Canyoning Interlaken

Hello my friends,
This time Thundar decided not to come because he is a bit scared of water and canyons, so he decided to stay on the valley enjoying some green Swiss grass...but his mates went canyoning in Interlaken, Switzerland. the following video shows you what Thundar friends have done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NsJ0onckXo&context=C242f8ADOEgsToPDskK4PMjQFRcZ4wromAznWIxJ

Enjoy!

Thundar visits the Notre Dame Cathedral in Strasbourg

The Cathedral de Notre Dame is known as one of the most beautiful gothic cathedrals in Europe.  It also was the tallest building in the world up until 1647, and now stands as the second tallest cathedral in Europe.  The construction took place from 1117 to 1439 with a combination of German and French cultural influences.  It represents some of the earliest use of architectural drawing and is covered in thousands of figures related to the Gothic era.  The south transept of the cathedral houses one of the world's oldest and largest astronomical clocks.  It was created by Jean-Baptiste Schwilgue in 1352, but now resides in a local museum..for the cathedral replaced it with a replica from the 18th century.  There is a legend that his eyes were gouged out following the completion of his clock so that it could never be replicated.  Thundar was amazed by all of the history he has learned.  Not to mention, he has gotten to see some of the most exquisite and historic architecture in the world, as well as landscapes that were inconceivably beautiful.  All of this, as well as many other adventures are within your grasp.  Visit the NDSU Center for Global Initiatives for more info!

http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/

-Krista

A Belgian Adventure

On one of the day trips the group took in Belgium, Thundar tagged along with the study abroad group from NDSU with the Center for Global Initiatives.  There he saw some beautiful and quaint old buildings and had an unexpected adventure.

The beautiful, historic, and quaint little city of Brugge was filled with canals weaving in and out of houses, businesses, and the historic city center, which is actually a World Heritage Site. Thundar wandered around the town, taking in the intricate and unique brickwork that can be seen on some of the old buildings. He visited The Beguinage, which is like a convent of nuns. This small community, quietly ucked away not far from the city center, has been in Brugges since the 13th century. Thundar also found what may be the world’s oldest retirement home—a little cottage dated 1713 that used to be a home for the elderly.

After taking in the sites in the city, Thundar found himself being brought along on a fast-paced adventure. That is, a several mile bike ride out of the city. Thundar was presently surprised to find that he enjoyed the fresh air blowing through his fur, the soft rustle of fall leaves, and the sights and smells of Belgian countryside. On the ride he not only saw canals, sheep, and small farms, he also visited an ancient church and saw a colorful windmill!!  It was certainly a day he would remember as being one of his favorites :)
-Alyda

So Much History Under One Roof! Thundar Visits the British Museum

After visiting magnificent castles, eating local cuisine, and immersing himself deeply into his new environment..Thundar decided it was time he took an educational trip to learn the history of all the things he had gotten to see. How convenient that he would get to visit the British Museum! This is a museum of human history and is located in London, England. Its collection holds more than seven million objects that originate from all continents. It is the largest and most comprehensive accumulation of illustrations and documents that tell the story of human culture from its beginning to its present. Thundar found this incredibly interesting and wished he could spend a great deal of time here. Unfortunately, his time was limited but he did learn a few very interesting facts. The British Museum was established way back in 1753 with the majority of its collections being of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloan. The cool thing about going abroad with the Center for Global Initiatives here at NDSU, Thundar thought, is that you get a unique experience that combines both the fun of exploration and insight gained from a vastly interesting history. I definitely encourage you to take part and experience all that Europe has to offer as a student. The possibilities are endless!

-Krista

Thundar is officially on YouTube...Check it out...

Fall Semester CGI Europe Tour

ENJOY SOME OF THE WONDERFUL PHOTOS FROM ALYDA H. ON HER TRIP IN EUROPE

For more stories and info about this study abroad trip, visit http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/

Royalty Free Music Used from http://www.danosongs.com

Thundar gets a feel for Royalty

Where's Thundar??

