Lots of catching up to do (Part 1): Levanto, Italy

This is going to happen in different parts, because it's almost been a month since I've last posted. Too much has happened within this past month to fit into one post!


November 7th, I embarked on a journey to Italy! The night before I left (at 1 am), I realized that the bus I was planning on taking to the airport (which was 2 hours away), was no longer in service. Feeling awful and almost in a panic, I had to wake up my host sister, Marie, to let her know they may have to drive me to the airport because there was no other option of getting there on-time. Having to wake up at 6 the next morning, after getting maybe 4 hours of sleep, she willingly drove me to the airport. I seriously could not thank her enough... And that was the beginning of my journey :)

I flew into Pisa, Italy and had to take a train to Levanto, which is about 2 hours north of Pisa along the Mediterranean coast in the Cinque Terre region. I got of the plane, waited for my luggage, and found the ticket booth where I could by my train ticket. After purchasing my ticket, the woman at the counter said "you have 1 minute to catch your train, you better hurry," without mentioning any direction as to where the train was. Thanks, lady. I took off running to find the train, came to a parking lot, turned around, and there was the train about 100 yards away. Again, I took of running- luggage, purse, and winter coat in hand. I got to the train, asked someone if it was the right one (in english obviously, without even thinking that whoever I spoke to may not have a clue what I'm saying). They nodded so I jumped on. The doors closed. Close call!

I was so excited to get to Levanto! I could not wait to be back with all my fellow students on the trip. We  were required to be there by November 8th, but me and a few other students got there early so we could do some hiking. The hostel we stayed in was nice and really close to the beach. The Mediterranean is really beautiful, and the weather was fairly warm. This is my favorite kind of environment :)

The next day, me and the other students who arrived early went hiking up on the cliffs/mountains that run along the coast. The first half was literally all up hill- made up by a combination of steps, gravel road, and narrow, rocky paths. Got our work-out in that morning! But the view was stunning and completely worth while. Pictures don't do it justice.

By the end of the following day, the rest of the students had arrived. It was like a big reunion; we hadn't seen each other in 2 months. Even though the only time we had really ever spent together was the first week in Paris (wow, weird to think it was that long ago), it was so great to see familiar faces. We went out for dinner as a group that night, the night after that, and the following night, when we had the option of doing our own thing. I love being in the company of these people.

The other days while there (November 9th, 10th, and 11th), we had meetings in the morning as a group. The afternoons we had free time. Wednesday, the 10th, me and a few other girls went down to the beach. There were a bunch of surfers; the waves were huge! It was fun to watch them. There was a pier (or something like it) that went out into the sea. Me and two other girls decided it would be fun walk out on it. We got drenched. It might have been a little dangerous, being that the waves where so high and we were standing basically on concrete laid on rock. But the thrill of it was so fun!

So those are some of the highlighted stories from this leg of the trip. There's a lot more I could expand on but that will be left for when I get home.  :) Next stop: Rome!

"It is God to whom and with we travel, and while He is he end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place."- Elizabeth Elliot

Day trip to Koln

Here are some pictures of Koln, like I promised. I'm pretty proud of myself for getting them up the same day I wrote about it :)

It turned out to be a lovely day, I was so happy the weather was nice! Koln is a very pretty city and I really enjoyed my day there. I walked along the Rhine river for a while and just took my time. There are a lot of boats that go up and down the river. The pictures of the Dom Cathedral make it look very old, and part of it is. But the city and cathedral were almost completely destroyed in WWII, after being bombed by allies retaliating for the bombs in London. So a lot of the city's structure and buildings are newer, but you can tell what has been preserved. There's a lot of shopping in Koln, but on Sundays all the stores are closed. It's probably a good thing, though! The weather turned bad early in the evening though, so I killed some time at the train station then headed home. I think it was a perfect amount of time spent there :) 

The last few weeks

Well a lot has happened since Bavaria and I've meant to post a new blog but obviously that didn't happen! So here we go...

