holtwick

Venice

Day 18: September 19-21, 2015 – When our train arrived in Venice, we walked out from the train station, to a sight that was just as magical as you would imagine. Iconic architecture lined the Grand Canal. There were boats and gondolas parked like cars on a busy street. The air was clean and the…
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Florence

Day 15: September 16-19, 2015 When we got out of the train in Florence, it was like we arrived in the tropics. The air was so warm and humid, and there were people everywhere. We began our usual routine of looking for a machine, where we could purchase our bus tickets. As we walked out…
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Geneva

Day 13: September 14-15, 2015 We woke up extra early for our 7 am train from Gare de Lyon to Geneva. We took showers at the apartment, finished packing, and then walked the few blocks over to the station. The train that we were taking was on the TGV line, so it was only going…
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Paris

Day 9-12: September 10-13, 2015 – Day 9: Paris The Thalys train from Brussels to Paris takes about 90 minutes. The seats were incredibly comfortable and there were outlets under the seats for charging laptops and cell phones. The second class cabins were the nicest that we’d ridden in, so far, and we sort of…
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Gent

September 9, 2015 – Gent is probably just as historically important as Bruges, but instead of being overrun by tourists, it was a living, breathing city. There are a few colleges in Gent, so there are lots of students around. Jeremie had recommended the stop, because he thought that we would enjoy it and for…
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Bruges

Day 8: September 9, 2015 – In the morning, we had some coffee and then I took a shower. It was very strange to me that while in the United States, the shower faucets are parallel with the length of the bathtub, and in Jeremie’s bathroom the faucet was on what felt like the side…
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Brussels

Day 7: Sept. 8, 2015 – In the morning, we took the ferry back across the river to the Amsterdam Central station and boarded the train to Brussels. It was a direct train on the intercity line, that took about 3 and a half hours. It was about half the price of the bullet train,…
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Amsterdam

Day 5: September 6-7, 2015 – The apartment in Münster was not well insulated and because the building itself was probably a couple hundred years old anything that kept the building warm, before had probably rotted away. After I spend an hour or so tossing in bed, I took a sleeping pill, hoping that I…
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Holtwick

Day 4: September 5, 2015 – We took the regional train to Coesfeld, and then boarded another train for one stop to the Rosendahl-Holtwick station. Overall both trains took about 90 minutes. As we got further from Münster, the view changed from that of a city to rural farmland. Once again, I began to reminisce…
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