København (Copenhagen, Denmark)

After a refreshing and fun-filled time in Germany with my family, (so many thanks and so grateful for their taking such good care of me in Stuttgart!!) I took what seemed like a roundabout flight from Stuttgart, Germany north to Copenhagen, Denmark, in order to arrive south in Bologna, Italy (the cheapest flights always beat out convenience). With a five-hour layover in Copenhagen, I decided to be adventurous and leave the airport for a sunny afternoon in Denmark. I was so glad I took that chance and got on the Copenhagen metro a couple of stops from the airport into their downtown! Immediately when I arrived at the train station, I could feel how clean  and crisp the air was with a sunny blue sky above me. The people were very friendly and I heard Nordic languages along with English around me, which made me feel immediately comfortable. Many bike riders and tall, blonde people everywhere. I could tell just how safe the city was by the signs across the city saying, "There are pickpockets even in Copenhagen," denoting the general understanding of Copenhagen as the clean, safe city it is. 

Stuttgart Zoo, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland

My last couple of days staying in Stuttgart, Germany were full of wonderful day trips and car rides to different countries all in one day. At one point, we had gotten into my cousin's reliable Honda and drove from Germany through Austria into the small country of Liechtenstein, through Switzerland, and back to Germany all in one day. I couldn't believe by the end of the night that I had been in four countries within a span of 24 hours. It's unbelievable how close each of these European countries are to each other and how diverse the cultures, languages, and people are in each section of Europe, even if within a distance of a couple hundred miles. Of all the crazy adventures I've been on in these last 4 months of traveling and living in Europe, that day was one of the most surreal. Here is a recollection of memories in photo form of those moments at the Stuttgart Zoo and my once-in-a-lifetime road trip through all those countries. 

Rothenburg, Germany

So many things to catch up on! After months of traveling and exploring different parts of Europe, I have finally settled into my life living in Bologna, Italy and studying at the University of Bologna and I have time to post the adventures I have been on! So far, I have traveled across a good number of countries throughout Europe and have met the most wonderful and caring people. This trip was taken with my family, Lisa and Cami, as they took me to this walled city that looked like it was made of real-life ginger bread houses. I was expecting Geppetto himself to walk out of his puppet making shop.  

Switzerland

I went to SWITZERLAND! While staying with my family in Germany and enjoying movie nights and day trips, my family decided to take a road trip from their home in Stuttgart, Germany about two hours south to Zurich, Switzerland as they were in search of a Swiss cow bell strap from the weekend markets there. There was a light rain shower occurring in the city, but that didn't deter us from our mission or take away from the beauty and enjoyment of the city and the country. 

Affenberg (Monkey Mountain) - Salem, Germany

Monkey Mountain, known as Affenberg in German, is a wildlife reserve where people can go and feed and interact with monkeys. You are given a handful of popcorn upon entering the park and you walk around and are able to feed the monkeys as they wait for you to give them pieces of popcorn. You are allowed to get within three feet of the monkeys, which lets you get up close and personal with them which is really cool! The monkeys were very gentle and carefully grabbed the popcorn from your outstretched hand as they sat on benches like little humans. 

Blumen - Flower Picking in Deutschland

Ich liebe Deutschland!

[I love Germany]

Germany is such a gorgeous country! At every turn in the road, there are beautiful fields of vegetables, fruits, and flowers, ready to be picked by people passing by. Using the honor system, people who drive past these stands and fields can park their car, use a knife provided by the growers, and pick their bouquet of flowers and place their payment in the box. As my cousins and I were driving back from an outing, we spotted one of these Blumen fields and decided to stop and pick some flowers. Such a cool experience and something I will always remember about this country! 

First Day in Stuttgart, Germany

Germany is so beautiful and clean! After taking a quarter of German at UCLA, I had some sense of the culture and language in the nation, but after arriving, it was even more orderly, efficient, and clean than I ever imagined! The streets are neatly paved and I have yet to see litter of any kind. Their upkeep of the old, historic buildings is also impressive and they are all used today for stores and homes! I am also very impressed by their kindness to nature. There are open fields everywhere because the Germans don't believe in filling in every space with shopping centers or neighborhoods. My cousin, Lisa, even told me that she thinks killing bees here is illegal (if on purpose) because Germany is so animal and nature-friendly. 

