The Spring Break Edition!

It has been two weeks. . .In the last two weeks, I: survived midterms, went to four different cities, got one of the worst colds of my life, and welcomed my parents to Roma! It has been a blur, but a blessed blur.

Something I learned about myself:

It is always possible to figure it out. When Elise and I decided that we were going to do spring break on our own, I had a feeling that we would learn a lot about the world around us, but also learn a lot about figuring the world out. From the minute that we stepped on our first plane to Munich (I’m not going to even talk about the OBNOXIOUS Italian boys on our plane),  it was up to the two of us to figure everything out. Now thanks to some preparation beforehand, countless muttered prayers and an open-minded perspective, we avoided all major snafus! That’s how it works when you are in situations like this—there is no choice but to figure it out. The one thing that we did have on our side was awesome timing, it seemed as if every city we were in and every time that we tried to travel or make it to a certain location our timing always worked out. It’s not lost on me that it is through the grace of God that this timing worked out, but I am still so grateful for it.

The Best Thing That I Ate (drank):

A whole darn liter. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the best thing, but I am just too proud of myself to not share. . . All of the cities that we visited are known for their beer and in both Munich and Salzburg we visited two different ‘Bier Haus’. The Hofbrehaus in Munich is known around the world, and I was ready to have an authentic experience. When I ordered my beer, the thought did not even occur to me to check out the different sizes so I was a l-i-t-t-l-e shocked when the waiter came to me with a huge LITER of beer. I was beside myself, but I knew that I needed to conquer the situation. Which I did, it was a little rough about 60% of the way through but after an involuntary dinner catnap, but I stubbornly finished the whole thing and have been bragging about it ever since. In addition to more beer than I have ever consumed in my life, the week was filled with authentic food, a lot of Starbucks and dessert every time we could manage it.

ALL DONE!!!           

An Adventure I Went On:

THE HILLLSSS ARE AALLIIIVVVEEEEEE! Although this break was chock-full of adventure, one of my favorite side trips that we took was the Sound of Music tour. We spent two days in Salzburg, Austria which is of course where the majority of the iconic movie was filmed. Our tour guide was an absolute trip, and it was so amazing to be able to see so many places that were such integral parts of the movie. My favorite part had to have been singing ’16 going on 17’ in front of the gazebo! Just call me Liesl.

Such a dream come true.                                    

The Craziest/Most Interesting Thing That I Saw:

Birds Eye Views. Serendipitously, with every city that we visited,  we had the chance to get a breathtaking view of the top of the city. Although this inevitably involved lots of stairs, it was beyond worth it. It was so amazing to be able to see things from a different perspective, and really gave me an appreciation for the places that I was visiting. Because we packed so much into eight days, it was so important to take these moments to catch our breath and be reminded of the beauty that we were seeing.

Munich.

Salzburg.

Vienna. 

Prague.

Although it was a crazy week, the hand of God was everywhere which I am so grateful for. With every city that we visited, and every passing day here, I am reminded of just how good He is.