October 13-16 I went to Berlin!! I went with my host mom and sister, Marie. It was 3 packed full days because there is so much to do and see there. I could have easily spent a whole week there, but I guess that just means I'll have to go back again! But we got to see all the major sights. The first day was supposed to be the nicest of the 3 days, so we walked abound the city and saw a lot from the outside, such as the government building, the brand new main train station that's made 90% of glass, and the Bradenburg Gate. It was actually very cold though, but the next few days of weather were worse so it's a good thing we went to see those sites when we did. We also saw many parts of the Berlin wall (not just today but throughout our trip in the city).

The next day was all about history. We went to the Holocaust memorial and museum and Checkpoint Charlie. It was quite the experience, going through both museums. I actually learned quite a bit and it's something I wish I could have seen after taking extensive history classes. But this was better- reading all the facts and personal stories from those times.  We also went to a chocolate museum. It was small, but we did get to make our own chocolate! It was so yummy. We put gingerbread and honey crisps in ours. It sounds like it wouldn't make a good combination, but it was perfect. Me and Marie were quite proud of ourselves. :)

The following day, our last day in Berlin, it was rainy, windy, and COLD! So we went shopping, haha. Well, not really. We just went to a mall and walked around, so we didn't necessarily shop because we didn't buy anything. We spent most of our time in one store, I can't remember the name of it, but it is huge!! A bigger department store than what I've seen in the U.S. and I couldn't believe it. It had 6 levels  and just about anything you could ever want. I think its kinda like our Macy's. After that we went to another mall, not quite so big, and saw this really neat clock that operates by water. I know, that sounds weird and probably doesn't make much sense but if you saw it, you'd know what I meant.

So that was my time in Berlin!

Last week I  worked on my project and spent a day at the University and did a lot of research for my traveling time after  I leave Italy.  I leave Frankfurt in 2 weeks! I can't believe how fast this is going. I'm over half way through my trip! I plan to be in Italy for about 2 weeks and then I have some time after that for more traveling, so I'm trying to decide what I should do- there are so many options and places I'd like to see, it's hard to know what's best to do!

Yesterday I took a day trip to Köln! It's only an hour and a half train ride to get there, so I took an early train there and evening train home. I saw the famous Dom, walked along the Rhine river, and went to another chocolate museum! I'm really getting a lot of chocolate in this trip, and I have no problems with that! Good thing I walk around cities all day, though. And, I made the hike up 500 steps to the top of one of the towers in the Dom for a beautiful view of the Rhine and city.  I don't have the pictures from yesterday up on my computer yet so once those are up, I'll post them in another blog :)


Well that's in for now... a very very brief update of my travels, but the highlights. 








"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they are." -Samuel Johnson

Trip to Bavaria!

Well I am trying to get better at updating, but there is so much that has happened in the past week that it's going to be hard to keep this blog entry short! And I have lots of great pictures to share, too!

Last Wednesday, me and a few members of my family left for a short trip to south Germany, or, Bavaria. My host dad had to go there for work and took the rest of us with us, it was perfect! After getting up early to make the 4 hour drive, we dropped my host dad off at his work and made our way to the Neuschwanstein Castle. This region of Bavaria is absolutely beautiful. It's very hilly, with the German Alps right there on the boarder to Austria. This area is very typical German. When you think of something as being German, you are probably thinking of Bavaria. All of the old farm houses and small towns make it so picturesque, especially with the mountains in the background. 

Anyways- back to the Neuschwanstein.The castle was built in 1869 by King Ludwig II on the side of a mountain. The view from the castle is stunning, overlooking all the small towns and valley below. And Neushwanstein is the model castle for Disney! I can see why. It's the perfect castle, with a renaissance style of decoration and design. Only 16 rooms in the whole castle are complete because construction on the rest of the castle stopped after the King died. But we got to take a tour of the 16 completed rooms. I was bummed that you couldn't take any pictures inside the castle, but I guess that is understanding considering everything is original, and I think nothing had even been moved from it's original place! So these are just pictures from the outside of the castle. It was so much fun going there to see this castle though. It is so famous and it's so beautiful!