Taking a small peak in the right corner the pedestrians around the Buckingham Palace weren't accustomed to seeing a bison dressed in is white and red striped outfit.

Thundar took a trip to Buckingham Palace which has been residence for many of Britain's Royalty since 1837. The palace is not only residence to the Queen but it is open yearly for visitors as well. Thundar again ran into an issue for no animals/pets allowed in the building so he took his visit to the outside of the palace. Thundar was slightly saddened he was not one of the 50,000 that got to tour/visit the palace every year. Thundar then decided to do some research on the building and it was then he discovered that it holds over 775 rooms, which includes over 180 just for staff members. The Palace is also a venue for many royalty events and ceremonies. The Palace holds many items of artwork that are very rare and royal to the family, and many will lever be seen because the Palace is not 100% open to the public meaning it is far from a museum. The Music room was very interesting to Thundar, this is the room that christened all of the Four Babies including Prince William. The details in all of the rooms are extravagant and Thundar has encouraged all students to consider joining the CGI program in its Summer Tour 2012. The Palace was amongst one of many places the CGI students got to travel to in London.

-Sarah

Thunder at the Musèe du Louvre

In English, the Louvre- This central landmark of Paris city placed on the Right Bank of the Seine. One of the most visited art museum in the world. This former residence of the Kings of France was built in the beginning of the 13^th century to protect Paris against the Normans and English. The Louvre exhibits sculptures, paintings, drawings, and archaeological treasures. It is the house of many great arts and historical ancient pieces, including The Venus de Milo and the original painting of Mona Lisa. The latter being the most popular attraction of the museum. This is one of the many incredible places Thunder has visited with CGI.

Interested in study abroad? Get involved, visit http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/

-Allan

Thundar Hanging Out at the Headquarters

One main focus of the Fall Semester in Europe with CGI was learning about the European Union.  So naturally, while Thundar was in Europe, he got to see many of the European Union headquarter buildings. Here you can see him in Strasbourg, France, at one of the parliament buildings. 

 

Yes I did say one—the European Union has another parliament building located in Brussels, Belgium.
Why? You may ask. Well, the European Union has had a hard job trying to unify Europe, so they’ve done several things to help keep things equal and fair across the countries—since all the country’s are equal, it would be hard to choose a single location for the headquarter buildings. As a result, the main buildings of the European Union are spread between France, Luxembourg, and Belgium! Twelve parliament sessions are held in Strasbourg each year, while extra sessions and committee meetings are held in Brussels. Luxembourg also has important parliament buildings where secretariat of the European Parliament (the administrative body of the European Parliament) conducts most of their work.

The parliament isn’t the only institution of the European Union that Thundar saw. He also saw the European Commission and the Council of the European Union in Brussels (though similar to the parliament, both of these institutions sometimes meet in Luxembourg).

As you can imagine, the current set up of the European Union institutions isn’t exactly efficient. Politicians have to move around constantly and spend a lot of money simply on the transportation of all their materials they need in their offices too. There have been several proposals for locating the parliament in one place, but while most agree that this is a good idea, there is much less agreement on which location is best… Belgium wants to keep it in Brussels, Luxembourg thinks Luxembourg is a nice location, and France likes having it in Strasbourg.

But in the time being… to see the headquarter buildings in all three countries requires a bit of traveling. Something Thundar didn’t mind one bit as he gallivanted across the European countryside and took in all the other sites along the way!

-Alyda

Thundar is feeling a little "Wicked"

Feeling a little Wicked?
When Thundar first heard about going to study abroad with all these students, he was worried that he would not be able to explore all of the countries, towns, city life, Wicked  and more. He was afraid that too much time was going to be spent in the classroom and not enough time spent away doing fun activities.

Well boy was he wrong after learning that he had much more time on his hands then expected time to leave the college at Antwerp, Belgium and travel to many places one including London to see the amazing musical "Wicked". Many of us in America have heard about this play and it is world recognized.

