It's already June and I'm all the way in the mood for summer vacation. I'm glad I got to spend a few weekend hiking and camping trips already with my friends. And I'm 100% sure this summer is going to be the best summer ever. Well I say this about every summer and I'm saying that as a proud fall/winter season person.
But I am so looking forward about posting about my trips that are coming up!
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It's already been a while since I was in Porto, but I just didn't get a chance with uploading this post. A lot has been going in my life. So but I'll be trying to upload posts regularly again. Day 117.02.2017 My sister and I went to the airport pretty early in the morning. The flight to Porto only took about 2 hours. From the train station we had to find our apartment in the city centre of Porto, without any internet. Just a map. Because we were early to check-in in our apartment, we went to eat lunch around the corner. As you might see in pictures with my sister, we look pretty Latin, so people just assumed we speak Portuguese. And when they realized we don't speak Portuguese they automatically lost interest. This experience was somehow funny. Because I get asked like all the time if I am Latin . After we ate and got the keys for the apartment we went to explore the city a little. We took a boat ride in the river, douro and got a view of all six bridges. To let the day sink in we went to the ribeira and on the other side of the douro, i think village on the other side was called, Gaia. After it got dark we ate something little for supper and tried to find the way back to our apartment, where we went to bed really really early. Day 218.02.2017 On the second day in Porto, we got up early so we can use the whole day for productive stuff. While my sister was getting ready, I went around the corner to get some coffee and croissants. The first stop was the famous libary, Livraria Lello. It was really crowded so we didn't stay pretty long, we went to the really pretty main train station of Porto. At the train station we bought bus tickets to get out of town, to the sea side. Unluckily the weather wasn't as good as we tought it would be but the sun ended up coming out anyways. We had a lot of fun at the minimalistic Sea Life of Porto and had a great meal at the sea. For our "last" night in Porto we wanted to go out. We went to the Hard Rock Café, which was just around the corner from our apartment. Actually all of the night life scene was around the corner. even though Day 319.02.2017 We got up early on Sunday, so we can use all the time before we have to go to the airport. First thing in the morning was to visit the Jardins do Palácio de Cristal. The garden was so pretty and had an amazing view over Porto and the Douro. After we walked all the way down to the river and a visit at the pirate museum, we both were hungry. We went again to Gaia, where we saw earlier that weekend a traditional Portuguese restaurant. (Yes, please don't mind this annoying man looking at my sausage.) After buying a few souveniers we went back to our apartment to get our stuff and go to the airport. But when we came to the airport they told us they overbooked our flight. And we will get a standby ticket, in case someone misses the flight or doens't show up we can have their seats. But everyone showed up for the flight to Zurich, so we had to spend another night in Portugal. Good thing, we got everything paid from the airline. A nice hotel, with a great view on the river, and even two meals. Day 4After spending another night in Portugal, we had a flight back home at 6 in the morning. We left our hotel around 5 I think. Can't really remember, I was so tired. Being back home made me think about what I loved most about this amazing trip, besides spending time with my big sister. I think the part I liked to most was the street art, from musicians to painting. I am wotking on a video of all the artists I was able to catch a shot of. Hope you enjoyed reading about my trip to Porto!!
You are on a budget, but still want to have a great time in Zurich? 1. Züri rollt.You can rent a bike for free in Zürich, explore all you want. All you need is a ID card and a 20.- deposit, which you get back. 2. Historic City Center.What did Zurich look alike 200 years ago? In the building "Zum unteren Rech" is a detailed reproduction, handmade. 3. Mazes.Life is about getting lost, and finding yourself. You can do that at the Kasernenareal, Seeburgpark or at th ETH-Hönggerberg. 4. 1200 Fountains.A lot of the fountains are small masterpieces, with stories behind them. From July to October are guided tours available. 5. Botanical Experience.If you have a thing for plants, flowers and nature Zurich has a good range. The succulent collection Zurich has since 1931 the biggest and most important special collection ok succulents. The botanical garden invites you to enjoy all the flowers or just relax for a moment. 6. Arthouse Zurich.Every Wednesday the entrance in the Art House of Zurich is free. Some of the most important art collections of Switzerland are shown there. 7. Water Fun.My personal favorite during summer is the river Letten! Jump in the refreshing water and just let go. The best part is the whole river part is supervised for free :)
I want to go on a plane. And don't want to tell anyone or bring my phone. I wanna go somewhere i don't know the roads like the palm of my hand. And every road has his own new story to tell me. Because I walk the same roads day in and day out, take the same bus and I cease to see. We walk in our dreams and train our muscles to work without giving thought. But I wanna walk where I have never walked before and notice it. And don't want to try to get anything of it or make use of it, because I can't. And that's the point. Just walk, and sit down if you like. And be. Just be whatever you are with whatever you have. And realize that this is enough to be happy.
