Steven Wanderlust

I had a ten-hour layover in Milano on my way from Amsterdam to Prague, so of course I went into town for a looksy. From the Malpensa Airport, I took an express train to the center of town. I had heard from everyone who had been in Milano that the city does not have much to offer and that it is just a modern Italian city known for its graffiti (which if you have not guessed it is an Italian word). In fact it is Italy’s largest city, but my experience was actually different from what I heard from people. True, there isn’t much to do in Milano except shopping. Unless you’re a fashion fanatic, the top sight in Milan is either the Last Supper painting or the Duomo (the cathedral). Since I didn’t reserve to ... read more

I followed up the trip to Spain with an immediate trip to Paris. Savitra came to Europe again on a business trip, and I was offered to stay the weekend. This meant that I was to hop on a train the morning after I got back from Madrid. At 6:00am my body begrudgingly awoke to the disturbance of the alarm on my mobile phone. Quickly I folded up the laundry I had just done the night before, and off I went to the Rotterdam Centraal train station. At 11:30am, after a switch of trains in Brussels to the super fast Thalys train, I found myself in Paris, for the third time in my life. The first time I was in Paris, I found the people rude, especially whenever I had to turn to English to explain ... read more

Three of my fellow exchange students at Rotterdam, Angela, Carolina, and Sandra, and I spent a week in Spain. The trip began with a train ride to Brussels, where we had a pleasant if not expensive lunch. As it was Angela’s first time in Brussels, she had a great time looking around while getting three sets of advice on what’s cool in Brussels from her three travelphile classmates. After lunch we rushed onto a bus to the airport, having lost track of time. Meanwhile I was worried about my ticket, as the airline had not emailed me back the confirmation via email as promised, and my inquiries into the reservation had been unanswered. Luckily we all made it to the airport just in time, and my reservation had been valid after all. Getting to the apartment ... read more

I rolled out of the hotel bed in Rome and headed to the train station. At last minute I made up my mind about taking a detour to Firenze, otherwise known as Florence. With ten minutes to spare, I rushed to my seat on Italy’s premier high-speed train. After taking trains in Japan, Germany, and even Spain, Italy’s trains seemed old and rackety. On the train I broke down and used my cell phone to call my roommate David’s wife, Yvonne, who was in Firenze studying jewelry making. After a few expensive roaming-minute tries, I reached her and arranged for meeting up for lunch. Two hours of beautiful Tuscany countryside later, I arrived in Firenze to be greeted by even more foreign tourists than I saw in Rome. Firenze literally has many more tourists than locals. ... read more

Savvy, another MBA from Haas, had a business trip in München, otherwise known as Munich. He of course planned to coincide with Munich’s most famous attraction, Oktoberfest. This legendary tradition all started many centuries ago to celebrate the marriage of Queen Therese. Today the festival still takes place at Theresieweisen, which normally is a park. Oktoberfest is actually a misnomer. Though it started back in the days in October, these days the rational Germans have moved it up to September, when it’s warm enough that no one gets a cold from wearing beer-soaked lederhosen. Personally I think they should rename it Achtung-Bier-Fest (translation: danger, Will Robinson, German beer party) to make it less confusing for the tourists. Every weekend of Oktoberfest has a different unofficial theme. The weekend Savvy picked is for whatever reason favored by ... read more