London

Just a forewarning, this will be a lengthy post. I swore off Internet while in London because I really wanted to soak it all in, but I'm wishing I had taken time to write every day so I didn't have to play catch up. Praise the Lord that I love to write, and that's half the reason why I'm here in the first place!

We left Maastricht on Thursday morning and took a train to Brussels, Belgium where we changed trains for London. The "chunnel," as they call it, took us underneath the English channel and we arrived at St. Pancras station around 2:00 in the afternoon. We quickly made our way to the Harrington Hall Hotel in South Kensington, and then a bunch of us jumped on the underground to get over to Leicester Square to get tickets for a show! Much to our excitement, Rachel, Kaitlyn, and I found Wicked tickets for 25 pounds (or $35)!! We were like kids in a candy store, jumping up and down, which I'm sure was entertaining for those who saw. Next stop, Trafalfar Square, where we spotted the Lone Star flag waving proudly from the Texas Embassy. We stopped to take pictures in front of the fountain and then made our way back to Leicester Square for dinner. Desperate for a taste of Mexican food, we tried a place called Chiquitos which turned out to be delicious food but disappointing nonetheless. Our "spicy chicken enchiladas" had no spice, but the sweet, tangy sauce on top was pretty good! To kill some time before the show we shopped a bit on Oxford Street and then sat at a coffee shop near the theater and read one of London's many newspapers.

Now, for the climax of the evening... Wicked was amazing. Phenomenal. Oh my gosh. You think you understand the plot just from listening to the soundtrack but no no! The story line was incredible, the staging was brilliant, and while I still prefer the original cast of Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel, the vocals of the London cast were wonderful! Wicked, for those of you who are unfamiliar, is the "untold story of the witches of Oz." I'm still on cloud 9 just thinking about it, and you best believe it's all we're listening to in our dorm room.

After the show we stopped in at our group's new favorite London hang out - Cafe Forum. I think deep down we're all missing Common Grounds, so the atmosphere of this coffee shop was quite comforting. I had a delicious blueberry muffin and we met up with some other girls from the group who had gone to see Les Miserables.

Back at the hotel, I was almost asleep when I hear from the bathroom... "Amandaaaaaa!! Amanda, help!" I had a flashback of the day when Alex blacked out in our shower back at Baylor, so dreading that something awful had happened to Kaitlyn, I popped right out of bed. I threw the door open to find Kaitlyn standing outside of the shower, eyes wide as she asked, "what do I do?!" The tub was almost flooded.

We had a good laugh about Kaitlyn's inability to process in the heat of the moment, as she kept the water running when she called my name. "This will definitely make the blog," we both had said. I had already decided I'd shower in the morning, so hoping it would be drained by then I fell back into bed.

My alarm goes off Friday morning and I step into the bathroom to find that, oh wait, our tub is still flooded. I struggle to figure out the drain but finding no success in my plumbing skills, I knock on Rachel's door two floors up and invade her bathroom. Showered and ready for another day in London, I met up with Kaitlyn for the delicious continental breakfast downstairs.

A group of us (Kaitlyn, Rachel, Jazzy, Chris, Michael, Jonathan and me) hopped on the underground for our first stop of the day, Leicester Square. We really wanted to try and get tickets for The Phantom of the Opera, but the odds were against us, what with our large number and the fact that it was a Friday night. Instead, we got tickets for Stomp! Our next destination was the Tower of London, where some of us opted for the 14 pound ($20) tour ticket and the rest of us settled for the photo op outside. The tour was supposed to take them two hours, so Kaitlyn, Jazzy, Michael and I tried to figure out how to get to Shakespeare's Globe Theater on the other side of the Thames. When asked what would be the quickest way to the Globe, the girl in the Tower gift shop told us to walk across the Tower Bridge and that the theater would be just a few blocks to our right. Boy, was she wrong... what was supposed to take 25 minutes took us an hour and a half! Michael is on crutches, bless his heart, and certainly didn't slow us down... he's such a trooper and he kept up with us the whole time! We finally made it to the Globe and decided the tour could wait; we had to feed our empty stomachs and rest our aching feet!

