The Journey

"I studied abroad" is a sentence that few people can say, but even fewer can understand. I studied abroad. No Rick Steeves check sheet, Italian phrase book, or Google web search could prepare me for the four months that lay before me as I waved goodbye to my family on August 17. But traveling isn’t about getting to the destination; it’s what you take away from it…

Nice, France

Rule #1: People are not always Nice... keep your pants on.
Though an encounter with some gypsies left some members of my group with lighter pockets, from that day on everyone held their bags a little bit tighter.

Rule #2: Do as the locals do.
A local's suggestion to leave Nice and travel an hour to Cap d'Ail fruited one of the most beautiful days of my trip as we walked down the coast of the French Riviera.


Lugano, Riva San Vitale, and Bellinzona, Switzerland

Rule #3: Stay in your neighborhood.
…sometimes. With cheap airlines in flight and trains within earshot, sometimes it's hard to remember to take a look around. Some of my best memories throughout the semester came from simply sitting by the beautiful Lake Lugano, just footsteps from my classroom. Breathing while relaxed in your proximal habitant will feel a lot different than sprinting through streets of a busy city; try it.


Interlaken, Switzerland

Rule #4: Leap.
Because jump is too weak a word. Leap into whatever interests you, but more importantly, leap into the unknown like you were jumping off a canyon in the Swiss Alps. There's a lot to be said for doing something completely new, and I bet you'll smile even harder than you would've if you played it safe.


Berlin, Germany

Rule #5: Love your tour guides.
Even if they don't love you back. Chances are that the person leading you around a foreign city started out doing that because they became infatuated with it. Make it a point to question your guides as to why they fell in love with the city, like our friend Theo in Berlin!


Prague, Czech Republic

Rule #6: Always pretend like you have less money than you do when bargaining with market vendors.
Your supposedly smaller wallet will not disappoint.

Rule #7: Only trust people painting before your eyes.
Never buy a watercolor without inspecting it in the sunlight and checking for a signature. Alas, perhaps the mistake I made was karma coming back at me from my previous rule.


Salzburg, Austria

Rule #8: Keep old curtains.
An older group of lifetime friends were skipping down the garden path as Julie Andrews did in the Sound of Music. Clad in what? Old curtains as done in the movie. Cherish friendships,both new and old, while always remembering that laughter has no price and best friends can only embarrass you as much as you let them.


Munich, Germany

Rule #7: Prost [often].
Toast to the future regularly; it will help you remember what it is that you're truly wishing for... make it come true!


Pisa, Italy

Rule #8: American parents are easier to spot than you think.
And they understand what you are asking when you ask them to take a picture. More importantly, such travelers wander with an equal but different enthusiasm than students you might meet who are also studying abroad. Take the time to listen to what these people have to say.


Cinque Terre, Italy

Rule #9: Travel with a best friend and no plan.
No itinerary and someone to traverse a magical place with are the ingredients for a perfect day. However, perfect can become even finer if you add a pesto pizza next to an incredible sunset.


Venice, Italy

Rule #10: Buy at least one CD from a street musician.
Even though I didn't need to travel across the globe to buy a CD of Native American music, the memories associated with songs are priceless.


Budapest, Hungary

Rule #11: Withdrawing 30,000 from the ATM doesn't mean that you're rich.
...If the exchange rate is 1 US Dollar to 222 Hungarian Forints.


Dublin, Ireland

Rule #12: Reflect on how lucky you are when nature's beauty takes you by surprise.
As I was surrounded by changing leaves and recording a birthday video for my mom, the video rapidly changed from upbeat to sentimental when it struck me just how fortunate I am to be traveling europe each weekend without the blink of an eye. The only thing I was missing were my loved ones at home who I wished could experience the same beauty with me.


Lisbon, Portugal

Rule #13: Never pay more than 5 euros for a scarf.
Try to beat one scarf for 1 euro and another for 2 euro 50, I dare you.


