Rough beginnings and fun nights

It's been an interesting beginning to my trip.  The flights were all on time and smooth.  Our connections were easy, and the security people seemed happy with a good sense of humor.  Both Alyssa's and my bags were EXACTLY 50lbs, and made it on with no extra fees.  :) Whew!  The 8 hour flight to Amsterdam turned out to be a 7 hour flight that was only 1/3 booked, which meant we could actually lay down across the seats!  We enjoyed the unlimited movies on our personal screen and free beer! :)

Unfortunately, we had a terrible experience with the egg croissant they gave us somewhere over Ireland that morning.  I got sick immediately on the plane, and as soon as we landed in Amsterdam, Alyssa was running  for the bathroom.  :(  The rest of the trip to Vienna was pretty crappy.

Once we arrived in Vienna I was slightly better but Alyssa was still feeling terrible.  We got our luggage and met my friend Judith outside the airport.  We were SO happy to see a friendly face and to have a ride home.  Oh and by the way, luggage sucks.  ---------------------->

We arrived in Haus Erasmus and immediately fell in love!  The room is so nice and spacious, with TONS of organizational space, a long desk, and a nice bathroom.  Also, I'm not sure if a girl or a guy had my bed last semester, but they were apparently a huge fan of Roger Federer...super creepy right? So as tired as we were, we thought it would be a good idea to completely unpack.  So we did. And then we took a 4 hour nap... it was amazing!

We met up with my "buddy" Matt from Italy for dinner that night.  He picked us up and we went to a fancy shmancy restaurant called Freiraum , which means free space.  The modern interior design of this place was amazing, with interesting lighting, glass, and artwork.  It was also a bar, so they had chill techno playing.  We got to know my buddy very well and shared many interesting stories.  He seems like a really cool guy.  I had my first Weiner Schnitzel, and it was soooooo good!



That night, Alyssa got sicker and sicker and by morning we were worried and looked into doctors that spoke English.  I found a few through the U.S. embassy website, but we decided to wait after googling "food poisoning" told us that basic food poison lasts 24-48 hrs, and it had only been 24 at that point.  So we slept.. until 4:30pm.  It felt amazing.  By that time, however, hunger set in as I hadn't eaten since dinner the night before.  So I went with my friends Stephanie and Kaitlin from UF and 2 other American guys to the Billa for some food.  There was so much food there I wanted to try, and it really was cheap!  I had orders from Alyssa for animal crackers and sprite, which amazingly, I was able to find.  I also bought a huge bundle of clementines for 1,99, cranberry juice for 1,99, a container of fresh mozzarella for 1,69, and yogurt for 0,49!

Then we went back and the 5 of us prepared a dinner of cordon bleu, potatoes, broccoli, and bread.  It was soooo good.  We spent the rest of the evening in the kitchen (a popular Haus Erasmus hang out spot), talking, telling stories, jokes.  By the end of the evening the room was filled with me and 8 others... all American.  So naturally we ended the evening throwing corks into cups, eventually teams were formed, and team Sigfried and Kaitlin were declared winners.  Oh us Americans... :)

I'm back in the room with Alyssa now, and she is feeling better and hasn't thrown up in quite a while.  :) Hopefully we will be able to go out and get stuff done in the city tomorrow!

Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!!

My last weekend in Gainesville I tried my very hardest to visit all my friends and spend time with family. And pack. And sleep. It was great!
Friday night I went to midtown Gainesville with friends Lauren and Jessica to celebrate my going away and... Lauren's engagement!!! :D


Then on Saturday night, Katie invited a bunch of people over to her place to say goodbye to me... It was a lot of fun!

Sunday I spent finishing my packing and hanging out with my Mom!  Realization set in late Sunday night... I'm going to miss her!  Here's the typical weekend routine with Mom and Ellie. :)

I spent Monday morning (today) freaking out because, of course, my luggage weight was way over the limit.  FINALLY, I had enough taken out to check without fees. Whew!  I met up with Alyssa and Sarah, my roommates, to sign our leases for next fall.  Then Alyssa picked me and my buttload of luggage up and we drove down to Orlando.  As of now I am very tired, but excited as I sip my champagne and watch The Sound of Music as Alyssa does some last minute packing.  Glad I'M done! :)

Flight leaves tomorrow at noon.  Ahhh, the time has finally arrived.  I was chatting with my Austrian friend Judith who studied abroad at UF last semester, and she said it won't really feel real until you are actually IN Vienna.  I think she is right, because now it only feels like a dream.  Anyway, gute nacht!