The following day, Thursday, we got up early again to drive about an hour and a half to go a little further south east, into the German Alps, to a small town. There are a bunch of small villages, but none of them are connected. There's lots of farm space between each village, where all of the cows have bells hanging from their necks, and old farm houses with beautiful flowers hanging from the windowsills. It was seriously like out of a fairy tale book!!! (That's how I felt in the Neuschwanstein, too).  We purchased tickets to take a train up the highest peak in Germany, called Zugspitze. The train actually only took us up to this point on the mountain with a nice lookout over the Alps, but then we had to take a gondola car up to the very highest point. It was absolutely stunning. It's hard to even put words to how amazing this experience was. It was breathtaking! You can see 4 different countries from here: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy. We were so blessed to be there on a clear day, too... I could have spent the whole day there just starring out onto the mountains!  

After a really fun mini trip, a friend of mine who is on the same program, studying in Switzerland, came to visit for the weekend. She got in Friday night, so we spent the rest of the night catching up and talking all about our adventures. Saturday we walked around down-town Frankfurt. We took an elevator up one of the sky scrappers to get a great  view of the city- completely different from the view from the top of a mountain! I really enjoyed that view, as well. Then we  had a nice relaxing lunch and walked around the Palmengartens (a botanical garden).We didn't feel like we were in Europe anymore- more like the rain forest!  That night we went to an American football game.... haha. Enough said. It was so funny watching American football in Europe. Definitely not as big of a sport here as it is in the U.S.!! But it was so much fun. We had a really great time and it was the closest thing to like being back home. 

I could have definitely written more about each day, but I think this brief version will have to be enough. Plus, I think the pictures are more worth seeing than reading what I wrote!  Enjoy :)

Ok, so I went a little picture-crazy, but it was so hard not to!

"What we call the end is also a beginning. The end is where we start from." -T.S. Eliot

New Friends, Family, and Frankfurt

I know, I know… It’s been a while once again. I fully intended on writing sooner but the week got away from me…

Ever since being here, I’ve spent quite some time with my host family. I am so grateful for them and their hospitality. They have been so wonderful, helpful, and far exceeding my expectations. Not only to they feed me and give me my own room to stay in, but they also take me places (like the castles), show me around town, and help me with transportation. I’ve been so blessed with the conversations I’ve had with them. They have become my German family, and this house is starting to feel like home. 

Last weekend was great. Even though the weather has taken a turn for the worst (it’s been cold and cloudy every day since Friday, and rained Saturday-Tuesday), we’ve still gone out and done some really neat things. Saturday my host family took me to see another castle, but this one was very different from the one before. It’s called “Ronneburg Castle,” or, the knights’ castle. This castle was much older than the other one I saw; I think built in the 1500’s. That weekend there was an event going on with a bunch of people dressed up in Renaissance attire and they all acted and played a part. There was food and merchandise for sale, too. It was pretty cool. We climbed up the tower and got a beautiful view of Germany, despite the weather. 

This past weekend was also pretty exciting. Friday my advisor of the program visited. We went to the museum of communication. It was really interesting; there were lots of old forms of communication and some sweet old televisions (as pictured, haha). We went out to eat at a restaurant, and talked about my project. I didn’t get home until late that evening- pretty much the whole day was spent in Frankfurt.

Saturday I went to Hanau with a friend that I met through my host family. It was so much fun and we had a really great time. There was a famers market going on (there are farmers markets going on almost all the time here), and I got a bratwurst- so yummy!!! That evening we went to a handball game (of the youngest kid in the family), and later that night went out dancing!

Sunday I met up with Tim in downtown Frankfurt. We had a great time catching up and going shopping, haha. He’s a great guy to go shopping with, and was very patient. I told him most guys would never be like this when shopping with a girl, especially Kyle, haha. He laughed because he knew I was right. I went back to his house for dinner and got to meet the rest of his family. They are so wonderful and a really great family. We had such a pleasant time together and it was great to laugh and talk about Tim’s experience in the U.S. It’s so neat how this all worked out. I love that Tim lived with my family in the U.S., and now here I am visiting his family in Germany. It makes the world seem smaller… I never could have imaged having this opportunity, but it’s so sweet!

