiful buildings and parks and churches. Finally in the distance we could see the Eiffel Tower. Insanely huge. Of course we took some amazing pictures and stood in awe of its massiveness. After a delicious crepe we kept on walking towards our final and to complete Paris in a day, the Arc du Triomphe and Champs de Ellyeses. After 5 hours of walking we had finally made it. For a reward we treated ourselves with a truly French three-course candle-lit dinner (very romanticJ). My three course meal included escargot for the appetizer, veal liver for the entrée, and some heavenly crème brulee. Of course no French meal could be complete with truly authentic French wines. It was quite a day. One I will never forget.

Saturday- We woke a little late, very sore from the 12+ mile walk the day before. We decided last minute that we wanted to go to Versailles and see the palace (NOTE: every hotel we stayed at was booked 3 or 4 hours before we arrived, very little was planned for this trip, very cool!). After finding a cheap place, we journeyed back into Paris to take the subway to Versailles. Once again we got to experience the joy and frustration of European public transit getting lost multiple times and making a 45 min trip into a 4 hour trip. Once we arrived in Versailles we headed straight for the palace. Knowing very little about the palace I had little expectations. When we walked in the gates we were in awe. It was like nothing I had ever seen. The gates were covered in gold, the palace was unbelievably huge, and the gardens…well they were indescribable. My accounting brain kicked in and all I could think about were the landscaping expenses. After a few hours of walking around we treated ourselves to a crepe and got on a romantic rowboat and rowed across the massive lake.  We finished the day off relaxing in the hotel watching the Tech game on Alex’s computer.

Sunday- We headed on a 4 hour train voyage to Bayeux. A small, quaint village right on the Normandy coast. After 3 transfers we headed straight for a taxi and went to the American D-day Cemetery. I was most excited about this trip. Like both my grandfathers I love seeing all the history I’ve been taught. After seeing an awesome museum (looked a lot like many American museums, we later found out it is funded by the US government) we headed down to the beach to see where it all went down. All I could do was think that a lot of the men who died that day were 19 and 20 year olds just like me. I couldn’t even imagine going to war. Our next stop we headed up the beach to one of the many Nazi bunkers. As I read many had been destroyed by Allied artillery but a few were still standing. You could see where they setup the machine guns and artillery. After that we headed to the cemetery. Thousands upon thousands of white crosses lined the field. It really put into perspective how many people actually died that day.

Monday- We made our way back to Brussels, once again another long day of traveling (12 hours!). Once we realized we had a 5 hour layover in Rouen we decided to explore the city. We had no idea what it had to offer. After walking only a few hundred yards we saw a really cool medieval tower. We realized we could tour the tower free of charge! (gotta love student discounts!) After deciphering some French we came to realize this city was one where Joan of Arc held trial. We even saw a dungeon similar to the one she lived in. After that we made our way to the city Centre for lunch. For our last French meal we really went for it and had duck comfit with some tasty French wine. As we looked around we could see many of the medieval buildings were still standing. They were all colored in outlandish colors and still had 16^th century architecture on many of them. Finally at 10:30 PM we made it back to Brussels. The next day Alex and I said our goodbyes and he headed off to Spain. I can’t wait to see him in November. I’ll definitely enjoy the Spanish weather when it’s cold and wet here in Brussels

                                                                            I can row faster than him

                                                                               D-Day Memorial

                                                                                Candlelit French Dinner

                                                                                Louvre Museum

                                                                        Eiffel Tower

                                                            Bunker Overlooking Omaha Beach

                                                                                  Rouen Cathedral

                                                                                     Midevil Tower

Palace of Versailles

                                                                                 Palace Gates

5 years and still going strong

After five years of dreaming, the day had finally came. We officially started our Eurotrip. Alex (one of my best friends) arrived Tuesday for two weeks of "bro-time" as we traveled around Europe before he leaves for Malaga, Spain for his study abroad trip. With the help of my several study abroad friends in Brussels we showed everything and more that he needed to see and do in Brussels. Grand Place, waffles, chocolates, Delirium Cafe, NATO, European Parliment, Royal Palace, and all the lovely Belgian women were included in his time here. Friday we headed to Amsterdam via a long 4 hour bus ride. As soon as we got off the bus we found our way through the stressful public transit system and arrived ia Central Station right in the heart of downtown Amsterdam. We were amazed at how beautiful the buildings were, most being several hundred  years old. We then headed to our lovely hostel right in the center of the "Red Light District" in a dorm with ten other stayers. It was quite a sight seeing the Red Light District, nothing either of us had ever seen.

