Hey Everyone!! Hope the week is going well for everyone! Mine has been great, can't believe its almost over. I was thinking today how I only have 3 more days in each of my classes and then its finals. Wow.. I feel like I just got here. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to go home. I'm just amazed at how quickly time passes. When I was younger I thought time moved so slow, now I have come to understand what my elders have been saying all along.

Yesterday, my art, culture, ent. management class went to this really cool auction house for a field trip. To tell you the truth I really have don't know why we went there, but it was pretty interesting with beautiful amazing things to be sold. That evening, I went to see Romeo and Juliet at the State Opera. I am embarrassed to say that I have been in Vienna for 3 months and have yet to see an opera. So, I decided I may as well go. Unfortunately I was not pleased, for I had expected more from such a renowned opera house. The singers weren't great, the costumes were dull, and the set was bland. However, I plan on attending the Magic Flute this weekend, so hopefully my perception on opera in Vienna is revamped.

As for today, I went with my friend, Mallory, to this really unique restaurant that served pieces of bread with various spreads. For example, I got one with a mushroom spread, then a pickle/jalapeno spread, a tomato spread, and an egg spread. It was a quite interesting invention. But, supposedly its been around for over 100 year. It is my art, cult, mgt teacher's fav restaurant, so I'm glad I experienced it, but to tell you the truth I thought it was a little strange. Then we headed to the Imperial Treasury to see the jewels of the Hapsburg empire. It is amazing how well they have preserved the beautiful clothes and prize possessions. After our museum tour we headed over to the Christmas Markets in the Maria Theresa Square. I had not yet been, so it was pretty fun. The Christmas markets are set out all over the city. They are little wooden booths will beautiful ornaments and other Austrian crafts. The best part is that they sell amazing treats and mulled wine. Mallory and I got these dumplings filled with chocolate, covered in sugar, and covered in chocolate sauce. Pretty much fantastic. After our great adventure, we went separate ways, and I met Marie at the airport. Our intention was to get our flight moved up earlier. However, after an hour of waiting, we found out that there was pretty much no room in the inn, and that we would have to stay with our original reservation of coming home on the 23rd of December. For some reason I didn't put up a fight, I knew that the lady had done all that she could, and I had done all that I could. Now, all I can do is pray and trust that I will get home in time :)

We got home around 7 and decided to make some yummy french toast and watch Golden Girls. Marie has all the seasons, and pretty much now our apartment is hooked. Every evening we sit around and watch a couple seasons and laugh till we cry. It's pretty much the best. Well, I hope everyone has had a great one!! Only 3 more weeks and I'm back in good ol' Texas :) Love you!!