Yesterday, I spent the day in downtown Frankfurt again- only this time I got a tour of the university from a student there. She was very helpful and we had a great time talking and comparing our experiences at school.

A few days ago, water accidentally was spilled on my computer and I just about died when it started giving me problems. I thought I was going to have to bring it in to an Apple store and have to pay a big chunk of money to get it fixed- not exactly part of my plans. But praise the Lord, it was just a very minor issue that got fixed at home. I am so thankful to God, who cares about silly things like glitches in a computer, even though at the moment I was in such a panic!

Well I don’t intend to let it go this long before I blog again, but who knows, it may be awhile again! Tomorrow I leave to go to south Germany, and I will get to see the Neuschwanstenstein castle. It’s very famous. I am so excited and will have lots to write about when I get home, I’m sure!

Frankfurt, Castles, and more!

 I realize it has been over a week since I last posted... Oops! So here we go, I will fill you in on what's been going on!

For the most part, last week was spent just catching up on sleep and adjusting to life in Germany. I can't complain, I've been able to sleep in quite a bit which is amazing. I don't think I've ever had this much relaxation time! But, I have been making big efforts towards working on my research paper, so I can at least feel a little productive about that! Also, I've kept up with running while here, which makes me feel good and not quite so lazy! Me and the girl I'm living with, Marie, went running a few different times now. The past 2 times we ran in a wooded area with lots of trails, and its such a beautiful area to run. On one of our runs, it started raining. Not pouring, but enough to get us pretty wet. But of course it stopped right when we got back to the car. To our surprise, however, there was a bright, vibrant double rainbow that arched over the woods and a field. It was so beautiful! 

 Last Friday I took a train into Frankfurt. I was walking around and ready to take pictures, but when I went to take out my camera,  I discovered my camera battery was dead. So I spent the first hour of my downtown trip trying to figure out a place where I could by a new camera battery. Not part of the plan but oh well, it happens! 

Sunday was very fun, I went to my first Castle! It belonged to Prince Philip, and the Grimm Brothers grew up in this castle. So there was a whole section of the castle dedicated to them and the stories they wrote. There was even a 'theater' room where they would host plays that were put on with paper dolls and paper settings. It was pretty funny, actually. They were kinda creepy looking, but made me laugh. It was interesting, I'll just leave it at that. And, almost every room in the castle had a chandelier. Each were unique and gorgeous! 

That night I went with Marie and some of her volleyball teammates to the men's national volleyball game, Germany vs. Brazil. I had no idea volleyball could be so exciting! I loved it! And we sat right by the court, front row seats. At the time we were taking our seats, the German team had just come out to start warming up and stretching. A few of the players came over to the railing, like right in front of were I was sitting, to use the railing to stretch. It was so hard to keep a straight face! I was blushing, haha. I could have reached out and touched them, but I thought that might have been a little weird... I also thought of taking a picture, but that might have been even more weird. So I refrained myself, but still took some pictures of the game. Even though Germany lost, it was still a fun time. 

Today I went to Hanau, which is a city closer to where I live. I couldn't help but splurge a little while shopping.  There are a bunch of bakeries and cafes around though, so I can imagine that I'll be returning, even if its not to shop, but just to have a relaxing afternoon enjoying life in Germany :)

Ok, a few more photos and I'm done... I live in a village that is kind of out in the country. Back behind the neighborhood is a large field with paths that the farmers use to take their tractors into the fields, but people also use them as hiking and biking trails (and also horseback riding trails! I've seen lots of horse riders out there, too). These fields are up on a hill, and when you get to the top, there's a nice view of the village and surrounding area with big foothills in the background. The pictures aren't enough, you can't really tell, but I think it's a beautiful area and have made it almost a daily habit to walk around the fields. Its so lovely :) 

Next time I won't wait so long to blog so that the blogs don't get really long! 

"There will stretch out before you an ever-lengthening, ever-ascending, ever-improving path... But this, far from discouraging, only adds to the joy and glory of the climb." -Sir Winsten Churchill

Guten Tag!

