… then this blog is for you! Read on as Kaitlyn details some of her favorite places to get food from at Georgia Tech-Lorraine when she doesn’t want to rely on her own culinary skills!
Friday, March 26, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn
Like a good majority of college students our age, you are probably only just beginning to venture into the world of learning to cook for yourself. Luckily for us, we have an abundance of options of prepared meals here at Georgia Tech-Lorraine! Here’s a look at them; bon appétit!
CROUS Student Cafeteria
Thanks to our status as French university students, we have access to the student lunches at a neighboring college. For just one euro, we can pick from a menu that usually features warm sandwiches, pasta, and a chef’s meal of the day. For our sides, we are given fruit, salad, yogurt/compote, and a bottle of water. The panini poulet is always a popular choice with Georgia Tech-Lorraine students, but there’s plenty of vegetarian and vegan options too! The cafeteria is about a ten minute walk around the lake from the Georgia Tech-Lorraine building, so it’s a great option for a quick lunch between classes.
PAUL and Aux Petits Choux
Another favorite with Georgia Tech-Lorraine students is the bakery chain, Paul. It’s an industrial bakery, meaning that it’s not an authentic French bakery, but that doesn’t stop it from tasting good. They specialize in breakfast goods, pastries, and sandwiches. Their prices are a little higher than most bakeries you’ll find in France, but you can’t beat the location, it’s about a three minute walk from the Lafayette dorms and on the way to Georgia Tech-Lorraine. If you’re looking for a slightly more affordable option, there’s another great bakery called Aux Petits Choux down the road from PAUL. It has a smaller selection, but they bake everything fresh daily!
Image Sourced from http://hedonisthk.blogspot.com/
French Fast Food
Because of the local preventative measures for the pandemic, for example the curfew and restaurant closures, we’ve all become good friends with food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo. Metz’s abundance of restaurants — Metz is the third highest French city in terms of the number of fast food restaurants per inhabitant — makes it really easy to order delivery! Some Georgia Tech-Lorraine students’ favorites are Burger Kebab (sandwich kebab shop) and O’Tacos (French tacos chain).
Auchan & Cora
Of course, you can always buy premade meals from the grocery stores. There’s Cora, the superstore, but also the smaller, more traditional Auchan. While Cora has a wider selection, I and others have found ourselves going to Auchan more often for our weekly groceries. It’s closer to the Lafayette dorms, and set up more like an American grocery store.
Join Kaitlyn on her first taste of Italy as she tours her way from pizza shop to pizza shop, and of course, she’d be remiss if she didn’t stop for gelato along the way. Read all about her journey around the pants shaped Lake Como in her latest blog!
Thursday, March 25, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn
Italy: the home of pizza, the perfecter of pasta, and the gelato capital of the world. It’s easy to say that it’s the perfect weekend getaway for any food fanatic — ideal for my group and me!
It was apparent we were in Italy from the moment we stepped out into the lakeside town of Como, Italy. Blooming cherry blossom trees dotted the sides of roads filled with drivers zipping around on their Vespas.Every block we walked by was home to one gelato shop at a minimum.
The happiest dogs live in Italy!
While the name of the movie may be All Dogs go to Heaven, based on my observation heaven for dogs must be Como. There were so many dogs, and every single one of them looked like the happiest pup in the world — one friendly puppy was practically jumping all over us to receive pets.
Lake Como is situated on the border of Switzerland and Italy. My friends and I likened the shape of the lake to a pair of pants; while traveling along the lake we would use this analogy. It was silly, but extremely helpful! For example, the city of Como was on the “left foot” of the lake. After a couple hours sightseeing, we boarded a ferry (the lake is so large that the main way of transportation between the towns is by boat!) to travel up the pants leg to Varenna, our home base for the weekend.
We disembarked the ferry right at sunset, and what a sunset it was! It was a real treat for us, as our ability to view sunsets in Metz have been restricted by a curfew. We quickly learned that the town of Varenna was tiny; it is home to a grand total of 800 residents! But what it lacked in population made up for in charm. We ordered some takeaway pizza from a restaurant in the main square and while we waited, considered our options for how to get to our Airbnb.
The amazing view from the balcony of our Airbnb.
