France, Austria and Slovakia Time went by fast. That’s where I’ve been over the last week and a half once I left Finland. From reuniting with old friends, trying out for volleyball teams and roaming a couple of Europe’s beautiful cities, you could say my last days spent being abroad have been a success!
From Finland, my next stop was to Slovakia to meet up with my long lost brother I never had, Boris. He was the first intern that worked for my Dad through an international horticulture program (about 11 years ago). He stayed with us in West Salem for about a year and became like family to us. The last time I saw him was 7 years ago when my Dad and I came to visit him after I graduated high school.
Since I was already in Europe this summer, I thought I would try to see if he would be around and or have time for me to visit. A lot has changed since I last saw him, he now is married, has a baby and has built his dream home! He picked me up from the airport and allowed me to stay with him and his family for a few nights. On our way to his house, he stopped to show me one of his current work projects.
He is now a Deputy Production Director for a contract company where he loves his job and is thriving! He managed the creation of these apartment flats as seen above.
Next, I met his beautiful family! He is very happily married and has a 7 month old baby boy. It melted my heart to see Boris so happy.
It was so nice to meet his wife and son and hang out with them for a few days! They showed me around the city of Nitra where they live in a village near by.
Even though it was a quick trip, I’m glad I was able to do it and meet up again with Boris and meet his family.
Before Boris dropped me off at the train station, we also stopped to meet up with Zuzana (whom also worked for my Dad as an intern!) She is now married, has 2 children and a beautiful home! I’m so glad I was able to see her, even if it was only for a short while!
Beautiful views from her house!
Next, I met up with another friend Andrea and her boyfriend. She is a distant relative who my Dad and I also visited a when we came 7 years ago. She is hoping to plan a trip to the USA so we were catching up and discussing when she should come!
Boris was able to help translate for us. I’m so glad I was able to make this stop to reunite with old friends and see all the new and exciting changes in their lives! Thanks for letting me stay, Boris!
Boris dropped me off at the train station in Bratislava and I headed towards Vienna, Austria (about an hour train ride). There, my friend Martin picked me up! (Again, another intern that worked for Dad about 8 years ago!)
It was interesting to catch up with him as well. He now has his own business, just bought his dream car and is doing very well! I just love the views of from his back yard!
I knew we were in for an adventure when he said that we were going to Vienna’s rainbow parade the next day.
We hopped on one of the party buses that was in the parade. Most interesting city bus tour I’ve seen! Martin and his friends were pointing out the famous landmarks of Vienna from within the rainbow float we were on! It was definitely an experience like nothing I’ve ever seen before!
Reunions, radlers and rainbows!
After recovering by jumping into martin’s pool the next day, we met up with some of his friends for lunch then went to play Beach volleyball down by the Danube river. We also went downtown Klosterneuburg (town Martin lives in, near Vienna) where I saw the famous church.
I had an absolute blast in Vienna for the weekend, I wish I had more time! Hoping to be back someday soon. Thanks Martin!
From Vienna, I headed towards Paris, France where I hopped on a express train to take me an hour south west to Tours. Tours sits in the middle of the Château of the Loire Valley. (Castles along the Loire river!)
I came here to tryout for a volleyball team to potentially play on the team for this year’s season (September- May). It has been a lifelong dream of mine to play volleyball abroad and I finally got in contact with a team, so I thought why the heck not at least tryout and see what happens!
The tryout actually went really well and the coach wants me to play on their team! So there is a possibility that I’ll be coming back to France this fall…
While in Tours, I also saw two of the 100 or so castles in the valley.
Cheverny Castle:
A family still lives in this castle and these are hunting dogs shown.
Chambord Castle: (one of the most famous in France known for its double helix staircase made by Leonardo da Vinci as well as the jaw-dropping French Renaissance architecture.
I spent the day exploring the castles with a couple of teachers from Minnesota. One was a French teacher and the other a German teacher! We were on the same tour van that departed from Tours.
It had never felt better to have someone to have fluent English conversations with!
Also during this week, I roamed the city of Tours:
It’s crazy to think that I could live here someday soon! I really enjoyed exploring the city.
My last stop of my European adventure was Paris!
Since I had just one day here, I mainly stuck around the Eiffel Tower people watching as they took millions of selfies.
Paris will always hold a special place in my heart, as it was the last place I played volleyball wearing a Millikin jersey. (My senior year we took a trip to Italy and France) I was reminiscing about the trip as well as the awesome memories made with my team. What would be even sweeter if I could play here again someday!
Overall, I don’t even have the words to begin to explain my feelings about this entire trip (another blog coming soon). I feel so blessed and thankful for this opportunity to travel, reunite with friends, see new places and develop new experiences. I will forever hold the memories made during this trip close to my heart and have millions of stories to tell. Thank you so much for following along my adventures! It has been fun writing and sharing my experiences and I look forward to looking back and reading the blogs later down the road! I’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes. “Travel is not reward for working, it’s education for living.”
The Aud Blog 