Behind the Scenes: European Parliament

While in Brussels, I recommend you walk around and see the buildings of the European Union’s Parliament. During my trip to Europe, I was given a unique opportunity to go inside and tour the main Europen Parliament building. It was really interesting to learn all about it and see it first hand. I  learned that there are 23 different languages within the 27 member states. I also learned that the maximum amount of seats a state can have is 99 and Germany is the only one that has that many now. I thought it was really interesting how 40% of the European Parliament’s staff is translators. I learned how the European Parliament works. Work and life there are reflected in a calendar divided up into different colored weeks. The different colored weeks are pink, red, blue, and turquoise; each corresponding to a different type of parliamentary activity. I also learned that the European Parliament has 20 standing committees. Each committee specializes in a particular field, such as transportation and the environment.

That night after the European Parliament, me and a few frinds tried to go to a nicer restaurant that wasn't that expensive. We finally choose one and we all ordered lasagna. One lady worked there and after we ordered she went to the back area and opened up packages. After that we saw her put four plates into four microwaves. We were mad that we were going to pay eight euros for micro waved lasagna but we were also laughing at the same time. That night we went to the pub which has the most beers in tap in the world. 

Inside the European Commission Headquarters in Brussles, Belgium

While in Belgium, I recommend you visit the city of Brussels. We took our private coach to the European Union capital city of Brussles, Belgium. First, we were given the opportunity to visit the one of the 81 buildings of the European Commission. We saw behind the scenes of the European Commission, what it is made up of, and what it does for the European Union. During our presentation we learned many things about the European Commission. It was established in 1958 as a executive role for the European Union. We learned the president of the European Commission is Jose Barroso.

Headed by the President (one of the commissioners), The commission is in charge of 26 commissioners that act as a cabinet government.  We learned that the Commission is responsible for the implementation of legislation once it is passed by the European Parliament and the European Council. It was interesting to learn that the European Commission operates in 3 main languages (Englsh, French, German) We also learned that it can take around 10 years for a state to apply and be accepted into the European Union. I also learned about the Eurozone; and that only 16 out of 27 states adopted the Euro. It is interesting now looking at a Euro bill; all of the normal representations are taken away. For example, there is no President. There is only the European Union flag and a bridge. It is all because they were creating a currency without a state for the first time in history.  I recommend visiting Brussels and walking around the city to view all 81 of the European Commission buildings. 

Belgium: Inside a WWII Prison Camp called Fort Breendock

On the way to Brussels we stopped at one of the best conserved camps in Europe called Fort Breendock. Fort Breendock is located around the city of Antwerp, Belgium.  Fort Breendock dates way back to WWI when it was built by the Belgium army for defense purposes. They built a huge moat around the entire camp and they built up tones of soil for defense against bombings.  During the years, Fort Breendock was used first as a fort and then a prison.

However, Fort Breendock was also used as a prison camp by the Germans during World War II.   

During out tour of the camp, we saw the yard where the prisoners had to pass their days in forced hard labor. The Nazis turned the fort into a prison. During our tour of the camp, we learned that the hard labor consisted of removing thick layer of top soil that covered the fort. We saw the shower rooms, the hard wooden beds, and the toilets. During our tour there was audio and visual guides that helped us be immersed in the life of the detainees; which were controlled by the SS.  During our tour we learned that the prisoners were only served a very small amount of food each day. In 1947, the nation of Belgium declared Fort Breendock a national memorial.

All in all, If you are looking for a good history lesson about WWII go visit Fort Breendock near Antwerp, Belgium. However, I think that it is not a place to bring small children. 

Brugge, Belgium

When traveling to Belgium, I highly recommend you visit the city of Brugge. As a part of our study abroad program, we were given the opportunity to visit the old city of Brugge. While in Ghent, we woke up early and took a coach bus to Brugge. (It is a really nice way to get from one city to another while in Europe, but I recommend the high speed trains.)  This city was awesome. I learned that Brugge has over 176 chocolate shops. 

