Surfs up!

Waking up this morning the weather wasn't very promising...no wind, cloudy, and cooler. But that didn't stop Sally from taking the chance to take us surfing! We were all so excited on the van ride to the Conway Centre ready to give surfing a chance. We gathered our gear hurrying to beat the high tide so we could check for waves at the beaches. We drove about 30 minutes to Rhosneigr on Anglesey and checked out three different beaches there for the best waves, finally parking at Broad Beach where the waves were about 1-2 feet tall. We carried our surfboards to the beach, set up our wind breaker for our supplies and during lunch. We immediately began our surfing adventure, first learning how to lay on the board, about the center so that the front wouldn't nose dive and the back wouldn't sink. Before hitting the water Sally had us stand up on our board with one foot straight forward and one sideways in the back. As soon as we were ready we raced into the water excited to test our new techniques. We had to get past the bigger waves and wait for a break, which Sally informed us was about every seven waves. As I turned my board to face the shore I paddled as hard and fast as I could and took two big strokes just as the wave began to carry me and lifted up with my arms, surfing the wave! I was really proud of myself for successfully riding the wave and being confident in my ability to do it. The next couple attempts to surf I was trashed by the waves, swallowing a lot of salt water along the way. It scared me going under the water for that short time and not knowing where I was going to end up, but Sally taught us to hold tight to our boards because they were our main buoyancy aid. I learned to keep my mouth closed when the waves came and blow out of my nose to avoid that awful experience again. Before long I was able to ride the waves on my knees, working my way to being able to stand up. I didn't want to stop, I was having so much fun, even after crashing multiple times, I wanted to keep trying until I got it. It was great seeing all the other team members successfully riding the waves, a couple even standing up already! We were all so cheerful of one another, encouraging each other even after a bad crash, making the experience so much better. I had a lot of close attempts to stand up on my board, but all of them ended with me falling over. It was frustrating at times not being able to stand up when it seemed that everyone else was having no problem. I knew that if I was patient enough and had the confidence to do it I could stand. But it would have to be after lunch since it was that time to reenergize our bodies.

None of us realized how hungry we were until we bit into our sandwiches. We were just having so much fun we didn't want to take a break. After lunch we were feeling much colder now that we had stopped exercising so we played a couple games to warm ourselves up. Sally entered us in a Winter Olympics Game testing our skills by cross country skiing, speed skating, snowboarding, bobsledding, and even curling! It was great fun and helped get our blood flowing. We continued playing games that included making a HUGE pizza together and bum wrestling. By the end of our activities we were ready to head back into the water to continue our surfing skills. By this time the tide had gotten much lower, revealing more than twice as much of the sand than when we first got to the beach. This time around I was determined to stand up on my board. After countless failed attempts but still having fun learning I finally stood on my board! It was the best feeling being able to stand after all the hard work and determination I put into it. Sally cheered me on from the beach and I couldn't help but smile at my accomplishment. The rest of us continued to catch waves, struggling as the day went on since the tide was so low and the waves weren't as big. I didn't want the day to end but Sally soon called us into the shore. She gave us a couple buddy challenges to do on the surf boards so Elliot and I choose to be partners. Our first challenge was to ride a wave together on the surf board. It took many of us several attempts, but Elliot and I finally caught a wave both staying on the board. The next challenges consisted of standing on the board, doing a headstand, and somersault on the surf board while the other partner held the board. Last but not least we tried flipping our boards upside down, under water and flipping it right side up again, a helpful technique if one's board were to flip. After the activities everyone was pretty sore and weak after surfing all day and getting beat up by the waves. I had the greatest time surfing and would have never imagined myself being able to surf, let alone stand up on the board! I can't wait to try this activity again someday. This summer or spring break next year possible?

Other exciting news...this last Tuesday Elliot, Molly, Sarah, Annie and I walked down to the Bangor University Business Building because the Queen was coming to visit there. Yes...the Queen of England! We were within feet of her as she was sitting in the backseat of a car that took her to the building. She waved at all of the viewers in her bright pink matching coat and skirt outfit. It was so exciting to see the Queen in Bangor at our University! We caught more glimpses of her as she passed from one building to the next and got a couple pictures to prove it. This week was definitely filled with exciting, eventful things=)