Sintra, Portugal
Rule #14: Palaces that forbid cameras are both a blessing and a curse.
Free from the reflex to continuously snap pictures of signs that you will never read or wall decorations you will never look at, one member of your group will always see the no photography sign as a challenge.

Barcelona, Spain

Rule #15: Stroll solo.
Sometimes spend a few hours by yourself and just be you. Walk in stores that look interesting, strike up a conversation with shop owner, stay hungry until you find the perfect thing to eat, and above all, do not miss the sun set.

Rule #16: It's a smaller world than you think.
Bumping into an old classmate on a train I wasn't supposed to be on, leaving a park to avoid darkness only to spontaneously turn around and catching a glimpse of friends, or boarding the same train as your best friend's parents are just a few instances that I witnessed in my time in europe. Just when you think that things are either going too well, or perhaps not good enough, you never know who may pop out and surprise you.

Rule #17: If you sleep in an ATM room, people will think you are homeless.
Marred by untimely transportation strikes, we spent 38 hours traveling only to brag that we spent a cold night in a train station and were thrown food and money as we laid on the cold floor.


Rome, Italy

Rule #18: An umbrella that you buy from a street vendor for only two Euros will break in less than an hour of use.Heavy rainfall proved challenging in one of the world's most historic cities. Remember to bring an umbrella, but if not, one of the hundreds of street vendors will be sure to offer you shelter. The only stipulation is that it should be ugly enough that if you lose it, you won't be too upset.


Monte Tamero, Switzerland

Rule #18: A playground is always within reach.
If you start to feel too old, as my friend Matt reminded me on my 21st birthday and again a few months past, you will always be young at heart... all you need is a good playground.


Vienna, Austria

Rule #19: Palaces that forbid cameras are both a blessing and a curse.
Free from the reflex to continuously snap pictures of signs that you will never read or wall decorations you will never look at, one member of your group will always see the no photography sign as a challenge.


London, England

Rule #20: If it's black, looks like a sausage party, and is served with breakfast...
It is pig blood.

Rule #21: Cities sparkle brighter at night.
That's why it's so hard to catch the magic on camera.


Amsterdam, Netherlands

Rule #22: Take this advice to plan your trips based on climate change and use it.
Because I didn't.


Riva San Vitale, Switzerland

110 days, 34 towns and cities, 13 countries, 8 classes, and innumerable memories older, I wave Europe goodbye. But this is not it for you, world. My time spent as a wide eyed and wandering speck on the map has crafted my resolute self-promise to never stop walking, nor shut my eyes, always use my ears, only sometimes plug my nose, and continually use my experiences and my aspirations to create my future.

The beautiful town of Riva San Vitale has silently watched me grow both as an individual and a person in this world. Experiencing other cultures is both humbling and rewarding. While I anxiously await asking for directions in English and using a public bathroom without paying a euro, the countless train rides (and layovers) with best friends I have made in this magical new world will quickly be missed. But if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that there is a time and a place for everything, and everything comes at its due time. While the pizza might not taste as good as the pesto slice I ate in Cinque Terre or the wind might not feel quite as serene as it did while standing atop the Cliffs of Moher, the rowdy dinner conversation with my family or tearful reunion with my best friends will still send the same chills down my spine while taking the same breath that was stolen while watching the sun set 3280.2 miles across the world.

I am so thankful for the experiences I have had over these past four months. Yet more so, I am thankful for the way these experiences have caused me to see that this semester’s finish line to be quickly followed by the starting line of a new journey just waiting to be traveled. In the words of the very last note I pulled out of my bag of abroad notes, quotes, and inside jokes written by my best friends:

“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard?” – Maya Angelou

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Friday, November 23 - Saturday, November 24, 2012

The boat across the English Channel from England to The Netherlands was unlike any boat I had been on before… and the beds were the comfiest I had been on in months! So we spent Thanksgiving on a boat with snacks to keep us content and the excitement of Alice’s 20th birthday to entertain us! We all spent hours laughing, exploring the boat, or even discovering a well-need massage chair. What was a nice night of sleep was soon interrupted by five minute intervals of announcements proclaiming breakfast for all downstairs… at 6:00. Since no one managed to rouse themselves to make breakfast, when we finally hopped off a train in Amsterdam, we all set out to find food. Melanie, Tiffany, Ali and I ate at a really good restaurant which had food for any appetite: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I chose dinner at 12:00 and got just what I had been craving for months—meatballs!

