Overtraining : It's Not Just About Exercise, and a Travel Tangent.

I found this article extremely interesting to read... there have been points where I feel overtrained and don't necessarily think I'm doing too much. Sometimes I feel overworked when I'm hardly exercising at all! However, this article explains that it's not always to do with running or exercise...but stress on your body and lack of recuperation : 

Reading this makes me even MORE glad I'm taking a break for a few days this week. I do not think I am overtrained right now, but I think that some good, solid rest before the big training kick can't hurt.

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This is a complete tangent but...

Now that I've been home from Europe for just over a month, I find myself aching to travel again. For the first few weeks home, I desperately needed those days to recover and heal my body from what had been a challenging (and at the same time, amazing) semester. Despite the fact that all of that constant travel and go-go-go mentality was a bit taxing on me, I miss being able to pick up and travel every week, seeing wonders of the world at the drop of a hat, and being able to discover new things. I feel that there is so much left for me to discover and I find myself wondering how and when that can fit into my life next. I've found myself trying to think about if I can afford another, smaller Study Abroad to France next summer, and wondering if it's financially feasible to do another tour of Europe in a few years. I find myself thinking of the other places I'm now interested in going to; the Amazon, Asia, and even the Middle East. Heck, I'd like to see more the US! I'd be thrilled to get to California or to do an East Coast tour.

I find myself looking back through all of my old photographs and missing things that were once simple in daily life. I miss even riding the bus, I miss the nice trains, I miss reusable grocery bags (which I actually did bring several of back home). I miss understanding Luxembourg in a way that you can only understand a place you live. I miss the checkout guy at "Cactus," who - no matter what day or what time I showed up - was always there to ring me up. I miss the pharmacist in Differdange who flattered me after hearing me speak French. While I was there, I missed how "modern" things are over here, and now that I am home, I miss the old-fashioned aspects of life in Europe. My heart now aches for these things.

I longed so much for home while I was there, and now I wish I could be back over there! Maybe I'm a chronically miserable person... I just always have to wish for what I don't have (not that I really am miserable; that is a gross exaggeration!).

Ultimately, I am so grateful that I had this experience and exposure. I will be back to Europe... I'm not sure how or when, but I will be working hard so that I can afford to return :)

Last thoughts in Luxembourg.

I wasn't sure I was going to write a "last thoughts" post but now I'm glad that I am. I just finished my exams and have packed, weighed, unpacked, and repacked my suitcase a number of times. My roommate has moved out already - her journey starts at midnight - and we'll be off tomorrow morning. Normally I would be happy to have some quiet time alone in our apartment, but now that she's gone it's awfully sad.

This week I started working on "lasts." I went on a last run by the Alzette River. I've started going through the kitchen, making sure to use or throw away the perishables and make sure everything's clean. I think I need a level of closure before heading home. Having spent the past few days doing a lot of lasts and reading what my classmates have written on how they feel on leaving has, unsurprisingly, brought out my sentimental side. 

It's a strange yet regular thing to leave somewhere that you never will return to. I have to imagine that I'm leaving Luxembourg forever (unless I have future offspring that go to Miami and participate in MUDEC). I'm sure I'll come back to Europe, but Luxembourg probably isn't in the cards. It's very odd, because I have definitely created a life here. During the semester, our time here felt long, but looking back it all feels like one short trip. I can't believe how much has happened; how much I've seen, how much I've learned, the new friends I've made. Every day that I'm here, I've thanked God for how lucky I am, but I don't know that it's ever sunk in quite so heavily as now that I've been able to catch my breath.

I think I owe a lot to Alex. I never would've come up with the idea to study abroad on my own. In the past, it would've been too daunting for me. All of the travel weekends? I never would've made it to those places without him. Alex is not only great at logistics, but is patient with it. I think one of the best things is that he pushes me to become good at handling those things as well. I think that 95% of our success this semester is thanks to him.

Over the past few days, since we've been here and not traveling, I've found my mind wandering to the notion of returning to Europe. Sometimes I find myself daydreaming about London, and though I still believe that it's really hard to compare places and trips, I think that the United Kingdom is somewhere that I would definitely return to and could even picture myself living (though I know that's really unlikely, but I'm prepared :). France, of course is a favorite too, and I'm aching to see more of it. Now, traveling is a part of me. I am a person who travels. And I think that's a great thing that never will change.