A weekend in Cardiff

Friday morning all the Americans left to head to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, with Iwan, Tecwyn's replacement since he was still stuck in America due to the volcano ash. We rode along the English/Welsh border. Before getting to Cardiff we stopped at a couple places including our first stop in Hereford where we checked out the Hereford Cathedral where the Mappa Mundi is located. It's the largest surviving complete medieval world map. Although we didn't get to personally see it, we did get to walk around the Cathedral, crypt, garden and the town. The headquarters of Bulmer's cider is also located in Hereford. The next stop was the Wye Valley where we stopped to see the Tintern Abbey medieval monastery ruins. The Abbey was so magnificent with the sun shinning through the window holes at the top of the peaks and lighting up the grass below. It felt so magical! We continued on our way to Cardiff passing by the Severn bridge, a mile long bridge connecting Wales to England. It was crazy how long of a bridge it was and how sturdy it must have to be. We got to our hostel realizing we had a front door view of the Millennium Stadium right across the river. The whole group went out for Mexican food that night and afterwards walked around the city and eating ice cream before heading back to the hostel for the night.

The next morning we all walked to Cardiff Castle and got a guided tour of the inside that was all furnished and decorated the way it would have been during that time. One room cost 2.2 million pounds for the gold painted on the ceiling alone! Next we walked to the Millennium Stadium, just down the road and got a guided tour of the stadium by Garreth. We walked through the locker room/changing room and came out into the stadium to hear a loud roar of people cheering! I felt just like a rugby player getting ready to play a game for my country. We also got to see the box seats and the Presidents room where the Queen once sat to watch a game. We continued on to Cardiff Bay where the National Assembly for Wales is located. We stopped at Harry Ramsden's Worlds best fish and chip shop there and enjoyed our meal outside by the bay. It was delicious, though I couldn't tell you if it's the world's best fish and chips. After walking around the bay for a bit we got back on the bus to head to St. Fagans to see the National History Museum set up like an open air folk museum. We were able to walk around the large area to see the St. Fagan's castle and beautiful pond area. The weather was beautiful and I really enjoyed the many scenic areas throughout the museum. We got back to the hostel and made our dinner before heading out to shop around the city. That night a couple of the girls and guys went out to Y Mochyn Du, the pub our Millennium Stadium tour guide, Garreth, suggested we go to. We even saw him there and talked with him for awhile. There was a rugby team there that we got to know pretty well. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed talking to the locals there.

Our last day in Cardiff we drove to the National Museum and Gallery of Wales. We were able to learn about the history of Wales and see many Impressionist paintings by famous painters. Before we knew it we were heading back to Bangor after a busy, site-seeing, eventful, and fun experience in Cardiff. Cardiff definitely didn't feel like a big city, in fact, I felt very safe in the town and it reminded me of home.

Star Gazing and Kayaking

Last night Nikki, Charlie, Megan, George, Josh and I walked to the Roman Camp to watch the Lyrids meteor shower. As we were walking there I looked up to see a meteor fly right over my head! I couldn't wait to get to the Roman Camp to enjoy more star gazing. After getting there and finding a comfortable spot to lie down we waited...and waited...and then waited some more and never saw any meteors except for a couple stray ones off to the side. Although we didn't see many meteors, I did enjoy star gazing and pointing out the constellations we knew and spending time with my flat mates and Megan=)

This morning we knew we only had 3 more Outdoor Pursuits classes left, leaving kayaking, sailing, and surfing left on our to do list. We all had different ideas of what activity we would be doing, but found out soon enough after getting into the van with Sally that we were kayaking. Sally was telling us that Prince Williams had came to the Conway Center to kayak yesterday and that one of us might even be lucky enough to wear his same wetsuit or even use the same kayak! Most of us thought is would be pretty similar to canoeing but we found out that it was very different as the day went on. It would be interesting trying a sport non of the group members had ever tried before. This meant that we would really need to pay attention to Sally's advice and be supportive teammates. We collected our gear and kayak, each of us adjusting the leg length at the bow of the kayak. Laura came along with us to assist our large group. We drove about 30 minutes to Rhoscolyn Bay in Anglesey and carried our kayaks to the shore. Before getting into the water we did some exercises with our paddles to warm up and ran around getting loose. Sally taught us how to hold the kayak paddle, different from a canoe paddle because it has a paddle on each end, and turn it keeping our right hand tight and leaving our left hand loose to rotate the paddle. After we were all warmed up we got into our kayaks and set off into the bay. The kayak was different than the canoe because we each had our own kayak rather than working as a team when we canoed and we had to sit with our legs straight in front of us, under the sides of the kayak. As soon as we were floating in the water I could feel the wobbliness of the kayak and it made me very tense not to make any sudden movements, afraid to tip over. Before getting too far into the water Sally taught us that if we were to capsize we needed to remove our knees from inside the kayak and push off from the sides. The thought that the kayak kept you in place even if you were upside down underwater made me nervous, but I felt better knowing how to get out of that situation if the time came to that. We paddles around, learning how to paddle forward, backward, make circles, and stop. After everyone was comfortable we played a couple games like sardines, freeze tag and follow the leader giving everyone a chance to lead the pack in single file. It was great practice before stopping to eat lunch on the beach. As we were eating lunch the tide continually rose, reaching our beached kayaks. Throughout the day the tide continued to get higher.

