Marienplatz in Munich!

reflections

My journey to Europe has been incredible. I am so lucky to have a mother like my mother; she has stood at many Girl Scout cookie booths for hours with me in the cold to get here with me.

I've enjoyed many trips to museums with her, awesome French and Austrian meals, refreshing drinks, she has seen many close family friends with me, and we have made time for ourselves.

My favorite thing I've done with her is probably the "Sound of Music" tour. We saw really cool sights together and laughed and joked together. I saw the outside of the actual house from the movie! It was the best part. I saw so much of the garden in the front and the lake where Maria and the children fell in, and also where the gate was that led to the water.  I love the movie because  of the music and the beautiful story of this family. I also love Julie Andrews – she has the most beautiful voice. In fact, I was singing the songs from movie throughout the entire tour which I'm sure everyone loved! Haha.

My favorite meal with her is probably our first meal in Austria; I had an actually really yummy spinach dumpling and wiener shnitzel with parsley potatoes. Wiener schnitzel  is a delicious breaded fried pork. It was so very good. My favorite dessert I shared with her is Turkish honey ice cream; it's the best dessert ever! You have to try it because all the different flavors blend in with the ice cream. At first it looks like mango ice cream because of the slightly browned vanilla ice cream with the orange chunks (which is the honey).

I have had fun with her here in Europe, even though it's about to come to an end soon. I love her so much with all my heart. This is going to be a memorable experience because my mother was with me the whole time, loving me and caring for me. She made sure we got on the right trains, we had enough to eat, knew where we were going next, and which museum was next in Paris or Austria.  When we were in Paris, I kept asking her what time it was so she bought me a watch. This gave me the opportunity to tell her what time it was all the time. I became the official timekeeper of our trip!

In Paris, my favorite tourist spot was Sacre Coeur,  which means "sacred heart" in French.  It is the highest point in Paris and is all white. I liked the huge mosaic of Jesus – his hands were reaching out towards me and his heart was shining.  It was a really memorable and moving experience. Outside of the church is where I was able to haggle for the first time ever. I would needed a hat really bad because the sun was really hot and in my face. There were some sellers outside selling hats and I only had a little bit of spending money that day and so my hesitation made the price come down on the hat and I got it for €10 instead of €15!

My favorite place to eat was when my mom and I brought a baguette and cheese and sat by some birds on a curb where there tons of artists painting everywhere.  This was in Montmartre, in the section of Paris that was used by artists, especially in the early 1900s.  There were artist everywhere painting scenes from Paris, flowers, and people of the street. I fell in love with some paintings but they were really expensive!

 In the next few days we are meeting up with my dad and my brother again, and I am so excited to see my godfather Matthis! We fly home on Saturday and begin a new chapter in our lives in our new home in St. Louis. What an incredible summer I have had, I will never forget it. Enjoy the kooky photos!

Travel day: Salzburg to Munich

On July 7, we checked out of our bed and breakfast in Salzburg and made our way to Munich, Germany! We had great views of the Alps on the journey!

Sound of Music!

Today my mother and I went and did the "Sound of Music" tour. It was great; I learned that there were people who were just like the Vontrapp family, but did something even more insulting than just ripping a German flag. The captain actually refused to take a post and he refused to sing for Hitler's birthday and was going to get deported with his children and his new wife Maria! He escaped with his children and wife to Italy by train, then went to England, and finally went to America and performed there. It was really cool to see the places where the movie was filmed, such as outside the house, the lake where the kids and Maria fell in, and the place where Gayorg and Maria sing "Something Good" and where Liezel and Ralph Sing "16 Going on 17." I also went to the outside of the Abbey and many more places. It was a fun tour; afterwards my mom and I went out for the best ice cream I've ever had! My new favorite is "Turkish Honey" - it's so good. My mom had blueberry ice cream which tasted interesting. I just couldn't believe it was 1 euro a scoop!

Abbaye de Fontevraud

Salzburg, Austria!

Today I went to the Mirabelle Gardens here in Austria! The lush gardens were filled with a variety of flowers. My German host-sister Franzi came along to Austria as well; it was fun staying with her. Today she also had to leave to go to work. After the awesome band playing Mamma Mia music, we all went to eat at a restaurant. The resaraunt was really really good; I got a beef broth with pancake strips and was really yummy. For my drink I got a lemonade only made in Austria that had apple juice and sprite in it. They also add something else that makes it spectacular. My mom ordered Austrian veal sausage- it was white and she had to peel it first!  I bet many tourist make the mistake of eating the peeling!

After lunch we all hiked to a castle with an awesome view of the Alps and the city. Then we went down to the ground and we all got free ice cream from the cathedral volunteers! The ice cream was so good; we all got it for free because it's supposed to attract tourists like me to donate to people in need like we did. It was a choice between soft serve strawberry, vanilla, or a mix. All three of us got mixed. The day was just great! Enjoy the videos!

Versailles!

When I arrived at Versailles I thought it looked fancy and that everything was fit for a princess; which it was! I went to all of the places that Louis 14th the 15th and the 16th all lived and slept before the revolution. It was amazing seeing all the millions of handcrafted statues, portraits of all the Kings that lived there, and all of the gold encrusted everything they owned! The Hall of Mirrors was absolutely fantastic to look at, and you will see what it looks like in my video! The king had two bedchambers, one for sleeping and one for people watching him get ready for bed! I think it would have been hilarious to watch that.

