The Blekerslaan Bond

I know I've described the house that I've been living in a few times already, but I would just like to take a moment and reiterate how much I really love living in Blekerslaan.  We're big enough that you're not constantly surrounded by the exact same couple of people, if you don't want to be, but small enough that you easily know everyone.  The primary people that we all hang out with are the people we live with.  We cook, eat, do homework, travel, and shop with each other, and we still have a Facebook page to interact on.  This much close interaction really bonds a group of people and it's going to be weird when we all eventually have to start moving out.

 This weekend is Queensday so there have been several people who lived here last semester coming back to celebrate with their friends who still live in the house.  It's been really cool to see how close of friends people have remained and I really hope that will be the case with us.  The thing is that most of the people who come back have it a lot easier because they live in Europe.  This is slightly more problematic for those of us residing on different continents.  Don't worry though, talk has already begun about a reunion on the North American continent for next year.

The other night, some people had a part at our house.  There were friends from other places invited but there seemed to be an excessive amount of people that showed up that nobody really knew how they all got invited.  While the common room was swarming with these new comers, it was funny to see how close-knit all of the people in the house were as they sort of simultaneously migrated into the kitchen to hang out with each other.  Everybody still hung out with the visitors, but nobody really knew what to do with the sudden influx of newcomers into our home.

Well, if we thought that was weird, it was nothing compared to the group of strangers who waltzed in and made themselves at home the next night.  I walked into the common room and no longer recognized 80% of its inhabitants.  Apparently, the most recent group of squatters consisted of people who lived in Blekerslaan last year.  Not last semester, but last year.  They all decided to come back and have a little reunion in their old abode.  This was all fine and dandy, and it sounded like a lot of fun.  It was nice to see how close they all still were.  The only thing was weird is that they just came in like they owned the place, cooked themselves dinner and took over the couches for the evening, without any of us knowing where they came from or them really acknowledging us.   Last night I walked downstairs at night and they seemed to have multiplied like rabbits.  There were dozens of these strangers who lived in Blekerslaan "in the good old days" who were now dancing on our tables.  Like I said, I really loving seeing how strong the Blekerslaan bond is, but I'm also wondering when they're leaving.

Here's another group photos of our lovely clan...  They're great, you'd love  them! :)

Finally

My trusty travel partner, Charlotte, and I have both always wanted to go to Spain.  It was the one place that we both came on exchange knowing that we really wanted to visit.  Paris has always seemed like another one of those places that everybody tells you that you can't miss when in Europe.  Well, after our midterms in April, we strategically packed our backpacks and started off on a 10 day trip that we've both, independently, always wanted to do.

Our first stop was Paris.  We took a remarkably cheap, but rather excruciatingly long way of getting there.  It started off with a two hour train ride to Eindhoven, the Netherlands because [HOLY COW!] bus tickets to Paris from there were only twenty Euros round trip.  As much of a steal as it was, the already long bus ride was elongated when we ended up having to spend a few hours in Brussels, Belgium on the way there. Nevertheless, I can't really complain because, come on, we were in Paris!

We spent the first two days on the scene with a few other people from our house who were in town at the time.  We saw the Eiffel Tower, met Mona, checked out the Notre Dame Cathedral (we didn't see the hunchback), checked out the coolest bookstore I've ever seen, and wandered around the Louvre.

It was huge and amazing and we marveled at it for quite a while.

 Here's Mona, she says hi. She was so kind as to look right at the camera for me when I took her picture.To be honest, I wasn't quite impressed with her, but she was a real hit at the museum.  I avoided most of the painting section of the Louvre but I absolutely loved the rest of the museum! I was surprised, because I knew there was a lot of hype surrounding the Louvre but I never thought I'd be that interested in the overly-large museum.  However, there were countless sections and exhibits of things from all over the world at all different time periods. They had things from old Egyptian tombs to sculptures from Napoleon.  It really was one of my favorite museums I've ever been to.

Here's the Notre Dame Cathedral.  A very beautiful structure. They were actually having a ceremony when we were going through it.

Now this isn't a very good picture by any means but this is the Shakespeare & Co. bookstore near the cathedral.  Inside it looks exactly like all bookstores should and was the neatest little place ever.  They had an old piano upstair that you could play, and, of course, I had to take advantage of that opportunity!

The next day we checked out the amazing Chateau Versaille and headed up to Sacre Coeur, a church on hill overlooking the city.

Getting to Barcelona was really great because it exceeded all of our expectations.  The sun was out, there were palm trees, the city was beautiful, and  I got to practice some Spanish.  The city itself has such a great vibe and atmosphere and was filled with a ton of beautiful parks, for siestas, and awesome buildings.  A lot of the coolest buildings were done by the famous Barcelona architect, Gaudi.

Madrid was an awesome city too, but Charlotte and I both agreed that we preferred Barcelona.  Madrid was probably more lively and big city-like and it had a different atmosphere than Barcelona.  All in all though, it was another great leg of the journey...

We headed back to Paris for another day and a half before we went home and we made sure to hit the Eiffel Tower at night.  That was really cool because they have a light show with music every hour at night.  We also checked out the Arc de Triomphe and went back to the Louvre to hit some more sections of it.

I have to say, this really was an amazing trip.  We both got the chance to accomplish one of our goals we've been looking forward to for a long time. It was also a good time because we got to be gone for so long.  Granted, it was exhausting and we took a few days to recuperate afterwards, but I wouldn't have traded it for anything! And I know Charlotte said the same.

April Showers and their Subsequent Flowers

The Netherlands has its fair share of rain, particularly in the spring.  However, the rain's not so much a done-and-over-with sort of thing and is instead more of a power, lurking in the clouds until you take your bike out to leave from class or go to the store.  It has a tendency to loom over your day and prey on you at the most opportune moments to mess up you plans.  That being said, the devious nature of the rain, make the sun even more glorious when it feels so inclined to bless us with its presence.

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I decided to chance the rain to check out the Keukenhof Tulip Fields near Amsterdam.  The entire train rides and bus rides there and back were cloudy and rainy but the sun managed to cooperate the entire time we were wandering around in the fields.  I guess karma was on our side and the sun wanted to be sure we knew it, but the day turned out beautifully and we had a great time.

Keukenhof is a world famous tulip field with more than seven million flowers in it.  There are flowerbeds scattered throughout the park walkways and fields of tulips growing across the canal.  There is also a classic Dutch windmill.  Overall, the park seemed to embody the stereotypical image that people typically have of the Netherlands.  Nonetheless, you can't exactly look yourself in the mirror if you spend a semester in the Netherlands and don't hunt down tulips and the occasional windmill.

Because the peak growing season for tulips is so short, and also because it was a Saturday, the park was pretty packed.  Getting further into the park offered a chance for more quite and solitude and time to stop and smell the roses, er tulips. However, the entrance area had a kind of Disney World-esque quality to that fully equipped with people in costumes, cotton candy, and people speaking every different language posing to get their picture taken every way you turn.

Here's a couple of pictures to prove to you how beautiful of park Keukenhof was...
I realize that there's an excessive amount, but I know Grandma appreciates them. :)