BAcK 2 NoRMaLcY

Alright, I realize I haven't updated everyone on anything since my parents left, but honestly, it just hasn't been too exciting.

The first Monday back, Gavin, Natalie, and I all went out to Salud's and we each got our own order of nachos. Mmm, Mmm, Mmm. We all decided to take advantage of our drinking age, and ordered margaritas. Natalie and I were thrilled cuz it was the first drink we'd ever ordered at a restaurant. Afterwards, we didn't feel like going home yet, so we went into a bar and just sat around til about 1:30 and then we all took a cab back home.

Tuesday, we went over to Mozartheim and hung out with Blabi and Christoph. Blabi made some homemade strawberry liquor that he'd been working on for like three weeks, so he had us over to try it out. ...it was gross.
The homemade concotion.
Wednesday Natalie and I watched a movie with Alberto. ...it's called The Unsaid. It's VERY good. I suggest u all watch it.

Thursday night we had our Studentenheim party--which is the party my dorm hosts. That was fun...EVERYONE was there.
Mom, this is Christian. ...he is the one from the last blog...the one that I love and that you haven't seen a picture of yet.
For lunch on Friday, Gavin, Louis, Natalie, and I all went out for pizza at the UniPizzeria..and then did nothing during the day.

Friday night was the university party. Yes i know, another party. Seriously, they party like crazy here. And it's weird, because they always party during the week, and then during the weekend noone does. The weekend is pretty much just for relaxing--which is quite nice. The UNIparty was great though. Before hand, all the exchange students came and hung out in our room. Then around midnight we all went to the UNI. It was pretty dead at first, but it ended up good. All of my friends left early (typical) and I ended up staying until close--around 4am--with Al (our tour guide guy). It was fun...just lots of music and dancing. And best of all, there was a kebab stand there. So, on the way back we both got one. yum :)
All of us in our room before going out.
The original four :) Nat, Blabi, Christoph, Me.
Teaching Gavin how to swing dance :)
Derek and I.
Blabi, Nat, and I.
Saturday I don't think I did anything. Just slept a lot.

Sunday was another nothingness day. Natalie, Gavin, Derek, and I all went to the Schnitzelwelt and got Weinerschnitzel. It was a fast food restaurant that served only shnitzel. And it was amazingly cheap. Two schnitzels and a ton of fries for only 5 euro.

Monday Natalie and I had to give a presentation over the book, The Things They Carried. It ended up being a TWO HOUR presentation--yup, we were in front of the class for the entire period. Miserable. But, it actually went pretty well (I hope at least!). Monday night Nat and I watched Pretty Women. Neither of us had seen it before...we liked it.

Tuesday we woke up at 11 and then went out for lunch with gavin at some chinese restaurant. All you can eat chinese for only 6.50. I tried sushi--not bad. And Gavin tried a fried banana. I thought about trying some tofu, but couldn't do it.

And well, now you're updated. Tuesday night was the mozartheim party.

And today...I've done nothing but go to class.

The weather has been pretty bad lately. It's always raining. ...thanks for the umbrella ma and pa, it's been getting a workout lately. Whenever it's not raining I try to squeeze in a run, but that's about it. Alright....until next time, bye bye :)

...I didn't spell check this. sorry.

my kids don't have a choice.

I had such a good night last night! Today was one of those days where all day during class I just couldn't keep from smiling cuz I was thinking about random stuff that happened last night. We had a Mozartheim party...and at first, I really, really didn't want to go--I think I was just in the mood to relax and watch more episodes of Survivor on the internet. But, around 11pm, I ended up going.

Gosh, there were just so many reasons that I had so much fun there. First of all, it was Clemmons’ birthday, so that alone is exciting. Secondly, Christian (one that isn't on my cool character chart) was there...and I LOVE Christian. He is just a genuinely nice person...and we get along so well! Basically, whenever he shows up somewhere it's just a big surprise and I love it.

Thirdly, there happened to be some football team there (with American boys on the team--and very cute ones I might add) and I ended up meeting 3 of those boys and hung out with them most of the night. I don't know what made it so fun, but it really was just a blast.

Fourthly, I also met 3 guys that play some other random Austrian game and hung out with them for a good majority of the night too.

Basically, around 1:30 or so, all of my friends decided they wanted to leave...so they did. But, I was just having so much fun with all my new friends that I decided to stay by myself. We ended up staying till after 4--and we only left because they were closing up! We were no where near ready to part our separate ways, so two of the football boys walked me home and we had fun talking the whole way back. Don't worry, we exchanged phone numbers and all of our facebook information :)

Lucky me, today I had an 8:30 class. I love waking up after getting 3 hours of sleep.

One thing I would like to mention. I don't care what my future kids have to say about this--they don't even have an option--they are studying abroad some where. I won't let them pass up something like this. This is by far the best experience I've ever had in my whole entire life. I wish it could last forever!

eurotrip numero 2--with my PA AND MA!

I had the best time with my parents last week! I already told you about Salzburg (but I just added pics to that blog), so now I’ll tell you about our time in Klagenfurt, Rome, and Paris.

