In Six Days, Europe is My Playground.

Six days.

In less than a week from today, I will be on a plane to Amsterdam.

I still don’t have much packed. Pretty much wishing my suitcases would pack themselves.

For those who aren’t familiar with the Baylor in Maastricht program, Maastricht is a city in the southern tip of the Netherlands, about 30 minutes from Belgium to the west and close to Germany to the east. Our program includes a EurRail pass, which allows for train travel around Europe. We only go to school from Feb. 7 to Mar. 31, with a weeklong break for Carnival. We also don’t have classes on Fridays so we can travel during our three-day weekends.

The pink dot is Maastricht, my future home for three months!

I can’t wait to explore Europe. I have been yearning to go back to Europe since I moved to the United States. I love everything about it — the public transportation, the slower pace of life, the absolutely gorgeous cities.

Everyone keeps asking me for a detailed itinerary for my trip. Truth is, I don’t really care. I just want to explore. I want to complete immerse myself in the culture. I know I want to go back to Switzerland. It was my favorite country that I have visited, and I still remember it clearly, even though the last time I was there, I was only six.

I know I want to see Paris, visit my aunt in Poland, visit Kim in Belgium and explore Italy. Other than that, who knows? For once in my life, I am extremely excited about not having plans. I can’t wait to make Europe my playground.  

Hello World!

One of my new years resolutions is to write more so today, I started two (yes, two) new blogs. This is going to be my personal blog, and pinkvalise.blogspot.com is going to be my travel rating blog.

This year is full of changes: I am studying abroad in the Netherlands for my final semester of college, and my husband and I are moving to Dallas once we graduate from Baylor University.

This is for friends and relatives to keep up with Chris and me while we are in the Netherlands and beyond.

For those who don't know me, here are a few things to take into account if you decide to read on:

I was born in Siberia- in Yakutsk, also known as the coldest habitable city in the world. I also lived in Kaliningrad, Russia. Russia is a huge part of who I am.

I live in Waco, Texas. I grew up in Plano, also known as the places where the heat sometimes makes me feel like a puddle.

I absolutely love the Lakers. I have ever since I moved here. I talk about them. a lot. I also love other sports, mostly college football and college basketball. I root for the Baylor Bears, my university, which can get interesting sometimes.

To explain my blog name, my initials were OMG before I got married so now I am OMG with a Ball added. :)

My husband Christopher of a year and a half is entertaining. Once, he broke our window by falling out of our bed. Life is never boring with him around.

I absolutely love to travel. I speak French and Russian fluently. I love people and love to immerse myself in different cultures.

I love writing and photography. I am still learning about photography and am not very good, but I will probably post some of my travel pictures on here for people to see.

I leave for the Netherlands on January 21st and will be there for 90 days. Included in the trip is a EurRail pass so I absolutely can't wait to explore Europe.

This blog is to document my next adventure.

Love,
Olga