A Year in Review: 2011

Chris and I have been blessed with a wonderful year, filled with many adventures and changes.  I thought I would do a quick recap of some of the highlights of 2011 as we look forward to beginning 2012.

January: We left for Maastricht, The Netherlands for our three-month study abroad trip. We also traveled to London and Bath, England on a group trip with our program.

Chris and I at Stonehenge on our group trip to London.

February: The highlight of February was spending Valentine’s Day in Paris with Chris. We had so much fun exploring the city and spending time together. We also visited Berlin, Potsdam, Cologne and Munich in Germany, Salzburg in Austria, Brussels in Belgium and Lyon, Dijon and Strasbourg in France.

Chris and I near the Eiffel Tower.

March: In March, we celebrated Carnaval in Maastricht. It was so fun to be part of the celebrations. We took a day trip to Amsterdam before the festivities. We also got a full week off from school so we visited Prague in the Czech Republic and Vienna in Austria. We then met up with Chris’s family in Zurich and visited Interlaken, Grindelwald and Bern in Switzerland. The next weekend we met up with Chris’s family in Paris and went to the Louvre and visited two castles in Loire Valley. Then, Chris and I took a day to visit Bruges in Belgium and then headed to Gent, Belgium to meet up with my friend Kim! It was so great to see her again. Chris and I took one final trip to Heidelberg, Germany before our month of travel.

April: We finished school at the end of March so April was our month of travel. We took a night train from Paris to Madrid and visited Madrid and Barcelona in Spain. We then headed to Nice and Marseille in France, visiting Monte Carlo while in Nice. After France, we begin our wonderful tour of Italy, visiting Milan, Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Capri, Cinque Terre and Stresa. Chris and I finished the month of travel with a relaxing day in Annecy in the French Alps.  We returned to the United States in late April.

Me in the beautiful Cinque Terre.

Chris and I in Barcelona.

May: In May, Chris and I both graduated from Baylor! Though we were sad to leave Baylor and our great apartment in Waco, we were excited to start the new phase in our life. I also started a new travel blog- www.pinkvalise.com. I have been writing three times a week for the blog. 

Chris and I graduated from Baylor!

June: Chris and I moved to our new apartment in Dallas. I also started working at a public relations firm.

July: Chris and I got our sweet puppy, Skyler, on my birthday. She is a corgi mix. We had fun adjusting to our new role of dog parents.

Our sweet puppy Skyler.

August: Chris started med school! He has enjoyed his first semester as an MS1.

September: Skyler graduated from puppy training! She was so cute in her graduation cap.

Skyler graduated!

October: The big event of October was Chris’s white coat ceremony. We also went to the State Fair of Texas.

November: Chris and I went back to Baylor for Baylor Homecoming!  We got to meet up with friends and watch Baylor beat Missouri. It was so great to be back for a weekend. We also got a few days off to spend Thanksgiving with Chris’s family.

December:  We traveled back and forth to the Waco area a lot- I was a bridesmaid in Katy’s wedding and then the next weekend we headed over to spend Christmas night and a few days after Christmas with Chris’s family.

We had such a fun 2011, traveling around Europe and getting a new puppy. We are excited to see what 2012 holds for our little family.

Back in the United States: Reverse Culture Shock

I have always thought that reverse culture shock was a funny term. Surely three months in Europe wouldn't make me forget about what life in the United States was like. Boy was I wrong.

After not sleeping for 48 hours, my exhausted state found being back in the United States strange. On the way to the parking garage in the airport, I even commented, "Wow, everyone speaks English here."

On the way back to Texas!

In the spirit of being back in the United States, I have created a list of things that made me excited when I got back to America.

You know you have been in Europe for three months when:

• You are excited to get free refills.
• You are amazed by the size of drinks at restaurants.
• You always want to ask how much it costs to go to the bathroom.
• You are so excited to eat Tex-Mex and Texas barbecue. 
• You don't have to ask if someone speaks English.
• You drive, even if a place is 200 yards away. (I almost just put meters here. There is obviously still a lot of Europe in me.) 
• You are surprised when a stranger smiles at you. 
• Your back is still hurting from the 40-pound backpack you carried around for months.
• You want to take a day trip to another country for a few hours but realize Mexico is too far away.
• You feel like you can buy a cup of coffee at Starbucks without breaking the bank.

I am currently working on editing my photographs and will have more blog entries about various cities on the way. I am also working on a new travel blog project, called pinkvalise. [pinkvalise.blogspot.com] I am going to work on it over the weekend and hopefully start updating regularly starting Monday. 

