The End in Vienna. Beginnings in Florida.

I never got to express or recap my last two weeks in Vienna for you all (to those few readers I have).  Wish I had made time for blogging but I guess part of me just wasn't ready to accept the truth.  The last month was rather a roller coaster, of high's/low's, as the goodbye's started and last explorations/travels took place.  Overcome by the reality of the trip ending and adjusting back to my home country has had my emotions working overtime.


The first goodbye was probably the hardest of all.  My dear friend Katie, also another American/UCF student from Florida, was the first to go.  Although I knew I would be seeing her when I got home, just the idea, the thought, and the reality of this experience/trip ending was becoming too hard to face.  Two of the Irish girls and I had taken her to the airport early in the morning.  I given Katie a letter I had written for her. Lately I've been resorting to writing a lot, to express my feelings. I shared/reminisced on funny memories, my valuing of our friendship, yada yada ya, and at last...the goodbye "see you later". Outside security, she broke down, the Irish girls followed, but I just couldn't come to terms with it. I didn't want to believe it.  I didn't want to believe she was leaving and this trip was ending.  It wasn't until after we had said goodbye and I was getting on the train back to the city that it hit me like a ton of bricks....she's gone.  Irish girls and I were a mess on the train back home. Just kept crying and crying, as we reflected on Katie.  We joked how we talked about her like as if she was dead.  The goodbye's didn't get too much easier but became more expectant and frequent as the days and weeks passed.  I hate goodbye's and I'm not good at them either.  It was just hard for me, at every last/final social event...to think this was the last time I would be seeing most of these people.  Many of which I had become really close to over the past 5 months.  Goodbye's suck...period/fullstop.


Despite the depressing woe's of goodbye's...there were still many good times to be had.  July was another celebration month.  With school over, the pool time, barbecues, and graduation parties kicked in.  Celebrating the 4th of July in Austria wasn't as large as in America but still fun.  With my dearest Mexican girls traveling, the Irish girls and I went all-american for dinner: cheeseburger and fro-yo (frozen yogurt).  Like the Sheen, we were winning.  Later that week, a dear friends of ours even threw us a legit goodbye barbecue, closing with a series of firework displays.  How cool is that?!  

Nothing says..Happy 4th of July!...like fro-yo :)

After the bbq (literally), my fellow American friend, Ellerbe and I caught the last bus to Bratislava and "slept" overnight at the airport, in lieu of our early morning flight that would begin our ultimate weekend trip: Amsterdam/London.  They always say, to have fun it doesn't matter where you go, but it's who you are with.  I couldn't agree more. Both of us being flexible, spontaneous, and hilarious I might add ;)...my lovely travel buddy and I proved to be quite the duo.  After a rather memorable, fun, and adventurous times in both cities, we concluded the following truths: Vienna is classical, Amsterdam is tolerant, London is charming, Berlin is expressive, Bratislava is cheap, Prague is beautiful, Salzburg is quaint, Rome is historic but crowded, Pisa is underrated, Florence is artsy, Milan is sophisticated/fashionable, and Venice is expensive and probably should be renamed the Bermuda Triangle.

Amsterdam. Aka the Venice of Northern Europe.

London Eye at night.

After the trip, time just decided to start flying away, before I was ready to take off.  The last month I had many dreams of me back home, premonitions of my time once I returned home.  Most involved me subconsciously speaking German and ending with sobbing when I realized I was back in America for good.  Thus...you could realize why I began to fear the worst reaction upon my return.  I guess the continual reminders and dreams were my bodies way of preparing me for the transition back home.  Either way, not wanting to dwell on it or come to terms with the reality, I just numbed the thoughts and the truth the dreams revealed, that this was almost over.


Surprisingly by the last week, my attitude towards coming home had brightened.  I began to look forward to it.  Dwelling on positive thoughts, the idea of being able to see my family, friends, the beach, and et cetera again kept me going.  The Mexican girls surprised us and returned home on the 15th of July to join in our final goodbye and celebration at  MU Graduation party.  Our uni had rented out the club for the night, equipped with free welcome drink, good music (compliments of MU student dj's), and good company, we had one of the last best nights of our life.  After more goodbye's, my attention the next few days were towards finishing packing up my room, and completing the list of things to see before leaving Vienna.  

