September 2010

The blog has moved!
Septembers update can be found at: agneswandering.wordpress.com

Enjoy :)
A

Big Boots

I began this blog with the intent of being a good little blogger and writing copious amounts during my travels to wondrous places and on my various journeys. as is probably obvious if you've read along with me, i'm not always great at updating and although my intentions for blogging are always honest and good, i am not always good at the following through part of the blogging... and so i find myself sitting once again on the continent we call north america in the country we proudly call the united states and which, despite feeling torn between two countries and nationalities, i have grown up knowing as home. my current summer activities include being unemployed (which may sound wonderful to some but is driving me to insanity with boredom), taking a class at Clark in Worcester, and reading/writing/day dreaming/going to the gym in a feeble attempt to fill my days until i can once again throw myself into the hectic routine that has become my college experience. and as i do all of these things i have found myself pondering what is to become of the blog i have come to enjoy updating.

if i've learned anything in the last twenty one years (and i like to believe that i have learned at least a few lessons) it's that journeys and adventures come in all shapes and sizes. journeys are painstakingly planned for days and weeks and months as the excitement in the pit of ones stomach grows and joy threatens to burst the heart or they come in the form of a right turn down an unknown street on a cloudy day, camera clutched in hand, which lands you in the most unexpected and wonderful situations. i have often returned to the quote by G.K. Chesterton "An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." for i think it puts simply something that those of us in goal oriented, product driven situations tend to forget. adventures come in all forms, you just have to see it that way. they do not wait for a convenient weekend or a good time. they care not for you mental or physical health and least of all if you take them. an adventure will surely find another if you are not willing to take the opportunity. now dont get me wrong, we all need to sit one out now and then, but the trick is realizing when that moment of decision comes, when everything seems to be going wrong, when it seems that you will never be out of the rut of, say, a boring summer where you seem to feel you are wasting your time, that maybe this too is your adventure, waiting to be discovered and enjoyed.

"alright agnes, but where does all that leave the blog" you are surely wondering. and my answer to you may as well be an honest one: i have no idea. as i don't have any major travel plans in the foreseeable year or so the label of "travel blog" will no longer be the most appropriate. On the other hand there are so many people that i care about and who would (i think) be interested in knowing what is going on in my life and what better way to keep them updated during those times when we are too busy to communicate in other ways... so here is what i am thinking: i will attempt to write one blog entry per month for the next year. at least 12 entries. there might be more but i certainly hope there will not be less! Starting today until August 2011. I'm not sure when exactly when in the month the post will go up but I will do my best and I hope you enjoy what you read!

Please comment with your own adventures or send me an email!
Peace
A


"When you see someone putting on his Big Boots, you can be pretty sure that an Adventure is going to happen."
— A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh)

DONAU JUMP! DONAU JUMP!

When I was a kid we used to go to the Vienna Prater on a weekend afternoon with a big group of people. We would walk through the park, play on the playground, go to eat, and the best part was always getting to choose a few rides in the amusment park part of the Prater to go on. I have such fond memories of the Riesen Rad, the Liliput Bahn, and so many others. Tonight I went out to dinner with Thomas and Rosi in the Prater and had told them I was thinking about going on the Riesen Rad so they took me there too. Thomas knows just about everything about this amaying city and pointed out different landmarks and where our friends and family live as we slowly rose into the air. As we walked home we passed a ride called the Donau Jump which has always been one of my favorites. You sit in a fake log and get pulled up a steep incline just to slide down the otherside where the log breaks and you get splashed with water. Thomas asked me if I wanted to go on the ride and I said only if he came with me, not thinking for even a second this would work... it did! Rosi marched up and bought us tickets and we convinced her to come with us too so we tucked my camera into her purse and got into our own log. We chanted 'DONAU JUMP DONAU JUMP' and screamed on the way down and it was AMAZING! As totally sappy as it sounds, I relived a bit of my childhood today with two people I love dearly and am so thankful I have them!

