Joanne Vander Hyde

JoniStar

Joanne Vander Hyde

I am a recent college graduate who has been saving up for a trip to Europe!



Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Zermatt April 5th 2012

HELLO, Helllo, helllo... from the Western Alps. More specifically, the Matterhorn peak. Today has been the highlight of this trip...so far. After traveling hours and hours my train to get here, it has been soo worth it. The town of Zermatt is absolutely beautiful and the people are all friendly. It is surrounded on all sides by mountains, clear blue skies and big fluffy clouds. We sat down a lovely hotel restaurant for lunch, and trying to stick with the local foods I ordered Pasta Apline which turned out to be mac n cheese with ham and onions... delicious. Teresa ordered barley soup which was also very good, but it came in a cream sauce which was different. I am very thankful she decided not to go with the oxtail soup, which is a delicacy but ... read more

Europe » Switzerland » South-West » Geneva » Satigny April 4th 2012

Once we finally arrived in Geneva we were tired and not in the mood for much exploration. We did however find a post office and few of you lucky people may just be getting a postcard in the mail. After that we walked through the town, window shopping at local chocolate shops. We ended up at the marina of Lake Geneva with gorgeous boats and mountains in the background. With dark clouds in the midst, we headed home but not without some chocolate for our sweet tooth. Switzerland has 4 official languages and I was very interested to see which one was their dominate language. To my surprise the majority of people speek French on a regular basis, but know other languages. I am glad we only spent a half of a day there because the ... read more

Europe » Germany » Bavaria » Munich April 2nd 2012

Guten Tag, Alarm goes off at 7am, Teresa and I jump up get our stuff together and get off the train. Tired and groggy we immediately look for coffee and a bathroom. After breakfast we set out to find our hostel only to findout that we are in Ausburg... 20 minutes away from Munich. Luckily we were able to hop on the next train and get there no problem. Once we were settled in Munich, we walked to the Deutches Museum of science and industry. The museum is very popular for middle and high school kids and I could not believe how in depth some of the material was. They had several exhibits on gene therapy, HPLC, ELISA plates for cell biology, and immunology. What was even better was that after the explination, there a question ... read more
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Europe » Netherlands » South Holland » Keukenhof March 31st 2012

I'm sure it goes without saying... but I love the Dutch!! The city is a lot different than what I've seen in Spain and France. More mellow and modern but still full of life. The people here are very friendly and offer good directions to confused travelers. There are so many bridges and canals here, it can be difficult to navigate. So far I've tried a white beer called Witte which is delicious and a croquette sandwhich. The sandwhich comes on a bun and the croquette it battered and deep fried with gravy like insides. Day 2 in the Netherlands we traveled to Keukenhof Gardens for their tulip festiva. Their grounds include hectares of land with millions of flowers. The flowers smelled unbelievable and were so pretty. They had a classic windmill which Teresa and I ... read more

Europe » France » Île-de-France » Paris March 28th 2012

Bonjour! We have been blessed with gorgeous weather! Sunny and warm wherever we go :) So far in Paris we have hit the big items: Cathedral of Notre Dame, Staint-Chapelle, The Catacombes, Luxembourg park, Ile de la Cite (island on the Siene river), and the eiffel tower. Tonight we will visit the Louvre and have fresh dinner (bread, veggies, brie, and fruit from the market) in the garden and watch all the buildings light up as the sun goes down. Tomorrow we visit Versailles and the following day taste some bubbly in Champagne country. The food has been great but the town is a little busier than what we saw in Spain. Write more later gotta run!... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid March 26th 2012

We are enjoying spain! The culture is so different than the States, everyone dresses in nice shoes, scarves, jewelery, and nice pants where ever they go. I havent seen anyone but Americans dress in 'comfy clothes' and a hoodie. I have been trying to taste a variety of Spanish food and drinks. So far this is what i've tried - tuna and tomatoe empinadas, tapas, paella, risoto with *cooked* red meat, the 'special' sandwhich at a local hole in the wall authentic spanish cafe which had three layers of toast, asparagus, cheese, bacon, ham *which is more similar to broschuto *and lettuce. my favorite so far are the tuna empiunadas and paella but everything is delicious!! for drinks ive tried sangria, mojito, beer and wine. not a fan of spanish beer and wine but their sangria ... read more

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona » Barcelona March 23rd 2012

We made it! The flight was very very long and only slept a couple hours. We arrived in Barcelona around 11:30 and set out to find out Hostal. Not sure how long it actually took us to find it, but it was so nice to get that 30 pound bag off my back. We locked up our bags at the hostal, and set off to explore the town. Found an authentic tapas restaurant, which were very tasty, and then headed to see Parc Guell. This was a free sculpture park with beautiful mosaic art in the shape of animals and decorated cement houses. It was on very high ground, so you could see the Meditteranian Sea and a great view of the city. By that time the sun was starting to set and we headed back ... read more

Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona » Barcelona March 23rd 2012




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