I am currently taking a study break from my midterm tomorrow to write my first blog! It’s hard to believe I have already been here over two weeks. My time here in Rome has been exhilarating between touring the historic city and meeting new friends. I haven’t traveled outside of the city yet because there is so much to see and do here in Rome. I’d have to say my favorite building here in Rome is the Pantheon with the Altare della Patria (or the “Wedding Cake” as the Romans call it) being my second favorite. Walking around the city is never disappointing as there is amazing architecture everywhere you look. Don’t worry, I won’t be spending the entire trip in Rome and I will venture out at the end of the trip!

I am studying at the American University of Rome while taking courses titled Negotiating Globally and Sales Management. As a part of the Negotiating Globally class we attended a session of the Chamber of Deputies in the Italian Parliament and our class was recognized. Although every word was spoke in Italian, it was still cool to witness that environment and decision making process. Also, as a part of this class we will be attending the US Embassy to the UN Agencies in Rome where we will meet the Deputy Chief of Mission. I never thought I would attend an Italian Parliament session or be lectured by someone from the US Embassy in Rome.

So far I have enjoyed every minute I’ve been in Rome and am very glad that I decided to study abroad. Being in Europe and seeing the different culture is eye opening to say the least. I think I’ve adapted pretty well by now and am looking forward to the rest of my adventure!

Cody Hamm

During the past 3 weeks I have done some traveling outside of Prague. It is very easy to find the cheapest ways to getting around. You have basically three options to look at and they are train,plane,or a bus. All are good options but depending where you are going one may be cheaper than the other. For example, we took a trip to Budapest and it was cheaper to take a train than a bus or plane so we did that option. We took the night train to Budapest so we were able to sleep through the 8 hour trip. This past weekend we went to England via airplane. We went traveled through two different airlines and two different airports. This method was the cheapest so I would suggest looking into more than one airport and plane companies before booking your flight. This up coming weekend we found the cheapest way to get to Munich would be via bus. Hope this helps anyone that is planning on a lot of travel!

Hey everyone!

It’s been awhile since my last post so I wanted to take the time to update you all on what’s been going on in Spain. I finished my session in Sevilla about two weeks ago, leaving behind an amazing city! Even though the weather was extremely hot I do miss the city. Before I left Sevilla, my friend and I traveled to Ibiza, Spain to experience some of the most beautiful beaches in the world! Below is a picture of by far my favorite beach!

All in all Ibiza was definitely worth the trip! Its reputation is a party island but even if you’re not into the nightlife scene you have to go to at least experience the beaches, you won’t regret it!

Upon returning from Ibiza, I set out for Valencia where I am currently studying for one month as well. I haven’t seen much of the city yet but I can already tell it’s going to be an amazing place to explore. Last weekend ISA took us to a farm on the outside of town where we were able to pick fresh ingredients that were to be cooked into an authentic paella for us to eat. It was truly an amazing place and the experience of making paella with locals was indescribable!  Below is a look at us preparing the paella.

This weekend we are going to Barcelona for an excursion and a group of us are heading to Pamplona for a day to experience the Running of the Bulls so wish us luck! That’s all for now! Hope everything is going well back in the states! Hasta Luego!

Where do I even start! These past two weeks since the last time I blogged have been the most eye opening experiences of my life and something that I will always remember. Let me talk about what has happened since my last post, which seems like yesterday but was actually 2 weeks ago.

The festivities I talked about in my last post was called the Sant Joan Barcelona Festival and the best way for me to describe the area that I went to was just like the 4th of July back in the United States! The group I was with went to the beach and there were thousands of people gathering together to celebrate the Spanish midsummers eve, and there were fireworks EVERYWHERE. So many people with different fireworks from all age ranges, even children that were probably 6 years old were running around lighting fire crackers and have an absolute blast.