Wicked is a musical based off the movie Wizard of Oz, but with a twist. The twist is something many didn't care to listen to but an amazing musical was wrote about the wicked witch of the west and her side of the story. It starts with the wicked witch of the west and east meeting when they are younger and goes through songs and wonderful show lights, experiences and more to tell you the mysterious tale know one knew about them growing up and entering The Wizard of Oz tale.

Thundar was lucky because his student friend's were able to sneak him in through the back door normally they are not to find of a buffalo sitting in their theatre.

So, not only do you get six college courses in five weeks but the chance to explore many more adventures around Europe.

Thundar in London

On a 3-day break from the official CGI Fall Semester in Europe Program, Thundar traveled to London to explore the famous sites in the city. You already heard about his adventure in the haunted Tower of London, but Thundar also saw many other sites, including Westminster Abbey and the infamous clock tower, Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey, technically named Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, has a long history. The original site held a small Benedictine monastery in 960 AD. In the 1040’s, King Edward the Confessor decided to renovate and expand the monetary to create the abbey we know today. It was named “west minster” to distinguish it from St Paul’s Cathedral (the east minster) in the City of London—and apparently the name stuck.

The abbey underwent another major renovation in the 13th century when King Henry the 3rd rebuilt it with the Gothic style of architecture Thundar saw in London this fall. In addition to a place of worship, the abbey was designed to be a burial place for monarchs (and other famous people) and a place for coronations to take place.

Look closely--Thundar is hiding in there!

Not far from Westminster Abbey, Thundar stopped to take in a good view of London’s iconic clock tower, Big Ben. Though, as Thundar learned, “Big Ben” is actually the name of the bell inside the clock tower, not the name of the clock, or the tower.  But everyone just calls it Big Ben anyways :)

Built in 1858, Big Ben is the largest four-faced chiming clock and the third-tallest free-standing clock tower in the world. The tower is connected to the Palace of Westminster, which is also known as the Houses of Parliaments (plural because it includes the House of Lords and the House of Commons—England’s two chambers of parliament). The clock tower was an impressive sight, especially at night when the face lit up brightly with the London Eye ferris wheel glowing blue in the background.

-Alyda

Thundar's Best Advice

Hello my friends, this time Thundar is making a break on his intense but fun trip all around  Europe to give you some tips before you are going to Europe or planning to go:

    First of all pack light. You will find many websites that give you tips about this matter, that is why Thundar will not spend time telling you about it. What he will suggest you to do is to buy a $20 - $30 GuideBook for the $5500 + experience. Before Thundar started his journey, he equipped himself with a good up-to-date guidebook and expected to travel like an old pro, not because he is a super traveler...well kind of...the thing is, he has a reliable information and he uses it.

    Do not make the mistake most people do. They base the trip of a life time on a borrowed copy of a two to three-year-old guidebook. The money they save in the bookstore is wasted the first day on their trip, searching for the hotels, restaurants, bars, or anything long since closed.

    Son now you know my friend, go to the bookstore and get that guidebook such as Fodor's that will help you enjoy that amazing trip to the fullest.

For more tips on preparing for your study abroad trip and to read about stories from this fall's trip, visit http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/

