Spring break back in the States was never a big affair for me. Usually, I would make the seven-hour drive back to Iowa and be happy staying at home, back with my cats and friends who I hadn’t seen in a long time.

Being abroad, this spring break was a lot different. I traveled to Belgium to stay with my traveling partner’s family, which was very odd. They mostly spoke Dutch and Serbian, languages that I can’t even pretend to understand. They showed us around Brussels, Gent and Bruges, cities which I never thought I would honestly visit. My favorite was Gent, a smaller college town with plenty of history. Most importantly, it was a lot cleaner than Brussels, although seeing the Grand Palace was unreal.

From Belgium we took a train to Amsterdam, which my traveling partner enjoyed the least. Amsterdam is really an odd combination of people – some there for the Van Gogh museum and Anne Frank house, others there for the Red Light District and, well, the pot.

My interests lie more with the first category, and I was happily able to spend a full day inside the Rijksmuseum. I also took a tour of the Red Light District, which truly seemed to be a different world from the one I live.

From Amsterdam, we took a plane to Copenhagen, Denmark. This was my favorite place, and I learned a lot about Danish history – the summary being they really hate Sweden, and Copenhagen has burned down a lot.

Copenhagen has one of the oldest royal families, older than that of England, and the oddest currency I’ve come across. For being the land of the Vikings, all of their coins sure do look like they were designed by fifth grade girls with all the little hearts and swirly designs.

It was an awesome, if exhausting, spring break. It was nice to be in places that spoke English again, but it’s good to be back in Geneva. The new term has started, which means that I only have classes on Wednesdays and Fridays, leaving me plenty of time for further traveling, and, oh boy, do I have a lot of trips planned.