After that eventful night, I completed both of my midterms for my classes (which weren’t too difficult) and went on the most interesting, intriguing, culture shock of an experience I have ever seen in my life. A group of six of us flew to Marrakech, Morocco which is in Africa and I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. The first night we got there at midnight and checked into our hostel and the following day we had a long journey south of Marrakech to the Sahara Desert to spend the night in the desert and ride camels! That was one of the coolest things I had done in a very long time, and don’t know if I’ll ever get the opportunity to do it again so I really appreciated it. After we spent the night in the Sahara, we took a bus back to Marrakech and went to the Berber Market in the evening and at night, and this place was one of the most interesting events I have ever seen. First, there are people everywhere and vendors trying to sell you anything you can imagine; food, clothing, purses, plates, earrings, shoes, watches, etc. The list can go on and on because of the mass amounts of vendors in the stalls across the entire market, I couldn’t even put a number on how many stalls there were because there were so many. There were also monkeys, iguanas, turtles, and the most “fascinating” of all was the king cobras that the snake charmers were interacting with. I never got to actually watch them do anything to the snakes because if you barely look at them they charge you for anything, even taking a picture so I didn’t get the chance to actually see the snake in action, but they were everywhere. The following day we took a trip to the Ouzoud Waterfalls, and they were beautiful. We also got to see monkeys up close because they came and stole our food after we were finished eating. After our trip to the waterfalls we made our way back to Marrakech, went to the Berber Market for a few hours and then hopped on a plane back to Barcelona. This trip to Africa might be the most eye-opening experience I will ever have, because it makes me realize how privileged so many people are in the United States without even knowing it. So many Americans complain about the smallest things such as no air constituting in their cars, when we should appreciate the fact that we have that car to get us from place to place. During our trip we learned that these people in Africa have to walk 6 kilometers (roughly 4 miles) a day just for fresh water and their houses are made out of dried mud with their air conditioning being holes in the wall for air to flow through. It was such a culture shock and made me appreciate the smallest things in the United States so much more that so many people take for granted.

The following weekend a group of four of us traveled to Rome, Italy which was nothing like Morocco. In fact, it was totally different because of all the rich history this city offers to everyone who visits. During my stay I visited the Colosseum, the Pantheon, the Trajan Baths, the Trajan Column, the Trevi Fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Altare della Patria, the Roman Forums, Palatine Hill, the Sistine Chapel, St. Peters Basilica, Vatican City and many other places. Rome was a great trip that I would recommend to everyone because of the amount of knowledge you can gain. I would definitely go back because I was there for three days and still feel like I could have seen more. If you go, be sure to give yourself enough time to see everything!

This upcoming weekend our group is visiting the South of France and then the next week we have finals and then I’m flying back to the United States. I’m shocked how fast these 5 weeks have gone because I have met so many amazing people and done so many amazing things, I’m sad it’s coming to an end. I would highly recommend that if given the opportunity, take advantage of studying abroad because you can learn so much about yourself, your culture, you meet so many people, and it’s fun! The next time I blog will probably be my last day in Europe or when I’m back in the United States!

Hasta luego,

Matt Schafer

I have been in Prague for 3 weeks now and I couldn’t love it any more. Prague is a very clean city with unbelievable sights. People here do no speak as much English as I was expecting so that has been hard to get used to. Younger people are usually pretty nice if you ask them for help translating something though. Getting around the city is very easy, it only took me about a couple of days to understand how the tram and metro worked. I would say the most important thing if coming to Prague would be to try and learn the public transportation as fast as possible, and always have a map on you the first week because thats the easiest way to learn the city. A important tip is to get the AAA taxi app for Prague, you press a button on the app and a taxi will show up in less than 5 minutes usually. Also if you use the app the transaction is registered with the store so the taxi driver has to charge the right price, and he can’t rip you off.

We have done something completely different every day and we still have so much to see! Some things we have done so far include a boat cruise down the river at night, going to beer tasting event at the Royal Gardens, and toured the castle.

I honestly believe Prague is the best place to study abroad because its a safe place to be with plenty to do. Also its right in the middle of Europe so traveling to other countries is very easy. If not studying in Prague, do yourself a favor and at least visit it!

1. Slow Walkers. If you are a fast-pace walker, you would go absolutely crazy walking behind these people. They love taking their time and enjoying the scenery that surrounds them. This is probably a good thing, to be honest.

2. Siestas (Naps) are a MUST here. They have the weirdest open hours for their restaurants and shops. They usually open at 8 or 9 AM. Close from 3-5 PM. Open back up from 5 to 11 PM. Everyday they take a 30 minute nap after lunch then head back to work. That is probably why you never see a cranky Spaniard.

3. Be Blunt. If you want something just say “I want…” (Quiero in Spanish). Don’t say “Can I have…” (Puedo tener). They will just look at you and not understand what you are trying to ask. Just get straight to the point.

4. Short and Sweet. When you are in a grocery line or buying something from a store, don’t ask how they are doing because they won’t answer. Just say “Hola”. I made the mistake of saying “Hola! Como estas?” and she looked at me like I was crazy.