The next morning we woke up decently early and headed for the train station. After a long and stuffy bus ride we decided it was time to take a train. To our delight it was an ICE train or bullet train. We were so excited to ride in something that could get up 200+ mph. We got on the 2nd class cabin. It was incredibly nice, we thought we were in first class. We got a table, tons of leg room, and seats all to ourselves. We arrived in Cologne in a quick two hours later. Getting off the train we could see that Cologne was going to be an amazing city although very few people spoke English. After setting up shop in our hostel, which was much nicer than our hostel in Amsterdam, we took the tram back to the city. We had no idea where to go or what to do. We were told we must go to one of Cologne's famous Bruhaus with their wold renowned "Kolsch." (Cologne's own beer) We ended up finding the most famous one....and we found out why. As soon as you enter the place their are hundreds of people all sitting at these little wooden tables drinking these tiny narrow glasses of beer. Finally we found a tiny a table in the very back. Literally as soon as we sat down a waiter brought us two glasses of beer and wrote two little marks on our coaster. We had no idea what was going on. We learned that the waiters just go around the restaruant with a trays filled with the beer glasses and as soon as they see someone with an empty glass that drop one down at the table and make a mark on their coaster. SOOO COOL! After a few Kolsch (they don't call it beer) we had to have some true German sausage...it was heavenly. Then after a few more Kolsch we ordered a meat plate to share filled with schinitzel, saurkraut, sausage, roast beef, black pudding, and mashed potatoes. After 10 beers between us (which only about 2 pints each) we decided we had better go see the city. Cologne was spectacular at night. All the churches were lit up, all the bars were filled with people, and their were street performers everywhere. Finally we decided we wanted to end the night and go watch the A&M game at the American sports bar. Too none of our surprise we found every American that was in Cologne at that time. It was amazing to meet so many people from all over the U.S. and hear why they were in Cologne. Included in this group was a pilot from FedEx, a pro bastketball player playing in France, and two bankers here on business.

The next morning we checked out one of the coolest places Alex and I had ever seen, The Kolner Dom. A massive cathedral that was hundreds of years old. It was incredible, an architectural masterpiece. We then found a cool brasserie that was well-known for schnitzel and their own kolsch. Alex and I agreed anymore time here and we'd be incredibly fat. So we hopped on the train and headed to Aachen, a midevil city that Charlemagne called home. It was amazing to see how old some of the buildings were, many being over a thousand year old. After a stroll around the city, seeing the sights, and learning the history we decided we must have a true german Oktoberfest style beer. It was fantastic and sooo good with "blood sausage" (look it up). After that we got back on the train (once again a bullet train) and made it back to Brussels. The week was a success.

I'm so excited for next week though too. Paris, then Normandy, and finally Lille/Roubaix. It's going to be sweet! Amazing french cuisine, wine, and some of the most amazing sights in the world. 

                                               Delirium Cafe (over 1500 different beers!!)

                                                                              Kolner Dom

                                                                            Manequin Piss

                                                                    Cologne's famous Bruhaus

                                                      Brasserie Camtillon - Brussels most famous brewery

                                                                               Aachen Dom

                                                                         Brussels Mussels and Frites

Up at 4am watching the Cowboy game

The week that was…

Classes are in full gear now with all the necessary evils that comes with it. Vesalius, I will admit, has challenged me much more than Tech. All of my classes are limited to less than 20 students per class, and all the lectures include all students participating in the discussion. So before class I must be up to date on the days topic and the current events in the world. My Corporate Strategy professor, a former Harvard MBA professor, gives us case studies of actual companies after each class. In preparation for the next class we must have a list of strategic plans the company should follow to be successful. It’s incredibly enlightening to truly be a participant in a class rather than a listener like many of my classes at Tech.

