time to STUDY.

We left behind a beautiful weekend in Zell am See and departed for our 10am train back to Vienna. The majority of the train ride home was spent in preparation for the two final exams that were waiting for us on Monday morning: German and Humanities. I refused to sacrifice time to study during my weekend in the Alps, so most of us had a considerable amount of work to get done on Sunday in preparation for two finals. Upon return to Vienna, Sarah and I (yes, we're more nerdy than ever) went to explore the Mozarthaus Vienna, where Mozart lived from 1784-1787, where he composed one of his most famous compositions, "The Marriage of Figaro." We also had the privilege to see Mozart's former bedroom, kitchen, and study room area. I knew I couldn't live in Vienna for three months and not spend some time attempting to better understand Mozart, one of the greatest composers of all time! After time well-spent at the Mozarthaus, we met up with Cari, Erin, and Ricki at Cafe Pickwick's for dinner before returning to the hotel to spend the rest of the night studying/preparing for the next day's finals!

Sorry this is not a particularly interesting post. Sunday was a day full of studying (as you can tell) that will hopefully pay off grade-wise. We're down to the last few days here in Vienna. I can. not. believe. it.

first skiing experience in the ALPS? check.

I woke up around 630 am Saturday morning to begin a day full of new adventures! The entire day was spent out on the slopes of Zell am See, where I enjoyed my first ever snow skiing experience. What better way to begin than in the Alps? As soon as I had put on all my ski equipment, I decided I was in for a LONG, horrendous day on the slopes. Luckily, I picked up on the basics much faster than I had originally thought. Although at times I did have some major balance issues. Within the first hour, I was doing 10x better. Unlike the slopes in America, those in Zell am See contain no trees, are not as well groomed, resulting in more slick ice/snow, and have no beginner/"bunny" slopes. Therefore, the whole day I was on the "blue" trails which are equivalent to intermediate level in America. Given the circumstances, I impressed myself. I fell a few times here and there, but overall managed to do considerably well! My body is still slightly sore, but it was well worth the time, effort, and pain :) After a few hours of skiing, Ricki and I stopped for a lunch break at the bottom of one of the lifts, where we ordered Beef goulash soup. We were able to sit outside the ski bar and enjoy the majestic mountains and the experienced skiers glide (effortlessly) down the slopes!

Arriving back at the house around 4, I took a nice hot shower and was so happy to shed my wet clothing! Next, we enjoyed eating another delicious home-cooked dinner, consisting of mashed potatoes, penne noodles with several types of cheese, and salad...carb overload, anyone? We hung out the rest of the night, talking and playing several rounds of Mafia, which was so much fun! I thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend time with my entire Vienna family this past weekend. It's so crazy to see how far friendships have grown over the past few months, considering most of us went from non-communication, to treating one another like siblings. Despite returning to normalcy once back in America, our bond will never fully fade out, which I am grateful for.

That's a verrryyy concise version of my last Saturday in Europe. If you want more details about my first-time skiing experience, I will be more than happy to entertain you with stories! :)

zell am see.

Friday morning began what ended up being a beautiful, enjoyable, and memorable last weekend in Europe! We arrived at the train station around 730am to board the train from Vienna to Zell am See, our destination for the weekend. This city is located nearly two hours from Salzburg, attracting skiers, snowboarders, and those in need of a winter-oasis type holiday. The majority of the train ride was spent dozing in and out of sleep, before we arrived around 1230. We checked into the house we'd be staying at all weekend, which was divided up into several different rooms (4-6 people per room). Since we had not eaten all day, our first objective: find food (of course)! Several of us walked to the local Hofer grocery store  and purchased ingredients to prepare chili and grilled cheese sandwiches in our room, which conveniently contained a kitchen! The food was absolutely delicious! Just being in a kitchen and preparing food (as simple as our menu seemed) was so comforting and enjoyable. I've been deprived of cooking, no doubt.

After a hearty lunch and family bonding time, most everyone climbed into bed for a short, much-needed nap. The beds were SO comfortable and we all fell fast asleep. I just sounded like a children's book author... Once we woke up, we spent the next few hours back in the kitchen, preparing dinner for the entire group (30 people) with the wonderful Professor Horton. Friday night's menu: bruschetta, spaghetti with 3 different sauces, roasted bell pepper salad, and caprese. Sarah and I were assigned the task of making the bruschetta, which turned out to be absolutely delicious. I'm pretty proud of our efforts, and this is another dish I anticipate preparing once we're back in the States! Dinner was fabulous, especially since we haven't had an authentic home cooked meal in...well...let's not discuss how long. Family bonding time occupied the rest of the night, as we conversed about different topics, including awkward/memorable first-kiss stories. We climbed in bed around 11pm. What a great day!!

Thanksgiving...in Vienna?

Sorry I'm a few days behind on my blog. The closer we are to going home, the more busy my days get! I'll pick up where I left off, which brings me to Thursday of last week (Thanksgiving). In German today, we reviewed for the exam and our professor helped us work through a pre-final. Then, we had our CIVA final (3 essays) to finish off our last full week of school for the semester! After a quick lunch at the Naschmarkt, I journeyed with 6 friends to the Hundertwasser Haus in Vienna, an apartment house in the 3rd district, featuring undulating floors, a roof covered with grass, and large trees growing from the inside of the rooms. This House is one of Vienna's most visited buildings and has become a part of Austria's cultural heritage. After some time here, Sarah and I split off from the rest and headed straight to the Sigmund Freud museum! For almost half a century, Freud lived and worked in this house. His office and private apartment are now a museum. Spending time inside this museum was such a wonderful experience, mostly because I often forget that Freud was in fact a normal human being, with genius ideas and theories. I often dehumanize people like him simply because his intelligence is far beyond my comprehension.

After a productive day of Vienna sight-seeing, a group of 10 of us "Wieners" went ice-skating at a local out door skating rink. It was so much fun! I don't think I've been ice-skating in at least 10 years, but I was able to pick up the basics more easily than I had anticipated. I suppose since I'm such a klutzy person I don't give myself much credit in such endeavors. We spent almost two hours at the rink before heading back to the hotel. Afterwards, I was able to call my family on Thanksgiving and talk for a little bit, which I had anticipated doing all day! Not being home this year for my favorite holiday was hard, but I wouldn't give up the last three months for anything. :) We had a Vienna family movie night in the Horton's, where we watched Elf and ate Christmas candies. Afterwards, I caught up on my blog and packed for the upcoming weekend in the Alps!

Have I mentioned recently how grateful I am for my loving, supportive, and beautiful group of family and friends who have always been such a encouragement to me?

Backstreet's BACK....ALRIGHT.

Want to know why Wednesday was such a great day? Then keep reading!

Classes went well. We had our last Humanities lecture for the semester, which is so crazy! Then, Sarah and I headed straight to the Jewish Museum in Vienna! This museum is comprised of Jewish history, life, and religion within Austria...very interesting. Next, we stopped by Julius Meinl to purchase a bottle of fresh-squeezed orange juice. Let's just say in America, I never drink OJ, but this is the best I've ever had. Plus, I figured I needed the vitamins and energy boost! Then, we went back to the hotel to enjoy turkey and stuffing leftovers from the previous night's Thanksgiving dinner. I've always been a fan of cold turkey..mmm. The next hour or so was spent preparing for our CIVA final exam on Thursday before getting ready for the Backstreet Boys concert!!