I bought some hand made chocolates and they were the best I have ever tasted. I highly recommend buying as much chocolates as possible because they are so delicious. Brugge is a small city that has very old medieval looking buildings and towers. Like Amsterdam, it has lots of water ways. In fact, I learned that there are 196 bridges in Brugge! While in the city I recommend you climb to the top of the tower for amazing views!  We did exactly that, our professor took a small group of us to the Brugge tower. We climbed up all 300+ stairs to get to the top. Seeing the city of Brugge from the tower was spectacular. While in Brugge, do not hesitate to eat as many waffles as you can! Because they are awesome!! 

I had the best Belgium waffles. First, I had one with wip cream and chocolate; it tasted so incredible. Then, later that day I had another Belgium waffle with this cookie spread that looked like peanut butter.  After that we took a boat tour to see the whole city. I recommend you do that when going to the city.

All in all, while in Belgium go visit the city of Brugge. Get some chocolates and waffles, climb the tower, go shopping, and take the boat tour.

Ghent, Belgium

Ghent, Belgium is a very interesting city located not to far from the capital city of Brussels. We were given the opportunity to visit Ghent, Belgium for two in a half days. The second day we woke up and went to went to the local McDonalds for breakfast. We went to McDonalds because we thought the hostel breakfast was no good at all. McDonalds in Ghent had a very interesting menu that had some similiraties and differences to the United States menu. 

I ordered a New York City burger.  It was interesting how there was a little pieces of ham on top of my New York City sandwich’s bread. It was also interesting how they served Jupiter beer in McDonalds. I do not think they serve beer at all in any McDonalds in the United States. I remember like how they charged 30 cents to use the toilet in McDonalds. That was interesting because I have never seen a restaurant charge to use the toilet. 

We also thought it was a little funny and something else how they charge for ketchup and bbq sauce at McDonalds. Those little things are what makes traveling so interesting.
In the afternoon we went on a boat tour on Ghent. It was really nice to see the city from the river. If you go to Ghent, Belgium, I highly recommend you go on a boat to see the entire city from the river. During the boat tour I thought it was cool to learn about the history of the medieval city. It was interesting to listen to the boat driver in three languages. The Medieval towers and buildings throughout Ghent reminded me of the video game Assassins Creed and during the boat ride I learned that there are over 250 different kinds of beers in Belgium!

Trip to Belgium & Behind the scenes of Ghent, Belgium, Day 1

While abroad, time is going to fly by. The last morning of Bristol, England I woke up and said goodbye to my host family. I tell ya what, I am definitely planning on going to go visit them in the future.

After our goodbyes, we took a train to France from England. I thought it was really cool how the coach went right into the train. I never new that trains that large were being used. The train was so awsesom because it went underwater across the English Channel! The tunnel is called the Chunnel Tunnel.

After traveling through the awesome Chunnel, In the afternoon, we arrived in Ghent, Belgium. Ghent was a very nice little city in Belgium. I thought it was a Medieval looking city with cobble stone streets and old clock towers. We watched the first World Cup Game of England vs the USA on a huge big screen. It was really neat how the game was in Dutch. 

When the US scored our group was the only ones yelling out of at least a couple thousand. The big screen was in a square with a few restaurants. I had beef for dinner and Belgium fries. (I highly recommend you eat plenty of Belgium fries while in Belgium, also  waffles and chocolate!) I also had this really good beer called Hoegaarden with dinner. 

After dinner we all went to a local pub and had drinks. The city of Ghent is really beautiful at night. It was cool that everyone was staying close together because we all hung out more.

While in Belgium, I highly recommend you go and see the city of Ghent!

A Brief Explanation of the European Union & a local Bristol, England Business

While studying abroad, I recommend you wake up as early as you can because I did the opposite and found myself always eating breakfast on the way to the bus stop. One day, during my second week in England I kept pressing snooze, resulting in me having to run out the door and eat on the bus.

