If you've been keeping up with my blog, you know that in April I went on a 3 week long Eurotour. It was amazing! I saw an experienced all kinds of different things. Our tour went Zürich-Paris-Brussels-Amsterdam-Berlin-Prague-Bratislava-Vienna-Budapest-Postojna-Venice-Rome-Milan. We drove the entire trip on a bus, which wasn't all that bad.
The 10 hour ride to Paris from Zürich seemed a lot shorter than it really was, which I am grateful for, because 10 hours on a bus is a loooong time. Anyways, Paris was amazing! Our first day there, we walked from the Notre Dame to Chámps Élyseé (which is actually a really long ways to walk). We stopped at the Pont des Arts and I put a lock on the bridge with my newbie from New Zealand. For lunch I was able to meet up with two of my friends from California who are also on exchange (one there in Paris, the other in Belgium). After lunch we went to the Eiffel Tower and went all the way to the very top! The view was stunning, and you could see the entire city from up there. Our second day in Paris we visited Montmartre. It was so cool to see the Moulin Rouge and the Sacre Coeur Basilica, among other things such as Van Gogh's apartment and Pablo Picasso's favorite restaurant/cabaret. After having lunch in the Artist's Square, we visited the Louvre Museum. Although we only had 2 hours there, it was amazing to see some of the great masterpieces of the art world. After that, we went and had a typical french diner with a sunset cruise on the Seine afterwards. Seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up from the boat was definitely one of my favorite parts of Eurotour. The next day we took off for Amsterdam with a lunch stop in Brussels, where I saw the Mannekin Pis and the Atomium and ate french fries and Belgian waffles!
In Amsterdam we made bike tour around the city which was really nice, even though some parts were kind of scary (i.e. lots of traffic = lots of cars = scaryness when you're on a bike). We also visited the Anne Frank House, which was really eye-opening for me, in terms of seeing how WWII and the Nazi Regime affected people and their lives. I definitely suggest that if you ever go to Amsterdam, visit her house. After visiting the house, we took a cruise along the canals, which was really fun and allowed us to see more of the city.
After Amsterdam we made another 10 hour bus ride, this time to Berlin. During our day in Berlin, we visited many places, such as Checkpoint Charlie, the TV Tower, and multiple memorials. We also visited the remaining parts of the Berlin Wall, which I found really fascinating with all the artwork and murals that cover it.
After Berlin, we drove to Prague (Praha in czech). If you don't know, Prague was one of the few cities that wasn't bombed during WWII, so lots of the buildings are hundreds and hundreds of years old. Seeing all of the old buildings and statues was super cool. We walked all the way down from the Prague Castle, across the Charles Bridge to the Old Square. Prague was so different from the other cities we visited, but it was definitely one of my favorites. While in Prague we had a night walk, and got to see how the city changes from day to night.
From Prague we drove to Vienna, with a lunch stop in Bratislava. Bratislava is one of those semi-small cities that you only need a day or a half-day to explore, but is still gorgeous and fascinating. From Bratislava we drove on to Vienna. The hotel we stayed at was heaven. The food was amazing and the beds were like laying in a cloud. (It's called The Renaissance if you're ever in Vienna). During the day we took a city tour and saw all the old buildings and palaces, which were so beautiful. Later on in the day we took horse drawn carriages for a ride around the city. We then went back to the hotel for dinner and to get ready for an opera/ballet!
The next day we took a tour of the Schönbrunn Palace, which was one of the royal residencies, and then departed for Budapest! I can honestly say that Budapest was one of my most favorite cities we visited. We had a city tour and got to go inside of the Parliament building, which is one of the most beautiful parliaments in the world. One of my favorite things that we did in Budapest was go to the thermal bath house. When you get into the water, it doesn't feel like a normal pool. You can literally feel the difference in the water from the minerals, and it makes you feel so relaxed. After the visit to the thermal baths, we were treated to a folk show during a typical hungarian dinner. We didn't know that there were going to be multiple courses, so when more food came after we were full with goulash, we were so surprised. The folk show was really fun, and included dancing, music and balancing jugs of wine on heads.