Harry Potter Studios Tour, London

One of the coolest experiences in my travels in Europe was visiting the set of the Harry Potter movies. With everything still intact from the movies, including costumes, concept art, blue prints, everything you could think of, it was a Harry Potter fan's dream! My friend and I spent hours walking through everything, enjoying some butterbeer, and taking pictures of literally everything. Such a fantastic day! 

Abbey Road Studios, London

So as many of you know, I am a huge Beatles fan... like pretty huge... And I knew that I would make my way to Abbey Road when I was living in London for a month. It was actually the set of directions I looked up first when I got the address of the university I'd be living at in London. After finding out it was only a fifteen minute bus ride from Regent's University, I went there as one of my last hurrahs in London, and loved every  minute. 

Brighton, UK

After spending a lovely solo day in London, I decided to head south to the coast to visit one of my friends from UCLA and see what a British beach town looks like. Kind of like the Santa Monica Pier of the UK, Brighton was nice and sunny with lots of beach goers and cute beach shops. I actually ended up getting a little sunburnt on my nose! Not what I was expecting from anywhere in Great Britain! We walked down the pier and ate fish and chips while people watching and strolled down the beach lane to see the people sunbathing on the pebble beach (no sand in sight, I realized how lucky we are to have soft sand on our beaches on the West Coast). It was a bright and sunny last day spent in the UK before heading off to Germany for about 2 weeks! 

Versailles, France

Versailles was such an amazing palace to visit! So many ornate and extravagant pieces of furniture, sculpture, tapestry, and painting all housed within this giant palace. I cannot believe at one time this was someone's home! It was almost unreal walking up to the palace gates knowing that the French people had stormed this palace during the French revolution in order to overthrow the monarchy and take the palace for the people. I felt like I was in the movie, Les Miserables.  

Parisian Streets, Monuments, and Buildings

Day two of Paris was so lovely with a walk down the Champs Elysees to have a picnic in front of the Arc de Triomphe. My friends and I had picked up a fresh baguette from a local bakery and some deli meats and fruit on the way to the Metro station and ended at a park bench in front of the Arc to eat our picnic. We ended up running across the busy roundabout in front of the Arc to go underneath it and see the eternal flame, and later realized there is an underground footpath to get you from the sidewalk to the Arc (whoops!). It's a great memory now, though! 

Louvre - Paris, France

The second weekend of my time studying in London was spent in Paris. Being a frugal college student, my travel buddies and I booked an inexpensive overnight bus from London to Paris's City Centre which we knew would take 10 hours (but it cost $20 so we went for it). After leaving London at 10 pm, I quickly drifted off to sleep to wake up to the bus driver saying in his thick Slovakian accent, "We're on a ferry. You have one hour and then you must get back on the bus." I knew we would be crossing the English Channel somehow, but I did not realize that our bus would be driving right onto a large ferry! As I looked around in my sleepy state, I realized there were hundreds of carrier buses like mine in what looked like a giant mall parking lot and thousands of people were filing out of their buses and cars to the upper decks of the large ship. I slowly walked up to the deck of the ship and watched the lights on the waters of the English Channel at four in the morning... it was a very beautiful and unexpected component of my trip. 

With a check-in later in the afternoon at our Airbnb and an arrival with our baggage at 9 am, my friends and I decided to head straight from our overnight bus to the Louvre (partly to beat the crowds, and the other part to be able to check our luggage in at the museum while we walked around). Much to our surprise, the Louvre was free to EU students and we were able to enjoy all the artwork payment and baggage free (when living out of a backpack for a month and hauling your stuff around for day trips, a nice place to check your bags in like a museum is a major relief and huge perk).

Malahide Castle - Dublin, Ireland

About a 45 minute bus ride outside of the city centre of Dublin, this 12th century castle was worth the trek. Malahide Castle was unlike anything I had ever seen in person and I couldn't help but keep imagining it as inspiration for the setting of a Disney fairy tale movie. Not only was the castle itself impressive, but the surrounding park area was super lush and green. The park around the castle is about 260 acres, most of it naturally lush and left untouched, with a trail leading you through it, and families were picnicking and playing cricket due to the lack of rain that day. 