We had been awake for over 48 hours here. On our way to Itasca from the airport.

Hiatus for Backpacking through Europe

Hello dear friends,

Tomorrow at 2 p.m., I will be leaving for a 19 days of backpacking through Europe. I will be unable to blog while backpacking because I will not be bringing my laptop, but I will post many entries about our adventures once I return.

For those interested, our itinerary is: Madrid and Barcelona in Spain, then Marseille, Avignon and Nice in France, then Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Capri, Cinque Terre and Stresa in Italy and ending up with a day in Annecy, France.

I hope everyone has a great three weeks. I will post as soon as I can.

Love,
Olga

The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music: Salzburg

Though Salzburg,Austria is known for the movie "Sound of Music," it has so much more to offer. I had hoped to take the Sound of Music tour, but Chris and I weren't able to afford it once we found out the tour was €40 per person. At least the tour will give us an excuse to go back to this beautiful city once we have more money.

Salzburg is proud that Mozart was born in and lived in the city.

The night we got to Salzburg, we ate at a wonderful place called Ristorante Beccofino. I had lasagna and some amazing raspberry tiramisu. I can't wait until we go to Italy so I can try some tiramisu there.

My delicious raspberry tiramisu.

We woke up at 6 a.m. so that we could see as much of Salzburg as possible since we had to leave at 2 p.m. Unfortunately, it was an incredibly foggy day so we weren't able to see much of the city. We climbed all the way to the top of Hohensalzburg Fortress, only to find out that it was closed and wouldn't open until much later in the day. I'm sure the view for the fortress is spectacular, but unfortunately, all we could see is fog.

On the way down from the fortress, we discovered the road had ice so we tried not to slip while walking downhill. It was quite the entertaining experience.

I love the green color of the Salzburg Cathedral.

Then, we had breakfast at a bakery and walked around town. The Salzburg Cathedral is beautiful and the Salzach River provides a lovely setting for the city. Did you know that Salzburg means "salt mountain" because of the large salt deposits in the area? I thought that was interesting. I also enjoyed seeing the Mirabell Palace and its gardens. I bet the gardens look absolutely beautiful in the spring and summer.

Salzburg Cathedral from the side. 

We left Salzburg too soon, and I really wish that we could have seen more of the city. It is a city that I plan to visit again as soon as I can.

The Salzach River and part of the city. I am sure it is even more beautiful without the fog.

The Mirabell Palace has a beautiful park. I bet it looks incredible when the flowers bloom.

Our trip back to Maastricht from Salzburg was difficult. Our trip was almost entirely booked with reservations so we were unable to get a seat with our Eurail pass and had to sit on the floor near the door with nine other people for three hours. It was unfortunate, but we still managed to laugh about it and have a good time.

Johnny and I sitting on the floor of the train

This week is difficult with finals and major papers due, but after it is over, we get 20 days of independent travel. We are using our independent travel to go to Spain, France and Italy.

Living a Fairy Tale: Neuschwanstein Castle

The day we visited Neuschwanstein Castle was an absolute fairy tale. The castle, which was used as a model for Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland, was situated in the beautiful mountains.

Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen, Germany.

Me with the castle in the background

When we got to Fussen, Germany, the city where the castle is located, from Munich, light snow was falling on the ground so we grabbed a hot chocolate and took a horse-drawn carriage to the castle gates. It was amazing to get to ride up to this enchanting castle. 

Chris and I in front of the castle.

In the courtyard of the castle.

Once inside, we took a tour that told us more about King Ludwig II and the building of the castle. Ludwig II was obsessed with swans so there are swans all over the castle. Construction began in 1869 and was stopped in 1892 due to the king’s death. In the 23 years of construction, one floor of the castle was never completed. 

Another picture of us with the castle.

Doesn't it look magical?

With the snow falling and the beautiful scenery, our visit to Neuschwanstein Castle made for a perfect day. Even now, I can’t wait for the chance to go back to this beautiful place. 

Drinking hot chocolate on the horse-drawn carriage ride.

All the Glamour and Glitz: Viewing Versailles

We just got back from Carnaval celebrations so I thought I would do a quick entry on our trip to Versailles.

On Sunday, before we left Paris, we took the RER to Versailles. It was definitely worth the trip. Versailles is absolutely gorgeous. I loved all the decorations inside (It is interesting how the king’s room is the least ornate — I guess since no one else was meant to see it?) 

