Finally some pictures!!!

Here are some pictures...yaaayyyy! They are in reverse order but that's ok. I think you can get the jist : ) Captions are above each one.

Ashley, Naomi and myself in front of the Arc de Triumph in Paris

In front of the Louvre

Eiffel Tower...duh!!

Balcony in Berlin where Michael Jackson held his baby out the window with a blanket over it. Kinda ironic that I just saw this...

Me and the study abroad girls in front of Santa Chiara

Berlin Wall East Side Gallery

In front of the Reichstag Parliament Building in Berlin. See the glass dome?

In front of part of the Berlin Wall the way that it looked when it was taken down. People used to chip off pieces so now they put up a fence so you can't get that close anymore.

Interlaken

Barcelona

Trevi Fountain in Rome

Duomo in Florence

Hofbrauhaus in Munich with our waitress

Dinner in Prague...is this not the best view ever???

In the Winston Churchill Museum...a very appropriate quote for me!

In front on Buckingham Palace in London

With our Fat Tire guides in London

Me and Jessi swimming in the French Riviera Mediterranean

On the beach in Nice

Gaudi's Segrada Familia

The Colosseum

In front of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam

London - Big Ben and the London Eye in the background

The Tower Bridge in London...the London Bridge is a lot less exciting than this one so they are often confused

My girls and our backpacks beginning our journey!!

Those are just some highlights. I would love to put all of them up but I think we have close to 2000 pictures if not more so I will spare ya'll!

Oh and if you were wondering about the hair...I got it cut while I was in Castiglion Fiorentino! I didn't tell anybody so it would be a surprise. I got my haircut by this guy named Ramon while I was there 2 summers ago for study abroad so Ash and I decided to do it again. We went back to the same guy and it was so much fun. We spent a few hours there talking with him, his wife and his daughter. His wife is American and his daughter is the cutest thing ever. She is 7 and speaks fluent English and Italian so she tried to teach me some using her flashcards : ) But anyways, I got about 7 inches cut off and Ashley got bangs so it was a good halfway change!

A quick update on my current life...it is even better than I could have hoped for! I LOVE my apartment, I LOVE my job, I LOVE being downtown and I LOVE everybody I've met. I work with some really great people who keep me laughing and some other great people who are such good teachers and so patient with me while I am learning. I've had friends come stay with me every weekend so I haven't gotten at all lonely. I started going to an amazing church and I'm really excited about getting more involved with it. I'm really getting into a great routine here and I hope that I can keep up my enthusiasm : )

First Day :)

Here I am sitting at my NEW desk in my NEW office looking out my NEW window! It's so exciting! I got an amazing office...somehow. I have nothing to work up to now! I am on the 25th floor and my window overlooks Smith St (the Bank of America Building and Chevron Building). So far my cabinets, desktop and bookshelves are empty but I will bring everything that doesn't fit into my apartment here to spruce it up a bit.

I got to work this morning, found my way here all by myself, walked through the huge marble halls feeling all grown up, got my security badge and bus pass and went straight to my office. My mentor is so sweet and showed me around. I met soooo many people, I have no idea their names anymore. There are 3 more new Aggies working on my floor in my department so that is a huge relief! They already invited me to have lunch with them from now on : ) My mentor took me to lunch today at Jason's Deli (where we ran into Mr. Mazz!) and helped me figure out some computer glitches. Then I went to an HR meeting for new hires (where I met 2 more Aggies - engineers though - so I won't be working with them) and have been filling out paper work/figuring out bus schedules ever since. I am actually done doing that and still have another hour to go. I know blogging on the job isn't a good ethical habit to get into but I feel like the first day is an exception. I literally have NOTHING else to do!

So that's it! Life as I know it has begun!

...pictures will come soon hopefully! Sorry for the delay!

Day After Thoughts...

Today was my first day not waking up to my best friends in Europe and the first day of the rest of my life!  The past few months have been ridiculously busy but now the only thing that I have going on is work.  Hopefully that will keep me busy or else I don't know what I'll do with myself.

Last night was great...Ashley and I went with our families to Los Cucos for some much needed Mexican food and margaritas.  It was just what we needed to help with the jet lag : )  Then I headed off to see my new apartment and spent today moving in and organizing.  I absolutely love it!  I have quite a mess to unpack but I know that it will be so perfect for me!  Anybody is welcome to come visit me in my humble abode!

I miss Europe already.  I just can't believe that its over.  I feel like I just woke up from a crazy, exhausting dream.

I know that an FAQ is..."what was your favorite place?"  Wow...how do you answer that?  It's like asking a parent which of their kids is their favorite.  I loved them all for different reasons.  Prague was romantic and I felt like I was in a fairytale; Barcelona was laid back and ecclectic; Interlaken was cozy and strangely familiar; Rome will always be my first Italian love; Berlin was a beautiful reminder of how to learn from your mistakes and turn them into something great; Salzburg reminded me to enjoy simple pleasures in life (like a gorgeous view and a chococino); Brugges showed me that bigger and newer isn't always better; and Paris was just Paris...I can't even sum it up.

