Well this brings me to the end of my blog. Just left the IES Center for the last time. Had the rest of today and tomorrow in Freiburg then head to Frankfurt for the night and fly home on Wednesday. It is a bittersweet end to the program. The friends and experiences of this semester will stick with me for the rest of my life. Freiburg will always remain a special place to me and one that I cannot wait to return to in the future. I can look back 4 months and know I am leaving this place much better off than when I came here.
I soon get to return home for the holidays and get to attempt to begin sharing this semester's stories.
I now leave behind a family of 53 students who came to Freiburg not knowing what to expect and leave knowing we made the most of it and leave with a bond that can never be broken.

Amazing weekend in Venice with 5 friends. Pictures and more details will come as soon as this last paper is finished. Just felt the need to take a break from writing for a few minutes as I got reflecting on this semester as I notice my countdown calendar at 16 days left here. We were talking in between classes today and were talking about reuniting with our friends and families and realized at the same time we will be leaving behind friends, some of which have essentially become family and leaving Freiburg which has given us a home feeling since the day we all arrived back in August.

What an amazing 9 days in Rome, Madrid and Barcelona. Each city was amazing and very different from the rest. We started in Rome, my first trip to Italy. Was very excited to see many of the historical sites and of course feast on Italian food. I was somehow able to resist any Italian soccer jokes for the 4 days we were there, a big feat for me. Really got to see a good amount of the city in the time there. Was able to see the Coliseum, Forum, Pantheon, Catacombs, St. Peter's Square, Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel. Truly was an amazing city, but never would want to go during tourist season, already enough Americans there in November. I did have one of those "wow, this is a small world" moments in Rome. Standing in the ticket line for the Coliseum, I hear my name called and turns out to be a friend that lived next door to me in the dorms at Loma who is studying in Paris. The food, and wine, was a major highlight. And yes Debs, I did only consume red wine. Make sure you let Rick know next time you're in there. Breakfast was always at the hotel and then usually grabbed a small sandwich or slice of pizza for lunch to save up for dinner. Too many good dinners there. Veal saltimbocca, pasta carbonara, bruschetta, prosciutto, artichokes, mixed meat plates with chicken, veal, lamb and beef. Not to mention dessert every night. Ate at an amazing restaurant one night called Taverna Parione, hands down the best meal I have ever consumed. Can't wait to get back to Rome at some point.

After a few days in Rome, we headed off to Spain and started in Madrid. We arrived on Sunday, the night of the elections, creating an interesting atmosphere. Madrid was a nice city and very comfortable. Our class group was able to have a tour of the Spanish Parliament building and the Spanish Royal Palace. Got to try a variety of tapas, including a bull's tail dish and various types of Spanish hams. We consumed countless tapas and plates of paella, but the highlight of Madrid came on Tuesday, our last night in town. We were able to get tickets to see Real Madrid play in a Champions League match in the 1500th game ever played in Madrid's Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Madrid won the game 6-2 against Dinamo Zagreb from Croatia. The atmosphere was amazing and the soccer was even better, at least by Madrid. Better yet, we were only around 50 feet from the riot police barricade surrounding the away fans corner. We sat in the covered and heated second row of the top section directly above the goal where 6 of the game's goals were scored.

Next came a final few days in the beautiful city of Barcelona, Spain. The weather was perfect and felt a little like home due to that. We spent a decent amount of time in meetings there, so I did not get to see as much of the city as I would have liked to. I did get the chance to go to the Camp Nou experience at the stadium for FC Barcelona. The experience included a museum, walk in the stands, the press conference room, locker room, walk through the player entrance to the field, and along side the field. The museum was full of trophies and touch screen media on the history of the club, a really cool aspect. We also were able to spend some time on the beach and had a guys night at the casino the last night in town and actually managed to win some money even as we sat at a poker table with a Scottish guy that played in the World Series of Poker this past summer. Unfortunately, the FC Barcelona game on Wednesday was in Milan, so we had to settle for watching it in one of the official team restaurants and bars near our hotel. Barcelona also was where we got to spend Thanksgiving, my first away from Jeff and Debs. The 17 students and 2 faculty members with us at least got to have a Spanish restaurant's attempt at a turkey dinner, actually exceeding my expectations. Being in Spain, of course we started with various tapas, but then came turkey, corn, mashed potatoes, veggies, gravy, champagne for toasts, and local wine. It was a great experience for us and really was a great bonding moment when you could tell many of us missed our families that day. I was at least able to call Debs, Jeff, and the gang in Tuscon real quick and say hi, which was very nice.

