When in Rome...

...don't stay in a hotel that is forever outside of the city, because the public transportation stinks! We stayed out in the suburbs of Rome, which was a good idea in theory, but because the public transportation was so unreliable, it made getting around pretty difficult. In retrospect, though, it was probably for the best, considering we had a final during our week in Rome. It made it a lot easier to be motivated to study when we couldn't go anywhere else!

The few times we did get out, however, we saw SO much every time. One day we went to St. Peter's, the Vatican Museums, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Trajan's Forum, and the Monument to Victor Emmanuel! Needless to say, it was a crazy day. I think my favorite part was the Colosseum, although St. Peter's was up there. The Colosseum is just SO big and SO old...I couldn't get my mind around it. Standing there I had one of the moments I've had from time to time this semester where I can't believe I'm actually where I am, doing what I'm doing. I kept saying..."it really happened here - gladiators fought here, people died here! Right here!" It was just really unbelievable. Anyways, it just blew my mind how old everything is, and that it is all still there. St. Peter's was really great, too. We got there pretty early in the morning, so it was glowing in the early morning light and it was really beautiful. Then we got to go inside, and Michelangelo's Pieta is in there, which is one of my favorite pieces of art. We also got to see the Sistine Chapel, which was every bit as cool as I imagined it to be.

We spent a lot of time in Rome studying and taking tests, and when we weren't doing that we were trying to figure out the public transportation!

Florence

Florence is a great city! Our hotel was right at the base of the Duomo (Florence's famous cathedral). Every time I walked out the door I passed about 17 gelato shops within 3 minutes...I think I gave in to the temptation about 2-3 times a day on average! Anyways, most of our time in Florence was focused on art - some of the most famous art out of the Reniassance is housed in Florence.

However, we still managed to do lots of other stuff during our time in Florence, too. Our first full day there, a big group of us got up super early and walked to the train station and then got on a train to Cinque Terre, which is this region on the West coast of Italy made up of 5 little towns. There are trails and train tracks between each of the towns so you can travel between them. We got off the train at the first town, Riomaffiore, and walked to the next town, Manarola. The walk was along the coast on these incredible Mediterranean cliffs - it was SO beautiful! Also, between those two towns is the "Via dell' Amore" - the tunnel of love. All along the tunnle people write their names and messages to their loved ones. Everyone with a boyfriend or girlfriend was writing their names, so those of us who are single wrote our names with a blank spot underneath to be filled in at a later time. We called it the Westmont Singles Wall :). After the tunnel we took a train to the thir town, Cornglia, and had lunch. The guys left us to hike to the 4th town and go swimming, but they missed out on some incredible spaghetti with pesto! After we ate we split up some more and a couple of us took the train to the fourth town, Vernazza, which happened to be my favorite of the five. It was tiny and cute with a little harbor. We walked around the corner at the harbor, and there were our guy friends jumping off a huge rock into the ocean. In November. We sat there watching them and enjoying the sun for a while before we got on the train to go to the final town, Monterosso. There we sat on the beach for a while and ate gelato (for something new and different!). I can't really explain how serene and beautiful Cinque Terre was - it was a great day!

Along with lots of museums and churches, climbing to the top of the Duomo, and our day at Cinque Terre, we also go to celebrate Thanksgiving in Florence. Due to availability of the church, we didn't get to celebrate until the day after Thanksgiving, but it didn't really matter, because they don't have Thanksgiving in Italy, so we just pretended :). In the morning we had "Eurobowl '07" aka Thanksgiving morning football game. We all walked over to a little park and had a great football game. I didn't play because I had to leave early to go pick up some pies for our dinner, but I watched everyone and took pictures and enjoyed the pretty park we were in. Then I left with Barb (our professor's wife and our replacement mom for the semester) to go pick up pumpkin pies for dinner. After that, we met everyone at the church we had rented out for the night, and we started cooking! Somehow, between us all, we managed to cook an AMAZING dinner for 47 people. We had tons of turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, fruit salad, green beans, yams, rolls, cranberry bread, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, apple crisp with ice cream, hot chocolate, and hot apple cider...it was a great meal! It was a great day with our Europe family. We all ate around one (REALLY big) table and I was completely content. It was truly a time to remember just how blessed we are!

overall a great, gelato-filled week with my Europe Semester family :)

Venice

Hello from Colorado! Yes, its true - I am home. I'm unbelievably exhausted, and really jet lagged, but so happy to be home! I am sorry, once again, for the delay in updating, but finals took precedence, so here come all of the updates! I'm going to do my best to finish updating about the end of my trip in the next couple of days.

So anyway, Venice. Venice was really cool. Somewhere along the line someone had tole me that Venice was overrated, so I really wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. Something about the canals and the old buildings and the winding passages has this incredible, old-European feel to it that I just found very endearing. I spent a lot of my time in Venice just wandering around the city (sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident!)and finding more and more beautiful canals.

Our time in Venice was very artistically focused - we had a lot of classes, and we saw a lot of different churches and examples of Italian Gothic architecture. We got to see Titian's Assumption of the Virgin (a famous altarpiece from the Venetian Reniassance) which was absolutely incredible. We also saw a performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Its such a beautiful piece of music, and hearing it in a big old church with incredible acoustics was great. We ended up getting an unexpected free day in Venice because one of our full day excursions got cancelled, but the conditions for our free day was that we had to do something "reimbursible" (meaning something possessing some sort of educational value), so I went to a couple more art museums. One I went to had a whole room of Jackson Pollock paintings, which are so interesting to look at. I also went to an exhibit all about Leonardo da Vinci - someone took his drawings of machines and actually built them and they were all on display. The night of our free day, a small group of us went to see a performance of La Boheme. It ended up being in this tiny little modern theater, and it was possibly the worst thing I have ever seen! I mean, it was actually so bad that it was good, just by sheer entertainment value. I love performances like that (especially since we got reimbursed for it!)

