Amigas. Cheetas. Friends for life.

Barcelona was a trip with lots of ups and downs for me. We flew this time with an airline called Vueling. I slept through the whole flight so I dont' remember anything about it. When we arrived, it didn't take us too long to find our hostel, and then we went to dinner at a Tapas restaurant down the road before calling it a night.

The next day we had arranged for a bike tour of the city, so we spent the majority of our day seeing the city via bike. This included the Sagrada Familia, the zoo, the beach, and a few other stops. We even ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach. When the tour was over, we headed back to the beach for a bit and put our feet in the water. We also went into town and bought tickets to an FC Barcelona game for the next day! We walked back along the beach until we reached the movie theater so we could go see Catching Fire. Wow, such a good movie and we were all so happy we saw it. Thankfully, it was in English and just had Spanish subtitles.

The next day we slept in a little and went to the beach once again. We sat by the water and relaxed for awhile. Our afternoon consisted of another beachside restaurant for lunch and then some souvenir shopping. Then it was time to go the game! We were on our way in the subway, and I was sitting next to Kristen, animatedly telling some story. Well, I guess since this was our last weekend trip, I had let my guard down more than usual. So, when a guy pressed into me to let people pass behind him, I was completely unaware when he stole my phone out of my pocket. I didn't noticed until we got off and my pockets were empty. I screamed "my phone!" and turned around to get back on, only to have the doors close right in my face. I have good friends though, and they calmed me down and made a few calls to the subway system. I had pretty much figured it out though, and knew there was no way I was getting my phone back. We continued to the game, and I called my dad in tears on the way. He put things in perspective for me since he was in Gifford cleaning up tornado damage for people who had lost a lot more than a phone.

The game was still fun, nonetheless, and we went out for dinner afterwards. To be honest, the food wasn't that great, our server wasn't exceptional, nothing about the place was too exciting. But this dinner, was probably my favorite of the whole trip. It's crazy the difference not having a phone can make. We sat and talked for over three hours at dinner, laughing and crying and sharing stories. As we left, someone pointed out there was a "free wifi" sign outside the door, and yet not one of us had pulled out phones the entire time. That was honestly unheard of for us because we jumped on every opportunity for wifi we could get.

There was a huge (like the size of a room) vending machine in the subway stop right by our hostel, and every time we walked by, I always stopped and looked at it saying how good the sunny D and chips ahoy looked because I hadn't had them in months. My friends, who are the sweetest, knew I was upset about losing my phone, and when I wasn't looking bought me both of those things from the giant vending machine and surprised me that night with them. They're the best.

I had suggested that before our flight the next morning, we should try to go see the sunrise on the beach. We woke up bright and early and raced to the beach, afraid we were gonna miss it. Well, we didn't miss it, but the sky was covered with clouds so we couldn't see anything anways. It was a bittersweet moment because we knew it was our last travel weekend of the semester. We got to the airport on time, and headed home. This weekend made me realize how great each and every person on this trip is, and I'm so blessed to have had these once in a lifetime experiences with all of them.

Amsterdam, the city of weed and bikes.

This past weekend, I travelled with six awesome girls to Amsterdam, Netherlands. It was one of the best weekends I've had on this trip. We took another night train leaving Thursday night and nothing really went wrong this time which was super impressive since there were so many of us. Showed up in Amsterdam around 10 in the morning on Friday and hit up Starbucks first thing. We must have looked rough, because most of us just ordered water and after Moriah ordered hers, the lady was all “Let me guess, bad hangover?” LOL. Besides this, the first thing to welcome us in the city of Amsterdam was the very overwhelming smell of marijuana. Literally Amsterdam has weed for daysssss.

We stayed at a Christian hostel nestled literally one street over from the Red Light District. It was a nice hostel though, and had free breakfast! Before coming, Leah had researched Amsterdam on Trip Advisor which told us the Red Light District was a “must see!” and during the day, it’s super safe and you’ll see grandmothers and children walking through the streets. So, first thing we decide to do is check it out! HA. So many sex shops. So many prostitutes in windows. So many creepy guys. No grandmothers. No children.  We were obviously very out of place and left REAL quick.



Our hostel

The Red Light District was at least pretty.

