My Month in Europe: Venice

On our second day in Italy we took a day trip to Venice!

This was the day that I realized that my trip through Europe had officially taught me how to sleep in a moving vehicle, because I slept from the minute I sat down on the train to Venice until we arrived.

It was fantastic.

We had one goal for Venice: to get lost.

Let me tell you, it wasn't hard to do. 

We spent the day wandering the squares of Venice, looking at artwork and architecture, taking a gondola ride, and eating some delicious ravioli right there on the Grand Canal.

Venice is a dream.

Gondola riding with these lovely people! #venice

One year ago today I was eating the most delicious ravioli I've ever tasted on the Grand Canal in Venice right after a delightful gondola ride on said canal. What a dream it was. #venice #takemeback

What I loved most about this day was that it wasn't really anything special.

We were just able to wander around, get lost, and enjoy the unique beauty that is Venice.

The atmosphere was incredible, and it definitely helped that there were things like this happening throughout the city...

Venice, you treated us well.

It was a truly magical day.

My Month in Europe: Milan

We started off our day in Milan with a business visit to the AC Milan soccer stadium, which was pretty impressive despite not being a big soccer fan. 

^That's the face of a girl who's spent nearly a month traveling Europe and is so brilliantly exhausted.

Afterwards, we headed downtown near the Duomo and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II shopping center for lunch and gelato!

We went to the most amazing gelato place, called Cioccolati Italiani!

(Side note - I just googled it for the correct spelling and the pictures made me incredibly nostalgic.)

This gelateria was incredible. 

They have chocolate fountains with three different types of chocolate, and thee best raspberry gelato my mouth has ever tasted and probably ever will!

With one bite of Italian Gelato my life was forever changed. I may have purchased gelato here three times today... #nevergoingbacktoamerica #italy #milan #gelato

Okay but really, I had 16 scoops of gelato in my 3 days spent in Italy.

I don't regret it.

After lunch and gelato (I swear, my memories of Italy revolve around when and where we got gelato) we had a business visit with World Expo 2015.
We had a beautiful view of Milan from their building and it was a really interesting visit!
It was crazy to think then that the event was still a year away, and now, as I'm writing this, we're almost a year beyond it.
Proof that I'm the most diligent blogger ever :)

From there we headed back to the main shopping area and toured the Duomo.
The Duomo is the third largest cathedral in the world, and I absolutely loved it.
It was the millionth cathedral we had seen in Europe, but easily the most impressive.

Visited the Duomo Cathedral today in Milan!

We spent the evening shopping (well, mainly window shopping), eating pizza and, you guessed it, gelato!

I bought a pair of jeans at Zara, drooled over purses at Prada, and savored every spoonful of Cioccolati Italiani gelato :)

It was a great Milano day.

My Month in Europe: From Munich to Milan

This day was our travel day to Milan!

You guys, this drive was honestly the most beautifully stunning drive of my life!

We went from Munich, Germany --> Rattenberg, Austria --> Lake Garda, Italy --> Milan, Italy.

We saw and drove through the Austrian Alps and then stopped for a while in the little Austrian town of Rattenberg. I immediately fell in love and Austria definitely made my list of places to go back to! 

Quick stop in Austria on our way from Munich to Milan! I will definitely be back to spend more time here one day. #austria

Rattenberg was so quaint and cute with the all of these amazing little shops.
One of the shops had just about every type of balsamic vinegar and olive oil you could imagine (among many other products) and I spent way too much time in there taste-testing them all!

I bought my mom blutorange (blood orange) balsamic vinegar and basilikum (basil) olive oil in these cute glass cork-top stackable jars.

I only spent a couple of hours in this charming Austrian town, but I will definitely be back to explore more of that beautiful country! #tbt #austria

I can't wait to go back to Austria some day, particularly Vienna.

From Rattenberg we traveled on to Italy.
As mentioned previously, this drive was absolutely stunning.
I was beyond exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep, but I wouldn't let myself because the drive was just perfect.

After traveling through the Austiran Alps we started to get into the rolling hills and vineyards in Italy.
It was a foggy day with some light rain, and I'm certain that Italy could not have been more beautiful than it was on our drive that day!

For dinner that night we stopped in Lake Garda, Italy.
Unfortunately, it was pouring rain and our choice of restaurant for dinner was rather unimpressive, but we did get our first taste of gelato, and it was divine.

