Travels – Page 9 – To GT-Europe…and Beyond!

A Midterm Week in My Life at GTL

With all of the travel that happens in a semester at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, it can be easy to forget that it is still school and with that comes the occasional midterm week, and in Mira’s case midterm day. Read more about Mira’s experience relaxing in Metz and studying for her midterms in her latest blog post!

Friday, October 1, 2021 | Written by Mira

My color-coded google calendar for midterm day might have been too colorful for one Wednesday…

The best thing about having class only on Mondays and Wednesdays is having class only two days a week. The worst thing is having assessments only two days a week. And naturally, this week, they all decided to test my knowledge on the same Wednesday.

My upcoming midterm week (day) meant that I would spend the weekend in Metz. It is more than okay to take a weekend to slow down. There’s so much travel involved in studying abroad, especially at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, that you might feel like you’re missing out by staying home. I mean, I definitely felt like that. As I sat at home, studying all weekend, I saw on social media other students hiking in Switzerland, eating amazing food in Berlin, paragliding in Annecy… FOMO is real at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, but the semester ebbs and flows for everyone. While my midterm week was this week, a lot of people (the same people I saw on social media) have their midterm week next week, which means while they’re staying in Metz, I get to travel to Barcelona.

Coffee shops, like the Columbus Cafe featured here, are my favorite study spaces!

As I mentioned, I stayed in Metz this weekend. I had a very relaxing weekend… minus being stressed for midterms. Saturday morning, I woke up bright and early and went to my happy place, Fox Coffee (6 Rue Gambetta, 57000 Metz), to study. This was my third time this week here, and my goal is to become a regular. Saturday night, I finished a book! I actually get to read for pleasure here, and my younger self is very proud of my current self. I’m not quite sure yet whether it’s because I have more downtime or better time management, but being able to prioritize leisure activities (like reading) has been a welcomed surprise.

Monday morning, I stopped by Paul (a chain bakery in Metz) on my way to class to get some non-apartment-made coffee. The rest of my Monday was full of lectures preparing me for my assessments on Wednesday.

Tuesday, I searched for a coffee shop that wasn’t Fox to study. I found a café in the center of downtown that was perfect (official coffeeshop review coming soon), and spent the afternoon working on an international business presentation, making a formula sheet for statistics, doing practice problems for both statistics and physics. One of my friends had met me there, and afterwards we went to Auchan for some grocery shopping.

Wednesday arrived, and so did my midterm day. I walked to the Georgia Tech-Lorraine campus early to practice the international business presentation in front of the beautiful glass building on a crisp fall day.

Practicing a presentation with this beautiful backdrop.

After the presentation, I studied for a French vocabulary quiz, and did some last-minute review of statistics. After the statistics assessment, I went directly to Paul to grab a cheap dinner to-go so I could eat before the physics exam. Physics at Georgia Tech-Lorraine is distance learning from Atlanta, so our exam is done in our own room through Gradescope and Microsoft TEAMS proctoring, which also means I had to clean my desk. My desk was piled with metro tickets, train tickets, postcards, and other memorabilia from my travels so far, so I had to find a home for these things while I ate dinner and studied the last bit for the physics exam. The exam was over by 9:00pm, and so was my midterm day! I finally breathed a sigh of relief because, on the bright side, my stressful week was over and my weekend was just beginning – Barcelona, here I come! One of the amazing things about Georgia Tech-Lorraine is that so much happens in a week, and you get to celebrate the end of a stressful week with a new adventure.

A Birthday Weekend Spent Country Hopping

The title of Mira’s latest blog says it all, join Mira on an exciting adventure through Luxembourg and the Netherlands!

Friday, September 24, 2021 | Written by Mira

My actual birthday was the Monday following this weekend and would be celebrated by a day of classes. So, I decided to celebrate early and check some cities and experiences off my bucket list! What started as a stressful Thursday turned into the most memorable birthday weekend. A physics lab and a Covid-19 test later, two friends and I were on our way to Luxembourg for leg 1 of our weekend adventure.

Day 1: Luxembourg

Maybe one of the artsiest pictures of mousse I’ve ever taken.

The train from Metz to Luxembourg is covered by the 3-month unlimited Eurail pass without any extra reservation fees. After one of my friends finished her class, we hopped on a train for dinner in Luxembourg. We walked around a town square, passing by calm coffee shops and beautifully decorated side streets. Luxembourg seemed to be one of the calmest cities I’ve been to. After dinner and some delicious mousse at Café Veneziano (1 Pl. d’Armes, 1136 Luxembourg), we walked towards the sunset and into a large park, meandering with no set destination when one of my friends noticed a column of bright blue lights, which we just had to follow.

