My dream, along with everyone else's is to have college without the classes. I mean seriously, who wouldn't want to work a few hours a week, spend time with friends all day, and not live at home? I'd take it in a heartbeat.
It seems like every time I write a blog it's after church on Wednesday nights... I guess the teacher just leaves me with something that makes me think every time. Our series is still Limitless. But last night we talked about Time Management. I'm pretty sure God was talking directly to me because I'm having issues with that right now. The first point of his lesson was, Learn to Say No.
Hello, that is my major problem. I can't say no to anyone. I want to help everyone with everything to the point that I have so much on my plate I just want to shut down. And if you can't tell, I'm at this point right now. Sure I may not be a nursing major that has clinicals or whatever, but I'm just as busy as every other person on this campus.
Sorry I definitely went off on a tangent there. Back to God. Every day I'm realizing that I need him more and more. I'm starting to manage all my stuff better because I've actually been spending time with him every day. Confession time, I've never kept up with daily Bible reading this long before. So far I've been doing it for a month. I can tell you right now, this last month has been better than ever. I may have been crazy busy, but I know that I have Jesus standing right beside me helping me through it. Pretty sad that it has taken me so long to realize that if I just let him in I'm more at peace.
I made the decision to become a Christian 7 years ago, and I think I'm closer to God now than I was when I made the decision. I know I was baptized for the right reasons, but I think I was still on the "camp high." I never had anyone study with me, so I've been trying to figure things out on my own. Needless to say, it's been a struggle for awhile, but I'm glad that God has given me the strength to power through and it's totally worth it.
Anyways, school is school like always. We're playing flag football in intramurals right now, and volleyball starts soon. We have three leagues, so I may die before the season is up. Pray for me. :)
I hope everyone has a fantastic day.
Song of the Day:
Legacy - Nicole Nordeman
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Thursday, October 4, 2012
School? What's that?
Well, it's been three months since I stepped off that plane and came home from Europe. Ever since then, all I've wanted to do is go back. I think I left a piece of my heart there, and I can't wait until I get the opportunity to go back.
So many things have happened since then. School, rush, interviews, intramurals, club, and a million other things. We'll start with school. I'm taking 18 hours this semester, which is pretty crazy let me tell ya. Recently Accounting majors have been applying to different firms trying to get internships for this summer. I'm in this boat as well, and I have three interviews in the next two days. Needless to say I'm nervous, and anxious. But, I got a nice little reminder this morning from my little Pi sister. It was a simple note that said:
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
Simple, yet so powerful. It was just what I needed to hear this morning because I've been trying to handle everything on my own. I've balanced it alright so far, but I'm slacking in many areas. At church we've been talking about how God is Limitless. I'm limited. Very limited, so why do I try to handle everything on my own when I'm limited? God is limitless and can handle anything, no matter how big or how small. Slowly but surely I'm realizing that I need to give it to him. Yes, it may have taken 21 years for me to realize this, but better late than never.
Okay, I'll get off my soap box now. Since school started we've also had Rush and Induction. Things were different than last year, but they were still a lot of fun. I love my new little Pi sisters, and I cannot wait to get to know all the new members this year. So far, they're pretty amazing.
Well I have a test I need to study for and interviews to get prepared for so that's all you get for today.
Song of the Day:
I Will Rise - Chris Tomlin
Saturday, July 21, 2012
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good Night...
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
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
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.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Last few days in Vienna
Sorry it's been so long since I've updated my blog. It's been a crazy week. I can't believe that I only have 4 days left on this trip then I'm headed back to the good ol' USA. It has gone by fast and slow and it's definitely had its ups and downs.
Last week was our last few days to be in Vienna. We started the week with visiting the Military museum which probably would have been better with a better tour guide, but we've had super good luck with fantastic tour guides so we were bound to have a bad one. We also went to see the Hundertwasser Haus which is an apartment building that looks completely different than every thing else in the city. I'll post pictures later when I have better Internet. The next day we visited the Austrian Parliament and the United Nations. Then our last official site visiting day we went to Melk Abbey and Mauthausen.
Melk Abbey is a monastery in Melk that is huge and is also a secondary school but it's not the main site I want to talk about. Mauthausen is a concentration camp about two hours away from Vienna. In my academic journal I reflected on this site for 3 pages (compared to my usual paragraph) so I'll do my best to keep it short. 100,000 people died at this camp. But this one wasn't like Auschwitz which was intended for mass murders. It was a work camp where they worked the prisoners to death instead. They made the people mine stone and build their own cam then they began selling the stone to other cities. Even some of the curbs in Vienna were made from that stone. As we went through the camp with our guide I could imagine things that has gone on. I could picture people living there and working there so vividly that it was kinda scary. But this site definitely made our group solemn and we soaked a lot of information in. There were other groups there that were being loud and laughing and i couldn't understand how they could act like that knowing what happened at this place. But people can do what they want to do I suppose.
