European Heritage
11:38 PMIn the month of June, I went on a 3 week long trip all over Europe. It was probably one of the best experiences I've ever had in my entire life. I made wonderful friends, experienced strange, crazy drama, and ate a lot of croissants. The trip made me more outgoing and not afraid to talk to strangers. I did a lot of that in Europe.
I was invited to be a student ambassador for the People To People Student Ambassador Program a few months before the trip. Knowing me, I wanted to travel the world and this was a perfect start. I went to 7 countries within those 20 day. The whole trip costed about $7500. Now before you say 'Dang, girl. you got some monayyy!!', let me just say that we payed for the whole trip with pure freaking luck. Family members donated, but it just wasn't enough. The closer it got to the trip date, the more upset I got because we weren't even halfway to the money goal. Maybe about 50 or so days before the trip, I found out my mom won a scholarship contest for 6000 FREAKIN DOLLARS!!! I almost cried tears of joy when I found out.
Our last meeting before the trip, we got our P2P polos, luggage tags, and our lanyards. Our delegation was mixed with a delegation from Colorado. Finally getting my shirt and lanyard made the trip seem so much more real.
The drive to the B-Ham Airport was nerve-wracking. We had to take a plane from Birmingham to ATL. I guess layovers make flights cheaper. I don't know. The leaders told us if we were to go somewhere, we need to use the buddy system. So of course little old me, I didn't have anyone to walk with. People had already buddied up. So I just tagged along behind a group of 3. I was following behind a girl who I thought was pretty cool. She didn't really acknowledge me at first. After a while we were all buddy-buddy. Her name is Kayley. Our layover at the ATL airport was two hours. Kayley and I just walked around the airport and goofed around before the flight. It's crazy how fast we became friends. The plane ride from ATL to Zurich, Switzerland was about 8-9 hours. My first time riding on an airplane with a TV :)))
So we touched down in Zurich and met the Colorado delegation there. Before the trip, I had actually talked to a few of the people from the colorado delegation. So I knew a few people from there. We met our bus driver Yohan(yes, his name is actually Yohan. Boss, right? XD)and our delegation leader who would lead us around Europe. His name was Erik. And let me tell you. He might have been older, but he was soo good-looking. A bunch of the girls from the trip can vouch for me on that<3
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| Erik, the delegation manager <3 |
The first official country on the agenda was Austria. A lot of people get around by bikes, skates, or motor scooters there. The mountains and the crystal blue lake up in the mountains were breathtaking. We took a cable car to the top. Its actually not as cold up in the mountains as I thought it was going to be, despite being covered in snow. The next day in Austria, we rode the Alpine Coaster, which was super fun. Although I was afraid of bugs flying in my face and in my mouth. We also did a ropes course. It was fun in the beginning. Until I was stupid enough to go on a black dot course, which is the most difficult. Let me just tell you I almost died twice, even though I had a harness. And my arms almost gave out 2000 times. Never again. I was sore for a whole week:-( Day 3 in Austria, we went to the Käse Haus and made cheese. It looked really gross so I didn't eat it. I don't think anyone even ate that nasty cheese. Good experience though:D We talked to a rep of Austria, went on some stupid scavenger hunt(for Europe, it was blazing out there!)and everyone got a cool certificate for completing it. After getting back from the hotel, we had an Austrian BBQ. We had the option to go swimming, which duh, I did. But the downside is that it's water from the mountains, so the water was freezing. Clean, clear, and under control.XD
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| really good chocolate wafers Yohan gave out to us :-P |
Next was Switzerland; the home-stay country. Before we met our home-stay family, we walked around the lot a bit and saw a lot of cool swiss graffiti. If I could go back, I would. My home-stay family was absolutely lovely<3 I miss them so much. We went to the mountains, shopping, zumba, and I got to go to a swiss school. They also showed me the new flat they will be moving to. Maybe after they move, I'll visit them again:)
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| Lea, Anna, and I :-) <3 |
Germany was something else:) we went to a cuckoo clock shop, and did an environmental project. We went on a trail and picked up trash. I was not picking up much trash...I was too busy looking at our hot german trail leader. His name is Norman<3 When I saw hot, I mean HAWWT! He looked like he was in his early 20s, but he was in his mid 30s. Whats up with these Europeans? They have some kind young DNA thing going on. Me, Kayley, and Devin were all over him like white on rice. The crazy thing about it was that he hovered around us too. He winked at us and got us sodas<3 After the project and dinner, it was time to go. The last time we would see Norman. He said we were his favorite girls and gave us all hugs. What would YOU do in a situation like that?