I know that I have been terrible about updating and once again, as so often before, I would like to apologize for that! I will try to catch up on some of my adventures tomorrow but for now, it's off to bed I go.
Sweet dreams!
- A

"when i get older, i will be stronger, they'll call me freedom, just like a waving flag."

location: THE NETHERLANDS!! Leiden to be exact... with Kimmi Case!!!!
time: 0214

twelve hours on a train seems like it should be torturous, however my trip from vienna to amsterdam yesterday was really quite enjoyable. i spent a good amount of time listening to harry potter 6 on tape and staring out the window at the passing country side. i took a nap, ate my snacks, people watched, wrote in my journal, and read. although my legs were getting restless by the end of the journey, i was certainly not as antsy as i expected to be!

i arrived in leiden to find the wonderful kimmi case waiting for me at the train station which is what i had been day dreaming would happen while on the train as i couldn't reach kim by phone and was getting a little bit nervous about how we were going to find each other. we headed back to her dorm and spent the evening hanging out with her friends.

today, after sleeping in and a trip to the grocery store, we walked through the city following the leiden loper walking tour with signs about important buildings and monuments keeping us well informed. tomorrow i plan to visit a museum or two in the morning and then watch the world cup game in which holland is playing in the early afternoon. there's also a street market tomorrow! yay!

i already like this country so much! i knew i liked it here the second i realized the train was in the netherlands and have not been disappointed! it is beautiful and the language is so fun to listen too because it sounds like an odd mix of german and english. the people are friendly and it is so fun to be reunited with kim who has been studying here this past semester.

the past few days in vienna have been wonderful! on monday we headed out to paudorf to visit friedl, peter, and sarah with our hungarian friend neszta. she swung by vienna and after some confusion and a bus that stopped running 30 minutes before micha and i got to it we were able to find each other and drove out to paudorf together. although we were only able to stay for a night it was wonderful to see each other and spend time together! i learned how to make marillen knoedel (AMAZING food!) and we all told stories and laughed together.

we visited cousins and friends and spent time with thomas and rosi over the next few days. i've been watching lots of soccer and going to explore and am having a wonderful time! i realized today that i am only traveling for another eleven days which is so crazy!!! i have loved this trip but am also looking froward to home and the fourth of july! :)

i'm off to sleep so i can function and soak in this wonderful city tomorrow!
peace,
a

haying 101

location: wien
time: nine minutes to 10p

i have once again returned to my beloved city, and although i am glad to be back, it is always hard to leave maria alm and the people i love there behind.

the last few days in alm were crazy. the temperature sky rocketed (mid 90s F) and there was hay to be made, which involves major physical labor even if there are tractors to do a large chunk of the work. micha joined me for my last few days which was lovely and gave her a chance to re-meet the cousins now that we are all over the age of 10 :)

haying took about three days (at least i was only involved for three days) and consisted of raking, raking, and more raking under the glowing sun. i only sustained a tiny sunburn but we were all exhausted from the heat by the end of the day and i was quite soar the last few days!

on our last day in maria alm micha and i were mucking stalls when we realized that one of the horses had caught herself by the halter outside the stall door and was panicking. this horse already had a wound on her back leg and was pulling wildly to try to free herself. luckily our cousin and her boyfriend had just come out of the barn and micha, hanna and i were able to free the horse, however in the process my arms got a bit crushed between the horse in the door. in the moment we freed her she threw herself onto her side and fell against my arms which were inside the stall because i had been holding her head trying to calm her... all in all nothing was broken on either of us but i have a new battle wound!!

lookin' good!

i spent the rest of the morning recovering a bit and packing and then headed to the train station. we were back in wien by night and went out for a late dinner (and ice cream!!) with my godmother, renate, at the stephansplatz.

today we slept late, did laundry, went to a play with renate and her brother and his wife and then met willie (reate's husband) for a wonderful greek dinner (we are REALLY spoiled here!!!)

there is so much more to tell about my time in maria alm and i hope to share that all with you, but i must be off to bed! tomorrow promises to be a full day in wien and then we are off to paudorf to visit friedl, peter, sarah, and neszta!!

until next time,

a

i knew it was love when he bit my finger...

as so often happens with horses, i have once again fallen in love... actually this little foal stole my heart, but either way, i wish more than anything in the world that i could take him with me! he is a spunky little fellow! very curious and goofy :) just my type!

if i were a horse, i would want to live here too!!!

the moment i knew it was love :)

ITCHY!