Now, I am back in freezing Freiburg with only 2 more weeks of class, then finals and our Model European Union simulation. Next weekend, I get to return to Italy for a weekend in Venice (thank you Easyjet for having 46 euro roundtrip flights!) Only 23 more days until I land at LAX and celebrate Christmas with the family. Have a few busy weeks here that will be nonstop like our first few weeks as we balance classwork with making sure we spend time with everyone before heading back to the States.

And now for some pictures:

St. Peter's Square in Vatican City

This picture was requested by Jeffy in front of the Pantheon in Rome, Grandpa's favorite.

Coliseum in Rome. One of the most amazing things I have seen.

Trevi Fountain at night. Probably the most crowded thing we saw in Rome but quite worth it to see at night.

                     Up right next to the field at Camp Nou, where FC Barcelona plays their home matches.

                      Just us taking in the moment at Santiago Bernabeu during the Real Madrid game.

 La Campana tapas bar in Madrid, Spain. Unfortunately I didn't see any Campana signs in Rome.

      Thanksgiving Barcelona style with other classmates. A Thanksgiving most of us will never forget.

Temperature just dropped below 32. Thankfully its a short week and then Im off to Rome, Madrid, and Barcelona for 9 days. Time is slowing down here with papers and exams coming closer and closer. Cant believe the time here is almost coming to a close.

Looks like fall has arrived. View I get sitting at my desk. This was a grassy area with trees full of green leaves when I arrived. 

Thought I would go ahead and throw up some pictures of us just out and about doing things.

 Proof that yes, I have worn a suit at some point in my life.

 But apparently the youtube video for learning to tie ties wasn't good enough to meet Henry's standards.

IES put on a 5 on 5 soccer tournament for us, which brought a lot of trash talking throughout the week between the different student teams and especially with the staff team. Instead of teaming up with the best players, a few of us decided to try and take them down. We breezed through the pool play and all the way to finals, which came down to each team having to take 9 shots in a penalty shootout, and like most events in my life, I came out on top and we won the championship and free tickets to a future SC Freiburg match.

Well its been a few weeks since I updated this. Got to spend a week in Luxembourg, Brussels, and Paris for the EU Institutions trip. In Luxembourg we visited the European Court of Justice and got to walk around the city (which only takes 45 minutes). Following that we headed to Brussels for meetings at the European Council and European Commission, the two main institutions for the European Union. We did get free time one day and had the nights off, giving plenty of time to explore the city and feast on Brussels mussels, waffles, loaded fries, and of course Belgian beers. Conveniently, one of the top rated beer bars in the world, Delirium, was located only a 45 second walk from our hotel. Aside from brewing the Delirium Tremens, the bar offers over 2000 different beers from around the world in sizes ranging from a small bottle to 2 liter cauldrons, but of course the house special comes in a 1 liter boot. After both business and pleasure it was off to Paris for only 2 meetings in 3 days giving plenty of time to explore the city. The first day was spent at the Louvre, Arc de Triomphe, and the Eiffel Tower. No day in Paris is complete without a nice dinner and bottle of wine, so escargot, french onion soup, and creme brulee were a must. Those became the daily eats on top of cheese and bread and a variety of meets ranging from lamb to duck to steak. Day two featured meetings and a sunset boat tour down the Seine River to see many of the Paris attractions. Following the boat tour we all grabbed a bottle of wine and headed to Sacre Coeur to look over Paris at night. The last day included a quick final visit to the Louvre then a nice 8 hour bus ride back with 52 other tired students in the program. The trip did feature two birthdays for friends in the program which was another experience to really bring us together. The kids in the program are slowly becoming a family and once again returning to Freiburg really brought a sense of feeling home. 

 Yes, Luxembourg really does exist!

 The main chamber of the European Court of Justice

 Waffle stand in Belgium. One of the finest inventions in the world.

 The Mannequin Pis. A foot tall baby peeing statue that is beyond famous across Brussels.

 Just some art museum in Paris. 

 Classic.

 Best piece of sculpture in the Louvre

 Just us being us on the boat tour on the Seine in Paris.

 Parisian wine by the bottle (They didnt have glasses on the boat.) Classy, I know.

The Eiffel Tower at night.

 Boots of the "World's Best Beer"- Delirium Tremens.

 Under the tower.