Friday, November 19th our school departed for a series of field trips. I was going on the International Business trip to Budapest and Prague. After an hour flight delay, we arrived in Budapest late friday night and immediately headed out to get some dinner. I have no idea what my mean consisted of, some kind of meat and potatoes, but it was delicious! We hung out there for a while and then headed back to get some sleep. The next day, our teacher had organized a walking tour of Pest and then a boat tour of the river so we could see Buda. After the boat tour, which was freezing!, we headed to a park that housed old communist statues. It was a depressing place and very imposing. Our teacher had a little surprise for us that night, and took us to see one of the world's biggest wine barrels. We also got to taste some great wine :) There was a group of us that decided to go to Hungarian baths on the way home. It was basically a bunch of indoor pools, spas and saunas with natural springs. It was so relaxing and made our skin look so great! When we got back to the hotel, we got ready to go out and ended up at this cool bar called the ruins (which was basically just in a rundown old building).
The next morning, we got up early and loaded a bus that would take us to Prague. It was already supposed to be a 6 hour drive, but on our way the bus lost a tire and we lost 3 hours. It was scary, but the bus driver acted like a pro. The only problem was there was no bathroom on the bus, and so we had to pee in the woods. Thanks for the travel toilet paper dad! By the time we got into Prague everyone was tired and we all headed to bed to rest up for the remainder of our trip. We once again had a walking tour of Prague in the morning, and after a great lunch, has a couple lectures about the Brewery business in the Czech Republic and Eastern Europe. It was hard staying awake through that, but they provided coffee which helped. After that, we went to a great Czech restaurant and then went to see Harry Potter!!! And it was in English. What more could you ask for? The next day we took a bus about an hour outside the city to visit an old cathedral and bone church. If you have never visited a bone church I don't recommend it. It is basically a chapel completely decorated with bones (chandeliers, curtains, statues, ect.) So depressing! After that we were able to visit the TPCA plant (Toyota, Peugeot, Citroen Automobile) and have a tour of their assemble line and talk to employees. It was great and so fun to done hard hats and protective glasses. When we got back into Prague, our teacher had arranged tickets for us to see one of Prague's top entertainment sources, the Black Light Theater group. Let's just say it was one the most bizarre and captivating things ever. After that we hit a couple bars to celebrate the end of the field trip and I prepared to meet my parents back in Lux!
I flew into Cologne, Germany on wednesday and took to the train to Luxembourg City to meet my parents around 19:30. It was so exciting seeing them, and I took them to one of my favorite restaurants in the city Chi Chis. They told me all about Rome and it was great being able to talk face to face. The next day we walked around the city, and only got lost once! We hit up all the highlights of Lux and grabbed a beer at Scott's Pub. In the evening, I took them to Differdange, where my school is, and showed them around the Chateau. We grabbed a big boot at Das Boot to kill time for dinner and m parents got to enjoy some time with the locals who frequent the bar. Then to celebrate Thanksgiving, we went to San Marino's, my favorite Italian restaurant ever! After being completely stuffed, we headed back into Lux city. On Friday, I took them to see some of the old fort and to tour the new European center. Then we went back into Lux and did some shopping, what mom and I do best! We decided to call it a day and headed back to get ready for dinner with my host family. My parents absolutely loved Andre, Lucie, and their son Joe. They also got to see the great accommodations I have here. Lucie is THE BEST cook, and we enjoyed a meal of fondue and chocolate cake. We all stayed until 00:30 (twelve thirty in the morning!). That made us a little late for our day trip to Brussels the next day. We left at 9:20 and arrived 3 hours later to freezing weather and a lot of people. Not exactly ideal travel conditions. We got to see all the sights, had some good food (like beer and waffles) and enjoyed the Mannekin Pis. Unfortunately, we couldn't take the cold for much longer and headed home around 18:00. Bythe time we got back to the city we found a great little restaurant and hung out until late. Sunday was our last day together, and the last day of my break, and so we slept in and headed into the city to enjoy the Christmas market. Lux is tough because most stores close on Sunday and the weather was cold, but we found a nice little hut for coffee and some sweet treats. Later that night, we met up with my roommate Meghan and grabbed dinner. It was so nice seeing my parents and getting to share some of my experiences with them. Their the best!
