#vienna 

Last stop on the Euro adventure was Vienna. After our one day in Salzburg we took the night train to Vienna (only an hour!) and arrived just in time for dinner. Our stay in Vienna was super special because we stayed with my mom's best friend from junior high/ high school whom she hadn't seen in 26 YEARS! How crazy is that? I'm 26 right now so I can't imagine not having seen a friend for pretty much my entire lifespan. That's a long time. They had kept in touch of course, but this was such a special reunion for the both of them. Best of all, her friend had a daughter exactly my age so the four of us had the best time together. Highlights in Vienna included the amazing castles (and the stories behind them), the cheap hot dogs which were to die for, trying an original Sacher Torte, more tasty beer, and going to the opera together on our last night.

Fun travel tip if you're planning to go to Vienna: you can purchase standing-room only tickets to the opera, day-of, for only 4 euros. This was perfect for us since we weren't down to spend a whole 3 hours at the opera and we didn't want to pay an arm and a leg. I wish SF had something like this! It's so convenient for tourists. We got a good taste of the opera for 20-30 minutes and then spent the rest of the night exploring the enormous opera house.

Our final full day in Europe we drove out to Slovakia (only an hour drive) to explore another country. Why not?! We went to Bratislava which has so much character. The town is teeny, tiny! The restaurants are so hipster, it reminded me a lot of being in SF. We shopped, ate some bomb food, discovered some cute bakeries, and walked all day long. I loved it. I loved our whole trip and what was the best part was not only being able to do all this with my mom but to be able to mix that up with meeting some close family members who I personally had never had the opportunity to meet until now. It was such a blessing. These are people I can't imagine not knowing and I am SO excited for them to come here and tour CA with me guiding them ;)

Top 3 realizations culture shocks:

  • You can only get your ice cream in a cone if you get it to go. We tried sitting down after the opera in this ice cream parlor and I really was craving a cone but they wouldn't let me since apparently a cone is more prone to messes so they only give you cups when you're seated. Um... ok.
  • On the same note, no ice cream sampling allowed in Vienna. I told our friends about Salt & Straw in the US and how they pretty much beg you to sample everything and they were mind blown!
  • There isn't much variety when it comes to food. We stayed in Vienna the longest during our whole trip (about 5 days) and towards the end both my mom and I were really in the mood for some ethnic food. Back home, we both get Japanese or Chinese food at least once a week so going three weeks with nothing was killing us. I finally was able to locate a high rated ramen spot so we went. It was average at best which made us realize how lucky we are in the US for the diversity in food options. Not to mention some of the TOP ethnic cuisine in SF (burritos, ramen, sushi, the works).

                 

   

 

#salzburg

Hello Austria. On this next leg of the trip we took a short, two hour night train from Munich to Salzburg. We arrived close to midnight and the best part was that the hotel I found us for the night is pretty much connected to the train station. You walk out, turn the corner and right there in front is the beautiful Ramada Hotel. This hotel was one of the most beautiful and most modern of our stay. Best of all, the glass walls are built noise-proof so you don't have to worry about the sound of the incoming and outgoing trains all night. We were only at this hotel for ~12 hours but we loved it. Blame it on our exhaustion maybe, but nothing felt better than climbing into freshly washed sheets and taking part in an amazing Austrian breakfast buffet first thing in the morning. After breakfast, we checked out and headed to yet another Hop On, Hop Off double decker tour bus ride. These bus rides are seriously the best way to see a city in Europe. Especially if you only have a day or two in each city these buses take you all over the major landmarks of the city, as well as provide an in depth explanation of everything under the sun as you're driving around. We spent the first half of the day seeing the landmarks -- highlight for me and my mom was seeing Mozart's house and walking where he walked. It's crazy to think about. For those looking for which tour to use, I highly suggest Panorama Tours . Being the review nerd that I am, I researched a ton via TripAdvisor for the best tour. Panorama is the way to go! For more resources and offerings, check out their website. 