5. Padded Shoes are a Necessity. This trip I made the mistake of not bringing comfy shoes. I found out the reason why these people that live here are so skinny even though they eat carbs constantly (bread for days) … they literally walk around 6 to 8 miles a day (no joke). I am pretty sure they have more ice cream shops than restaurants here, so if that explains all the walking they must do.

6. Minerals in Their Water. I am convinced that there is something in Spain’s water. Every single person I pass on my way to school (30 minutes by the way) is gorgeous! I don’t think I have ever seen so many pretty people in one place. Every guy looks like Mario Lopez, while the women look like Penelope Cruz.

7. Crowded Streets. Like I said earlier, they walk everywhere. The streets here are so confusing and driving a car would take you longer than walking because of all the cut off streets due to the trolley. They also have bike lanes that are bigger than the walking lanes.

8. What Street Signs? They don’t have any street signs here! There may be a sign on a building telling you the street you are on…if you are lucky.

9. Rules Schmulessss. I’ve noticed a great deal of rules/regulations being laid back here. I have only seen one police involved incident and that was because a man was selling knock-off purses on the side of the street.

10. Cooking is Life! The mothers here are very dedicated to their house and cooking. They start cooking lunch around 10 AM when it is served at 2 and dinner at 6 PM when it is served at 9:30. So you probably think it would be very nice to ask your mom if you could help with dinner. Here that screams, “Your cooking is disgusting!” They feel as if you are making a hidden comment that you are helping because their food isn’t good enough. So never ask to help with dinner whatever you do!

11. Expressing Yourself. Everyday I walk home from school around 8 PM and there are performers everywhere doing the flamenco dance, singing and playing guitar, and dressing in weird costumes. It is actually pretty exhilarating to figure out what I will see that night on the way home.

12. 5 Minute Showers. This is one thing I had to adjust to which was kind of a struggle. Since it never rains here, they have hardly any water meaning you can only have a warm shower for maybe 5 minutes then you turn into an ice cube.

13. “Great Job! You Got a 68%!”. Don’t expect to get higher than an 85% here unless your name is Albert Einstein. The teachers pretty much tell you straight up you will never get a 90%. This is another adjustment that has been taking a toll on me. To them, a 80% is like an A back in the States.

14. Jeans are The New Shorts. It is 100 degree weather here and I see 80% of people wearing jean pants! I am really confused about how they are not dying from a heat stroke. My teacher told me that apparently Levis cost 90 euros while in the US they cost maybe $60. I told him I would ship him a pair if he gives me an A… so we’ll see.

15. Taxes Spent Right. Before I tell you how much their income tax is, I want you to look at my photos of all the beautiful landscapes and buildings there are here. Okay…. so their income tax is 50%! Crazy I know! But here they don’t have insurance, instead their tax dollars pay for public healthcare and the parks/landscapes. Even though that sounds outrageous, my professor said that many of the people don’t mind it because they feel like they get so much back in return.

**This experience has taught me a lot… if you haven’t noticed. Even though it is a different culture, I still love every single aspect about this beautiful country! If you ever have the opportunity to study abroad, GO TO SEVILLA! This city is unbelievable!

Long time no post! I need to catch you all up on how amazing my experience has been so far! Let me start off by saying, out of all the places I have been to thus far, Sevilla is my favorite city. The city has so much to offer such as the architecture, landscapes, plazas, and people! I walk 30 minutes to class everyday, but it doesn’t feel like that long because of how beautiful my walk is. Universidad Internacional Menendez Pelayo, my school, has the best resources. The staff and utilities have made me feel so comfortable for being in a country that speaks Spanish with a little bit of English. Speaking of Spanish… my Spanish has become soooo much better from being here. If you are a Spanish major or minor, Sevilla is the place to go! They use the dialect that we learn back in the States, which is very helpful.

But anyways, I bet you want to hear about my experiences so far. I have traveled to Madrid, Toledo, Malaga, Granada, Cordoba, Jerez, Cadiz, Morocco, and Sevilla in only 4 weeks! ISA gives you all these opportunities to travel on excursions throughout the program. While being in Granada, we were able to see the biggest Mezquita (mosque) in the world! The mosque is beautiful! We learned that the Catholics took over the mosque and put a church right in the middle of the praying grounds. We headed to Granada right after. In Granada, we were able to see a Flamenco dance. The neat thing about Granada is you get free tapas (appetizers) when you order a drink. So in all reality, you don’t have to buy food if you don’t want to. We also were able to see a garden/fortress called La Alhambra. Beautiful scenery!