The house we picked was actually in an even smaller town, Perledo, which sits prettily on top of a hill. It’s only accessible through hiking up a steep trail of staircases, or through a road that has a hairpin turn every few meters. Our exhausted bodies gave a resounding “no” to the first option, so we hitched a ride in a taxi. It’s difficult to tell if that was the right decision in the end, because the taxi ride was simply chaotic. Trying to communicate to the driver that only knew Italian where to drop us off as she whipped around the hairpin turns at lightning speed was **shivers** quite the harrowing experience. We made it to our destination in one piece, though, and our home for the weekend was incredible. The villa we stayed in was complete with private gardens and balconies that highlighted a completely unparalleled lake view.
The traumatizing taxi ride was worth it for this.
Authentic Italian pizza deserves all the hype it gets.
Exhausted from our eventful day, we tucked into our authentic Italian (!!) pizza and called it a night.
The next day we caught another ferry to the town of Bellagio. Of course, we couldn’t visit another Italian town without trying their gelato. Trust me when I say, Italian pistachio gelato just hits differently. We continued to roam the small streets and talk to locals.
We returned to Varenna a few hours later with a fun idea in our heads. One of my group’s absolute necessities is watching the Rick Steves video about our destination, so we thought it would be fitting to try our best to recreate certain scenes from the Varenna video. I’ve gotta say, I think we did a pretty decent job. I think Rick Steves would be proud of our attempt.
You really have to look hard to find the difference between these two photos!
We wrapped up our last night in Varenna simply relaxing and enjoying our surroundings. It was a wonderfully peaceful evening on the lake, and the perfect ending to my first taste of Italy.
Join Kaitlyn as she ranks her culinary creations while living in Metz with her newfound cooking skills.
Thursday, February 4, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn
As my family and friends know well, I am not the most… skilled at cooking. When I am feeling generous, I would rate my culinary skills as solid 4/10. Though this semester in Metz has taken some adjustment, a large part of that adjustment has not been living in a foreign country, but rather learning to feed myself without the safety net of a meal plan or my mom’s cooking. So, I thought, in the spirit of my new found culinary skills, I would rank a select few of the dishes I’ve made in my dorm thus far, from worst to best.
The time I burned water. I never would have thought this was possible, but you learn something new every day, right? This shocking incident occurred when I heated up my empty frying pan and suddenly, smelled the unmistakable scent of something burning. Turns out, there was a little bit of soapy water leftover from when I had previously washed the pan and it burnt when it hit the hot stovetop.
A very crispy quesadilla. I was in the middle of video calling a friend back home while attempting to make a quesadilla, my fatal mistake.
I hope you like your quesadillas very, VERY, crispy.
Imagine my surprise when my very pale tortilla began to smoke. Confused, I flipped the seemingly underdone quesadilla over to discover a disconcertingly dark underside. “Ah,” I thought to myself, “that might be the cause of the billowing smoke.” I panicked for approximately four seconds, then realized I should probably do something to avoid setting off the smoke alarm. How mad would everyone be if the alarm went off and they had to trudge out of their rooms into the cold at 9PM? It could have been an opportunity to learn some new french curses, but I decided it would be best to just remedy the issue. I cracked my window open and held my pan outside to let the smoke blow into the night. Later, after recounting the night’s events to my friend across the hall from me, she only chuckled and said “Oh yeah, I keep smelling stuff burning from your room”.
A nice warm bowl of chili… or not. On one of the many cold, rainy days we have had in Metz, the idea to make a large, comforting pot of chili to warm myself up popped into my head. Naively, I thought to myself, “How hard could it be? I just need to throw a few things in a pot, right?” As I now know, there is much more involved in making chili than simply just throwing things in a pot. Most of the recipes that I read online called either for using a slow cooker, which I unfortunately do not have, or for a few hours of cooking chili, which I also did not have. This was news to me, but apparently, throwing some canned tomato puree in a pot along with meat and vegetables isn’t quite enough to taste good. I was still determined to get my chili though, so the next time I went grocery shopping I settled for purchasing an already prepared can.
Pasta. Pasta, in any form is a truly classic meal. It is relatively difficult to mess up, but with my track record I am rating my rendition relatively high – both for not having burned it and for having completed it. The only thing I haven’t liked about my pasta dishes is the frozen meatballs I’ve gotten from Cora, finally something I can vindicate myself from blame for. Hopefully, a trip to an Ikea (maybe even the original Ikea in Sweden?) for some Swedish meatballs will be able to elevate my spaghetti and meatballs dish. For now, my specialty will remain pesto pasta.