After lunch Laura joined us to rock hop, meaning we would be kayaking along the rocks into the Irish Sea. We kayaked through small rock passages, having to paddle quickly when the tide was highest. Some of the girls got stuck on the rocks when the tide went out, so it was important to time it perfectly. We reached some areas where we had to pull up our skag, the rudder in the bottom of the kayak to help steering, to avoid it catching the rocks below. We then began to make our way to the Beacon island where we had to ferry over a couple strong currents, just like we did when we canoed. Sally told us the best way to stay balanced was to paddle hard and consistently over the rougher areas. As soon as we reached the island we made our way around the outside. We even saw a seal along the side of the rock shore! The tide was still rising, making it more difficult to find safe areas to kayak through. We had to make sure to stay in single file to avoid accidents or overcrowding that could result in capsizing. As we made our way back to shore we had to cross over a very strong current. We had to paddle as hard as we could at an angle to avoid being pushed down stream. At one point Elliot got stuck on a rock and capsized! Sally helped him empty his kayak with water and get him back into the kayak as quickly and safely as possible. It was scary knowing that we were in a strong current and Elliot could have gotten pulled down the current, but Sally was quick to act and saved the situation. Laura instructed us to raft up, connecting our kayaks side by side, to keep us from drifting off until Elliot joined our group again. Once we were all in a group we paddled non stop to get back to the shore, using our stomach muscles to maximize the power of our paddling. My arms and back began to ache but it was my responsibility to keep paddling and stay with the group to make it safely back. Before ending the day we played one last game, rafting up and trying to walk across the kayak fronts to switch places with another group member. The game ended in many flooded kayaks and wet people but we still had lots of fun! We paddled back to the beach sore from working hard paddling and our legs being crammed into a tiny space. Everyone did very well today for never kayaking before and were supportive and helpful when there were tricky situations. I enjoyed the challenge of starting from scratch with an activity I had no experience with or knowledge of. I felt that I was able to improve my water confidence through the success of this activity.

Cadbury World!

Yesterday we went to Cadbury World....yes, Cadbury, the famous chocolate of the UK! The factory and actual Cadbury World building is located in Birmingham, England, so we caught a train there and started our adventure to eat chocolate...and of course learn about Cadbury chocolate. Once we arrived in Bournville we followed the purple gates and signs leading us to the building. There sure was a lot of purple in the town! As soon as we saw the building our pace started to pick up and we walked in to find that the World's Biggest Cadbury Shop, just waiting for us to go inside. We explored for awhile, looking at all the different varieties of chocolate and huge chocolate bars! Soon we started the 14 zone exhibition through the building, but not without our free chocolate that was being handed out=) The exhibition started from the very beginning when the Mayans discovered a use for cocoa beans and lead into the introduction of cocoa to the UK and eventually to where it is today. We got to see how it was made and even witness workers in the factory working hard to make Cadbury chocolate perfect. Within the 14 zones we got to ride in a mechanical car that took us around "Cocoa Land", where cocoa beans ran free and were content with the fact that they would be made into Cadbury chocolate...it was alittle odd....but interesting to see the beans skiing and fishing throughout the ride. After 4 hours of chocolate eating, exploring, and walking around Cadbury World, we were ready to get head out. But first we had to make a trip to Essence, where we were able to "travel back in time" and make our own chocolate concoction. We each picked out a topping and they filled a cup full of melted Cadbury chocolate and we got to eat it! YUM! I don't know if I've ever eaten that much chocolate in one day, but we were ready for some real food, so we ended up walking around the whole city just to find a New York style restaurant called Franky and Benny's and got some delicious burgers there. It was so warm outside so we were pretty excited to go into an air conditioned building...unfortunately for us, their air conditioning was broken in the restaurant...so it was pretty hot=/ But we couldn't complain, we had just had a wonderful time at Cadbury World. After a long train ride home, and a couple train switches we were finally back in Bangor ready for bed. Cadbury World was amazing! Defintiely aimed for little children, so we may have enjoyed our experience a little too much;) Can't wait for our next adventure!

