The Christmas lights that adorn every street in Europe are a terrifying reminder that my semester abroad is coming to a close. After traveling to 10 countries and 20 cities, I’ve compiled a list of the top 10 things to do while abroad. (Note: these are not the cliché sites to see, there’s TripAdvisor for that…)
1. In Florence, go to a secret bakery (did I just ruin the secret-ness of it?). Some bakeries secretly open their doors during hours, in which they are not allowed to operate in order to serve abroad students freshly baked pastries.
2. In Barcelona, stay up late enough to see the sun rise on the beach. This probably isn’t as pleasant in the cold, so go to Barcelona earlier on in the semester. Or just go twice.
3. In Amsterdam, go waffle testing. You can smell the chocolate-covered waffles on every block so this shouldn’t be a difficult task.
4. In Prague, play the game “who can find the grossest item on the dinner menu”. Czech food is notoriously questionable and includes delicacies such as: chicken knuckle, pig stew and roasted pigeon. Perhaps the fact that I am a vegetarian doesn’t help, but I would assume that these options are understood to be generally unappealing.
5. In Madrid, go to Kapital; it’s Shooters with an additional 6 floors.
6. In London, do the Warner Brothers Studio Tour, which is essentially a tour of the Harry Potter set. This arguably made up the best 3 hours of my time abroad (only half kidding). It’s a trek to get to, but it’s worth every second of the trek.
7. In every city you go to, there will be a church that you can climb to the top of. Although the churches start to look the same, the views from the top do not. Added bonus: climbing to the top of buildings constituted my abroad exercise regimen.
8. Take a class that meets at museums or at historic sites throughout the city. Despite the fact that I don’t plan on pursuing a career in archaeology, my favorite class of abroad has been an archaeology class that meets at different sites each class. These classes are an excuse to explore areas of your city that you never would have seen otherwise.
9. No abroad “to do” list would be complete without mentioning Oktoberfest. Go to Oktoberfest in Munich, go on the rides, order spetzel, wake up at 7 AM and join every American student in singing “Hey Baby” in the Hofbrau tent
My first HerCampus article titled, “I Miss You, Duke”, described what I missed about Duke at the beginning of my semester in Europe, and what I was looking forward to doing in Europe. Now, three months later, I’m realizing how quickly this semester flew by. The final “to do” on this list is to enjoy every single second of abroad. Yes, you’ll get homesick, and yes you’ll get FOMO looking at pictures from Duke of neon outfits and fanny packs, but never again will you have the opportunity to travel around the world for four months with your friends and without stress. I think I’m ready to start my “I Miss You, Europe” article now.