-Allan

900 Years of Disappearances, Murders, and Ghost-encounters: Thundar visits the "Bloody" Tower of London

Throughout his travels in Europe, Thundar has immersed himself into some of the world's most naturally beautiful landscapes, he has visited museums and restaurants and has chatted with people from far corners of the world..yet this was his first haunted adventure.  There lies a historic castle in central London that puts shame to any tale of horror you have ever been told.  For this castle holds something sinister in itself, something that has deemed it the title of the most haunted place in all of Great Britain. The castle surrounding the Tower of London was built during Roman times.  The remains of this castle were used as the original fortress after William I successfully conquered England in 1066.  Construction of the Tower of London began in the early 1070s, but was not completed before William's death.  The tower was then used by proceeding Monarchs for protection.  Up until the 16th Century, the Tower of London was referred to as the Garden Tower, but then gained a reputation unlike any other castle in the world.  During the 14th century, two princes were sent to the tower and mysteriously disappeared.  In 1674, the skeletal remains of two boys matching these disappearances were found inside of a staircase in the Tower of London.  They showed signs of a brutal murder including both suffocation and stabbing.  Since this year, there have been thousands of sightings of two ghostly boys clinging to each other in complete dread and wandering the castle in the nightgowns they were last seen in alive.
             The "Bloody" tower, as it is now called, was also the prison of Sir Walter Raleigh for almost 13 years.  His ghost has also been reported here, in the room where he was held captive.  Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded in 1618.  A man named Henry Percy died here of mysterious circumstances in 1585.  A brutal hanging was the likely cause of death.  There is also a legend of a man named Thomas Overbury who was a victim of court intrigue in 1613 and later found to have been poisoned. Other sightings here include phantom funeral carriages with a lovely veiled lady that, upon closer look, proves to have a black void where her face should be.   Pretty interesting, huh?   Thundar sure thought so!  Unfortunately, he did not get to spend enough time here to search for paranormal activity...(and to be honest, he is a BIG chicken when it comes to ghost stories!) Believe it or not, this is just a summary of the true history behind this famous landmark in London.  Traveling with the Center for Global Initiatives at NDSU gives you opportunites to see sites like this, and many others, that you would not be able to experience on your own.  Thundar highly encourages it, he in fact hopes to come back to the Tower of London some day very soon...  how about you come along?

For more info on how you can get involved, visit http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/ 

You don't know what you're missing. :)

-Krista 

Thundar Visits France- Scared of Heights

Our dear friend Thundar took an amazing tour of Europe from small towns to quite large cities. Things you may recognize and something you most likely wouldn’t. We sure hope you may know where this photo came?? The Eiffel Tower “Oui Oui”. The Eiffel Tower was among one of the fabulous places the CGI students studying abroad got to go to. Thundar got a little nervous and did not take a trip to the top, with a height of over 980+ he decided to stay put and take a fun tourist picture like many tourists would do. He also learned some interesting facts while at the Eiffel Tower. The tower is over 122 years old, he was one of the average 6.8 million that come to visit the tower every year and his favorite fact was the weight in amount of paint it took to cover the entire structure; a whopping 40 tons.

 The CGI students (http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/)  were able to tour Europe but were also studying two courses worth six college credits. They were very fortunate to be able to tour other places outside of Antwerp, Belgium as well. This program gives students a great opportunity to explore Europe and learn about the European Unions and more.

-Sarah

Bonjour!

“Bonjour! Bonjour!” Can you hear the village people bursting open their window shutters and singing cheerfully to each other!?  Exploring the countryside of France, Thundar found himself in what looked like the set of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. To his relief, however, there was no Gaston or Beast in sight, though he would have liked to see dear Belle or hear her sing.

“Ville d’Eguisheim” is one of 67 villages on a 100 miles stretch on the eastern edge France known as the Alsace Wine Route. The Alsace region is world famous for its high quality wines—primarily white wines, either dry or sweet. Among the most popular are Alsace’s dry Riesling and aromatic Gewurztraminer wines. The wine produced in Alsace can be identified by the unique fluted bottles that it always comes in. Wine is an important part of France’s economy; in 2006, 111.3 million liters of wine were produced in Alsace, generating revenue of nearly 500 million euros.

Almost every village along the Alsace Wine Route has a castle, or what used to be a castle, reminding visitors of the history that these villages dating back to the 12^th century and beyond when the castles served to protect and defend the people of the village.

Visit http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/ for other awesome sights and stories from NDSU fall semester in Europe!
-Alyda

Thundar is exploring Limerick, Ireland!

