The Calm Before the Storm

This past week was great. The weekend before the one that just past was the weekend of the Bonn Marathon. I did not run it, but I was in town, as were a lot of people, and it was a really fun weekend. We went to Bingen during the day on Friday and go to see the Hildegard museum, and ate super delicious gelato. That night we all got together at Kyle's house. On Saturday the weather was absolutely gorgeous and a bunch of people gathered at Hofgarten to play ultimate frisbee. I sat on the side, not wanting to sweat, but it was really nice to be outside. There was a little area in Munsterplatz where a stage was set up and it was surrounded by food trucks. I had a nutritious lunch of crepes and fries with curry sauce. The next day was the actual marathon and we went back to the little live music and food truck area to relax for a little while.

That Monday we left for France! I was really excited to cross another country off my list, and it was really cool that we got to see a couple smaller towns as well as Paris. Colmar was small and really cute. The old buildings were not destroyed during WW2, so they are all the same as they were centuries before, and it looked almost fake. I also really enjoyed seeing the Isenheim altarpiece; there was one panel of it that I would like to hang up as a poster in my room. Beaune was different, but also great. The burgundy wine was delicious, and Hotel Dieu was one of my favorite museums we have visited.

After our quick visits in Colmar and Beaune we made our way to Paris. My first impression was a little underwhelming. I guess since it is talked up a lot it just wasn't exactly what I expected. However, the more I explored the more I liked it. We saw all the big things: the Eiffel Tower, Palace of Versaille, Notre Dame, The Louvre etc. Every day was packed. One of my favorite parts was biking through the city. Bikes made it easy to get to a bunch of different parts of the city and it was a perfect day for biking.

After the past wonderful week I return to what will be the worst two weeks of my academic life. A lot of us were talking about a hell week earlier this semester, but that is NOTHING compared to what is coming. There are tons of tests/finals, several projects, presentations and homework assignments. It will be a lot to handle. The days will be long but the weeks will be short and before we know it it will be time to go home!