Innsbruck/ Fussen

With the Swarovski mouse (the first figure they ever made)

In front of the Swarovski factory

The golden roof

Innsbruck

Olympic Ski Jump... so high!

Such a cool little church!

With our hotel and the castle!

So fun!

After Arezzo we had some train trouble and my mom and I were stuck in Bologna without a train! The crew ended up renting two buses to take all of the passengers to Verona to get on a different train to Innsbruck and 4 hours later we were finally back on our way!

When we got there we were so tired that all we could do was eat dinner and go to bed.

The next morning we got up and went to pick up our rental car. The girl at the front desk was nice and was about to visit DC so I told her everywhere I knew that was good to go. We got our little car and it was a standard so my mom had to remember how to drive one and off we went to the Swarovski factory (they're made right outside Innsbruck).

We made it there easily with the help of Helga (what we named our navigation) and it started raining so we were glad to head inside. The tour was pretty bizarre, you sort of felt like you were on drugs or a weird movie because it wasn't the factory of how they are made, but rather like a crystal art show that was strange. Moving mechanical legs, walking mannequins, creepy sounding accordions, but it all was bedazzled.

At the end we went to the shop where they sold all sorts of crystals and the best part was definitely shopping.

Next we drove back into town, parked, and toured the city center. We went by Court Church, the Golden Roof, the river, the Imperial Gardens, and many other places. We took some cute pictures and had lunch nearby.

After the city center we drove out to the ski jump area and I was stunned to see how high it was. No one could pay me enough money to do that ever!! We also went by the stadium where they had figure skating and other events.

Innsbruck was very pretty, but the weather wasn't great so we were glad to move on.

The next morning we packed up and drove off to Schwangau, where Neuschwanstein castle is. I booked our hotel way in advance and knew it was close to the castle, but did not realize just how close it really was. Anyone who has been there will appreciate this because in the town you buy your tickets and then take a 40 minute walking trail to the top.

What we found out this time was that this was also a road, and my mom and I were DRIVING up it trying not to hit all of the tourists as we went to our hotel. Sure enough about 2 minutes from the very top there it was like 100 feet away from the castle! It was the craziest thing! When my mom and I looked out our window that night we were literally staring at the towers.

After parking and checking in we walked back down to buy our tickets and explore, then came back up and had dinner at the hotel. By that point we did not have much time till our tour but I wanted my mom to see the view from Mary's bridge, so I basically had her running uphill 20 minutes trying to make it to this bridge, we snapped a few pics and a video and then walked back to make it to our tour.

Neuschwanstein is really cool, but better from the outside. The inside was never finished and it doesn't really have the castle story we all dream about. But still, it was so fun to go there and be its neighbor for a night.

The next morning we drove through the next town of Fussen where they were having a Medieval festival so we stuck around and watched people getting ready. I bought a traditional German dress that I'm sure I will be wearing for costume parties to come (although I did not tell the shopkeepers that because they were pretty convinced it was going to be worn regularly like they did).

When the people started preparing for the festival we headed out and I found out that apparently I look German because within one hour I had three different people come up to me and try to start conversations before they realized I had no idea what they were saying! It was funny.

Off to Munich!

In the OU Daily!

Speaking of Arezzo and studying abroad, the OU Daily just interviewed me about receiving an ALD scholarship to study abroad and it is up now!

http://oudaily.com/news/2010/jul/29/student-receives-1000-help-fund-semester-abroad/

Also in the OU Daily, my camp crimson campers are the main advertisement picture for Camp Crimson!! This pic was taken during one of their leadership challenges and they look so great!

http://oudaily.com/campcrimson/

Under the Tuscan Sun! (Arezzo and Cortona)

My new home!...Eventually!

Raining in Cortona

An Art Gallery in Cortona

City Square in Arezzo

Arezzo Map

With Kate in front of my apartment!

After Rome my mom and I carried our 4 huge bags (2 of which are staying in Arezzo till I come back) and we got on our train to Arezzo. It was not too far at all and our hotel was close. It just so happened to be the same hotel that my friends were staying at which worked out perfectly!

When we got to our room I texted Kate, the OU program assistant to the director, and we met up so that I could leave the big bags at her apartment. She was so nice and took my mom and I all around town and showed us where to go, eat, etc. We had lunch with her and then just wandered shopping and taking lots of pictures for awhile.

Around 9pm I went and met up with the OU Arts and Science students who were having a farewell dinner and hung out with them that evening. They also had lots of tips for me about what to do in Arezzo so it was so fun seeing them and my friends!

The next morning we got up and went to the train station to go to Cortona (The town where they filmed Under the Tuscan Sun). It is only 20 minutes away so we got to the station no problem but Cortona is up on a hill so you have to take a taxi to get there. This is a small town with only 3 taxis total and none of the drivers spoke English, so luckily I knew enough to explain where we were and what we wanted to do and a taxi came for us.