We took a train from Vienna to Bratislava, Slovakia to see the BSB live! On the way, Meredith and I had some good bonding time (love her!) before spending the rest of the night at one of the most memorable/hilarious/fun concerts I've ever been to! They just released a new cd, so it was awesome to hear the new music in person. I used to listen to the Backstreet Boys all the time as a child. Actually, I preferred N'Sync, but found both group's music/beat appealing. 18 of us went to the concert, which made the whole experience that much more enjoyable to share it with everyone. The concert was in an in-door tennis arena, and we had tickets on the floor. I tried to push our way to the front, but we ended up about 12 rows back. Overall, the concert was so much fun. Who would have thought I would come study in Europe for 3 months and see the Backstreet Boys in concert?! Definitely an opportunity I refused to pass up! We arrived back at our hotel right after midnight, and I stayed up til around 130 studying more for CIVA and blogging.

Now do you understand why Wednesday was such a good day? :)

our days are numbered...

Tuesday morning began earlier than usual, as we were requested to attend breakfast with the Lowery's before leaving for classes for the day. President Lowery came to our school soon after to have a Q&A session; besides offering some Godly wisdom, he also informed us of some recent changes that have been occurring on the Lipscomb campus. He left, then we had CIVA as usual. Lowery had asked Charli and I at breakfast what was our favorite restaurant in Vienna. Since our whole group unanimously agrees that Vapiano's is our first choice, Lowery graciously offered to take us all out for lunch there! After another delicious Vapiano salad, I headed out into the city with a few other girls to tour the Parliament Building, where the two Houses of the Austrian government convene. We took a guided tour, which allowed us to see The Hall of Pillars, the former House of Rep. Chamber, as well as the National/Federal Council Chamber. Naturally, the Austrian government is very different from American politics, so getting a brief synopsis of their ways of executing a democracy was thoroughly interesting!

After we left, we went back to the Rathaus Christmas Market for a quick look around, and I was able to purchase a scarf that had caught my eye a few days prior. Then, some of the girls I was with had not yet been to the University of Vienna, so we walked around the campus for a little bit/raided the bookstore. Then, Ricki and I went running around the Belvedere Palace (right after sunset!). The rest of my Tuesday evening was spent with my Vienna family, at a local American restaurant where Daniel (our travel agent paid by Lipscomb) had coordinated an authentic Thanksgiving dinner for all of us to enjoy(with the Lowery's) since we can't partake in our normal Thanksgiving festivities. The food was absolutely spectacular. We had family-style dinner, full of sweet potatoes, regular mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, oven-roasted turkey, pumpkin-spice soup, and fresh peas. We were spoiled! Originally, we had planned to enjoy this dinner on Thanksgiving night, but the Lowery's have to leave Thursday morning. It's probably best we won't be having it on Thursday, since most of us are just going to block out the idea that we are missing Thanksgiving with our family and friends. It's sad, but the experience of being in Europe is more than worth the opportunities we are missing out on in America!

As you can see, Tuesday was a good day. :)

melk.

Monday began our last full week of classes for the semester...how WEIRD? After class, we headed back to the hotel to drop off our books before heading out for a daytrip to Melk, Austria. President Lowery had arrived that morning so we got to converse with him for a little bit before leaving for the train station. He will be in Vienna for a few days (with his lovely wife) examining the Lipscomb in Vienna program and familiarizing himself with our alluring city! Erin, Cari, Sarah, Morgan, Ricki, and I made the quick hour and a half journey to Melk for the day. This city, located along the Danube, is quaint and classy. Melk is most well known for its monastery named Stift Melk. We had a good 4 hours in Melk, which was spent walking around the old city, exploring the Monastery and its chapel, hiking up to enjoy a beautiful view over the city, and strolling through some wooded paths that made us all nostalgic for Tennessee! I'm so glad we had the opportunity to take this daytrip. Melk only has a population around 5,000, so you can imagine how peaceful the entire city is!

We arrived back in Vienna around 7, and headed straight to the Schonbrunn palace to spend time at its Christmas Market! I enjoyed this even more than the one at the Rathaus because it was more symmetrical, quieter, classier, and less populated! I made a few good purchases at this market that will make for great souvenirs! Upon returning to the hotel, I spent some nice quality time with Cari and Sarah before returning to my room for a late night ab workout, blogging, and a little organizing of my luggage!

budapest.

Our overnight train to Vienna arrived back around 905am, and we took the 950 train to Budapest, Hungary! The journey there only takes 3 hours, which felt like 20 minutes considering all the traveling we had done the past few days. The train station we arrived at was SO sketchy. We got into the heart of the city and felt so much more comfortable. We walked into a restaurant in search of some lunch, but got rejected. At least we think we did. Upon entering, the waiter said, "Please close the door...it's cold." It was pretty embarrassing. This "rejection" served as a blessing in disguise, however, because we continued walking down the street and came across another Hungarian restaurant where I ordered authentic Hungarian goulash (beef stew with vegetables and spices) served with cubed potatoes. Absolutely delicious. The rest of our day in Budapest was spent inside their heavily-populated Christmas Market, where we had the chance to see a child's choir sing and perform Hungarian dances. We also climbed to a palace in Budapest which gave us a breath-taking view of the entire city. The architecture and construction of Budapest reminded me very much of Prague. We also went inside St. Stephen's Basilica, which remains as the largest church in Hungary.

We BARELY made it back to the train station in time to depart for Vienna, as the wheels started turning as soon as we stepped on the train. Although we didn't have a ton of time in Budapest, I'm definitely satisfied with everything we could see in our short visit. I have heard from former Vienna students that Budapest was one of their favorite day trip destinations, and now I understand why. Sorry if this blog seems discombobulated, but I just have so much to do in such a short amount of time that my brain is going 90 miles a minute at this point. I hope you can forgive me in the near future :) We come home in 10 DAYS.

bruges.

Friday came earlier for all of us as we had to leave our hostel in Haarlem and take a train back into Amsterdam at 630am. Then, we transferred onto a train for Brussels before arriving in Bruges, Belgium around noon. We self-guided our way into heart of this quaint, charming city and stopped for our first Belgian waffle (mine with drizzled chocolate sauce). Hands-down the best waffle I've ever had, which I had been anticipating! Next, we crossed the street to experience our first helping of authentic Belgian fries, which are typically served with mayonnaise, not ketchup. I tried the fries with both and found the ones with mayo to be better than expected. I never eat fries in America, but the ones in Belgium are definitely better and less greasy! After our fill of authentic Belgian food, we came across a large Christmas market in the middle of the town square of Bruges, which was absolutely beautiful, similar to those in Vienna, except this market had an ice-skating rink! Then, we found our way to the Chocolate museum, which debriefed us on the history and origins of chocolate as well as the production process.

