So I'm driving away from school with maybe a few too many tears streaming down my face as I say goodbye to the amazing city of London the amazing, countless memories and some of the best friends that I've met recently. This past week has been stressful, fun, sad and happy all in between. I started off the week with studying for my finals, which I can't even begin to describe how happy I am that they are finally over. In between the studying, however I spent as much time as possible with everyone I've met here. This week we all took into consideration that this is something that were not going to get back anytime soon.
Looking back on my time here in London I can't help but get nostalgic on everything that I've done and smile because it happened. Before I went abroad so many people told me that it would be such an amazing life changing experience, and yeah to some extent I believed them, I mean moving to a different country for about four months has got to be changing your life some way! What I definitely didn't know was that this was going to change almost everything in my life and not one of those changes were negative. I could go into the many details about what changed while I was abroad, but the most important was that I learned about myself. That was the most rewarding part of this experience was to test my own limits and see who I was. I'm sure it sounds so cheesey and cliche but there really isn't any other way to explain it. I can see it in myself that I've grown up and become a different person than I was when I left America 3 and a half months ago. It's crazy to think about August 27th and the feelings I had leaving and now thinking its December 15th and I'm nowhere near that person I was. Sure my life didn't do a complete 360 but there's something and I'm not quite sure I can put my exact finger on it. I like what London and this experience has done for me.
I think I probably said in every single blog post that I was eternally grateful for all the experiences that I was receiving and now that it's all over I can't say it enough. It's hard saying goodbye to everything that London has given me but these memories will stay with me forever and that is the best souvenir of all the shot glasses anyone could collect from the countries that they traveled to. I obviously couldn't have done any of this without my parents and for that I will owe them for the rest of my life. Nothing I did in London and any of the countries I traveled to could have happened with out them. I cannot thank them enough for everything that they did, especially coming to visit me!
If my parents didn't help make the experience amazing it was the friends that I met here. The people I've met here have been incredible. I created a great circle of friends from all over the US and we had the best of times in everything we did. The best part of that is that I've made life long friends that have shared this experience with me. I love how close we have all gotten, but it doesn't make saying goodbye any harder. This morning saying goodbye to the people who have become my family here was by far the hardest thing I've had to do. I laughed and told everyone I wasn't going to cry but one look at my friends and the water works started flowing. Even typing this now is getting me choked up a bit. I feel so lucky that I have gotten to know such amazing people, making this goodbye even sadder.
I'm going to miss London and everything that came along with it. This experience was the time of my life and I will never in a million years ever forget it. Although this is a bittersweet goodbye I am looking forward to heading home to my friends and family and even school and cheerleading in January. Thank you for staying posted on my blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about all my adventures Across The Pond....
Until my next European adventure,
Alyssa, x
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Last of My European Adventures: Germany!
It's a bittersweet feeling knowing that I just spent my last weekend in Europe. Last Friday at the chipper hour of 3:30 am I left with seven of my friends for a flight to Nuremberg, Germany. Before I even left for London I knew that I wanted to go to Germany and even more wanted to go to Nuremberg for this weekend. The world famous Christkindlmarkt, a German style Christmas market, was opening that weekend and of course the Nuremberg Nazi Trials were there as well. I was so excited when the weekend finally rolled around. After a quick flight to Germany we arrived and it was snowing! Usually I'm not much of a winter or a snow person, but seeing the snowflakes fall as we walked off the plane made a great start to the trip! We traveled from the airport to our hostel and got to rest for a while before heading back out into the cold.
That night we took a short walk from our hostel to the market and got some authentic Bratwurst for dinner. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it and even had maybe too many to count that entire weekend. After we walked around a bit and found a place to get ready and watch the opening ceremony. We were standing in front of this gorgeous church, where an angel was propped up on the balcony. She came out and gave a speech at the top of the church, in German of course so I have absolutely no idea what she had said, but it was still cool nonetheless. After the opening ceremony we all decided it was way too cold and we were way too tired to do anything else so we headed back to the hostel for the night to get some sleep.