Pretty successful pad thai! At last, a successful dinner.
Successful pad thai? I’ll let you be the judge of that… at the very least it looks delicious.
A friend and I pooled together the odds and ends from our fridges to make some pad thai. Thanks to the magic of pad thai sauce and some fancy garnishing with lemons, we were pleasantly surprised at our creation. In hindsight, maybe the key to making it taste good was covering the dish in sriracha, which, given my previous cooking experiences, seems highly likely.
Some adventures are so long they have to be told in pieces, like Kaela’s latest trip. Join Kaela as she details the second half of her journey in Munich in her latest blog post!
Monday, October 19, 2020 | Written by Kaela
MUNICH, GERMANY (CONTINUED)
We started the second day of our adventure bright and early with a quick visit to Odeonsplatz: a square lined with ornate buildings. We then headed towards Kaisergarten: our breakfast spot of choice. On our way there were no turnstiles, workers, or barriers to ensure that you stamp the 10 trip pass, rather the German train system relies on the honor system, which felt quite novel. We did however encounter many multi directional escalators– a great space and money saving idea.
My avocado toast was absolutely delicious!
For breakfast, I had delicious avocado toast before we ran off to the next activity of our weekend. We made a quick stop by the BMW welt, but opted out of going to the museum. We then headed towards the English Garden, stopping for some cake on the way there. After finding a bench to eat on, enjoying the quick snack, and walking around, a surprise drizzle greeted us. The cold weather and rain did dampen the experience slightly but we happened upon a small shop, grabbed a cup of hot chocolate, and waited out the light sprinkle.
We ended up back at Odeonsplatz while trying to visit the Kriegerdenkmal and ended up in the middle of a protest. The rain suddenly started to pour, so we waited it out under an arcade by Kriegerdenkmal. After freshening up at the hostel, we made a quick stop at Gute Nacht Wurst for currywurst, which was even better than the dish I had in Trier. I was tempted to order more, but this visit was meant to hold us over until dinner later that night. We made another stop in Marienplatz for pictures and visited some of the surrounding shops. We ended up running into a model whose pictures were displayed in an advertisement there.
Scrumptious Strudel!
Since it was a Saturday night, many places were full but we got lucky and ended up getting a table at Hofbräuhaus München once again. Luckily, thanks to the night before, we knew exactly what to get: chicken, schnitzel, and pretzels! Unfortunately, we ended up with a table outdoors in the cold so I spent a decent amount of time walking around looking for an empty table indoors. This gave me the chance to explore all three floors of the restaurant. We ended up finding a table inside! We celebrated by eating strudel, playing games, and hanging around.
THE NEXT DAY
We went to Cotidiano for a less German-style breakfast. This place was amazing! I got an american style breakfast, an acai bowl, and a brownie with ice cream. This breakfast was similar to what I would eat at home, so it felt nostalgic after being away for so long. We spent some time in Gartensplatz taking photos and then went on a quest to find an open souvenir shop on a Sunday.
During this search, we ended up making a pit stop at St. Peter’s Church. Of all the churches I have seen so far, this might be my personal favorite. It was a bit different from the stone and stained glass I am used to seeing in cathedrals. It is mostly white with paintings covering the ceilings and walls. Golden figures line the sides leading up to the altar where a figure of Saint Peter lies. The smoke from incense filled the nave and caught the light beams streaming in through the windows.
We ended up finding souvenirs at Munich’s large train station and then boarded the train to head home.
Join Kaela in Munich as she learns observes the traditions of Bavaria, halted by a modern dilemma. Read on to find out more about her delicious meals and the sights of the city!
Friday, October 16, 2020 | Written by Kaela
MUNICH, GERMANY
When people think of Germany, they might think of people dressed in lederhosen (leather breeches) or dirndls (traditional dresses) eating copious amounts of meat and pretzels. After my brief visit to Munich, I can confirm these assumptions have at least some truth. We decided to visit Munich because one, it is a beautiful city, two, Germany has great food, and three, we wanted to catch the end of the Oktoberfest “celebrations.” Oktoberfest began as a wedding celebration more than two hundred years ago and soon became an annual event intertwined in German culture. While the Coronavirus pandemic halted what would have been the 187th Oktoberfest in Munich, the spirit of the celebration still continued on. People dressed in traditional outfits peppered the streets and many restaurants offered special “Oktoberfest” menu items.
