Bonjour!
This was probably the most action packed month I have ever experienced in my life. ?In the month of April I had successfully finished three of my remaining five classes while also traveling to five countries within the month.
The classes that were coming to an end were my Beginners French Class, Researching in France, and my Financial Marketing class. ?For my Beginners French course we attended class every Wednesday for a three hour time slot. ?We were assigned three total exams through the semester with the final exam carrying the most weight. ?The grade consists entirely of the tests and participation. ?This was one of my more interesting classes because the teacher made the class an open dialogue and challenged us to test our french skills. ?The final was completely comprehensive, but it was not as difficult as we were expecting. ?For our Researching in France class we had an American professor. ?Her expectation for us was to read the course materials before attending class and to have an open dialogue with the class about what we had interpreted. ?The class consisted of participation points, two presentation group projects, and a final exam in essay format. ?In this class we discussed predominately about the issue of the declining tourism in Monaco and how to improve the numbers without losing the?Monaco ideals of luxury and exclusivity. ?We discussed ideas with our two presentation groups?on how to improve different aspects of tourism within Monaco. ?Lastly, for Financial Marketing, our grade consisted entirely of three group projects where?only the last project is presented to the teachers. ?The other two projects are rough outlines of our topic for our presentation. ?The topic dealt with the issue of banking moving from in person service at the bank to online banking and how to combat the?growing trend towards online banking.
With only two classes left after I had finished these projects I had plenty of time to travel around Europe to the places I have yet to see. ?With a week long spring break at the beginning of April we planned a trip from March 30-April 3 to Barcelona with a large group of our study abroad friends and a couple American friends as well. ?Luckily for us, Carlos, our friend from Valencia, and his girlfriend have spent extensive time in Barcelona so they served as our own personal tour guides. ?They showed us the best places for tapas while also ordering the best ones at each restaurant. ?They also showed us the incredible night lift in Barcelona as well as the tourist spots during the day including Park Guell, Gothic Quarter, Sagrada Familia, Camp Nou and more. ?On April 3 me and three guys took a bus down towards Madrid to meet up with our friend Pati who is from there. ?She showed us the best places in Madrid and ensured that we had the best experience possible. ?In Madrid we saw Plaza Mayor, Bueno Retiro Park, Palacio De Cristal, Plaza de Cibeles, Gran Via, Circle de Bellas Artes, Plaza de Oriente, the Palacio and etc. ?We left on April 5 to enjoy a day of rest before traveling to Positano (Amalfi Coast of Italy) to meet some A&M friends. ?Getting to Positano was a hassle because we had to take a fly, train, ferry and then bus but it was all well worth it. ?We decided to make a quick stop in Pompeii to see the volcanic ash that had once wiped out the city. ?When we finally got to the coast we arrived?at beautiful house overlooking the Italian coast where we were staying. We?visited the beach of Positano each day while?enjoying the incredible views. ?Without a doubt this is the prettiest place I have ever been and I wish I had several more days there. ?The following week on April 13- April 16 Garret and I traveled to London. ?It was nice to visit a city where English was the native tongue which finally allowed us to converse with the locals with no trouble. ?On that Thursday and Friday we saw the London Eye, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace (changing of the guard), Tower Bride, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Palace of Westminster, Hyde Park, Shakespeare’s Theatre, and so much more. ?The thing that stood out to me first was how big London is. ?The subway system there is incredible though making it very easy to travel around the city. ?On Saturday, Garret and I did a bus tour to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Oxford. ?I definitely recommend seeing these iconic places because you can see all these historical sites within a day and experience the history outside of London. ?Stonehenge struck me as the most fascinating place because of the mystery and theories surrounding the placement of the stones. ?On April 21 I went back to Paris to surprise my girlfriend who was there for the weekend. ?Also, I felt like I needed to go back because there was still so much more to see. ?In Paris I got to see the Musee D’Orsay, do the river tour at night, and enjoy some incredible French cuisine. ?The last day I was privileged??to tour the Gardens of Versailles by bike. ?It was mind-blowingly beautiful in Versailles exceeding my already high expectations for it. ?When I got back from Paris I had three days to recover before Garret and I took a bus to Germany. ?On April 26 we arrived in Munich late that night. ?We woke up early the next day and knocked out?the?Englischer Garden, Marienplatz, Hofbrauhaus am Platzl, Olympiapark, St. Augustines Keller, BMW Museum, and more. ?We also enjoyed true German food suggested by our German friend such as Schnitzel, Schweinshaxe, Knoedel, Curry Wurst, Sauerkraut and more. ?On April 28 Garret and I made our way to Dachau Concentration Camp. ?This was a surreal experience to stand foot in such a somber place and learn about the haunting history of the camp. ?After touring Dachau we made it back to Munich to enjoy Springfest at the fair grounds before heading to Berlin the following morning. ?In Berlin on April 29 our German friend, Sven and his cousin, showed us all around Berlin. ?He took us to the Berlin Wall, Reichstag Building, Brandenburg Gate, the Jewish Memorial and more. ?On April 30, Sven rented us a 4 series BMW to drive to Hambourg along the autobahn. ?While this was a once in a lifetime experience I think it ruined?my ability to enjoy driving again after maxing at 256 km/hour.
This past month flew by way too quickly. ?Looking back on this month I cannot believe all that I have seen and I wish I could relive it again. ?With this next month approaching I only have 22 days until I head back to Texas. ?I am going to stay in Nice my last month and enjoy my limited time here and prep for my last two finals. ?Until next time.
Au revoir!
