halloween.

Yay it's Halloween! Tonight someone's parents made beef stroganoff (I feel like I spelled that wrong, but I am also too lazy to look it up) and it was really yummy.

The plan was for us all to stay in and watch a movie. Now everyone is going out which is kind of depressing since I will be staying here because I feel majorly sick. But that's okay. I don't feel nearly as bad as I did at the end of freshman year Halloween ...

We have delicious Halloween treats that I might eat while everyone is gone. Happy Halloween to me.

artis quartet & schoenbrunn

Oh, life ...
In Vienna, the weather already really sucks. I know it doesn't bother some people, but when the days get shorter in general, it really depresses me. It's dark at 5 p.m. here. Because I have anemia (I think), I'm tired as it is all the time. This just makes it worse. Also, it's gloomy and cold. For the month of November, Vienna is supposed to have just two hours of sunlight a day. Basically, I want to stay in bed all day. Luckily, that's not really an option here.
Also, I had an English classes catastrophe this morning which initially freaked me out but then I decided that, forget it, I'll just drop the major to a minor (which I already have). Then, I got myself into the classes somehow anyway. Instead of being relieved, I felt bitter because I'm an English major. What good is an English major going to do me anyway? Bleh. I need to rewind and pause and figure out what I want to do with my life.

Last night, we went as a class to see the Artis Quartet. I was really tired because I didn't get to take a nap beforehand (we went on a art history field trip to the Kunst Historisches museum), so I'm sad to say I couldn't really pay attention to it. It was fancy though and I like fancy events. It felt very classy.

Today, Ashley and I went to Schoenbrunn Palace to see the inside this time. We got to see 40 rooms and they were all glamorous. I want to be royalty.

i'll be sure to keep this in mind.

13 Tips For Single Dames (from buzzfeed.com).

a taste of italia

This is what I remember from Italy, but unfortunately I have a terrible memory. I should have written it all down.

MILAN
Day 1: After two short plane rides that nearly busted my eardrums, we arrived in Milan. Unlike in Vienna or Nuremburg (our very, very short layover), it wasn't frigid or snowing, but it was still disappointingly cold. The weather wasn't the only thing that was cold; the whole city seemed to be a little cold and distant. We checked into our hostel and our room had a balcony which was kind of cool. Hungry with no where to eat at around 2 pm (all the restaurants around were closed for the afternoon), we discovered McDonald's. I got a Happy Meal and it made me very happy. We sat outside with a bunch of high school kids who were smoking and being "cool" and such. I felt very uncool. Then, we did a lot of shopping though I didn't buy anything.
Day 2: This morning, we woke up insanely early to go see The Last Supper. It was definitely worth it though. We tagged along with a German tour group (go figure) and went through sliding doors that got rid of the bad air. I felt very important. Then, we checked out the church next to it. While wandering towards our next church, we descended upon a huge open air market where we each bought scarfs for 5 Euro. We also went to some rich family's old house and saw a ton of Madonna and Child paintings. And we went to the Duomo.
Day 3: We went to this huge castle where we did a bunch of museums in there. My favorite was the Egyptian exhibit. We also explored the park next to it and it was very pretty. That afternoon, we took the train to Florence.

FLORENCE
Day 1: Because it was Monday, we were kind of limited in our activities (pretty much everything closes on Monday). We went to the Duomo and saw beautiful stained glass windows that were insanely detailed. We also took a bus to this high hill that overlooked Florence and got a beautiful view. While there, we encountered a Romanesque church that was kind of creepy and dark but cool at the same time.
Day 2: We started the day off early with the huge Uffizi gallery. There was so much srt there - I could have spent all day there! We also went to the Royal Palace and saw the Costume Museum and we went to the Galleria dell Academica and saw Michaelangelo's David, as well as some of his unfinished sculptures.
Day 3: We said goodbye to Florence and hopped on a train to Naples, but not before accidentally going to the wrong train station and having to take a cab to the real one and then sprint to catch our train. Whoops.