I thought the grounds were just as impressive as the building. The parks and The Grand Canal were beautiful. I can only imagine how they would look in the summer!

Tomorrow afternoon, we leave on a night train to Prague. I’m excited for our first night train experience.

I might try to post an entry about Brussels tomorrow, but I have a lot of homework to get finished before we leave for the week so it might not happen.

Anyway, since photographs are worth a thousand words, here are a few from our trip to Versailles.

Chris at the Versailles doors.

It's so beautiful.

Me at the Hall of Mirrors

Absolutely beautiful parks

Part of a chapel.

Chris decided to put a crown on my head.

Living Like Kings: Potsdam and Cologne

Hello friends and family,

I unfortunately have not been the best blogger this week. School got really busy so I have been trying to focus on that. [Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks, I can write a blog entry about my classes.]

Since I am so behind on weekend trips, I decided to write a quick blog about our days in Potsdam and Cologne.

 We went to Potsdam to see some Kaiser palaces. They were huge and gorgeous. [profound statement, I know.]The kitchen, which was a separate building, was as big as most peoples' houses. I will have the buildings speak for themselves:

Schloss Sanssouci- where Frederick the Great lived.

The New Palace (Also Frederick the Great)

Cecilienhof, where the Potsdam Conference with Stalin, Churchill and Truman was held at the end of World War II.

After Potsdam, we headed over to Koln (Cologne). Right outside the train station is the Kolner Dom, which looks huge and incredibly intimidating at night. 

The next day, we went back to the Kolner Dom and got to see the inside for free because it was a Sunday! (Free is a very exciting thing in Europe, where everything is incredibly expensive.) The inside was beautiful, with many stained glass windows. 

Next, we went to the Lindt chocolate factory and museum. The factory part was really interesting to look at, especially the chocolate truffles (some of my favorite chocolate.) 

The chocolate truffle machine 

With Kinder eggs! I grew up eating those.

Well, that's pretty much it for Potsdam and Cologne. I will hopefully be able to write a few good entries about Paris when I get back from our weekend trip. Tomorrow, we leave for Munich and Salzburg. So excited to see  Neuschwanstein Castle!

Love you all!

Olga 

Herzogenrath-August-Schmidt-Platz: Our Journey to Berlin.

Well, it was bound to happen. For us, it was sooner rather than later.

We got on the wrong train.

This weekend, 10 of us decided to take a trip to Berlin and Koln (Cologne). Everything went smoothly until the third train change. We had about 45 minutes to wait between trains, and our train was late.

The local train ended up coming a minute before our train so we accidentally got on the wrong train, which took us to...Herzogenrath-August-Schmidt-Platz. Jonathan knew a little German (enough to ask, do you speak English?) so we found a nice lady at the grocery store near the train station who told us the local train we got on makes a loop and would be back at the station in about 30 minutes. So we were stuck waiting for this train to loop back around in this random sketchy city in Germany. We had to call Melissa Bilbro (one of the Baylor assistants) to figure out which connections to make to get to Berlin.

Four hours later, after midnight, we made it to Berlin. We were all incredibly exhausted at this point so we went to the taxi line to get a ride to our hostel. The taxi driver told us the hostel was "200 meters to the right" so he said it would be easier to walk.

So we walked. and walked. and kept on walking. We ended up stopping at another hotel to find out where we were. We found out that the taxi driver was very wrong. The hostel was over a mile and a half away. We finally got to the hostel around one in the morning. Check in took a long time so we all passed out once we got to the room.

Berlin itself was incredibly interesting. I will write a post about everything we did in Berlin tomorrow.

Sic 'Em Berlin!

Love you all,
Olga

Warning: Things are Farther Than They Appear

In The Netherlands, if someone tells you that the place you are going is "quite a walk," expect to be walking for a few hours. That's a lesson we learned while walking to the catacombs in the city of Valkenburg (about 30 minutes by bus from Maastricht). 

On Friday and Saturday, we had our Maastricht University orientation. This consisted of a walking tour of Maastricht, a few meetings about rules and activities, and a walk to the various university buildings. Since Maastricht University is only 35 years old, its buildings are scattered all around town.

On Saturday, we visited the Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial. Seeing all of those crosses in a row is overwhelming. The stories our tour guide told us were depressing, but it was still fascinating to hear about the history.

Afterward, we headed to Valkenburg aan de Geul to explore the city and visit the catacombs. It's such a cute little city, though it was heavily bombed during the war.

