Home Sweet Stati Uniti!

Monday morning, bright and early, we headed to the airport. Maggie was headed back to Germany for 2 more months and for me, it was time to go back to the United States. As surreal as it seemed, my European adventure had come to a close. Petra’s dad dropped us off and it was a tearful goodbye as Maggie and I knew we would not see Petra again until school starts back up at the end of August. Of course it was another tearful goodbye as Maggie and I parted ways and our crazy European adventure was over. As we like to say, “its probably the greatest thing we’ve ever done!” I was so glad I had her for all of our mishaps traveling from country to country but of course we had many, many laughs and great memories and stories we’ll never forget!

As for me, my flights were fine. I have to admit I had to fight back tears on the plane. I couldn’t help but think that my amazing adventure that I had looked forward to for so long was really over. I truly had the time of my life and I guess I just did not know what to expect when returning home.

When I finally landed on US soil, as I walked off my plane, the German flight attended said, “Welcome Home” to me and I lost it! I started crying and I realized how happy I was to be home. I was a happy that I didn’t think would come once leaving Florence. I cried when I saw the sign “Welcome to the United States of America” and I cried when the man at customs said, “How long have you been gone?” and I replied “4 months!” I was truly happy to be back in the U.S. a place I now have the up most appreciation for. Of course I cried when I saw my mom and dad standing at the arrivals gate and then when Rudy was waiting for me in the car! When I got home there was a great “Welcome Home” sign on my door and a cake. And later in the week I got to see my grandma and my wonderful friends threw me a surprise party which I did not expect! All of this was just so great and unexpected and overwhelming!

I have to say that now I am home, Florence seems like dream, a distant memory of the most amazing four months of life. Me and the friends that I have made will always have a special bond because we share the same feelings about a place that is so special and important to our lives. I traveled the world, and lived in a non-English speaking country for four months. I lived in a place where I knew nothing and came to know everything. I like to think…If I can do that…I can do anything.

It was definitely strange for me returning home though. As weird as it sounds, I felt it was hard to function in society. Walking by and knowing exactly what people were saying in their conversations was weird for me. Ordering ice cream seemed like a difficult task. Little things that I wouldn’t have thought just seemed so strange but nothing that I won’t get used to in time.

Now that I’ve been home three weeks now I think I have adjusted well, in fact, better than I had originally anticipated. I really love seeing all of my friends and family and I think that really helps. Although, sometimes I think I’m going back and than I sadness comes over me when I realize…I’m not. But I have my painting of the duomo, and my great leather purse, and my million pictures and my all of my stories and this blog to remind me of my amazing experiences and memories.
So, as my last blog entry, I just want to THANK YOU ALL for following me on my journey. Your love and support means more than you will ever know!

Homecoming June 1, 2009

Hungary!

After a very long and much needed sleep, I woke up with my eye swollen shut! So…I definitely had pink eye! But Maggie and I were well rested and ready to see Budapest! First things first though…my eye. Petra’s mom suggested that I wash out my eye with camaeal tea and that really helped the itching but it was still so red. So before Petra could take us to see the city we went to a pharmacist to see if I could get medicine for my eyes but unfortunately they wouldn’t give me medicine without a prescription. So now what? Luckily, there was a “FirstMed” center right around the corner from the pharmacist and even luckier they spoke English and took me within five minutes! The doctor was very nice and gave me prescriptions that I got filled right away and then we could start our day!

The first stop was The Castle of Buda which overlooked the whole city on the Pest side. I learned a lot of interesting and fun facts like Budapest is split by the river Danube. The hilly side is Buda and the flat side in the Pest side. We took tons of pictures at the top and walked across the famous chain bridge which connects Buda and Pest. It was just a relaxing day and a nice tour of the city. For dinner, Petra’s mom made us a yummy dinner of pasta with sage cabbage soup and we had delicious wine that her dad gave us. After dinner, we headed out on the town to a place called Rumba, where we met up with Petra’s friends from high school. It was great to meet her friends and see what she does for fun!

On Wednesday we woke up to a great big breakfast served by Petra’s mother, of meats, vegetables, bread and great apricot juice which was so good and refreshing! After breakfast we headed out into the city and our first stop was to visit Petra’s school where she went to middle and high school. It was a huge building of many stories. It was much different than my high school so it was really neat to see. After that it was off to the Parliament building which is right along the Danube. We had an appointment to take an English speaking tour through the building. It was a massive building built in the 1900’s and housed the crown jewels and fun stuff like that! It was cool to see! We took tons of pictures outside of the Parliament and then walked around town. We then headed to Hero’s Square which is this huge square in the center of the city and it has statues of all of the hero’s in Hungarian history. We hung out there for awhile and then took the bus back to Petra’s house. For dinner that night we had a very yummy duck with fruit!

