A Year Abroad Bucket List

I like to think I’ve got quite a lot out of my year abroad so far; my French is improving, I’ve made fantastic friends of all nationalities and I’ve been travelling to Germany countless times (OK well, about 4).

La Tour Eiffel in all it’s glory

View from the top of Kolner Dom!

Noel a Strasbourg

Views from Disney castles in the sky

Oktoberfest 2k15

Brussels –> Luxembourg –> Strasbourg

 

However, when I was walking through a German drive-thru McDonald’s last night after many a vodka limonade, it occurred to me I only have 2/3 months left here in France and I should really make the most of them. So, I have undertaken writing this “bucket list” to make sure I actually do the things I keep saying I’ll get around to doing eventually.

• Make more French friends (I have made 2 within a 6-month time span. The French are a pretty closed off race in all honesty, but I’ll try a little harder to get out of my Erasmus bubble)
• Visit Heidelberg and have a spa day in the Black Forest town of Baden-Baden (I was supposed to do these two things last week but the -3 degree raining weather put me off slightly)
• Go to Amsterdam (Don’t think this one needs that much explaining)
• Go on a post-exams trip to Prague, Budapest & Vienna
• Explore France more (You can read about my recent escapade to Paris here but despite living in France and studying French, I’ve spent more time discovering Germany than France so far this year…)

That’s it for now, but if I think of any more I’ll be sure to add them to the list. What are your travel-related bucket lists? Let me know in the comments below!

À bientôt,

Sascha 

 

2016 | Cologne!

I lost track of what week we were on a while ago if I’m totally honest. But after spending a week ill in bed (probably due to excessive alcohol consumption every night for about a week), I’ve decided it’s about time to make a return to the year abroad Blogosphere.

I had a wonderful Christmas visiting friends & family back in the UK and stuffing my stomach with as many pigs in blankets as it could handle. Then I had to fly back to good ol’ StrassyB to sit my final exam on the 4th January (why so early?), which miraculously I think I’ve somehow managed to pass.

Anyway, after the exam stress was over and naps were had, I got a bit restless. All my friends still had exams for practically the whole week but I had nothing to do. So, as you would, I decided to hop on a 5 hour bus journey to Cologne.

Despite it’s recent New Year’s Eve controversy, it’s a beautiful German city with Roman foundations. Travelling alone was therapeutic and eye-opening, too. Enjoy the snaps!

Catching a breather on step number 250 of 533…

View from the top of Kolner Dom!

Chocolate musem? Yes please!!

À bientôt,

Sascha xo

Week 13 | Squad Reunited in StrassyB

Part of the reason I haven’t had the chance to catch up with my blogging properly is because we had a little course reunion in Strasbourg a couple of weekends ago. Us Strasbourg residents played host to 7 of our friends from Bordeaux et Paris.

Of course, nothing runs completely smoothly when a big group of friends gets back together after months apart. We got on fabulously – there was no issues with that. Just the slight issue of one of our friend’s ending up in hospital after a nasty fall through some glass on a night out. Then, being the drunken messes that we were we ended up on a bus which we thought was going to Kehl…

Until one of my friend’s got out her Google Maps and we saw the little dot moving further and further into Alsace. Kids, don’t get drunk and end up on a bus to a club in the middle of nowhere. It’s also not as if things couldn’t get any worse; we spent an hour on the wrong tram home and finally arrived at our abodes at around 6.30 am on Sunday morning. Ensuite, we discovered two of our Eramus friends had been beaten up on their way home. As you can probably tell, the squad was somewhat defeated and hungover on Sunday. Cue Bridget Jones, fajitas and infinite cups of tea.

The rest of the weekend was, however, class. It was lovely to have everyone back together again and spend time exploring StrassyB in all it’s glory, complete with marchés de Noel et la Petite France. 

À bientôt,

Sascha

Week 12 | Freezing in Frankfurt

Hey there! I feel like I spend most of my time on this blog apologising for not writing on it enough, but it is honestly very hard to find the time in between partying, travelling and now actually studying.

Three months ago, a couple of friends and I booked tickets to a Years & Years gig in Frankfurt so that we committed ourselves to travelling. The weekend finally arrived and we set off on our 4 hour Postbus adventure. (Postbus is amazing if you are travelling around Germany by the way – only €18 for a return journey!). We arrived at our hostel and realised we’d chosen the same weekend as a gaming conference so we met a very interesting array of travellers, but it was a brilliant weekend all the same.

The weekend consisted of gig going, cocktail drinking and strudel eating. Frankfurt’s a very industrial city but I would definitely recommend it if you’re ever in the area. The skyline is incredible!

À bientôt,

Sascha

Week 4 | Prost!

It is the end of September and when you live near Germany, the end of September/beginning of October means only one thing – Oktoberfest!

This week, we made the decision 3 days before our departure to book a weekend in Stuttgart so we could enjoy the first weekend of Oktoberfest. We pulled it all off for just 88 euros/65 pounds (win!). This is what the year abroad is about (#erasmus).

The weekend started with beautiful Thai lunch and Italian dinner. French food is good, but Germany is cosmopolitan and I have to say I have missed both food variety and ethnic diversity.

After my slight detour to the doctor on Friday morning to fix my crippled knee, we then spent the day drinking litre beers at the Oktoberfest. Going on the dodgems after 2 litres of beer is an experience I think everyone should have in life.

Prost!

The eye candy was also a bonus 

Being a top lad

We rounded off the day with German hot dogs and a night out in a Tequila bar that was a strange mix between a German indie rock club and old school R n B joint.

The whole weekend finished with a trip to the Porsche museum, which was both impressive and inspiring. T minus 20 years until I will own my own Porsche (a girl can dream).

Didn’t know I was named after a Porsche

Me and my new german whip

Loaded up on yummy Indian food (props to Germany for the multiculturalism), it’s time to head back to Alsace.

Food of the gods

A bientôt,

Sascha