aix-en-provence.

A good friend of mine from Tufts, Kevin, is studying in Aix-en-Provence, France. It just so happened I had a free weekend and found a good deal on a plane ticket, so I hopped the border from Spain into the South of France. He’s fluent in French, and has his own apartment and everything. The town of Aix was ADORABLE – cafes and pastry shops and stores everywhere. I would have been fat and broke if I was studying there!

I just happened to pick a great weekend to come visit. Kevin’s class was taking a trip to Marseilles, which is about a half and hour drive from Aix, and going sailing on the Mediterranean. Kevin signed us up and surprised me the night before. It was amazing – I never thought I would spend three hours sailing on the Mediterranean!

The port in Marseilles

Steering the boat!

The prison from the Count of Monte Cristo

Relaxing on the boat with beautiful scenery

Me and Kevin at the front of the boat

We found a cove - crystal blue water

After sailing, me, Kevin, and three of his friends from his program headed to dinner. Long story short, Kevin had met a guy from Luxembourg who had connections at the best pizzeria in Marseilles. These connections were good enough to get us a reservation at a place that doesn’t take reservations, and the wine started flowing. The meal was delicious, and when we finished three and a half hours later, Kevin and I raced to make the last bus to take us back to Aix.

The weekend went by really quickly, but there was sailing, wine, and French pastries. What else could I ask for?

birthday celebrations.

Turning 21 in Europe is nothing special, since the legal drinking age of 18 is very rarely enforced. Luckily for me, I was with a bunch of Americans who were determined to act like 21 mattered.

The festivities started on September 17, since Jessica insisted that we celebrate my “12:01″ as well as my actual day of birth. We went to the grand opening of a new club, Gold, which ended up being pretty close to my house. They advertised an open bar until 1:30am, so it was packed when we arrived. At approximately 1:35am, the place had emptied out quite a bit. We stuck around to dance for a while though.

Jess and I dancing to American rap music from 3 years ago

Wednesday was fun, but Thursday is when we really celebrated. All of my friends and I met up at a bar, Chocita Sueca (and no, I don’t know what it means. Swedish something). The place was empty, which was great because that meant there was plenty of space for us to let loose.

Jen and Justin showing off their moves

Auyon, Alyssa, and Josh

My best friend from Tufts, Erica, is studying abroad in Madrid also, but through a different program. I was SO excited that she was able to come out and celebrate with us, even though she had to be up early the next morning for a weekend trip to Sevilla with her school.

Erica and I at Chocita Sueca

After the bar, it was time for the real dancing to begin. We headed to one of the best clubs in Madrid, Pacha, to finish off the evening. There are a lot of discotecas in Madrid, but Pacha is really great because a lot of Spanish people go there. In a lot of the clubs, especially the ones near Sol (the touristy downtown area) there are a lot of Americans, and the Spanish guys that are there are creepy. Pacha is really nice and all of the people we’ve met there have been awesome.

The outside of Pacha

We danced all night in Pacha, and some of the Spanish friends we made met up with us also. Jess’ best friend from home has cousins that live here, so we’ve hung out with them a few times. They’re the ones that brought us to Pacha the first time, so we thank them for that!

Me, Erica, and Abby at Pacha

We left around 5:30am when we thought we would fall asleep in the club and when our feet hurt so badly from being in high heels for 7 hours. I don’t know how the Spanish girls do it… It was a great birthday though, and I’m looking forward to being 21 in the States where it actually matters!

The dancefloor inside of Pacha

la noche en blanco.

Every year, Madrid organizes La Noche en Blanco (The White Night/Night in White). It’s a giant cultural festivital and there are events located all over the city. The museums stay open, the Metro is open late, and there are people EVERYWHERE.

The girls at the beginning of La Noche en Blanco

We had planned on seeing a man tightrope walk between two buildings, but unfortunately he postponed his performance. The weather was awful – cold and windy – and I’m sure he was nervous a gust of wind would blow him over. Once we realized that it would be a while before he tried again, we decided to change locations and see something else.

After spending a LONG TIME searching for bathrooms for people, we end up walking to Chueca. Chueca is the trendy gay neighborhood in Madrid, and is also home to Madrid’s best tapas bar, El Tigre. Although the bar was packed, we managed to get some drinks and tapas. The drinks at El Tigre are enormous, and the plates of tapas are even bigger. For €6 I got a copa (large glass) of sangria and a big plate of potatoes and croquetas. I was starving, so it was perfect.

In large groups of people, like we were traveling with that night, people start to get antsy to leave and see something else. We head out of the bar and run into The Sun in the middle of the plaza.

The Sun in Chueca

The Sun was a collection of heat lamps. I’m sure there was some purpose to it, and the sun kept “rising and setting”, but on a cold night we couldn’t have cared less. We huddled in front of them like we were at the beach.

Lauren, Tara, and Jen in front of The Sun

There were people camped out in front of The Sun on lawn chairs, just having a beer and enjoying the warmth. While we were hanging out in the plaza, another group of Syracuse Madrid students met up with us, making us a group of about 20 Americans. You can imagine what that would have looked like when we all busted out singing along to some Journey.

