Winning London

This past weekend, I headed to London to meet up with a friend from my program over the summer. When I found out we were both going to be abroad in Europe, I knew that I had to go and visit! It was a super quick trip but we packed in a ton!
Friday night, we dropped of my backpack in her apartment and then took the tube down to the Thames, so that I could see the London Eye all lit up. It was so nice to just walk around and catch up! After wandering, we grabbed dinner at a Pub by her apartment and then headed to sleep early.

Saturday morning we woke up super early because her program had an excursion to Oxford that I got to tag along on. One of the girls was sick, so I didn't have to pay for the train ticket! It was a nice surprise. The train was about an hour through the gorgeous countryside from London. Once in Oxford, we took a two hour walking tour of the city. The University of Oxford has been around for almost 1,000 years! It was so cool to learn all about the history and famous people that went to school there. We also got to see a few of the filming locations for various Harry Potter movies which was so exciting! After the tour, we grabbed some lunch and then headed back to the city to explore London.

(the lamppost and fawn that inspired C.S. Lewis when writing the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) 

Our first stop in London was Parliament and Westminster Abbey. As a tourist, I had to take the typical picture with the red phone booth and Big Ben in the background! Our next stop was Buckingham Palace! To get there we wandered through St. James Park which was really beautiful especially because the leaves were starting to turn. Our next stop was supposed to be Kensington Palace, but we got a little lost and ended wandering through a really cute neighborhood. I loved seeing all of the different colored doors up against the white of the houses. For dinner we grabbed chipotle because it is probably the food that I miss the most from home. We ended up sitting and talking for a few hours which was honestly one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

Sunday morning we wandered through Hyde Park and grabbed a traditional English breakfast before I headed to Heathrow for my flight home. I love that I am able to experience so many cities even if it is for such a short amount of time! I have to say that I am looking forward to the next three weekends spend in Copenhagen. I have been traveling to much that I haven't been able to explore my own city!

Love,

Oktoberfest Weekend!

Early Friday morning I took a train from Würzburg to Munich to meet up with my friends for Oktoberfest! I was so excited because so many Richmond kids studying abroad all over Europe were finally going to get to see each other and this weekend was one for the books. Once in Munich, I quickly dropped my bag off at the hotel and headed strait for the Hofbrau tent. It was surprisingly easy to find the Richmond crew once we got into the tent. The next few hours were spent catching up and taking in the craziness that was Oktoberfest. Before heading back to the hotel to rest before dinner, a few of us decided explore the fair grounds. I honestly had no idea that there would be rides, shops, and food stalls. It was so much fun! We ended up riding the ferris wheel which gave a great view of the entire festival.

Saturday morning, we woke up early to get in line for the Hofbrau tent to ensure that we would be able to get in. Because it was Germany's unification day, even at 8am the streets were packed! Everyone (including us) was dressed in the traditional dirndl and lederhosen! It was so fun! We spent the morning in the tent hanging out with all of the Richmond kids and the afternoon on the swings and walking through Marienplatz.

I was bummed that I wasn't able to explore the city of Munich that much, but luckily I'll be back in a few weeks with my Psychopharmacology class. It was so much fun to be able to catch up with everyone and hear about their own study abroad adventures. 

Love,

Adventures in Deutschland

Warning: this post is going to be really long because we had a packed four days exploring Deutschland. For the rest of the travel break, I headed to Germany to meet up with my parents! I woke up bright and early Monday morning to hop on my bike and make the trek to the airport. After a quick layover in Frankfurt, I was finally in Stuttgart! I was so so excited to see my parents. We grabbed some lunch before heading into the city to check into our hotel and explore Stuttgart. We weren't going to be spending much time in Stuttgart throughout the week, so we wanted to see the Schlossplatz and walk down the Königstrasse before dinner. For dinner, we went to a bauhaus for some beer and traditional German food!

Tuesday morning we woke up early and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel before driving down to the Bodensee. The first stop on our list was Vogt! It's the cutest, smallest town in the middle of farmland that my Dad just so happened to discover while looking at a map. There wasn't much to see in Vogt but we knew we had to walk around since our family obviously has our roots there from way back when! After Vogt, we drove down to Friedrichshafen which is right on the Bodensee. We ate some lunch right on the water and then walked around the town. Our final stop of the day was Meersburg. It was the cutest, quintessential German town. We walked through the new palace and then through the main shopping street down by the water. We were hoping to get back to Stuttgart in time for dinner but because they were doing construction on almost every rode we drove on in Germany it took a lot longer to get back to the hotel.

On Wednesday we decoded to explore the castles that surround Stuttgart. First up was Hohenzollern Castle.

On our last day, we ventured to Rothenburg ob der Tauber! It is part of the popular Romantic Road through southern Germany and has been around since the 11th century. The old town is a  preserved Medieval city that sits on a hill overlooking the Tauber river. We started off walking through St. James Church, then went to the Imperial City Museum (Reichsstadtmuseum) with the municipal collections and a weapon collection, and the Christmas Museum (Weihnachtsmuseum "Käthe Wohlfahrt"). After lunch, we did a little shopping before walking along the wall that surrounds the city. It was a cool way to get a birds eye view of the entire city. We also took a guided walking tour where we learned all about the history of the city. It was so beautiful to see all of the red roofs peaking through the trees. 

I have to say this was one of the best weeks I've had in a really long time. It was so much fun to explore Germany and hang out with my parents! Friday morning I was off to Munich for Oktoberfest, but that weekend adventure deserves its own post.

Love,