                                                                                 Battle of Waterloo Memorial

                                                                              Little Napoleon

This week I tried to keep it as cheap as possible in preparation for my travels and exploits with Alex, my good friend who is coming to stay with me for several days. The common nightly dish includes spaghetti, bolagnese sauce and a light salad (livin the lavish life!).  I rode another 200 miles this week previewing the course that the Brussels Cycling Classic course. Once again, I am shocked at how many tough hills that Belgium has to offer, over 10000 feet of climbing this week. I made several ventures as well on my bike. I checked out the impressive city of Wavre (one of the major Wallonian hubs) and the Battle of Waterloo museum and battlefield(just for you Mr. Bradham). Waterloo was incredibly humbling. Home to one of the most historic battles in world history where Napolean was defeated in______ War. Just imagine had Napoleon won the battle….we might all be speaking French right now.

                                                                                                                  Andre Greipel and I

 

Friday night the Knudsen’s graciously took me to dinner at an exquisite Italian restaurant in downtown Brussels. Everything tasted incredible. You can just taste the authenticity of the food. During our 3 hour dinner (a restaurant would never let that happen in the States) we were surprised with entertainment. Hundreds of well-lit roller skaters and cyclists partied down the streets of Brussels blasting dance music and drinking beer. It was quite a scene. Saturday, Hans and I woke up bright and early to watch the start of the Brussels Cycling Classic, a professional bike race with many of the top racers in the world. Because we arrived so early we got to mingle with the racers, take pictures, autographs, and ask them all kinds of questions. I even got to take a picture with my favorite pro cyclists Andre Greipel (one of his legs was like three of mine, they were huge!!!). As they took off, Hans and I had 4 hours to kill until they came back to finish. We knew that the Grand Place was having a huge beer festival with over 80 breweries offering tastings of their beer. So of course we took full advantage of this. After drinking a “few” we headed to a small café that was well known for fresh, organic sandwiches. I had_________. We then headed to finish line, many of the team buses were already parked there, and were passing out free team bottles to the fans. Quickly, the racers were approaching the finish line , we got front row seats right at the line. It was a photo-finish and to no surprise Andre Greipel won the race by half a wheel!

                                                                                  Brussels Beerfest

Once again we had amazing weather all week, hopefully it will stay nice this week. I’m super excited for my friend Alex to get here so I can show him all around. We plan on traveling all over the place, possibly Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen, just too many choices!!! Can’t to share more of my stories next week. GO COWBOYS

Cycling in Belgium

230 miles....what a week. And my legs feel it. It is such an incredible experience seeing a new place by bike. I feel like a true adventurer. Once again the bike has brought me new friends. When riding in the forest on Monday I can came across a kid with a "USA Cycling"jersey on. I chased him down and asked if he was American. His name was Hans, a Danish citizen who's parents were working in Parlament in Brussels, but had traveled to the US many times and plans on going to college in the States, specifically Arkansas. We ended up going on a 50 mile ride together, showing me all the good routes and the nasty cobblestones. For the rest of the week we rode everyday, doing a different course ranging from tough Belgian hills, canal roads that go on dead-straight for miles, and cobblestones that are near impossible to ride. This weekend we made a short trip to Brugge and rode down the coast to Oostende. First we sight-saw the beautiful Brugge and had coffee and pancakes, then followed a canal all the way to the coast. After checking out the resort town Knocke-Heist we took an amazing road that followed the entire Belgian coastline. After a quick bite to eat we finished in Oostende, surprisingly coming across the roller speed skating world championship! It was amazing watch how fast they go. So far it is everything I could've imagined and more. I am truly living the dream. (Check out my strava on the top right-hand corner for details of my rides)

                                                         Hans doing 25mph+ on the Canal road

Worst climb ever

Leuven townsqure

Tevuren Museum (one of the kings old palaces)

Roller Speed Skating

Look how smooth those roads are!!!

