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Detour to Delft: Charming Churches & Canals in a Picturesque Dutch Town
European Adventure: Part 1 of 6 The town of Delft in the Netherlands was the first stop on my first trip back to Europe since Covid! I remember leaving Aix-en-Provence, France on March 16, 2020 with the belief that this Covid thing would never last. I planned to travel that summer, retaking the days and experiences I was missing out on by being sent home from my Study Abroad program early. I believed it would be two months until I was back. Not two years! But a little thing like Covid won’t keep me away from travel forever! My best friend called me up in January and said she wanted…
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A+ for Annecy and the Alps
I took a whirlwind day trip to Annecy today, beginning at 5 am. It’s a process to get out of Aix; it’s a 35 minute walk to the bus station, and then a 20 minute ride to the train station…and then, finally, the real journey can begin. And begin it did. We had delays on our ride to Lyon, only to arrive and find that our next train had been canceled. You aren’t truly in France if your transportation isn’t interrupted by a strike at least once! But we did eventually reach Annecy, a charming little town known as “the Venice of the Alps.” I was glad to see snow…
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Carcassonne: a Castle Playground
Carcassonne is a French town in the Midi-Pyrénées region of France. It’s a 3 hour train ride from Marseille. This is my first time on a train (but not my last). And the whole process was made so easy by my Eurail Pass (thanks Mom and Dad!). Carcassonne is divided into two towns—the Bastide Saint Louis and the Cité. Our Airbnb was located in the lower town, Bastide Saint Louis. On the left is the Jacobins Gate, once part of the walled fortifications that surrounded the Bastide Saint Louis. A specialty of the region is a dish called Cassoulet. It is made from Toulouse pork sausage and duck baked with…
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My School Abroad: Institute of American Universities
The school in Aix is tiny and scattered among the winding streets. It is made up of four buildings—three of them in the old town and one outside of town. The one outside of town is the art school, so I never go there. I only have classes in 2 buildings: Manning Hall and CEF. Walking through the narrow streets, you’d never know the building was part of IAU unless you read the tiny name plate. In the basements of these two buildings, there are small student areas with a few books and tables. In Manning, there is a shelf with games and a foosball table tucked away in an…
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If Even Popes get Castles…Why Can’t I Have One?
Avignon and Pont du Gard. A day trip spanning Roman times to medieval history to modern day. La Palais des Papes In 1305 Pope Clement V moved the papacy from Rome to Avignon. He did this because he felt unsafe in Rome, and also because the muggy weather didn’t agree with him. The palace that exists today was constructed a few decades later under Benedict XII in 1334 and continued in 1342. The palace is the largest medieval Gothic palace in the world. In 1376, Pope Gregory XI moved papal power back to Rome, but when he died two years later a new pope was elected in Rome and an…
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Aix Marks the Spot: Exploring my Temporary Home
Aix en Provence is the city of a thousand fountains. Les Fontaines This is the Fontaine de la Rotonde at one end of the Cours Mirabeau, which is the Champs-Élysées of Aix. This is the Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins (Fountain of Four Dolphins). In many of the smaller fountains in Aix, the water is drinkable and my school recommends that we fill our water bottles there. This makes me feel very Roman. Le Marché The produce market is everyday (except Sunday), but the other three markets that all combine to make up the Grand Marché only occur on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Central Square I eat breakfast and dinner…
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A Chateau and a Vineyard…I Must Be in France
IAU, as part of the Early Start Program, planned out a few French activities to introduce us to region of Provence. We began with a trip to petit village of Vauvenargues. Picasso bought a castle in this town at the base of the Montagne Sainte-Victoire in the 1950s. His family still owns the castle and he is buried on the grounds. On another day, we visited a local vineyard and winery, Château du Seuil. The speciality of the Provence region is rosé. The winery owners led us on a tour and gave us samples of their red, white, and rosé. All three wines were very fruity, which the owners explained…
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Day One: My Home Away from Home and a Hike with Aix’s Famous
My first full day in Aix-en-Provence, France. It was chilly today, a humid kind of chilly like January in Maryland. School activities and university orientation start tomorrow, so after wandering around Aix for an hour this morning, I returned to my host family’s house to unpack and get settled in my new room. When the first bit of homesickness (mostly uncertainty) began to nip at my heels, I went downstairs to go for another walk through town. But I ran into Fred putting on his shoes. He invited me to go hiking with him, his daughter, and her boyfriend. It was perfect as I had been wanting to get up…
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Between Konya and Cappadocia: Dervishes, Caravans, and Turkish Rugs
As we traversed Turkey, we followed narrow roadways over uneven landscape, tracing ancient trade routes and stumbling upon small towns nestled among the hills. We visited the monastery of Mevlana, a caravenserai, and experienced demonstrations of stunning Turkish artisanship.
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Along the River Danube: Ancient Fortresses and Fearless Kings
I was doing an excellent job of clutching the trappings of Romanticism tight, so I hardly needed help, but the beautiful countries of Eastern Europe continued to prop up my escapism. After all, now we were starting to see castles!