My delicious wurstlteller!
After a long morning of travel, we headed to Augustine Keller for our first German meal (as well as our first meal of the day.) A friend and I shared a wurstlteller: a platter with an assortment of sausages. We took our time tasting each sausage and examining their flavors as though we were food critics. I tried some of a travel companion’s schnitzel and thoroughly enjoyed it (and highly recommend it). I left the restaurant wishing both my stomach and wallet were larger so I could order a schnitzel for myself. We played a few rounds of cars after our meal, but our fun was cut short by the menacing chestnuts hanging above our heads. Every time a strong gust of wind blew, a few would come flying down towards our table like hailstones.
Upon arrival at our hostel (Augustin), I immediately fell in love with our temporary housing. We had traveled with enough people to have our own hostel room and despite the bunk bed style sleeping, there were a lot of private spaces. We had our own large bathroom with two showers and the toilet was placed in a separate area. There were more than enough mirrors, sinks, lockers for storage, and couch space all placed strategically so it did not feel cramped. The room was modern, clean, and had an amazing view overlooking a small courtyard. German engineering is renowned for a reason.
Our lovely traveling group!
After freshening up for a bit, we headed to a famous Munich landmark, the Bavaria statue. Our hostel happened to be extremely close to the statue, which sits in the middle of the grounds where Oktoberfest would have been hosted, Theresienwiese, had it not been cancelled. The statue is meant to be a female personification of the Bavarian homeland. It reminded me of a piece of home, the Statue of Liberty. Both statues serve as monuments to their homeland, personifying patriotism through the depiction of nurturing and powerful women. It was fascinating to walk through the entirely empty fairground and imagine what would be there: food and drink tents, traditional music, dancing, horse races, temporary museums and crowds of people. I took a moment to try to imagine the fanfare and compare it to the somewhat empty large park before me. There were people wind skateboarding, biking, running, working out, or passing through like us.
An image of the beautiful Marienplatz.
We passed through Marienplatz on the way to our next eatery: Hofbrauhaus. We admired the New Town Hall building and its gothic revival architecture. I admired the Rathaus-Glockenspiel, a tourist attraction in its own right, with 43 bells and 32 life sized figures. Unfortunately, we were not able to see the show while we were in Munich but I imagine it is quite a spectacle.
Our last stop of the night was at Hofbräuhaus München. This Bavarian restaurant dates back to the 16th century and is three floors high. Its aura was incredible: live music, bustling customers, the smell of great food, couples dancing, traditional clothing, and workers walking around selling pretzels. Our group opted for a family style meal allowing us the opportunity to try all of the restaurant’s popular dishes. My favorites? For sure the half chicken, schnitzel, and pretzel. After eating and playing more card games without the threat of chestnuts falling on us, we headed back to the hostel for the night. As I listened to the snoring of a travel companion in the bunk above me, still full from my traditional meal, I slowly drifted off, excited for what the next day would bring.
Kaela is back on the blog and her latest adventure will make your mouth water. Join her as she eats her way around Luxembourg on a blustery day trip.
Monday, October 5, 2020 | Written by Kaela
LUXEMBOURG
My mood is easily affected by the weather and my comfort in said weather. The past few days, Metz and the surrounding area has gotten extremely cold and rainy, seemingly out of nowhere: a stark contrast from my sunny beach trip a week prior. When dressing for my day trip in Luxembourg, I underestimated the weather. My outfit of choice: leggings, a t-shirt, and a blazer. Since we were up before the sun, I expected it would be cold and warm up throughout the day but I was definitely wrong. The forecast for Luxembourg was windy and cold with on and off rain.
PRO TIP: Trust the forecast and always pack rain gear and an extra layer when traveling.
Don’t get me wrong: Luxembourg is a beautiful country. My personal experience was just clouded by the temperamental weather (no pun intended). I fully plan on revisiting Luxembourg to give this country the credit it deserves. Despite the weather, the trip to this small country just above Metz was all made worth it by the food.
