Weihnachten in Berlin

Before I get into my latest travels, I'll fill you in on what I did last week.

Thanksgiving!

Me in front of the tree at
the Schönbrunn market

Elizabeth's sister and friends came to visit her so on Monday I met up with them to go to Figmüller for dinner. Figmüller is an Austrian cuisine restaurant famous for their Wiener Schnitzel that is bigger than the plate! I had the frittatensuppe (clear beef broth soup with strips of pancakes) and a gemischter salat, one of my favorite items on austrian menus, a salad with german potato salad (potatoes in vinegar instead of mayonnaise), white cabbage, slightly pickled cucumbers, and the usual lettuce, tomatoes, and carrots. Then we went to the travel shack with Emily for a while that night. On Thursday, it was American Thanksgiving! I was feeling a bit sad about not being with my family but I ended up having a great day. During the day, Louise and I went to the Christmas market at Schönbrunn Palace, which was so beautiful. We had glühwein and walked around looking at all of the ornaments and other things being sold at the stands. Then at night, John, Emily, Louise, Elizabeth, and her sister and friends came over for a Thanksgiving feast! I had cooked turkey breast the night before and everyone pitched in with the meal. John made mashed potatoes, Emily made an apple crisp for dessert, I made green beans, stuffing, rolls, and a sweet potato casserole, and Elizabeth made some chicken to have as well. It was nice making a great meal with friends, drinking wine, and enjoying each other's company.

Brandenburg Gate

Early Friday morning, Louise and I flew to Berlin, Germany for the weekend! The title of this blogpost means "Christmastime in Berlin". Berlin was decked out for Christmas! It was definitely my kind of place. Louise and I met up with Chelsea, my roommate from the past two years from Richmond. We stayed with Chelsea's friend, Jen, who graduated two years ago from Richmond, which was so nice. She is doing a Graduate Program for a year in Berlin and staying with a host family but lives in their friend's apartment on the floor above. It was so nice being in a real home and not a hostel or a dorm. On Friday, the four of us went to a Thai restaurant nearby Jen's apartment. I had pad see ew, which was delicious and reminded me of Ginger Thai in Richmond. Then Louise, Chelsea, and I went off on our own to explore the city. Berlin is huge with a giant overwhelming u-bahn/s-bahn map but we managed to wander and find our way. We went to the Brandenburg Gate, walked to the Reichstag (Parliament building), then saw the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, ended up finding the incredible Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market (which had a 70 m long/12m high toboggan run), and then saw more christmas markets and the Berliner Dom (Berlin's cathedral).

Steins at the Hofbrau Haus

Friday night we had the privilege of being invited to Jen's friend's host family's house for a Thanksgiving dinner! Louise, Chelsea and I didn't realize how much we missed being in a home. It was so lovely to meet different people, talk, eat fabulous food, and drink wine in a cozy house with the fireplace going. We had all the fixings: a 30 lb turkey, gravy, stuffing, green been casserole, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. It almost felt like home, it was such a treat. After dinner, we met up with Jen's friend Paul from the Netherlands to go to the Hofbrau Haus, a huge beer hall where you drink steins and sing german drinking songs. It reminded me so much of Munich and Oktoberfest where I had been in the Hofbrau Tent. We had steins of Radlers which is a half beer/half sprite mixture which sounds gross but is delicious and gives the beer a honey-like flavor. We were there until 2 am and then because Berlin is such a huge city, we didn't get home until 3:30 because of waiting for trains and switching lines. It really made me appreciate Vienna's size and metro system!

Louise and I in front of
Schloß Charlottenburg

Glühwein at Schloß Charlottenburg!

