A visit & a little football

On Friday I received a visit from a friend I hadn't seen in two years. Having picked her up at the train station Drienerlo, after a two hour plane ride and two hour train ride, she was tired, but looking forward to a couple of relaxing days before finishing off university :)

Saturday was the day to show her around campus and the city of Enschede, where I found, in one of the stores, that they were selling Portuguese flags. It is worth mentioning, however, that they were also selling Brazilian, American and Japanese flags, for example...

It is true that when someone visits you, you end up seeing places you haven't had a chance of seeing before - especially the ones closer to you. This means that I visited Volkspark for the first time and other such green areas surrounding the campus. It was nice to enjoy nature at its best, and keeping company with the rabbits. 

Sunday we ventured a little further, although not too much (so that the train ride would not be too long). Having previously visited Deventer and Zuthpen, this time around, I ended up seeing other things I did not get a chance to see the first time. 

The reason for having chosen Deventer, rests on the fact that it was the closest place I could think of that had a windmill :) If you have seen a windmill in the Netherlands, then you have really seen the country... Zutphen ended up being a convenience visit, due a detour caused by the works that were being done on the railways.

Ah, but the day could not finish without the Portuguese folks getting together to watch Portugal vs The Netherlands :) We all 'dressed up' in the national colors and made our way to the Oude Markt in the center of Enschede. A lot was at stake, considering that the Netherlands needed to beat us to go through to the quarter-finals and vice-versa. 

The game started off negatively for us, but luckily Ronaldo came through and helped Portugal make it. In the beginning, the Dutch were full of confidence, but alas, their team failed them and some decorations fell before the final whistle was blown. After taking pictures with us before the match and congratulating us on the win, I have to say I appreciate the fair-play shown by everyone :D Today, we will face-off the Czechs in the quarter-finals. 

1 day, 4 cities

This Saturday was pretty busy :D An idea came around a could of weeks ago concerning a visit to 7 cities in the Netherlands called Hanseatic cities. These include Kampen, Hasselt, Zwolle, Hattem, Deventer, Zutphen and Doesburg. The initial plan included all 7 cities but after realizing that it wasn't in fact a feasible option, it was altered a couple of times until we finally decidade that we would visit Kampen, Zwolle, Deventer and Zutphen - all reachable by train :)

After gathering a group of about 12 people, we left at 7:30am (with 3 of us having been left behind and catching the train 30 min later). 

A rainy weather awaited us in Zutphen where we were greeted by the IJssel after exiting the train station. 

@ market

@ city gate

First time I saw tulips besides in the market! :)

The next stop was Zwolle, the province capital of Overijssel. It is a city surrounded by the river and shaped similarly to a star. They even bake a bread with it's shape... 

@ city gate

@ city walls

After lunch we headed for Deventer. There we also made a pit stop to 'chill' for awhile... Time flies by fast when we're having fun :D

@ de Waag

@ market

A windmill!!!! Finally :) After having been mislead into thinking there was a windmill in Zwolle (it said so in the tourist maps scattered around the cities), I was hoping that we could see (and find) the windmill in Deventer. And we did! So, this is the traditional Dutch photo :P

Next and final stop was Zutphen. It was ideal to have done this after the hour change last weekend because it means that daylight lasts longer... So the whole time spent in Zutphen was done with the sun still in the sky.

The weather changed during the day, giving us some opportunities to enjoy the sun. However, since we were always so close to the water, the wind made it a very cold day...

My initial plan was to return and head to a party after dinner and after watching slbenfica vs sc braga, yet, I was able to fail this enormously because I was dead tired... It was just one of those days when I just needed to crawl into bed and sleep until there was no more sleep left. My eyes were closing while watching a pretty exciting game, so imagine...

Ich bin ein Berliner

News from Berlin! Nine people arrived around 2pm on Friday and waited for the remaining nine group members to join us from Hamburg (they had left on Wednesday for that city)... The trip was five hours but quite enjoyable.

The hostel - Amstel House - was located a little bit away from a subway station, but nothing that couldn't be handled. The facade of the building was beautiful:

Room and common areas were in good conditions, which made it for more pleasanter experience. The last time I was in a hostel was about six years ago, which made me unsure of what we were going to find, but the surprise was ideal :) Very comfortable beds and plenty of room...

First stop: Fernsehturm. Last time I was in Berlin, I didn't go to the top. This time, we all went. Even though it was night, there was still a nice view in 360º overlooking the whole city. Still, I'm quite certain I would not pay what I did pay to visit it again. Perhaps I'd have a different idea if it had been daytime. 

@ Sony Center

@ Oberbaumbrucke

@ East Side Gallery

@ Rotes Rathaus

@ Berliner Dom

view from the Dom

@ Brandenburger Tor

@ Reichstag and Bundestag

@ Tiergarten

@ victory column

Last stop: straße des 17. Juni. Following the walk through the Tiergarten, we walked most (if not all) of this avenue, ending up at the Brandenburger Tor once again.

Last opportunity to buy souvenirs and make our way to the train station for our train back to Hengelo. Those five hours were spent sleeping...

It was nice to see somethings I had already seen six months ago again, but this trip also gave me an opportunity to get to know some of my Erasmus buddies better and also to discover other parts of Berlin I didn't get a chance to see last time. 

As we arrived the Netherlands greeted us with it's traditional weather, rain!

Prince Friso

So, apparently the second son of Queen Beatrix from the Netherlands was trapped in a snow avalanche this past weekend while skiing in Austria. He's in critical condition especially because he was under the snow for about 15 minutes without access to oxygen. More info is in the article in Dutch News.

What my contribution to this topic is that the Professor responsible for the research group I'm working in will appear on TV (NED2) to discuss oxygen deficiency in the brain. I found out about this in an attempt to have a meeting with him today, along with my supervisor... We were unsuccessful because he was receiving some important calls regarding his appearance.

Meanwhile, I hope it all turns out well for Prince Friso.

On another note, my flight to Portugal in May is definitely booked! One week of 'vacation' where I'll be able to see everyone and attend my 'Benção das Pastas' (which is a traditional Portuguese ceremony when you finish you university studies). Hopefully the weather will be nice enough for me to enjoy the pool and the beach :)

Headed to the Netherlands

Well, in exactly 2 months I'll be on my way to the Netherlands. More specifically, the University of Twente in Enschede.

Within the Erasmus program I'll be working on my Masters Thesis in Biomedical Engineering. I haven't even been able to wrap my head around the idea that I'm almost finishing college, let alone moving to a whole new country on my own. It'll be an adventure!

My thesis theme has been chosen and I'm really excited to get to work on  it. So far I've been reading the recommended bibliography whenever I have some available time from college work.

Still expecting to hear about final acceptance and regarding accommodation. Can't wait!