04 | 14 | 18
V E N I C E.
(with a little bit of Austria)
Ciao Bella!!! To say living my life to the fullest right now is honestly an understatement. Currently my day to day involves doing and seeing things I never knew could give me such a high. It’s a feeling I haven’t ever felt in my life but one that i’ll never forget...
This past week on Tuesday our whole group plus our professor Jan and his 12 year old son Damian, hit the road to Vienna, Austria. After our 3 hour bus ride turned into a 5 hour one due to heavy traffic, I was more than ready to hop on out and see what the city had to offer. We finally got to our hostel (this one was better than prague, but still not great. At least it had clean sheets lol.) and we dropped our bags (soooo heavy because we had to pack 2 weeks worth of clothes) to go find food. Some girls and I found an awesome place called “Bros Pizza” and we definitely indulged! After lunch we visited a church and then broke off to do my sacred tradition I do in every city ...shopping. Hehe ;) There’s this awesome store throughout all of Europe called “Pull & Bear” but the catch is it’s super affordable and you can’t find it in America. ( Think forever 21 prices with Urban Outfitters vibes and quality #blessed) I bought some more spring break staples then we ended up going back to the same pizza place for dinner because it was so cheap and convenient! Hah!
After a long night at the Hostel battling with the crappy WiFi...Wednesday morning came bright and early and the group met up to visit a beautiful and famous church in Austria with an amazing roof design. After that we headed to see some medieval archives and then a natural history museum which was super cool! There was interactive exhibits and life size dinosaurs and all sorts of interesting animals to learn about...unfortunately no matter how interesting...being inside a museum just doesn’t hold my interest like exploring the outdoors does. Which is why some girls and I left to go find brunch at a cute cafe called “Corn & Pops” before heading to a park to chill in the sun! Cara and I decided we wanted to be spontaneous and rent bicycles to ride throughout the city! We found some “CityBikes” for only 3 euros and started our little day! We had our summer outfits on, our hair blowing in the wind, and our smiles from ear to ear as we rode up and down the streets of Austria! Cara had her speaker playing Natasha Bedddingfield and we laughed our way down the cobblestone streets to Gelato! We ended the day by eating at “Le burger” (super yummy, modern burger joint with its own lemonade and cola!) before we crashed!
On Thursday morning we woke up soooo early to start our 8 hour bus ride to Venice, Italy. Right as we were walking out the door, a girl in our group ran down and said another girl, Breanna, had fallen down the concrete spiral staircase at our hostel and that her ankle was completely swollen and may be broken. Our professor decided it would be best to take her to the Austrian hospital for x-rays. So we loaded up and took her. The rest of the group waited in the bus. After a couple of hours, we learned all was ok and we left for Italy. It was a long ride to venice, a rainy bus ride through the swiss alps then a train took us over the sea and onto the beautiful venetian islands. I had always seen pictures of Venice and heard of it when I was little, but NEVER did I expect to see what we I stepped into. I STARTED CRYING. It was sooooo amazing to look around and not see one road or one vehicle. Instead, Bright blue mediterranean canals and water ways winded between colorful and beautiful old italian buildings. The teal shutters and bright pink and yellow flowers in boxes accessorized the old balconies and windows on the rows and rows of buildings, and below sat markets filled with marano glass, postcards, small gondola trinkets, breads, cheeses, wines, gelato of course and so much more. All of us walked in awe and amazement as the sun was setting to our hostel where things only got better. The hostel was AWESOME! It was so nice and clean and updated! They even had a breakfast they served there everyday as well as decent wifi, you know, for being on an island and all. I roomed with Claire in a cute two bedroom room! We dropped out bags off and headed out to go find our group and meet up for dinner. Right outside of our hostel we ate at a very authentic italian restaurant that served amazing pasta! It was a great end to our night!
On Friday
everyone was pumped to wake up and start the best day in the best city. All of us got ready and met up with Jan, Damian, and Doug to begin our little scholarly morning learning about the history of venice. We visited the church of Bastille and also a really pretty palace in San Marco square!! As fun as it was, I think we were all eager for lunch to roll around so we could go eat and start the rest of our day solo wandering the streets! We ate lunch at this amazing restaurant with really good service! I had lasagna and loads of bread. yikes. We decided after lunch to do some souvenir shopping and then get on a gondola!!! It was SO AMAZING! Our little italian captain sang songs while rowing the gondola and I felt like I was in an actual dream. I was looking up and down the water ways and amazing buildings and I don’t know that i’ve ever felt so content or thankful for the life my Lord has provided. After our bittersweet ride, we made our way to the edge of the island where we all kicked our shoes off and sat by the sea! We had music playing and smoothies to drink! We jammed out and talked about how incredible it was that we were in a place like that! It was fun to share that feeling with all the girls and just feel such contentment. We made our way back over the little bridges and narrow pathways to our cute hostel to change for dinner! We all had dinner together at pasta and seafood restaurant and had great conversation! There was even a cute little old man playing a small guitar and these beautiful happy couples dancing around everywhere. Magic isn’t even a good enough word to describe. There really isn’t any way I can put into words what it was like. But I can say with 100% certainty it was my favorite place i’ve ever been.
Today I was really sad to wake up and have to leave that beautiful city, until I remembered I was heading to meet my mom and grandma in ROME!!! I’m here now and writing to all of you but I need to get my beauty rest so I can wake up tomorrow and explore with them! I’m so thankful for the quilty time and unreal memories my mom, bailee, grandma, and my aunt kel are going to make this coming week in Rome and Greece!
Gratzi for indulging in my fab life and ciao til next week!
All the love this life has to offer,
Abigayle
Perhaps, this is the moment in which you’ve been created | Ester 4:14
V E N I C E.