On Friday morning bright and early we went to Margaret Island, which is this little island off of the center of the town which has no cars. Its like a little park with pools and fountains and you can rent bikes or electric cars to ride around the island. We rented the electric car which was so funny. All three of us squeezed into the little car and we drove around the island. It was so much fun! We had tons of laughs as we drove all around and of course took pictures. Then Petra’s dad took us to the Citadel which was at the very top of the Buda side. Its at the top where their statue of Liberty is and there is a view of the entire city which was so beautiful! Then we headed to the mall to meet one of Petra’s best friends and hung out with her for awhile. Then we stopped on at Petra’s grandparent’s house to say hi. They are so cute! After that Petra’s parents took us to their lake house in Balatonfured on Lake Balaton or always called the Hungarian Sea. It was soooo beautiful!! The weather was a little rainy but we walked all around the lake and looked in the little shops. We had of course another delicious dinner of packed potatoes, which might have been my favorite dinner so far!

On Saturday, we got up and took the bikes out and road them all around the lake up to this town called Tihany which had an old monastery at the top and a beautiful view of Lake Balaton. Lake Balaton is also known as the Hungarian sea. We admired the view for awhile and then took a ferry to Szantod which is another little town on the lake. After getting there, a storm rolled in so we hung out for awhile and took a break while it passed. Then it was back on the ferry because we had to ride our bikes all the way back. Man…were we sore from riding those bikes! And did our butts hurt the next day!! But it was a really fun day and we got to see the beautiful country side! On the way back we stopped at a little fair that they were having along the lake. Then we headed back and it was time for Petra’s dad’s specialty which was a stew and her grandma’s apple strudel! Again it was delicious!
On Sunday it was time to go back to Petra’s house in Budapest. On our way home we stopped for lunch at Petra’s grandparents. They are two of the cutest, most friendly people I’ve ever met! They were so hospitable and welcoming! For lunch we had paprika rabbit and crepes with cottage cheese! And her grandpa’s homemade wine! Of course it was so yummy! I was so happy that we got to meet them! Her grandpa showed us his massive garden and read us some poems that he wrote! I really enjoyed meeting them and getting to experience their life. Once it was back to Petra’s Budapest house, Maggie and I had to pack up our stuff because we were leaving bright and early.

I really had the greatest time in Budapest! I was so glad I got to experience Petra’s life in Hungary! Maggie and I got to do her life thing for five whole days and it was so cool! We are so used to her doing what we are used to in the United States and it was awesome for us to do what she is used too. For one of the first times, I felt so foreign because the cultural was so different and I could not understand any of the language! Petra’s parents could not have been any nicer or welcoming to us and they truly showed us an amazing cultural experience that I will never forget!!!

Visiting Petra in Hungary! May 26-June 1, 2009

Trip to the Bud!

Tuesday morning, bright and early, Maggie took Katherine to the train station and she was off to fly back to the United States. Once Maggie got back, she and I were off on our CRAZY adventure to Hungary to see Petra! This is how our day played out…

First, we packed up all of my luggage (I threw out some stuff to make it easier and lighter to carry!) I was lucky this time to have Maggie there to help me carry all of it! At about 7:30am the cab arrives to pick us up at Maggies apartment. He asks were we are going and when Maggie replies, “Budapest”… he laughs. Note to self: This should have been our first clue that this was going to be one hell of a day! We get to the train station with time to spare to Maggie runs to grab us some breakfast. While we are waiting for the train we are enjoying our breakfast, I drop my entire breakfast sandwich on the ground. This is sign #2 about how our day would play out. I get over the dropped McMuffin and board the train. All fine and well, we make the first two connections. (Oh, I forgot to mention that we were taking 4 trains to Munich and then once in the Munich airport we would split up and take two separate flights to Budapest where Petra and her dad were to pick us up. Sounds totally crazy but we were up for the adventure.) So…after our first two connections we’re feeling pretty good about ourselves…then we get to the third one and theres only 3 minutes in between trains so we have to rush off the train, get all of my luggage, find the track and get back on the train. Unlikely, but we figured we’d give it a shot! Well, thanks for some slow moving people we were unsuccessful  so Maggie goes with her best game face on to talk to the people and see what we can do to make it to Munich in time for my flight which left earlier than Maggies. (And by earlier, I mean 5 hours earlier! She had to hang out in Munich for her flight which wasn’t until hours after mine but I had to wait for her in Budapest so we thought it would all work out in the end. I know…don’t even ask about how we thought this would be a good idea!) So…Maggie returns with a new schedule for us. We would take the next train which would bring us right into Munich but then we would…drum roll please…have to take the SUBWAY in MUNICH to the airport! WITH ALL OF MY LUGGAGE! So…we have no other choice and no room for error…we can handle this!! Keeping our spirits up with some pretzels and milkshakes, we board the train. To keep my suitcases from rolling we have to rig them up with some sort of ribbon and our legs…it was crazy but we made it work.