Apart from academic and artistic excursions, we didn't do a whole lot in Venice. We did, however, go to a little island just off of Venice called Murano. Its famous for its glass blowing (the home of Venetian Glass). We toured the factory and then went shopping :).

Overall, Venice was just a great, stereotypical European experience. We had lots of sunny days, blue skies, and pizza :).

more to come soon...

Switzerland

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! They dont have Thanksgiving here in Italia, but dont you worry - we are cooking ourselves a fantastic Thanksgiving feast (but not until tomorrow night...). I hope everyone has a blessed day and remembers everything they are thankful for.

Right now, Im thankful for free internet so I can tell you about my favorite location of the semester - Switzerland!

We had our "four day break" in Switzerland, which really meant two travel days and then two days of no class or museums. It was such a wonderful break, in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. We stayed in a town called Interlaken, which means between the lakes, and it literally is in between two huge, blue, mountain lakes. The Swiss Alps surround the whole city, and we got snow one day we were there!! The Alps themselves are not all that different from the Rockies (at least in the spot we were) except for the fact that they dont seem to have any foothills. Our hotel was on completely flat ground and less than a half mile away was a huge snow-capped peak. I dont think my words could ever do justice to the incredible beauty of that place, so Im going to stop trying, but I can tell you about all the fun stuff we did there :)

Our first night we came in in the dark and rain, and so we had no idea what to expect for the rest of the weekend. The next morning, however, a few other girls and I and one girls (Vanassas) parents, who were visiting, got up really early and took the train to "the top of Europe". Its the highest train station in all of Europe, and it takes a couple of hours to get up there. The views on the way up were incredible, though, because we were going right through the middle of the Alps. You have to change trains a couple of times, and at the first town we got out, it started snowing and I was SO excited to be seeing snow! One girl with us had never been in snow before, so she was running around playing with it like an excited little kid (or like my dog last Christmas break...) When we got to the top we went out onto the highest point in a full on blizzard - snow blowing EVERYWHERE! It was so fun :). Inside the train station they have this thing called an ice palace - its a part of the mountain carved out so everything is ice - walls, floor, ceiling, furniture, and they have a bunch of ice sculptures. We played in there for a while and then eventually rode the train back down through more incredible scenery and then had famous Swiss fondue for lunch. Probably one of my favorite days of the trip.

The next day, my friend Morgan and I hiked over to one of the lakes and then just wandered around the town enjoying the beauty of the place. Morgan is orginally from Bozeman, Montana and now lives in New Zealand, so she is all about mountains and snow and she loves them as much as I do, so it was fun to share that with her.

Overall, probably my favorite location of the whole semester, and somewhere I can not wait to go back to!

Free internet is about to run out, so I must be off, but happy Thanksgiving and all my love to all of you :)

I AM still alive :)

Hi...I promise I am alive! Once again, difficult internet and lack of time means not many updates. It is currently 6:30 am and I am about to leave for the day, but I wanted to at least let everyone know I am alive!

Readers Digest version of the last 2 weeks:
-Paris was great - going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower for sunset was definitely a highlight :)
- Switzerland was, by far, my favorite place of the whole trip. Snow, mountains, cold, no class - it was wonderful! More details on that soon.
- Venice was wonderful (even though it smelled a little bit) and I really enjoyed getting completely lost in the middle of the city multiple times :): The highlight of that was proabably going to see a performance of La Boheme (the opera) that was SO bad it was good!
- Now I am in Florence in a crazy little hotel in the very middle of the city, literally right next door to the Duomo (FLorences famous cathedral. I cant wait for the next week!

More to come soon (I hope!)

All my love...

its been a while...

I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. Its amazing how difficult it has been to find internet lately, and the few occasions I have found it, the keyboard was so difficult to decipher that it just wasn' worth it. SO I apologize for my lack of updating.

No, I have not actually been in Berlin since October 14 :). I have actually been to Leiden, The Netherlands, Bruges, Belgium, Bayeux, France and Paris since then. I'm in Paris right now in a ridiculously expensive internet cafe, but I can't really complain since I saw the Eiffel Tower last night and am going to the Louvre tomorrow!

The rest of my time in Berlin was wonderful. We spent our last day there (a free day) going to the zoo (yes - the zoo!) and the Reichstag, which is the German government building. There is so much interesting history in Berlin, and it is really beautiful, which I didnt expect. The day before we left Germany we drove out to a town called Potsdam to see a famous castle out there, and it was unbelievable. There were huge trees everywhere and all of the leaves were changing - I was pretty much in heaven.

The time between Germany and Paris was a little bit of a break time for us before the craziness of the last month. We stayed in smaller towns and nicer hotels and didnt have quite as much scheduled as usual. Leiden is a university tozn about 20 minutes outside of Amsterdam. Windmills everyzhere and cold enough to snow (but it didnt...) - it was a beautiful place. We spent most of our time there studying for midterms, but we did get to go to the Anne Frank House (which has Disneyland status lines) and the Van Gogh museum, which was incredible. This museum has about 70 of Van Gogh's works, and it is so interesting to be able to see how much his style changed throughout his life. Also, he was a wierd dude, so that museum was full of all sorts of crazy stories.

After Leiden we went to Bruges, Belgium, which may be my favorite town so far. It was just ridiculously cute! Bridges and alleys and leaves and horses and chocolate everywhere - what could be better?! One of my best friends from school, Juliann, is studying in the south of France this semester and she was on break this week, so she came up to Bruges to play with us, which was so fun. We also got to spend a day in Brussels visiting the European Union sights and generally becoming more educated, worldly human beings.