It was the hottest day of summer when we went, and it was packed! It was so hot at 103 degrees with sticky sweat everywhere; it was so disgusting!

We also went to a fancy cafe called "Angelina"!!!

Palais Garnier and Arc de Triomphe

 What an amazing day!   It was so hot today and we walked many, many miles. But it was worth it because we saw some amazing sites – Palais Garnier, where the famed Phantom of the Opera was inspired and also where Dégas painted his famous ballerina paintings. I loved taking the self-guided audio to her because it explained all the things that you wouldn't have known about the opera house.  Where the famed Phantom of the Opera was inspired and also where Dégas painted his famous ballerina paintings. I loved taking the self-guided audio to her because it explained all the things that you wouldn't have known about.  I felt so small whenever I was in the huge ballrooms with goldplated ceilings and beautiful paintings.  The costumes are beautiful and I took a couple of photos for my Barbie dolls- inspiration to make clothes for them. 

 Next we walked by the place de Concorde, where Marie Antoinnette and Louis the 16th were beheaded at the guillotine during the French Revolution. We walked a long ways down the Champs de Élysées  until we reached the Arc de Triomphe  where there was an amazing view. My mom was very brave and walked with me to the very top where we could see for miles of all of Paris. 

Our fancy treat of the evening was eating at a nice French restaurant. I ordered the duck fat salad and my mom ordered the escargot pastry!! Ew.  It looked really gross but my mom said it was really good.  Enjoy the videos! 

VLogs!!!

Some videos from my Paris adventures!!!

Notre Dame

Sacre Couer

Montmartre Art

Picasso's studio!

Eiffel Tower

Paris- Days 1-2

My Paris Experience

So far on my trip I have seen the spectacular Notre Dame, the wonderful St. Chappelle, the amazing Museum D'Orsay, the mind-blowing Louvre, and the classic that never gets old- the Eiffel Tower!

 

They all are awesome, but my favorite by far is the Louvre, where I got to see a whole bunch of famous paintings. (Please read my other post on the Louvre to learn more!) The Mona Lisa was the best part; it did look like she knew something I or anyone else knew. It was very cool!

The Eiffel Tower was pretty crowded;

but once you do get around there, 

you have to push your way to get an awesome photo.

The Museum D'Orsay was awesome because they had tons of Degas 
paintings!!!!!!!!! Degas was so 
descriptive and the paintings are 
amazing to look at in person. I had a great time there! There were many other in famous impressionist paintings there- Renoir, Manet, Monet, and Van Gogh!

This morning my mom and I slept in 
our very nice hotel. We walked to a nearby street market and bought two delicious croissants; they were the best I'd ever tasted!         We also bought baguettes and raspberries for snacks for later.

Today I went to Notre Dame; it is awesome and very tall! The church bells are huge, and they play a tune before they chime. Inside there was a service at 11:15 and they spoke beautiful French and Latin while they sang. Trying to be quiet inside, though, so you don't disturb the 
people who are trying to listen to the 
priest is hard. There are candles that 
anyone can light (but you must pay 2 euros) and pray for someone.

         For lunch we decided to stop near a flower market where they sold hundreds of little tiny cute birds! I loved looking in all the cages and seeing all of the feathers and cute faces!  At the café, my mom ordered French onion soup, although here it is just called plain onion soup. I ordered 
the croque Monsieur. So delicious!!!  I 
also ordered a really tasty drink – 
strawberry juice! It was so sweet and different.

The upstairs of Sainte Chappelle is amazing!!! Inside there are gorgeous 
stained glass windows with pictures 
of all the saints doing good things. The light that came through the windows was so dazzling!

 

         After this we went on a long walk near the River Seine and walked into the Shakespeare bookstore. My mom insisted we go there because of some famous writers who hung out there (Hemingway etc) but I was so tired - so to make me feel better she bought me an amazing ice cream cone at a patisserie and we had a break. 

More to come! 

We are at the airport in Frankfurt awaiting our flight to Paris!! Enjoy Gloria's first  vlog!! 

Saying Goodbye and Looking Forward

        I have been to many places and have seen many things in my life that I think are beautiful, amazing, spectacular, and sad. The one town that will always feel like my home is Waldorf, Maryland.

Although I’m moving away from Maryland, I will always know that that is where I belong with my friends, family, and my church. My priest, Reverend Denise, is also moving which makes me sad beyond how I can stand. I will always remember her and love her forever.

 

Although I’m moving and everything is sad, I have things to look forward to, and I get to travel to Paris! In the past I have traveled to England, The Netherlands, Spain, Morocco, Denmark, Italy (I was little and my first Italian word was “gelato!”), and Germany (too many times to count). I have taken a long road trip all the way from the Maryland to Colorado, and I have visited California and the beautiful Hawaii!

I have been to many places and done a lot of things in my lifetime, and I am only 12 years old. I cannot wait to go see France and Austria for the first time ever!!! It will be so much fun and exciting for me, which I can look forward to after all of the sad goodbyes of leaving my home. I have raised enough money to go to Austria as well and it will be an amazing experience! We plan to go to Salzburg there and take the Sound of Music tour and visit Mozart’s birthplace! Then, because Salzburg is so close to Munich where we are meeting up with my dad and brother, we get to stay with my host sister (she was an exchange student who lived with us for a year when I was little) Franzi and she says we will visit Neuschwanstein, a famous castle that was built by a mad king, and it also inspired the Sleeping Beauty castle in the Disney movie! It will be fun just to see my sister Franzi again!