Sunday, March 27, 2011
Wow
We just went on the best bike tour of Paris...I've been here before, but this was a great and fun way to see the city...if you're ever traveling...take a bike tour!!!
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Pont Alexandre 3 (and our bike tour guide)
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Paris
So we took a train today from Brussels to Paris. Went out to dinner and had a great meal! Now to explore the city of lights...
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Friday, March 25, 2011
Brussels, Belgium
Hey ya'll
So we took the train from the Hague to Brussels last night, and got a restful night's sleep. Now we just finished breakfast and are headed to the European Parliament.
In case I forgot to say it yesterday, we had an amazing time in the Hague. We visited the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of Justice. To finally go to these places after studying them for the past few years was truly unbelievable. We were also able to go to live court proceedings at both. There is literally nothing better for someone who studies international politics
I'll update more later from Brussels!
Much love
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Back to the Netherlands!
So we got into the Hague last night, and this morning we got up early to go visit the International Criminal Court. We had an info session with a couple members of the court, and then got to watch a trial of a man accused of war crimes in the Central African Republic. It was amazing to actually see the ICC in process after studying it so much for the past few years.
So now were on the train on our way for Amsterdam for the day- again!
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
On to the next city!
So we left Luxembourg this afternoon after a whirlwind tour and sampling of the city, and we are on the train to the Hague where we will stay for 2 nights. I'm really excited- I love the netherlands, and some of the most important international events happen in the Hague so there will be a lot to see!
Plus its about 70 and sunny our whole trip so things couldn't be better
Gotta go get some reading done
Much love
Colgate University I CU Box R4638, Hamilton NY 13346 I 203.464.3591
Monday, March 21, 2011
First stop: Strasbourg
Hey ya'll,
So we got to Strasbourg last night and went to dinner at this amazing restaurant and ate the regional specialty: tarte flambee. So good.
More later
-Stefania
Friday, March 18, 2011
Its 60 Degrees Here in Sunny Geneva
Hey All!
No traveling this weekend and it feels so good! I decided to stick around Geneva to get some work done and apply to some summer internships....wish me luck!
So we had a great time in Amsterdam last weekend, if any of you haven't been there, you need to go! The general feeling in the city is so happy- everyone is in a good mood- and the food is amazing. They have these things there called stroop waffles...they are kind of like wafer waffles with caramel in the middle...you put it on top of your steaming coffee, and the steam makes the waffle turn soft (and some of the caramel even melts into your coffee)! I think it has been my favorite city, other than Lisbon that we have been to!
We met some Scotts while we were eating our pancakes, Barry and Paul, who hung out with us all day and showed us new parts of the city that we had not seen yet....thats one of my favorite parts of traveling...meeting people from different countries and just having a good time. So far, we have met some amazing people from all around the world, and it always adds to our experiences in whatever city we happen to be in that day!
OUR NEXT TRIP leaves on Sunday morning at 11 am....this is a field trip that the school planned for us, and we are visiting organizations everyday (the purpose of the trip) for our class, but in the meantime, we get to hit up some of the best cities on this continent. The schedule is:
Sunday- Go to Strasbourg
Monday- Visit the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe
Tuesday- Go to Luxembourg (visit the European Court of Justice)
Wednesday- Go to The Hague, Netherlands (International Criminal Court), visit Amsterdam again at night as a group
Thursday-Stay in the Hague, visit the International Criminal Tribunal and International Court of Justice (hearings on the Former Yugoslavia)
Friday-Go to Brussels, Belgium (European Parliament)
Saturday-Spend the morning in Brussels, then afternoon in Paris
Sunday-Spend the day in Paris
Monday-Morning in Paris, visit United Nations Economic and Social Council
Not too shabby, eh? I'll update as we do stuff....I need to fit in some time to do some homework! We have hundreds of pages of reading as well as 3 big papers due (about 80 pages in all) which is definitely not any small amount. Hmmm this could be interesting
Love from Geneva,
Steph (or as I have been referring to myself...Stefania)
No traveling this weekend and it feels so good! I decided to stick around Geneva to get some work done and apply to some summer internships....wish me luck!
So we had a great time in Amsterdam last weekend, if any of you haven't been there, you need to go! The general feeling in the city is so happy- everyone is in a good mood- and the food is amazing. They have these things there called stroop waffles...they are kind of like wafer waffles with caramel in the middle...you put it on top of your steaming coffee, and the steam makes the waffle turn soft (and some of the caramel even melts into your coffee)! I think it has been my favorite city, other than Lisbon that we have been to!
We met some Scotts while we were eating our pancakes, Barry and Paul, who hung out with us all day and showed us new parts of the city that we had not seen yet....thats one of my favorite parts of traveling...meeting people from different countries and just having a good time. So far, we have met some amazing people from all around the world, and it always adds to our experiences in whatever city we happen to be in that day!
