Europe 2015

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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Munster

Day 4: September 5-6, 2015 – It was virtually impossible for me to sleep in the hostel. I was in a strange bunk bed, in a room with 7 other people, and I was still on California time. When my watch alarm went off, I had been half awake for the whole night. I had…
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Hamburg

Day 3: September 4-5, 2015 – When we woke up in Copenhagen the next morning, it was pouring down rain. We had woken up early, to given ourselves enough time to get to the train station without feeling rushed. We gathered everything that we needed, secured to our packs, then quietly left the apartment. When…
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Copenhagen

Day 1: September 2, 2015 – I was never one to plan ahead. I typically just went for things, whether they were realistic or not, I just tried to do them. It takes a lot of optimism to just go for something without planning, and then if things start blowing up in your face, you…
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