Trip to Rome!

There hasn't been too much going on since our last trip. We went swimming in the super cold but clear lake, finished our Intensive German Course, and made more international friends!

But now our journey takes us to ROME, ITALY! I will say, I have always hoped to go to Rome and see all the ruins and super touristy things that everyone says is so much fun. I just never thought I would get to go! This was an experience that I will never forget. 

We were in Rome for 4 days. I will say that was way worth it. The city itself is awesome, but dirty. Like trash everywhere. But it was still fun! 

DAY 1:

We took a night train, so we could sleep and relax on our way there.  That wasn't too bad, other than we shared a cabin with other people, so it was a little awkward to move around and get comfy.  But once we got there it didn't matter!

We went to a cafe to hang out before we could get to the place we were staying. It was nice to sit outside for a little while after being cooped up for 12 hours.. lol. But after we got to the place we were staying in we dropped our stuff and headed right back out! We were finally there and wanted to see EVERYTHING! 

We made our way to the colosseum, but we continuously got sidetracked while walking there. But we did find the best gelato :) It was so funny, because once we got towards the colosseum, we could pick out the other Americans in the crowds. The colosseum itself was amazing. The history that we know about it tied with actually walking around and touching the stones and marble... it was just jaw dropping. Never thought I would make it there so soon in my life, but I am so glad I could.  We then headed towards the Arco Di Constantino. The thing was huge and carved to intricately I was shocked it was something they left outside. We then continued through the ruins, Palatino, and the Arco Di Tito. Again, it was all stuff that I had never pictured seeing so soon. 

Because we walked the whole time,  we were starving. Being in Italy, we found a cute little place to get pasta and wine :) We then headed towards the Fontana Di Trevi, when we got side tracked by a group of people who were talking as part of a church. They were singing and praying while walking down the pedestrian streets. We joined and followed them till we got to the fountain. Sadly the fountain wasn't on due to cleaning, but we could still see it through the glass. We then headed back to the hostel because we were so tired. 

DAY 2: 

We slept in a little bit, then all of us got up and headed out. We walked to the Medici Palace hoping to take a tour, but they were closed. So we decided to go a different way when we ended up at the Spanish Stairs. As we continued our journey, we ended up at the Palazzo Chigi & Montecitorio...where sadly there was a funeral beginning to take place. We left there and ended up at the Tempio Adriano. This was a very old temple, but not open to the public for visits inside. We then continued to walk and found the Pantheon! I think we spent about an hour walking through and enjoying the amazing place that it is and was. 

After walking for a while, we found the Palazzo Madama--the art district! There were shops and artists all around selling what they made right there in front of you. We stayed in this area for a while, then found other places to explore like the Vespa Museum! It was very small, but still cool to see the evolution of Vespa scooters. For kicks an giggles, we found the U.S. Embassy as well! Keianna had hoped to get inside, but they don't do that for security purposes. 

We then found food at the Hard Rock Cafe-- finally we could get "American food". And of course we took a look around the shop as well before we headed back! 

DAY 3:

This day was spent at the Vatican City. It was an 1 1/2 hour walk from where we were staying, but it was totally worth it. We got to take a tour of the museum(there were things such as statues, tapestries, bathtubs, and more), see St. Peter's Basilica, and even see the Sistine Chapel and paintings! The whole thing was just amazing and I could not believe that I was there.  We then found a late lunch/early dinner that included a bottle of wine and amazing ravioli. We then found more gelato and other presents/snacks and slowly made our way towards the Trevi Fountain and shops again. Because we had to walk so much, we headed back a little early.

DAY 4:

We found out the day before that the Pope was returning from his trip in America and was going to give his weekly speech this day. So we headed towards the Vatican City again at an unnatural hour to get the best spots possible. Which we found! I was within arms length away from the Pope himself... it was just amazing. The amount of people that were there and from all over the world! Just awesome. 

After the Pope, we found a Sanitary Museum located in a hospital. It was filled with bones, wax models of the body from the 1900's, brains in jars, tools from 1900's hospitals and more awesome medical stuff. The three of us all geeked out over many things we found in this place.

We then headed back to shower and gather all our things and eat lunch. We had another night train ride home, and this time we could spread out where ever we wanted :) This trip was amazing :) 

Trip to Salzburg!

For my 22nd birthday, the girls and I took a day trip to Salzburg, Austria! It was a 3 hour train ride there at 6:40 am, but I would have to say it was totally worth it.

