We arrived to some cold, rainy weather back at the start of this second study abroad program. After checking into our dorms, everyone was down for the count!
Once Monday came, and we were rested, we started working on our projects and preparing for the exam on Thursday. The project was an industry analysis of the European Beer, Automotive, Champagne or Trade Show industries. They are team projects of 7000 words which consumed most of our week.
As this is the last stop on our trip, I hope everyone reading this has enjoyed sharing in one of the best experiences of our lives. We hope that everyone has the chance to travel abroad, learn about other cultures and collect some memories of their own!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
London: 7/25/09 - 7/26/09
Getting to London on the Eurotunnel Saturday morning was very cool! We took our bus, loaded it on a train enclosed in a train car, and were in England in 35 minutes! Once we got to London, battled traffic, and checked in, we got some tube passes and went to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square and Sherlock Holmes Pub for some fish and Chips.
On Sunday morning, we were up for another packed day of tourist behavior. We saw the London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the London Tower (Crown Jewels), Stamford Bridge Stadium (Home of Chelsea FC), Wimbledon, Regents Part, James Park, Hyde Park and Piccadilly Circus. WOW! It was a fast day but we saw it all and headed back to Manchester in the evening via bus.
Paris: 7/21/09 - 7/25/09
Paris was as busy as you can imagine. It took us almost 2 hours to get through traffic once we hit the outside of the city!
The Etap Hotel was the worst of our hotels, but still not bad. There was not much to be done Monday night, but we walked along the St. Martin Canal behind our hotel. It had a lot of Parisians out and about exercising, eating, dancing, and doing other leisure activities.
On Tuesday morning, we took a 5am visit to Rungis Market, the largest wholesale food market in Europe. There was a fish, meat, vegetable, cheese and flower warehouse. After the morning tour, we took a walk through the city to see Notre Dame, the Pantheon, Latin District, St. Sulpice, Hotel Invalides and the Eiffel Tower. The tourist attractions were very nice and clean, but the rest of the city was a little on the shabby side.
On Wednesday, our group took advantage of a morning at the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa, Madonna of the Rocks, etc. The place was enormous and packed. I think you could spend a week in there and not see everything. Afterwards, we took a walk down the Champs-Elysees to the Arc de Triomphe. We also got to see Sacre Coeur which is a church a top Paris. Very interesting spot.
On Thursday, our program took a tour to Moet et Chandon in Epernay of the champagne region of France. We got to taste some fancy champagne by the makers of Dom Perignon! Very prestigious place to see and the country side was gorgeous.
On Friday, we saw the Hotel des Invalides where Napoleon is buried. It also houses the French Military Museum. We tried to go to the catecombs, but they were closed at 4pm! Then we went souvenir shopping in the Turkish district, big mistake. We could not get through this place fast enough. One of those shabby areas I was talking about….
Headed to London on Saturday….
Grenoble: 7/17/09 - 7/20/09
The bus ride to Grenoble took forever on Thursday. For some union reason the bus-driver must stop for 45 minutes every 4 hours. Those stops seemed to double and it felt like we were trudging along. When we finally arrived, Grenoble was beautiful. Located in the middle of the Alps along a river provided some great scenery. We explored a little bit but then hit the hay and got ready for a big day on Friday.
On Friday, we had some introduction to business in France by Gael Fouillard. He gave as a great over view of the day-to-day activities from the perspective of government, corporation and employees. After lunch, we took company visits to Schneider Electric and Sun Microsystems and then a French Wine tasting at the Cave de Cruet winery.
On Saturday, we took a visit to Alp de Huez which was about 2 hours away. The town was cleared of snow for the summer, but we had a great time seeing the landscape. Once we got back to town, we met our former class-mate Imane Sari, who had lived in Grenoble, for dinner at Le Bistrot du Jardin. Both the weather and food were a good time outside on the patio.
On Sunday, I went to Verbier, Switzerland to see the Tour de France. It was a great experience even though Lance did not win the stage. Back in Grenoble, the Bastille was explored by the rest of the guys while the girls did some shopping and relaxing.
On Monday morning, we headed out to Paris…
Barcelona: 7/11/09 - 7/16/09
Our flight to Barcelona was quick. The bus picked us up for another quick trip to the Hotel Onix Fira located right off the main street, Gran Via.
On Saturday, we woke up to a delicious breakfast buffet in the hotel and then headed out on our own to see the city. Popular sites such as Las Ramblas, the Olympic Village, Park Guell, Sangrada Familia, Port Olimpico and many others were great to see in the warm, sunny coastal weather! For the afternoon, we had a guided bus tour around the city as well. In the evening, we watched the fountain show below the National Museum. It is a 2 hour performance every week, Thursday-Sunday nights.