Saturday we all shopped and I bought a few souvenirs and I now have a complete outfit from Vienna. :) Then Sunday we toured the Opera House and did a little more homework then we were free. Our train left on Monday night to head to Rome so we had yore a bit of free time that weekend but it was well deserved.
Now I'm in Italy and I have a lot of writing to take catch up on so I will blog about Italy later. :)
Last week was our last few days to be in Vienna. We started the week with visiting the Military museum which probably would have been better with a better tour guide, but we've had super good luck with fantastic tour guides so we were bound to have a bad one. We also went to see the Hundertwasser Haus which is an apartment building that looks completely different than every thing else in the city. I'll post pictures later when I have better Internet. The next day we visited the Austrian Parliament and the United Nations. Then our last official site visiting day we went to Melk Abbey and Mauthausen.
Melk Abbey is a monastery in Melk that is huge and is also a secondary school but it's not the main site I want to talk about. Mauthausen is a concentration camp about two hours away from Vienna. In my academic journal I reflected on this site for 3 pages (compared to my usual paragraph) so I'll do my best to keep it short. 100,000 people died at this camp. But this one wasn't like Auschwitz which was intended for mass murders. It was a work camp where they worked the prisoners to death instead. They made the people mine stone and build their own cam then they began selling the stone to other cities. Even some of the curbs in Vienna were made from that stone. As we went through the camp with our guide I could imagine things that has gone on. I could picture people living there and working there so vividly that it was kinda scary. But this site definitely made our group solemn and we soaked a lot of information in. There were other groups there that were being loud and laughing and i couldn't understand how they could act like that knowing what happened at this place. But people can do what they want to do I suppose.
Saturday we all shopped and I bought a few souvenirs and I now have a complete outfit from Vienna. :) Then Sunday we toured the Opera House and did a little more homework then we were free. Our train left on Monday night to head to Rome so we had yore a bit of free time that weekend but it was well deserved.
Now I'm in Italy and I have a lot of writing to take catch up on so I will blog about Italy later. :)
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Say what?
Where to begin? These past few weeks have been crazy. I've been to more countries then I have ever been in my life. It's so easy to travel from country to country here, I love it. I love getting to see the different cultures, people, and cities. I couldn't be any more blessed to be on this trip. This past weekend I went to Prague and Munich. For those of you who don't know, Prague is a city, not a country. It's in the Czech Republic. I'll start with this part of the weekend.
We woke up at 4:30 on Saturday morning to catch our 5:50 train to Prague. We arrived there around 10 and we headed to our hotel. The owner's name is Jan (yawn) and he is seriously the nicest man I've ever met. Of course our hotel was Rick Steve's approved but we still weren't sure what to expect. When we arrived he greeted us by name and showed us our room. Then he asked us if we would join him for coffee, tea, and snacks downstairs after we got settled because he wanted to go over our travel plans with us. It turns out he told us all the hotspots to hit and what trams or metros to take. It was fantastic! He recommended a few places to eat and we were off. We ate lunch then headed to the river to swim, but it was freezing cold so we just laid out instead then headed back to the hotel to change and we may have napped for a little while. Around dinner time we headed into town and shopped then we say St. Charles Bridge at sunset then called it quits and went to bed. The next day we started with seeing the old part of town then had lunch and shopped a little more then we went to see the 'Castle.' It turns out that the entire community we were in was the castle, there wasn't an actual castle so that was rather disappointing. After the castle we had a nice dinner then headed to a concert at the museum where we literally sat on the steps of the inside. It was cool! The Czech Chamber Orchestra performed pieces by Dvorak, Mozart, Handel, and a lot of other famous composers. I really enjoyed it. Then we got some gelato and headed back to the hotel. By the way the name of the place is the Lida Guest House if any of you may be headed to Prague.