At times, I felt alone and helpless and other times I felt like we could conquer the world.  I have seen people begging on dirty street corners and also some of the most awe inspiring views on the earth.  I have seen how history can tear places apart and cause heartbreak and destruction but have also seen people trying desperately (but successfuly) to put those pieces back together and live in harmony.  In any given day, we could be speechless from exhaustion or speechless from amazement.  Exhaustion could also make us hilariously delirious.

I had a moment while I was on a train somewhere between Berlin and Koln.  We were sitting on a train that hadn't moved in over an hour (of course - they explained what the problem was in German so we had no idea why we were stuck).  I was sitting across from a stranger, but she was sweet, polite, and tried to translate what the conductor told us.  I didn't know if we would be able to make it to Brugges that night because the train delay might have caused us to miss our next train.  But I had my coca cola light, paprika pringles, Ritter Sport, a good book and Matt Nathanson in my iPod so life was good.  It was the most content I was on the entire trip.  Elizabeth Gilbert explained it best when she said that the world changes and we must be prepared for endless waves of transformation.  

I think that moment was what Oprah calls "a-ha" moment.  For the non Oprah addicted readers, in her world an a-ha moment is an "unforgettable, connect the dots moments, when everything suddenly, somehow changed."  Nothing in my life ACTUALLY changed at that moment but I was almost in tears as I realized how blessed I am to live the life that I do.  But I take it for granted everyday because I don't put it into the bigger perspective.  What I do here seems so insignificant when I see how big the world really is (and I only saw one small part of it!) but its MY life and its what I've been given so mercifully.  It might not always be what I hope or what I plan but I need to make the most of the present.

I think saying that the past 5 weeks changed my life may be exaggerating a bit but it changed some things about the way I think and how I view my life.  I know that I will take away a new perspective along with my stories and memories.

I still promise pictures...I just have to settle into my apartment for a few days but hopefully they will be up within the week!

I am glad to be home and hope to see or talk to everybody soon! : )

And just at my mom's request...I may blog about my first day of work.  I know its not nearly as interesting as traveling through Europe but I wouldn't want to leave anybody wondering...hehe

Paris

Wow...did we sure end the trip with a bang! Paris was everything I had hoped it would be and more. We had another long day of traveling and spent a few too many hours at the Brussels train station (its a scary place...try not to go there if you don't have to!) but got to our apartment. It was so adorable and a great location in the Latin Quarter with yummy cafes, crepes, a Subway and a little grocery store nearby.

The first morning we got up to go on our last Fat Tire tour. We are now official "Junkies". We even got a free tshirt for it : ) We met pretty early under the Eiffel Tower. My initial impression of the Eiffel Tower was from far away and I wasn't too impressed. But the closer you get, the better it is. Until you are directly under it and then its AMAZING! So anyways, we went on our tour to Versailles which is the old Palace that Louis XIV built. We learned a lot of great history, went shopping in a really great market for our lunch, had a picturesque picnic on the Grand Canal (fresh cheese, baguettes, strawberries, cherries, salami and serrano ham) and toured the palace and gardens. It was a pretty long tour - this one lasted about 9 hours but it was so great! I definetly recommend any of the Fat Tire tours.

We were pretty exhausted afterwards so we just went back to the apartment, lazed around for a little while and then tried to go out and see a little bit of the Latin Quarter at night. We didn't last long, though, until we were just too tired and called it a night.

The next morning we slept in a little bit (sleeping in for us is anytime after 8:00) and then hit H&M. We have all wanted to go there but knew that buying much wasn't a good idea because we would just be lugging it around Europe but decided that it would be ok to finally splurge and buy a few new clothes. We are so sick of looking at the exact same outfits for the past 5 weeks! I wish we had H&M's in Houston...they are so great!

After that we met our good friend, Naomi who had just gotten into town. Ashley and I met Naomi back 2 summers ago when we went to Greece and have kept in pretty good touch. We went to go visit her in Manhattan last December and she is one of the most genuinly good hearted, sweet and fun loving people I know. So it was perfect that she was able to meet up with us in Paris between going on vacation with her sister and going to visit some other friends in Budapest. We spent the rest of the day going to Notre Dame, taking a boat cruise of the Seine River and wandering the streets of Paris. We went in an adorable book shop called Shakespeare and Co by Notre Dame which was really cool because it was tiny but packed full of old books. The entire top floor of the place isn't for sale - its more like a museum! We had a delicious Italian dinner and then went to a little place that Naomi's friend who lived in Paris recommemded. Its a tiny little vaulted cave from the 12th century that invites famous jazz players to come perform. The entire place held less than 50 people probably and we got front row seats for this awesome concert. I had never seen jazz played live before and it was really cool. It looked like they were all playing three different songs but together sounded so beautiful.