When we sat down to eat at Pizza Express (a slightly upscale pizza place), I got a text from Rachel saying that they were done and wanted to meet up with us. Using my trusty Dutch phone (insert sarcasm), I texted her and told her we were eating next to the Globe. Minutes later, I look up to see them walking in. "Hey guys!" I said. Then my smile faded. "Wait... how did you get here so fast?!" Turns out they had taken the tube a little farther down and walked across a different bridge which let them off right next to the Globe... probably what the woman in the gift shop had been thinking. Despite our frustrations with the fact that they didn't have to endure the walk that we had, it was nice to be reunited for lunch.

After lunch we went to the Globe Theater which was really impressive! The original theater was destroyed by a fire in 1613, but a Shakespeare enthusiast rebuilt it in the early 1990s. Everything is built out of wood, either solid oak or pine, including the marble looking pillars. The old, English woman who took us on the tour knew just about everything there is to know about the theater, and it was neat to just imagine yourself watching one of Shakespeare's plays there.

We made our way back across the Thames River to see Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster. I decided no picture of Big Ben could top those from last summer, when I captured it with cloudless, blue skies. I did, however, get a picture in front of it... inside of the typical tourist phone booth! Much to my despair, Westminster was closed for the afternoon. That makes twice in one year that I've seen the outside but haven't been in.

From there we walked through St. James Park to get to Buckingham Palace. The sun was setting right behind it which made for some beautiful photos. We continued walking to the underground near Wellington Arch and then after a quick pit-stop at the hotel, we made our way to the theater district to grab dinner and see the show! Well, by the time we actually found the theater, we only had 10 minutes before Stomp began. The show was spectacular, although from where we sat on the floor we couldn't see the top of the stage from the balcony hanging down. There was only one part of the show that we couldn't see clearly, but the couple sitting in front of me decided to put their heads together all cutesy-like just as I was leaning forward to see all the action on stage. Since we didn't have time to grab food before Stomp, we ate afterwards at a Portuguese restaurant called Nando's. With an early morning the next day, we went back to the hotel where Kaitlyn almost flooded the tub, again.

Saturday was our group trip which we are all pretty excited about. We took two charter buses first to Salisbury where we saw Salisbury Cathedral and one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta. The cathedral was designed by Christopher Wren, one of the most famous English architects in history. Our own Truett Seminary at Baylor was influenced by him! Unlike Durham Cathedral which I saw last summer, I could take all the photos I wanted at Salisbury! It was absolutely breathtaking!

Next we made our way to Stonehenge which was just 30 minutes away from Salisbury. It was quite an impressive sight to see, and our guide was telling us that they're not sure how the stones were transported there since it was built before the days of the wheel. We were all freezing with the wind sweeping over the hill, so after a few token photos we hurried back to the bus.

Bath was the last stop of our trip, and I think it was by far my favorite! The city was made famous by the Roman hot spring baths, which were frequented everyday by affluent city residents. Back in the day, you went to the baths to be seen! You'd soak in the mornings and drink mineral water from the springs to heal any physical ailments. Your evenings would be spent at social gatherings, dressed in your finest garments to drink and play games. A life of luxury! The town itself is picturesque... all the buildings are white stone, and residents are required to have white curtains and either white, black, or creme colored doors. Any other color and you would pay a fine. We wandered through the city, window shopping and watching street performers, until I spotted a sign that quite possibly made the entire day worthwhile... the Jane Austin Centre. Oh bliss, did my heart skip a beat! Kaitlyn, Rachel and I ran in the direction of the arrows until we found it! Jane Austen is, to this day, Bath's most prominent resident and although she hated living in Bath, she wrote two of her novels while living here (Northanger Abbey and Persuasion). To be in a city that influenced one of my heroines was pretty special!

