A well-needed vacation : )

So this past week had been pretty overwhelming as midterms came to an end and I tried to survive for a few days on about 3 hours of sleep! but Thursday was a holiday here so we were off school and Libby and I were blessed with the oppurtunity to go spend the weekend with Lisa and Christian in Austria! The whole connection between us was kind of funny because of how random it was, Lisa knew my sister Hannah from highschool youth group at Church of the Redeemer, haha and she ended up marrying an Austrian man(Christian : ) ) who she met while she was studying abroad and now they live there! Well I had been looking forward to meeting them and I'm so glad I finally did, it was so much fun!!! This trip was so much more than I could even ask for and I'm so thankful for it!
It was so much more stress-free and relaxed than the trip to Vienna with the school and Libby, Lisa and I made many awesome memories : )...I feel likeI've known Lisa for so long even though we were only together for 4 days, haha, so I decided we are all long lost sisters!
This was my first travelling experience apart from the school and it was so exciting to be able to get on the train and go without a planned agenda, I can't even explain the feeling, but Libby and I will never forget it...Lisa and Christian were so gracious and hospitable, and so much better than a tourguide! Unfortunately Christian wasn't feeling too well this weekend but us three ladies were out exploring every day and Lisa took us all over the place,it was so awesome to experience more of the culture...and of course it was so fun to have so much girl time this weekend, can't wait to go back in December for the Christmas markets...thanks again so much Lisa and Christian for everything, you both are so sweet and I miss you already!!!

Here's parliament, such a beautiful day to explore too!

Hmm...for some reason I can't upload anymore pictures right now but they are up on my facebook page so check them out!

Some of my favorite things were...seeing the fall season, I haven't been able to experience the beauty much in Budapest but it was awesome here, walking through the parks and seeing the Belvedere Palace with all the pretty trees was awesome

We also went to the Northern part of Vienna to see the wine-gardens and then took a bus to the top of the hills, which was right outside the city and the view was breathtaking...you could see the entire city along with the mountains, really awesome and we went right as it was getting dark so everything was lit up!

We also went to the huge national cemetery there where we saw the graves of famous musicians like Mozart, Beethoven and Strauss...this was the biggest graveyard I have ever seen though, it seemed pretty endless...haha we tried to go at night because we wanted to see all the candles people had put out after all saint's day but it was locked...haha Lisa don't forget that's your next fieldtrip with your students!

We also went on a huge chocolate extravaganza at the grocery store, Spar, where Libby and I bought lots to bring home and share for Christmas, haha I think the sales clerks probably thought we were a little crazy but thats ok! I don't think we've ever had so much chocolate in our possessions at once!

Oh and I can't forget to mention our evening routine of chocolate chunk cookies, pretzels, tea and a movie(Sound of Music was especially appropriate : )), so much fun! We baked the cookies from scratch with Austrian chocolate so they were amazing of course!! Can't wait to continue our traditions Lisa!!

We went to lots of cute restaurants/cafes too that Libby and I never would have found on our own, One of my favorite things was this creamy pumpkin soup we got, we went to this brewery restaurant and we ate in this stone tunnel like thing, it was awesome!

can't forget our sausage adventures...haha there's sausage stands all over the city and these things are massive, if you order it with bread they stick it in a whole loaf, haha we finished ours though and it was very good but we were tasting it for the entire day!

We also got to see some of the Christmas decorations being set up already, seems so soon, but it is the next holiday here because they don't celebrate Thanksgiving... Can't wait to see them complete : )

On Saturday night we went to a Mozart and Strauss orchestral concert with opera singers and ballet, it was pretty awesome, and they didn't even mind that we were dressed like bums, haha, we only brought a little backpack for all 4 days so we were kind of limited in that area! Well the whole weekend was amazing and I will never forget it...God is so good, it was so refreshing for Libby and I! We both slept better than we have in awhile...for some reasons Hungarians like their beds really hard and firm so it was nice to have a softer mattress and Lisa let us use this amazing huge fluffy down comforter, I would bring one back to the States with me if I could fit it in my bags, haha! I decided I really love Vienna and Lisa and Christian too : ) and I look forward to making more memories soon...

stay tuned for pictures: )