After Bruges we traveled to Bayeux which is a town along the beaches in Normandy. We spent Halloween there - we had a party and then a group of us hiked up a bluff to an old Nazi bunker in the dark - how creepy is that?!?! We stayed in a pretty nice hotel outside of the city on a golf course, and it was just beautiful. Our first morning there I woke up early and went for a walk during the sunrise...it was probably one of my favorite memories of the trip. The best day of that city, (and the reason we went there) was the day we went to all of the D-Day museums and actually walked around on Omaha Beach, the main beach where the Americans invaded. It was surreal to stand in such a peaceful, beautiful place and imagine it as the chaos of battle. We also went to the American Cemetary (which is owned by America, so I got to stand on American soil for the first time in 2 months!!) and spent a lot of time talking about the envents of D-Day.

Now we are in Paris enjoying this crazy huge city.

32 days left - I promise to update my blog at least once in that time ;)

all my love...

Geuten Tag!

I have a debate in class tomorrow to prepare for, and a test on Wednesday, so what am I using my free time to do? Update my blog, of course ;).

Hello from Berlin! I never thought I would say this, but its really nice to be back in a country where they speak German. Compared to Polish, its the easiest language ever! We just got here yesterday morning, so I haven't done a ton of exploring yet, but my first impression is that this is an incredible city. I'm getting ahead of myself, though - first step is finishing out our time in Poland.

The last two days we spent in Warsaw in the frigid cold (I loved it, but all the wimpy Californians I'm travelling with couldn't handle it). Our guide, Gabriel, took us on this absolutely incredible walking tour that he called "the tour of the apocolypse." He did all of this research and found pictures that were taken immediately after the Warsaw Uprising, of the remains of the city. Then he walked around the city now and found the spots where each picture was taken. It was unbelievable. The Warsaw Uprising, which occured during the Second World War, resulted in the Nazis basically destroying the whole city. There was also an uprising in the Warsaw Ghetto, and that resulted in the ghetto being 100% destroyed. We went to the center of the ghetto, and there is literally nothing left of it. Its now just a regular city block. It was incredible to see, though, how little of the city was left after the bombing, and what bad shape the few things that remain are in. Because of the communist rule, buildings haven`t been repaired, even over 60 years later. It was amazing to see.

Two nights ago we went on an overnight train to Berlin. That was quite an experience because the cars were SO small, but I really can't complain...being tall paid off. The three tallest girls and three tallest guys got compartments in the luxury class car, so our beds were longer and padded and we got free cookies. All in all it wasn't a bad night! After we arrived yesterday morning we had breakfast and got settled in the hotel and then took a walking tour of Berlin, and saw all the big sights, including the remains of the Berlin wall and the parking lot that now covers the spot where Hitler killed himself inside of his bunker. Last night we went to a performance by the Berlin Philharmonic, which was incredible, and then enjoyed a great night's sleep in our hotel (which was a nice change from the hostels!).

Today marks the halfway point of this semester, which is amazing to me. I can't believe how fast its going!!

Alright...off to study for my test. Having to sit inside a hotel and study on your free day in Berlin is some form of cruel and unusual punishment, but I guess I'll be okay ;).

all my love...

Poland

Hello from Warsaw!! Sorry I've been so terrible about updating lately - finding the time to sit down and do it is proving to be more and more difficult.

We've been in Poland for about a week now - we started out the trip in Krakow and then arrived in Warsaw yesterday. We leave here for Berlin on Friday night, via overnight train. In the words of our guide, Gabriel, we'd all better have a good sense of humor about the train - apparantly the compartments we have to sleep in are prettty tiny!

During our time in Krakow (which was absolutley beautiful!!) we focused on some pretty difficult topics. We spent a day visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau, and another day talking all about Communisim (not exactly bright, cheery subjects!!) I may go into it another time, but basically, going to Auschwitz was exhausting, draining, and horrifying. Mostly, though, it was absolutely surreal. To stand in the place where millions of people were murdered was indescribable. I've seen pictures of it and videos, but actually standing there was so surreal. It was peaceful and quiet, and completely terrifying.

The communism tour we took, on the other hand, was crazy! Literally, though - the company calls themselves the crazy guides. They picked us up in an old communist-era city bus (it looked like a giant red twinkie) and then took us to an old resturant where they fed us beet juice and little shots of vodka (at 10:30 in the morning - even the professors!). Then we toured the old communist part of the town with these crazy Polish guys...it was completely out of control. The weirdest part of the whole day, though, was that there is a film director making a documentary about the main guide of this company, Crazy Mike. So, they were filming our whole tour for this documentary - everywhere we were going there were all these camera men and sound men running around filming us, sticking cameras in our faces, and recording everything we were doing. It was ridiculous, but a much needed lighter day after going to Auschwitz.

The rest of the time in Krakow we spent visiting the Wawel (pronounced Vavel!) Castle and other sights of the city, and just enjoying the new beauty of the city. Also, enjoying capitalism and shopping :).

Today marks 7 weeks into this trip, and therefore 8 more to go. Can't believe I'm almost halfway done!!

I'll try again soon....keep your fingers crossed for free internet at the next hotel ;).

all my love...

The City of a Hundred Spires

Prague is, in a word, incredible. The hotel we are staying in is literally 30 feet from the Charles Bridge, so we're really close to both Old Town and New Town, and its wonderful. I don't feel like we've done a whole lot in our couple of days here, but that may be because we have our first test tomorrow morning, so most of our free time has (unfortunately) been spent studying.

Yesterday we were supposed to have a walking tour of the city, but we waited at the meeting point for 20 minutes, and our guide never showed up. One guy said that it was just because we blend in so well that the guide didn't know we were the group of American tourists ;). Personally, I think its more likely that he saw us and bolted in the other direction! Anyway, we ended up having a less-orthodox tour led by our trusty professors and their guide books. We got to see the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace. It was no Buckingham, but it was still pretty cool.