I've been in Germany for 3 days now, so it's about time I blog again!

But first, I'll finish with my last day in Paris. Besides eating more crepes and riding the metro all over Paris, I've still kept busy with seeing and doing so many great things! Tuesday was kinda a rainy day, but I went with a large group to Notre Dame for a second time. That building is just so beautiful! This time we decided to climb up one of the towers. It was so fun, the view from the top is amazing! And you can even touch the gargoyles. 

We also went to a bookstore where Shakespeare spent a lot of time writing. It's this little hole-in-the-wall kind of place, but it was packed full of books! It was really sweet.

Thursday was probably one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life! I had to board a train all alone and head off to a new country. I kind of had an idea of where I was going when I got to the train station, but I think I checked to make sure I was at the right platform and boarding the right train at least a dozen times. But as soon as I was on the train and knew that I was on my way to Frankfurt, I was finally at peace. It was so great to see my host family right when I got off the train! 

My first few days in Germany have been so nice. I found out that I'm actually not that close to Frankfurt. The town I'm staying in, called Bruchkobel (its really hard to pronounce), is about a half hour drive from down town. I've mostly just been relaxing, spending time with my host family, getting used to things here, and trying to learn lot a lot of german. I slept for over 13 hours the first night, it was amazing :) I got to see my first handball game, too. It's a really fun sport to watch- its like a mix between basketball, lacrosse, and soccer. 

Tomorrow I'm going to start working on my research project, and hopefully sometime this week I'll begin my first interviews and will start to get to know some college students in the area. In brief, basically what I will be doing here is an huge research project, and then also writing two smaller research papers that compare cultural differences between Germany and the U.S. (this is how I'm earning 12 credits). For my research project, I'm examining the connection between social media networks/new technology-such as facebook, cell phones, internet, etc.- and social relationships. But to be more specific, this project focuses on college students. So I'm surveying 30 American and 30 German college students on how they use facebook, cellphones, email, and how they think it influences their relationships with friends, peers, family members, etc.  Anyways- I will hopefully be spending a lot of time around the University of Frankfurt and getting to know some other college students. I'm really looking forward to it! So many things to look forward to, I'm so glad to be here... :) 

" You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do."- Psalm 139:3 

Paris Continued...

I've been doing so much the past few days, so it is time for an update!

Sunday was a very full day. After breakfast and a long meeting with the group, me and several other students went to the Louve! Sundays are free museum days, so it was really nice to not have to pay to get in. However, this meant that it was also very, very busy! I didn't know that the Louve was so huge! But I did get to see the Mona Lisa, and that was really neat. It was hard to see her because there were so many people crowding around, but I did get close enough to see her and get a nice picture :)

There are so many paintings, sculptures, and other various forms of art there, and its from all over the world. It was really cool to see that, and also be surrounded by people from all over the world too. It got pretty overwhelming and exhausting after a while, so we were there for about 4 hours, and maybe got to see half of what was there. That just goes to show how big it is! That night a large group of us went to the Eiffel Tower to see it light up and sparkle. It was so much fun!  We had wine, cheese and crackers, and some dessert to share. An authentic French evening :) 

Monday was much more laid back. After yet again, another long meeting, me and three other girls went shopping! There are lots of stores, restaurants, and cafes in the area so it was easy to find a place for lunch and good stores to shop in. I had to refrain from buying too much, and limited myself to one shirt which I look forward to wearing and always remembering Paris. We got an assignment earlier that morning to get into groups and go explore a market. So that afternoon my group and I went to check out a market on the north side of Paris. When we got there, we saw that it was closed, just some misinformation but thats okay. But when we got back on the metro train to head back to the hostel, it was packed! There was so many people there, I think it might have been rush hour. We were so squished on the train, and it was really hot. Not a very good experience, but an interesting one, that is for sure! 