BRUNCH:
Fruity Coconut Pancakes at Gruppetto
I am usually not a fruit on pancakes type of person. I am more of a nutella, chocolate chips, or syrup kinda gal. A person sitting near us in the restaurant, however, had the most beautiful stack of pancakes so I decided to branch out for once. Fruity coconut pancakes are, according to the restaurant’s menu: four fluffy pancakes with white chocolate, coconut spread and fruits layered in between, sprinkled with coconut shreds. These fruits include, but are not limited to, blueberries, strawberries and cranberries. When you take a bite of all three layers with the spread in between, you are overwhelmed by the sweetness and richness of it all but met by a burst when biting into a berry placed perfectly within the folds. The freshness and slightly sour taste of the berries offsets the thick and creaminess of the pancakes. I have no idea why I admired these pancakes so much, but I was taken back by how well the flavors worked together. If you visit Luxembourg, make sure to go to Gruppetto and get them. (It is just an hour train ride from Metz. )
LUNCH AND DINNER (LINNER? OR DUNCH?) :
The Obama Burger
While nearing the end of our visit at The National Museum of Art and History, we started to look up places to eat. We found Lux’Burgers: a burger restaurant with FIVE stars and almost 700 reviews on trip advisor. ( As a self proclaimed restraunt finding expert, this good of a rating is unheard of.) It seems there is always that one person who decides to give an undeserving restaurant a bad rating, but in this case it seems even that person decided this restaurant was too good for that. We were on the other side of town an hour before they closed, but we had to see what magic these burgers possessed. We sped walked, through rain and sun, down to the lower area of Luxembourg and back up. We made it with just enough time to sit and eat before they stopped serving for the day. In the wake of COVID-19, many restaurants and stores close early making it difficult for travelers to find places to eat. After careful consideration of each burger on the menu, with the help of a french speaking travel companion, we all decided, to get the Obama burger. It consists of a natural bun, a beef patty, sauce, iceberg lettuce, bacon, cheddar, and red onion. On the side, they give a small (and I mean SMALL) salad and crispy fries. In my opinion, the best part of eating the Obama burger was the way the bun held up to the juiciness of the meat and sauce. My GTL blog review is similar to the ones on trip advisor – five stars and a “would come again”.
There is nothing better than going to the market to get fresh produce, except for picking it yourself. Read about Kaela’s experience visiting Cueillette de Peltre, where she spent a couple hours roaming strawberry fields, apple orchards, and even made a new friend!
Monday, September 28, 2020 | Written by Kaela
Fresh produce is abundant in France, but in order to get the best produce, you have to pick it yourself. Luckily, the Leonardo Program at Georgia Tech-Lorraine gave us an opportunity to do just that in Metz. After the end of classes one afternoon, a group of us loaded onto the provided bus to head to the local farm in Peltre. On my arrival, I was overwhelmed on arrival by how many areas of the grounds I had to explore in the one and a half hour period we were visiting for.
I grabbed one of the provided bags and, along with many others, headed straight towards the strawberries. We were told they were the last of the season and soon to go, so of course I had to get some. The rainstorm in the distance made the trip a bit ominous. I thought, “Will it head towards us and cut our short trip even shorter?” and hoped it would move further into the distance.
We started our strawberry expedition at the front rows of bushes, a rookie move. After perusing the picked over bushes near the front we discovered as we moved further in and further away, the strawberries got larger and more plentiful. I guess few are willing to walk through the enormous strawberry patch to the back. The strawberry bushes sat in troughs raised above ground, which put them at eye level and made for easy picking. Once we had stuffed our bags with ruby red strawberries, we headed to the nearby apple orchard, grabbing some beautiful tomatoes on our way.
Pink lady, fuji, gala, honey crisp, granny smith, red delicious, golden delicious: To me, an apple is an apple. This may be a controversial statement, but I honestly don’t eat them enough to tell the difference. I find the variety of apples to be overwhelming enough when there are between three to five to choose from at the grocery store; to say I felt in awe when walking towards what seemed like an acre of apple trees is an understatement. There were endless rows with an uncountable number of apple varieties, most of which I had never heard of. My solution: pick a random row of trees and begin picking. The twisted trees towered above me and below my feet lay fallen fruit in various stages of rot. I was surprised and initially felt disappointed by how many apples laid on ground: seemingly all gone to waste. Luckily, they can be turned to compost and the nutrients will return to the ground to further the growth of more apples, a nice reminder of the beauty of the circle of life.
