My Italian Fairy tale

My how this week has flown by! It’s already Thursday?!? I feel like just yesterday I had a case of the Mondays. This past weekend, 3/8-3/11 I went to Germany. It stole my heart! We left Thursday night from the Florence train station and took off for our 8 hour bus ride. We arrive in Munich at 3am to our hostel, Jaegers Hostel. For it being my first hostel I ever stayed at, it was a great experience. We roomed with a total of 6 girls. It was just Kristen and I that went, and all the other people on the trip were from Gonzaga in Washington. It was nice to meet a new group of people. 

Friday morning we woke up at headed to a beer walking tour at 10am. We walked around Germany and had a wagon with a keg following us all day. Throughout the tour we played drinking games, such as shark out of the water and hand grenade. When ever the tour guide would call shark out of the water we had to jump up onto some statue or anything. At one point I just sat on a vespa for a good five minutes. It was pretty fun. 

That night we went to starkbeer fest at the Lowenbraustubern beer hall. It was AMAZING! The beers were 12% alcohol, and surprisingly good. We ordered a basket of pretzels, and a plate of brots; it must have been one of the best meals I’ve had! I have a new found love for sauerkraut and beer. At the festival there was a huge ballroom filled with people. We sat at the second level looking over the crowd. On the stage was a band of older men that were playing all night, great music. The crowd was all dressed in traditional German attire, and were singing the traditional German songs! If there was one thing I learned this weekend was how proud they are to be German! It was a blast of a night. 

We called it an early night Friday, and headed to the Neuschwanstein castle the next morning. The Neuschwanstein castle is a large 100+ year old castle in Fussen, Germany that the Disneyland castle was modeled after. We took the 2.5 hour train ride to Fussen, and passed miles of beautiful, snow covered countryside. The town Fussen is adorable, small little town. The castle is on the outskirts of the town and we took a bus there. We then walked up a large hill to get to the castle. The 30 minute walk up the hill was beautiful every minute. We were in the woods that had just received a few feet of snow. We passed forest and a waterfall and had amazing views. The castle was a great experience and was well worth waking up early. Fun fact: the castle last year almost made the top 7 wonders of the world, it ranked 8th. 

That night we went to the Hofbrauhaus, right in the center of town. It is a huge beer hall that Hitler used to hold meetings in. If you look close you can see in the mural on the ceiling swastikas hiding. It was such a weird feeling to know you sat where he once was. The beer hall is set up with large benches, where you sit next to strangers, but after a beer or two, they are no longer strangers, they are your best friends for the night. We sat with a really nice group of people, who spoke amazing English. One group was from Spain and the other Portugal. The couple from Portugal were the kindest people, even offering to share their food with us. It was a nice relaxing night, and a great time! 

The next day was Sunday, the day we were going to head home. We decided to wake up early and head to Dachau, the former concentration camp. That was a humbling experience to say the least. I never realized how many people were effected by the horrifying event. They turned the concentration camp into a museum, with some original buildings that are set up to demonstrate the conditions the prisoners were subject to. It was a sad note to end the trip on, but I am so grateful I was able to witness it, and learn so much more. It made me so grateful for my life, and my heart aches for those that had to go through that torture. 

We left Germany around 3 in the afternoon and got back to beautiful Florence around 12 midnight. It was a great trip! 

Who would have thought that this would be my everyday. It is so different living in a city. Today I went for a jog down the river, and it was the most beautiful day I have seen on the river since I have been here. I stopped at a little parked, tucked behind some trees, and did some yoga and cardio. There was a sweet old man and his dog that sat on the bench near me. The dog ran down to the river and ran with such freedom. It was amazing to watch, how free he felt and how he didn’t hold back in the least. 

I am almost done with my midterms, after 10:50 tomorrow I will be all done! I had my hardest final today, and let me tell you, it was harder than anything I have written for Dr. Cordero, and we all know hes a hard grader!

I can’t wait to head out to Germany tomorrow! We leave at 7pm and arrive at 3am! It will be one long bus ride, but Kristen and I will hopefully get to sleep. Julie, Daria and Calina also happen to be on the same bus, but they are headed to Prague so they keep driving after we get dropped off! This will be a real Party bus!  

So grateful! 

So today is another Monday. They say most people don’t smile before 11 am on Mondays, but they must be waking up on the wrong side of the bed, or not waking up next to someone that makes them smile. 

Today I smiled long before 11 am, I smiled at 6:45 am exactly, I smiled at the first person I said good-morning to today, and was a happy girl the rest of the day. 

I took my first mid-term abroad today, and felt pretty good about it. I am a little nervous for the mid-terms I have yet to take, but I guess that’s encouragement to study hard. 

It started to sprinkle while we were in Italian class today around 6:00 pm our time. I rushed home to grab our basil plant off the roof (it needed sun) and the sheet off the clothes line outside.

We ordered dinner in tonight, and to be honest I’m not sure where time went tonight. I guess when you have good food, good friends, good conversation and good country music, it goes by fast. 

Good-Night! 

Celebrate Today

Finish every day and be done with it. 

You have done what you could. 

Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. 

Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. 

This day is all that is good and fair. 

It is too dear with its hopes and its invitations to waste a moment on the yesterdays. 

I’ve been waking up pretty early (for a college student) lately, and have really grown to enjoy it. It allows me to have time to myself to slowly wake up and get ready for my day.

I’m currently sitting at one of our two dinning tables in our kitchen. To my right is a window letting light in, shinning down on the basil plant I purchased two days ago. 

Yesterday was a great day, that I really truly enjoyed. We spent the day just all hanging out in our apartment, studying and sharing stories. We went to  Mama’s Bakery, which is a little coffee shop around the corner, and got breakfast. On our walk to breakfast there was a cute little market taking place in front of Santa Spirito Church. 

We then came back and started to read, do homework and enjoy company. At one point the weather was so beautiful we sat on our roof for about an hour or two and just soaked up the Tuscan sun. We then went to dinner at a restaurant called Tempe, which is real close by. I enjoyed a pear, cheese and lettuce salad with a light honey dressing, accompanied by a mushroom, olive, artichoke and ham pizza. I was a happy girl. 

After getting home into our “chocolate free apartment” we all enjoyed some chocolate and went to be a few  hours later. When we say “chocolate free” we mean you are free to eat all the chocolate you want! 

I’m learning to really appreciate quality time with my friends more and more every day.