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Girona

The romantic city of Girona, about 100 km from Barcelona, appeals through its many beautiful bridges over the river Onyar. If you plan to visit Barcelona and have some time for a trip to a neighboring city or just want to explore the authentic Catalunya away from the big tourist streams, Girona is the place to go - I'm sure you won't regret it!

This river makes its way through the center of the city and therewith divides Girona into a gorgeous old town with bars and restaurants and on the other side an area which offers a variety of stores and shopping opportunities.

Girona's Saint Feliu cathedral is one of the town's landmarks and beautifully emerges as the highest tower in the landscape, so that it can be seen from almost everywhere.

Another sight one shouldn't miss when coming to the city of Girona is the great City Wall's Walkway. It's quite a climb at some parts to get up the wall, but once you made it, the stunning view on the city and its surrounding landscapes definitely make the effort worthwhile.

 I felt so lucky to spend half a year living in this amazing city! I spent wonderful moments of laughter and joy there and cannot wait to come back. If you want to read more about my experiences in Girona, also read the article: ERASMUS Girona 2014.

Barcelona

Barcelona is truly one of the greatest cities in Europe. It combines the metropolitan feeling of seeing life at its best, of walking on historical ground beside ancient buildings, of tasting unique Spanish dishes, of breathing the air of the latest trends, together with the opportunity of cultural experiences through various museums, theaters and concert halls. And as a special treat you get to relish all that, while having the appeasing sound of the ocean stroking the endless beaches of this wonderful seaport city.

If you are about to visit Barcelona you NEED TO SEE:

The basilica "La Sagrada Familia"

The "Park Güell" with its impressive and just beautiful architecture

At Plaça d'Espanya you will see the beautiful building of the Museum of National Arts of Catalunya, with its great fountain in front.

The Museum of Dalí is of course a MUST for everyone remotely interested in Art and culture

Also the famous food market "La Boqueria" is definitely a trip worth making! It is in the center of the main pedestrian area on "La Rambla" and offers all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat and cheese. If you get to visit Barcelona, don't miss out on this tour of adventure for your senses!

And like just about anything in this city, also the nightlife of Barcelona is something you won't forget.

My advice: put on a cute dress, get your high heels out, go to the beach and enjoy the sunset before going wild in one of Barcelona's amazingly fun nightclubs - you won't regret it!

But go and see for yourself! :)

Amsterdam

Amsterdam – for some the fabulous city of fashion, for others world’s famous weed-capital. No matter which kind of person you are, you will surely find it adventures and will understand why it is the most popular and probably most known city of the Netherlands. Its town canals with its innumerous little bridges are the perfect location for couples seeking a romantic weekend away from home as well as for solitary adventurer who want to discover the vibe of Europe.

Amsterdam just offers a great variety of activities – in fact, there is probably nothing you couldn’t do.

When I visited the city with my mother (who happens to be an incredible person and my best friend in life), we took advantage of the many shopping opportunities in the city center, had lunch at an Italian restaurant close to Museumplein and bought tickets to the world famous "Madame Tussauds". Here some impressions ;)

Later that night we went to the ICEBAR Xtracold, to wrap this day up with a cold drink at a bar consisting of ice. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures there - they probably knew why... It was totally different than we had imagined. We were expecting to come into a "regular bar", entirely made out of ice, with some music and a dance floor to warm yourself up. But unfortunately we had to realize that all they had to offer was actually just a slightly bigger refrigerated storage room. We went in there with a group of other visitors, who all got some warming ponchos and gloves against the cold. The whole experience was guided by an english speaking person, who tirelessly tried to cheer for us, so we would come in the mood for a 15min long party - because that's how long the tour was.

On a positive note I have to say that inside the room, everything really was made out of ice. Every chair, every decoration, the bottles, the glasses and the whole bar were curved out of frozen water. The party included music, two rounds of pep talk, two rounds of shots or beer and a short movie about penguins which turned out to be an advertisement campaign of Heineken. When my mother and I got guided back out, I have to admit we were both a little disappointed. However it is another memory I now share with her and which we will always think back to, when talking about Amsterdam.

