I just sent my cousin an email detailing what I've been up to the past few days, and think this will be a sufficient summary for my next post :)
In the last 4 days in Germany I have:
1. Spent a couple hours in Iceland. Looks nice.
2. Tried Sauerbratten--REALLY good.
3. Stayed in a medieval town that was essentially dead for 250 years before "reopening," so it honestly look slike you're stepping back in time (the town is Rothenburg, look it up!)
4. Gone over 100 mph (more than 160 km/h) on the autobahn!
5. Visited the Dachau Concentration Camp (if you can ever make it to this or anyother concentration camp, do. It is extremely depressing, but--this is an understatement--mind-blowing and an incredible insight into history).
6. Gotten lost in random German towns (twice), but saw some beautiful places!!
7. Indulged in some sort of German chocolate-filled pastry... soooooo good!
8. Been stuck behind a manure truck on a country road with zero passing opportunities (quite an experience!)
9. Visited THREE castles! (Hohenshwangau, Neuschwanstein, and Linderhof. All belonged to Mad King Ludwig II...incredible places!)
10. Driven through the Alps, part of the way next to a breathtaking lake that was crystal clear and greenish-blue.
11. Been stuck in a creepy old guesthaus up in the mountains (with no receptionist or anything...you get your key by punching a code into a machine) during a thunderstorm. Cool experience.
13. Drank a glass of cream. Literally. Turns out "milk" and "cream" are synonymous in Germany... It was disgusting, but the waiter (who gave me a funny look for getting milk...now I know why!) went out of his way and kept teasing us, so I felt obligated. Poor excuse, I know!
14. Filled up 2 memory cards with photos. Yet still figured out how not to look like a tourist the rest of the time...
15. Been stung by a bee.
16. Completely broken in my shoes (score!).
17. Learned to appreciate air conditioning. And overhead showers (not too many to be found over here...).
18. Slept with a towel as a blanket.
19. Become one with my camera.
20. Fallen in LOVE with another country!
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Guten Tag, Rothenburg!
Just a photo of the place I've been for the last couple nights:
It feels like a movie set!
Monday, August 22, 2011
Andiamo (Let's Go!)
Bear with me--I didn't get a chance to post before I left, so this is a combination of two posts written on the flights over to Germany:
So here I am, sitting on a plane from Minneapolis to the Keflavik airport in Reykjavik, Iceland. It’s 10:26 PM Minnesota time, and according to the map on the screen in front of me, I’m hovering somewhere just off the coast of Canada. There’s a nice Icelandic woman seated next to my mom and me, and her two daughters who are seated in front of us keep peeking over the seats to join in our conversation. In addition to this, I’ve already watched the No Strings Attached, along with an episode of Glee and Modern Family (great show!). Although I should be sleeping since the final leg of our flights to Frankfurt lands around noon in Germany, I’m enjoying myself. We’re in the emergency exit row (i.e. we have lots of leg room), flight attendants keep spitting out words over the intercom in islenska (which sounds very much like gibberish…it’s very amusing!), and the nice man at the opposite side of our aisle has left his window open for the majority of the flight, so we’ve been able to see an incredible sunset. Think orange, red, and blue. It’s gorgeous. And believe it or not, I haven’t taken a picture! I did, however, take a photo of my luggage before we left home this morning:
Yep, that’s everything I’m bringing for four months abroad. I managed to fit all my clothes and shoes into my suitcase without overflowing into my carry-on, so my backpack only has my laptop and books for school (wait, I have class over here!?). I honestly pack this much (if not more) when I go on vacation for a week, so I’m pretty proud of myself at the moment. Especially since it came in weighing less than 50 pounds (thanks for loaning us the fish scale, Todd). Here’s the funny thing, though. Iceland Air weighs your luggage and your carry-on’s, so my mom and I had a great time unpacking and rearranging our carry-on’s at the ticketing counter (for those of you planning to fly Iceland Air in the future, you cannot exceed 6 kilos, so if at all possible, avoid bringing textbooks and laptops to steer away from your own over-weight debacle!).
For posterity’s sake, I think I should include a recap of today:
1:30 AM: Quit packing for the night to get some sleep
7:00 AM: Mom wakes me up
7:45 AM: Finally get out of bed (oops…)
8:00 AM: Packing, packing, packing…
8:30 AM: Todd makes a good-bye breakfast
8:45 AM: Packing, packing, packing…
10:30 AM: The time we planned on leaving. What actually happened? Packing, packing, packing…
11:30 AM: Get ready for the big day!
12:00 PM: So long, Hayward!
3:00 PM: Pit stop at Rosedale, meet Jared, and head to my Aunt and Uncle’s to drop off the car
5:00 PM: Jared drives us to the airport (what a sweetie!), carry-on debacle, security
5:45 PM: Fill out a scholarship form
6:20 PM: Run back outside the terminal to drop of said form, sprint back through security
6:40 PM: Board the plane!