We returned to London with enough time for a night on the town, so we went to try and see, you guessed it, another show! We went to Her Majesty's Theater and watched as the last ticket for Phantom went to the woman in front of us in line. Mamma Mia was also sold out, and while we knew our chances were slim to none on a Saturday night we thought it was worth a shot! Kaitlyn, Rachel, Chris and I went to Chinatown and had dinner at Mr. Wu's Chinese Buffet and then enjoyed gelato in Leicester Square.

We woke up early on Sunday morning to try and see the last few sights. First on our list was Abbey Road, where The Beatles took their infamous street-crossing photo. Seeing as how I've suffered a blow from a car while crossing the street at Baylor, I was too intimidated to make an attempt at recreating the picture. Once it's happened to you, you'll find that you're not to keen on letting it happen again. We each wrote on the wall near the crosswalk and then went to The Beatles gift shop for those of us who were a little obsessed. Lastly, we went to the British Library where we saw the Gutenberg Bible, manuscripts of the Letter to the Hebrews, and original copies of music from Beethoven. They even had a Beatles exhibit where we saw that A Hard Day's Night was actually written on the back of a greeting card! From the British Library we walked to St. Pancras Station... in the snow!!

We made it back to Maastricht around 7:00 Sunday night, although we almost missed our train from Brussels to Maastricht! We were standing around, waiting for Maxey (the professor we're traveling with) to figure out our next platform and we hear, "guys, we've got 3 minutes." Ohhhh did we run, laughing the whole way. Making memories, right? :)

London was exactly what we all needed before classes started... but I'll save my first days of class for another post. I'll upload more photos tomorrow as well.

Off to plan our travels for the weekend and start reading for my literature class... good night!

More to come...

My backpack is unpacked, 607 photos have been uploaded to my computer for further editing, and I'm cozy in my dorm room as snow is falling outside! London was amazing and I could honestly sit here and write until morning, but classes start tomorrow and I need to try and get back on schedule. We were all getting acclimated to the time difference here and were a little thrown off when the time changed again going to London... plus, with only four days to see the sights, we had some early mornings and late nights!

Even though I don't have class until 7:00 tomorrow night, I have to be up for breakfast and should have plenty of time to blog about our trip. Here are a few photos as a teaser, and I'll write more tomorrow...

Pinch me, I'm must be dreaming.

The days are already flying by! We've only been here three days and I'm already falling a day behind in my blogging. I still cannot believe I'm really here and that after all the anticipation, anxiety, nerves and excitement, I'm now living in Europe. Have I mentioned I love it here?

On Tuesday morning we woke up at 7:00 for mandatory breakfast at 7:45. Afterwards, we walked about 20 minutes to the CES (Center for European Studies) building, where many of the group's classes will be meeting. The building itself is beautiful and modern... while Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands, Universiteit Maastricht is the youngest university in the country (32 years).

At the front of this photo, there is seating for a class or meeting to take place. The stairs behind lead up to CES offices and the main lecture hall, where my British Literature class will be held. The seats are surprisingly comfortable, and with the click of a button the professor can close the blinds for a slideshow presentation.

After our informational meeting, the staff asked us to join them for coffee and "fly" - I'm not sure if that is indeed how they spell it, but that is what they call the pastries. We enjoyed getting a chance to talk and get to know each other even better, and the coffee was pretty stellar! Before going to lunch, we were able to snap a group photo... we forget how many of us there are; it's no wonder we get funny looks in the streets as we travel together!

Lunch was served in the cafeteria at the Business School, and afterwards we walked back to the CES building close by to meet our guide for the afternoon activities. Now I'm not claustrophobic, but when we were first given the choice between an underground adventure and a city tour (with coffee included), I was leaning more towards the latter! Crawling around in cramped, dark tunnels did not sound like my cup of tea! But the more I thought about it the more I realized, "hey, I'm only here once. When will I get the chance to do this again?"I definitely did NOT regret my decision to do the d'Artagnan Adventure!