The rest of our time in Bruges was spent walking through the city, weaving in and out of chocolate street shops and enjoying the beautiful canals that Belgium has to offer. We hurried back to the train station by 540 to catch our train to Frankfurt, before connecting on an overnight train back to Vienna. By the time we arrived in Frankfurt, we were all exhausted and excited about our sleeping couchette for the night!
As you can see, we didn't have a full day in Belgium, but I am completely content with what we did have the opportunity to see. Bruges is such a beautiful city that I hope I have the opportunity to explore again in the future.

I will finish up the weekend blogging soon, but class is about to start for the day. Once we got back to Vienna on Sunday morning, we headed straight to Budapest, Hungary for the rest of the day. The adventures never end here in Vienna. I will post that blog sometime later tonight :)

amsterdam.

Our weekend began at 4pm on Thursday, as we departed for a train from Vienna to Munich before connecting on our overnight train to Amsterdam. We arrived in The Netherlands/Holland (still not sure which is politically correct) around 9am in search of a quick breakfast at a local cafe. Then, we headed to Dam Square, the town center of Amsterdam, to begin a 3 hour New Europe walking tour of the city. If you can't tell from my previous blogs, we're all about these free tours! Our native New Zealand guide introduced us to the history, beauty, and quirks of Amsterdam. The tour ended around 245 in front of the Anne Frank House, which was our next destination. This is where Anne and her entire family attempted to hide from the Nazis during WWII. We had the opportunity to see the actual hiding place (behind a bookshelf Anne's dad installed) as well as Anne Frank's original DIARY. It was such an incredible experience. Sarah and I had hoped we could tour the Corrie Ten Boom house as well (in Haarlem), but time escaped us. Upon leaving the House, we purchased tickets for the metro bus before heading out to the Van Gogh museum. This 3 level museum contains hundreds of original drawings, paintings, and sketches by the man himself. His sketches were my favorite, because he would write letters back and forth between his brother Theo and would include rough sketches of his future compositions. Through my time at this museum, I developed a stronger inclination towards Van Gogh.

Next, we went to the train station to meet back up with the New Europe tour company for an informal walking tour of The Red Light District. I'm sure you're probably wondering why I would choose to do such a thing, but I definitely felt like I needed to experience and understand that part of Amsterdam since it is such a large part of their culture. Needless to say, the tour was certainly interesting and incredibly sad. I don't understand why any woman would desire to associate herself with the business of prostitution. God has created us in His perfect image, and the women (many of whom are strikingly beautiful) are choosing the path of fornication. I think seeing the Red Light District is important to us as believers to expose us to different cultures, opinions, etc. because if we don't, our faith will remain naive and extremely close-minded. After the tour ended at 9pm, we headed straight to our hostel in Haarlem (a 20 minute train ride from Amsterdam) and passed out after a long, productive, and eye-opening day in Amsterdam!

two weeks?!

Today is Thursday, November 19, and we are currently two weeks away from flying back home! Honestly, there have been days here where I felt like time flew by and then others it seems like I've lived in Vienna for like 10 years. Either way, our time is coming to a close, which is a concept I try to block out of my mind as often as possible.

Here's a brief glimpse into the next few days of my life: after classes today, I have a few errands to run, before showering and preparing to leave for this upcoming weekend. We are taking a train to Munich, then overnighting to Amsterdam! We are spending all of Friday in Amsterdam/spending the night there in a hostel, then taking an early morning train into Bruges, Belgium! We have all of Saturday in Belgium, before overnighting back to Vienna. We  will arrive back around 9am, then we are going to Budapest, Hungary for a short  day trip! I will be traveling with a semi-big group this weekend: Bethany, Cari, Kathyrn-Claire, Laura, Matt, Meredith, Ricki, and Sarah. Should be a fun, memorable weekend!! You are all in my thoughts and prayers.

AUSTRIA vs. SPAIN.

German class today was difficult. We're delving deeper into grammar which, even according to our teacher, is more complicated than nearly any foreign language. I honestly can't imagine how difficult our final exam is going to be, but stressing out about it doesn't help anything :) In humanities, I gave my presentation on Jazz and Ragtime, which was fun, as we viewed some different musical compositions by famous artists such as Scott Joplin and Billie Holliday! Both genres are so enjoyable to listen to, and I'm ashamed I don't have a larger collection of that style on my ipod. I stayed at school for an hour or so after classes to finish editing and printing my research paper. The finished product is 23 pages. oye. Afterwards, Ricki and I had an enjoyable, stress-free afternoon in our home city. We first went to the University of Vienna (we had been there in September) to purchase a few more souvenirs for friends and family back home.

Then, we explored the inside of the Rathaus, which serves as the seat of both the mayor and city council of Vienna. This town hall is absolutely stunning. They were having a few kids Christmas workshops in the foyer of the Rathaus, where the "Kinder" were learning how to make/roll sugar cookies, paint on ornaments, etc. It was PRECIOUS. Afterwards, we headed to Stephansplatz for some shopping and new boot-hunting. Although we were unsuccessful in our boot endeavors, I did, however, splurge on some new Chanel perfume (which is my new favorite scent) and a knit black scarf! Once back at the hotel, we had a few minutes of down-time before meeting up with the rest of the group (Daniel included!) to head out to Stadion (the soccer stadium for Austria's national team) to see the Austria vs. Spain national game! The game was SO much fun. Although Austria lost 5-1, being in that environment was awesome. Europeans are die-hard, crazy people when it comes to their futbol clubs. We sat in front of some teenage Austrian fans who proceeded to try to teach us some Austrian cheers. Great fun, good night.

how are we almost done?

After Tuesday's classes, I felt a firm sense of relief. Why? We had a German quiz as well as a Humanities test, which I believe both went well! Unlike previous semesters in Vienna, our teachers are extremely challenging and anticipate great work from us, which I'm happy about, but knowing other former "Wieners" did not have half the amount of work we currently have is slightly disheartening. Oh well, I feel like I've learned more in this one semester than I would in 3 years in America!

After school concluded for the day, I went to Vapiano's (our favorite restaurant here in Vienna) with a few other girls for lunch. I was craving veggies, so I ordered a delicious tossed salad with mixed vegetables, grilled chicken, and balsamic vinegarette. It's much more difficult in Europe to find fresh and good quality salads...so I might go on a salad binge when I return back to the States :) Once back at the hotel, I had a skype call date with my parents for a while, before working on my last informal presentation for Humanities. The topic: Jazz and Ragtime.

After a productive afternoon, I met up with all the girls I'm traveling with this weekend and we set out for the train station to book our seat/couchette reservations. Then, we rendezvoused with some more folks and enjoyed a Mexican dinner at a restaurant adjacent to our hotel. Although I've been here over two months, this was the first time I ate at this place. I miss eating Mexican, especially chips and salsa, so this dinner was perfect for my cravings. Our last objective of the night: travel out to the Vienna Woods, located 45 minutes outside the city and watch a meteor shower. Erin had told us if we arrived around 8pm, it would be perfect viewing time. However, once we finished dinner, we went back to the hotel and I researched the meteor shower on the internet. I discovered that Erin had confused the dates and the shower had most likely come on Monday night. Because of this, we didn't want to go two hours out of our way for nothing, mostly because we still had to finish our papers. Instead, we decided to take the S-Bahn (street car) to the end of one of the lines, which took us to a more residential area. The experience was entertaining and pleasant, but I was slightly disappointed we couldn't see a beautiful glimpse into God's handiwork.