Hey!! I am back safe and sound from Italy!! I had such a great time! We got to Venice on Thursday around 2, but by the time we checked into our hotel and got to downtown it was dark and rainy. I caught a couple good pictures before the sunset, but really didn't have the chance to see the city in all its beauty. By the time we found St. Marks square from twisting through the narrow ally ways, St. Mark's cathedral was closed and the pigeons that I was suppose to take a picture with were gone. We stopped at a really cute pizza place for Thanksgiving dinner. It sure was not the same as being at home. I was missing the hash brown casserole. After dinner, we decided to take a water bus back to our hotel. When I went to grab for my wallet after the nice ride, I realized it was no longer there. Staying as calm as I could, we decided to take the bus back 30 minutes to the restaurant and see if I had left it there. Of course they had not seen it, so we came to the conclusion that it must have been stolen while I was taking pictures on the boat. It was pretty much awful considering I was so far from both Vienna and home. That night I couldn't sleep at all, luckily the next day mom and dad were able to get money transferred to me. The next morning, we arose at 6 to catch a 7:30 am train to Rome. Not fun at all. The train took over 5 hours, but it was a great time to catch up on the loss of sleep the night before. It was so warm and beautiful when we got to Rome!! We checked into Independence Inn and set out for a long day of sight seeing. We did pretty good, seeing the Pantheon, the Colosseum at night, a bunch of beautiful churches, and so much more. We had a great dinner consisting of spaghetti and Italian wine, then went for some good ol' gelato. Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and headed to the Vatican to wait in line. We thought it opened at 9 but it ended up opening at 10, so we pretty much stood in line for 2 1/2 hours. But it was def. worth it. When we came out at 11 it was over a mile and a half long. The Vatican was AMAZING!! Seeing the Sistine Chapel was breath taking. I could have stayed their for hours taking it all in. I also really liked the modern Christian art as well as all the detail that was put into every room in the Vatican. It was beautiful. After the Vatican we headed to St. Peter's, and boy did we luck out. The Pope just happened to be giving mass, so we ate lunch and watched on the big jumbo screens. He came out at the end to give a speech to the public, so I have a couple pictures with a little white dot in the background (which is him). We got in line to go into the church, but it started to pour and lightning so bad, so I ended up stepping out of line and giving up my spot in the mile long line. There was no way I was going to put myself out there in those conditions considering the horrible lightning. So while my friends were admiring St. Peter's, I was able to sort out credit/debit card issues which was a relief. Dad, I want to apologize. When I called you I forgot it was Saturday and 6:30 am your time. Ooops! Just wanted to let you know that everything was ok and that I love you. After St. Peters we went to a castle where we walked to the top and was able to see all of Rome. It was magnificent!! We headed to another church at that time and then back to the Colosseum area and Palentine hill. We ate dinner at a really cute place. I had the best lasagna and ended up meeting some really nice Americans that sat right next to us. After dinner we grabbed some gelato and headed to the Spanish steps to enjoy and people watch. I was surprised with how much English I heard, I figured that it was off season, but I guess I was mistaken. Don't get me wrong, it was a nice change from German. Sunday morning, we again woke up at 7 am. By this time I was pretty much exhausted. We headed to the Colosseum for breakfast and a tour. Before we left to catch our plane, we stopped by Palintine hill to check out the Roman ruins for the last time and take some last minute photos of beautiful Rome. The flight home went smoothly. I got home safe and sound which was a relief. I was so wiped out, but am glad because I felt I did everything I could in Rome, leaving in my mom's words "no stone left unturned." I did Rome. However, I really look forward to going back and spending more time at the various places instead of cramming every detail in. I also want to go back to Venice, cause at the moment I have a bad taste in my mouth. I sure hope that the person who took it really needed it, cause it sure has been a pain. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!! Just want ya'll to know that I am very thankful for each one of you and appreciate all of you keeping up with me!! Only 4 more weeks and I'm home!! Love you!!!

A little update:

First off I want to wish my amazing Granddad happy 70th birthday (sorry if I wasn't suppose to tell... :)!! Granddad, I love you so so so much and am so grateful to have you in my life! Second, just wanted to let everyone know I will be living it up in Italy this weekend... hard life, I know :) Three of my friends and I will be adventuring down to Venice for the evening on Thanksgiving and then making our way to Rome until Sunday. I can not wait! We leave at 11 am tomorrow and will get back at 7:45 pm on Sunday. I gave my mom my itinerary so hopefully she can find me if I get lost in Italy! As for today, my international organization class went to the UN. It was pretty cool.. I mean its the UN. Then my art class went to the Belvedere which holds the most Gustav Klimt pieces as well as some other great works of art. Marie and I then made our way to Mariahillfer strasse, a major shopping area, to get some gloves. Then ate some yummy schnitzel and potato salad (which i had been craving all day), and finished the day off with an hour at the gym. Overall I would say it was a successful day. Well, I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving tomorrow. I must say the beach with all the fam sounds like a blast, I wish I could fly home for the day. But again no worries.. I will be in Venice eating some amazing spaghetti and thanking God for all of you!