OUR NEXT TRIP leaves on Sunday morning at 11 am....this is a field trip that the school planned for us, and we are visiting organizations everyday (the purpose of the trip) for our class, but in the meantime, we get to hit up some of the best cities on this continent. The schedule is:
Sunday- Go to Strasbourg
Monday- Visit the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe
Tuesday- Go to Luxembourg (visit the European Court of Justice)
Wednesday- Go to The Hague, Netherlands (International Criminal Court), visit Amsterdam again at night as a group
Thursday-Stay in the Hague, visit the International Criminal Tribunal and International Court of Justice (hearings on the Former Yugoslavia)
Friday-Go to Brussels, Belgium (European Parliament)
Saturday-Spend the morning in Brussels, then afternoon in Paris
Sunday-Spend the day in Paris
Monday-Morning in Paris, visit United Nations Economic and Social Council
Not too shabby, eh? I'll update as we do stuff....I need to fit in some time to do some homework! We have hundreds of pages of reading as well as 3 big papers due (about 80 pages in all) which is definitely not any small amount. Hmmm this could be interesting
Love from Geneva,
Steph (or as I have been referring to myself...Stefania)
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Netherlands!
So after a week filled with lots of reading and visits to important places (we went to the red cross and doctors without borders) we decided last minute to go to amsterdam this weekend...hopped on a train at 7 this morning, and here we are! We are staying 15 minutes out of the city in another tiny city called Utrecht...that was the only hostel available last minute
Were getting ready to go find some food, so ill update more later!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Never ever have I been to Serbia...
So we got to Serbia this morning around 6 am, and we spent the first 2 hours of our day here in the police station cause my wallet was stolen on the train while I was asleep. Which sucks. Luckily, the Serbian police are much nicer than they are made out to be in movies...
After we reported it stolen, we checked into the hostel (and Mike paid for everything of course being that I had no money) and walked around. Despite a bad start, Belgrade grew on me, and we had a really nice day. We visited most of the city, made some friends, and ate some real Serbian food (lots of meat and grease).
Were back at the hostel now, and were going to bed early cause we have an early train back to Geneva tomorrow which I am very excited for. This trip has been cool and I'm happy we came, but Eastern Europe is still a little too dark for me. I definitely think people should visit, though, to understand that places in Europe are still in recovery from their past.
More soon,
Steph
Friday, March 4, 2011
One more thing
Mike wanted me to make sure I wrote about our train ride yesterday. Not only were we on Communist era trains that smelled 100 years old, but while we were in Austria, we went through a magical tunnel. On one side, there was green grass, blue skies, streams, birds, sun shining, and it looked about 40 degrees out. We passed through this tunnel, and on the other side, it was a white out blizzard with like 4 feet of snow on either side of the train- it was like going through the wardrobe and entering Narnia. We were stunned and flipped out for a good 10 minutes.
Google it for me and see if this wardrobe tunnel is well documented. We experienced magic.
You know you're in Eastern Europe when...
So we left Geneva yesterday morning around 745 and took 4 different trains to Ljubljana (pronounced lu-ble-ana) and got here around 945...we were having some trouble finding the hostel so we asked a guy for directions...it turns out he was an american from Colorado named Semmi Hamilton who is on the olympic cross country ski team, and is here for a competition...who would have thought Slovenia is the best place to meet celebrities?!
We finally found our hostel after asking for lots of directions (the Slovines are actually really nice) and it is an old renovated jail, and one of the nicest hostels I've stayed at so far! We had dinner and some Slovenian beer, and just stayed there to rest up for today.
We had a huge breakfast and walked outside to find some very Eastern European communist era graffiti and architecture..this is the first time that I feel like I'm in a different part of the world. I love it here. The people are much nicer than most of Western europe and its different history makes you appreciate it in a different way.
Were on the train right now to Bled, a national park that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Ill send pics when we get there!
Love from the Former Yugoslavia,
Stefania
We finally found our hostel after asking for lots of directions (the Slovines are actually really nice) and it is an old renovated jail, and one of the nicest hostels I've stayed at so far! We had dinner and some Slovenian beer, and just stayed there to rest up for today.
We had a huge breakfast and walked outside to find some very Eastern European communist era graffiti and architecture..this is the first time that I feel like I'm in a different part of the world. I love it here. The people are much nicer than most of Western europe and its different history makes you appreciate it in a different way.
Were on the train right now to Bled, a national park that is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Ill send pics when we get there!
Love from the Former Yugoslavia,
Stefania
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Update
So we have been back in Geneva since Monday morning...Monday we met with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights which were both amazing and so inspirational. I really would love to work in organizations like those some day. Today we are headed to the World Trade Organization which will be a little different, but also super informative on the impact of international organizations.
Me and my friend Mike are leaving early in the morning for Jjubljana, Slovenia. (http://wikitravel.org/en/Ljubljana) which I am super excited about...after that, I think we're going to try and go to Belgrade, Serbia (http://wikitravel.org/en/Belgrade).
Gotta go read!
Catch you later!
Me and my friend Mike are leaving early in the morning for Jjubljana, Slovenia. (http://wikitravel.org/en/Ljubljana) which I am super excited about...after that, I think we're going to try and go to Belgrade, Serbia (http://wikitravel.org/en/Belgrade).
Gotta go read!
Catch you later!
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