I was going to write my New Years Resolutions but instead I think it's much more intresting and motivating to make a bucket list for 2017. 1. Learn Spanish.I've been trying to learn Spanish for about two years now. But I always quit. So this year I will keep going. 2. Connect with past teachers.Many of will remember our past teachers as cruel and mean. But all in all they just wanted to ensure we get on the right path. Teachers might not do everything right, but their intentions come from a good place and they want to see us win. 3. Volunteer work.I always wanted to work at a dog shelter or something like that. 4. Plant a tree and manage to watch it grow.I never managed to keep a plant alive. So this year I will get flowers and plants for my room. 5.Try out vegetarianism for 31 days.There is so much food waste everywhere, and so many animals get treated cruel. I like meat but we all should buy our food resourceful. 6. Organize a picknick.When summer is around the corner I want a big picknick, with a bunch of food and family and friends, like in the old days. 7. Go on a romantic Getaway.I actually never mentioned my boyfriend. But more details coming soon. 8. Visit a castle.When I was younger, I have been to a lot of castles in Switzerland but I haven't been in a while. 9. Help people in need.We all should support the ones who lost their homes and families. A lot of programms give you the option to do that online trough money. But I wanna go big and help in refugees programs here in Switzerland.
Every year I set myself goals but keep forgetting them, this year I will keep my blog update and upload my bucketlist to bucketlist.org to keep myself up-to-date, and maybe add some stuff. 11. Do a color run.I've been wanting to do a color run for two years now, I hope this fall is going to be the year! 12. Become more confident.Lately I've been struggling being more confident, but I will keep working on that with my yoga and mediation. Can't wait for yoga to start this year again. 13. Go camping again.It has been forever since the last time I have been actually camping. 14. Learn to drive.This year I will hit the big 18 and will be able to drive. Be safe out there! 15. Send a message in a bottle.In middle school I used to have a penpal, it would be fun to have one again. 16. Spend a day in a Spa.No explanation needed. 17. Sleep under the stars.18. Get published in a newspaper.In a few years I willhopefully attend the school of journalism and for that I need at least 3 published articels in a newspaper. 19. Color my hair.Change means a new haircolor. Thinking about a dirty blond or honey kissed hair. 20. Go skinny dipping.Hard to believe I've never been skinny dipping huh. I hope you had a great start in the new year. Can't wait to get started on my bucketlist and have a fresh start. I hope that in this year I make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're doing something. On Thursday morning I left with my family to Vallais for a short vacation. We drove up there by car. We made a stop at the at the Furka Pass, where we went inside of a glacier. We arrived pretty early at our appartment. So we went to eat lunch and afterwards to a suspension bridge. It was making me sick. The next day we went to Brig, where we went to the old castle, getting groceries and swimming at the Brigerbad Spa. For supper we made Raclette, like we Swiss people like to do. My sister left me behind on Saturday morning. So I went hiking with my family and Go Kart Downhilling. It was really fun. The old village was so beautiful, it was amazing to see this old structre of buildings. For the last day my father had planned to go paragliding with his wife, but we ended up going hiking at the Aletschglacier. The weather the whole weekend wasn't bad at all. It was way warmer than I expected it to be. All in all I had a fun weekend, even though it's really stressful to go on vacation with my family. HOME IS WHERE THE MOUNTAINS AREThere is been happening a lot in my life, and I still feel like I am doing nothing. School is going great. I have friends, I feel comfortable with and right now the classes aren't that hard. But just some teachers are making me furious. I feel like they have no common sense. Other than that, in school everything is going pretty well. SPENDING TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDSI spend a lot of time with Lia and Maite. September 24thI went hiking with Maite on the Titlis. We had a lot of fun, even though we didn't get that far with hiking. On our way to Engelberg we saw Switzerland in different ways. And for a short stop we were in Lucerne. OKTOBERFEST 2016With Aline and Lia I went one week later to Munich. It was a crazy short trip. We went shopping in the morning until the afternoon and in the evening we went to the Wiesn. Our hostel was like 10 minutes out of the center so we saw a lot walking towards the center. It was a bummer that Lia got a cold excalty the day we left for Munich. But we had a lot of fun anyways. RED HOT CHILI PEPPERSLast Wednesday the Red Hot Chili Peppers came to Zurich. I went with Maite and some other friends. It was a great show. I was just a little disappointed that they didn't bring all the songs I was hoping for. They brought most a the song