Backstreet Boys?

Monday.

Classes were fine today. I got back my latest CIVA test and our 2 most recent papers, all of which I did well on, which made my Monday that much better :) After class, we spent a good hour or so trying to figure out the best way to purchase tickets for the BACKSTREET BOYS concert that we will be enjoying live next Wednesday night in Bratislava, Slovakia! For lunch, I headed straight to the Naschmarkt to enjoy what will most likely be my last kebab in Vienna...and was it good! Then, Sarah, Ricki, and I went to Cafe Mozart for the first time to study for the next day's German quiz. Next, a few of us traveled over to the Schonbrunn palace to get a tour of the inside; this is a former imperial summer residence for the Habsburg emperors. The interior is absolutely stunning, laden throughout with Rococo style artwork and ornamentation. We purchased audio guides, which were helpful to explain the history behind the Habsburg family as well as the significance of each room we entered. We headed back to the Christmas Market for a little bit. I enjoyed some more "Kinder-punsch", Christmas cookies, and caramelized almonds. Good dinner, huh? The remainder of my night was spent at the hotel preparing for the next day's Humanities test and German quiz. Oh, and we took a quick study break to have our daily session of abs/pilates. Good day, productive night.

it's CHRISTMAS TIME in Vienna!

After a successful and memorable weekend in Italy, our overnight train from Venice arrived back in Vienna around 830am. My first objective upon return: take a shower! I was also able to organize my room for a little bit, before heading out to Cafe Museum with Erin and Sarah for the majority of the afternoon. I spent most of my time at the Cafe writing my research paper (which is due on Thursday). Afterwards, Sarah and I went to the Clock Museum near Stephansplatz. As nerdy as this museum sounds, it was rather interesting, housing clocks from the 16th century through the 1900's, including some contemporary watches as well. After an hour or so of weaving through the museum, we headed back to the hotel, where we met up with some other fellow "Wieners" for dinner at Cafe Wortner, the restaurant Dr. McVey took us to on one of the first nights we had in Vienna! For dinner, I ordered Wiener Schnitzel. This is only the second time I have ordered this authentic Viennese dish. It wasn't all that bad, especially once I added some lemon zest to the meat! After a pleasant dinner, we headed straight to the Rathaus to revel in our first Christmas Market experience! Christmas time in Vienna has finally arrived! Strolling among the elaborately decorated Christmas trees, locals and tourists alike from across the world can't help but possess the Christmas spirit. Booths lined in golden lights selling ornaments, cookies, hot tea, jewelry, candles, etc. occupy the majority of the plaza. I honestly can't accurately describe how beautiful/magical/exciting the Christmas market is! I enjoyed my first cup of "Kinder-punsch," which I am convinced is Vienna's version of hot kool-aid. So delicious. After a joy-filled evening of Christmas frivolity, we returned to the hotel where I spent the remainder of my Sunday evening catching up on my blog and finishing some homework.

my venetian holiday.

9am. We departed from our hotel and took a bus into Venice. Once there, we each bought 16 euro passes for all-day access on the water buses which transverse the entire city. This was one of the highlights of my day. I know I said this about Cinque Terre, but Venice is breathtaking as well!! This city stretches across 118 small islands in the Venetian Lagoon across the Adriatic Sea. After 30-45 minutes on the water bus (Venice's means of public transportation instead of an U-Bahn) in awe of our current surroundings, we got off at a random stop and found a place for breakfast. I had a delightful cup of Italian hot chocolate and a plain vanilla muffin. The rest of our day was spent exploring Venice. We walked over to St. Mark's Square before heading to the Venice Biennale for 3 hours! This is a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice. The Biennale houses art from nearly every country in the world. Each country votes on its own artist to showcase; this made the whole experience worthwhile seeing different artistic representations based on geographical placement. I'm convinced I could have spent at least 4 more hours inside this exhibition...oh well, I'm still satisfied with my first Biennale experience. We met up with Samantha and Amber, got lunch at a local cafe and then had our first Venetian gelato! This was the first time I've eaten gelato in like a month! Aren't you proud? The rest of our time in Venice was spent inside different street stores, which sold jewelry, glass, and other Italian specialities. We also made our way into St. Marks, the cathedral church in Venice and one of the prime examples of Byzantine architecture. This cathedral is most known for its ornate design, gilded Byzantine mosaics, and its status as a symbol of Venetian wealth and power. If I had more time in Venice, I would have spent it inside some of the museums, including the Guggenheim and the Leopoldo, but I am definitely satisfied with the way we spent our day! Venice is certainly one of the most beautiful cities I've seen thus far in Europe. I guess I've probably said that about most cities I've been to, but still, the entire city is surrounded by water...I love that! I'm convinced I'm going back someday...on my honeymoon :)

We ended our fabulous weekend with an overnight train (in sleeping couchettes) back to Vienna! I've tried to include pictures in my blog, but I believe they are appearing as blue question marks? Not sure how to fix this problem...

cinque terre.

We (Bethany, Laura, Sarah, Ricki, Erin, Matt, Cari, and myself) began our Italian weekend with an overnight train to Cinque Terre, which arrived around 1030am. Cinque Terre is on the coast of the Italian Riviera, most noted for its beauty and steep cliffs that overlook the Mediterranean Sea. Translated as the "Five Lands," Cinque Terre is comprised of five villages. Since we only had a day here, we were able to see two of the villages: Vernazza and Riomaggiore. As you can see, this place is absolutely breath-taking. We spent the majority of the day walking on the beach and around the little towns, playing a game of human checkers (right next to the beach), and eating lunch at a local restaurant, where I ordered tuna salad, fruit salad, and authentic Bruschetta. The amount of time we had in Cinque Terre was perfect. I didn't feel like I was missing out because we didn't have time to hike to the other 3 villages. They are all similar, yet equally beautiful.  The only reason I have heard about Cinque Terre is from past Lipscomb students who have been on the Vienna program. I admire the lifestyle of those who live in these villages. The environment was incredibly peaceful and tranquil. For the most part, tourist season is over which made our experience that much more enjoyable. Around 4pm, we headed back to the station at Vernazza and took a train from Cinque Terre to Venice (an overnight train was not an option because the two cities are only 6 hours apart). We had a few transfer stops, before arriving in Venice around 11pm. I'm definitely getting used to trains as my preferred form of transportation. Let's hope my driving skills have not been completely shot. We took a shuttle bus from the Venice central train station to our hotel. The hotel supervisor greeted us warmly and debriefed us on particular sights to see during our time in Venice, which was helpful. Once in our rooms, we headed straight to bed!

63.

