Europe Post #25: A Whirlwind

Well the last few days have been quite a whirlwind.  And not like, "I've been so busy I don't remember what happened" but "I've been studying so much and just hanging out I haven't done much worth noting."  Not really sure if that's a whirlwind or not, but whatever.

With finals this week and the "if I go in another museum I might barf" attitude, everything has just slowed down.  We've spend some time finishing up souvenir shopping, regular shopping, and just spending lots of time eating.  And I don't mean eating for a long time, just turning dinner into a 3-hour ordeal or sitting at a cafe for an hour and a half.  It's really weird to think that I've been surrounded with the same 27 college students for 5 weeks, and we're all going our separate ways (well... okay maybe just to Auburn).  But seriously, I'll really miss seeing some of my friends every single day.

The next few days will be pretty crazy.  Today I'm moving out of my host home, and going to Salzburg for the weekend with Mama and Daddy.  I fly out on Monday afternoon and get home Tuesday night.  And then I report for rush duty on Thursday.

Here, There, Everywhere

The last few weeks we have been doing a lot of traveling. 

First stop: Nashville, TN

Despite the 111 degree weather, we had so much fun at a wedding and lunch with a sweet friend!

Next stop: Knoxville, TN

The fam drove over to Mimi and Papa's house and the cloudy weather made for a perfect day for a photoshoot down on the farm. We love America, obviously. 

Last stop: Linville Ridge, NC

We had many adventures up in the mountains. Playing in the creek before going to the candy store made up one of the fun days with family friends.

This little one decided she would rather sit next to her mommy and eat chocolate than raft down the river. I like her style.

We had beautiful views and chilly weather. We spent most nights cuddled up by a fire, reading, and playing games. 

Love these girls so much and miss them already!

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Europe Post #24: Wandering and Schloß Schönbrunn

Sunday:

The plan -- train to Melk, bike from Melk to Krems, train from Krems back to Vienna. Except there was a land slide and the entire train station shut down.  So there goes that plan.  Uh oh.  In Austria, almost everything shuts down on Sundays.  Store, restaurants, etc.  A few museums that cater to tourists are open on Sunday, but not much more than that.  Compound that fact on a rainy day, and we were surprisingly short on ideas of things to do.  Except homework, of course, but who wants to do that?  So after spending the whole morning at the train station, we got lunch and split up for a while.  Hello nap time!  Around 4, John, Scott, and I met up and basically wandered around near the river.  After walking approximately 1.5 hours, we finally found a place to rent the city bikes (Vienna's awesome bike share program bikes.  The bikes aren't the best, but the price is right!), and we biked on the Danube Island for about two hours.  A great way to end the weekend.

Monday:

We toured Schonbrunn Monday morning, walked around the palace gardens, and went to class.  We all went home relatively early to do some homework.

Now for the pictures.

A random park (Donau Park) that we stumbled upon while wandering.

I don't have any pictures from our bike ride, but when we found a zip line on the island (mid-bike ride) we couldn't pass it up!

I will NEVER get over how many men wear capris, socks, and sandals.

Our whole group at Schonbrunn.

Mama and Daddy joined us!

Goofing off.

Europe Post #23: Assorted Photos from Week 4

Nemo:

Jelly fish:

Melissa the cripple leading the pack down the stairs of the Institute:

Mozart's piano:

Monkey friends:

Birds.  At an aquarium.

Scott is a fish whisperer.

My partners in crime as seen from the inside of the fish bowl.

My roomie is very special:

We finally found a Mexican restaurant:

And it had creepy sayings in the English menu like...:

Naschmarkt:

Schonbrunn:

You never outgrow a good ole playground.