First 2 days.

I am going to try to get my whole 3 days in to a short-ish story.

Pete, my brother delivered me to JFK Monday afternoon after a great weekend with friends and family.  I got to spend quality time with Pete, which is great because I do not get to see him that often.  Andrea and Darci were great hostesses and it was wonderful to catch up. BUT...let's get to the good stuff! 

I arrived in Amsterdam Tuesday, the 30th of May.  It was cold, raining and  completely  miserable!  But I did not care, I am in EUROPE!  I sat next to a very nice girl from The Netherlands on the way over and her and her sister and her boyfriend let me tag along with them to baggage claim and the train station to Amsterdam Central; they even made sure that I got on the correct Hi-Speed train to Paris Gard de Nord.  

I was able to navigate my way around the large train station and located the RER (subway) and rode it to Luxembourg Gardens where my student hostel is located.  I was unpacked and taking a small nap by 3pm France time.  I had not slept since Sunday (May 29th, 2 days earlier)  Cristy, my room mate arrived at 4pm and after she showered we took an adventure. 

We visited the Pantheon, several small cathedrals, as well as Notre Dame.  Notre Dame was closed by the time we got there, but it is very close and I will go again to go inside.  I did take several pictures of the exterior.

I slept like a rock last night and Cristy and I woke up at a decent morning time at 8am.  We went and had breakfast; a cafe` au lait and a croissant with strawberry jam and butter.  After breakfast we jumped on the RER and went to the Eiffel Tower.  On the way we meet 2 Brits and a girl from Philly and we all continued our tour together to the Tower.  Cristy, Evelyna and I went all the way to the top!

After spending several hours at the Eiffel Tower we had lunch, dropped Evelyna off at her RER and went we went East towards home (student hostel) and continued on to a market to pick up some foods for breakfast and lunch for the next few days.  At 6:30 we meet up with the rest of the class and had a welcome dinner of pizza, pasta and salads.

I will post pictures here, but I will post more pictures on my Facebook.http://www.facebook.com/ona.weisenbach