The German-Luxembourgish fair was so vibrant and colorful!

To our utter surprise, we stumbled upon a German-Luxembourgish fair with many carnival games and rides( maybe Luxembourg isn’t as calm as we initially thought)! After some confusion of how to get tickets for rides due to the language barrier, we ended up in line for a ride called “Circus Circus,” a ride that spins in three frames of reference at the same time! In our little group of three sets of seats, we were definitely screaming the loudest and were laughing constantly, which led some Luxembourgish teenage boys to laugh at us, but hey, at least we had fun. Finding this carnival was a gem and we considered it a promising sign for the rest of our travels this weekend… what else would be stumble upon?

Something I find absolutely fascinating about Luxembourg is the emphasis of languages. We looked up what the official language of Luxembourg is, and there’s actually three (Luxembourgish, German, and French), but most Luxembourgers speak at least four languages! The employees at the hotel we stayed at seamlessly transitioned between German, French, and English when talking to different guests. The next day on the train, we sat near two girls who were speaking all three languages to each other, sometimes all in the same sentence!

Day 2: Trains

Making the most of our train struggles with my first official Belgian waffle!

I could probably write a whole novel about the trains we had on this trip. On Friday, we experienced everything from a surprise transfer in a run-down Belgian train station, a cancellation of said transfer, a last-minute platform change for said transfer, a delay of said transfer (while we were on the train), and a missed connection (because of the cancellation and delay). Nonetheless, we made it to Amsterdam! Even though we were an hour behind schedule, we weren’t too stressed because the Eurail app allowed us to easily find and change itineraries, especially since none of the trains required seat reservations.

The Royal Orchestra performed in the square with this background!

For our first evening, we decided to take it easy, find some dinner, and walk around the canals. After scoring a 5 euro dinner at an Italian-Argentinian restaurant in the Netherlands, we stumbled upon another great surprise! In the town square in front of the Royal Palace, there was a concert set up. Fancily dressed people were scanning a QR code and entering the gates. One of the security guards told us that this was a once-a-year Royal Orchestra concert and tickets sold out two weeks ago. Unfortunately, we couldn’t go in, but since the concert was outdoors, we could still hear it. We stood outside the gates listening to the lovely orchestral music with a view of a Dutch Royal Palace with cyclists zigzagging through the crowd. Everything seemed so cinematic.

Day 3: Amsterdam

Today was our first and only full day in Amsterdam! For popular attractions such as the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House, you need to make reservations well in advance, which we were unaware of, (so maybe we will revisit Amsterdam later in the semester) but we made the most of what was available to us on short notice. The night before, we reserved tickets for the Royal Palace, so we started our day in regal style, walking around the palace, learning about the history of Amsterdam and the architecture of the building, which had a large Roman mythology influence.

Found a cute bicycle on a canal bridge and just had to take some photos with it!

After the Royal Palace, I needed coffee. The night before, we had found a bakery called Lourens (Oude Leliestraat 15, 1016 BD Amsterdam, Netherlands) that claimed to have the best iced coffee in Amsterdam, so we had to put it to the test. Not only was the iced coffee delicious, but the workers were so sweet! After a not-so-quick impromptu photo shoot with a random light green bicycle on a canal, we headed towards the Tulip Museum, which has student tickets for 3 euros! The museum is quite small, but we learned a lot about how tulips ended up in Holland and how tulip fields are maintained. I guess this was as close to actual fields of colorful tulips as we were going to get in autumn (if you’re at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in the Spring, please go to a tulip field in April for me).

Our next stop of the day was one of my bucket list items: canal cruise in Amsterdam. There are many different places you could go to get tickets, or you can buy them online. We opted for the I Amsterdam x Circle Line canal cruise. A 75-minute tour of Amsterdam from the canals, learning about the history of Amsterdam and the canals – did you know that there are more than twice as many bicycles as people in Amsterdam?

After the incredible canal cruise, we stopped by a chocolate shop, Puccini Bomboni (Singel 184, 1016 AA Amsterdam, Netherlands) near the best iced coffee bakery and waved to the friendly barista who remembered us, and the chocolatier offered me a free truffle for my upcoming birthday! We spent the rest of the day and evening walking around the beautiful canals, grabbing dinner at one of the many Argentinian restaurants. The way the lights reflected off the canals was so picturesque, but no phone camera could capture the way the water glistened.