During classes at the University of the West of England we had different professors come in and teach us different subjects. I am going to give a brief explaination for one of my days in class when we learnd about the European Union.

In the morning secession, we learned about Integration in Europe. It was interesting to learn about the differences in the UK and the rest of the EU. The first difference is the England does not really show the European Union flag while Ireland, Belgium, and the other countries do display it next to their own. There are 27 member states that make up the European Union and that it all started with six. Some states (Switzerland, Ireland, and Norway) are not part of the EU because of reasons like human rights, fishing legislation, and lack of public support. The basic of starting  point to the European Union was based on trade and manufacturing goods. 
After the morning secession, we went to Bristol Blue Glass. Bristol Blue glass was an interesting business to learn about. We learned that they use a hot oven called a glory hole. It was really cool to see hot glass  stretch all the way around the block and more. 
While abroad, I recommend you take as many pictures as you can. So that evening me and my roommate took pictures with our host family. I also recommend you talk some pictures of where you lived so you can share the memories with friends and family. I took some pictures of my host family’s home so I can show my family.

A Brief Explanation of British Politics

While studying at the University of the West of England  UWE Web site!  We learned a lot about British politics and culture. In fact each of us earned three credit hours in British culture and society and International Business, with a focus on the European Union and the United Kingdom.

One morning in class, we talked and learned about  "A Crisis in British politics." We had a professor that was an expert in the area of British politics and it was really interesting to learn from her. The four major people we learned about were Margret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, and Gordon Brown. Thatcher was recognized as an innovator. John Major listened to the general public and was recognized as a stabilizer. We also learned about how Tony Blair was labeled President Blair and that he expanded the PM’s (Prime Minister’s) office. However, Gordon Brown was the wrong person for the job and there were a lot of disasters during his leadership.

It was interesting to learn about how David Cameron is the new British Prime Minister as well.  Civic culture is a key future in British Democracy. Most of the citizens respect authority and are not radical. We also learned about the separation of powers and recent reforms within England and the UK.

There are three branches of government; the House of Commons, House of Lords, and the Monarch (The Queen) There are many different parties within Northern Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and Britain. It was interesting to learn how the British Prime Minister does not a formal job description definition within the constitution. I was not aware that the Prime Minister is not popularly elected. There are also many sources and limitations of the Prime Ministerial power. But most of all, the Prime Minister is mostly a political face, for TV.  Learn more about British Politics

TOP TEN reasons why this is a valuable experience.

¨ Traveling around Europe with friends (Trust me, It is awesome traveling with friend your age because you all have the same interest and go out at night!)

¨ Learning a lot about yourself (You learn what you like and dislike when it comes to food)

¨ Higher confidence (I guarantee you will have higher confidence when it comes to traveling and getting around when you return home)

¨ Learning time management skills (Studying abroad has really helped me with my time management skills because I was we were so busy the first week it didn’t seem like we had any free time, but you will if you manage your time right)

¨ Meeting friends you will have for years to come

¨ Experience England’s culture and customs first hand while living with host family (While living with a host family you will experience English cooking at it best and learn many things talking with your host parents)

¨ Learning a lot of valuable information about Europe in a short amount of time (You are really really busy everyday but it is a good thing because why not be busy, your only in Europe for a short amount of time!!)

¨ Great Beer (I swear it does not give you hangovers)

¨ Opportunity to choose second weekend travel and to travel afterwards (I choice Dublin, others choice Paris and Amsterdam) I have been to all three cities and I highly recommend you go visit them as well when abroad!)

¨ Opportunity to go behind the scenes and see inside the Palace of Westminster , European commission, European Parliament. (Once in a lifetime experience!) 

