THE FIRST WEEK

oh boy, oh boy, oh boy... it feels like i've been here for ALOT longer than a week! but yet i've only worn about 3 different outfits, ha! the reason i haven't been able to post is because we have been traveling like crazy and there was no internet available. So I’m just going to combine all my daily post into one huge post.
FIRST DAY:
We arrived tired and were completely running off adrenaline. We finally got to the University of Maastricht, unpacked, and ate dinner in the cafeteria (which wasn’t too bad!). It was SO tempting to just call it a day, but it was our first night in Europe- we can’t just sleep! We walked around the streets of downtown Maastricht and decided to face culture shock and go in somewhere. We walked into this bar called Shamrock which was next to “cool running” haha… Our bartender there was pretty funny. He played chess and talked to us between helping customers. He is from Ireland and has been here for 6 months. I learned a thing or two about Europe… one is that they hardly ever tip! They are pleased to get 20 cents, which I thought was strange- but nice! We were so exhausted and had made enough effort to satisfy us for our first night. Sleeping however came difficult.. Definitely woke up at 4 and could not sleep. Until…
DAY TWO:
Amy and I realize we slept in and almost missed the tour with the Dutch students. But Jim (Young) knocked on our door and woke us up. We threw on clothes and ran to catch the group down at the market. Needless to say it was our first sick-nasty-no makeup-hat day. We ate lunch at a cafeteria across town in a UM building. We actually received our first Euro-boy’s cell phone number haha… and just for the record they initiated the conversation and offered the number… (ADAM! Who claims we flirted with them) The rest of the day we just walked around and amy and I found our first thrift store!! That night a big group of us went to this place called Highlander which is just a small bar with a big screen and big round tables. *observation: their music is really dated American music. I definitely listed to lauryn hill and pink. It was a late, fun night that ended up in our room talking to Adam (Sammons), Stephen (Ellzey), and David (Stratton)… realizing we were going to spend A LOT of time with these people.. oh yeah, and watching david stretch- which he randomly does often.
DAY 3:
Well, my night of sleep was a little better. We didn’t wake up late, so I guess that’s a good thing?! We had a train to Brussles @ 10:00. This town/city is AMAZING. We walked around all day looking at architecture, art, gardens, churches, and creepily taking pictures of violinists in the windows while crouching in the bushes… We ate at a small cute sandwich shop (delicious!) Everything here is French and although I don’t know a lot, a lot of French- it’s fun to recognize things. We took our first quick nap and got ready for dinner. We went to this place that was in the cellar of a palace so when exiting the restaurant you were boxed in these four walls of amazing architecture with a cobble stone square. These 2 old men sat next to us when we were eating and of course Ellzey started talking to them. One was from Boston and one was from Iceland. They are Cargo pilots and from what they say, we chose the best place in Brussels to eat at! They were very fun to talk to and VERY nice… in fact, they secretly picked up the tab! The old man from Iceland was a bit quirky and pointed at me and told the guys I looked like one of the girls on desperate housewives, haha! A little awkward- so I just smiled and got really embarrassed. Haha. We left there in search of CHOCOLATE! I mean we WERE in Belgium. We went to a place across the way and ordered 5 deserts and shared them all! My favorite one was Cuda’s crepe fudge a la mode. Some of the guys got a mug of Belgian beer and it came in this weird wooden holder. Strange. But cool? Once we left we found this place called o’reilly’s which was a very chill place. Kind of like all of Europe so far- chill. We had so much fun and such good conversation. Today was the first day I felt like I was in EUROPE, BABY!! Oh and PS: Joe (joseph von kennel) visited our hotel room at about 4 in the morning (not knowing it was our room) dripping wet, with only a towel in search of another towel… let’s just say it’s a good thing I had taken my contacts out.
DAY 4:
The first day in London!! Train, checked in the Holiday Inn in Regent’s Park, (amy, adam, jim, david, ellzey and i) got on the tube, went straight to Picadilly circus, turned the corner and stopped at a ½ price ticket place. Amy and I got tickets for Wicked at 7:30 that night! Jim and Stratton (david) went to Les Mis and ellzey and adam ended up going to an underground concert that night which sounded amazing! We hurried back to the hotel, got ready and left with Strat and Jim. Ate dinner at this place next to the underground called Café Meze. There we found out that chips were in fact French fries. Amy and I made it to the Apollo Victoria Theatre just in time to be blown away by the stage, the costumes, THE VOICES, and of course that the lead was in fact the lead from coyote ugly… ya know- the british one! Haha. The wicked witch (alphaba) was unbelievable. Our underground route was a maze. We had like 4 changes and it was that night we realized that ½ the stations close after a certain hour… but we made it back- exhausted!!!
DAY 5:
Amy and I ate breakfast and David Currid had been to London before, so we decided to just tag along with him as our tour guide. We visited all the touristy monuments and landmarks… Everything was amazing!! We grabbed Starbucks for lunch and continued to make our way through everything. I think the pictures tell more than words. Emily (Chapman) arranged dinner for us. We were meeting a friend of her dad’s that has lived in London for the past 7 years, but is originally Swedish. He was SO nice.. not to mention very attractive. We ate at Wagamama’s and then walked around Covent’s Garden. We saw a coffee shop and decided to get coffee there… and then we went to Waterloo bridge. The most amazing site of London!! The lights reflect off the water and you can see EVERYTHING!!! It’s incredible…
DAY 6:
Today we decided to make it museum day. We went to the British Museum and saw some very interesting things!! I think the most interesting thing to me was the building itself. The ceiling was a glass dome and it was incredible. After lunch at starbucks again we went to the market in Notting Hill.. ya know the one where hugh grant walks through the seasons on the movie?! Yeah. That one. That was very fun to see! We left in time to go to St. Paul’s Evensong service and we actually sat up with the choir. There is not one word that could come close to describing the detail of this place. Flower carvings and angels were all over the pillars and ceilings, but then there were hundreds of mosaics and archways and the floors and the carved wood… amazing. When trying to decide where to go for dinner we decided to go to the Texas Embassy where some of our friends said to go. We were all starving!!! We walk in, smell the meat, see the chips and salsa, hear texas accents other than our own, and then we got told that the wait was 2 hours… so sad. But we found a place pretty close (actually across the street haha) and it was really good!! The London trip was very fun.. it reminds me a lot of new york.
DAY 7:
Now we are back in Maas! I have been traveling since 11:00 this morning and we just got in at 8:00… a few delays here and there, but I am very glad to get back!! It’s Ellzey’s birthday today and the guys are out eating. We needed to sit down for awhile and rest, so we are supposed to meet up with them later.. I hope I can get this picture thing figured out, but if not- I will post my favorite tomorrow.. there’s no way I can post them ALL!!!! Love you all and it’s so fun to read all the comments!!!