Sea Level Traversing

Yesterday morning we hopped into the van to see Sally for the first time in 3 weeks! It was nice to get back into a routine and to have outdoor pursuits again. As we were driving Sally mentioned if we had heard the news, and she told us that Iceland had a volcano erupt on Wednesday April 14 and that they were expecting white clouds to cover the sky sometime, bringing ash to fall. About 90 percent of UK flights had been cancelled to avoid flying through the thick white clouds from the volcano, which could be very dangerous. She told us we would have to plan our activity accordingly, depending on the weather. Fortunately the weather was perfect for the activity she had planned for us today. She informed us that we would be Sea Level Traversing. We were all pretty excited, since the other group had not yet tried this activity and we had heard such good things about it. We gathered our supplies at the Conway Center immediately after getting there, putting our wetsuits, and multiple layers on beforehand. We drove about 40 minutes away to Anglesey Island near Holyhead to Penrhynmawr, right on the Irish coast. We didn't waste any time putting our equipment on and walked to the sea edge. We dropped our lunch bags off under a rock and walked another couple minutes down the grass path.

We began by walking/climbing down the rock path until we were right at sea level. The rocks were jagged and pointed upwards, making it very easy to grip and move along the bottom of the wall. We moved along the vertical wall using the rocks above us and the ledges below us to maneuver, always making sure we were within inches of the water in the case that we were to fall, that way we were close to the water. Sally reminded us of the rock colors to watch out for, just like when we gorge scrambled and taught us how to fall into the water correctly to avoid any injuries. The best way is to bend your knees slightly and fall straight or cross your arms and fall straight backwards, avoiding sticking out your bottom, potentially hitting your coccyx. For the first stage of Sea Level Traversing, we stuck to just moving across the bottom, running into a couple of challenges where we had to help one another out and guide them to the next step. Today involved a lot of teamwork, passing the message about cautions ahead, much like we did in gorge scrambling. Once we had reached the area where we had set down our lunches we took our first break. It was so pretty being able to enjoy our lunches as we looked out into the Irish Sea and the sun shining, keeping us warm.

After lunch, Annie and I volunteered to help Sally set up the next activity. We weren't really sure what we were going to be doing, and Sally joked with us about what possible things we could do, most of them were pretty scary! We set up a long rope from one side of the rocks to the other, so that it was overhanging above a large drop into the sea below. The rope was secured tightly to big rocks on each side. We all gathered at the one end of the rope and Sally demonstrated how we were going to climb on the rope over to the other side. She showed us two strategies, one laying on the rope, using your feet to keep you balanced and the other hanging upside down with your feet hanging on to the rope. Annie went first, I was so proud of her for taking the initiative and going first when she saw how nervous the rest of the group was. It shows that she has a lot of trust in Sally and is a great leader to our group. We encouraged Annie as she made her way up to the rope, clipping herself in, making sure she did the squeeze check before continuing. After she successfully made it across, I was soon up and cautiously made my walk to the rope. I avoided looking down or thinking about the distance it was from the top and clipped myself in and before I knew it, I was maneuvering across the rope fine. I was able to open my eyes and enjoy the view eventually, but felt my muscles getting tired as I reached the end of the rope. I had to push hard to get to the very end but made it successfully, and felt very happy with how I handled the situation. Everyone else made it successfully and with the encouragement of our teammates, no one was too nervous about performing the activity. Sally informed us that we were the first group to have all made it across on the rope without any assistance, making us all feel pretty good about out accomplishment. During some of the climbs across the rope, there were seals that popped their heads out of the water to check out what was going on, it was so neat! We continued on our way along the sea to a cave called Slot Cave. Before reaching the cave there were a couple challenging areas where danger was involved because it seemed that the only way to get to the other side of the water hole was to climb high. This was dangerous because if one of us fell, we could seriously injure ourself, so Sally demonstrated for me how to climb lower and safer in this particular area. I found that when I trusted Sally and followed her instructions exactly, I was able to successfully get to the other side wet free! After a couple spills in the water from that challenge and Elliot holding a couple people up by their buoyancy aid, we were at the opening of the cave. It was so neat inside! Wet, dark, and cooler, we could see our breathe, we moved deeper into the cave, warning our team of the wet rocks to watch for. Within the cave there was a large birds nest that Sally informed was a protected birds nest. On the side of the cave was a small dark hole that dropped down a bit to a long skinny path leading to the outside of the cave. Some parts were very skinny and tight, making some of us pretty nervous. At one point we reached an area where the only way to get out was to get wet. But that wasn't an option for Sally, she taught us a technique called bridging, where we got our bodies pressed between two walls, moving using our legs and bottom. As long as our backs were straight up against the rock wall behind us, we had pretty good control of our stability. One part was more difficult and we had to instruct the person behind us as we were instructed from the person in front who had just accomplished it. We had to be patient with everyone because each of us had different abilities but we were all made it out of the cave. By now, our hands were pretty cut up from the sharp barnacles covering the rocks that were once under water, but as the tide became lower the barnacles were submerged out of the water. We saw a lot of different sea life, such as lichen covering the rock walls, sea anemones that were squishy and sucked your fingers, and limpets that stuck undisturbed to the walls.

