The adventure comes to an end

It seems like just a week ago I was uploading pictures of my going away party. And here I am now. The journey has ended. I am back in Lake Forest. Familiar friends, familiar things to eat, familiar language, and of course my amazing family and boyfriend. Its been a while since I have updated so let me tell you about the end of my journey.

Life is unpredictable that’s for sure. My Dad and I made it to Paris. We were having a good time despite his weird sleeping patterns. One day it had caught up to him. The morning we were supposed to leave for Berlin we made a sudden change to go back to Florence to ease the anxiety, a couple hours later I found myself in a foreign hospital with my Dad. They did all sorts of tests and he was fine, just wayyyy to much lack of sleep which was causing an unhappy popsiedoodle. After 8 hours of being in the hospital making tons of phone calls we were on our way, it was a scary day. In the evening we made a decision to come back early, ending our trip about a week early so that my Dad could get back to familiarity and an English speaking doctor ( we had a nice doctor in France who spoke pretty good English, praise the lord!)

We had 2 days in Florence. I showed my dad around a bit more, taking him to a beautiful look out spot and to the leather factory. There was a Christmas market going on so we got some hot German beer and lots of cookies! He was able to meet some more of my Italian friends and I was sad to say goodbye. I shopped while my Dad slept and soon enough we were on our way to our final destination, Rome. We went to the Colleseum, Trevi Fountain, and the Spanish steps. He was impressed.

The next morning the journey of living on my own, discovering a new country, meeting friends from across the world, overcoming a language barrier, taking interesting classes, and learning more about myself than I ever have, was over. The plane took off and I started to cry. Italy was beyond what I had hoped for and I was sad to say goodbye. Goodbye to crazy Italian restaurant owners, goodbye to friends from around the US, goodbye to experiences and memories that I will remember forever. Though the way it ended wasn’t what I expected, I cant help but remember what my English teacher said to me one day. This is roughly how our conversation went:

She is very healthy, so I ask:

“Debora do you work out?”

“No, not right now, I did when I was your age”

“Oh, why don’t you do it anymore?”

“Well, I guess, right now I am concentrated on my daughter and my husband, right now my job is to be a good mom and by the end of the day I don’t have time to work out, that’s why I eat the way I do”

“Do you miss it?”

“Oh yes! But in life there is a time for everything, a time to be sad, a time to be happy, a time to learn, a time to teach, a time to work out, and for me, right now it is time for me to focus on my family and being a good mom”

I guess it wasn’t time for me to see parts of Europe that I had hoped to see, it was time for me to go home, take care of my Dad, and start a new journey. I am content with that idea.

I landed in LAX and do to a lot of trickery I was surprised to see only Eric there. Standing around lots of people with flowers and a poster. Just the way I imagined it being. But better. We listened to Micheal Buble and ate In-N-Out. Welcome back with a cheeseburger from In-N-Out is the only way a Californian knows how to do it. I got to my house and was greeted by my sister, who jumped on me and fell over, Greg, and my mama. There was a poster in the living room and Sarah made my bed. Boy o Boy it’s good to be back.

I am not visiting different countries or different parts of Italy anymore. But I refuse to believe that my life is no longer exciting. It is just a new journey. A new adventure.

Thanks for reading my blog and supporting me the last 4 months. The blog is over, maybe a new one will begin, no promises yet. My Dad is better, still not great and he prayers if you have them J Grazie, grazie, grazie!

Ciao J

Popsiedoodle comes to Europe!

When I first saw my dad at the train station it was sooooo weird! I was so happy to see him! He was exhauuussted though. He had some troubles with his passport a couple of days before he left and had a very long journey to get to Florence. I immediately started to show him around. We started at my favorite pizza place, Gusta Pizza! He needed some good food and thats what Italians do best, eat! I showed him around my school, my apartment and my favorite places to be and to eat. He did some tourist things while i finished up finals. He went to the Duomo, the Palazzo Vecchio, and the Accademia to see the David. We then had to get started on planning our adventure. We headed to the train station. It didnt exactly turn out the way we had hoped and we left a day earlier than expected.

Paris was the one place that Dad HAD to come to, he said "im not coming all the way to Europe to not go to Paris" so it was settled, that would be our first stop! We took the night train to Paris, the aka " sleeper train" however neither one of us got much sleep.! We arrived in Paris in the morning and found our hotel. It is located on a cute a busy street with lots of fruit venders! My favorite! We fought through our exhaustion and went to the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower! Dad was very impressed, we even called Mom while standing on the top of the Arc! We figured out our trains to Berlin and to Prague and are still waiting to book our train back to Italy. Its definitely an adventure! Yesterday we went to the Louvre and to Notre Dame! I have had so much fun using my Dads camera, its sooooo much better than mine so I am little snap happy!

Please pray for us! Dad needs rest! We are taking an "off day" so that he can rest up before we get to Berlin. I hope you like the pictures, more to come but its hard to say when since we are moving around so much! We love you!!!

For you Mom...

My mom wrote me a letter telling me I was neglecting my blog... so here it goes!

My last weekend with the wonderful friends I have made while traveling Europe, growing up, and gaining independence. We decided to do things that we had wanted to do all semester but never got around to it. We went to Fiesole which is a small town right outside the center with an unbelievable view of Florence and Tuscan landscape. It was surreal. As the sun was setting, I couldn't help but laugh and be thankful for all that has come my way during the past 3 and half months. I sat with girls who I will be so sad to leave. We were pretty much family the past 3 and half months. We were honest, fun, changed together and I know I will see them again.

We also went to the Palazzo Vecchio (Old Palace) where we saw the secret passage ways of the Medici family from the Middle Ages. VERY COOL! If you ever come to Florence make sure you do this!

