"A few of us have been in Europe for a week now, we spent our first few days getting adjusted to Lille, followed by 3 days in London. Lille is a fantastic city, it has many great buildings and squares, without any of the crowds or lines of tourists. It is a modern day working class city. Our long stay hotel is located between the historic train station into lille, and next to the new high speed rail line station. Below our hotel is a mixed use complex, which is best described as an urban shopping mall attached to the newly forming modern business district, only blocks from the historic shopping center.
Our adjustment to French was quite a bit to get used to, which made London a welcome break, back into english. Here we stayed in a YHA hostel only 5 blocks from oxford circus, which contains marvelous buildings and planning dating back to the 19th century. London was buzzing with activity to get ready for their summer olympics; streets now had young saplings along them, new pedestrian scaled street lamps were installed, and everywhere there were cranes on the horizon. It is amazing to think of the great age differences between the old and new buildings in the denser parts of London. Heavy closed in stone buildings are immediately next to spider glass clad structures.
Now back in Lille, we are grateful for its smaller, more intimate, compared to London. We are not sure how this semester will go, but if it is anything like the first week, it should be a great adventure. " - Nick Sortland
"Landed in Paris after an eight hour flight exhausted from travel, I had to figure out the new streets of Paris, France. One Major difference from France to the U.S. is the lack of street grid. The first intersection I came upon had at least seven different streets intersecting it, also all street signs are on the sides of the buildings. Once you get used to this, it all gets a lot easier to navigate.
Paris, you either like or hate it. Paris is beautiful, but many people dislike it for their own personal reasons. The only way you can truly decide is to come here yourself. In my opinion, Paris is beautiful, fast, and the wine bountiful. Oh the wine. So cheap the wine is here at the marche (market). The receptionist at the hostel would laugh at the amount of wine we brought with us.
Be our guest, be our guest. Luxembourg was perfect to us. They made us right at home, from the hostel to the streets no one was complaining. Luxembourg, the 'Financial Capitol of Europe,' showed us that no one is going broke in this beautiful city. Audi, Mercades, Beamers and many more high profile cars roam this city on a daily baisis.
Once coming back from Luxembourg, the trip to Lille, France finally happened. Paris to Lille, one hours time, was not a bad trip after all. After arriving in Lille we got settled in the extended stay hotel. Gathering food, gathering the city, and of course gathering wine are only at the beginning of our great European trip.
Much more is to come!"
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