Monday morning we were off to Munich bright and early. We got to the train station and it turns out we were taking a bus to Munich instead... When we talked to the desk at our train station they told us we didnt need any reservations, but the lady kept asking us for ours. Since we didn't have any she made us wait until everyone else boarded then made us pay for reservations and made us sit at the back. I was not a very happy camper but we survived. We arrived in Munich around 12:30 and ate lunch there then set out for our hotel. We found
It without too much of a problem and got settled then we headed out to the 1972 Olympic Park. It was pretty neat getting to see it. We weren't able to go in anything but it was still neat. Then we passed through the BMW museum, but I didn't think it was that great. So we headed into town for dinner and we shopped for souvenirs. We turned in pretty early because we were all exhausted. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at McDonalds next door (it's nothing like breakfast at home) there's like nothing fried it was great! Anyways after breakfast we stopped by the grocery store to buy food for a picnic for lunch and headed out to the English Gardens. It was beautiful and huge. It took us a little while to find it but we did. We had lunch and walked around a bit then it was time for us to head home to Vienna.
I had a great time this weekend. I'm excited to be back in Vienna, but I'm definitely ready to come home. I miss my family, Seth, and friends. But I have one more week here in Vienna then a week in Italy and I'll be home. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to study abroad and I'm loving it!
We woke up at 4:30 on Saturday morning to catch our 5:50 train to Prague. We arrived there around 10 and we headed to our hotel. The owner's name is Jan (yawn) and he is seriously the nicest man I've ever met. Of course our hotel was Rick Steve's approved but we still weren't sure what to expect. When we arrived he greeted us by name and showed us our room. Then he asked us if we would join him for coffee, tea, and snacks downstairs after we got settled because he wanted to go over our travel plans with us. It turns out he told us all the hotspots to hit and what trams or metros to take. It was fantastic! He recommended a few places to eat and we were off. We ate lunch then headed to the river to swim, but it was freezing cold so we just laid out instead then headed back to the hotel to change and we may have napped for a little while. Around dinner time we headed into town and shopped then we say St. Charles Bridge at sunset then called it quits and went to bed. The next day we started with seeing the old part of town then had lunch and shopped a little more then we went to see the 'Castle.' It turns out that the entire community we were in was the castle, there wasn't an actual castle so that was rather disappointing. After the castle we had a nice dinner then headed to a concert at the museum where we literally sat on the steps of the inside. It was cool! The Czech Chamber Orchestra performed pieces by Dvorak, Mozart, Handel, and a lot of other famous composers. I really enjoyed it. Then we got some gelato and headed back to the hotel. By the way the name of the place is the Lida Guest House if any of you may be headed to Prague.
Monday morning we were off to Munich bright and early. We got to the train station and it turns out we were taking a bus to Munich instead... When we talked to the desk at our train station they told us we didnt need any reservations, but the lady kept asking us for ours. Since we didn't have any she made us wait until everyone else boarded then made us pay for reservations and made us sit at the back. I was not a very happy camper but we survived. We arrived in Munich around 12:30 and ate lunch there then set out for our hotel. We found
It without too much of a problem and got settled then we headed out to the 1972 Olympic Park. It was pretty neat getting to see it. We weren't able to go in anything but it was still neat. Then we passed through the BMW museum, but I didn't think it was that great. So we headed into town for dinner and we shopped for souvenirs. We turned in pretty early because we were all exhausted. The next morning we woke up and had breakfast at McDonalds next door (it's nothing like breakfast at home) there's like nothing fried it was great! Anyways after breakfast we stopped by the grocery store to buy food for a picnic for lunch and headed out to the English Gardens. It was beautiful and huge. It took us a little while to find it but we did. We had lunch and walked around a bit then it was time for us to head home to Vienna.
I had a great time this weekend. I'm excited to be back in Vienna, but I'm definitely ready to come home. I miss my family, Seth, and friends. But I have one more week here in Vienna then a week in Italy and I'll be home. I'm so thankful for this opportunity to study abroad and I'm loving it!
Friday, June 15, 2012
Geneva, Paris, Salzburg
Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. It's been a crazy weekend/week. I got back to Vienna on Tuesday from free travel to Geneva, Switzerland, Paris, and Salzburg, Austria. I'm gonna separate this blog into sections because it's probably going to be a long one...
Switzerland: We took a night train to Geneva, and that was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I've ever gotten in my life. We were all cramped into the room with our seats laid out like beds and I felt like a sardine. We got to Geneva and it took us around an hour to get to our hotel. But the lady at the visitor's desk was very friendly and she even gave us free maps! When we got to our hotel, we were there early but luckily our rooms were ready. The receptionist was super helpful about telling us how to get around and helping us get ready for the morning to leave AND she gave us a travel card for the day that gave us free transportation. Hello saving money! We freshened up and headed into town. We ate at a really fancy pizza restaurant, and the lady made fun of us, but we didn't care because we were starving. After that we started walking toward the lake and stopped to buy a few souvenirs. Then we took a boat across the lake and shopped in the Old town and just admired the city. We went to bed early because our train left at 6 the next morning so we wanted a good nights sleep.