The tunnels are named after d'Artagnan, the Commander of the First Company of Musketeers, who died in front of the fortifications during battle. A little history - back in the early 1200s, the Dutch built a city wall around Maastricht to protect themselves from another siege. After being attacked 21 times, I guess they'd had enough. This wall was important because an attack on Maastricht could mean doom for all of Northern Europe. Later in the 16th century, the walls were strengthened, towers were removed, and tunnels were created as bunkers for the army. It was these tunnels that we ventured through with only the light from our flashlights! The tour guide gave us each a book of clues and challenges in order to make our way through the maze. Before we started, he did warn us that a wrong turn could lead us down a much, much longer path, possibly doubling our time underground. It was a bit spooky and we got a little turned around at times. There were probably 18 "t-junctions" we came to, different sets of stairs to take, a ladder in a tiny shaft to climb down, and a corridor to walk through in total darkness! Two and a half hours later, we finally arrived at the end of the challenge! We all felt so accomplished, and trekked back to the Guesthouse to meet the rest of our group for dinner.

Here's a photo of Kaitlyn and me inside the tunnels!

A local restaurant sponsors the university, so a few students from the ESN (Erasmus Student Nextwork) took us there for dinner. It was called Cafe de Twee Heeren, or the Cafe of Two Gentleman, and we had the entire upstairs dining room to ourselves. We all welcomed the chance to sit and enjoy a nice meal after a long day of walking! They had delicious salmon which a lot of us ordered, and that was served with the ever-so-fancy side of french fries. One thing I have discovered though is that water is not free like at restaurants back home. As a college student, I've learned to save my precious pennies by ordering water to drink. Here, however, our tiny bottle of still water cost the same as a beer, 2 euros. Maybe next time I'll indulge and get a soda? I think so.

Today we woke up to beautiful blue skies and freezing temperatures! We walked again to CES for the remainder of our student orientation, and afterwards had two guest speakers come and talk to us about their experiences in Maastricht. Both were Baylor graduates who studied at the university and ended up staying. One guy got a job in Liege, Belgium after graduating because he loved Europe so much, and the other girl fell in love with a Dutch man and never came home! Both encouraged us in our studies and gave us some inside information on d0's and don'ts in our travels. She even mentioned something about a decent Tex-Mex place around here, so I think I'll be e-mailing her soon to find out where that might be... :)

We were then taken on a "practical" city tour by some of the ESN students. They showed us the library and other landmarks for the university and then took us to Vrijthof Square where a lot of shops and restaurants are. The rest of the afternoon was ours to enjoy, and a group of us stopped for quiche for lunch in a cafe called V&D. Afterwards we treated ourselves to the first of, I'm sure, many waffles! These things are amazing, I'm telling you. They're sweet and sugary and sprinkled in powdered sugar (or white sugar, as they call it) and are served at street vendors all over the city. We crossed the River Maas to get to the train station where we validated our Eurail passes and attempted to find a bus ride home. No such luck, so we walked the 45 minutes back to the Guesthouse where we've crashed for the rest of the night.

I just looked at the clock and realized I have to be up in a few short hours! I guess I'm just too excited to sleep, for tomorrow we go to LONDON! Thank you for your prayers while I'm here - I definitely feel the love!

Home Sweet Maastricht

I'm here, I'm here!! I'm loving it already!

Mom, Dad, and I left Austin at noon on Sunday and got to Houston with enough time for me to get some good ol' Texas BBQ before leaving the country! I got to the airport to check in and was relieved to watch as my bags were weighed - 49.5 pounds for one and 48 pounds for the other, whew! Thanks, Mom and Sarah, for helping me figure out how to fit it all in! Not to mention that midnight run to Wal-Mart. You didn't believe us when we said it was open 24 hours, did ya Mom? I love you both! Now we all know Dad with his camera... he was sure to document my last minutes on U.S. soil with numerous photos. Daddy, maybe if you bring your mounted flash to the airport when you come pick me up in April, people will think someone famous is coming home. I love you too, camera guy!