After leaving the apples we walked past a multitude of in-ground veggies which naturally I turned into a fun guessing game. What was it we were passing now? Would it be a carrot? A radish? A beet?
As we continued on we happened upon a large variety of leafy greens. I was excited at the prospects of the dishes I could create with them, but unfortunately, I was leaving for Nice the coming weekend so I only picked a small bunch. My group decided we would eventually make a trip back and make dinner with the freshly picked food. We made our way towards hoop houses filled with peppers, eggplants, and more but we ran out of time quickly. As we walked towards the exit, we ended our trip by making friends with a couple of goats.
This short trip was a good way to take a break from the business of school work and travel. I was grateful for the quiet and peacefulness of it as getting out in nature is always a great way to destress. I think the weather knew how much we needed the break, because the once ominous rain clouds at the beginning of our trip became a light drizzle as we drove away.
Blanca has been munching away on her favorite European snacks. Now, she’s chomping at the bit to list some of her favorites you can’t find in the United States in this delectable blog post.
*Disclaimer: Blanca was not paid to endorse any products mentioned in this article, nor does Georgia Tech endorse any of these products.*
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 | Written by Blanca
One of the things which excited me most about studying abroad was the chance to be fully immersed in an entirely novel culture, whether that specifically meant French culture or the broader category of European culture in general. In any event, I was thrilled to have an opportunity to experience the nuances of life in a different place, the small details that truly define what it’s like living somewhere else. To be sure, there have been quite a number of these small details. To name a few, smoking cigarettes is much less frowned upon, for instance, and some forms of public transportation, primarily articulated busses (those busses with the accordion-like connections) and trains, require boarding passengers to tap a green button on a specific set of doors in order for them to open. (This is something which I learned the hard way by patiently standing in front of the doors of a bus and staring, dumbfounded, after it as it drove away without so much as cracking its doors open an inch.)
That being said, the particular objects of my attention today are certain food items sold abroad that aren’t offered back home in the States. America is no stranger to processed foods, but despite the fact that European snacks share many of the same familiar brands, their repertoires are vastly different. I’m fascinated by the different versions of snacks which I’ve encountered here—tasting them has been such a fun experience in itself—and I’m here to enlighten the rest of the unsuspecting world (or Americans, at least) about them. And seeing as I’ve spent many a late night study-session in the GTL Student Lounge with nothing but the vending machine to sustain myself, I can’t think of anyone with more ethos with which to do so.
Kinder Bueno
The name ‘Kinder Bueno’ was inspired by the Spanish ‘bueno,’ which means ‘tasty’ or ‘good,’ and it’s a particularly apt description.
Upon a quick Google search, it has now come to my attention that Kinder Bueno bars are actually now available in the US. I, however, have never seen them, and I suspect this may be the case for many, so I consider it my duty to break the news. Crispy wafer encloses hazelnut cream and is enveloped by a layer of chocolate (they come in milk chocolate and white chocolate, with white chocolate being my favorite). What better combination to take the edge off of poring over electricity & magnetism problems at ungodly hours of the night?
Paprika Pringles
Paprika Pringles are the best traveling companion.
First introduced to paprika-flavored Pringles on one of many interconnected train rides while en route to Brussels, I now consider them to be one of the many unhealthy (but oh-so savory!) snack cravings I’ve picked up. Subtly spiced, the Paprika Pringle initially tasted little different than the iconic original Pringle, but after a few bites, the balance of salty and savory won me over, and I just might need to buy a few (a lot) of cans to bring back home with me.
Crunch Snack
Have you ever wanted a Crunch bar, but in the even-crunchier form of a wafer?
The crispy, chocolatey,( wafer-y?), late-night fuel of champions.
Perhaps this is instead something that you, dear reader, much like myself, didn’t know you needed. Take it from me—a combination of milk chocolate, wafers, and crunchy rice cereals is an unexpectedly perfect way to both satiate your newfound sugar craving (from all the Nutella you’ve been eating, since the French seem to favor Nutella quite) and refuel yourself during a long night of writing your ECE lab report.
Blanca is back on the blog, with a new post detailing her trip to Antwerp, Belgium. While she was hunting for the authentic Belgian waffle, she stumbled upon another thing to hunt for. Check it out for a story that will leave you asking, “Where’s Mary?”!
