This morning I woke up around 8, got a good breakfast in and regrettably left my umbrella at home as I ran out the door and headed for the train station. I'm off to Münster, Germany! This is the second SMIT (student exchange office) excursion. The first one was in Utrecht and I had such a great time and met some lovely Spanish girls. Since then, I actually had a dinner night with them and I was glad to see Clara and Laia waiting at the train station when I arrived. This time, the trip was only 7 euros which included the train ticket and a nice walking tour. I met two other Spanish guys named Israel and Jesús (pronounced the Spanish way: "hey-soos"). Now that I write their names together I think it's kind of ... read more

Okay, so it's about time I blog about my last few days in Perugia, Italy - it didn't end in Venice! Day 1 It was so great to finally hug Marissa and catch up with her. A little background for the readers: Marissa and I worked at The Daily newspaper at my university as classified ad reps. She left in June and the whole office was sad to see her go but excited for her new adventures. She is studying at the university in Perugia for a whole year! That night I arrived I basically just collapsed...that is, before exploring the city a bit. Yep, I just had to find out what Perugia had to offer so around 11:30 at night after one heck of a day, Marissa and I went on a walk around the ... read more

Hello all, I really had the most fabulous time here in Florence. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay longer, but I know now what it has to offer and I'll definitely return, hopefully more than once. It's so much to tell you all. Where do I begin? Oh, David So as I was going to bed Thursday night, I introduced myself to another girl sleeping in the same big room. Her name was Ally and she said she was from Adelaide, Australia. We did the normal backpacker questions: how long have you been here, where are you from, where are you going next, etc etc. She too had just arrived that day and said she was going the next day to the Uffizi Gallery and to see Michaelangelo's David. She said I was welcome to come and that ... read more

Hello all, This is a quick, not so detailed blog, but I just want to let you all know that I'm safe and sound in Florence. I left this morning around 8:20 to catch the bus. I was really worried because Chiel told me that there were constructions on the road and that the bus was going to take a detour...which means it'll be late to the station. Not good. So i was pretty antsy on the bus. When it arrived at the station, I bolted out of the door along with 3 other people also wanting to catch the same train as me. I had to buy my ticket to Eindhoven and to make the story short, I made the train with one minute to spare. The train headed to Utrecht Centraal and then I ... read more

Yesterday morning I woke up around 9am, bundled up and headed to the train station to meet a group of fellow international students to embark on a day trip to Utrecht. A little bit of history/facts thanks to wikipedia and me asking questions: Utrecht... is the 4th largest city in The Netherlands has a major central train station that goes pretty much anywhere in the country has about 280,000 inhabitants is older than Amsterdam. Utrecht was first built by the Romans in 47 A.D.! one of the windiest cities in The Netherlands The facts go on and on since this beautiful city is submerged in history. Pre-Utrecht Of course, it was raining so when I got to the train station, I was soaking wet. I locked my bike at the station and as I walked away ... read more