The schedule:
We left early Sunday morning, the second of June. After a few hours on the train, we arrived in Turku, Finland, where we took an overnight boat to Sweden. After driving through Sweden all day, which was surprisingly beautiful, we took another boat, this time only an hour or so, to Denmark. We stayed in Copenhagen overnight, and got to experience first hand the kindness of the Danish people. Everyone smiled at us and was willing to share things with us and were not disturbed by our many questions and willingness to make conversation with strangers. I hope to make it back to Denmark again! Next, we headed off for Germany where we met a very amusing man dressed in a tiger costume. Apparently it was his birthday, so we had a nice rendition of "Happy Birthday" for him, both in English and in Finnish. The next day, we visited and cheese and clog factory, which resulted in both a total weight gain of about 50lbs since we ate so much cheese, and also the unfortunate experience of having to listen to each other walk around in authentic clogs from Germany. We then drove to Amsterdam, and visited the Anne Frank museum. It was very moving, and, in my opinion, one of the best museums I have visited. Next we drove to a farm where we stayed the night, sleeping right next to the ostrich cage. After breakfast in Holland, we were off to Brussels for a tour of the city, where we got to experience first hand governmental protests (smoke bombs and all) while meandering the streets. After lunch, we headed straight for Paris where we spent the night. (Three meals in the three different countries on that day!) After a good night of sleep in Paris, we were off to see the palace, Fontainebleau, an hour outside of downtown Paris. We then made our way back to town, and ended our tour at the Eiffel Tower for free time and dinner. The next day we had completely free to do and see what we wanted in Paris. Me and a couple other exchange students decided to hit the main shopping street and then spend our afternoon having lunch in the park near the Eiffel Tower where we met some Americans as well as a few Frenchmen who remained unaffected by our charm (our charm consisting of various questions about their lives and whether or not they would kiss on of the other exchange students. Don't you wish we had visited your town?). The next day was an 8 hour bus ride to Southern France, which was rather boring (and stuffy), but the scenery was breathtaking, especially once we arrived in the Alps. We spent the night in Grenoble and headed out to see more of Southern France in the morning. We visited some small towns and got to see a perfume factory in Grasse. In the evening, we arrived in Nice for some free time, after which a small group of exchange students accidentally followed my lead on the way back to the hotel. I got us all extremely lost and we had to ask several people for directions at 11 PM at night. Fortunately we weren't in too much trouble when we got back. The next morning was a long drive through the Alps to Italy, where we got to see Verona. We visited the balcony of Romeo and Juliette, and then headed to the beach for some free time in the evening. Our second day in Italy, we got to see Venice. We had a gondola ride, and then had free time in Venice as well as free time on the beach near the hotel as well. The next day was free again, to go visit anything we wanted. We spent most of our day on the beach, where we all either got sun burnt or tan; most of us got both. The next day we changed hotels again, and had a hike through the Italian Alps. Of the three mountain ranges I have seen in my life, the Alps was definitely the most beautiful! The next day we were in Germany again, the final destination of our trip. We saw some Bavarian dancing during dinner, and then drove to Nurnberg for the night. On the following day, we visited a war museum in Nurnberg, and then drove to Berlin. We had a very emotional goodbye party that night, as we all hugged and kissed each other for the last time. In the morning, we had a bus tour of Berlin as well as some free time to shop and see a bit of the city, but then we were off for the airport. We took a flight to Helsinki where the final goodbyes truly took place, and I can honestly say I have never cried so much when saying goodbye. This group is really like family to me, and I'm astonished by how close I have become with these people. I never knew I would meet people who could be so different on so many levels, nor that I would have the chance to share such an experience with them. For many, it may have been goodbye for life, but I know that I will see some of these people again. I have already started making plans for when I get home from Finland...
Here's just a couple pictures of us, traveling across Europe:
In Paris, France
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