NAPLES
Day 1: We tried to get into the Royal Palace but it was closed, and, even though some man assured us it would be open the next day at 9 AM, it wasn't. So, instead, we started our day at the castle near the palace. There were certainly a lot of steps involved. We had a nice view of Naples though when we were done looking at the art. We also went to the National Archeological Museum which had a few interesting exhibits but it was pouring down rain so I was uncomfortably wet the whole time. A part of me just wanted to get back to the Bed and Breakfast where we were staying.
Day 2: Because the weather was so terrible and the Royal Palace which houses so many cool things wasn't open, we decided to do all three sightseeing bus tours in Naples so we could learn about Naples and see the sights without bothering with the weather. By the late afternoon, it had gotten a little better, and we went up and down the main shopping street.
Day 3: We took a day trip to Pompeii which was really cool but it started raining in the afternoon even though the forecast said no rain! Also, by the end, my knees just couldn't take it anymore and I was absolutely exhausted. Luckily, I took a lot of picutres and I can view those from the comfort of my room in the Flow House.

Then it was back to Vienna! We had to fly through Brussels which was kind of bizarre. We also didn't know about the time change so we got to the airport 3 hours early instead of 2. Luckily, it wasn't 1 hour instead of 2. I bought a small Longchamp bag at the airport which is funny because that was my only big purchase and I made it in Brussels of all places. However, I felt it was necessary because my purse right now isn't water resistant at all and it also doesn't zip which poses a hazard for my phone and camera every time it rains.

Overall, I had a great time in Italy. The food and wine were both great (the most important part of a vacation, of course) and I always got served ample amounts of both. My favorite meal was in Naples - I had an absolutely delicious seafood pasta dish. I also really enjoyed the Marinara pizza which doesn't have any cheese so it is lactose-allergy friendly.
My favorite place was definitely Florence and I would go back there without hestiation (maybe staying at a nicer place next time than our gross hostel that stole my leggings and had dead bugs in their sheets, among other things ...).

back to work right away.

Wake has wasted no time in getting me right back to mounds of work. I would really like to do a big fat post on my Italian adventure but that's going to have to wait at least a couple of days.
I will say that I loved Florence and I already want to go back!

fall break.

This week has been overwhelming, but I'd prefer not to discuss everything, so let's just jump right into Italy! Ashley and I are leaving early tomorrow morning for Milan and we are also going to Florence and Naples. It's going to be a great (and much needed) 10-day vacation.

after 20 years of travel ...

Because I don't feel like studying for midterms (big surprise), I was inspired to contemplate my top ten favorite places in the world. This is difficult because I usually place memories with places and use that as a base to judge them as opposed to beauty of the city or something more tangible. Oh well. Also, they are in no particular order because I can't decide how I want to rank them.

Prague - Maybe it's because this is still fresh in my mind, but I really loved Prague. I think I can safely say I'm the only one out of the Flow House that would put this in a list of 10 favorite places, but I don't care. The architecture was gorgeous and the city was very accessible. Plus, it was fairly cheap, especially when you've been spending Euros in Vienna of all places.

Phoenix - two words: spring training! I love the warm weather and baseball combination. It gets me so excited for the actual baseball season to start. Also, I've been lucky enough to stay at a Four Seasons here and, let me tell you, I would go back in a heartbeat.

San Diego - San Diego is a beautiful city where I get to use my Spanish (a plus since I don't want to forget it all!). It is home to the best zoo in the world (with the possible exception of the Omaha zoo - I don't know, I haven't been there) where I got to go on an awesome behind-the-scenes tour. The weather is gorgeous and the beach is right there. I am a beach person. I don't really do nature otherwise.

Boston - I love the Red Sox (though not as much as the A's) and I was so happy to spend a summer there. While it was kind of overwhelming to be in a city that large for three whole months, I had a great time. The city is definitely walkable (though admittedly it's a long hike from one end to the other) and the T system is easy to navigate. Cambridge is fun as well. The Fourth of July fireworks show was the best I have ever seen.

London - From adorable British accents to excellent shopping at Harrod's and the like, this place was meant for me. As someone interested in media publications, I really enjoy glancing at the various newspapers and tabloids. The peppermint tea just tastes better in London, and the theater in my opinion is even better than New York. I will never forget seeing Beauty and the Beast there when I was 9 or Wicked and Les Miserables when I was in high school.

