One whirlwind of a week

Time seems to be going too fast these days.  Maybe I am just realizing the concept of time because I am older, or maybe life is just going alright lately and I don't want the good parts to go by so fast.

I have arrived in Merano and the first few days here are like something out of a dream.  I can post pictures, but really they don't do this city justice.  Its the most beautiful place I will have had the opportunity to live in thus far in my 22 years of life.  I am excited to watch the seasons turn and see the unique variety of landscape - the river that cuts through the city, the mountains, the vineyards, and green grass and trees - that surrounds me every day.

The family I am staying with has been so thoughtful and gracious to our needs and brought my mom and I to a few different fun places around the city to get a good feel for it. Barbara and Emanuele both work for a kind of nutritional detox company where many wealthy people come to stay for a week or so and get a detox of sorts. Its very interesting and of course I LOVE that they love and are interested in food and health and all that.  Beatrice (or Bea-treet-cha in Italian), is a darling, sweet girl that is 8 years old. I am looking forward to spending time with her and the whole family in the coming weeks.

More to come on Merano later, but maybe you are curious about what my mom and I have been up to in the past week? Well, if you are reading this I suppose that means you are interested anyways so here I go:
Our first "stop" was Frankfurt, Germany.  We actually had an 8 hour layover there that happened to be in the morning/afternoon, so we went into the city to just explore, shop, and have a meal.  Its a very lovely city with some nice churches, and shopping streets and a river like most European cities.

Our real first stop was Dubrovnik, Croatia.   It is on the southern coast of Croatia on the edge of the Adriatic Sea.  Whew! How to even describe this place? We had really great weather our whole trip, although it was like incredibly hot in Croatia I suppose it fit the atmosphere.  The whole time we were there, my mom and I kept saying it reminded us of other places we've been or seen in pictures.  It was a very long list that included: Spain, Prague, Rome, Greece, and Russia.  There was a little bit of mediterranean, and a little European and eastern European.  I said Rome because it is so old and many of the structures of the city are a brownish/tan stone.

Highlights of Dubrovnik:

• The view from our apartment was incredible.  Like something out of a movie.  We could see the Island Lokrum and also the Old Town of Dubrovnik from where we were staying.  (We did climb about 230 steps to get up there everyday but the view was worth it)
• We went kayaking and swimming in the Adriatic Sea.  The kayak tour brought us to some very unique sea caves that had cool rocks and very clear water. Most of the beaches there were also rock beaches and not sand beaches which was very interesting to us. I also witnessed my first nude beach.... {insert embarrassed emoji} something I will not forget! Anyways, the day was beautiful, the water was cold and clear ~~ it will remain a happy day in my mind.
• The old town has all these winding little back alleys where it is very easy to just wander and get a little lost in - which is exactly what we did.  So of course we stumbled upon the sweetest old Croatian couple who could hardly speak English but they were selling handmade lace and embroidery items like table clothes, table runners etc. They were so excited to talk to us and try to tell us about their handiwork with charades and broken English.  It was a beautiful thing!

An afternoon in Frankfurt, Germany

LOL. A special {accidental} shot of me and this man [insert crying/laughing emoji]

The view from our apartment (and my beautiful mama)

Mom and I at the Adriatic Sea

Next was Zagreb and the Plitvice National Park:

• Zagreb is further north in Croatia and the Plitvice lakes are about 2 hours away from Zagreb so we took a day trip there.  I can't really even try to describe the national park, so I will only put a few pictures of it.  But it was one of the most well  preserved naturally beautiful places I have seen.  It is not very often that you see something so beautiful that has remained undisturbed by human hands for many many years.  We walked all day around 16 different lakes with thousands of waterfalls and what we saw was only 2% of the entire national park.  I can't even imagine how big it must be! 

Mom and I hanging out in Zagreb

Our guide at Plitvice National Park

Plitvice National Park

From Croatia, we traveled to Salzburg, Austria to see the city for one day. My favorite parts of Salzburg were:

• Going to the Hohensalzburg Fortress- The views from the top were ah-maze-ing and it was interesting to learn more about the history of the fortress and the city.  
• Mirabell Gardens: This was one of the places that the Sound of Music was supposedly filmed and it was beautiful! I think the combination of the fountains, colorful flowers and plants and the view with the fortress in the background was a perfect combo for me to include it in my highlights. It was also a perfect day for sightseeing- not to hot and not too cold.
• I would have to say the last highlight I will talk about here is from a very pleasant cafe and we of course had to try apple strudel from Austria.  It was delicioso.  Another thing to note is that the coffee in Europe is not like in America.  Espresso comes in this tiny little mug and people drink it almost in one gulp.  I have begun to really like cappuccinos because they are not so strong and I can take at least a few sips to drink it and can savor it a bit more ;) I already know I might be missing those pumpkin spice lattes from America once October rolls around. But for now, cappuccinos for me!

Salzburg!

This is already pretty long so I will cut it off here.  Tomorrow I will tackle the Italian bus system alone to take little Beatrice home from school! Wish me luck!