This past weekend I spent 24 hours in Berlin, Germany.Originally, my friend Brenna and I planned to spend the entire weekend in Milan. But due to a cheap flight with Ryanair and an extreme urge to see as much as we can while studying abroad, we decided to book a flight to Berlin last weekend as well. On Friday we took a train to Milan. Once we arrived in Milan we met up with two friends at our Airbnb. We all went to dinner, then went to a bar and had a few drinks. We went back and slept a few hours, then headed to the Milan airport to catch our early flight to Berlin. After taking longer than expected to get to the airport, we ended up running through the airport looking as American as it gets. We almost missed our flight, but luckily we made it. An hour and a half flight later we landed in Berlin. After arriving to our adorable Airbnb we freshened up before heading out to explore the city. While exploring, we took our time. Brenna waited patiently while I was taking pictures of everything I saw- trying my best to capture this beautiful city. We stumbled upon a restaurant called Soul Food and decided to go in and get lunch. I ate the best cheeseburger of my life with a side of chilli powder cheese fries with bacon and jalapeños. So far, this meal and the burger I had in Milan have been the most American meals I have had since living in Europe. After lunch we headed towards the Berlin Wall Memorial. Once we arrived we walked around this historical site and absorbed as much as we possibly could. Next we headed to the East Side Gallery. The East Side Gallery is the last remaining pieces of the Berlin Wall and is known as an international memorial of freedom. The wall is covered in beautiful graffiti and art. Words can not describe the amount of beauty and creativity this wall contains. The pictures I took do not do it justice but here are a few of my favorites anyways: After walking all the way down the East Side Gallery we noticed people heading towards the gigantic Mercedes Benz Arena. We decided to walk by and check out what was going on. A worker told us the Berlin vs. Munich basketball game was starting soon, and a ticket scalper offered us his tickets for a good price. We decided to be spontaneous and buy the tickets. When arriving in the arena we were both shocked by how great our seats were, and by how packed this arena was. It must have been an important game for the German basketball league. We clapped along throughout the game, and tried our best to catch on to the chants but had no luck. Everything the crowd was screaming was in German, we didn't understand a single word. But we still had a blast watching the game and enjoying some beer and bratwurst. After the game we headed back to our Airbnb and called it a night. We were extremely exhausted from our long day in Berlin and had to get up extremely early for our flight home. In the morning we took a taxi back to the airport, flew back to Milan, then took a train back to our little town, Arezzo.
Making split decisions like the one I made to travel to Berlin last weekend is very unlike me. Overall I would say this weekend was very spontaneous and I loved every second of it. Berlin is filled with open hearts and creative minds and I could not have loved this city more. If you ever find yourself in Berlin be sure to visit the East Side Gallery, it’s an amazing site to see and by far my favorite part about the entire trip!
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SienaAs a part of the program I am in, OU in Arezzo, our professors take us on a couple class field trips to different places in Italy. This Friday we went to Siena and San Gimignano. Friday morning we took a bus to Siena. When we arrived there, our tour guide took us all throughout this beautiful city while telling us the history of it. We were taken on a guided visit to Palazzo Pubblico. After, we went toured a beautiful cathedral. After our tours in Siena, we were able to eat lunch at one of the local restaurant. Then, we got back on the bus and headed towards a little town called San Gimignano. San GimignanoWhen we arrived in this little town, we were guided up and down the different streets learning all about the history behind each thing we saw. Then, we were taken on another guided tour through a cathedral. After our tour, we had free time. Some friends and I walked around and looked in some shops, then we stopped to get some gelato before heading back. After a long day, we finally headed home to Arezzo. I had a great time visiting these two Italian cities. The architecture in these towns was absolutely stunning. It was also amazing to me to see how much art and history each one of these cities truly had. Not only did I enjoy seeing some breathtaking views, I also had fun learning more about Italian culture and spending time with people from my program! I am excited to see where else my study abroad journey will take me!
