Be a Billiken Bloggers

The City Museum is THE COOLEST PLACE EVER!!!! If you ever come to St. Louis, you MUST stop by!! :)

http://citymuseum.org/site/

babluke:

REPRESENT

Wow. I owe all of you some major catch-up. Life abroad is indescribable; and even keeping up with social media can be difficult when visiting a new country every week! I want to drop you all a quick “Happy Easter” note, though, and briefly tell you about the best Easter Sunday I have ever had.

I spent my spring break abroad traveling across Italy: From Venice to Florence to Sorrento to Pompei to Capri to Praiano to Rome and finally to Vatican City for Easter. Yes, the Vatican for Easter Mass with the new pope, “Papa Francisco” as we call him here in Spain!

Oh, and did I mention that I had a seat in the fourth row!? The mass and experience was overwhelmingly beautiful. I cannot even begin to describe the peace, pride and joy I felt along with the other 250,000 faithful present that morning in St. Peter’s Square. 

Ah, and I almost forgot to mention that I got published by the Vatican News! I brought my American flag to the square and waved it with pride to represent my home country - a tradition of the crowd at the Vatican. One of the Vatican journalists snapped a quick photo of me and the news service posted it on Facebook and on “The Pope App.”

What an amazing, amazing Easter morning! I look forward to sharing more of my spring break with you soon.

Be Global. Be Proud. Be A Billiken.

Experience the world with Saint Louis University.

- Luke -

AMDG

babnicole:

Hello everyone!

I just wanted to post this awesome photo of my friend and of course the best mascot in the world, the Billiken, in support for the game tomorrow against New Mexico State! Let’s go Bills!!!



BE A BILLIKEN.
~Nicole

babnicole:

BILLIKEN NATION BLUEOUT

The game was wild. Our bodies shaking with excitement as the Bills were up by 20 points against VCU who was previously the #1 ranked team in the A10 Conference, but that all changed when the buzzer went off indicating set, match, and game.

The Bills are now the #1 ranked team in the A10 conference which is such a thrill!

It was truly an amazing experience and I think most Billikens would agree that the energy from our community and the constant support for our Bills was a major part of the game.

Nevertheless, the Bills will be taking on Butler this Friday as visitor and it will truly be the most difficult game of the season. In the previous game, SLU defeated #9 Butler which was also a great game and this Friday will be sort of a re-match for the two teams.

I’m proud to be a Billken not only because of our amazing men’s basketball team, but the fact that this wonderful community constantly supports each other at so many diverse events on campus. If I could, I would go to every single event! That’s a fact.

Until next time everyone,
BE A BILLIKEN.

~Nicole
(Photo Courtesy of: Megan Danzo)

babluke:

Geneva, Switzerland

Geneva was the first weekend-away trip that I took this semester while studying abroad in Madrid. 

I traveled with Kyle and Eamon (two of my housemates in Madrid) and my best friend, Elizabeth. We stayed in a quaint motel in France since it was remarkably cheaper than staying in Geneva. Geneva is on the border of Switzerland and France, so the commute to/from the motel was an easy bus ride and then a quick taxi. Every day we walked freely around the streets of Geneva enjoying the beautiful architecture, gazing at the crystal clear lake, and consuming endless Swiss chocolate. I actually bought a Swiss watch (Swatch brand) since Switzerland has been known for centuries for being the best watch makers. Check out the picture above, it’s pretty sweet! 

We took a boat tour of Lake Geneva, which allowed us to stand in awe beneath the snowy Alps. A tour of CERN and the United Nations were also on the agenda. We stopped by a little French parish Sunday morning that was having a breakfast celebration, and I got to taste Nutella for the first time ever… inside a crepe!

Geneva has so much history and beauty, and I could talk of my travels there for much longer, but I’ll share with you just one more short story before concluding this blog post:

On Sunday afternoon we went to the church that John Calvin preached in, and climbed up to the bell towers to capture the best shot of Lake Geneva in the whole city. Once we came down, we sat outside on the church’s front steps. It started to rain very lightly. A young man in his twenties then started playing his guitar and singing across the little plaza, having just opened his case for passerbys to leave tips. For no reason, Elizabeth and I both stood up and went to the middle of the plaza, stretched out our hands and just looked up at the sky together. We stood there for a couple minutes, then danced in the rain just a little before running over to the guitar player to thank him with a couple Euros. I don’t know why, but that moment was so profoundly peaceful and perfect. Even though I’d done a dozen amazing, unique and fun things in Geneva that weekend, that one moment will stick out above all others for the rest of my life. 

To be able to stand in the rain, arms outstretched in the middle of Europe, and to feel that rush of peace and consolation… that is what adventure feels like!

BE Adventurous. BE Global. BE a Billiken!

AMDG

- Luke - 

babluke:

BE Global. BE Here.

As much as I miss the beautiful St. Louis campus, life abroad in Europe is wonderful and a constant adventure! I’ve been here just over four weeks, and have already visited four countries… and have every weekend from now through April booked with travel plans. So far I’ve been to Segovia, Toledo and El Escorial in Spain; and I have taken two weekend trips to Geneva (Switzerland/France) and Brussels (Belgium). The photo I posted above is of my mini-Billiken beneath the Triumphal Arch (Arc De Triomphe) in Brussel’s most famous park, Cinquantenaire.

Expect more pictures of the traveling Billiken featured in many more countries that I’ll be visiting this semester, including, but not limited to: Scotland, Morocco, Portugal, The Canary Islands, Italy, Vatican City, Ireland and plenty more of Spain!

Being a Global Billiken couldn’t get any better than this!

AMDG

- Luke -  

babnicole:

Hello everyone!

I have been very busy lately since the first round of exams are coming up soon, but I just wanted to give a heads up that I will be posting a new video blog next week!

Additionally, this picture was taken a few days ago when SLU got a wonderful amount of snow overnight and it was magnificent.

And the theme for my upcoming video blog? Well, it consist of snowball fights and groups of Billikens having fun on a cold, snowy night. Stay tuned!


Until then,
BE a Billiken.

~ Nicole