whatever is lovely

Our second stop last week was Lucerne, Switzerland. It had been one of my favorite places from the Europe trip I took in high school, so I was excited to go back. The two hour train ride to get there from Interlaken had beautiful views for the entire ride. I love Switzerland! Alex and I traveled there by ourselves because the other girls' sledding excursion took the entire day.  Upon arriving, we hopped on the bus to get to our hostel, eager to put our backpacks down and find some real food for the first time of the day. But we got on the bus going the wrong direction, so that took longer than expected. Then, when we finally got going in the right direction, we missed pushing the button at our stop and had to get off at the next one. As soon as I stepped off of the bus, I immediately realized that my Eurail pass was no longer in my hand. Commence panic mode. Alex was reassuring, saying I probably just had put it in a pocket or my purse, but I knew. And I felt like I was going to g...

Blogging is turning into somewhat of a chore, so I'm going to try to make these short and sweet for my sake and yours!! But, well, no promises. Sometimes I just can't stop. Also, I'm breaking my carnival break up into different posts per city!  Day One  We started off our carnival trip traveling to Interlaken, Switzerland. It was a long day of trains, but so worth it once we arrived! Our hostel, Backpacker's Villa , was incredible. It was super cute, clean, there were Bible verses posted and a wonderful little meditation room, we had our own room, and the girls at the desk gave us great recommendations/didn't get fed up with us asking them questions nine times a day. We ate rosti, a traditional Swiss meal for dinner.  Day Two  Paragliding had been discussed all along in planning this trip, but I wasn't sure if it would work out. I'm a total thrill chaser/adrenaline junkie so I was 100% game, but the other girls didn't seem so sure. But we talked to ou...

We have this week off from class to celebrate Carnival (think Mardi Gras). Alex and I were considering going to Italy with some friends, but decided to go for something more low-key and not go with such a big group. So tomorrow morning, along with our friends Lainey and Emily, we are going to Switzerland then Austria! We decided to stay in Maastricht this weekend to catch up on sleep, homework, and see what the talked-up Maastricht Carnival was all about.  It was so great to sleep in and relax a little. These past three weeks have been incredibly fast-paced. As in I get excited when I look at my watch before bed and don't have to wake up for 5 hours. Lots going on, between tons of reading for school, making plans and traveling, and spending time with my wonderful friends, new and old.  Because we took advantage of a chance to slow down, I only really saw Carnival today, Sunday. It was super fun but one day was enough for me!  Alex and I getting ready ...

Last weekend was our first opportunity to travel independently! Alex and I tagged onto another group, so we didn't have to do all that much planning, which was a blessing. We left early Friday morning, and several trains later we were in Munich! I had been to Munich in 2008, and I loved it even more the second time around!! Our first hostel experience was pretty decent... it helped that it was only our group in our room! That night we went to Hofbrahaus, a classic Munich place to visit. The waitresses are decked out in traditional Bavarian clothes, men wear feather hats, a band plays, and you just jump in at any table that has space in a huge, bustling room. This meant eating with strangers, which turned out to be really fun. Poor Alex got a full 1 liter beer spilled all over her only pants for the weekend, which stunk (literally) at the time, but it just made for another story! Saturday morning we went to Dachau concentration camp, which I had also already been to. Going again j...

When we got back from London, we had orientation in Maastricht and then our program took us on a day trip. First we went to an American war cemetery about 20 minutes away. I didn't take any pictures, but the white crosses on the snowy field were so beautiful. But it was COLD.  Little did we know there was a lot more cold to come. We arrived in Valkenburg and ate lunch in a cave, so that was cool. Then before we realized it, we're on a two hour walking tour of a town we had just learned the name of, so it was a little hard to be enthusiastic about some dinky town we knew nothing about. But our tour guide, Vivian made up for it. She was such a sweet lady. At the very beginning of the tour she had us all in tears telling us about her father's four years in a concentration camp. He had escaped, but out of desperation returned to what meager food was available there. His decision to come back closely coincided with the camp's liberation, so it was such a powerful story!! Ar...