The catacombs were dark and humid. We had to use candles to walk around. This catacomb was just a replica of the ones in Rome [so no dead people!] but it did have some of the frescos that were in the original catacombs. While in the catacombs, the guide made us blow out our candles and walk around the tunnels for a few minutes. It really showed us how precious sight is, and how difficult it is to be blind. Our tour guide said that in order to be a tour guide, he was given two hours to navigate in the pitch black from the entrance to the exit of the catacombs. Definitely sounds unpleasant, especially since there are bats.

Chris and I in the catacombs 

In Valkenburg

When we got back, we planned our next weekend trip. We are going to Berlin for two days and Cologne for one day. We thought about going to Munich, but we decided it would be too far for our first trip. Everything looks so close on the map but some of it is definitely a long train ride. We are going in a group of 10. We started out as a group of five, and people kept joining. It should be entertaining with such a large group. At least it made hostels cheaper!

Last night, we went out for the first time in Maastricht. We headed to Highlander, a place where a lot of people hang out. More than half of the Maastricht group ended up showing up so we had a lot of fun dancing and hanging out with everyone. 

Today, we met up with some friends and went to find a place to eat lunch. We ended up at a restaurant that is famous for fries. It was fairly cheap (5 euros for a meal and 2 for a drink) so it was nice!

Jonathan, Misbah, and I at lunch 

Tomorrow, we start our first day of classes at Maastricht University. I will try to post tomorrow to talk about what they're like. 

For now, goodnight friends and family. Love you all. 

Olga

Mind The Gap: Our Adventures in London

Hello friends, 

I am going to try to keep this as brief as I can since it is past midnight here in Maastricht. London was amazing. I loved navigating the tube, talking to Londoners, and exploring the beautiful architecture in the city.

Some highlights of our trip were:

1) Seeing Wicked! I have seen many musicals in my life, and this one was by far the best. The singing was phenomenal, and I absolutely loved the story. Plus, we had amazing seats that were originally 90 pounds. I could go on and on about how great this experience was.

2) Bath. I loved everything about the city. The Roman baths were so fascinating, the Bath Abbey was gorgeous, and we found a great patisserie for lunch! I could definitely live in Bath.

Chris at the Roman Baths

Me at the Roman Baths

3) Going to an organ concert at the Westminster Abbey. To be honest, we were all a little tired when we went to the concert and had to leave early so we wouldn't fall asleep, but it was still a lot of fun to attend a cultural event.

4) The jewelry at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was magnificent. I wouldn't mind having that collection! Haha.

5) The Twinings Store! I had so much fun looking at all of the tea and bought a ton to bring home with me.

6) The English countryside. I was never bored on the bus ride from London to Stonehenge and Bath because the English countryside is so beautiful. Here is a photo so you can get an idea:

Things that surprised me while in England:

1) I don't know if this is just a matter of timing, but we seemed to hear just as many people speaking French as English. I guess maybe a lot of people from France visit since it is so close?

2) How quick the tube is, especially compared to New York City. I love the London tube. It is so efficient.

3) Our amazing breakfast. Our hotel had a huge breakfast buffet, definitely the best I have ever had for free. It was glorious.

4) I LOVED fish and chips. This surprised me because I don't really like fish, French fries, or anything fried.

5) We actually had two beautiful days with no rain and blue skies while in London. The sun even came out while we were at Stonehenge, though it was raining by the time we got to Bath.

6) I learned that the city of London is only one square mile. Most of the famous sites are actually in Westminster.

Things I wasn't crazy about:

1) The London Eye. I guess maybe because everyone talked it out to be amazing. I just didn't think it was worth the money. The free 4D experience show that came with it was almost cooler than the actual ride.

2) Our hotel location. It wasn't anywhere near the big sites. Hence, I grew to love the tube.

3) Billy Elliot. This was the musical we all saw as a group. The little boy's dancing was amazing. That is just about the only good thing I can say. To give you an idea, the plot is that a little boy decides he prefers ballet to boxing.

Some quintessential London tourist pictures for our families to see:

At the Tower Bridge

Chris with the Tower Bridge

Us at Stonehenge. It was really neat to see it!

In front of Big Ben

Chris and Big Ben

Westminster Abbey

Me in front of Westminster Abbey

We got back yesterday and had orientation most of the day today. I will try to write about it tomorrow when the rest of orientation is over. Other than that, we are planning our first weekend trip for next weekend. As of now, we are planning on going to Berlin with a stop in Cologne. 

Love, 

Olga