San Francisco - Of course, San Francisco had to make my list. A product of its suburbs, I grew up taking BART in to go shopping or see a play or visit my dad at work. The Bay Area in general, while there are some things I don't like about it, will always be my home. San Francisco was our last stop on my epic cross-country road trip with my boyfriend at the time and it was my favorite, although I enjoyed seeing my friends in Santa Barbara as well.

Oxford - The summer before my junior year of high school, I was fortunate enough to do a little study abroad type thing at Oxford University with two of my friends. The town of Oxford is so cute but not so small that there is nothing to do. One of my favorite activities was taking a couple of pounds over to the sandwich store down the road from where we lived and went to school and getting super delicious sandwiches.

San Antonio - San Antonio is such an awesome place. They have delicious Mexican food and a beautiful river. I begged my dad to let me visit Trinty University because I thought I wanted to go there for some unknown reason and ended up not liking it there at all. Instead, I fell in love with the city. The weather is beautiful and the people just seem so happy to be there.

Southern Spain - Okay, I did a home stay in the south of Spain and I don't remember the town's name but it was absolutely gorgeous there. While I wasn't a fan of the whole homestay situation, the town was a true gem. It was right on the water. The people loved to dance and have a good time. While I couldn't really get used to the late dinners and abundance of cigarette smoke lingering in the houses, I definitely could get used to taking walks along the beach and not having class until the afternoon.

Munich - Munich is definitely my favorite city in Germany (thus far). The capital of Bavaria, this place is where you should go if you want a taste of real Germany and you want to have the most fun while doing so. The people here was way nicer than in Northern Germany. The church is beautiful and the famous clock is cool. Also, now that I know some German, hopefully going back there will be even more fun when my whole family goes in December.

trash on the streets.

Budapest was ... interesting. I think I was too sleep-deprived to enjoy a lot of it, and the place was so dirty! I guess it was "dump all of your trash on the streets" weekend which was just stange. And then there were people looking through the trash - how weird is that? I would not want someone else's trash! Although I guess some of those people were homeless.
Anyway, Budapest did have a really awesome bridge with a great view and I enjoyed hanging out there a lot. It was also pretty cheap. We had to go to the Magyar Museum while we were there to gather information for a paper and the museum was actually very interesting but I lose interest when I have to be taking notes left and right. I just don't like the pressure of note taking.
Also, the subways in Budapest were so old school! It was bizarre. And the escalators went really fast and were really steep - they scared me a lot!
I don't think I will go back there, but it was an interesting experience nevertheless.

budapest.

Tomorrow morning at 5:50 AM (shoot me) we are going to Budapest. Should be interesting. Be back Saturday night.

schnitzel party.

Today was our celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the Flow House. We made schnitzel and potato salad and had crepes for dessert. It was delicious!

It's only Wednesday but for me it's almost the weekend! I hope Budapest is fun. I am annoyed that we are only spending one night there but I guess that it's good that we have all day Sunday to study since we have 2 midterms on Thursday. I just opened one of the study guides and it was depressing.

it's my birthday! in europe!

Today is my birthday! We are about to have a Flow House fam dinner with brownies for dessert! Later tonight we are going to Waxy Murphy's to fully celebrate. While it's kind of sad that I turned 20 (I can now say I'm in my 20's ... what?), I am kind of happy at the same time.
Also, the girls in the house got me really pretty flowers so I feel especially loved :)
Is it weird having my birthday in Europe? Yes. It doesn't feel real, like it will be revoked upon returning to the U.S.

czech me out.

Last night we got back from Prague and it was awesome! I loved the architecture and the city in general.
On Friday I woke up at 5 am for this big adventure. I was not too happy at the time; however, it was definitely worth it. We got a basic city tour to orient ourselves with the area and then we were on our own. We ended up at a jazz club which I thought was cultured and cool of us. Also, I had a traditional Czech dessert which was super delicious.
On Saturday we went to the Prague Castle and I didn't exactly enjoy the hike down from that. However, the girls also did some window shopping which I enjoyed a lot more and we went to dinner at a really nice place.
Yesterday we were all kind of exhausted from the trip and our plans for the day (Jewish Museum and surroundings) was a bust because it was Sukkot so everything was closed. We did see the "Fred & Ginger" building which I thought was cool.

prague.

We are going to Prague at the crack of dawn tomorrow! We'll be back late Sunday night. I'm really excited but we have a ton of school stuff planned so our free time will be limited.