Easter Bunny Comes to Town!

Joyeuses Paques! as they say in French! This is by far the strangest Easter I have ever experienced! Besides the fact that this is the first Easter I have ever spent without being with my family, that wasn't the only thing missing. So this morning, I woke up to the Easter candy that my wonderful parents had sent me last week, and the churchbell alarm (very fitting for the occasion, I thought) that I had set for myself. I got up, did my routine, and the weirdness began:
      1. I was all alone because Cammie is in London with her parents, and all my other friends had already left for spring break vacation. Strange because usually I spend Easter surrounded my huge amounts of family, or I least wake up to someone in the house with me.
      2. I had a big bowl of cheerios. For me Easter means HUGE lunch/dinner, so breakfast is meager if I eat it at all.


So then I get on the tram to head down to the 6th biggest Cathedral in the world. Strasbourg has a beautiful Cathedral (pictures below) and luckily for me it was Catholic and had a mass at 11 so I didn't have to wake up too early. 

Having known from every Easter before, Easter is the day that all the Catholics come out of hiding and go to mass, so usually getting a seat requires arriving at least fifteen minutes early, even at the biggest churches. Well I arrived a good 20 minutes early because the church is so famous I figured it'd be packed....more strangeness occurs:


      3. Mass that started at 9 was still going on (not a good sign)...but people weren't waiting outside for the mass to finish, clear out and let the next seating in..nope, people were standing along the sides of the church in and around the pews, anywhere they could fit...as people from the 9 o'clock mass were getting communion, people at for the 11 were stealing their seats!!!!
      4. When 9 o'clock mass had finally ended, it was a mad rush to grab seats! The procession hadn't even gotten halfway down the aisle before people were leaving and others were running to grab the openings. I felt like I was on a RyanAir flight! It was ridiculous.
      5. Dressing up in pretty dresses and looking nice at mass is apparently a US thing that no one told me was unnecessary in France. I mean French women are supposed to dress nicely so I figured for Easter they'd go all out...well its quite the opposite! Everyone was in jeans, sneakers and some dark coat. I stood out like a sore thumb in my nice black pants, heels, coral top and white sweater. I was the only person in the whole church with anything white on other than the priests!
      6. The mass begins and all of a sudden the person talking to me looks a lot more important than the usual priest or bishop. Yes, that would be because he was holding a cool stick thing and wearing that famous pointy hat, with a little red beenie thing found underneath....are you putting the pieces together yet? Yup, a cardinal was giving my Easter mass. That was really cool. Maybe not as cool as Lindsay at the Vatican with the Pope, but I did the best I could with what I've got in the Bourg!

This isn't exactly my cardinal...or my mass..but this is EXACTLY what it looked like...little red hat..and LOTS of incense.


      7. Oh did I mention the whole mass was in French?
      8. Communion came, and it was a sprint to get to the host!! No lines needed, the priests were rotating like sprinklers passing out the host..which was a very interesting consistency. People were coming from all different directions to get what they came for! It was far from the organized, one row at a time system, that we've implemented in the US!


Finally mass ends, after a good hour and twenty minutes..and there was another mad rush to the aisle seats (where I was sitting..effect of sitting with my dad at mass for 20 years) to get a good picture of the cardinal. Well I was completely unprepared without a camera, because I had no idea I'd be needing it in mass! next time i'll know!


The final weird thing that happened was...
      9. I got churros after mass! for some reason there was a little fair set up outside the cathedral in Place de Gutenburg and I figured since I wasn't having an amazing Easter feast i could treat myself to some churros. Not the typical Easter treat, but not a bad replacement!


Anyway I hope everyone has an awesome Easter! I'll be traveling everywhere for the next 2 weeks so there probably won't be updates for a while but there will be more than enough to write about when I come back!!

NICE, Monaco and a quick roadtrip through France!

Last weekend I took a little last minute weekend trip to Nice with some of my girlfriends from College of Charlestown. We took the 13 hour overnight train on Thursday night, which wasn't that bad. Against my better judgement I didn't spend the extra 25 euros for the bed and got the "recline-able seat." The seats did indeed recline much father than your average train seat, but so did the seat in front of you. This situation wasn't exactly the most comfortable but totally worth it when we finally got to Nice. The last 2 hours of the train ride were all along the southern coast right on the water, it was gorgeous!

