SPRING BREAK...

... WAS SO LONG!! Especially thanks to the volcanos. Basically, we got stranded in Brussels, but ended up in Paris before going back to Aix which ended up being quite lovely.

Anyway, Spring Break was a whirlwind. Just like I did with Spain, I'll write the top ten things in no order about each country we visited:

Brussels

1. Belgian Waffles

2. Unlimited Chocolate Samples

3. Museum of Musical Instruments and the Comics Museum

4. Fries with unlimited sauces

5. The big grand place/square filled with lovely buildings and many outdoor cafe's. We had a happy hour there, and it was our first drink to kick off the break

6. The Delirium Cafe - over 2000 beers with tons of flavors like COOKIE

7. Finding Kebab Street

8. The underwhelming peeing statue which mirrors how underwhelming Brussels is as a city

9. The fact that Brussels looks like the Bronx

10. I can't even think of 10 ugh Brussels

Prague!!! By far my favorite.

1. Seeing Obama - we went a beer garden and the street was closed off so we couldn't cross it. All of a sudden millions of motorcycles -- really, millions!! -- rolled by and police cars and then a limo with Obama in it! He was in Prague signing some treaty or doing some President stuff.

2. The walking tour/learning history and wishing

I paid more attention in high school. Particularly the Jewish history. The jewish quarter in Prague was named that by Hitler. Hitler thought that after WWII all of the Jews would be exterminated, and the Jewish quarter of Prague would be like a museum. It was so disturbing and it gave us all the chills.

3. The PUB CRAWLS were so fun (meeting people, getting a good old taste of Prague night life)

4. All of the architecture

5. The exchange rate - about 25 crowns to 1 euro. Going shopping and seeing 1100 crowns pop up after a purchase is a funny moment

6. The things you can eat and drink on the street like the famous Prague pastry and mojitos

7. I got to see Allie again! She ended up being in our room in the hostel!!

8. Taking Wizzair from Brussels to Prague. Wizzair is a pink plane. It was terrifying and dangerous and wikipedia says it should go out of business rather soon. Feeling good to have survived it.

9. All of the tourists that randomly jumped into a picture with us, and now we have a series of nine photos.

10. Because we can't understand Czech, we accidentally bought raw turkey instead of raw chicken at the supermarket. A man on the line behind us kindly informed us. We also met characters all over the supermarket, including an old man who pulled Caroline aside to practice English.

Amsterdam

1. It is just so lovely with all of the canals and rather short buildings

2. The walking tour, the history, etc. I became a history nerd this vacation

3. Anne Frank House was so unbelievably touching

4. Going to the Keukenhof, the worlds largest/most photographed tulip garden. We then biked around the garden fields and some more of the Netherlands. It was like being in Narnia which has been a lifelong dream. There was also an amazing zip line!!

5. Bacon pancakes and Banana pancakes... Amsterdam is known for pancakes which were so delicious

6. Seeing the canals of Amsterdam at night

7. The homeless man that served us breakfast at our "hotel," but it was really a hostel

8. First hearing about the volcano and not thinking that it was an actual reality

9. Taking pictures in the I Am Amsterdam sign... not because it was particularly cool, but so touristy, and everyone does it, so why not us?

10. Being unbelievably disturbed by the women galavanting in windows in the Red Light District

Other fun facts:

We were scheduled to leave back for Aix on a Saturday morning, but we got to the airport and every sign said "cancelled" like Home Alone.

We went back and forth from train stations and airports to get refunds and new tickets. The train station was insane. The guy who sold tickets said for three people the cost of a train to Marseille, a town close by, would be 444 euros (about 650 dollars). We literally were so delirious and overwhelmed that we laughed in his face and couldn't stop laughing either. It was one of our better moments. Then he said the train was leaving from Paris in a half hour and we couldn't make it anyway. We took a train to Paris anyway to deal with it there. We just needed to get out of Brussels, by any means necessary.

Eventually we got to Paris, and after waiting on another long line, we we informed that we couldn't get a train back to Aix monday night. This whole process has so far taken 12 hours. Luckily Caroline's friend had space in her apartment in Paris, the weather in Paris was incredible, and I got to have a lovely dinner with Becca!

The fact that we are back in Aix seems like a dream. I actually woke up in the middle of the night, terrified, because I had no idea where I was. Luckily the weather in Aix is currently unbelievable and warm and I love it.

Actually though, I come home in a month IF I can get home. The volcano stuff is evidently getting worse, and the volcanic ash can melt the engines of the plane which would just make the plane FALL from the sky. If we have to take a boat home, I plan on redoing all of Titanic minus the sinking part.