The next day we went to another market because our first picnic was just so unbelievably good. It was pretty much the same as the first and we packed it all in Katie's Mary Poppins bag and headed off the spend the morning at the Musee D'Orsay. This was probably my favorite part of Paris. I LOVE Impressionism and we saw some of the most beautiful works of art, in my opinion. I could have spent hours in there but the thought of our awaiting picnic helped hurry us through. We went to the Tuilleries in front of the Louvre and enjoyed a break and our lunch. It couldn't have been morning perfect. We spent the afternoon going to Montmare which is a little bit outside of the city. We saw Sacre Coure and walked around watching all of the artists and Ashley even bought a really cool painting.

Little did we know, the biggest music festival of the year happened to be that day so there was live music on every other street corner. The streets were FILLED with people and it was really fun to walk between them and listen to some local bands. Some of them were really good. It says a lot about the talent of a band if I'm entertained by them even though they are singing in French.

Our next stop was the EIFFEL TOWER!! We got there right at dusk and it was great. We took a few pictures and got in line to go up right as they turned all of the lights on. It was neat to see it in the light and in the dark. We waited in line for a while but finally got to go to the 2nd level (the 3rd was closed - but the 2nd was so high I think the 3rd would have been too scary for me anyways!). We admired the view and waited for another while to go back down. We spent more than 2 hours there and only were inside of it for probably 15 minutes or so. It took us much longer than we expected so we didn't finish until around midnight. We decided to grab some food and get to sleep because we had another long day to follow.

This morning we got up and went to the Louvre. It was so huge and overwhelming but we saw all of the musts - Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Winged Victory etc. We had a great French lunch of Croque Monsier and french onion soup then went to the Arc de Triumph and walked down Champs Elysees. Unfortunately, we had to catch a train to London so that was where our Paris adventures ended. We got here to London, went to the wrong hotel but somehow got our reservation switched and upgraded to a "club" room (I'm not sure what that really means but we get free coca cola lights, snacks, breakfast and internet). What a happy mix up!

Tomorrow morning we are waking up and getting on a plane to Houston...

...I can't believe London is where it all started 5 weeks ago and now it is ending. We literally came full circle. I am so tired right now, I will have to write more about my final thoughts and put up pictures later. But pray for a safe flight and I will be home in t minus 18 hours!

Give me a few days to upload some pictures and check back for highlights!

Brussels

What a time we have had here in Brussels!

It started with a really intersting time at the train station and trying to find our way out of it. Long story short, three girls should not be wandering around there alone (even during the day!). We made it out ok and went to Grand Platz, the main center of town. We saw a few sights...nice but nothing that we haven't seen before (but bigger and better in the other places). Honsatly, we were slightly underwhelmed so we ended up finding the town park and laying down for a while. It makes me wonder why we don't lounge around in parks more in America. I guess it is too hot and there are too many bugs. But I am making it my resolution to spend more time napping/reading/laying/people watching in a nice grassy patch of a park. I'll start looking for a good one when I get back to Houston.

Eventually, it was time to meet the Tuckers (I called them the Rausch family in my last blog...same family). They brought us to their beautiful house in the suburbs of Brussels. It is gorgeous out here and we had a night that I won't soon forget. We took some great showers (compared to the hostel showers we are used to) used their fluffy, cozy towels, and looked through their house which is full of furniture and art from all over Europe. Then they whipped up a FANTASTIC dinner of caprese, spinach/mashed potatoes, twice baked potatos, macaroni salad, broccoli, lamb chops and chicken kabobs for dinner. It was a never ending feast. It also consisted of champagne, great wine, lattes and strawberry tarte for dessert. How amazing! There was music in the background and a great view of the city. It was like a scene from a movie, it was so surreal! Just when we thought the night couldn't get much better, they told us we could go in their jacuzzi. Yes please! So we spent an hour relaxing while the sun went down (at around 11:00...the sun stays out pretty late here). By the way...I have decided Brussels is a great central place to live in Europe. They are less than a 2 hour train ride from London, Paris, Amsterdam and Germany and probably several other really amazing places. Mrs. Rauch told us that sometimes they just go to Paris for dinner. REALLY!!??!!??

We are going to go back into the city tomorrow to finish up a few of the important sights but so far Brussels has been good to us. We definetly have enough momentum now to finish up our time here.

Exactly one week from today we will be back in Houston. Nights like tonight, when I have the energy to stop and think about how blessed I am to be here, are the times when I am sad that it is almost over. I knew this trip was going to be life changing but I just didn't realize in what ways. Part of me wishes that it didn't have to end! The real world can't be this great...can it? Here's to hoping!!