 We woke up pretty early Saturday in order to get another full day of sightseeing in. We started our day at Schloß Charlottenburg, the palace in Berlin. It was very beautiful and very different from the other palaces I've seen in Europe. There was one room with the most beautifully painted ceiling with different elements coming out of it looking very 3-D and another room that Louise said looked straight out of Hoarders, with over 2,700 porcelain objects covering the walls! After touring the palace we walked around the christmas market in front of the palace where they had lots of cute gifts at the stands. Chelsea and I had apfel glühwein and Louise and I had some delicious goulash. There was also a huge Windädchen, which is a German candle holder carousel, something that reminds me of home because my mom has one that she puts out every christmas from when she traveled Germany with my dad to visit my Aunt Bess & Uncle Mike years ago. After the market, we made our way literally across the city to the East Side Gallery, which is the longest standing part of the Berlin Wall that was painted by artists in 1990. I really loved the paintings, they were so interesting and such a different form of art, in the sense that it was on such a historical landmark and casually on the street that people drive by every day. After the wall, we tried to go to the Berliner Dom to tour the cathedral but they were closed for some reason so we weren't able to. Since we couldn't tour the cathedral we wandered around a few christmas markets on our way to meet Jen for dinner. We saw some really great crafts and had a snack of the delicious roasted almonds that always smell so good in the markets. Jen took us to another beer hall/restaurant called Gaffel Haus which is a brewery in Cologne, Germany where Jen studied abroad when she was a junior. They make a specific beer that can only be called Kölsch, similar to Champagne in that it can only be called that if it comes from that region. I had a weißbier and a delicious casserole with salmon and spinach. Afterwards we walked around a few christmas markets including one called the Gendarmenmarkt Christmas Market which had a beautiful huge tree decorated in white lights, with beautiful buildings surrounding the square where the market stood. Then we went to the Berliner Weihnachtszeit Christmas Market near the Rathaus (Town Hall), which was huge with an ice rink and a ferris wheel as well as all of the food and gift stands. After a late night Friday, a busy day with a lot of walking, plus some glühwein and bier, we were ready to call it a night after the last market.

Me, Chelsea, and Louise in front of the Berlin Wall

Me, Louise, and Chelsea at Gaffel Haus

Sunday Morning, we sadly said goodbye to Berlin and went on our ways. Berlin was definitely one of my favorite cities. I loved the atmosphere and everything about it (minus the largeness of the city and the difficulty figuring out the subway map haha). I'm so glad I was able to go, it was a great trip! This week I'll be busy studying for my Management and Finance finals (Management is this week and Finance is next week) and on Thursday I will be off to Rome and then Milan with Emerald until Tuesday!

Waffles, Chocolate, and Fries in Belgium!

Before I get into my trip to Belgium, I have been very busy the past two weeks with classes. Two weeks ago, I began an intensive class, European Law & Economics, which began on a Monday and I had the final the following Tuesday. That meant lots of class hours in a short period of time. I learned all about the EU and how they make laws especially concerning the single market. It was actually extremely boring and made me sure that I did not wan to go to law school...ever, so at least that was beneficial. The week that I had my final, I also had a Finance Midterm, and my final paper for my Organizational Behavior Management class, so it was quite a busy week. I wasn't able to do much in Vienna but on the bright side....

CHRISTMAS MARKETS ARE OPENING!

I went to the opening of the first christmas market at Rathaus (the town hall) where there were over 150 stalls selling food and christmas ornaments and trinkets. The Christmas markets are a dream come true, as Christmas is my favorite season of all time. I met a group of my friends and we walked around the Rathaus Christmas market, looking at all the stalls and ornaments, resisting the temptation to buy everything in sight, and with glühwien in hand of course. Each market has their own mug and you pay a deposit for the mug that you can get back if you bring it back to one of the stalls but I plan on keeping my mugs to collect them. Also one night last week, a group of us (Elizabeth, Stevie, Emily & her boyfriend who was visiting, and John) went to the Travel Shack, a bar, for the night. It was a lot of fun because the Travel Shack has all these crazy shots that you can take. We did the snuff shot using this crazy contraption and a fire shot where you swish a shot of sambucca in your mouth, they sprinkle cinnamon in, and then light it on fire and then you swallow the shot, pretty crazy! But it was a lot of fun for a different night out.

