Be Welcomed in this Place: I'm bad at blogging. Oops.

I’m really bad at writing a blog. I apologize. Normandy was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been to, and the memorials were truly touching. It made me realize how proud I am of our country and the people that serve so that we can live in freedom.

Tierney, Leah, Collette, Kat, Me and Wyatt at the Omaha beach Memorial

Some of the graves at the memorial

the front of the memorial. The inscription "Mine eyes have seen the Glory of the coming LORD"

We went to Brussels and Amsterdam this weekend and it was one of the best weekends we’ve had so far! We (unknowingly) booked our hostel in the GHETTO of Brussels (There was a sign on a restaurant saying “Pakistan & Africa food” as well as trash and mattresses all over the streets. In total 11 of the students went: Asa, Sean, Michael, Park, Colette, Leah, Tierney, Kat, Bri, Maxi and I. We booked one big room for all of us to stay in, and needless to say— it was a blast and too many shenanigans went down. I think Park is still angry that we stole his mattress, but it could be from me hitting him from snoring so loudly. Between kabobs & hummus at 2 am and Sean doing the child’s pose in his underwear the hostel was probably where we bonded the most.

Something we’ve noticed when we go out dancing is that the European men are just as sketchy as American men when it comes to young women gyrating their bodies to crazy beats. They won’t grab you and start grinding on you, they just stand back about 2 feet, and STARE. One of the UGA guys tried to help out a European to dance with us, but he wouldn’t even go for it.They won't even talk to you! They just sit back, drink their beer, and stare the whole entire time. You might get a head bounce to the beat (if you’re lucky).

Amsterdam is probably the most amazing, beautiful, and interesting city I’ve ever been to since I’ve travelled through Europe. There were THOUSANDS of bikers. They have extra streets JUST FOR BIKES and those people are more likely to hit you than the people driving cars! We wandered around the city and took pictures of all the canals lined with house boats, floating gardens, and swans. I wish we could have stayed an extra day, there was so much more that we wanted to do, but didn’t have time for.

Little wooden shoes on a shop window

Everyone in this city had a bike

There were open air markets filled with hundreds of books, all for really good prices!

Floating gardens!

One of the beautiful canals in the city

Our Group (minus 2) at the I AMSTERDAM sign

Today we got to visit the Louvre for free! I saw one of my favorite time periods of art (Proto Renaissance) and some amazing sculptures. We got to the Louvre at 11ish and we didn’t leave until 4. On our metro ride back, we decided we wanted Falafels (the best in Paris) So we went to the Jewish district and ate at L’As de Falafel. I’ve never had such an amazing falafel, it was so filling and colorful. I wish I’d taken a picture of it (well now I have a reason to go back and get another one!).