http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/SweetCaroline/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from SweetCaroline en-us Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:51:05 +0000 Thu, 07 Jan 2010 02:51:05 +0000 Hola AmigosSo I have been in Santiago for a week now and it feels like I have been here forever. I absolutely LOVE this city and have had no problem adjusting making friends and figuring out how to get around. New Years Eve was really fantastic. I went with my flatmate to a party at the language school where I started classes today. It is all of a half a block from my apartment so very conveni http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Providencia/blog-464929.html Happy New Year from Santiago Chile I want to say hello again to all my friends and family that followed me on the crazy year abroad in Germany and also welcome to all of the new kids on the block. I hope that you all enjoy sharing these travels and adventures with me as I make my way through South America. I left a rainy and cold Austin and barely made it out of the snowy Dallas area globa http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Chile/Santiago-Region/Providencia/blog-463971.html Our departure from Dubrovnik was fairly easy. After being dropped off at the bus station we proceeded to buy our tickets for the bus to Kotor which runs twice a day. We were glad we arrived early by the time we got on the bus it was all sold out. There were a mix of cultures joining us Australians Europeans Americans and locals as well. The well air conditioned bus departed on time and we we http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Montenegro/blog-319424.html Our bus ride from Korcula to Dubrovnik was well unbelievable. I would have stopped on every turn for a good week the landscape was absolutely gorgeous and the water a color of blue I can not describe. We came into Dubrovnik across a huge bridge and then made our way down the hill to the bus station near the new harbor. As we exited the bus we were immediately greeted by many locals offering up http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Dubrovnik/blog-315821.html Out adventure to Korcula began a lot later than expected. We had a fabulous time with our fellow hostelers at the bar well too good of a time and did not wake up at 530 as planned to catch our 630 Ferry. Instead I awoke to Justus whispering to me at 830 am that we were late really late. We gathered our stuff quickly and stumbled down to the ferry office to see what we could do in regards to http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Korcula/blog-309977.html Some entertaining reverse cultural things for you I keep forgetting to look at my gas gauge on my car. I swear Im going to run out of gas one day. Movie Theaters don't have reserved seats here Debit Cards. I forgot completely about them. Tips and Tax. It's hard to have to add money to a bill English. Everyone speaks it but I keep listening into random people's conversations on the street bec http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Dalmatia/Split/blog-304225.html A year is over. I am back in Austin I cant believe that I am already repacking for my next life adventure in Nashville. I have not forgotten of course that no blogs have been written for the last 3 weeks of travel. The last week at home has been quite busy catching up with family and friends as well as trying to readjust to things like driving and get organized for my move. So....here we go. Ther http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Croatia/Central-Croatia/Zagreb/blog-303447.html Happy 4th of July. I am writing this now for the 2nd time because the internet connection just lost my blog entry. So here we go I will try to recreate. I am now in Tirana Albania and wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday. This has been quite an adventure so far and we are having a fabulous time. Here is a short and quick overview of what we have done so far.Plane from Stuttgart to Zagreb Cro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Albania/West/Tirana/blog-295231.html My bags are packed...I'm ready to go...well kind of...WHAT A YEAR As I end my time here in Germany and embark on my crazy adventure through Europe and then back to the United States I can't help but take the time to reflect over this year and what it has meant to me. It has been filled with extreme emotional highs and lows as well as plenty of time for self reflection. Even though the good times http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Karlsruhe/blog-290663.html In my time living in BadenWuerttemberg I have been lucky enough to travel around to most of the region and discover a new part of Germany. However I had never been in the Black Forest or to the BodenseeLake Constance both of which I had heard were beautiful. I was luckily enough to be offered the chance to take a day trip to both by none other than a local Schwarzwalder Bruno. Bruno grew up http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Lake-Constance/blog-288907.html Well the time is flying by and I have now attended the AbschlussSeminar End of Year Seminar for my program in Berlin. I am in shock that this has already come and gone I remember putting in my calendar back in August and thinking wow that is so far away Even including a few rough patches in the winter and spring this year has just flown by....The 73 Young Professionals from our program co http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/District-of-Berlin/Berlin/blog-284396.html I apologize for the absence of blogs lately. I have just been in Berlin for a week for my final year seminar with my program. I will definitely write about that next but wanted to catch everyone up on another trip I made in May to Vienna with Alex a fellow Vanderbilt MBA studentAlex had planned to come to Europe to travel around and we decided it would be fun to meet up for a weekend and see so http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Austria/Vienna-State/Vienna/blog-284373.html Continued from Part 1hellip.Upon our arrival in Amsterdam we grabbed a Taxi and headed to our beautiful hotel the Ambassade Hotel on one of the main Canals within the city center. This hotel was the combination of about 10 Canal Houses and was quite unique. Our room was beautiful with a really high ceiling and exquisite decorations. I have to say after my many hostels I was impressed with o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Netherlands/North-Holland/Haarlem/blog-278321.html I am narrowing down on my last 6 weeks of work and 9 weeks on this lovely continent. The weather lately has been fantastic actually I dare say kind of warm and I have been trying to change up my wardrobe a bit remember no air conditioning not even at work I have a few more trips planned over the next 6 weeks but I want to hang around Germany and Karlsruhe a bit as it is now pool parks a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Ile-de-France/Paris/blog-276928.html Yesterday I actually got kind of warm enough to take my jacket off...this is a revelation Summer is on its way and I am thrilled except that it means that my time over here is almost over. The countdown is now at 2 months for my internship 2 12 months until I am home in Austin and 3 months until I am in Nashville. Crazy. Work is going well and I am enjoying my project. It is also fun getti http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/France/Alsace/Strasbourg/blog-269901.html Spring is here. The trees are regaining leaves flowers are blooming its raining...a lot...oh wait thats just Germany. As spring approaches and the idea of Summer is infecting this town I can not help but realize that my days here are numbered. So much to see so little time I have lots planned over the next 3 months trying to squeeze in everything I can see friends again and try to jus http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber/blog-265372.html Last weekend I had some friends in to visit since I had the apartment all to myself. Itrsquos been nice being able to take over the whole place for a couple of weeks but I am looking forward to my new flatmatersquos arrival. She is from France and speaks very good German not much English I believe this will be a good thing for my German My Couchsurfing friend Ulf came to 'surf' with me las http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Stuttgart/blog-262963.html After a harsh German winter Megan and I could think of nothing better than a long weekend in the Turkish Riviera. Actually really all I said is that I wanted to be warm and well there was a really good offer for Antalya Turkey so we booked it I was fairly exhausted from all my previous travels around Germany and Italy but as I ran through the ice and snow falling from the sky to get fro http://www.travelblog.org/Middle-East/Turkey/Mediterranean/Antalya/blog-261702.html Sorry for the delay in my blogs I have been a busy girl lately both with work and travel. I hope everyone has had a fabulous Easter I have just returned from Turkey which will follow in the next blog and had a wonderful time in the sun. I am back in cold Germany where it is snowing and am trying to readjust to the idea that it wont be 80 degrees tomorrow. I'd like to catch everyone up on th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Bavaria/Hohenschwangau/blog-259375.html We were very lucky with weather last weekend which was an enjoyable change but almost too nice because now we are wishing it was spring. Megan my friend from Australia that I met in Hamburg flew down for a beautiful sunny weekend in Southern Germany. We had a quiet evening on Friday night as we were both tired from work but Saturday we were up and adam and off to Heidelberg for the day.I ha http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Germany/Baden-W-rttemberg/Heidelberg/blog-252018.html