Sunday’s in Klagenfurt are exceptionally boring. There is absolutely nothing open…and I mean NOTHING. Luckily, the weather was great so we made plans to spend the day walking around the lake. My parents came over around noon and I made breakfast (the pancakes they brought from the states!) for us. Then we ventured out to the lake—and I just loved showing that off—it’s just so beautiful! After a while we headed back home and went to the city. I wanted to go to one of my two favorite restaurants, but of course they were both closed. So, instead we tried something new out, and it actually ended up being very, very good!
Worther See--aka My Lake :)
On Monday, the rain came….and came, and came. I went to my parent’s hotel around 10:30 in the morning and walked into the room soaking wet. So, before heading too far into the city we went and got umbrellas. Then we went to my favorite kebab stand and ate lunch. I had class from 12-4, so I left my parents alone in the city for the next few hours.

After class my parents met me at the university and I showed them around. …there’s really not much to show so that was probably quite boring for them. For dinner, Natalie and I met them at Salud’s (my fav. restaurant!) and we had a great time there! Afterwards we got gelata, yumm! Then we split up for the night. I went home and packed my bags for the next week and went to bed!

The next morning I met my parents in the city around 9. We went to the train station and headed for the Treviso airport. After a bit of a mix up on the train, and a bit of a wait at the bus stop, we made it! We ordered a pizza, and just sat around for the next several hours.

After landing in ROMA we took a bus to the city, and then walked for which seemed like an hour to our hotel. This hotel looked quite questionable from the outside (graffiti on the door!) but the inside was great! I had my own pullout bed, so I was more than satisfied.

The next morning, we went around to all the sights! First the Sistine Chapel, then The Vatican, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Spanish Steps. I hadn’t seen the Sistine Chapel before, but it was GORGEOUS—and much bigger than I expected. For lunch we ate at some little side street place. And had dinner at the Piazza Navona. I absolutely loved that place. I got Gnocci pasta…for those of you that have never heard of that, it’s like potato stuffed and mine had four-cheese sauce all over it. Gosh, heaven.
Inside part of the Chapel!
Between the Vatican walls.
Me and my mama in Roma. Gosh we are CUTE.

Before going back to the hotel we stopped and got a bottle of wine and some chips and salsa. I took the pleasure in opening the wine bottle, but was shocked when the cork popped out and champagne came spilling out all over me, my bed, and the floor. Obviously, I’m quite inexperienced with champagne. Then—lucky me—I poured mine into a plastic cup with a HOLE in the bottom of it. Not long after cleaning up all of that champagne, I dropped the entire salsa bowl onto the floor, managing to get much of the salsa splattered on the wall. Finally, we relaxed and watched some Italian TV before bed.
Impressive huh?
The next day we went to the Colloseum! I’d been there before, but I hadn’t gone inside before. So, we signed up for a guided tour and spent all afternoon looking around the inside of the Colloseum, and the ruins that are outside of the Colloseum. I LOVED IT. Afterwards we headed to the airport and caught our next flight to Paris.

Inside the Colloseum. That newer looking stage is what the floor would have looked like when the colloseum was still in use. Notice how close the crowd is (there is a model of where the bleachers would have been).
Some of the ruins around the Colosseum.
Alright, confession time…Paris is my new favorite European city. Anyway, we arrived at the airport, and then took an hour and a half bus into the city. We caught a taxi, and then took another 20 minute drive to our hotel. Now, I know I said Paris is my favorite city, but this hotel…well let’s just say it was absolutely miserable and disgusting. First of all, one bed, and very little floor space. Secondly, there was NO TOILET in the room. We had to use a communal one.

Anyway, for a late, late dinner, we ate at some pizza place. Just a reminder…this was my first time in a french-speaking country, so I’d had no practice whatsoever with the language. When we ordered the pizza, we had no clue what we ordered. But, my mom said it was the best she’d had in Europe!

After a long night in the hotel, we were up bright and early to see Paris! First we went and saw the Notre Dame Cathedral…which was beautiful! And afterwards we went to the Musee du Louvre. That, I must say was pretty boring. The museum was absolutely huge. Apparently you could spend 2 weeks in there before seeing everything. Anyway, we saw the REAL MONA LISA. So, it was worth it!
Me and my pa in Paris. Love the face dad :)
The real life Mona Lisa!
Afterwards we took a super long walk towards the Eiffel tower. We stopped to eat dinner, and then waited in line for about half an hour to go up the tower. We only went to the second tier, but that was plenty high. It was getting pretty windy and even started sprinkling, so I don’t think the very top would have been very enjoyable.
The Eiffel Tower!

The view from the tower.
Afterwards, we warmed up with some hot chocolate in a little café, and then went back to the tower where we met up with a Fat Tire tour group. One of the families doing the tour ended up being from Claremont, California (where my Uncle Kris, and Aunt Krista are from) and then new Uncle Kris! So, yeah, small world!

