Visiting :)

So I finally got to visit Alina. She's my German friend who studied in America our Junior year of high school. She's going to college in Austria. Her friend Ina who I met when they came to RI for a little bit during their leap year also went to visit the same weekend so it was one big reunion. Flying into Klagenfurt airport I was practicly peeing my pants. There were a few mountains sticking up above the clouds at cruising altitude, then when we started decending they were every which way I looked. The pilot headed straight for one of the mountains before doing a u-turn and landing very quickly. It was so nice to see Alina and Ina's smiling faces outside the door waiting for me. We then went over to the car rental place and met their 2 guy friend who were picking up the car for our trip to Venice. After getting the car we went back to Alina's apartment for a little bit and picked up all the snacks and everyone's bags and set out to Venice.

The first part of highway was mostly tunnels since we had to travel through all the mountains in the area. I even saw snow on the ground! Unfortunately it was incredibly foggy and getting dark so I couldn't fully take in all the scenery that I'm sure was there. They made weinerschnitzel so I tried it. It was on a sandwich and I liked it. Not my favorite, but I wouldn't say I'd never eat it again. After a few hours we got to Venice and found out it's basically an island. We had to take a boat to our hotel. We made our way to the boat and sat outside in the front. Not only was it freezing, but so foggy you couldn't see anything farther than maybe 10ft. We got to our hotel which was a very nice suite with 2 bedrooms and a living area and relaxed for a bit before going out to get dinner. We walked around a little bit and saw that famous bridge, but it was dark and kind of late so we didn't see much else.

The next morning we got up, checked out of our hotel and walked around the city. I never realized how pretty it was. Luckily it was a nice day out. It is so cool how everything has to be accessed by boat. Even the ambulances! We ate lunch at this awesome pizza place. I got mine with black olives, assuming they would be pitted and sliced. I was wrong. I had to unpit all of the olives, and slice them. But it was sooo good. We just wandered around the rest of the day and then made our way back to Klagenfurt.

Once in Klagenfurt Alina and Ina made pasta for dinner and all of us ate together. We decided to stay in and just squeezed in Alina's bed and watched the hangover. I go out so much in Ireland it was really nice to just stay in and relax with them. The next day we got up and went into the city. It was decorated for Christmas, and I got some sweets at a candy stand. Everything looked so good but I settled for some caramelized nuts and picked up a little treat for my friend Kara back in Ireland. It was then time for me to go back to the airport to start my journey home. The plane ride back up was just as crazy as the plane ride down. We turned onto the runway towards the side that was ran out, did a u-turn at the end and had to take the entire runway to take off. We went up so fast I was dizzy and felt all weird. Even when we got up the mountains were so close to the plane even though we were thousands and thousands of feet up in the air. I was a little less scared this time around and instead took the window seat so I could enjoy the views I knew I would get.

I wish that I had more time to spend with Alina and Ina but hopefully they will come visit me while I'm in South Africa :)