I don’t think you can capture Amsterdam in a day. Honestly, I don’t even think you could see Amsterdam in its entirety in a weekend or even a week. I hope I get to come back at some point during the semester and see the things we missed, see the golden leaves in later autumn, and eat a famous stroopwafel.

The Leonardo Program

In the spirit of the renaissance man the program is named after, the Leonardo Program at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, run by Prof. Sonia Serafin, provides students with a broad array of cultural experiences in Metz. Read more about Mira’s experiences with the Leonardo program in her latest blog as in just one week she goes produce-picking at la Cueillette de Peltre and sees a performance by Orchestre National de Metz!

Wednesday, September 22, 2021 | Written by Mira

The Leonardo Program is a true hidden gem of Georgia Tech-Lorraine. I didn’t know about this until our welcome orientation. Professor Sonia Serafin created the Leonardo Program to give students a chance to have cultural experiences that would otherwise be inaccessible. With a focus on cultural immersion and the arts, the Leonardo Program offers various activities and events throughout the semester.

An image of strawberries growing from a planter. One red strawberry is in the center of the image behind it are several whitish-green strawberries that are yet to ripen. — The rows and rows and rows of strawberries!

On Tuesday afternoon, we went fruit, vegetable, and flower picking at a local farm, Cueillette de Peltre (http://cueillettedepeltre.fr/)! Georgia Tech-Lorraine provided a shuttle to and from the farm so for an hour and half we could pick whatever we wanted. The main attraction? Strawberries.

After getting instructions of logistics, we made a beeline for the “fraises”. There were rows and rows and rows of strawberries! They were some of, if not, the best, freshest strawberries I’ve ever eaten! Not a fan of strawberries? No worries. This farm was massive, and they grew everything you could want: tomatoes, apples, peppers, all sorts of herbs, carrots, cauliflowers, different kinds of lettuce, flowers, eggplants… The best thing about Cueillette? The prices. As college students without a meal plan, the low prices were a major win. Someone bought a whole bag, full of produce, for 10 euros!

An image of the concert programs in front of the seats in the concert hall. The text reads "Concert d'ouverature de saison" which translates to the opening concert of the season. — The opening concert of the season!

On Friday evening, the Leonardo Program provided tickets to the Orchestre National de Metz’s first concert of the season. I don’t know much about orchestra concerts; in fact, the only orchestra concerts I’ve ever been to have been high school orchestras. I was definitely looking forward to whatever this experience would bring. The first piece was quite startling, fittingly named “Apocalypsis.” With a mixture of French, Latin, and English lyrics, the chorus resonated around the venue in ominous echoes. My favorite thing was watching one of the musicians play seven different instruments in two ways each to create some of the most dynamic and interesting sounds to accompany the chorus and string orchestra.

After being thoroughly confused for the first twenty minutes (the length of the piece), there was a long, ebbing and flowing round of applause. I lost track of how long the applause lasted, but it seemed like a solid ten minutes of clapping.

An image of the concert hall with rows of people sitting down. — This concert hall was gorgeous!

The other three pieces were more what I was expecting an orchestra concert to entail. Lots of piano and strings. The third piece highlighted the piano played by Louis Schwizgebel, a Swiss pianist who has played all over the world at just 33 years old (https://www.louisschwizgebel.com). The audience loved the piano piece so much (and rightfully so), that the resounding applause shifted to a rhythmic applause with a steady beat. Having not been briefed in orchestra concert etiquette, the shift in applause was a little unsettling; however, Professor Serafin later told us that this rhythmic applause is a sign to the musicians that the audience wants an encore. And that’s exactly what happened. I’ve only ever experienced planned encores at the end of a concert but this was in the middle of the show, unplanned!

At the end of the show, an audience member yelled “Bravo!” before the concert hall erupted in applause. Professor Serafin knows one of the flautists, and we got to meet her very briefly outside the venue. I am so grateful for the immersive experiences I’ve had this week, and I am only more excited for the semester to come. Professor Serafin even teased a fun “name that tune” event with some of the members of the orchestra coming to Georgia Tech-Lorraine (pandemic-permitting of course). To anyone interested in Georgia Tech-Lorraine, take advantage of these events because I guarantee you, you’ll never have such a combination of unique experiences.