"look at me! i am sooo good at rolling!"

he loves me too!!

i will be posting a more substantial post soon, but i wanted to show you all the cutest foal in the world first :)

they meant it when they said "no running in the barn!"

location: maria alm
time: 19:00
number of sprained wrists: only the one...

oh how the time does fly when you are pretending to be a farmer!

it's been over a week and about time i fill you in on all the adventures i have embarked on since i last sat down to write! it's been a full week for sure... i can never quite tell if time flies or crawls here because the days seem wonderfully long but they seem to pass so quickly!

the best way i can sum up all that's been going on is to write about the lessons i've learned. they are, in no particular order:

1. "when they say "don't run in the barn, they mean it!"
it's not really a written rule here, but it's something i learned the moment i started riding which was quite a long time ago. i always was told and explained to others that the rule existed because running could spook the animals who could in turn hurt themselves... two days ago i was trying to catch my youngest cousin (he just turned five) who was running around in only socks listening to headphones with the volume way too loud (we could hear it from across the garden). he ran into the barn and giggled "you can't catch me..." i gave into his game started chasing him around until he ran out the door and i slipped on something wet (despite the fact that i WAS wearing shoes) and fell as i rounded a corner, slamming into a wall. let me tell you... OUCH. i sprained my right wrist pretty nicely and gave myself a wonderful scrape on my left knee, the likes of which i haven't seen on myself in about five years. it's still oozing incase you were curious :) for those of you who don't know me and my... shall we say less than graceful ways... this might seem shocking... no need to worry! i emt-ed myself and am taking care of my wounds. for those of you who do know me well enough to know that i keep a wrist brace near me at all times, i hope you got a good chuckle :)

i might never shower again...

2. might as well bring your winter coat despite the fact that you are visiting in june... you can wear it over your bathing suit!
last week it rained and SNOWED! and this week it's boiling out and you can't leave the house without sunglasses or you will be blind... i honestly thought i was loosing my mind when i looked out the window and thought "oh look snow!" it didn't stick down here but it did accumulate in the mountains and worried everyone as the low temperatures aren't good for things trying to grow.

3. remember to put on shorts before hiking up to the pasture to feed the horses and foals.
over the past few days its fallen me to go up to the pasture to feed the two horses staying up there and their foals. it's about a twenty minute process which consists of walking through the church/grave yard with a bucket of feed, hiking up the side of a mountain for about eight minutes (i might as well crawl it's so steep), hoping the horses aren't in the far part of the pasture under the trees (they usually are), waiting for them to figure out you are there to feed them, feeding them, and then nearly falling off the side of the mountain as i scramble down. the foals are cute as can be, the scenery is, of course, breath taking, and it's good to get exercise... tomorrow i am putting on shorts before i go! i almost passed out from heat exhaustion in my jeans today. never again i tell you!

4. always have your camera with you... seriously... ALWAYS.
i didn't lug it with me up the mountain today and the foals were particularly cute... darn it!!

5. you can make perfectly lovely accompaniment music with spoons and musli
yesterday jacob came into the kitchen to practice the accordian (which he plays quite well!). his sister hanna and i were hanging around being silly and started playing spoons and glasses along with him. their dad, chirstian, came in to eat something and came out of the pantry shaking his musli in time and shouting "ja-hoo" at intervals making us all jump. we were laughing and having an uproariously good time when we saw a stranger walk towards the front door (people are always looking for someone or other to talk milk or horses or somewhere to stay) at which point christian whooped louder than ever and we played more vigorously and better than before. it was truly wonderful music... i wish i had recorded it :D our sides hurt from laughing after that and we continued about our day.

other than that i've been running around, helping as much as i can, going for wonderful bike rides, and reading/journaling when there's time. i haven't gotten the chance to horse back ride because it was raining and now it's just WAY too hot during the day but maybe soon! micha is coming out from vienna tomorrow which is super exciting! life on the farm is truly lovely but i am also really looking forward to the next part of my journey which includes: vienna, the netherlands to visit kimmi (!!!!) and then paris where i get to see ella (!!!!). all extremely exciting :)

until next time!
- a

when can i put on my dirndl?!

location: maria alm am steinernen meer, austria
time: 22:45

i sat down today to write in my journal, something i fall out of the habit of doing daily when i am in school and need to get back in rhythm with now that i am a bit freer. it really helps to keep me somewhat saner than i am without it... any how, i meant to write all about the crazy dreams i have been having and to reflect and all i got down was "i've come to realize a lot of things over my 21 years, i just can't remember what they are..." how incredibly apt for how i've been feeling over the last few days and weeks!