More Berlin and Bruges

Ok, I know it is still too early to commit myself to this, but I think Berlin has officially topped my list of favorite places we have gone. It just kept getting better and better. After my last post, we walked along the Eastside Gallery which was soooo cool. Its a really long piece of the wall that is still up and has graffiti all over it. But for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, they are having painters from all over the world come in a repaint the wall with murals. It is so cool to see how each artist makes such a beautiful and meaningful piece of art on the wall. Then we went to Treptower park, had a picnic, laid in the grass and did cartwheels. I love seeing all of the little kids here. Especially the ones who were about the age of the kids at work when they are just learning to talk. It is so funny to hear them spaek a differnt language. I try to picture my little kiddos saying things in German and I just can't! Hah...

The next day we went to the German Parliament building again and got to go inside this time. It is the original building from before the war but they added a dome afterwards and its a glass dome. Its a perfect representation of the city. Old and new combined. It is supposed to symbolize the fact that anybody can look into the German government now and they will have nothing to hide from the world. We also went to an art exhibit which was the strangest thing we had ever seen. We heard it was going to be something different but when we got there, it was 7 or 8 real, live people laying on the ground. The description told us that the people were asleep on ambien and would have a "choreographed awakning" later. Yah...I know that doesn't make sense but I promise that is what we saw.

We traveled the entire next day and arrived to Bruges around midnight. Rick Steves raved about this sleepy little town and I must admit it is quite charming, although not much to do. We climbe to the top of the belltower, went on a tour of a brewery (Belgium apparetly has the most famous beer in Europe), ate some amaaaazzzzing chocolate (heard of Belgian chocolate? from here!!), had some french fries (also from here), went on a boat tour of the canals (Bruges is considered the "Venice of the North") and laid in another park. The Flemish architecture makes this town very diferent than the others. We also saw Michelangelo's Madonna with Child which is the only statue to have made it out of Italy in his lifetime.

Tomorrow we are going to Brussels where we are going to spend the night with a friend of the Flynn's. They sound excited to have us and we can't wait to stay at a real house! We greatly appreciate it. Thanks Flynn family and thanks in advance to the Rausch family!

After that we are on our way to Paris and then London for our flight home. I can't believe that in exactly one week I will be back in Houston. I know that I will miss Europe so much. It has become home to me in the past 5 weeks...

Things I miss....

I am in no way complaining or wishing I was back at home. I enjoy every minute I am here but there are some conveniences that I have a hard time living without:

1. Cars - going wherever whenever I want
2. Having clean feet - between walking so much and wearing sandals, I am in desperate need of a pedicure
3. Not having to pay for water at restraunts
4. Mexican food
5. My iPhone - I have it with me but it just isnt the same when I cant text or call at my leisure
6. Non smoking
7. Fruits and vegetables - I eat several meals a day off of a cart (pretzels, sausages, pizza etc.) and none of them have much nutritional value
8. Stella - I miss her pretending that she doesnt care about me
9. TV - I have lots of TiVO to catch up on!
10. Having soft, clean clothes that smell like Downy Clean Breeze

Dont take those things for granted : )

Berlin

Berlin is so cool! I dont remember if I have mentioned this already but its pretty cold here. We had a few hot days in Barcelona but since then its been in the 50s and 60s. We have been told that winters usually last longer here anyways but they had a particularly long, cold winter so its still not warming up yet.

We got here yesterday morning and went straight to the Fat Tire bike tour. We had a really great guide from Canada and met some really interesting people on the tour. It was supposed to be 4 hours but we got 2 flat tires and it started pouring on us a few times so it ended up being more like 6. Its not very fun to ride a bike in the cold, wind and rain. But we survived and it was worth it! Today we are taking it easy. We had a pretty strenuous day yesterday so we decided to renig our Copenhagen plans, spend an extra day here in Berlin then spend a few days in Bruges, then Brussels and finally end with Paris! So that gives us more time here because there are so many cool museums and things to see.

The city is so intersting because it is SOOO modern! Everything that we saw on the tour has basically been destroyed and rebuilt after the war and the fall of the wall. I didnt really know much about the history of Berlin so I feel like a more educated citizen of the world now that I know what happened. Did you know that fall of the Berlin wall was basically a mistake? A German politician slipped up during a televised press conference and said that anybody could get a visa into West Berlin starting immediately so everybody basically got up and destroyed the wall. Interesting, huh?

So on our tour we saw Checkpoint Charlie (like a toll booth where you had to go to get through the wall), Hitlers Bunker, the Brandenburg Gate, the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, where the Nazis had their huge book burning, Reichstag (the German parliament building), Potsdamer Platz and the Soviet War Memorial. It doesnt sound very interesting in a list but when you hear about the history its a lot better. I feel like I need to read a book about the history of the entire world to piece together all of the stuff that I am learning in each city we go to.

And on a different note...I officially have an apartment now! My lease started this week and my very gracious parents and sister are moving me in today!!! I am so lucky that they are doing that for me so I can come back to Houston and move right into my big girl apartment!

Vienna

We are in Vienna now. Its so much different than Salzburg was! Its such a big, bustling city. There are some really pretty historic buildings but not much else to look at.