We stayed in this wonderful little bed and breakfast right in the middle of town only 5 minutes from the beach. Our hostess was adorable, a little French woman named Genvieve, and there were some other guests staying there who were also interesting characters. There was a woman Buddist priest named Miao (meow..like the cat) who was bald and doing her Ph D research in education in France. She was one of those people who wouldn't shut up at breakfast so we got her whole life story. She was a bizarre addition to our stay in the Nice needless to say. Our first day in Nice was warm and sunny, no complaints there! We walked down to the beach, and browsed the farmers market and tons of little shops around the city. We returned to these little shops everyday and found something new and great everyday!

While walking along the beach we found TONS of seaglass!! This picture is just a taste..there are 2 pieces in that picture..find them!

We ate lots of gelato!Mine is in the shape of a flower!! Apparently the south coast of France is actually better at cooking Italian than French because the only places to eat were seafood restaurants (which we obviously couldn't afford.. and since I was just recovering from food poisoning from seafood I wasn't really in the mood for it) and Italian restaurants. We had amazing pizza, salads and Italian everything. 

Took a casual 1 euro trip to Monaco for the day! I had no idea that Monaco was its own country! You have to be a whole ton of rich to live there, or stay there, or park your yacht there! The nicest cars I have ever seen were found sitting outside of the Casino Monte Carlo. I didn't even know some of those nice car brands even exisited because they're so expensive they can't even tell people who aren't rich enough to hear about them ;) just kidding! but still, the cars were reallyyy cool and I'm not even a  car person!

Here is a panoramic view of Nice...pretty beautiful.

So leaving Nice was great, Monaco was great...but leaving Nice was the problem. The French looooove to strike, and so naturally when we showed up to the train station on Monday night for our overnight train home, we were notified that there was a strike and no trains would be leaving Nice until Wednesday at 10. Interesting that their strike had a definite beginning and end, not really sure what the point of that is but whatever. Either way, we all had class Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday so we needed to get back to Strasbourg. Luckily we went back to our B&B and our room was still available for the night, and our host looked up alternative routes home for us. Well considering flights back were 400 euro, and buses apparently don't exist, we had no other choice but to rent a car and drive back! It was a stick, so naturally I did none of the driving, but at least it wasn't a super tiny car! Almost all the cars in France are very economical and tinyy! but we fit all four of us very comfortably and hopped on the highway to Strasbourg. Good thing driving to Strasbourg is like driving to Cape Cod, there are road signs starting 300 miles away about which highways to take and which direction to go! It was an easy peasy drive and we made it back in time to go to the free open bar party that night! Not a bad trip ;)

St Patricks Day Bust...

Well there's no better way to spend St Patricks Day than sick in bed with food poisoning! After having spent the whole day yesterday in bed here I am again for round 2. I was praying it was only a 24 hr thing but it is still going strong. All I wanted to do was rage on St Patricks Day with all my irish friends, yet when I can't even keep water or toast down, I'm pretty sure Guiness and Irish car bombs aren't exactly the best idea. Probably the worst thing to happen to me during my time abroad. So I hope that everyone else all around the world is drinking and celebrating St Patricks Day the way it is should be celebrated with lots of drinking and green and merriness!! And mom and dad enjoy the corned beef and cabbage...I don't have anything green anyway so I wouldn't have had anything to wear..so I guess that's the silver lining. Happy St Patricks Day everyone!

Amsterdam: This is All Legal!?

This weekend I went to Amsterdam with just Lindsay and Cammie. Everyone else had already seen the "dam" or wasn't interested in going so us three girls made a nice little girls trip out of the experience. And let me tell you, Amsterdam was an Experience! This is the city of illegal things. It's the place that you can go to casually do all of the things you aren't allowed to do anywhere else so needless to say it was a lot different than anywhere else I've ever been in my life. Sex, Drugs, Alcohol and everything inbetween is readily available to anyone who wants it. Funnily enough our stay in Amsterdam was a huge clash of cultures. We stayed at a Christian hostel (no drinking or smoking or drugs or cohabitation allowed inside) right next to the red light district. Lindsay and I learned real fast the first night that they weren't kidding when they said RIGHT next to the red light district. We went right out of the hostel instead of left and directly next door is Thai Massage place. In Amsterdam, Thai Massage has a different meaning...yup, walked right past our first hooker 10 feet away from our hostel. As just us two for the first night, we decided to turn around and go back to a safe little pub NOT in the red light district.

