As the days get warmer and longer, Amsterdam really comes alive. People are biking and walking from the morning until late at night. As I sit in cafes and day dream while avoiding a certain final paper, I wonder if anyone actually works or goes to school here. The locals always seem to be out an about making their way to whatever destination they are headed to or just laying alongside the canals. I envy their relaxed nature and attitudes.

Early Saturday morning, April 17, we boarded our special Time Machine Craft named Air New Zealand and landed in Rarotonga (the Cook Islands) on Friday evening of April 16 (okay maybe all we did was cross the International Dateline but it’s a lot more fun to tell people you traveled back in time).

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Jane and I went to Pamukkale and Izmir. We had an incredible time exploring more of Turkey! Pamukkale was stunningly beautiful in a completely origional way - I have never seen anything like it! It was created by mineral deposits. Izmir was also incredible. While still a big city, it was much more laid-back and had many less tourists than Istanbul. Hope you enjoy the video!

A couple weekends ago, a group of friends and I made a quick weekend getaway to Nice. We stayed two nights, took a 3 hour train ride there, and stayed in an awesome AirBNB up on the hill with amazing views of the ocean village below. 

From jam and croissants at a local cafe, to a neat vintage book and poster market, to laying in the sun on the stone beaches, Nice is the perfect weekend trip to escape heavy city life. And so affordable!

Over the course of the semester each Spanish class was assigned to do a trabajo de campo, basically a research project outside of class. At first, I won’t lie I was overwhelmed by the amount of work and upset our program would give us such a big project abroad but finishing the final presentation and learning about Madrid was one of the most rewarding experiences of the semester

While Madrid has no shortage of great places to eat, relax, or have a drink, etc. it’s become evident to me that one place holds a special place in my heart and its none other than Buen Retiro Park, which literally translates to “Park of The Pleasant Retreat”.

May 11th, 2015