First off I would like to say that Dublin was my absolute favorite place so far. I don't know if it was because I could understand everything they were saying, or the people I was with, or the fact that it is such a fun college town. On Friday, we arrived at the Bratislava Airport after a long day of misunderstanding and back aches. It was only suppose to take an hour and a half to get their, but ended up taking 3. I am so glad we left when we did. However, 2 of my friends weren't as lucky. They ended up getting to the airport, 10 minutes after the plane departed. It was so sad to have to leave them behind especially after how long it took to get there. When we arrived in Dublin we headed to our Hostel by taking a double Decker bus. The whole time we were all so excited and amused by the Irish accents swirling around us. The hostel was descent compared to the one I stayed in Prague plus it was mostly just my friends staying in it. We ate dinner at an Irish restaurant in Temple Bar. I had a portabella and top sirloin boxey wrapped in a pancake with a Guinness beer. It was quite delicious. After dinner we met Jake's friend who was studying in Dublin and went to a bar. That night we ended up staying out till 4 am. Mom and Dad you would be proud :) I don't ever stay out past midnight so this was a huge accomplishment. "When in Dublin... do as the Irish do...drink." That was our slogan the entire weekend. We had a great time meeting Irish people and enjoying the college atmosphere that Vienna is lacking. Vienna is a place of culture with museums, operas, and wine taverns. Dublin was again a college town with fun restaurants, cool and trendy stores, and a whole district of clubs and bars. Saturday morning we awoke bright and early at 8:30 am to explore. Marie and I set out on our own and had a great day. We started at Trinity College. I loved the campus so much. I really want to try to take a class there in the summer or something. We saw the Book of Kells which is the bible written in Celtic beauty and design. After admiring and wishing we went to school there we headed to Dublin castle, Jameson whisky distillery, and the Guinness factory. I had a blast at the Guinness factory. It was a really good and interactive representation of how they brew the beer. Once we got through the 7 floors we got a fresh, free glass of Guinness :) yummy. For lunch we went to Eddie Rockets, which is exactly like Johnny Rockets and had good burgers and onion rings, and dinner we ate at Quiznos. It was pretty exciting. A little taste of home. That evening Marie and I searched Dublin up and down for a store called "Morgan" for my sister. We finally found it but as soon as I walked in they said they were closed. I was so upset...but morg please know we tried :) After we went to a couple bars and again hit the 4 am mark. It was a blast. Sunday morning we had to be at the airport at 11. The flight took 3 hours and then we had to catch a train back to Vienna from Bratislava. We ended up getting back to our apartment around 10:30 pm. I must say I could barely move from carrying my heavy back pack and purse. This morning I was so tired that I slept through my alarm and ended up waking up at noon. I couldn't believe it, but I don't think I would have been able to stay awake in class if I had gone anyways. I went to Art and Arch. then had coffee with Marie. I was planning to go work out, but ended up going to a store my mom had recommended. It was absolutely amazing with food from all over the world. I decided to get some freshly made ravioli stuffed with spinach, ham, and mushrooms. And actually just took my last bite of it as I write this. It was Delicious. So, I had a pretty good weekend. I CAN NOT wait to be back in Ireland. I heard Dublin isn't anything compared to the rest of Ireland..so I really can't wait. Well, love you all!!

It is snowing A LOT outside... its really pretty from the inside looking out. However, I did dress warmer today, so it wasn't too bad. I just wanted to let you know that I am leaving for Dublin tomorrow so I will update you when I return. Hope all is well where you are! PS. we got midsemester overall grades and I ended up with a B in Finance... so I'm working my way up the ladder...I'm just grateful I participate.. I'm just grateful my dream didn't come true. Love you!

So. I got my Finance final back and you will be glad to hear I got more than 1 correct. For the first time in my life I am excited to say I made a C. I know, this seems odd, but with the nightmares that have been recurring I was beginning to think this would become real. I spoke with the professor after class, and he said that he would forget the grade if I do better on the final and he promised to be more specific on what to study, so we will see. He was proud that I had even stuck with the class considering I had never taken finance. So, hopefully it ends good. I know that I will be ready for principles of finance next semester for sure. As far as my other classes I did pretty well. Tomorrow I have a field trip to the Albertina with my Art Mgmt class to look at how they deal with tourism and managing an art museum. Then after that I have a tour at the Art History museum with my art and arch. class. So, it should be a pretty good day. I leave for Dublin on Friday!! I am so excited, already bought my ticket to the Guinness factory. However, it is suppose to be frigid and raining the whole time with strong winds... fun. Then the following week I am off to Venice and Rome!! What a life. Thanks Dad! Last night, I had a dream that I wrote a book about my life and went around talking with people about overcoming adversity. So, ever since I woke up I have been thinking about how I will write this book... I think it would be something cool to do. I guess time will tell. Well, I am going to go saute some mushrooms and work on my finance paper. Miss you all!! Love, Chelsi