Our CIVA test this morning went well. The test consisted of 4 different essay questions based on material we have covered since returning from Italy. I think I did well on the test, but you honestly never know how you do with Professor Horton! Now, I'm currently at Cafe Landtmann with a few other girls. Landtmann is a beautiful and elegant cafe in the 1st district of Vienna; this was once the preferred coffeehouse for Sigmund Freud, Gustav Mahler, and Peter Altenberg! We've been here for a few hours busily working on our research papers. I never seem to have enough time in my days, especially during my time in Europe. We're about to return to the hotel, take our last shower til Sunday (don't judge me), and get ready to leave on our overnight train to Cinque Terre! This weekend will be different than previous weekends. We have 8 people in our group this weekend: Bethany, Cari, Laura, Erin, Matt, Sarah, Ricki, and myself. The group dynamic will be different, but I'm excited! Details to come upon return. Sorry this is my third blog in a row to post, but I wanted to be completely caught up before leaving for the weekend. Three Thursdays from today, I will be back in America! How INSANE.

annie leibovitz.

German class today went well...we learned some more important grammar issues that we should have been taught two months ago. Oh well. Humanities class was interesting as well. One part of class, we discussed photography, which I never get tired of talking about :) . After class, the group I'm going with this weekend to Cinque Terre and Venice went straight to the train station to purchase train tickets. Since we're going to two Italian cities that are only 6 hours apart, the times we had hoped to book tickets did not work out as well. But no worries, we will still get to spend time in both cities! After that adventure, we walked back to the hotel to book our hotel in Venice, which took more time than we had anticipated because we were afraid if we didn't find a place inside the city center we would be wasting too much precious time. After finalizing our plans for the upcoming weekend, I went with Cari, Erin, Ricki, and Sarah to the Kunsthaus Wien to see the Annie Leibovitz exhibit. Leibovitz is one of the best portrait photographers in the world. She has been photographing well known musicians and celebrities since the 1970's. She is such an inspiration to me because I often shy away from photographing people as my main subjects, simply because it's hard to capture raw emotion. She, however is brilliant at my biggest photography flaw, which is why I tend to admire her so much.


After a few hours inside the exhibit, we went to Cafe Pickwicks to begin the process of studying for our Christianity in Visual Arts test. We talked through/discussed our notes for several hours, which helped all of us retain the information better! While there, I ordered a toasted turkey sandwich with cranberry jam for dinner (SO good). Also during our time at Pickwick's, I had to register for classes for spring semester. I'm taking 18 hours, which will be a heavy load, but I'm looking forward to several of my classes, including Intro. to Public Relations as well as Media Writing. We arrived back at the hotel around 9ish, and for the next few hours, I was able to have extended skype sessions with my sister and Reid!

endless possibility.

Tuesday was one of the best CIVA classes we've had this semester! We had a really interesting discussion/lecture about Kitsch: a German word denoting art that is considered a tasteless, tacky, and inferior copy of a style of art (or a useless imitation of art). This might seem confusing, but if you think about it, most of the art we encounter day to day is undoubtedly Kitsch! After class, I grabbed a sandwich from my room, before heading out with Sarah for the rest of the afternoon to explore some new sites in Vienna! Our first stop: The Museum of Modern Art, where we saw two different exhibits, the first contained works by 19 artists that deal directly or obliquely with the precarious conditions of life in an economically motivated and mediated globalized world (mostly through photography). The second exhibit featured works by Thomas Demand, who shows deserted architectural constructs of explosive socio-political events – for example 'crime scenes', which are anchored in the collective consciousness. Both exhibits were great! 

Our next objective took us to Schwedenplatz, where we saw the remains of Vienna's Jewish District. We had the opportunity to go into the Stadttempel, the only synagogue in Vienna that survived WWII. This Orthodox synagogue is just beautiful, and I plan to go back in the next few days to get a free guided tour! Sarah and I also went into Shakespeare and Co., an English bookshop a few blocks from the Jewish district. Lastly, we went inside the Ruprechtskirche, the oldest church in Vienna! Seeing the differences in style, architecture, and interior ornamentation between this church and Stephansdom, Notre Dame, etc. is very interesting. Ruprechtskirche is almost completely devoid of any decoration, which I found comforting. Upon returning to the hotel, we had a quick pilates session, then got ready to go with Matt and Cari to a local theater in Vienna to see Arsenic and Old Lace! (We had second row seats for only 9 euro!) The play/acting was better than expected. Seeing shows like this stirs in me an even stronger desire to pursue my non-existent acting career. I still have a few years, right? After a full day of enjoying our lovely city of Vienna, we arrived back at the hotel around 1030!

so little time, so much to do..

Meghan and I had breakfast together Sunday morning before I went to the International Baptist Church with Cari and Sarah. Maybe I was just too tired to concentrate, but my mind wandered the whole time. Oh well, the worship/singing part of the service was still well worth my time. After church, I went to the laundry mat with Ricki. Some of her clothes from last weekend got really dirty, so I volunteered to go along with her (because she didn't know how to get there from the hotel). The rest of our afternoon was spent back at Cafe Pickwicks, where I was able to blog about the weekend in Berlin/Poland, upload pictures, and study for Monday's German quiz. Since we (Sarah, Cari, Ricki, and myself) were still feeling sad and slightly homesick because of the events of the past weekend, we decided to rent a movie from Pickwick's to enliven our spirits! We returned to the hotel after a few solid hours of productivity and proceeded to watch "He's Just Not That Into You." Definitely a good choice.

We began our Monday morning with another German quiz. I've decided classes on Mondays feel like an eternity, but I guess that's normal, right? I stayed at school for a few hours after everyone left to begin working on my research paper. I finished two pages, which was comforting, and then called my parents, which is ALWAYS comforting. I can't wait to run into their arms on December 3 :) Once I left school, I found my way to a local optometrist. My right eye has been noticeably red for the past few days. At first,  I just assumed I had broken a blood vessel or something of that nature. Since the redness was contained around my pupil, I figured I should be proactive and go to a doctor. This was my first international doctor's office experience! I won't lie, I was pretty apprehensive as I walked into the waiting room. I was afraid the doctor wouldn't speak English and would misdiagnose me. Basically, I was preparing for the absolute worst. Thankfully, he did in fact speak my language. Apparently, I have an eye infection and he prescribed me some antibiotic eye drops. Nothing too terrible. Afterwards, I had a pleasant run at the Belvedere palace, followed by abs and a shower. For dinner, 8 of us traveled outside the main city to a small Thai restaurant. I couldn't tell you exactly what I ordered, but it was SO good--spicy stir-fry type dish over rice. After an enjoyable and relaxing dinner, we returned to the hotel, where I was able to skype call with Kaylyn and then Megan, before heading to bed for the night!

Poland=sketchhhh.

Had our train not been late two hours arriving in Auschwitz, we had planned to go to Krakow after leaving the concentration camps. However, we decided that was not the best idea because we didn't want to miss our overnight train back to Vienna. Therefore, from 630-11pm, we had time to kill. Like I previously said, Auschwitz is a ghost town if I've ever seen one. I legitimately feel pain for anyone who lives there. The city appeared completely desolate, run-down, and gloomy. We ate dinner at a local restaurant by the train station, then headed to the convenience store to stock up on chocolate/junk food that we could snack on for the rest of the night while waiting for our train. We spent a good 4 hours inside the Auschwitz train station, talking about our families, past relationships, Lipscomb, etc. Although it was all-around good conversation, we were all so ready and extremely anxious to get out of Poland because of how sketchy the whole situation was. I'm sure the woman attendant in the station thought we were absolutely CRAZY for spending so many hours inside the vacant train station, but we honestly had no where else to go. Getting on the train later that night was such a relief, because we knew we would soon be exiting Poland and heading straight HOME. This is the first weekend I've genuinely felt scared and paranoid the majority of the time. I'm sure Poland is a beautiful country with lots to offer, but because we were contained in Auschwitz, I did not get that vibe. We all knew going into this weekend that it would certainly not be the most fun or enjoyable we would have while studying abroad, but seeing these historic sites was a top priority for us during our time in Europe. I am glad I was able to see many of these places/areas surrounding WWII, but Poland is not a country I anticipate traveling back to in the future. One thing I know without a doubt:  God protected us the whole time.

"Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it."

10 pm Thursday night. Abby, Sarah, Cari, Ricki, and I hopped on our first (of three) overnight trains of the weekend to Berlin, Germany. We arrived around 930am the next morning and spent the next hour or so trying to straighten out our train tickets to Poland. The night before,  Meghan and Amber informed us right before leaving Vienna that the reservations we had made to get us into Poland would be invalid, since Poland is not a part of the EU (meaning our eurail passes would not work). In Berlin, we each purchased a 43 euro supplement ticket that would allow us to cross the border legally. The whole situation was frustrating because the woman at the Vienna train station definitely did not mention a word about our eurail pass being invalid once we crossed the border. After sorting out the train confusion, we self-navigated into the heart of Berlin. Our first two stops: a WWII Memorial (as seen above) as well as a  brief, but productive trip to the Deutsches Historisches Musuem, which contains an extensive WWII exhibit, artifacts included, explaining the history of the Germans, Hitler's rise to power, and European lifestyle from 1200-1990. The rest of our day was spent on the Third Reich guided walking tour. Below are some of my favorite stops of the tour: the Reichstag building, housing the parliament of the German empire; the Soviet War Memorial in Treptower Park, commemorating the death of thousands of Soviet soldiers who died during the Battle of Berlin; the Academy of the Arts, formerly serving as the arts council to the government since 1931; the Holocaust Memorial, a five acre plot of land, containing over 2,700 concrete slabs arranged in a sloping field...its aim to represent an orderly system that has lost touch with human reason; lastly, the new Jewish district, containing an old synagogue that is the only surviving synagogue (in Berlin) from WWII. Sorry that was the longest, most disorganized sentence I've ever written. Nonetheless, the tour and our guide were fantastic and very informative. Although tired by the end of our 3.5 hour walking tour, we made our way over to Checkpoint Charlie, the name given by the Western Allies to the most well-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East and West Germany during the Cold War. Because we were pressed for time, we chose to have our first European SUBWAY experience. I'm not even the slightest bit ashamed...I enjoyed a roasted chicken breast footlong, just like I would order in America :) We ended up running to and around the U-Bahn station, in search of the train station platform that we needed for our overnight train to Poland.



The next morning, after a successful night's sleep, we were greeted by the train conductor, who informed us that our train was 2 hours behind schedule. Most of the girls went back to sleep. Sarah and I were too awake to do this, so we talked for awhile and had our own short Bible study of a few different Psalms. Upon arrival into Poland, we had to transfer trains to Auschwitz. I purchased all 5 of our tickets on my debit card (since we didn't have Polish money), and because we didn't know the conversion rate, I had no idea how much I had just spent. Fortunately, the tickets were only 2 euro a piece. Our first priority upon arrival into Auschwitz was food (of course). We made our way to an authentic Polish restaurant across from the train station, where I ordered tomato soup with rice, as well as borsch soup, a traditional Polish soup comprised of chopped beets and cabbage. I know it sounds repulsive, but it was SO GOOD. In fact, I plan to make it over Christmas break. After a filling and extremely inexpensive lunch, we walked 30 minutes to the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Our 3 hour guided tour allowed us to see both the Birkenau and Auschwitz camps, the largest killing center in the Nazi universe. Our guide debriefed us on a variety of history surrounding WWII. We also saw the inside of some barracks, a gas chamber, and a crematorium. The entire tour was extremely EERIE, to say the least. The sky over Auschwitz darkened around 430pm (and no lights are contained inside the camp). It felt like a ghost town. I don't even like typing about, let alone talking about my experience. I know in a few months I will be glad I chose to experience what life was like inside these camps, but right now, I'm still terrified/sad/sketched out.

blog. blog. blog.

This morning (Thursday), I woke up extra early to be at school on time for my skype date with Megan! The longer I am away from my incredible family and close group of friends, the more appreciative I am for all of them. God is certainly teaching me to stop taking advantage of my relationships. I was antsy during school today...mostly since it was our last day of the week. Our first stop after school: the Julius Meinl store, a speciality store in Vienna, most famous for its black coffee. This store reminded me of an upper-scale Trader Joe's. We had fun exploring the different products inside, and I ordered a marinated vegetable salad for lunch. After most people parted ways, Kirk and I went on our second round of shoe-shopping. I found some nice boots in Zara, an upscale clothing/boutique-like store in Europe. I might end up buying another pair of boots here before we leave for America. At this point, splurging is not a huge issue for me, since I've done extremely well in my money spending endeavors. I was able to skype call my parents for a while and have been working on my humanities journal and blog since 230. It's only 440pm here, but almost completely dark outside. I'm about to go running before preparing to leave for the weekend. I'm traveling with 4 other girls to Berlin and Poland (mostly Auschwitz) this weekend. I am excited about all the WWII sights we'll see and its intriguing history. Also, November 9th (Monday) marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, which means being in Berlin this weekend should be really fun! Unfortunately, we won't be able to attend the U2 concert on Monday! I pray everyone has a relaxing and productive weekend. Is that an oxymoron? Regardless, AUF WIEDERSEHEN FUR JETZT. :)

55-56.

Tuesday, we began our school day with another German quiz. I felt good about it. We all are discovering that German is a hard language, since nouns can be either masculine, feminine, or neuter. Remembering which gender goes with which case, etc. definitely gets difficult. Classes ended today around 1130; afterwards,  I took some alone time and ventured out into the Stephansplatz area to do a little shopping/errand-running. Here in Vienna (and Europe in general), finding time to be by myself is a daunting task. Therefore, I'm thankful for the few hours today I enjoyed at my disposal. Once back at the hotel, I met up with Ricki, Sarah, and Cari, and the four of us headed straight to the laundry-mat. This was only the second time I have done laundry here since arriving on September 9th. Not too bad. While waiting for our laundry, I was able to blog and begin one of my Bible papers. We got back to the hotel around 5, met up with Professor Mandy Horton, then set out for the Vienna Opera House to see SWAN LAKE. Standing in line for tickets was enjoyable, as we had the opportunity to converse with Professor Horton about various topics. Unsurprisingly, the ballet was absolutely beautiful. Divided into four acts, the ballet was longer than I had anticipated, but definitely worth my time. The plot was easy to follow, mostly because Ricki had informed me of the story line before the show began. Watching the ballerinas move gracefully throughout the entirety of the performance makes me a little more than jealous.