For our first full day in Amsterdam we went to the Heineken Experience. It's their brewery tour and it was just like Disneyworld! complete with a simulation ride! You pay for 2 free beers which really means 2 free half beers, but it was okay because the bartender liked us and gave us a few extras for free.

The next day we went down to an open air street market like the ones we have in France to see what they had to offer. This one was great because they let us have free samples! Free samples of delicious tapenades and cheeses and olive oils.yum! Then we went to get what Amsterdam does best (food wise) and we got pancakes! Thinner than American pancakes, but not quite crepes, these things are a work of the gods. I got a bacon and apple one and they bake the stuff right into the pancake. You lightly drizzle their molasses like stroop (syrup) on it and it is the best thing I had ever tasted.

Next stop was the Anne Frank house. Yes there was a line around the block but we were happy and full from out pancakes so we didn't mind. The inside of the Anne Frank house was very cool to see especially the part where the family actually lived and the bookcase that hid their secret staircase. Strangely enough I am the only person in the entire world to have managed to make it through all of junior high, high school and college without having read the Diary of Anne Frank. With this being said, I still thought the house was interesting so I'm sure if you'd read the book it would have been even better, and now I definitely want to read it!

Our nights consisted of walking up and down the extremely interesting neighborhoods that happened to surround our hostel. If we went left, we hit Little China Town. Little did we know that one of Amsterdam's specialties is Indonesian food because they used to occupy Indonesia back in the days of imperialism. We had some delicious Thai food for dinner one night too. If we went right though out of our hostel...well you know what we saw, and that was only the beginning! The Red Light District was really funny, and really creepy all mixed into one! It was like going to P-Town but amplified by a million percent because everything is completely legal. If you want Culture Shock go to Amsterdam's and you will  certainly experience some shock.

But don't worry Amsterdam isn't all sex, drugs and alcohol! There are also tons of wooden shoes and a few Windmills! There were wooden shoes EVERYWHERE but we did find one awesome store that sold real handcarved and handpainted ones. Windmills were a little trickier to find.On our last day in Amsterdam we had a small bucketlist of things to do..sex museum, hot waffles, stroopwaffles and find a windmill. Naturally the receptionist at our Christian hostel had no idea where to find the sex museum but when we asked the man at the "coffeeshop" around the corner her knew exactly where it was. No need to go into details on that one, it was just more shocking sex from all around the world and all time eras (which was kinda interesting). Post sex-museum we found the hot waffles..they are basically waffles dipped int he frosting you get on donuts and then they heat them up..fabulous. Next mission was a windmill. Knowing there were 8 windmills in Amsterdam we knew we could find one and that was actually something our receptionist could help us with. We went to a windmill with a brewery inside! We didn't get to go on a tour, but we had some windmill made beers! Final stop on our Amsterdam trip was stroopwaffles which are thin waffles with caramel in the middle. We got some at the grocery store and decided they were glorified caramel delights so we were not disappointed. Amsterdam was an adventure to say the least. Definitely not a place of innocence despite the wooden shoes and tulips but definitely a great city with a lot to offer.

When in Roma!!!

Roma roma roma!! was nothing short of amazing! First off, it was gorgeous! I arrived Friday night so I didn't get to see the sun that night, but once I stepped off the plane it was already 15 degrees warmer than dear old Strasbourg. We were met at the airport by some BCers and they brought me to Lindsays! Her apartment is soo cute, and when I say cute I don't mean it in the small quaint way, I mean it in the "we live in rome with 6 girls so everything is girly and roman, light and airy" way. I met her roomates, toured the apartment and scarfed down a bowl of good old american rice crispies (no where to be found in strassy) before running out the door to meet up with the 60 other BC students either living in or visiting Rome. Lets just say, BC invaded Rome to the point that we filled every bar and club we went into. Every night in Rome was like going to a party with everyone you ever wanted to be there, except in a foreign country. Not a bad life! We went to a bunch of different American and Irish and Roman? bars and clubs and had a blast! I won't bore you with the details of the nightlife in Rome, but I will tell you all about the touristy sightseeing stuff we did during the day!