When we got there, we worked our way through the city till we eventually saw the Fortress. It was a last minute decision to go there, but I thought it was way worth it. Each room was filled with different things. There was a concert hall full of chairs, the Bishop's old room-including his bedroom and bathroom, lots of jewelry and a whole kitchen that was re-reacted to look like what it once did. I think my favorite places inside was the torture room with all the items they would have used and the armor room. It was a little creepy but still amazing to see.  We spent time walking around the courtyard and then headed back down towards the city.

After our fortress tour, we were starving. So we found a little market where you could get anything you could think of....including pretzels as big as my head covered in everything. We filled up on our pretzels and walked around to see what the little market had to offer us. We still had some time to kill before we needed to head towards our next tour, so we walked through the shops and the main square.

Our second tour took us through the Mirabell Gardens. Thank goodness we went when we did because it was a gorgeous day and all the flowers were still in bloom :) We then when to find where we were supposed to meet for the Sound of Music tour!

The Sound of Music tour was awesome :) They took us to the houses where the family lived, the lake with the mountain view, to the gazebo, even to another town where the church was where they got married in the end of the movie! The whole tour was fantastic--and since it was my birthday they gave me a small bottle of champagne and sang happy birthday for me. :)

After our tour, we slowly made our way back towards the train station. We were exhausted and hungry and just wanted to get back to our town. It was an amazing trip, especially since it was for my 22nd Birthday :P 

Days 8-13 -- Klagenfurt

Well, there hasn't been too much going on lately. Just getting up everyday and going to my German class.  Although this will be a little long because it covers 5 days....my bad.

Although on Friday, after class, I headed to the City Center with the girls to grab a few things that we all needed--tights and looking for ideas on what to wear for a 90's party :) Afterwards we went to McDonald's. It really wasn't much different except the way that we order.  You could to the register and order, or there were these big touch screens along the wall that you could use as well! The touch screens let you choose what you wanted down to the last pickle, then you could pay there with a card or get a ticket to pay at the register with cash. It was pretty interesting! Once we got our food, we had forgotten that you have to pay for ketchup and there is no ice in the pop.. lol oops. We then headed home and everyone got ready for the party!

The building where the party was held was packed like sardines.  You could not walk to the bar or to the dance floor without accidentally rubbing up against someone.. it was awkward. But overall it was very fun! There was both German and American Music from the 90's, so that made it interesting. :)

Saturday we got up and took a boat to a different town (Reifnitz). From the boat we took a bus to the bottom of the Pyrimidenkogel-- 845 meter tall wooden structure that is not enclosed. Just from the bottom was a beautiful view.  Because we are young and stupid, we took the stairs all the way to the top.  Thank goodness for the nice day, because the view was amazing. You could see the whole lake and all the cities the line the lake. Just beautiful. Once we took the stairs down, we realized we still had at least an hour before the bus came back for us so we decided to eat lunch at the cafe. I had some awesome weiner schnitzel (turkey) with cranberry sauce and veggies :) Added with a glass of Riesling and I think I had the best lunch ever. After that long day we headed back and I got to talk to my Mom and my Uncle.

Sunday--I spent the day cleaning and working on my homework. After that was done I reorganized my room and then did some more cleaning. WOO!

Tomorrow I have a test over the German that I have learned so far.. Wish me luck! :)

Day 7 -- Klagenfurt

There isn't much going on other than my German class... So I might not post for a few days. But I will say that I met up with my buddy today and put my English to good use! She is applying for an internship in Canada and needed me to go over and correct her application. :)

Alrighty, it's time for bed!  Guten Nacht!

Day 6 -- Klagenfurt

I spend most of the day in a class room being spoke to in German.... My brain hurts.  On the bright side, it actually is starting to make sense! WOO!

After getting out of class at 3 in the afternoon, we headed to the grocery store to grab some other stuff for supper.  The girls and I headed home and I have been working on my German and relaxing! There will be more German to come tomorrow! Guten Nacht! :)

Day 5 -- Klagenfurt

I got up super early this morning to make sure I looked nice for my first German Intensive class! The class was great, although we mainly just learned our ABC's again... There is an accent with the language that is probably the hardest part about the whole thing, but tomorrow is supposed to be all about phonetics--woo! Class is every morning from 9 am till 12:30 and on Tuesday's & Thursday's I also have a second class from 1:30 till 3.  By the end of this three week course I hope I can understand more people when they talk to me!