Today we spent most of the day in Terezin, a small city outside of Prague. It was a city transformed into a ghetto/concentration camp during the Holocaust. We went into the Ghetto museum there, which really got to me. They had drawings and poems done by the children living in the ghetto, and under most of them was listed their date of birth and death, and most of them were killed before the age of 10. It was really hard to look at those drawings, which remind me so much of the masterpieces created for me by the kids I work with, and know that those little artists were killed shortly after that. We then got a tour of the fortress at the edge of town which was transformed into the political prision (aka concentration camp) during the war. It was not an extermination center, although some people were executed there, but a holding center for people about to be transported East into Poland. Most of the prisoners there were eventually sent to Auschwitz, and most died there. The conditions were unbelievable - there were rooms slightly bigger than my living room that were used to house hundreds of men. One room we went into was used to hold 600 men, and there were only 2 toilets. Our group of not even 50 took up a good amount of space in that room, so I could only imagine what it would be like to have 600 in there.

I think the only way I can describe how today left me feeling is horrified. I have read and studied a lot about the Holocaust, I have visited museums and seen so many films, but none of that prepared me for seeing the actual thing. Its hard to know how to handle it. I guess the only thing to do is remember and mourn and learn. We go to Poland at the end of this week, which will be much more of this intense kind of learning like we had today. I know that it is absolutely essential to see and learn about and feel these painful things, but I would appreciate prayers for all of us - for our sensitivity and open hearts towards the things we are about to experience.

Missing and loving you all from the other side of the ocean...

Vienna and first impressions of Prague

Sorry for the long delay in updating! Since I already have all of this written down in my journal, I think I may just copy little tidbits about my time in Vienna down for y'all!

9/24/07:
After a looonnnnnggggg bus ride, we're here in Vienna and I am SO PUMPED! I'm in the music capital of the WORLD! AND I get to see my parents tomorrow!! Being on the bus for 16 hours really wasn't as bad as I anticipated, and my first impression of Vienna was that I love it. A lot. I'm excited for what the rest of the time in this city has in store for me.

9/25/07:
I LOVE this city. For some reason it reminds me of Christmas. Is that weird? I know its so completely random, but walking around the city today made me think of Christmas and the WBCC program and snow and home, and I got pretty excited.

We had class this morning and a walking tour of the city, led by none other than our wonderful professors. We ended the tour with a group dinner and I got to eat Wienerschnitzel. It really isn't that exciting, but the name is just so much fun. There was a ripple of fear across the group at first that they were serving us fish, but everything turned out okay and no one had any flashbacks to the Bosnian fish incident. After dinner mom and dad got here! I am so happy and excited to have them here.

9/26/07:
This morning we went to the Vienna International Center (the VIC), which is the Vienna office of the UN. We got a tour of part of the building (in all of its 1970s decorated glory) and then had a lecture by a woman from the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Association (agency?)). She talked a lot about the increasing amounts of nuclear power as a fuel source, and the resulting jobs of the agency she works for. One of the most interesting things she talked about was the current situation in Iran, and how that is affecting her office. She was very adamant that we understand that the IAEA are not weapons inspectors, but are advocates of the correct use of nuclear power. It was a really intersting lecture, especially since we had been talking about nuclear energy and other alternate fuels during class. It was a great experience, and it was really cool to get to go inside a UN building.

After that we went to (yet another!) art museum, and then I got to spend the rest of the day with my parents. We took a few of my friends out to dinner, which was great, and then we (the students, not my parents) went to see The Barber of Seville at the Vienna National Opera House. It was quite the experience, and really entertaining, since I had one of the 4 worst seats in the house. I could literally see 1/23 of the stage (that may be an approximation, but I think its pretty close to reality.) and I found myself watching the shadows on side stage to figure out what was going on. However, the music was amazing, and the opera house is beautiful, so I was glad to be be there.

9/27/07:
Today we went to the Heiligenstadt house, which was the house Beethoven lived in when he was going deaf. It had some memorabilia from his life, including a lock of his hair (!!!) and some original pieces of music, which were so incredible. I don't think that, if you have any sort of appreciation for music, you could be in that house and not be in awe. After that I spent the rest of the day with my parents - going to dinner and just walking around enjoying the beauty of the city.

9/28/07:
I met up with my parents after class and we went to the Belveder Palace - one of the big palaces in Vienna that is now an art museum. It was the palace of prince Eugene a long time ago, so there is a lot of historical significance, and it is a truly beautiful building. There are great gardens, too, so I was happy to see some green :). After that we went to dinner and then I said goodbye to my parents.

9/29/07:
Today was a beautiful day! We drove to Melk Abbey, about 1 1/2 hours outside of Vienna. It is a fully functional Benedictine monastary with paret of the building now as a museum. It was really different - the monks encourage the display of modern art, so its really unique inside. One room is lit with blue light - the color of spirituality - and the word "hore" (listen) is projected on to the wall. Another room is green - the color of nature - and its all about the development of the monastary. My favorite parts, though, were the library and the church. The library was amazing just because it was packed full of dusty, old, wonderful-smelling books. The church was ornate almost to the point of gaudiness, but it was still beautiful, somehow. What was really cool about the chruch, though, was that we got to sing a hymn inside. After a picnice lunch in the cloister garden, we had a river cruise down the Danube. It was SO beautiful - we couldn't have gotten better weather. The leaves are just starting to change and the sun was shining - amazing.

10/1/07:
Now I am here in Prague, and so far I am loving it! Yesterday was a pretty relaxing day - church and vespers and getting ready to leave. Overall, Vienna was a wonderful, heartachy kind of place. Something about it reminded me of home - it made me excited for the home times to com and the reunions and joy and the comfort.