One of the places I went with just a few friends was Málaga. I traveled with my new friends Monica, Jaffet, and Austin. We decided to adventurous and go to the beach and spend the night on the beach instead of getting a hostel. We actually could have done that if it didn’t downpour while we were there. It was still an experience I wouldn’t take back. The more, the merrier my mom always says.

The next weekend, we traveled to Jerez and Cadiz. In Jerez, we went to a winery and learned how they barreled the wines and developed the rich taste. We also were given the opportunity to taste test 2 wines called Tío Pepe and Croft. They were both sweet wine wines (my favorite!). At Cadiz, we found a beach to relax at for 4 hours. The beach was extremely crowded because in Spain everybody travels to the beach in June, July, and August on the weekends.

This past weekend, I decided to travel to Morocco as a personal trip of mine. I went with Remy, Austin, Madison, and Thomas from my ISA group. We went through a program called We Love Sevilla. We paid $298 for a 3 day trip that included 2 hotel rooms, 6 meals, camelback rides, monkey interactions, cave viewing, 3 tours (bus, walking), travel there and back (bus, ferry), and a belly dancer show. It is crazy how cheap it was! They have an excursion that goes to Portugal that I am going to look into as well. But anyways, this was probably my favorite excursion so far because of all the things we got to experience. I don’t think I would ever go back to Morocco since it was pretty poverty-stricken, but it was still neat to engage myself in the culture and people. All of Northern Africa is Arabic, which I had no clue about. So you can imagine how surprised I was when I got there!

This week is the last week of Session 1 of my study abroad. I still have one more session, but it is sad to see all my new friends leave. It will definitely be an adjustment, but I can’t wait to meet the new group coming! My time here is half way over and it amazes me how fast this amazing experience goes by. I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for the world! So lucky to be able to do this! I recommend anybody interested in studying abroad to start saving now because it is worth every penny!

Cecily Dupont

PS- I added a video link below. My friend, Austin, made this of our experiences we’ve had so far! Enjoy!

I’ve been in Europe for three and a half weeks now. What? I can’t believe I’ve been over here for three weeks already, I remembered flying into the airport on the first day and not knowing anyone and a minimal amount of Spanish, but now I’ve met so many people and my Spanish is improving. It’s insane how fast time goes when you’re constantly busy exploring, touring different countries, meeting new people, and staying on top of school work. I’ll explain a little bit what has happened since the last time I blogged with was about 2 weeks ago, and let me tell you a lot has happened in such a small time span.

I left off with the fact that I was going to be travelling to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Brussels in Belgium. Both of these places were awesome! We saw so many unique things in both cities, and one of the coolest experiences was the fact that when we were in the Netherlands, they were playing Spain in the World Cup and they beat them 5 – 1, so the city was going nuts to say the least. In the Netherlands I went on 2 different tours. On the first walking tour I learned so much about the city, including seeing the smallest house in the city which is 1.8 meters long and I saw the house that Anne Frank lived in during the war which was a surreal experience. The other tour was a canal tour in which we took a boat through the city and learned even more about the history of Amsterdam. After we spent 2 days in Amsterdam, our group traveled to Brussels in Belgium via bus and that trip was interesting because we didn’t really have a plan about what we wanted to do, but we had a great time exploring the Grand Place as well as watching two World Cup soccer games in which the atmosphere was awesome because there were so many people from different countries and nationalities in one place all watching the same thing.

The following day our group traveled back to Barcelona and got back into the normal routine with school and going to the beach and exploring more of the city. Last week a lot of students had midterms and this upcoming week I have both of my midterms in my two classes but it shouldn’t be too difficult because my professors do an excellent job of preparing their students for the material on the tests. Other than school, this past weekend we traveled to Costa Brava, Spain and got to experience sardines that are rated as the best sardines in the world according to different sources. We also got to travel via boat to another small city named Cadaques which is located on the coastline. This was really cool because we stopped in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and got to swim which was different because the water is so salty there that you can basically float without even trying.

Once we got finished with Costa Brava we came back to Barcelona and have been here for 2 days. The only downfall about this entire trip was last night when Portugal scored in the last 20 seconds of the World Cup to force a draw between them and the United States. We were at a place with so many people from the United States and Portugal watching the game so it was a unique experience watching the game with people from both countries cheering for opposite teams. Other than the U.S. draw, I have loved every second of this study abroad experience and I highly recommend that every student take the opportunity to study abroad in another country because you get the chance to meet so many different people and learn not only about other cultures but also your own. I have realized a lot about the United States just from being in Spain for 3 weeks and it has been an eye opening experience for me to say the least.