The next morning after having resting up we went back to the market to actually do some adventuring around. The market was huge and there were little markets all around the main one. The different souvenirs at each station were unique and beautiful. It was a great place for all of us to get souvenirs and Christmas gifts for people back home. After a couple hours of walking around and shopping we went back to the hostel for a bit to warm up. The weather in Germany was freezing!! We all had at least two pairs of pants and two shirts as well as a jacket on and we were still ice cold. After some resting time we headed back out to the market. Everything was beautiful at night. There were Christmas lights everywhere and the decorations really just put us in the "Christmas mood." That night we went to the children's side of the market where we got to meet Santa. One of our good friends is Jewish, so this was her first Christmas and she was ecstatic to meet Santa. It was really fun getting to act like a child for a little with everyone.
The next morning when we woke up it was snowing again, but this time, much harder than the first and it was actually sticking to the ground!! It's been a while since I've seen this, it was so pretty and cool to see, especially since we were in Germany! After everyone got ready, we started making our way to where the Nazi Trials were held. After getting lost a few times we finally made it there. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I've always been interested in the Holocaust, so I was pretty excited to go there. We were able to go into the actual court room and got to walk around and hear about how the trials went. Although it was pretty boring, I'm glad I can say that I've been. Later, we traveled back tot hostel, got our bags and made our way back to the airport.
Germany was a really relaxing weekend, and I'm glad that it was my last weekend trip away from London. Coming back to London was again, very bittersweet. It really marked the end of our entire stay in London and I'm so sad to say goodbye to all of this. I'm just about finished with classes for the semester and then have exams to get through next week. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by. It seems like just yesterday it was summertime and I was being asked when I was leaving for London. Now my friends and family (and sometimes me) are counting the days until I arrive back in America. I'm going to miss London and everything that it has brought me so much when I come home, but I think I'm ready to be back in the place I call home.
That night we took a short walk from our hostel to the market and got some authentic Bratwurst for dinner. Surprisingly, I enjoyed it and even had maybe too many to count that entire weekend. After we walked around a bit and found a place to get ready and watch the opening ceremony. We were standing in front of this gorgeous church, where an angel was propped up on the balcony. She came out and gave a speech at the top of the church, in German of course so I have absolutely no idea what she had said, but it was still cool nonetheless. After the opening ceremony we all decided it was way too cold and we were way too tired to do anything else so we headed back to the hostel for the night to get some sleep.
The Opening Ceremony
The next morning after having resting up we went back to the market to actually do some adventuring around. The market was huge and there were little markets all around the main one. The different souvenirs at each station were unique and beautiful. It was a great place for all of us to get souvenirs and Christmas gifts for people back home. After a couple hours of walking around and shopping we went back to the hostel for a bit to warm up. The weather in Germany was freezing!! We all had at least two pairs of pants and two shirts as well as a jacket on and we were still ice cold. After some resting time we headed back out to the market. Everything was beautiful at night. There were Christmas lights everywhere and the decorations really just put us in the "Christmas mood." That night we went to the children's side of the market where we got to meet Santa. One of our good friends is Jewish, so this was her first Christmas and she was ecstatic to meet Santa. It was really fun getting to act like a child for a little with everyone.
The next morning when we woke up it was snowing again, but this time, much harder than the first and it was actually sticking to the ground!! It's been a while since I've seen this, it was so pretty and cool to see, especially since we were in Germany! After everyone got ready, we started making our way to where the Nazi Trials were held. After getting lost a few times we finally made it there. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I've always been interested in the Holocaust, so I was pretty excited to go there. We were able to go into the actual court room and got to walk around and hear about how the trials went. Although it was pretty boring, I'm glad I can say that I've been. Later, we traveled back tot hostel, got our bags and made our way back to the airport.
The Court Room
Germany was a really relaxing weekend, and I'm glad that it was my last weekend trip away from London. Coming back to London was again, very bittersweet. It really marked the end of our entire stay in London and I'm so sad to say goodbye to all of this. I'm just about finished with classes for the semester and then have exams to get through next week. I can't believe how fast this semester has gone by. It seems like just yesterday it was summertime and I was being asked when I was leaving for London. Now my friends and family (and sometimes me) are counting the days until I arrive back in America. I'm going to miss London and everything that it has brought me so much when I come home, but I think I'm ready to be back in the place I call home.
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