Paris: We arrived in Paris around 9 and headed straight to our hostel so we could drop our stuff off and such. We bought some carnets at the main station so we could use the Metro (subway) and we headed out. We finally found our hostel, which is WAY on the south side of town. Let's just say it was a very sketchy side of town. We got there and we couldn't check into our room because it wasn't ready, so we were going to leave our stuff, but anyone could get in the luggage room so we decided just to carry it with us. I paid for the room and we headed out to explore Paris. Our plan was to try and accomplish everything in Paris the first day, then head to Versailles the next. So we started with Notre Dame. It was a beautiful church, but it was Sunday so they were having Mass. There were hundreds of people there to tour the church, and they let them through during mass. I felt terrible taking pictures and parading around while they were trying to worship. I really think they should close it during mass since it's free to get in anyway, but oh well. After the church we had lunch around the corner and it was amazing. Then we did a little souvenir shopping and headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre was pretty neat. I got to see the glass pyramids, the Mona Lisa (had to go through a mosh pit to get there), Venus, and the Winged Victory. It was nice because we had our handy dandy Rick Steve's guide and we hit the highlights of the museum and made it out in an hour. It was fantastic, plus we didn't have to journal so that saved us some time. ;) After the Louvre it was off to the Arc de Triomphe. We got to see one of the craziest round a bouts ever there, and we went underground to try and get under it, but we ended up on the other side of the road... As we were taking more pictures someone looked up and gasped and we all looked and it was the Eiffel Tower. I got so excited. We decided that we were going to walk there so we headed off.
It was about a 20 minute walk from where we were but it was totally worth it. Every time there was a break in the buildings we could see a little more of the Tower so it was a great way to go see it. It was like oh here's a little, and a little more. It was better than getting off a subway and boom there it is! But it was everything I ever imagined. I didn't get to climb to the top because we had all of our stuff with us and we decided seeing it was enough plus it was a pretty long line. So we headed out to find a cafe nearby to celebrate Miranda's birthday. It was amazing by the way! Needless to say, I really enjoyed the food in Paris. After dinner we bought a few more souvenirs then headed back to our hostel.
Paris Day 2: We slept in this morning because we were crazy tired from carrying our stuff all day. So when we got ready we headed out to a cafe to find wi-fi and breakfast to plan our day. We decided that we didn't want to go to Versailles cause we were exhausted and we started our day to late. So instead we headed out to the Parisian Flea Market. I bought my mom's present here then we headed out to lunch at the LaFayette Galleries. After lunch we went shopping then we headed toward our train station to head out to Salzburg. We ran into The Dvoraks there and realized the other group in Paris, the Dvoraks, and our group were all on the same train to head home, only we made a pitstop in Salzburg.
Salzburg: This time on the train we had a couchet so we had beds to sleep in and it was a fantastic night of sleep for me. :) We arrived in Salzburg around 9 and we booked it to the (drumroll please....) Sound of Music Tour!! :) I've never walked so fast in my life, but we made it with time to spare. The awesome part was that we were on a bus so we didn't have to carry our stuff! Anyways so the tour... The whole thing was basically a tour of the history of Salzburg based around the Sound of Music. We got to see the garden where they sand "Do-Re-Mi," and the mountains that they walked along. We also go to see the house that they used for the back of the house, and the actual back of the house. We stood across from the back of the house so we could see where they were in the boat and all that fun stuff. Then we also got to see the church where Julie Andrews married the Captain too. So it was freaking awesome. Then we headed back to Vienna and it was nice to be back some place familiar.
So on this trip I had lunch outside Notre Dame, dinner around the corner from the Eiffel Tower, and apple strudel outside the church from the Sound of Music. It was a fantastic weekend. This week was easy, just class and visiting sites, and planning for my free travel this weekend. I'm headed out to Prague, Czech Republic, and Munich Germany this weekend so more updates will be coming soon.
Sorry it's such a long one!