I never thought that I'd grow so attached to Luxembourg that it would hurt to leave, but now I'm proving myself wrong. Yesterday I spent the day with my roommate doing lots of "last day stuff." We went all around to every place that our host mom brought us to on our first weekend here and it was odd to think that this was the last time my eyeballs would ever see some of these things. I started being extra conscientious about picture taking... wanted to document EVERYTHING.

I wanted to share some of those last photos and last moments. I think I'll be soaking in the details and benefits from the last 4 months for weeks to come, so for now all I can do is document them and save them for later :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 

Wrapping Up.

Meeting Prince Guillaume and Princesse Stéphanie was amazing! It was a lot of hype for a very little interaction, but it was great. After they came to the Chateau, we went across the street for a reception with hors d'oeuvres. The Prince mingled and interacted with everyone, and you could shake his hand or talk to him or take a picture if you wanted to. I decided just to watch and I knew my friend really wanted to talk to the Prince so I didn't butt in, since I was happy just to be there. We did bump elbows though :) Our friend shook hands and spoke to him and was thrilled, it was so cute! Hey, how often do you get to hang out with a Prince!?

After the reception with His Highness we headed off for our own MUDEC end of the year Banquet. The dinner was fantastic and we had cream puffs with ICE CREAM in the middle for desert?? Yum.

There were end of the year superlatives, and Alex and I were thrilled to win "Cutest Couple." I consider this a legitimate accomplishment because I think there are about ~10 couples at MUDEC (that's a lot!). I might be just a teensy bit competitive :)

This morning my roommate and I got up early and planned on starting our studying for finals right away, but instead got into a two-hour conversation about getting ready to go home and our experiences here in Europe, and how things might be weird or different when we go home. Personally, I think I am a very "static" person and I don't think that my identity or personality or values have changed very much since I was in high school. I see my friends change all the time, but I don't think I change too much. After life-changing semester in Europe, I do see some differences in myself (though I think on the whole I'm the same old me :). I think I'm a lot more willing to step outside of my comfort zone, to stretch in order to have new experiences, and to actually want to have new experiences. I think that this advanced my maturing process and that I'm a lot more grown-up now. I think I will always retain certain European values, or at least for a long time to come. On the bus home from the Banquet last night I thought of these lists:

Things I'm looking forward to :

• Two words. Peanut. Butter.
• Not having to pay for water at restaurants
• Real cookies
• Easier-to-find food alternatives/supplements (like almond-based products, etc.)
• Sleeping
• Trader Joe's
• Texting/calling on my phone again
• Seeing EVERYONE!!! :) 

Things I will miss :

• Well. Basically everything.

Seems dramatic, but I will miss all aspects of life here, good and bad. Especially little things, like speaking French everyday, whether it's just at the grocery store or whether it's with French people! Things like not having to drive because public transportation is awesome. The fact that it doesn't get dark until 9:30PM. My funny professors. Being called "Madam" or "Madame." Cactus, the amazing all-purpose and high quality grocery store. The list goes on. I think that above all, this time here has taught me how important it is to me to come back here in the future and to continue to learn. It's a big world out there, and I don't want to leave a stone unturned, or ever stop learning what's out there.

The PRINCE is coming and looking ahead...

Like I mentioned yesterday, I've been unfortunately sick for about a week or so. A nasty sinus infection (I have sinusitis) took a sudden turn for the worse and I've had a sore throat, conjunctivitis in my eye (we thought it was pink eye!), and a lot of head congestion for too many days. Finally yesterday I made a doctor's appointment and immediately got an appointment slot within an hour. I got there 15 minutes early, was seen with no wait at all (?!!?), and was in and out of the office within 5 minutes. Went right into the pharmacy next door and got my 3 prescriptions, zip zap zoom, done! As an additional plus, the pharmacist was really cute and helpful and at the end of the appointment he asked if I was from Miami and when I said yes he said "Félicitations pour votre français!" I guess he is unused to the Miami students speaking anything but American English. It was such a great compliment that it almost made it worth it to be sick. I can't believe we (Alex and I) are to the point where we speak French at the doctor's office, at the pharmacy, at the grocery store, at the ticket office, etc. It really is a part of our daily life now and I'm thrilled! It has made all those years of study worth it.

