Munich - Everything I thought Germany would be

What an AMAZING city.  I had no expectations when I went to Munich.  I honestly just stopped here to get closer to visiting the castle that you will soon see.  But I did not expect to fall completely in love with the culture, the architecture, the food, and the people of the "largest village in Germany" [thank you Isabell :)].  When I first got there and checked into my hostel, I texted Philipp to let him know I had made it.  I met Philipp when I studied abroad in Angers in 2008.  We studied in the same program and have kept in contact since then.  I knew he was studying at a University in Munich, so I wanted to meet up with him while I was there.  We walked around the first night I was there and looked at some of the sights.  I went back early to the hostel to get some sleep before the next day which was not only the day I planned to go see the Neuschwanstein castle but also my 23rd birthday.  Before getting sleep, I went down to the hostel bar for what I thought would be 1 drink.  Wrong.  After meeting new people, telling some that it was my birthday the next day, and buying a few more drinks, I ended up hanging out at the hostel bar until it closed at 2 am.  But it didn't matter because I was having a blast.  The entire bar sang Happy Birthday to me at midnight when it rolled over to March 2nd.  It was an awesome moment, and I will never forget that.

But of course, staying up until 2:30 am, accepting free drinks, and buying your own makes it hard to get up at 7:15 am the next morning.  However, nothing was going to stop me from getting to this castle on my birthday. So after showering and getting breakfast, I went to the meeting point for the tour which was conveniently right in front of a Starbucks.  Because it's not high season, there were not a lot of other tourists on this trip.  We got on our first train to our destination.  I met two guys my age from Chicago and another girl, who was also a English Teaching Assistant in France.  It shouldn't have been too surprising because all of the assistants were on vacation at the same time.  Another train and a bus later, we were at the bottom of the castle and I was so excited!

there it is!

in the German Alps, about to see this amazing castle

But of course, we were on an organized tour so I couldn't exactly run up the hill to the castle and move in like I wanted to.  We gradually made our way up the hill while getting information about the history from our tour guide.  Our first stop was actually the other castle on the grounds.  This is the castle where King Ludwig II grew up.  Who is King Ludwig II you ask? He was a king of Bavaria, before Germany was a unified country.  He is the man who built the Neuschwanstein castle and lived inside until his untimely death.  His father built this other castle, Hohenschwangau, and Ludwig and his brother Otto grew up there. Also on the grounds, is Swan Lake.  Not a swan lake, THE Swan Lake.  We walked around this area while hearing the history of Ludwig's childhood.  He loved to read fairytales and spent a lot of time pretending he was the king in books he read.  This is important for understanding while he built his castle. 

Hohenschwangau Castle

Swan Lake

frozen Swan Lake and the German Alps

After this, it was time to make the trek up!  It was very uphill but only took about 20 minutes until we got to the observation deck area.  Because it had snowed just a couple of days before, there was a while blanket over everything around us.  It was too beautiful to describe.  So here are pictures and a video. 

everywhere you looked: mountains covered in snow

it's so close! and so awesome!

We sat for a while to wait for our tour of the inside to start, and learned a little more about the history.  Ludwig finally became king but was a little crazy.  To get away from all of the stress, he would retreat back to his fairy tales.  He started building Neuschwanstein as a fairy tale castle for that reason.  The castle itself is really only 125 years old but built as if it was a lot older.  And the inside was never finished.  Ludwig died mysteriously while they were still building. 

We walked inside when our tour got closer, and although you couldn't take pictures of the inside of the castle, I have a few good ones from the castle grounds.

walking up to this amazing castle

love this architecture

castle and snow

the view of the bridge we would walk to

view from the castle...i would live here

So after touring around the inside of the castle, we had about an hour before we had to meet back at the bus.  The bridge where everyone goes to take photos was closed off with a fence that said "danger ahead", presumably because of the snow.  But who is really going to come to the castle and not get the classic picture from the bridge because of a stupid sign that says "danger"?  Not me. 

pssh..whatever. around it we go...

So we walked up another hill to go get an awesome view of the castle.  There were two more road blocks just like this one but they were easy enough to climb around.  In fact, you could see the footprints in the snow where multiple people before us had gone around.  And we saw a ton of people while we were there anyways.  Honestly, a warning sign would have sufficed.

We walked for about 10 minutes...it looked like this:

And then, we turned a corner and BAM! there's the castle:

This was probably the most amazing part of the whole day.  AND it was my birthday.  Just standing there on a bridge, in the middle of the German Alps, looking at an amazing castle, I was so happy.  It was also an incredible beautiful day, which just added to the whole experience.  Definitely a birthday I will not forget. 

what a way to turn 23. happy birthday to me!

