Most of my posts have been travel related, especially recently, but I’m sure many of you wonder what exactly I do with the rest of my free time during the week. Most days I try and be as productive as possible. I do still practice my French almost every day (now I’m on my own since my French class is over :( well kind of on my own. Thank you duolingo!) and I often have a new “project” I’m trying to get done (free online classes, research for upcoming trips, and recently a photo album of my travels last year). I also spend a good portion of the day in the kitchen preparing meals, trying new recipes, and creating my own with the leftover food in my fridge. Honestly, sometimes when I look back on the week I feel like the only thing I did was cook and eat…well, at least it’s all healthy! Of course I do leave my apartment on a daily basis. Most recently for a basketball game and a trip to the museum. This past Sunday my teammate Tanya and I went and watched Geneva play Fribourg. It was great being able to take myself out of my typical routine and do something new. Keeping up with that trend, I decided to check out some free museums. A big part of the reason I don’t do all that much in Geneva is because Switzerland is just so gosh darn expensive. A cup of tea at Starbucks, 6 francs; a beer at a pub, 10 francs; and a seat at the movies, 20 francs. Well you get the picture, it’s expensive. So I decided to find the few free things in the city and take advantage of them (with a little coaxing from Mom and Dad).
I started with the ITU museum, one of Geneva’s newest. It covers the history of modern communications and technology as well as talks about the role of the International Telecommunication Union. To sum it up, you wouldn’t be reading this blog without ITU. I am already blown away by all we can do with technology, but it was cool to see how far we’ve come and to see where we are headed. Even the museum itself was pretty interesting. I was handed my own personal tablet and could tap it on areas around the museum to watch videos and obtain more information on certain topics. Pretty fancy. In these next couple weeks I plan to visit the Natural History museum, Art and History museum, and tour the United Nations (now that I put it in writing I kind of have to do it).
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So what do you do on Tuesday, in Geneva, when you find out you’ll have the entire weekend free? Start searching the internet for the cheapest place to fly with with most sun! And the winner is….MALAGA, SPAIN! I would have loved to have posted this blog a week ago, but unfortunately, my computer had different plans. It decided to up and crash on me. The screen just went blank, wouldn’t turn back on and the the power cord stopped working. Thank goodness for Apple stores all around the globe! I was able to get it fixed and now I’m back in action :) Most Fridays I spend relaxing at my apartment, cooking a good meal and preparing for our game on Saturday. But two weeks ago, I was boarding a plane, coast bound for some sunshine and sandy beaches. The weather forecast had predicted 20 degrees Celsius (about 68 Fahrenheit) with clear skies and “beaucoup de soleil" (lots of sunshine!). Although that may not seem all that great to everyone reading this from California, where 68 F means grab your jacket, but for me, it was a blessing.
I spent the next days soaking in the southern Spanish rays, enjoying fresh (and cheap!) local fruit on the beach with my kindle in hand. Malaga is a relatively small city (well it’s the 6th largest in Spain but most of the city highlights are within walking distance) so I had plenty of time to wander the streets, watch local street performers, enjoy the beaches and conquer the top tourist attractions. After 3 solid days of relaxation and sunshine, it was time to head back to reality. If someone would have told me a couple years ago that this would be my life, I would have told them they were crazy. When people ask me what I do I feel like I can’t say I’m a professional athlete, because I don’t spend the majority of my time playing sports. I’m a professional traveler. You know what, that’s ok with me! In 3 weeks I’ll be putting more stamps on my passport as I head back to Spain and venture my way to the land of pizza, pasta and gelato. Ciao bella ;) Until next time! One of the great things about Europe? Being able to book cheap trips 24 hours before traveling. New Years in London? Sure, why not! When I booked my flight I had no plans...wasn’t sure where I was staying or what I was doing. After reaching out to some people I knew who lived there I had a couch to crash on and even some friends to travel with! Apparently I wasn’t the only one who thought New Years in London was a good idea. My teammate from last season, Eva and her teammate from this year, were also going to be there. And staying with the same person! I am continuously surprised by how small this world really is. This wouldn’t be my first time experiencing London during the holidays. 8 years ago my family and I spent Christmas visiting my sister who was studying abroad at the time. We managed to knock out most of the tourist stuff so I didn’t feel too obligated to write up an itinerary this time around. My first day consisted of a lot of wandering, mostly around familiar sights but also some new. My friend Matt (who I was staying with) and I went to Winter Wonderland, the Christmas market in Hyde park, for some hot cider and entertainment (there was a live band and a lot of very drunk people to sing along). The second day I decided to take advantage of all the free museums. That’s definitely something I’m not use to here in Europe. I started out in South Kensington at the Victoria and Albert Museum which houses the world’s largest collection of decorative arts and design. Then onto the National Gallery...Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrant, and many other famous names have their works displayed here. Finally, the British Museum for a trip around the globe. There were cultural artifacts from every continent across a variety of time periods. At that point I was pretty “museumed out” so I decided to call it a day. The next day I managed to check off the rest of the typical tourist attractions: London Eye, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards and Piccadilly circus. Then when Eva and her teammate Ester landed I got to see them all again at night! Haha Since New Year's Eve in London is a pretty big deal tickets for parties sell out relatively fast. They even ticketed the area for the fireworks this year and unfortunately they were all sold out by the time I booked my trip. Instead of spending a small fortune to get into a club or bar I decided to join everyone else in the streets of London to watch the fireworks from afar. On New Year's Day there is a huge parade with marching bands, performers, floats and people from all across the globe. The floats are a bit different from what I’m use to seeing at the Rose Parade, but in London, the floats from each borough are designed to raise money for charities and entered into a competition. Over the years the parade has raised well over a million pounds! Pretty awesome actually. It usually lasts about 3 hours, but around hour 2 I couldn’t feel my toes anymore so I decided it was time to head inside and heat up a bit. I met up later with my friends (11 was a bit too early for them after a long night out) for some last minute sight seeing before heading back to Geneva in the morning. Now I’m ready to see what the New Year has in store for me. If it’s anything like these past 2 weeks of traveling I can’t wait! Happy New Year to everyone back at home! What a trip to ring in the new year! Last year my season didn’t allow me much travel time, especially around the holidays. Thankfully Geneva is a much different club. Instead of a measly 4 days to celebrate, I have 12! That’s right, 12 days of Christmas. :) After winning our final game of the year, it was time to make my way east. First stop...ZURICH! I was only there for a few hours but plenty of time to walk around the city, check out some churches and most importantly wander the Christmas market. Nothing better than some freshly roasted chestnuts and hot cider to get ready for the holidays! I’m a little embarrassed to say I haven’t seen too many “classic” movies. Most people are fairly surprised when I say I haven’t seen The Sound of Music so a few days prior to my trip I sat down to watch it. I mean I might as well get a little preview of where I’m going. Next up...SALZBURG! I’m not a huge musical person but I’ve got to admit that the film did get me pretty excited for my trip. Austria looked beautiful pixelated on my tiny computer screen so of course it was gorgeous up close and personal. Now add glühbier, Christmas decorations, lights and most importantly, Christmas spirit...sounds pretty amazing right?? For the day and a half I was there I was able to explore the city, taste some Austrian Christmas specialties...weihnachtsschmarr’n (which is basically a shredded pancake dough with apples, cinnamon, raisins and nuts, topped with your choice of melted chocolate or fruit puree) and giant warm pretzels...and of course use my German once again. After wandering around the city in which Mozart grew up, it was time to explore where he spent his later years...VIENNA! This city easily goes on my “top 5 favorite cities in Europe” list. In addition to the amazing architecture there is a remarkable amount of history. With only a day and a half I didn’t have too much time to delve into it all but I guess that just warrants another visit. There was enough time for me to enjoy one of Vienna’s most well-known traditions though: the Opera. Several famous musicians were either born in or moved to Vienna for work, and ever since, the fine arts have remained alive. Theaters and opera houses are scattered throughout the city for Viennese and tourists to enjoy. I didn’t just go to any opera house though, I went to THE opera house. Wiener Staatsoper is one of the best and well-known opera houses in the whole world and I had dinner and a show for less than what it would cost me to see a movie in Geneva. The only downside is that I had to stand the entire time but I think that’s a fair trade considering I only had to pay 4 euros. Not bad for my first opera. Although I wasn’t ready to leave Austria (I’m already planning my next trip!) I wasn’t exactly leaving the Alps...BRIDES LES BAINS! Christmas in the French Alps snowboarding in the largest linked ski area in the world, Les Trois Vallées or The Three Valleys. Ok, fineee twist my arm. Unfortunately we didn’t have a white Christmas and the mountain conditions weren’t the greatest but hands down some of the greatest views I have ever seen. Pictures don't even come close to doing it justice...per usual. After 2 days with very little snow we decided to pack in up and head back to Geneva. Unfortunately we weren’t the only ones. My experience with traffic last year from Munich to Hamburg just couldn’t stay at the top of my "worst experience ever with European drivers" list. Although it was nice to open my curtains to freshly, snow topped mountains, (my white Christmas was unfortunately 2 days late) it wasn’t so nice being stuck in the car for 8 hours (it’s only an hour and a half drive). Here are a couple of the highlights...started out the trip going 6 mph out of town, only got 5.9 km (that’s 3.6 miles) in 2 hours using 100 km worth of gas, parked the car, turned off the engine and walked down the middle of the freeway (we were joined by some very dedicated runners running up the middle of the highway) and finally getting stuck in a McDonald’s parking lot for 45 minutes behind everyone else who needed a bathroom break after being stuck in traffic for 5 hours. Yes, it probably wasn't the most ideal way to end my Christmas adventure, I can definitely think of worse places to spend the holidays. I guess there were over 15,000 cars stranded in the mountains with us: http://www.timesofoman.com/News/44923/Article-Heavy-snow-brings-chaos-and-joy-across-Europe Next up...part 2 of my Christmas vacation. Last minute New Years Eve trip! Mind the gap...
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