Like Kacey said, we chose our worst hostel for last. The Flying Pig Downtown was certainly interesting but cleanly, un-crowded, and cheap it was not. Tired from a the boat ride, Ali, Tiffany, Mel and I managed to walk the cold streets of Amsterdam with no plan… for once! It was quite enjoyable taking in the beautiful scenery of canals, bridges, and canal houses.

Deciding to add a little structure to our day on Saturday, a group of us went to the Anne Frank house. After the war, her only surviving family member, her dad, published her journals and later opened up the old factory and hidden attic. While the tour through the home was eerie and sad, I appreciated the experience to reflect on Anne’s impact on our world today. Her words were so mature and wise for her age. Though it was sad to experience the pages of her journal on the walls, it was motivational to know that her dream of becoming a published author indeed was realized. I set myself the goal of reading her journal within the upcoming year. Her words are truly thought provoking, below I have listed some of my favorite quotes:

- “Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction.”

- "Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again."

- “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

- “Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”

- “The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”

Feeling incredibly blessed, we followed our tour of the Anne Frank house by dining at the famous Pancake Bakery. The Netherlands are famous for fries, junk food, and pancakes; I was happy to choose the latter. My meal was the ideal desert, Autumn Poffertjes: Tiny pancakes with cinnamon ice cream, poached pears, cranberry compote, Belgium chocolate flakes, and whipped cream. Though the day ended with torrential rain to dampen the ending, my time in the cozy canal streets of Amsterdam was beautiful and topped with a traditional Dutch donut… yum!

London, England

Tuesday, November 20 - Thursday, November 22, 2012

Flying to London was bittersweet. The long anticipated last trip was finally reality and home was not far in sight. After getting in late Tuesday night to realize that Paddington was quiet sector of London, we found some interesting food across the street from our hostel the Pride of Paddington. Despite closed doors on every street, we found a bar which had one more hour until closing to toast Kacey on the night leading up to her 21st birthday! Kacey’s 21st was also shared by a guest… Allison Blumer came to visit David and the whole group! It was so excited to see a familiar face and be able to spend time in a foreign country with her!

With so much to see in London, we knew well we had to pick and choose. Wednesday morning, Ali and I went to see some of London’s most notable sights: Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye! After a quick runaround the square, we laughed at some horses and their guards at the horse museum, walked through St. James’s Park, then made it just in time for the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace! Using my short height to my advantage, I weaseled my way all to the front! In this position, I talked with Americans visiting their son and soon enough discovered that the flag flying on top of the palace meant that the queen was in the palace! Though the rain tried to get the best of the changing, the guard’s playing of songs like “I Believe I Can Fly” and “Walking on Sunshine” dulled the rain.

After inadvertently splitting into groups, Ali, Kacey, Tiffany, the Carolines, Meghan, and I wandered back to the main sight square and took some more pictures before through a protest to get to Trafalgar Square. Here in the pouring rain we snapped a quick picture in the pouring rain before dashing into the underground and took it to Oxford Circus. The rain forced us inside for some well needed shopping therapy until we decided to brave what had become a drizzle. The streets were beautifully decorated in Christmas lights and signs displaying the Twelve days of Christmas and even Rolling Stones specialty lights!