Cortona was so beautiful because you can see over the whole Tuscan valley from the top. We had a great time wandering the streets shopping and looking through art galleries. When we went to eat it started raining so we moved inside. Of course we didn't bring our umbrellas or rain jackets with us so our first souvenir purchase there was new umbrellas!

By the end of the day we had basically walked the whole city and on the way back our taxi driver took us by the house where they shot all of the indoor scenes of under the tuscan sun and the olive picking scene. That was cool!

The next day we got up to go to Innsbruck and it was quite the mess. We had a connecting train in Bologna that broke down, so the German train company rented a bus and drove all of the passengers to Verona where we had to wait for another train to come and around 4 hours later it did. But now we are in Innsbruck and that is all that matters!

Roma con mia mama!

In the Vatican Museum!

In front of St. Peters

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Baby on Board!

Colloseum

The Forum

Buon Giorno!

My mom and I arrived in Rome on the 23rd and have had a great time! After we arrived we went to meet our driver who was expecting me to be a business person so he was a bit surprised when I went and tapped him in my sweat suit. He also did not speak english at all, so I used all of my italian skills and had a pretty decent conversation!

We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast that didn't have AC, just a big fan so my mom had a rude awakening. Then I made her get ready really quickly so that we could head out to the colloseum. We took the metro and that also freaked my mom out a little bit but she was a trooper! It was super hot but we got over it because we wanted to see the forum and colloseum.

We had a lot of fun walking around and taking pictures. We got lost in the forum for awhile but we were glad we bought our tickets there first because the line at the colloseum was outrageous! After touring it all we went and had snacks and a drink at a restaurant across the street.

The metro and heat was pretty hard on my mom and the metro does not go to all of the places we wanted to go, so I sucked it up and let me mom convince me to take a bus tour. And I will admit it did make my life a lot easier.

The next day we got up and got on the bus to ride around the city. We went the whole way round and then got off at the Trevi fountain to meet up with my Theta friends. We were early so we took some pictures and wandered the area. When we decided to throw our coins in the fountain I went first and then gave a coin to mom who just threw it like a baseball (instead of over her shoulder) and I got a pretty good laugh about that. When my friends came we took some pics and chatted but then we all had to be different places later.

We hopped back on the bus and went to the Pantheon, but missed our stop so we had to get off at the next one and walk back. When we got there we took some pictures, sat down and then got kicked out for mass to start so we had just barely made it.

After the Pantheon we went and found the bus again and went to have dinner by the Vatican, this was our first real meal of the trip because the hot weather and busy schedule didn't allow us to much time or that big of an appetite.

On our last day we went to the Vatican museums, which were free because it was the last Sunday of the month. We stood in line for awhile, took some cute pics of nuns driving, on laptops, and other things you wouldn't picture nuns doing. We did the whole tour, bought a really nice cross necklace for my mom at the Vatican and ate our first italian pizza at the restaurant there.

We got a late start this day so by the time we wanted to go to the basilica the line was ridiculous so I told my mom we would come back before it close that evening. Getting back on the bus, we rode to the Spanish steps and did a little shopping then had dinner.

Around 5pm we headed back to the Vatican where there was now no line for the basilica but mass was going on and my dress wasn't close enough to my knees so I sent my mom in alone to go explore and she said it was very neat to see mass happening in the Vatican.

The next morning we got up to take our massive amount of luggage to the train station and it was pretty miserable, luckily all of the big bags we have are now staying in Arezzo so that was the only time we had to take around the big bags.

And now on to Arezzo, my new home!

4th of July!

With Councilman Jack Evans!

Precious Boys at the Fireworks

Gus with his Lamby holder

Buying Light Sabers for the Boys

Fireworks by the Washington Monument!

The 4th was really fun at the Capitol! We had all sorts of fun going to the parade and going to lunch at the Gaylord National the day before.

We walked around and got the boys some light sabers and cupcakes at one of the local shops.

Before the parade we went to a neighbors party with a moon bounce that the boys were really excited about. We caught lots of candy and got to see lots of candidates for DC city council and mayor.

That night we went to the station and watched the national fireworks from the roof which was really cool with the fireworks right above the Washington Monument!

At the State Department Press Briefing!

The main CNN Reporter at the State Dept.

We found Dana!

After the briefing, all of the unofficial questions answered

During the Briefing

So today Rebecca decided that we would go to the State Department to check it out! We got clearance for the press briefing and sat in the back. I was perfectly content to just sit, but Rebecca decided that I needed to ask a question and after a few minutes of omg no I can't!! I did!

My friend Dana who is working there said she saw me on the TV's while she was listening for remarks about Iran and so she was able to meet up with after!

Here is the video from the briefing, it's very long but my question was literally the last one and apparently I can't say the word "congress"!