On Sunday, we took a midnight bus to Pamplona, Spain for the Running of the Bulls at 8am. It was chaos to say the least. People stay up partying all night to watch 5 minutes of pandemonium. Only 1 guy was gored and then the bulls made it to the arena. We have never seen anything like this before! After the running, we explored the city to see the path of the run and engage in the culture. We stopped at a bar along the run and enjoyed some tapas (like appetizers) which were very good. By the end of the day, we had been up for 20 hours, caught a 6 hour bus back and crashed. What an experience though!
Monday was more relaxed with a presentation by Isabel Carranza on business in Barcelona. The rest of the afternoon, we explored again. Some of us went to see FC Barcelona’s stadium. It was huge! Holding 90,000+ people is a great place to watch the defending 2009 Champion’s League champions.
On Tuesday, we had a visit to Fira Barcelona and Mercabarna. Fira was the trade show center next to our hotel and Mercabarna was a wholesale marketplace. It was very interesting to see these cross-cultural business centers.
On Wednesday, we had an industry analysis lecture from our professor, M. Djeddour. For the afternoon, we went to the beach and had a delicious buffet at Port Olimpico. All the fresh meat and fish you can imagine with pitchers of Sangria and an ice cream chest! We headed back after dinner to pack up for the long bus ride to Grenoble in the morning!
Prague: 7/6/09 - 7/10/09
We arrived in Prague late Sunday night and took a bus to the Top Hotel outside of the city. It was a very nice hotel with multiple high-rises, conference rooms, restaurants, bars, shops, and many other amenities. We were located a short walk from the Chedov Mall which housed tons of shops and a huge food court!
On Monday, we started the morning with a presentation by Dr. Halik on the current economic condition in Prague. His lecture was very good and strictly applied to current conditions. Aftewards, our class took a walking tour of the city. We saw a lot of the town in 5 hours and finished it off with Pizza for dinner.
On Tuesday, we visited Krusovice Brewery outside of the city. It is a brewer owned by Heineken. There was an hour long tour followed by an excellent sampling of the products. The rest of the afternoon was spent site seeing on our own in the city.
On Wednesday, we had another lecture from Dr. Halik as well as one from Dr. Maly. We did not get to do much site seeing as the day was consumed in class.
On Thursday, our class took a visit to Skoda, a large European automotive manufacturer. The plant and museum were huge, but the tour was very restricted. No photos were allowed and we only saw a fraction of the plant.
On Friday we flew out to Barcelona with Czech Airlines....
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Manchester: 6/27/09 - 7/5/09
Week 3 marked the end of our tenure in Copenhagen and the beginning of our experiences with the Manchester Business School in Manchester, England. For the next 5 weeks, we will be a part of the European Summer Study Program. The program begins in Manchester and moves through Prague, Barcelona, Grenoble, Paris and London with a final week in Manchester.
For this first week in Manchester, we have primarily been spending our time in classes from 9-4pm. We have been discussing the formation of and activities within the European Union and other Cross-Cultural Management issues. Our professor, Geoff Burton, has been fantastic. We all agree that he is one of those rare professors with the ability to keep his students engaged for the full lecture.
Outside of class, we have been able to enjoy the city, country and hanging out with the other students. We are about a 15 minute walk from downtown Manchester and are staying in "flats". They are essentially dorms with individual bedrooms and bathrooms for 4 people who share a kitchen. We usually cook dinner together every night and then relax.
On Friday, July 3rd, our program took a tour of the Royal Brewery in Manchester. Here they brew Fosters, John Smith and Strongbow. We went on a 2 hour tour of the facility seeing every step of the process. One amazing part was the packaging lines. They have the capacity of fill around 1500 cans per minute. After the tour was over, a few of us went to Old Trafford Stadium, home of Manchester United. It is the equivalent of the New York Yankees on the world stage. We took a tour of the stadium, locker rooms, field and museum. It was awesome.
On Saturday, a few of us went to the Peaks District National Park in Edale, England. It was a great way to spend 4th of July hiking through the hills. We took a rocky, steep path up to the top plateau known has Grindleford. It took us about 2 hours to reach the top where we relaxed, had lunch and took in the sites. The weather could not have been any better. Sunny and about 65 F. For dinner, we tried to bring a little taste of home to England by cooking burgers, brats and potatoes. Didn't get to see any fireworks, but that's ok.
Today, Sunday, we are getting packed up to leave for Prague until Thursday when we move on to Barcelona.
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