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Reggio Emilia, Italy

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Ciao mi amici! I am writing to tell you I made it home alive! Of course the excitement of my European adventure continued all the way until I landed at PDX. I spent the last couple of days in Italy walking and shopping the streets of Reggio and Bologna. I got to Reggio on Monday afternoon. I checked into my hotel in the city center and stopped at my favorite cafe, Dolce Charlotte, for a mid day snack. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking the main streets, shopping, and of course, eating gelato. For the last month while I had been traveling, I had left my suitcase at the office of the apartment complex where I was living in Reggio. On Monday afternoon, I had to pick up my bag from them. It was nice of them to let me keep it there; it would have sucked if I had to drag that around with me for the last month. As I was taking my suitcase back to my hotel the skies kept getting darker and darker. As soon as I stepped foot into the hotel, the rain began to pour harder than I have ev...
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Budapest and Vienna

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This week was my last week to travel and explore Europe before I head home. :( After leaving Joe at the airport Tuesday, I flew to Budapest, Hungary, where I met with Emily and Erin after more than two weeks apart. Our airbnb host had arranged for a car to pick me up from the airport when I landed. It was really nice to not have to worry and figure out how to use public transportation from the airport to our airbnb. When I landed, there were three young girls probably in high school, that were holding a sign with my name on it like they do in the movies. It was kind of a sketchy situation, but I went with it. After about 10 minutes, this scary/pervy looking old man walked up to me and asked if I was Ashley and if I was ready for my ride. I would be lying if I said he didn’t freak me out a little bit, but he ended up being really nice. He asked me about my travels and was telling me all the best things to see and do in Budapest. He was actually kind of fun to talk t...
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Dresden, Meissen, and Berlin

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What a fast two weeks it has been! Joe left this afternoon to return to the US, and I have one last week to travel and explore, before I too, return home from my wild 6 month Europe adventure. Wednesday, Joe and I left Innsbruck. We took a bus back to Munich, where we caught a train that would take us to Dresden, Germany. Dresden is known for being one of the cities that was completely destroyed during WWII. As we were on the train to Dresden, our train was delayed for over an hour. It was bizarre. I guessed that someone had jumped in front of the train like they do in Italy, but Joe just laughed at me like I was crazy. Come to find out, some construction workers in Dresden found a live bomb from WWII and had spent the morning disarming the bomb. It was crazy! It’s weird to think that not all the bombs from the war have been found yet, and it’s pretty common to find them throughout Germany. After finally making it to our airbnb, we set out to explore our little neighborhood and find ...
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Paris, Munich, and Innsbruck

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People always say that Paris is a good idea. I can’t agree more. The first time I visited Paris this semester, I completely fell in love with the city and didn’t think it could get any better. Then it did. On Wednesday morning, my amazing boyfriend Joe landed in Paris. It has been a long time coming, and I am over-the-moon excited to spend the next two weeks traveling and exploring Europe together. I met him at the airport, and we started our grand ole adventure. After taking the train from the airport to the city center, and settling into our Airbnb, Joe and I set out to explore Paris. Our first stop was to Notre Dame Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful!   We walked around inside and saw the famous stained glass windows and ornate architecture. It was gorgeous!   They also happened to be having the Fete du Pain (Bread Party), where they were making fresh baguettes in the Cathedral square. Of course we stopped by for a quick snack before walking to the...
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