So today my family left. It made me very sad. We did however have a wonderful time together. They were able to see my wonderful town and experience all it has to offer. Towards the end of the week it started to get really cold and rainy, but still had a good time going to different museums. Dad and I went to the Art History musueum on Thursday, while Ian, Morgan, and Mom went to the Natural History museum, and then on Friday, Dad and I went to the Belvedere to look at 18th through 20th centruy art while the others went shopping. We had a good time and were able to see and do what we wanted. On Wednesday night, my family took my apartment out to eat at a really good guest house close to my apartment. It was nice for them to finally meet. Sorry this is skipping around, but on Saturday, we went to Shonbrunn, the summer residence of the Hapsburgs and then drove through Vienna woods. Once we reached the outlook at the top of the mountain, it started to snow. I almost started to cry! I am not ready to walk to school in the snow :( I guess I'm just going to have to get use to it.. but first I need snow boots!! I guess it didn't snow a flake last winter here... why wasn't I born a year early? lol.. just kidding. Anyways, so we stopped at a wine tavern to have Wiener Schnitzel and local wine. This morning when I woke up the ground outside was covered in snow. We packed up and they took me back to my apartment. It was so sad to say good bye to them. I was so worried about them driving in the snow, but I guess they will manage. I hope that they had a good time, I know I did. This afternoon, I organized my room, wrote a speech for tomorrow, and finished my German. I must admitt this weather is condusive for studying, for I got a lot accomplished today. Well, I hope everyone had a good day and good weather. Pray for my family as they head back home on Tuesday. They ended up leaving today to drive back to Frankfurt due to the bad weather. Well, Love You ALL!! At the moment, I am looking forward to being back in hot Texas, but know I will enjoy it once I get the right clothes :).

Today was a good day. It only rained a little which was great considering it was suppose to pour. I made it through German and headed home for mom's yummy goulash. After lunch, we headed to Klosteneuberg which is a small town outside of Vienna that I had been before. It is a beautiful monastery and winery. We took a tour of the church and the outlaying areas. It was great because I was seeing face to face the prized possessions that I had learned about in my art and arch class. I love being able to look at a church and date it to its time period or look at a painting and know the techniques that were used. Plus it was fun sharing my knowledge with the family :) We then went down to the winery to test some tasty wines. After leaving Klosteneuberg, we went to this crazy architectures public housing building and admired its wackiness. Then they dropped me off at my school for finance. I have been so nervous about going to this class because I am fearful of knowing how I did on the midterm. Luckily he had not completed grading and he was considering a major curve due to the ones he had looked at. Did I tell you? I have had 2 nightmares that consisted of me getting only 1 right on the entire test... scary. For some reason it seems so real. Hopefully this is not the case. I hopped on the U-bahn after class and came home to left over goulash. We are knowing sitting around and watching "Disturbia." Well I hope everyone had a wonderful day!! Just a little shout out to my wonderful cousin: Happy Birthday Lauren!! I miss you oh so much! Love you!!

Hey Everyone!! It has been a while I know, but I posted pictures and am having a blast. We had a wonderful time with everyone in Bamberg and seeing Sierra and Desiree at their new home. We walked around a little fortress close to their home and then headed to Munich to see Axel. We booked a room at the Novotel where Marie and I had stayed when we first arrived in Europe. It was very nice. We went to a biergarten with Axel and his wonderful girlfriend then headed to a bar for cocktails close by. Friday morning we headed to Salzburg, stopping on the way to see Ludwig's last castle in Chimsee. It was absolutly beautiful. That evening we arrived in Salzburg and ate dinner at a cute resturant close to our guest house. Saturday we toured around Salzburg checking out a Fortress, a couple churches, Mozart's birth place, and a wax museum. Sunday morning we went to the salt mines outside of Salzburg. We had a blast sliding down the wooden slides and learning about what people did in the area for such a long time. That evening we made the 3 hour drive to Vienna and finally I was home. I showed them my apartment and we headed to their new home for a week. It is very nice and close to my school. This morning I woke up early and walked to school. This was so nice considering I am usully stuck on a train for an hour. It was too bad cause right when I got to school I found out my class was cancelled. So, Jake and I decided to hit up Starbucks to pass the time. After my other classe, I met my family in front of St. Stephen's Cathedral and gave them a tour with the information I learned in my art history class. We also listened to an organ concert in the St. Peter's, the oldest church in Vienna. After our church touring, we headed to a great place to eat. We had traditional Austrian food and good bier. As for tomorrow, I'm not quite sure what we will do, but I will let you know. We are having a great time and I'm having the opportunity to see things in Vienna that I have not yet seen. I hope everyone is doing well!! Love you!