First we went to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. This picture is of the Forum which is basically where everything in ancient Rome happened. Lindsay took us to the top of some other building so we could see this great view, but we're saving the 15 euro visit to the inside for when mommy and daddy come! Same situation with the Colosseum we didn't go in but we saw the outside. It was soo huge, and soo cool! How in the world those ancient Romans got those stones up so high to build the pillars and stuff is something that I will never understand. I couldn't even figure out how to do that now with modern technology!

Next stop was the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain. These monuments kind of snuck up on us, because you're simply walking through a random ally in Rome and all of a sudden there is the Pantheon! in all its glory! Just sitting in the middle of this little piazza with normal apartments around it. That was pretty strange, but the building itself blew me away. It is 100% marble and granite designs, and it is complete with Rapheal's tomb and a big hole in the ceiling for something that has to do with the gods and the people. 

The Trevi Fountain was probably one of my favorite parts of Rome. Another casual monument in the middle of a bunch of random buildings, but a really spectacular fountain. Apparently is you throw a coin over your left shoulder, using your right hand you are guaranteeing you will return to Rome. (we looked this up to make sure we wouldn't do it wrong). Considering I only had one coin, I only threw one (and I will be back in April!) but the story also says that if you throw 2 coins you are wishing for love, and if you throw three coins you will either get married or get a divorce! Fun fact about he Trevi Fountain: 3,000 euros a day are thrown into it and the money is all put towards feeding homeless and poor people. Way to go Rome to use your monuments for good!

Day 2 we went to Vatican City. All I can say is WOW. The Pope really has it pretty good, I mean the man owns his own country. I wonder if his passport say Italy or Vatican City? Anyways, we went into Saint Peter's Basilica and witnessed how beautiful and huge everything is. The dome is so high that there is a 10 story structure on the inside of the basilica. Seeing Michelangelo's Pieta wasn't too bad either. I could have sat in front of that statue for hours, it was so mesmerizing. To put it into perspective, the Pieta is the only piece that Michelangelo ever considered good enough for him to sign. Then we climbed to the top of the cuppola, the place around the dome. Getting to the top of that Basilica is not for the faint of heart! Holy moly, I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland! The stairs were mini, and the walls were slanted and the spiral staircases were so tightly wound you couldn't see the person in front of you. It was not the holy experience I was expecting but an adventure all the same and worth the amazing views from the top. Then I bought a little rosary bracelet from a shop across the street for a momento and that was the conclusion of our day at the Vatican. 

I only have one more thing to say about Rome and that obviously the food was unbelievable. I would live off their gorgonzola pizza and soupis if I could. And the carbonara, which I had for dinner, was amazing. yummy yummy rome, I can't wait to be back!

All I Have to Say About Belgium Is...

Yes, I went to Rome and I haven't blogged about it yet, I know I am behind. So I figure I'll fill you in on last weekend's trip to Belgium..Brugges and Brussels to be exact..because there really wasn't much to say. It was an awesome place, lots of fun and lots of good food. This is what I got out of my trip:

1. Delicious Chocolates, even the cheap stuff is good
2. Delicious Waffles, plain or with ice cream or with melted chocolate..great
3. Delicious "French Fries"... French fries are actually Belgian, American soldiers were just dumb when French speaking Belgians gave them the fries they automatically thought they were French..but veryyy yummy
4. Belgian Beer..i'm not the biggest beer connoisseur but the beers were good and different

thats really all there is to say about Belgium...

Sunny Sexy Strasbourg!

Strasbourg finally woke up from its terrible wintery nap this week and let the sun shine! Before now, Strasbourg has been cold, grey and kinda depressing. This whole week has completely changed from that! I know America is supposed to have 6 weeks more winter and is currently be dumped on by the snow gods, but Strasbourg has begun an early spring! I don't want to jinx it but I really hope it stays this way! It was finally warm enough to wear my new leather jacket! YAY! a small triumph in the world of Haley Neeven. And I was able to go for a run around the park (which by the way is awesome and has flamingos and monkeys in it!).Anyway I'm heading out to Rome to see EVERYONE tomorrow and I'm sooo excited! I'll update with all the details when I get back!