I apologize that my final travel blog has taken me three weeks to write. Once I came back, my life just picked up where I left off and I haven't had time to look back.
Looking back on my trip I still to this day can't believe I actually went. God truly blessed me with an amazing group of people to go with, and he blessed me with a safe and smooth sailing trip. Nothing major happened, no one was hurt or sick. It was great. Jet lag of course took its toll on me the first few days, but I started preparing for it before we left and I was not as affected as other people were, so I'm rather proud of that one. There were some early mornings, but have no fear, I'm sleeping in until 10 now just like any other summer day so all is well in my world. :)
I don't even know where to start with this trip. Before, I will be honest, I believe in God, and I did the going to church and going through the motions thing. But this trip definitely changed that for me. I was completely uprooted from my usual comfort zone and thrown into a place where I didn't know how to talk to the locals or what was socially acceptable. I repeatedly found myself leaning on God throughout this trip, because no matter where I am in the world, he's the same. It took me 20 years and leaving the country to figure that out, but hey better late than never right? ;) This trip definitely changed me for the better. I learned that in order to travel with all kinds of different people, you have t be flexible. Very flexible. I ate things that I wouldn't normally eat. I did things that I didn't want to do. But I did it all in order to make sure the trip was enjoyable for everyone, and I can say everyone on our trip was like this. We all tried to work together to be flexible.
One of the things I loved the most about the trip is getting to know the Dvorak family. Yeah I knew Jim a little before I applied for the trip just because he knows my mom (just like everyone else on campus). But after this trip, I really do feel like part of their family. God could not have blessed us with better sponsors.
I will be honest and say I want to go back. I missed my family and friends terribly, but now that I've seen them, I'm ready to go back and explore the world more. I'm not saying I want to be gone for 6 weeks at a time, but I am ready to go see other things that are out there. I miss walking out of our hotel and being surrounded my tall buildings. I miss everything being within walking distance. I miss riding trains through mountains and seeing the beautiful scenery of Europe. I mean I love flat Oklahoma and nothing can compare to the sunsets, but man, Europe is beautiful. I can even say I miss the subway system, just a little bit. :p Only because it was SO much easier to get around town.
There are still so many things that I didn't get to do in Vienna, but I'm sure glad I was able to do what I could when I was there. I'm very thankful to be home. I'm also thankful to be adding more money to my bank account rather than spending it all. ;) Until I travel again, I'll shortly return this blog to my normal blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about my travels, and I hope you keep reading to stay updated on my life.
This song seemed appropriate... ;)
So Long, Farewell! - Sound of Music
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Monday, July 2, 2012
Italia
I don’t even know where to begin. Italy was fantastic! We went to Rome, Florence, and Venice. Italy, unlike the other parts of Europe that I visited actually believes in air conditioning. Well, in most places.
We took a night train from Vienna to Rome Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday there. In those two days we visited the Vatican City, Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, and a lot of other stuff. I also got to see the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum at night. It was beautiful. St. Peter’s is HUGE. They have stones in the middle that mark it’s size compared to other churches in the world, and they don’t even compare. The Vatican was rough because we got off the train, changed clothes, and headed out. So we were all pooped and didn’t want to do anything, but we made the most of it that we could. I will say that my favorite place in Rome was the Coliseum. We walked out of the subway, and it was right in front of us. It was beautiful. (I’ll post pictures soon I promise)
On Thursday we took a morning train to Florence. We arrived at our hotel, and like usual our hotel rooms weren’t ready so we stored our luggage, changed, and headed out. We started with the Medici Chapels, which are the people that basically founded Florence, then we had a walking tour of Florence. It lasted roughly 3 hours so needless to say we were a little tired… After the tour we checked into our rooms, rested for a little while and headed out to the market. It was so cool! I bought many souvenirs for others and myself of course and even used my haggling skills I inherited from my mother. ;) The Italy versus Germany soccer game was that night too so we stopped by one of the biggest showings of it in the city, then I headed back to the hotel to catch up on some journaling and slept. The next day we headed out to a couple of museums and had a lot of free time.
Saturday morning we were headed to Venice. This was my first sighting of the ocean since we flew over it coming to London. It was spectacular. The entire city is a group of islands, but in the part that we were in they had filled in some of the canals to make it possible for pedestrians to walk around. We again had a walking tour of the city, went to the Doge’s Palace, San Marcos church and had free time. It was a blast! Our last official thing to journal about was the Doge’s Palace, and even then it was hard to keep journaling. Out of all the cities, Venice was definitely the hottest because of the humidity. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. But Venice was definitely my favorite. The people were nicer, there weren’t any cars or motorcycles to run me over, and it was just cool. I mean, the gondola ride may make me biased but I had such a great time.
Each city had it’s own thing that I loved. I loved the things I saw in Rome. I loved the markets in Florence, and I loved the people in Venice. This week has been a long one, but a great one. Today I’m hanging out in Vienna, then I’m headed home tomorrow. I can’t believe this trip is already over. It’s been such a blessing. And since this blog is already so long, I write another one when I get home.
Peace.
We took a night train from Vienna to Rome Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday there. In those two days we visited the Vatican City, Vatican Museum, St. Peter’s Basilica, Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, Coliseum, the Spanish Steps, and a lot of other stuff. I also got to see the Trevi Fountain and the Coliseum at night. It was beautiful. St. Peter’s is HUGE. They have stones in the middle that mark it’s size compared to other churches in the world, and they don’t even compare. The Vatican was rough because we got off the train, changed clothes, and headed out. So we were all pooped and didn’t want to do anything, but we made the most of it that we could. I will say that my favorite place in Rome was the Coliseum. We walked out of the subway, and it was right in front of us. It was beautiful. (I’ll post pictures soon I promise)
On Thursday we took a morning train to Florence. We arrived at our hotel, and like usual our hotel rooms weren’t ready so we stored our luggage, changed, and headed out. We started with the Medici Chapels, which are the people that basically founded Florence, then we had a walking tour of Florence. It lasted roughly 3 hours so needless to say we were a little tired… After the tour we checked into our rooms, rested for a little while and headed out to the market. It was so cool! I bought many souvenirs for others and myself of course and even used my haggling skills I inherited from my mother. ;) The Italy versus Germany soccer game was that night too so we stopped by one of the biggest showings of it in the city, then I headed back to the hotel to catch up on some journaling and slept. The next day we headed out to a couple of museums and had a lot of free time.
Saturday morning we were headed to Venice. This was my first sighting of the ocean since we flew over it coming to London. It was spectacular. The entire city is a group of islands, but in the part that we were in they had filled in some of the canals to make it possible for pedestrians to walk around. We again had a walking tour of the city, went to the Doge’s Palace, San Marcos church and had free time. It was a blast! Our last official thing to journal about was the Doge’s Palace, and even then it was hard to keep journaling. Out of all the cities, Venice was definitely the hottest because of the humidity. I don’t think I’ve ever sweated so much in my life. But Venice was definitely my favorite. The people were nicer, there weren’t any cars or motorcycles to run me over, and it was just cool. I mean, the gondola ride may make me biased but I had such a great time.
Each city had it’s own thing that I loved. I loved the things I saw in Rome. I loved the markets in Florence, and I loved the people in Venice. This week has been a long one, but a great one. Today I’m hanging out in Vienna, then I’m headed home tomorrow. I can’t believe this trip is already over. It’s been such a blessing. And since this blog is already so long, I write another one when I get home.
Peace.
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