(with a little bit of Austria)
Ciao Bella!!! To say living my life to the fullest right now is honestly an understatement. Currently my day to day involves doing and seeing things I never knew could give me such a high. It’s a feeling I haven’t ever felt in my life but one that i’ll never forget...
This past week on Tuesday our whole group plus our professor Jan and his 12 year old son Damian, hit the road to Vienna, Austria. After our 3 hour bus ride turned into a 5 hour one due to heavy traffic, I was more than ready to hop on out and see what the city had to offer. We finally got to our hostel (this one was better than prague, but still not great. At least it had clean sheets lol.) and we dropped our bags (soooo heavy because we had to pack 2 weeks worth of clothes) to go find food. Some girls and I found an awesome place called “Bros Pizza” and we definitely indulged! After lunch we visited a church and then broke off to do my sacred tradition I do in every city ...shopping. Hehe ;) There’s this awesome store throughout all of Europe called “Pull & Bear” but the catch is it’s super affordable and you can’t find it in America. ( Think forever 21 prices with Urban Outfitters vibes and quality #blessed) I bought some more spring break staples then we ended up going back to the same pizza place for dinner because it was so cheap and convenient! Hah!
After a long night at the Hostel battling with the crappy WiFi...Wednesday morning came bright and early and the group met up to visit a beautiful and famous church in Austria with an amazing roof design. After that we headed to see some medieval archives and then a natural history museum which was super cool! There was interactive exhibits and life size dinosaurs and all sorts of interesting animals to learn about...unfortunately no matter how interesting...being inside a museum just doesn’t hold my interest like exploring the outdoors does. Which is why some girls and I left to go find brunch at a cute cafe called “Corn & Pops” before heading to a park to chill in the sun! Cara and I decided we wanted to be spontaneous and rent bicycles to ride throughout the city! We found some “CityBikes” for only 3 euros and started our little day! We had our summer outfits on, our hair blowing in the wind, and our smiles from ear to ear as we rode up and down the streets of Austria! Cara had her speaker playing Natasha Bedddingfield and we laughed our way down the cobblestone streets to Gelato! We ended the day by eating at “Le burger” (super yummy, modern burger joint with its own lemonade and cola!) before we crashed!
On Thursday morning we woke up soooo early to start our 8 hour bus ride to Venice, Italy. Right as we were walking out the door, a girl in our group ran down and said another girl, Breanna, had fallen down the concrete spiral staircase at our hostel and that her ankle was completely swollen and may be broken. Our professor decided it would be best to take her to the Austrian hospital for x-rays. So we loaded up and took her. The rest of the group waited in the bus. After a couple of hours, we learned all was ok and we left for Italy. It was a long ride to venice, a rainy bus ride through the swiss alps then a train took us over the sea and onto the beautiful venetian islands. I had always seen pictures of Venice and heard of it when I was little, but NEVER did I expect to see what we I stepped into. I STARTED CRYING. It was sooooo amazing to look around and not see one road or one vehicle. Instead, Bright blue mediterranean canals and water ways winded between colorful and beautiful old italian buildings. The teal shutters and bright pink and yellow flowers in boxes accessorized the old balconies and windows on the rows and rows of buildings, and below sat markets filled with marano glass, postcards, small gondola trinkets, breads, cheeses, wines, gelato of course and so much more. All of us walked in awe and amazement as the sun was setting to our hostel where things only got better. The hostel was AWESOME! It was so nice and clean and updated! They even had a breakfast they served there everyday as well as decent wifi, you know, for being on an island and all. I roomed with Claire in a cute two bedroom room! We dropped out bags off and headed out to go find our group and meet up for dinner. Right outside of our hostel we ate at a very authentic italian restaurant that served amazing pasta! It was a great end to our night!
On Friday
everyone was pumped to wake up and start the best day in the best city. All of us got ready and met up with Jan, Damian, and Doug to begin our little scholarly morning learning about the history of venice. We visited the church of Bastille and also a really pretty palace in San Marco square!! As fun as it was, I think we were all eager for lunch to roll around so we could go eat and start the rest of our day solo wandering the streets! We ate lunch at this amazing restaurant with really good service! I had lasagna and loads of bread. yikes. We decided after lunch to do some souvenir shopping and then get on a gondola!!! It was SO AMAZING! Our little italian captain sang songs while rowing the gondola and I felt like I was in an actual dream. I was looking up and down the water ways and amazing buildings and I don’t know that i’ve ever felt so content or thankful for the life my Lord has provided. After our bittersweet ride, we made our way to the edge of the island where we all kicked our shoes off and sat by the sea! We had music playing and smoothies to drink! We jammed out and talked about how incredible it was that we were in a place like that! It was fun to share that feeling with all the girls and just feel such contentment. We made our way back over the little bridges and narrow pathways to our cute hostel to change for dinner! We all had dinner together at pasta and seafood restaurant and had great conversation! There was even a cute little old man playing a small guitar and these beautiful happy couples dancing around everywhere. Magic isn’t even a good enough word to describe. There really isn’t any way I can put into words what it was like. But I can say with 100% certainty it was my favorite place i’ve ever been.
Today I was really sad to wake up and have to leave that beautiful city, until I remembered I was heading to meet my mom and grandma in ROME!!! I’m here now and writing to all of you but I need to get my beauty rest so I can wake up tomorrow and explore with them! I’m so thankful for the quilty time and unreal memories my mom, bailee, grandma, and my aunt kel are going to make this coming week in Rome and Greece!
Gratzi for indulging in my fab life and ciao til next week!
All the love this life has to offer,
Abigayle
Perhaps, this is the moment in which you’ve been created | Ester 4:14
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