Exploring the French Riviera

Sunny skies, a sandy beach, and lots of mountains, what more could a student at Georgia Tech-Lorraine ask for? Join Mira on an adventure as she explores the French Rivera in her trip to Nice and Monaco!

Wednesday, September 15, 2021 | Written by Mira

DAY 1

Coffee Gelato!!

I think trains may be my new favorite form of travel. As much as I love the views from airplanes, there’s something so calming about being on eye-level with the gorgeous French terrain. My itinerary for the day consisted of two trains and a metro, lasting about 8 hours, giving me enough time to read (for pleasure, not for school!) and admire the mountains and Mediterranean coast, of which no picture could do justice.

If you are staying in an Airbnb, I highly recommend asking your host about local favorites. Our host was so welcoming and gave us a list of places to go and how to get there, even sharing with us a local secret (there are coves on the other side of the port in Nice, free from an abundance of tourists). We headed out to dinner, wandering around the streets of Old Nice. I felt like I had been transported to another world. Among the souvenir shops and lavender soap vendors were so many restaurants with different cuisines: Indian, American, Italian, Middle Eastern, and especially Niçoise (the local Nice cuisine), plus too many gelateria to count!

DAY 2

ID: A woman with a maroon top and black shorts, spreading her arms in front of a large blue, white, and red sign that reads: "#ILoveNice." Behind the sign, the sea and coastline is visible, and the sky is overcast. — Doing touristy things

The best way to start the day? A French breakfast: boisson chaud (hot drink), orange pressée (freshly squeezed orange juice), and a viennoiserie (a pastry). We spent a leisurely morning, enjoying breakfast (petit dejeuner), walking around the Old City, and exploring the views of the beach. I could look at the view from the beach forever. Standing near the #ILoveNice sign, you can see the French landscape curve around the Mediterranean Sea. In the distance, you can see the hazy outline of mountains while listening to the sound of waves crashing against the rocks.

After a very serene morning and early afternoon, we headed to the train station to go to Monaco (for no other reason than just to add it to the list of countries we’ve visited). If you buy the unlimited Eurail pass, the train between Nice and Monaco is completely free, no seat reservations required.

View of pale buildings, higher ones on the left of the image, and lower ones on the right, leading to sea level. In the background are mountains and an overcast sky. In the foreground are brown-green trees framing the image. — Monaco!

Monaco is built on the side of a mountain, and grandly towers over the nearby port. Our one goal was to walk towards the Palace and back to the station. We reached the Palace exhausted after walking down part of the mountain and up a cascade of stairs, but the view made it more than worth it. From our vantage point, you could see how each building towered over the one in front of it as they got farther from the rounded harbor full of lavish boats. I can proudly say that I only spent a single euro in Monaco, on a single postcard. On our way back to the train station, google maps struggled to understand the public elevator setup but we read signs leading us into the station that was built into the mountain. Honestly, I’m not sure exactly how we ended up stumbling upon the correct platform 10 minutes earlier than google maps anticipated, but I can’t complain about not having to sprint to make our train.

DAY 3

ID: Waterfall on the left two-thirds of the image with a tree above and another tree to the right (in the right third of the image) of the waterfall. Peaking out above the waterfall, between the leaves of the tree is the sun, creating a sun flare in the image. — An artificial waterfall in Castle Hill Park

Our last day in Nice we followed the recommendations of our Airbnb host and a Georgia Tech-Lorraine alumni. A must-see destination in Nice is Castle Hill, a grand (and hilly) park near the port that features a refreshing waterfall that overlooks the sea. Even higher up the hill is a glorious lookout, making the (already amazing) views from the previous day pale in comparison. From here, you can see all the rooftops of Nice, and everything looks so small. Nearby a busker was playing a violin only adding to the ambiance and sensation I was in some sort of movie.

If you don’t think you can make it all the way down the stairs, don’t worry! There is a public elevator not far from the lookout, and it leads you right to the beach. After spending some time at the rocky beach, we found lunch at a Mexican restaurant La Lupita (9 Rue de la Préfecture, 06300 Nice), and I got some top-notch iced coffee.

The next stop on our excursion was one of the few (maybe the only) sandy beaches in this area: Villefrance-sur-Mer. In the week leading up to my arrival at Georgia Tech-Lorraine, a Georgia Tech-Lorraine alumna recommended this specific beach to me, and my Airbnb host confirmed that it was worth the train ride. If you take the trip, you should definitely bring sunscreen or buy some… I’m unfortunately speaking from experience.