Our last activity for the day was to climb back to the area where we had climb across on the rope and cliff jump. I was fine with the thought of cliff jumping until I saw the height of the jump! Annie was the first to be standing on the edge of the rock wall and it looked so far down, I knew Sally must be joking. But after Annie jumped, I knew she wasn't joking. Everyone went and finally it was my turn. I don't remember being that scared about heights since the first outdoor pursuits when we did high ropes. I trusted Sally that I would be safe and knew the only way to get over my fear was to just do it! So I jumped! Letting out the loudest scream I reached the bottom and hit the water. It was the most amazing feeling to be able to just jump and put my fear in the back of my head. I even jumped again, just to prove to myself that I could face my fear...again! Today was a successful day for me because I was able to have fun climbing around on the rock walls, practicing my good climbing strategies we have been working on since rock climbing, and my biggest accomplishment, jumping from all my fears into the Irish Sea during the cliff jump. Everyone was so supportive and encouraging, as they always are, and there wasn't anyone that didn't play an important part in the days activity. This is definitely an activity I plan to do again in the future=)

Spring Break (in a nutshell)

I don't even know where to begin! These last 3 weeks have been so eventful and I have been all over Europe with my classmates, friends, and family. Spring break began March 19th for me, with no classes on Friday, but it wasn't until Saturday when I began my long adventure of traveling and exploring.

Ireland

My first trip was to Ireland with the Central Study Abroad group and Tecwyn. We left Saturday, March 20, and drove to Holyhead to board a ferry to Ireland. We spent about 2 days in Dublin and were able to accomplish walking around the city, experiencing the excitement of a Rugby game taking place in the stadium nearby, eating delicious Irish dishes, go to multiple Irish pubs with bagpipes and Irish singers, run within the city, go to the Guinness factory and try Guinness, attend a mass at the St. Patrick's Cathedral, eat lunch outside in a garden on a beautiful sunny day, witness the Book of Kells, and walk a half an hour away from the hostel to find that it was only around the corner. Dublin was nice, but very busy and a big city so I was excited to be going to a smaller city in Ireland.

We drove to Galway, a town on the western coast near the sea. It was perfect for running, I was able to run right next to the harbor and the beach. First thing we did as soon as we got there was take a walking tour of the town. Tecwyn left us in the town center and had us find our way back, but not before I bought my own Claddagh and the girls and I got some delicious pizza. In Galway we saw the Galway Cathedral, which was so amazing inside, with the bright sun shinning in the stain glass windows on all sides. On one of the rainy days in Ireland we took a trip around the outskirts of Galway and saw a castle overlooking a lake, then drove to the Cliffs of Moher, which were incredible, the cliffs were straight vertical over the ocean below, and lastly stopped at an ancient portal tomb. That night we went to a popular pub and listened to a few bands play. The next day was much nicer and we were able to take a ferry over to the Aran Islands, just off the coast of Ireland, where we got to ride bikes around the island all day seeing the pretty sites and huge cliffs at the edge of the island. It was a tiring day, but the weather was beautiful and we got a lot of exercise. When our bus pulled into the hostel, Molly, Annie, Sarah, and I sprinted off toward the harbor to catch the last sunset in Ireland. It was worth the 10 minute sprint and people starring at us, thinking we were crazy. That night to end our Ireland trip we went to another Irish pub and met up with Tecwyn.

I loved Ireland! It had so many great places and sites to see, it was difficult to take it all in! I especially liked when we travelled outside of the bigger towns because that's when we were able to really experience the culture and hear the accents of the natives there. It wouldn't have been an Ireland trip if we didn't go to the pubs in the towns as well. Each pub had something unique to offer and I enjoyed experiencing the atmospheres of each one.

