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Eurotour

So I just spent the last 3 weeks travelling an entire continent with 50 other exchange students. We went to Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Lido di Jesolo, Venice, Verona, San Remo, Monaco, Avignon, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam. It was unarguably 18 of the best days of my life.
Berlin:
We got up early and all met on the bus to drive down to Germany. A 2 hour long ferry ride and a much too long bus ride later, we were finally in Berlin. We just had a chill evening and then went to explore the city the next day. We got to see Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial, the Berlin Wall, the memorial where the Russian's marched when they look Germany after WWII, and a ton more. While Berlin was nice enough, I thought that they were too obsessed with their depressing history, so it wasn't that cheerful of a place.

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Berlin Wall

Checkpoint Charlie

Checkpoint Charlie

Holocaust Memorial

 Prague:
The next day we all piled into the bus again to drive down to Prague. I've already traveled Europe before with my mom, so I've been to many of the countries and cities that we visited on Eurotour. Prague was especially nice because I've never been to the Czech Republic before, so I got to collect a new flag. It was also nice because it has dirt cheap prices, something I've really missed as an American living in Europe. On our way to Prague, we stopped at Theresienstadt concentration camp, which was a chilling experience. After that we had 2 nights and 1 day to get to know the city. We saw the palace? mansion I'm not exactly what  it is, but the place the president? prime minister lives, which has a fantastic view over the city and is also next to a very beautiful cathedral. Then we were let free to explore the city, and me and my friends enjoyed beautiful Prague and found some shopping places to take advantage of their cheap prices.

Theresienstadt concentration camp

Vienna:
The day after that we all drove down to Vienna. We made the most beautiful stop in the middle of the Austrian alps to have lunch. Then when we first got to Vienna, we went to Shonbrunn palace as our first stop, and then they next day, we were free to do whatever we liked. My friends and I saw the cathedral, went on the famous ferris wheel, and went to the zoo. I'm not exactly sure why we bought tickets to the zoo, but it was actually pretty fun!

Our stop for lunch

Above the Shonbrunn Palace

On the ferris wheel

The cathedral

Lido di Jesolo:
We spent 3 nights in the tourist town of Lido, placed on the Adriatic sea. For one of those days, we took a day trip into Venice. Venice is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen, but it's so easy to get lost, and it's only really fun for one day. We just stayed in the touristy areas and took a ton of pictures on the beautiful bridges, as well as taking a ride on a gondola. The next day we had a free day, so naturally we all went to the beach and ate as much Italian food as we possibly could.

On the boat to Venice

On the gondola

St. Mark's Square

Gelato!

Verona/San Remo:

We continued our trip by driving alllll the way across Italy, which was one of our longest drives on Eurotour. We made a quick stop in Verona to see an ancient Roman amphitheater and Juliet's balcony, and then continued on to stay in San Remo for the night. San Remo was definitely my least favorite night, there was nothing to do in the town and the weather was depressingly terrible, but at least Verona was nice.

Roman amphitheater

Juliet's balcony

Juliet

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Having our last Italian lunch

Monaco/Avignon:

After San Remo, we left Italy to go to France. On our way to Avignon, we made a stop in Monaco, the 2nd new country for me on our trip. Monaco was absolutely gorgeous, but like Venice, I think it would only be fun for about a day. That night we settled down in Avignon, and toured around all the beautiful history the city has the day after that. We saw a Roman aqueduct, as well as where the popes used to live (although we didn't go in because it cost too much money). Avignon was an extremely small town, but I still enjoyed our stay there.

Monaco

Monaco

Bowling in Avignon

Pont du Gard- Roman aqueducts 

Paris:

After staying in Avignon, we drove all the way across France on our way to Paris. We stayed 3 nights in Paris, doing as much as we possibly could. I've already been to Paris, so I've seen all the attractions, which was good, because we only had 1 day to see everything (the other day was spent at Disneyland). My friends and I saw the Eiffel Tower (although we didn't go up because the line was too long), Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, and Moulin Rouge. Then we went to Disneyland Paris the next day.

The Eiffel Tower

Notre Dame

Sacre Coeur

Moulin Rouge

Disneyland Paris

Biggest cotton candy of my life

Brussels:

Our next, and 2nd to last, stop was Brussels. Brussels was my favorite place on Eurotour by far. I think one of the main reasons I loved it so much was that the whole Belgian vibe reminded me of Denmark, and that was nice after having spent 3 weeks in many countries that are very different from Denmark. Unfortunately, we only had an evening in Brussels, but we made the most of it. We walked around and saw the center of Brussels and Mannequin Pis, and ate Belgian waffles and fries.

Belgian waffle

Mannequin Pis

Amsterdam:

Our final stop on Eurotour was Amsterdam, which was such a disappointing experience. We weren't allowed to walk around alone, because they were scared that we would take advantage of Amsterdam's loose laws, so basically we just went on a canal tour, they took us to one tourist shop, and then we left. Originally, I really wanted to go on exchange to the Netherlands, and I'm part Dutch, so I was extremely excited to see Amsterdam. I wanted to buy an iamsterdam sweatshirt, which they didn't have in the tourist shop we went to, and I wanted to see Anne Franks house. If Rotary is so scared that we'll be so irresponsible in Amsterdam, they just shouldn't take us there. I would much rather have had 2 days in Brussels and then just went home to Copenhagen than have the experience I did in Amsterdam. 

Overall, Eurotour was one of the best experiences of my life. I got to know so many fantastic people and see so many amazing places. It was so fun to travel Europe after having lived in Denmark for a year, because now I have a European perspective, and could enjoy all the places we went to 1000x more than when I came here with my mom and my American perspective. I'm so thankful to Rotary for having given us this opportunity.

Now I only have 3 weeks left of my exchange. I'm trying to visit all of my friends and say goodbye, see and do all the Danish things I've yet to experience, make my final presentation for Rotary, and prepare myself for getting home to the US. I'm not sure if I'll have that much time to post here again before I go home, but I'll make sure to make at least 1 more post about the end of my exchange sometime in the next several weeks.

Thanks for reading!

Alicia

New stuff new stuff new stuff

Hope, Cassidy and me at Fælledparken

Carol, Nick, Stine, Taylor and me at Fælledparken

Church in Stockholm

Pretty pretty

Sweden!

The palace in Stockholm is soo so huge

Cute little street

Cute buildings

Changing of the guard

Cute harbor

Garage built into a cliff rock thing

Bird living on the roof

Sami camp (at a museum in Stockholm)

Baby raindeer

Me and my current class on my last day

My language school

Me and my old class on my last day

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