Nice is truly a relaxing vacation destination! If you’re at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in the fall, go early while it’s still warm. If you’re at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in the spring, go late when it gets warm. And, if you’re at Georgia Tech-Lorraine in the summer, just go and please visit the Lavender fields in Provence for me!

A Paddle Down the Moselle

With its location on the confluence of the Moselle and Seille, rivers are as entwined in the history and culture of Metz as they are with the buildings downtown. Join Kaitlyn as she explores the heart of Metz in a way she hasn’t before — afloat. Read more in her latest blog post!

Tuesday, April 27, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn

What better way is there to spend a beautiful, sunny Saturday afternoon devoid (with the exception of the ECE homework I was avoiding) of responsibilities than on a trip downtown in Metz?

Since the French lockdown began, my friends and I have been looking for places to explore while staying within the allowed 10km of our dorms. Luckily, downtown Metz is within this radius, so when we discovered that a boat rental place downtown we set a plan in motion for an afternoon on the river.

An image of kaitlyn and her friends reserving a boat at la flottille in metz. It is a small green shed on a dock. — Speak to the worker at the green shed to rent a boat!

The rental company is called La Flottille, and is only a few minutes walk from Republique Square, the center of Metz. La Flottile has all sorts of boats, but since there were four of us, we decided on renting a four-person paddle boat. The worker brought us onto the dock and handed us each a bright orange life jacket. There’s no doubt in the world that we looked extremely goofy with the giant life jackets swallowing us, but of course, safety first.

An image of Kaitlyn and another friend sitting in a bright yellow paddle boat on the river. Their backs are to the camera and they are looking to the right at the Temple Neuf from the water. — A brand new perspective of a familiar sight.

A few seconds later, and we were seated in the boat and already pedaling our way down the river towards Temple Neuf. It was really neat to see Metz from this perspective; we’d seen the city from our many walking tours, but never from the water!

An image of three white ducks to the left of the yellow paddle boat on the river. — Don’t mess with the Metz ducks!

A brave family of three very large ducks came extremely close to our boat. It seemed like we were about to run them over, so we had to frantically change direction. Luckily, the ducks escaped unharmed and continued on their merry way to pester other boaters for food.

An image of a canal with a triangular bridge connecting two buildings. — Shh… the Venice canal system is actually in France.

Cruising our way down the river, we saw a small gap in between the buildings that we could enter via a narrow canal. We floated underneath a footbridge to check out the space; it felt like a quiet courtyard, but one filled with water rather than grass. I’ve never been, but the area gave me strong Venice vibes. Swap the fluorescent yellow paddle boat for a gondola and we would basically be on a canal in Venice, right? Due to the tight nature of the space we were in, it was just a little bit complicated to get out of there. We played bumper cars with the walls for a couple minutes in our attempt to exit the canal.

We continued down the river, as far as we could go. The rest of our boat ride took us underneath three different bridges, one of which was so short that I was able to reach up and touch the underside of the bridge.

We had this view all to ourselves on a beautiful Saturday afternoon.

There’s a lot more to discover; we didn’t have a chance to go in the opposite direction toward the Plan D’Eau, so we’ll probably be back soon after our legs recover from the slightly strenuous pedaling!

Dr. Birchfield’s List of the Best Bakeries in Metz

Boulangeries, patisseries, et fromageries, oh my! France is known for its amazing bakeries, cheeses, butchers, and markets and while studying in Metz all of these are a short walk (or bus ride) away. Join Kaitlyn and her friends as Georgia Tech-Lorraine’s Professor Dr. Vicki Birchfield shows them her favorite spots in Metz!

Tuesday, April 20, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn

*Disclaimer: Kaitlyn was not paid to endorse any of the businesses mentioned in this article, nor does Georgia Tech endorse any of these businesses.*

This past weekend, INTA professor Dr. Birchfield took a few of my friends and I downtown to check out some of her personal favorite bakeries, delis, and fromageries in Metz!

Statue of Charles de Gaulle in Metz,
Photo by P.Gisselbrecht.

We first met at the train station, right underneath the newly constructed statue of Charles de Gaulle. Being an expert on all things EU, Dr. Birchfield regaled us with a brief history lesson on de Gaulle and his prominence in this area of France, specifically due to his history of being a colonel while posted in Metz.