Bimbo ItaliaAlmost two weeks ago I was able to meet with my supervisor for my internship, her name is Lucia Fanfani. After a quick tour of the office and short introduction, I left the office feeling nothing but pure excitement. I had my own desk. My very own desk. Who knew such a small thing could bring someone so much joy. On Monday, I started my first official day of my internship. My first day was everything I hoped it would be and more. I began by meeting a fellow intern, Irina, at the bus station in Arezzo. Irina, who traveled from Florence by train that morning, helped me get on the correct bus to head to work. I am thankful for her guidance because without her I am not sure I would have figured out the bus system at all. Once we made it to the office I was greeted by Lucia, my internship supervisor, and another intern name Misha. Misha and Irina are both from Russia, and are interning with Bimbo Italia here in Arezzo, but they do not live in Arezzo, they commute from Florence, where they both live. The people I work with have been so welcoming and friendly. Almost everyone in the office speaks English, which I am extremely thankful for. I am hoping throughout this experience, my Italian will improve. I am taking my third semester of it here in Arezzo, but reading and writing it seems to be much easier than actually communicating. I would love to be able to speak two languages someday. Maybe this internship will get me closer to reaching that goal. I spent my first day talking with Lucia about my tasks for this internship, along with learning more about the company. I spent the rest of the day browsing the website, and trying to learn as much as I could so I could better understand who I was working for, and what it was going to take for me to reach the goals Lucia had set for me. On Tuesday and Thursday I began doing market research. All in all, it was a great first week as an intern. I am extremely excited to continue learning and I have high hopes of growing as a business professional throughout this experience. I feel extremely blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with not only such a great company, but to work first hand with such kind hearted and intelligent people. As the semester goes on, I will try to write more about my experiences as an intern! If you’re interested to learn more about the company I will be interning for, check out bimbo.net. or borgo-italia.com. This is where I was able to get a better understanding of the company and what they are all about! This past weekend I had breakfast in Italy, lunch in Germany, and dinner in the Netherlands. That right there is a sentence I never thought I would be able to say.
My trip to the Netherlands started out on Thursday evening. Since Arezzo is a small town in Italy, you have to take a train to a larger city like Florence or Rome and fly out from there. Me and my best friend Brenna along with our new friends Maddie and Caroline, took a train from Arezzo to Florence Thursday evening. When we arrived in Florence, took a ten minute walk to our hostel, where we slept for a few hours, then had to leave at 4:30 in the morning and travel to the Florence airport by taxi. Early Friday morning we took a flight from Florence to Munich, Germany, where we had a 5 hour layover. We ate lunch and took naps on the chairs in the airport. Finally we took a flight from Munich to Amsterdam. Once we landed in Amsterdam we went straight to our hotel. We stayed at the Volks Hotel. The location of this hotel was not ideal, but it also wasn't terrible, especially for how cheap it was for the four of us! It was an extremely unique hotel. It had a very "hipster" vibe to it. After a long day of traveling, we all showered, got ready, and met up with friends who are also studying abroad in Europe this semester. Caroline's friend, Chandler and her boyfriend Reid came from Paris, along with my friend Trevor. Keaton, Joe, and Kevin came from London. The boys stayed in an Airbnb right across from the Anne Frank house, right on the canal. It was an extremely nice place with an amazing view. Our first night there we went to dinner at a small restaurant near where the boys were staying. I ordered a cheeseburger and french fries and was sadly disappointed. We were told by our uber driver that the food in Amsterdam was very boring, but it wasn't until I took a bite of a completely flavorless cheeseburger till I finally understood what he meant by that. After dinner, we ventured out and went to the red light district. I had heard about the red light district and was told it was something I needed to do no matter what, it was a huge part of the "Amsterdam experience." I was shocked by