To top off a day of shopping and sightseeing we made two stops: Harrods and most importantly, Platform 9 ¾!!! This touch of magic was just the prelude where my day would take me on the day following… Harry Potter Studios! After running through the train station wall, we went to the most magical department store I have ever gone in: Harrods. It was so ornately decorated and the Christmas cheer made it even more pretty.

After a long day on our feet, we headed back to the hostel to discover that we had been signed up for a Matt and David pub crawl in honor of Kacey’s birthday, the big 2-1! We went to an awesome little pub with great, traditional, English food and enough room to fit a table of Americans! We enjoyed friends and the Arsenal game before heading to a bar beautifully decorated for Christmas and then to the Zoo Bar… which was interesting to say the least.

Thursday morning marked our last day in London. I could not have chosen a more perfect place to go than… Hogwarts—luckily, with Kacey and Fan in tow, I did! Seeing Warner Bros. Studio Tour of Harry Potter was incredible… just as magical as the movies! To read more about our visit, as written by Kacey, see below! Even though we spent most of our daylight hours at Harry Potter Studios, we managed to catch some of London’s most notable bridges at their most notable time: night! While Millennium Bridge and Tower Bridge were exciting landmarks, London Bridge itself was quite boring (for this reason, lots of people get London and Tower Bridge confused!). We also managed to walk by the great structures of Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and Shakespeare’s Globe. Oh, did I mention it was Thanksgiving? What better a place to have been for some real turkey than the very country we separated ourselves from… in order to see as many sights as possible while still making our boat to Amsterdam, Kacey and Fan and I ate what was my first Chipotle in three months!

Harry Potter Studios Tour, as written by Kacey McMahon:

Warner Bros. opened the Harry Potter Studio Tour to the public on March 31, 2012. All eight films were shot in Leavesden Studios from September 2000 through December 2010. Anxious fans awaited their chance to see the sets, props, costumes, and characters from the British-American film series that captured many hearts. The 150,000-square-foot studio holds numerous sets from the real film series as well as behind-the-scenes footage that revealed the secrets of how the magic of Harry Potter was created. The three-hour tour consists of a walk though the Great Hall, Hagrid’s Hut, the Ministry of Magic, and Diagon Alley. The make-up desk and creature rooms reveal how the crew brought the mythical characters to life.

Harry Potter is the highest grossing film series of all time bringing in $7.7 billion in worldwide receipts. The series hosted four different directors that all brought their own spin to the films. Small changes can be seen during the walk-through tour of the liberties each director took with the Hogwarts set. We had a chance to see the scale model of Hogwarts used in filming. Stuart Craig, the production designer for each of the eight films, used the model each time the films showed Hogwarts from afar. Craig sketched ideas for sets onto blank sheets of paper as his imagination ran wild while reading the novels by J.K. Rowling.

People come from all over the world to visit the studios. They’ve had a range of people come to the studios from small children dressed up as Dobby to hysterical crying adults waiting entry through the gates. The three of us blended in to the crowd of restless fans before we filed into the Great Hall for the first part of the tour. Here, we learned about the evolution of costumes the characters from the different houses went through. The ten years of filming called for many make up and costume changes as the characters age.

After walking through the Great Hall we were led to the warehouse that held countless sets from the film. Fan learned the secret of how the cinematographers brought broomsticks to life. He rode through the streets of Hogsmeade on a broomstick through the magic of a green screen. We also cut carrots from across the room on a touch screen computer attached to the knife. Little things like spinning pots and bubbling potions come to life with ease through their intricate network of wires and control panels.

We soon came upon the Creature Shop where we grew witness to work of artists bringing goblins and werewolves to life. Hagrid, a popular character from all eight films, is so large that a 6’7” rugby player plays him wearing a stuffed costume and an animatronic head. Special effects are used to make the character look as cohesive as possible in scenes where the costume is necessary. Small characters like the Gringotts Goblins are made out of face clay and molded onto the actor’s faces. So many small details go into the making of these films that are never caught by the unknowing audience. Seeing the behind the scenes work of the cast and crew created a new appreciation for the films that we never could have dreamed of.