Prague shows signs of being amazing, and our incredible penthouse suite has free internet, so hopefully I will be updating more frequently.

all my love...

Croatia & Bosnia (plague & all!!)

I am glad to report that I am completely well and now able to eat again (although the site and smell of fish make me nauseous...). Being sick in Bosnia is not something I would like to repeat, but God definitely brought our group together through that and we are all doing better now!!

Random: The z and y keys are switched on this keyboard, so sorry in advance for any silly typos!

Ok...so after we left London what feels like about 4 years ago, but was actually about 2 weeks, we flew to Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is an absolutely breathtakingly beautiful city! It is right on the coast of the Adriatic (?) Sea. We were only there for a couple of hours, but that was long enough for a few of the guys to jump in the water and swim around, and for the girls to go get ice cream and watch the sunset over the water. After we left Croatia, we were ushered into the first city we stayed in in Bosnia, Trebijne, by our guides Mustafa and Samer. The next day we got back in the (non air conditioned) bus and went to an Orthodox Monastary, an old Bosnian graveyard, and a Turkish Mosque and then to our hotel in the next town, Rujiste. It was really interesting going to the monastary and the mosque in the same day, especially after visiting so many cathedrals during the first part of the semester. Its amazing just how different the different traditions are - how foreign to me they are. Ironically, after the opressingly hot day we spent on the bus, the next day we woke up to cloudy and cold weather - and we had scheduled to go on a 23 km raft trip. Rafting was cool(literally and figuratively!) and so beautiful. It was a really different way to see the country. At one point our raft pretty much capsized and Vanassa and I were underwater up to our necks, and at another rapid 5 of the 7 of us in our raft fell out - so we were freezing!! It was a lot of fun, though, and our guide spoke English pretty well, so he was able to keep us informed about what we were seeing, and answer a lot of our questions about Bosnia. After the raft trip we went to our hotel in Sarajevo, and then spent the next 3 days dealing with the previously mentioned Bosnian Plague.

Sunday was the first day I felt really well again, and it was a glorious day! We went up into the mountains to this "old world European" town - completely traditional. The first thing that struck me about it was the sheer beauty - huge mountains, rivers running through green valleys, trees everywhere with the leaves changing, and a brilliant blue sky. The weather was incredible - it reminded me of Colorado in the fall! The town is completely self-sufficient - they make everything themselves. We hiked up the side of one of the mountains to the shepherds huts, and then walked around to the side of this ridge where we could see out over the town and the valley and the rest of the mountain range. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the scenery and sunshine.

Now Im in Vienna, and my parents are here, which has been AMAZING! I love this city - theres such an incredible musical history here, and something about it makes me think of Christmas!

More details of Vienna to come, but time with the parentals has been great, and Im off to continue that :)

all my love....

God bless.

The Bosnian Plague

How strange that the first place with free wireless is Sarajevo, Bosnia. Not the college campus in London or the nice hotel in Ireland, but the sketchy hotel in Bosnia. Anyways - my energy is very limited so I can't give many details, but I can tell you that 40 of the 47 people in our group have food poisoning right now. Full on vomiting, diarrhea, high fever, intensely painful food poisoning, and I'm one of the lucky 40!!! Don't worry too much - I definitely wasn't the worst, and I'm starting to feel better, but the past 2 days have been crazy. We went whitewater rafting a couple of days ago (which was SO much fun) but afterwards they fed us a fish dinner. Now, I don't like fish, so I normally wouldn't have eaten it, but I was so hungry that I ate through the dislike...I've never regretted any eating decision more!! We've all been pretty miserable, but there is definitely a silver lining - our group has reached a new level of closeness!! Shared suffering and caring for each other has been wonderful.

Anyway, I'm going to go attempt to keep down a little bit of dinner...no fish though!! Sorry for the depressing message, but don't worry - I'm not dying and I'm on the mend! Details about Bosnia will follow soon :).

all my love...

Goodbye sweet English...I will miss you!!

Today is a monumental day. Today is a day to remember. Today is my last day in an English-speaking country until December. That is a loooonnnnnngggggg time without understanding what people are saying.

As you smart people have probably figured out from my previous dramatic statements, we're leaving London tomorrow and heading to Bosnia. Talk about a culture shock - going from London (which is an awful lot like NYC) to Bosnia in a matter of hours! I'm anticpating a lot of intense learning experiences, interesting food, and lack of internet for the next week or so. So if I don't update, don't worry - I'm not dead, just buried under a mountain of Bosnian food or something :).

The last couple of days in London have been nice. I haven't been feeling great, so its been a little bit harder to enjoy being here, and I've actually been homesick for the first time. However, I've found that if I live in the present - really enjoy where I am and what I'm doing and who I'm with - that the homesickness tends to fade. I've found myself spending a lot of time over the past few days asking God to remind me of how blessed I am to be here instead of allowing me to dwell on missing home. Anyway, though, despite a rough morning today, this afternoon was wonderful. A small group of girls went to tea in Kensington Gardens in Notting Hill. The tea itself was so my fun, but the walk there was definitely the highlight. Vanassa and I had a little adventure getting to Notting Hill on the tube, and once we got there we really had no idea how to get to the gardens from the tube stop. We walked around for awhile trying to find it, but eventually stopped to get directions. We asked an older man working in a little boutique, and he ended up being foreign with an absolutely incredible accent. (I wish I could recreate it, but I just can't, so you'll have to imagine) he told us, "I tell you short way. Go past bus. Go down little passage. Go, go, go and you there, okay? Just go down little passage. Go." So we went down little passage (giggling all the way) and found the gardens! It was a beautiful day and it was nice to be in a quiet, uncrowded area for once. Thank God for small pleasures like that - they seem to redeem even the most stressful of days.