 

We hopped on a free regional train that took us to Haarlem, where the home of Corrie Ten Boom is. Haarlem is possibly maybe my favorite city I’ve been to in Europe. SO cute. We went to Corrie’s house and got an AWESOME free tour and heard her story. I had read The Hiding Place in high school, and it was an unreal experience to actually be in the places where everything happened. After that, we just wandered through Haarlem stopping in cute shops and restaurants along the way. We went to an adorable tearoom and stayed until it closed. The owner and employees were super friendly and it seemed like a place out of a movie. 

 

Inside "the hiding place"

 

The clock shop

 

yummy gourmet mini burgers in a cute restaurant in Haarlem

We headed back to Amsterdam and enjoyed the city at night. More weed smells. Everwhere. We found ourselves at a square with an ice rink in the middle. We got to watch a concert here with amazing figure skaters dancing around the singers. I love finding random unexpected events like this. Called it a night and headed back to our hostel.

 

Saturday was one of my favorite days of this entire semester. We slept in a little, enjoyed the hostel’s complimentary breakfast, and started our day by renting bikes. You have to understand that bikes are a VERY popular form of transportation in Amsterdam. Like probably at least 50% of the population travels by bike. This meant we were going to be biking on busy streets with I guess you could say “biking pros” all day. And, the seven of us were by far the farthest thing from pros at biking. Needless to say it was terrifying, and I almost died twice (not an exaggeration, I biked in front of a moving tram and missed it by inches. Woops), but funny, so very very funny.

We found the neighborhood with Anne Frank’s house and also found the massive line to get in and decided to pass on paying and waiting in line to visit it. Instead, I said I was craving a milkshake, and literally right behind us was an adorable little restaurant advertising milkshakes on their sign. Those milkshakes were SO good. We sat and talked here for so long the owners pretty much had to kick us out so other customers could come in, but I loved getting to know the girls I was sitting with.

We got back on our bikes and rode to this HUGE beautiful park with bike trails and ponds with little islands in them. A few of us came across an industrial looking playground. Sydney and I climbed to the top of the slide, and it was literally so hard for us. We kept saying there was no way kids would be able to do it. Right after we said that, a few little boys climbed in and made their way up in like 30 seconds. OK. Well, guess I’m out of shape, or maybe too big for playgrounds, or both. We explored and enjoyed the park some more, took some pics, and tried riding a bike with two people on it (I fell and broke Sarah’s bike doing this, of course).

 

the things we do for a picture

 

When it started getting dark, we knew we had to get our bikes back soon, soo we hit the busiest streets of Amsterdam at rush hour. Ok I loved biking in Amsterdam, but I won’t lie, it was terrifying at times. For example, when we were biking in about a two foot space between a giant bus and the curb. We all made it back alive and we were seriously amazed that none of us crashed even once. I would definitely, definitely recommend renting bikes if you’re ever in Amsterdam. It’s a fun and cheap way to see the city!

Nothing really eventful happened the rest of the trip except the usual running to catch trains, missing trains, and then looking homeless on trains the next morning. It's crazy that the semester is almost over! 

Wee Wee Paree

^my catch phrase for our Paris trip.

This weekend was LOVELY. The past two weeks of travel before this, we went on an educational group trip to Italy for a week and then split off for a week long fall break (we went to Venice, Dublin, and London). I had a great time, but most of it was a STRUGGLE (Olivia and Sarah can attest to this). Anyways, two whole weeks is a whole lot to blog about so I'll try to explain that adventure more through Facebook pictures instead of a blog to save you from boredom. 

Back to Paris, the City of Lights! I travelled with a lovely group of girls: Liv, Sarah, Kristen, and my first time traveling with Amy! We hopped on our overnight train Thursday night and poor Amy realized she didn't have her Eurail pass so we had a little stowaway in the cubby above our beds to hide her from the conductors. It was smooth sailing until we awoke to French police officers banging on our compartment door at 6 am. Amy was quick, though, and hid just in time. They shined a flashlight at us, asked to see our passports, and I guess our faces didn't look too guilty because they left without further question. whew.

Straightening my hair on the train with the window as my mirror. 

Amy the stowaway!

Arrived at Paris at almost 10:30. Figured out the metro system and  found our hostel (St. Christopher's Inn is AWESOME and they're all over so if you ever need a hostel in Europe...). Since we were in France and hungry, our first stop was of course a crepe stand. I got egg, cheese, and sausage and it wasn't bad! 