The first day we were here was a Tuesday and most things happened to be closed so we ended up having an American day. We ate at McDonalds. It was a really cool McDonalds though! They have stands where you can put in your own order, pay and then just pick up your food at the counter and a section called McCafe which had some of the most delicious desserts and pastries Ive seen here. And it was great to have as much Coca Cola light as I wanted. It is a splurge here to get one. In times of desperate need I have been known to pay up to 3 dollars (around 4.50 American) for a bottle. Crazy right? So I got a refill a few times. At least enough to satisfy my diet coke cravings until I get home hopefully. After that, we hung out at Starbucks and then saw Angels and Demons. It was soooo good! I loved the book and the fact that we had just been in Rome might make me slightly biased but we really liked it. And it was just good to be around a bunch of Americans and eat popcorn and candy like we were at home.

But if the day before was not cultural enough, yesterday definetly was. We went to the Hofburg Palace, which is where the Hapsburg family lived in the city, the Sissi museum, Schonbrunn Palace which is where the Hapsburgs lived in the summer, and saw an opera. Yes...a real live actual opera. We manged to get standing room tickets but I didnt even mind standing because it was so amazing. The opera house was beautiful and the performance was of Anna Karenina, which apparently is pretty famous. We also went to the Belvedere Palace yesterday and saw the famous painting by Gustav Klimt, The Kiss. It was really impressive and one of Ashleys favorites.

Another cool thing that happened yesterday was that we met the boys from One Nation Under God. I know most of you probably dont know what that is but its pretty cool if you want to check it out I would at OneNationUnderGod.com. Its basicallz 4 guys (2 from Texas A&M and 2 from Baylor) who took a road trip last summer and videotaped themselves interviewing people about what they believe. They put it together into a really awesome movie that they played at a few of the theaters in College Station and Waco and raised enough money to do the same thing this summer, except in Europe. So let me set the scene...we are standing outside of St. Stephens where I had just gotten scolded by a man dressed up as Mozart for not wanting to buy tickets to a concert that night when Katie said that she though she saw them pass by. So I immediately decided we had to follow them and started running, chasing after them. By the way...I dont know any of these boys personally. They are probably completely freaked out by this stranger running after them. But they were totally nice to us, told us that they are staying with some guy from Austrian Idol, invited us to lunch and made us feel like we didnt just make a fool of ourselves. They (luckily) didnt have their video camera so I wont be appearing in their next movie. They said it would be out in December and will be called Beware of Christians. Or something like that.

We are taking another night train tonight to Berlin. Onlz 4 more cities to go! Wow...its going by so fast!!! Ill be home before I know it.

Salzburg

One more city down...5 more to go!! We altered some of our plans. We decided after Berlin to go to Copenhagen for 2 days then Brussels then Paris. It wont throw anything off so we figured why not add another country?

Our traveling to Salzburg went well. I had another first...sleeping on the floor of a train station. It sounds a lot worse than it was though. We had 3 hours between trains and I was exhausted from getting an early start that morning so I just layed my head on my bag and took a little nappy nap : )

And this may come as a shock but I had never seen The Sound of Music before. My mom claims to have shown it to me as a child but I cant recall. So we snuck into a nearby hostel that plays it every morning and spent the first half of the day watching the movie and the second half visiting the actual places it was filmed. It was good to see right before because otherwise I probably would have forgotten some of the scenes that were mentioned. We went to the Von Trapp house, the church they were married, the gazebo, the lake where the canoe tipped over and a few other smaller places. And we stopped for some amaaaazing apple strudel. It made the tour just perfect!

Afterwards, we rode a little car thing to the top of the fortress and had dinner with an amazing view. We also did a little bit of shopping here. Why dont we have any H&Ms back home? Can we all write them letters and maybe they will open one in Houston? Tomorrow we are going to go to Mozarts house and then head to Vienna. Overall, Salzburg was another beautiful city. It was very small but charming.

At breakfast this morning we met a couple from Kingwood. Katie was wearing an Aggie tshirt so they came over and told us that their son goes there and their daughter went there as well. So we talked for a few minutes and it turns out now their daughter is a teacher at John Cooper and the dad is the basketball coach at The Woodlands Christian Academy. What a small world it is!

I feel like we are on the downward slope of things now. I think the majority of the busiest cities have been done and we are basically experts at traveling by this point : ) It is so bittersweet knowing that our time is winding down!

I so wish that I could be posting pictures of these things on my blog but there is no way for me to load them onto a computer so I will try to put up a few highlights when I get back to the states. You cant judge me in the pictures because I wore the same outfit too many times though. Hah...Its impossible to put together new or cute outfits when you basically wear the same 4 or 5 shirt and short/skirt combination. And we dont consider something "dirty" unless it has a visible stain or smells bad. I might have to bury all of these clothes at the back of my closet for a while!

I love and miss all of you and are thinking about you!

Nice and Interlaken

We have had a great week. Once again...I am on a keyboard that I dont really understand so my punctuation is limited.