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They're coming, they're coming!

That's the oldest son of the Grand Duke, Prince Guillaume (love that name!). With him is his wife Princess Stéphanie. They will both be coming on Friday and all of Differdange is actually preparing for their visit. Lots of gardening, power washing, etc. The "secret service" is running around the Chateau to make sure it's "secure." Our Student Activities Coordinator told us we have to "channel our inner Kate Middleton." This is a BIG deal. I'm plotting what to wear...still not sure but it has to be very formal! I might even put on some nail polish to be extra special. We will be receiving them personally in our very own Grand Hall and we will all be lined up along the sides and they will walk down amongst us and then through the gardens here. It's almost like when Obama came to our high school except more intimate.

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So, as my semester in Europe wraps up, what does the summer hold for me??

• Marathon training: This will likely be the biggest priority for me over the next several months! I actually don't start until the end of June and then I will set in on my training plan. So I will continue my normal running until then :)
• Making a cookbook: I have hopes of consolidating all of my favorite recipes into a big ol' cookbook for my apartment next year!
• June 15 Half-Marathon: I'm going to be a streaker for this race, it looks like! I've been tentative about this race because my health hasn't been great recently (this dumb sinus infection) and I don't want to overdo it right before my marathon training plan. This is the same race that I did last June, and right now I have plans of making it my first half-marathon of 2014 and a fun race before marathon training begins. It looks like I won't be able to schedule a tune-up half-marathon during training for Chicago, so this race will give me the benefit of a long run and some added confidence that yes, I can run far :) Plus it's fun! I'm a very goal-oriented person and I'm happiest when I have something to work towards (which is probably why I like running! And rowing!).
• Back to work: Remember my real-people job last summer? Yep, I'm headed back to the same company this year!
• No Ironman: Remember when I was going to do the Ironman 70.3 in August? Not anymore! Now I'm doing the Pelaton Ride in Columbus with an organization that I founded. I'll have to wait to be an Ironman until next year! It's definitely still a dream of mine!
• A trip to Oxford: I'm heading to Oxford in the end of June, people! Looks like I don't have to wait until August to see this beautiful place after all! May also be doing a few other short trips over the summer.

For the most part, I think I'll be enjoying the good parts of staying in one place for awhile! My classmates and I all agree that we will have an interesting time of it when we suddenly aren't picking up and traveling every few days. Rather than seeing life as boring back home, I think it's better to enjoy having an easier schedule. For now I'm just focusing on exams and enjoying the last few days of my time in Luxembourg! It will be nice to be here this weekend to enjoy Luxembourg itself - students do not travel in the weekend before exams. It will be good to be able to just focus on school, packing, and Luxembourg for the last few days!

Our Last Trip! Germany and Austria.

Sorry I haven't been terribly active on here lately... It's been a busy week! I've also been sick unfortunately and any time that I'm not in class or studying or on a train I've been at home asleep. Alex's parents were visiting last week though and I want to talk about our final trip, which we did with them!

Last Thursday was a European holiday - Labor Day. Since we didn't have any classes that day, Alex's parents whisked us away on our road trip! Ahead of time, we weren't really sure on what we were going to be doing or where we would be traveling...it was all very hush-hush so it could be a surprise!

At about 10AM on Thursday, we headed off in the rental car and drove all the way to Rothenberg, Germany - about 4 hours away from Luxembourg City. We spent the afternoon wandering the city (per the advice of Rick Steves) and soaking in the small-town feel. Since Alex and I have such brief trips every weekend, we usually choose to hit the big cities just to give us a taste of those countries. We haven't spent much time in less-chartered territory - or small towns. So seeing a small town like Rothenberg was really fun and different. It reminded us a little bit of Bruges, but had it's own flair. There's an inner and outer city wall there, dating back to the Middle Ages (Rothenberg is a medieval city). We were able to walk along part of the city wall. It was unbelievable how long that thing had been standing there!

We also popped into a cuckoo clock shop. The shop owners were close friends with Rick Steves which I thought was really neat. The cuckoo clocks were adorable - and very expensive.

