A few weekends ago, I went to Scotland with a friend. We flew into Edinburgh and then took a bus to Aberdeen. We didn't expect to be given food on the bus so we got a snack to tide us over, but it turned out that we got complimentary sandwiches. And drinks. And cookies. And tea. And crackers. And a few other things until we were pleasantly full. Once we got to Aberdeen, we met with my friend's friend who showed us around the town and his university. The following day, we rode a train out to Stonehaven and hiked to a castle ruin on the beautiful cliffs along the shore. We then had a classic meal of fish and chips on the beach. We got up early the next morning to catch a bus back to the airport. Unfortunately, the bus took a half hour longer than scheduled and we got to the airport too late to check in. Since the next flight wasn't until 24 hours later, we decided to go back into the city center and explore Edinburgh. We walked up to the castle on the hill and got a few groceries. We even found a discount DVD store and bought some to bide our time in the airport. When we got back to the airport, we finished up some homework, watched the movies, and then took shifts sleeping. Finally we got on the plane the following morning and made it back to Bonn. I was exhausted and just wanted to go home and take a shower.
A few days later, we visited the Hildegard Von Bingen museum and garden, had a yummy group lunch, and rode a chilly cruise down the Rhein. We saw one castle after another to the point that it was almost ridiculous, and we toured one of them.
For Easter weekend, a group of us took a train to Paris and stayed in an apartment for a few days. The first thing we saw was the Eiffel Tower lit up at night. The next day, we visited the Louvre (which was free with our visas, along with a few of our other visits) and of course the largely unimpressive Mona Lisa. We had lunch in the gardens between the Louvre and the Arc de Triomphe. We walked to the top of the Arc and then a few of us attended Good Friday Mass at the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur. When we got back to the apartment, we ate a home-cooked meal. We spent the entire next day at the palace and gardens of Versailles. If anything, I gained an understanding of why the French Revolution began because the palace was ridiculously extravagant. That night, we ordered escargot and I wasn't planning on eating any until I saw that they were covered in pesto and olive oil. It turned out to be much less slimy than I had expected. We attended Easter Mass at the Notre Dame the next day and then the Musee d'Orsay where I saw some paintings by one of my favorite artists, Edgar Degas. We had another dinner at the apartment and then switched to a hostel for the final night to be closer to the train station. A few of us made it over to the Pasteur Museum and Institute, but it was closed on Easter Monday. Nevertheless, an employee or student let us onto the property and we explored a few of the buildings. We found a set of three lab coats and strongly considered putting them on to get into the labs, but none of us had the guts. When we were making our way out, we realized that the gate was also locked from the inside and had to nonchalantly follow another employee out. We had lunch in the Latin quarter and dinner (including chips, salsa, and raw bell peppers) on the lawn of the Eiffel Tower. Since it was April 21, we held Aggie Muster on the lawn that night.
The next couple weeks were pretty rough with exams and all, but it felt great when it was all over. The first night after finals, we had a fun night of karaoke at the AIB. The next day, we took a 25-km bike ride to and from the Ludendorff Bridge in Remagen. We had a nice lunch on the Rhein as well. The bike ride was difficult, especially against the wind, but it was definitely worth it. When we got back to Bonn, AIB hosted a farewell party for us, where we had wonderful food and got to watch a slideshow that one of us had put together. That night, we watched fireworks for the Rhein in Flammen celebration and it was certainly the best fireworks display I've ever seen. After that night, we had a few more days in Bonn that were rather uneventful before finally getting on the plane to go home.