Overall the two weeks went by like a blink of an eye.  Although the days were long, the weeks were short.  With plans to take my last trip in Europe, to Praha (aka Prague, Prag, etc.) with friends; my time to pack up my room would be cut short.   With arriving back to Vienna, the day before I would leave for America, I had to finish packing before Prague.  With my room pretty much packed, I felt accomplished and less stressed when leaving for Prague.  After closing my bank account and deregistering from Vienna, we hopped on the bus to Prague.  We had a blast living it up there. What a beautiful city!  We even played a challenging game of "Chubby Bunny" haha.  The Irish Girls, Rossana the Mexican, and Daniel the German, are a fun and entertaining group to travel with...anywhere!  That is a fact :)

Prague - Old Town Square

Upon my return home to Vienna, I finished the last minute souvenir shopping list for the family, and packed my last few things left remaining.  After gazing at my bare room for all too long, it was time to go.  Escorted by my dearest friends, we made our way to the airport.  Without them, I have no idea how I would have transported the luggage let alone make it to the airport safely and on-time.  With my 6am flight departure, we took the last bus at 2am and hungout at the McD's there, welcoming the morning with our 1 EUR Cappuccino.  Having them also just returned from Prague, exhausted with no nap, they were troopers during our all-knighter/airport adventure.  I'm truely blessed to have such great and nice friends.  As the final goodbye was soon coming to pass, I was trying to stay strong.  I don't relish nor am fond of crying at all, to tell you the truth.  I feel embarrassed when I do.  Fearing I would be a wreck, I tried to keep it together.  Not wanting to come to terms, we kept changing the subject.  Right as I gave the last hugs/goodbye's, as I was heading to the security checkpoint, it hit me like a ton of bricks again.  I lost it.  Like ripping off a band-aid, I knew I had to make the goodbye fast.  After walking through security, I was too emotional to look back.  Not wanting to be asked 20 q: by on-lookers, I tried to pull it together.  I was able to...but not for long.

Super Troopers

Unfortunately, they weren't my carry-ons.

Safely boarded on the plane and gazing out the window, my last sights of Vienna, the tears starting to drip from my eyes.  The truth was I fell in love with Vienna and didn't want to leave.  The lady in the seat next to me kept looking at me, she asked if I was okay, I nodded, although my face implied otherwise.  Leading my head against the window, I said goodbye, as Vienna soon disappeared, as we rose past the clouds, into the sky.  It was all too much and I literally cried myself to sleep.  I woke up and we had just landed in Paris.  After grabbing my luggage, I headed to check into my flight to America.  Emotional, tired, and stuck with the consequence of overpacking...proved to be a recipe for excitement.  Parts of the Charles DeGaulle Airport restricted luggage carts from passing, disabling me taking the easy route.  In boarding the tram to the terminal, it left as I was halfway finished with loading my luggage on the tram.  Exhausted, tired, and emotional...loosing my luggage in foreign country, moments before I was to board my flight, was not what I had planned.  I began to cry out of frustration.  There was nothing else I could do then but to wait for the next arriving trams, hoping it was still there and no one had stolen it.  Since there is no sense in crying over spilled milk, I had to calm myself down.  Nothing else to do but wait and devise a Plan B.  Thankfully I packed an emergency kit, a pair of clothes, toiletries, in my carry-on. just in case.  After the longest 45 minutes of my life...of checking every tram that had passed, finally the right one had arrived.  I have never been so happy to have seen my luggage.


Exhausted and all, after running on no sleep in the past 2 days, I made it to the check-in okay.  I was soon surprised with the "joy" that I had missed check-in by 15 minutes.  I.e. I couldn't get on the plane.  Although this situation could've been avoided had it not been for the luggage mishap, I had to deal it, such is life.  Hours later, with my flight rebooked (another story in and of itself) for the following morning, I was able to find a hotel for the night, just minutes away.  I never have been so happy nor appreciative to see a hotel room before, than I was then.  The comfy beds, coffee, tv, and other basic hotel amenities made me feel like I was staying in the Ritz after the my travels and experiences at hostels.  Exhausted, lost my voice, and beginning to feel sick, I enjoyed a hot cup of tea before immediately crashed on the bed.  I was even too tired to change into pajamas.  

