I know it has been a REALLLLLLYYY long time since I’ve updated the blog, but the last month of my life has been one of the most insane months of my life. In the past month I’ve been to fifteen cities in eight different countries, finished four of my five classes, taken a midterm in a class I’ve been in for only ONE week, and come to the realization that this dreamlike adventure known as “study abroad” is just a few short weeks from coming to a close.
I feel like there is no way to contain all the insane things that have happened in the past month within this one blog, but let me give you my favorite part of each trip.
Ardennes
Our trip to Ardennes entailed visits to cities in Belgium, Germany, and Luxembourg, but my favorite part of the trip definitely took place in Trier, Germany. We took an excursion out to a little winery where we enjoyed a fantastic four course dinner accompanying four FANTASTIC wines. My favorite of which was an excellent Riesling we had with a cinnamon dessert pizza. It was great to hang out and have the owner of the winery taste wines with us and tell each wine's little story as well as how he came to own a vineyard (not a bad eighteenth birthday present if you ask me).
Ireland
Immediately after Ardennes we headed to Ireland for the weekend. Starting in Dublin, the highlight for me was the visit we took to the Jameson distillery. It was just me and a couple other guys that ended up going, but it was a really nice, relaxing day. We started our visit with an Irish coffee which was AMAZING. From there we took the tour, learning about how the whiskey is made, using barrels bought from other counties (Port barrels from Portugal, and Bourbon barrels from the US), and how Jameson is triple distilled for a smoother taste. After the tour my friend Drew and I got to taste the whiskey and compare it with American Jack Daniels as well as Johnny Walker Black Label Scotch. It was really interesting trying the different liquors, knowing what flavors to look for in them and actually noticing the differences (scotch has quite a smoky flavor, where the Jack Daniels had a sweeter flavor). However, the Jameson was definitely the smoothest, and best overall flavor.
Spring Break
We spent spring break in Spain, visiting Madrid, Barcelona, and Toledo. The day that we visited Toledo was probably one of, if not my favorite day on the trip so far. We started the day by catching a train through the gorgeous Spanish countryside from Madrid to Toledo. After getting off the train in the amazingly sunny and gorgeous city of Toledo, we jumped on a double-decker bus that led us to a lookout point over the city which was absolutely breathtaking. We eventually got dropped off in town, and wandered down an ally where we found an older gentleman that my friend began talking to in Spanish. They were having quite the conversation as we followed them through the alleyways of Toledo until suddenly the man led us to one of his favorite restaurants. It was a fantastic little hidden gem, and we got a couple of bottles of wine, and a three course meal there for only 10 Euros! The wine was great, and I got paella, as well as the restaurants famous dish for lunch which was delicious. After that we hung around the city a bit longer until we decided to catch a cab to a great lookout spot to enjoy the sunset and more amazing views of the city. Once we reached the restaurant where this fantastic lookout was, we sat, enjoyed a pitcher of Sangria, and watched Toledo light up as the sun went down. After that we caught the last train back to Madrid because we had reservations to go to a flamenco show that evening. We got to the flamenco show just in time, and immediately after it started, I became entranced by the beautiful dancing and guitar playing that was taking place in front of my eyes. For those of you not familiar with flamenco dancing, it involves some fantastic Spanish guitar playing, some singing, and the fastest feet you’ve ever seen, or in the case of flamenco, heard, on a dancer before. Definitely YouTube it if you’ve never seen flamenco before.
Daytripping to Brussels was a lot of fun. In particular the restaurant where a few of us had lunch. The place was called “Chez Leon” and we went there in search of one of Belgium’s specialty dishes….mussels. Now I had never had mussels before so I had no idea what to expect, but the meal we had at Chez Leon was delicious! We got a huge pot of mussels marinated in an incredible white wine sauce, a tomato filled with tiny shrimp, a bowl of Belgian fries, and a glass of Chez Leon beer. The entire meal was scrumptious and the beer was a great wheat beer that went great with the mussels.
Strasbourg
While in Strasbourg, one day we spent the entirety of the day on a tour on the Alsace wine region of France. The region was absolutely gorgeous. Winding our way through little villages, while stopping along the way to tour a few villages and trying wine that you can’t buy anywhere else in the world was amazing. Beyond that, I have to say the group dinner we had the first night in Strasbourg was fantastic. We were led to the heart of the city where we all piled into the basement area of a restaurant called “Bierstub” and sat down on picnic tables awaiting our arrival. Not more than five minutes after arriving, we were brought a bunch of pitchers of beer that had been brewed at the restaurant. After passing the pitchers down the table once, we passed the empty containers back to the servers and minutes later they brought more beer. Yep….unlimited beer the entire night. But wait! It gets better. Once we had the beer, our waitress came to the table with an arm full of tart flambé (basically pizza without sauce). This is a dish they are famous for in Strasbourg, and the tart flambé was also unlimited the entire night. Needless to say we had a GREAT night at Bierstub that included many toasts….and games of flip cup.
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