We arrive in Munich around 2pm and my flight leaves at 5 so we are running close on time but we’re not stressing. Thank god Maggie knows her German and figured our way on to the subway. We take the lovely Munich subway for about 30 minutes. It was here that I noticed my eye seemed to be a little red but I just brushed it off thinking it was just tiredness. *Remember this for later*. So we finally, finally arrive in Munich at a little before 3pm with just the right amount of time. My luggage in hand we proceed to the baggage counter to check my bags. This is where it gets bad. So the first lady tells me to weigh my bags and tells me how they are overweight and that MY bag broke the scale and that I can’t check in here because my bag is too big! How rude! So Maggie, the great girl that she is, took one of my bags and checked it as her bag because I knew that they wouldn’t let me check both bags. So I go up to the counter that I was told to go to and the lady tells me that my bag is overweight…no duhhh…as if I didn’t know this before (I’ve already trekked the stupid thing through, Italy, Switzerland, and Germany!) I tell her I am aware of this and I’m willing to pay the difference for it being overweight. So annoyed she does some crazy calculation on the computer and tells me that I would have to pay 150 euros for my bag!! Is she crazy?! 150 euros!! No way!! So I say, ok, I’ll get rid of a few things…so I step aside and try to go through some of the stuff that I could throw away. I pick out a few shirts and bring my bag back to the counter to be reweighed. She tells me No, its still overweight and she repeatedly asks, can’t you throw heavy things away?! I tell her that I have four months worth of clothes but she won’t have any of it. Now I’ve reached my breaking point and start to cry and cry as I have to throw out ½ my wardrobe. Thank god I had Maggie because she made it easier for my to chose what I should keep and what I should throw out and she helped me stay calm as I was about to go crazy on this German Lufthansa lady! Maggie took some heavier things from me and put them in her luggage to help me out. I throw out everything from my alarm clock, to jeans, to my umbrella. After a few minutes of sobbing, I finally got it together and my bag passed weigh in and it was off. I was so upset but I had to keep reminding myself that I’d rather pay 150 euros on new clothes and to pay that stupid Lufthansa lady. Then we rushed through to get to my gate only to find out that my plane was delayed about 20 minutes. Here Maggie and I had to go our separate ways but if all goes well we would be reunited in Budapest in about 6 hours!

I finally boarded the smallest plane I’ve ever seen and I was so exhausted! The plane was delayed another hour on the runway but I didn’t even care. I went right to sleep and when I woke up I was in Budapest! Finally, I had arrived at 9pm…12 hours of traveling later! But…with a very sore eye! Once I gathered my luggage from the claim I went right to the bathroom to check out my eye, and my worse fears had been confirmed…pink eye! Talk about bad news bears! What was I going to do? I had a few hours to hang out in the airport before Maggie arrived and Petra came to pick us up so that’s when I jumped online and updated my blog. While I was sitting in the arrival section waiting for Maggie, minutes before her flight was supposed to land, it says that her flight is delayed and won’t arrive until 1am! Just as I realize this, Petra appears in the airport!! I was SO happy to see her!! And it was so great to finally know that I had made it…but Maggie hadn’t  and I could only imagine she was freaking out as she had been hanging out in the airport for hours!! So I break the news to Petra and her dad, who had showed up with a fresh rose for me (sooo nice!) and he decided it would be best to go back to her house and them come back when Maggie’s flight got in. So we went to Petra’s house and her mom had a delicious dinner waiting for me on the table! Along with my pink eye, I also had a terrible cough (I’m sure Petra’s mom was thrilled to have me haha) so her mom suggested some “Swedish Bitter” which is some strange, Hungarian liquid that is supposed to cure all. So I figured…when in Hungary! And it wasn’t even THAT bad!

After my Swedish Bitter experience…we figured out that Maggie’s flight was getting in earlier that it had initially been delayed so we hopped back in the car and it was back to the airport to get her! As she walked out through the arrival gates at about 12:30am…Petra and I were so happy to see her…but I realized that she didn’t have my bag!! So I’m like…”Mags, where is my luggage?” and she’s like, “What do you mean?!” So I panicked for a quick second thinking that it never made it from Munich but then Maggie went back to the baggage claim and she returned with it thankfully! So…finally…a journey that started at 7:30am in Germany and ended at 12:30am in Budapest was finally over! We had successfully or not, arrived in Budapest and we’re more than excited to see Petra and her homeland! What an adventure it was…but well worth it. I just had to deal with my pink eye first….

Journey to Budapest!

GUTENTAG!

Gutentag...from Konstanz Germany!