An image of pastries in a display case. — Le Moy Boulangerie, Metz

Across from the train station is Le Moy, a family owned shop specializing in chocolates and pastries. According to Dr. Birchfield, Le Moy has the best pain au chocolat in town, which is pretty high praise, considering we’re in France! My friends and I sampled the Paris-Metz, a cake that was created during a competition organized by the mayor to celebrate the opening of the TGV line from Metz to Paris. It’s a three-color macaron, filled with harlequin candy mousseline and raspberries. We all agreed that it was the most delicious pastry we had eaten in Metz. Le Moy is so close to the train station every Georgia Tech-Lorraine student should visit this exquisite shop, and try this classic Metz pastry.

An image of the Paris-Metz described above — The delectable Paris-Metz from Le Moy

An image of the exterior of Boulangerie Poulard. — One of the city’s most up and coming boulangeries.

Next up was Boulangerie Poulard, which was dubbed the “hottest new bakery in town”! This boulangerie has won several competitions for having the best croissants and baguettes in this region of France. In fact, it was a finalist in the competition for best bakery in France. The owner and chief baker, Seydou Diallo, has two shops: one on Rue du Grand Cerf, and one of Rue Perrat (just a block away from the train station). We picked up a classic, baguettes, from Boulangerie Poulard. It was pretty much everything a French baguette should be, so I can see why this bakery is one of the city’s favorites! Boulangerie Poulard is also a designated “Agriculture Biologique” boulangerie, meaning that it utilizes products from organic farming. This label identifies a bakery as being respectful of the environment, animal welfare, and biodiversity. Boulangerie Poulard has award winning baguettes and environmental conscientiousness; what more can you ask for in a bakery?

An image of pastries in a display case at Boulangerie Poulard — Boulangerie Poulard, Metz

The exterior of Au Veau D'or — Au Veau D’or also known as Maison Heitzman

We took a shortcut through the city center to get to the other side of town, to a street called Rue du Grand Cerf. Dr. Birchfield informed us that this is “the best street for food shopping in Metz”. We first stopped by a deli, Au Veau D’or, also known as Maison Heitzman. They specialize in deli meats like sausages, but they also have charcuterie and roasted chicken for takeaway. They offer classic French cuisine in the form of a warm Plat du Jour for well under 10 euros.

Directly next to Maison Heitzman is a small shop, Prime Primeurs, that sells the regional products of Lorraine. Here, you can purchase things like fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as French jams and beverages.

An image of the exterior of the prime primeurs store front — Prime Primeurs is a great place to get a true taste of this region of France.

An image of the exterior of Boulangerie Fort — Boulangerie Fort, Metz

Also along Rue du Grand Cerf is Dr. Birchfield’s second favorite patisserie, Boulangerie Fort (after Poulard). She recommends trying the pain tradition “la festive” and the quiche Lorraine from this bakery.

If you’re a cheese fan, you’re in luck. Also on this street (see how it’s living up to its reputation as the biggest street for food in Metz?) is La Fromagerie du Grand Cerf, a cheese shop run by a former pro footballer. He is passionate about sourcing his cheeses from smaller and more specialized producers. Not too far away, just off Place Saint Jacques is her other favorite fromagerie, Conrad, a very classic, family-run cheese shop with three locations in Metz that have been operating since 1920.

Our little food tour of Metz ended here, but it wasn’t the end of Dr. Birchfield’s recommendations. She suggests visiting the Marché de Saint Therese on a sunny Sunday. The market has stalls that sell warm meals (think roasted chicken, pizzas, calzones, and galettes), cheese, fruits, and vegetables. From there, on your way to the botanical garden, where you can enjoy your freshly prepared food at a picnic table, you can pick up baguettes and pastries from the fantastic L’Ecrin Gourmand.

Of course, this is nowhere near an exhaustive list of the amazing food options in Metz, but hopefully it inspires you to explore the iconic French cuisine that is practically in your backyard during your time at Georgia Tech-Lorraine!

It’s Always Sunny in Madrid

Delicious restaurants, mystifying paintings, mosaic tiles, and canoes: the city of Madrid has all this and so, so much more. Join Kaitlyn on her latest adventure to Madrid over Easter weekend as she explores all the gorgeous city has to offer.

Wednesday, April 14, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn

**Disclaimer: The following trip took place over Easter weekend, before the most recent series of COVID-19 related restrictions were put in place in France.**

Dear Madrid, thank you for being the perfect getaway for a long weekend. We love you and your sit-down restaurants, energetic nightlife, and never-ending shortage of things to do.

The city of Madrid fully alive at night.

The night we arrived it quickly became apparent Madrid is a city that thrives at night; its streets were full of life and laughter, revelers were celebrating the long weekend in stride.