Belgian Chocolate Shop

After a whirlwind two weeks, my trip to Brussels, Belgium was much needed! (And how appropriate after my Econ class that was all about the EU as Brussels is the capital of the EU!) I met Travis, Emerald, and Tabb (Emerald's friend who is also studying in Milan) on Thursday night in Brussels. I didn't get there until late because of a class but we got up bright and early on Friday to sightsee in Brussels. We began our morning with Belgian Street Waffles in a park. Brussels has many different types of waffles, but they are all delicious! The Street Waffle has sugar on the inside while the class waffle has it on top, and the tourist waffle has the fruit and chocolate and whipped cream on top. We walked around the city and saw St. Michael's Cathedral, Parliament, Palais de Justice, Palais Royal, Grand Place, and Manneken Pis (this statue of a little boy peeing, i'm not sure why its such a popular national landmark but he had an adorable outfit on!). After our self-guided walking tour, we stopped at Chéz Leon, recommended by my DG sister Mariana who is studying in Brussels, to get Moules (aka Mussels). They were so delicious! I had them with butter and herbs and they couldn't have been any better. We stopped in a few chocolate shops to try their sampes and then we made our way across the city to the Atomium (this huge structure that looks like an atom that was made for the 1956 World Fair). We stopped for Pommes Frites on the way back and each got different types of dipping sauces. Brussels is known for the vast amount of dipping sauces that they have for their fries, and i got the pouvre flavor (spicy pepper) it was very delicious. After a quick nap in the hostel, we wandered downtown to find some dinner. We stumbled upon some sort of parade/riot where people were in 18-wheeler beer trucks and wearing lab coats which had been drawn all over as well as hats with long duck bills...we have no idea what was going on but it was insanity. We ended up finding a vietnamese restaurant for dinner, and I had a pretty good curry, shrimp, and vegetable soup. As we were in Grand Place trying to find the bar we wanted to go to, Tabb suddenly freaks out because he just saw Michael Caine (the british actor who played Alfred in the newest batman movies!). We stalked him slightly to make sure it was him before his wife started giving us weird looks. We then found Delirium, the bar that Mariana suggested that was in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the most variety of beer (over 2,000 and 25+ on tap!). We tried a few different kinds, Travis and I had two versions of a Xmas Beer. One was the Delirium Xmas beer which was a little spicier and another Xmas beer that was a little fruitier tasting. We bar hopped on that street after that and had a blast, ending up on Kebap street for a late night snack for Emerald and Tabb.

Town Hall in Grand Place with Christmas Tree (Left) & Atomium (Right)

Tabb & I with our Moules

Beers at Delirium

Emerald and I in Bruges

The next morning was a bit of a struggle waking up, but we were able to make it and hop on a train to Bruges (or Brugge), a medieval town about an hour away. It was an adorable town with canals and cute houses/shops. We wandered around seeing some of the sights which included Michaelangelo's "Madonna and Child", and Jesus's Blood (seriously...it was in a vial....) in Holy Blood Church. We ran into people that we had been talking to (in spanish for quite a while) at the bar the night before, which was very funny and ironic. We stopped for lunch at PItahuis to have some delicious gyros. Then we went to the Chocolate Museum to learn about the history of chocolate and see a life size chocolate Obama! After the museum, we headed back to Brussels for a nap. After such a crazy night the night before, we decided to lay low and grab a late dinner and then go to a movie. We went to a asian restaurant that served chinese, vietnamese, and thai food. I had a squid and vegetable dish that was delicious and a chicken, bamboo, mushroom soup that was also very good. Then we went to see 50/50 but missed the last subway back so we had to call a cab. 

in front of the Mini Melk Abbey where I visited
earlier in the semester!

On Sunday, we woke up early and went to Mini Europe, a park with miniature versions of many of the monuments in Europe. It was fun to see the sights that I've seen in a lot of my travels. We first had waffles for breakfast and then took lots of pictures in the park. Afterwards, we headed back to our hostel to grab our bags and head to the airport where we got lunch in a diner. Shortly after, I was on my way back to Vienna. It was a crazy and fun weekend and I really loved the city of Brussels and also Bruges! This weekend I will be off to Berlin to meet my roommate from Richmond, Chelsea, and will be traveling with Louise, my DG friend here in Vienna. I cannot wait to be back in Germany again, and at christmas time...I know there will be more Christmas markets! 

Mom & Dad Come to Visit

This past week I was lucky to be able to spend some time with my mom and dad. They came out Tuesday night and arrived on Wednesday morning from New Jersey. John unfortunately wasn't able to come, despite my pestering him to buy a last minute ticket.