At night, we went on a "Night Watchman Tour" which was a really cool way of seeing the city. Night watchmen in Medieval Rothenberg served as sort of nighttime patrols/policemen and our tour guide was dressed up as one! He took us all around the tiny city and let us in on a bunch of facts. It turns out that it was through a strange twist of fate and coincidences that Rothenberg was not bombed by the Allies during World War II, and thus all of it's medieval originality has been preserved! Lucky Rothenberg!

On Thursday morning we hit the road again, for another four hours. Soon, we found ourselves in Salzburg, Austria. As we pulled up to our "hotel," I happened to glance at a sign on the gate. My jaw about hit the ground when I read this :

I've LOVED the Sound of Music since I first saw the film - I was about five. To stay in the actual Von Trapp family home was AMAZING! I couldn't (and still can't) believe that I was actually staying there. I totally freaked out (in a good way). 

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Around the home, there were little blurbs on the history of the Von Trapps. It was really awesome to learn about the real family!

On our first afternoon in Salzburg, we headed to a Salt Mine. Unlike our 3-4 hour Salt Mine tour in Poland, this one was only about an hour. There were also cool things in there - we went on an underground boat ride and several steep slides within the mine! More like an amusement park!

We spent the evening exploring the center of Salzburg and investigating Festung Hohen Castle, which was built into a cliff. We didn't go inside, but the exterior was amazing! The city looked beautiful as the sun was setting, as well.

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We kept exploring Salzburg the following day - despite freezing temperatures and rain! We wandered the city center, looking at shops and outdoor markets. We found some classic Bavarian pretzels!

Eventually, we once again got in the car and headed off to our next stop. On the way, we stopped in Oberammergau, a teeny town that's known for it's painted houses. The homes there just have these gorgeous paintings on them! Some are fairy tales, others are religious depictions. 

We also saw a lot of maypoles (since it had just been May Day). Maypoles traditionally depict images that tell about the town - each town has a personalized maypole.

That evening, we arrived in Schwangau. We spent the night there, and then on Sunday we headed up to see the much anticipated Schwangau and Neuschwanstein Castles. Neuschwanstein is well-known for being the inspiration for the classic Disney Castle. Walt visited and was inspired. It truly did look a lot like Disney!

First we headed into "the father's castle" - Schwangau. Both of these castles were unlike other castles I've visited; they had small rooms and each room had wall-to-wall and ceiling-to-ceiling paintings. There were also very detailed woodcarvings and other details. Rather than being open and stony, these castles were both more compact and cozy, with lots of dark woods. Sadly we couldn't take pictures inside but we got lots of exterior pictures!

Neuschwanstein was built by the son, Ludwig. He was determined to be mentally ill and was not allowed to rule, and at age 41 he was found dead in a lake on his property. No one knows for sure if it was a murder or a suicide, but it's very sad.

Neuschwanstein was built with all of the latest technologies, including a telephone. It's more lavish and detail-oriented than Schwangau. Since Ludwig died, he actually only lived in the not-yet-completed Neuschwanstein for ~100 days before he died. Construction was never completed and visitors were paying to see the castle within 6 weeks of his death!

This was my favorite castle.

Next, we headed towards Munich, and we saw Linderhof Castle. This was Ludwig's second home, and he made journeys here every two weeks, and he would spend two weeks here. The journey from Schwangau took 3 days at the time. For us it took about 90 minutes. 

The inspiration for Linderhof was Versailles. Ludwig loved the Sun King and wanted to build a similar palace. When we got there, I immediately saw the similarities. There was a lot of gold, and a lot of excessive furnishings. The interior was simply breathtaking...there were so many tiny details. Ludwig preferred to be alone, and during mealtimes didn't even want his servants around him. In his dining room, he had a special table contraption installed so he could dine in isolation. The table would drop through the middle of the dining room floor into the kitchen, the table would be set, and it would be sent back up to him. A little unusual!

We stayed overnight in Munich, and caught a 6:30 train in the morning. After 8 hours of travel, we finally got to the Chateau for our class! A long day!

A big thank you to Alex's parents for organizing this trip! We had such a blast!