And just so you can fully understand where we were, here's a video (I love that thing, thanks again Mom and Dad!).

But sadly, we did need to get back to the bus. I took some more pictures on the way down the mountain just because I didn't want to leave.  

couldn't ask for a more perfect day

the hooligans I spent my birthday with: Erik and Dan

And finally, it was time to go.  But not without one last picture. 

really hope I make it back here someday.  bye beautiful castle!

So after our all day adventure, we got back into Munich at 6:45.  Philipp took me out to dinner for my birthday at a really cool beer hall.  It was traditional Bavarian food and beer.  I had pork with dumplings and soup. It was wonderful! 

Birthday dinner

After dinner we met up with Erik and Dan and the four of us went to different bars and beer halls.  It was a perfect way to celebrate my birthday!  Thanks guys!

Dan and Erik at our first stop

Philipp and I at the same beer hall

The boys

The next day I needed to go on a tour of the city, because while I had been there for 2 nights already, I didn't actually know much about the city.  So I took the free tour through my hostel.  I already knew the tour guide from Tuesday night when we danced in the bar to "September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire and he bought me a drink for my birthday! He was the coolest!

Okay, since this post is already super long, I'm not going to explain much from the tour but just show you the pictures.  That's the best part anyways!

one of the gates to the city, complete with mardi gras decoration

the Pope's home church is in Munich...this is it. 

exterior of the church

Marienplatz, the center of Munich.  With the Glockenspeil in the background.

beer garden by the market

the most famous beer hall in Munich. 

After my tour, Philipp and I went to the BMW world.  It was awesome!!

inside of BWM world

i liked this one! and all of them really...

Philipp signing up to test drive all of them

And finally, my last day arrived in Munich.  I walked up this church tower where you could get a great view of the city.  It was a little foggy but still an amazing view!

And I finished off my time in Munich with lunch at a beer hall.  Can't think of a more fitting goodbye to this wonderful city. 

perfectly acceptable to drink beer with lunch in Germany

final beer hall of my stay in Munich

I will definitely be back to Munich, hopefully sometime soon!  Made some amazing memories in this wonderful city!  

Danke, Munich! (means thank you. only German I learned!)

Prague, you're next! :)

Paris - Just the Beginning!

Hello everyone, I'm back from my awesome, wonderful, amazing, EPIC vacation!  While I do not think I can accurately describe the amazing experiences I had, people I met, and sites that I saw, I am going to try my hardest to give you a little glimpse into a truly fabulous 12 days of my life! So we begin our story in one of my top 3 favorite cities on earth: Paris!

I got into Paris around 7 pm on Saturday, February 26th.  I went straight to Starbucks to wait for the beautiful Ms. Leah Powell to finish up with work and meet me.  We got some dinner and made our way to her house.  She was celebrating the end of her week and I was celebrating the start of my vacation so this was no doubt going to be a great night!  Here's just a peak of what is to come:

After getting ready to go out, we went over to Lindsay's house.  Lindsay has a rooftop terrace, so naturally we went up as soon as we got there.  I have a video from the roof as well but I will spare you; it's a lot of random screaming and wind. Here are a couple of cool pics though.

rooftop in Paris, can't believe this is my life!

Sacre-Coeur in the distance, blurry in the picture but amazing in real life!

We ended up heading down to the bars around the Bastille.  It was a fun night, we found a cool bar to hang out at and met some new friends.  Because it's Paris, bars are open pretty late and there is a lot to do so we stayed out all night until the metro opened the next morning at 5:30 am.  It was a really fun night! 

metro ride to the bars

hanging out and having a blast in Paris

The next day, Leah and I met up with Lindsay to have lunch at Hard Rock.  Yes, I know I'm in Paris and should not be eating food that I can get in the states but a burger sounded really good!  After having a great lunch, we took the metro to Pont L'Alma and when we came out of the metro, we had a great view of best part of Paris in my opinion. 

I love this city so much

perfect day for a walk

good company

We stopped for some coffee at one point and then decided to walk back along the river Seine.  We started at Notre Dame and went all the way to the Champs-Elysees.  The city was even more magical at night. 

that's the Eiffel Tower in that awkward distance between us

 how can you not think this is the most beautiful place in the world

then it gets even better

where we ended our looonngg walk

We went to the Marais later that night, which is a really cool part of Paris that I have not spent a lot of time in.  We had a small dinner at a cafe/bar and called it a night after being completely exhausted/freezing. 