Once we got to Milan and checked into our hotel, Hotel Raffaello, Katy and I went just across the street and had our first Italian pizza, and it lived up to all of our expectations!

Actually, it far exceeded our expectations, and we ended up going back the next night to get the same pizza for a midnight snack :)

We were off to a great start in Italy!

Father's Day

It's been a quick minute since I posted last, but I had too many thoughts today about Father's Day than could be shared in a simple Facebook or Instagram post.

For the last two years I had one goal in mind: to go to graduate school at Utah State. 

Everyone knew it, and in my mind as long as I got accepted it would be a no-brainer and the easiest decision I ever had to make.

Fast forward to applications being submitted, interviews with schools, and incredibly important emails containing my fate...

I was accepted to Utah State, but I was also accepted to all of the other programs I had applied to, and BYU really stood out to me when I had my interview with them.

I knew from the moment I walked out of my interview that I would end up at BYU, and a part of me was really excited about it, but a part of me didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to let go of my dream of getting accepted to and attending Utah State, and I also wasn't particularly thrilled about moving to Provo. Once I received a scholarship offer from BYU I knew the decision was made and I started to get excited about the big upcoming changes. 

I decided to start in the Spring, which meant putting in my two weeks notice at work, figuring out financial aid, finding a place to live, and finishing up my last semester of my second bachelor's degree two weeks early to be able to start school at BYU.

It was a hectic few weeks to say the least and finding a weekend to move was nearly impossible.

My parents had a trip planned to visit my sister in Idaho one weekend, but I had to beg my dad to stay and miss seeing his grandkids so he could be here to help me move.

Moving day came and on three hours of sleep I showed up to my parents' house to go and pick up the rental truck.

I was exhausted, I was stressed, and I was terrified about the major changes that were about to happen.

Right when I walked in the door my dad gave me a hug and said he understood it all without me even really explaining why I had such a sleepless night.

Holding back tears, he made me breakfast and we were on our way.

Hours later after getting moved out of my old house and into the new one, my dad stuck around to help me clean and get settled. We took a trip to Home Depot to pick up a few things, and the physical and emotional exhaustion set in. 

I wasn't happy with my current situation for a myriad of reasons and I was taking it out on my dad. He was trying to help me and was going above and beyond, but my patience was wearing very thin.

At one point after apologizing for all of the trouble and thanking my dad again for helping, he stopped me and said something to the effect of, "Look, until you're married and you have a man in your life, you're the woman in my life besides your mom." 

In my emotionally and physically exhausted state this translated to, "Hey Melissa, your life sucks because you're not married and that's why you're in this situation."

I cried right there in the lighting section of Home Depot.

After a good night of sleep and some clarity, I was ashamed at how I had acted and how I had misinterpreted my dad's comment. 

See, my dad has never been incredibly affectionate vocally, but looking back on that weekend that he spent with me - foregoing visiting his grandkids to help me move, spending two days cleaning with me, taking trips to Home Depot and buying me a few things I wouldn't have spent the money on myself, making me dinner and taking me out to lunch - all of those actions spoke volumes about the lengths that my father is willing to go to for me.

They were simple things, things you might say a father is supposed to do, but for me, in those moments of unfamiliar and uncomfortable, I had my dad by my side, and that truly meant the world to me.

So now I know, instead of meaning that I am a burden to my father and subjected to certain situations because I don't have a spouse in my life, he meant that it was his privilege to help me in any way he could.

(I'll also throw in here that I am, in fact, perfectly content with my marital status at this point in my life ;) )

I'm not sure he knows this, but that was one of those comments that will stick with me for a long time to come.

I love you dad, Happy Father's Day!

My Month in Europe: Germany Days One and Two

Our first day in Munich was pretty relaxed.
We woke up early to travel from Zurich to Munich, and as soon as we arrived we had a business visit with the U.S. Consulate, where we were able to hear from a few of the different departments.
It was really interesting!

From there we went to the BMW factory for a tour!
We were able to look around the showroom floor for a bit before the tour, and even though I'm more of an Audi girl myself, it was pretty fantastic! 

The tour was about two hours long and it was SO cool.

We were able to see the entire process of making and manufacturing BMW's from start to finish.

Unfortunately, photos weren't allowed :)

That evening some of us went out to explore Munich and get some dinner.

While exploring, we stumbled across Aston Martin, and I just about cried tears of joy...

