Three Wild and Crazy Gals: Spring Break Stories from Megan

First, sorry to family and friends who have been looking for a new post. School has been busy and I just didn’t feel like writing, but in the next few days there will be several posts to read so get ready! This is going to be a three part “series” about Spring Break; one post from me, one from my mom, and one from my sister. Here’s mine:

For spring break my mom and sister came to visit. I can’t even begin to count the hours that went into planning the trip. Most of the time was spent pricing and buying all the flights, bugging them to get their passports done, and telling Meredith not to over pack so she would have room for mom’s extra stuff. But finally after what seemed like forever, they got here March 22. I had planned to take the bus to the airport to pick them up but then I decided to straighten my hair and missed it, so I had to get a taxi. All the taxis that usually sit out front of the clinic near my apartment apparently aren’t there on Sundays, which meant I was running around trying to figure out where to find one so they wouldn’t be at the airport by themselves. I finally got one and the driver was a very nice woman, she got me there fast and waited while they came in, then took us back. Probably the best cab driver we had the whole time.

Once they got to Coruña, there wasn’t a whole lot to do. I mean there’s plenty to do here, but I was working so I had limited time. Meredith came to school with me everyday and the students really enjoyed it. Several asked if we were twins (I am 5 years older, thank you very much). One afternoon we went to the Torre de Hercules, another day we went to Marineda City, the giant mall. They got to meet some of my best friends and see a little bit of what I’ve been doing the past few months, so I hope they enjoyed it!

On Thursday we started the grand adventure: 3 countries in a week.

First stop: Netherlands. We stayed in Haarlem, about 30 min outside of Amsterdam. (That night Carolina lost in the tournament…not the best start to a vacation.) Friday morning we woke up and there was no power in our room. Hmm, that’s strange. We went up for breakfast and no power in the whole hotel, what?! Then we heard from the front desk that the whole city of Haarlem had no power. Cool, that’s cool. I went into Haarlem center to visit the Corrie ten Boom house, something I’ve wanted to do for years and when I got there it was closed. Tears started coming out of my eyes from the overwhelming disappointment. I walked back to the center of the city to the cathedral and went inside, took some pictures and asked the people in the gift shop if they knew anything about the Corrie ten Boom house being closed. They told me it would be open as soon as the power returned! Naturally the only thing open was a bar, so I went and had a beer while I waited. When the power came on the whole bar erupted in cheers. I rushed back to the house and found 2 American families waiting who had reserved tours for earlier but due to the power outage couldn’t do them. Once the doors opened, we were able to have the tour and it was wonderful! The guide knew so much and told us everything as usual plus a little more because of the delay. It was amazing to be in the house where so many people were hidden and especially to climb into the hiding place itself! I picked up some bookmarks and a book from there and we have now started a ladies small group for the last few weeks we are here. 30 years after her death, Corrie ten Boom is still changing people.

The center of Haarlem with the Cathedral

Inside the Corrie ten Boom house. This used to be 4 bedrooms.

Me inside the hiding place.

Second stop- Belgium. We visited Brussels and Brugge. It was my second time in these cities and they are still beautiful, even if it was raining and miserable. The rain killed my boots, thanks to the little holes I had accumulated walking around Coruña.  Barry’s Hotel was lacking, even for 2 nights. I had a meltdown trying to go to sleep the first night because it was the lumpiest pillow I have EVER had to sleep on. When we went to Brugge all the lights shut off at 8:30pm. We thought the city was closing so we left, but later found out it was earth hour. In Brussels we used one of those sightseeing tour buses and rode around. At the European Parliament we got off so I could see it but it was disappointing because it wasn’t open (or I couldn’t find the entrance). The waffles were, as usual, to die for. I could eat waffles everyday.

Third stop – Italy. This was my second time to Italy. (Click here to see my post about Florence.) I love Italy! The food mostly but the places are really cool too. The people aren’t my favorite, but some are really nice. Depends on the person I guess. Rome was a little bit of a letdown to me, I think it would’ve been better if we had been closer to the center of the city instead of out by St. Paul’s. Our hotel was very nice and the weather was great. My favorite part of Rome was definitely St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, the basilica with Paul’s tomb. There are giant columns surrounding the outside and then a courtyard with a big statue of Paul. Inside along the top of the walls are frescoes of Paul’s life. Paul’s tomb is in the center, and you can go down into the area and see where the excavation is. There are chains there that he supposedly wore. It was amazing to be in a place where one of the first and greatest missionaries was. Mom and I took a trip down to Pompeii while we were in Rome and that was really cool too, although also a little disappointing. I guess I never really thought about it being a city. We walked around a lot but our tour guide was awesome, she showed us places that other groups don’t go and told us fun facts. We ate a lot in Rome too; gelato, lasagna, gelato, pizza, gelato…I love gelato, especially the hazelnut.

Eating our gelato outside the Pantheon.

This picture pretty much captures how amazing and huge St. Paul’s was.

Finally after all that we arrived back in Madrid, where we split ways the next morning after a stay in a hostel where you couldn’t fit between the toilet and the bathtub. Mom and Meredith headed back to Raleigh via Miami and I got on the 8 hour bus back to Coruña. It was a fun but exhausting trip. I don’t plan to go back to Amsterdam but I’d love to explore more of Italy!