Nice was amazing. We had a GREAT apartment in the perfect location. The beach was 2 minutes away, we were around a ton of great restaurants and we had a lot of space to spread out all of our backpacks. And it was so relaxing to be able to sleep in and lay on the beach without feeling like we need to go to a museum or go on a tour. Being a beach bum is what people do there. It was a great halfway city to do some laundrz, get some rest and gear up for the second half of our trip. And it was just gorgeous. I would love to go back sometime for a longer relaxing vacation.

And another cool thing there...we met an Aggie. We were trying to mail some postcards so were standing around the typical confused tourists and this older gentleman came up and we discovered he went to A&M and was class of 59. How cool. He told us that he was there during the time of Earl Rudder and Bear Bryant. Which sounds like so long ago. But then he told us that he lived in Hart Hall which is still around. Even though is seems like so long ago there are some things that dont change. And his ring was sooo worn down...I hope mine can look like that someday. None of us brought our rings and we miss them terribly.

After Nice, we spent another FULL day traveling to Interlaken, Switzwerland. It took us 2 trams and 5 trains but we finally made it. Just barely. Some good news though...I finished my second book yesterday during our 13 hours of train rides. So far I have read The Wednseday Letters and The Shack. I wasnt very impressed by the first one but the Shack was really interesting. I would like to go back and read it sometime and underline things and think more about it. Sometimes it seems like it helped me understand things but really I think it just made me have even more questions. Ashley and Katie got slightly annoyed that I kept telling them things that I read about but its a great book to talk through. Next on my book list is Eat Pray Love. I know that will be a good one too.

Today we are in Interlaken which is equally beautiful as Nice but in a completely different way. Everywhere we turn there are mountains around us. It is so cozy. And the houses are so adorably Swiss. We got in pretty late last night and things around here close pretty early so we ended up having to eat dinner at Hooters. I have actually never ever been there before so it was probably about time that I had that experience. I ate wings...they were pretty good. The onion rings were my favorite part though.

It was rainy when we woke up. This place is known for their extreme sports (bungee jumping, skydiving, hangliding, rock climbing, canyoning) and even though we most likely wouldnt have done any of those things, we didnt really have the option to. But we found a place nearby where they have caves so we went and toured those. It was cool just to know that we were literally in the middle of a mountain in the Swiss Alps. Then we rode a boat back in the pouring rain. Now we are just looking for some decently priced food. This sure is an expensive city. I think we ended up spending around 70 dollars at Hooters last night and none of us got anything extravagant. Oh well...its just part of the experience I suppose.

Jessica left us yesterday to go back to the states. We will miss her terribly. She got the award for most improved traveler due to the fact that the rest of us have studied abroad and done other extensive traveling and she had never been overseas. She was a great traveling buddy though. The trip definetly would not have been the same without her and we will miss her cute East Texas accent that makes us feel right at home, her silly jokes and laugh and how excited she would be to see all of the amazing things here.

Tomorrow is yet another day of trains all day. We are going to Salzburg, Austria and arent sure quite what to expect. Ill try to keep you updated...

First almost problem...

We ran into our first minor setback today. We had a great day going to the Gaudi museum and hanging out at the beach and Las Ramblas and then we thought we should probably go to the train station to check on our train for tomorrow. We knew that there was only one train tomorrow going to Nice and it turns out it is full. We had about 30 minutes of panic/brainstorming until we finally figured out an alternate plan tomorrow with the help of the girl working at the station (who we think deserves employee of the year!) and found a plan that will work. It involves taking 4 different trains and we don't get in until after midnight but it is better than being stranded in Barcelona while an empty apartment in Nice awaits us!

Pray that it works out!!

Barcelona

We made it to Barcelona! What an experience that was! We booked our flight on Ryanair for somewhere around 30 euros so we weren't expecting much. We had heard that they make a lot of their money by charging people for bags that weigh more than the limit and we thought the limit was 10 kg (I have no idea how many pounds this is). So we spent the better half of an hour redistributing our clothes between our check bags and carryon bags in the middle of the airport just to find out that our bags were light enough all along. The flight didn't have assigned seats which was strange and it was full of loud Spaniards coming back from Rome where they had a huge soccer game this weekend. But we made it and found our way to our hostel so all is well.

This morning we did Fat Tire Bike Tour number 2. It was so great and I really love Barcelona! It is so much more modern than the other cities that we've been in. I almost feel like I am in America. One of my favorite things is that the streets are parallel and at right angles so it makes it a lot harder to get lost! Also, I remembered the name Gaudi from art history in high school but didn't realize how much of the city he designed. It's all so cool - the Park Guell, the Segrada Familia, and other little random houses that we see along the streets.

We also had lunch on the beach as part of our tour and it was beautiful! Great weather, great architecture and great people. This will be up there on my list of favorite cities for sure : )

Tonight we plan on having a good Spanish dinner of tapas and experiencing some nightlife. And tomorrow we'll be at it again going to the Picasso museum and La Ramblas.