Around 1pm we got off that bus that walked around their Old Town for a bit. It was perfect timing since our next tour started right at 2pm. Ok, I can't hold it in any longer -- our next tour was the SOUND OF MUSIC tour!! If you know me and my family well, you'd know that this is our absolute favorite movie (right up there with Father of the Bride and Home Alone), I think we've seen it over 70 times at least. I think that's what made Salzburg so special for both of us was going on this tour -- private, may I add! Blame it on the low tourist season; it was just me and her on a private tour with our amazing tour guide, Rosemary. She was so sweet and knowledgable. Our entire 4 hour tour she was spitting out fire facts about the film and behind the set. Leave it to me and my competitive nature to try and one up her the entire time. Let it be known that even I was schooled when it comes to Sound of Music trivia! Rosemary's lived in Salzburg for 40 years and has met over half the actual Von Trapp family in person so ok, I guess she wins. Haha. We went everywhere. The church that Maria gets married in, the terrace and backyard of the home where the kids fall out of the boat when their dad comes home, the yellow wall Maria runs by while singing "Confidence" in the very beginning (see video below for us trying to reenact it), and even the fountain and gardens where they sing Do Re Mi. It was magic. Oh and of course, the iconic gazebo! Thanks so much to Bob's Special Tours for making this so memorable for us.

Finally, we had an hour of downtime before the end of the tour where Rosemary drove us an hour outside the town to the outskirts. We devoured some delicious toasted ham and cheese sandwiches (only 4 euros - what?!) and a few (ok, 4) pastries between the two of us. #treatyoself.

This day is really one that stands out to me because of how special it was to act like true groupies from one of our favorite films, but also because of how short and sweet it was! We took the 7pm train that night to head to Vienna so we really only had one full day. And to be honest I think that's all you need! We both love walking and being on the go so we were able to get a ton done. I highly suggest both tours if you ever go! Enjoy the photos :)

        

#strasbourg

And we're back. Next stop on the EuroTour was Strasbourg. I can't even begin to describe how much I love this town. Strasbourg is in Alcace, a region of France that has a lot of German influence so you get a totally different feel here -- worlds apart from Paris. I feel so lucky to have seen such different parts of France, from Paris to Strasbourg to Nice and Cannes... this country never ceases to amaze me with its vibrant character and the "joie de vivre" that is so evident in the inhabitants. When my mom and I arrived in the train station, she turned to me and said, "I feel like I'm at home." This resonated so much with me because I felt the exact same way. We both fell in love with France on our last Europe trip and to feel the same way our second time here was so comforting. Even though it was still freezing, we both got this second wind and had a little night on the town and went exploring after dark. It was so magical. There were swans swimming in the river, moonlight reflecting off the cobble stones, and every café was booming. Truly out of a storybook. I told a friend the first comparison that came to mind to describe Strasbourg was: "Man in the Iron Mask" meets Disneyland. Haha! But truly no better way to explain it. The town is so tiny too that you can get around by foot almost anywhere. One of those places where you want to get lost and just soak in each quarter. I don't think I've ever walked so much in my life! We spent 2.5 days here and just left to take the train off to Paris. Can't wait to come back here. Thank you Strasbourg, you have a piece of my heart.

     

6 month check-up

okay, so it's been much longer than 6 months. i look back and I can't believe that 2012 is already coming to an end. My last post was right when I graduated college and moved home. So much has changed since then. I can't believe I was SO worried when I was back home from college. I'm going to go more in depth with that in my next post, because that's one issue I really want to have constantly addressed in this blog. I think the beauty of growing up is taking uncertainty with a positive attitude. Being excited to see what door opens next and where life is going to take you. Prime exaample -- never in my wildest dreams did I imagine where life would take me this past June.

I had the amazing chance to go on a dream trip of a lifetime to Europe with my family. Not only was it a fantasy to all of us because the pricing had always been so expensive, but it was also one of the best bonding experience the 4 of us have ever had. This is one trip that I will forever remember.The photos don't eve begin to do Europe justice! It was MAGIC, my friends.

The day after I got back from France, I began my first "big girl job" as I like to call it. I've been there for the past 4 months working as a recruiter. It is SO different being in work mode rather than school mode. I'm enjoying it though... it has been such a growing experience that was much needed. More on the job to come!