it is really in the beauty of this place and the people in it that i find the joy in coming here. although the mountains are hidden by the clouds, rain, and mist at the moment, just knowing they are there is wonderful. ah to be surrounded once again by that majesty! when the sun does make an appearance it shins down from the bluest sky one can imagine and through the most perfect fluffy white clouds you can dare dream of. and what it shines down on is even better. the farm house and the people in that house. my family. the cousins (so distantly and confusingly related that we don't even try to explain) that welcome me into their homes and hearts with such enthusiasm that it's really quite overwhelming. there are tutsi and hans, the grandparents. christian and michi and their kids hanna, flora, jacob, and lorenz (who is turning five soon!), hanna's boyfriend, hanes, and at the moment a lovely british couple, liz and her husband david. and all but the grandparents under one roof. and there is always something going on here! and every catastrophe is handled and chore is done and then discussed with laughter, despite the fact that there may not have been any humor in the situation at the time.

and if that doesn't sound wonderful then let me share some of the things i love most: milk fresh from the cow, accordion music played terrifically by my 13 year old cousin, laughing over homemade bread and coffee in the afternoon, biking in the parking lot with my 5 year old cousin while shouting about something or other, eating directly from the pan (who needs plates!), giggling with the girls about who knows what, and getting dressed up in my dirndl for special occasions... not to mention the horses!!

michi is truly a super woman and i am constantly in awe of all she does. tutsi is the same although tutsi has moved out of the main farm house around the corner to her own house and is no longer as involved in the everyday goings on. these two women guide this gigantic wonderful family with grace and love. michi is such a kind person. i hardly ever see her lose her composure or temper despite the fact that everyone constantly wants and needs something from mama! i could go on for hours but i'll sum it up with a tiny story (you know how much i love those!): i was packing up to leave last summer, which i didn't want to do but had to, and as i was packing i found in the pocket of my backpack a small magnet which said simply "friends are the family we choose for ourselves." now i often feel i'm stuck in an odd limbo, not quite a kid but also not fitting with the adults. michi made and makes me feel like i belong and that i too am important and worth time. it's a skill i hope i have and can work on so that i too can make everyone around me feel their own worth and wonder.

if it isn't apparent, let me say it: i love it here. i am so glad to be back and wish i didn't have to leave again so soon!!

and now it's bed time! i'm toying with the idea of getting up at 0530a to milk the cows on the alm... farmers go to sleep early so off i go! :)

Austria... mustache capital of the world??

Location: Vienna, Austria (!!)
Time: 23:32

My friends!

It is going to have to be a short update as it is quickly approaching midnight and I am exhausted! It's been a busy week since my last update, filled with family, friends, lost socks in freezing mountain streams, eis kaffees (ice coffee but with ice cream which is basically the most delicous concoction you can possibly imagine), Wiener Schnitzel, laugher, reading, and odd dreams.

We left Graz on the 21st and stopped by the home of our distant cousins to visit Tante Claudi, our 100 year old cousin. It turns out she and I have the same birthday which is wicked cool... shes only 79 years older than me! We ate a wonderful lunch with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren and then hit the road again. I beleive that I, as per usual, slept in the car until we reached the small town of St. Kathrein am Hauenstein. This was where we planned to meet up with our group of friends to spend the weekend, however we ran into a bit of trouble. It turned out we didn't know exactly where to go because we had been instructed to call when we got there for further direction. Neither of my parents could remember the name of the farmer with whom we were staying. We had tried what we thought was my godmothers cell phone number (turned out it was her landline which did no one any good). After driving around aimlessly for a bit we decided to park in the parkinglot of the towns cemetary as that sat right on the only road from Vienna into the town. We figured they would have to drive down this road and we could flag someone from the group down. Now let me tell you something about my mum folks, she is mighty resourceful. She went for a walk in the cemetary and looked at all of the names on the stones until she saw one that rang a bell. When a local woman walked by she asked her where the family Weisenbacher lived and we were told that they were just a ways up the hill. It turns out we hadn't gone up far enough and that we would have been waiting endlessly for someone to drive by!

the group!

The weekend was passed in wonderful company, eating amazing food (WAY too much!) and chatching up. I always love spending time with this group because many of them have known me since i was a wee thing and there is so much love and joy in each others company that it is hard not to be happy!

the newest addition to my mums "pitchers shaped like animals" collection!