THE TOUR WAS A BLAST! It started at 7, and lasted until midnight. We had an ice cream stop, and even an hour long boat ride. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. We road our bikes through the streets of Paris, and even got to see the Tower when it sparkles. I had sooo much fun. Our tour guide was great too!
This was during our ice cream break on the tour. We got to wear these shiny cool vests the entire time. ..and btw, thats Notre Dame behind us.
This is part of the bike tour by the Musee du Louvre. Most of the tour wasn't this slow...but this was one of the prettiest parts so we definitely took our time here.

Anyway, we got back to the hotel, went to bed, and in the morning went strait to the train station to buy our tickets to Munich—easier said than done. The 3:00 train was fully booked, and the only one we could get on was at 10:45 at night. We wouldn’t arrive until the next morning at 9 am. So, 330 euros later, we had our tickets for a night train. Good god.

So, now we had time to kill. We got breakfast at some restaurant, stopped at an internet café to book a hotel in Munich, went to the Pantheon, and I don’t even know where else…we just wandered. We stopped at a bar and had a couple drinks, and out of nowhere, this group of guys started singing some song. It was some fun entertainment! We ate dinner at a pizza place by the station, and then at 10:45 boarded our train. We shared a six person room with two other people. Some french guy that spoke no English (yet insisted on speaking to us), and then some other kid that didn’t say two words the entire way.

...the singing guys in the bar
The Pantheon in Paris.
At 2 am in the morning, I ended up sprawling out on the floor and slept until we got off in Munich, 7 hours later. My neck definitely hurt when I woke up, and I will never, ever take a night train again. Haha. Once in Munich, we got my train ticket back to Klagenfurt, and my parents got tickets to see a castle in Munich. We sat in Starbucks for a while and then sadly, at 10:30 I had to say goodbye to my parents and head back to Austria. Four hours later, I arrived at Klagenfurt, caught two different busses, and made it safe and sound to my dorm.

All in all, the trip was fantastic. I LOVED seeing my parents again, and I love that they got to see so much of Europe! Thanks mom and dad for coming over here and going on a eurotrip with me! I loved it, and I love you two so much!! I can’t wait to see you in another four months! …don’t worry though, time will fly by!

MY MUM AND PAPS ARE HERE!!!

Well, here's the latest recap:

Sunday after getting home from my eurotrip, I had a horrible cold, and basically spent the entire day updating my blog (which was a total of nine pages of text on word!). And pretty much, the rest of the week was spent doing basically nothing. My cold was pretty bad on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday...so besides going to class, I basically just laid around. I didn't even go to my kickboxing class on Tuesday...and I didn't go to the lake once-pretty depressing.

BUT, thank the lord for Friday! WELL... Thursday night Nat and I went to Mozartheim and watched The Exorcist with Blabi. We didn't get back to our room until about 2am. Then, by the time I got to bed it was nearly three. Friday morning I was very eager to get up and ready for the day because I was going to see my parents! I was at the train station by 9 and after a three and a half hour train ride I met my parents at the Salzburg station. They flew into Munich and took a train to meet me there. We ended up arriving within half an hour of eachother so it was pretty much perfect.

We spent the afternoon walking around the city center, and then went out to eat at a restaurant called "Humboldt." Thats right all of you Meyer's...Humboldt. After a delicious meal consisting of weiner schnitzel, we went back to the hotel. I unpacked all the food that my parents packed for me (there was an entire suitcase full of it!) and enjoyed several of the DELICIOUS homemade chocolate chip cookies that my grandma k made for me (thanks grandma!!!!). Then we were all exhausted, so we went to bed at 5pm!! haha!
HUMBOLDT?!?!?

Dad had a long day.
This morning (saturday) at 9:30 am we checked out of our hotel and hopped on the Original Sound of Music Bus Tour. For those of you who don't know, the movie "The Sound of Music" was filmed here. And, for those of you who don't know my mom...she loves that movie (I don't know how many family vacations I've gone on where the sound of music soundtrack was playing full blast..with of course my mom and sister belting out every single yodel).
The Fortress is behind us!
Anyway, the tour was actually very good. And not nearly as cheesy as I was expecting. Basically, Salzburg is GORGEOUS. My dad was sad when it was time to leave...he said, "I think if I would have visited this place thirty years ago, I probably would have moved here." So, now you hear it from someone else. I know I may be biased cuz I live in Austria...but it really is beautiful and just something you just have to see.
One of the more cheesey moments on the bus.
Anyway, the tour was over at 1:30 and our train left for Klagenfurt at 3. Once we were in Klagenfurt we found my parents' hotel and dropped off their bags. Then we took a bus to the Univeristat and I showed them my where I lived. I had fun showing it off :) Then Nat joined the three of us for dinner in the UNI Pizzeria. Then I sent my parents in the right direction of their hotel and went back to my dorm. I talked to Toni on skype (wooHOO!!!) and now I am anxiously awaiting my bed! Tomorrow I wanted to take my parents to the lake but there is a 70% chance of rain, so we'll see how that goes. Anyway, tchuss!