Wednesday, January 29, 2020 | Written by Blanca
Last Thursday, partially fueled by a desire to scout out the best, most authentic Belgian waffle, I found myself, at the end of a five-hour train journey, stepping onto my final concrete train platform of the night. A sign informed me and my travel party that we had indeed arrived in Belgium in one piece, and, huffing a relieved breath of air into the frigid night, we were soon off to our Airbnb.
The next morning brought a wave of sleep deprivation that was soon overtaken by excitement; we were off to Antwerp, and ever a sucker for seeing new architectural styles in the flesh, I was eager to take in all of Antwerp’s stepped gable building fronts and perhaps even a peek of the Mosan Renaissance.
After hopping off our train at the Antwerpen-Centraal railway station, which is a stunningly eclectic architectural feat in itself (Mashable even crowned it the world’s most beautiful train station in 2014!), the first stop was brunch. I’m never one to pass up a meal in a cute café, or a photoshoot of said food, or a pan of shakshuka, for that matter, so on this day I did all three.
A shakin’ shakshuka
Traversing sidewalks and absorbing the buildings lining the streets is perhaps my favorite pastime, and I saw much of Antwerp this way. If you find yourself in Antwerp doing the same, don’t forget to look up! I soon noticed that there sat perched on many a building corner in Antwerp a Virgin Mary statue, which quickly presented the opportunity for a twist on the classic, “Where’s Waldo?”. I should warn you, however, that Mary and her cherubs can be quite elusive. Be prepared to run across the street in order to take a photo when you finally encounter one, leaving the rest of your travel party wondering what on Earth is wrong with you.
Where’s Mary?
Later, I found myself passing through the famed Grote Markt in Antwerp’s old city quarter, lined with strikingly Flemish Gothic guildhalls. No doubt looking quite foolish (and even more like a tourist), I spun around in place to take in the full 360° view, which was still stunning, even on an overcast day.
Grote Markt, Antwerp
Our meandering path across the city brought us along the Scheldt River next, where we made a stop in the Museum aan de Stroom. MAS houses collections on nine floors, although making my way around Antwerp with a group of eight other people meant that I wasn’t able to pore over each exhibit as I normally like to do at museums. I’d been warned of this before, but if there’s one thing I’ve noticed about traveling, it’s that the larger the group with which you travel, the harder it is to agree precisely on how to delegate everyone’s time collectively—which makes perfect sense, since everyone has different desires and interests. So, while staring longingly at impressionist paintings and gawking over ornate period rooms is absolutely my cup of tea, for others it might seem downright dreadful. Conversely, though, seeing new sights and exploring new environments with friends makes the experience all the more sweet, so no complaints here! The MAS roof offers an expansive panoramic view of the city, so up we went, viewing the city from 200 feet in the air and tracing the steps we’d taken to get there.
The view from the roof of MAS
The rest of my weekend was spent still in Belgium, where I visited charming Ghent and strolled the streets of Brussels, lit up so magically in the night. Like Antwerp, these Belgian cities were both beautiful and full of character in their own rights, each with their own hidden gems (and each deserving of their own blog posts, if we’re being frank).
On a final note, in case you’re wondering, did Blanca ever get to eat her Belgian waffle? Yes, yes I did.
Are you hungry? If you aren’t now, you will be after reading Blanca’s next blog! Check it out for mouthwateringly delicious looking pictures and the details of her first week food adventures!
Thursday, January 23, 2020 | Written by Blanca
After wrapping up my first full week in Metz, I think it’s high time to address a topic about which I’m sure everyone back in the States is wondering:
What is the food like in Europe?
As the GTL blogger for the semester, I feel that it’s my duty to showcase all the aspects of life abroad, and foreign fare is no exception. This is a duty not to be taken lightly, so in order to adequately address the above inquiry, I made a point to try as many foods as possible, and as wide of a range of foods as possible, before and during my first full week in Europe—for the sake of furthering everyone’s collective knowledge, you know?
Aux Petits Choux, 207 Avenue de Strasbourg, 57070 Metz
A low-quality image of a high-quality meal
Only a ten-minute walk from the GTL building, and an even closer walk from the Lafayette residence where many GTL students reside, this bakery offers a selection of baguettes, viennoiseries (baked goods), and the best sandwiches at affordable prices. I ordered the Toscan sandwich (€4.10), which encased cured ham and piquant tomatoes, not unlike sun-dried tomatoes, in a near foot-long baguette. Enjoy the blurry eating-while-walking photo of it to the right!
