Bitten by the Travel Bug: Part Two!

After spending a few days in London, I was off to France! We were in France for a total of nine days, I believe. We spent four days in the Normandy area, and five days in Paris.

City/Country #3: Bayoux, France.
Bayoux was such a cute little city. It is about a two and a half hour train ride from Paris, and you definitely know that you are no longer in or near a large city. I was really excited to visit the Normandy area of France for a very personal reason. Some of you may know the reason, but I will explain for those of you who may not. My grandfather was part of the 29th Infantry during WWII, and landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day. His unit then went on to St. Lo, France, which about 20 minutes from where we stayed in Bayoux. It was here where my grandpa was shot during a nighttime battle. I was very excited to be visiting the area where my grandpa served, and it was a really nice way to remember him just over one year after his passing.

Bayoux was a very cute little town with many of their buildings dating back to the 15th and 16th Century (or earlier!)

One day while in Bayoux, we did a shuttle tour of various sites relating to the D-Day invasion. We visited the German cemetery, Utah Beach, Sainte-Mere Eglise (where the American paratrooper got stuck on the church steeple), Pointe Du-Hoc, the American Cemetery, and Omaha Beach. We visited various museums during the day as well, which really helped give me a good idea of what type of supplies the soldiers had, as well as various artifacts and various things that survived the invasion.

The glider used by the American paratroopers

A hand grenade that was carried by the soldiers. When my grandpa was shot, he had one like this on his belt that was hit by the bullet and fragmented. 

The church in Sainte-Mere Eglise, where paratrooper John Steele got caught on the steeple and was stuck for hours. 

This letter was one of the favorite things I saw in the museums. However, as cute as it is, sadly the soldier who wrote it never came home. 

Pointe Du-Hoc was badly bombed, and you can still see all the craters made by the bombs. 

The middle patch on this memorial is the patch of the 29th infantry. 

This church in St. Lo was one of the only building to survive the saturation bombing of the city. Today, it is a memorial dedicated to the 29th infantry division. When my uncle visited about 8 years ago, he was able to place my grandpa's picture inside. Sadly, it doesn't open until July, so we were unable to go inside. 

The last thing we did on our stay in Bayoux was to go to St. Michel. The best way I can explain it is that it is a little village on top of a mountain, with the main building being a large church. It was truly something wonderful to see. 

After our time in Bayoux, it was time to head to Paris!

City/Country #4: Paris, France. 

I truly did not know what to expect from Paris. I had heard various things from people who had been there. I don't want to say what my opinion was, necessarily, because I think everyone probably will have different opinions about all of the places I visited. So, that being said, I will say that Paris was not my favorite place that I visited. It, like Berlin, has a lot of history, and it is a very beautiful city. I just did not "connect" with it like I did some of the other places I visited. But nevertheless, I had a good time and am glad I was able to visit this city at least once. 

The apartment where Vincent Van Gogh lived in when he lived in Paris

The Montmarte area is where many famous artists have lived

Notre Dame

The Arc De Triomphe

The palace at Versailles

The famous Hall of Mirrors at the Palace at Versailles

During my travels, I got to see and do many wonderful things. I am so thankful for the opportunity that I had, and can't wait to return to Europe again someday soon. My list of places I want to go is still much too long! For now, it's good to be home! 

Bitten by the Travel Bug-Part One!

What a crazy, wonderful few weeks it has been since I finished up my practicum experience in Harstad. I have spent the last (almost) three weeks traveling to different countries in Europe, and have had a blast!

Country/City #1: Berlin, Germany.
The day after finishing my practicum, I was off to Berlin for five days. I had such a great time in this awesome city! There is so much history in the city and surrounding area, and it was really interesting to be able to learn about that history while there. I learned a lot about both WWII and the Cold War which I didn't previously know. I managed to navigate the subway system-with a few hiccups the first day due to work on the tracks and a strike. I met lots of wonderful people at the hostel that I stayed at, and even got to watch a football game in a European sports bar that was packed with wall-to-wall people watching the game. I still couldn't tell you who won, or even what teams were playing, but it was very cool to be there and see how invested people got in the game!

My first day in Berlin, I went on a tour of Potsdam, which is kind of a suburb of Berlin. We spent the afternoon touring the huge, beautiful park where the kings of Prussia had their palaces. It was really a wonderful place to see-the only thing that would have made it better would have been if the weather would have been a little nicer!

The "summer home" of Frederick the Great

I also spent some time in Berlin exploring the 1936 Olympic Stadium. The stadium itself is still used today for football games and various events throughout the year. 

                                      

One of the most interesting things I did in Berlin was to go to a concentration camp about a half an hour outside the city. Sachsenhausen was used as a work camp, and some of the stories our tour guide told us were absolutely heartbreaking. This was one of those times that I realized that, while you can learn about these place sitting in a classroom, nothing is more impactful than actual visiting the site and seeing it in person. 

The gate at Sachsenhausen reads "Work makes you free". Sadly, more often than not this was not the case. 

This track was used as a form of punishment. Here, prisoners would be forced to walk for miles with heavy items on their shoulders. This was done as a way to test boots that were being made for the German army. 

My time in Berlin was so much fun, and I did so much. If I was going to talk about it all, this blog would never end! However, I will say that Berlin was one of my favorite places that I visited, and I hope to go back some day! 

Country/City #2: London, England.

I was so excited to finally be going to London. This is one city that I have wanted to visit forever! I had just two and a half short days there, and I definitely made the most of it! I visited Kensington Palace (where Will and Kate live today!), rode the London Eye, spent a couple hours riding around on a double-decker bus, I saw Big Ben, and walked through Westminster Abbey. I spent an afternoon walking through Hyde Park and enjoying some beautiful spring weather. I had a blast! I will say, even with the astronomical number of people there, I really loved London, and I could even see myself living there one day! 

My aunt and I in front of the gate at Kensington Palace

Buckingham Palace

Me in front of the gates at Buckingham Palace

View from the London Eye 

This is the door at Westminster Abbey that Kate walked through the day of the royal wedding! 

Spent some time at the Princess Diana memorial fountain, enjoying the sunshine! 

As I said, I really loved London. I do wish I would've had even one more day to enjoy the city! There is so much to do and see! Yet another place that I just have to go back to one day! 

I'm going to end this post here. In my next post, I will share some photos and memories that happened while I was in France! Stay tuned!