Travel Time

As mentioned in my last post , Berlin was a pain to get to. Thankfully, I had time to figure out how to get to Berlin. Instead of taking the train, I opted to take a bus. The bus ride was long but cheaper than a flight. I would not recommend EVER taking the bus. It was worst than a Greyhound bus. The bus company double-booked seats. Often people would get all fussy about who was sitting where. My main issue with the bus was it not being on time. I made it to Berlin at 2 am and slept until 2 pm the next day. On my second day in Berlin, one of my Berlin Besties showed me around Mitte, the museum island and some great places to eat. We went to the top of the Humboldt Forum and had coffee before walking around. I found the way Germany memorialized the Holocaust throughout Berlin to be quite lowkey and respectful to those affected. Throughout Berlin, there are many reminders from the Holocaust memorial to the Stolperstein throughout the city. We also saw the Bebelplatz memorial.  My oth...

Brussels, Belgium Overall the journey to Brussels was semi-uneventful, minus losing my wallet. Thankfully it's just a wallet and is replaceable. It was relaxing for the most part, again, minus losing my wallet. I made it to the AirBnB ok, but unlucky for me had to carry my big bags up the stairs. Brussels was boring. Mainly because it rained the whole time I was there, so I didn't do much. Quite a statement coming from someone who lives in a rainforest   The one day I did go out was to sit and read at Leopold Park, where the EU Parliament is. I walked around and read a bit until it started to pour and hail. Fun, fun. If I had the emotional energy, I would have liked to go to Bruges, which is beautiful.  's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands Going to 's-Hertogenbosch was the right move. If you plan on going to the Netherlands, I recommend staying here, over Amsterdam. Because there are fewer people, there is still lots to do. But make sure you bring cash with you! International ...

Last week was my last week in Paris. I've enjoyed meeting new people and sharing this unique experience with them. At first, I had a tough time adjusting to being away from my family and friends back home but I managed to start enjoying myself. I'm still struggling with having to travel by myself. I know it will be an opportunity to get to know myself better. As antisocial as I am, I do enjoy sharing experiences with others. The only pit I can think of was school. Not because it was school, I generally enjoyed going to school back home. But ISC was something else. I was looking forward to Luxury and Merchandising and Luxury Product Management, which were slightly disappointing because of the level of disorganization. I appreciate that my Lux prof was open to feedback about the course and took us to L'École des Arts Joailliers. A unique experience that I believe is not open to tourists.  The unprofessionalism at the school was far too much. I tried hard to keep an open mind ...

So the trip was organised through a student association at my uni. They basically “help” integrate international students - I say “help” because they do nothing and my god, they had so much drama the whole trip. Anyways, getting to the airport was a journey. We got there four hours early, which was super unnecessary. At the airport, they kept trying to micromanage us (they did this the entire trip). They just made us wait for people who were late and made the whole group late.  During our four hours at the airport, we found out we were staying at a hostel, not a hotel - I feel like the writing was on the walls when they said we had to bring a towel or rent one at the "hotel". After getting off the plane, we struggled to get an Uber which we eventually got and went to the hostel. At first, we weren’t thrilled about the situation (at one point in the trip, we discovered that the girls were the only ones without a shower in their room, and we felt robbed) but decided to eat befo...

It's been about a month since I first landed in Paris, and I'm still settling in. I hoped to have a routine since school started, but school is VERY different here. Each week my school schedule is different. So I'm mostly going through the motions to see what works.  One of the many places I was told to visit was Montmartre, but since my school schedule is all over the place I decided to go. It was weird because I was walking up a hill for the first time since arriving in Paris. Once I got to the top, it felt like a stereotypical European tourist spot with souvenir shops and overpriced croissants.  The view from the top of the hill is insane. It is pretty high up, with a great view of the city. I did walk around the Sacré-Cœur Basilica. I didn't go inside mostly because there were a ton of people there, and I was more interested in the architecture. My favourite thing about Paris so far is the architecture. Not just the architecture of the amazing monuments like the Sac...