some of the things I saw, but ultimately I am happy I was able to experience it and can now say that I have been. Saturday morning we woke up and went to an early lunch. This time I ordered a quesadilla, and it was actually pretty good. It was the first "Mexican" food I have had so far in Europe, but it was nothing like Mexican food in America. After lunch we walked around for a bit. We went into a bunch of different shops, and finally around 3 we headed back towards the Anne Frank house so we could wait in line to buy tickets. After a cold, long, and boring two hour wait, we finally made it to the front of the line. We were able to purchase tickets and tour the house. I am not exaggerating when I say it was one of the most incredible experiences of my life. If you ever find yourself in Amsterdam you 100% need to go to the Anne Frank house. It was incredible and well worth the wait. But, I would suggest buying your tickets ahead of time online, this will save you from the brutally long line to get in. Saturday night we decided to go to an Ice bar. It was very cool and different experience. It was 18 euros each, and included three free drinks. When we first walked in we were able to order our "welcome drinks" and hangout in the lounge. Then, we were taken into a room to get gloves and thermal coats before entering the actual ice bar. When we entered the bar we were able to order two more drinks, served to us in ice glasses. We didn't last long in the actual Ice bar because the thermal coats did not do much in regards to keeping us warm. But I'm happy we did it, it was a unique experience and I had a lot of fun. Sunday morning we packed up and headed back to the airport, where we flew from Amsterdam back to Munich, then from Munich to Florence, then we took a train from Florence back to Arezzo. After another long day of traveling we got home around 7-8 o'clock and I was sound asleep shortly after. So far, Amsterdam has been my favorite city I have visited in Europe. I am anxious to see if anywhere else tops it! The next place I travel will be for a class trip to Siena, and San Gimignano on Friday. A few of us were talking about taking a train Friday night and heading towards Cinque Terre, Lake Como or Milan! Stay tuned to my blog see where I travel to next. For those of you who are curious...The program I am in is called OU in Arezzo, which is exactly what it sounds like. Essentially, I am on the same schedule as the University of Oklahoma, except for the fact that I am in Italy, instead of the US. Meaning I began when OU began, and will finish when OU finishes. I also have spring break the same time they do! Each student in the program is required to take a certain number of courses. Since there is no direct program here for my major, Public Relations like they have for other majors (for example, they have a Chemistry program and business program here) I am taking an online course, and electives and the rest of my general education courses this semester.
Here is what my weekly schedule looks like: Monday: 10am-2pm Internship Tuesday: 10am-1pm Internship, 4:30pm-5:30pm Italian 3 Wednesday: 9:30am-12:30pm Art History, 3:30pm-6:30pm Food History Thursday: 10am-1pm Internship, 4:30pm-5:30pm Italian 3 Online: PR writing I know this post isn't that exciting, but I figured I would explain a little more of what my class schedule looks like while studying abroad for those of you who may be curious. I really like the way the classes are set up here. I also like the fact that there are no night or Friday classes! Anyways... I hope everyone who wants to keep up with me this semester is enjoying reading my blog thus far. I hope to continue to keep up with it! Brenna and I, along with two of our new friends, Maddie and Caroline, decided to take a short day trip this past Saturday to Pisa, Italy. We figured since it was only about a two hour train ride away we shouldn't have any problems venturing off on our own. Now, that was the case on our way there. We took a train around 1:45 pm to Florence, and then from Florence to Pisa. Buying the train tickets at the station in Arezzo was fairly easy, and we lucked out and a friendly lady who spoke English helped us get off the train when we arrived in Florence and get to our next train that would take us to Pisa. With her help, getting to Pisa was pretty easy. When we arrived in Pisa, we asked for directions to the leaning tower. After a 20-25 minute walk straight and one slight left turn we made it to the tower with no problems. WARNING: these photos are extremely touristy Seeing the tower in person was amazing. I felt like pictures did not truly show how much the building was leaning. It was astonishing.