7:20 PM: Takeoff! Movies, TV, and blogging
11:26 PM: Typing this post on the Boeing 757, and its getting lengthier than I planned.
I can’t believe I’m actually on the plane to start off this adventure. It doesn’t seem possible that it was already six months ago that I was accepted to this program, and it really doesn’t seem possible that in 6 hours I’ll be in Europe!!! I’m so excited to begin the 11-day mom/daughter vacation through Germany, Austria, and Italy, along with the semester in Rome and Athens! I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone that made this trip possible for me!! It is truly the opportunity of a lifetime, and I feel so incredibly lucky for the adventure that lies before me.
Now, this goes to you, Europe: bring on your twists and your turns, your ups and your downs. Everything you have to offer is a learning experience that I cannot wait to take in! I’m ecstatic to find out what you have in store for me, and you better believe I’m going to explore everything I possibly can. See you in a few hours! Ciao!
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Quattro giorni...
Four days (quattro giorni) from now--including today--I'll be boarding a plane. In two days (due giorni), I'll be leaving town for my cousin's wedding (and I don't think I'll get too much packing done while out of town. Crazy, I know). Despite the time crunch, I still have a slight predicament:
Don't worry, the suitcase is bigger than it looks in the picture. It is, however, exactly as empty as it appears. I'm getting way too good at procrastinating. Seriously. I hope the packing gods are on my side in the next few days...
Okay, okay, that picture may have been for dramatic effect. I actually have started packing. Right now, I'm a load of laundry away from making my clothes comfortable in their new home (i.e. my suitcase). I think my family would like to strangle me because I've kind of taken over the living room:
The crazy thing is that the clothes you see in the picture are well over half of the clothes I'll be bringing along for four months of travel. I don't know whether I should proud that everything will fit in the suitcase, or slightly grossed out, since these are basically the only things I'll be wearing the entire semester. I think I'll go with proud. Clothes can always be washed, after all! Or maybe I'll just buy some fabulous new Italian clothes... hmmm.....
Don't worry, the suitcase is bigger than it looks in the picture. It is, however, exactly as empty as it appears. I'm getting way too good at procrastinating. Seriously. I hope the packing gods are on my side in the next few days...
Okay, okay, that picture may have been for dramatic effect. I actually have started packing. Right now, I'm a load of laundry away from making my clothes comfortable in their new home (i.e. my suitcase). I think my family would like to strangle me because I've kind of taken over the living room:
The crazy thing is that the clothes you see in the picture are well over half of the clothes I'll be bringing along for four months of travel. I don't know whether I should proud that everything will fit in the suitcase, or slightly grossed out, since these are basically the only things I'll be wearing the entire semester. I think I'll go with proud. Clothes can always be washed, after all! Or maybe I'll just buy some fabulous new Italian clothes... hmmm.....
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Per favore, puoi aiutarmi con i bagagli?
So here I am, ten days away from saying sayonara to the good 'ole U.S. of A. Considering it's been almost two weeks since my last post, I'm sure you're thinking that I must have made SOME progress on packing, right? Wrong. As I mentioned before, I'm a chronic over-packer (and apparently a packing procrastinator!). Although I've taken a stab at packing lightly in recent years, my many attempts to break myself of this inconveniencing habit have, unfortunately, been to no avail. Once again, I'm finding myself desperately wishing for Mary Poppins' bottomless carpet bag as I glance between my definitively sized suitcase and ever growing pile of clothes and shoes.
However, for every half-empty, there's a much larger half-full! Aside from the lingering empty-suitcase issue, my to-do list has whittled down to almost nothing, my tuition check is written, my textbooks have arrived, and I've seen my girls for one last summer hurrah before we all scatter across the globe for a few months. With a mere four days left of work for the summer, the reality that my semester abroad is just around the corner is hitting me like a brick wall (but this is one brick wall I'm more than happy to run into!). Get at me, Europe!
I would like to wrap up this post with a relatively generic quote I've come across a million times (I'm willing to bet you have too!) that I find especially fitting right now:
"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." -Susan Heller
Wish me luck! Ciao!
However, for every half-empty, there's a much larger half-full! Aside from the lingering empty-suitcase issue, my to-do list has whittled down to almost nothing, my tuition check is written, my textbooks have arrived, and I've seen my girls for one last summer hurrah before we all scatter across the globe for a few months. With a mere four days left of work for the summer, the reality that my semester abroad is just around the corner is hitting me like a brick wall (but this is one brick wall I'm more than happy to run into!). Get at me, Europe!