Switzerland: We took a night train to Geneva, and that was probably one of the worst nights of sleep I've ever gotten in my life. We were all cramped into the room with our seats laid out like beds and I felt like a sardine. We got to Geneva and it took us around an hour to get to our hotel. But the lady at the visitor's desk was very friendly and she even gave us free maps! When we got to our hotel, we were there early but luckily our rooms were ready. The receptionist was super helpful about telling us how to get around and helping us get ready for the morning to leave AND she gave us a travel card for the day that gave us free transportation. Hello saving money! We freshened up and headed into town. We ate at a really fancy pizza restaurant, and the lady made fun of us, but we didn't care because we were starving. After that we started walking toward the lake and stopped to buy a few souvenirs. Then we took a boat across the lake and shopped in the Old town and just admired the city. We went to bed early because our train left at 6 the next morning so we wanted a good nights sleep.
Paris: We arrived in Paris around 9 and headed straight to our hostel so we could drop our stuff off and such. We bought some carnets at the main station so we could use the Metro (subway) and we headed out. We finally found our hostel, which is WAY on the south side of town. Let's just say it was a very sketchy side of town. We got there and we couldn't check into our room because it wasn't ready, so we were going to leave our stuff, but anyone could get in the luggage room so we decided just to carry it with us. I paid for the room and we headed out to explore Paris. Our plan was to try and accomplish everything in Paris the first day, then head to Versailles the next. So we started with Notre Dame. It was a beautiful church, but it was Sunday so they were having Mass. There were hundreds of people there to tour the church, and they let them through during mass. I felt terrible taking pictures and parading around while they were trying to worship. I really think they should close it during mass since it's free to get in anyway, but oh well. After the church we had lunch around the corner and it was amazing. Then we did a little souvenir shopping and headed to the Louvre.
The Louvre was pretty neat. I got to see the glass pyramids, the Mona Lisa (had to go through a mosh pit to get there), Venus, and the Winged Victory. It was nice because we had our handy dandy Rick Steve's guide and we hit the highlights of the museum and made it out in an hour. It was fantastic, plus we didn't have to journal so that saved us some time. ;) After the Louvre it was off to the Arc de Triomphe. We got to see one of the craziest round a bouts ever there, and we went underground to try and get under it, but we ended up on the other side of the road... As we were taking more pictures someone looked up and gasped and we all looked and it was the Eiffel Tower. I got so excited. We decided that we were going to walk there so we headed off.
It was about a 20 minute walk from where we were but it was totally worth it. Every time there was a break in the buildings we could see a little more of the Tower so it was a great way to go see it. It was like oh here's a little, and a little more. It was better than getting off a subway and boom there it is! But it was everything I ever imagined. I didn't get to climb to the top because we had all of our stuff with us and we decided seeing it was enough plus it was a pretty long line. So we headed out to find a cafe nearby to celebrate Miranda's birthday. It was amazing by the way! Needless to say, I really enjoyed the food in Paris. After dinner we bought a few more souvenirs then headed back to our hostel.
Paris Day 2: We slept in this morning because we were crazy tired from carrying our stuff all day. So when we got ready we headed out to a cafe to find wi-fi and breakfast to plan our day. We decided that we didn't want to go to Versailles cause we were exhausted and we started our day to late. So instead we headed out to the Parisian Flea Market. I bought my mom's present here then we headed out to lunch at the LaFayette Galleries. After lunch we went shopping then we headed toward our train station to head out to Salzburg. We ran into The Dvoraks there and realized the other group in Paris, the Dvoraks, and our group were all on the same train to head home, only we made a pitstop in Salzburg.
Salzburg: This time on the train we had a couchet so we had beds to sleep in and it was a fantastic night of sleep for me. :) We arrived in Salzburg around 9 and we booked it to the (drumroll please....) Sound of Music Tour!! :) I've never walked so fast in my life, but we made it with time to spare. The awesome part was that we were on a bus so we didn't have to carry our stuff! Anyways so the tour... The whole thing was basically a tour of the history of Salzburg based around the Sound of Music. We got to see the garden where they sand "Do-Re-Mi," and the mountains that they walked along. We also go to see the house that they used for the back of the house, and the actual back of the house. We stood across from the back of the house so we could see where they were in the boat and all that fun stuff. Then we also got to see the church where Julie Andrews married the Captain too. So it was freaking awesome. Then we headed back to Vienna and it was nice to be back some place familiar.
So on this trip I had lunch outside Notre Dame, dinner around the corner from the Eiffel Tower, and apple strudel outside the church from the Sound of Music. It was a fantastic weekend. This week was easy, just class and visiting sites, and planning for my free travel this weekend. I'm headed out to Prague, Czech Republic, and Munich Germany this weekend so more updates will be coming soon.
Sorry it's such a long one!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)