As I said earlier, I have two midterms this week so I need to start preparing for them so I do well in those classes. Just a quick update so you know what’s happening with me over here over the next few weeks. This upcoming weekend I am traveling to Morocco, Africa and then the following weekend on the 4th of July I’m planning a trip to hopefully Rome, Italy. Tonight and tomorrow is a holiday here in Barcelona where there are bands and concerts and different cultural experiences over the entire city so everyone here is going to see what this is all about tonight. Time for me to get off here because we’re about to go see more of the city!

Hasta luego,

Matt Schafer

Guten morgen everyone! Each weekend while I am abroad I am allowed to travel during that time and they give us a three day weekend so we can have enough time to travel! So, for my first weekend that I could travel I chose to travel to Munich, Germany. Here is a little recap of my trip!

After arriving to Munich by train, we left the train station and headed to our hotel for the weekend – a Holiday Inn – which seemed like the Ritz Carlton to us. The beds were comfortable and soft, there was a normal sized shower with a tub, the towels were normal sized and soft and there was air conditioning. By our reactions you would have thought we were staying in the most luxurious place in the whole world. After we dropped off our things we headed to Dachau, which is a Concentration Camp Memorial Site. As we found our way from our hotel to Dachau and started walking towards the main gates there was just a feeling that everyone could feel. It’s a feeling that is hard to describe unless you actually experience it but the best way I can describe it is that you could feel the atmosphere shift from one of excitement to darkness and sadness. As we walked towards the gate to walk inside I had to take a second to take a breath because it hit me that I was about to walk into a place that once held prisoners hostage, killed many and was a place of evil. As you opened the gate, it read in German “work will set you free”, or some version of that phrase.

I could talk about my experience at Dachau for hours about what I saw, how I was feeling and what it was like. It definitely was a moving experience and it put into a real perspective of what it was actually like being there. It is one thing to read about it in a book but to walk around and learn about all of the details was definitely an experience I will never forget. Overall, the visit to Dachau was eye opening and powerful and is one I will never forget.

After we left Dachau it was time to lift our spirits a little bit and grab some food and head back to our hotel for the night because we were exhausted and we knew we were going to have a full day on Saturday. We found a little Chinese take-out restaurant that was by the main train station in Munich. Eating dinner was a little taste of home because it was really good and I love having Chinese take-out food. As we sat and ate our dinner and talked we remembered that it was the anniversary of D-day on June 6^th, which was Friday, and we were sitting in Munich, Germany. Never did I think that I would be able to say that. My house mom had talked to me about D-day and what it was like for her and her family during that time and it was really interesting to get her point of view about it.

Saturday morning was the first time I have slept past 7:00 a.m. since being in Europe. There have been no lazy mornings whatsoever on this trip. So, needless to say I slept until 10 a.m. on Saturday and it was glorious! I finally got more than 6 or 7 hours of sleep and the beds were super comfortable too. As we headed out to the city centre of Munich – also known as Marienplatz – we decided that all of us girls needed a day of shopping! For those of you who know me, know that this is right up my alley and meant that I was going to be happy the rest of the day if I could shop! Some of you may know that I have a “small” obsession with shoes and that I love buying and wearing shoes more than anything…okay maybe it is a big obsession! Anyways, I had told some of my friends that all I wanted from Germany, if nothing else, was a red pair of Birkenstocks because Birkenstocks are made in Germany and I have a pair that I bought in America but how cool would it be to buy some in Germany? So throughout our shopping and sightseeing, we always had our eyes out for Birkenstocks. As we walked through city centre we saw the world famous Glockenspiel and it was absolutely beautiful! The amount of detail work, architectural design and sheer beauty of this building took my breath away.

We continued to walk around Marienplatz and we went into a couple of shoe stores and no luck on finding red Birkenstocks. They had every other color and design but red. We went into some souvenir shops, clothing stores, sporting stores and bought a few things and then a couple of more shoe stores and no luck. We went into a shoe store that didn’t look promising and I asked the woman and she said they didn’t have any Birkenstocks at that specific location but if I walked up a couple of blocks I would be able to check in the larger version of this shoe store which is called Tretter’s. I started telling my friends that we might just be out of luck and I won’t be able to find them here but that was okay. So, we decided that we would check that one last store and then head to dinner because it was 5 o’clock at this point. As I walked into this larger store I asked a saleswoman if she had any Birkenstocks, which they did, but as I walked to the display I didn’t see any red ones. I had told the woman about my adventure to find a pair of red flip-flop style Birkenstocks and she didn’t think they sold any that were just plain red. I did see a pair that had a little red on them so I decided to try those on. She was gone for a couple of minutes and then came back out with two boxes. One of the boxes had the design that I had asked to try on from the display and then she got a huge grin on her face and opened the next box which had a pair of red flip-flop Birkenstocks in my exact size and they were the only pair in their stock room. I mean is that fate or what?! I was destined to have these shoes! I could not stop smiling as I tried them on and my friends could hear that I was excited and they stopped their looking to come find me. Needless to say I was in love with these shoes AND to top it all off, they were half priced compared to in America! What a deal, right?!