The next day was off to an early start; there was so much to do, to see, and most importantly, to eat (which is exactly what we did)! Due to COVID-19 restrictions we have been unable to sit down in restaurants until this weekend so you can bet we were going to eat out every chance we got. Our breakfast was one of champions. We were craving familiarity and jumped at the chance to have an American style breakfast, and dare I say the Spanish almost do American breakfast better than Americans? With our stomachs full and smiles on our faces we headed to our next stop: a shopping spree on the iconic Gran Via.

We wandered through a park, where we stumbled on a man with an extremely old-fashioned camera. He offered to take a photo of us, and showed us the process of developing it.

We then headed toward the Prado Museum to admire some artwork. There were many memorable pieces, but one that particularly called out to us was Las Meninas, a Baroque-era painting depicting Margaret Theresa, the king’s daughter.

This piece of art has fascinated and mystified the public for hundreds of years.

After getting our fill of art history and seeing more than a lifetime’s worth of Spanish royalty paintings, we ventured into trying traditional Spanish dishes. I ordered their famous huevos rotos con jamón (broken eggs with ham).

Our culinary tour then took us to El Chocolatería San Ginés, Madrid’s oldest and most famous chocolate shop. The churros were delicious! It was a thousand times better than the frozen and reheated churros I’m used to having at my state fair… although now that I think about it, that’s a pretty low bar.

One of my favorite things about Madrid was seeing the architecture. They seem to slap Spanish tile on everything. Even their street signs are artfully painted tiles!

Painted Spanish tiles are everywhere in Madrid.

A beautiful Easter Sunday in an even more beautiful park.

The next day was absolutely beautiful weather-wise, so much so that we spent half the day relaxing in Buen Retiro Parque. It reminded me of New York City’s Central Park, but better. Flowers were blooming all around us as park musicians serenaded us with a variety of instruments, from the saxophone to a man creating notes from the rims of glasses.

The crystal palace, in the heart of Retiro Park

Palacio de Velázquez

One of the main attractions of Retiro Park is canoeing on the lake in the center of the park. My friends and I excitedly hopped into the boats and rowed around the lake. We raced in the water, laughing as we got close to bumping into each other and generally causing chaos in the small lake.

An image of a boat in the middle of the lake. — The perfect place to spend a sunny day in Madrid.

The park was so photogenic that we couldn’t pass up any chances to hold impromptu photo shoots, especially with spring in full bloom.

Jumping photos always make the most fun shots.

Of course, we couldn’t vacation in Spain without fully embracing the culture. We were a little tired from our morning activities, so we returned to the Airbnb for a short siesta. Honestly, America could learn from Spain — siestas are always a good idea.

At night, we scouted out the best sunset spot in the city, the rooftop of the art gallery Bellas Artes. Though we didn’t exactly catch the actual sunset, the afterglow was magical with the lights from the city twinkling all around us.

Meandering around Mont St. Michel

Join Kaitlyn to the mystical Mont St. Michel, a tidal island, fortress, and town all in one!

Tuesday, April 6, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn

Ahh, the famous Mont St. Michel: the third most visited landmark in France, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its fame might be due to its multifaceted nature; a tidal island, town, and fortress all in one. For the history buffs out there, it is truly a fascinating place to visit. It was built in the 8th century, when the bishop of Avranches had a vision of the archangel St. Michael. Since then, it has been used as a pilgrimage center, an abbey, a monastery, and prison.

But before we actually made it to this incredible site, we stopped in the walled city of Saint Malo for a few hours. This little city is known for its beach, where the low tides make for a uniquely large stretch of sand. The amount of people we saw using the beach as a playground for extreme sports was astounding. There were paragliders (or were they parasailers? I might never learn the difference…), sailboats, and people sail-karting.

Two of normandy’s specialties: crepes and cider!

It became apparent to us that the people of Normandy are very proud of their apples— everywhere we looked, apples were on their menu, either in the form of crepes, pastries, or ciders. Of course, I had to try the signature specialty of the region I was in, so I enjoyed a piping hot cup of apple cider. The fact that it was warm enough to heat up my cold hands made the already delectable drink all the more appetizing.

Our next day was dedicated solely to touring Mont Saint Michel. As we walked along the bridge that took us across the bay to the island, all I could think of was how much the shape and style of the abbey reminded me of Hogwarts Castle from the Harry Potter series. Even the streets gave me Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade vibes, with their crooked and narrow alleyways and vintage shop signs. If I saw Hagrid sauntering down the street I don’t think I would have even batted an eye.