Day 2 - Dublin, Ireland

Dublin is known for its beautiful cathedrals and churches so we decided to go check out St. Patrick's Cathedral. This is the site, as the story goes, where St. Patrick would baptize Christians on his trip to Dublin. Now the Cathedral for the Church of Ireland (an Anglican Church), St. Patrick's Cathedral was a marvel to look at, especially knowing that it was built in the 1100s.  

More Dublin, Ireland

I truly loved Ireland. So much green, rain, and kind people. Multiple times, old ladies would come up to me whilst I was looking at my map and ask me where I needed to go and direct me there. The Irish were very friendly and helpful, with an air about them that was very personable, unassuming, and approachable. For the most part, I found them very welcoming to me and my friends and were delighted to hear our "American accents from the movies." In return, I marveled at their natural landscape, architecture, and tried not to imitate their accents after every word they said... which was difficult because it's so fun to copy. 

Dublin, Ireland - Being a Tourist

After arriving to Ireland in the pouring rain, we managed to dry up and head out site-seeing all around the city. It was really simple to get around Dublin after buying our Dublin 3-Day Freedom Pass, which allowed us on-and-off access to the city buses and site-seeing bus that stopped at every historical and cultural landmark in Dublin. Our day began walking around the pier in Dublin and admiring the blue skies after the prior evening's storm. 

Neighborhoods - Dublin, Ireland

I am a bit behind on my posts, but two weekends ago, I left London from Thursday until Sunday to check out Dublin, Ireland. The plane ride took a total of 50 minutes, but even in that short flight, I could see a difference in the natural landscape of Ireland and the UK. We arrived in Dublin in the pouring rain which made Ireland look all the more green and found our Airbnb in this quaint little neighborhood with colorful doors and lots of brick. I couldn't help but to take tons of photos just of the doors and buildings on that first evening. 

Natural History Museum - London, England

Full of all kinds of crazy cool skeletons and artifacts that are thousands of years old, the Natural History Museum was a trip! The architecture on the outside is quite impressive while the inside is a menagerie of gems of scientific discovery. Such a cool experience meandering through its halls. I didn't spend much time here, as it was a quick stop on our way to the V&A Museum, but I did spend enough time to appreciate just how quirky and packed it was with ancient artifacts. 

London, England - Color Theme

When first arriving in the UK, multiple things immediately caught my attention - the weather is much different from that of California with its abundance of sporadic rain showers, sunlight looks different here with the sun rising fully by 5 in the morning and setting at around 10:30 pm, and everything that looks old is actually super old and not built to look old (think about that for a moment... buildings that are considered historic and monumental today were once considered modern and new at the original time of their completion... blows my mind). 

Another overarching theme I encountered in London happened to do with color. Being an art history student, I am highly aware of color schemes and their effects and I have come to think of London in terms of color as being exemplified (at least in the city) by the colors red, blue, grey, and black (with the occasional green). This came to my attention as I began editing my photography taken in the city. As I adjusted different color settings in photoshop, I realized that as I altered other colors such as yellow, green, or orange, the picture was hardly changed. This is definitely attributed to the red double-decker buses, red Underground street signs, black taxi cabs, grey buildings and sky, and black road. You can definitely see it in the following photos: 

Plane Ride and Layover in Reykjavik, Iceland

After saying goodbye to my friends in Portland, OR, I got on a plane by myself and took off for 10 hours over the contiguous USA and the Atlantic Ocean for a couple hours of stopover in Reykjavik, Iceland. Although brief in the amount of time spent in the country, I know I would enjoy returning based on what people were telling me who were coming back from vacationing there. I flew Icelandair (which I would highly recommend) and enjoyed hearing all the flight announcements and signs in both English and Icelandish. As we unboarded the plane, we were lucky enough to be able to step outdoors and breathe the air which was the crispest, cleanest, purest air I have ever breathed; virtually unaltered by any sort of pollution. Their water was also amazing, being the cleanest and best tasting water I have ever had. Locals and tourists alike told me about the amazing hiking trails and coastal tours of the island which has a population of merely 323,000 people!! (Note: Greenland has only 56,000 people! That's about the size of my university!) 