of the new album and an amazing pre-band. THIS WEEKENDOn Friday Maite and I went to watch the stars, on a hill near my house. It was so freaking cold, even though we took like 5 blankets with us. I love that I can do crazy stuff like this with my friends. On Saturday my oldest friend Raffaela, which came to visit me in Albama, came to visit me in Zurich. I took her with me to a party of my family. But we left a little early and went to a bar. After that we made a horror movie night at my place. As you can see I am always busy with work, school or spending time with my family and friends. But still I'm never really happy. I do enjoy all those moments. But it just hits me in the weirdest moments and then I'm suddenly sad after I've been in the best mood all day. I am trying to figure out, how to controll my mood swings and be more positive. The end of my exchange year came really fast. But in a few days I am gonna upload a blog post abbout my whole year and my experience. Since I've been back in Switzerland... My family and my two best friends came to pick me up at the airport. I was suprise I only expected my mom to come and get me. After some of my family members left, I went home, where my mom prepared brunch for me. I was really excited because breakfast is my favorite food. And I good bread! After one year with no real bread. I was craving Swiss food. Anyways after we ate, my friends and I went to Zurich where we met up with one of my best friends. He had school all morning and couldn't come to the airport. It was so weird to use puplic transportation and in general walking around in the city. Almost every time I started to talk in English. It was so weird the first few days.
For supper I went back home and spent some time with my family. Later that evening I met up with some other friends. Basically all of my first few back home I spent time with old friends. But I didn't feel like a part of the group. All of my friends got new friends. And I didn't fit in. I still don't feel completly comfortable with all those new people around, I feel like as if they don't like me. I was excited to come home, because all my exchange year I didn't really feel like I got any friends (For all my exchange friends please don't get offended by this), and when I finally was home I felt again like I don't have any friends. A lot of my friends changed or are not even friends with my friends anymore. It was just a lot to handle. Now three weeks after I arrived here, I still have to convince myself everytime to do something wit my friends, because I am afraid of the feeling to be left out. Just the other day I talked to a really good friend, who confronted me with the fact, that I don't seem really happy to be around my friends. And I told him all this, how I feel. And he made me realize that I have just been back for three weeks, for me it felt like I have been back for like three months. He told me to give it some time, to spend more time with my friends and getting settle in my group again. I feel like I have never been so busy in my life like right now. I am running around for my mom, my job that I am starting in August, and I just got a summer job at Mac Donalds. All in all I am trying to get as much done, as long as I can. MondayTo start the day we went to eat breakfast at the Huddle House. After we got done eating, Marco still wouldn't tell us, where we're going. And I had no idea until we passed a sign with Catherdral Caverns. We went on a guided tour for over two hours. It was really fun and we learned a lot. After the tour we got some time to look around by ourselves. For lunch we ate my favorite food. And a little later Marco took me and Raffaela home, where Kim made some great burgers. After supper we all decided to make homemade ice cream together. It was a great day. TuesdayI am now a mommy! ThursdayAfter we just rested on Wednesday. We got up early on Thursday. We went to hair dresser, where Raffaela got a hair cut. As soon as she got done, we drove our way to Huntsville. In Huntsville, we went to the Space and Rocket Center. It is an amazing museum. I learned a lot. Due to the weather a few things were closed. For lunch we went to Red Robin. And it was apparently my birthday. Before we went home, we went shopping. I had a great and fun day. FridayWe had a girls day, and went to get our nails done. After that we were hungry so we went to eat lunch and before we went back home again we bought a few things at the store. Me and Raffaela enjoyed our last day together. SaturdayRaffaela got picked up and went to the airport. Unfortunately we didn't really had time to say goodbye. But I'm going to see her in two month again. Even though I am sad that I have to leave soon, I am excited so see my family and friends. TodayI had a great spring break. I am so glad Raffaela came to visit me. And I hope she enjoyed it here and had a great time too.
I learned so much this past months and I am pretty sure I got much stronger. I had hard times and I am still having some hard days. But my family and friends are always behind me. And I am glad I took this opportunity to do this exchange year. |
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June 2017
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