We were wondering today what we've missed back at home...hows the swine flu? How are Jon and Kate? Are there any good movies out right now? Let me know so I'm not too behind on my pop culture when I come home!!

Munich, Florence, Castiglion Fiorentino and Rome

i apologize in advance for this email not having correct grammar. i cant really figure out the keyboard i am using. i probably could if i tried but it would take a lot of time and thats something that i dont have much of!

lots has been going on since prague...

munich was interesting. we did a few cool things but i dont think its a city that i would necessarily want to go back to. we went to the haufbrahaus and had some authentic german beer in a beer garden and lots of sausage! the next day we went to Dauchau, the concentration camp. i really had no idea what to expect but i definetly learned a ton there. it was strange though because it was a gorgeous day outside and the camp was well kept and quite pretty so it almost seemed like a nice place to be. but knowing everything that went on there completely contrasted the mood of the day.

later that day we wanted to go on a bike tour and happened to hear about a free one that would fit in with our time frame. i guess the lesson we learned was that you get what you pay for. hah. the guide told us a few facts that were obviously not right such as the statue of the pope that he told us was the king. and we stopped halfway through at a beer garden for a snack which was great until halfway through and the sky opened up and it started pouring! we rode 15 minutes back in a torrential downpour which was cold and miserable at the time but funny looking back.

then we got on another night train...we have all come to really love them...and arrived in florence early the next morning. we had some breakfast and were the very first people in line to see the david. i had already seen it when i was there last but it was still very impressive. then we shopped around for a few hours and were on our way to my favorite place ever!

yes...we went back to castiglion fiorentino. my heart was racing as we pulled up and i was overly giddy. it was exactly like i remembered which was bittersweet. i love that place more than anything but without all of my study abroad friends, and knowing i was only going to be there for one night was a little sad. but we had a great meal at santa chiara, saw all of our old friends...dr. o, paulo, vanessa, sharon, marco, thomas and ramon. poor jessica and ashley had to listen to me, becca and katie relive every moment of that summer we could think of. we stayed at an adorable bed and breakfast and left the next morning for rome.

we have an apartment here which is great! we have room to spread out, a big shower and can FINALLY do some laundry in an actual machine. handwashing clothes isnt nearly the same as what we have back at home. we saw the typical roman things...the colloseum, roman forum, baths of caracalla, vatican and the vatican museum, trevi fountain and pantheon. last night the owner of our apartment made us reservations at the best trattoria in rome. it was the best meal ive eaten in my life hands down! it was unlike any italian food that ive ever had....mmmm.

we are running low on sleep but are determined to make the most of tonight because becca has to leave tomorrow to start her job on june 1! we will miss her so much! the trip will slow down without her here but she always makes sure that we dont look back and regret not doing something so hopefully we can keep up her energy even without her.

update on my feet...they are killing me! i thought that after a few days i might get used to walking so much but thats not the case. it basically gets worse and i sit down at every chance i can. the other girls are having the same issue though so its not just me being lazy. i wear tennis shoes when i know i am going to be doing a lot of walking but we do way more than alot of walking usually so its impossible to not be sore everyday. i need a good pedicure and massage when i get home.

tomorrow is our last day in rome and then we are flying to barcelona for a few days! thats ashleys territory from last summer so hopefully it will go smoothly!

all together, the trip has gone surprisingly smooth. we all have our moments that are hard but we have more than enough fun and laughs to make up for any stress or tiredness. and there have been no major mishaps. i feel like such big girls for figuring things out so well! we really can do anything!

i miss all of you at home though...friends, family, stella, my kiddos at work! i think about yall and wish that i could be sharing these amazing experiences with more of you! this trip so far has been more than i could ever have hoped for...

Prague

Two years ago today was my first day in Italy doing study abroad...we took a moment to celebrate our anniversary : )

But anyways...back to THIS year! Our overnight train was great!! It was running an hour late but that was just fine. So we got on around 8 and since we were just on a train, there was obviously nothing at all to do. We were forced to go to bed early which was great! We all had a little bed and the movement of the train made for the best night of sleep I've gotten in a long time.

We got to Prague at 10 in the morning and immediately made our way to the Prague Castle. It actually looked really modern. I guess they covered the original stone with stucco or something because it wasn't at all what I picture when I think of castles. So when we got there we got in the longest line (that's usually where we end up) without even knowing what exactly it was for but it turns out that that day you could tour the President's quarters for free. That was cool...I guess it is like the White House of the Czech Republic. All of the tours were given in Czech though so we just walked through and admired how beautiful it was, without knowing anything else about it. After that we toured the rest of the castle grounds which included a Cathedral, a Basilica (St. George's - I took a picture of it for you Dad!!), and a dungeon where they kept prisoners of nobility. I didn't know much about the history of Prague so we got an audioguide that helped us a lot.