Big. Comfy. Bed.  Yes Please.

After a good nights sleep, I woke up at 3am.  Showered, packed, and ready...I relished in watching French TV, although I understood nothing, awaiting my free(for me) breakfast at 6am.  After delicious and plentiful breakfast, I was eager to get to the aiport, not wanting to miss another flight.  Finally checked-in, I had time to relax in the business club lounge before my first-class flight home.  Elated by my free upgrade to first-class, compliments of horrible day but mostly the frequent flyer status.  Good things can come from bad situations.  


Once boarded the plane, I could finally breathe and unwind, knowing today...everything would go okay and go right.  All-situated in my large, comfy, and full-reclining seat, after the hotel, I was in Heaven again on the plane.  Too rested to sleep, I had some friendly and good conversations with my American "mother"-esque-loving passenger seated next to me, throughout the flight.  The remainder of the time, I relished in the fact I was rested, as a perfect justification to skip sleep and have a movie marathon.  My determination proved to be no match for the comfort of the chairs and wine in hand.  After the second movie, I was out like rock.  Awoken with my batteries recharged, I had time for just one more movie.  Delicious food and drinks, doubled with the environment, made this flight the most enjoyable and relaxing of them all.  Consequently renewed my love for flying.  

Long-haul flights? First Class with
AirFrance is the way to go.

 After arriving in Atlanta safely, the last flight to Melbourne was a breeze.  Having just traveled thousands and thousands of miles, I still couldn't believe my eyes, as we were descending into my hometown.  I always relate traveling long-distances to, the fictional, time-traveling.  The ability of traveling to worlds/countries so different, with ease, never ceases to astound me.  Walking off the plane, I felt like I was in another dream, having already dreamt about this day so many times before.  It just felt so surreal, to see normal and familiar sites again.  Walking down the ramp and seeing my family was such a reassuring, amazing, and surreal moment, all at the same time.  After the adventure, I was just glad and relieved to be home at last.

"Welcome Home" hugs are the best.

Time hasn't stop flying by since I got home.  Two days after I was home, we took a family vacation to Busch Gardens for two days.  Two or three days after that my Aunt and cousins came into town.  After their departure, I began packing and moving things back up to Orlando again. Still...all this has felt so surreal.  That is, all up until yesterday, when suddenly it hit me.  Yesterday marked two weeks from when I left Vienna and came back to the States. They usually say the "two week" mark is when the bliss fades and the (reverse) culture shock kicks in.  When you're tired of the foreign world and you just want something "normal" again.  You began to kick your heels, cry, and just want to go back to your home country.  For the past five and half months Vienna had become my home.  I got adjusted to the new norms, the culture, food, language, and etc.; all in all...I fell in love with Vienna.  



Being back in America has been surreal at times.  I just feel like I've been on holidays (vacation) for the past 2 weeks and now I'm ready to head back home. Relishing in the comforts of my home-culture, the American lifestyle, was refreshing, but part  most of me just wants to go home now. Vienna was my home and I miss it terribly. Although I must move on, it's just hard now to still deal with the fact that it's over.  Most days are easier than others. But it's just that one moment, when someone says something, and your mind goes back to memory lane.  You remember the good along with the bad, and just wish you could live it again, at least just once more.  It's during those times I find are the hardest.  I always have to remind myself of a great quote, one of my dearest friends shared with me, during our last times in Vienna.  "Don't cry because it's over.  Smile because it happened".  With that, it becomes easier to adjust back daily.  Although Vienna will always have a special place in my heart, I have to be excited and look forward to the future.  And just hope one day...I'll be reunited this lovely city I once called home.

Breathtaking view of Vienna from Modul University: city and vineyards.
The best in-class daily distractions.