Oh gosh Oh gosh where to even begin? I suppose I should start with the fact that I feel so unbelievably blessed and thankful to have gotten to spend one jam packed week with the three greatest people I know. After much deliberation (and surprisingly no arguing on mine and Jay’s part), we all decided that Austria and Italy were where we wanted to spend this unbelievable week to come. And because they would be leaving early friday morning, I decided I would meet up with some friends in London for a few days!
Friday morning I met Mom, Dad and Jay at the Frankfurt Airport which is actually really great because the train station and the airport are connected! Talk about convenient for me! Though it was a maze to actually find their arrival gate, I finally made it and awaited their arrival with some fellow Aggies and Longhorns I met! After finally getting that long awaited mommy-hug, we went to the hotel, settled in, and headed out on our first day trip to Wiesbaden!
Day 1: Wiesbaden, Germany
The trees in this city are just like the trees we have here in Bonn and they are just the weirdest/coolest/funniest looking things I ever did see! We strolled through the city, they tried some authentic german dishes (Schnitzel and whatnot) and that evening we headed back to Frankfurt because we had an early flight to catch to Vienna the next morning!
Day 2: Vienna, Austria
Wow, not even on the ground yet and already loving the Austrian Countryside!
Not sure how we got so lucky, but out hotel had a gorgeous balcony view of a fun street in the heart of Vienna! Jay also found made a good, solid friend while roaming the city. This also just happened to be Daddy’s birthday so we headed to a nice little dinner to celebrate! While the city of Vienna was a little different than I expected, the suburbs hit the nail on the head!
Day 3: Salzburg, Austria
Just a little background on Salzburg, not only is it the birthplace of Mozart, it was also originally know for it’s salt mines (hint hint “Salz”-burg, which directly translates to “Salt-Fortress” because it also has a fortress, creative, right?), but it is more commonly known today for being the main location that “The Sound of Music” was filmed and where the Von Trapp family actually resided.
Not only is this building architecturally beautiful, but it is also the back of The Von Trapp’s home (in the film).
The yellow building is the birthplace of Mozart, as well as the current location of the Mozart Museum. This street is also lined with ornate and beautiful rod iron signs (like really, tell me that’s not the most beautiful McDonald’s sign you’ve ever seen) We also stumbled upon a wonderful garden when making our way up to the Hohensalzburg Castle at the top of the hill.
The views from up here were just in a league of their own. As we sat at a little cafe at the top of the fortress eating the famous Sachertorte (basically a really complex, layered, chocolate cake, first created in Austria), Â we were in awe of the beauty that was surrounding us. The city of Salzburg was the highlight of Vienna for me, and no, it had nothing to do with the cake.. okay maybe a little, but the hills were definitely alive and as gorgeous as ever.
Day 4: Vienna, Austria
Back in Vienna for the day so we decided we would go on a fun city tour and see some of the typical Viennese sights!
St. Stephen’s Cathedral was under construction (unless you were fooled by the decorated scaffoldings) but was nothing short of incredible. We also had a fun time getting to see the Vienna Opera House and walking around the city before catching our flight to Venice that evening.
Oh and we really couldn’t have asked for a better sunset to fly off into in our fighter jet (just kidding but this was not your average plane). After arriving at the airport in Venice, our only option was to take a water taxi (aka those cute little boats you expect to see roaming the canals of Venice), and it dropped us off right at the back door of our hotel (seriously boat to building, nothing in-between) that also ran along several canals.
Day 5/6: Venice, Italy
I don’t even know how to put my love for Venice into words so I’ll just post some photos that don’t even do the town justice.
Venice and was a relaxed city with so much to offer. We toured Doge’s Palace as well as visited the island of Murano (famous for glass blowing) and actually got to see a man make a horse out of glass in a matter of minutes  (it also appears to be on fire because he put a 5 euro bill on it and it burst into flames because the glass was still so hot even after being molded and shaped for a minute or two, it was quite the process!) I also have to take a moment to dedicate a sentence or two to the incredible food and gelato. Hands down the absolute best meal I have had since going abroad (spinach and gorgonzola ravioli and I snuck a few bites of Jay’s lasagna and both were nothing less than perfection. If you ever find yourself in Venice needing a place to get a great meal, Vino Vino will not disappoint! (We even went there 2 nights in a row..) Oh and the gelato. So American chocolate is pretty pricey over here (in Bonn at least), so I bet you can believe my excitement/shock when I saw KIT-KAT Gelato! It was better than I ever expected and it’s probably for the best they don’t offer it here in Bonn. We also visited the Ponte di Rialto and admired the gondolas as they floated by. As we were leaving bright and way too early the next morning, we were in our water taxi headed back to the airport and we passed a boat full of flowers ready to deliver the day’s fresh beauties. It was so perfect and calm, just like Venice.
Day 7: Heidelberg, Germany
As we flew from Italy back to Frankfurt, we flew over the icy Swiss Alps! Because we had about half a day in Frankfurt, we decided to head to a small town called Heidelberg not far from Frankfurt. We saw one of the largest wine barrels in the world and got to try “Ice Wine” which is made from frozen grapes and tastes heavenly. We toured Heidelberg Castle and saw gorgeous views of the city. We stopped at a Turkish Doner shop for Doner Kebaps (really popular in Germany, made of pita, chicken, lettuce, some yummy white sauce, chili sauce, and red pepper if you like it spicy, and plenty of other things if you’re less picky than I am!) and Jay loved them! We then walked around the town a little before heading to a small brewery for a last German beer before their early flight home the next morning.
Day 8/9/10: Farewell Family/London
As we traveled to the airport that morning, I dreaded finally making it to the terminal because the last thing I wanted to do was say goodbye. Luckily (Dad would disagree that this was lucky), because Dad and Jay have almost the exact same name, and apparently that is a very foreign concept over here, one of their tickets was missing on the flight reservation so that took some time to get straightened out. The woman helping us was so shocked by the name issue she even went as far as to ask us where the other two “James Preston’s were hiding”, she was tickled with herself and it made us laugh but we cut it pretty close to get to their gate in time for boarding. So in the end, I got my wish and we got to spend a lot more time together than expected and they barely boarded before the doors closed! After I watched their plane take off, I headed to my terminal to catch my plane to London. An unbelievably expensive cab ride, and 20 tube stops later, I finally met up with my friends and we set out to see the sights! Having already been lucky enough to visit London 3 years ago, it was a more laid back stroll through the city, picking up on the little things I missed several years ago.
We headed straight for Big Ben and the Parliament Building. We also attended an Evensong service at Westminster Abbey and that was hands down one of the coolest experiences of my life. Because you are not allowed to take photos in the abbey, I couldn’t video it, but the acoustics as the choir sang some of my favorite hymns was breath taking. We visited Buckingham Palace and had tea with the Queen, and (wait I wish) but we took some pictures, saw some street performances, strolled through Green and Hyde Park and on one day even found a Chipotle!! This may not be a big deal to some of you but to someone who hasn’t had even a hint of good Mexican food in months, this was quite the find. We even ran into 4 other A&M students in our program while we were waiting in line! Oh and happy late St. Patty’s day!
As my dream spring break came to close and we headed back to Bonn, it was hard to grasp all of the amazing things we had done and seen, and how I would manage to try and remember it all like it was yesterday because the memories made this trip are some I never want to fade. Getting to travel was great, but getting to see my family really made it a week to cherish.
Until next time,
Laura
passports&ponytails 
Treasured memories!