Monte Carlo / Monaco France

I also went to the south of France for a day to visit VilleFranche. It is a port about 20 minutes from Monte Carlo/ Monaco. On the day we arrived, it was about 75 Degrees F. No joke. people were wearing t-shirts and shorts!!! and wow, monte carlo is full of expensive cars and expensive stores. the casino is beautiful. and the scenary is just as breathtaking. It really reminded me of the Bahamas/Carribean. Monaco was also really cool- we saw the old castle and walked up a bajillion steps to get to it. We also searched everywhere for a "jardin exotique"....definitely never found it. we are thinking we probably saw it...but didnt realize it was "exotique" because we saw signs and followed them and then saw a mini garden, and then saw signs pointing back to where we came from. hahahha anyways, here are some pics of france:

Villefranche:

At the train station:

Monte Carlo Casino!! there were a bajillion ferraris parked outside...all red. just like in the movies

Walking up towards the castle:

Finally made it.

November Trips - SPAIN

Sorry for the lag in updates, but I spent this past month doing A LOT of traveling! It has been so amazing to see southern europe! I went to visit Barcelona Spain, Monaco & Monte Carlo France, and ALL over Italy. I also made it to Amsterdam Neterlands (like actually visiting museums and etc ), Dusseldorf Germany, and Brussels Belgium.

I'll start with Spain- wow what a beautiful place! I was in Barcelona which is right by the Ocean and it was SOO sunny during the day! (Like 70 degrees F so people were in t-shirts and shorts). The city is FULLL of Gaudi architecture- almost every other building was designed by Gaudi. The Sagrada Familia is SO amazing- its crazy how he designed it ... so mathematical! :) Also visited the Poble Espanyol (its a "village" that is designed to mimic the various styles of architure throughout Spain), saw the Montjuic Fountain Light Show (SOO amazing..totally worth sitting in the cold for 1 hour to wait for it), visited Los Ramblos (the famous street in Barcelona for shopping), and of course visited the Barcelona Beach (even went to the aquarium)!!!

Here are some pictures from Barcelona:

The view from the Hostel: very unique office building...turns blue & red at night

First thing to do in Barcelona: find the shopping mall!

La Sagrada Familia- designed by gaudi...still being completed today

This is how gaudi designed it- with sandbags. wow...

Outside the Montjuic Fountain- what a beautiful light show

View of BCN from Poble Espanyol:
The MaGic Fountain show...totally worth seeing!!!

Christopher Columbus Monument:

The port of Barcelona. sooo beautiful

Stop 5: Village visits in Holland

During my time in holland, I've been really fortunate to have the opportunity to visit various villages in the country. Seriously, some villages consist of 1 street! They can be SO tiny- so not even all dutch people have heard of them. I've visited: Tel Aar, Leiden, Delft, Sparkenburg, Den Haag and Ahmelo. Of course those aren't ALL villages- some are also cities (like Delft, Leiden and Den Haag are bigger cities). All of the villages/cities are really quaint and cute- many of the villages are by the ocean so a lot of the people there are fishermen.

There is a lot of history in Den haag (also known as The Hague). The queen lives here and a lot of the big parliament buildings are also here. It's a really pretty city- full of historic buildings..even houses are from "back in the day". I went to the Beach...called Scheveningen (which of course I can't pronounce!)- it is really nice- just like beaches in NC.

And of course when I got tired of all the history & sightseeing ....I went shopping! :) There aren't any "malls" like in America here. There are just shopping centers, but it is very nice- the streets are closed off so cars can't go through - it's just throngs of people walking on the street going in and out of stores like crazy. They have all the big store brands here: H&M (but more expensive than the US even though its a european brand), Zara, Esprit, Mango, Perry Ellis, United Colors of Benetton, etc etc. There is a really nice department store called the "Bijenkorf"- it is like nordstrom...but way pricier.

The stores here are only open from about 9AM - 6 PM everyday..and closed on Sundays. There are "special" opening hours every Friday- the stores are open until 9 PM!!! Every 1st Sunday of the month the shopping center is open..and WOW people go CRAZY- there are SOOO many people on Sundays that it is almost impossible to move anywhere!!! There is also an "open market" every saturday- basically the farmers market where you can get really fresh produce and vegetables at really good prices. Of course it's a better deal for families because everything is sold in bulk (ie 20 carrots for 2 euros, or 1 kilo of apples for 3 euros, etc etc). They also sell clothes, electronics, flowers, and various other non-food items. It reminds me of the night market in Taiwan/Asia.