After we took a few pictures we decided to go eat a restaurant nearby. After we finished eating we realized it wasn't even 7 o'clock, and the train we originally were going to go home on didn't leave till late that night. We decided to catch the earlier train at 7:25 NOTE: For anyone traveling to Pisa, you only need a couple hours there! In my opinion, other than looking at the tower and maybe grabbing a bite to eat, there is not much else to do unless you want to spend more money and shop (which they did seem to have a lot of cute stores)! Anyway, after sprinting to catch the early train back to Florence, we barely made it. Except, when the train came to its final stop, we realized we were not in Florence. I could not even tell you the name of the town we ended up in. But, there was a large group of Americans who did the same thing as us. We chatted with them and all of us ended up making it back to Florence with no other problems. We finally made it there only to realize the only train left to Arezzo was the same one we had planned to take. We had a few hours to kill so we went to the McDonalds in the train station and ate a second dinner. And it was worth it! It was the first piece of "American" food that has actually tasted like American food, and it sure was nice. The last train arrived in Florence and an hour and a half later we made it back to Arezzo safe & sound. This weekend was quite the adventure and I'm looking forward to many more adventures to come. Next weekend i'm going to Amsterdam, Netherlands so be sure to stay tuned! My first week here in Arezzo has flown by. my week was filled with orientation sessions and just simply getting to know the city, nothing too exciting has happened. I figured I would make this post and share some of my first impressions I wrote down when I got here. 1. I had no idea this city had mountains. And they are beautiful to look at. 2. I've had too much pasta for one week. And could I get some ranch dressing for my pizza? 3. There are so many hills in this town. SO. MANY. 4. The cobble stone is so uneven. There is no way i'll ever be able to wear the 6 pairs of heels I brought here. 5. There seems to be no traffic rules, these people drive like maniacs. 6. The cars are so tiny, it must be because of all the narrow streets. 7. The doors are not normal size, they are either huge or extremely tiny, there is no in between. 8. They sell wine everywhere, literally EVERYWHERE! And, it's so cheap. 9. No locals are blonde here, I feel like I stick out like a sore thumb. 10. It's a lot colder than I expected. My first purchase was a winter coat because I did not pack correctly for this weather! I haven't taken many pictures of this little town since we've been here, which might surprise most people. But I still have four more months of living here so I'll be sure to make a post dedicated to showing off how beautiful this city is! Another thing I'd like to share is that after a long week full of orientation meetings and tours around the city, our professors took us all out to a nice Italian restaurant where we were able to experience a traditional Italian dinner. We we're served four courses and the dinner took over three hours! But it was extremely delicious. Here are a few pictures from dinner: I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post and keeping up with me! Next post will be about my first weekend adventure in Pisa, Italy!
Today is the day. Its really happening, I'm leaving the country for the entire semester! I leave Tulsa this morning and fly to Dallas, where i'll meet with my best friend Brenna. Brenna and I will fly from Dallas, to Philadelphia, then from there we will take a red eye to Rome. When we arrive in Rome, we will then take a shuttle to Arezzo, where we will call home for the next four months. This week is just orientation week so classes won't actually start until next week.
Although I am extremely anxious for what's to come, I'm very excited to embark on this journey and I can not wait to see what God has in store. I'm going to miss a lot of things while I'm gone. My family, my friends, my boyfriend, my dog, Taco Bell.. the list goes on and on. I'll be trying my best to keep up with my blog while i'm abroad, so if you're ever curious to know what i'm up too, this blog will be the place to find out that information. Heres to a semester full of adventure! Ciao, America! A few days ago I had the privilege to shoot an engagement session with Lauren Gouker and Michael Cuckler. Before every photoshoot my anxiety level is always high. With this being my first ever engagement shoot, I was even more anxious than usual. But as soon as I began shooting these two love birds, I realized how easy it was going to be. Anyone with a camera phone would have been able to capture how much these two love each other.
My personal favorite pictures from the shoot were the ones I snapped when Michael and Lauren were simply interacting with each other. Just looking at his fiancé would bring such a big, genuine smile to Michael’s face and you could see the “I can’t believe she’s mine” look in his eyes. And what I loved even more than that was the way he made her genuinely laugh in these photos. Overall I am extremely grateful for the opportunity I was given to take pictures for this beautiful couple and I cannot wait to see what God has in store for their future! As I was scrolling through Pinterest, where I spend hours on end pinning things to a series boards that make up my dream closet, dream wedding, and altogether my dream life, I came across a quote that said "Comparison is the thief of joy." First of all, I'd like to point out the irony of me finding this quote on the social media platform I do most of my comparing. This quote really got me thinking. I don't think I have ever read something more accurate.
I'm writing this post to act as if I have it all figured out, or to tell you I don't compare myself to others because I do. My goal in writing this is to encourage readers to stop letting the act of comparison steal your joy. The more you compare yourself, the more happiness are robbing yourself from. There will always be more in life, but it's important to remember you have enough and you are enough. Now I know it's easier said than done, especially in this day in age. Social media such as Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook etc. help feed the comparison monster. I think we all get so used to comparing ourselves that it becomes instinctive. It's so easy to get caught up scrolling through Instagram and seeing a picture of someone you find much prettier than you and thinking to yourself "wow I wish I looked like her" or "wow I wish I had her hair/body/closet." What would happen if instead of comparing ourselves we took the time to appreciate what we have and who we are? Self-love and acceptance are powerful things, my friends. Both of which I truly need to work on. Thats why this year my New Year's resoltion this year is to not let comparison steal my joy! |