In the upcoming years, Warner Bros. is planning on expanding their warehouse to include other Warner Bros. feature films.

Vienna, Austria

Saturday, November 17, 2012

In lieu of traveling to Paris, I chose to travel to the one place I had been most looking forward to visiting, Vienna. Melanie, Tiffany, Ben and I decided the combined 24 hours of traveling would be worth the taste of cider at Vienna’s Christmas markets. Though a rock fall at Gotthard Pass nearly rocked our trip’s travel plans to Vienna, my mom’s birthplace (and located in my favorite country, Austria)! Alas, the smart and dependable Swiss transportation system corrected the problem disrupting the rail line between Bellinzona and Zurich by providing buses detour the rock fall on the tracks. One piece of bad luck turned out to be fruit two strokes of luck: we made it to Wien two hours early and I discovered a beautiful little Swiss town that I can hardly wait to visit one day, Flüelen.

Schönbrunn Palace

Ready to brave the cold Vienna weather, our uncharacteristically small traveling group woke up at 7:00 get an early start in the beautiful city of Vienna. While we knew that Vienna was supposed to be enjoyed at leisurely stroll, however we accepted that we would have to see as much as we could and that we would be back again in our lives. First up was the Schönbrunn Palace. The palace, a former residence to the empress and emperor of Austria, was comprised of 1,441 rooms and hundreds of acres including a garden and a zoo. Although I was not allowed to take pictures in the exquisite palace, this allowed me to appreciate the words of the little audio guide I held up to my ear better. My favorite room, the Hall of Mirrors, overlooked the gardens and just so happened to be the same room where Mozart performed for the Empress Maria Theresa just before he hopped on her lap and kissed her.

The Gloriette

The landscape architecture outside the palace was beautifully complimented by the gorgeous weather. I felt guilty fast walking through the green gardens and passing reflecting pools to the top of the hill were the Gloriette, a structure created by Maria Theresa out of recycled stone. The structure, which houses a café in present day, was built on the spot where the palace was initially intended to be built.

Hungry for some food, we set out for the Naschmarkt. Instead, we stumbled upon the neighboring St. Charles Church. The church’s exterior grounds were in full preparation for its Christmas market’s opening the following weekend. After sidestepping to see the church, we arrived at Vienna’s most visited open air market, the Naschmarkt. I enjoyed our visit and for the first time allowed myself to try any food that called my name. I had never done that in a market before and I decided the largest market in Austria would be a great start. Not only did I find HUMMUS, I also sampled feta cheese filled green olives and peppercini, pumpkin seed oil, assorted Lebanese food, and had my first warm cup of Glühwein. The vendors were incredibly friendly… However, their friendliness upon my inquiring about a pink tinted hummus resulted in my subjection to taste testing fish egg paste (never again).

With full bellies, we walked down Vienna’s large shopping street, which was decorated in Christmas attire, to the Wiener Staatsope, renamed the Vienna State Opera House after the Hasburg Monarchy took control. Touring the opera house, I learned how the opera house help shaped Austrian culture. The building’s resume was impressive. Though five bombs hit near the end of World War II, fortunately the only severe damage was to two of the three intermission rooms. Despite the beautiful architecture, in the mid-1800s when the building was being built, the structure was quite controversial; this building’s design was so contested that it resulted in one of the two architect’s suicide.

The only original intermission room

The front of the 262 foot stage

The grandest room of the tour by my standards was the actual performance arena. However, judging by monetary price cap, the royal tea room was the most heavily demanded section of the house; a mere twenty minutes in this room costs 5000 Euros to inhabit. With costs at approximately 100 million Euros per year to run the house, 40% of these expenses are covered by ticket sales or the renting of a box suite. For only eight people, these boxes cost 18,500 Euros to rent for an entire opera. Shockingly, the 60% of running expenses not funded by the public is financed by the government—that’s a whole lot of 60 million Euros just to operate one opera house. Though pricey, the stage alone is worth paying to see. The 262 foot long stage requires over 200 people to move only one set and replace it with another. Fortunately for our crew, we were able to sit and watch this process while our guide pointed out the Imperial box and listed off trivia.