Almost everyone is getting ready to go home and i still have a good 3 weeks to go! My Dad comes tomorrow! I haven't seen him in 3 and half months! I am so excited to share this journey with him and take him to the best gelato he will ever have! Being able to travel with my Dad is a dream come true and I know I will remember this forever. We have many long trains and tourist things that we want to see. Please pray for our safe travels.

I haven't taken many pictures in the past week. Everyone has their camera out all the time and I was really just trying to enjoy conversation and our times together. I have also been studying for finals, cleaning up my apartment, reading, and packing! wiiierrddd!

Thanksgiving wasn't the same, but I cant complain. We had a 3 course meal and even had pumpkin pie ( not as good as Costco haha). They brought a massive turkey and cut it in front of us! I missed everyone very much, but am so thankful that I will be home for Christmas.

Ciao!!!

angry soccer fans,christmas lights,and teaching english

Another week has gone by in the blink of an eye. I think everyone is starting to realize that we only have a short amount of time left before we are separated by thousands of miles, however of course we will have free texting again! Because of Thanksgiving and finals we had our “Final Dinner” this week. It was at this beautiful banquet hall. There was a huge chandelier and the walls were decorated in gold architecture and there was even coat check! We had a 4 course meal with an appetizer, risotto, meat, and dessert! Yummy!

This weekend my Italian Literature teacher invited my friend Patricia and I to help her teach English in San Casciano (about 30 minutes away from the center of Florence). San Casciano was beautiful. It over looked mountain after mountain and the air you breathe was so much cleaner from where I live. We taught two groups of kids. The first age group was around 10 years and the second group was much younger, around 7 years. I was so impressed with the kids. They all seem to enjoy learning a new language and study hard. After teaching the kids, Debora took us to a pizza restaurant. They made it in the fire stone ovens and it was delicious! We met her daughter and she invited us over to her house for this coming weekend!

Later that night I went to another soccer game, but this time the Florentine fans were pissed!!! We lost to Parma and they were not happy about it, even the kid in my video is flipping of the officials. Everyone was yelling and screaming, the guy next to me was hitting his chair. I was laughing and recording it all!

Sunday I spent the afternoon studying for finals and working on a presentation and a power point!

Florence has the cutest Christmas lights set up. The picture of the lights is basically my street!Its soooo cute and makes me so excited for Christmas!

Cookies- these are my favorite Italian cookies. I eat them too much but they are amazing, everyone who tries them loves them!

This week: 2 finals, thanksgiving, Christmas shopping, and finishing up sight seeing in Firenze!!!

Xtreme Switzerland:)

A change of scenery was exactly what I needed. After a nine-hour bus ride, which included watching movies and reading Lucy, Tobyn, and I were finally in Interlaken, Switzerland at 4:30AM. We began our first day to a late start, so we went searching for some lunch. After walking through the breathtaking city surrounded by the Alps we ended up at this very cute restaurant where I had one of my favorite meals thus far: chicken, potatoes, bread, and special garlic sauce yummmmyy! I have never felt so foreign while being in Europe. We walked out and every person in the restaurant said bye to us, it was like we were celebrities. They were so grateful to have us come to Interlaken and our waitress gave us all sorts of info on things to do in town. Later that day while everyone was doing really expensive Xtreme sports, we decided to do some Xtreme bowling! It was so much fun, but Tobyn failed to mention she took a bowing class and annihilated Lucy and I. We ate dinner at our hotel and met other students traveling abroad. We decided that we hadn’t reached of Xtremeness for the day so we went ice-skating! It was so much fun! None of us are very good and I was trying not to break anything with 5 more weeks of traveling to go!

The next day we woke up bright and early and went on a morning hike. It was so beautiful. The leaves were orange and the mountains were covered in snow. On our hike we came across what looked like an old house/banquet room, the Rugen Brau factory (Swiss Beer), and ended up at a castle built in the 1200s. The castle was made of cement bricks and was on top of a hill so we could see the city. The different colored fall trees, the river, the Alps, the friendliness of the Swiss, chocolate, fondue, and yummy chicken: at this point Interlaken already had my heart. That same day we decided that we wanted to see another city so we made our way to Muren. We took a train and rode a gondola up the mountain. We were right in the middle of white mountain tops. It was worth the view, but there was nothing to do in Muren, I think the population of the city might have been 10 tops. We played with some snow that hadn’t melted from the previous days and I made a snowman! Even though there was nothing to do there I am still glad we went! We headed back to Interlaken to have dinner. I ate a huge sausage on hash browns with veal sauce…healthy I know. It is a common Swiss meal so I was trying to play the part! My friends got chocolate fondue and due to Lucy’s phobia of bananas she let me have a taste… it was delectable!

Our last day we wanted to see more of the small town and find some gifts for our families. We didn’t know that no one likes to work on Sundays so our options were limited. I only bought a spoon because everything was so expensive! A magnet was about 12 franks= almost 12 US dollars. No thank you!! We went to the Japanese Friendship Gardens and took pictures and of course made some jokes J

My words wont do what I have seen justice, if I try to use more describing words, people may stop reading my blog so im trying to keep it simple. I have seen so many cities within the last 3 months so it was so great to be around nature. The Swiss people also made this weekend trip so great! They were all so nice and helpful. They even didn’t try to run us over in the cross walks!

If you are wondering about my hat, I got it as an investment. It’s getting colder and my dad and I need to be prepared. I tried it out this weekend and it was so warm, but the funny looks I got from people made me want to keep wearing it. I had 3 people approach me about it. One of them only spoke Swiss German so I’m unsure if he was complimenting my hat or if he hated it, I just awkwardly giggled and walked away!

I hope you like the pictures and videos! I love you all J