Me and Dad at AugustinerKeller

On Wednesday, I met up with my parents after my finance class and we went to lunch at the Hofburg Cafe near Hofburg Palace. We had some austrian goulash and a few flatbreads. I really liked the austrian version of goulash, it was much more of a soup/stew. Then we went to see the Imperial Silver Collection, the Sisi Museum (of Empress Elisabeth), and the Imperial Apartments. The silver collection had the most china, silver, crystal and gold I had every seen, it was incredible. I really enjoyed the Sisi Museum for the second time. It was all about Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) and how she became an icon and her life in the palace. The Imperial Apartments were also beautifully decorated and so interesting to see the beautiful rooms they lived in with the drapery, paintings, and wall hangings. Then we went to Cafe Demel, one of the oldest cafe's in the city, to try a few cakes and coffees. We had a chocolate truffle cake as well as a cream cheese raspberry vanilla cake. They were both delicious. I had a melange and had my dad try one too, he seemed to like it. I love melanges now, they're like cafe lattes or cappuccinos but with different ratios of milk to coffee to foam. Then we walked around Stephansplatz, window shopping as well as a little actual shopping, and made our way to Onyx Bar in the Do & Co Hotel which has a fantastic view overlooking Stephansdom. I had a delicious champagne cocktail that was called Red Carpet or something fancy, and my mom had something similar whereas my dad opted for a german beer. After our drinks we went to AugustinerKeller for a typical austrian meal. It was so delicious and in a very cool atmosphere, very cave like. We had wiener schnitzel, the mixed salad with german potato salad, pumpkin soup, the beef broth pancake soup, and a beef dish. Everything was delicious with compliments of some austrian wine.

Mom, Me and Dad drinking some austrian beer

On Thursday, we woke up and headed over to Belvedere which is a palace turned into a museum near the hotel we were staying at. We walked from Lower Belvedere to Upper Belvedere, through the gardens, and then walked around the art museum looking at paintings by Monet, Van Gogh, and Gustav Klimt including his famous work "The Kiss". Then we headed to Karlsplatz and Naschmarkt for lunch. We went to Stadthaus, a fish restraunt in Naschmarkt. It was absolutely one of the best meals I have ever had. We shared a salmon carpaccio, and then shared a grilled calamari dish, a grilled mixed seafood dish, and a seafood spaghetti dish (which had all the best fish in my opinion: clams, shrimp, mussels, octopus, squid, and lobster). It was a fantastic meal. My dad was on the phone for most of lunch and our waitress yelled at him saying he couldn't actually taste how fabulous their fish soup was if he was talking on the phone. It was pretty funny. Then we went and toured Stephansdom (the huge cathedral as well as its catacombs). The catacombs were pretty cool, there were mass graves under the cathedral where you could see bones and skulls! The cathedral is a beautiful gothic cathedral and we ran into my friend Elizabeth and her dad touring the cathedral at the same time! Then we took the lift up to the top of the North Tower for a fantastic view of the city. It was so windy up there though, it was freezing! Then we made our way to Hotel Sacher, famous for the "original" Sachertorte. We tried the sachertorte, apfelstruddel and these pancakes with chocolate/hazelnut sauce in between with plums and plum sorbet, it was so delicious. Then we went to the Kunsthistoriches Museum, the fine arts museum, and toured the gorgeous building and all of its art including Monet, Caravaggio, Valesquez, Klimt, and more. There was also an exhibit that was on winter paintings which was a perfect way to get in the mood for the season. Which was also helped by the Christmas markets being set up all over the city! I cannot wait to explore them all! After the museum we went to an italian restaurant, Cantina la Norma, which was very delicious. It only had about 12 tables which made it very cosy and interesting. We had delicious pasta dishes, carpaccio, soups, and wine of course.

On Friday we caught a train to Salzburg, literally running after it because we bought tickets and then it was leaving 5 minutes later. The train ride was about 3 hours and we chatted and read on the way there. Once we got in we checked into our hotel and then took their advice to walk down the road to this restaurant, Zwitter, that had great austrian food. We had schnitzel and pumpkin soup and a beef dish (starting to sound a bit repetitive but they all taste so delicious and different....also this blog should clearly be a food blog because that's half of what i write about). Then we went up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress which was built in the 11th century and sits at the top of the city. It was a steep climb to get up but the views were totally worth it, they were incredible. We had a beautiful weekend for our trip so the sky was clear and we had a great view of the city and the mountains. After walking around the fortress for a while we decided to stop for a drink at the Panorama Cafe which had a beautiful view of the country behind the fortress. We got a few glühwiens to try (the hot wine that is so delicious), it was perfection. Then we headed down the fortress and went to see the beautiful Salzburg Cathedral. It had no stained glass but had little naves, each beautifully decorated. Then we walked around the old town looking at the shops and the fancy shop signs that Salzburg is famous for. We went to stiengasse to a pub for a few beers before dinner. The pub was in a cellar and was super grungy looking but the waitress was really nice and served us patte and was playing 60's American music, we were loving it. Then we went to an italian place for dinner in the old town.