Holland!!

Went on my first group trip this weekend to Holland. It was fantastic. And so close. At first I was really bummed that we weren't going to Amsterdam. Soon I learned that there is much more to Holland, the culture, the history, the environment was just fascinating.

Part 1: The Hague - Peace Palace, Escher Museum of Art, Central District

After just an hour and half bus ride we arrived a huge palace in The Hague, Holland. The "Peace Palace," home of the International Court of Justice and Permanent Court of Arbitration. A Supreme Court where countries and large multinational entities can solve there disputes. 100th year of existence, Andrew Carnegie donated $1.5 million for its construction. After that we had lunch in ther Center Square of the city. It was incredible to see the thousands of people commuting by bicycles. Every street has a closed off bike path on both sides of the road. Following a delicious dish of Dutch Crouquettes, we headed to the Escher Museum to view M.C. Escher's super trippy art and displays. Afterwards we headed to our hotel right in the center of downtown The Hague. Dinner we headed out to the beach (not much of a beach) and enjoyed some authentic fish and chips plus a Heinekin....in Holland.

                                                                         Peace Palace

Holland's Passion for bikes in the form of art

                                                                         

                                                                 Traditional Dutch Croquette 

Super Cool Exhibit at Escher Museum

Part 2: Spijkenisse, Delph, and Rotterdam

The next morning, we shoved down a delicious Dutch breakfast, and headed straight to Spijkenisse (dont ask me to pronounce it) for a bike tour in windmill country. It was more than I could even imagine, windmills everywhere, bike paths going every which way. Learned all about the rich history of milling and how half of Holland would be underwater without windmills. I could've ridden all day in this part of the country. It was gorgeous. Next, he headed to Delph, a small, quaint town....that had a bike race going on. It was soooo cool to see real european racing going on. They were so fast! Our guides then told us about a surprise they had in store for us. We headed to Rotterdam (got to see several of the Big 4 offices!!) and got a huge speed boat. They surprised with a large b-day cake for one of the girls in our program and we got a tour of the 3rd largest shipping yard in the world. IT WAS HUGE!!

I really loved Holland, so beautiful and their use of bikes just makes me want to move there. Such an incredible trip. Can't wait to see more of the world.
                                                                           

Sexy Bike!!

                                                                                  Holy Bikes!!!

Bike Tour in Windmill Country

Settling In

So far so good! I am completely moved in to my apartment, enjoying the sights, and already having my fair share of tasty Belgian delights. My roommate is a really great guy, we share a lot of common interests, and thankfully he knows a tad bit of French. I really love the city, it is incredibly beautiful. You have to see it to believe it!

As you can imagine, there are some huge differences living in a city that is very different than Aledo, TX or Lubbock.

I've learned a few lessons so far:
1. Learn French before you come
2. Get use to walking
3. Public transit sucks
4. European power outlets do not like American appliances (shorted out my fan, shut off the entire electricity for my building
5.Charge your phone before going out (phone died halfway on my trip to Aalst, wandered around for 4 hours trying to find my bike shop, then prayed I could remember my bus route)
6. French "R's" are really hard to pronounce
7. Bring your own bags to grocery store and plan on walking a quarter mile with whatever you buy
8. Buses stop running at midnight. Had to 3 miles all the way back from Grand Place.
9. Nothing is open on Saturday or Sunday...except bars
10. Kids love to loiter on the streets and drink beer
11. I keep getting mysterious bites all over my legs
12. I will never tight skinny pants like the guys here in Belgium
13. French wine and Belgian beer at the grocery store is sooooo cheap.
14. I miss my car, my dishwasher, my tv, and cell phone service

                                   (the view from my balcony, all buildings must have a different color)

I've made many friends already, from all across the US and the world (met some interesting Swedes in Grand Place). Orientation starts today. I'm super excited to meet my other classmates!