After our class today we met a bunch of the students that are in the class as well for a tour--but they are all of different levels in German.  There were two other boys that came over from UNI, a kid from Connecticut, and a kid from California! There was also people from Italy, Spain, Cuba, Japan--people from just all over the place :) The tour took us to the city center and showed us around to all the different places. Each place had a legend or a story that went along with it.  This area is so full of history it is amazing there are not more people who come to see what it is all about.

After the tour, the girls and I took a bus out to Ikea one more time because I needed a lamp and some hangers. We also ate dinner out there cause why not! We then took the bus back to our own places.  We were all kind of tired because today was the first day for us all where we had to actually get up and make our brains work ;) I spend the rest of my evening going over what I learned this morning and making a small grocery list for tomorrow! I can't wait to learn phonetics tomorrow!!

Day 4 -- Klagenfurt

Sunday is a big day here.  Everyone gets up and goes to church and then goes home. There are barely any stores open, there are only a handful of buses that run all around the town, and most people you do see are very dressed up.  So since we were going to head out for the day, I made sure to look a little bit nicer. It was a great thought because that's how everyone else looked as well.

There is a museum in town that lets students in for free, and currently they have an exhibit on shoes! So of course the girls go ;) It was such a cool exhibit. There were shoes made from all kinds of things--bones, hair, food, glass, forks, books, fire, lace, pins, bullets... literally everything.  There was also photos of some of the shoes on models. It blew my mind! I cannot wait to see what the next exhibit will be.  

We then took a walk around the city and did the usual tourist thing--pictures. But it was nice to actually take pictures with less people around.  It was also such a nice day, so why not! 

We later took the bus to the university, where we continued to walk around the park and the lake. Because I have an inner child that likes to come out and play, I about jumped for joy when I saw how cool the park was! There were 10 different kinds of swings, rock walls, slack lines, this spinny thingy where you stand and go around in a circle... it was just great! We made our way to the lake, which is just clear as day, and dipped our feet in.  It was a little chilly but not bad, so we hung out for about an hour in that spot. :) There was a bunch of ducks hanging out in the lake as well, and they kept swimming up to us because they wanted to feed them.. even though we had nothing to feed them. It was great! 

As we were leaving the park, the momma bears finally let me go and play on the park! We then headed back to where the girls are staying and relaxed for a bit.  I eventually made it back to my place.  Our German Intensive Course starts tomorrow.. let's see how that goes.

Day 3 -- Klagenfurt

I can't deal with this jet lag. I AM SO TIRED.  But I dragged my butt out of bed and met up with the girls to go grocery shopping.

After walking back to their place, we headed out to the city again. It has been raining all day, so none of us felt like being out and about. But we went anyways to get out and move a little. I ended up buying an awesome bag for school and a dress :) The rest of the day consisted of us walking around the mall or outside ducking in and out of stores to stay dry. But it was a pretty good day overall.

I spent the rest of the night in my room watching Netflix and letting jet lag get the better of me. But whatever, I have to get up and be a human tomorrow anyways.

Day 2 -- Klagenfurt

I made sure to get up this morning, get ready, eat breakfast, and make it out the door by about 9:45 am.  Which was awesome because I was 5 mins to my bank appointment. SCORE.
That took about an hour to do, because there were lots of things that they had to do I guess. So that meant I didn't make to the international office before they were done with their open hours. Oh well, I was going to meet up with the other girls anyways, I just needed to stop home first.

Good thing I did! I met up with one of the guys I met my first night and he helped me get my internet set up :)

It take about 6 minutes to walk to the place where the other girls are. Which isn't too bad! After we met up we headed off on the bus to the city center. Because we are three girls, we ended up at the mall. Duh. But it worked out because we all needed just a few things that we couldn't find otherwise.

Jet lag is starting to catch up with us, so we headed back to our places to chill and relax for a while before we were going to meet up at Monkey's (bar).

We ended up staying there till about midnight before heading home because we were all too tired. It was time for bed.

