http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/uclarissa/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from uclarissa en-us Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:56:12 +0000 Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:56:12 +0000 I suspected that my post about my final day in Brussels would be my last entry. I know it's been a month now since I left Brussels and I apologize for just now getting around to writing about it but it's been quite the month and it looks like my adventures are far from over. Well to quickly summarize my last day in Brussels Michael and I flew back from Venice early enough to do a bit of Bruss http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Kansas/blog-399041.html We had heard that though over 20 million tourists visit Venice each year a majority of the visitors only stay for one day. Though we thought Venice was absolutely breathtaking and incredibly relaxing one day sounded about right to us. Besidersquos St. Markrsquos Basilica and the Dogersquos Palace there arenrsquot many mustsees in Venice besides the city itself. The canals are amazin http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Italy/Veneto/Venice/blog-390636.html Oh San Marino. Since Michael had worked a week less than I had and was spending his last two weeks doing a microstate tour we had to go to San Marino while we were in Italy. He had already been to Andorra Monaco Liechtenstein and of course Vatican City. Not surprisingly therersquos really not a whole lot to do in San Marino. Itrsquos a very tiny country with a population of only abou http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/San-Marino/San-Marino/blog-390624.html My internship at the U.S. Mission to the EU was over and my Italian lsquovacationrsquo had started. As if this entire trip hasnrsquot felt like a vacation. It took me about 2 hours to get from the airport to my hostel. As soon as I finally found it the receptionist opened the door for me and asked if I have a hungry friend waiting there for me. I had to laugh because yup Michael w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Vatican-City/Vatican-City/blog-390616.html I could hardly believe it. My final week at the U.S. Mission to the EU had already come. Irsquove never known eleven weeks to go by so quickly. I even extended my internship an extra week and itrsquos already over. After spending the past week doing all the Belgian stuff I hadnrsquot done yet and visiting all the Belgian towns you have to visit when you go to Belgium I was ready to focu http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-390604.html When you buy a travel guide for Brussels it's more than likely that the towns of Ghent Antwerp and Bruges will also be highlighted in the same travel guide. This week I did as the travel guides say and visited each of these cities. As this was technically supposed to be the last week of my internship and it was the last week for a couple of the other interns I decided to make the most of m http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/West-Flanders/Bruges/blog-385896.html Belgium. The Netherlands. Luxembourg. Sometimes shortened to the term Benelux. I have now visited each of themBut before I get into that it was actually a surprisingly fun and exciting week. As you all know Tuesday was St. Patrickrsquos Day. What you might not know is this is one of my absolute favorite holidays My obsession with the Irish is shared and celebrated on this one day eac http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Luxembourg/Luxembourg-City/blog-384097.html Now I know what you're thinking. Joe Biden tractors and wild ponies Is she serious What in the world do these three things have in commonI'm really starting to think that each week I'm here in Europe my life just gets more and more unbelievable. I really expect to just wake up any moment and find that this is all a dream. Yet for now it continues. So what is it that these three th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/United-Kingdom/England/Devon/blog-381942.html The long awaited 'S' visit. For those of you that have no idea what I'm talking about I would have had no idea either before a few weeks ago a visit from the 'S' is State Department talk for a visit from the Secretary of State in our case Mrs. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Now let's get it out right away. For those of you who know me you know that I recently spent approximately 15 months of my http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-379981.html I will soon blog much more about Secretary Clinton's visit this week as there is so much to talk about. But I wanted to give each of you the link to the most recent blog post on the State Department's Official Blog authored by none other than your alreadyfavoriteblogger and her roommate httpblogs.state.govindex.phpentriestownhallleaders http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-379428.html Anyone who knows me knows that I sort of have a well an obsession with Ireland. I know all of you that know me well are laughing in agreement right now. The green pastures the castles upon castles the pubs and the Irish people themselves. I mean who could resist Michael Chris and I all interns went to Dublin for the weekend and it was marvelous or shall I say enchantingAfter wo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Ireland/County-Dublin/Dublin/blog-378233.html Well it's official. My internship is half over. I can't even believe it I feel like I just got here Though I have two extra weeks in Europe after my internship I can't believe my time here is going by so quickly. This was another great week in Brussels. Since it was only a 4 day week because of President's Day the week went by very quickly. On Wednesday a couple of the other interns an http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/East-Flanders/Gent/blog-375807.html In honor of Valentine's Day President's Day and most importantly our three day weekend Rachel Michael and I went to Amsterdam this weekend. Since I've been here this is the first place we've visited that I hadn't actually been to before. So as you can imagine I was incredibly excited. The trip unfortunately did not start off too well. We left Saturday morning and as Rachel and I walke http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Amsterdam/blog-374607.html Since I've now been in Brussels for over three weeks I'm getting pretty well settled in. I'm deep into my work at my internship and am pretty well settled into our apartment. This weekend was an off weekend for our travels so we just stayed in Brussels and got caught up on laundry our directed studies and whatnot. In light of my rather uneventful week I decided to give you a closer look at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-371616.html This weekend my roommate Rachel and I took our first trip to a surrounding city. It was our first venture out of Brussels since we had gotten here two weeks before. Now anyone that has been to Brussels knows that it is an incredible city. But anyone who has been here also knows that after a little while you need out. The bureaucratic business nature of the city is enough to make anyone want http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-369693.html I made it through my first week It may have only been a 4day work week for us but it was full of briefings intense work and celebration. As I had mentioned earlier Tuesday was my first day. I couldn't even believe it when I walked in and was shown to MY office fully equipped with my own computer telephone and satellite TV. When I worked at the campaign headquarters in Chicago there w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-367028.html Well I made it After all of that traveling I made it to Brussels last Friday. The past three days here have been full of unpacking exploring the city and meeting the other interns all of whom I love Rachel who is also an intern at the USEU US Mission to the European Union and I have an apartment in the chic Ixelles area of Brussels. We can see the European Parliament Building and th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Belgium/Brussels-Capital-Region/Brussels/blog-365078.html Tomorrow I will set out on my long journey for Brussels Belgium. After a 3 12 hour drive to Denver a 3 hour flight to Philadelphia a 2 hour layover and a 7 12 hour flight across the Atlantic I will arrive in Brussels for the internship of my dreams. For the next three months I have been given the incredible opportunity to intern for the U.S. State Department at the U.S. Mission to the E http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Kansas/blog-362115.html