In Heidelberg, we went to this large swimming pool. To my surprise, it was HEATED! Lord knows Europe doesn't believe in air conditioning and warm water. I swam for a bit then hung out with a girl named Casey. We instantly became friends. The best thing about her is that we share the same love for youtubers. She does a kick-ass MirandaSings impression:) We also went to a roman ruins place and saw people try on some roman attire. Let me tell you, my friends Jackie and Marissa looked pretty legit in the ladies' costume.
On the 15th, we went to the Anne Frank house. It was pretty depressing. A lot of people cried. When we got out, my friend(quite popular I was XD)Jackson looked so depressed and didn't talk for a while. I had to get something from the Anne Frank gift shop. No matter how broke I was, I couldn't leave without something. After a little cruise on the canal, we went to a clog shop. I bought two little clog keychains from the gift shop.
In Amsterdam, we went to the Peace Palace. We rode by the windmills on a bike. When I first got my bike, I fell off trying to go up a hill and popped my knee out of place. Hurt like a mofo:'''( At the end of our bike ride, we stopped at a large field where we had a picnic and played soccer and volleyball. There was a really hot soccer player that I got to take a picture with, even though I wasn't allowed #sorrynotsorry
Next day, we were in Belgium. We rode around Bruges on a horse and carriage. I even got a selfie with one of them:-D We went to a Belgium chocolate place and saw how they made their chocolate. So pure, so heavenly. I bought two large bars of chocolate; one was milk chocolate and the other was white chocolate, which I didn't end up liking. I gave it to my mom. There was a belgian waffle place right across the street from the chocolate place soo it makes sense to eat a Belgium waffle in Belgium. One more thing crossed of my bucket list.
Next was good ole France. We toured the Louvre and let me tell you I've never felt more claustrophobic in my life. But I did get a picture of the Mona Lisa. It's not a good picture but I got it. Afterwards, we went to Le Eiffel Tower:) When I got to the top, I could actually feel it kind of swaying. Maybe it was just me, but that was some scary ish. Me and a couple others got out of the tower early so we had to wait a while. We actually met another P2P delegation. They were from GA. This one guy was soo hot. I got a picture with him and his friends. For dinner, we had Ratatouille. How french is that? ;-) The next day, we went to the Palace of Versailles, and the Notre Dame Cathedral. I tried escargot. I actually ate a snail! And it was bomb!! Ooh let me tell you!!! French people are ruthless!! One of the delegation leaders from Alabama almost got pick-pocketed. How crazy is that? Some dude almost stole her phone. The delegation leader from Colorado caught the pick-pocketer at the last minute.
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| me, ashley, and the guys from the GA delegation :-) |
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| one day, i'll get to put a lock on the bridge<3 |
I've learned a lot on this trip. I've learned that there are some hot tamales in Europe, and that I've got to be more secretive about my boy stalking. I've also learned to be friends with everyone and never pick sides XD There was a HUGE conflict on the bus this one time and I was right in the middle of it, Literally. 2 girls and a guy. I'm not gunna lie, it was sooo funny. I was laughing in my head. She told him off real good. After that, they tried avoiding each other. It was like a twitter war in real life. They kept @ each other while the other person was near. Real life soap opera, I swear. Me and Kayley are besties still. We don't see each other often but at least she lives close. Here are a few pictures of us in Europe:-)
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| our last day in the UK |
Question of the day: What would you do for a European hottie? ;-)
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