Review Post: Rick Steves’ London 2011 Review

I liked this travel guide the minute I opened it up because it shows maps of the huge city of London and a map of the London Underground or Tube. While in the awesome city of London, traveling on the London Tube is the way to go if you want to see a lot of the city in not a lot of time. I think Rick Steves’ does a very good job explaining how to plan to go to such a great city. The section on money is exact on when it comes to what you should know before you go. Rick’s section on the traveling throughout London is really enjoyed reading because I completely agree with him. The London Tube is the best way to go because it is the fastest. However, some of the pages are a little crowded with words and little drawings. When it comes to his section on sites to see in London, it could have not been written better. I have been to many of the cites he has mentioned and I recommend this book because it would have been a little more interesting if I would have known a little more about them (Westminster Abby, The Palace of Westminster, etc. I like how Rick Steves’ gives updated tour prices. I enjoyed reading his section on the Buckingham Palace Area because he has a little map of the roads and walkways. The little drawing of the map is a little hard to read but once you look at it for a little while it is not bad. If there was more color it would be more interesting to look at. 

Throughout this travel guide, there are many little drawings of what Rick is talking about in that particular section. Some of the drawings are a little complicated and overcrowded with words and stuff. I think some of the little drawings are too small as well and are a little hard to read on the eyes. I liked the organization of this book but at the same time I got a little bored following it and I saw myself more interested reading a book with more color. At the same time, I like how rick Steves’ gives his own personal thoughts and tips on all of the places to go and travel to in London. I agree with most of what he says about the famous places in London. Overall, I liked reading the about the first half of this book and that just about all. All in all, I recommend this travel guide for the very detailed content and words in it and I recommend you look at the DK Eyewitness Travel London book for more detailed and better looking pictures and maps. 

Recommend Product: DK Eyewitness Travel, Dublin

I recommend this book for many reasons. Dublin is a very unique city with many historic sites. I liked how this travel book organized the sites throughout Dublin into categories. First, I liked how the author introduces and gives a history of Dublin, Ireland. It is always nice to know a little history on the cities before you go. The authors Street-by-Street views of the city are a little confusing but detailed at the same time. When traveling to Dublin, I recommend you visit Trinity College. I have been there and this book lays out many things that I learned during the tour of the beautiful historic College. The only thing I do not like about the pages is that they are a little over crowded. While seeing Trinity College we could have saw the Book of Kells. Now, I recommend this book because the author gives a full page history on the Book of Kells; and if I would have known what it was when I was there, I would have gone to see it.

 Temple Bar was one of my favorite places to visit while I was in Dublin. I like how the author gives a brief history on Temple Bar and where it is located. I also like how the author gives a history on St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Once again, I recommend this travel guide because St. Patrick’s Church would have been a lot more interesting than it was if I would have read this before I traveled there. I really enjoyed reading the section on Christ Church Cathedral. The church was very cool to see and the history this author gives is very helpful. (Insert Amazon link with picture)

The Guinness section of this travel guide is just awesome. I highly recommend you visit the Guinness Storehouse and if you read this beforehand, you will be set. The author gives a very detailed written history on Guinness and gives a diagram of how Guinness is made.

I like how this author gives a very well written detailed look of the areas and exploring Beyond Dublin. The pages on Glendalough describe it very well and I recommend reading this section if you plan on traveling beyond Dublin like my group and I did while we were there. This section tells and gives the history on everything you will see, from the two lakes to the round tower at Glendalough to Military Road to the beautiful Wicklow Mountains. I have been to all of those places and the author’s section on them I really liked.

This travel guide is also nice because it gives you a detailed outline on where to stay in Dublin. This list on choosing a hotel is great because it gives you a brief description on the hotel, an idea of the price, and the contact information. I also like reading the Restaurants, Cafes, and Pubs section of this travel guide because it lays out which are the best, where they are located, and a brief description with some of them even having a pictures. I wish I would of read this book before I went because it gives great ideas on what to buy in Dublin for souvenirs. And finally, the last section is also nice because it gives some practical information on surviving while traveling throughout Dublin; I agree with most of the information, having been there and experienced that awesome city. 

