I created this blog for my year in Germany. Since my year in Germany is over, I am now stopping with this blog. But don't get too scared, I made a new blog at http://chrisandheathersmith.blogspot.com/.
So replace this address with my other one. And I've already posted in my new one so check that out!
This is my last night in Germany. It's so hard to believe that I've been here for almost a whole year! Sorry that I haven't updated about the rest of my trips. That's going to have to wait until I get home. I leave Frankfurt airport at 10:35 and arrive at 12:50 in New York. Then I am on a plane to Arizona Thursday night and arrive around 23:00. So crazy!
The past two weeks I have been on vacation. During the middle of it, Valentina and I went to Italy for 5 days! She drove (only like 8 hours to Venice!). We went got in late to Venice Monday night and stayed near there and then saw Venice Tuesday. Then we went to Florence and stayed at this very cute, romantic place (think she planned it that way) in the winding hills of I believe the Tuscany region. It was so pretty. That next day we explored Florence. I got to see Michelangelo's David. That was pretty cool. Besides the woman that kept yelling no photo at everyone. There was so much to see in Florence, and we didn't get to see it all. At least she's been there before. Then we headed to Pisa to so none other but the Leaning Tower of Pisa. That was a pit stop. We stayed in a place near Cinque Terra. Getting to and from Cinque Terra was wild. It was so hilly and windy. But oh so worth it. We went there Thursday and explored those little towns. There are 5 that make up the national park, but we only made it to 3. That night we stayed in Milan. We were going to go explore Milan but the drivers there are psycho. They clearly have no traffic laws. So we left and headed back to Germany. On our way we made a pit stop in Switzerland as well as Liechtenstein. Yea, that's right, I've been to Liechtenstein. Now who can tell me where that one's located? It really was an amazing trip.
I will post pictures eventually. I still have to upload from Denmark/Sweden and anything after that. I am so behind. I just took over 1000 pictures from that week, so I've been putting it off. So many pictures to go through. I took more than 1000 pictures on our Italy trip as well.
I know, it's been a long time since I've last updated. Sorry. So my last two months have been crazy! The first weekend that all of my craziness happened, I went to Denmark and Sweden. And then I went directly to the island (see previous post) for the week and followed that up with a trip to Amsterdam that weekend. The following weekend (weekend 3 of being out of town), I went to Hamburg to the Hafenfest (bunch of ships, supposedly biggest Hafenfest in the world). Weekend 4 was spend at my aunts. Weekend 5 I went to Leipzig to visit Patricia and then we went to our final seminar in Berlin that whole next week. That didn't end until Saturday. Then the next weekend I went to Belgium, just because I hadn't been there yet. This weekend I was going to be at my aunt's, but last minute that changed. So here is my first weekend in a long time that I actually am in town. And it was a four day weekend for me!
I really liked Denmark and Sweden. The pastries in Sweden were amazing! And addicting! They were the best pastries I've had.
The island was amazing. It was so pretty. We also went to a national park that had chalk cliffs. So beautiful. I want to take Chris there someday.
I went to Amsterdam to see the tulips, but Zach and I ended up at the beach. The lines for the big tulip garden were so long, and that was just to get there!
That's all for now. I'll update again (hopefully soon) on the rest of my travels the past couple of months. And be expecting pictures on facebook in about a month or so.
I have had my internship for 2 months now at the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. I work with two departments: the ... and ... I love it so far. The people are so nice and I have my own office with a window!
I will be going to the island of Vilm (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilm) the end of April for work. I am super excited. It's only for a week, but the weekend before I'll be going to Denmark and Sweden. The weekend after I'm planning on going to Holland to see the tulips! I can't believe that tomorrow is already April. It seems the time is going to go by even faster with all that I am doing. There are so many places I still want to see, even in Germany. And I still need to go to Austria!
The weather is becoming quite lovely. After work, it is too warm to wear my big winter jacket. The next two weeks are going to be crazy exercise wise. I am excited. Sunday was swimming. Monday was exercise class. Tonight is swimming. Wednesday is exercise class. Thursday is swimming. And Saturday I will probably go on a bike ride somewhere. The weather is supposed to be so nice for a week or so. I do miss the blue skies every day. And the warmth. I felt like I didn't have that much energy during the winter, like my body wanted to hibernate. And I've never been so excited for spring before. In Arizona, the "seasons" all just kind of run together. It really isn't so defined.
I guess a little bit has happened the last couple of weeks. Last week was my mid-year seminar for my program in Munich. I saw my first opera. It was pretty cool, though the ladies in front of me reeked and I could only see if I leaned in. It was nice to see people again. We also had a tour of the city. That would've been a lot better if it wasn't so cold and wet and if it wasn't so long. The picture below is the last place we went. It was actually really pretty. But look how cold it looks. We had a tour of the palace, too.
Fun stuff. The weekend before I took Valentina to my aunt's. We went to Heidelberg. It was so pretty. We both want to go back in the summer (when it's all green). It was still gorgeous with the snow.
Then Sunday was my birthday. We didn't do too much.
My most exciting news is that I have an internship. It's in Bonn with BFN (the government agency for environmental conservation). I have no idea what I'll be doing. Nor do I know my exact times. Or when I start. I'm supposed to be receiving something by post really soon. So I'll update on my internship at a later time when I know exactly what I'm going to be doing. I do know that I'll be splitting my time between the agriculture and forestry and GMO Regulation/Biosafety. Yay!
I'm officially engaged. Chris asked when he came to visit me. We had such a great time while he was here. I really miss having him by my side.
Chris has done such an amazing job at picking out rings. I'm so proud.
I'm sick :( Here I thought I was doing a great job about not being sick for the winter. Right before my birthday, too (in a week).
My family (minus dad) and Tricia are going to a bridal show today. I'm so excited to hear all about it. Then, they're going to take Tricia to try on dresses. I really can't wait to see the pictures!
Hopefully I'll update a little sooner next time.
I know I've been needing to update for awhile. The past two weekends I visited my aunt, who lives about 2 hours south by train. I hadn't seen her in years. It was really nice to spend those weekends with her. I stocked up a little bit on American food (tortillas, salsa, etc. well more like Mexican). Both times I brought back a whole suitcase worth of stuff. I think I brought more stuff from her place than I did on my way to Germany. She got me a down comforter, which is so amazing. Before, I just had this crappy, not-down one that didn't keep me very warm at night.
Last Tuesday (11/11) at 11:11 was the start of Karnival in Cologne. My friend and I bought a costume because we heard people dressed up. I'm glad we did. We received so many stares (from guys), so I guess we were looking pretty cute. It lasts until next spring; I'm not sure exactly when.
And now I'm to be planning a wedding while I'm here. It sure is going to be interesting. I'm so glad that my family is helping me out so much. I really don't know what I'd do without their support. When I get back to the states, I'm not really going to do too much. I'll probably do a bit of volunteering. Probably hanging out with my friends as much as I can before I leave them for Washington.
Tonight I used my raclette. It's this grill type thing in which you put whatever you want on this tray with cheese on top and stick it in, where it melts the cheese. It's so good. It's usually used for parties. I had a couple of friends over last week and we used it. I still had vegetables and cheese and potatoes leftover from it, and I didn't want them to go bad, so I just decided to use it tonight. I'm so stuffed. I plan on getting one when I get back to the states, it's just that amazing.
I'm not sure what I'm doing the next couple of weeks. I have some ideas. I've been looking at a few internships. Not sure exactly what I want to do, probably something dealing with finances. I'm just going to apply to many places and hope I get an interview with at least one.
Windmills!!!