Wednesday=day 56. How crazy is that?!
After classes ended, several of us walked straight to the Cafe Sacher, a restaurant inside the Hotel Sacher, for a lovely lunch. This five-star hotel in the Innerstadt of Vienna is located next to the Opera House, most famous for its speciality: sachertorte, a delicious (typically dry) chocolate cake. I ordered goulash soup for lunch (SO GOOD) and sachertorte for dessert. Although pricey, the meal was money well spent. I suppose I didn't have high expectations for this cafe, since most restaurants in hotels are often mediocre. Kirk and I went shoe-shopping for the remainder of the afternoon. I was in search of some new black boots, since the ones I brought from home were recently disposed of. After a fun, yet unsuccessful few hours of shopping, we headed back to the hotel. Then, Ricki and I ran nearly three miles around our neighborhood. This was our first time running after dark, which I found enjoyable. If Ricki were not on this trip, I would be extremely out of shape. Having a running partner has been more than helpful! I worked on my Bible papers for a little bit after our run before heading up to the Horton's room for a relaxing movie night. I proposed the idea of a movie night a few days prior, since all  of us have been so bogged down in schoolwork. Thanks for my impeccable taste in movies (only kidding), we watched one of my favorites: The Holiday!

untitled.

Sunday morning, after a beautiful night's sleep back home in Vienna, several of us attended services at the local International Baptist church that Professor Horton had taken us to just a few weeks ago for our CIVA church tour. Our time there was wonderful. The congregation is comprised of members from all different nationalities and ethnicities. The people were extremely hospitable to all of us. I couldn't tell you how many of them came up and greeted us, seeming genuinely interested in our lives. The entirety of the service was in English, which is quite a rarity here in Europe. We were familiar with most of the songs the worship team sang, including, "More Love, More Power," "Beautiful One," and "Love in Any Language." The structure of the congregation/service reminded me very much of Brit Hadasha, my home congregation in Memphis. Can't wait to attend services there upon returning to America! The church provided lunch, and because of this, we were able to converse with several different people. After a refreshing, encouraging, and inspirational time of worship at the IBC, Sarah, Cari, and I headed straight to Cafe Pickwicks, an English bookstore/coffeeshop in Vienna, to diligently work on papers and homework for the rest of the day. We arrived back at the hotel around 730; Sunday night was spent reorganizing our room and skyping good friends from home. I was able to talk to Megan, Reid, Patrick, and Matthew. Not a terribly exciting day, but certainly productive!

Monday morning came far too early. It felt like we had been out of school for over a month since we had a 10-day fall break. There was a miscommunication between us and our German teacher, who had been told we did not arrive back in Vienna til Monday night (instead of Sunday). Because of this, he did not show up for our 8am class, which we were all VERY happy about. Instead of sitting through German class, that free time allowed for us to swap a few stories about our fall break adventures and watch ridiculous videos on youtube til it was time for humanities. After a quick lunch, Sarah, Ricki, and I headed back to school to work on different papers for our research projects. Around 4pm, we realized we were no longer being productive, so we headed back to the hotel for an ab/pilates workout. The rest of the night was spent again at Cafe Pickwicks studying for our German test and editing papers.

As you can see, we haven't had the most adventurous, exhilarating past few days since returning from fall break. We knew once we were forced to get back into school mode that we would be swamped with work. It hasn't been unbearable and the majority of the work is already out of the way for this week. I only have two more short papers to wrap up before Thursday. One month from today our group will be flying back to America! That just doesn't seem right to me. Time FLYS. Sorry this particular post has been less than exciting, but I suppose everyday can't be full of crazy, new experiences, right?

can I get a BARCELONA?

We arrived in the wonderful city of Barcelona around 8am. Our first priority of the day: find our hostel and shower (considering we hadn't showered in 48hours). We spent a few hours at the hostel getting settled, talking to the owners, and using the free wireless internet computers that our home for the evening had provided. Around 1130, we began our day inside the city in search of another wonderful Spanish meal. However, our instincts must not have been fully functioning that day because we picked a cafe where the majority of our meals tasted like stale high school cafeteria food. After an unsatifsying lunch (the first of our fall break, I might add), we set our sights on finding the beach/MEDITERRANEAN SEA. The weather in Barcelona was in the upper-60's. All of us decided we wanted to relax on the beach for awhile, until Flener and I both agreed we were getting in the Med. Sea, no matter the temperature. We proceeded to the nearest grocery store in search of some decent swim suits/beach gear. Flener, Amy, and I all left with 9 euro one-pieces...yes BRETT FLENER was a part of this. Words just really can not describe how hilarious and ridiculous this situation was. All of our suits were far too large for our young adult bodies. In fact, I looked like a 65 year old grandmother. The rest of the girls decided to lay out on the beach while the three of us ran straight towards the water, which was more bearable than I had anticipated. These few hours at the beach are the most memorable of my entire fall break. Brett was in a multi-colored one-piece. I just can not get over that.

After our comical and relaxing time at the beach, we made a quick stop back at the hostel to put on dry clothes, then headed out for a 3 1/2 hour guided bike tour of the city of Barcelona. Besides the 7 of us, the only other people on the tour: 8 obnoxious and immature college frat boys from Indiana, who were studying in Florence. The bike tour was one of the best choices we had made in Spain. Our guide took us through different urban neighborhoods, to a "magical" fountain with mulit-colored lights, down to the beach at sunset, and to other historic sights around Barcelona. The bike tour concluded around 8pm, and we headed straight towards a restaurant our guide had recommended we try. I ordered pita+hummus and a delicious helping of chicken fajitas. Our last supper was a big success and we all decided splurging was okay. And thus concludes the end of a highly memorable, exciting, and hilarious day in Barcelona.

We woke up around 9am on Saturday morning and started packing. Brett guided us to the bus station in Barcelona so that we could purchase our bus tickets to the Girona airport (where we would be flying out of later in the day). We assumed the airport was not more than 20 minutes from our hostel, but it turned out to be closer to an hour and a half away. Good thing I chose to check on the distance the night before or else we would have missed our flight and had no way to get back home to Vienna! After purchasing tickets, we had a few hours to kill and spotted a little league soccer game just down the street. We stayed for the entirety of one of the games, not because we had nothing better to do, but because the mini players were SO talented. They would have destroyed my high school team's without shame. The game was so entertaining. Once the bus arrived at the Girona airport, we eased through security and baggage check with no trouble. Our flight back to Bratislava took around 2 hours. Then we had to catch a train from Bratislava, Slovakia back to Vienna. We arrived back at the hotel around 9pm. This is the first Halloween I spent traveling, but I wouldn't have given up my experiences for the world. Who can say they were in 3 different countries on Halloween besides my group? (Spain, Slovakia, and Austria). I was able to skype call my parents and talk to them for almost an hour, which made me so happy since I hadn't been able to talk to them over fall break at all. I also started the first few days of my blog.

This concludes my fall break blogs. I hope you enjoyed reading them. I wish I could sit down with all of you and go hour-by-hour conversing on all the stories, but until I return home, this will have to suffice. More to come tomorrow!

tiempo para Espana.