On Friday we got the sad news that John E. Dolibois - the man who the Chateau and study abroad program is name after - passed away. He was 95 years old. I'm thrilled that I got the chance to hear him speak at Miami in Oxford last semester. Here at the Chateau we all had a moment of silence this morning and everyone's very sad - especially those who knew him. It's not not disputable though that he had quite a long, full life. He was Luxembourgish himself, and his linguistic skills played an important role during the Nuremberg Trials. His family moved to Akron when he was young and later worked at Miami University as Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs. He passed away in Cincinnati. The Chateau and MUDEC program started under his name in 1968.

This Friday, we're excited to be attending a ceremony receiving the Heir Apparent of the Crown of Luxembourg (aka the PRINCE of Luxembourg) here in Differdange. I don't have a lot of information on this yet but apparently he's passing through Differdange (where our Chateau is located) and everyone's all excited for that. Sounds like Friday will be a full day of Princely activities.

Delightful Dublin!

Yikes it’s been awhile since my last post! A lot has happened. I can’t believe that Alex and I have finished our last solo trip (this weekend we’ll be in the hands of his parents since they are visiting!). Dublin was amazing but a few other things first.

Life got a bit harder for me on Thursday on the way home from school when my iPhone was stolen from me in broad daylight. I’ve told this story a bunch of times now, so just to condense it - a really sketchy dude got on the train with me and Alex in Differdange, sat right behind us, waited for us to get off the carriage in the city, and then (unbeknownst to us) walked right behind us and grabbed my phone from my pocket. I felt him do it and knew something was wrong right away - Alex saw him retreating, and of course it was too late. This obviously is a materialistic issue (I now need to come up with lots of money for a new telephone) but has made caused issues in more ways than just that. In fact, the money is the least of the issues:

    •    I feel so violated! I had just started to be comfortable here and feeling at home and like I could navigate around the city by myself. I will never feel safe on my own again while commuting here. Luckily I only have to do this once more before the end of the semester.
    •    I used my phone to take pictures every single day. Great camera quality and it’s so convenient! Luckily none were lost.
    •    The phone is very important for map and information storage for our travels. Fortunately Dublin went well (not a HUGE city) and we are with Alex’s parents next weekend and won’t need it to navigate.
    •    Really the only way I could have internet in my host mother’s home so now it’s hard to communicate from there.

At this point, I’m really unresponsive to “you need to be more careful” comments and kind, well-intended scoldings. Alex and I are both very low-profile, cautious, and safe travelers. I don’t think this is a case of getting “too comfortable” in Luxembourg. I also think one must exercise caution when suggesting that someone was somehow “asking” to be attacked/stolen from/hurt/etc by a criminal. It’s one of those things that is no one’s fault. Sure, I could’ve put my phone in my backpack that day. But I didn’t and now it’s gone. That being said, I do think that all of my peers (me included) need to make sure they are keeping their eyes open! During the whole train ride, Alex and I knew something was sketchy about the guy sitting behind us. We knew it was odd he waited to get off the train until we got off. It’s just hard to tell when and how closely to listen to your observations like that.

Within 20 -30or so minutes of him having taken it, we had been able to go on the computer and wipe it clean. No information - it’s essentially just a shell. So unless he has a new SIM card he is SOL.

I’m not sure what such a person with such motivations was doing hanging around in Differdange trying to target students, but I know that chances are I will see this person again and that freaks me out!

As far as dealing with the fact that I don’t have a telephone anymore…it’s not too much of a loss for me while I’m here because I didn’t have service (obviously) anyways. It’s going to be a strain for me to pay for a brand new phone on top of finishing an amazing semester of travel…but luckily I start work 3 days after I get home in a few weeks. My dad is being the best and is helping me by searching for used ones and looking into options over there (since I can’t buy one here under my family’s service). That way it will be there for me when I get home :)

So, it’s a pretty unfortunate note to end the semester on and leaves a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, but I’m trying my best not to let it completely overshadow my last experiences here. I’m trying not to let worrying about it dominate my last 2 weeks, and it can be hard not to think about it sometimes but it keeps getting better!

Now : Ireland.
 

Before you guys read about Ireland, let's just get this clarified:

So yes, Ireland is in the EU and is on the euro! It's not a Schengen country though so there was much passport checkage.

We had a great time there! What a beautiful country. We saw a good deal of the country through taking 2 days tours, as well. In fact, we have been around the whole of Ireland now!