I would like to wrap up this post with a relatively generic quote I've come across a million times (I'm willing to bet you have too!) that I find especially fitting right now:
"When preparing to travel, lay out all your clothes and all your money. Then take half the clothes and twice the money." -Susan Heller
Wish me luck! Ciao!
Monday, August 1, 2011
21 Days and Counting
In exactly 21 days, I will be embarking on the greatest adventure of my life thus far: a semester abroad in Italy and Greece, beginning with a pre-travel trip with my mom through Germany and Austria, concluding with a couple of days in Rome. While I feel entirely ready for the summer to finish and the semester to begin, my empty suitcase and impressively large to-do list remind me that maybe I should tone my excitement down a notch, at least until I’ve checked off a few more bullet points.
In preparation for this trip, I’ve taken a stab at learning Italian, but am currently about as fluent as a dog is fluent in speaking Spanish (excluding Baxter, of course). My vocabulary is limited to a few colors, some numbers, “non parlo italiano,” and the one phrase that I’m sure will be useful during countless Italian dinners, “vorrei dell’altro vino, per favore.” In English, “I would like some more wine, please.” I haven’t begun to even think about learning Greek! Although my time in Athens will comprise an entire half of my semester, it feels very distant, and I find myself thinking primarily about Italy. I can’t believe it’s only three weeks away!
About a week ago, we were emailed our housing arrangements (Nomentana, here I come!), including a list of our apartment-mates. There honestly wasn’t a single person on our trip I would have minded living with (we really have a fantastic group!), but I am so excited to live with the girls I’ve been matched up with! It will be such a fantastic time!!
In the meantime, though, I’ve come face to face with my biggest fear for the trip, the one I’ve been dreading since the day I was accepted to the Roman-Greco program: packing. Those who have traveled with me can back me up when I say I am a TERRIBLE over-packer. I can easily go on a weekend trip with a full duffel bag and come back having used less than half of the contents in my luggage. It’s not that I feel the need to bring my entire wardrobe along, I just like feeling prepared. Will it rain? Do I need a sweatshirt? How about some running shoes? Any chance of swimming? As you can imagine, that fills a suitcase up rather quickly. Although I haven’t physically begun packing, my list is in progress, and I keep adding things, scratching them off, then scribbling them back on as my practical “what will the weather be like?” side kicks in. As the proud—and nervous—owner of a new 25-inch Samsonite suitcase (which was picked out after some serious coaxing away from the larger model), packing will certainly be a challenge, to say the least! To put the thought of packing my material life into a single suitcase for four months abroad using one word: daunting.
Before I begin rambling in detail about what I may or may not bring along, I’ll wrap up this post by saying how unbelievably grateful and excited I am to get to experience such an incredible opportunity with my fellow Bennies and Johnnies! La dolce vita awaits…
In preparation for this trip, I’ve taken a stab at learning Italian, but am currently about as fluent as a dog is fluent in speaking Spanish (excluding Baxter, of course). My vocabulary is limited to a few colors, some numbers, “non parlo italiano,” and the one phrase that I’m sure will be useful during countless Italian dinners, “vorrei dell’altro vino, per favore.” In English, “I would like some more wine, please.” I haven’t begun to even think about learning Greek! Although my time in Athens will comprise an entire half of my semester, it feels very distant, and I find myself thinking primarily about Italy. I can’t believe it’s only three weeks away!
About a week ago, we were emailed our housing arrangements (Nomentana, here I come!), including a list of our apartment-mates. There honestly wasn’t a single person on our trip I would have minded living with (we really have a fantastic group!), but I am so excited to live with the girls I’ve been matched up with! It will be such a fantastic time!!
In the meantime, though, I’ve come face to face with my biggest fear for the trip, the one I’ve been dreading since the day I was accepted to the Roman-Greco program: packing. Those who have traveled with me can back me up when I say I am a TERRIBLE over-packer. I can easily go on a weekend trip with a full duffel bag and come back having used less than half of the contents in my luggage. It’s not that I feel the need to bring my entire wardrobe along, I just like feeling prepared. Will it rain? Do I need a sweatshirt? How about some running shoes? Any chance of swimming? As you can imagine, that fills a suitcase up rather quickly. Although I haven’t physically begun packing, my list is in progress, and I keep adding things, scratching them off, then scribbling them back on as my practical “what will the weather be like?” side kicks in. As the proud—and nervous—owner of a new 25-inch Samsonite suitcase (which was picked out after some serious coaxing away from the larger model), packing will certainly be a challenge, to say the least! To put the thought of packing my material life into a single suitcase for four months abroad using one word: daunting.
Before I begin rambling in detail about what I may or may not bring along, I’ll wrap up this post by saying how unbelievably grateful and excited I am to get to experience such an incredible opportunity with my fellow Bennies and Johnnies! La dolce vita awaits…
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