Thanksgiving Break

I never thought that I would feel so happy to be back at my “home” in Dublin. We’ve arrived back in Dublin this weekend after a solid week of travelling. One of the nice things about coming here through Champlain is that we roughly follow Champlain’s holiday schedule. So while Thanksgiving as we know it is an American holiday, over here in Dublin Champlain students still get that week of Thanksgiving break. What this meant for us was an entire week where we could see the sites that we hadn’t yet had time for. I will go over my trip briefly to offer a glimpse into a few places in case anyone was considering seeing them during their time over here. I did all of my travelling with two of my friends and I have to say as annoyed as you will be with your companions after seeing them non-stop for a week, it certainly is more fun than travelling alone. They may even come in handy when you are in a country with no English signs trying to navigate your way through the public transportation system.

So my trip…

The three of us started our days off bright and early at 5:30am. After landing in Brussels, we quickly learned the value of asking for help when our train tickets printed out entirely in a foreign language and we nearly got onto a train heading in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, we managed to land the right trains all the way to Bruges. I first proposed the idea of visiting Bruges to my friends after seeing it in the movie In Bruges. It seems like a dumb reason to visit a city but I am glad I did. Bruges is the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited. The streets are almost all cobble stone, the buildings have a rustic, earthy look, and the canals run all throughout the town which, although they smell, adds an extra bit of elegance. I have heard the city described as the Venice of the north and I think that is an accurate title.

We spent our two or three days there walking around the city, seeing the sights, and enjoying the friendliness and peacefulness of the people there. For being a primarily touristy town, everyone we met there was genuinely nice to us. We spent a lot of time in the Market Square enjoying the atmosphere and taking photographs. We visited a free art gallery which was a first for me but very cool. And, of course, we walked to the top of the Belfry Tower which was an experience in itself. Although expensive in general, we didn’t have a terribly difficult time finding affordable food and gifts, and the chocolate was certainly worth it. I think Bruges was my favorite stop on our trip.

Amsterdam

After a couple days enjoyed in Bruges, we hopped on another train to Amsterdam. The ride was long but the scenery outside made the travel less tedious as Holland and Belgium both have beautiful countrysides; I kind of regret not making it out there at any point. Unfortunately, upon exiting the train we were greeted by rain and wind which would continue for the next two days making for a dreary experience in Amsterdam. We tried not to let it get in our way of having a good time though and I think we accomplished that.

Although everyone was tired from the train ride, we decided to work our way into the city center for some food and exploration. To our dismay, we found out that we had arrived in another expensive city. We made our way around the city, taking in the sites, visited some of Amsterdam’s famous coffee shops, and worked our way into the Red Light District. I have to say, that was certainly a unique experience. Between the other tourists passing by (who seemed to all be American) and the glass-contained work force, you couldn’t help but smile. The Red Light District is also primarily a Chinese district so that added an extra layer to the interesting mix of sites and experiences there. Unfortunately, the rain and expensive nature of the city left me feeling a little unfulfilled so this was my least favorite stop on our trip.

Prague

To save money, we had booked an overnight bus ride from Amsterdam to our final destination, Prague. The 15 hour ride was made a little easier by the occasional stop to stretch your legs and breathe some fresh air. We made it to Prague, though, and found out English is not as popular there as in our previous stops. If I remember correctly, though, Prague has more visitors each year than both Amsterdam and Bruges so we were not the first English-speakers they had met.

Prague was a really interesting and diverse city that had way more to do than we could cram into our three day stay. We put the favorable exchange rate to use and ate a delicious meal the first night there. I was instructed by one of our hostel’s staff to order the pork knees so I, of course, happily did. The food was excellent and cheap and the pork knees sounding pretty Czech to me so I was happy. We did notice that the service was rather short with us though. This was something that popped up at every place we visited in Prague excluding the staff at the Town Hall/Astronomical Clock tower which we visited on our last day there. We spent a day shopping for gifts (which could have easily stretched to other days with that exchange rate) and enjoying the area. We got to experience a bit of the wild Prague night life during our stay and it was wild. The Old Town Square which we visited on our last day there was very reminiscent of the Market Square in Bruges. The whole square was festive and bustling which made me anxious for Christmas. It also felt very inviting there so that is where we spent a good part of our day. It made for a very relaxing end to our trip which was much needed.

Like I said, I have never been so happy to see Dublin than when we arrived back after that exhausting trip. The trip really was unforgettable though and I encourage everyone to make good use of their time off if you decide to come here.