Jim rocking out to some Don't Stop Believing

By this time, it was nearly 4:30 am. People started to get cranky and cold, and no one could decide where to go. Some people split up to go to an outdoor techno concert, and some people headed indoors to a bar. Jen and I chose to head home, which ended up being quite the adventure since there were NO AVAILABLE CABS. I think the general consensus of the evening was that it was fun, but we didn’t feel the need to do it again. I think it’s one of those events that you need to have 2 friends with you and a plan of action. All in all, I’m glad I went. It’s no secret that Madrid has quite the nightlife and I’ve definitely been out until 5 am before (and later), but it was crazy to see the city FULL of people at that hour!

La Noche en Blanco

heidelberg.

Heidelberg, Germany is about a 6 hour drive from Amsterdam, and I slept for 90% of it! I think the jet lag is cured, but we’re all just so exhausted from traveling around so much! There are 35 kids on this pre-semester program right now, and I think only 10 of them are boys! I thought since this was a business thing there would be more, but I guess that was stereotypical of me.

Everyone is nice, and we have a lot of free time and generally stick together when we explore. Our hotel in Amsterdam was kind of a dump, but was in a nice, safe location. Heidelberg is so small that everything is pretty much safe, and our hotel is MUCH nicer!

After arriving here last night, we went on a walking tour where Paul (our professor) showed us all the good places to eat. There’s a university here so there are a lot of students and people our age. After dinner we went to a club/bar where there were a lot of German students. They were all really nice and spoke decent English, which was good because none of us know any German! (Although I did say Gesundheit to some guy at breakfast this morning!) The music was pretty funny – a mix of Europop and old American music. They played some Backstreet Boys which was a fun throwback to 9 years ago! Then some of the German students showed us the spot along the river looking up at the mountains with gorgeous mansions built on them where there’s a castle behind us. Not kidding – it was like a storybook.

Castle in Heidelberg

A square in the town and some traditional style buildings

Overlooking the river and mountain at sunset

Today we toured the Mercedes plant where they make the huge semi trucks. It was interesting but it went on for wayyyy too long. We spent 2 hours touring the production line and learning about their new paint process. We had the rest of the afternoon free, and hiked up to the Heidelberg Schloss, a huge castle that is on top of a mountain. You can see it from nearly all parts of the city but I didn’t expect it to be so pretty! I took lots of pictures and video which I will add as soon as we get to Madrid and I get my laptop back.

On the hike up the castle...

Overlooking Heidelberg from inside the castle grounds

Inside the castle grounds - making the parents proud with my Diet Coke

I definitely didn’t give Germany enough credit before getting here. It’s absolutely gorgeous and I haven’t encountered any saurkraut yet. We’re having an authentic German dinner in our hotel tonight though, so perhaps that will be included (and I will be avoiding it like the plague). Our hotel is actually a microbrewery also, which is kind of a nice contrast after touring the massive Heineken plant the other day. The smell of brewing and fermenting beer is not pleasant though…

Tomorrow we head to France and will be spending the weekend in Paris I know, I know – such a hard life I have! But for now, I MUST get out of this internet cafe because the owners two small children are SHRIEKING and I can’t deal anymore. Also, this keyboard is messed up – the z and the y are switched and it takes me too long to find any of the punctuation keys. Cheap internet is just not worth difficult keyboards and small children poking me.

amsterdam.

It’s about 5:45 pm here in Amsterdam, and the weather is really nice! It’s such a quaint little city and I’ve definitely walked a lot! We arrived yesterday morning, and it was rainy and overcast and about 60 degrees. Today it brightened up a lot, and we had a chance to explore after touring the Heineken brewery and the Van Gogh Museum.

A residential area in Amsterdam overlooking a canal

The Dutch are apparently the tallest people, and they’re all really fit. Since the streets are so narrow and parking is at a premium, people ride their bikes everywhere. The bikers have the right of way ALL THE TIME, and they’ll run you over if you get in their way! They don’t have to follow street signs and cars and buses yield to them. It’s been quite the experience trying to cross the street with bicyclists coming at you from both directions!

We explored the city last night, but were exhausted from our overnight flight the night before. Tonight is our last night here, and we’re on our own for dinner and entertainment. We’re going to try to find a bar or cafe around to watch the Olympics since none of us have seen a TV since we left on Sunday! (The Dutch are very “minimalist”, and our hotel is just that. No TV, alarm clock, or phone, though there are phone books…?)

We leave bright and early tomorrow morning for Heidelberg, Germany. It’ll be a long bus ride, but if it’s like any other quiet time I’ve found recently, I’ll be fast asleep almost instantly. I’ve taken lots of pictures but won’t have an opportunity to post them until I get to Madrid in about two weeks. I’ll update more in Germany and France

J.

P.S. They have chocolate sprinkles as a topping for toast at breakfast, and they’re the best chocolate sprinkles I’ve ever had.

A street performer we saw who fit his whole body through a toilet seat

Castle at the end of the Canal - it was a great landmark to use to get back to the hotel