Beautiful View from the top of the fortress

Mom & I with our glühwien

Dad, Me and Mom with the beautiful Salzburg lakes in the
background from the Sound of Music Tour

On Saturday, we woke up bright and early to be picked up by Bob's Sound of Music Tour. Since it was the off season, we were the only ones in the van so it was a private tour! We drove by where they filmed some of the abbey scenes, as well as stopped at the house where the filmed the lake scene and the back of the Von Trapp house, then we went to a Castle which they used to film the front of the house, as well as the yellow wall where Maria sings "I have Confidence". We also got to see the famous gazebo! We then took a trip into the lake region of Salzburg where there were beautiful views of the lakes, hills, and mountains that they show in the opening of the movie. It was a great way to see the countryside of Austria. Our Tour Guide, Rosemarie was great and told us all about the filming as well as the real Von Trapp family. I plan on watching the movie tonight to see if I recognize all the things I saw. Then we stopped in Mondsee, a little town in Salzburg with a beautiful church where they filmed the wedding of Maria and Captain Von Trapp. Then we went back to Salzburg and saw the Mirabell Gardens which were absolutely beautiful with the leaves all orange and yellow. Then we grabbed some lunch at the Salzach, where i had pumpkin soup of course and the duck with cranberry red cabbage and pumpkin dumplings which was delicious. My mom and dad opted for the burgers, missing home a bit I suppose. Then we all split a chocolate raspberry truffle cake for dessert. After that we went to Mozart's Residence and learned about his life and music and then hopped on a train to go back to Vienna. After we arrived Cori and Louise met us for a beer at the Hotel Sports Bar before we headed to a austrian restraunt, Wiebels Wirsthaus, that was so delicous. We had schnitzel, pike, venison, goose, pumpkin soups, and pancake soups as well as some austrian wine of course. Then I had to have the Bailey's tiramisu after the waiter said it was their special dessert of the night and my mom and Louise had apfelstruddel.

Beautiful Fall Colors in Schönbrunn Gardens

On Sunday, my parents and I walked around Stadtpark which is a huge and beautiful park right on the ring which was where we were staying. The fall colors were just beautiful there. Then we went to Schönbrunn Palace to see the staterooms, all beautifully decorated. Afterwards we wandered around the palace gardens where the fall colors were the most beautiful I have ever seen, it made me so happy to walk around there in the crisp autumn weather. Afterwards we went to Tenmaya for sushi near the Opera. After lunch, we went to see the Imperial Treasury which had some pretty incredible jewels, robes, and tapestries. Then we walked around the ring so I could show my parents Parliament, Rathaus (the town hall), and the University which are all beautiful buildings. Outside of Rathaus a HUGE Christmas market is being set up, I cannot wait to explore that one! Then we went back to the hotel before heading out to an Australian Bar to have a beer and then went to Huth, nearby our hotel, which has fantastic austrian food. We had schnitzel, tapfelspitz, pumpkin soup, salad, dumplings, and another beef dish and of course some austrian wine. It was all delicious and a great way to end the last night.

Me and Mom in front of Schönbrunn Palace

I was sad to see my parents go but it's pretty shocking that I will be seeing them in only 6 weeks! This week I begin my Economics Class which ends next Tuesday (its an intensive class, i don't know, classes here are weird!) But I will hopefully do something exciting to blog about in a week or two.

A Sensational Weekend in Copenhagen

Cori and I with our glüh wien and punsch

Last week on Wednesday, it was Austrian National Day, which is their holiday similar to the fourth of july because it was the day that the Nazi's and the Soviet's left Austria and Austria gained control over itself again. All of the stores were closed down and we didn't have classes so I met up with Cori and Louise to go to a museum. This was after waiting around all morning for the power to come back on in my dorm, which took about 5 hours. We went to the Kunstforum Bank Austria museum that had a Botero exibit. We then walked through Hero's Square where a big festival was going on with food stands, zip-lining, dance competitions, and a band. It was fun to see and we got waffles and glüh wien and punsch (two typical Austrian winter drinks, glüh wien is hot wine and punsch is a warm juice).