Today was also pretty laid back, but there's always so much to do and see. Since we didn't get to the market yesterday, we had to go this morning. There's a transportation strike going on, just for today, so all of the metro stations were closed which us to limited where we were able to go. It was suppose to be just a 15 minute walk from the hostel, but it ended up being a little longer than that. But once we got there, it was really great. Lots of food, and I bought some kind of roll that had like a jelly fixing in the center with raisins wrapped in it, it was really good, but then again, I love any kind of pastry. Later that afternoon I went for a run across the street around the Luxembourg Gardens. That's one thing I've noticed here- there are so many runners, its great!  It was a perfect day for a run, and the gardens is a great place to run around.  After that I went to Notre Dame. It is very beautiful inside, and there were many tourists there. I wanted to climb up to the top, but it was closed. So I think we're going to try to go again tomorrow, or I hope so! I also really want to go up the Eiffel Tower, so I hope to get there again tomorrow too. I also found my way around a very beautiful area of Paris, where there were so many gelato/ice cream shops,  I just had to get some. It was probably some of the best ice cream I've ever had! 

Only one full day left in Paris, and then I'm off to my next destination: Frankfurt, Germany! I'm so excited and can't wait to be with the Mehlitz's, my host family. This has already been quite the adventure, but I'm really looking forward to what is to come! 

"Go forth seeking adventure. Open your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your spirit, and you'll find adventure everywhere." -Wilferd A. Peterson

First Few Days

This is my third day in Paris, and it's still hard to believe I'm actually here!

It took a little while to get over the jet lag, but today feels like a normal day. It's 7 hours ahead here so its really weird to think that while its about 4:00 here, it's only 10:00 back home! We got to the hostel around noon yesterday and were ready to go back to bed, but the leaders made us stay awake to try and get on european time.

We're staying at a youth hostel in a neighborhood a little south of the main area of Paris. But from the terrace on top of the building is a clear view of the Eiffel tower. It's really sweet! And you can see all over Paris. So after a little meeting and getting settled into our rooms, we went for a walking tour around the city, led by one of the group leaders. Not even a block away from our hostel is the Luxembourg Gardens. It is gorgeous, with lots of colorful flowers, giant fountains,  and even palm trees- which really made me happy :) After the gardens we went and saw a bunch of old cathedrals, one of them was the oldest in Paris-St. Germain Des Pres. While walking around I had my first purchase in Paris- a caramel macchiato from Starbucks.... you would think I would get something that's authentic and french, but no. I really needed coffee after being up for 30 hours! But, for dinner I got a crepe with nutella and banana. It was so so good! It was more like a dessert than a real meal, but I don't care, I am in Paris :)

Today we had a short meeting with the group and learned how to use the metro station, which is an underground subway. We all bought some tickets and were on our way. I was surprised at how easy it is, even though everything is in another language! Thats one thing that is so crazy- everyone here looks like they could be American (but they're a little more upscale and trendy), but when they open their mouths and speak French, it quickly reminds me that I'm not in the States. I'm picking up on some french phrases pretty fast, which makes sense when you're around it all the time. Anyways- after getting the metro tickets we made our way to MoneMartre, the highest point in Paris. On top of the hill is the Sacre Coeur Cathedral. It was a climb to get up but once we got there it was a beautiful view of the whole city.  There was so many people there. Some people trying to sell little toys and souvenirs were all over the place! The group started splitting up, so me and two other girls went to the Moulin Rouge. A very interesting part of Paris, but I was kind of surprised at how small it was. I was happy to see the red windmill on top of the building, just like in the movie.

We got on the metro again and made our way to the Arc de Triomphe. That was really neat! Surrounding it is this intersection where 7 major streets come together, its absolutely crazy madness. I would not like to drive in that area! This neighborhood, the Champs-Elyees, is kind of a major hub with numerous shops and restaurants. They were all designer brand stores that were way out of my price range but it was still fun to see the Louis Vuitton of Paris. I really like this area of Paris, it was very busy with lots of people, but so much fun!

It's been so much fun so far and I'm getting to know the other students on the trip pretty well- I guess that happens when you're all thrown together in a foreign country! I look forward to sharing other amazing memories, and hopefully getting some pictures up soon too!


 "Adventure is worthwhile in itself."- Amelia Earhert