Beyond Baylor: Adjusting to Life as an Alumna

We graduated last Saturday. On to our next adventure!

I never realized how hard it would be to leave the university that I had grown to love. I take after my father, and I am usually eager to jump to the next chapter of my life. With Baylor, however, I don't want to let go. My heart breaks every time I remember that I will never have class on Baylor's beautiful campus again.

I suspect that part of my difficulty in letting go lies in the process of packing away our apartment. I love to move from one place to another, another trait that I received from my father. However, with the 15 times that I have moved in my life, I have always detested the process of packing. I even despise packing for travel. It is one of the few things in life that I procrastinate. This time, I have actually done a fairly good job of packing ahead of time, but the closer it gets to the date we move, the less I want to finish the process. Perhaps it is because a part of me wants to stay, and I feel like when I done packing, our move is a done deal. 

With my family after graduation.

The best part about moving to Dallas is being close to my family. Even though they currently live two hours away, we haven't been able to see each other much since Chris and I got married. I recently saw them for the first time in four months, after studying abroad in Europe. We are going to be living about 30 minutes away from my parents so it will be nice to meet them up for dinner without a four-hour roundtrip.

Chris and I next to the beautiful Pat Neff hall.

Even though we are leaving Baylor at the end of this month, I plan to come back as much as possible. I can't wait for Chris and I to attend Homecoming, basketball and football games and other events as alumni. Baylor is where Chris and I met, fell in love and got married at the beautiful Armstrong Browning Library. Baylor is forever weaved into our lives, even when we are not physically on campus. 

A New Chapter: Graduating and Moving to Dallas

Hello friends.

Life has been busy since we have returned from Europe. I have been getting everything together for graduation, looking for a job, packing up the apartment and looking for apartments in Dallas. It's amazing to think that this chapter of our lives is coming to an end.

I wouldn't trade my experiences at Baylor for anything. At Baylor, I fell in love, got married and embarked on an unforgettable journey with my husband. On Sunday, we found a wonderful apartment in Dallas to continue our journey. Though I know it won't be easy with Chris starting medical school in August, it will be nice to be closer to family for a while. We are moving in June so everything is coming up quickly.

I have also been busy with my new travel advice blog. I love to write and help people so I decided to try a new project. You can see my blog at pinkvalise.blogspot.com.

I hope everyone is doing well. I haven't forgotten about doing posts about every city we visited. I will start those up again sometime in June probably, when I have more time.

Love,
Olga

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.