My biggest adventure while in St. Kathrein was losing one of my socks into an ice cold mountain stream... the story goes like this: I was out for a run/hike and stopped along the creek to change the music i was listening to. I keep my ipod in a sock when i run to keep it from getting sweaty and nasty and had put the sock next to me on the rail of the bridge while i did this. just as i was thinking 'i hope my sock doesn't blow away' who should happen by but a gust of wind. I am sure you can imagine what happend next... i cursed because it was one of my favorite dark blue socks, and started to walk along with the sock as it floated along. It finally got stuck and i shouted 'stay there socky!' down to it. I then assessed my options: jump the rail and scale down a wall or run back over the bridge and climb down a less steep wall made of boulders. I chose the second option, got to the bottom, jumped through burnnig nettles (the long pants turned out to be the right choice) and then kicked off my shoes and waded up stream... well what do you know, the sock was gone! I actually stood there in disbeliefe until i realized that my feet had gone numb and that i needed to get out of the water. I followed the creek as far as i could but with no luck. rest in peace in what ever body of water you ended up in my little socky friend!

The family and I returend to Vienna on Monday and have spent the last two days running around like crazy visiting friends and family. It is lovely and there is so much good food but I am also looking forward to my time on the farm!

Well, I said it was going to be a short update but I didn't quite succeed in that goal! :)
Until next time,
A

p.s. i apologize for any and all spelling mistakes. i blame them on not only my dyslexia and the lateness of the hour, but also the fact that this computer is only spell checking German...

p.p.s. pictures to follow!

speck capital you say? excellent!

location: bench outside the Kunsthaus (art museum) in Graz, Austria
time: 1954
memorable moment of the day: eating apfelstrudel at a rest stop on the highway

my friends, the moment has come! i am once again in my beloved motherland! that wonderful country which we with love in our hearts call Österreich... Austria. when i say that this is the most beautiful country in the world, it is not just my bias... i actually believe it will all my being. the mountains and the citys and the people. and the language... not to mention the food!!! i feel like i am meant to end up here and until that happens, i shall content myself with the wonderful weeks i am allowed to be here!

since i was last able to connect to the internet, my family and i left cesenatico for beautiful venice where we stayed in a hostel run by nuns (leave it to my mother to find the nuns!). we spent a lovely day and a half wandering around, marveling at the beauty of this place, and (of course) eating gelato. our last night we ate an amazing dinner at a small restaurant called osteria da alberto. if you ever find yourself in venice, i would recommend eating every meal possible here! the food was delightful and the wine delicious. we would have stayed forever had we not had a 10:30p curfew (as previously mentioned... nuns...).

a short boat ride later and we were back in the car creeping up over the mountains into austria. we stayed over night in hermagor (the Speck (bacon but more delicious) capital of the world! also the location of another historical monument dedicated to the Pirquet who tried to invade cesenatico years later for helping with some other war in the region) and then continued on to graz today. over all i am overjoyed to be in austria again and can't wait for my adventures to start! driving has its place but doesn't leave much time to explore!

until next time!
A

is that an empty glass?? FILL IT!

location: grand hotel, cesenatico, italy
time: 22:38
family activity: polishing off five plus liters of wine after dinner (i expect nothing less...)

the family revelry continues!!

i spent friday fairly jet lagged on a family adventure to cesena, about forty minutes form where we are staying. we visited an old library and saw the worlds smallest book that can be read without a loop. then we wandered around a bit and then went to see the workshop of a craftsman who prints traditional cloth. it was really cool to see how they carved the blocks and printed the fabric itself. we returned, ate dinner, and i headed to bed to try to catch up on sleep.

saturday found the family at a museum in the center of town. a little bit of background to explain why we are here: my great great great grandfather (i think thats right) basically engaged in a hair brained scheme to over take cesenatico... he had fifty something men while the army of napoleon had 1800 men... he went ahead and attacked over the bridge... somehow he lived and won and the emperor was so happy with him that he made him noble and gave him the title "von cesenatico" anyway... here we are! we went to a presentation thing about our family and the battle and then took a family photo and ate snacks and talked.

it was a horribly rainy, windy day so i did what days like that are meant for: napped...

saturday night was our big fancy dinner. everyone got dressed up in their best outfits and we continued the festivities. many important people from the town came to our dinner, there was a flute concert by cousins, delicious food and wine, and lots of talking, looking at pictures, and hanging out. there was cake for a cousins birthday and general frivolity.

despite the late night, we all loaded into a bus bright and early this morning and drove to ravenna, a town about an hour away famous for its mosaics. it was lovely but the tour went on for a bit too long and we were all exhausted by the end. over all though, a wonderful excursion!

tonight was our last dinner all together and despite the fact that dinner has been over for a while, many of us our lingering in the lobby area hanging out and talking. testament to the love this family has for each other! also the knowledge that we won't all be together for at least five years is keeping us here... the wine sure doesn't hurt!

tomorrow the four of us pile into the car and move on to venice. i'm looking forward to having some alone time to sit and journal but i will certainly miss the family!! i have been told i must visit many of them before i leave in june and i certainly hope it happens!

good night my friends, sweet dreams!
A

"I haven't seen you since you were THIS big!"