After a near restless night's sleep on the train from Paris to Spain, we arrived in Irun around 730am before getting on a bus that arrived in Madrid around 3pm. Once in Madrid, we tried to book a train from Madrid to Barcelona, which we had been told was only 3 hours. However, we were informed it was a 12 hour train ride, so we had to book another overnight train for the next night. Because of this confusion, we had to cancel our hotel in Barcelona for one night. The whole situation took much longer than we anticipated, so we didn't arrive at our hostel in Madrid til 5ish. After getting settled, we sought out to find authentic Spanish food as if we hadn't eaten in a month. We decided on a small, hole-in-the-wall type place close to our hostel, which ended up exceeding all of our expectations. I'm not sure why I assumed Spanish and Mexican food are similar, because they certainly are not. We enjoyed different dishes such as Spanish omelet, Iberian salami, cheese and salmon, and Spanish sheep cheese. Trust me, it's more appetizing than it sounds. Or maybe I'm just not a picky eater? After a fun dinner, we planned to head straight back to the hostel and go to bed, considering we were all exhausted from a terrible night's sleep on the train, as well as a full day of traveling. We were greeted by one of the hostel workers who informed us he was leaving in 10 minutes and taking a group to a local flamenco show, which we all agreed to go to (and sacrifice sleep). Although it was in the basement of a dilapidated building in a sketch neighborhood, the experience was well worth the time, money, and trepidation. It's hard for me to describe the logistics of a flamenco show, so if you're uncertain what it is, I recommend you do a little outside research. We arrived back at the hostel around 1030pm and enjoyed a glorious night's sleep, which we had grown immune to.

The next morning, we woke up well rested and headed to the travel bureau in Madrid to purchase tickets for a 1 1/2 hour walking tour of the city. I hate to admit this, but it was one of the worst walking tours I had ever paid for. Our guide was less than informative and did not take us into the heart of the city. Oh well. You win some, you lose some...right? The rest of the day was spent shopping in a local market and other stores, before we went to the Retiro Park, the main park of the city of Madrid. The beauty of this place (even better since the leaves were turning) certainly made up for the money lost on the less-than-average walking tour from the morning. After good quality time at the park for over an hour, we headed to the Musee del Prado for about an hour so we could enjoy paintings by El Greco, Caravaggio, and friends. We had our last meal in Madrid, which I enjoyed my first serving of Paella, a Spanish staple dish that is a free-style combination of meat, seafood, vegetables, and sometimes beans. After dinner, we ventured off for our final overnight train to Barcelona. Once again, we all slept poorly. I could not get comfortable to save my life. It didn't help that the men inside the compartment with me, Amy, and Allison smelled like rotten cat food. Still grosses me out. Thank God for good hygiene!

I'm almost caught up with the blogging...all I lack: our adventures in Barcelona, which were hilarious and extremely fun! Hopefully before school tomorrow, I can finish writing. Love to all.

you can never have too much time at the Louvre.

We started off the day with a lovely breakfast at our Hotel, consisting of a (real) French croissant and a delicious cup of hot chocolate. Then, we headed to the metro station to purchase our day pass for the public transportation that is ever so confusing in Paris. Of course we purchased the wrong ticket and ended up watching 5.70 euro go to waste. Oh well. Next stop: THE LOUVRE. Besides Sarah and I, the other girls only wanted to stay at the Louvre for a few minutes, mostly just to see the Mona Lisa. She and I refused to do that, so we proceeded to spend from 9am-3pm exploring the different sections of this extensive and extremely overwhelming museum. Call me a nerd, but I could have spent at least two full days there. In the  six hours we were inside, we saw maybe 1/10 of the Louvre's offerings. Is that not ridiculous? The Mona Lisa is extremely overrated. There, I said it. I was thoroughly disappointed at the number of people who only paid for entrance to the museum to see one miniscule painting. Some of my favorite sightings of the day include: "The Four Seasons", works by Raphael, "The Raft of the Medusa," The Code of Hammurabi, and "Liberty Leading the People." After a sad departure from the museum, we went to purchase some meringues at a local bakery and walked inside the Descartes University in the heart of Paris, before making our way back over to the square surrounding Notre Dame for a 3 1/2 hour free walking tour of the city of Paris. Those walking tours are so wonderful for people like me who eagerly desire to experience every aspect of a big city, but fail miserably without a decent guide. We learned some important historical facts about France and the city of Paris. The tour concluded around 8pm, and then Sarah and I headed straight to the Arc de Triomphe, honoring those who fought for France during the Napoleonic wars. The Arc also contains the tomb of the unknown soldier from World War I. We ended our night with a late dinner at a local cafe, where we both ordered authentic French onion soup (INCREDIBLE) and baguette. Then, we knocked out another one of my sites for my research paper: the Hotel Pont Royal, where Julia Child and her husband Paul lived for the first month upon arrival in Paris in November, 1948.

The next morning, while everyone else decided to take a day trip to Versailles, Sarah and I decided to be nerds again together. We started off by finding our way to the Bastille monument, then arrived at the Musee d'Orsay, and waited in line for a ticket for nearly an hour. This museum is a compilation of many different time periods, including impressionism, naturalism, and surrealism. We alloted ourselves only two hours, which was almost just enough for us to see the museum in its entirety. We got a quick lunch at a local crepe stand, and I ordered a chicken/cheese crepe, which I honestly enjoyed more than any of the previous chocolate crepes I had tried. Down the street, we arrived at another of my research paper sights: the E. Dehillerin, an extensive cooking store where Child's used to purchase her utensils and cookware during her time at The Le Cordon Bleu school. The store is certainly not your typical Williams-Sonoma. In fact, you can barely walk through the obnoxiously-narrow aisles because the shelves protrude with copper and metal cooking ware. I loved the experience though. The store has been around for over 120 years! After a short stop there, we arrived at the Opera House, where we paid 6 euro for a self-guided tour. I felt like I was inside the Phantom of the Opera...certainly puts the Vienna Opera House to shame.

Afterwards, we met back up with the group and headed straight to The Le Cordon Bleu, for a free tour of the cooking school. This was the highlight of my day. A precious Frenchwoman guided us through the demonstration rooms and kitchens the students use to prepare the course(s) of the day. This is the same school Child's attended, which initiated her desire and skill in cooking. Let's just say, this tour certainly sparked in me a renewed passion for cooking, which I plan to utilize over Christmas break, once back in America! Before departing, we all bought a generous amount of souvenirs for friends/family back home before heading to Moulin Rouge for our free 2 1/2 hour walking tour of the lovely district of Montmatre, a hill district in Paris, where artists such as Picasso and Van Gogh once lived. The tour was great; we saw the red light district of Paris, different artists houses, and Sacred Heart. I had been having a frustrating day and felt like my patience with people was running on E. While inside Sacred Heart, I chose to read I Corinthians 13, a passage I am extremely familar with, but instead of saying, "Love is patient, kind, etc.," I inserted the phrase, "Leah, you MUST be_____" which helped me so much. It was quite an experience, and I came out of the church feeling refreshed and completely joyful. We enjoyed our last authentic French meal inside Montmartre. I ordered my first helping of Beef Bourguignon, which was SO, SO delicious. One of Child's favorite dishes to prepare as well.

We headed to the train station after a satisfying last supper in Paris for our overnight train to Madrid! I apologize in advance for being so scatter-brained.