Thundar "the traveler" was adventuring around the medieval city of Limerick, Ireland. Experiencing and going through the most iconic landmark fortification, the King John's Castle, an 800 years old Norman castle. Here, he overlooked the majestic River Shannon and enjoyed beautiful views of Limerick City and found out some neat facts about this third largest city in the Republic of Ireland. This city its known for its rugby heritage including the famous Garry Owen rugby club, after which the high rugby kick is named. Limerick has a proud sporting tradition, as the spiritual home of Irish rugby. Thundar visited many other sites in this beautiful city such as St. Mary's Cathedral, Hunt Museum and St. John's Cathedral just to mention...Keep following Thundar on his adventures in many different cities all over Western Europe! See you next time! 

-Allan

Who says Thundar can't get a bite to eat at McDonalds?!?!

Our dear friend Thundar was ready to try a little something that looked familiar from home. He came upon the much recognized golden arches. His taste buds were in search for some fries and a burger and he came upon his norm in Antwerp, Belgium. No bison burger for this guy, the smell of those golden fries lured him in.

After his excitement he then began to realize McDonalds has quite a worldwide presence in today’s society. McDonalds serves its famous fast food all over the world; with more then 33,000 global locations located in over 119 different countries. After eating the famous “fritas’ he was not quite accustomed to the way the Belgians decided to eat them. Mayonnaise is a common topping on fries to the Belgians, Thundar gave it a try but ketchup will always be his number one choice. Not only do McDonalds tailor to the Belgians mayonnaise condiment, but in countries like India where pork and beef are not even on the menu. After his meal he realized every McDonalds has there own way of serving to the many different cultures and Thundar was just simply happy to have gotten his “fry fix”.

NDSU's Center for Global Initiatives studied abroad  for five weeks this Fall, and they took Thundar to many wonderful places across Europe. Wouldn't you want to join them this Summer '12??
-Sarah

Thundar Battles the Loch Ness Monster

Thundar is at it again!  Only this time, he is battling a great monster in the depths of a famous Scottish lake.  Okay...I may have exaggerate the "battle" with a monster..but Thundar has been spotted at this legendary tourist location.  Loch Ness is the largest and deepest inland expanse of water in Britain.  Located in Scotland, this lake or as they call it "Loch," is on average 750 feet deep and is surrounded by both criticism and mystery.  It is deeper than the North Sea.  As many of you have heard the legend, here is where the horrific and ominous "Loch Ness Monster" aka "Nessy" is known to reside.  If any of you want to take the chance and experience this famous landmark and possibly Nessy for yourself,  I would highly encourage traveling to Europe with fellow NDSU students through the Center for Global Initiatives.  You will get to travel here, as well as many more thrilling and historic locations.  To check out other interesting tourist spots you will get to visit, click on the link below!
-Krista


http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/
http://www.facebook.com/#!/cgindsu

Where’s Thundar??

We saw a bunch of countries, a ton of cities, and hundreds of sites around Europe with CGI’s study abroad trip this fall. While most of the 5 weeks we were gone was spent traveling from place to place, we spent our first week primarily in Antwerp, Belgium. We got to know and love the city while we were there—it became our “home away from home”—a nice place to come back to a bit of familiarity in between all of our other travels.   

Thundar was first spotted in Europe at what is possibly the most beautiful site in Antwerp—the “Cathedral of Our Lady.” This imposing Roman Catholic cathedral is one of the largest in the world. The building was started in 1352 and completed nearly 200 years later in 1521.  Think about that for a minute—they started building this cathedral began almost 700 years ago—and it took them 200 years to complete it! Can you imagine working on the same project for 200 years? I’m guessing not—I think a lot of us would have trouble working on the same project for just 2 years!

Though actually, as you might imagine, after 200 years of construction somebody must have decided that this project was taking too long and decided to take a shortcut. Instead of the originally intended twin towers of the same height, you can see in the picture one magnificent tower and a second, well, not quite so magnificent tower. But it gives the cathedral character J

For more info about NDSU’s study abroad, check these out!

Like our Facebook page!! https://www.facebook.com/cgindsu

Visit the official NDSU CGI Page: http://www.ndsu.edu/cgi/

Read about study abroad tips and more: http://ndsu-studyabroad.blogspot.com/

-Alyda

Ready for take off... Departure Date: September 18