My Europe Behind The Scenes Website

Along with my Behind The Scenes Blog, I also have a website where I give behind the scenes insights. Click Here To Visit My Website

This is what my website is all about:

My Mission:

To share my own personal experience of preparing to go abroad and having the most rewarding time of your life, while being abroad. 

Europe “behind the scenes” is focused on 3 areas: preparing to go abroad, host family life/school life, and leisure time while abroad in Europe.

Preparing to go:

I give valuable insight on what to pack (clothes, shoes, toiletries, and other stuff) what kind of luggage to pack it in. A first hand perspective is given on what kind of mindset you should be in before you go abroad and throughout the first few days.

Host family life/School life abroad:

A behind the scenes outlook is given on what kind of customs to expect while in Europe. My personal experience and ideas on culture shock also are told. I give a summary of what I talked with my host family, as well.

Leisure time abroad:

Customs while going out into towns is discussed. A behind the scenes look at the best places to go while in the major cities in Europe. 

According to recent information attained in my Universities abroad office, many college students (mostly Juniors and Seniors) are interested in traveling abroad to study and for leisure.

The reasons for this demand include:

1. Globalization and international business is expanding everyday

2. Jobs upon graduation are becoming more competitive everyday

3. Want to experience different cultures around the world 

Analyze a top blog: Europe Word

I analyzed a travel blog: Europe Word Blog  I enjoyed reading this blog because it gives insight on a whole range on topics on Europe. I liked how the blog gave travel tips. For example, it talked about how using the metro in Europe is highly recommended. I agree because most of Europe’s metro is very easy to use and cheap. I do think that using the metro is one the  best European tips. I also agree with how the blog talked about having a little cash is the way to go. From experience, my Visa credit card was excepted pretty much anywhere. However, some places have a minimum amount, so it was nice having cash. I liked how the blog talked about specific holidays, Halloween for example, and how it is celebrated over in Europe. The blog was nice because it was very organized. I liked how there was links to popular European Posts on the left side. I liked how you can explore facts about Europe and European lifestyle. I highly agreed with the post on Europe’s top ten beaches! Because I have been to the number 1, Biarritz, France! And it is so awesome!! I like how this blog gives insights on everything from the best restaurants in Europe to European coffee shops. I enjoyed reading about Eastern Europe. I learned a lot about Eastern Europe while I studied at The University of West England and it is always interesting to read peoples insights on it. All in all, I enjoyed reading many articles on this top blog and I recommend reading it before you go. 

Promote another website: Rick Steves' Website

I am choosing to promote the Rick Steves’ website .Rick Steves's Website . I like this site because it is very well organized and detailed. Being to Europe, I think it is a really good place to go for help on planning your trip to Europe. Rick has a list of countries and cities that he gives, what it think is, valuable insight on what to do and where to go. I also like how Rick explains the railpasses clearly. From experience, the booking trains can be a little confusing. I like how Rick has a travel store on his site. It is a convenient way to get some travel gear before you go. I enjoyed reading the section news and events on his site. I liked how he gives up-to-date information on what is going on across Europe. I liked how Rick gives tips into what to do if you loose all of your valuables. Also, I liked how there is a whole section to his website that is all about tours throughout Europe. Trying to search for the right tours to go on before hand can be a little confusing; I wish I would have known about this site. Rick Steves’ has many travel books that I highly recommend you purchase before leaving. I liked how there is a section on books on his website. This section gives insight on what is in his guidebooks. All in all, I recommend this website for many reasons. My main reason is because it is well organized and it seems to be a very valuable site to check out before you travel to Europe.

Rick Steves' Dublin

Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2010

2011 Rick Steves' London Travel Guide

Rick Steves' Britain

Rick Steves' France 2011

Rick Steves' Best of Europe 2011

Amsterdam, Bruges, Brussels

Ireland 2010. Rick Steves'

Rick Steves' Italy Travel Guide

Rick Steves' London Travel Guide