Beautiful Fall Colors in Copenhagen

 Friday, Elizabeth and I woke up at 4 am to catch a 6:35 am flight to Copenhagen. We got in around 8am and met up with Travis who let us leave our bags in his room until we were able to check in to our hostel. Travis took us around to see this beautiful star shaped park near his place, the Parliament, the old Stock Exchange, the Black Diamond, a modern library that is quite famous, Stroget the famous long pedestrian shopping street and other places. We ate lunch at Magazin, a department store that has a cafeteria style restaurant and we had some ice cream too even though it was cold (Travis couldn't believe us). We went on a Canal Tour, leaving from Nyhavn (New Harbour), which was a great way to see a lot of the city. The weather was pretty chilly and foggy in the morning but it cleared up and the sun came out by the time we were on the Canal Tour. For dinner, Travis took us and Elizabeth's friend Howie and his friend from abroad Scott (who were also staying at our Hostel for the weekend) to a place near the university that had delicious food and looked like a library inside. I had a fantastic salmon with some pesto pasta. Then Travis and Elizabeth and I went to an Ice Bar, something I had wanted to do for a long time. It was pretty cool (no pun intended).  The bar, seats, tables, and glasses were all ice and the drinks were really delicious. Elizabeth and I had one that was called Passion for Jewelry that had champagne and vanilla vodka and lime juice and passion puree, it tasted really good. Then we went back to our hostel and got to bed early after getting 2 hours of sleep the night before we wanted to be rested for Saturday.

Me, Travis, and Elizabeth in the Park

Nyhavn

Beautiful Fall on the harbor in Copenhagen. 

On Saturday, we got crepes at a crepe stand for breakfast (banana and nutella, yumm!) we met Travis again and the five of us went to Amalienborg Palace to watch the changing of the guards. It was so foggy that day you could barely see the palaces (which are more like mansions). We also stopped in this beautiful church before making our way to Christiana. When we were getting on the metro to Christiana, I ran into Maya! my DG friend who I met up with in Munich, it was very funny and random. Christiana is an old army base that was abandoned and it was taken over and turned into a hippie commune with all these people living there, with their own restraunts, school, etc. It was very interesting to see it with all the graffiti and the whole atmosphere. After that we went back to our hostel to start getting ready for Sensation White.

Elizabeth and I at Sensation

Sensation White is a huge rave like concert with trance and electronic/house djs who play into the early hours of the morning. Everyone is required to wear all white. It was a lot of fun. The atmosphere is so intense and they had cool props like these globes that would drop down from the ceiling and raise back up as well as a mushroom looking thing that reminded me of the agro crag from Guts on Nickelodeon when I was a kid. There were so many people there (60,00 I believe) and it was awesome to see everyone's take on the white clothes. There were people wearing wings, masks, etc. When we got back to our hostel, I woke up around 5 am with this guy talking away about his night and we ended up talking for a half hour about how he's from Staten Island and what trips we were both taking. Elizabeth managed to sleep through the whole thing,  what a feat.



On Sunday, we had to check out by 10am. We were freaking out a bit because we hadn't heard from Howie and Scott and their stuff was locked away in a locker in our room, but as we walk out of the elevator there they are all in their white from last night. They apparently got back to the hostel around 7 am and slept on a table in the basement to avoid security. We said goodbye to them after they got their things and then we went back to Travis's to drop off our stuff for the day. Elizabeth and I went to Stroget to get some brunch and then met up with Travis again. We went to Rosenborg Castle to see the castle itself and the royal treasury. Then Elizabeth and I walked around, grabbed our bags from Travis, and got dinner on Stroget before heading to the airport and flying home to Vienna.

I loved Copenhagen, the city is beautiful.  But, it is seriously expensive. The cheapest meal is about 16 or 20 USD. Copenhagen was my second choice so I'm glad I'm actually saving a little bit of money in Vienna.

Yesterday, I had my Organizational Behavior Management class from 9am to 6pm. It was pretty rough. We did this cool simulation in the afternoon though where one person was the CEO, there were workers, Consultants and Observers. I was one of the consultants which was great because its a career I'm seriously considering so I'm glad I got to try it out. We had to advise the CEO on how to make his company more profitable with the people he has. It was interesting and definitely better than a lecture. Then we went out for Halloween with a bunch of exchange students. It was a lot of fun but I didn't have a costume. Such a shame because of the amount I have at home. I wore a blue dress though so i could have passed as a crayon with the top broken off.

Today was another holiday, All Saints Day so again no class and everything was closed. Cori and I went to get 25 minute massages. We were going to go to the hot springs too but they were more like pools rather than hot springs so we decided to skip out. My massage was a bit odd, i was not a fan. Europe is really weird but it was an experience that's for sure.

Emily, Elizabeth, Alex, Cori, Jeff, and Me

Tomorrow my parents arrive for the week! They will be here until Monday morning. I can't wait to see them and show them around my beautiful city!