Wish me luck in Bosnia!!!

allll my love :)

London (still...)

Why are internet cafes so trashy? That's one of the main questions on my mind tonight. I mean, I understand that its just an internet cafe - it doesn't have to be the nicest place in the world - its no Biltmore - but why so trashy? Anyway - I'm just glad that computers are a normal thing for my household...

Yesterday we went on a crazy-long excursion, but it was a great day. We started out by driving to Coventry, which is a town about 2.5 hours outside of London. It was hit especially hard by German bombs during World War Two, and the cathedral there was mostly destroyed. The ruins of the cathedral are still there, though, and they've built a new one there which has turned into the center for an organization advocating religious reconciliation. We took a tour of both the old ruins and the new chapel and then had a little bit of time to get lunch in the town. The new cathedral was one of the most unique cathedrals I've ever seen. It had the most beautiful stained glass that reflected onto the side walls over the top of these huge stone blocks that had scripture inscribed onto them...it was truly beautiful.

After we left Coventry we drove another hour to Stratford-upon-Avon (also known as Shakespeare's home town)! It's a totally stereotypical small English town. We had quite a bit of time there, but instead of walking around and doing all the tourist things, we ended up spending most of the afternoon just lounging in the park. I think we were all a little bit burned out and tired, so it was nice to have a relaxing afternoon. One of the guys was trying to lure a swan to us using cereal, and it actually came close enough that it was eating out of his hand...hissing at him the whole time. That was funny in itself, but when an old asian tourist lady stopped and started taking pictures of him playing with the swan we all pretty much lost it. We also played a couple of games in the park and I'm sure people were annoyed by the huge group of loud American tourists, but it was fun so we didn't really care :). We had a picnic in the park for dinner and then went to see Twelfth Night performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Despite the incredibly uncomfortable seats, it was an amazing performance. John Lithgow was one of the stars and he was absolutely hilarious, but all of the acting was incredible. After the show we jumped back on the bus for our 2.5 hour ride home - we didn't get back to our rooms until after one in the morning and then had 3 classes and 2 museums to visit today - it was a busy day and I'm definitely ready for bed!!

We've had wonderful weather here so far, so I really can't complain, but I'm really missing the Colorado fall. Enjoy it for me if you're there, ok?

all my love...

I wish my life was a musical.

Last night was, by far, the best night I have had so far this semester. After a lovely hour or so conversing with the parental units, I got ready and went out to dinner with about 3/4 of our group, including one of the professors. We went to this place called My Old Dutch, and they specialize in huge pancakes. They aren't actually pancakes, however, but more like thick crepes. We got dinner there (one of the top five best meals of my life) and then walked to the theater and saw Les Miserables. I saw Les Mis once before, the summer before my freshman (?) year of high school, and I loved it then, but I loved it even more this time. I was completely riveted the whole time - I don't think I sat back in my seat once during the 3 hour production. The whole thing is just so beautiful - the story of redemption and love and tragedy, the music, the sets, the cast - everything was amazing. The main character had the most beautiful voice...I was just amazed at the whole thing. It took some self-control to not sing along in some parts, but Brandon was sitting next to me and I don't think he would have appreciated it, and he's a lot bigger than me. :) I can't even really give words to just how much I loved that production...definitely a highlight.

NOW I'm sitting here in the internet cafe because I'm waiting until I get to go to the matinee performance of Phantom of the Opera! Seriously...this may be the best 24 hours ever!! Les Mis and Phantom...could things be any better!?? I just don't think so!! (Well...maybe finishing the day off by seeing Hairspray again would make things perfect, but I really can't complain!)

Its been really nice being in London - as busy as things are, its nice to be staying in one spot for more than a couple of days. Honestly, I think that if there wasn't SO MUCH to do here I would be ready to move on, but there's so much I haven't seen yet that I'm glad I'm here for the rest of the week. Its strange that I often have to remind myself that I'm in London. In the middle of the city it seems to me just like being in any other huge city - San Francisco, LA, New York - except for that everyone is driving on the wrong side of the road. (By the way, I've only almost gotten hit crossing the road twice - I think that's pretty good for 3 weeks! - I'm kidding mom, I didn't actually almost get hit...but you should probably thank Brandon for stopping me from stepping into the street...) Anyway, there aren't too many huge cultural differences that I've noticed yet. That will change drastically though once we get to Bosnia next week. Its going to be a crazy transition, and I'd definitely appreciate your prayers for our group and our safety.

Alright...off to the British Museum to look at the mummies, and then to PHANTOM!!! :)

love...

London

London is HUGE. That's seriously the only thing I can think of to say about it. We've been here for two days now, and I'm starting to be less intimidated, but holy cow - this place is crazy!!! Also, the room that I'm sharing with another girl is about the size of my closet at home. It is clearly a single room that they shoved an extra bed into for the summer. Its cozy quarters, but we don't spend much time in our rooms anyway, so its ok.

On Thursday we left Cambridge to come to London. On the way we stopped at a place called Stowe Landscape Garden - it was everything I picture in a Jane Austen book. In fact, there was a rotunda there that was in the newest Pride and Prejudice movie (the scene in the rain where Mr. Darcy declares his love, for those who have seen it...a great scene!). It was really beautiful, and a nice last taste of the green before we hit the big city. Now we've been in London for a couple of days - yesterday we had class and then went to the Imperial War Museum, which was one of the coolest museums I have ever been in. There was an exhibit called The Children's War, which was all about World War Two through the eyes of children....if you know anything about me, you can guess how much I loved that! I ended up spending most of the day there by myself, just soaking everything in. Then last night after dinner we went to a play at the National Theater. Today has been a pretty low key day, but we're heading to the National Gallery later. We were trying to get tickets to see Les Miserables, but we couldn't get tickets for tonight, so we're going to try again on a week night.

