The One with Magic and Jumping Fences

This last weekend, a group of us made a small weekend trip to Paris. The main reason for going was to fulfill my need for Disney in my life, but also because none of us had been to Paris before. We left Friday morning and arrived in Paris Friday afternoon.

Lizzy had a friend who lived in Paris and was planning on meeting up with us. It ended up being a huge tender mercy. His name was Paul. He ended up hanging out with us all day and showed us around Paris. Not only that, but he took care of worrying about what public transport to take and where we needed to walk to see what we wanted to see! It took so much pressure off of our shoulders and I feel like everyone could relax a lot more.

The first thing we saw when we came out of the Underground from the airport was the Notre Dame Cathedral. Talk about incredible. It was such a good way to start our Paris adventure. Unfortunately the lines were so long for everything we saw, we decided to see the outside of the buildings and museums we wanted to see so we could have enough time to see everything.



Here are a few pictures from that little walking tour that Paul took us on:



We actually ran into some of the Christmas Markets in Paris. They were so fun! It was so great to get a taste of the Christmas spirit that is around the corner. It made me really excited to explore the Christmas Markets back in Vienna. It was incredible busy but we managed not to lose anyone.

We made our way to the famous Arc de Triomphe which was fun to see. Everything in Paris was so HUGE. It was very impressive. We then headed to the Eiffel Tower. At this time, the sun was started to go down. We got some insanely good photos of the Eiffel Tower before sunset, but it definitely looks like we are standing in front of a picture rather than the real thing, but I promise it's real!



Once we made it down, the sun had gone down. The Eiffel Tower was gorgeous. Totally breath-taking. I joked that we were like moths to a flame as we walked towards it, because it was difficult to look away while we were walking towards it. And yes, there was a few close accidents as we made our way to it, but I'm sure the French are used to mesmerized tourists. It was absolutely beautiful, I wish I could fit it into better words, but it's something you have to see to believe. Definitely go at night, if you go. It was magical.

We ended up having dinner then heading back to the hotel to try to get some sleep before the next big day.

The next day was the Disney day! This day was so fun and we had so many little tender mercies throughout the day. We had all bought our tickets prior to coming, but Garen had left his at the hotel. So him and I went to the Guest Relations booth while everyone else lined up. They said they could print it out for us if we could email it to them. I knew we might be in trouble because I had almost no service in France. But I decided to try my phone anyway. It worked perfectly. It was fast and it sent. Such a tender mercy.

That day was so beyond fun. We were able to go on most of the things we wanted to. I found out that most of us were pretty big rollercoaster junkies. We rode the rollercoasters multiple times throughout the day. We had so much fun. I'm not sure what else to say about it other than it was a magical day for all of us.

Here are some pictures of the amazing place!



Our flight was the next morning at 7:05am, therefore we had to leave the hotel by 5am. The best part about that was that the front door was locked from the outside so we couldn't get out. So naturally we went out the back door and jumped the fence. It was a good time. You can only be young once right?

Overall, it was an incredible experience and one of the best weekends of my life. It makes me sad that my Vienna experience is coming to a close in a few weeks so I'm determined to make the best of the next month.

The One Where It's Been Three Weeks

IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED:
I've made videos of our adventures. I'm almost caught up. I'm going to combine week 8 and 9 so I'm hoping to get another one up next week. But in the meantime, I have a bunch of the past weeks! Feel free to check them out!

CLICK HERE!


If not, carry on.

So... my bad.

It's crazy how life can just get away from you. You just get into a routine and life just keeps happening whether you'd like it to or not! So I apologize for the lack of updates. I'm hoping I can touch on some of the highlights from the last few weeks and redeem myself.

The biggest trip that was made after Bratislava was to Italy. It was incredible. We took a night train to Venice which was an experience all in itself. I was on the top bunk, so I didn't sleep particular well just because I was terrified that train was going to suddenly stop and I would tumble off the bed to my death. But overall, I would definitely do a night train again. You go to sleep in one country and wake up in another one! It's like magic!



Venice was absolutely wonderful. It's not like another other city, there's something slightly magical about it, in my opinion. We did a city tour all together but then we were free to roam where we wanted. A group of us decided to just get lost in the city. We wandered the streets, shopped and ate. I was able to find gluten free pizza and pasta which was incredible! Because last time I went to Venice I just lived off of gelato.



Something that was pretty interesting was that during one of the days we were there, the main square started to flood. Sea water was coming through the drains and at some points the water was about a foot deep. We decided to just embrace the experience, so I got soaking wet from my knee down as we played in the water. Everyone probably just looked at us like we were crazy young Americans, but I was okay with that because that's what we are!



One of the mornings when we were in Venice, we decided to get up insanely early to walk to the square to watch the sunrise. It was so worth it. Almost nobody was on the streets so we got to experience Venice in a whole new way. And the sunrise was beautiful. If anyone goes to Venice, sacrifice a few hours of sleep to do this! So amazing.



Another thing that Venice introduced me to was... bed bugs. Yup, our hotel had bed bugs. And we got bit. Thankfully, we caught sight of them before we went to sleep, so we moved rooms. But we were laying in the bed long enough for me to get bit 5 to 6 times. Every hotel since then, we are pretty good about checking for those little pests. Haha! It's okay though, it makes for a good story.

The second half of the trip we spent in Florence. I like Florence but I feel like after Venice, it was alright. I know I'm going to get fire from people for saying that, but it wasn't really for me. We did have some good times there though! We did a lot of wandering, we visited some beautiful gardens and churches, and ate delicious food. Having Celiac, I had A LOT of meat and cheese. So much meat and cheese.



We took a night train back to Vienna just after a couple of days in Florence. Since then, it's been a lot of class, homework, internship, and just low-key hanging out.

Class is going well. I like the German class I'm in more than I thought I would. It's really awesome because everyone is friends and we all try to help each other. It's really a no-judgement zone. It's a lot of quizzes and tests but overall, I like the class. The Art and Architecture class is a little rough. It's usually 2 to 3 hours of lecture so it can be hard to focus. The field trips we go on I usually really enjoy because we get to get out of the classroom and see what we're learning about in real life.

My internship is going really well too! I'm working for an event planning company. The last two weeks I've been in their marketing department helping them with research, which I actually enjoyed. This week and next I'm with the Events department. I've only been there once in their department, but I think it'll be great! Everyone is very nice and welcoming. I went to lunch with some of my coworkers last week and it was really great to get to know them and to hear their opinions on Austrian and American things.

On a separate note, something that I love about this program is how everyone is like one big family. We have our differences, but all together we all get along and love being together. Cindy, the professor, has most of her kids with her in Vienna. So the last few weeks, I've been at Cindy's quite a bit. She has two sons who are here then 5 adopted little girls. They are a lot of fun. They are always up for visitors, playing games, and having movie nights. It's been really fun to get to know the whole family better.



There's been so many things I've learned here in Vienna. I actually have a tangible list I've started to make. I think I'll make it into a whole separate blog post near the end of the trip. But it's so cool to see God working in my life. I knew that I was supposed to come to Vienna for a big reason. It's been really cool seeing the puzzle pieces come together to start to show that reason. This experience has been absolute incredible... indescribable really. I am so blessed to be here and to have this experience. And I still have about 30 days to make even more memories, learn more lessons, and see even more amazing things.