Switzerland

Short and sweet, we went skiing in the Swiss Alps. It was amazing! Much more difficult than I would have ever imagined, especially the easy blue hills. Megan and Sarah had never gone skiing before so that was an interesting experience, but with the help of Ashley and I, we were able to teach them some strategies. Although Megan had the stopping technique down...Sarah had the opposite problem..she couldn't stop, and often just flew into a snow bank. It was a lot of fun, enjoying the beautiful views of the Alps and getting a good workout in, for most of us, trying to ski down the slopes. Molly and I made the mistake to take on a red slope, meaning intermediate...but it was more like a black slope back home. Let's just say we took that slope very slow, skiing back and forth down the whole slope, as little 4 year old kids came flying past us. Yes we were embarrassed but there was no way we were going straight down the hill! After about 4 hours of skiing, our legs were tired and we were ready to call it a day. Ill never forget that experience, and I will definitely go back someday=)

Greece
Our next stop was Greece! We flew into Athens and spent the day there walking around the bust city and trying to find the right bus stop, getting hit on by gyro workers and guys walking along the street. The first thing we did was go to a gyro shop and we had one of the BEST gyros I have ever tasted. It was so fresh and hot...its going to be difficult going home and comparing it to that one. That night we got to see the Olympic stadium and the Acropolis at night, as the moon creeped from behind it. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. We were also able to see the Dyionisus Theaters, one of the oldest theaters in the world! We went to bed early that night for our early morning the next day to the Greece island, Santorini! After our 3:30am wake up call and 7 hour ferry ride to the island, we finally made it there. The weather was so warm and sunny. We met the hostel owner right off the dock and he took us to our hostel. They were so nice and welcoming, offering us wine the second we walked into the office, haha. That day we just settled in and got a bus to Oia, to watch the sunset, the same area that Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was filmed. During the sunset there was a couple that got engaged, making the experience that much more memorable. It was a perfect night, clear, warm, and I was there with the best 5 girls I could ask for. The next day we went to the red and black sand beaches and relaxed for most of the day. That night we did some shopping in the island capital, Fira, and got our first gift from a shop owner. He asked all us girls to come into our shop cause he had a gift...we were skeptical, but he had us all pick a piece of pumice from a basket that he personally found and washed. He informed us to use the pumice on our feet and elbows to make them "baby soft". We thanked him, surprised that he just actually gave us pumice, haha! That night we bought wine and crackers and cheese and cookies to celebrate our last night on the island. It was really nice sitting under the stars and talking together, taking in every second left together before we parted the next week, when many of our parents came. It was really relaxing on the island, just what we needed after a stressful week of paper writing before spring break.

Germany/Austria

My parents came the next day we got back from Greece and I was able to show them around Bangor a bit...in the rain, of course, typical Wales. I was so happy to see them! We woke up early the next day to head to Germany. In Germany we rented a car so we were able to drive around and see the sites of Germany...but only after we figured out how to turn on the GPS...and learn a bit of German, since our GPS was only German speaking. Let's just say it was a little stressful at first trying to figure out the GPS...on the autobahn=/ We drive into Munich and watch the Glockenspiel ring at 11am in the city center, it was amazing! We also got to try some delicious German pastries, yum! After walking around Munich we drove to Fussen to see the royal castle of Neuschwanstein, the castle the Magic Kingdom was modeled after. It really was gorgeous...even through the heavy snowfall=/ We drove to Salzburg, Austria after that, the same place "The Sound of Music" was filmed. We were able to go to the city center and see many of the places that were in the film and got to explore the HohenSalzburg Fortress. At the top of the hill, the Fortress had the greatest view of Salzburg and the weather was perfect. We had some tasty Austrian food in the market and tasty desserts. I really enjoyed both Germany and Austria, I had always wanted to go to both! And I was glad I got to spend my time there with my parents.

United Kingdom

The last trip with my parents and for spring break was our many stops in both England and Wales. Since we had a car we were able to visit Chester, and shop of course, Conwy, Cricceith, Caernarfon, and Anglesey Island. We had the best fish and chips in Cricceith, enjoyed the castle in Caernarfon, and got to watch the sunset at Anglesey beach and enjoy a packed lunch on the beach. I was glad my parents got to see the many places Wales is famous for and the places I get to see everyday. It meant a lot to me that they got to come visit me and I'm happy they had a good time=)

My 3 weeks of spring break were amazing and went by too fast! I had the greatest, memorable experiences with my 5 girls and was able to bond with my parents when they came to visit. I could not have asked for a better spring break=)