All Around Europe and More

Well, there is so much to write about. Classes started yesterday and right now it’s about 10:30 AM on Thursday morning, don’t worry I don’t have class today until 4 PM. We just got back from our trip around Europe on Monday night. We first went to Paris, France for a few days. While we were there we took a night bike tour with lots of other tourists. We even had to wear bright colored vests with reflectors while we were riding the bikes, I know we’re nerds and tourists, but we embraced it in all its glory. We rode all around Paris then we stopped at a yummy ice cream shop that was supposed to be the best in Paris. Then we got on a boat because it was included in the tour as well, along with free wine and we glided along on the water of Paris. It was so awesome to see all the sights, but it was freezing because we weren’t prepared for the cold weather of Paris. We were used to the 80s-90s in Granada and we looked up the weather in the countries we were going to visit but I didn’t expect Paris to be so cold, I wore lots of layers after that boat ride!
A few other things we saw in Paris were Notre Dame, St. Chappelle, and of course the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way to the top of the Eiffel Tower at nighttime and we got to see the whole city lit up. It was such a grand sight; I couldn’t believe I was really there. We ate at a couple cafes and we ate one nice meal out because we were trying to save money. I had salad, quiche, and lots of yummy French bread. I also really liked our hostel in France, the four of us girls had our own room to ourselves and we had our own bathroom. The hostel was more like a hotel than a hostel, there was free internet and we had free breakfast, plus it was in a pretty good location. If you plan on going to Paris, be sure to ask me about it because it was a good price too! There was only one time where there was some sketchiness going on when we were trying to go back to our hostel at nighttime. We accidentally went down the wrong road and there were all these creepers… we were looking a map that was along the road and this guy was talking to us and we walked away so he wouldn’t be near us. Then he walked away and we went back to the map and were walking down the street, then he came back, and Kyla yelled, “Corre!!” which means “Run!” in Spanish and we all started running to cross the street. We were booking it until this other guy started talking to us in French, and I said, “We don’t speak French,” then he started talking to us in English and I said, “We don’t speak English!!” Then we were speed walking to get back to our hostel. It was really funny and that was just one of the adventures we had on our trip.
Next we went to Geneva, Switzerland and stayed in this hostel where the room was for 6 people and we had 5 girls, because another girl joined up with us. The bathrooms were shared for the whole floor, but at least it was only for girls unlike one of the other hostels we stayed in, but that’s in Rome. We saw the largest waterfall in the world, and this garden clock thing which is pretty much the only famous thing from Geneva. We went to Coops a lot to buy food to make picnics and stuff because Geneva was extremely expensive. We only went to McDonalds once during our trip because we were in a huge hurry, and it cost 11-13 francs (they use CHF in Switzerland) for a combo meal, it was ridiculous. I’m not sure how much that is in dollars, but it’s too much. Then we went to Interlaken that night, we arrived there around midnight and we were walking around trying to find our hostel. The little town was dead at that time, but the thing that stuck out the most to me when we first got there was how fresh the air was. We couldn’t see the mountains because it was so dark, but the next morning when we woke up we realized that our hostel was basically right next to the mountains. They were breathtaking! We spent that whole day up in the mountains and we brought food with us to have a picnic up in the Alps. The only thing that happened that day was when we were following this path that took a good 2 or 3 hours to walk, it was starting to get dark. We were on this downhill part for a good hour and we could hardly see but a foot in front of us. We were all so sore for the next few days after that, because going downhill that long we used parts of muscles that never get used in that way for that long. It was so funny when we tried to go up or down stairs for the next couple days.
The next place we went was Rome, Italy. Rome itself was a very dirty city; there were lots of graffiti on the buildings and lots of trash everywhere. While it was amazing to see all the historical things like the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Roman Forum, and many others, the city itself wasn’t very pretty. It was kind of a depressing city because it seemed like people just didn’t care about it anymore. Plus, this was the hostel that we truly had the hostel experience. We were in a 10 bed co-ed dorm type room and there was co-ed bathroom as well. The bathroom was really gross, there was always water on the floor and the toilets were icky. I tried to avoid taking showers there as much as I could. Also, people kept taking the bed I was sleeping in. I slept in one bed one night, then when I got back there later the next day someone was sleeping in it. I got clean sheets and moved to another empty bed, and then the same thing happened the next night. It was funnier than anything else because people kept taking my bed. I didn’t mind too much because I got to talk to the cute guy who worked at the front desk to get new sheets…hehe. We had a lot of food in Italy, but sadly it wasn’t any better than the food in the US. I would’ve been happy with Olive Garden over some of the restaurants where we ate. We didn’t eat anywhere super expensive but we ate at some decently nice restaurants so I was expecting the food to be completely amazing, but it wasn’t as good as I hoped.
