ILP: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Vienna Waits For You

March 31, 2011
After staying the night in Budapest we had to be up really early the next day to head over to Vienna, Austria. We all were hoping there would be some hills we could run in and sing "The hills are alive with the sound of Music!" But the bus dropped us off right in the center of the city where there weren't any hills, so we decided to just sing the song anyways! Thank you Sound of Music for getting that song stuck in our heads =) Unfortunately going from Budapest to Vienna we didn't

get our passports stamped. This was definitely a bummer because I love getting stamps, but then again I guess it was nice not having to wait at the border. Once we arrived in Vienna we were told that we had 4 hours to look around. This time we didn't have an

English tour guide so once again we just wandered around. There was so much to see with so little time! We walked around some castle grounds. It's kind of nice not having a tour guide because then we get to do whatever we want! We found this cool Sigmund Freud park that was interesting. It had this really big table with chairs that we decided to sit at. After sitting there for a few minutes some Austrians approached us and tried to sell us some magazine. We had no idea what they were saying but it was pretty hilarious because Auvi took a picture of one of them and then he wanted to 'see how good he looked.' Oh the things that happen when your a tourist! After walking around for a little we got hungry and saw a little place called Funny Noodles. It was a street market that had chow mein! We were so excited. I ordered Chow Mein with fried chicken and it was absolutely delicious! Then after eating we headed back to the bus. The bus then drove us to Prague. Vienna was pretty, but we didn't have a lot of time to explore so I can't really say if I liked it or not. One highlight though was that Natalie and I found a big tree and climbed it! It was so fun!

This picture is pretty self explanatory!

Natalie and Ameri decided they want to do

Cartwheels all around the world!

Me and Auvi sliding on the Parliament Building

Swinging from a tree!

We love to climb trees

Sigmund Freud Park, Super cool table!

This Chow Mein was

AMAZING!

Getting in touch with Buddha

March 31, 2011
After sitting on a bus for 25 hours we were all pretty excited to finally make it to our first destination: Budapest, Hungary. We got off the bus and were told that since we didn't have an English guide to show us around we had 3 hours to explore the city. This was fine with me because then we could goof off and do what we wanted =) Some sites we saw were, Heroes' square, Millenary Monument, and Vajdahunyad Castle. Of course we took some silly pictures, it wouldn't be memorable without them! After 3 hours we headed back to the bus and much to our surprise they had either hired or somehow found, an English tour guide for us. She then decided to take us around all the major sites. It was nice to have someone explain all the monuments and know the history behind them instead of just looking at them and not knowing anything about them except that they are important and old. =)

Diving into Buddha!

We like to climb on things =)

We found a park and we were all pretty excited about

the swings!

Me swinging =)

Ameri

Kenzie & Audrey

Natalie

Kamila wanted to swing on the

little swings and was

brilliant enough to flip the

swing over so she could fit on it!

I may or may not have gone to the

Ministry of Magic while I

was in this booth =)

Jennii likes to climb poles

We found a Subway wrapper

and got so excited!

George Washington is also in Budapest

Walking to a monument called: uniting one another,

we were all walking towards it and I

thought it looked really cool!

After our tour of the city got done we headed to the other side of the river. We found out that the river divides the town, so one side is Pest and the other is Buddha. So the first half of the day we explored Pest and then headed over to Buddha. We toured around Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church, Royal Castle, and Chain Bridge. I must say I enjoyed Buddha's side a lot more, It was high above everything else and you could look across the river and it was just BEAUTIFUL! Finally after a lot of sight seeing we headed over to our hotel for the night. It was a small little place in the middle of nowhere. Natalie and I were roomies so that was a lot of fun! We decided to all go in on dinner by getting stuff to make sandwiches. After eating dinner we were all pretty exhausted and in need of sleep. It was pretty funny though because it was only 7 pm because Austria is an hour behind Ukraine. I guess that's what happens when you're on a bus for 25 hours though.

Fisherman's Bastion

Kiev 2 group is the BEST!

I freaking love these

girls so much!

Ha, I took a picture of this tree because

it looked like the tree from LOTR,

yes I know i'm a nerd =)

I loved being in Budapest, it was so beautiful and fun. The people were so nice. It was weird because we all just thought the town felt so familiar and friendly. I would definitely love to come back again sometime and spend more time there if I could!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Double Decker = Double The Fun!

March 27, 2011
The European Tour began on March 19th. We headed to the train station where our bus would be taking us all over Eastern Europe. Little did I know how much time I would spend with this bus. I was really hoping it would be a double decker and to my anticipated surprise it was! I felt like Harry Potter getting on the Knight bus! The bus was so high off the ground, there were times when I was worried we were going to tip over, but thankfully we didn't =) There were 17 of us in our group and we were all so excited to get started on our new adventure. My bus buddies were Rockie, Kynde, Kami, and Ameri. We had so much fun being obnoxious and loud when everyone else was sleeping... I mean what? Me? Never! But we did have a lot of fun laughing hysterically, crying *from laughing so hard*, trying to sleep and failing, taking some pills to help sleep *thanks Ameri* and making up stories/songs. Oh the funny things you do to stay amused. Thankfully I had some good books to keep me sane! Our bus took off at 10 am and we finally arrived in Budapest at 11 am the next day. Yes that's right, 25 hours on a bus ride.... this does not mean 25 hours of driving, it means stopping every 3 hours for a toilet break, staying at some stops for 1 hour, and being stuck at the border for 5 hours! As much as I was looking forward to getting stamps in my passport, sitting in the same spot for 5 hours was not very fun. At the time I was pretty loopy because I was trying to sleep and for some reason my body did not like being stopped that long because I woke up about every half hour and was so confused why we were still in the same spot! Even though the wait was long, I am really excited that I have a few more stamps in my passport now!
Here are some fun pictures from the bus:

There was a cupboard under the stairs... Harry Potter anyone?

In case you can't tell, this is a picture of everyone

covering their speaker because our bus guide

was talking so loud over the intercom

and we were trying to sleep!

Perley Trans our handy dandy double decker

Yep that's right we sat on the second level!

Friday, March 18, 2011

I gave in....

March 18, 2011
So I sort of have this obsession with coats... you all probably know that. Before I came to Ukraine I said I was going to buy some boots and a coat. Well I bought boots and I love them but I always felt incomplete without a new coat. I knew exactly what kind I wanted the minute I got here. SOOO many girls wear them here and they come in all different colors and styles and every time I see one I get super jealous and think I WANT THAT COAT! I have even caught myself thinking "maybe I could get them to sell their coat to me" What can I say? I'm a girl who loves coats! Well two nights ago I saw a coat and I immediately fell in LOVE with it! It was exactly the coat I had pictured myself buying! Well I tried it on and of course I loved it but I didn't have enough money with me so I hung it back up and promised myself I would be back the next day with enough money to buy it. Well today rolled around and I got out of bed and the first thing I thought of was the coat. I was already attached to it and i didn't even have it yet =) As I left my house I sort of had an internal struggle on whether or not I should buy it because it was kind of pricey but I kept picturing myself wearing it and loving it. I finally convinced myself I would go to the store try it on and then decide. I got to the store and there it was, hanging exactly where it had been the night before. I tried it on and looked in the mirror and immediately knew I would be buying it. =) I handed it to the lady and had her remove the tags so I could wear it right then! I was pretty excited about my new coat! The best part was throughout the day I had 3 or 4 Ukrainians try and talk to me and ask things; of course I didn't understand them, but they asked me because I looked Ukrainian! Or at least that's my theory. So I was pretty excited =) Here is a picture of me in my coat.Totally Ukrainian don't you think?

Off to See Europe!

March 18, 2011
Well the time has finally come to go on our European Tour and I am so happy! No happy doesn't even begin to describe it so lets try again! I'm excited, delighted, ecstatic, elated, joyful, cheerful, enthusiastic, and upbeat! I think you get the picture. We leave tomorrow morning and we are going to Budapest, Vienna, Prague, and Dresden! True being on a bus for 20+ hours is going to be crazy but it's so worth it! Here is a look at everything I will be doing on this trip:
Travel to Budapest
Tour around the city: King’s palace, Fisherman’s bastion, Matiash church, The Heroes square (millennium monument), central park, Andrashy avenue
Go to Vienna.
Walking tour to historic sites of Vienna: parliament, Ratusha, Vienna opera house, Hofburg-former Gabsburg residence, Maria Teresa Square, St.Stefan Cathedral.
Free time in Prague.
Walking tour around Prague.
Dresden trip.
Walking tour around Dresden
DRESDEN ART GALLERY
Tour around Prague
Leave Prague
Return Kiev

I should really start packing but I am just too excited to focus! Be prepared for lots of pictures and blogs when I return! I'm so excited, need I say more? =)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Come What May and Love It =)

March 13, 2011
I found a video when I was on Facebook the other day. It was on someone's profile and the caption behind it was "There are moments in life when we feel a connection so deep words can hardly describe it. But how do we know that it's real? This is the story of a boy who meets a girl and falls in love." This caption really caught my attention and I decided to watch the video. I immediately fell in love with it and the music! The song is called Peaches by New Heights, super good song. True the video is a little cheesy but I thought it had a really good message. After I watched it I found out that the people who made this video are a group of boys called the Jubilee Project. They make films for good causes to raise awareness about different non-profit organizations. They then post their videos to YouTube and from there you can sign up to become a sponsor for the video where you can donate 1 penny for each view the video has for one month. It's amazing to me that these boys devote their time to making videos to help benefit non-profit organizations! After reading about the Jubilee Project for a little I stumbled upon another video of theirs and I thought it was really good! It really just opened my eyes to the fact that we need to live life without any regrets! I really like what the people say at the end. We need to be happy about life and enjoy it no matter what happens! =) I am so lucky to have a family who loves and supports me no matter what happens. They truly are amazing! So grateful for all of them, especially for my parents. Mom, Dad, you two are amazing! I have learned so much from both of you. You guys have helped make me the person I am today, and I will be forever grateful. LOVE YA LOADS! Happy 32nd Anniversary! <3