Titles are hard

Since my last blog, we've been to Hanover, Norderney, Amsterdam, and Belgium. Here is a summation of every excursion:

Though we only had one day in Hanover, it has been one of my favorite excursions. We visited the MHH, one of Germany's top cardiology hospitals, and had a lecture on heart transplants and transplant alternatives, more specifically, LVAD's. Despite nodding off a few times (exhaustion is our new normal), I found the talk incredibly interesting. Next, we trekked over to the spider silk and Axolotl research center, which focuses on the wound-healing potential of spider silk and Axolotl regeneration genes. The Axolotl were freakin' adorable. Soft smiles for days. After seeing the Axolotls, we were taken to the spider room, which is literally a room with only spiders. I went in, which was mighty courageous of me (jk, there weren't that many spiders).  

<3

Later that evening, a group of us went to a biergarten near our hotel. Best one we've been to so far. I didn't eat anything because my stomach hates me, but everyone else's food looked amazing. The biergarten was set among massive trees, and there were strings of lights between the trees. It was beautiful and relaxing. 

Other than a serious lack of wifi, Norderney was awesome. I loved how everything was max a 15 min bike ride away. Though the Thalasso spa was very relaxing, the most fun thing we did was the impromptu bike ride to the light house. We biked through the beautiful sand dunes and watched the sun go down across the beach. We even got yelled at for accidentally biking across private property. The light house was neat, but I still think getting there was the best part. The spa was fun. It was my first spa experience, so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I was pretty nervous about nakedness, but I ended up only seeing one old, naked man, so minimal scarring. My favorite was the salt pool. The salt concentration was high, so floating took minimal effort. And the water was warm. It was amazing. Mudflat walk was cool, but so freakin' cold. Glad we went though, it was a one of a kind experience. 

What I saw of Amsterdam was cool. Well, the Red Light District not so much, but the canals and shops and iamsterdam sign were. The crappy weather put a damper on things, but luckily, we were in a nice, dry car by the time to tempest hit. Thanks to Collin's friend Jonathan, four of us got to hit some major sites in Belgium. Even though we were only there for a day and a half, it's on my list of places to revisit; it was so beautiful and the people were so nice. The coolest thing we did was visit the TAMU WWII museum. The first thing you see when you walk into the museum is an Aggie shirt; I couldn't help but smile when I saw it. I've never been so proud to be an Aggie. 

At the USA WWII Memorial in Belgium, close to museum

We also saw this church statue thing that is out in the middle of this pear orchard. Right when we got there, the sun came out, and shone across the landscape all around the church. Much pretty. 

Though we only Brussel'ed for less than an hour, it was an amazing city. The Belgium waffles from a waffle truck changed my life. FOR THE BETTER. I would go back just to eat another one of those waffles. We didn't have time to get Belgium fries (sorry Jacob), but I guess that just gives me another reason to go back so #nocomplaints.

Went to the Cologne Zoo today. It was aight.

I just can't believe that we have a week left. This has gone by so quickly. I will be happy/sad when it is over. Happy because I want to go home and sleep for 10 days, sad because I will be at home and not in Europe. Still so excited for Berlin though. It will be crazy crowded, but we're going to get to see some pretty neat things. Tomorrow, we are getting up at some unGodly hour in the morning to go watch some surgeries, which is always fun for us pre-med/vet'ers. I am also quite excited for the Rhine cruise because 1) the Rhine is fab and 2) it's our birthday! I don't know about you, but we'll be feeling 22.

ok bye.

PS: OUR bday because twin. Realized how weird that read after rereading after posting. :P