Our last stop was in Venice, Italy. We all loved Venice, it was so beautiful. Thankfully our hostel was in a non-touristy area because there were so many people in some of the areas in Venice. It was east to get lost because everything looked the same, there was water everywhere and the buildings were very pretty but they tended to look the same after a while too. The cool thing was that our hostel used to be a palace or something like that. It was really old but beautiful and homey. I think it was my favorite hostel because it felt like home when you walk in. There were chandeliers in every room that were gorgeous, plus when we had our breakfast, everyone in the hostel sat at one big table and we ate family style. There weren’t that many people in the hostel, and they were all girls, so it reminded me of a Joshua House women’s retreat or something. In Venice, we walked all around and looked in all the cute little shops, I even got a couple Christmas gifts for people. Then after Venice we came back to good ‘ol Granada. I missed our host family and Granada while on our trip. I was ready to stay in one place for a while and not live out of a backpack anymore.
I truly loved going to so many different cities in Europe. It was definitely an eye-opening experience. I got to hear many different languages, French, German, Italian, and I saw so many cultures as well. I feel like to got to know the girls I was traveling with a little better, and I think I was able to be myself a little more on the trip because we had to definitely get comfortable with each other in those living situations. Sometimes it takes me a long time to really feel comfortable being myself, I don’t know why, but I think that trip really helped me to feel completely comfortable. I love living with Kyla and Andrea… it’s always an adventure with the three of us. We have lots of fun together that’s for sure. I think that the trip around Europe and this trip in Granada has really been a learning experience so far. I feel like I’m finding out who I really am here and who I want to be and who God wants me to be. It seems like to find out who I am and who I want to be, I have to be taken away from all the things that made me me, then I can see who I am when the things that defined me aren’t around anymore. I don’t have my church, my friends, my family, my school, my normal places I go like Caribou and different clothing stores, I don’t really have anything here that I am used to. Even the clothing I normally wear isn’t really what people wear here. I like wearing jeans, tennis shoes, and a hoodie, but people here dress up a lot even to go to class. That’s something I have to get used to as well, I want to get some new clothes so I don’t stand out so much like and American and I need cold weather clothes. So anyway, it’s kind of cool and difficult to see who I am when the things that have basically been defining me in a way aren’t there anymore. All I have here are God, and my strength on the inside (well my host family and Kyla and Andrea, and some of the friends I’ve made here too). In a way this has been one of the hardest things I have gone through and one of the best. I’ve definitely had some hard things happen to me, but this is hard in a different way. I really learn the things and the people that I love when I don’t have them with me. There are so many little things that I miss. I was eating an apple this morning, and to me the taste of an apple feels like the fall. I think of going apple picking, I think of cool weather and Halloween, and then Thanksgiving. It makes me think of walking across the Oval on Ohio State’s campus with the cool breeze kissing my face, and hearing the laughter and chatter of my fellow students as they are living their lives. I miss football season and going over to Nikki and Ray’s house to watch the game and eat Ray’s Dad’s chili while everyone is clapping and yelling and pounding the floor. There are so many things that I miss, but at the same time I’m learning to love it here in Granada. I’m making new memories of the fall season and maybe next time I eat an apple when I’m in the US it will make me think of my experience here. I really feel fortunate to be learning all of this about myself, about my life, and everything while I’m young. I still have about 2 and ½ months here to learn even more and I’ll be home just in time for my favorite holiday, Christmas. Well, this has become very long and I need to go running. I’m trying to get back in shape and my goal is to be able to run 5 miles by the time I get home. Well, whoever is reading this just know that I love you and miss you and I can’t wait to be home and spend lots of time with you. :)