Excited to be in Paris!

Next stop: Eiffel Tower! It was a very rainy gray day, so we had pretty much given up hope of being at the top of the Eiffel Tower during a pretty sunset. Instead we went at around one. Well, since we're pinching pennies at this point, we decided to go the cheaper route and climb the 600 stairs up the Eiffel rather than take the lift. For some reason when I climb stairs, I do it on my tiptoes? So, let's just say the next day I couldn't feel my calves. At all. Well the views were awesome, despite the pretty dense veil of fog hovering around the top. We went down to the little restaurant on the second level and had delicious hot chocolate -another thing on my bucket list to check off!

The view from the second level. 

A bit foggy and a bit windy at the top!

The second level was better for pictures!

Hot chocolate at the Eiffel!

After the Eiffel, we hopped on an hour long river boat tour that would take us to all the major highlights along the Seine: Notre Dame, the Louvre, the lock bridge, and a few other things. Well, I guess I have become so used to sleeping during travel that getting on the boat may or may not have put my right to sleep... but I woke up for a few minutes at a time so I at least got to see the major sights! :)

The boat brought us right back to the Eiffel Tour. It was almost 6, which is when the Eiffel starts to literally sparkle with a 5 minute show that makes it look like it's covered in glitter. It was breathtaking! We walked across the river and took lots of fun pictures with it in the background while waiting for the show to start. 

Next, we went to see the Arc de Triumphe and explore the shopping district. Probably every designer/ crazy expensive store you can think of was on this street. We hopped in a  Sephora looking for a perfume for our friend Cassidy and it was THE biggest Sephora I've ever seen. 

Perfume for daysss

Starving, we found a cute, reasonably priced restaurant cafe for dinner. Our waitress was actually really nice (unlike the stereotype rude French waiter we were expecting). Ordering was a struggle, but thankfully Amy took like 5 years of French and was very helpful. I ordered a fish filet with potatoes, but the fish came out ice cold. Soo I got a burger instead with FRENCH fries. So cultured, I know. We did order escargot for our table, however. And yes, I, Sarah Harden, pickiest eater on earth, ate a snail. A little slimy. A little chewy. But all in all, not as bad as expected. Ended dinner with a fabulous chocolate mousse! 

Liv figuring out the snail holding contraption at dinner.

Saturday was our second and last day in Paris and Kristen, Amy, and I woke up bright and early to spend the day in Disneyland Paris! Being pretty faithful Disney goers, this was a little taste of home for Kristen and I! 

Highlights of the day: 

• The park was already decorated for Christmas and playing Christmas music 
• 10 minute wait time for Space mountain and Rock 'n Roller Coaster
• Space mountain is WAY more intense in Paris
• On It's a Small World, I was able to point to SO many countries and be able to say I've been to them now!
• Crush's Coaster (finding Nemo themed) surprised us all and turned out to be an AWESOME roller coaster 
• Ate a delicious dinner at one of my favorite places: Earl of Sandwich!

Biggest "It's a small world" ever! and they sang jingle bells instead of the annoying song!

SO excited about my Earl of Sandwich

We had just had an awesome day and had a decent 20 minutes to get on our regional train, which should have been plenty of time. We couldn't miss this train because it would take us back to the metro, which would take us to our train back to Vienna. WELL, we walk into the train station and I say "Wow I wonder why there are like a hundred people over there. Think they're a huge tourist group?" Turns out, they were ALL in line for the ticket machine. And we stupidly had not purchased our regional train ticket yet. Our comfy 20 minute time span to get on the train wasn't so comfy anymore. Naturally, I started panicking. Thankfully, Amy and Kristen are masters of persuasion and convinced a guy at the front to let the three of us cut in front of probably 150 people in line. God bless him. By the time we had purchased our tickets, we had 1 minute before out train left. We SPRINTED through that train station, Amazing Race style. God took care of us again, because the train didn't leave for 5 minutes and then we got a call from Sarah and Olivia saying our train to Vienna was delayed 50 minutes. PTL. 

Our overnight train went fine, except a 100 minute delay in the morning, but that was fine because we got to sit in a nice WARM Starbucks to wait for our next train. Amy successfully hid from the conductors on both trains and we made it home safe and sound. Paris= one successful weekend!

The beautiful view outside our windows on the train ride home!