After several VERY long train rides, fighting back tears as I left my beloved Florence, I finally arrived in Konstanz. I took the train from Florence, to Milan, to Zurich, to Konstanz. I was having trouble getting off the train with all of my luggage so as I was struggling to get off, I acquired a crowd around me as they were waiting to get on the train but no one bothered to help me and then I felt someone rush up behind. Startled, I turned to see it was Maggie! I have never been so relieved and happy to see her! Katherine, one of Maggie’s best friends from home, was staying with Maggie that week too so she was there to help as well. I was just so happy to finally be there after such a long and stressful day, the tears just poured out of my eyes! The two girls took all of my luggage and we jumped in a cab back to Maggies apartment.

Konstanz is in the south of Germany and right on the Bodensee Lake which borders Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. The town is beautiful and quaint and very eclectic. Germany is so different from the very unorganized and laid back Italy that I had been so used to. Everything is on time, there is order to everything they do and the country seemed to be so efficient.

Maggie’s apartment was so cool; something out of a retro-futuristic thing, definitely not what you would expect in Germany. She has the cutest apartment with a bed set up for me and everything. So once I arrived we took a little break and then got ready for an authentic German dinner at the “Brauhaus.” The “Brauhaus” brewed their own type of beer which was very good and the food was out of this world. I got some sort of asparagus soup and delicious pork dumplings and a salad. It hit the spot!! Somehow Maggie got involved in some guys bachelor party and she had to cut a hole in his pant leg. Of course all of their corresponding was going on in German so Katherine and I sat their clueless as to what was going on and then we see Maggie cutting the hole in his pant leg. It was pretty humorous to say the least! Never a dull moment…is that one thing I learned while studying aboard. Then Maggie showed me around town, stopping by the Bodensee Lake.

Sunday morning we slept in and Katherine made Maggie and I a delicious breakfast. Then we met up with one of Maggies friend from Germany who is studying aboard from England named, Amy. She was lovely and fun to hang out with. Maggie, Katherine, Amy and I took a bus to the Flower Island or Insel Mainau. It was B-E-A-U-TIFUL to say the least! The day was gorgeous and probably about 88 degrees and the place was just so pretty. We first stopped to get lunch and this interesting beer which was mixed with lemonade. It hit the spot as it was so hot out! Then we toured the island and took TONS of pictures of all of the beautiful flowers! There was also a little fair going on so we stopped in a few of the tents selling things. I got some pretty glass beaded bracelets. There was also a butterfly house on the island which was awesome to walk through because the butterflies just come right up to you. After spending most of the day on the island, we grabbed some ice cream before leaving the island and taking the ferry back to Konstanz. The ferry ride was so cool, stopping at a few places along the way and giving me a sense of all the pretty little towns on the Bodensee. The ferry ride was so peaceful and cool after a long hot day that we all feel asleep on the boat! Then it was back for a delicious dinner made by Katherine! After dinner we were off to my first experience at a real authentic German Beer Garden! So cool! Its just this big open patio on the lake with tons of tables and chairs and trees filled with bright colorful lights. It was so cheerful and happy and relaxing! Definitely one of my favorite things, just taking it all in and being so German!

On Monday morning we headed to Meersburg which is an adorable little town on the Bodensee that is your traditional Germany town. We look the ferry which was so much fun and a breath of fresh air for me as I’m used to walking everywhere in Florence. The ferry was just a great way to get around. Once we arrived in Meersburg we walked all throughout the town stopping in the little shops along the way and of course taking tons of pictures which was a popular theme of my trip! The town was just so perfect with beautiful flowers and buildings. We had lunch right on the water was this delicious restaurant on the Bodensee. We just relaxed and took it all in as we ate lunch. The weather was another beautiful day of about 85-90 degrees. After lunch we took the ferry back to Konstanz and we walked all throughout the town and Maggie showed me some of her favorite spots including the park along the Bodensee and her favorite jewelry shop and I picked up some souvenirs along the way. Then it was back to the apartment for another delicious dinner by Katherine! We packed up our stuff after dinner since Maggie and I were off on another adventure the next morning but before that we hit the “Strandbar” or the beach bar which was right along the Bodensee. It was just a big plot of land filled with sand and awesome beach chairs that you could just hang out on. We went with a bunch of Maggie’s friends from Germany and had an awesome time! We didn’t stay out too late because we had a busy next day but we did have an awesome time!

I really loved seeing Konstanz! And just like when I went to Dublin, it was so awesome to see where my friends had been living for the past several months and I loved having them show me their favorite spots in the city. Maggie was an excellent tour guide and I really loved getting to go see her! The trip was so relaxing but I saw so much at the same time. Germany was so different from Italy but I’m really glad that I got to experience it! I had been to Germany before when I was on my People to People trip but I had a different experience and I loved coming back again!

Konstanz, Germany: May 23-26, 2009