Highlight of Brussels was the Gothic Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudala. Apart from the sheer beauty of the cathedral itself, we shared a special moment inside. Our exchange student family comes from every corner of the world possible, and there...

Highlight of Brussels was the Gothic Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudala. Apart from the sheer beauty of the cathedral itself, we shared a special moment inside. Our exchange student family comes from every corner of the world possible, and there was something beautiful about watching other people and the role religion plays in their lives. I couldn’t help but feel something as I watched my friends pray, light candles for lost loved ones, or just take in the sight for all that it held. 

Brussels was a very a beautiful city, but even more beautiful than that was the simple euphoric energy in the air of Eurotour starting and our family being together again. Brussels entailed a walk through the inner city, a (what became slightly...
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Brussels was a very a beautiful city, but even more beautiful than that was the simple euphoric energy in the air of Eurotour starting and our family being together again. Brussels entailed a walk through the inner city, a (what became slightly...
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Brussels was a very a beautiful city, but even more beautiful than that was the simple euphoric energy in the air of Eurotour starting and our family being together again. Brussels entailed a walk through the inner city, a (what became slightly emotional) visit to one of the most stunning churches I have ever witnessed, and more singing, chanting, and dancing than is probably healthy in a 24 hour timespan.

Let me analyze the general goings in outline form of this tour. Essentially, 45 exchange students all from my district here in Germany, thus already a family to me, were carelessly thrown into a bus and then set wild in beautiful European cities for...

Let me analyze the general goings in outline form of this tour.  Essentially, 45 exchange students all from my district here in Germany, thus already a family to me, were carelessly thrown into a bus and then set wild in beautiful European cities for 3 weeks to reek havoc on innocent bystanders.  The entire tour was both organized and carried out by the coolest group of humans ever A.K.A. Rotex A.K.A. a group of young’ns that have previously completed exchanges with Rotary and now are currently volunteering with Rotary to do cool things with us. Our journey took us through Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. Continue reading for more boring specifics:

Exact Journey: Hannover, Brussels, Paris, Avignon, Monaco, Nice, Pisa, Rome, The Vatican, Florence, Venice, Gratz, Vienna, Budapest, Slovakia, Prague, Hannover.

Ok Eurotour. Eurotour has been something I have been looking forward to since before I had even applied for my exchange. It’s sort of like this magical dream that hangs in front of your head, keeps you positive, encourages to work off your bread bod…...

Ok Eurotour. Eurotour has been something I have been looking forward to since before I had even applied for my exchange. It’s sort of like this magical dream that hangs in front of your head, keeps you positive, encourages to work off your bread bod… And let me tell you it did not disappoint in the slightest.

OK so flashback to a month ago. I got sick for a little. Really sick. Like host family forces you to see a doctor because you look and sound like death and are incapable of movement sick. Turns out I had a lovely case of Strep Throat and Mono, which...
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OK so flashback to a month ago. I got sick for a little. Really sick. Like host family forces you to see a doctor because you look and sound like death and are incapable of movement sick. Turns out I had a lovely case of Strep Throat and Mono, which...
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OK so flashback to a month ago. I got sick for a little. Really sick. Like host family forces you to see a doctor because you look and sound like death and are incapable of movement sick. Turns out I had a lovely case of Strep Throat and Mono, which seemed slightly inconvenient seeing that Eurotour would take off in less than a week.

With the help and love from a very caring guest family, many many MANY naps, too much medication, and an upmost undistracted devotion to being healthy for this upcoming Eurotour, I made it out alive and well in time to have one last little vacation with my second host family.

So off we went, squeezing together our large party of six into our car to take on new horizons. Are travels took us to Aachen, where my first hostfather had studied, as well as where he grew up. There we met up with a wild branch of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and whatever else and enjoyed a very lovely time together.

Because Europe is Europe, (really cool, that is), we made a short stop in the Netherlands, which I found positively RIVETING because hey, new country!? How cool is that!? Travelling from country to country is apparently quite the normality for Europeans, my host family found my slightly (but only slightly!!!) childishly copious amount of excitement extremely amusing.