So all in all we had a fantastic day in one of the most interesting cities of Europe and I would recommend anyone to come visit!

München

Not only is München one of the most important cities in Germany and therewith in whole Europe, but it was able to keep its unique cozy "village" feeling, despite its fast moving economical function. "Gemütlichkeit" is what describes this city best, in my opinion. If you get the chance to visit München, you will understand what I mean when you enjoy a cold beer at one of the many bars and restaurants at the Marienplatz.

When thinking of activities you can do in Germany and especially the south, surfing had probably not been your first guess. Well as you can see, in the English Garden the river forms a standing wave about 1 metre high, which is a popular river surfing spot. Experienced surfers and athletes love gliding over the water with their boards. Maybe that's something you would want to try?

Here you can see the BMW museum and the BMW tower. The automobile manufacturer originates from Munich and doesn't hold back to show it through impressing buildings which now form part of the city's landscape.

And of course there is: OKTOBERFEST

This 16-day annual festival running from late September to the first weekend in October is the world’s largest fair and a lot of fun for both tourists as well as locals. The famous beer runs down the throats like water through the Isar during that time. This is one of the things which you need to see at least once in your life.

I am proud to call this city my home!!

ERASMUS Girona 2014

The time I spent during my ERASMUS year in Girona, Spain was amazing! It wasn't my first time abroad, nor my first visit to Spain, however I can say with full certainty that it was the best. I lived together with three fantastic Spanish medicine students in an apartment in the middle of the city. My room was spacious, clean and had a big window facing the impulsive main street of Girona. Living there really made me feel at home and therewith part of the Spanish youth who studied there. As the reason for my stay was an exchange of students between my university in the Netherlands and the university in Girona, I participated in all the regular classes and needed to obtain all the credits for this semester. Even though the classes were structured similar to the ones I had visited in Holland, I feel like I got a lot of new information, new techniques and new professional view on the material. In my class was a very endearing girl who took me by her hand and helpfully showed me around university, explained ordinary administrative procedures and even invited me to come along when she and her friends went for a night out.

The fact, that I didn't speak a word of Catalan didn't really matter, as I was able to express myself quite comfortably in the Spanish language. This was one of the times, where I was glad having done an Au Pair year in Marbella, Spain in 2010/2011 after my high school graduation. Without knowing the language of the country you live in, you never quite get to understand the culture of its people nor the attitude and the view on life they have. This to me, however, seems the most interesting part when traveling. Anyways...I'm drifting off...

I loved being fully integrated into the Spanish way of life. Step by step and day by day I got used to the "ooh, lo haremos luego"-mantality and to their constant kissing when someone new entered a social group. I adopted new habits such as eating lunch at 3 pm and dinner at 9 pm, drowning in-numerous eatables in olive oil when cooking, taking a piece of white bread with every dish that is being served and enforcing my conversations with exaggerated hand gestures to make my point clear. Moreover, being a german girl living in the cold, wet Netherlands I felt like I had to take advantage of every sunny day, every ray of sunlight and enjoy it outside, so I wouldn't miss any of it. Since my new found Spanish friends however had a daily routine, hobbies and chores to do themselves and therefore were not always available to go stroll through the streets of the old town with me, I decided to befriend other ERASMUS students living in Girona. And looking back, this was the best decision I could have made. Together with two amazing girls I went on day trips to the beach, discovered the metropolitan city of Barcelona by night, and had fabulous picnics in parks. I remember so many moments of laughter in bars drinking coffee or Sangria, while blabbering about fashion, our future plans, the countries we came from or simply about different people we knew. I recall so many nights dancing in clubs till sunrise and so many times when I wished my time in Spain would never come to an end. The people I met during my stay were wonderful, rich personalities and are now friends for life!

Who's talking?

Hi, my name is Jeannine, I'm 25 years old and currently finishing my Bachelor degree. Originally I am from a small town in Bavaria, Germany but for the past 4 years I was able to study "International Media and Entertainment Management" in the Netherlands. When reading through this Blog, you will see that I have already started discovering the world, but from now on I would like to take you all along my exiting journeys through this world and through my life.