So today I went to Cimetière du Père Lachaise. It was hauntingly beautiful at the cemetery. I didn't spend too long because I felt a heaviness while walking around. Unlike cemeteries in Canada, the tombs at Cimetière du Père Lachaise look like they are stacked on one another. Whereas in Canada, the graves are typically in rows. There are plenty of mausoleums that date back centuries. My feeling of heaviness came from the fact that random people are just walking through a graveyard of people with whom they have no real connection (I assume). For me, death has always been personal and shared among a small group. Seeing people walking around taking pictures seems weird and uncomfortable. I took ONE picture, but I had a good reason.  The cemetery is home to many historic public figures and memorials. A list can be found here.  here . 

I've been sleeping so well while here in Paris. I usually get up at 11:30 and then try to figure out want I want to do while watching YouTube for two hours and waste the day away before finally settling on a plan. Originally I had planned to go to Cimeière du Père Lachaise, but it was closed for some reason, so I decided to go to Pont Alexandre III.  Before leaving, I got lunch at a nearby café. I always order to go because it helps get me out of the apartment. I took my food to my favourite little park nearby, Parc Gustave Eiffel. Usually, I drink my coffee there to prepare myself for the day. While I walked while eating my sandwich (a four-cheese ciabatta). This dog, whose owner was nowhere in sight followed me for a block. The dog kept walking in front of me. Honestly, I was a little worried because A) I'm not about to give some random dog MY food, B) I don't know if are dogs allergic to cheese. I don't want to kill someone's dog. After I made it to Pont Alexandr...

So today was the big day at the Louvre, which I managed to get into for FREE (if you're under 25 and are a European, you can get in for free). Technically, I'm not European, but I managed to get in hehe (not really).  the one photo I did take It was a unique experience, we saw the Mona Lisa - which had a bunch of people taking pictures of it. We walked through some of the Royal apartments and looked at some of the jewels, my favourite being the five-sided pink diamond worn in the butt of a French king. While walking through with another exchange student I mentioned how much France values their culture and does what it can to preserve it - for example, the construction work around the city.   We also walked through the Egyptian exhibits and looked at other European paintings. Probably the most interesting part of the Louvre was seeing what the original Louvre looked like before it was a museum. We were able to feel the original materials.  The Louvre must be experienc...

Today was quite a nice day even though it was raining, thankfully not until later. As a part of our integration week, we were SUPPOSED to go to the Palais Galleria Fashion Museum of Paris to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. But unfortunately, not a lot of people were interested or had class, and by the time I got there, they ran out of tickets.  the fashion museum - which I will probably go back to on my own Before leaving, I did look around to see what was in the area. I managed to find two places I would like to see again. The first is the Yves Saint Laurent museum. The other place I would like to go back to is Palais de Tokyo. Once it started getting cold, I decided to walk to Carette - which was only a 10-minute walk. I found this cafe on Instagram with a rating of 5/5 for its thick and rich hot chocolate. I'm not one to take photos of food or drinks, but the presentation of it all. My god. They definitely make it an experience. After Carette, I met with other ISC international/exc...

 Today started slow, as most days. I went to the Christmas market in Le Jardin des Tuileries. Unlike Vancouver Christmas markets, you don't have to pay to get in, and there are rides (which you have to pay for). These rides aren't Playland level, but it was still so fun. Surprisingly, there was a haunted train ride which was a bit lame. But I think the main goal of the rides was to have things for kids but include adults too. The ride that reminded me the most of Playland was similar to Atmosfear. It was not as tall, nor did it have sudden drops.  This was from the top of the Farris Wheel After the Christmas market, I went home for an early-ish night.  On the 9th, the international group from ISC Paris when to Le Centre Pompidou to see the exhibit on unframing colonialism.  (exhibition poster) The exhibition probably would have been more interesting if I could understand what each photo was attempting to communicate. (saw this on the way to the bar) After some discus...