After that, we went back to our hotel for some much needed showers and went out for dinner. Today we slept in for a while then went to the Jewish Quarter where we toured a few synagouges and museums. Prague had a huge Jewish population and it was quite informative. One thing I learned was that the reason the step on and crush glass during a wedding is to symbolize that even during the happiest times they should remember the destruction of the Holy Temple. Then we had lunch, did some browsing through a market and are resting for a few hours.

I know I have said this before but I am having such a great time. I am getting the opportunity to see such important parts of history, beautiful works of art and other cultures. Everywhere we go is so unique and has its own atmosphere. We are trying to learn how to say a few words everywhere we go but aren't so great at it. And the girls I am with are so amazing. I knew this before the trip but we are having the best time together. I can't imagine being here without them. I have laughed so hard that I've cried and gotten a great ab workout several times. Besides being hilarious, they are smart and kind and I couldn't ask for more in traveling companions : )

We are leaving tomorrow bright and early to get on a six hour train to Munich, where we are going to Dauchau. I know that will be a rough day but its definetly something that I think we need to see. Then after that we are going to ITALY!! I have been looking forward to that for so long now.

My time at the internet cafe is running out but thanks for checking up on me! I hope all is well in America and I'm not missing anything too important!

Anne Frank Update

We just finished the Anne Frank tour which was really really cool. BUT one of the best parts was that in line we met, and became BFFs, with some actors from LA. The girl was in the episode of Greys Anatomy a few weeks back where all of the kids that were graduating from high school got in a car accident and she was the valedictorian!! I wanted to ask her to give us her speech again because it made me cry the first time but decided to not look like a crazy stalker. So I just played it cool...

London and Amsterdam

Wow what busy girls we have been on our "foreignland journey" (we heard some Brits say this and thought it was funny).

The flight over here wasn't that bad...only 8 and a half hours, most of which we slept. We got to London around 8 in the morning and headed straight to a Fat Tire Bike tour where we saw a bunch of things like Kensington Palace, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, Princess Diana's memorial, Parliament Square and a few other things. It was fun to ride the bikes around such a beautiful city. There were so many gorgeous parks and ponds and the contrast of the old Victorian and modern buildings was neat. Later that night we went on a Jack the Ripper tour (which gaves me nightmares) but was really intersting.

The next day we went to the Tower of London, Big Ben, the Globe Theater (where we got to see part of Romeo and Juliet...sooo cool!), Westminster Abby and the London Eye. The next thing we did was probably my favorite part so far...we went to go see Spring Awakening in London's Theater District. The show was amazing! Anybody who has a chance to see it should although some parts were for mature viewing audiences ; )

The next morning Jessica and I went to Harrods (I bought a cuuuuute pair of shoes) and then we met up with the other girls and took the train all day to Amsterdam. We got here last night and walked around for a while, had dinner and got a few hours of sleep in our horrible smelling hotel. Haha. Amsterdam is not at all what I expected. It is a beautiful city and we have seen some great sites but it is grungy and dirty. I guess that's just part of what you get here.

Today we woke up early to go to the Van Gogh museum where we saw Starry Night. It was really cool to see it in person! Now we are about to go to the Anne Frank house and after that we will be getting on an overnight train to Prague!

We have taken lots of pictures, made lots of new friends, gotten lost a few too many times, not gotten enough sleep and have had to run to more trains that I would like but all in all, every minute has been amazing.

Internet access has definetly gotten pushed to the wayside but I hope to get back on in a few days.

So far, so good! Continue to pray for us!

Everything I Own...

...at least for the next 5 weeks. Yes, that's right. I'm not typically a high maintenence girl but I'm not sure about this. It's all that I am bringing and I am carrying it around everywhere I go. All 18 pounds of it. Wish me luck!!

Countdown to Departure

Tomorrow is the day that I have been looking forward to for almost 2 years! I am leaving with 4 of my best friends (Ashley, Jessica, Katie and Becca) to backpack through Europe for 5 weeks. We have been talking about this and planning it since our study abroad trip during the summer of 2007 and I really can't believe its finally here!

I graduated on Friday and spent the weekend moving out of my house and packing so it has been a real whirlwind but I feel like I am as prepared as I can be.

We have apartments/hotels/hostels booked for almost every city, our Eurail passes, a few change of clothes, cameras and our Rick Steves guide book.

Here is a map of our route...I know it doesn't look very organized or make much sense but its the best we can do. For various reasons, we are going a little bit out of the conventional order but it should work out and we will be able to hit all of our most important stops.

Tomorrow at 4:20 we will be on our way to London to begin! After that, we are going to Amsterdam, Prague, Munich, Florence, Castiglion Fiorentino (our beloved home during study abroad), Rome, Barcelona, Nice, Interlaken, Salzburg, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, Bruges, Paris then back to London to fly home. We leave to come home June 23 then I move into my apartment and start my job on June 29! We are hoping to make lots of memories, meet new people, enjoy our time with our best friends, relax before we have to come back to the real world and start jobs. Keep us in your prayers and check back for updates!