brownlm2
Lauren Brown Joined: January 7th 2009
Logged in: December 30th 2009
Logged in: December 30th 2009
Travel Blog Posts
Me and Emily on the bus to the boat cruise
This past thursday we had a boat cruise on the Mosel River. Mostly all the students went and we got all dressed up. It included dinner and dancing, so it was a fun way to end off the year. Our dean is retiring, and that night it was his birthday also, so he was presented with a special gift. Born in the U.S.A. played and everyone was singing it...I think people are definitely getting ready to come home! On Friday morning I left for Brugge, Belgium with two of my friends, Katie and Emily. After we checked in we walked around and saw the market square, which is very medieval and beautiful. We climbed 366 steps to the top of a bell tower and saw a great view of the city. We also went into the ... read more
Where the Berlin wall used to be
Hey everyone. I have a bit of time now to write about Berlin. My English literary theory class travelled there. We stayed from Tuesday until Sunday doing a variety of activities having to do with our class and touristy Berlin things. I flew to Berlin with some girls from my class on Tuesday. That evening we just relaxed, because there were no activities planned. The next morning we got a tour of the city from an ex- German ambassador to Luxembourg and Ireland. We saw a facade of an 18th century train station that was ruined in the war and two other surviving buildings, one being the state parliament building. We passed the remains of the Berlin wall. It was full of graffiti and sections of it had pictures of how Berlin used to look and ... read more
Blarney Castle
Now that I’m back from my class trip I can update about Ireland and Berlin. On Monday we flew from Paris to Cork. At the airport we picked up a rentel car. At first we had trouble just trying to figure out how to put it in forward gear. Then my dad did a few rounds in the parking lot to get used to driving on the left. We still had to remind him to stay on the left while turning up until the last day! Even just bring there for a week, though, it felt weird on the bus in Germany to be on the right again. Once we got the car we drove to the Blarney castle, which was built in 1446. We climbed up it and went in all the rooms. We also ... read more
The Grund
Where to even begin…I guess three Mondays ago! After my trip to Spain my mom returned to Luxembourg. That Monday we took a train north of Lux city to a town called Clervaux. We saw the outside of the castle there (it was closed) and hiked up to an abbey. We sat in for a few minutes on a service where monks chant. I had seen this at the beginning of the year, but my mom wanted to watch. On Tuesday evening my mom and I went to dinner at a restaurant I’d never been to. There was only one other couple in there, so we didn’t know what to expect. The man running the place ended up being a one man show…the chef, waiter, and everything else. We sat right next to the kitchen window ... read more
Christopher Columbus statue
This weekend was such a whirlwind of traveling! I travelling with Brittany, the same girl that I traveled with to Italy. We left Thursday evening on an over night train to Barcelona. We didn't reserve a couchette (sleeping car) like we did in the past. We sat in chairs that reclined in a pretty crowded train. We made sure to sleep with our bags close so they wouldn't get stollen. I had a horrible night sleep if you can imagine. It was kind of cold, and this creepy man that was diagonally in front of me was awake every time I woke up. He was just sitting there looking around...so weird. We had to switch trains at 4:30 am and waited at a cold train station until 6 for our next train. We switched again at ... read more
Freddie and I
The weekend that Freddie came I stayed in Differdange. On that Saturday morning I made brunch for my family. I made pancakes and egg cassarole. They seemed to like it, but of course they put Nutella on the pancakes...something I'll probably adopt when I return to the U.S. On Sunday morning I got up and went to the airport to pick Freddie up. We took at bus to the city center and walked around the shopping area, even though everything was closed. It was a beautiful day out, luckily, so we wandered around for a while. Eventually we found something to eat and Freddie discovered just how much they love French Fries here (they served them along side meat fondu...not quite typical in the U.S.). Afterwards we went to Differdange and he met my host parents ... read more
So much has happened since I've last updated, but I honestly don't have time to write it all down. In reality the reason I'm updating now is for the sake of my Mom and aunt Susie. They wanted me to let everyone who knows and cares that they're having a great time in Europe. They've been really great with timing! They've managed to see much more than the average person would because of their luck with timing. Today was the only time they've really strayed from their itinerary. THey went to Cologne, Germany and stopped in Trier for less than an hour on the way back to Luxembourg. They've seen everything in a whirlwind visit, so I think they're excited to see Paris in a more relaxing manor. I had dinner with them last night and ... read more
pretty hotel
Hey everyone, I must make this relatively short because I have a midterm and a final exam this week ( I say this but it'll probably be just as long as the others). On Friday I went to Prague with 4 other girls: Katie, Emily, Kaitrine, and Kerrianne. We left the city around 4, took a bus to the ryanair airport in Frankfurt, and flew to Prague a little after 8. When we got to the "Old Town" part of the city we wandered for a while looking for our hostel. We were so tired when we finally found it that we were annoyed to find out that we had to pay up front, they didn't accept credit cards, and they only accepted crowns (their currency) but didn't have very much change for big bills. After ... read more
Venice!
Wow, I feel like I've been gone a lot longer than 9 days! I have so many stories and memories that I can't possible write it all down! Friday Feb 20th: Brittany, the girl I travelled with, and I took an overnight train to Venice. This consisted of us fitting into a compartment of the train half the size of a small dorm room with four other people. We got stuck with the top bunks, which left us about 1.5 ft to the ceiling, 2 ft wide, and we had to sleep with our bags too because the other people were taking up the luggage storage. Lets just say I didn't get the best nights sleep. Sat Feb 21: We arrived in Venice and dropped our stuff off at our hostel. Walking through Venice it seemed ... read more
I can't write a lot, because I'm leaving in about an hour for Italy. I don't have class again until two Mondays from now. Carnival is a huge celebration in Europe for the beginning of Lent. People everywhere derss up in crazy costumes like clowns and jesters and theres lots of parties and parades. I'll be going to Venice, Cinque Terre (a group of five small towns), Florence, and Rome. Two random things about Europe that I have yet to mention...theres dog poop all over the side walks. When I go running I have to be sure to avoid this. One time I even saw someone with their dog letting it poop and then they just left without picking it up. Do they think it decomposses into the cement? Another thought...people here don't care to move ... read more
