Well well well...I'm ashamed to say that I am a horrible blogger. I will really try hard to be better, promise! Okay, where to start. Well since I last blogged I have been to Cinque Terre, Venice, Vienna, and Prague! (Can that get me off the hook for not blogging?!) I'll try to give a quick update on each place...
Cinque Terre is a combination of 5 coastal towns...each made up of mediterranean colored buildings with clothes hanging on clothes lines outside every window. This is one of the most beautiful places I've been! Our group consisted of 4 heidelbergers and we met up with 2 friends from florence! Out of the 5 cities (Monterosso, Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore) my favorite was Vernazza. This is the first town we hiked to (this is no little hike..it took us 2 1/2 hours of mostly uphill...who would have thought our Mediterranean vaca would involve lots of sweat?). Cinque Terre is in the region of Italy where Pesto was created...so of course every meal almost consisted of either pesto pasta or pesto pizza..it was to die for! I also had my first glass of wine here. It was white...I practically had to force it down...I'll update you on my wine drinking when we get to venice! We also got to SWIM in the Mediterranean Sea! Pretty monumental! All in all it was an amazing weekend!
The trip back was rediculous...one of those all-time european adventures you hear so much about..quick synopsis:
1. we left monterosso at 8 pm in pouring rain.
2. we get harrassed by 2 creepy italian men...(don't worry we had body gaurd jared with us)
3. 2 creepy men followed us off the train and waited for us to get back on our connecting train which was delayed. Here we were also bombarded by crazy Italian men...gross...asking us to stay the night? By this time we were stuffing our extra socks up Jared's sleeves to make him look even more threatening.
4. We show up in Bologna (which we pronounced as the processed meat balogna) thinking we missed our train, but luckily it was delayed 3 hours...so we sat in a crowded room in Bologna, Italy with 3 loudly snoring Italians for 2 hours. Finally we got on our train and ended up in Heidelberg at 5 pm.
A great 20 hours of traveling I must say.
The next weekend a big group of us went to Venice for my friend Anna Debord's birthday! She lived in Abilene until pre-K, and apparently we use to play together when we were little! Venice was incredible! It was exactly as you would picture an Italian city...no cars..just water...and tons of little bridges! Some highlights were seeing the pigeons, actually enjoying a glass of merlot...and then having another haha, the boys surprised us and bought us roses in St. Mark's square all lit up at night with music all around (so cute!), walking around the city, taking water busses, and eating gelato while dangling our feet over the edge of the peer! It was a great trip!
The whole next week was spent in Vienna for our educational field trip. We got to stay at a nice hotel with only one roommate, a sauna, and BATHTUBS! It was great to get to spend 5 days in one place and not feel rushed. Vienna originated the coffee house, and so we went to one at least once a day! They are everywhere, and always full viennese people just hanging out! What a life! The city was gorgeous, and big enough not to get bored..yet easy to get around. I rode on my first subway here! The last night we ended with a Mozart and Strauss symphony! It was so fun! But during the trip I started getting sick..so the flight home was less than fun. I spent all day Sunday resting and sleeping...and then by tuesday everything was good! See mom, I told you I didn't have to go to the doctor haha
This past weekend I went to Prague! Its amazing how different each city is. I went with 3 girls and 2 boys...it was quite the fun group! We stayed in an apartment type place...and when we checked in we decided to take a quick nap...that lasted 3 1/2 hours! Guess we were more tired than we realized! We walked around and saw the Astronomical clock. Its the coolest clock I've ever seen..soo much detail! We found a place to eat...and then we walked around some more. Finally we ended up drinking wine and playing cards back at our apartment. (We have become obsessed with the card game, Bum.) The next day was freezing, but the views were gorgeous--all the greenery was now either orange, red, or yellow! It didn't feel like we were in Czech at all. Luckily most people spoke english...I tried learning some basic phrases on our 10 hour train ride, but the fact that they dont like to put vowels in their words is not for me. Jkdsymgni? I don't think so. We visited the Largest castle in the world, the Prague Castle! It's more like a palace...really the only thing that has spires and is tall is the cathedral. We spent most of our time in the gardens. It had a great view of the whole city of Praha that was full of fall colors. We also went on the Charles bridge...its a huge bridge with lots of statues...very pretty! A major moment on the trip was when we found CHEERIOS in the grocery store! My how excited were we! The box was too big for my backpack so I carried them around proudly in my arms...they were a very sufficient snack for mornings and on the trainride back.
Well, we're caught up! I wanted to post pictures, but for some reason I can't right now. I will try to later! Now, I'm sitting in my room enjoying my fun-fetti haloween cookies that my mom and sister sent to me! This is definitely a highlight of my day seeing as it consisted of a german quiz, a history midterm, and a 3 hour long stats class! I'm about to walk down the hill for dinner, and then I'll struggle to make it back up and study for yet another German quiz. But oh well, this is Europe! The whole house is getting closer...it's amazing how we live in one place. It really is crazy to say goodnight to people everynight, and then goodmorning...we roll out of bed and eat breakfast together not caring what each other looks like...we study together...we have church together...we legitimately live together like a family. It's so hard to describe it, but its amazing how close I feel to everyone! Well, thats all for now. I'll try to post pictures soon! Tschuss!
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2 comments:
Well, I'll try this again. Seems everytime I try to post a comment, it decides I need a new password. Glad to hear from you after such a long absence! Sounds like you are truly having a continental experience. Hope you continue to post occasionally...even a short note from time to time just to let us know what boring things you've been up to is appreciated.
Know you are seeing and experiencing some of the most wonderful places on the continent. We too have been seeing some of the sights. During the same time period, I've been to Midland - TWICE- found a wonderful sandwich shop off the beaten path - great Reuben sandwiches and they even have English brew. Ran into your Mom (at the stadium) - turn left at Lubbock. Have also toured Irving and Tuscola and even drove part way to San Angelo.
I know you are writing all this down in a journal - aren't you? One of these 'off' weekends you should gather some of your traveling buddies and visit some of the burgs nearby. You have great treasures in your back yard! Not nearly so much travel time and no Italian men!
Keep in touch! Lots o' love.
uncle dan
Sounds like you had a similar experience with Italian men as I did! haha I absolutely LOVED reading your blog! I felt like I was getting a glimpse of what my life used to look like! Things are so different now! Things are probably feeling second nature to you now that you've been there for a while. I can't even begin to describe to you how out of place I feel back in America. I don't have any regrets from my time abroad and it sounds to me like you don't either so far! Keep up the fun trips and until we meet again--:D
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