The next morning, we went to Pere Lachaise cemetery where a lot of famous people are buried.  This is another part of Paris I had never visited before so I was excited to see it.  Among the very well-known buried in the cemetery there is Edith Piaf (a French singer), Oscar Wilde (wonderful author), and Jim Morrison ( lead singer of The Doors). 

Oscar Wilde's grave, lot of kisses on it

Edith Piaf's grave

pretty clouds. 

gravestones

Jim Morrison's grave

After the cemetery, we went up to Montmarte to walk around and look at Sacre-Coeur.  I have done it all before but it was fun to see all of the main sites of Paris again.  Like I keep saying, Paris never gets old.  Every time I am there I have to see certain places.  And I'm glad we made it up here. 

another tourist pic

leah skipping the stairs and walking straight up the side

pretty building in Montmarte

the "I love you" wall

And naturally, I made Leah and Lindsay head back over to the Eiffel Tower that night.  I think I might have a small obsession but who cares, it's beautiful.  Annnddd we got there right at 8 when it started to light up.  Yep, pretty perfect.  Here's another video for your entertainment:

 

i love this picture so much.

perfect last picture of Paris. 

The next morning I was up early and on a flight to Munich, Germany.  Paris was a perfect start to my vacation!  Always a fun time hanging out with Leah and Lindsay! 

Au revoir Paris!  Let's go to Germany! :)

C'est la belle vie!

Euro Vacation Starts NOW!

I AM OFFICIALLY ON VACATION.  And it is wonderful.

This morning I had to go into school for one class because they have been begging their teacher to meet me.  It's a class of younger students and they just started learning English 5 months ago.  We went over basic things today like name, birthday, family, pets, hobbies, etc.  I was surprised at how much English they knew for only taken it for a very short amount of time.  And they even brought in sweets to share with me!  What a drastic difference than some of my older students.

After class, I picked up a few things I needed for my trip and then rewarded myself for getting through the past 8 weeks by going out to lunch.  I went to the Galettoire, which is my new favorite creperie.  Had my usual today: an egg, ham, and cheese galette with a side salad (that's the best part!), a butter and sugar crepe, and a small coffee to finish it off!  It was amazing.  And it was nice to sit and relax by myself for an hour or so.

While I was sitting there, I decided that I should probably go shopping to find a new outfit to wear for my birthday or just over the vacation in general.  So after my wonderful lunch, I went straight to Zara to find something fun.  I found a sweater, a tank top, a basic shirt, and a beautiful scarf.  Happy Birthday to me!

Now, I am working on getting ready for my vacation.  I am not sure how everything I want to bring will fit into my duffel bag but I will make it work.  So here is my farewell for two weeks as I will be traveling around Europe, taking in some of the great cities. I will make sure to get lots of pictures and videos and post them as soon as I can when I get back.

Until then, blogging world! Au revoir et à bientôt! :)

Bowling, Birthday Presents, and Pickled Onions

One week, one week, ONLY ONE MORE WEEK until vacation!  It is a little discouraging that I am so exhausted for how relatively little I work but nonetheless, I cannot wait to get out of school for two weeks and travel to new places that I have been wanting to see.  I will still have 6 more weeks with these kids when I get back but trust me when I say, this break will be good for all of us.

But when I am outside of school I am having plenty of fun, so here is how I have been spending my time.  Thursday night, all of the residents along with Sister Sonia and Father Pierre-Antoine went bowling.  We have community dinner/meetings once a month at the Aumonerie so we decided to change it up a bit.  We had a quick dinner of pizza and salad and then drove over to the bowling alley.  Girls played on one lane and the boys played on the other.  It was fun to get out of the house and do something different for a community night!

Community bowling

And then it turned into GLOW BOWLING

Marthe, Sister, and Nadege having fun

The guys 

Marthe and Me

The girls

The winners: Elizabeth and Pierre

Nadege and Marthe: bowling superstars

Friday was a beautiful day, so I tried to spend a lot of time in centre-ville and outside.  I got a haircut in the morning and then had lunch with Ashley and Whitney.  When I got home, there was a surprised from my parents:  my brithday present!  It's always so exciting to get birthday presents in the mail!  I was thinking about waiting to open it until I skyped with Mom and Dad but alas, I could not wait.  I was so surprised when I opened the first present which was a video recorder!  What a perfect gift right before I go on my vacation and do all of my traveling!  The next one was a set of eye-shadow colors that is totally awesome. And of course, you can't go wrong with an iTunes gift card.  Always needed.  