McDonald’s, 43160 Rue du Palais, 57000 Metz
The good ol’ Golden Arches
To conclude our first week in France, a few friends and I made a 10PM trip to McDonald’s—because what better cuisine to eat in a country heralded for its culinary eminence? Nevertheless, the trip yielded some interesting insights: McDonald’s portion sizes are noticeably smaller than those in America and are significantly more expensive. That being said, the offerings in France are much lighter and healthier than those back home, and some menu items are unique to France, so it may be worth checking out for those interested in the differences.
Burger Kebab, 5 Rue du Palais, 57000 Metz
Burger Kebab’s Kebab Burger—say that 10 times, fast
Disillusioned with American fast food chains after my trip to McDonald’s, that weekend, I instead went to Burger Kebab, a French joint serving a range of menu items from tacos to kebab wraps and burgers. It seemed fitting to order the kebab burger, which did not disappoint; in addition to being more affordable than Americanized fast food, the burger also featured more complex flavor notes from its combination of kebab meat, fresh vegetables, and a house burger sauce.
Technopôle University Restaurant, CROUS, 4 Boulevard Dominique François Arago, 57070 Metz
A convenient lunch spot frequented by many a GTL student, the Crous Cafeteria is a practical choice due to its proximity to GTL and its competitive student pricing, so I decided to try it for myself. For a mere €3.30, students are able to grab a baguette roll, a side salad, an entrée (check the menu for each week’s offering), a serving of cheese/dairy, and a dessert. If you’re looking for a quick and easy-on-the-wallet bite to eat on a weekday, the Crous Cafeteria is hard to beat.
Di Clara, 3 Rue Dupont des Loges, 57000 Metz
Last Thursday night, and incidentally also the night of the last day of the first full week of class (a cause for celebration, for sure), a group of friends and I traveled to downtown Metz in search of sustenance that we would not need to prepare ourselves. We decided on pasta, and after inputting a few vague phrases into Google Maps, we meandered the streets of Metz, where we were found, fifteen minutes later and completely off-route, by a group of local French residents. Fortunately, they spoke English, and after a short chat with us fired off a list of Italian restaurants in the area. Ultimately, we found ourselves in front of Di Clara, an ambiently-lit restaurant boasting a diverse menu of pastas, risottos, and pizzas in red and white sauces, and despite not having a reservation for our party of six, we were ushered in.
The best—the best—risotto
I ordered the asparagus risotto (risotto di asparagi), a creamy and perfectly-balanced risotto with green asparagus, fresh tomatoes, leeks, and Italian cheese. Other orders at the table included shrimp scampi tagliatelle, tortellini in gorgonzola sauce, and Tuscan rigatoni, and after stealing a bite from many other plates, I can say without a doubt that this was one of the best meals I’ve had in France so far. Though on the pricier side—this is no Crous Cafeteria—like the locals, I definitely recommend paying Di Clara a visit if you’re in Metz!
Metropolitan, 35 Rue du Fort Elisabeth, 1463 Luxembourg
A Metropolitan meal in a metropolitan city
After an early start to the day and an hour-long bus ride to Luxembourg City, my Luxembourg travel companions and I dropped into Metropolitan for brunch. Bordering a bustling square, Metropolitan’s contemporary, glowing lighting and cozy seating were invitingly warm, much like its menu. I ordered Oscar’s Classic Burger, which comprised a juicy burger patty, crispy bacon, buttery melted cheese, and fresh vegetables on a toasted bun, all served with a side of thick, golden fries.
If burgers aren’t for you, there are a variety of other menu items to try! Other orders at the table included fragrant Moroccan lamb chops, a savory Mexican-style breakfast, raspberry cheesecake, steak and potatoes, and the classic brunch staples of pancakes and eggs on toast.
Because of the local preventative measures for the pandemic, for example the curfew and restaurant closures, we’ve all become good friends with food delivery apps like UberEats and Deliveroo. Metz’s abundance of restaurants — Metz is the third highest French city in terms of the number of fast food restaurants per inhabitant — makes it really easy to order delivery! Some Georgia Tech-Lorraine students’ favorites are Burger Kebab (sandwich kebab shop) and O’Tacos (French tacos chain). 