Bled, the Beautiful

This weekend, we went on an adventure to Bled, Slovenia- a place that up until a week or two ago, I had never heard of. Well, I am BEYOND thankful we decided to take a chance and travel there, because it was by far the most beautiful place I have ever been in my life.

We took a very nice train to Bled. A few of us had an interesting layover in a run down train station with no lights, but we all arrived easily enough and in good spirits! Our hostel was full of life and other travelers, and we met a few students from a Catholic university in Portland studying abroad in Salzburg with a program very similar to ours!

Friday morning, we set out in the rain to find a bakery, and I snapped this pic as we walked alongside the road in the pouring rain because we looked RIDICULOUS.

Couldn't believe how pretty it was!

After the bakery, we went and bought rain gear and gloves from a tourist store, only to walk out and find the sun shining and no more rain for the rest of the day. It's okay though, because it definitely rained more the rest of the weekend! We found a place that you could rent a row boat and row to the island in the middle of Lake Bled, so Leah (who we nicknamed Babushka for some reason) was our faithful rower and got us to the island and back! --because we are strong, independent women who don't need no man... to row our boat--

On the island we rowed out to!

After our trip to the island, we found some yummy Mexican food and then hiked up to the castle that sits high above Lake Bled. It had the most incredible views! AND the sun was setting while we were up there! I probably took one hundred pictures. Moriah and Cassidy joined us later that night because they had to take the train coming a day later. We celebrated by returning to that same Mexican place for dinner and enjoyed conversation with two Australian guys from our hostel.

Saturday morning, after saying goodbye to Leah who had to take an earlier train ride home, we got a ride from the hostel to Vintgar Gorge which we explored in the pouring rain, but it was gorgeous as well. I loved this part of the day because we goofed off and spoke in British accents the entire time, and it even felt like we were in Peter Pan because part of it looked like a pirate cove.

This is what happens when you purchase an umbrella for 4 euro. 

We were all about taking selfies in the gorge!

It rained and rained and rained some more, and since most of the activities in Bled are outdoor activities, we struggled with finding something to do. We even went to the tourist center and asked what to do if it rains.. yup, nothing. Movie theater? nope. Indoor ANYTHING? nope. So, we found a spa at a 5 star hotel, and thought it would be fun to swim in their pool, but none of us had swimsuits. We searched EVERY dang store in Bled, but alas, no swimsuits. We called this spa four different times asking if we could swim in sports bras/ if they sold swimsuits/ where we could buy swimsuits/ what else we could do there. We'd all just lost it by this point. Our desperation level was unreal, we were SO wet and everything was just funny. Eventually, we decided to walk in and just ask if we could simply rent a bathrobe and shower. Literally, we looked like five wet rats, with backpacks and broken umbrellas, dripping through this super fancy hotel. BUT, they said yes, and for a small price of 11 euro, I rented a bathrobe and took the best nap of my life inside a Slovenian spa.

We ate a delicious meal at a lake side restaurant for dinner, laughed some more, shared some stories, and relaxed. Exhausted from our day of wandering Bled doing nothing, we headed back early and went to bed!

We woke up early Sunday morning and split into two groups headed for two different train stations to catch our trains back to Vienna. The route we took to our station, Moriah, Sarah, and Olivia had taken the day before after dropping Leah off. Except, they were going downhill, so they paid no attention to how steep the trek was. Well, after getting a little mixed up about where to go, we had approximately 4 minutes to get to our train, and I looked up to see the most steep, never-ending, most horrifying path I have every seen in my life. With like five layers on, and full backpacks, we booked it up the trail, pouring sweat and making animal noises while trying to breathe. When we finally made it to the train station at the top, we looked so funny, ripping off all of our layers and breathing so heavy. We definitely got some odd stares. But by the grace of God, our train was almost 10 minutes late, and we made it on that dang thing!

This weekend, I saw SO much of God's beauty, and I bonded with some awesome girls. But, four days for me felt like forever to be away from my "home" in Vienna. Our next trip is a group trip to Italy and then fall break, which means two weeks away from "home," but it's going to be incredible! Thank you to everyone who has been praying for us! And thanks to whoever has been reading my blog and looking at pictures, I'm just glad I get to share my experiences with you! Almost halfway done with the semester, and I've already learned so much!
God bless!