On the first day, we arrived in Dublin at about 7:30AM (their time zone!)  after having started our travels at  2AM that morning. We walked to the train station and rode a bus from Luxembourg train station to Frankfurt-Hahn airport. We got on a plane at about 6:30 and gained an hour on the way over to Ireland! We then took a shuttle to the city center and sought out our first tour bus.

 On the tour we went through Glendalough, Wicklow, and Kilkenny. We had beautiful brisk, sunny weather which was totally unexpected for Ireland. The park at Glendalough (a little village that had been around since the 6th century) was just gorgeous, with mountainous views rivaling Interlaken!

After about an hour, our tour guide - who was great, by the way - brought us to Wicklow. Wicklow park is featured in PS I Love You and is just as gorgeous, but a little more rocky than Glendalough. In the late ‘90s the Tour de France also went through here. He let us hop out and take pictures and then we reloaded in the bus and went off to Kilkenny!

 

Wicklow National Park

The tour guides on these bus tours are AMAZING. I have never regretted taking a day tour while in Europe. You get to see so much and you learn so much more than if you were trying to haphazardly make these mini trips on your own. They are generally very cost efficient as well. Our guide was very knowledgeable and let us know many facts. I was very surprised to learn that Irish is the national language there! About 5-10% of the population speaks Irish fluently, and otherwise it’s just taught in the schools. since it’s a national language, all of the signage there - in museums, on the roads, restaurants, etc. Who knew??

He also told us a lot about the national sport, which is called “hurling.” It’s over 2000 years old and is considered a “real man’s sport” unlike American football (to paraphrase our driver :) You use a field hockey-like club and wack a hard little ball around. Makes me think of quidditch. When we stopped in our last stop at Kilkenny (a very old village founded by the Normans), we saw a lot of hurling going on! We went to a castle and sat on the grounds for awhile - it was so nice to see grass for a change. Europe is not an exceedingly grassy place, mostly.

The castle at Kilkenny

After Kilkenny, we had a long drive back to Dublin and then just checked into our hostel and searched for dinner. Dublin is divided by the river Liffy and for some reason this really disoriented both of us. We could never remember where anything was! Finding dinner took awhile but eventually we found a nice restaurant where we both enjoyed the food. I had a yummy squash soup and salad and Alex had a hamburger!

The next morning we had a very early start for our Cliffs of Moher (or the Cliffs of Insanity if you like Princess Bride. They are also in Harry Potter and Leap Year) tour. This tour would be 12 hours long and would literally take us across Ireland. We made a few stops along the way. Our first was in Kinvara, a fishing town. We only stopped for a few minutes and got a picture of this tower. Supposedly hundreds of years ago this man called O’Brian stole everyone’s land in Ireland, and the only way to get it back would be to sell your wife to him for a night and he’d take her in that tower. Not a fun thought. The weather turned gloomy for this stop.

Down the road, the driver let us out at an old church with a graveyard. Again, we were only out for a few minutes here.

Then, Baby Cliffs of Moher! These are in a town called Doolin and are just minutes from the big Cliffs of Moher. We got a taste for the heights and Alex climbed around a bit in the rocks above these little cliffs.

 

At last, the big Cliffs of Moher were amazing. This sounds very cliché, but pictures do not do these cliffs justice. It made me appreciate the Earth and nature so much. This kind of thing always takes my breath away.

 

 

After taking lots of pictures, we made our way into the museum, which is built into the ground like a hobbit hole.

After a few minutes in the exhibitions, we made one last stop in Bunratty, where we saw another castle and a rainbow, and then we began the several hour journey home.

We got back late, and after dinner (we went to an Italian restaurant even though we just came from the real Italy?) we went right to bed.

The next day was our final day in Dublin and we just wanted to stick around and explore the city. We walked all around, hung out in Starbucks (my special request). We did some “shopping” but didn’t really buy anything (we really enjoy looking and seeing the different styles in different places). We stopped and had sandwiches for lunch and soon it was time to head back for our shuttle to the airport!

Our flight was supposed to be short but it felt really long because they had us sitting there for quite awhile. Eventually we landed in Luxembourg at about 11:15PM and finally I got home at 12AM. I’m very lucky to have gotten to sleep in this morning - I woke up at about 8 but Alex had to get up at 6AM!

Can’t believe I have only 17 days left here… unbelievable!