Everyone was so excited as we congregated at the gate, but after boarding we proceeded to sit on the plane for more than an hour as mechanics repaired an issue with the rear door. We finally took off around 8:15. After dinner was served (with real silverware, no joke!), I took a sleeping pill with every anticipation of getting 4 or 5 hours of sleep. It was wishful thinking, I suppose, because I probably got only 2 hours collectively. My inflatable neck pillow made me claustrophobic and when I tried to sleep with my regular pillow, I woke up every 20 minutes in pain from bending my body at odd angles.

Thanks to a strong tail wind, we landed in Amsterdam at noon - only 20 minutes behind schedule. Customs was a breeze, and after picking up our luggage, we boarded a charter bus to take us to Maastricht. Around 4:00 p.m. they dropped us off right in front of the Guesthouse, where we are staying at the University. We were given plenty of time to unpack and get situated before dinner was served. After dinner, we were taken by a few Dutch students to a shopping center nearby to purchase anything we might have forgotten or still needed. That was an adventure...

"Is this laundry detergent?" -me

"I think so... uhh, kleur wasmiddel?" -Kaitlyn

"And what about this - cremespoeling. Is that conditioner?" -me

"Umm... I don't know. I'm illiterate in this country." -Kaitlyn

I can already tell that having her as my roommate and travel companion will be an incredible blessing... we're always learning something new! Oh, like the fact that bicyclists won't yield to pedestrians. They'll run you over if you don't stop. And at the grocery store you have to bag your own purchases. Also, the population is so diverse here that people speak either Dutch, German, French, English, or a combination of them all. Even if I learned basic terms and phrases to speak while I'm here, how do I know which language to use?! Many of us find ourselves wanting to revert to our Spanish. I guess we'll just have to save that for a weekend in Spain!

It's getting close to midnight here and I'm completely exhausted, but I think excitement is keeping me awake! Tomorrow we have an opening ceremony for orientation and in the afternoon I'm going on a D'Artagnan Adventure tour - underground! Not too sure what that entails, but I'm looking forward to it!

Good night from Maastricht!

Tomorrow's the day!

I'm proud to say I'm almost packed... but there's really no telling how many times I'll have to weigh and repack to try and get it under 50 pounds! It's difficult to try and pack for three months with just TWO suitcases, let me tell you. Right now I'm taking a break from packing to watch the Baylor basketball game with Dad and later tonight we're going out to dinner as a family. We'll drive to Houston tomorrow after church to catch my plane which leaves at 7:05 tomorrow night. I'll be 7 hours ahead of Central Standard time, so when we land in Amsterdam at 11:40 a.m., it will be 4:40 in the morning for you guys!

I'll be studying at the University of Maastricht which is in the southernmost tip of the Dutch Netherlands. Maastricht is the oldest city in the Netherlands and 70 percent of the population there speaks English, luckily! Germany is right next door, Paris is only 4 hours away, and Brussels (Belgium) is only 2 hours across the border, so I look forward to traveling a lot on the weekends. Part of the cost of our trip goes toward a Eurorail pass, which gets us on a train to just about anywhere. I want to see it all!

We have orientation at the university on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then Thursday morning we leave for London for our group trip. We'll have Thursday and Friday to explore the city (and see a few shows!) and then Saturday we'll go to Stonehenge and Bath as a group before heading back to Maastricht on Sunday. Classes start Monday, February 1st, and I'll be taking 14 hours while I'm there. The program allows us to take 2 classes through the Center for European Studies at the university and 2 classes through Baylor - I'll be taking Dutch Art History and British Literature through CES and a Writing and Reporting Class as well as an independent study in Photography through Baylor. Classes end on March 19th and after final exams are over on the 24th, we have a month to travel before returning home!

So there it is folks, the condensed version of my European adventure! I'm so excited, and I can't wait to share with you all of my experiences!

Until next time, from across the pond!

Amanda