Location: Cesenatico, Italy
Time: 11:37a
What I would like more than anything in the world at the moment: a kiwi

It was with the usual frenzy (plus some) that this school year came to an end. On top of finishing classes, passing finals, saying goodbye to those graduating and moving on, organizing to get on a plane the day the university closed, and getting all 150 of our buildings residents moved out by 12 noon on May 12th so they could begin demolishing the building as RAs scrambled to get out, the time has flown and I am not quite sure what has happened over the last two weeks! It was during the rush of checkouts that I found myself reflecting on dorms, and college as a whole. We all create lives for ourselves at this place, away from our homes and families, and the building, as much as we complain that it looks like a jail, becomes our safe bases for eight months of the year. And then we are expected to move out for the summer and be done. I only lived in Bullock for a semester, but it became home in that time. And I must admit it was with sadness that I watched workers whip in and scrawl "DEMO" all over the walls and begin to remove furniture and windows. But enough about that!

I got home Wednesday afternoon, had my usual pre-flight panic attack, and then got Micha and myself out the door with minimal trouble. We arrived at the airport, made our way through security, eat a sandwich, and boarded the plane. We flew to London on a HUGE plane which had all sorts of fancy sections (first class and then a section with interesting seating arrangements... i forget what it was really called but in my brain I called it the "party section"). We even got mini toothbrushes and socks in economy... if that doesn't say class, I honestly don't know what does! I sat down and fell asleep, missing the movies, dinner, and breakfast (luckily Micha was up for breakfast so saved me some!). We arrived at London Heathrow, I ate an egg and cress sandwich (if you read this blog last summer, you can probably imagine how much joy this sandwich brought me!!) and drank orange juice with "juicy bits" (haha oh the Brits...).

We then we took a bus to Gatwick to catch our connecting flight. I slept on the bus to Gatwick, on a bench in Gatwick and then on the plain to Bologna, Italy. When it comes down to it, I napped my way from Boston to Italy. Not the worst way to travel!

Our mum and dad picked us up from the airport and we headed for Cesenatico, where the Pirquet family reunion is being held. So far we've eaten good food and met too many people to remember how they are all related to me, but I'm told they are, so until I can sit down and draw a family tree, I guess I'll just have to trust them that they held me when I was a baby and that they can't stand how tall I've gotten.

As far as I can tell, the next few days will be full of sight seeing, eating together, and seeing people I haven't seen in ten years... hopefully at the next reunion I'll remember them! But then again this is my family, so I'm not sure that anyone really knows what is going on :)

Bis bald,
A

t-minus 18 days!

The semester is dragging to a close and I can just barely see a glimmer of hope on the horizon called getting on a plane!

Micha and I are leaving May 12 at 9:55pm! We will then be traveling in Italy and Austria with our wonderful parents for about two and a half weeks. We will then be going our own ways to adventure and travel. Those plans aren't quite as set in stone yet :) Our return trip has been scheduled for the beginning of July. I am super excited!!

I can not wait to be surrounded by family and friends, speaking German, and eating delicious food!!
Until next time,
A

a resurrection seems fitting...

What with Easter having just passed and the realization that this semester will be finished in less than a month and my travels will immediately be beginning again, I feel it was a fitting time to resurrect this lovely blog I was keeping while on my jaunt which began a year ago come this May.

It has certainly been an interesting, often times rocky, journey over the last twelve months. More has changed than I could possibly have imagined but I can say with certainty that I am thrilled with the direction I seem to be headed and can't wait for the adventures which lie ahead.

Although the plans are still being made, the general idea is that I will be on my way to Italy come May 12th for a Pirquet Family Reunion. It will be great to see everyone and catch up! My immediate family and I will then be trekking to Austria (are you really surprised?!) to celebrate Pfingsten (Pentecost) with the tight knit group of friends we know from our days of living in the home land. And after that your guess is as good as mine :) I hope to stay in Austria through early July but everything is still up in the air. Whatever ends up happening I can't wait to be on the plane again headed for far away places!!

I hope this finds you all well. I hope the passing year has treated you and your families well and that you all have your own adventures to plan and look forward to, whatever they may be!!

Peace,
A