After Budapest it was time to go to Venice with a stop at the caves in Postojna on the way! When we arrived in Postojna, we took a small train 5 m into the caves and then had about an hour long tour. We also got to see the cave salamanders, which are completely while as well as blind. In the middle of our tour the lights went out and it became pitch black. A lot of people (including me) freaked out a bit, but it ended up just being that they like to turn out the lights so that people can see what it is like in the caves without light. After out tour ended we made our way to Venice!
Our hotel was in Lido di Jesolo, which is a small city close to Venice. I was so stocked because it was right on the beach, which I hadn't seen in 9 months. Venice was all that I had hoped it would be. We were lucky enough to have beautiful weather with the sun shining and we had a nice ocean breeze. We had a city tour and then took a gondola along the canals. After the gondola ride, we took a boat to the island of Murano to see the glass factory. There we got to see one of the Masters make a vase using the glass-blowing technique. It was amazing to see it being made in-person. When we got back to the hotel we all got ready for a masquerade that was being put on for us (earlier in the day we had all bought Venetian masks to wear).
The next day we got to sleep in and have a bit of time on the beach before heading off to our second-to-last stop... ROME! Our hotel in Rome was about 30-45 minutes from the center of the city, but it still had a nice view of the surrounding area. Our first day in Rome we took a very long city tour (we walked 12 kilometers!!!) and got to see the Coloseum, the Foro Romano, Palatine Hill , the Trevi Fountain and many other amazing sights. The day was overcast but luckily it didn't start raining until we went for dinner. Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain when we got off the bus to walk to the restaurant. My shoes and pants were throughouly soaked by the time we go there. Since the inside had already filled up, some of us ended up sitting outside under a canopy. The food made sitting outside in wet clothes worth it though. W head 3 pastas, 2 meats and 2 desserts to share family style and it was some of the best food I have ever had. The nest day we visited the Vatican. We got to go inside and see the Sistine Chapel and well as all the artwork inside the building. W also got to visit St. Michael's Basilica, which I can confidently say is one of the biggest churches I have ever been in. After that we walked around the city some more, and stopped for a little bit on the Spanish Steps. In this square is also all the super expensive designer stores are, such as Dior, Chanel, Dolce and Gabanna, Emilio Pucci, etc. Me and my friend Lindsey decided to go into the Dior store for fun, but not only could we not even come close to affording anything there, just breathing the air felt like it was going to cost me thousands of dollars. After everyone had reconvened, we took the bus to the catacombs. Being down there was fascinating but also pretty freaky. The lighting is really dim and you almost expect something to grab your foot as you walk by. There weren't any more bones in these catacombs, since they were all removed to be able to preserve them. After finishing our tour of the catacombs we then headed off to dinner. The restaurant was a little family owned place, and the pasta and pizza we had was amazing. Italians definitely know how to cook haha. It was a great was to end our last day in the beautiful city of Rome.
We set off for Milan the next morning with a surprise lunch stop in Pisa. Seeing the leaning tower of Pisa in person was super rad.
In Milan another party was put on for us, but this time as a "farewell party". It ended up being a great night and a great way to end Eurotour.
Our last day was spent driving back to Zürich. Those three weeks while we were gone really allowed for spring to come to Switzerland. Everything was greener than i had ever seen it be, which is pretty hard to do since it was super green when I first arrived last August. I love seeing my second home like this because a green Switzerland is the best kind of Switzerland.
All in all, Eurotour was one of the best experiences I've ever had (besides coming on exchange). It has been one of the highlights of my exchange and I', so glad I was able to go on it.
P.S. To future exchange students: If you have the chance to go on a Eurotoue, or any other kind of trip with Rotary or your exchange organization, DO IT! It is definitely worth every penny :)
You can see all the pictures from Eurotour at https://www.facebook.com/ali.batchelder/media_set?set=a.925546084173141.1073741840.100001532753875&type=3
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