Day 1 -- Klagenfurt

I was supposed to meet with my buddy this morning, so I made sure to get up and pack all my stuff up.  I was super excited to see that there was a key to my room taped to the door! I AM NO LONGER HOMELESS! WOO! So before I headed to the lobby, I went to my actual room and dropped off my stuff. :)

We couldn't go to the university till 1 in the afternoon, so thank goodness she had some ideas on what to do this morning! First there was set up a bank account.  Once we got to the bank, they told us that there was no one that was going to be able to help us for a while but they could tomorrow morning. So we set up an appointment with someone who spoke english so I could take care of it tomorrow.  We then grabbed tea and a pastry at the cafe. It was so good and I cannot wait to have another! We then sat there and talked about ourselves a little more and she helped me understand the money and other little cultural things that were easy to explain. We then went to the grocery stores so I could see how they worked and which one was cheaper.  By the way, Aldis is a thing here... just saying. We then took the stuff I did by back to my room (YAY!).

I thought reading the bus schedule would be super confusing... but really it is probably the easiest thing I have seen yet. So after that explanation, we took the bus into the city for the first time!

The heart of the city is so cool! There were all kinds of things to see and do--it was awesome! My buddy helped me go and get a sim card for my phone so I could use it here...best thing yet! Then we just walked around and she explained some of the statues and other things that were around to me! Plus she showed me where the mall was ;)

We headed back to the university after lunch and went to check out the office for international students... but they were closed. Then we found the rest of the crew! They went a looked for our class room for our german class while I waited to get my student ID :)

We then took a trip to IKEA--naturally.  We all got the stuff we thought we needed and headed back to the university. Or so we thought.  I thought the bus schedules were easy to read...and they are if you know where you are going. Otherwise you take a bus that you think goes to the university and ends up at the train station. We ended up waiting an extra 20 mins before the right bus took off to where we needed to go!

One of the other girls buddy took us on a walk to the lake! It was dark out by the time we got there, but it was still a cool right. There are towns & cities all around the lake, and you can see their lights form our edge! It was a very cool sight to see.

I finally made it back to my place .. and of course I was too excited to sleep. I ended up unpacking everything and putting it away before I was satisfied enough to go to bed. But bed time it is!

Holy Mother Of Zeus We Made It!

OMG WE ARE HERE.
Everything went fine--no bags lost, no crying, no puking, nada. We are good.
It took us a minute to hunt down where we are supposed to buy train tickets.... but thank goodness for pictures! After we bought our tickets, we headed down to the platforms and texted our buddies to let them know what time we should be at the train station in Klagenfurt.

Unfortunately we had to switch trains, so we got a little confused. We ended up at a wrong platform.. and by the time we figured it out we only had to wait about 5 minutes before the train showed up! Thank goodness for some nice people who were willing to help :) Now we just have a 4 hour train ride into the city we want!

We got our stuff of the train pretty fast thanks to some other strangers. Then we met our buddies! I was super excited to meet mine.. and she is pretty awesome! We got through the train station to find the bus stop--where we waited a few minutes for the right bus number to show up.

I took the bus with my buddy till we got to a stop to get off near her house. :) Her place was super cute and so much more different than what apartments are back home. She was super sweet and let me take a shower while she cooked food for supper. After we ate we began to track down who had a key to the dorm room I was supposed to be staying in-- this had been a process.

It turns out that no one set aside the key for me at my place, so I ended up staying in a different room till the morning. Most people would have freaked out... and even though in my head all I could think was that "I am homeless in a different country" I kept my cool cause I new it would all eventually work out.  I am too tired and I will deal with it in the morning.

The Day Of

Today is the day I get on the plane and leave the United States of America for 4 MONTHS. People keep asking me if I am nervous about going & being away that long.  My answer is always no--but that is because I am excited to go out and study in a different life that what I currently have.  I am an anthropology major... this is my thing! I love to go off and be in areas where stuff is completely different. Its great!

But because our flight doesn't leave till 4 in the afternoon, we had some time to kill.  Of course we went to IKEA! It was mainly for the mothers who dropped us off, but hey I would never pass up a trip ;)

Once we got back to the hotel, we grabbed all our stuff and jumped on the shuttle bus that would take us to the airport.  Right as we got off the bus, the mothers began to cry and the kids were giving hugs and grabbing their bags. We got the mothers back on the bus and ran into the airport to check in.  They were confused as to why we had pre-paid to have extra bags, but just took them to tag and gave up.  We then waited in line for security and went through that shabang.  Once we were all through we found our gate and hung out till we needed to board!

I do not understand why people push and shove to get on a plane... it just means you have to sit there longer! I was over it by the time they called our row number to board... people are just dumb sometimes. But whatever. I guess we will see how the whole thing goes!