There is just so much to do and see in London that its kind of overwhelming. I keep reminding myself that I don't have to do it all - that I should make sure that I'm enjoying the things I am doing. I'm also trying to fully enjoy the last few days in an english-speaking country, because come next week we are kissing goodbye to understanding what people are saying :).

The reality of being here for 3 more months has start to set in, but I'm also very aware of how lucky I am to be here. The people that I barely knew at the beginning of the semester are becoming the greatest friends, and the friends I had coming in are pretty much family now. God is definitely blessing this trip and the relationships being formed, and I'm so thankful for everyone's prayers for us.

Missing you all, and taking lots of pictures :)

all my love...

'ello from jolly old england!

When I think Europe, I think narrow alleys, rivers with little bridges, amazing buildings, and beautiful parks. Cambridge is exactly that. I'm seriously so sad that we only get to spend one more day in this amazing city. There isn't a lot to do here in terms of sight-seeing or going out, but it is so beautiful and so quaint, and I really feel at home and comfortable here. We haven't had much sun yet this semester, but it has been gorgeous blue skies and sunny the whole time we've been in Cambridge, so maybe that is a good sign of the days to come. Its been cool but sunny - somewhat reminds me of Colorado around late September/early October (my favorite time of year! We're staying at Clare College, which is one of the 31 colleges that make up Cambridge University. That's right - I can now tell people that I've taken classes at Cambridge! Its interesting how different the dorms are from the dorms at schools in the US - they are comfortable, but really different from what I'm used to.

Today we had class for most of the morning, and then went on a walking tour of King's College, which is the most famous college here. Then we went punting in the river Cam (all of the bridges over that river are what led to the name "Cambridge"!). Punts are boats that are pretty much like gondolas - someone stands on the back with a big stick and steers/pushes everyone else around. It was great...and no one fell in, so it was all good.

Tomorrow is another day to explore, and then we're off to London. I'm anticipating being a little bit overwhelmed by London, just because of its sheer size and population, but we will be there for almost two weeks, so we'll have lots of time to get used to it. We have so much amazing stuff planned for our time there.

I feel like I say that so often, that we have all of this "amazing stuff" that I'm "so excited" for, but it really is true!! I just keep realizing how blessed I am to have this opportunity and to be able to see all of these amazing things.

I'd best be going to get my rest - the guys have planned Punting Olympics for tomorrow...who knows what that could entail!!

all my love...

Belfast

After a two hour drive through the beautiful Irish countryside, we made it to Belfast in the middle of the day on Wednesday. After lunch we went on a bus tour of the city, with a history professor from the local university as our guide. He took us around all of the different neighborhoods of the city, telling us all about the Troubles - both the history and the current issues. In a nutshell, there has been great segregation and persectution between the Catholics and Protestants in the area. There are walls between the neighborhoods and gangs and all sorts of violence. The problems are on their way out, however, because a ceasefire was agreed upon in May, and the two groups have made their way towards reconciliation. It was just really eye-opening, though, to see how bad it really was. It kind of reminded me of what I imagine it must have been like in the states before the civil rights movement, except for that the persecution went both ways. We've been learning more and more about it, and hearing stories from a lot of local people, and God has just opened my eyes to the trials over here. I'm kind of embarassed that I was so ignorant to the incredible struggles going on over here, but I thank God that I am now aware of it and can pray for these people. It just breaks my heart that these two groups of people who claim to love and serve the same God have so much hatred for each other. How can they reach the rest of the world when they can't even talk to each other? Its truly a tragedy - pray for this nation, that they would find peace and reconciliation.

Tomorrow we are getting away from the city for the whole day and basically going on a tour of all of Northern Ireland. We're going to the town of Londonderry which is where the Troubles started for a meeting with someone there and then we are heading to the Northern Coast for the rest of the day. I'm so excited to see some more of the beautiful countryside, and to see the coast. Apparantly its beautiful. We have a free day for church on Sunday, and then Monday we head to Cambridge.

Things are going so well - it feels like I've been gone for about a month, not a week, but that's just because every day is just packed full. I think it just set in that I'm here for a whole semester, not just a short vacation, but I'm excited for what's coming.

No more problems with my suitcase lock, thank goodness, and everything is going well!!

I hope all's well, where ever you all are.

all my love...

commence the 5 minute post before my time at the internet cafe runs out...

My last day in Dublin...off to Belfast tomorrow!! I've loved being in Dublin - going to church at Christ Church Cathedral was absolutely amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed the National Gallery of Dublin (art museum) today, but I'm so looking forward to Belfast. I guess that's just the nature of this semester - get just enough of one place before you move on to another. Supposedly Belfast is a lot more of what I envision when I think Ireland - cottages, sheep, and lots of green - so I'm excited to see that!!

I've had no more luggage fiascos (thank goodness!!) so things have been running really smoothly. We started classes on Monday, and I've really enjoyed them so far. I'm meeting amazing people, and still feel rested and homesick-less.

I must run to dinner, but I absolutely PROMISE that my next update will be detail-filled and not lame!

all my love...

Dublin = beAUTiful!!

So, after a LONG flight and lots of phone trouble, here I am in beautiful Ireland. I've always pictured this place as gorgeous in my mind, but I really had no idea. Everything is so green and fresh. We got in last night at about 10, and grabbed some food and then went to bed for some much-needed rest. Today we went to a national park, called Grendalough (not positive on the spelling...oh well!) that is about 30 minutes outside of the city. It was basically a paradise of streams and rolling green hills, with lots of sheep!