Columbia River Gorge Hike, Portland, OR

After finishing up preparing my visa and packing up a suitcase and backpack worth of belongings, I headed out on my around the world adventure beginning in Portland, OR. Visiting my buddy, Ana (yes, same name, different pronunciation haha), we went around the city and natural landscape for a few days and she took me on another amazing Portland hike in the Columbia River Gorge. Covered in green and walking the entire trail in water and ending the hike by swimming at the base of the waterfall, it was the perfect way to embrace my fantastic 5 month long adventure. 

Napa, CA

A city I've visited all my life, Napa holds great memories for me and my family because it is where my mom grew up and my grandma still lives today. Recently, one of my best friends from my childhood moved to Napa and I've been able to have fun day trips visiting both family and friends in this city full of memories past and present.  Hi Grandma Jessie and Liz if you are reading this! 

Monterey, CA

As my summer vacation in California comes to an end, I have done some last minute trips with friends and family to get my fill of my home state before I head abroad to Europe for the next five months. A fitting final outing in the US was going to Monterey with my family for the fourth of July. A quick, cool weekend near the ocean was a relaxing and fun way to spend the holiday weekend as we spent time at the beach and walked in and out of different local shops. 

LACMA

Los Angeles County Museum of Art, or LACMA, is best known by the general public for its beautiful light display outside the museum on Wilshire Blvd. in Los Angeles, but step inside one of the many galleries and you will find works of art from all over the world. Being an art history major at UCLA, I have had the opportunity to be led around the museum by professors and curators, as they explain the museum process and how they decide what to display. Basically, this place is an art lover's dream. Here are a few snapshots of paintings or artworks I really enjoyed. 

Abbot Kinney in Venice, CA

A colorful summer afternoon well spent in the lovely Venice, CA area of Abbot Kinney. Quite separate in feel from Venice Beach, Abbot Kinney is a cute couple of blocks of boutiques, coffee shops, and eateries. With its charming First Fridays Food Truck nights and colored with Venice's signature street art, Abbot Kinney is a great place to spend an afternoon with friends. 

Mission San Xavier del Bac

Took a serendipitous trip to Mission San Xavier del Bac, located on a Native American reservation in southern Tucson. The incredible architecture from 1692 and the interior paintings are quite impressive for having been created nearly 300 years ago.

Notice the difference in the towers? One is refurbished to show how the mission would have looked at the time of its creation while the other is kept in its original condition to keep the exact materials untouched for historians.

Tucson, AZ

Tucson is not just heat (although it does get very warm). It also has lovely rain and pretty cacti and great coffee. Check out its quirky downtown or just watch all the sunsets you possibly can. 

Sunsets in the desert are indescribably beautiful and even more perfect in person. Here's many moments in Arizona's sky.

Portland, OR

This quirky-cool city possesses a unique fusion of urban and natural. Downtown Portland is full of large buildings and interesting people, while the quaint neighborhood of St. John's, Portland is home to local eateries and stores. Their numerous bridges, hiking trails, and the bluff make Portland the perfect spot if you want to be in a big city without feeling overwhelmed by a lack of nature - here you can find both without having to travel many miles. Also note that Portland is the "dream of the 90s." (Portlandia fans?) Hipsters are real and I've never seen so many vegan/organic/wholesale/locally grown/locally owned places in my life.

Views from the St. John's Bridge

Santa Monica, CA

If you're ever headed to Santa Monica, make sure to go to their farmer's market on Sunday morning. Fresh fruit, flowers, and the ocean within 2 blocks.

Yosemite

The perfect place to simply enjoy life. To all who have never been here: go.

Griffith Observatory

An evening at Griffith Observatory is worth the parallel parking and hike. You can see the entire city of Los Angeles and the surrounding  area from above and when the sun goes down, every city light sparkles. If you are an astronomy enthusiast, come here to see the giant telescopes and the stars without smog or city lights interfering with them. 

Downtown Los Angeles

There are countless things to do in downtown Los Angeles if you plan what sites you want to see ahead of time. This visit consisted of Angel's Knoll Park to see the 500 Days of Summer iconic bench, the Walt Disney Concert Music Hall, MOMA, and building admiring.

500 Days of Summer Bench, Angel's Knoll Park

Venice Beach

A location full of sunshine, skateboarders, and iconic graffiti, Venice Beach, CA is a vibrant setting with many trendy shops and colorful people. Come here expecting to see all kinds of different people and to eat fried oreos.