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vienneseabenteuer-blog · 8 years ago

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The Final Post

So this is really sporadic, eh? After only one post during my time traveling, this will be my last one because I am home now! This is going to be a really quick run down of the last three weeks because I am jet-lagged and sore. So without further ado, here we go…. The last time I wrote I was on my way to Munich from Lucerne. Munich was great, it has such cute town center with typical Bavarian looking buildings and pretzels and sausages everywhere. Most of the time we spent in the English garden which is a park bigger than Central Park in New York. There was a river for swimming and surfing even, places to relax, areas for sports, a restaurant; overall it was just really relaxing. Just outside of Munich was the Neuschwanstein castle which was the inspiration for Cinderella’s castle in Disney world and was a huge dream for me to see. Then we headed off to Dresden to meet up with some friends living there. On the way we stopped Nürnberg to check out a very typical German city. It was super cute. Dresden was such a cool city. During WWII it was completely firebombed and raised to the ground, but recently there were efforts to restore the “Altstadt” so there is some really impressive architecture in Dresden that actually uses some surviving parts of the old buildings. The friends we had there were amazing people and we had so much fun exploring the city with them and checking out some events. The people really make the place. On our way out of Dresden we stopped to hike at these really unique sand stone towers. We stumbled upon the ruins of a Middle Ages town that had been on top of these enormous rock towers, connected by wooden walking planks. So crazy! After that was Leipzig where I fortunately got to meet up with my aunt who happened to also randomly be in Germany at the time. It was very nice to catch up, in Europe of all places! Then we met another friend Cologne, where we enjoyed the cute shopping streets and the impressive cathedral. Then to meet more friends in Brussels! Brussels was so impressive especially the food: waffles, fries, chocolate, and beer! All specialities. Here we enjoyed the impressive Grand Place where every building has gold trimmings. Cooler than Brussels though, was Antwerp. Antwerp has kept much more of its integrity because it is not as touristy as Brussels. It was a historic, beautiful, and modern port city. Then we were blessed enough to visit a family we know in Herentals, Belgium. They treated us to a wonderful meal and gifted us with chocolates and history tours. It was so nice to hang out with a family and hold their adorable 2 month old grandchild, Håkan. If you want to visit the Netherlands, do Utrecht over Amsterdam, it is a much smaller, cuter city with less people. The canals were just as gorgeous, but a little cleaner. Amsterdam was great as well though, with its adorable canal houses and boats floating by. Overall there’s just a really great feeling in the Netherlands. Finally I spent one day in Vienna alone to say goodbye to my city. I visited my favorite places, ate some traditional food, saw a couple of new things that had always been on my list, and just relaxed and reminisced on this amazing 6 months abroad. This experience has forever changed me. I feel so blessed to have achieved one of my dreams at only 21 years old. I have always had a thirst for culture and language, and since I was a teenager I had a dream of living in Europe for a time. Now that this dream of wild travels, and impressive buildings, and amazing food, and intriguing people is over, I guess I have to find a new one. Europe was everything I thought it would be and it wasn’t. It surprised me at every turn. There were hardships, challenges, new emotions, new questions, and new opportunities to gain a completely different perspective on my own life and the world around me. The things I have learned from living abroad have equipped me with such an ability to adapt and look at problems differently, but it has also given me a new appreciation for the people at home. And of course, with the downs, there were ups to counter, many more ups. Europe was my romanticized youth dream and on so many accounts it lived up to my expectations and filled me with such wonder and awe. I will never forget the things I saw, the people I met, or the things I experienced. This was definitely one of the most valuable experiences of my life and I would not trade it for anything.  Anyways, for those of you who read this and live in Winnipeg, I’m home now for a month and can’t wait to catch up with all of you. Then in August it’s on to my final year at college! Signing off now and for good! Tschüss! (Go to the next page for more pictures!)

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vienneseabenteuer-blog · 8 years ago

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