We took note of how even though it was the off-season for tourism, Mont Saint Michel was still teeming with tourists. I can’t even imagine the peak months when the tiny streets are overrun with other people. It must be so hard to get around! We ran into a few furry friends during our trek through the streets of the town: five different cats, a flock of chickens, and an ungodly amount of seagulls. Don’t ask me how the cats and chickens survive in the walled off island, I was wondering that myself. It may just have to remain a mystery!

Mont St. Michel tapestries in the souvenir shop.

We concluded our visit by walking around the island on the exposed sand flats. Once we were outside of the walls, the characteristic windiness of Northern France made itself very known. Our hair was flying all over the place in our pictures; for this reason you won’t be seeing any selfies in this post! It really was quite an adventure bracing the howling winds, and made us all the more appreciative when we hopped in a warm, windless taxi to take us home.

A First Taste of Italy

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.

an image of an adorable small puppy — 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.

The walkway of lovers in Varenna.

Selfies in Interlaken

Join Kaitlyn on her trip through the Jungfrau region in Switzerland in her latest blog post!

Monday, March 22, 2021 | Written by Kaitlyn

image of sheep from the train — The train ride to Interlaken gave us lots to see!

“Hold on, let’s take a selfie really quickly,” one of my friends exclaimed mid boarding our final train of the weekend. After it was uttered nearly three dozen times this weekend, I came to the conclusion this phrase was quickly becoming my friends’ favorite sentence. I can’t blame them, though; nearly every point in the Jungfrau region of the Swiss Alps was absolutely breathtaking and more than deserving of a snapshot.

coffees at the hostel — Hostel provided hot chocolate, lattes, and coffee!

Our stay in the town of Interlaken was an extremely unique one; it was my first time staying in a hostel. It wasn’t just any hostel, though. Somehow, we had managed to book a room in what was proclaimed as the “Ninth best large hostel in the world”. How did I feel about this? Well, as it was my first hostel experience, I don’t think I’m the best person to judge, but objectively, it was phenomenal. We were given free bus passes, breakfast, coffee, cooking utensils, and discounts on train tickets. We cooked dinner and ate alongside other young adults that came from different corners of the world but were able to communicate using English as a common language.

We started our Saturday with a train ride that snaked us through the valley and up to the village of Lauterbrunnen. We were probably the only non-Europeans on that train, and we made it very clear by taking selfies hanging out of the windows!

As our train approached the village, the mountains grew taller and the air simply felt cleaner. I know I say this a lot, but Lauterbrunnen was truly something out of a fairytale. We absorbed the scene in complete awe as waterfalls cascaded down the sides of mountain faces and church bells rang in the distance.We boarded a cable car that took us directly up to the top of the mountain. It climbed higher and higher, until the homes below us grew to the size of ants and we were eye-level with the mountain peaks.

The hike that our hostel recommended would take us directly to the alpine village of Mürren via a trail along the mountain ridge. We traversed through what can only be best described as a winter wonderland. There were so many times I had to remind myself that the panoramic views weren’t just quickly fading scenes on green screens, but one-hundred percent my real surroundings. My friends and I were just absolutely floored by the landscape. One of the best parts was that the hike was extremely easy! Since we were already so high in elevation, all we had to do was walk on a mostly flat trail. It was incredibly low effort, high reward.

zoom in to look for a little mountain goat!

We made it to the end of the trail, the traditional mountain town of Murren that sits at 5450 feet. Though the hike wasn’t particularly taxing, we still figured we deserved a reward of Swiss chocolate, so we plopped down on a bench and tucked in.

Kaitlyn staring at the views of mountains — Here’s a photo of me having trouble comprehending that the view wasn’t a painting!

We spent the next day much closer to sea level trading the towering mountains for the crystal blue waters of Lake Thunersee.

Eating pizza on the docks was definitely a highlight of the day!

After getting off the train at Spiez, we heard a strange but familiar sound: long, melodic, trumpet-like notes were echoing throughout the town. It turns out a man was playing the alphorn, a several-meter-long wooden horn used by mountain dwellers in the Alps. It used to be a communication device for those living far apart in the mountains, but is a musical instrument today. We had learned about it in a Rick Steves video, so it was crazy to actually see and hear it in person! It really was the quintessential Swiss experience.

To GT-Europe...and Beyond!

Category: Travels