We marched from one house of song to the next: St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The Roman Catholic Church made the list of my top three favorite churches with its watercolor walls. The unique projections ornately decorated what could have been just another church I saw in Europe. In addition to the stain glass walls were intricate gold accented frescoes on the ceiling. I wish we could have stayed longer, but instead we had to trudge on to our next sites. Leaving a place of worship for the Hofburg Palace, I walked through a square where Hitler delivered a speech to citizens of the edelweiss nation. Hitting the museum square at dusk, my disappointment in how much more was left in Vienna to discover on a later date was short-lived as we followed our excitement to Rauthsusplatz for some cider and sausage at our very first Christmas market!

St. Stephen’s Cathedral

Wiener Christkindlmarkt und Adventzaube… One of Vienna’s Christmas Markets!

Wiener Christkindlmarkt at Rathauspark

Wiener Christkindlmarkt sparkled like ornaments on a tree should. November 17, 2012 marked what I would consider the most exciting day of the Christmas season except for Christmas itself in Wien, Austria… the opening day of Christmas markets. The Christmas markets in Vienna are the first to open in Austria for the reason being that they are both the largest and most visited. Melanie, Ben, Tiffany, and I decided to seek out the biggest and oldest market of all: the Wiener Christkindlmarkt! With the sun already set, we were best able to see thousands of beautiful lights strung from booth to booth and covering every tree in Rathauspark.

While it appeared that there were over one hundred booths, it appeared that the majority of them were things that could have been found in America. Though there were many westernized oranaments, the magic of Christmas came alive most when exercising the spirit of giving. In search of a Christmas hat for our student conduct advisor at CESA, Jeff, I met a true Viennese shop owner selling Christmas hats. After finding the perfect hat for Jeff and talking with the nice salesman, I received my very first, “Merry Christmas!”

The magic continued as we walked the booths and bumped into people happy to share the holiday cheer with a smile. The prices of ornaments ranged from 5-20 euros and for once this price was one that we were unable to budge. There were also beautiful nativity crèches and Christmas decorations… if only I had deep enough pockets and enough room in my suitcase to take it all home! My favorite purchase were little, extremely breakable, bird ornaments. These ornaments were the very same type that my grandma had brought back from Vienna, my mom’s home town, to my mom when I was younger. I was thrilled to find some of the very same ornaments me and my siblings had broken as children… hopefully these will last longer!

Our group had anticipated a fantastic meal from market booths all day, and that’s what we got! There were booths interspersed through the decorations selling glühwein, candy, pretzels, sausages, hot apple cider, indigenous Viennesse treats, and there was even a chocolate fountain. The coolest part about ordering a drink at the market was the mugs that came with it. For the price of the drink and a 2 euro deposit, one can keep the customized mug depicting the Rathauspark Christmas scene. Ben attempted to buy only the mugs as gifts and got just that! With a tasty drink, we also enjoyed our long awaited sausages. Ben ordered a frankfurter while the girls chose bratwurst, both wrapped in a massive bun with (free!) ketchup and mustard.

Busy from a long day of touring, after wandering the huge market our group sat down for, practically, the first time all day. There were children’s rides, toy scenes created with Christmas lights, and even Santa’s village where children were able to take pictures with the man and his big belly after whispering what they wanted for Christmas into Santa’s ear.

The happiness, excitement, Christmas music, and most importantly holiday cheer giggled throughout the little Christmas village, also known as the Wiener Christkindlmarkt. Leaving the kingdom of Christmas, our group agreed in unison that the market was truly special and perhaps so appreciated for its authentic Christmas cheer and the absence of commercialization.