Below are some of my pictures from the various villages/cities that I've visited so you can get an idea of what Holland looks like . Enjoy!

Eindhoven (the city I'm living in): this is the shopping mall... :)

One of various churches in the city:

Sparkenburg Holland: a real fisherman's village:

Den Haag: this is in front of the parliament
The Queen's house:What to do after looking at buildings? shopping:

Stop 4: Wales UK

Immediately after coming back from Paris, I went to WALES for the following weekend. I went with some friends and we drove 14 hours from Delft Holland to get to the UK. We had to take a ferry from France to cross over the UK territory!!! :) It was the LONGEST drive in the world...I don't think I've ever taken a trip to drive THAT many hours before...!!! (I think Florida was the longest..like 12 hours?)

My friend Sharon- who goes to duke STILL (totally jealous! ) - met up with us in Wales because she is doing study abroad in London...so it was sort of closer for her- it was SOO nice to see her!!!! ahhh she made me miss duke even more...but it was really good to catch up and hear about her adventures in London!

We stayed in a park in wales called Cefn Lea. There were 4-5 people in 1 "chateau" (aka room), and 3 "chateaus" per log cabin. It was really neat- we were seriously in the middle of nowhere. haha . We went mountain climbing- and OMG the wind was SUPER strong- I almost got blown away!!! And it was REALLY cold. and it rained for about half the hike! But it was very beautiful. Unfortunately I was too concerned about the cold, rain, and wind to take very many pictures, but below you can see the ones I did take.

View of Wales as we were climbing the mountain:

Look at the cute sheep!!!

This is the view from the top...doesnt look too different huh:

My friend sharon (the wind is going CRAZYY):

A normal picture of us...without the huge wind factor:

some of the ladies in my "chateau":

all of the ladies in the "chateau":

Stop 2: ST LOUIS, MO USA

After only being in Europe for about 1 month...I flew back to the good old USA! Living in Europe was definitely a completely new experience. I learned it's one thing to visit...it's a totally different issue to actually LIVE here. The culture is COMPLETELY different and it really took me a LONG time to adjust. I'm STILL adjusting now...but it's getting better. I'll write about life in Holland when I post my Holland adventures.

So, I flew back to the US, but I went to St Louis MO instead of Raleigh-Durham. There was a Biomed Engineering conference there (BMES) and I had some research that I had done while at Duke to present there. THANK GOODNESS my amazing DUKE buddies were there: Cindy (who's doing her PHD at Duke) and Carol (who's at WashU but still a dukie !! :) ). It was really nice to go back to the US (even though it was only for 3 days). Carol took us around- to LOTS of good food, and gave us a tour of WASHU.

Reunion! Cindy, me and Carol:

Proof that I actually went for research:

Carol's building had this hand-crank elevator... tooo cool!!! :

omggg stuck inside :) (cindy secretly is loving every second)

MMMM SOO much good food- and we ate it ALL:

frozen custard... loveee being fed by carol!! ;)

This was SUCH a delicious cake!!! using a fork to cut it.
we are such clever engineers:

don't be jealous cindy! :)

photos of the famous st louis arch: by day and by night
(care of cindy's amazing photog skills)

walking around WashU campus and surroundings.
beautifuL!!

Stop 3: Paris France

I went to Paris France in the middle of October to visit my HIGH SCHOOL friend, Sondes! We had some really good times at Enloe...we were in physics, IB math, and Bio together. She moved to Paris about 4.5 years ago for her bachelor's degree and is now completing her masters there. Since we had been talking about meeting up in paris for the LONGEST time, I figured it would be perfect to visit her now since I'm SOOO close to her city! I took the train from Holland (~4 hours) and she took me around for the weekend. Paris is SO beautiful and SO much fun! Seriously I don't think I would ever get tired of it! :) It reminds me of New York City but without the high stress and hectic lifestyle that SO many new yorkans deal with. Everything in Paris is SOOOO lovely!!! WOW- it would be like a dream to live there...amongst all the rich history and so forth... Anyways, here are some pictures from my exciting weekend. You see my friend Sondes and I dancing the night away... (yeah after 2 nights and 3 days of walking for over 12 hours each day we couldn't go dancing anymore )

Below are some of the beautiful pictures I took in Paris:

The Louvre by night (we rented bikes and rode through the city at like 2 AM!!! ):

This is the Arc de Triomphe at night:

Enjoying French pastries!! VERY delicious!!!
Macaroons ...mmmm

A view of paris from the Opera House:

UM yeah. this is the MALL in Paris:


EIFFEL TOWER. classic tourist attraction:


Paris by night: (this one is during sunset...ish)