So this happened today... My heart rate quadrupled and I think I nearly passed out. #astonmartin #beauties #munich

The next day when we were out and about we walked past this beauty just casually parked on the side of the road...

One day I'll own one ;) 

(In my dreams!)

The next day was one that I was looking forward to in a very somber way.

We drove to the Dachau concentration camp and we were very fortunate to be given a guided tour by an incredibly knowledgeable man who seemed to know every last detail about the holocaust.

As soon as we stepped through the gate the atmosphere was incredibly palpable.

"We live in a free world today because in 1945 the forces of imperfect goodness defeated the forces of near-perfect evil." Michael Dipaulo #dachau #germany

This gate was unfortunately stolen not even a month after we had stepped foot through it.

As our guide walked us through the camp he gave us a ton of information and focused on the things we wouldn't be able to find or read about online.

We saw the living quarters with rows of bunk beds.
Three people shared one of these bunkers.

The people who were sent to Dachau weren't Jews, but were those who the Germans felt to be a threat - sympathetics, homosexuals, and many more.

We also saw the gas chamber and incinerators.
Before going inside and while walking through I felt this extreme heaviness on my chest and wasn't sure I'd be able to do it.
It was extremely difficult, but in a weird way I'm glad I was able to be there to experience what I did.
I learned a lot and my worldview definitely shifted a bit.
Even now, a year and a half later I feel a heaviness in my chest when I even look at these photos.

These were all plots were the bunkers had been. The Germans came back to tear them down to get rid of proof near the end of the war. 

Touring Dachau was one of the most sobering and palpable experiences I've ever had, and one that I am not sure I'll ever be able to forget.

 After a pretty quiet bus ride back to Munich a group of us decided to go rent bikes and ride through the city and the English Gardens!
I absolutely loved it! 

It was a perfect day, the gardens were beautiful, and I had some great company!

Bike riding through the English Gardens of Munich on a perfect call day with these lovely ladies!

Riding through the city was a different story, and a tad stressful, but it was still so fun :)

That night we went to dinner at the famous beer fall, the Hofbrauhaus.
It was chaotic, loud, packed full, and so fantastic :)

The food, oh my goodness, the food.
I ordered Spatzle, bratwurst, and sauerkraut, and it was to. die. for.

What really made this experience though were the people and the atmosphere!
The hall had a live band playing traditional music, as well as a whole lot of drunk people ;)
We had to wait for a seat and had to actually ask people if we could take their table when they were done.

We ended up sitting by a woman, her dad, and three of their friends.
They all got so incredibly wasted and it was so entertaining!

One of the men who was so drunk he was literally on the verge of passing out said there were no words for how beautiful I was and kissed me on the hand twice.
Talk about out of my comfort zone, but it was definitely a night to remember!

Hey Europe friends! I'm sorry I've been holding out on you guys. I have sooo many pictures I'm going to try to get them all up this following week. Here's a video from Germany where we met Peter. I miss you all!!! Ohh and I should probably mention we were not drinking. Just FYI!
Posted by Kendra Weiss on Saturday, February 7, 2015

So much fun :)

After dinner we went to get some gelato (of course!), and head back to the hotel.
On the way we stumbled upon a pianist named Daniel Stenway, just casually playing a grand piano in the middle of Munich.

He was SO good.

I took a few videos of him playing, and once he saw me taking a video he got slightly upset and nodded his head at me.
Apparently in Europe when you're a street performer it isn't cool for people to record you, so I'm doing him a favor (or in my opinion, a disservice!) by not posting any of the videos on here.

Too bad, because he was fantastic!

Overall it was a long and emotional, but great day in Germany.
:)

Our second day in Germany was nothing special, and was probably my least favorite day of the trip so far.
Exhaustion has really set in, and emotional/grumpy Melissa made an appearance (along with a migraine).

We went to a branch in Germany for church and it was a very interesting experience.
Church was all in German with people translating, and Sacrament meeting went about half an hour over.
I was trying to hard to enjoy it but I was just exhausted.

We took the nearly hour-long trek back to the hotel and I took some Excedrin and a much needed nap.

That evening we had a YSA fireside with a traditional German dinner - homemade pretzels, sausage, and the most amazing apple streusel!

After dinner we had the fireside where me and two of the girls in the group sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives, at the request of our bus driver, Patrick!

Overall, the evening ended up being great, but as soon as we were back to the hotel I fell asleep faster than I ever have before, and I didn't mind one bit :)