We're staying at Trinity College in the middle of Dublin right now. Its interesting how different the school is from Westmont. Its so big and formal and old looking - it really is a pretty campus. I have my own room, which is nice for the first few nights. It makes me appreciate the Westmont dorm rooms, though!

I had my first mishap today - my suitcase lock stopped working...while it was on my suitcase. I tried to pry it open for a long time, and finally ended up with someone from the office sawing through it with a bread knife! It took him about 35 minutes, and I was late for dinner, but luckily we got through it and I can now access my clothes again! I guess if something has to go wrong, I'm glad that is all that its been so far :).

Tomorrow I'm going to church either at Christ Church Cathedral or at St. Patrick's, we haven't decided yet. Then we have the rest of the day free and classes start on Monday.

Its insane that I'm here - I can't believe that the thing I have been preparing for for SO long is actually happening. I'm so excited for everything coming up!!!!

More details to come....

love.

Goodbye, US of A!

So, I'm guessing this will be my last post from this country. How strange that in only a couple of days I will be on the other side of the Atlantic!

Its been a great couple of days out here in California - a lot of relaxed time with friends. Laura and Dom (my friends from school) got married on Saturday and it was absolutely amazing. It was such a blessing to see how God has brought two people so perfect for each other together. It was a beautiful ceremony, but the most beautiful part of it was how very much in love they are. Yes, they are very young, but they are also so sure and there was no way that anyone at that wedding could doubt that they have made the right decision in getting married. However, it made me even more certain that I definitely am not ready for that!! No wedding anywhere in my near future :)

I'll be updating soon from Europe - I love and miss you all and think of you often. Know that you're in my prayers!!

Love,
K

ITS RAINING FIRE!!!!!!!!!

or ash....whatever....its all the same. There's a big forest fire on the other side of the ridge from us, so the sky is orange and there's a pretty layer of ash all over everything!

Its a strange feeling - being here at Westmont without actually living here. I'm walking around this place that has become my home and I know in the back of my mind that I'm really only here until next Thursday, but that's not how it feels. Strange, to say the least.

So, as is to be expected, plans for my trip have already drastically changed. On my way to the airport on Tuesday morning, Emily called me to tell me that she had a really high fever and was too sick to drive. After multiple phone calls and ideas being thrown around, I ended up still going to San Antonio and staying there until this morning. I didn't get to talk to Emily much on Tuesday (we were forced to be on opposite ends of the house so that I wouldn't be contaminated) and I also wore a face mask around the house for awhile. (really more to be funny than anything else....). Yesterday, however, Em's fever had gone down significantly so we were allowed to be in the same room, and it was a fun day of sitting around doing nothing. Then we flew out to Santa Barbara this morning and I'm currently sitting on the bed watching Em unpack all of her stuff. She just pulled out three of the same shoe - 2 left and one right :).

I also got to see Shane and Anna and Jim today (my cousins and their dog for those not related). Jim peed on my shirt, but he is really cute!

I'm looking forward to this next week of relaxing and playing with my friends (and hopefully seeing Hairspray for the 3rd time!). I really miss home, but I'm so excited for everything coming :)

lots of love...

I've found my calling....

...as a star in Hairspray. What could be better than life being full of choreographed song and dance with Zac Efron!?In all seriousness, though, I'm sitting here in my room, procrastinating the last of my packing for the semester, and I'm just thinking about how INCREDIBLY blessed I am! I have two homes that I love so much. While that means that, on one hand, I miss one home terribly no matter where I am, it also means that I have people I love so dearly no matter where I am.

So, I love you all, and thank God for so many wonderful friends and family - you make it home no matter where I am :)

I'm leaving in 4 days!!!!!

Hi friends. :)





I'm going to make my best attempt at keeping y'all updated on my life while I'm in Europe over this thing, but who knows how that will actually go, right!?!? I'm not sure if I will be able to upload pictures or not since I won't have my own computer there, but I will definitely be able to keep you updated on all the places I'm going and things I'm seeing (basically I'll be able to make you all really jealous for 3 1/2 months :) )



I'm leaving Colorado on next Tuesday, the 14th and flying to San Antonio. From there I'm driving to Santa Barbara with my best friend Emily (see photo....she's pretty ;)) for a friend's wedding. I'll be in southern California for about a week, and then I leave for Europe on the 23rd. I'll write my itinerary out below...it's crazy how many places we're going!!

8/24 - 8/29 - Dublin, Ireland
8/29 - 9/3 - Belfast, N. Ireland
9/3 - 9/6 - Cambridge, England
9/6 - 9/17 - London, England
9/17 - 9/18 - Dubrovnik, Croatia
9/18 - 9/24 - Sarajevo, Bosnia
9/24 - 10/1 - Vienna, Austria
10/1 - 10/5 - Prague, Czech Republic
10/5 - 10/10 - Krakow, Poland
10/10 - 10/12 - Warsaw, Poland
10/12 - 10/20 - Berlin, Germany
10/20 - 10/25 - Leiden, The Netherlands
10/25 - 10/30 - Bruges, Belgium
10/30 - 11/2 - Bayeux, France
11/2 - 11/10 - Paris, France
11/10 - 11/13 - Interlaken, Switzerland
11/13 - 11/17 - Venice, Italy
11/17 - 11/24 - Florence, Italy
11/24 - 12/1 - Rome, Italy
12/1 - 12/6 - Athens, Greece


After we return to LAX on the 6th, I'm staying with Emily at Westmont (see photo - a typical Santa Barbara sunset!) until the 10th, and then I'm coming home!









It is going to be an amazing semester, but also a very trying one, and I would SO much appreciate your prayers!!

My email address is kquinlan211@gmail.com, and if y'all will email me your addresses, I'll send you postcards :)

Love,
Kels