Thanks Mom and Dad, you guys are the best! :)

So since it was such a gorgeous day, I immediately got out the video camera and started taking videos.  Here is the first one.  Look at the amazing quality!  It's so awesome, did I mention how much I love it?!

After playing with my video camera and opening my windows as far as they could go to get all of the sun in, I went over to Margaux's that night for a typical French night of wine, cheese...and pickled onions.  Now, I first tried pickled onions when I was in Belgium and fell completely in love with the taste.  They are like onions, only better because they have so much flavor.  They are normally found in the jars with small pickles called cornichons.  But you can also buy a jar of just the onions which is exactly what I did!  I also bought some Gouda cheese and sliced it into tiny squares.  This is probably my most favorite snack food in France.  The two together are absolutely amazing.  Combine this palate with some wine and you have a feast!  And of course, the good company of Margaux and Isabell made it even better!

Pickled Onions, Gouda, and Wine

Pretty Ladies

Isabell and Me

Artsy Margaux and her fancy new camera

The moon has been beautiful the last few nights

And now it's Saturday.  Unfortunately the nice weather decided to go away for the weekend and we have been stuck with classic Normandy mist/rain that gets everywhere and there's no escaping.  I had coffee with a fellow teacher and her family today which is always nice.  I have no plans for the rest of the day other than to rest up, and play with my new recorder!  I leave for my epic vacation a week from today and I couldn't be more excited!  I am going to Paris for a few nights to hang out with Leah and Lindsay.  From there I will go to Munich where I will spend my birthday, and hang out with friends old and new.  Then it's onto Prague with a few other assistant friends.  And last stop is in Berlin before heading back to France.  I have a lot to get ready and a busy week ahead, better get started now.  Or maybe after a cup of tea and a nap :)

Happy Saturday everyone!

C'est la belle vie! 

Halfway There and The Sun is Shining

I have now passed the halfway point of my time in France. It seems hard to believe that this experience that I dreamed about for two years is coming to an end in just a few short months.  I knew that my time here would go by fast but I didn't know it was going to be this fast.

Before I came here, many people told me that I would learn a lot about myself in my time in France.  I think I expected these things to just come to me.  Things like knowing what I want to do with my life, where I want to be in 10 years, and most importantly, will I want to live in France for another couple of years.  But after I got here and started to get into the groove of my life abroad, I realized that nothing was going to just hit me and I'd know.  It was going to be a process. And who knows what I would learn, but I so desperately wanted to learn something.  It's scary graduating from college and not having a true sense of what you are meant to do.  There is pressure to go right into something that has to do with what you have been studying but sometimes you aren't sure if that is what you really want in life.  Applying for this program was not so much as an escape from the reality of finding what I want to do with my life but a time for a bit of relaxation after 17 straight years of school and reflection on what my future careers could be.

So after four months of relaxation and reflection in what I have been calling my "Eat, Pray, Love" year, here are 25 things I've learned about myself, about relationships with others and about life:

1. Sometimes you have to be selfish.
2. No one died from feeling awkward.
3. How much French you speak or don't speak on a daily basis is entirely up to you.
4. Many, many things get lost in translation.
5. Have fun, but be practical.
6. It's okay to be afraid of growing up.
7. Anxiety is something you can learn to control.
8. I really, really dislike the word "obsessed".
9. The small, unknown places and towns of foreign countries are often the true gems.
10. Imagine your life in someone else's shoes, it can be fun.
11. You know when you are a student and it's so weird to see a teacher outside of school?  Being on the other side of that, it's weird for the teacher too.
12. French teenagers are much more forward than American teenagers.
13. Sometimes your students need to hear you speak French in your really bad accent so they understand you know how they feel speaking English.
14. Sometimes the feeling of being completely alone is magical.
15. No need to be jealous, everyone is having their own experiences so embrace yours.
16. Turn restlessness into productive creativity.
17. Competition is necessary for humans to survive but there's no need to take it too far.
18. Headphones break way too easily.
19. Write down your ideas right away before you forget them.
20. When the sun is shining, go outside!
21. Sometimes the things that you really dread and don't want to do, turn out not that bad.  Possibly even enjoyable.
22. Spontaneity is fun and exhilarating.
23. I'm turning 23 in three weeks after spending a year trying to not be 22.
24. I have had some pretty epic adventures here whether it was traveling to new places, or exploring this amazing town I live in.
25. I have four more months of great adventures to come!

Voilà! And I leave you with a beautiful sunny February Day in France.

C'est la belle vie! :)