After I made my purchase I looked at my friends and thanked them for going along with my crazy desire to find these shoes and that I would be happy with whatever we did the rest of the weekend because I had found these shoes! They were pretty happy that I had gotten them because they knew that it made my day and weekend. We decided for dinner we had to go to the original Hofbräuhaus that is in Munich because it is a must and is something cool that you can tell people about. As we found our way there you could tell it was very touristy in that area with lots of souvenir shops, gelato shops and even a Hard Rock Café. As we sat ourselves in the world’s most famous “Biergarten” it was so cool to sit and watch the people around you. We decided to experience it to the fullest and we all ordered a liter of their original beer. It was pretty good beer and now I can say I drank a liter of German beer in the Hofbräuhaus! I also ate a pretzel that was larger than my face and some other sides. It was definitely a lot of fun to get to eat and drink there.

After the Hofbräuhaus it was time to head back to the hotel to get some much needed rest and relax our feet and that gave me some time to try on my new shoes again! Sunday morning we had to wake up a little early because we were going to tour BMW Welt before we got on our 1:20 p.m. train back to Bregenz. So, we got up early and made it to BMW Welt (World) by 9:30. One cool fact about being there was that it was right next to the Olympic Park in Munich, so we got to see and look around the Olympic Park. As we approached the BMW Welt it was so futuristic looking and the architecture was simply flawless.

As we walked in I was overwhelmed with all of the cars that were on display and how everything was so clean and sharp looking. As we walked through BMW Welt I got to sit in some of the different cars, SUVs and convertibles which was really cool. I also learned about the new BMW model that they will release soon called the i8 BMW. Their technology is absolutely incredible and fascinating and was REALLY cool to learn about. They also had simulations where you could sit and “drive” a BMW through a course and let me say that I don’t think I should ever drive 125 mph on a real road. As I was almost approaching the exit to the building I noticed this beautiful looking car that was the very last exhibit. It so happened that it was in my very favorite color and I still believe that this BMW was built specifically for me! I think this would make an excellent college graduation gift!

After touring the BMW Welt we went back to city center and ate some delicious lunch inside of the Glockenspiel at a restaurant called the Ratskellar. I had chicken bratwurst and French fries and it was SO delicious. I also got some crushed ice with my cola-light and if anyone has traveled to Europe, you can relate to my excitement about the crushed ice and ice in general. But, to top it all off we got to sit inside the Glockenspiel and listen to it ring which happens every day at 11 a.m., 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. It was really beautiful to just sit there in the sun and relax and take it all in.

As we headed back to the train station to catch our train back to Bregenz, the s-bahn decided that it was going to be a little slow that day and it caused us to miss our train that departed at 1:20 and the train left without us. So, we had to find out when the next train was leaving and luckily there was another one that was leaving at 4:33 and we were going to make sure that we made that one because it was the last train of the day to stop in Bregenz. So, we got comfortable at a table and waited around a little bit and watched people walk by.

Finally, it was time to board our train and head back towards Bregenz. But, of course before I left I went to the bathroom. (Hint #3 to Europe: It costs money to go to the bathroom sometimes.) I had to pay one euro to go to the bathroom and if weren’t for the fact that I had to go really bad and was going to be on a train for two and a half hours I would have held it. But, anyways I made it back onto the train safely and we were on our way back. After finally making it back to Bregenz and walking up the “hill” with all of my new purchases and backpack with clothes in it, I was looking forward to just taking a shower and writing my blog and relaxing a little bit. But, much to my surprise my house mom’s daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren were in for the night because Monday was a holiday here. As much as I wanted to just chill and relax, it was also really cool to be able to sit down with them and talk and get to know them. It is fascinating because all of them could speak both German and English fluently, even the children who were about 5 and 2. After sitting and talking for a while, I decided that it was time to head to bed and get some sleep. Well, I think that is all for now and I will check in again later!